| When it's Over Logan ran his hand over his thick beard for the hundredth time and for the millionth time, chided himself on not bringing or buying a razor to shave with. It had been about three months since he and his newfound friend, Creed, had split up, but not a day went by when Logan didn’t wonder what the Lion Man was doing. He hadn’t seen hide nor hair of the blond ferocity and Logan began to speculate about whether Creed had lied to him about trekking north. He realized he had to get over the fact that the other man had no reason to be attached to him, but be damned if Logan wasn’t lonely. He found himself mumbling all too often to phantoms that were never there. The boy came to a stop and decided that the next town he found, he wouldn’t skirt around to avoid the people (he found himself turning into a hermit more and more each day), but instead go down to the general store and buy a shaving kit with what little money he had left. Logan continued his mutterings about completely unrelated topics as he wandered, always ending up where he was trying to avoid. “I wonder where Creed is now. He didn’t get that much of a head start on me.” Logan turned wearily at the sound of a grunt off to his left. He made out a sheaf of blond hair and a familiar shirt lying under a pile of leaves. He went towards it, hoping upon hope that it was what it looked like. “Creed?” Logan grinned and squatted down beside the man. Green eyes opened and glared at him. “Oh, it’s you.” It growled in return. Logan was so happy he was at a loss for words. “Ah, you ain’t gonna cry again, are ya?” Creed sat up slowly and shook off the leaves and twigs that he was covered in. The boy dove forward and hugged him hard. “Hey, hey, HEY! What happened to the whole ‘I-don’t-like-bein’-touched’ thing?” “I haven’t seen a human being for almost three weeks, I thought I was goin’ crazy.” Logan abruptly pulled away but continued to beam. “You gotta be nuts ta be huggin’ me.” The boy glanced down for no reason but saw Creed’s right ankle was soaked in blood. “What happened?” He dropped his pack and went searching for a water skin he had to wash away the gore. “Damn bear trap. I was chasin’ down a rabbit and those critters just make me lose all common sense. I ended up steppin’ on it by accident.” Creed grinned as he talked about the rabbit but immediately stopped when he noticed it. “You stepped on the bunny?” Logan asked appalled. “No, th’ bear trap!” Creed smacked the back of the boy’s head. Logan began to laugh hysterically at his misinterpretation. “Bein’ alone fer so long really has ya losin’ yer mind, boy.” “Don’t call me ‘boy’, I don’t like it.” Logan tapered off his laughter to remind the man of his preferences. “Look, just leave m’ankle alone, it’s all healed, you know that, it’s just dirty is all.” Creed began to fidget as Logan washed away the stains of the accident. “Listen, let me clean it, then you can do a favor for me, okay?” The blood was gone now. “What kinda favor?” Creed raised a skeptical eyebrow. “You gotta a razor on you? I need a shave.” “Hold still!” Creed yelled at the boy. “I mean it, you keep squirmin’ and it’ll be the death o’ you.” “Sorry, it’s the first time I’ve let someone else shave me…especially with deadly claws.” Logan squeezed his eyes shut as the other man ran his talon over his skin. “Who told ya they were deadly?” Creed pulled Logan by the chin to his face and questioned him. “One would only assume…why? Are they?” Logan swallowed noisily. “I’ve been known to gut people now and then.” Creed took great pride as he said the words. Logan swallowed noisily again and whined. “I ain’t gonna hurt ya, son, I owe ya that much for getting’ me outta the freak show.” “How many?” The boy asked after a moment. “People?” Creed thought a moment. “A lot.” He replied. “There, all finished.” He threw Logan away from him lightly. “How much is ‘a lot’?” Logan rubbed the fresh skin. “Ten? Twenty?” “A hundred.” Creed nodded as though confirming to himself. “A hundred? Are you serious?” Logan gasped. “Why? Isn’t that a lot?” Creed frowned at being questioned. “That’s really a lot.” Logan looked at the man as he seemed to be rethinking his estimate. “Can I ask you somethin’?” “No.” Creed said bluntly. “Do you know how ta count? How ta read n’ write?” he asked anyway. Creed remained silent and looked away in embarrassment. “I could teach ya.” “I don’t wanna be taught, ya half-witted donkey squat!” Creed unfurled his claws. Logan shielded himself behind his arms, as though that would help. “I was just sayin’ is all.” “Just sayin’ what? I’m stupid?” Creed had knocked him over now and was perched over the boy’s chest. “No! A lot o’ people don’t know how! It’s normal!” Logan shouted out of fear. “An’ how much is a lot?” Creed growled lowly. Logan couldn’t answer him. The Lion Man backed off and returned to his position of sitting cross-legged infront of a giant oak. He scratched his neck absently as the boy realized he was no longer in danger and sat up himself. “So you’d teach me?” “On one condition.” Logan replied shakily. Creed considered the deal carefully. “Alright, what do you get then?” “To stay with you.” The other growled a bit and thought it over grumpily. It wasn’t his thing to have company everywhere he went, especially not the young kind. But finally he agreed with a grunt and a glare. “Great! I’ll go get some fire wood and you can go hunt something down, make sure it ain’t a rabbit though.” Logan yelled over his shoulder as he ran off into the