Hell's Gifts - Complete Series Boxset

by Mark Russo

  “They might have used a secret word for opening that wall, Emma.”

  The blood froze in my veins. I turned and mumbled, “You … can see me?”

  “I can, little human. Do you think you’re the only one with nice superpowers, as you flesh creatures call them?”

  “I … Who are you?”

  A man stepped forward, so I could see his spiky black hair and a strong chin. “It doesn’t really matter who am I, Emma.”

  I tried to close my eyes; maybe he would not see me if I became visible. This creative thinking didn’t prove effective.

  “Oh, sweetie. You really have no idea how to deal with me, do you?”

  I could not move, my body a stiff trunk.

  “I scare you, Emma. That’s very much appropriate.” He stroked my face.

  Whatever I planned to say didn’t matter. My tongue remained motionless in my dry mouth.

  “You’re wondering why I’m visiting you, correct?” He kept stroking my face. “I need your help, little human. You will help me, okay?”

  I nodded, and two tears streaked my face.

  “Well, I won’t have to hurt you that much then. You’re lucky.” The guy flashed his perfect teeth but smiled as if he didn’t know how humans naturally smile. “This is just to give you an idea of what will happen if you try to fuck with me.” He stared into my eyes.

  If I had not been capable of moving because of how terrified I was, then when he did that, I could not because he immobilized me. It was hell what came next. It felt like something tore up my skin and yanked off my muscles. He forced my head to look down, so I could observe how blood covered my arms. He was skinning me alive.

  I would have screamed with all the air in my lungs, if I only could have. I would have cried, if my eyes were somewhere I could reach. I would have run, if something wasn’t pulling my legs in all directions and hurting me, as if someone was carving my flesh with barbaric tools.

  “This is just a little taste of what will happen to your fragile body, if you won’t help me. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Yes, I get it. What do you want me to do?”

  He returned control over my body. I surveyed my arms and legs. No wounds or scars were visible. It was all … It was something I had imagined. Or he had made me.

  “Now, listen. You’ll open a door to your world for me. I’ll give you precise instructions in the upcoming days. Expect another visit from me very soon.”

  “Okay. Okay,” I whispered, I would have done everything that person wanted, just to make sure he would not hurt me again.

  “You just behave until I show up again. Don’t say a word about this to anyone. Have I made myself clear?”

  I nodded, multiple times.

  Then he just disappeared from my sight. One second he was there, the next he was not. What had just happened? I didn’t know what to process first. I was attending a school where people were killing students for reasons I was far from understanding.

  I had earned a super power. Someone or something was threatening to kill me If I wouldn’t do something I didn’t even understand. A door to my world, he had said. What was he talking about?

  Out of complete improvisation, I run upstairs to the dean’s office, the same place I had overheard him talking to the proxy guy, not twelve hours before. Luck was on my side; no one was around, and the door wide open.

  I ransacked the desks and tables. I even inspected his full-comfort chair, but nothing seemed worth a second look. Then my attention fell on a glass box lying on the floor, partially hidden beneath Sneider’s desk footstool.

  I picked it up and played with it. It didn’t seem to do anything in particular, so I put it back. I had nowhere else to go.

  I had to find Mr. Sweet, immediately.

  6

  Mr. Sweet

  They hadn’t found me yet, cocksuckers. I’ve been hiding in Emma’s room for hours, and it proved to be a fantastic idea. They came by once or twice with their robots and proxies. Still, they failed. I hid here, since I had to talk to her. I had no idea when Aaragul would visit her, but it could be soon, too soon for plotting anything.

  Finally, after the doorknob swiveled another time, she was back. I didn’t have a clue where she had been, but it didn’t matter.

  I popped out from underneath her bed. “We need to talk. I don’t care if you freak out again. You don’t have to convince me. I can’t handle all this alone. You were right to begin with.”

  She waited close to the door. Maybe she expected me to do something humans do after a big fight.

  “Now that you are no longer making noises and crying, we can talk.”

  She moved a step forward. “What are you? What is this place?”

  I facepawed. “You didn’t get it, uh? Let’s start from the very beginning.”

  She nodded.

  “I gave you a gift. Are you with me?”

  She nodded while opening her arms.

  “How many other people do you know can become invisible whenever they feel like?”

  “Not even one.”

  “You are following me, good. This gives you a little contest.”

  She remained as stiff as one of those dead bodies in the basement. Humans are way too emotional for my taste.

  “I want to learn how to use my … ability. I want you to teach me. Give me a little context.”

  I jumped on her bed. “What just happened?”

  “You jumped on the bed.”

  “Are you sure of what your eyes saw?” I asked, appearing behind her back.

  “Oh, that was nice. Did you teleport or something?”

  “Nope, Emma. Teleporting is not something I can do. What else might have been?”

  She brought a hand to her mouth and fidgeted with her lips. “It might have been something else. Like, you were behind me all the time. Or, I don’t really know …”

  “I see you’re getting it. Maybe, you saw something that was not real.”

  Her eyes widened, and she pointed at me. “You’re some kind of magician or shaman.”

