Overdose

28. The Executioner

"Where is Lazarus?" Xander was yelling about how he had been missing for hours. "He's not answering any of my calls and he won't tell me where he is."

"I have no idea where he is." Xander had kept me in his office pretty much ever since the escape happened. I don't know why. Maybe he thought that I would tell him that I actually was planning on escaping. Caesar was dead set on believing that I was helping the others escape, but thankfully Xander didn't think that.

I didn't think it was possible for Xander to actually experience emotions, but I wonder if he thought of me as a son. I was a favourite of his clearly, as he didn't treat me as harshly as he did the other prisoners. Well, to be fair, he did ruin my life. And he made me hurt the prisoners on his behalf. But when it came to physical pain, he gave me none of that. The worst thing Xander had done to me wasn't trying to take my emotions. It wasn't him making me harm others. The worst thing that Xander had done was show me that people like him existed. People who will torture you and pretend that they're really helping you. People who will make you hurt others. People who will kill someone you love and then force you to hear all the details of how they ended their life. People who will make you hate yourself and make you wish that you were dead.

"Do you think he left? Completely?" I asked, leaning forward. Xander turned from the window, sitting in his chair.

"If he did, it would be the best decision he ever made."

"Why?"

"Because," he smiled, putting his hands behind his head. "The Facility isn't his anymore, it's mine. And I don't plan on leaving. I can't be beat, Executioner."

Hearing that name again made me uncomfortable. I didn't know how to respond, so I just nodded. It terrified me, the thought of what Xander might do if Lazarus had really just left. It also made me angry. Lazarus just leaving us? After all he supposedly wanted to do with The Facility?

"I always knew he wasn't going to be able to handle this place." Xander chuckled, picking up the skull. "It took him too many years to figure that out."

Xander was a monster, and I never agreed with him on anything. However, the things he was saying didn't sound too unbelievable. Lazarus obviously couldn't have handled The Facility. He had disappeared. He had left us all behind, and he didn't seem to care.

"That's a shame." It's all I could say.

"Ah, it sure is." Xander sighed, moving around some papers on his desk. "Now I just have to worry about Caesar. I don't need him letting all the power get to his head."

The irony.

"Yeah. We don't need anyone else around here letting the power get to their head." I said under my breath, but I'm sure Xander heard it anyways.

"I'm starting to think that Caesar isn't the person that I need by my side." We made eye contact. "Perhaps I need someone who has made it clear where their loyalties lie."

"When you find that person, let me know. I need to go do some training." I needed to get out of that room as fast as possible. If he was saying what I thought he was saying, then I knew I would be in trouble. There was no way I would be Xander's second in command.

I made my way to the training room. Since I had no one in The Facility to talk to, I was going to spend my time doing something, and that something was not talking to Xander. Dr. Helena and Caesar were by the doors, heavily engaged into a conversation. They didn't notice me as I walked in. I walked over to the treadmill. Cardio was important, especially if you plan on escaping. You never know when you're going to have to run long distances. It had already started getting dark when I left Xander's office, and it wasn't long before I noticed the guards leaving their posts. That meant night had finally fallen.