DRIVE WEST

NINE - The Death of Zen Bellamy

Monday March stood there, looking into the eyes of a man who was probably a kidnapper and a murderer, and caressed the back of his head very softly...

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Soundtrack for the chapter

Since I Left You by Joy Crookes

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That week, Monday had decided there were two things that needed clearing up.

DAY ONE - 10:59PM

Through the years, Monday March had ended wars within herself, brought power-hungry men to their knees, and sent demons straight back to hell, on a daily basis. 

But when Apollo Knight decided to fall apart in front of her, she forgot she did those things. For exactly two minutes and thirty-three seconds, she forgot who she was. She stood there and did nothing; watching the man slip away between her long fingers like rainwater.

That's why on this day, Monday woke up with an undeniable sense of self.

In other words, she remembered who the fuck she was.

With firm steps, she walked up to Apollo, who at this moment wore a grey suit and a wire going up to his ear. "Apollo Austin Knight, you have got to be fucking kidding me." Of course, being on security duty, Apollo was unallowed to speak or answer, which was also a nice bonus. "You can't quit. I need you on this case. Those girls need you." His facial expression didn't move, following the orders he had been given, but his chest bobbed as he sighed at the sound of that, "Yes, we messed up. Yes, we got distracted. We are human. We make mistakes. We learn, and then we do better." She took out her index finger and poked his chest heavily, "You told me that." She slouched, tired of trying to convince him, "Come on, Apollo... please. I've had such a long week. And I hate giving pep talks." She whined. Still, he remained paralyzed, which only made her angrier. She held up her hands and then slapped them to her legs, trying to force a reaction out of him, 

"Are you listening to me?? Say something, Knight! You can't just walk away on things! You can't just walk away on ME!" His silence remained. "Fine. Whatever, I'm leaving." She turned around and gave two steps to the opposite direction. Suddenly she turned around again, "You know what, since you can't speak, I've got a couple things to say. This thing we've been doing, this-- game we've been playing? I'm sick of it. I'm sick of the flirting, of the jealousy. I am really sorry about Teresa but that doesn't give you the right to go around playing with me like that. I'm not a toy. And this isn't Quantico anymore. This is real life and those girls need you. Their families are desperate right now, losing sleep, living in this limbo, auto-pilot state without answers and dreaming to see their faces one more time. I was wrong to get distracted but Switzerland was a wake-up call and you can't ignore that. I know you're not the kind of man who would do that so right now I need you to step up and never let it happen again." Tears shimmered in his eyes before he closed them shut. She got closer to him, "You tried running away from it, how did that work out for you?" She paused, "Are you happy now?"

He opened his eyes and stepped forward, almost chest to chest with her. His head hung low so that their faces could be close to each other, "Are you?" His jaw clentched.

Apollo's eyes hungered for a curiosity that had been building up inside of him like maggots eating away a dead thing. A curiosity that was malicious and poisonous. He wasn't proud of it, but his manhood was the rock midst his undiscovered sea of emotions, and the only thing he understood.