Silent Ground: Part 1

by Quil Carter

  He didn’t understand these people at all. Kheva wasn’t pissed off at him, Kel seemed happy with him. He’d said he was going to contribute and earn his keep… Why the fuck couldn’t he have some food? What sort of fucked up mind-game shit was this? Bunch of crazy fucking lunatics.

  “Sasha.” Kheva’s voice snapped Sasha out of his frustrated brooding. He glanced at Kheva and tried to hide the disheartened look on his face.

  “Yeah?” he said.

  Kheva’s eyes flickered up from his plate. “Come sit beside me,” he said simply yet firmly.

  Sasha stared blankly at Kheva. “Okay,” he said. He got up and moved his chair until he was sitting beside the man. The now familiar pleasant aroma was surrounding him, the hints of cinnamon and coffee.

  Sasha was contemplating this when a fork with a piece of breakfast sausage speared on the prongs, entered his vision.

  “Oh, thanks,” Sasha said. He went to grab the fork but Kheva pulled his hand away.

  Sasha’s eyes rose, and he saw Kheva staring at him, glaring at him more likely, with that same look that seemed to dare Sasha to disobey him. Kheva then raised the hand holding the fork, and brought it up to Sasha’s mouth.

  You’ve got to be kidding me…

  Who the fuck were these people?

  “Ah… come on,” Sasha said, his body tensing up, just like when Kheva had tried to kiss him. “That’s… that’s just…” Sasha’s mind stalled, or maybe it had frozen up because he knew the next word out of his mouth would have him in a heap of shit. He’d been forced to sleep outside for his last slip up, and he really did want to have a roof over his head tonight.

  But no, this was just weird.

  Sasha shook his head at Kheva. “I’m sorry but…”

  The blow came out of nowhere. Sasha didn’t even have time to scream, just gasp from surprise, before he was knocked out of his chair. He landed on the floor hard, his head smacking against the wood, and as he looked around in a daze, his cheek began to throb in pain.

  A blurry shadow loomed over him. Sasha squinted and focused his eyes and saw Kel. His fist, the one that had struck Sasha, was clenched in fury. “Never disobey Master Kheva,” he snarled. His blue eyes were frozen chunks of ice and his face was twisted in anger, an unstable anger that just seeped mania. “Understand me, nightcrawler?”

  Sasha looked fearfully up at him. He wiped his nose when he felt it start to run, but when he looked down at his hand he saw blood. “Y-yeah,” Sasha stammered, not knowing what else he could say. “Sorry…” He paused before adding, purely out of fear. “Master Kheva.”

  Kheva gave him a fleeting glance. “Sit.”

  Sasha dragged himself to his feet, wiping the weak stream of blood from his nose, and sat back down on the chair. His head was hung low and his body shaking. He’d never been hit before, he’d never even gotten into a fight. This was the first time in his life he’d been treated this way.

  And to add salt onto the wound, a moment later the fork, once again holding a piece of sausage, entered his vision.

  Sasha’s lips pursed and he felt an ache inside of him. The ache was familiar––Oh, was it ever familiar––It was the physical manifestation of feeling like you’re worth less than dirt. Jobe and Lex had done a good job at making him feel this way, and it looked like Kheva and Kel were about to deliver him a whole new level of it in spades.

  The humiliation gnawed him alive, but Sasha knew he had no other choice. He opened his mouth and took the piece of sausage with his teeth. He ate it, his brain shooting some positive feelings from finally being able to eat, but his gaze remained staring and submissive.

  No one said anything. Kel didn’t laugh or threaten him, Kheva had no praises or derogatory snaps, it was… quiet.

  The fork once again appeared, this time holding a piece of buttered pancake with peanut butter on it and syrup. Sasha had never had such a weird thing on his pancakes, but when he ate it, he was surprised that it tasted pretty damn good. He took another piece of sausage after that, some egg, and then several more forkfuls of pancake. When Kheva finished, Sasha was still craving more, but he was okay with the amount he had.

  “You’ll be helping Kel till the soil in the garden. We’ll be planting soon,” Kheva said. “But first, let the chickens out of their coops and feed them a scoop of seed. The scoop is in the bag, Kel will show you.” Kheva rose to his feet and walked towards the hallway. “I will be in my office.”

