Chapter 3
He relaxed his disguise a little once he got into the lobby, this place was infested with criminals and petty villains.
Even the civilians that lived here knew to keep their heads down.
To not look anyone in the eye.
Many eventually turned to crime in order to survive, to put food on their tables, to afford rent, to protect their children.
Society distracted itself with superheroes and false justice while the people that needed help the most continued to live in poverty.
Trash.
All of them.
They would become fuel for his flames.
The elevator was out of order, Vex wondered if it was the same 'out of order' it had been when he left.
He climbed the stairs to the sixth floor.
He was just pulling his old keys from his pocket when an familiar elderly lady opened her own door across the hall.
"Cole?" Vex froze.
"Cole it's good to see you love!" Vex positioned his mask back over his nose and turned.
"Mrs Hazel it's been a while!" He smiled as much as the staples in his face would allow.
"And you're still as skinny as ever!" She squinted over her glasses.
Mrs Hazel was 87 years old and her eye sight was questionable but she had been kind to Vex when he'd lived here.
Sometimes she'd leave him food outside his door or extra blankets on especially cold nights, (despite him insisting he really didn't need them.) She had been a really excellent cook, her food had somehow always made him feel better.
Slightly more whole.
"I thought you'd moved love?
Onto bigger and better things?"
"I- errrr- sort of?" Vex's arm itched.
She frowned.
"You're not still hanging around with that Marcus fellow are you?
Bad egg that one and even more rotten since you left."
Vex smirked under his breath, he was hanging around with far worse people than 'that Marcus fellow' these days, hell,hewas a far worse person then 'that Marcus fellow.'
"No ma'am" he looked back at his door, his phone buzzed.
"I sorry, I- erm- I need to get going" he turned the key in the lock.
"Of course love, I just..." she shifted, her eyes clearer then before "you're ok right?
You have people?
You, you used to be so sad... and so angry.
When you left...
I was worried is all."
"I'm fine." Vex stepped quickly into the apartment and closed the door behind him.
He pressed his back against the other side of the wood, ripping the mask off of his face and breathing hard through his nose.
He squashed that annoying fucking voice back to the back of his mind as he stood, for the first time in years in the entrance of his old home.
He flicked his phone from his pocket and read his notifications, he had 6 new messages:
Scales: hey Vexy hope your good man x - Today at 13:20
Scales:
*you're x - Today at 13:20
Wild Child:
- Today at 13:24
Pops:
Vex please let us know where you are headed, it would be wise for us to know.
Just in case.
- Today at 13:25
Chief:
Dont do anything stupid - Today at 13:27
Marcus:
I'll be there in 5 - Today at 13:36
The wood behind his head knocked.
He opened the door to find Marcus leaning smugly against his doorframe.
He was tall and thin, he wore a pair of red jeans and a black blazer over his bare chest, since the last time Vex had seen him his dirty blonde hair had been shaved at the sides and a snake tattoo wound it's way around his torso and up his neck. Mrs Hazel shot him a worried look over the man's shoulder and walked as quickly as she could down the corridor and out of sight.
"Vex!
My how you've grown!" Marcus exclaimed as he marched into Vex's apartment.
"You didn't wipe your feet" Vex muttered following him into the main room.
Marcus was stood in the kitchen running his fingers along dusty surfaces as Vex caught up to him.
"I forgot how much of a fucking mess this place is."
"Your boss owns the building, this is his fucking mess."
Marcus turned sharply and looked him in the eyes, there was a moment of tension that Vex didn't fully understand.
Then Marcus shrugged.
"He took your homeless junkie ass in." He wiped the dust onto his jeans as if nothing had happened "you should be grateful, you were such a fucking mess back then." He laughed, crossing the distance between them and flicked one of the staples on Vex's collarbone "guess things ain't really changed, if you're calling me.
You that desperate?"
"I guess I'm just having a bad day" Vex met his gaze.
Fire lit across his shoulders and upper arms casting the room in a bright blue light.
A flicker of fear pinched Marcus's face and he backed off abruptly, his legs knocking into the kitchen cupboards.
He managed to compose himself quickly though, smiling and raising his hands in mock defeat.
"The Chief should've killed you years ago." He chuckled darkly, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a little bag.
"He would've done the world a favour." Vex extinguished his flames and took the envelope out from his coat.
Their eyes met briefly as they handed over the goods.
Marcus checked the money in the envelope, counted each note between his thumb and forefinger before stuffing the thing into his jean pocket.
"How much does working for the Syndicate pay these days anyway?
What with that The Sovereign in jail, Drave-what's his name- Dravenport?
He's in charge now right?
Seems like a real prick." He paused, Vex didn't reply "and I hear you've been busy, burnt bodies all over the city, keeping that 'Torrent' hero on his toes.
You ever meet that Scourge guy you were so obsessed with?"
Vex was not listening.
His eyes glued to the small glass bottle and syringe visible though the opaque bag in his hand.Morphine.
"Oh." Marcus smiled as he stopped talking long enough to notice Vex hadn't responded.
"Been a while huh?"
It has been a while, said the voice in the back of the villain's mind, it has been just over a month. That guilt feeling was back.
Vex said nothing.
"I'll err...
I'll leave you two to it." Marcus smirked turning and walking leisurely out of the room, "See you round 'Cole'." The door opened, the door closed, Vex was alone.
Blood pulsed in Vex's ears, he was finally so close, so fucking close.
He backed up against the wall and sank onto his long abandoned and slightly dusty mattress.
He opened the bag with shaking fingers, quickly stabbed the needle through the cork of the small bottle with a practised ease and pulled the plunger.
Clear liquid filled the syringe.
His hand shook harder as he unbuckled the clasp of his belt and yanked it loose, anticipation made his fingers numb and he fumbled with the metal.
Vex grit his teeth in frustration, the ache in his brain had become unbearable, it gnawed at him behind his eyes.
His arm itched.
The belt finally whipped out through his belt loops and he grinned at his small success, the corners of his mouth pulled sharply against the staples.
He wrapped it around his arm just above the elbow and pulled it tight with his teeth, feeling the strain in his bicep as his veins began to rise.
The scarring on his arms had always made this difficult, he could barely feel anything through the purple patchwork that made up half his body, the skin was corse and his veins sluggish to respond.
He tapped at the area with his middle and forefinger impatiently.
Vex didn't waste any more time, as soon as a suitable vein had bobbed to the surface he ripped the cap off of the needle with his teeth and jammed the point into his arm, pressing the plunger with the palm of his hand.
Euphoria flooded through him bringing a sense of intense calm.
His muscles eased, the ache of his burnt body numbed.
Vex was finally, blissfully high.
He fell lax into the wall, his legs stretched out in front of him, his head lolled back, his arm finally scratched.
He sighed and smiled widely, a staple popped in his face.
The empty bottle sat next to him.