by C T Scribe
“My new girl is good. She got us out of a jam.”
“Oh were you in danger old friend?” The general asked with a smirked.
“You bet your ass I was. When that fucker started turning in the road I thought I was gonna have to call for backup. I’d never hear the end of that one!” The tall man returned the smirk.
“I’m going to have Julez give them their options. Do you want to be there?”
“I have some other debriefing to do with my bunk. I don’t know about the other recruits, but my kid is a fighter he’s joining.” With that the tall man got up and grabbed his towel. As he wrapped it around his body it morphed back into his long coat and dark clothing. His guns returned to his side. Without looking back he said to the general, “Lucas, this is the start of something big. Maybe what the fates sent us here for.”
The general, Lucas, looked at his friend. He thought for a second before replying. “Thomas, should I call in Jr.? If you truly believe that we need our best.”
“No.” As the tall man, Thomas, spoke his reply a surge of rage filled the room. The air tinted green. The pressure of his rejection pushed against the generals chest. Then just as quickly it vanished. “Sorry, but no leave him abroad. At least for now. But,” his voice faltered. “Put him on alert for me.” With that he left the room. The general stared at the door as it closed behind his friend. Feeling the sadness in the last words he spoke. Also calculating that he would need Jr. and a few others stationed closer to HQ. His friend would have to be mad at him later. He had no doubt he’d feel that vicious aura atop him soon after he realized. Tonight was as clear a message as he ever saw. The beast had gained power, and were back on the move. In the past year the organization had lost 57 agents. The 15 rookie agents were typical, but the 42 veteran agents was troubling. Tonight we lost Morris. He was a top driver for the organization for nearly 200 years. He was glad his friend hadn’t asked for the details. He would have a hard time telling him that he gave the order for Morris to leave his position to extract Thomas, and give back up for the Clear Fall Ridge mission. Two towns over the team of five was under heavy attack by multiple beast. Surrounding them in a wooded area, the team was forced to call for backup. He was the closest available operative. The general knew it was risky for Morris. Working with Thomas over the years he saw less and less combat. He managed to save the team, but was taken in the process. During his first difficult debrief of the day he learned the morbid details of his head drivers death. Details he was glad he didn’t have to share with his oldest friend.
29
Chapter 29
Tye could only remember flashes of the night after racing to the bar. He remembered the panicked feeling, and the gymnastics his stomach displayed during his frantic search for Mari. He remembered seeing those beast in the bar, and feeling utterly helpless. Helpless and weak against those monsters. He remembered attacking one of them, only to be stopped in his tracks and killed. Swallowing hard at the thought. He remembered the blood and life flowing from his body. He remembered the heat leaving him. He remembered the voice in his head falling deadly silent in the end. Why wasn’t he dead? It made no sense. Nothing made any sense to him right now. Taking in his surroundings he was yet again confused and helpless. The small cell didn’t feel like jail, from what he’d seen on TV. He was in a locked cell with one bathroom and one bed. It was clean. Not the stainless steel jail house clean, but the warm temperature nice bedding clean. The locked door was solid however. The first thing he tried to do was shoulder through the door with all his strength. He was repulsed by a force back into the center of the room. He heard nothing around him. No one else was in whatever part of this jail he was being kept in. To Tye this felt more like an alien abduction than an arresting? Touching his chest where his wound should have been he felt stitching instead. A sickness took over his body in one violent convulsion. The contents of his stomach lay at his feet. As he wiped his mouth, he attempted to unwipe his mind and remember. Nothing. An empty void after the beast stabbed him in the bar. Was he in a secret holding cell at a hospital then. The black hole in his mind was eerily silent. As if it could add no depth to the hole he felt himself sinking into. Sitting there in silence he tried to remember. His head hurt. Not like a headache, but this was something else. His head hurt like a pickax was chipping away inside the tissue. The memory did not want to surface, but Tye was certain the pain meant it was there. Buried or repressed or whatever he kept focusing