Chapter Twelve – Reese
I can only imagine what’s going on in Logan’s head as he emerges from the basement and spots me a good ten feet away.
I’m sitting at the table, sipping on some coffee.
Truth be told, I didn’t know if he’d prove himself and make it out of that maze alive, and if he did make it to the end, there was a chance he’d choose the other door.
That one wouldn’t have been pretty.
The moment Logan sees me, he freezes. The wheels turn in his head, and his green eyes are slow to narrow in my direction.
I spot the numerous cuts on his skin: on his cheek, on his neck, on one of his arms. It looks as though he even has a wound on his head somewhere, because blood drips from his hairline.
The worst wound, the deepest, looks to be the one on his neck, but none are deep enough to permanently maim or disfigure him.
All those wounds will heal nicely, although the one on his neck might leave a tiny scar in its place.
Frankly, I’m as shocked to see him as he is shocked to see me. I didn’t have high hopes for him, for reasons that would be obvious to anyone who knows him. He’s not the kind of person who would ever choose someone else’s life over his own.
And yet here he is. Today is a day full of surprises.
A smirk tugs at my face, and I greet him without getting up, “Hello, Logan. Nice to see you again.”
I’m barely able to get the words out before he regains himself, and once he’s back to being mobile, he storms right over to me and lands a hard punch on my face.
By the time he reaches me, I’ve set my mug down, ready for his anger, but I let him have the one hit.
He’s furious with me, and he has every right to be.
The second blow, however, is one I stop with my own hand, catching his thrown fist and pushing him back, all without standing.
“Now, now,” I say, able to ignore the blossom of pain on my cheek, “why don’t you have a seat so we can talk?”
Logan doesn’t move a muscle. He breathes hard, his stare more like a glare. He’s probably imagining killing me with his bare hands, perhaps strangulation? Again, I can’t blame him for his anger. If I was dropped in a maze like a lab rat, I would be pretty ticked off, too.
“Why the fuck would I sit?” he growls out. “You’re fucking insane—”
“That,” I pointedly say, “is up for debate, but as for right now, you and I have other things to discuss, such as Wren, so please, sit down.” The moment I say her name, I note the way his body tenses up.
“She’s not here, is she? If she’s going through the same fucked-up maze—”
I shake my head. “I would never put Wren in a maze like that.” Gesturing to the chair on the opposite side of the table, I say again, “Sit. Let’s talk.”
He looks around. I don’t know if he’s searching for a weapon of some kind or if he’s debating on whether he should just run and ignore my request. But, seeing as how he’s here and not down there having made the wrong decision, I don’t think he’s going to run. Not now that I brought Wren up.
After a moment or two of internal debate, Logan moves to sit across from me. He never takes his eyes off me, and his mouth is turned in a deep frown.
“I have to admit,” I say, moving so I face him, “I didn’t know if you’d make it out of there. Kudos to you. People tend to let their minds go when they find themselves in a situation like that. Believe it or not, you’re the first person who hasn’t disappointed me when it comes to my mazes.”
“You’re a fucking psycho.”
I chuckle. “Yeah, I suppose I am.”
“So, what, you trap people and kill them in mazes like that?”
Now I shrug. “The trapping and kidnapping, yes. Killing them, well, you remember the first message you saw. Your life was always in your hands, as their lives were in their hands.” My brothers have a much more intimate way of dealing with their obsessions.
I prefer to let my subjects make their own choices.
“That’s some twisted shit.” Logan waits a moment before he asks, “What would’ve happened if I would’ve chosen my life?”
No point in lying to him now. If he’s that curious, then he might as well know what particular fate he narrowly avoided. “You would’ve walked into a dead-end room, and the door would have swung shut behind you, sealed up tight, and eventually you would have run out of air. Not a fun way to go.”
He gives me an unimpressed look. “You really are fucking insane.”
I only grin at him. I have to admit, even though he’s radiating anger, he’s quite calm, considering the ordeal he just went through. He is surprising me more and more. “Again, I never claimed otherwise.”
“What the fuck is this about? Why do you want to talk about Wren?”
“Why’d you choose her life over your own?” I shoot back. “I didn’t even have to specify whose life you were deciding on. You already knew deep down I meant Wren when you saw the choice at the end.”
Logan’s jaw tightens. “What do you want with her?”
“What do you want with her?” My question causes him to look away for the first time, his frown deepening. He doesn’t say a word, but he doesn’t have to. I already know what he wants with her.
Finally, after a while, he looks up and sends me a glare. “If you hurt her—”
“I would never,” I state with vehemence. “Unlike you, that is. Let’s not forget how your actions caused her to get hit that night.” As I say it, a look of confusion crosses his face. “Yes, I know all about what happened that night at the karaoke bar.”
“You were there. I fucking knew I felt someone watching me.”
“I’ve been watching you for a long time.”
The declaration doesn’t appear to surprise him in the least. “I fucking knew it. Why?”
“Because you were so close to Wren. She is… unlike anyone else I’ve ever met.
She’s unique, precious, the kind of person that makes me feel alive and not so, how did you put it?
