While Jack was pnning out his hunt, Lucius decided to check up on the missing duo. He hadn’t seen them since his st performance, and though they didn’t quite have the same inner turmoil that made Mister Thames so fascinating to watch, Marco and Mili were both beautiful souls in their own right. It would be a shame to lose them now.

  Fortunately, after a bit of searching, he found the two safe and sound in one of the halls. They dragged their feet and meandered along without a word, depressed. When they did choose to speak, they did so in low, woeful tones.

  “What do we do now, big guy…?” Mili said, sighing.

  Marco rubbed his head. “We keep going. Look for the exit. Get outta this hellhole. That’s all we can do, kid.”

  “What about Lucius—”

  “He’s dead.” Marco csped her shoulders and looked her firmly in the eye. “You saw it happen. We can make up what if’s and try to fool ourselves, but if we do that there ain’t any goin’ forward. We’ll just be stuck in the moment, brooding, beatin’ ourselves up in a spiral that’s never gonna end. If we want to move on, we gotta accept it. Lucius’s gone—but we’re still kickin’. Let’s keep it that way.”

  His voice was cold and harsh, especially when compared to the bubbly Mili, but perhaps it was because her nature was such that Marco had to be tough. He didn’t take joy in his role, and the old mobster was grieving in his own little way, but those who’d witnessed death always had a certain demeanor to them. They knew when to harden their heart and push on, even if it meant being worn down as the years went by.

  Remaining stoic was the only way Marco could keep hold of himself, whether it be in this maddening realm or the nightmare that was reality.

  “... You’ve gone through a lot, huh?” Mili said.

  He chuckled. “Hasn’t everyone?”

  “Not as much as you.” Mili was serious. She grabbed Marco’s arm, stopped, and took a good look at him: at the worn creases on his face, his palms and fingers thickened by bor, and the cuts and marks and faded scars all across his skin. “I’ve met a lot of guys and gals, part of the job y’know, but after meeting so many people you kinda develop this… instinct. You can tell who's an arrogant prick that got picked up by their daddy’s money, and also those who've been abused to hell and back. The music industry’s full of people like that: broken people, hurt people, sad people. Out of them all, you have the same look as the sad people, Marco. It’s in your eyes - dark and gloomy as if you’re always lookin’ at somewhere far away.”

  How curious, Lucius had come to the same conclusion. It appeared Miss Mili had greater insight than he initially thought.

  Marco didn’t refute her. He knew full well the sadness that id within, but rather than avoid or be ashamed of it, he seemed at peace—as if he had already accepted that part of himself a long time ago.

  “Remember what I said to Jack before, during that first Orientation business?” he asked.

  “Uh, something about killing and not being able to go back?”

  “Right, and I never did. The old me, that stupid, naive little kid who didn’t know any better, disappeared before I knew it. When I looked in the mirror, the man I had become was unrecognizable. Terrifying.”

  Silence. Mili raised her hand and tried to pat Marco on the back, but she stopped at the st moment. He didn’t want to be comforted.

  “... Bad neighborhood, huh?”

  “Worse. Brooklyn.” He ughed and shook his head. “If you were a poor kid back in the seventies, either you learned to fit in with the boys or you found yourself dead in a ditch. Could be ‘cause of anything: a mugging gone wrong, gunned down in a gang war, or just for the sin of being at the wrong pce at the wrong time. The whole damn world seemed to hate ya, so you despised it right back. That’s the kinda runt I was, running around and thinkin’ myself as a part of some big happy family. Turns out the boss didn’t care what happened to the grunts. I learned that too te.”

  “Better te than never.”

  Marco smiled. His tired old eyes seemed a little bit brighter. “We’ve got a wise one here, eh? Yeah, better te than never. At the time I thought I everythin’ was over, but really I was lucky. At least I was alive; couldn’t say the same for most folk. After seein’ all my buddies get buried I just got tired of it all, so I cleaned up, worked hard, and eventually opened up my own rehabilitation center—a little project of mine to get those poor sons of bitches like me off the street and into a respectable job. Taught them plumbing, carpentry, finance, hell we even had a section for art. I didn’t have an artistic bone in my body, but others did, so I did my best to nurture them in a way society never did.”

  “A real godfather, I see.”

  Marco let out a long, exasperated groan. “Miss, you don’t know just how often I get called that. Every day, my boys and girls kept sayin’ godfather this, capo that, don and boss and all sorts of names. I’m tryin’ to keep a clean image, ya’know? Lousy rascals. Loveable, sure, but God in heaven did their mouths need a good washin’. Lucius had the right idea of it: ‘Mister Bernardi’. I like that. Has a good ring to it. Hell, I even named the business Bernardi & Co. - something nice and professional-like - so that’d we be taken seriously as a legitimate establishment.”

  “Woah, wait… did you say Bernardi & Co.?” Mili’s jaw practically dropped to the ground in surprise. “Holy crud, I thought you sounded familiar, but isn’t that like the biggest financial company in the U.S of A!?”

  The old mobster blushed and turned away. “Bah, it’s not that impressive.”

  “Marco, you’re one of the richest people in the world.”

  “Not really. I put all the money I make into our charities. Politicians and investors don’t like the thought of fundin’ us so-called ‘undesirables’, so we get by using our own dough.”

