05-31-2019, 08:32 PM
OOC: I'll be honest... I'm a little frustrated here. This effort is CD only from me. I could chalk it up to spending most of the day at a local convention with my brother, but even if I didn't have that to fall back on I doubted I could've put together anything more for Blackbourne. I really wanted to give him a good shot here, but I finally remembered why I've notoriously had a ton of difficulty in even having a decent performance in this match. I've spent the past few hours trying to come up with something to run with for a promo, but despite my best efforts I've found myself hating everything I've written. The CD I wrote is something I like, at least, and it helps build towards part of where I'm looking to take the character on the road to Rise to Greatness. At this point, I'd rather just post what I've got that I'm happy with as opposed to fighting with myself any further hoping that I can concoct a promo that helps more that hurts this effort. I'm sorry guys... one of these days I swear I'm going to figure out the winning formula for this kind of match, but this year just doesn't seem like it for right now.
-------------------------------------------------
Life could be fickle sometimes. It was often never sure if it wanted to reward you for all your hard work or continue to challenge you to see how much you were truly capable of enduring to get to wherever you wanted to go at the end of the day. Adding to it was the fact that even if you felt like continuing the challenge would simply lead to a greater reward, there was never a way to tell when, or even if, you would get that reward sometimes.
Aaron certainly felt like the challenges were beginning to outweigh the rewards at this point in his life.
With Taking Hold of the Flame on the horizon, it was hard to say that the creative soul didn’t have any momentum in his favor. After all, between this upcoming pay-per-view and the last one he’d only taken one loss, though he hardly considered it to be much of one since it was a hard-fought battle and in the end things between himself and Alistaire Allocco had seemed to be patched up. Beyond that match on last week’s Breakdown, it had been hard to keep the artist from finding his way into the winner’s circle, building valuable momentum along the way.
That said, while no one could question the momentum he was building, there were plenty who could question some of the business he was willing to get involved in. Aaron thought it was pretty cut and dry that he was willing to both throw down with Chris Cannon even if it meant causing a disqualification and cut off Alistaire’s father mid-rant because he was standing up for his friend in the process, but there were many who simply didn’t see it that way. He knew Owen was more than capable of being able to fight his own battles, but when you’re on the verge of potentially having your neck broken or being run into the ground when you aren’t present to defend yourself, sometimes it was nice to have a friend willing to look out for you. Considering what had Owen preoccupied outside the ring, Aaron could hardly blame the kid for needing to put other matters first.
It was something he was finding more difficult to do himself, more so in regards to exactly which issue he needed to focus on clearing up first.
It seemed like the choice was pretty clear to him initially. Sure, he had the lingering questions he needed to resolve around this mysterious person that was trying to stalk him and make it seem like he was potentially being haunted by the ghost of his deceased brother, but things on that front had actually been quiet since he’d left Seattle to return to the rigors of the SCW touring schedule, something he’d been grateful for. With his only other option being figuring out a way to help Liane and her siblings sort things out with their parents over the way they’re being treated, which wasn’t an immediate top priority as much as that pained him to say since sorting out his own head would go a long way in helping him to sort that mess out on top of the fact he needed a free opportunity to actually truly meet Mr. and Mrs. Forte to get a full understanding of what he was getting into there, that left the ongoing war over his imagination that was starting to emerge as the key to putting all his proverbial dominos back in order at long last.
Up until recently, Aaron had pondered the fact that after all they’d done to him, the Twin Stars – who had been one of the catalysts for this whole debacle, to begin with – were actually trying to be on his side in being rid of Nemesis once and for all. He would’ve found it hard to believe if not for his recent meetings with Gleeful and Dreambender, who insisted that they were simply staying true to the way they were designed and only wanted the best for Aaron and his mental stability like most of the other entities that resided within his mindscape. They’d certainly gone out of their way to help him understand several other options he had regarding his other problems, and the fact they were openly willing to appear before him knowing how much he’d wanted to get his hands on them was proof that, if nothing else, they were hoping for an alliance to take down a common enemy that was, admittedly, a far greater threat right now. It might be a gamble, but the more he thought about it the more Aaron began to realize that maybe this was a necessary risk in order to get some kind of ending to this chapter of his imaginary escapades for the time being. Besides, maybe only in the aftermath would he see if the twins were being honest with him or simply aiming to eliminate a common enemy and nothing more, and getting to that point required the embodiment of all his stress to fall.
