The African trinkets

Fight or Flight

Lance had locked himself away as soon as the police carriage stretched away into a small dot just beyond the gates of the Tate estate. Vivian literally chased after him but Lance denied her entry.

He hadn't the patience to lend a faux sympathetic ear to the story of his step mother's lost lover. Lance knew that if he didn't take a fraction of a moment to sit and make sense of what he had just learned then he was sure to lash out.

Phillip was dead.

Nolia was a murderer.

Nolia. Lance mused, said her name out loud and the sweet lingering taste of her lips haunted his. Vivian's loud laments distracted his train of thought and Lance rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand to focus. His body was cold but his head was throbbing from heat.

Lance's thoughts were literally melting and he needed to think properly. He entered his bathroom and dunked his head in a cold pale of water. Lance stayed under until his lungs screamed for air. He came up and the moment he did his senses were activated.

Lance smelt the corroding copper scent of blood that hung heavily in the room. He wiped the water away from his eyes and Lance assessed the room and felt like he was seeing it for the first time. Lance's stomach twisted when he noticed Nolia's work dress was splattered with blood and the bath water was a cease pool of diluted blood.

Lance was more horrified than disgusted. The scene before him was the hushed whispers of nurse maids and unfortunate mothers. His mind was slow in weaving this horror to Nolia who had been bathing the previous night. He didn't want to let himself think of assume the worst and despite his guy feeling he would rather think it Phillip's blood in the water than Nolia's.

As harsh as it seemed Lance was not as sorrowful as he should have been over the death of his friend. It was odd, considering that Lance had grown up with him but Lance was always privy to the fact that Phillip was a brat of a womanizer and threw violent tantrums whenever he was denied. Of course it did not justify the loss of human life but it could've been Nolia's reasoning.

Maybe Phillip had threatened her...

In that moment Lance had picked a side and cemented his opinion of the situation. He would not be persuaded or swayed. In his mind Nolia could do no wrong, she was exempt from the things of this world. Nolia was above it all, she was too beautifully perfect to even conceive an idea such as murder.

Lance believed that whatever happened to Phillip was self induced and Nolia was not to blame. Lance chewed this over for what seemed like an eternity but in reality was five minutes. Vivian was still crying loudly outside his bedroom door and in between sobs called for Lance. Her voice, like the hair that fell into his eyes, was a pestilence to him.

As trivial as it seemed Lance's subconscious had made the length of his hair a problem that was high on his priority list. He fumbled about the bathroom and found the knife that he had so often used for self harm. Lance paused when the sharp tool was in his hand, the cold metal caught in the sunlight and a sharp white beam of light blinded him for a second. The momentary disability allowed him to block out the crumbling debris of his present and Lance swore that he saw the promise of his future. Their future; Lance and Nolia.

It wasn't a particularly long vision and he couldn't make out much but Lance saw a vivid image of Nolia in his arms for a long embrace and they were both blanketed by brilliant light. Lance saw this image on the back of his eyelids whenever he blinked and when his eyes were open he inspected the handy work of his blade.

Lance had cut all of his hair until nothing but mouse brown stubble covered his scalp and the skin of his chin. He was a new person now, a free person, no longer trapped by the things of his past, he felt no pain, no anger, no anguish and no regret. Lance inhaled deeply and just before he was about to leave he regarded himself in the mirror and noticed his especially dilated pupils. He remembered that this was one of the many signs that adrenaline was coursing through his veins and his body was in flight or fight mode.

*hi, so because I take forever to get to my point it looks like there will be a few more chapters. Thanks again for the reads :) *