The Distinguished Mr. Rose Chapter 18: Chapter 18: Why Is It That Some Were Given the Role of Villain?

Read chapter 18 of The Distinguished Mr. Rose by QuiteTheSlacker on NovelPedia.

Chapter 18: Why Is It That Some Were Given the Role of Villain? Marco and Mili gaped in horror as they stared at the jittering wreck that was Jack, at the oozing, gushing mass of flesh that appeared to have taken over his right arm, and they backed away—panicked. This was not the man they had journeyed with the day before. It was impossible, for how could such a horrid sight belong to their former companion? The young Mister Thames looked even worse than when Lucius last saw him. His eyes darted around, scarlet red, twitching at the slightest sound, and his face was practically devoid of color. He flinched at voices that could not be heard - shouted at faces that could not be seen. But when he caught sight of his once-treasured allies, Jack stretched his lips eerily wide, and uttered a low, raspy cackle. “Found… you…” he said, raising a crooked finger. “Now I can—I can finally avenge Lucius. I can put an end to all these infuriating voices.” Marco gulped, and shoved Mili behind to protect her. His body turned rigid; sweat dripped down all over his face. The old mobster didn’t relax one bit. He knew the two of them were in grave danger. “Good lord, Jack,” Marco said. “How long have ya been sufferin’ like that?” Marco tried to reach out to him, to try and somehow appeal to any remnants of sanity that still dwelled in the delirious man, but his words fell on deaf ears. “… What?” Countless emotions rushed through Jack all at once: anger, confusion, disbelief and rage. He hung his head back and laughed as if everything was just so funny . “Hah. Haha, wow, you guys snapped out of it, huh? That’s just swell. Congratulations. I’m really happy for you!” And then, he stopped. There was no laughter, no rage. His face once twisted into a large scowl was now all but expressionless, empty, hollow. It was hard to tell whether the silent Jack was still a man or some kind of unsettling doll. But the eyes never lied. They were muddled in a deep sadness. “Why couldn’t you have done it earlier? If you had, then Lucius wouldn’t be…” “What the hell are ya ramblin’ about?” Marco said. “Jack, you can’t run away like this. I get it, y’know. It ain’t easy to face the things you’ve done, but givin’ in to your grief—it ain’t gonna help. Blamin’ other people and pushin’ away your sins is only gonna make acceptin’ yourself a lot harder.” “Accept myself…?” Jack trembled as if it took every ounce of self-control he had to not lunge at Marco right then and there. “I don’t need to accept anything ! You’re the ones who caused Lucius’s death. What, do you not remember that? Blocked it out so you wouldn’t feel guilty I bet.” “You know that’s not true, Jack.” “Then what is the truth?” Marco grimaced and clenched his fist. For someone of his experience, he knew acting aggressive would only make the situation worse. He spoke to him calmly, made no sudden movements, and did all he could to come off as non-threatening. But there was no helping a man like Jack now, one blinded by obsession. Coddling him wasn’t going to work. Marco’s best bet was to forcefully make Jack confront the truth whether he liked it or not and hope that the man would snap out of whatever daze he was in. Unfortunately for him, the ‘truth’ was twisted from the very start. Lucius watched on, intrigued and full of anticipation, as the old mobster stepped forward to face Mister Thames head on. “ You killed him, Jack.” “I… did?” Jack didn’t react, at first. The man was so stunned that he couldn’t speak, wordlessly opening his mouth as if he was missing something, but when he realized Mister Bernardi was completely serious, something seemed to stall in his mind. He wasn’t upset, or annoyed, or anything like that—just confused. “We saw it with our own eyes, the lass and I,” Marco continued. “I know you don’t want to believe it, but—” “H-Hold on here.” Jack rubbed his eyes with his good arm and then glared at the two as if they were completely mad. “You’re serious? Like, really? Haha, wow, I know I migh