That task was starting to seem more and more like an insurmountable climb the more other factors sought to add to his stress.
Hi! You all thought I was dead, but you just abandoned me! I’m only dead because you think I am to all of you! Thanks family!
The more his eyes scanned over that text message sitting on his phone, the more tempted he was to actually try to crush the device in his hand as though he were The Incredible Hulk. It wasn’t the text itself that was the problem, as in any other scenario it might either seem like one of those spam texts going around that wasn’t just limited to e-mails or social media hijackings anymore or someone either sending it to the wrong person or just trying to get a rise out of him. What was truly bothering him about this was the person who sent it to him.
After all, dead men can’t send text messages.
The more he looked over the whole picture before him, the more his brain was trying to pass it off either as some sick joke or really messed up dream he was having, but he knew it couldn’t be the latter. He’d asked Liane to pinch him to be sure and it hurt enough to prove he was wide awake, meaning he truly was sitting beside his future wife at the lookout of Mount Royal in Montreal trying to figure out what his reaction should truly be to this situation that had gone unnoticed for a little over a week now because of his divided focus. He’d come here with Liane so the two could relax a bit ahead of the battle royal Aaron would be throwing himself into with the hope of being able to go on to showcase his creativity in the biggest fashion imaginable, and things had started off well enough as he immersed himself in sketching the city skyline to do something more with later while she was busy working on some new material she’d come up with for a night club gig she’d managed to land for a few nights while they were in town. Aaron had only checked his text messages after receiving one that was a reminder of some lingering bills he needed to sort out quickly and finally came across the message that had been sitting there, waiting to taunt him for some time.
“Someone’s got a sick sense of humor, and trust me when I say that’s not something you want to hear a comedian tell you.”
Liane had glanced over to confirm that Aaron wasn’t just seeing things after questioning why she’d been asked to pinch him just a moment ago, and the appalled look on her face didn’t even do justice to how sick to her stomach she was over this sight herself. Ignoring how late he was even bothering to look at it, the fact that it came from Andrew’s number gave Aaron a sneaking suspicion that someone hasn’t completely turned over everything they were supposed to of the deceased’s belongings.
“It really wouldn’t surprise me if that sick son of a bitch thought this was funny. The man he supposedly loved is dead and gone forever… what’s the point of trying to continue any of this?”
“Are you even sure it’s him? I know he’s the most likely answer, but you said he’s got friends that kind of helped contribute to some of Andrew’s problems, so maybe one of them is feeling stupid enough to take this farther than it ever needed to go.”
Aaron raised an eyebrow at his fiancée, but she did raise a valid point. Even still, he had to go with his gut on this one, knowing full well that if Dylan was the kind of manipulative asshole that would completely destroy who his brother used to be throughout their mess of a relationship, the ex-boyfriend was also probably not the kind of guy to quit while he thought he was ahead. Maybe, somewhere in his twisted little mind, he felt like losing one of their own hadn’t been enough for the Blackbourne family, though what kind of vendetta he or anyone associated with him would have against them beyond the fact that they all saw straight through his game and did everything in their power to pull Andrew out of it was a mystery in and of itself.
“I don’t want to rule that out Liane but at the same time… I can’t help but feel this is too well-timed. I don’t know what’s going on back home, and I’ll probably be checking in on that shortly to see if I’m unfortunately right about this, but this text was sent out to everyone in my family just before the Breakdown where I was concerned with how to approach the mess I inadvertently made with Alistaire. Dylan would know the business I’m in and when I compete regardless of how much he actually cares for wrestling since Andrew always kept up with my endeavors. I’m actually a little glad I noticed this late because God only knows how much worse this could’ve affected me going into last Wednesday night.”
Aaron spat out a frustrated sigh as he looked down at his sketchbook, the etchings of the Montreal cityscape from this beautiful view pretty much done aside from some smaller details he’d planned on throwing in to help guide his artistic vision when he tackled this full-fledged later. Liane draped an arm over his shoulder and kissed his cheek to help remind him that he always had her when he needed someone to help pick him up.
