by Carver Pike
When he smiled, there was nothing deceitful about it. He appeared to be the very essence of goodness, where it was clear Vincent was the embodiment of evil. Vision's hair was white as snow, the same length and style as Vincent's, but not greasy and dirty like his twin brother. His eyes had a silver sheen and he wore a white robe.
"Vision," Vincent said from his spot in front of the window.
"Brother," Vision replied.
"Oh my God," Lisa whispered.
Her heart threatened to shoot out of her chest. She wanted to scream for Gabe, but when she opened her mouth, nothing came out.
"You've frightened Mother," Vision said.
"My intentions exactly," Vincent replied.
Vision placed his hand atop hers. Her breathing immediately calmed and she didn't feel so frightened.
"Fear not," Vision said to her. "I will not let him harm you."
Vincent cackled and a new kind of thunder filled the air, shaking the glass.
"Brother," he said. "You have no idea what I am capable of."
Lisa stood and backed up towards the door, keeping her eyes glued on the two boys. She watched as they stared at each other for a moment. The hair on Vision's head moved, as if blown by the wind, yet they were in an air-tight room. Vincent's hair did the same and somehow Lisa knew there was a silent challenge being issued.
Vincent raised his hands up from his sides, slowly, methodically, as if he were a conductor bringing a fantastic symphonic number to its end. As his hands rose from his waist to his chest, Lisa saw something rise outside the window. It appeared to be a boat. Like a large pirate ship, but flying.
Vincent gradually lowered himself to a crouching position on the floor. Everything about the situation was insane. Lisa thought she might be losing her mind. As Vincent crouched down, he looked up at her, his grin widening. The world around her seemed to move in slow motion. She could hear her own breathing loud in her ears.
Something moved again outside the window. A large axe-wielding Viking leapt from the hovering ship, straight for the window. Lisa felt herself scream. She was sure she did, but she heard no sound. Vincent lowered his head to the floor just as the Viking drove his axe through the window, shattering it to pieces.
***
Gabe had just stood to make his way into the guestroom when he heard Lisa scream. He had no time to consider what may be on the other side of the door. He just moved, smashing through the door just as the large Viking crashed to the floor. He roared and beat his chest, then pointed the axe at Gabe and Lisa.
A boy, dressed in all black, rose from his crouched position behind the man. A boy in all white rose at the same time, but Gabe couldn't make sense of what he was seeing.
"Lisa? The boys?" he asked.
She nodded, as if that were an acceptable answer. Gabe shook his head, confused.
"You're looking at ‘em," she answered.
Before he had time to let it sink in, the Viking swung his axe at Lisa. She ducked and dove, hitting her head on the corner of the bed, opening up a gash on her forehead. Gabe leapt and smashed his elbow into the Viking's nose. It exploded with a crack and blood spurted out.
The man didn't even wince. He grabbed Gabe by his neck, lifted him high into the air, and carried him towards the window.
"Gabe, no!" Lisa screamed.
Gabe struggled to free himself from the big man's grasp, and through watery eyes, he saw the boy in all black look at the boy in all white, and run his thumb across his own neck, making the cut-throat gesture.
The boy in white tilted his head a little, smiled an amused smile, and then shoved both hands forward. A gust of wind launched the boy in black through the air and out the window.
"Vincent!" Lisa screamed with the fear of a mother losing her child.
A gust of wind and rain from outside suddenly blew in and knocked the Viking back. He lost his grip on Gabe, and they both slammed against the wall behind them. Gabe fell to the floor only inches from the broken window frame. The frigid breeze blew his hair back. He gasped for breath and looked out the window, expecting to see Vincent plummeting to the street below, but the boy seemed to have either fallen so quickly he’d already hit the ground, or he’d vanished altogether.
The Viking roared, and Gabe turned just in time to see the crazed warrior stagger back to his feet.
Gabe heard Lisa cry out for him to run and then watched as Hawks charged into the room, with Ayana and Tact fast on his heels, all with weapons at the ready. But before they could do anything, Vision walked nonchalantly over to the Viking and grabbed his leg. It broke with a nasty crunch.
The Viking howled in pain and pitched forward, nearly knocking Gabe through the window. Gabe quickly rolled away and leapt onto the bed. His howl turned to a desperate growl as the Viking pulled a pistol from his hip and raised it in Vision’s direction. Vision looked over his shoulder at his parents and smiled.
“Mom, get out of here,” he said.
Gabe grabbed Lisa’s hand and pulled her out of the room, passing his buddies on the way.
“The boy?” Ayana asked, stunned. “Who is he?”
“My son,” Gabe replied.
He let go of Lisa’s hand, knowing she’d be safer outside the room, and turned back to watch his son in action. The Viking’s hand shook as he seemed to be trying to pull the trigger, but for some reason couldn’t go through with it.
