Stephan's Monster

by Shelby Rhodes

  Ah, there it was—the house of Brad Dickson.

  Shaking his head, he snorted in disgust. God, his name was as normal as the neighborhood he lived in.

  Jayden walked swiftly up the man’s driveway. His body shook in anticipation at finally being able to release his rage.

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  Standing in front of the door, Jayden rang the bell. He could have controlled Brad from here, but why bother? No one else was home anyway. Brad’s wife was on a business trip—a nice cover for him to hide behind.

  The door opened, revealing a rather unimpressive man. “Can I help you?”

  Cocking his head, Jayden slowly smiled.

  Brad’s thoughts were confused at first. That confusion, however, turned to panic when Jayden slipped into his mind and took control.

  As Jayden walked away, he had the man follow. Brad’s first inner cry of denial came with the first involuntary step. And then the shouting began, nonsense calls for help that wouldn’t be answered.

  Jayden laughed when Brad finally realized it was all in his head, that not a single sound was escaping his lips. The screams came then.

  Delicious cries of a predator who finally understood what it felt like to be prey and knew the end was coming.

  * * * *

  Stephan knocked on Jayden’s bedroom door. “Jayden, we’re going out for ice cream. Do you want to come?”

  He bounced in excitement as he waited. Thoughts of what else they could do tonight ran through his head.

  Ice cream first, and then they could go to the movies. Oh, oh, then maybe the bookstore. His excitement deflated a bit—or not. But maybe if Jayden had a reading goal, it would motivate him. Or maybe it would just upset him. But it could help, maybe…

  Okay, no bookstore for now. Oh, they could go look at the electronics store. Jayden only had a cell phone. He could probably use a laptop, and a tablet, oh, and maybe a gaming system, as well. They could also look at DVDs and Blu-rays.

  Stephan’s excitement began to build back up at the thought of all the things he could buy Jayden. And then he realized the teen hadn’t answered yet. “Jayden?”

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  Closing his eyes, Stephan listened—he didn’t hear a heartbeat behind the closed door. With shaky hands, he took out his cell phone and called the young man. Stephan’s phone made a noise as the call connected.

  “What?” Jayden answered dully.

  “Oh, thank God. You scared me, Jayden. When I knocked, and you didn’t ans—” Stephan paused. “Wait, where are you? Why didn’t you tell anyone you were going out?”

  “I had something I needed to take care of.”

  The hairs on the back of his neck rose. “Jayden…what are you doing?”

  “Nothing that concerns you.”

  “Jayden!” Stephan yelled as Jayden ended the call. He bent over, yanking on his hair. “Shit!”

  Taking off down the hall toward the stairs, he yelled for Liam.

  They would track Jayden’s phone, that’s what they would do. Stephan would stop him…he just had to.

  * * * *

  Outside the city, one town over

  One of his enforcers burst into his office and stared.

  Already knowing the answer, Dante stated, “She’s here again.”

  “Yes, boss.”

  Rubbing his brow, he sighed. “Let her in.”

  Moments later his door was slammed open by a beautiful but highly irrational woman. “It’s not right!” she shouted.

  Dante growled. “We’ve been over this. There is nothing else you can possibly do to stall the inevitable. He will die, Miss Bridgen.”

  “It’s murder! You all talk as if you have morals, but you’re nothing but a bunch of murderers!” she shrieked.

  “Enough!” He took a deep breath to calm his agitation. “Think what you may, it matters not. It’s over. Leave.”

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  Chapter Six

  Five years later

  Standing tall, Stephan opened the door and walked in. The woman behind the reception desk called out in greeting. “Mr. Everwood, welcome. Go ahead and take a seat. Healer Hyacinth is with a patient right now, but should be done soon.”

  He sat on one of the embroidered chairs in the waiting room. It spoke of money—no stained carpets or horrible plastic furniture in sight.

  Considering Healer Hyacinth was a renowned specialist in his field, Stephan supposed the man had enough money to make it as fancy as he wanted. Seeing the man meant receiving a bill that would make most faint, though Stephan wasn’t sure of the exact amount.

  The man, having been a friend of his late mother, had never charged him.

  As comfortable as the waiting room was, it did nothing to calm him. Stephan clenched the strap of his bag as he waited. As his mind raced, his heart sped up and sweat formed on his brow.

  Were the lights brighter than normal? It was hot—at least he felt hot. Had they turned off the air? They must have. He flinched when the receptionist’s chair creaked.

  Oh God, he was going to throw up. Breathing slowly through his mouth, he tried to not hyperventilate. This was ridiculous. Stephan needed to get ahold of himself. He was a successful businessman. He dealt with hostile takeovers, so he sure as hell could handle this, dammit!

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  A whimper slipped out—if only the rules of business applied outside the workplace.

  Calm, hah, what a laugh. How the hell was Stephan supposed to remain calm when the next few minutes would decide an important part of his future? Maybe he should have waited longer. Like maybe a hundred or so years—or a thousand. Was it too soon? Would it have been better to wait?