“Don’t worry about it, Aaron. It’s not like the guy can do anything more right now than just be an internet troll hoping he throws you off, and you know I won’t let him get that satisfaction at the expense of my future husband. Just take a deep breath… you’re stronger than he is, and you’re stronger than whatever he thinks he can gain from this.”
Aaron couldn’t resist giving his wife a smile as he took her advice and started taking several deep breaths to collect himself. It was an annoyance, sure, but Dylan wasn’t the bigger issue just yet as Aaron knew full well he could turn this all around on the little sadist in a heartbeat if he wanted to. The last thing he truly needed right now was the extra stress threatening to make Nemesis an even bigger problem now that it seemed like he truly had some sort of plan of attack starting to form with this potential alliance with the Twin Stars. If he let the stress consume him, not only was he going to become too wrapped up in his own head and cause further damage, but his body was also going to begin to fail him when he needed it most, whether it be in the battle royal or in whatever endeavor he found himself fighting for going into Rise to Greatness afterward. Dylan would never know the damage his assistance was creating, but the creative soul had no plans on falling prey to either source of his headaches right now, or ever for that matter.
“Thanks hon, I really don’t know what I’d do without you in times like this. Still… maybe I should check in with my family to see how they’re taking this and figuring things out from there.”
Exchanging a brief kiss to help keep him in good spirits, Aaron proceeded to find his mom in his contacts list and give her a call. It took until the final ring, which was a little unusual for her unless she was tied up with something, but she finally answered, and almost immediately he could sense the woman trying to hide something by virtue of the tone of her voice.
“Hey hon. How are you doing?”
“I’m doing alright, kind of. I was calling to ask you about something, but maybe I should be turning your question back at you. Everything alright?”
“Everything’s fine Aaron. Can I presume you're calling about the mass text our family got from Andrew’s number?”
Aaron wasn’t fully buying the first line from her, but clearly, she was trying to change the subject to what he was calling her about in the first place. He wasn’t sure why yet, but he’d get to the bottom of that soon enough. For now, he let her deflection slide.
“Yeah. I have this feeling it’s got something to do with Dylan, but-”
“You’d be right, unfortunately. The police actually let that little son of a bitch keep Andrew’s phone, never mind the fact he doesn’t pay for the plan on it and I can promise you it’s got evidence the police really need to see that Andrew’s carrier is fighting me on over the subpoena for the phone records at the very least. Apparently, he finds it amusing to try and play games like this, not just with text messages, but Andrew’s social media accounts as well.”
That one was news to Aaron, considering he’d silently left his brother behind in terms of social media when he got tired of the constant posts and tweets regarding the relationship that made his skin crawl and ultimately led to his brother’s unfortunate demise. Still, he can only imagine the kind of outrage this guy thought he was stirring up for whatever sick pleasure he was getting out of it, and it made his blood boil. Liane frowned for a moment before taking hold of his wrist, trying to help keep him calm as he continued the phone conversation.
“That can’t be legal in any sense of the word.”
“You think he cares? The guy pretty much deals drugs in his spare time when he’s not hunting for someone to use and abuse just like he did Andrew. It’s bad enough that Alec got dragged into this web of his now-”
“I’m sorry… what!?”
Aaron could hear the audible sigh of frustration from the other end of the call, as well as finally picking up on some background noise that indicated she wasn’t at home when she’d answered him, which might explain why it took her a moment before picking up.
“You remember that girl I told you he was hitting it off pretty well with from another school before you left after the funeral to get back on the road? Turns out it was Dylan catfishing him, and I know he’s behind this because it’s the same games he played with Andrew to screw with him when they were apart in order to try and drive him back into that toxic relationship. I know you didn’t buy that whole ‘everything’s fine’ line I fed you a bit ago… I’m just still in a foul mood from having to go to his school to play damage control because that asshole managed to talk Alec into sending ‘those’ kinds of pics of himself, and instead of replying in kind since he can’t because he’s not who he convinced him ‘she’ is he went and plastered them all over social media. As if Alec wasn’t having enough trouble being bullied as it is…”
Aaron nearly dropped his phone at this revelation, the turn of events causing his jaw to work as though he had something to say only for the words to fail him. If he wasn’t disgusted and angry enough assuming they were hitting the bullseye on all of this, and they had a pretty good reason to be on the money with these suspicions, he could almost feel his internal organs melting from the flames or pure rage that were trying to consume him right now.
