Silent Ground: Part 1

by Quil Carter

  The staring from Sasha turned into a glare, and riding on that comment, he brought up the flawless beacon of Kheva and pushed all of the disruptive energy that he could muster inside of him.

  “I’m too kind to you,” Kheva muttered. “Pathetic.”

  “Too kind to me?” Sasha said, shocked and rather pissed at the sheer audacity. “You don’t even–” The shock that Kheva sent into his brain was like he was being stabbed with a dozen needles, it was enough to make him cry out in pain, but not enough to render him incoherent.

  And in retaliation, Sasha pushed back, the anger burning in his throat breathing new life into the formless power he could feel flow through him.

  “Better,” Kheva said. “You’re stronger when you’re pissed off. We all are.” The Master glanced over at Sasha. “Do you know Jobe and Lex will be fucking soon?”

  Sasha’s energy pulled back like a taut elastic band snapping. For a moment, he was almost struck dumb by such a comment, until he was reminded that Kheva was in the process of trying to get a rise out of him. “Nice try,” Sasha mumbled, even the mention of such a thing had him feeling nauseous. “That doesn’t make me angry, it just makes me sick.” He scrunched himself up to the door of the truck, and wrapped his arms around himself.

  “You’re radiating worry,” Kheva said. “This seems to be an actual fear of yours, is it?”

  Sasha didn’t want to answer, but Kheva’s painful conditioning had him obeying against his own inner wishes. He nodded.

  “Tell me why.”

  Another thing he’d rather not do, actually stomping on glass with bare feet seemed more appealing than telling Kheva. Especially with Kheva’s current kick of trying to get a rise out of him.

  But again, what choice did he have?

  “Jobe is my best friend and Uncle Lex is my uncle,” Sasha said quietly. “If they did shit like that… I wouldn’t be able to look at the two of them the same again.”

  “Why?” Kheva pressed.

  Sasha glanced over at him, before his green eyes went back to the thick forest sweeping past them. “It would just be weird.”

  “Why?”

  Sasha gave him a frustrated look. “I don’t know,” he snapped. “It just would.”

  “Because they would have advanced their relationship in a way that wouldn’t include you,” Kheva said. “You would feel left out of something intimate and personal, and since you see them both as belonging to you, for those two to share such a bond would make you livid with jealousy and possessiveness.”

  Sasha’s eyes glared out the window; he didn’t know what to say back to Kheva, or if he was even right. All he knew was that the thought made his stomach churn and an icy feeling creep up his skin like he was being dipped into salty slush.

  Instead of being angry, Sasha just felt sad.

  And at this, Kheva chuckled. “It’s just sex, nightcrawler,” he said with amusement. “I would’ve assumed after what I’ve allowed Kel to do to you, your thoughts on it would be tainted.”

  “You said it yourself, that was rape, not sex,” Sasha said. “Sex is different.”

  “Indeed, it is,” Kheva said. “Why didn’t you ever sleep with Jobe? He sure wanted you.”

  It was an understatement to say this conversation was making Sasha uncomfortable, he was all but squirming on the spot with Kheva’s questions.

  His old life… the life he had before meeting Kel and Kheva seemed to have happened in another time period, a different dimension where there were different rules and ways to live by. In the life that he’d lived down in that basement, he was a pathetic, depressed guy with no future and no hope. A guy who couldn’t even go to the store without being wracked with anxiety days before and hours after.

  But it wasn’t just not being able to recognize that man that made Sasha uncomfortable. There was also the fact that he’d been enjoying himself the past several days, which drew up feelings of guilt. Since Kheva had stopped torturing him and had actually been rather kind, he’d found himself warming up to this life, not hating it as much as he had when he’d first arrived.

  He’d also found himself enjoying being around Kheva when the Master Nightcrawler was in a good mood, as if a magnet was pulling him towards the deathly powerful man.

  So, while Jobe and Lex were worried sick about him, probably even thinking he was dead, Sasha had stopped doing all he could to go home. He was willingly staying with Kheva and Kel, while those two suffered.

  Maybe that’s why they’ve started fucking, Sasha said bitterly to himself. Because they think I’m fucking dead and need comfort.