  “I can’t say what I am. We don’t do that. I can say I'm different from you anyhow. Or better, I was …”

  She frowned in a way I couldn’t get. “What did you do to me?”

  “I gave you a gift, Emma. As I already said.”

  “I didn’t ask for any gifts. I only wanted to attend EIBM. That’s all!” She took once more the road to Rageville.

  “If you get angry, we aren’t going anywhere. I already told you, there is no way back. We only move forward.”

  She groaned, too long.

  “Grab my paw now.”

  “Why? I don’t want to hug you.”

  “I don’t want any hugs, but grab my paw.”

  She did.

  I had pulled another trick out of my hat.

  She looked around, wasting time. “I’ve been in many upside-down worlds in TL. This does not surprise me that much.” She chortled.

  “I’m not saying this is a breathtaking thing I’m showing you. The point is, do you think this room is actually upside down? Are you sure our feet are really laying on this poorly painted ceiling?”

  She looked around again, then moved a step forward. She controlled every tiny movement she needed to bring her foot forward.

  “Emma, come on! We are where we were before. What I’m showing you does not exist. Or better, a part of it doesn’t.”

  “I can’t say I’m exactly enlightened by your comments, bear. How do I master this new ability?”

  “By training, Emma. We need to train you. You are only a novice.”

  I knew she would have had questions after I specified that.

  “A novice? What does that mean?”

  I dimmed the lights, and purple balls glistened around my head, floating midair.

  “Again. This is drab. A few bright lights don’t surprise me, even if they’re purple. They’re purple, right?”

  I didn’t get if she was trying to provoke a react
ion in me, but it was not working. “You are still missing the point, human. It’s not about whether you like this or not. I’m showing what I can do. Now, it’s up to you how you will use this or if you want to practice.” I hoped I finally made my point clear.

  She kneeled and got much closer than she’d ever been since we had met. “I want to learn. I need more … I need more power.”

  For the first time, I realized why they had picked her over the other students. They wanted someone like her. Someone who needed more power.

  “We all want more of that, youngster. One step at a time. You’ll get there, but it’s not something you can achieve in one day.”

  She made a frustrated grimace. “Okay, I get it. Nothing is easy. How do we get started?”

  There were plenty of ways to do that. I had had another brilliant idea.

  “What are we doing here?” she whispered with a grating croak.

  “We need to channel your efforts in a good direction. It’s payback time.”

  I brought her outside of that André guy’s room; we had trodden there softly while being invisible. There was more than one human I was trying to avoid those days. Emma didn’t comment on my choice.

  “So, what do you want me to do?”

  “That is totally up to you. Show me you can handle this.”

  “I’m not good at that. I’d need clearer instructions. Are you expecting me to, like, improvise?” Her voice turned from a whisper to squeak.

  “Whatever you want to call it,”—I lowered my voice— “but do something. You’re a grown woman. Show me you can do this.”

  She looked at me longer than I expected, her arms crossed tight, her head tilted. It looked like she was thinking. What a waste of damn time.

  “I have an idea. I can prank him back. He won’t get hurt or anything, just a little scared. Would that be okay?” She raised her voice again. I looked at her sideways and she refrained from reaching her high-pitched tones.

  “Do your thing now. I’ll tag along and observe you.”

  She nodded while tiptoeing through the door, and I followed. She stopped in front of that fucktard’s bed. I went to the side of the bed to have a better perspective of her actions.

  She brought her right arm forward in slow motion. Then she grabbed one of the sleeping guy’s feet and pulled it. Her tug was too gentle, and nothing happened. She regarded me like to check if that would be enough.

  My still face and mouth were more than eloquent. I wanted her to try harder.

  Emma squished the French dumbass’s foot using more strength, and he murmured some random sounds in his horrible language. She scoffed, and her face appeared in the semi-obscurity of the room with the outer court’s public lighting illuminating her face—horror movie cliché. I assumed her patience just ran too thin at that point. She grabbed both her colleague’s legs with strength and pulled him toward her.

  When he awoke, his face contorted in a multitude of expressions.

  She yelled at him. I could not discern any peculiar words, she was just screaming.

  The other guy screamed as well. He sucked in his belly and tried to crawl away, bedsheets and blankets rolling and folding irregularly. He kept screaming, and she wouldn’t relent her grasp.

  I anticipated security will arrive soon. I jumped in front of her, trying to point out that was far more than enough.

  She finally looked at me and released let her victim, like a kid caught with his hand in his underpants.

  I waved my right paw in the door’s direction, and we fled more noisily than I planned.

  At the end of the corridor, in front of us, two robot guards thundered forward.

  Emma and I looked at each other, then we stepped left in the canteen’s direction.

  When we reached her room again, I pushed the door closed behind me; I hoped no one heard or followed us here.

  “What was that, Emma?”

  “It was me improvising. Didn’t like it?” She sat on her bed, her elbows on her knees.

  “Oh, don’t get me wrong. I did. Did you notice anything? Anything worth our attention?” I had no idea if she had seen that.