  No, no…Stephan wasn’t going to do this now. There was no point in second-guessing himself—no point in waiting. It wouldn’t have mattered. The results today would tell him all he needed to know.

  The door that led to the offices and examination rooms opened. A couple walked out, and coming up behind them was Healer Hyacinth.

  “Come on back, Stephan.”

  Stephan followed him down the hallway to his office. As Stephan sat in one of the chairs in front of the desk, Healer Hyacinth closed the door behind him and sat, as well.

  “Your results are in…and…”

  Stephan flinched at the man’s hesitation. “Just say it.”

  “I’m sorry, Stephan. Nothing has changed.” After pulling out two sonograms from a manila folder, he set them side by side and pointed.

  “The sonogram on the right is from eight years ago. The left is from last week. As you can see, they’re exactly the same. Unfortunately, I don’t even see minuscule changes. The internal cam showed the same.

  I’m sorry, Stephan. You’re still barren.”

  He rubbed at the sudden ache in his chest.

  Stephan knew this would happen. He’d known how low his chances were. He shouldn’t be upset.

  Why had he hoped for more? Why should he hope? He couldn’t even handle people hugging him, let alone have sex. How the hell had he expected to have a baby? It was ridiculous. God, he was so stupid.

  Barren or not, there was never any chance of him having a child.

  Stephan had no reason to be upset or sad…none at all.

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  With a tight smile, he stated, “So there really is no chance I’ll ever be able to have a child.”

  Healer Hyacinth leaned back and ran his hand through his hair. “I didn’t say that. I will admit the lack of change is troubling. And so far none of the treatments or medicines have worked. With most I would say at this point, it’s unlikely. However, considering what you are, it’s possible that years from now the damage will start to heal.”

  “Do you really believe that?” Stephan laughed bitterly. “What is there left to heal? The miscarriage destroyed so much. It just made the damage from my”—he swallowed painful
ly—“from my attack, that much worse. Being a Ly—”

  Healer Hyacinth interrupted him. “Don’t say it, Stephan. Privacy spells or not, I’d rather not chance it.”

  “If I could have controlled my powers back then, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation, would we?”

  “Stephan, you can’t change the past. You know that. At fifteen, you shouldn’t have been able to access them as you did. It’s highly unusual for your kind to develop such abilities so early. If you hadn’t been put in that situation, your powers would just now be beginning to show. There’s no point wondering about the impossible.”

  His healer continued to talk, but all he could do was nod. Really, was there any point in talking? There was nothing Healer Hyacinth could do that would fix what was wrong with him. There was nothing Stephan could do—nothing anyone could do.

  Thirty minutes later he found himself leaning against a wall in an empty hallway. Stephan couldn’t remember how he had gotten there.

  The world was clouded, unrecognizable through the watery wall his tears had created. No matter how much he tried to tell himself that it didn’t matter, they still formed.

  He bit his lip, one of his fangs piercing through as he tried to keep the tears from falling. But one managed to slip free, and the others quickly followed.

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  Lungs seizing, Stephan took a ragged breath. It hurt, it hurt so much—the pain was almost unbearable. His heart was still beating. It had to be…he could hear it. But it felt as if it were being crushed, each beat a struggle under the weight of his despair.

  Clutching his chest, he slid down the wall. On the floor, Stephan curled into a ball and began to sob.

  * * * *

  The past week Stephan had appeared oddly nervous—twitchy even. The little man was usually perky as hell, but it was as if his spark had been stolen away, and Jayden was determined to find out why.

  Today Stephan had acted as if someone had died. So, when Stephan said he had an appointment—despite how late it was—

  Jayden did what any rational person would have—he followed him.

  Yay! He was a stalker on top of being a murderer now. Ah, he was moving up in the world.

  Jayden followed him to a healer’s office—the inscription on the door said “Sean Hyacinth—Obstetrician.” Not a place he’d ever expected to find the man, that’s for sure.

  Forced to wait outside until Stephan called back, Jayden absently searched the receptionist’s mind. Like him, she was wondering why the appointment was so late.

  Once Stephan left the waiting room, he strolled in, clouding the receptionist’s mind to prevent her from seeing him. Standing in front of the door that Stephan had disappeared behind, Jayden took a deep breath, widening the opening in his mental barriers.

  A multitude of privacy spells buzzed against his skin, but none were strong enough to concern him. While he couldn’t overhear the conversations, he could pull them from the memories of those involved.

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  Jayden’s mental energy spread out, gliding over and latching onto all who were in range. Despite the time, a considerable number of people were still in the building. It took a few minutes to find the mind of Sean Hyacinth, healer.

  He cocked his head at the unspoken words— Lydus blood elf. A well-kept secret of Stephan’s, one he found out on his own years ago.

  Not that Jayden would tell anyone.

  Jayden rolled his eyes—not that he even had anyone to tell.

  Stephan’s kind was supposed to register with the government.

  Apparently, there was a top-secret list for their protection.

  He snorted—at least that’s what all the monarchs claimed.