  And just like that… he was gone. The second door in that hallway, the one Sasha wasn’t permitted to enter, must be Kheva’s office. Something told Sasha if he ever dared set a toe in it, it would be cut off.

  “Come help me with dishes,” Kel said. “We’ll go feed the chickens after.”

  Sasha stayed sitting for a moment, the humiliation of what he’d just had to do roasting him inside. He didn’t know how to react to it, or even how to process what had just gone on.

  This was… this was a big mistake coming here. These two were crazy and dangerous.

  Sasha rubbed his cheek and sniffed, then wiped his nose of the blood that was now drying.

  “What’s wrong?” Kel asked. He sounded concerned which flabbergasted Sasha. “You look sad…” Shuffling could be heard, and the hair on the back of Sasha’s neck prickled when he felt Kel behind him.

  “This isn’t what I thought it was going to be,” Sasha whispered. He sniffed again and wiped his eyes. “I… I thought I’d feel like I belonged, but I don’t. I don’t belong here, but I can’t go back to my apartment or else they’ll fucking throw me into an institute…” Why was he even confiding with Kel? He’d been the one to fucking hit him. “I feel really alone.”

  Kel was quiet, then he rested a hand on Sasha’s head and petted his hair back. “You do belong here,” Kel said in a content tone.

  “Why are you guys treating me so badly?” Sasha asked.

  Kel continued to gently stroke his hair back. “You think that’s being treated badly? No, Sashy, that’s not being treated badly. I love you already.” Sasha cringed when Kel kissed his head. “We’re going to be together for a long time.” He then clapped his hands together. “Okay, let’s go feed the chickens! I can show you all of Ciel Lake while we do our chores. Do you know how to fish?” As Sasha rose to his feet, he saw Kel in the kitchen, now wetting a piece of paper towel.

  “Yeah, my town is ocean side,” Sasha said. Kel walked to him with the damp paper towel in-hand and put it to Sasha’s nose. It took everything in him to not recoil away from the touch. He was going to have to learn how it worked here quickly.

  It was either learn… or go to the psychiatric institute. The latter was something that seemed insane to consider, but the aching in his jaw and the dried blood in his nose, not to mention sleeping outside and being fed like a child, had him start to edge closer to the idea of just… of just taking his medicine.

  No… now that I know they’re real, and that I am… what Kheva calls a nightcrawler, I’ll never again let Jobe and Lex call me crazy. If I went back, it would be a million times worse, because I’ll never stand down now.

  Sasha let Kel wipe the blood from his nose, the man’s touch oddly doting. When he was done, he gave Sasha a bright smile then slipped his hand into Sasha’s.

  “Let’s go!” The two of them left the house, Kel handing Sasha a jacket since the morning had a chill on it, and Sasha was led towards a wooden structure on the other side of the field southwest of the property. It was about the size of Sasha’s bedroom, with a pen made out of chicken wire surrounding it, three times as big as the chicken coup.

  In the distance, Sasha spotted the generator, so quiet it was only a low hum that was easily blocked out by one’s brain, and near the dirt road that would lead them out of this small oasis, a greenhouse covered in thick opaque plastic. The rest of the structures that Sasha had spotted were hidden by the house, and only a sliver of lake could be seen from that angle as well.

  Feeding the chickens was uneventful. Kel
walked into the smelly chicken coop and opened a small door. About twenty excited chickens hopped through the door and bocked and clucked as they walked around the grassy ground.

  Kel came out about five minutes later with his t-shirt full of eggs. “I forgot my basket, can you help?” Sasha took six of them, leaving Kel with ten. “We collect a lot of eggs,” he explained. “I love to cook, and on special occasions Master Kheva cooks as well. We like to be self-sustaining, but we also enjoy store food. We’re not hippies or anything like that.”

  Sasha snorted at this. “You guys dress too nicely and are too clean to be hippies. So, we still get to eat Oreos and potato chips? Pop and pizza too?”

  Kel nodded, a toothy grin on his face. He was in the middle of scooping up the chickens’ feed. This was Sasha’s job now apparently, so he watched Kel do it so he wouldn’t forget and make the chickens’ stomach explode from too much food or something like that.

  That would be something that he’d do, considering his shit luck.