  “Or maybe it’s because you’re finally out of the way,” Kheva said out loud. “No more pathetic little hermit to stand in the way of their feelings, or at least their sexual needs.”

  Sasha’s heart crushed. He stared at Kheva with a broken look before turning back to the window. “You – you’re just saying that to upset me,” Sasha said quietly. “They’re not sleeping together.”

  “Not yet anyway. Would you like me to tell you when they do? I could show you what I saw; we can watch it together.”

  Sasha’s lips pursed in anger. He had a razor-sharp comment just resting on his tongue, one that would’ve had Kheva stopping the truck to beat him to death.

  A comment that was so vile, that Rob inside of Silent Ground knew to snatch it before Kheva’s mind got a chance to read it.

  How about you come into my mind, and we can watch you get fucked by your owner together.

  Even the thought of Kheva hearing such a vile thing made a cold shiver shoot down his spine. Sasha was even a bit ashamed at himself for even thinking such an awful thing. Yeah, Kheva was fucked up, but that didn’t mean he deserved such a thing to happen to him.

  Instead of thinking of thoughts he had to hide from Kheva, he glared at the man in question and attempted to disrupt his beacon, cause him some pain. That was good revenge at least.

  “Does it have a name?” Sasha found himself asking. He was pushing the disruptive energy against the bright light that was Kheva’s beacon, but so far, the Master wasn’t even flinching.

  “The pain trick?” Kheva asked, and Sasha nodded. “Not really, every name I think of sounds stupid. Like something a low-grade comic book villain would use.” He wiped his nose and looked down at it. “No blood yet, nightcrawler. You don’t respond well to verbal abuse, am I going to have to command Kel to rape you some more to get the results I want?”

  Sasha looked away. “No,” he said, his voice small.

  Kheva sighed an irritated sigh. “You’re so pathetic,” he said. “You better learn to grow a pair soon, nightcrawler, or this experience is going to utterly destroy you.”

  Sasha’s head turned, he looked at Kheva with horror, the road in front of them finally breaking to reveal the highway. “What’s… about to happen?”

  The corner of Kheva’s mouth rose in a smirk… but he said nothing.

  Kheva turned onto the highway and began to head towards the city. Unlike when they’d visited the town a couple weeks ago, Sasha wasn’t looking around with excitement bubbling in his chest. On the contrary, he stared down at his knees with a clamp made of iron wrapped tightly around his heart. The closer they got to whatever destination this was, the more terrified he became, until his pulse was racing and his hands trembling from fear.

  What was going to happen? The question cycled around his head like it was a top being spun over and over. What was going to happen? What was going to happen? Around and around it went, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.

  Kheva was driving down a normal road now, the highway far behind. This was the outskirts of the city, Kheva wasn’t heading into town like he had previous.

  Where are we going? Sasha pleaded inside of his mind. He knew he would receive no answers from the voice inside of his head; Kheva was there, and like a shark swimming around a tank, all other life had hidden themselves well.

  The truck turned, and in front of them, Sasha sa
w another dirt road. This one had trees on both sides, with no houses to be seen except for the occasional patch of farmland that held shabby one-storey ranchers in the distance. They didn’t pass any more vehicles, or anyone walking. It was deserted, the whole area… was deserted.

  Then they got to the end of the road. Sasha’s pulse had reached critical when he saw a blue two-storey house with a detached garage at the end of the dark road. It was a lonely house, one that was wrapped twice with greenery: The first was a layer of yard that enclosed everything but the dirt driveway that Kheva was pulling up on, and the second, a belt of trees that made the solitude of this place rival Ciel Lake.

  The truck engine died, and there was a jingling as Kheva removed his truck keys. “Out, nightcrawler,” he said. The door slammed behind him, and Sasha saw the Master reach into his pocket for… what looked like a pack of cigarettes.

  That was weird. Sasha had never seen Kheva smoke before, besides wine with dinner and sometimes during the evenings, he’d never been one to indulge in such things.

