A tall, thin man with a sharp jawline and deep blue hair, a human who thought of himself as like one of the witch-like aliens from our neighbor planet, had offered me a drink at the glowing bar. At first, I assumed he’d been coming onto me, and I was preparing to tell him that I usually didn’t go for other men, when he’d cocked his head to the side and slipped into a well-practiced bow. The type of bow you offered to royalty.
Of course, at most of these parties, it was no secret that I was a Prince. That kind of status was what earned me a place in the intergalactic party scene in the first place when I was just a teenager. But, of course, I wasn’t the only royal in the entire world who went off the rails and got themselves into a bit of fun and trouble every other night. Princess Flora was proof of that. Usually, no one even bothered to acknowledge the status of other partygoers at these type of events; the entire point was that we were there to escape all that nonsense.
So when the strange, blue-haired stranger inclined his head respectfully toward me, I narrowed my eyes at him, giving him my full attention.
“Prince Markus Alin,” he’d said. “It’s an honor to meet you.”
I simply humphed in response, shrugging my shoulders as I accepted another shot of bright green liquid from the bartender. I knocked it back without a wince. The stranger watched, his smirk growing.
“My name is Lee,” he told me that night. “I’ve heard you’re a fan of intergalactic thrills.”
Snorting, I simply nudged him aside and was about to head off to my crowd of close friends, a couple of similarly cast-off Barons and Dukes, when the skinny human named Lee placed a steady palm on my forearm.
I froze instantly. “I’d recommend keeping your hands off a dragon shifter.”
“Pardon me, Your Royal Highness,” Lee responded, not an ounce of fear in his voice. “But, I think I may have the solution to all your problems.”
He handed me a small white card embossed with writing that was almost impossible to see. I glanced down at it, squinting through the flashing lights of the club to see what on not-Earth he’d handed me, but my head was spinning far too much for me to be able to make it out.
When I lifted my head to demand an explanation from the stranger, he was gone.
I hadn’t thought much about it until three days later, when I finally came out of that bender and fished the strange business card out my pocket.
It turned out that Lee was a Rogue Time Agent.
I’d always been fascinated by Time Agents. They were employed by the intergalactic government, tasked with fixing or eradicating broken timelines. It took me years to wrap my head around the concept of multiple timelines, and the idea that other parallel worlds were happening alongside the one I was in, that even a parallel Markus might be living out another story at the same time as I was, still boggled my mind.
The Time Agents were some of the most intelligent people in the known universe. They had ways of finding timelines and worlds that were ruined or broken, but repairable, and they organized the time and space continuum so that the rest of the world could continue functioning without a hitch.
But Lee wasn’t like those Time Agents.
I’d heard about guys like him. Rogue Time Agents who were just as smart, just as cunning, but who made it their mission to find ruined timelines and shattered worlds that were due to be erased by the official Time Agents any second, and ran free wreaking whatever havoc they wished. That had always thrilled me, that you could go to a completely different world where no one knew you and do whatever you wanted with no repercussions because that world was about to be erased by federal Agents anyway.
They were called Dark Tourists, the ones who went on these timeline adventures to live out their darkest fantasies in opposite worlds. It was a mysterious, but lucrative business. A friend of mine, the somewhat pretentious Baron Lakefield, had gone on a Dark Tourism trip recently. He didn’t tell the rest of us what he’d done on the trip, or what kind of crimes he’d committed in the timeline the Rogue Time Agents brought him to, but he’d returned exhilarated and refreshed. I’d been jealous of his energy; it was like he’d been reborn.
I ran my thumb over the series of contact numbers on the card and chewed my lip.
It had been months since Lee had slipped it to me. Perhaps he’d given up on me ever calling. Probably not, though. A Prince’s money was valuable, after all. Business from elites, in fact, was what kept most of the Dark Tourism industry running, as well as so lucrative.
I lifted my wrist to my mouth. A small, sophisticated communication device was strapped to it, and I began to dial Lee’s number before I even realized it.
I knew what I wanted to do. I knew that it would never be possible in my world or in my timeline. It would be too dangerous, and the real Time Agents would probably come after my head in minutes if I even tried to initiate my newest ambition.
My plan would gain me the satisfaction I’d always craved. Power would be mine. The throne would be mine.
I was going to take this stranger up on his offer and embark on one of these ridiculous Dark Tourism trips. I had money. I had time. In fact, I had all the money and time in the world. I was an unimportant, unlikeable Prince. I had nothing else going on.
But I wouldn’t just be doing it for the thrill.
No, there was something I desperately craved to do.
I wanted to kill my family.
Chapter 2
Flight
Markus
As usual, my family hadn’t noticed when I disappeared again. I’d taken my usual ship, a compact vehicle with a fast engine, and nothing more than a single duffel bag of necessities.
My absence would be nothing out of the ordinary.
“Oh, he’s away again, getting himself into the usual trouble,” my mother would probably say to the rest of the family. “Nothing new.”
My ship docked cleanly on the massive vessel that Lee had given me directions to, located halfway between my planet and the next. The journey hadn’t taken me long, just over an hour, but the further away from the royal palace I got, the freer I felt. My body thrummed with electric energy, yearning to live out my newest, darkest fantasy.