  “Yeah, I love Root Beer, you love Diet Dr. Pepper, right?” Kel asked. “I love Root Beer but not the diet stuff. Why do you need diet? You’re not fat.” He dumped the food into a metal trough and put the scoop back into the garbage can that held the feed.

  Sasha cracked a small smile. “My, ah, my uncle only drank it growing up. So, I like the taste more than regular. The regular stuff is just too sweet for me now, and why have all that excess sugar, right?”

  Kel paused, his eyes turned towards the sky and his face creased in thought. He was then unmoving, still staring up at the robin’s-egg-blue sky as he sorted through whatever was going through his head.

  Then, as if a heat ray had unthawed him, Kel’s eyes focused onto Sasha and he grinned. “Kheva says we can try Diet Root Beer if I want!” he said, trills of excitement reverberating through his voice. “Kheva says he doesn’t care and not to bother him again!” And with that, Kel closed the lid on the feed, secured it, and began kind of… bounce-skipping towards the house.

  Sasha watched Kel with a puzzled, but also a bit amused, look on his face, and followed after him.

  And while they walked side by side, Kel continued babbling happily. “Kheva lets me put things on the food list,” he said. “Maybe eventually you can too. It took me about a year before I’d pleased him enough to get that privilege, and if he’s in a bad mood…” Kel’s cheery expression dampened, and with a frown, he rubbed his neck.

  Sasha’s eyes widened when he saw that Kel’s hand was stroking a scar, silver and faded. Actually…

  Sasha looked closer at Kel’s body, and realized it was covered in scars.

  And when Kel walked ahead of him, Sasha could see the beginnings of thin silver scars on his back, before his shirt covered it. It looked like the guy had been whipped, on top of being cut and possibly burned.

  Kel turned around when he noticed Sasha had stopped walking.

  “What’s wrong?” Kel asked.

  “How often does he… beat on you?” Sasha whispered. He felt sick just looking at all the scars on Kel’s body.

  ‘That’ll be you soon,’ the voice inside of his head growled. ‘You’re their new toy. They’re going to slice and dice you, most likely kill you––’

  Suddenly Sasha felt an excruciating pain rip through his skull, one that held so much agony he collapsed onto the ground with both hands clutching his head. His eyes squeezed shut and his body tightened and convulsed from the pain, but it was relentless, and it wasn’t going away.

  In the middle of the painful assault, Sasha found his eyes opening, and while the agony seemed to crush his brain like a mallet to grapes, he realized that Kheva was approaching.

  The man covered the last several feet of distance, then kneeled down beside Sasha and placed a hand on the writhing man’s head.

  And just like that… the pain vanished.

  “He won’t be back for a while,” Kheva said, his tone matter-of-fact. He gently stroked Sasha’s clammy forehead, then ran his fingers through the short black strands of hair. “You will tell me when he returns.”

  Sasha stared up at him in shock, the pain completely gone but his body still a tremor, like aftershocks after an earthquake. “What was that?” he whispered.

  Surprisingly, Kheva extended his hand and helped Sasha to his feet. “That voice in your head is dangerous to you,” he said. Sasha’s eyes widened. “Don’t listen to him.”

  “Only Master Kheva can get rid of him,” Kel added. “Never listen to him.”

  Sasha looked from Kel to Kheva. “Who is he?” he asked, then he winced, afraid that he’d asked a question that would get him hit. “Will you… could you tell me all about it one day?”

  Kheva nodded, and once Sasha was standing, he withdrew his hand and began picking off bits of grass that were stuck to Sasha’s head. “All you need to know now, is that he’s not there to help you. You will only be listening to me from now on.”

  He’s not here to help me? There was no question about that. The voice had encouraged him to come to this place, that alone told Sasha he wasn’t there to do good.

  “Do all nightcrawlers have one?”

  Kheva shook his head. “He’s not your own personal voice. He’s the remnants of a bad person who hurt a lot of people. Sometimes he talks to Kel.” Kel nodded at this. “And sometimes he bothers me. You’re his new target. Whenever he speaks to you, tell me.”

  The remnants of a bad person? Who?

  Sasha opened his mouth to ask that very question, but Kheva’s hand rose.

