by Quil Carter
And at this, Sasha began to cry. Not only tears of pain, or sadness, but tears of a desperate man who couldn’t get a single break in this world. A man who wanted, above anything else, to be understood.
Even though he didn’t even understand himself.
Sasha rubbed his head, the migraine coming swiftly and without a single care regarding the hurricane that was ravaging his mind. In response to the overwhelming pain, Sasha got up and walked to his bedroom, and made a beeline for the side table beside his bed… where his homemade knife was.
Sasha closed the door behind him and sat down on the bed. He unwrapped his arm and looked down at the stitched wound, one of the stitches knotted and frayed from being cut and then tied back up. Several times he’d had to do this, it was an easy way for him to get his blood.
After cutting the suture and piercing the wound, Sasha held his arm over his washed-out water glass, and gave the glass a dead-eyed stare as the ruby droplets fell.
Why did blood help? What the fuck was it with blood lately anyway? It was blood that seemed to help his headaches, and it was blood that those fucking maniacs were after, and his semen for some odd reason.
Then Sasha’s mind stopped, like someone had run up to his last thought and had shot it with a freeze ray.
His mind then backed up, and brought him to that moonlit road. He saw the two figures cloaked in black, one standing tall and mighty, his green eyes with the yellow blots cold and unyielding.
And the man beside him hunched over like he was in physical pain.
They’d wanted his blood…
The realization had Sasha staring off into nothing, an expression of dumbfounded shock on his face. The prospect brought with it hundreds of new questions, each one more confusing than the last. And buried inside of those questions was one glaring reality: If what they were seeking was indeed his blood… that there might be two more people out there like him.
Like me…
But… what is me? How am I unique? Because I get horrible headaches that can only be cured a certain way, and I have an angry voice inside of me that seems to only live to torment me?
It was hard for Sasha to sort his feelings. He felt overwhelmed with this new realization. And though it seemed like he’d solved something, in truth, he’d only confused himself more.
Sasha drew his arm away from the glass. There was a quarter of an inch of blood now at the bottom, and the irony smell if left behind wafting in the air. Sasha downed it in one shot, then wiped his finger along the edge to collect the thin layer that clung to the sides wherever it touched.
Then he quickly bandaged his arm, and with a sigh of fatigue, he laid down in his bed and closed his eyes.
Elsewhere
The man known as Kheva sat alone in his office. He sucked casually on the end of a fine-tipped black pen, before writing a few notes down on a leather-bound black book. The room around him was lit with only a single table lamp, which made the furniture cast dark shadows against walls made of red pine.
He paused for a moment and wrote down a few more words before the tip of the pen went back to his mouth. His eyes travelled to his laptop screen, then behind it to the black curtains that covered the only window in the office, before he wrote down several more sentences.
This was his oasis, a room that only he was allowed in, and like the rest of the house, it was decorated to his tastes. There was an oak desk which he was currently sitting in front of, one that held a laptop, neatly-stacked papers, and even a blue vase of daffodils that Kel had picked him. Then there was a leather stuffed chair, a microsuede daybed, several end tables and a credenza, and underneath his feet, a rug made out of sheep’s wool. This was all illuminated by a desk lamp and a floor lamp, but during the day he opened the large window that was currently covered by a heavy red curtain.
Kheva stopped again and leaned back in his leather office chair. He stared up at one of the many paintings on the walls, seemingly lost in thought and absentmindedly began to chew on the cap once again. The painting his oddly-coloured eyes were fixed on, was of a dark forest, the trees thick and limbless, and peeking out from behind one of those shaded trees was a wolf with glowing yellow eyes.
Then his gaze travelled down to the barrel of a syringe, resting vertical beside his laptop. It was filled with an opaque milky liquid. There was no doubt what it was… it was Sasha’s semen.
Kheva put the pen down and picked up the syringe of liquid, he brought it up to the light and studied it, an intense look on his face.
It was his tangible reward, a treasure at the end of what had been a long road. But not only that, it was also a test, the last piece of the puzzle to make sure that he was indeed right, and that he had found another one like them.