“Does that jackass really not know when to stop? I get it, he thinks he’s invincible because he’s probably certain he essentially got away with murder, but last I checked he’s not out of the woods on those charges just yet, is he?”
“Absolutely not… not if I have anything to say about it.”
“Add to that the fact that he’s got to get busted for dealing and doing sooner or later, and stack what’s clearly a charge of pedophilia onto that since Alec’s still under eighteen…” Aaron needed a second to catch his breath, trying to return himself to a level-headed state before he truly lost it, especially since the slowly increasing volume of his voice was starting to attract a few stares from nearby passersby who were also visiting this great tourist spot today. “Breakdown’s coming to North Carolina the week after Taking Hold of the Flame is in the books, and if the police haven’t done a damn thing by then I’m tempted to swing back to Lowell quick and kill that son of a bitch myself to make him understand he’s not as untouchable as he thinks he is.”
“Please don’t do that Aaron. I know Dylan deserves that and then some, but your career and life aren’t worth throwing away just because of him. He knows that, and that’s why he keeps playing these games. Please… focus on your wrestling, and we’ll figure this out if you are able to come back this way soon. Don’t let him get to you the way he managed to get to Andrew and now Alec. You’re much stronger than this… I know that firsthand.”
It was a reassuring way to wrap up the call, and as Aaron put his phone away once the goodbyes were said he held Liane close as she willingly allowed herself to become a ‘cuddle buddy’ in a sense before he did something irrational in the wake of this newfound information. Anything to help try and keep the stress from fueling a certain someone within his thoughts and keep himself focused on the task ahead of him in trying to overcome thirty-nine other men and women for the ultimate prize. It wasn’t going to be easy before, but now it was an even greater challenge, and the only solace he could take was the thought that if the cards fell the way he’d hoped, the battle royal would present him with several opportunities to deal with a few people who deserved to be nowhere close to the Rise to Greatness main event.
If nothing else, those close to him would always fuel the flame that drove him, and sometimes that was all he needed to push himself that little bit more to get the job done.
-------------------------------------------------
Life could be fickle sometimes. It was often never sure if it wanted to reward you for all your hard work or continue to challenge you to see how much you were truly capable of enduring to get to wherever you wanted to go at the end of the day. Adding to it was the fact that even if you felt like continuing the challenge would simply lead to a greater reward, there was never a way to tell when, or even if, you would get that reward sometimes.
Aaron certainly felt like the challenges were beginning to outweigh the rewards at this point in his life.
With Taking Hold of the Flame on the horizon, it was hard to say that the creative soul didn’t have any momentum in his favor. After all, between this upcoming pay-per-view and the last one he’d only taken one loss, though he hardly considered it to be much of one since it was a hard-fought battle and in the end things between himself and Alistaire Allocco had seemed to be patched up. Beyond that match on last week’s Breakdown, it had been hard to keep the artist from finding his way into the winner’s circle, building valuable momentum along the way.
That said, while no one could question the momentum he was building, there were plenty who could question some of the business he was willing to get involved in. Aaron thought it was pretty cut and dry that he was willing to both throw down with Chris Cannon even if it meant causing a disqualification and cut off Alistaire’s father mid-rant because he was standing up for his friend in the process, but there were many who simply didn’t see it that way. He knew Owen was more than capable of being able to fight his own battles, but when you’re on the verge of potentially having your neck broken or being run into the ground when you aren’t present to defend yourself, sometimes it was nice to have a friend willing to look out for you. Considering what had Owen preoccupied outside the ring, Aaron could hardly blame the kid for needing to put other matters first.
It was something he was finding more difficult to do himself, more so in regards to exactly which issue he needed to focus on clearing up first.