on the pain attempting to pry the memory loose. He saw nothing. No flashes of what happened. Instead a rush of pain washed over him. His face pale and clammy as he heard her screams in his mind. He heard her call his name. He felt the fear in her voice. No it wasn’t fear, but concern. As she died, she was worried about him. She was calling for him. She was begging to know if he was okay. And he was so close to her. Twenty feet away, but too weak to reach her. He stopped focusing on the pain. He begged the screams in his head to stop. He begged the door he pried open to close. The black hole decided to speak at this saying, “you asked for this pain. I tried to protect us, but you kept prying.” Slamming his palms against his ears he tried to mute the noise. It didn’t work. He hummed a song. The screams grew louder. He needed it to stop. “Thud”. Smashing his head into the wall would either stop the screams or knock him out. He didn’t care which as he swung his head hard into the wall. “Thud”. A small light flashing with each strike giving him a sharp recoil. Blood rushed from a new cut in his head. He didn’t stop. “Thud, thud, thud, thud…..thud”. The pool of blood forming at his feet made him slip back onto the bed. His vision blurred, but the screams didn’t stop. He lifted his head to resume his self mutilation, but stopped as his cell door swung open. Julianne walked into the room. She rushed to his side. Someone handed her a towel that she used to clean up the blood, then she used some sort of liquid bandage to cover his new head wound. Her white lab coat was covered in his blood. It coated her hands. Her stare snapped him back to reality. The screaming didn’t stop, but it pushed back to a deeper place in his mind. A quieter place. “You’ve gotten into some trouble this time Tye.” He didn’t speak. He just stared blankly at her. This was like his first therapy session. He was in trouble then too. A football player from a rival school saw him on crutches in the mall. As they crossed paths he snickered saying, “Well you almost made it.” A jab at the end of his season, and possibly an end to his football career. The frustrations he had been carrying around flowed from him that day. With speed and accuracy Tye pushed off of his crutch tackling the kid. Rhythmically he assaulted his face with a flurry of right and left jabs. Those jabs grew into hooks and haymakers. By the time mall security separated the boys, the snickering teens face was swollen and bruised. He wasn’t charged criminally as he should have been. The judge, an alumnus of Tye’s school, gave him a pass under the condition he see a court appointed counselor. That day led him to Julianne. Well that day led him to two worthless counselors who wasted his time, but eventually led him to Julianne. And now nearly two years later the terror of the past day or two led her back to him. He half expected her to have his mini sun’s with her, but she made no move to give him his meds. She stared at him. Her eyes hard and colder than he had ever known them. “Tye, I had hoped to never met you in this situation. What do you remember?” He told her everything he could without sounding crazy. He told her he had been knocked out. He told her his girlfriend was murdered in the bar, and strong hairy men nearly killed him as he tried to save her. He told her everything after is dark. He even told her when he tried to remember the screams grew louder. Nonchalantly she licked the blood on her fingers as he told the story. His blood. He didn’t notice at first until she was licking it from her third finger. With eyes wide he backed up into the wall. His heart beat with enough force to visibly lift his chest. He pressed himself into the wall as if the gesture would keep him safe. He pressed himself hard as if by some miracle he could phase through the concrete slab. Julianne gave no reaction to his movements as she addressed
him. “Strong hairy men Tye? I thought you trusted me? Relax and breath okay, I’m not here to hurt you. I know about beast and magic, and many more things you could not imagine.” The calm words hit him hard. How could she know? How many people around him were secretly a part of this world? “That aside I’m truly worried about you. Mentally your in a fragile state, and I have to give you a difficult choice.” His world spun. The words ringing in his mind, she knew. She was either tricking him in some sort of “shrink” way, or she truly knew about the dark world he’s lived in over the past year. Looking to the freshly clean finger she just finished lapping blood from, Tye decided this was no test.
“What the hell are you talking about,” he demanded. The strength of his voice did nothing to move her as she sucked the blood from her fourth finger.