Sasha’s future would be determined based on what happened tonight. And his and Kel’s lives as well. It all came down to what was in that vial, and also the silver flask which had been placed carefully in the refrigerator.
Kheva turned the barrel of the syringe around in his hand and smiled faintly. Yes, this journey had been a long one. It had taken a lot of mental effort to finally be able to track this mysterious boy, but if he was indeed like them… the rewards would far outweigh the energy, the stress, the disruption in their lives. It would mean… so many things.
Sasha Zakharin…
It is nice to meet you.
Your new master looks forward to learning you.
Inside and out.
There was a knock on the door
“Yes, Keluva?” Kheva put the syringe barrel into one of the drawers of his desk and placed the chewed-on cap back onto his pen.
“May I open the door, Master?” Kel’s voice sounded at the other end of the door.
“You have my permission.”
The door slowly opened, but Kel, holding an exotic-looking spotted cat in his arms, didn’t enter. The man, with dark bangs that touched his cheekbone, looked down at his feet to make sure he didn’t have a single toe in Kheva’s office, then back up at his master with a smile.
Kheva noticed that the cat, a tamed serval, had a rabbit in his jaws. The rodent was dead, its pink eyes staring off into darkness, and the white fur around its neck stained red and damp from the cat’s saliva.
“Jye caught a rabbit. It was in the garden,” Kel said, a proud smile on his face. He hugged the cat, a golden colour with cheetah spots, to his chest and rested his chin in between the cat’s huge bat-like ears.
Kel was out of his black robes now and looked a world different than he did when they’d encountered Sasha. No longer slouched over and grasping himself from the pain, he was cheerful and giddy, giving off an air of spastic energy and overall excitement. This mood seemed to suit the man, who looked to be around twenty-four; he had a smile on his face that suggested he was rarely seen without it, and a bounce to his step that told you if he could skip around instead of walking, he would.
“Oh, did he now?” Kheva rose from his chair. He walked over to the serval cat, who was growling at no one in particular, like most domestic predators did when they had prey, and scratched him in between the ears. In response, the serval stopped growling, and squinted his shining brown eyes in contentment.
“I saw it all happen too,” Kel said excitedly. “I was planting our starter strawberries and I spotted the bunny. I was going to run in and get my gun but then I saw Jye hiding behind the picnic bench. I decided to be patient and watch, just like you taught me, and he crouched down–” Kel scrunched his head to his neck, his grin still wide. “–and his ears went flat, and then he began to crawl towards it. I was quiet, I even tried calling you, but I think I was too excited to make it work properly because you didn’t come. You didn’t hear me, did you?”
Kheva shook his head. “No, I was writing in silence, although I was tuned in. I would have come to watch if you had done it correctly, but I understand your excitement may have inhibited it.”
Kel nodded rapidly. “I kept watching, and when he was about eleven an
d a half feet away, he bolted! Just like the cheetahs on TV. He got the rabbit in his jaws and it let out a single whistle.”
Kel opened his mouth but Kheva raised a hand. “Which you will not demonstrate,” he said, his voice full of warning.
And just like that, Kel’s mouth closed. “And then I heard a crunch. I came back as soon as it was dead. I wanted to know if you wanted it for dinner tomorrow, or if Jye was allowed to keep it.”
“The cat may keep it as his dinner tonight.” Kheva lowered his hand from the serval’s head and began walking out of his office. Kel quickly jumped out of the way, and stood back as Kheva walked past him.
Kheva could hear the office door gently close, followed by the soft patter of socked feet as Kel followed obediently behind him.
“Do you need anything done, Master?” Kel asked in a pleasing voice.
Kheva stood in the middle of his living room. The room was cozy, and a fair size, with the same stained wood paneling that his office had complete with a grizzly bear rug resting in the middle. For furniture, there was a chocolate microfiber couch against the west wall, and beside it, separated by an oak side table, a recliner of the same style. A stone coffee table centered this room, and television which was usually hidden inside a cabinet.