It seemed like the choice was pretty clear to him initially. Sure, he had the lingering questions he needed to resolve around this mysterious person that was trying to stalk him and make it seem like he was potentially being haunted by the ghost of his deceased brother, but things on that front had actually been quiet since he’d left Seattle to return to the rigors of the SCW touring schedule, something he’d been grateful for. With his only other option being figuring out a way to help Liane and her siblings sort things out with their parents over the way they’re being treated, which wasn’t an immediate top priority as much as that pained him to say since sorting out his own head would go a long way in helping him to sort that mess out on top of the fact he needed a free opportunity to actually truly meet Mr. and Mrs. Forte to get a full understanding of what he was getting into there, that left the ongoing war over his imagination that was starting to emerge as the key to putting all his proverbial dominos back in order at long last.
Up until recently, Aaron had pondered the fact that after all they’d done to him, the Twin Stars – who had been one of the catalysts for this whole debacle, to begin with – were actually trying to be on his side in being rid of Nemesis once and for all. He would’ve found it hard to believe if not for his recent meetings with Gleeful and Dreambender, who insisted that they were simply staying true to the way they were designed and only wanted the best for Aaron and his mental stability like most of the other entities that resided within his mindscape. They’d certainly gone out of their way to help him understand several other options he had regarding his other problems, and the fact they were openly willing to appear before him knowing how much he’d wanted to get his hands on them was proof that, if nothing else, they were hoping for an alliance to take down a common enemy that was, admittedly, a far greater threat right now. It might be a gamble, but the more he thought about it the more Aaron began to realize that maybe this was a necessary risk in order to get some kind of ending to this chapter of his imaginary escapades for the time being. Besides, maybe only in the aftermath would he see if the twins were being honest with him or simply aiming to eliminate a common enemy and nothing more, and getting to that point required the embodiment of all his stress to fall.
That task was starting to seem more and more like an insurmountable climb the more other factors sought to add to his stress.
Hi! You all thought I was dead, but you just abandoned me! I’m only dead because you think I am to all of you! Thanks family!
The more his eyes scanned over that text message sitting on his phone, the more tempted he was to actually try to crush the device in his hand as though he were The Incredible Hulk. It wasn’t the text itself that was the problem, as in any other scenario it might either seem like one of those spam texts going around that wasn’t just limited to e-mails or social media hijackings anymore or someone either sending it to the wrong person or just trying to get a rise out of him. What was truly bothering him about this was the person who sent it to him.
After all, dead men can’t send text messages.
The more he looked over the whole picture before him, the more his brain was trying to pass it off either as some sick joke or really messed up dream he was having, but he knew it couldn’t be the latter. He’d asked Liane to pinch him to be sure and it hurt enough to prove he was wide awake, meaning he truly was sitting beside his future wife at the lookout of Mount Royal in Montreal trying to figure out what his reaction should truly be to this situation that had gone unnoticed for a little over a week now because of his divided focus. He’d come here with Liane so the two could relax a bit ahead of the battle royal Aaron would be throwing himself into with the hope of being able to go on to showcase his creativity in the biggest fashion imaginable, and things had started off well enough as he immersed himself in sketching the city skyline to do something more with later while she was busy working on some new material she’d come up with for a night club gig she’d managed to land for a few nights while they were in town. Aaron had only checked his text messages after receiving one that was a reminder of some lingering bills he needed to sort out quickly and finally came across the message that had been sitting there, waiting to taunt him for some time.
“Someone’s got a sick sense of humor, and trust me when I say that’s not something you want to hear a comedian tell you.”
Liane had glanced over to confirm that Aaron wasn’t just seeing things after questioning why she’d been asked to pinch him just a moment ago, and the appalled look on her face didn’t even do justice to how sick to her stomach she was over this sight herself. Ignoring how late he was even bothering to look at it, the fact that it came from Andrew’s number gave Aaron a sneaking suspicion that someone hasn’t completely turned over everything they were supposed to of the deceased’s belongings.
“It really wouldn’t surprise me if that sick son of a bitch thought this was funny. The man he supposedly loved is dead and gone forever… what’s the point of trying to continue any of this?”
