there will be blood

Fuck ICE

Fuck Nazis

Fuck Zionists

"What could you even love about me, 여보?" she asked coldly, glaring back into his eyes, and daring him to answer. It was then she knew she might have shattered every sweet memory they ever shared, confessing to her sin of layers in lies. — Except, well, just how much of it was indeed a lie? "We don't fight for the same thing, Mal. We never have. You knew this, so what the f–ck are you trying at right now?"

Nothing the lethal woman had said was a lie. Their story was doomed from the beginning — too different and yet loyal to their causes in similar ways. It was a Greek tragedy. A destiny they couldn't escape. It was always supposed to end like that; with one killing the other. "It felt important to say," he coughed out, watery eyes searching for hers. "If I am to deliver my last words, it felt mandatory to tell you." It didn't change anything but it changed everything.

Then of course there was the prospect of her proposition. Sergio wasn't any kind of thug or hardened criminal by any means—he dealt weed on the side to help keep himself afloat—but he wasn't exactly a model citizen either. He'd cheated, gambled and stolen plenty in his life. It was a dog eat dog world they lived in and sometimes to survive you had to do some less than morally sound things. Sergio couldn't deny that the offer was tempting. With the marijuana industry growing, the market became much more saturated and his clientele had dwindled over the years. Pills though, that was always a hot commodity. He could make a good profit if the supply was high enough. That gave him pause and he looked at Lorena as he weighed the offer. "And how exactly do you plan on robbing the medical station?" He quirked a brow, curious now on how she planned to pull off such a plan. | @rxtualistic

She wouldn’t have been able to hide the smug, triumphant smile as he gave in even if she had wanted — which she did not. Cockiness radiated from every pore of her body at the personal victory just achieved. Or, at least, what she perceived as such. “Do you really think I am that stupid?” Immediately raising a hand, she rushed to speak before he even had the chance. “No, don’t answer that.” Giving ammo to the enemy wasn’t her style and yet... “I’m not going to tell you my plan so you can go and do it by yourself.” A pause. “Plus, the less you know, the better. That way, if you get caught, you won’t be able to chat like a parrot.” Looking around them as if scrutinizing the area, she continued. “I just need you to drive. Do you think you can get your hands on a random car before the week is over?”

She tried keeping her mind occupied with continuing to get her parents' things in order, trying to arrange for her mother to be cremated so she could take her back home once all was said and done and still getting the house in order to put up for sale. However, that only served to put even more stress on the blonde as her father's debts and grievances only seemed to continue to accumulate. She felt like she was going mad. The only thing that really seemed to keep her from completely breaking down was the lavish soaking tub in the bathroom that Evie spent at least a couple hours in each night before laying down for a restless sleep wondering if the next day she'd finally hear from Evan.

Then three days later, a knock came to her door and Evie padded quietly over to the door to see Evan standing on the other side. Instantly her heart began to quicken at the sight of him, the undeniable relief that came over her making her rush to unlock the door to let him in. Only he wasn't alone she realized, seeing the worker pushing a tray of food behind him. She looked between the two men with a quizzical look before Evan was speaking, mentioning how she wasn't eating. She frowned, wanting to argue that she had, just that she hadn't done it on his dime. It hadn't felt right so she had gone down to one of the hotel cafes and got herself a couple of sandwiches and pastries to snack on. In truth though, she knew she hadn't been eating as much as she should but the stress and anxiety had really hindered her appetite.

Evie moved further into the room, standing awkwardly as she watched the worker set the various plates onto the table. Her eyes met Evan's when he brought up her eating again and she gave a small shrug. "I haven't been very hungry all that much. Been dealing with a lot of stuff." She said, trying to brush off his concern. "I've been fine though." She lied, unconvincingly even to herself. She watched as he tipped the worker, catching once again that it wasn't just a couple of dollars, before they were left alone together. Still feeling a little unsure, Evie didn't move from her spot until after Evan had sat and poured himself a glass of wine, telling her he'd answer her questions if she sat down. So, finally she conceded, moving to take a seat in the chair he'd pulled out for her and reaching over to pluck a french fry from one of the plates, taking a bite. She raised her brows at him as she chewed slowly —There, happy? —Her expression read.