  The revetion of being next to one of the states’ most powerful people sent Mili into a doozy. She marched to the wall with her arms swinging like a robot and squatted down, eyes bulging out of her sockets as she clutched her head.

  “Damn. You’re in another league, big guy. Wasn’t the CEO a woman, though?”

  “That she is.” Marco beamed like a proud father. “One of the kids I picked up during my early days. She was always a bright one, loved learnin’ and readin’, and eventually went on to w school. I told her to go live her life, but the girl was too stubborn for her own good—stuck right next to me like a baby chick. I gave in eventually. Figured it was better to have a young and ambitious face leadin’ the company rather than this rough ol’ coot.”

  His face suddenly turned dark. “Come to think of it, she was probably dragged into this damn game too. Everyone was. Just like Lucius, they could be…”

  Marco furrowed his brow and scowled, before quickly changing the subject. “But that’s enough about me. Instead of listening to some old man’s story, how about you? I imagine being one of those rockstars can get mighty tiring.”

  She giggled and plopped down onto her rear. “Eh, it’s not the music itself that grinds my gears. I love writing songs, strummin’ on Cassie, and pyin’ for a big ole audience. It’s the behind the scenes that can get real messy. I managed to stay away from most of the garbo, but there are some things you just can’t avoid workin’ in the industry. Heck, there’s probably more politics happening in the background than in the damn White House! It’s exhausting, so I kinda had to get good at knowin’ who to hang around with.”

  Mili raised her finger and poked Marco right in the belly. “I knew right away you were a big softy. No tough guy act can hide that.”

  “Hah, real funny. What about the others?”

  “Lucius? He’s… kinda weird.” She rocked back and forth, pondering for a bit. “The guy has this huge love for people. Like, it’s so overwhelming that I thought he was a cult leader at first. How can you be so fond of someone you’ve just met? It really felt that way. The moment we met, he looked at us like we were a bunch of cute cuddly kids—even you! And I’m pretty sure you’re older than him. I’ve never seen someone that genuinely adoring to a bunch of strangers before.”

  “That, I can agree on. He has this, what do you call it, charm that sucks you right in. I honestly thought the man was some kind of saint.”

  “Right? If it was just that I wouldn’t be all worked up, but sometimes I get this sorta mysterious feeling from him. I never know what he’s thinking. It’s funny because ol’ Jacky boy is the complete opposite. He wears his heart on his sleeves, gets grouchy easily, and sometimes becomes really annoying when he’s ranting about games. But, deep down he’s a good guy. At least he was…”

  Mili sighed and let her head thud on the wall. “What’re we gonna do about Jack? We were all gung-ho about knockin’ him back to sense, but now I… I don’t know. Crazy or not, he still killed Lucius. I know it’s not really his fault, but I just get this real icky feeling inside me whenever I think about it—gosh, I’m terrible.”

  “It’s normal to feel that way,” Marco said. “Lord knows how sick I felt when I saw that spear go through Lucius, but think of it like this: If we’re this shaken after watchin’ it happen, how do you think Jack will feel after he snaps out of it?”

  Mili hung her head.

  “He’ll live with it forever, knowing he’s got blood on his hands. The guilt, the shame, the fear: there’s no escape from it. It’ll eat away at ya every waking moment of your life. That’s what Jack’s gonna have to go through. Now, that doesn’t excuse what he did, not a chance, but it’s never too te to be better.”

  Robbery. Assault. Drug Abuse. Murder.

  Desperation came in many forms. Some committed evil merely for the sake of it, and others were pushed on by a misguided hand. Marco was of the tter. He was scum society wanted no association with, yet the man persevered. He saw the evil in himself, and through great effort, overcame it through his own will.

  Lucius felt very sad. How beautiful would that sight have been, if he were with Marco during his early years? Such was the plight of a mortal body. There were only so many people he could discover at a given time.

  “The past ain’t ever gonna go away. What’s important, though, is what you’re gonna do now. Tomorrow. How you want to be for the rest of your life. If Jack gives in and becomes a monster like all the other scum, then that’s his choice. But if he wants to fight it, to make amends and live on as a better person than he was yesterday, then I’ll help him. I have to believe there’s good in people, or else I’d be nothin’ but a hypocrite.”

  Mili nodded along, and slowly but surely, her own views were starting to change as well.

  “... We still don’t know he’s gonna react,” she said. “But, and that’s a big but, if Jack really does get it together somehow, then I’ll try to accept him. Won’t stop me from feeling uncomfortable, though.”

  “And that’s just fine. The treatment’s a part of his burden. It’s the thought that counts—matters a lot more to the other than ya likely think.”

  Mili grinned and nudged his shoulder, before standing back up with a new pep in her step. “We’ve sat on our butts long enough. Come on, we gotta find ol’ Jacky boy first before we can talk all philosophical—”

  She froze.

  Marco froze.

  The two of them readied their weapons and swerved, facing the far-off darkness.

  Thump. Thump.

  Heavy footsteps thumped in the distance. It grew louder, heavier, and with it—the slow grunts of a man at death’s door.

  Lucius’s eyes widened in surprise. “Oh my,” he thought. “Is he here already? I didn’t expect for them to encounter each other for another hour or so.”

  There, shuffling toward them with a hideous arm in tow, was the very Jack they sought to find.