“Are you even sure it’s him? I know he’s the most likely answer, but you said he’s got friends that kind of helped contribute to some of Andrew’s problems, so maybe one of them is feeling stupid enough to take this farther than it ever needed to go.”
Aaron raised an eyebrow at his fiancée, but she did raise a valid point. Even still, he had to go with his gut on this one, knowing full well that if Dylan was the kind of manipulative asshole that would completely destroy who his brother used to be throughout their mess of a relationship, the ex-boyfriend was also probably not the kind of guy to quit while he thought he was ahead. Maybe, somewhere in his twisted little mind, he felt like losing one of their own hadn’t been enough for the Blackbourne family, though what kind of vendetta he or anyone associated with him would have against them beyond the fact that they all saw straight through his game and did everything in their power to pull Andrew out of it was a mystery in and of itself.
“I don’t want to rule that out Liane but at the same time… I can’t help but feel this is too well-timed. I don’t know what’s going on back home, and I’ll probably be checking in on that shortly to see if I’m unfortunately right about this, but this text was sent out to everyone in my family just before the Breakdown where I was concerned with how to approach the mess I inadvertently made with Alistaire. Dylan would know the business I’m in and when I compete regardless of how much he actually cares for wrestling since Andrew always kept up with my endeavors. I’m actually a little glad I noticed this late because God only knows how much worse this could’ve affected me going into last Wednesday night.”
Aaron spat out a frustrated sigh as he looked down at his sketchbook, the etchings of the Montreal cityscape from this beautiful view pretty much done aside from some smaller details he’d planned on throwing in to help guide his artistic vision when he tackled this full-fledged later. Liane draped an arm over his shoulder and kissed his cheek to help remind him that he always had her when he needed someone to help pick him up.
“Don’t worry about it, Aaron. It’s not like the guy can do anything more right now than just be an internet troll hoping he throws you off, and you know I won’t let him get that satisfaction at the expense of my future husband. Just take a deep breath… you’re stronger than he is, and you’re stronger than whatever he thinks he can gain from this.”
Aaron couldn’t resist giving his wife a smile as he took her advice and started taking several deep breaths to collect himself. It was an annoyance, sure, but Dylan wasn’t the bigger issue just yet as Aaron knew full well he could turn this all around on the little sadist in a heartbeat if he wanted to. The last thing he truly needed right now was the extra stress threatening to make Nemesis an even bigger problem now that it seemed like he truly had some sort of plan of attack starting to form with this potential alliance with the Twin Stars. If he let the stress consume him, not only was he going to become too wrapped up in his own head and cause further damage, but his body was also going to begin to fail him when he needed it most, whether it be in the battle royal or in whatever endeavor he found himself fighting for going into Rise to Greatness afterward. Dylan would never know the damage his assistance was creating, but the creative soul had no plans on falling prey to either source of his headaches right now, or ever for that matter.
“Thanks hon, I really don’t know what I’d do without you in times like this. Still… maybe I should check in with my family to see how they’re taking this and figuring things out from there.”
Exchanging a brief kiss to help keep him in good spirits, Aaron proceeded to find his mom in his contacts list and give her a call. It took until the final ring, which was a little unusual for her unless she was tied up with something, but she finally answered, and almost immediately he could sense the woman trying to hide something by virtue of the tone of her voice.
“Hey hon. How are you doing?”
“I’m doing alright, kind of. I was calling to ask you about something, but maybe I should be turning your question back at you. Everything alright?”
“Everything’s fine Aaron. Can I presume you're calling about the mass text our family got from Andrew’s number?”
Aaron wasn’t fully buying the first line from her, but clearly, she was trying to change the subject to what he was calling her about in the first place. He wasn’t sure why yet, but he’d get to the bottom of that soon enough. For now, he let her deflection slide.
“Yeah. I have this feeling it’s got something to do with Dylan, but-”
“You’d be right, unfortunately. The police actually let that little son of a bitch keep Andrew’s phone, never mind the fact he doesn’t pay for the plan on it and I can promise you it’s got evidence the police really need to see that Andrew’s carrier is fighting me on over the subpoena for the phone records at the very least. Apparently, he finds it amusing to try and play games like this, not just with text messages, but Andrew’s social media accounts as well.”
