TheInkWell Fiction Challenge

Week 11 of TheInkWell Fiction Challenge Summer 2020

Series Title: Our Thirteen Sonatas

Week 1: A Star Burns Bright as It Collides
Week 2: Ghost of the Past
Week 3: A Sorry Tale of Woe
Week 4: To Thine Own Self
Week 5: A Day at a Time
Week 6: A Day Is Saved
Week 7: The Threads That Bind
Week 8: The First Step
Week 9: The Last Drop
Week 10: Three of Fates

“Blimey! Lucius, it’s ‘bout time you woke up!”

Those were the words I first registered as I took in the white plainness of my surroundings.. A hospital? But how—?

“Thought that hit would leave ya a lump like that on a camel’s back! HA! Guess they didn’t expect you’d be made of tougher stuff!”

The fuck is this man talking about?? I raised a hand to my head as I asked the first thing that I hoped could stall this moment of confusion, “Did you say camel?”

“That’s right sir! It’s a bloody good job how you managed to one-up that murderer! It’s the talk of the department— no, the whole city even— Imagine, Sir Abraham Lucius, our very own Sherlock Holmes come to life!”

It was then, as I held my head and was in the process of sitting up, that I felt my whole being wobble as a flood of memories assaulted me— “..are you willing to take on the vessel of Discord?”

That’s right, no one would believe that the real Abraham Lucius had died with that blow to the head and I was only here to finish the job— the job that the real hero of this lifetime started.

“Where is James?” I asked with dread creeping up my being as I now stared at my hand. There it was, the reddish gold thread that inexplicably bound me to that someone.

“Uh.. you see Lucius.. Mr. Dorham’s barely.. How do I put it—”

I didn’t wait for him to explain as I promptly threw back the bedcovers and stood up. “Oi, Lucius! You shouldn’t be up and about just yet!” I didn’t pay him any mind as I strode purposefully out of my room, the thread that wrapped around my hand the only source of guidance in this life.

The slow beeping of the heart monitor signaled the precariousness of the situation before me, and here I sat, willing for him to hear my next words, “Don’t worry luv, I’m here to finish the job you took upon yourself while I was busy with the Fates. Rest easy, knowing our next life together could very well be our one true happy ever after..”

It was then I saw a tear trail down the side of his face, and maybe it was just my wishful thinking that I briefly glanced those familiar set of warm eyes that were hidden behind heavy eyelids, because just as I was to wipe that tear away was when I heard the endless sound of a flat line.

Nurses came rushing in and I was gently ushered out the room, feeling the thread that bound us together in this lifetime pull taunt until it snapped. I could only continue to stare at my hand as I watched the half of my thread gently float away into nothingness before a silent tear trailed down my face, I clenched my hand and gritted my teeth. This will be our last heartbreak.

“Uhm.. Sir Lucius..?” Him again. I raised my head and stared him dead in the eye.

“Where is that murderer being held?”