Pirate Assassin

Page 15

Zack had not even the slightest clue as to what he was doing; sitting at the same table and drinking a caramel frappucino with his best friend turned sworn enemy. He put the styrofoam cup down in disgust. He never even liked coffee. "I thought you didn't like coffee..." Theo asked him with an eyebrow raised, his tone carefully neutral. Zack scowled at him and forced himself to take another gulp. "Yeah, well," he said with a sneer, "looks like there are a lot of things you never knew about me," Theo's face flashed with anger but as soon as it left, just as soon as it appeared and Theo just sighed. "I suppose you're right," and before Zack could come up with a snappy remark, he continued, "You know, I've been thinking about things ever since this whole fiasco started. I guess, it IS kinda true that I abandoned you. I mean, true, I tried to talk to you but I realised that I never really bothered whenever you just faded into the background. I'm sorry," There it was again. Theo's humble apologies which usually managed to turn the tides against any opponent but Zack wasn't going to be fooled. "Yeah, I'm glad you admit it," Zack said scornfully, "and I hope you know that you have been the cause for the all the crap I've gone through," He thought back on all the embarrassments that had happened to him, just so that he could be a little more popular. All he achieved were labels which he hated; a constant reminder of how he didn't belong to society. "No," Zack flinched at the firmness Theo said it with, "I admit that I may have abandoned you but you could have made an effort to start again," Zack just stared at him. "You put yourself in a mindset that no one accepted you but the fact is that if you had just tried harder and worked at it, you could have made new friends. You were too scared to get out and actually do things your way," Zack's face went pale with anger, "So this is what it is, eh? A time just to poke at all the points where I went wrong??" but it was a weak argument and he knew it. Theo shook his head, "No man. This is me telling you that BOTH of us have made wrong decisions, and that it has led to this. I accept my mistake and I'm prepared to pay the consequences. The question here is: Are you?" That was also the question Zack, deep down, was asking himself. He couldn't think and he didn't WANT to think. His anger was holding him together like a broken pot held together with cellotape. It looked hideous, but it still held. However, once the tape gave way, it would just be broken pieces again. Zack shook the image aside, "No. Its all your fault and you know it. Your bloody 'holy priest' act won't trick me. I will never forgive you. Not now, not ever," and he slammed his fist on the table. As he did, the world froze. Zack blinked at Theo, who was about to lean forward and reply. His mouth was beginning to open and say words that Zack would never hear. He whipped his head around and what he saw made his blood run cold. It was like someone pushed the 'pause' button on a remote. Like Click, Zack thought, though his mind was far from laughter. His mind dug up a memory that he had suppresed, a memory of this happening before. A memory of an open window, a bedside conversation and a clock which showed that only a minute had passed when surely it was much longer than that. Zack began trembling as a figure detached itself from the crowd heading out of the mall. It was a figure that appeared in his nightmares. It was the beggar man. When he saw the extent of the fear that had gripped Zack, he began to smile.