  “I don’t understand.” She made one of those faces. “Did I do anything wrong?”

  “No. It’s not that. I was only wondering if you had seen that.” I pointed at her left, toward her desk.

  She jumped on her feet, then looked at me. “Is … Is that another me?”

  “Exactly.” I laughed while approaching her double. “Come closer. It won’t attack you. Unless you tell her so.”

  She slowly approached the illusion. “How did this happen? Did I do it?”

  “Of course. You’re learning.”

  “What is it I’m learning? I thought I was in a business school. Magic is not one of the subjects they teach us.”

  “I never talked about magic, Emma. You’re becoming acquainted with one of the Paths.”

  “You’re not making any sense. What the hell are the Paths?”

  I thought about using one of my skills again, but I thought I’d better not; she appreciated none of those I had used up to that point. “Think about the Paths as you would think about different topics. Each of them is different. The longer you traverse a Path, the better and more powerful your skills will be.”

  She wedged both her hands in her hair. “Mr. Sweet, I’m not walking down any Path, I—”

  “Don’t. I already told you too much. I’ll explain more tomorrow. You need to sleep now.”

  “How do you even think I might do that now, with that other me staring at me there?”

  “If you want her to go, just tell her. Or better, think of it.”

  It took her around thirty seconds to send away the double,—not great but surely something to begin with.

  “See, it’s gone. Go to bed.”

  “You are not staying. Okay?”

  I wanted to burst into laughter, but I kept my cool. “I can’t stay. I got some stuff to handle. Have some rest. Tomorrow, we’ll talk again. Just one thing, did you notice anything weird happening these days? Like, weird people?” I hoped I made myself clear enough. I didn’t want to drop Aaragul’s name already.

  She just shook her head.

  I didn’t know if she was lying, but I didn’t have enough time to dig into that.

  “Good to hear. If anything too weird, even for us, happens, let me know. Do you hear what I’m saying?”

  “Loud and clear, Chief.”

  I giggled, waved a paw and left.

  I left Emma’s room and headed to Charles’. She needed to reflect upon all she’d seen that night. While Charles, well, I had to go for some razzle dazzle stuff with him.

  I knew he would not be sleeping; my people don’t need to do that as much as humans. We might skip that as a whole, actually.

  I hurled a random object at his door, and he opened it posthaste.

  “You are fucking this up, bear. Again!”

  It was so fun to see him lose his temper.

  “Well, I beg to differ. Our problem has a name, and it’s not the one you fuckers gave me.” I moved through his legs and into the room.

  “All right now. Spit it out.”

  “You really forgot how to behave, Charles. When I was in your place, I never consigned my manners to oblivion.”

  I scanned his place. It looked like he went through a lot of planning and thinking during the last couple hours. All his monitors and 3D projectors were on and showing stuff like data and maps.

  “Don’t play games. We have more than one issue we have to deal with. Where the hell were you, bear?”

  “I was dealing with our long time BFF. Aaragul is here, Charlie.”

  His face’s wrinkles deepened, especially around his mouth. “What did he do? I feared some Grand Masters would try this on their own.”

  I approached him. “Try what? You knew he would pay us a visit? He killed one student, you dumb fuck.”

  Facepalming time for Charlie. “I didn’t say I kne
w he would be here. I said someone of his rank might try to bypass the Great Communion. Why are people our this stupid?” He laid his hands on the glass table in front of him.

  “Come on, Charlie. Our people only follow one law: get the most power possible and the others will fear you.”

  He nodded. “You know, sometimes I just hope others might see how important this thing is we’re doing, for us all. I’m a visionary, I have this.”

  “You’re talking nonsense. You know for a fact someone among us would try to find low roads for themselves only.”

  He acknowledged I was right. “Do you think he’ll go to Emma?”

  “I don’t think that will happen. I’m sure. Maybe he already has. She was different. Greedy, I would say. She said she needs more power.”

  He took another look at me. “It’s the very same thing that happened with the other subject. He showed a similar drive. Remember?”

  I remembered, all of that. That was the prime reason for my failure.

  He continued talking without waiting for my response.. “Speaking of which, we really have to think about that as well. Besides Aaragul. We have to find James.”

  “I wonder why he hasn’t shown up yet. If I know him at all, and I do, he’s not the guy who stands by and watches.”

  He sat at his desk.

  “I’ll send a Shadow. It’ll find him. If it comes back, it means we have some more time. What do you say?”

  Charles outstretched his arms. “Go ahead. It’s your thing. You are a Trickster, aren’t you?”

  “One-hundred-percent acrylic-and-other-petroleum-products Trickster here.” I tried to smile. Being fun is my jam.

  “Will you walk with me to the rift? It’s the easiest way to get a Shadow as quick as we need it.”

  “I’ll do better than that, Mr. Sweet. I’ll carry you all the way.”

  That was embarrassing and demeaning and everything bad, but it will save us a lot of time.

  “Have you been checking the rift as well?” he asked after one full minute of walking in the woods.

  “I did. It’s not growing much. If Aaragul succeeds in his plan though, things will worsen rapidly.”