“The day you hurt your leg wasn’t ordinary. In fact rare magic was used to alter that game. You for some reason were singled out. From that time on my other employers took an interest in protecting you. We don’t often protect mortals, but this magic was too special not to monitor. So after we pulled some strings, and you got yourself in a hot spot I became your counselor.”
“So your a fake?” The betrayal in his voice showing through more than he liked.
“Oh no. I’m the real deal. In fact I’m probably the best shrink in the entire world today. Well perhaps only on this side of the globe. I’ve been doing this a long long time. Your meds that I gave you are quite unique as well. A typical psychiatrist would have given you opioids you quickly would have become dependent on. Your blood you see, it has addiction written all over it. With no exposure to drugs you’ve been great. However if you start consuming anything stronger than beer, and your fate alters considerably. Your mind was also quite broken. Your self worth shattered. The cornerstone that you built yourself on was athletic prowess, and without it you simply shattered. I’m quite proud of my work with you. I helped you help yourself rebuild. You found new value in your life. You reconnected. But the beams bearing the load in your new life were taken from you tonight. I’m afraid you may crumble again.”
The words hit him like a linebacker blitz. She was right about everything. He just sat there taking it in. After some time he spoke up. “What does meet me like this mean?”
“Well you see I’m not here as your shrink. In fact my father sent me here to recruit you. I won’t lie to you however, because I’m quite fond of you. I don’t think this offer suits you Tye. I don’t think it suits you at all.”
“What offer,” he growled. The betrayal still lacing his words.
“To put it plainly your life as you know it is over. The death of your girlfriend looks bad. Right now the news hasn’t picked up on the situation, but soon the store below your girlfriend’s apartment will open. The owners will see the break in, and they’ll check on her. Then the search will start for the body that they’ll never find. However witnesses will place you two together, and when they see the blood at the bar… you won’t stand a chance in a trial. Even if you miraculously win you’ll be tainted by it your whole life. That voice inside your mind will never give you peace. You’ll probably end up killing yourself.”
What was she saying. The police would think he killed Mari. Mari. The girl he loved. The girl he fought for. He froze for a moment before repeating his words, “what offer?”
Julianne gave him a more familiar look this time. The I’m a therapist I can read your mind look. Then she said, “you know of beast right?” He shook his head. “Why don’t you think they over run this world? You’ve seen their power. You’ve seen how weak mortals are compared to them. Yet most humans live in peace.” She paused letting his mind to catch up. “There are things, immortal things, strong enough to fight off the beast. My father is the general of this group. We saved your ass tonight. We lost a few of our own to do it. We are at war Tye. A never ending war. You aren’t special, but the things happening around you are. And we need to know why you’ve been targeted. It may simply be because of your girlfriend. Perhaps she was the true root, but the general feels your worth taking on. I’m here to present you with a choice. Die tonight. Cease to be human. Put an end to that unfortunate life, and become immortal. This world is full of beast, and you can kill them all. You can avenge Mari. You would never see your parents or friends again. You’ll never finish college. You’ll never live a human life again. I must give you this warning Tye. This is not an easy life. It’s not easy to enter, and it’s not easy to survive. If your mind is not strong the process will kill you. If your resolve is not strong the war will kill you. You need absolute focus. As your psychiatrist I’m unsure if you can handle it. You need to want it more than anything else in all the world’s. If your conviction waivers your mind will slip, and you’ll die.” The words were offered with concern. For some reason she cared for this boy more than she should. She saw him conquer his pain, but now she offered him more.
Tye had heard enough. He gave no thought to his other classmates. He gave no thought to his friends back home. He gave no thought to his future football fame. He gave no thought to his mom or dad. As soon as she said the words, he had already died. As soon as she gave him the choice, he had no real choice to make. He would kill every last beast in this world until the screaming stopped. Until he could reach Mari. The words found his lips with ease. “Do it.”
“Tye there’s much more you need to know.” With a hand up he stopped her. Shaking his head.
“Just do it.”
