Chapter 5 part 2

Samuel

Never in his life did Samuel think he'd find himself in this situation. In the last few hours his enemy had seen his face, found out he had a daughter, and somehow figured out his name.

"You gonna keep standin there or are you going to sit down?"

Samuel snapped back into reality hearing the villains voice. He looked over only to see the villain sitting on his couch and patting the spot beside him.

Samuel forced his legs to stop shaking and went over to the couch, sitting closer than he would've liked to the villain.

"I'm sure you have questions, go ahead" the villain said in a disturbingly calm tone.

"Why do you look so familiar?" The hero spoke without thinking about his words.

"I mean- uh.. don't answer that! I didn't mean to say that" the hero rambled

He could feel his face turn red and he buried it in his hands.

"Nah it's all good. As much as I hate to do this, I know too much about you for you to trust me knowing nothing about me"

The hero felt the villain move a bit and glanced up. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open just a bit. He fixed his posture and stared at the man before him.

The sense that he recognized him grew stronger, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He studied the villains features, acknowledging his pale skin, lips that seemed to form a frown though the villain didn't appear too upset, and a roman nose. He racked his brain on where he knew him from before it hit him like a train.

"You work at the coffee shop! You're.. what was your name again?"

The villain chuckled, shockingly calm considering the situation.

"Now why would I tell you my name?" The villain smiled mockingly.

Samuel spend another second staring at the villains face before responding.

"I'm going to find out anyways, right? Unless you plan to quit your job that you've had for years before the next time I go." Samuel tried his best to push away the shock and sound at least a little like he wasn't scared out of his mind.

"Or I could just wear a different name tag, we keep most of our old workers tags just in case" the villain proudly

Samuel looked down at his lap awkwardly.

"Matias.. my names Matias"

Samuel looked up at him once again, finally remembering the name of the angry-looking man who gave him his coffee. He had to assume that was just how Matias's face looked considering even now he looked a bit tipped off.

"That isn't your only question right? 'Why do you look so familiar' isn't the only thing you wanted to know?"

Samuel chucked, surprising even himself. He remembered just who he was talking to and wiped the smile off his face.

"Why do you do the things that you do?"

Samuel repeated the question he had asked the villain in the alley. He watched as the small smile vanished from Matias's face and his bottom lip curled inward.

"I know you got upset last time I asked, but it's a genuine question. You steal, and kill, and cause all kinds of issues in gangs. There has to be a good reason, right?"

Samuel kept his eyes locked on the villain, trying to make the villain look back at him. The villain was simply staring off to the side, chewing on his lip and remaining silent. The hero didn't want to scare him off, but he couldn't keep helping the man in his living room without having some kind of reassurance that he wasn't a bad person.

"Look, if I'm being honest, you seem like a great person"

Matias finally looked back at the hero with a look of both curiosity and surprise.

"You were kind to my daughter. You even told her to stay away from gangs. You trusted me enough to look for my help when you were hurt. And most of all, you saved my life."

Matias cringed and his cheeks flushed a light pink, though he was unable to look away from Samuel.

"I don't know if I can believe that you did all those things with no good reason. I mean they're still awful things, and I couldn't ever forgive you for it all if I'm honest but.. I'm sure you at least had a solid reasoning."

Samuel stopped talking, leaving a silence between them. He gave Matias a pleading look and tried to read the look Matias was giving him back, but failed. He seemed almost like he was lost in thought, but he was still focused on the hero.

"I didn't do it." Matias finally answered.

His voice was quiet and Samuel was sure he heard it quiver a bit. Matias finally looked away from Samuel and stared down at the couch space between them.

"But there were witnesses, they saw you do it."

Samuel held onto the hope that the villain, Matias, wasn't as bad as he thought. However, he was more than upset that he had just lied to Samuels face.

"They were wrong. Just.. just let me explain. And don't interrupt me."

The villain kept his gaze on the couch, but maybe it was for the better because Samuel was now looking over to the wall.

