Blood For Blood - A Kellic Fanfiction

Nine. Left Alone

How deep do you wanna go?

Don't you know that some things are better left alone?

"Vic, do you have something that you want to erase from your life?"

"I think everyone does."

I think everyone does...

I can't stop thinking of when Vic answered my question. It's not the words he said; it's the way he said it. He didn't look at me when he said it. And he said it so slowly and carefully, as if he was scared to say it.

I should probably just stop thinking about it. I asked him a question, he answered it. So what? It's not like he's a monster or anything.

~

A couple nights after the day of our second therapy session, I go to a bar near my apartment block. For some reason, I feel especially sociable. I'm in the mood to talk to someone all night.

To my surprise, I come across Vic, who's sitting at the bar with a drink in his hand. I take a seat in an empty bar stool next to him and order a drink.

"Hi," I say, smiling.

"Oh hey, Kellin," Vic grins, turning in his bar stool to face me. "How are you doing?"

"I'm good." I feel interested in talking to him more, so I ask, "You live around here?"

"Yeah, just round the block from here."

Near my apartment building, I think.

"What about you?" asks Vic. "You local?"

"Yeah, I've got an apartment here," I reply. "I'm pretty new, though."

He nods and I receive my drink from the bartender.

"So Vic," I say after one sip of my drink. My interest peaks again. "Where are you from?"

Vic sighs, then looks at me seriously. "Look, I'm not trying to be rude, but I don't do social. I'm your therapist and you're my client. I don't get involved with clients unless it's in a meeting."

For some reason, I feel really disappointed and a little hurt. I live a lonely life; I want someone to talk to. But I guess he's right. It's unprofessional to hang out with a client away from the psychological centre, isn't it?

But it's only a little conversation...

"But this is a bar," I say carefully. "Not your office. Right now, I'm not your client and you're not my therapist." He stares at me, frowning very slightly. A little nervous, I repeat: "So, Vic...where are you from?"

Vic looks away and thinks to himself for a moment, before smiling and looking back at me.

"San Diego," he grins. "What about you?"

"I'm actually from Florida. I lived there until I was eighteen, but then - "

I suddenly stop myself.

But then I slaughtered my beautiful innocent girlfriend and had to go to prison for a decade of my life. I'm out now, so here I am.

"But then...?" Vic prompts.

My blood runs cold. "Something changed," I say firmly. "But anyway, here I am."

"Hmm." Vic takes a sip of his drink and looks away from me.

"More importantly," I say, sounding more cheery. "Tell me about yourself. What's your life story?"

"My life story?" he chuckles. "There isn't much to tell." He shrugs. "Born and raised in San Diego. My family's from Mexico though. We always officially lived in this city, but we had to travel a lot."

"How come?" I ask curiously.

He thinks for what feels like forever, before saying: "We had business to attend to."

I raise my eyebrows. He makes it sound so sinister.

"Business?" I question. "What kind of business?"

"A family business."

I want to know more about it, but he's getting more and more serious with every question about it, so I change the subject.

"How did you decide to be a therapist?" I ask.

Vic takes a quick sip of his drink and takes a deep breath.

"When I was in school, I was the weird kid. The reject. I didn't fit in there or anywhere else. And for that reason, I got beat up pretty much everyday. I got so sick of it that...that I started cutting myself."

I hold back a gasp. Vic used to self harm...? I can't imagine him doing that to himself.

"It lasted a while. I never stopped getting beat up, but I had a brother and a sister. Eventually I realised how much they cared about me, and my little brother really looked up to me. So I knew that I had to change for him."

I smile.

"So in answer to your question, Kellin, I decided to become a therapist because I wanted to help others who suffer from the same problems. I felt like shit back then...and I wouldn't want anyone to feel the way I felt."

Wow. What an incredible guy.

"And your brother and sister," I say. "What are they doing now?"

"I don't know and frankly I don't care," mutters Vic. "We had a fight, and I cut them out of my life."

There's something about the way he says that; he seems really passionate and quite angry. It's an intriguing side of him, one that I've never seen before, and honestly I find it kinda attractive.

"What was the fight about?" I ask, fascinated in this new side of him.

Vic sighs, obviously frustrated by these personal questions. "They didn't approve of my job as a therapist."

"Why?" I frown. "It's a great job, and you're doing it for a great reason."

"They never found out that I cut myself, Kellin," he says quickly. "And they never will."

"But why did they not approve of - "

"It doesn't matter, okay?" He looks at me with a very angry look on his face.

Okay, I liked the angry-passionate side of him, but this is angry-aggressive. It startles me a little - this isn't attractive, this is threatening. But it's my fault he lashed out like that; I bombarded him with personal questions. I pushed his buttons.

He looks away from me and takes a swig of his drink, irritated. He keeps blinking. Why is he blinking so much? He's not crying, is he? I blink like that to stop my eyes turning red when I can feel myself transforming.

"I'm sorry," I say quietly. "I shouldn't have asked all those questions."

Vic sighs and looks at me again. "No, I'm sorry. I just...it's not a topic I like talking about."

"I won't talk about it again. Sorry."

There's an awkward pause.

Vic is intriguing. It's like there's something inside him that's pulling me closer and closer towards him. But at the same time there's something about him that's pushing me back...and I can't quite put my finger on it.

I know one thing for sure, though: he's hiding something.