That one was news to Aaron, considering he’d silently left his brother behind in terms of social media when he got tired of the constant posts and tweets regarding the relationship that made his skin crawl and ultimately led to his brother’s unfortunate demise. Still, he can only imagine the kind of outrage this guy thought he was stirring up for whatever sick pleasure he was getting out of it, and it made his blood boil. Liane frowned for a moment before taking hold of his wrist, trying to help keep him calm as he continued the phone conversation.
“That can’t be legal in any sense of the word.”
“You think he cares? The guy pretty much deals drugs in his spare time when he’s not hunting for someone to use and abuse just like he did Andrew. It’s bad enough that Alec got dragged into this web of his now-”
“I’m sorry… what!?”
Aaron could hear the audible sigh of frustration from the other end of the call, as well as finally picking up on some background noise that indicated she wasn’t at home when she’d answered him, which might explain why it took her a moment before picking up.
“You remember that girl I told you he was hitting it off pretty well with from another school before you left after the funeral to get back on the road? Turns out it was Dylan catfishing him, and I know he’s behind this because it’s the same games he played with Andrew to screw with him when they were apart in order to try and drive him back into that toxic relationship. I know you didn’t buy that whole ‘everything’s fine’ line I fed you a bit ago… I’m just still in a foul mood from having to go to his school to play damage control because that asshole managed to talk Alec into sending ‘those’ kinds of pics of himself, and instead of replying in kind since he can’t because he’s not who he convinced him ‘she’ is he went and plastered them all over social media. As if Alec wasn’t having enough trouble being bullied as it is…”
Aaron nearly dropped his phone at this revelation, the turn of events causing his jaw to work as though he had something to say only for the words to fail him. If he wasn’t disgusted and angry enough assuming they were hitting the bullseye on all of this, and they had a pretty good reason to be on the money with these suspicions, he could almost feel his internal organs melting from the flames or pure rage that were trying to consume him right now.
“Does that jackass really not know when to stop? I get it, he thinks he’s invincible because he’s probably certain he essentially got away with murder, but last I checked he’s not out of the woods on those charges just yet, is he?”
“Absolutely not… not if I have anything to say about it.”
“Add to that the fact that he’s got to get busted for dealing and doing sooner or later, and stack what’s clearly a charge of pedophilia onto that since Alec’s still under eighteen…” Aaron needed a second to catch his breath, trying to return himself to a level-headed state before he truly lost it, especially since the slowly increasing volume of his voice was starting to attract a few stares from nearby passersby who were also visiting this great tourist spot today. “Breakdown’s coming to North Carolina the week after Taking Hold of the Flame is in the books, and if the police haven’t done a damn thing by then I’m tempted to swing back to Lowell quick and kill that son of a bitch myself to make him understand he’s not as untouchable as he thinks he is.”
“Please don’t do that Aaron. I know Dylan deserves that and then some, but your career and life aren’t worth throwing away just because of him. He knows that, and that’s why he keeps playing these games. Please… focus on your wrestling, and we’ll figure this out if you are able to come back this way soon. Don’t let him get to you the way he managed to get to Andrew and now Alec. You’re much stronger than this… I know that firsthand.”
It was a reassuring way to wrap up the call, and as Aaron put his phone away once the goodbyes were said he held Liane close as she willingly allowed herself to become a ‘cuddle buddy’ in a sense before he did something irrational in the wake of this newfound information. Anything to help try and keep the stress from fueling a certain someone within his thoughts and keep himself focused on the task ahead of him in trying to overcome thirty-nine other men and women for the ultimate prize. It wasn’t going to be easy before, but now it was an even greater challenge, and the only solace he could take was the thought that if the cards fell the way he’d hoped, the battle royal would present him with several opportunities to deal with a few people who deserved to be nowhere close to the Rise to Greatness main event.
If nothing else, those close to him would always fuel the flame that drove him, and sometimes that was all he needed to push himself that little bit more to get the job done.
![[Image: yC0vuyj.png]](https://i.imgur.com/yC0vuyj.png)