Lost in their Past

Chapter 26:- Joliet County

He loathed Mark, the stinky little bastard who thought of himself as the greatest human being to ever walk the earth.

Charlus had spent many sleepless nights trying to outdo the son of a bitch, the sweaty days in the Silver Room, the blisters, the blood... it was all coming back to him. But no matter how hard he seemed to try, the blond garbage had always managed to dive right in to snatch away his hard-earned prize. First was Grace and then the position of being the second one in charge, thank god for the later didn't remain in the act, James, the team leader, had quickly vetoed the abrasious decision.

After Ailsa, his dear mother had declared him dead, Charlus was finally at peace... it was shameful to a foreign eye, but how could those simpletons ever understand how much Charlus had suffered under the Yolk of the mighty Mark Jorum.

But fate was too cruel... Mark had left behind a progeny.

As the cold winds of Joliet County brushed against his cheeks, all those thoughts started to come back to him. The fights with Mark, the flirting with Joanne and the days with James... he missed him the most.

His mind slipped back to the last conversation he had in the Raider Manor before the Academy had opened again and everyone had left.

It was an hour past twilight and for the first time in twenty years, bulbs of lighting lit across the yellow pavement. Rooms no longer smelled of watered-down planks, particles of dust remain suspended in the air undiscovered, the lights in the room illuminated everything within a ten-mile radius.

The Manor was alive after two decades... the halls were no longer filled with the silence of their dead ancestors, it was shining, but that's not how Charlus saw it.

Even though the hall was illuminated and filled with voices coming from every corner, it was still dead to him. He could not see the blinding lights or hear the chatter of conspiracies that was going on, the Raider Manor had died along with James, it was nothing more than a mere vessel held hostage by foreign forces.

As he walked in its halls, he could still remember the olden days before the war, how they used to marauder the halls breaking vases, destroying hundreds of Mrs. Raider's precious artwork with permanent markers. He could still remember his toothy smile and throaty version of whatever song he was newly released.

"Oh I believe in yesterday...!"' James would break into one of the verses as if he was suffering from a fit.

"Blimey!" Charlus would say, "Why do you break into a song now and then? Your life isn't a musical!"

"Oh... how I wish it could be," He would reply while wrapping his arm around Charlus's shoulder, "let's shoot a musical!"

As he walked along the miserable hallway, a grim smile broke on his face as he remembered James's famous words, 'Let's shoot a musical!'.

"We never got to shoot a musical," He wondered.

Before he knew, his walk around the Manor like an old sea widow's ghost had ended with him facing the rolling balcony. For a moment, his brain was clouded with self-doubt because he was sure of the fact that when he had started his walk, his intention wasn't to reach the Rolling Balcony.

Rolling balcony... the name echoed in his mind, Why are you torturing me, James?

The Rolling balcony was the name given to the balcony on the west side by James, it was one of the most Plationicaly beautiful things to ever exist. The whole Balcony was suspended over nothing but an old cliff. Staring at the roaring hill usually gave the person a gigantic headache, but something about it was enchanting, it could bend a person's will compelling them to stay, the place was magical in its chaotic way.