Fucking insane. I’ve been watching Wren a lot, too.
Getting to know her and her life. You were an unknown for a long time, and now that you passed the test, I’m confident you won’t hurt her again, but just for the sake of things, if you do hurt her, next time I won’t give you a choice between your life and hers. Next time I will simply take yours.”
“Next time,” Logan echoes unhappily. “So, what, you’re going to let me walk out of here like nothing happened? What if I go to the police and tell them all about how crazy you are?”
“If you do that, then I suppose I’ll have to tell the world you’re Pope from Black Sacrament, and that one of the other members of the band is your younger brother. I do wonder if Black Sacrament would be so popular if the mystery of its band members was no longer a mystery.”
He doesn’t ask me how I know, but if he did, I would tell him that I have my ways. My ways mainly involve secret cameras, but seeing as how he doesn’t say a word after that, I think he realizes it’d be best if he keeps his mouth shut about this.
“As long as you don’t hurt Wren again, you and I are on the same page,” I say.
“And what page is that?”
“You care for her, in your own way, and though she pretends she’s moved on from you, she still cares about you. You and I, we share those feelings toward her.”
Logan scoffs. “Does she know you’re a fucking psycho?”
“No, she doesn’t know about my mazes, but I do plan on showing her some of the darker parts of me soon enough—but that said, I won’t hurt her. She is everything someone you like and I could never hope to be.”
“And you think she won’t turn you down once you show her your crazy shit?”
“Wren has a bit of a dark side to herself, I think. It’s why she’s drawn to someone like you… and me.” I wait a moment before I add, “She was just here, not too long ago. She and I got very intimately acquainted with each other—something you two did a long time ago.”
His jaw grinds when he hears that, but he doesn’t say a word.
“I brought you here to test you, Logan, but I also brought you here in hopes that you and I can, perhaps, work together to do what’s right for her. Seeing as how you passed the test, I am willing to team up, so to speak.”
That gets him to laugh. “Team up? Team up for what? What the hell are you trying to get at here, you freak?” He only lashes out because he can’t do anything else, so I let him say whatever he wants. He can insult me all he wishes; it doesn’t matter to me.
“I want Wren. You want Wren. We both want her, and I don’t think either one of us is willing to walk away.
You passed my test, so I am willing to see what happens between you two and stay out of it.
Even so, I will not relent in my pursuit of her.
She’s mine, even if I have to share her with you every now and then. ”
It’s clear he doesn’t know what to think, because it takes him a long while to mutter, “This is crazy. You’re crazy.”
“Yes, you keep saying that. Can we move on from that and discuss Wren?”
“You’re saying you want to… to what? To see who she picks out of the two of us? Like some kind of twisted competition?”
“In a way, I suppose. I’m certainly not going to take a step back unless she tells me to.”
He sighs and looks away. “Well, I think you’re fucking nuts, and I don’t think she wants anything to do with me. You’re wrong about her still caring for me. I fucked up, which means you can do whatever the fuck you want. She doesn’t want me.”
Now it’s my turn to sigh. “Going to her and spilling your guts isn’t enough to make up for what you did,” I say, and that causes him to glare at me.
He’s wondering how I know all this. “If you want to have a chance at getting back into her good graces, you need to do more than that. You need to show her how much she means to you. Actions speak louder than words. It’s what they always say, and I’ve found that saying to be truer than most.”
Logan runs a hand through his black hair. “This is so messed up.”
“It doesn’t have to be. Surely you knew there was a darker world out there.
After all, you’re Pope from Black Sacrament.
You’re used to a certain kind of lifestyle, as I’m used to mine.
Seeing as how Wren used to love to sing, I would imagine that, perhaps, you could put your old skills to use when it comes to proving yourself to her.
You need to do more than you’ve ever done. ”
I wouldn’t say I’m pushing him to make things right, but I do want to see Wren happy. I don’t like her being torn in two; she got enough of that with her ex.
Logan is silent for a few moments, and then he asks me, “You’d really be okay if she chose me at the end of this?”
“I don’t plan on laying down and rolling over, if that’s what you’re asking. Would you be okay if she chose me?” Turning it around on him makes him think of it a little different, and I smirk at him as I wait to hear his reply.
He groans. “This whole situation is fucked up, but I guess you and I are no strangers to fucked up things.” With a shake of his head, he even manages to smirk like me.
“And I bet I’m more used to sharing than you are.
I don’t need to kidnap someone and put them through a life-or-death maze for that.
Hell, this whole thing will probably be easier for me than it will be for you. ”
There’s the cocky ex-rockstar. Now that the adrenaline is no longer coursing through his system so much, he is turning back to his old self.
Well, hopefully not the old self that got booted from the band to begin with. That particular Logan is one I’ll take issue with, but provided he turns a new leaf and doesn’t hurt Wren again, he and I can get along.
Besides, obsession might run through my blood, but there’s another thing the Scotts are very good at, even if it’s touch and go sometimes.
The Scotts are no strangers to sharing those they cherish above all else.