"Okay" Samuel responded weakly.

"I guess I did try to steal from Mrs. Frank.. and many other people. But I was really going through it at the time. It's not much of an excuse but I would've ended up homeless and starving if I didn't steal. Not that you need the details, but I really did only steal what was necessary. It's just that I started needing more and more money. It all just went downhill from there."

Matias paused as if he was done talking, and Samuel almost interrupted the silence. Before he could say anything Matias continued talking.

"I didn't kill those people either. The first three that were killed, the ones that made people think I was the villain, I didn't intend to get them hurt. I was running from some prick and took a wrong turn. Hard to think when you're runnin for your life yknow? Anyways, I ended up in the middle of a crowded public parking lot. The guys chasing me weren't ballsy enough to come out of the alley and started shooting. I got pretty lucky but the other people.. not so much."

"But why-" Samuel had many questions and couldn't hold his tongue anymore.

"Didn't I tell you not to interrupt me? I'll answer your damn questions when I'm done." He raised his voice a bit, but Samuel could still hear the worry behind it.

"I was too scared to leave. I was pretty much in a circle of dead people, at the time I hadn't ever seen anything like that. I was pretty fuckin scared."

Samuel took a mental note to tell Matias not to use that language in front of Ellie once she came back in here.

"The police showed up and assumed I was responsible. I guess I can't really blame them, I was the only person around who was still breathing. They didn't even ask me who I was or what I had done like they do in the movies n shit, they just started shooting. You pretty much know the story from them on. I shielded myself with my powers and retreated. Now here I am. 'The villain'. "

They sat in an uncomfortable silence for a few moments before Samuel spoke.

"What about everything else? All the gang fights you started? That building you burned to the ground?"

Samuel wanted to fall to Matias's knees and beg that he be forgiven for all the misunderstandings. But there was still years worth of wrong doings that remained unexplained.

For the first time since Matias started his explanation, they looked each other in the eyes. But this time was different. Samuel felt almost nothing but sympathy towards Matias and Matias's eyes had a thick coat of water over them begging to be let out.

"I didn't do any of that" Matias choked

His voice broke Samuels heart as he watched him try to discreetly blink away tears.

"Can I do something real quick? Without you trying to kill me?" Samuel questioned with a sad smile on his face.

"Yeah, go ahead" Matias replied, completely oblivious.

Samuel scooted over on the couch, filling almost all the space between them. He saw Matias's mouth open to question him but before he could get a word out before Samuel wrapped his arms gently, but firmly, around his back. He felt Matias stiffen but didn't back away or loosen his grip.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry" Samuel choked on his words.

Despite himself, Samuel began to cry. His breathing remained calm and he held his tongue, not making a sound. If it weren't for the wet feeling on his shoulder Matias wouldn't even know he was crying. Samuel turned his head a relaxed it in the crook of Matias's neck.

Samuel slowly felt two arms wrap around him. One tightened and held him securely while the other more of hovered, hardly touching Samuels back. Samuel quickly came to the conclusion that it was because of the untreated wound.

"Ah, I'm sorry!" Samuel pushed himself away from Matias and wiped his eyes quickly.

Matias looked at Samuel with eyes that Samuel, once again, couldn't read. He figured he would have to get used to not seeing what emotion Matias was feeling in his eyes.

"I never took care of your arm" Samuel grabbed Matias's arm and held it in front of him.

"Or that cut on your throat" he added, pointing at it with his other hand.

Samuel got up and hurried to the bathroom to get another rag to clean and then patch Matias's remaining injuries.

After he wet the rag he looked up at himself in the mirror, and it wasn't a pretty sight. His eyes had dark circles around them since it was probably well past midnight, and they now were red and a bit puffy from crying. He was wearing an oversized grey t-shirt with a stain on the left sleeve. Not to mention his hair, which reached down to his shoulders, was unbrushed.

Samuel sighed and made his way back into his living room. It was going to be a long night.

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The mood swings are ridiculous 😭

Tysm for 200 reads!!