The whole house appeared to have the same theme: wood paneling to give it a cabin-like feel, original paintings on the walls, and pelts of animals both exotic and local, large windows with black curtains, and dark-coloured furniture that all matched, most of it made of wood, stone, or leather with soft microsuede on top.
To the south of the house was the kitchen, one that was modern with black cabinets and silver hardware, grey stone countertops, and stainless steel appliances. There was an island which separated the kitchen from the living room, and on that island, was a bowl of fresh fruit, several books, and what looked like leftover plant pots from Kel’s strawberry planting. To the left of that kitchen, was a dining room area, and behind it, a sliding glass door that revealed a spacious deck with two patio chairs set around a glass table.
Kheva put his hands behind his back and walked to the picture window in the living room. He ran a hand down his crimson dress shirt and gazed out the window and into the darkening sky.
“You have done all that is needed today,” Kheva said. The man’s tone seemed naturally cold, as if it would be strange for him to talk any other way. “You have my permission to do whatever is your will tonight. The next step… is to wait.”
Kel brightened at this news. “Then he will be ours, won’t he?” A smile of triumph crossed his face, though the expression appeared odd when mixed with the rather manic glint in Kel’s eyes.
Kheva nodded, his own facial expression frigid, showing none of the excited emotions that the man behind him wielded and expressed so freely. The two of them appeared to be as polar opposite as one could get. Kheva standing with silent dignity, his gravelly voice deep and controlled and his movements graceful. And Kel, his stance jittering and the aura around him energetic but almost confused. His voice also complimented his nature, it seemed to surf on a wave of excitement, travelling up and down with his moods, and like the man himself, never seeming to settle.
“When I get him, I’m going to show him the garden. I’m going to show him Jye. I’m going to bathe him, and dress him, and I’m going to teach him how to have sex. How to fuck me, and to let me fuck him. I’m going to–”
“That’s quite enough, Keluva,” Kheva said, and though his voice rang with warning, Kel happily babbled on.
“I’m going to teach him how to give blowjobs, and how fish in the lake, and maybe swim, and how to–”
Kheva whirled around, his cold eyes flashing dangerously, and glared at Kel.
Kel stared back, and like day had turned into night, the happiness drained from his face, replaced by a look of fear.
“No!” Kel suddenly cried. “Please, don’t–” Suddenly Kel’s face twisted, an expression of agony deeply imbedded. He let out a horrible shriek, and as Kheva continued to glare at him, his hands flew up and grabbed his head.
Then he stumbled backwards and fell to the floor. He landed hard on top of the bear rug and began clawing at his head, his fingers filling with shreds of scalp and soon smudges of blood.
Kheva watched him, and as Kel’s lungs expelled scream after scream, he smiled to himself.
Then, as quickly as it came, Kel’s screaming stopped. Instead, gasps of breath replaced the horrific shrieks of pain, and the occasional whimper.
Kheva looked down as Kel writhed on the floor, his large eyes wide and staring, glistening with tears, and his chest rapidly rising and falling as his body struggled to catch its breath.
But it wasn’t over. Kel’s hands continued to clench his head, tufts of his hair held firmly in his fists.
A long and desperate whine sounded. “My head…” Kel whimpered. His eyes opened and he looked up pleadingly at Kheva. “My head… it’s hurting. Master… I’m sorry. I’m sorry I wasn’t listening.”
But Kheva made no move to help him, instead the man turned from Kel, and continued to gaze out the window. In the reflection, Kel buried his face into the grizzly bear pelt, and moaned from the pain of the oncoming migraine.