  Even though his mind was screaming defiance, self-preserving defiance, the scars on Sasha’s body and mind urged him with defeat to get out of the truck. No matter what Kheva wanted, he was going to get, and it was Sasha who decided how many badges of disobedience he would carry on him.

  So, Sasha exited the truck, but when the passenger door slammed shut, Kheva called, “There is a black duffle bag in the back cab. Grab it.”

  Sasha turned around, opened the back door and picked up the duffle bag. It was heavy and it made a clinking noise as he put the strap over his shoulder. His mind went insane at this, shooting images of all kinds into his head, the most prominent being that they were knives and Kheva had taken him here to cut his throat.

  No, Kheva said if he was going to kill me… he wouldn’t do it this way.

  And he wouldn’t kill me… I’m a nightcrawler. I’ve been obedient too.

  But maybe the kindness he’s been showing me was along the lines of giving a dog about to be putdown a last meal.

  No, Kheva wasn’t that nice.

  Sasha walked behind Kheva, his eyes scanning the secluded house for any signs of life. There was nothing however, the windows were gaping squares of darkness, the front door shut tight with not even a porchlight to give them a false welcome. Everything was quiet here, and it seemed to be empty.

  Sasha glanced up and saw electrical wires above his head. It had city power though, that was a plus. Kheva had the generator set to turn off an hour after they went to bed. He’d never realized how much he’d taken having power 24/7 for granted until his home had become Ciel Lake.

  There was a jingling. Sasha looked towards Kheva to see him now holding a different set of keys in his hand, one with a Sonic the Hedgehog keychain. He wasn’t going towards the house though, Kheva had walked right past the entrance door and was approaching a side door to the detached garage.

  Sasha stood behind him in a small alley between the house and the garage. He looked and listened but still there was no signs of life, only the silent screaming inside of his own mind and their steady breathing.

  Kheva slid the key into the silver knob and turned it. The door unlatched, and Kheva pushed the door open and looked inside.

  Strangely, he smiled.

  “Perfect,” Kheva said. “I do love it when my instructions are obeyed to the letter.”

  And at this, a muffled scream sounded from inside of the garage.

  Sasha’s jaw dropped, right when Kheva’s smile turned into a grin.

  “Oh, you poor little bastard,” he said through grinning lips. “You look so cold.” Kheva walked through the door and motioned with his hand for Sasha to follow. Sasha, his knees trembling, followed Kheva into the dark and musty garage with shaking steps.

  Kheva flicked on the garage light, and what Sasha saw had both of his hands cupping his mouth.

  Hand-cuffed to a truck engine, was a man, older than Sasha, possibly in his middle twenties, gagged and chained. He was blond, his large, fearful eyes two storm clouds, and his skinny body entirely naked; there wasn’t a shred of clothes on him.

  He’d been beaten, either that or he’d struggled against his captors. The man’s arms were spotted with deep purple bruises and red welts, and there was dried blood dripping from the horrible chafe marks on his wrists, enough to drench his hands in blood as if they were wearing gloves. The soles of his feet weren’t any better, it looked like he’d been kicking or pushing against the engine he’d been chained to.

  The rest of the garage… it was empty save for a tool box, several totes, and strangely, about a dozen large rolls of thick plastic. There was nothing else here but the man tied to the truck engine.

  Sasha’s eyes shot from the plastic rolls back to the man when he let out another muffled scream. He was looking at Kheva with fear in his eyes, his stance scrunched and his shoulders trembling.

  The garage spun and Sasha found himself unable to stand. He leaned against the wall, white gyprock, his breathing quick with hands still clasping his mouth.

  “Yes, you’ll do quite fine, won’t you?” Kheva said with a low chuckle. The Master sauntered over to the terrified man, a smile on his face that made vomit rise up Sasha’s throat. “You’re a pretty little thing. He always did love fucking the innocent, didn’t he?”

  What was Kheva talking about? What the fuck was going on? Sasha could only watch, he was too scared to speak, too scared to give the screaming voice inside of his head any way of being heard.

  “Nightcrawler, bring me the bag,” Kheva suddenly called.

  For a brief moment, Sasha was still, forgotten by time because his mind had been too terrified to keep up. He only stared at the chained man, the duffle bag that was dangling from his hand now a hundred times more heavy.