Mass regicide would be messy, sure, but I was willing to take the risk.
I needed this.
“Welcome aboard, Prince Markus,” said Lee, who was still blue-haired and thin as a pole. “I’m glad you finally called.”
I rolled my eyes at the title and clapped a firm hand on Lee’s shoulder. The slimy smirk slid off his face as he flinched slightly at the burst of pain. Dragon-shifters were, after all, much stronger than humans.
“Let’s get one thing straight before takeoff,” I murmured. “On this ship, I’m just Markus.”
“Yes, sir,” replied Lee. I decided I didn’t trust him; the vaguely sarcastic tone of his voice, laced with something akin to humor, and yet somehow more menacing, set me on edge. Still, he would get me where I needed to go, and therefore played a rather important role in my dream of murdering my entire family becoming a reality, so regardless of my distrust, I knew I had to at least tolerate him.
With a single nod, I stepped through the threshold between my vehicle and the colossal timeline-traveling ship.
A different Rogue Time Agent, dressed in loose-fitting black clothes, showed me to my assigned room and handed me a plastic holographic keycard. He must have been fairly low in rank to be tasked with something as inconsequential as showing the Dark Tourists to their private quarters. The room was basic but tasteful. A double bed sat against the far wall, which was dominated by a massive window looking out at the galaxy beyond. There was a small desk, shelves for storage and a private bathroom.
Obviously, the point of these Dark Tourism trips wasn’t the glamor or the hospitality, but I still felt like I could offer a few suggestions here and there, especially if they were so keen to entertain the whims of more elites and royals. A higher thread count, for example.
I dropped my duffel bag down
at the foot of the bed. Outside the window, everything was dark and calm, mirroring how I was feeling now that I was out of the palace and on my way to the next, most satisfying adventure.
Not sure what else to do with myself, I decided to try and find my way to a common area so that I could figure out what other demonic people I was sharing a ship with. I wondered if anyone else was here with the intent to kill their relatives. Or kill anyone, really.
The curving hallways of the time ship wove around the perimeter, circling what I assumed was the main control center in the middle. Windows, shaped like the kind of small portholes you would find on a boat, dotted the left side of the halls, showing more darkness. Somewhere out there, perhaps visible out of one of these windows, was my planet. It was a small planet, made even smaller and less inviting by the fact that I knew my family was on it, ignoring the fact that I’d left again, just like they ignored me whenever I was there.
Eventually, the hallway ended in a large circular room ringed by soft couches and plush lounge chairs. It had clearly been designed to hold about fifty passengers, but only a handful of people milled about, including a few people dressed in the same black clothes as Lee and the attendant who’d shown me to my room. I noticed they were also all wearing the same white pin on their lapels: a tiny t.
Not sure what else to do, I sat down on a sofa and watched everyone else. Much to my surprise, a woman sat down next to me a minute later. She looked to be about twice my age, with a kind, round face and charming curves. She offered me a smile and held out her hand in greeting.
“Rosa Ricardo,” she said by way of introduction.
I leaned forward to shake her hand. “Markus Alin.”
She nodded as if I’d said something painfully obvious. “Mhm, you’re that bad boy dragon Prince, ain’t you?”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes. I didn’t want to make enemies on the first day. “I guess so.”
“Hmm,” she said, nodding again. “I heard there’d be a royal on this trip.”
“Where’d you hear that?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.
But Rosa merely shrugged, her broad shoulders rising and falling inside her oversized brown sweater. “Ain’t nothing happen in this galaxy that I don’t hear about.”
“...Right.”
Rosa shot me a wink. I liked her, despite her nosiness. There was a gutsiness about her.
“So, what are you here for?” I asked.
Rosa snorted and shook her head. “This is your first trip ever, huh?”
I frowned in confusion.
“If I were you, I wouldn’t go around asking that kind of question,” she explained. “There’s an unspoken ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ type of situation aboard these ships.”
“Well, then what are you doing sticking your nose in my business?” I asked, smirking.
Rosa smacked me playfully in the arm. “Couldn’t help myself. Always wanted to meet a royal.”
I laughed, but didn’t have the heart to tell Rosa that I was hardly a good excuse for a royal. I was rude, reckless, and, now, murderous. I wanted to tell her that the rest of my family was much more polite than I was, but I couldn’t stomach paying them any kind of compliment.
“You see that man over there?” Rosa lowered her voice and pointed at a man dressed in gray standing on the other end of the room. I noticed that everyone who walked by seemed to be giving him a wide berth. That was odd, since he was fairly small and thin, with wispy brown hair and watery eyes. Still, he had a weird aura about him; something just the slightest bit wrong. It was chilling, even to me.
“What about him?” I asked.
