Pirate Assassin

Page 19

When the door opened, Mikaella had a shock when she saw Zack. He was well-muscled now but he had black rings below his eyes as if he hadn't slept for days and his face was haggard and drawn. His long hair was longer and shaggier, with it spilling over his ears and almost shoulder length at the back. Likewise, with Zack though it was much of the opposite. Maybe it was the fact that he had not seen her in a long time, but she looked so much more beautiful than when he last saw her. Her hazel-brown hairs was in smooth waves as it flowed gently down in front of her almost till her waist and she still had that air of elegance she carried so well. With a sigh, he sat down on the chair his legs apart with his elbows resting on them and his face to the ground, while Harty took his place next to the door directly behind him. Nice to see they trusted him, he thought. "How have you been?" Zack looked up. Mikaella looked worried. Worried about him. That was a change. He smiled lazily, "I'm ok. Prison isn't as bad as it sounds. I'm actually the most bad-ass one in here. No one has done anything more than armed robbery, and that was with a knife!" he chuckled softly, which surprised him. He found this.....peaceful. Mikaella smiled gently at him, "So you haven't gotten into any trouble?" and Zack paused. How would she react when she heard about what he had been doing? Well, he thought, it wouldn't really matter since everyone had deserted him already but he still hesitated. This was the one person he didn't want to lose ever since Wayne disappeared and suddenly when he thought about him, the familiar anger bubbled inside him. "Zack?" Zack blinked. He had been sitting there doing a fury stare again and now Mikaella was sitting there with creases of worry. Zack let out a breath, "Okay look. I've done some ugly stuff in here but please don't freak out alright? Promise?" Mikaella's face went pale but she nodded her head. Zack told her about the brawls, the injuries and finally, the fork stab. Mikaella actually looked at him in horror when he told her about it, and Zack's heart sank. She looked at him in silence for a while which made him uneasy but finally she gripped her hands together and put them on the table. "Zack, would you please tell me how Theo died?" Zack blinked in surprise. Then he realised that she hadn't blamed him; she trusted him. "Sure but I don't know whether you'll believe me. It's just totally whacked," and Zack recounted the story that he had told no one about because he knew they'd never believe his word, not for a second. After he was done, he fell silent waiting for her judgement. She smiled, though it was sad, "Zack, I believe you," Zack was about to ask why when she stopped him, "Zack, I was there remember? When we met him for the first time. I think he did it there too! Remember? We wanted to run, but we couldn't move," Mikaella crossed her arms. "I understand, to a certain degree, what you're feeling, as much as you hate that phrase," she grinned at him and he returned a lazy smile but then she fell serious, "you remember that day on the roof? The day that you said I had ambition?" Zack nodded as Theo's words echoed through his mind. There was something that Mikaella was hiding. She let out a breath upwards causing her bangs to sway, "Well it wasn't true. The ambition, the future? None of that was real. I tried to MAKE it real but I couldnt stand it anymore," Her demeanour changed, showing him a much more vulnerable side of her, "Remember my brother?" Zack nodded, "Yeah, he died in an accident," Mikaella's face took on a haunted expression, "Yeah, but what you didn't know was that I caused it," Zack lifted an eyebrow in surprise, "You know he was confined to a wheelchair since his legs were weak or something. One day I challenged him to cross the road to prove I was braver than he was because I thought he'd never do it but he did. I thought he'd turn back but he didn't. You know the rest," Zack nodded once. A car had come speeding by, a businessman was rushing to work. He was checking his watch when he crashed into the 7- year old boy in a wheelchair. Mikaella sniffed, holding back tears while Zack could only watch with his hand on the glass pane separating them. "I decided to carry on his dream, for his sake, abandoning my own," she sniffed, "What I'm trying to say is that though our situations are different, I know what its like holding all that anger. I was angry at myself, I was angry at my parents, I was angry even at my brother who destroyed my dreams. All I wanted to do was make the guy pay for what he did and I know you must want to do the same," and she composed herself, "but Zack, don't kill him because from what you've told me, you're probably able to do it. Don't be like him. Put him to justice but don't take matters into your own hands," and she looked at him pleadingly, her own hand now on the glass pane exactly on his but Zack couldnt look at her in the eye. The guard on Mikaella's side coughed awkwardly, "Erm, I'm sorry your time is up," but she stood there for a few more minutes before she got up, patting her long skirt and making sure her frilled blouse was unruffled and made her way to the door. Before she stepped out, Zack spoke, "Mikaella," she turned around, "I really liked you and I would have done anything you said.... but now, I can't. All I can think about now is how I want to make him pay for every single thing he has put me through," his face sad as he continued to stand there, with one hand on the pane, unmoving, "I'm sorry," he whispered. Mikaella smiled sadly, but understandingly and walked out.