In Saving the Imperfect

27. Ripped our hearts apart

Layne was still laying half asleep on the mattress Victor had provided for him. He had to admit, it was more comfortable than his old pallet. When asked about the unusual generosity, he was told he was 'a guest.'

Victor was already long awake and had walked in and out of the cabin several times, each of them disturbing Layne's sleep.

"You won't be eating breakfast, again?" he asked, standing at the doorstep.

Layne rubbed his eyes and yawned. "No."

"You should start doing that, just so you know."

"I eat the dinner, don't I?"

Victor returned inside and closed the door. He sat at the table, right next to Layne, which could only have meant one thing – there was going to be another annoying conversation. In preparation for that, Layne sat up and looked the man in the eyes.

"You're still not over it, are you?" Victor wasn't smiling. He never smiled when they were alone in his cabin. Layne had guessed that it wasn't humanly possible to keep it up all the time.

"Not over what? You killing my friend? You dragging me over here and forcing me to lie to everyone? You keeping me prisoner? You planning to do something to those people?"

"Even after everything, you seem to have a very good opinion of those people."

Layne shrugged. "They may not be great but at least they don't lie about some made-up beasts in the forest and as far as I know, they don't kill just to instil fear to others."

Victor's smile returned and he laughed. "And that makes them the good guys?"

"Yeah, I think not killing people makes them the good guys."

"Really?" Victor's face showed genuine amusement. Layne raised his eyebrows at him. He couldn't understand how else could the man distort it. "Why are you here?"

"What?"

"In the Land. Why did they send you here?"

Layne crossed his arms and turned away. "That is none of your business."

"From your reaction, I guess something bad." Victor stood and moved closer. He sat on the mattress next to Layne, making his scoot away until he was almost touching the wall. "I, for one, was caught hiding my friend, Adan, from the RCI. They say he's done messed up shit to his wife. Of course, he denied it. I believed him. Probably, still do."

"How the hell does that connect with anything?" Layne started shaking and grabbed onto his pillow just to have something in his hands.

"Remember, in the forest, you said something in the lines of 'we're all Rejects for a reason'?"

"Mhm. You were quick to disprove it."

"Well, you weren't actually wrong. We really are here for a reason. Some just have a better reason than others. We can't forget that a large part of the population here are thieves, rapists, murderers... And whatever else."

Layne gulped. When he glanced at Victor's face, it was once again serious. He still couldn't get used to seeing him like that. As much as he hated the smile, that's how he knew the man. Anything else was just weird.

"You've actually forgotten," stated Victor.

Layne thought for a little. He had indeed forgotten it. Of course, he wouldn't have admitted it. Not to Victor, at least. So, he shook his head and locked his eyes with those of the man.

"Don't lie to me." Victor chuckled. "I can see it. Not gonna blame you for that, tho. It's easy to forget something like that when there are other things to worry about. More threatening things. Right?"