The Surprise

Walking up the steps, my cane clacks against the marble.

“Sir you can’t be up there!” One of those orderly’s yell at me from down. I shake my head and approach the throne, basking in its grandeur. Cast from gold and adorned with every kind of gem.

“I remember when the pope sat right here, Timmy.” I pat the back of the throne. Then I hear that blasted whirring again. “Are you even listening or are you to busy playing with your ‘rone.”

“It isn’t a rone grampa it’s a drone.” He corrected, rolling his eyes as the drone flies closer to me. I wave it away.

“Whatever…you kids and your electricity…I swear, when I was a kid, the only electricity we had was from eels and we liked it that way.” Timmy looks up at me and raises an eyebrow as I sit down in the throne.

“When we got here you said that you would give me a surprise.” I scoff at Timmy’s response and my eyes catch the chromatic lights dancing down from the stained glass. I point up at them. Two gargantuan marble pillars stand on either side of the entrance, framing a stained-glass mural.

“Sir, you can’t sit there.” The guard rounds the corner and gasps quickly bowing to me. “I didn’t realize it was you, my liege.”

“That mural is our history, the bloodshed to the creation of this wonder; my cathedral D’amore.”

“You built this?” He asked. I smile softly as I gently take the phone from his hands.

“What I want to give you, is everything I never had, as well as everything I ever built.” I hug him tight, and a tear slides down my cheek. One unlucky complication robbed me my future.

“I love you, Timmy.”

It won’t take his.

You caress the photo lovingly as a tear threatens to drip from the corner of your eye. Power is useless if everything you love is taken. The phone rings, breaking you from your thoughts. As it rings again you blink and cock your head. Intrigue sets in, and you set down the photograph.

Very few are privy to this number, and of them only a select few would dare call it. Being one of the oldest villains, it doesn’t come as a surprise that everyone fears you. The younger generation even have named you Chronos when you harnessed the sands of time. Reaching over, you pick up the phone from its cradle.

“Yes?” You answer, curiosity growing.

“Is this Chronos?” A wavery feminine voice comes over the line. Odd you don’t recognize her voice, but you decide to give her the benefit of the doubt. Anyone who gets this number has the right to be heard. You run your hands over an ornate hourglass on the table, loving the way the Victorian grooves feel in between your fingers. You pick it up and then redirect your attention to the call.

“You have two minutes to capture my attention before I hang up.” You pause for a moment, before gracefully turning the hourglass over, watching the stark white sand spill through the bottleneck.

This was not the voice of one of the other villains. There was something familiar about this voice, but you can’t quite place it.

“Please don’t hang up, you have to help me.” A sob escapes over the phone.

“I am a villain; I am not in the business of helping people.”

“You somehow got the wrong number, find a hero if you need help.”

“I am a hero though!” You feel your left eyebrow slowly raise, as if caught with a fishhook.

“Oh, a hero calls me. What even makes you think I will help a hero, I am a villain after all.”

“…Selene told me to…” You sit forward, resting on your elbow, you wave your fingers and the sand in the hourglass slows to a halt as another sob escapes the phone. Your eyes focus on the photo.

“How do you know that name.” Anxiety funnels into your being and the grains of sand begin to dance erratically inside the hourglass. The sobs get louder, and your patience grows thin.

“You don’t seem to understand, I kill heroes. Tell me how you know that name or so help me…” rage boils inside you as you trail off.

“She loved me…” and just like that, the fire in your soul was doused by a freezing revelation. You know this voice, and of course, how could you ever forget? This was her voice.

“What do you need?” A gruff answer, barely conveying the muted cacophony of emotions echoing inside your soul.

“I don’t know! My family…they killed my dog, the one Selene got for me.” You feel the phone crack under your tightening fist.

“Why?” You barely contain yourself as you bite through your lip. You are retired, you don’t kill the innocent. She made you promise not to.

“I didn’t finish my chores.” Crash The hourglass shatters as you grind your teeth together.

“…when they found out I was gay… they kicked me out” She sobs again, and you hear her voice grow hoarse from the effort. Your lip curls up in disgust.

“Please, can I stay with you? I don’t have anywhere else to go!” She moans through the phone. You eye the picture and see Selene’s smile staring back at you.

“I can’t wait to have her meet you one day!” You close your eyes, as a tear falls. Selene’s final words, tug at your heart cord as they ring in your ears. With a heavy sigh you collect yourself, raising your hand as the hourglass reforms.

“Do you know of the Crawford Estate down on fourth?”

“Yes, but no one is allowed on the grounds.”

“Be there in two hours, someone will be here to let you in.”

“But what are you---” You hang up, reaching over and picking up the picture.

“Selene … I loved you. You wanted me to be a better man, to stop killing. For years I stayed in the background.” You stroke the photograph affectionately. A soft smile works it’s way onto your face, but it quickly falls into a grimace. You clench and unclench your fist and shake your head.

“Time has been harsh, and now to preserve the love that you had for her…I will make your love’s life better. I will provide for her the way you would have.” You set the image down in the center of the table, kissing your fingers before you press them over her smiling face. You stand up straight, tightening your fist as you do.

“But first I must make sure that they pay for what they have done.” The glass shatters as you turn on your heel and march to the door. Stopping, you place one hand on the door jamb, turning back and locking eyes with the picture again.

“I failed you, but I will not fail her, even if I have to break that promise to you.” You leave with a scowl, cutting across your face, but inside you feel your power bubble with excitement and a viscous smile breaks across your face. “I am going to thoroughly enjoy this.”