“I will have him soon,” Kheva whispered. Behind him Kel’s fingers continued to dig into his head, and his legs moved up and down with his twisting body. “All of my searching, our stalking… soon he will be in the palm of my hand.” Kheva looked down at his hand, and watched it close into a firm fist. “Oh, Keluva… I will witness with such satisfaction as he submits to me… as his world crumbles around him. It has been… so long since the last time I was able to see such beauty.” Kheva’s eyes closed, and he took in a deep breath. He smiled to himself, and tried to re-live every moment of his brief encounter with Sasha on the road. For over a minute, he fell to silence, appearing to lose himself in the reminiscing. “I look forward to taking that beautiful stone, stripping it of all of its contaminants, until I hold in my hand a flawless diamond.”
Kheva’s eyes slowly opened. “I will help him. I will train him… and when he resists me…” He slowly turned around, and he looked down at Kel, the man’s hands covered in blood and stray strands of hair, and a sheen of sweat coating his agony-filled face. “…I will break him.”
Kheva knelt down beside Kel, and slowly petted back his hair, blood slicking his hands as he did. “You saw what I saw, Keluva. He’s such a picture of innocence… of purity. The Devil knows just how much I wished to take him home with us.” Kel let out a mournful cry as Kheva caressed his head, and he started to plead to his master for help; but Kheva’s eyes were fixed and staring, showing an obliviousness to not only Kel’s pain, but the physical world around him.
“But I will be patient… like I was with you.” Kheva brought his bloody fingers to his lips and sucked on them, a vile smirk on his face. Kel cried out, muffled from his face being buried in the bear rug, and continued to writhe.
Then Kel lifted his head, the pain and misery distorting his features. “I’ve been good,” he cried. “Master, I’ve been so good lately, haven’t I?”
Kheva looked on, unconcerned, then he slowly rose to his feet and walked past Kel. Kel’s face crumpled, and he drew his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arm around them.
There was the sound of the office door opening, followed by the drawer of the desk, and soon Kheva was walking out of the office, the syringe barrel of Sasha’s semen in his hand.
Kel looked up at him pleadingly, and Kheva got down on one knee. He extended his arm to Kel’s face and cupped his chin. The man with the green and golden eyes looked down at Kel and stroked his smooth chin with his thumb.
“Is it quiet inside of your mind?” Kheva whispered to him.
Kel nodded. “It just hurts… a lot.” He relaxed under Kheva’s touch, but his body still trembled like he had been dunked into frigid waters.
“Sit up,” Kheva murmured, and he removed his hand while Kel obey
ed. Kel shifted himself up, until he was kneeling in front of his master.
“It appears that you will be the first one to try him,” Kheva said. He gave Kel’s clammy cheek a gentle stroke, before removing the plastic cap he’d placed on the bottom of the syringe barrel.
But Kel shook his head. “No, Master… I… I wish it to be you to try him first,” he said. “I would be happy with yours. I still have some from after we saw Sasha.”
“No…” Kheva positioned his thumb over the barrel and shook his head. “This is my gift to you, my Keluva.” Kheva brought the syringe up to Kel’s open mouth, then he pressed down on the plunger head and squirted in the opaque semen.
Kel swallowed the cold liquid, then he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. Kheva lowered his hand, and watched Kel intently.
For several minutes, the house succumbed to a dead quiet; the only noise the humming of the fridge, and the low snaps of the fireplace which stood to the left of a wooden staircase. The atmosphere was heavy as Kheva watched Kel, and though it appeared that this intense analyzing was only visual, inside Kel’s head Kheva was there, watching him like a bird perched on a tree, silently waiting for the slight changes in the chaotic tapestry that was Kel’s mind.
If nothing happened, if Kel still writhed in his pain, it would mean that Kheva was wrong. It would mean that this beacon of light his mind had discovered, and that he’d tracked down, wasn’t like them.
It would mean that the new prospect he’d been seeking, was just like any other worthless insect that walked amongst them, one that held no worth.
No, I am not wrong.
The moment that Kheva had seen Sasha in his wandering thoughts, in the form of a brilliant flare, he’d known that he’d found another one like them. And the night he’d seen that boy walking in the darkness, that belief was all but confirmed. After years of searching, he had found the boy, and he was right in Kheva’s backyard.
Only seventy miles from my paradise, my home… Once again, we all seem to attract one another.