“Big coward” Victor just stared at Maria in wonder and then he burst out laughing.
“Oh gods! No one’s talked to me like that in years.” He fell to his knees still giggling “You’re right, though, the only thing is that Leon is the one who is going to save me.” Victor looked up, suddenly serious. “He’s the only one who can. He can finally put an end to all this pain and I can be back with Ji Soon and . . .” He trailed off, thinking of the baby that no chance of living and growing before it was culled from the tree of life. “I’m crazy, Maria, I know. I’m unstable and it’s not safe being around me, in fact, Leon’s probably the only one who can stay safe because I won’t hurt him. After all, he’s the one who made me like this.”
“Stop talking.” The Whispers had started up again, just when Victor was going to . . . but this was for the best.
“You don’t have to tell me that, I’m done.”
“What?” Asked Maria looking at him strangely.
“You’re dangerous. I can’t be around you, sorry. I don’t want to hurt you, and I’d even like to be by you more; you have a different way of looking at life. If you’re like this then I’d love to meet Tessa face-to-face, but you’re not going to let her out and I understand because she’d probably try killing me on the spot. You know, you’re much nicer than you give yourself credit for. In fact, I think the reason why you’re so interested in me is because I’m so messed up I don’t know my right from the left, which makes you feel better about yourself. You just want to fix people, don’t you?” This is what Victor was good at, making people angry; twisting innocent words so they didn’t mean anything but pain.
It looked like it had worked, too, because Maria was silent.