Chapter 2

There was a time when I had loved Lucas. He wasn't always the monster he was now.

Once upon a time, a long time ago he had been a sweet goofy smiling boy. I remember when he was six and I was five, we had gone for a walk in the woods behind our houses. We stumbled upon an open field filled with wild flowers. He has somehow fashioned the flowers into a crown and placed it on my head. I recalled him smiling at me, his wide grin showing off his missing front teeth. "You're the princess stuck in the tower. I'm going to be your knight here to save you from the dragon. Candy I'll always protect you I promise." He leaned in and kissed my cheek.

After we linked pinkies and chanted "Together since the beginning, together from the start, together in the present, together in the end, together forever and never apart."

After that we ran around the field playing make believe; I was always the helpless maiden, he always the knight rushing to protect me.

I would never know what happened to the sweet boy who vowed to protect me. A few years after he became someone I didn't recognize. He had stayed the same adorable boy in everyone's eyes, everyone's but mine.

It was as though I went to be one night and woke up in an alternate universe. I never got an explanation. I don't think I ever would. But my Lucas, my loving and protective Lucas turned into a monster, he became the thing he promised to protect me from.

It was strange really. Looking back on my time with him. It felt like another lifetime.

It was hard to believe that I had once truly loved Lucas. Even after he changed a part of me still cared about him. I always hoped for his redemption. I thought that deep down Lucas would one day turn back into the kind, caring sweet boy he once was.

In this very moment though my gut tore itself apart as I realized that Lucas Avery was beyond hope.

As I stated at the mangled piano I knew there was no way Lucas could be saved now.

The beautiful cherry colored oak had been smashed to smithereens. The ivory keys had been scattered across the floor. The pianos strings laid helplessly among the wreckage.

After I managed to compose myself from my run in with Lucas I got along with my day as though I had never seen him.

I went to my classes composed as ever. Smiling and laughing with my classmates. I had ignored the chatter surrounding Lucas' mysterious return to Saint Mary's. If anyone had even mentioned his name to me I just smiled half heartedly and denied knowing him at all.

After all he got put away right before his sophomore year here. I hadn't even been a student at Saint Mary's while he was attending here. Since Richfield was a half hour away and I was one of the few people from the area and one of the handful of people who didn't stay in the dorms, I was lucky that most of the people attending Saint Mary's were from all over the world. So no one knew of my past involvement with Lucas.

Lucas and I were the only ones from Richfield. Therefore only we knew we had a past.

The gossip mill had been going off the chain since Louise Anne's first sighting of Lucas at exactly 7:52am, eight minutes before the first warning bell went off. Not five minutes later was everyone talking about the return of the crazy psycho manic.

"Can you believe they even let him back here? I heard he killed his cell mate and ate his organs. Apparently he thinks it'll make him immortal."

"Do you even know what got him locked up? I heard from a friend of mine that grew up with him that he liked to stick his pricker in small helpless animals. No joke."

"I heard he ripped two guys apart with his bare hands. Literally though. Like limb from limb. I think one guy survived. But hey could reattach the right arm though."

"He's literally like a real life Norman Bates. I cannot believe the school board let him come back. Cindy said that she saw him having sex with a corpse."

That wasn't even half of the stories that were swirling around campus.

It was kind of funny to hear what everyone had to say about him. They were clearly terrified of him. During lunch period I saw him sitting by himself at the table that sat directly in the middle of the cafeteria. All the immediate tables surrounding it had been empty. No one dared get close to him.

Well besides Emmet Morgan, whom from what I gathered was a close friend of Lucas's. I had never met him.

But I did know of him. He was sectioned off into Michelangelo. He had a pretty twisted mind from what I heard. Liked to draw scenes of dead bodies and people eating each other.

And not in the sexual way either.

Like actually bloodied mouths, guts all over kind of eating.

"Candice don't go near that guy." My friend Anthony told me as we sat in the lunch hall just watching the dynamic duo sitting in the middle of everything without a care in the world. They literally were having a riot on their own not giving a crap that everyone was staring at them and making up stories about them.

"Anthony getting anywhere closer than a hundred feet of him is the last thing on my mind."

"Good. I heard that Lucas kid murdered both his parents. Cut them up into little pieces and put the remains into a pie and fed it to the residents at the local nursing home."

I had just stared at my friend. Anthony was part of the Chopin section like I was. His instrument of choice: the violin. He was 5'11, his honey blonde hair, light blue eyes and dimples smile gave him the appearance of the boy next door. He reeked of innocence. But he was also a gullible idiot at times.

