Chapter 28-2

"What?" I said shortly. "What could possibly be so funny?" "Why, you are what's so funny, mate," Havoc said, grinning at me. "You, actually thinking that you faced your fears." He had to be joking. There was no other explanation for it; he had to be joking. "Now before you start protesting, let me explain something to you," Havoc said. We were standing there, in the middle of JFK airport, people shoving past us, and I knew that this, the end, had finally arrived. "Explain what?" I said. My heart was starting to pound erratically against my chest and I felt clammy all over. Bad news was definitely coming. "I don't understand." "Of course you don't understand," Havoc scoffed with a roll of his eyes. "Your mind is too small, too simple, to understand something like this." He crooked his finger at me to follow after him again, and I did without question. His almost hypnotic words had a grip on me, and I wanted to know what he had to say. We made our way through the jumble of people in the airport to one of the exits. Havoc pulled open one of the doors and stepped aside with a flourish to let me pass through first before following suit. My jaw dropped. "What the - " I wasn't standing on the sidewalk outside of JFK, surrounded by a mess of people and cars. I was standing at the back of a dark, empty cathedral, dimly lit by the candles lining the walls beneath the stain-glass windows. I wasn't positive, but I was fairly certain I was standing in St. Patrick's. I hadn't been to mass here in ages. What the hell was I doing here? "Really nice place, this," Havoc said from beside me, gesturing around. "I like churches. Always have. So relaxing." "What are we doing here?" I asked. "You brought me to a church of all places. Why?" "Partially to make a point." He began to walk down the main aisle, running his fingers along the pews as he went. "Partially because this, dear boy, is your last fear." What? "My last - what are you talking about?" None of this was making any sense to me. My head was starting to throb from all of the thoughts rapidly bouncing around in my mind. "I told you, I faced my fears, I - "Stop talking." My mouth snapped shut and my tongue became glued to the top of my mouth. No matter how hard I tried top open my mouth and muster up the strength to say something, anything, it was futile. "I brought you here, Archer, to show you something," Havoc said, crossing his arms as he leaned up against a pew. "Oh, I'll commend you the fact that you put on a good show facing your fears and everything. It couldn't have been easy going to see your father after all those years. He seems like a real character. I'd love to have lunch with him sometime." My anger flared at the mention of my father. I tried to snap at him, to tell him to shut the hell up and not say a damn thing about that imbecile, but it was impossible. "And then there was the time you drove all the way down to Boonsboro to confront your step father's parents," Havoc continued. He spoke as if he were preparing himself for a long story and was enjoying the whole thing. "I have to admit, I do so like his sister. She's a fiesty little thing, isn't she? What was her name again? Rebecca?" This situation was growing worse and worse. Havoc was simply drawing it out, pointing out all of the things I'd done, poking and prodding at what he knew would infuriate me the most. And if I couldn't even speak, I had no way of fighting back against the way he hypnotized with his words. "Well, and then you also approached your sisters with the truth about the death of their father - in a less than eloquent manner, might I add," Havoc said, smirking at me in a way that sent my insides spasming with fear. "Probably didn't go as well as you'd hoped, did it?" I attempted to wrench open my mouth and speak again, but all that came out was some sort of grunting noise. "Then there was the instance were you made the not-so-smart decision to confront your mother-in-law about her and her husband's treatment of your dear little wife Hadley," Havoc said, drumming his fingers on the edge of a pew. "Which brings us to the source of most of your fears, I'd have to say." A strangled gasp flew from my lips when I was suddenly able to open my mouth again. "What...the...hell...are...you..." I kept sucking in air, trying to get my breath back. "What are you talking about?" "Why, I really don't think it's all that difficult, dear boy," Havoc said, his smirk widening as he began to saunter forward. "Of course it's very obvious that you love Hadley, any fool could tell that, but even you can't deny the fact that there are moments when you look at her and you just can't help but think this woman is too good for me. How long do I have before she realizes I'm not worth it?" There was no point denying it, because he was right. I thought the very same at least every other day. "And, well, Archer, it is my distinct pleasure to inform you that you are quite right," Havoc said, coming to a stop in front of me. "You are worthless. Pathetic. A miserable excuse for a human being who spends most of his time moaning and groaning about his lot in life. And d'you know, that's what annoys me the most about humanity. You can't imagine how enjoyable this is, watching you break down bit by bit until you lose whatever sanity you had to begin with. Really, a much better alternative than simply taking sweet little Hadley's life and calling it good and done." He moved forward until we were nose-to-nose and I could see far into the depths of his mismatched eyes. I had never thought before that the phrase paralyzed with fear would ever be accurate, but right at that moment, it damn well was. "And d'you know what else?" Havoc continued, lowering his voice into a threatening whisper. "I'm going to enjoy watching Hadley fall apart when she discovers what happened to you even more than the frightened look in your eyes right now." "Just what..." I swallowed back the bile that threatened to rise in my throat. "What are you planning on doing to me in a church of all places?" "Well, before I take pleasure in ending your miserable existence, I'm going to do this," Havoc answered, snapping his fingers. Blinding light flooded the church and a hum of conversation stirred, breaking whatever hold Havoc had held over me up until that point.