The Real Hero

THE VILLAIN

February 5th

Victor picked Elly up from work at exactly 5:32. She practically ran out the door and jumped onto his motorcycle.

"Take me away from this place!" Elly demanded.

"Where to?"

"Anywhere!"

Victor grinned as he pictured the perfect place to make a quiet getaway. He rode off with Elly tightly clinging to him. They arrived shortly after at a hole in the wall, called, well, Hole In The Wall.

"What is this place?" Elly asked upon arrival.

"My favorite haunt," Victor smiled. "It's like a lounge... more like a library with food and drinks... it's quiet inside; technology is a taboo inside."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Like at a theater, you turn your cellphone off."

Elly stared at the place in complete wonder. Victor could see the child like glee in her eyes as she jumped off his bike and ran inside.

A hostess quietly greeted them and laid out the rules.

"Please check in all electronic devices," she said and pointed to a box. "No loud noises. Whispering only. Spill on the book and you pay for it. Feel free to buy anything you like."

After depositing their phones, they were led to a corner with two recliners, a coffee table, and stacks of books.

Victor tried to read, to focus on his food, but he couldn't tear his gaze from Elly and the way she devoured the book she held and how she perused her food.

"I think I figured you out," she finally whispered.

Victor pretended to look up from his book surprised.

"You're a reporter."

"Why do you think that?" Victor asked.

"You constantly are on you're laptop, madly typing away. You have this rebel vibe. You know the truth!"

"What truth?"

"Of whatever, you know. The government, the mayor, the crime syndicate, Hero Man."

"You're half right. I'm not a reporter."

Elly laughed. "Oh, really. What do you do for a living?"

"I try to take over the world," Victor answered honestly. "Overthrow the system."

"Riiight."

"What? Don't you believe me?"

"I believe you could do it. But you're doing it wrong."

"What?"  Victor's mind was stuck on the first sentence in which she blatantly said she believed he could take over the world, making her the only person to believe in him.

"Yeah," she shrugged. "I think the first step to world domination is to have the approval of the masses. You need a following."

What she was saying made perfect sense. Why hadn't he thought of it!?

"And in every typical story," Elly continued, "the hero defeats the villain because the villain starts to monologue. Never monologue!"

Victor absorbed her words with a half-hearted smile, realizing that this average girl knew way more about his craft than he did.

"If you're not a reporter, what do you do?"

Uh-oh.

"I'm a, uh, blogger."

"You blog?"

"Not a real job. I know. Tell me about it."

Elly laughed, seeming to believe the blogger story more than the world domination.

"But, I moonlight as a bank teller." That part was true. Victor, to earn money for his dastardly plots, worked at the Faust Bank, a front for Evil's  organization.

Elly smiled and glanced back towards her book, intently turning the page and continuing on to the next. "A bank teller, that rides a motorcycle, blogs," she said, rather amused. "What do you blog?"

Victor shrugged. "What is there to blog when you don't have followers?"

"Then why do it?"

Victor paused. While Elly was talking about literal blogging, Victor was using blogging as a metaphor for his schemes. Why do it? Why take over if no one would follow? What was the point in trying to be bad, if nothing good came from it?

"I don't know," he answered honestly. Not only did he have no followers, but Victor was aimless. He had a goal, but no reason to complete it.

Elly pursed her lips in thought. "You need to find your passion again. On assuming that's why you started in the first place. Because you were passionate about something."

Victor sunk further into his chair. He had lacked motivation and substance. There was no real passion when he started. He was just taking over the family business.

"Do you still enjoy what you do?"

Victor inwardly gasped. Did causing people pain bring him enjoyment like it use to? Did it ever? Was he entertained by pain and misery? How badly did he want to be the villain?

"Victor?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you alright?"

Of course not. He was questioning his very existence.

"Oh, yeah. I just need air."

Elly yawned. "It's about time I head home anyway. How long have we been here?"

Victor looked at his watch.

"Almost four hours."

Elly smiled. "I didn't even notice. But I bet my cat is dying without me."

Victor paid the bill and drove home. He walked her to her apartment door, an entire floor above his.

Elly thanked him for the wonderful time and lingered in the doorway for a short time. A black, fluffy poofball with legs mewed and rubbed against her. Elly picked up the purring ball named Diavol and wished Victor a good night.

Victor wandered back to his own apartment in a daze. He had been so sure of his life until this woman had cone in and tore everything down. He had been so set in his beliefs until she shook his world.