Kevin and Kimberly Avery were very much alive. In fact they came over to my house once a week on Fridays to catch up with my mother. I was a bit surprised they hadn't given me a heads up that their devils spawn was returning to town.

"Anthony don't believe everything you hear."

"It's only true though. He's crazy."

"That's not very nice Anthony. You don't know him. You don't know what really happened so let's just stop the conversation." I said desperate to talk about anything else. Hell I'd even talk about the long standing debate of whether or not farting was actually the reason for the ozone depletion.

Yea. Anthony liked to have those debates.

"Candice come on. Tell me you're not at least just a little bit interested in him. I mean come on. It's big news. He gets locked up in the slammer during summer break after his freshman year. No one knows what happened. No one knows why. And here two years later he comes back. Still with little to no explanation of what the hell went on for him to get put away."

I knew why.

"No I do not. I don't see why it matters to you anyways. Lucas is getting enough crap without everyone talking about him."

"Did you here what the prison therapist diagnosed him as? A psychopath. We have a bonafide psychopath in our mist."

"Actually he's a sociopath." I corrected automatically. I was surprised at myself to say the least.

"Huh?"

"He's not a psychopath. He's a sociopath."

"What's the difference?"

"It doesn't matter. Just lets talk about something else. Poor guy just got let out. He really doesn't need to be harassed by everyone now." I was shocked that I was defending him. But it was something I had always done. It was unfortunate to know old habits died hard.

"You're too nice you know that Candice? He's a convicted criminal and you're standing up for him."

"I'm not standing up for him." I said. I wasn't defending him, I reasoned with myself. I was just playing the part of Candice Waring. She would never have a bad thing to say about someone. Even if that someone was bat shit nutso. But I did so knowing full well I was in denial. Hello Cleopatra. How's the denial river? Looking pretty good huh? Is it a good time of the year to visit?

"You totally are!" Said Tensely, another girl from Chopin. She played the piano like me. But whereas I focused on classics she really liked to jam to rock and roll. Anything free spirited and lively was her thing. Her black hair was always a curly mess and her clothes resembled that of a rock stars. Her large doe like eyes were framed with dark eye liner. She was the very definition of rocker chick. Which was always funny to me. She was only 5 feet tall and actually looked like a little doll without all that makeup. "But you know he's kind of hot."

I gaped at her. She just smirked and said "Come on. He's a totally Greek Adonis. Damn the dirty things I'd do to that man. You know... If he didn't scare the absolute crap out of me."

"You need some serious therapy Tens." Anthony said wiggling his finger at her in disapproval. "What the hell have you been smoking?"

"Crack out of your mothers asshole." Was her very crude response.

As my two friends stared arguing I couldn't help as my eyes shifted towards Lucas and Emmet.

I hated to admit it but she was right. Lucas was good looking. He knew it too.

And it was as if he knew I was staring Lucas turned to look my way and smiled at me.

I tensed up.

I knew that smile.

It was pure fucking evil.

I had thought him choking me out was my punishment for hurting his feelings. But it had only been a warning of what was to come. I still had to pay for my comment. And from that smile I knew he had a plan.

As I gazed down at the pile of junk that was my beloved piano I knew his was his way of getting back at me.

I had defended this piano.

I had told him the piano was worth more than his life.

In return he had crushed it.

I felt tears threaten to come cascading down. But I bit my lip as I fought to regain composure. My classmates stood by my side in complete shock as we all took in the destruction of our beloved piano.

Our teacher Mrs. Worthingron was actually crying.

Everyone was stunned into silence.

But as the cries of our mentor ran louder everyone seemed to burst at the same time.

"Who did this?"

"Why would anyone want to do this?"

"I bet it was those Pheidippides scum."

"I'm going to kill who ever did this."

"Why? Why?"

"But I don't understand."

"Who could have done this?"

"Someone's got to pay."

And as the conspiracy theory's floated through the room I knew deep down everyone had suspected the brown eyed devil. But no one dared mention him by name.

Everyone was too afraid to accuse him of anything. It was much safer if we all blamed other causes. For if anyone dared place blame on Lucas Avery we all know they could possibly end up dead.

Or at least missing a few parts.

I looked around at my distraught classmates and felt anger boiling through my blood.

He hadn't been back a full day and everything was already falling apart. I'd kill him.