Knowing this would be his answer she waived in some men in hospital clothing. One brought something to Julianne. She held it in front of her. “Will this help?” It was Mari’s necklace. “Our men recovered it.” He lowered his head allowing Julianne to slip it around his neck. It stung his flesh. The necklace began to burn his skin at the touch. In his mind he screamed. In his mind he threw the necklace from his neck. In his mind he cussed out Julianne for giving him a cursed object. Outwardly he did nothing. There was a slight uncontrolled wince when it first touched his neck. He deserved the pain. He didn’t know if or when it would stop, but he failed her tonight. Perhaps this was his penance. He gave a small nod to Julianne, before one of her men injected his arm with a syringe. The liquid also burning going in. “Focus on her Tye. Focus on her, and I’ll see you in three days.” He tugged at the memory again. He tugged hard until the screams returned. He held her necklace as they closed his cell. It burned his hand, but he held it firm. He didn’t fight the screams. He didn’t fight the burning that filled his body. Quickly his insides were melting away into something different. It hurt, but he didn’t focus on that pain. He let her die, and she was screaming for him. He held her necklace tight in his hand. He set his mind in that moment, and joined her screams. Together they would scream until every beast was dead.
Julianne or Julez hated confliction. More times than she cared to recall her two jobs collided with one another. As an immortal and daughter to the general, she would always have a foot in that world. However, she preferred the mortal world. She had been honest with Tye earlier about her credentials. She had been around since the beginning of psychology. She had been around when scholars would ponder our existence in the world. She remembered when Pavlov did his experiment with the dogs. He wrote to her before publishing his research. She remembered a great many scientist, before time had immortalized them in history. She was the brainchild of so many advances in the modern world. In today’s world she preferred psychiatry. Her long life had been dedicated to helping mortals. Born immortal she envied them in a way. She was never much of a fighter. Not that her father, the general, would allow her to take on a combat role. She could handle herself, but her true skills lay elsewhere. She truly was the most accredited and talented psychiatrist in the world. She was one of a small handful of doctors who could have treated him properly. Seeing Tye in so much pain hurt her. In this job, her immortal job, she could not show such emotion or favoritism. If she could simply protect him she would, but there’s a point when the superna
tural consumes you. He had simply seen too much. She would keep tabs on his mental state as best she could if he survived the transformation. Leaving Tye’s cell proved challenging as she heard his screams. Her gifts enabling her to hear the screams in his head as well. He was mistaken to think it was him and Mari screaming together. The voice in his mind, the void, was screaming too. She could not explain his depression as a mortal. If he survived she would explain the magic which seeped into his mind. The voice, the void, was real. If he didn’t learn to control his mind it too could kill him. There was nothing more she could do for Tye. Silently she voiced her hope to see him in three days before leaving his cell.
In the cell beside Tye she met her next patient. Female age 26, Ashley something or other. Female patients gave her little joy. She made peace with her preferences many years ago. When it came to females, she usually pushed them off on her assistants. Today she would have to see all five patients herself. Annoyance crept in as she opened the cell. “You’ve got yourself into a bind this time Ashley.” The girl didn’t flinch. She was cradled into a ball on the floor rocking herself. Great, hysteria Julez thought. “I know this may be hard to understand, but what you saw is real.” Quickly scanning over her chart she wondered what she did see this night. It seems her family had been killed in front of her. She softened her voice. “I’m sorry about your family. What happened to them isn’t right. The organization I work for, the ones who saved you, deal with these kind of situations. I wish we had got to your family sooner.” She meant that last part. No mortal deserved so much pain. Yet most mortals would lose themselves with similar circumstances. She often wondered what made some mortals break, and other keep it together. The girl didn’t respond. She continued her recruitment speech anyways. “I’m here to make you an offer. If you take this shot it can make you stronger. Strong enough to fight the beast that killed your family. Your mortal life however would end.” Her mortal life was over anyways thought Julez. Unsure if the girl was understanding any of her words she reached her hand to her arm. She jumped away startled. With wild eyes she looked at Julez as if for the first time.