The most frustrating part, the fry was actually pretty damn good and it was at that moment that she realized how hungry she actually was. She tried to think back to the last thing she ate, realizing she'd had nothing but coffee and water over the past few hours. It was a little irritating to realize that he still caught on to these things with her after all these years. She popped the rest of the fry into her mouth after finishing the first bite, starting to reach for another.

She'd come up with so many questions over the last few days, had planned out whole conversations in her head on how best to approach all of this. Yet despite all that effort, Evie still found it hard to figure out how to approach this asdelicately. She realized though there wasn't really anything delicate about any of this and if she really wanted answers, she was just going to have to be forward, as anxious as it may have made her. Then again, being left in the dark felt even worse.

Which elephant should she address first was the real question. The turn of phrase was almost ironic as Evie thought about it, since she was sure the room they currently sat in was probably big enough to actually fit an elephant in. "What kind of work do you do?" She finally asked, meeting his gaze. "I mean all this—" she said, glancing around the room as she waved her empty hand around in the same general direction. "—it's kind of overwhelming." Not bad per say, just nothing like what she'd ever been used to before. "And then you have people to watch over me and everything is so hush hush. I feel like I'm being kept out of the loop of something but what that is exactly? I don't know." She said with a small sigh, shaking her head. "What is all this Evan?" She asked, brows knit together softly, eyes pleading for him to help her make sense of everything. | @rxtualistic

An eternity.

In the grand scheme of things, three days were nothing but the blink of an eye. A long sigh. A blurred memory. A coffee going cold on a forgotten desk. For the average person, three days just marked the ruthless pass of time. A few hours closer to that date circled over and over on the calendar. A step closer to death. Three days, continuity. Nothing relevant was supposed to happen during such a short period of time. That was not how life worked — at least not in people’s minds. Humans weren’t programmed to accept that change could be ( and often was ) sudden, drastic. Brutal. It was unbearable to think that everything you had spent a lifetime building could disappear in a day. In a minute. In a second. One moment be there and the next... boom! Gone.

There was nothing as cruel as time.

Evan knew this well. He had watched his whole world crumble in front of his eyes and had been denied the time to properly process the changes. Grief had been pushed aside, forgotten in favour of more productive emotions. Much like it was happening to Evie now, things moved too fast, too soon, too suddenly. And by the time he could sit down and reflect, the damage was already done. Grief had been overtaken by anger. A protective anger. One that hid vulnerability. One that didn’t allow pain to be bothered.

It had taken exactly 70 hours longer than intended to knock on the door of the expensive hotel room. The plan had never been to leave the blonde alone, with no answers and just her thoughts to fill the blanks. But, as it often happened, life had gotten in the way.

Evie had reacted like he had imagined — stubbornly refusing to admit that she was hungry, downplaying her own needs. As he took a long sip of the wine, god he had needed that, his eyes fixed on the woman in front of him. Her reticence to just dig into the many dishes to choose from elicited a chuckle from the confines of his soul. Some things never change, no matter how much time passes. “Very.” The reply to the question drawn on her brows was nonchalant, and yet, there was an underlying amusement to each word impossible to ignore. Or maybe it was the twinkle in his eyes as he placed the now-empty glass on the table between them without tearing his gaze from Evie’s blue one.

But the lightness didn’t stay long. Shoulders squattering, back stiff against the chair. One leg crossed over the other, then uncrossed as the man shifted his position. Jaw clenching, he finally laced his fingers, leaning over the table some. That pep talk he had given himself on the drive to the hotel had boosted his confidence, convincing him that sharing the truth would be easy. But now, looking at Evie’s eyes and the veiled suspicions behind her pupils, the urge to lie resurfaced like a tidal wave. But, deep down, Evan knew she already knew the answer. Evie had always been brilliant, and it wouldn’t be hard for her to put two and two together. It wasn’t answers she was seeking, it was confirmation. And lying, even by deflection, would only lacerate what little trust she might have in him. “The kind of job not many people are willing to do.” Sighing, he broke eye contact. “I’m not a good man, Evie.” His gaze returned to her, lips curling into a self-deprecating smirk. “But you’re safe with me.”