Lucas and Morgan: The Epic Continues Forum Ghost of Vices Past

Morgan stood over the body, waiting like always for a twinge of remorse to come. She wanted to, she remembered the tearing bitterness of it, but it had been a long time. He wanted to kill her. He wanted to find him and kill him, too. Morgan could not, would not, have that. The dead man's hand was outstretched next to the carton of cigarettes, as if it was his last request before he finally stopped breathing. She sighed. Bending down, her foot crushed hands still wet with blood, open wounds that would never heal closed, and retrieved his cigarettes. It took another second to find the lighter, which she unceremoniously yanked from his breast pocket. The flame followed the crisp flick of the lighter, and Morgan relished the dirty taste as it stretched its damage back into her lungs. "Maybe that's what it was." she said to herself. Maybe remorse had been smoke all along. --- "I thought you didn't smoke," Lucas said, going through the kitchen cabinets and returning with an empty glass. "Me, too" Morgan replied, twisting the filtered edge between her fingers. "I hadn't in so long, I figured I forgot how to want one." Lucas poured himself a drink, tossing the bottle towards the trash when he was done. "Who was he?" he asked, straddling a chair beside her but not looking her in the eyes just yet. He filled the pause with a hearty gulp of amber. "It doesn't matter," she said finally, "I made sure of it." To be continued...