“Hargh!” the Viking yelled and spat on the floor.
Vision walked closer to him.
“Hargh! Don’t touch me again, you fucking demon!”
Vision stopped and looked at Gabe. He squished up his face, just like Lisa always did when she wasn’t fond of a situation
“Demon?” he asked.
He seemed confused by the accusation.
He turned his attention back to the Viking and took another two steps toward him, but didn’t have the chance to finish him off.
Vincent dove back through the window and tackled Vision to the floor. Gabe watched his sons roll across the ground like two vicious pitbulls trying to tear each other apart. Vincent whipped Vision around and threw him against the wall. Vision slid down the wall and onto his butt, dazed.
Gabe, Hawks, and Tact raised their weapons and made their way onto the bed, trying to get closer to the Viking, just in case he tried a sneak attack on Gabe’s fallen son.
Vincent watched them with a devilish grin as they crossed the room.
“This kid is freaking me out,” Tact said.
“I know he’s your son and all,” Hawks added. “But can we shoot him?”
Gabe didn’t know how to respond. The kid was clearly playing on the other team, but then again, he was Gabe’s son. Gabe never got the chance to answer as the Viking raised his gun and pointed it at Hawks. Both Hawks and Tact fired round after round at the man’s chest, nailing him to the wall behind him.
While they were busy with the warrior, Vincent turned his head and focused on Ayana, who was standing next to the door. She backed out of the room, and Vincent took off, racing after her. Gabe followed, not only fearing for Ayana, but also for Lisa, who was somewhere in the other room.
Gabe reached the living room to find Oddity in his chair, just sitting there watching the events unfolding, as if seeing his favorite novel finally hit the movie screen. Lisa stood to the side, her hands over her mouth, obviously shocked at the evil her son was demonstrating. Ayana had one of her arrows nocked and pointed in Vincent’s direction, but her arm trembled, and she was unable to fire.
Behind her, through the large living room window, Gabe saw the hovering ship slowly move its way around the building and dock right outside their position. Vincent moved towards Ayana, just shuffling calmly, and Ayana was still unable to move. Gabe raised his gun.
“Gabe, no!” Lisa screamed and the sound echoed off the walls in the large, mostly empty room.
Vincent looked at Gabe.
“Dad?” he said, looking suddenly sad and disappointed. “You would just shoo
t me? Your own son?”
“Vincent, please,” Gabe said.
“Hold that thought,” the boy said and then turned his attention back to Ayana. “Let me rip out her throat real quick and then we can finish this discussion.”
Gabe closed his eyes and focused on his trigger finger, which was unable to move. When the first shot came, Gabe thought for a moment that he’d actually succeeded, which also felt like a guilty punch to the gut. He opened his eyes just as the spray of rapid fire shattered the window between the hovering ship and where he stood.
Vincent cackled as he turned and held his arms out, palms up, as if enjoying a warm rain, while bullets struck down all around him. His hold on Ayana ended. She dropped to the floor and crawled behind one of the desks. Gabe and Lisa did the same. Oddity was huddled on the floor behind his recliner.
“Where’s Bronc and Emma?” Gabe shouted over the sound of constant gunfire.
“They went for a walk somewhere in the building,” Oddity said.
“A fucking walk? Right now?” Gabe asked in disbelief.
“Well, more like two minutes ago, before all the excitement,” he explained.
“Oh, okay, then,” Gabe said sarcastically. “As good a time as any, I suppose.”
As much as he needed his big Indian buddy’s help at the moment, Gabe was somewhat relieved they were out of the room. The fewer friends to worry about, the better.
“What happened to my babies?” Lisa cried next to Gabe.
He wished he could give her an answer, but there wasn’t one. Nothing about this situation was normal and nothing about it was right.
“Oh God, Gabe,” she continued. “Oh my God. My sweet little boys.”
There was nothing sweet about either of them now. Gabe only hoped Vision was okay in the other room and could stop Vincent from killing them all.
The machine gun fire stopped and the room was filled with an odd silence. It wasn’t so much silence as it was an end to the noise. Glass still fell from parts of the window, causing strange clinking and crashing sounds, and the echoes of the shooting bounced off the walls. Smoke filled the room. But still, the room felt strangely silent.
“You have grown powerful,” Oddity said calmly.
He faced Vincent, seemingly unafraid of the boy.
“I was always powerful,” Vincent answered, his young voice overshadowed by its evil edge.
Gabe peeked over the desk and saw Oddity walk past Vincent, as if he meant absolutely nothing to him. With his back to the boy, he stared out the shattered window.
“Your guests are very noisy,” he said.
Vincent cackled, a creepy, twisted laugh.
“I’m afraid my new army…” He stopped to think and reworded his thoughts. “…my servants? They like to shoot first and discuss things later.”
Oddity turned to Vincent and held an open hand out at the glass on the floor.
