“Look for the light that leads me home.”
May 8th
Saxon Hotel
Las Vegas, Nevada
Another beautiful day in Las Vegas, and another day of being stuck in the hotel. It was starting to grate on Lachlan Kane’s last nerve as he sat in an armchair near the open window of the hotel room with his eyes closed, feeling the warm breeze come through. His mind was roiling, and had been ever since Blaze of Glory. He had been so close, fought with everything he had, left his blood, sweat and tears out in that ring - and still walked away empty-handed.
So what comes next?
To be honest, he was surprised he still had a job, after the abhorrent way he behaved, But luckily, Sierra had set him straight, reminded him that he was more than the losses that currently haunted his mind. She reminded him that he was a fighter - and a damn good one at that. He just needed to remind himself, not to mention the entire world. He wasn’t called “The Scrapper” for nothing, after all.
He heard the patter of small feet on the floor and opened his eyes just in time to see Jade come barreling into his lap. He grunted as the air rushed out of his lungs, but he gathered her up in his arms as she situated herself in his lap.
“Hi Lachy!” She beamed at him, clutching a stuffed unicorn that he had bought for her some time ago. It was a little threadbare, but still in good shape.
“Well hello there, stóirín,” he said, settling her more comfortably in his lap.
“You and Mommy are getting married soon, right?”
He nodded. “That we are.”
“Even if we’re stuck here in this hotel?”
“Well...I admit, we did have different plans. But the location doesn’t matter, all that matters is that I get to marry your mum. And besides, the hotel is really nice, right? The garden on the roof is going to be perfect.”
She scrunched up her face. “Yeah, I guess. I still get to be the flower girl, right?”
“Of course.”
Jade was quiet for a minute. “So, when you and Mommy are married, do I have to call you Daddy?”
He pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear. “No, my love. You don’t have to call me that if you don’t want to. You can still keep calling me Lachy if you want to.”
“...but what if I want to call you Daddy?”
Lachlan smiled at her. “Well, I would like that very much. But like I said, that’s your choice. No one is going to make you do anything.”
They heard another set of footsteps coming towards them and they looked to see Olivia making her way towards them. She climbed up into the chair (with assistance from Lach) and smiled her little toothy grin.
“Daddy!” She declared loudly as she reached up to hug him around the neck.
It caught him off-guard for a moment, but he smiled and hugged the little girl tightly to his chest.
“Well, if Livvie’s gonna call you Daddy, then so am I!” Jade said, throwing her arms around his neck as well. He laughed as he attempted to balance both girls on his lap, kissing each girl on the top of their head.
A noise from the doorway drew his attention, and he looked up to see Sierra leaning against the doorframe, arms folded across her chest and a warm smile across her face. He beckoned her over with a wave of his hand. “Alright, you get in here too. It’s not a proper cuddlefest if I don’t have all three of my girls.”
Sierra laughed and made her way over to them, picking up Olivia and settling herself down on Lach’s lap with Olivia resting on her lap. Lachlan wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her cheek. “There, now it’s perfect.”
—————
Later that night….
“This close.”
Standing on the rooftop of the Saxon Hotel (a location quickly becoming his favourite for filming, as it was fairly secluded), Lachlan Kane held his hand up towards the camera set up in front of him, his index finger and thumb held a hair’s breadth apart, the gap between them barely visible. “I came this damn close to becoming the new Internet champion, and if you don’t think that didn’t light a fire under my ass, then you’d be dead wrong. I admit, I was frustrated when I did lose, and maybe I didn’t exactly handle it in the best way. Hell, that’s been my story since way back in December. I had the biggest opportunity of my life in front of me...and I let it slip through my fingers. And ever since then, my attitude hasn’t been the same.” He let out a heavy sigh. “Let’s just call it what it is...I’ve been a right prick lately. So many people have borne the brunt of my frustration, and that wasn’t fair. But rest assured I got my head back on straight with the help of those closest to me, and now I’m more than ready to start my journey back to title contention. I’ve been down before, but I always get back up again no matter what. I’m going to do whatever it takes, face whatever challenges I have to...and I will overcome. And it starts this Sunday night.”
Sliding his hands into the pockets of his faded jeans, he gave a little smirk to the camera. “So….Jack’d The Ripper, huh?” Lachlan let out a little laugh. “That supposed to be clever? You think some muscles and a cute little play on words is supposed to mean something to me? Let’s make one thing perfectly clear here….you’re not stepping into the ring with some defenseless little maiden. Nah, you’re coming face to face with one of the most relentless athletes this roster has ever seen. You think your size intimidates me? I’ve fought guys your size and bigger, even before I was in professional wrestling. Hell, the monsters I’ve been facing in my own head are bigger and darker than any physical opponent I’ve ever had.” He tapped his temple with a finger to emphasize his point. “That’s a battle that I fight every hour of every day. And right now, I’m in a pretty good place with that. So when I step into that ring on Sunday night, my mind will be focused on one thing and one thing only, and that’s taking you out.”
“I feel like maybe this is a test for me. A way to see if I’m ready to get back into the swing of things. I mean, what better way to challenge myself than with a virtual unknown to the company? I wouldn’t know you from Adam, and from asking around the roster, not many others do. All I know is from your website profile. So therein lies the question - how do you defeat someone you know virtually nothing about?” The devious little smirk appeared on his face. “But the same could be said for me. Oh sure, you can look up my old matches from here in SCW. Or you can even go back further, to my Division days, or to Japan. Even my earliest matches back in the UK. I’m sure there’s a few floating around on the internet for you to peruse. But the thing is, that boy...is no longer who I am anymore. The man you see before you is a man that is more focused, more determined than ever to ascend to that upper echelon here in SCW. A man who will stop at nothing to achieve those goals. A man who is not about to let some wannabe boogeyman from a fairytale stand in my way. Because I promise you, if you think for one single second that you are going to make your grand debut off of my name...then I will make you regret ever signing that contract.”
A shift in the camera’s focus seemed to change Lachlan’s facial appearance from his normal boyish good looks to something more...sinister. A flash of red and black seemed to coat his face for a brief moment, before fading away almost as quickly as it had appeared. A wicked grin appeared on the Irishman’s face, his blue eyes glittering in the pale moonlight washing over the scene.
“And once I’m finished with you, you’ll be just like your namesake - gone without a trace.”
