Toxic Cure

c14

I stared at the beautiful sunset from the hill we sat on. The sky was about three different shades of pink mixed with about two shades of yellow. I took a picture and smiled at the resulting photo.

"This place is really beautiful, and the view is amazing," I smiled.

"I used to come here a lot," he smiled, "especially when angry."

"You should come here more often then," I suggested, causing him to smile even wider.

"You have really cute dimples," I complimented.

"Thanks, you too," he smiled.

"I like this side of you," I told him. "It's easier to communicate with you this way."

"Because I'm more vulnerable," he sighed. "I don't like this side of me."

"What's wrong with being a little vulnerable?" I asked.

"People take advantage...the world takes advantage...and....before you even know it...everything and one is gone," he answered, his head directed towards the sky, but his focus elsewhere.

"When my parents died, I too felt as if I had nothing," I related.

"But you had your brother," he pointed out. "I have no one."

"You have yourself," I disagreed, "and your friends."

"I still lost a lot of people I cared about," he countered, "and it was my fault why it happened."

"How was it your fault?" I asked.

"I witnessed someone get murdered, and then the murder tracked me down and came after me, but I wasn't in my house when it was blown up," he answered. "I tracked the guy down, and...well, I killed him, but doing it wasn't as easy as how it is now. At the time, I was conflicted. If I didn't do it, my family wouldn't have gotten justice because the police weren't doing anything about the crime. If I chose to do it, I knew that would be something I'd have to deal with for the rest of my life. Justice was served."

"So you started killing others for fun?" I asked, and he shook his head in response.

"When I took down the murderer, his gang members came after me. I had to take them down too. It was really crazy at the end. I, a 19 year old at the time, took down 26 gang members! News went around, and even the corrupted bastards we call cops were scared of me. Eventually I met this guy named Giovanni, one of the wickedest Mafia members. He told me that I had skills, and he trained me. He cared for me like a father would for a son, but he too was taken down by someone. So the following year, which happened to be last year, I took his spot and later became head of the mafia," he storied. "The hitman part is only a side job that lets me have more action than I already do."

"I can't believe you went through all of that in two years," I said empathizingly.

"Me either," he mumbled.

"I'm sorry for your-" I started before being cut off.

"Don't!" Nick hushed. "I've heard that a million and one times. It's not gonna bring them back."

"That's true," I agreed. "I get how you feel, like I actually understand, Nick. Yes, you had it worse than me, but I still know how it feels. I was pretty bitter when my parents died too, but my will to want better for myself overcame that."

"I'm not looking for a better life, Sage. There's none for me. I'll live how I live now, and then I'll rot in hell," he disagreed.

"Why do you always look at the glass half empty?" I complained.

"Because that's exactly how I feel!" Nick replied while staring into my eyes.

His eyes were still dark and cold, but there were hints of anger, grief, and pain too.

"Sorry," I apologized.

"For what?" he frowned.

"Over stepping my boundaries," I answered.

"It's okay," he accepted. "Can we change the topic?"

"Yeah, of course," I half smiled. "What are your favorite hobbies?"

He chuckled at my teacher-like question before answering, "I like to write and draw."

"Me too!" I gasped. "My artistic skilss aren't the best, but it's very nice, and I'll write about anything."

"Same," he related, "only I'm really close to being a professional artist, well, was. That's not really a passion anymore, just something I do for fun."

"What are you passionate about now?" I asked.

He shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Nothing, I guess."

"There's gotta be something," I disagreed.

"Nope," he countered before looking out at the sun.

I then remembered the conversation Nathan had with Nick when Nathan first met me.

"What about that girl?" I asked.

"What girl?" Nick frowned.

"The one Nathan said you're obsessed with," I answered. "There's gotta be some passion in your heart for her."

"What heart?" Nick chuckled, causing a smile to escape my face.

"As scary and dominant as you are, there's still a little good in you," I smiled. "I can see it."

"Looks can be deceiving," he teased, causing me to smile even wider.

"Well, I believe it," I told.

"I don't know why," he said, "you're only setting yourself up for disappointment."

"And why is that?" I questioned.

"You'll see someday," he answered.

His phone rang, and he sighed before answering. Meanwhile, I went on my phone. I still hadn't received a text from my brother, and that worried me a lot.

What if he was hurt? What if he was lost? What if he was de-

"Sage," Nick called out, interrupting me from my thoughts.

"Yes?" I replied.

"We gotta go," he informed.

"Is there something wrong?" I frowned.

"One of my gangs is under attack," he answered.

We got up and rushed to the car.