"Candice?" Said a small voice next to me.

I turned my head a little and saw Linda, she was in the freshman class and a very good Chellist. I smiled at her as best I could. "Yes?"

"What are we going to do?"

I went my body tense up. I wanted to give her some sort of reassurance. I wanted to tell her it was going to be okay.

To a lot of people a smashed up piano meant nothing.

But to a musician, to someone who loved music more than their own life, a smashed up piano felt like a part of your soul was missing.

Yes it could be replaced.

A lot of things in this world can be replaced.

Pictures.

Phones.

Significant others.

All things that can be replaced. But when you loose things of importance it's the memories, it's the feelings you had that you can't get back. Not really. Not truly.

For a musician you loose an instrument you loose a part of you.

I would assume it's the same feeling as loosing your virginity.

It fucking tears your shit up.

"I don't know." I answered lamely. I wanted to gut whoever did this. I wanted to dance in their blood and proudly display their head on a steak in front of the school as a warning to anyone who dared think of doing anything like this again.

I wanted to scream and cry. I didn't want to go down without a fight. I wouldn't have either.

But I knew I wouldn't win the war against Lucas, much less a single battle. It was safer to just take the blow and move on. If I even for a moment retaliated I knew even worse a fate would arise.

He'd tear apart the whole music room without even a thought.

My eyes scanned the room until they focused on what I was looking for. I walked over to the key board and lightly brushed my fingers against the keys.

I didn't even think about it. My fingers started flying across the keys. Before I knew it I was playing my favorite song "Hammers and Strings" by Jack's Mannequin.

I let myself get lost in the music because it's what I knew how to do best.

The whole room started to buzz as people started picking up their own instruments and joined me.

It was like high school fucking musical.

Soon I abruptly changed the tune to everyone's confusion.

Tensely was the first to catch on as she started bursting out laughing.

Every single person in that room started to laugh as they too caught on. Soon we were all belting out the lyrics.

Together, together, together everyone
Together, together, come on let's have some fun
Together, we're there for each other every time
Together, together, come on let's do this right

We're all here
And speaking out with one voice
We're going to rock the house
The party's on, now everybody make some noise
Come on, scream and shout

We've arrived because we stuck together
Champions one and all

We're all in this together
Once we know
That we are
We're all stars
And we see that

We're all in this together
And it shows
When we stand
Hand in hand
Make our dreams come

We're all in this together

When we reach
We can fly
Know inside
We can make it

We're all in this toghether
Once we see
There's a chance
That we have
And we take it

Soon we were all laughing and joking. The mangled piano now in the back of our minds.

Anthony came up behind me as everyone finally started to chatter amongst themselves. "You did good Waring. You did good."

"Now now stop it. I didn't do anything." I said with a satisfied grin.

"Stop with that fake modesty love bug." Tensely said coming up from behind Anthony. "You did great." I just smirked at her. "Everyone is still pretty upset but you definitely made them relax and laugh."

"Are we going to find out who did it?" Anthony asked twirling Tensely hair between his fingers.

"It's out of your hands. Let someone who gets paid to fix these problems worry about it. We need to take care of our people. That's our first priority."

My two friends nodded and smiled.

"I'm going to step out for a bit. I just need to run to the bathroom." They didn't say anything as I rushed out of the room.

I knew he was around here somewhere. If I knew one thing Lucas liked to watch the chaos he caused.

I had barely left the room and entered the empty hallway when I felt an arm grab me from behind and shove me through a door.

When I got myself together I took a look at my surroundings. I was in an empty science room. I looked up and saw Lucas standing there staring at me with searching eyes.

"Lucas." I addressed him first. My tone calm and steady hiding the fact I was bubbling over in rage.

"Candy."

"Why did you do it?"

He just smirked. "Do what my love?"

"I know it was you Lucas. I loved that piano. Why would you destroy it?"

He stared at me for a moment. Almost as if debating what he wanted to say next. "It should be me." He finally spoke.

"What?" I didn't understand what he was trying to say. But yet again I never understood him.

Lucas just smiled, a teeth baring, shit eating grin. "See you later Candy."

With that he walked out.

I couldn't tell if he was simply ending our conversation and saying a genuine, or at least as genuine as Lucas could be, goodbye. Or if it was a threatening promise that he would indeed see me later and a warning to watch my back.

I felt a shiver run down my spin as a strange thought ran through my mind. Would Lucas gut me and use my skin wallpaper?

.

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