  ‘Don’t make me yell at you,’ Kheva’s voice suddenly growled inside of his head. ‘If you force me to yell at you, he’ll hear it, and I will look bad. And if you make me look bad, nightcrawler, I swear to god, I will cut you open from ear to ear.’

  Sasha’s shivering body jolted. With a hard swallow, he forced his legs to work and walked to Kheva and the chained man.

  I have my loyalties, Sasha said, his tone pleading with no one but himself. I have my loyalties and I will not disappoint him.

  Oh, fuck, fuck, what the hell is going on?

  Sasha handed the duffle bag to Kheva, and tried to make himself stand up taller. “Here you go, Master,” he said, and though he tried to force strength into his tones, force fucking anything, it came out a small pathetic squeak.

  Kheva took the bag and said nothing more. Sasha stepped back then, his eyes on the plastic rolls, and although he was looking everywhere but at the chained man, he could feel his grey eyes on him.

  Who are you? Sasha whispered. What the fuck did you do to piss him off?

  Sasha heard Kheva zip open the bag, but even though fear and visceral reactions had him scared to look, when the chained man began to release muffled, desperate yells, his eyes automatically fell back to Kheva.

  Just as he pulled a long silver knife from the bag.

  Kheva turned back to the man, who then recoiled with an animal-like holler. Kheva raised the knife to the prisoner’s face, and cut off the cloth that had been wrapped several times around the mouth,

  The cloth fell to the ground in one piece. The man gasped, his eyes bulging. “I don’t want anything to do with this,” he pleaded. “Please, I barely know him. I fucking barely know…” His voice trailed and a whine took its place when Kheva held up the knife, the silver blade turning back and forth to catch the light.

  “Oh, now we know that’s not true,” Kheva said, his voice a slippery whisper bursting with lethal mischievousness. “You two have been together for… Oh, two years now? Time certainly does fly by, doesn’t it?”

  The man’s teeth clenched, stress etched into every feature. “He’s different now,” he said pleadingly. “He’s so different. I wouldn’t be with hi
m if he wasn’t.”

  What was he talking about?

  Whatever it was, it made Kheva’s green and gold eyes blaze with anger. Sasha took a step back then, as quietly as he could.

  “Do you think that erases it?” Kheva whispered. Then his grip tightened on the blade and he snarled, “You think that makes it okay?!”

  “No!” the man cried. “It doesn’t. I know it doesn’t… but there has to be a better fucking way then this. Please, fuck, please… don’t do this. Please, Kheva, don’t do this.”

  Kheva smirked, then he leaned down and rested the tip of the blade onto the man’s trembling chest. “Oh, this is the best way,” he whispered.

  Then Kheva dragged the tip of the blade down the man’s skin. He screamed as a line of blood followed the blade, the pressure Kheva was putting on the knife splitting the thin flesh in two.

  “Yes, scream as loud as you like,” Kheva murmured. He pulled the blade away, the sobbing man’s head now bowed, with droplets of crimson falling to the cold concrete ground like rain drops. “But it is the terror that will bring him running.”

  And with that, Kheva turned back to the duffle bag, and pulled out… a whip and what looked like a homemade club.

  Kheva turned then, and handed the whip to Sasha. The Master then stared at him, a hardness in his eyes that Sasha had never seen, and one that dared the nightcrawler to think of a single thought of resistance.

  And though hesitation and his morality screamed at Sasha not to take that whip, Sasha extended his hand, and with his breath caught, he took it from his master.

  “Now beat him,” Kheva growled. “Beat him until I say stop.”

  Beat him? Sasha stared down at the whip, his lips peeled back in a pleading grimace. He looked up at Kheva, his head slowly turning back and forth.

  Kheva glared him down, the yellow in his eyes as brilliant as the flame of a candle. He wasn’t Kheva anymore, but a demon that had crawled into the skin of a man who was already as evil as he was powerful. The previous terrors that Sasha had suffered at the hands of this man, seemed miniscule to what he knew he’d experience if he didn’t obey Kheva’s orders to the letter.