  “There will be no more questions,” he then said. “I will explain it to you in greater detail once you’re ready, and not before.” Kheva’s green and gold eyes flickered to Kel who had been standing quietly with his hands behind his back. “Kel, pick up the eggs that Sasha dropped and put them in the kitchen.”

  Sasha looked down, forgetting about the eggs, and saw that, thankfully, none of them had broken during his fall.

  Kel nodded and was soon running back to the house, Sasha watched him go and stood awkwardly in front of Kheva.

  He steeled himself when Kheva raised a hand and put it to his cheek, and when the man made eye contact, Sasha forced himself to return the gaze.

  When Kheva spoke, his voice was low and the tones travelled around his tongue like they were coated in gravel. “He rarely challenges me anymore. I believe he’s gotten tired of the pain.” The corner of Kheva’s lip pulled into a frown. “He sees you as being his savior. What an idiot.”

  What Kheva was saying didn’t make any sense. Why was he acting like this inner voice was… an actual person? Was he?

  “Our minds are complicated, nightcrawler. Not just ours, but the older generation as well,” Kheva said, his gentle fingers caressing Sasha’s cheek. “They can grow to do amazing things, far surpassing what the normal human mind can do, but there are side effects to such power.” Kheva then clasped Sasha’s chin. “You will tell me if Kel acts strangely.”

  This took Sasha by surprise. Out of all of the things he expected Kheva to say, this was not one of them. “Kel…?” he said cautiously.

  Kheva nodded slowly; he rubbed his thumb against Sasha’s prickly skin. “Yes,” he whispered. “You will tell me and you will not hesitate.” Kheva’s head tilted to the side, and when Sasha saw desire burn inside of his eyes, anxiety burst inside of him like a lit firework.

  Then Kheva leaned in, so close Sasha could smell his minty breath. Sasha stiffened as he neared, his mind bouncing from recoiling to allowing what he knew was going to happen.

  “You’ve never kissed a man before?” Kheva whispered, amusement weaving around each tone. His hand traced the front of Sasha’s neck before sliding to the nape.

  Sasha sucked in an anxious breath; he could feel his heart knocking against his rib cage. He wouldn’t be surprised if Kheva could hear it too.

  “No…” Sasha whispered. “Not a man or… a woman.” He tried to bring his sporadic breathing back down to normal but Kheva w
as practically nose-to-nose with him; his strange eyes, all the more odd up close, staring almost hypnotically into Sasha’s own. They were such a strange pale green, the longer Sasha looked at them the more they seemed consumed by the yellow blots that took up over a quarter of the iris. Those eyes looked like slabs of gemstones, and one could so easily get lost…

  “That’s why you shied away from me,” Kheva murmured. He rubbed the nape of Sasha’s neck, then leaned in and kissed the corner of his mouth. “Even a deep kiss can put a temporary stopper on a migraine. It’ll only last several hours, but it’s useful none the less.” Sasha gasped when he felt Kheva’s tongue touch the area that he’d just kissed, and when that tongue traced his bottom lip, Sasha felt lightheaded.

  Then Kheva pulled back, and like he had fallen into a trance, Sasha let out an exhale and put a hand to his chest. He could feel his heated blood expand in his veins, desperately trying to bust out so it could flee from this extremely heavy situation.

  “You’re not shying away. Good,” Kheva said. He motioned for Sasha to follow him and he obeyed. “I will not kiss you yet, nightcrawler. Not yet.”

  Sasha stared at Kheva’s back as he continued walking. The heat had travelled on his bloodstream and now his entire body felt flushed and flustered. He could… Oh, fuck, he could feel Kheva’s saliva drying on his lips.

  “Come, nightcrawler.”

  Sasha inhaled a deep breath, confused about how he was feeling, and of course, the strange shit Kheva had just said. There was little he could do however; so Sasha exhaled slowly, and followed Kheva back towards the house.

  They walked around the exterior of the house and found Kel inside one of the several gardens Sasha had seen on the property. This one was surrounded by a fence made out of thin cedar and was about the size of Sasha’s apartment.

  There were no plants growing in it right now, spring had just started, but there were raised beds on one side, and patches of dark dirt on the other. It looked like it would hold an impressive amount of plants, definitely enough to feed all of them.