“His name’s Zik,” she replied. “Guess he’s part human, but mostly alien. He’s from my planet. Rumor has it he got thrown in jail a couple decades ago for hosting some kind of torture chamber in his basement. He was cutting up all these humans, boiling them alive, psychopathic shit like that, you know? So they threw him in prison. Thing is, though, he got out a couple years ago for good behavior. I know, right? Crazy. So, even though he’s a reformed citizen, I’ve heard he’s still got these compulsions to hurt people; he, like, can’t shut ‘em off or something. And he goes on these trips to live out his torture porn fantasies in ruined timelines, then goes back home and tells his parole officer that he’s all good. Guess it works for him.”
“Oh,” was all I could manage in reply. “That’s…interesting.”
“Ain’t it?”
It was disturbing, that was what it was. But, after all, I was on this trip to do almost that same thing. Though, I suppose I’d never intended to torture my family. The only plan I’d come up with so far was to cut their throats in their sleep; something quiet and mild, but just enough to quell the horrible dark bubble of anger in me.
I decided to steer clear of that Zik guy.
At that moment, Lee walked up to the front of the room and clapped his hands for everyone’s attention.
“Hey, guys,” he called out. The other Rogue Time Agents paused their milling about and turned to face front. “My name is Lee, I’m co-Captain of this ship and my crew here are what we call the Rogues, mostly because we’re Rogue Time Agents hellbent on ensuring you all get to live out your darkest desires in the ruined timelines we find for you. This is pretty much the first and only time any of us are going to bother you; I just wanted to give you all some basic information before we take off.”
Rosa chuckled quietly. “This kid’s such a busybody.”
I snorted. Yeah, I definitely liked her.
“First of all, the ship is yours to explore, except for the central chamber where the Rogues command the ship. All doors into the command center are marked with white Xs, so please do take care to not walk through any of those,” Lee continued. “Second of all, we have quite a small trip this week, which does happen from time to time. We’ll be visiting a total of five timelines. The Rogues have done research ahead of time to locate the ideal timelines for each passenger, and from that, we’ve determined the following order…”
Behind him, a screen lit up on the wide window. Five names were listed on the screen, implying the order in which our turns for debauchery in ruined timelines would go.
Zik was first.
Someone named Ryan was second. Rosa was next, then an older couple named Paul and Patty. I was last.
I was just grateful that my name was simply listed as Markus. No Prince, no other names. Rosa might have known who I was, but that didn’t mean everyone else had to.
I didn’t mind that I was going last, either. It meant I had more time to plan out my attack; the best way to murder my eight siblings, my parents and any cousins or uncles that happened to be standing in the way. It was, no doubt, going to require quite a bit of focus and stamina.
“Lastly,” Lee was saying, “we want this trip to be as enjoyable and fulfilling for you as possible. If, at any time, you need anything from us, don’t hesitate to ask myself or one of the crew. Other than that, have a nice journey!”
Naturally, applause would follow an announcement like that. But, the room simply dissolved into an easy quiet, most of the Rogues venturing off to prepare the vessel for takeoff, and all the other tourists heading back to their private rooms, presumably.
Rosa stood up with a quiet groan, her joints creaking. “Well, kid. I’m gonna go find myself something eat. See you later.”
“See you,” I said, offering her a wave. She winked again and wandered off.
After only a few minutes, I was alone in that wide open room. Leaning forward, I rested my elbows on my knees and stared out of the massive windows to the entirety of space beyond. In the far distance, I could see the colorful glows of other planets and galaxies and bright flashes of faraway, dying stars.
My shoulder blades itched again, my true form begging to be set free. I choked it back down, wanting to wait for the perfect moment to allow myself to morph into a full dragon-shifter Prince. That moment, undoubtedly, would be when I could stand over the bodies of my de
ad family and sit atop the iron throne that had been so far out of reach for me for the entirety of my life.
Soon, I would have my chance.
Chapter 3
Capture
Markus
The next morning, we arrived in the timeline chosen especially for Zik’s twisted torture fantasy.
The Rogues recommended that the rest of the tourists stayed on the ship if it wasn’t their destination, likely so none of us would accidentally fall victim to the horrors in one of our minds. We could, however, try to catch glances at the action from the common room with the help of the same wide crystal clear windows that stretched across half the room. Also, for our entertainment, the Rogues provided the rest of us who weren’t participating in this timeline with a factsheet, so that we could at least try to follow along.
We’d landed in the ruins of a concrete city. All around the ship, jagged metal pipes and electrical wiring shot up from the cracked, dusty asphalt like black and silver plants. According to the factsheet, we had traveled to a planet dominated by humans, though they were nowhere to be seen. I assumed they’d been smart enough to scatter as soon as an alien time ship appeared out of the sky.
The reason this timeline was due to be erased was because of a robot war that had occurred just a few years prior, crazy as it sounded. Apparently, these humans grew so advanced in their technological capabilities that they managed to create artificially intelligent lifeforms that started to fight against human control, until an outright war broke out. The humans won, but they hadn’t had electricity, internet or intergalactic communication in years. What was worse was that, even though the robots had been completely destroyed, most of the human race had been decimated alongside them. There were still pockets of humans here and there across the lonely, pathetic planet, but the official Time Agents had declared it still not worth saving. Evidently, the unbroken timeline -the correct outcome -had resulted in a beautiful, green, flourishing world.
A Wife for the Torturer Page 2