  It was true, so many of Stephan’s kind had been wiped out, they were almost extinct. As strong as they were, spells could bind them, and up against a mob even they would fall. Especially a mob of blood elves that feared they would be next if they didn’t do their part in eradicating those who were so similar to themselves. Family turned against family, and survival became all that mattered even at the expense of the innocent. With so many against them, the Lydus elves had no other option but to hide. Something they have continued to do even now.

  While there had been more recent incidences of others attacking outed Lydus blood elves, Jayden had a hard time believing it was only for protection.

  Healing abilities aside, Stephan had the ability to open old wounds and create new ones from a distance. He could also increase blood flow. A Lydus blood elf could easily cause massive hemorrhaging and bleed someone dry in seconds.

  Now that Jayden thought about it, all blood elves could increase blood flow—just not as quickly, and not from a distance.

  Though, bleeding to death would be the nicest way a blood elf could kill you. They could always heat your blood and boil you alive.

  No doubt, a very painful way to die.

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  It was ill-advised to piss one off. As blood elves were rarely ever violent, Jayden personally thought if a person was stupid enough to do so, they deserved what they got.

  “I wish I had better news…he’s been through so much already.”

  Ah, now what did the good healer know that he didn’t? As he searched Healer Hyacinth’s memories, images of when the healer first met Stephan popped up.

  Jayden jerked in shock—he hadn’t known about the aftermath of Stephan’s attack. A knot formed in his stomach—oh God, pregnancy.

  He hadn’t known! Stephan had never told him. No! He didn’t want to know! He didn’t want to see! Jayden tried to pull free, but the memories held on tight, refusing to release him.

  Crying out, he hunched over. Clasping his head, Jayden tugged on his hair as the images continued to flow through him. Please, oh God, he didn’t want to see. Stephan’s blood, his pain, his heartbreak. He couldn’t…he couldn’t…

  When Jayden wrenched free of the memories, his world swayed and he sagged against the door. He remained collapsed there as the conversation beyond continued. Stephan’s walls were cracking.

  Jayden was seeing blips of the man’s emotions. Emotions Jayden was struggling to handle—struggling to understand.

  Maybe he just couldn’t. Jayden knew pain and heartbreak—he had felt it—but he couldn’t comprehend them. Those feelings had been lost to him years ago. That part of him had been crushed under the weight of his hatred, at least that’s what Jayden had thought…

  Why was this affecting him so much? He had seen worse.

  When the conversation ended, Jayden pushed up from the door.

  The sound of footsteps had him backing away from it as if it would bite him.

  Wide-eyed, Jayden rushed out of the waiting room, unblocking the receptionist’s mind as he fled. Once in the hall, he hid behind a corner and watched.

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  Moments later the little man stumbled out, looking completely drained. Stephan didn’t even notice Jayden silently following behind him as he staggered down the hallway.

  Jayden almost tumbled over when Stephan stopped to rest against the wall. As he leaned there, the man fell apart.

  Jayden’s heart began to race, beating painfully out of control as he watched. Wincing, he grabbed his chest. He didn’t understand how the man didn’t hear it—it was as loud as thunder in his own ears.

  Slowly, Stephan slid down the wall and began to sob. Jayden had never seen Stephan cry before—never had the man look so defeated.

  He blinked rapidly when his vision began to blur. And then something wet slithered down his cheek—what…

  Hand shaking, Jayden touched his cheek. It was wet. Crying, he was crying.

  He lurched back, his throat closing up as terror clawed its way through him. He couldn’t feel again. He couldn’t!

  For the first time since Jayden had met the man, Stephan’s mind was completely open to him. But h
e couldn’t handle what he was seeing—what he was feeling. So Jayden did the only thing he could—

  he fled from it all.

  Shutting everything down, he reached for the emptiness inside him. He ran out of the building, then bumped and stumbled his way through the crowded streets of the city, ignoring the shouts of anger as he staggered on. Their minds bombarded him, his mental walls opened wide.

  Jayden cried out as a dark voice painfully pierced his mind, stopping him in his path.

  “I’ll bleed him when I get home…”

  The voice chased his confusion away. The emotions he didn’t understand were gone. Turning, Jayden found the origins of the thought. His powers crept forward and ensnared, taking control. Now filled with purpose, he calmly walked off, the man trailing behind him.

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  * * * *

  Stephan sat in the back of his parked car, staring vacantly at the headrest in front of him. His head throbbed and his eyes felt grainy.

  All he wanted to do was go home, take a bath, and sleep.

  The car door clicked as it opened, and Liam slid in next to him.

  His godfather looked sad as he clasped Stephan’s hands. “Don’t lose hope, sweetie. The healer said there was still a chance.”

  Pulling away, he held up his hand and mumbled, “Stop, please. I just can’t anymore…I don’t want to think about anything right now.”

  “As you wish…”

  Stephan took out his phone when it beeped, then sagged when he saw the notification—Jayden’s tracking chip had gone off.

  He had chipped his ass a few years ago—it notified him whenever Jade strayed too close to an area filled with abandoned buildings.

  “Jayden?”

  Stephan just nodded at Liam’s question. Jayden was at it again—

  this would be the eighteenth time Stephan had to run off to stop him.