trees. Creed could only roll his eyes and wonder what he had done. There was a town down in the valley. It was rather small but it was a town none the less. Creed began his decent when Logan grabbed him by the arm, this threw the other man off and left Logan with a healing cut across the middle. Creed apologized, if you could call it that, and asked what the boy had wanted. “We’re dirty as hogs, I figured we should take a bath before goin’ into town.” Logan winced in pain as a tree helped him up. “Ferget that.” Creed shook his head and continued on his earlier path, the boy hobbling after him all the way. “So… how old are you?” The boy’s wound was done healing. “I dunno, old?” “You don’t…” “My pa said I was eight once…that ain’t right.” Creed considered the question to please the boy. “I’m sorry boys, the Inn’s all full. You might try the place across the street though.” A friendly gal smiled and pointed to a large, dark building. The taller one shrugged and walked to the specified location with the short one in tow. “We need two rooms.” Creed told the man who worked behind a bar. “How much is that?” “You don’t pay me, you pay the ladies.” The man was stout and balding. “What girls?” Creed growled. “Those girls.” Logan pointed to the women behind them who were giggling. “Huh?” Creed’s brow furrowed in confusion. The boy pulled him aside. “I think this is a back house.” He whispered conspiratorially to the other. “A what?” The older man just wasn’t following. “You pay these fine ladies for a night of playtime.” “Playtime?” “You don’t know what…?” “I don’t want no lady in my room, that’s all I know.” Creed turned back to the bartender. “You got a room without the service?” “Well, we got some space in the basement but our maid lives down there. I could put you in there…but if you’re looking for that kinda room, try the hotel...” “We tried, they’s full. I’ll take the room downstairs. You wanna room with the girls, huh?” He turned to Logan and Logan’s head nodded violently. Creed’s face contorted into disgust as he handed the boy five dollars. “Where’d you get that?” Logan’s jaw dropped at the money. “Pick it off dead people.” Creed replied frankly as the bartender told a young girl to escort him to the basement. She had green eyes like his and brown hair; she seemed much too young to be working in such a place. “I’ll take your bag, sir.” She smiled. Creed didn’t have a bag. He hesitated a moment as the girl showed him the way into the basement, it was very dank and awful down there. “This is your bed, I’ll be in the corner.” “Doing what?” “Sleeping.” The girl was caught off-guard at his question. He hadn’t seen Logan for a long time. Creed had gone to the local eatery and had a decent dinner of steak and mashed potatoes then returned to the backhouse to get an after dinner drink. That’s when he watched Logan go up the stairs with a floppy looking blond. Creed raised his glass to him though the boy paid no attention. The Lion Man retired to the basement at about eleven. The girl had already been dismissed to bed until further notice so Creed was polite enough to be quiet, an easy thing to do for such a large man, when undressing and climbing into the cot. He had dozed for about a half an hour until someone trying to be silent but failing miserably due to Creed’s super hearing awakened him. The man found himself at the foot of the stairs. The glint of metal in his hand told Creed he had a knife. The man, who smelled up to high heaven, approached the foot of the bed and raised the knife. Creed caught the wrist that held the weapon as it came down with a growl. “Who are you?” Creed sneered. “It does not matter who I am, all that matters it that you die, freak!” He made a last ditch attempt to stab his victim but couldn’t release himself from Creed’s grip. “You kill people? Is that your job? Someone pays you for this? Who sent you?” Creed questioned but the man refused to speak so Creed made sure that he would never speak again by ripping out the man’s throat. Not satisfied with what he had done, Creed clawed his way through the man’s chest and dug out his heart. This was a personal matter now and he wanted to let who ever had sent this pathetic hired gun to kill him know that he was gonna make it hurt when he found out. The girl was awake now and shivering in the corner, huddling in the blankets in fear. Creed approached her and squatted down in front of her. “Please, please don’t rape me!” She cried and hid her face. Creed didn’t know what this word meant but the girl seemed too frightened to answer his questions so he decided to look in on Logan and ask, after all, the boy couldn’t be too busy, he was asleep. On a last minute thought, Creed shoved the body out the small window above his cot so that the girl wouldn’t have to stare at its lifeless eyes and have the corpse stare back. He sniffed his way through the hall as he came upon Logan’s scent. He didn’t bother knocking, instead he poked his head in and watched as Logan fell off the bed and the woman he was with shrieked in surprise. Creed didn’t know embarrassment too well so he continued his quest for answers when he saw Logan’s head pop back up. “What’s ‘rape’?” “What’d you do?!” Logan gulped and looked at him terrified. “Excuse me?!” Creed roared at the accusation. He hated being accused of things that he didn’t do…hell, he hated being accused, period. “Who’d you rape?” Logan stood up fast and tripped over the blankets, leaving him on the floor again. “I didn’t rape anyone, you sawn-off