Redress (gxg)

Chapter 10 "Hurt"

I watched the man carefully, trying to wrap my mind about the fact that Ethan had hurt someone yet again, and this time was worse as the victim was willing to kill someone, specifically Lauren, as payback. If the situation was different, and Lauren wasn't here, I would be able to handle this easily, but the timing was wrong, and I had to think of Lauren's safety first before mine.

As I examined the man's feature who was standing threateningly in front of us, I could tell he wasn't in a good place, with those bloodshot eyes that were staring at the woman behind me, and the hollow cheeks covered by the growing stubble. But apart from those, judging by his face, you wouldn't think he could possibly do something like this as he looked like he couldn't even hurt a fly. 

I admit, he and I were alike. He wanted revenge as did I, but the only difference was, he didn't think things through, and he let his emotions got the best of him. Even if he managed to kill Lauren, I knew he wouldn't live for long as the Coldwells would surely shut him up.

"What did Ethan do to you?" I asked, trying to get some information out of him. If he would open up, then maybe I could convince him to change his mind.

"You don't wanna know..." he said slowly.

"But I do...we both do," I argued, referring to Lauren who was standing silently behind me. Now that I realized, she had sidled closer to me, causing me to feel her warm shaky breath on the back of my neck. 

The man shook his head in frustration as he took his time collecting himself. "He took everything from me...my son...He killed my son!"

"What? What are you talking about?" Lauren asked incredulously while I frowned, suspecting something, like there was some kind of connection here I hadn't yet figured out. 

"What was your son's name?" I asked slowly as my heart had again started to beat faster in anticipation. 

He clenched his jaw as he stared intently at me, gripping the knife tightly, "Eric Knowles...Ethan killed my son Eric." As soon as the name escaped his lips, the thought of that night I saw Ethan shot the guy named Eric had instantly flashed through my mind. I may not knew Eric's last name, but I could tell this man standing in front was his father. That was why he looked familiar even though I just met him. 

"That's not true!" Lauren argued, "Ethan wouldn't kill anyone. He might be an arrogant asshole, but he is just that...He couldn't take someone's life, like what you're accusing him," she added, causing the man to suddenly bark in laughter, and I glared at him, not liking how he was mocking Lauren. I felt bad for her though, because I knew she deserved to know everything about the man she was to marry, but telling her the truth was the last thing I wanna do as I also knew it wouldn't do her any good. 

"You clearly don't know your fiance," the man spoke after recovering from a moment of laughter, "...or it could be that you're defending him?...Either way, it doesn't really matter though, because it won't stop me from having my revenge...What could be a better way than to hurt his beloved fiancee?" he stated menacingly, "...Ethan killed the most important person in my life, it would be wise to return the favor, wouldn't it?"

"How can you be so sure Ethan had killed your son? Did you see him do it?" I asked, feigning oblivious about what had truly happened to his son Eric, and as soon as he heard me, his expression immediately turned to a scowl.

"I knew what the Coldwells are capable of. If you crossed them, they wouldn't hesitate to kill you...That was what happened to my son. He stole from Ethan Coldwell just so he could pay my hospital bills, and went to hiding after that..." Now that he had mentioned about the hospital bills, I was certain that it was really his son whom I saw got murdered by Ethan. "We rarely saw each other since that, but I was okay with it as long as I could see him alive, and breathing...until that night I visited him..." he paused as a single tear had rolled down, "I wanted to see him...but all that greeted me was his dead body on the floor, a bullet hole on his chest."