“Well, if you could kindly ask them to clean this mess up before they leave…”
“I don’t think this mess should be your biggest concern.”
“And what should be?”
“You are not afraid of me?” Vincent asked.
Oddity turned his attention back to the window, silently giving his answer.
“That is foolish,” Vincent added.
“I have been alive many, many, many years, and I’m old. I’m old and lonely and tired. I have played my part in all of this madness.”
“And you’ve used up your usefulness.”
Gabe watched as Vincent picked up the coffee table between the couches and hoisted it through the air as if it weighed nothing at all. The table twisted and turned as it headed for Oddity with tremendous force. When it hit him, he simply disappeared. The table was larger than he was, so Gabe heard the thud as it smashed against the seer’s back, but then he was gone. He’d been forced through the window.
No scream followed. No howl. It was as if Oddity had known it was coming and had accepted his fate.
Suddenly, every window in the building exploded, first the ones closest to them, but then Gabe could hear the others throughout the building, as they shattered floor by floor. The building shook as if caught in a ferocious earthquake.
Gabe reached for Lisa and held her. Oddity had said the city would know his end, when his power would be released to the world.
Vincent wobbled on his feet and laughed before staggering again. Then he jerked his hands to his sides, his fingers curled like talons, as he commanded an end to the rumbling.
“Enough!” he announced.
With that one word, the shaking ceased and the wind seemed to die down.
“Enough of the drama. He’s dead already,” Vincent added as he stomped on the floor.
Vincent turned towards his father and laughed. Then, in a voice that seemed much older than the young age his body suggested, he said, “That guy was quite the seer. Wonder if he saw that one coming?”
Gabe scanned the room, trying to figure out the best way to escape, as he knew Vincent would be coming after them next. When he looked in Vincent’s direction, the boy was gone. Gabe half expected to be hit over the head any second. He winced as he glanced over his shoulder, but no one was behind him. He looked around the room, and saw the elevator doors close. Vincent was gone.
Chapter 17 - This Bitch is Outta Here
Haylay was ushered through the cellblock, which was a tiny one, but still reeked like piss and hamburgers, a smell Haylay always associated with horrible body odor. The stinky sons of bitches locked up in this joint smelled like fried onions and cooked meat. Nasty.
Going through the booking process had been interesting, pretty shitty really, but entertaining if nothing else. They’d fingerprinted him and did their best to identify him. He had no license or anything, but he gave them Hollis’ name. He hadn’t wanted to. Hell, he’d tried his damndest to keep the boy out of trouble. He didn’t want the kid to return to his home a fuckin’ felon.
It could’ve been worse, he supposed. He could’ve murdered the two guys and left the kid’s life in a real mess. Instead, he just drove too fast and mouthed off to a police officer. It’d taken over an hour for the burning sensation of the pepper spray to wear off. Sensation was a shitty way of putting it. It fuckin’ burned like battery acid.
The cops had taken his wig during the booking process. They took all of his belongings. They tried to take his bra, until they realized he had a firm set of tits hiding underneath. Then, with his lack of identification combined with the new knowledge that he had breasts, the cops seemed even more dumbfounded.
“You are a man, right? Or are you just a bald woman?” one of the cops had asked him.
Haylay wasn’t sure if he should be insulted, or proud. He’d spent half his life pretending to be a woman, but not really denying the fact that he was a man. He considered himself kind of a good concoction of both, and actually preferred to be called a man. It was a strange quirk, he’d readily admit. For this situation, especially since it might haunt Hollis later, he supposed he better say he was a man. In reality, that’s what he was anyway, just a man with the most beautiful boobs and the tightest ass these cops had ever seen.
He could see the lust in their eyes, even if they didn’t want to admit it. His jaw still hurt from the reaction he got from one of the cops when he’d made the mistake of jokingly saying, “You can have some of this if you want,” as he’d lightly slapped his own ass. That was a stupid move. Might’ve gone over better if the cop had been alone, but since his buddies were around, it had garnished a sort of “knee jerk,” or more like an “elbow jerk that signaled the wrist to tell the hand to slap the shit out of him” reaction. He wouldn’t make that mistake again.
With his jaw aching and his eyes still slightly burning, Haylay was marched down the stinky cellblock and brought to a cell with a few dudes inside. The cell was about the size of Heather’s Uncle Hank’s trailer’s living room. It was narrow, but long, and had nothing but a small stall in the corner,
with no door. In the stall was a toilet, with a hairy dude sitting on it, a sink just over his head, and a mirror above that. A mirror. Hell yeah. Apparently the small town department couldn’t afford bunks or cots.
Everyone sat on the floor. Haylay entered and leaned against the bars so the cop could take off his cuffs. With the cop gone, Haylay went to run his fingers through his hair, until he realized he had none. He didn’t like the way the five other men in the cell were staring at him.