runt!” Creed slammed the door and went downstairs enraged. He realized the girl was probably still scared stiff so found himself a corner of the bar, that was emptied for the night, and lay down in his under garments. “Creed?” Logan came down the next morning. “Get away from me you li’l shit!” Creed snarled and swiped at the old companion to keep his distance. “I’m sorry, but did you rape someone?” Logan asked, concerned. The other man roared in response. Logan backed up and decided to go outside and pick up the razor kit he needed before Creed had a chance to pack up and leave. It was probably the smart choice to make because as he left, he heard the man growling and breaking things inside. Logan found the general store with ease and looked at the sets the store was selling, what horrible selection. Something else caught Logan’s attention aswell. It was a school kit; it came with a small chalkboard, two pieces of chalk, and a cloth to wipe the slate clean. Logan counted up his left over money and found that he could only buy one of the things. “Creed’s bein’ an ass.” Logan grumbled and picked up the razor kit. He decided to walk around the back way of the back house in case Creed saw him and threw something at him. The alley behind the place was thin but Logan managed to deal with it. He could see a man sleeping from his position. Logan neared him then realized he had no throat and no heart. It looked as though he was attacked by a wild cat…then it hit Logan that it was the work of a riled up Creed. Had this man raped someone? Had Creed saved that someone? Was this just a huge misunderstanding? Oh boy. Logan began to back out of the alley then turned back and remembered what Creed had said when he handed Logan the five dollars, “I pick the money off dead people.” Logan searched the body for cash and counted it up. The girl was acting mighty strange lately. Creed thought to himself. He was drinking a beer at ten in the morning and watched her go around cleaning the floor. She kept eyeing him in a scared manner. Had he raped her? Had he somehow done that? He still wasn’t quite sure what the term meant but that was the furthest thing on his mind when the sheriff barged in with a gun. The girl scampered off and it was just Creed and the law. Logan’s bag waited at the door for its owner to collect it but the sheriff stepped over it easily. “There’s a dead man behind this establishment.” The man said. Creed looked at him, continuing to drink his beer. “I was told it was you who did it.” He proceeded. Creed still didn’t respond. “What you got to say for yourself, boy?” “Don’t call me boy.” The sheriff cocked his gun but Creed dove and thrashed him before he could use it. The man went down effortlessly and it made the Lion Man wonder how such a weakling could have become the law in this town. Logan walked in a few moments later. He stared at the new corpse. “You gonna take his money?” Logan asked. Creed growled to let Logan know he wasn’t welcome to comment on anything. “I got you somethin’.” Logan held out the package. Creed considered the peace offering for a moment and accepted it but didn’t actually take the parcel. “We gotta get outta town.” He said instead. Logan realized this was true so instead of talking, he picked up his awaiting bag and left the bar. “Walk slow, don’t draw attention.” Creed instructed him. They made it across the street until guns fired and bullets zinged pass their ears. They took the hint and found themselves running from people again. And once again their pursuers had horses. “You gonna carry me again?” Logan yelled mockingly at Creed as they realized a cliff blocked off their escape. “Like hell!” Creed yelled back. “So what’s the plan?” Logan began to get antsy about the guns behind them and certain death before them. “Jump!” They both plunged off the edge of the cliff, Creed by choice, Logan by force. Creed had grabbed the sleeve of Logan’s shirt and pulled him over the edge. He screamed all the way down and into the water. Creed pulled himself out of the cold water and shook himself out exhausted. Logan was no where to be seen. On the other hand, he did find the gift Logan had bought for him. Creed scooped it out of the water and looked around for Logan. When night fell and there was still no trace of his friend, Creed fell to the grass and opened the package. Inside were a slate, a piece of cloth, and two pieces of chalk. Creed felt a bit lonely. He didn’t know why, he’d always been on his own, but now it was different, he hadn’t been alone by leaving on his own terms, he was alone because fate had taken away his company. Tired but not able to sleep, he wondered ‘what now’? He toyed with a particular idea of becoming a hired gun…though minus the gun part. He could get paid for the one thing he was actually good at. He fell asleep to this idea. “Is he alive grandfather?” A young girl speaking an unfamiliar language asked an old man that hovered over Logan. He was soaking wet and had just recovered consciousness from the blow to the head he had taken under the water. “Where’s Creed?” He asked the old man. The man couldn’t answer him because of the language barrier. His eyes came to focus and he realized he was being tended to by Indians. The little girl fed him some water and smiled kindly at him. He heart warmed. He couldn’t imagine what was so awful about this race of people, but then again, he couldn’t imagine what was so awful about a freak show killer. Wherever Creed was, Logan prayed the man was safe. |