THE EVENT

by Jamie Heppner

  Her hips filled the dress in a similar fashion. They pulled the fabric up tight and made the skirt much shorter than the designers intended it to be. Donovan didn't mind that either. It made things easier when his desire built up. Donovan shook his head and tore his eyes off the Nightwalker. He had a decision to make. Use the stone and wait two more days for it to power up again, or try one more time with all he had to heal whatever had broken inside the Nightwalkers mind.

  Donovan placed his hands on the side of the stone and pulled a gentle string of power from it. He used that to sense where the Nightwalkers were around him. Donovan released the power in shock. Every one of them was still close by. Usually he lost a few at least. Sometimes as many as a hundred would wander free when his power wasn't there to keep them close. This time they were all still here, in the mall. A shiver ran down Donovan's spine as he looked again at the Nightwalker standing before him.

  "Why?"

  Something had changed. Donovan wasn't sure what it was but the Nightwalkers had never stayed close in so many numbers when he hadn't been at constant watch. The only thing he could think of that was different was this one person standing in front of him.

  Donovan knew the only way to get any answers was locked inside her mind. If she still even had one and he was the only one with enough power to try to free them. Donovan once again placed his hands on the moonstone and pulled every thread of power from it into him. The colors around him burst open. Red's flamed in his vision, blues iced over like glaciers.

  Donovan had never pulled all the power into him at once, it was almost ecstasy. Donovan walked over towards the Nightwalker, Silvia, and placed his hands up beside her head. Her chest so close to him he could smell the dirt on her skin, he forced himself to concentrate on her mind.

  He started slow at first, he had never held this much power in himself and wasn't sure what would happen. He concentrated as hard as he could on healing her mind. As the power poured out of him faster and faster, he became desperate when the Nightwalker showed no signs of healing. With a final thrust the last of the power drained from him and the colors faded from there brilliance to a dull grey tone once again. The Nightwalker simple stood as she had once before, a statue, a robot, waiting for the next set of instructions. Donovan cursed himself for being a fool.

  "I knew you were just a dumb Nightwalker, same as all the others. There is nothing special about you at all."

  Donovan moved back over to his moonstone, all the color drained from it as well. Carefully he picked up the moonstone and walked it over to the pillar so it would catch the morning sun's rays.

  "Two more days then, two days and I can start my plans to wipe out the werewolves."

  Donovan returned to his room. The Nightwalker hadn't moved a step. A sneer formed on Donovan's lips as he once again commanded her to lie down on the bed. This time he wasn't gentle as before. He took out his anger as he worked his way into the Nightwalker, the mannequin lying beneath him.

  Once spent, Donovan dropped down on the bed beside her and quickly fell asleep. Tomorrow he would work on the new idea he had for reinforcing his Nightwalkers for battle. Donovan drifted to sleep with dreams filled full of anger.

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  Silvia blinked eyes that she had no control over for so long. She had seen herself, seen the aimless wandering. Felt the wounds she could do nothing about. It was all a haze before, as though drifting through a dream, but never really being there, just a pulling sensation, a yearning for something that she couldn't find. Her vision focused somewhat and an intense light seemed to be coming from somewhere nearby. Silvia lifted her hand to shade her eyes from the intensity. Turning her head, she tried to determine where the light was coming from. Peeking between her fingers, she saw the source of her latest pain. A candle sat beside the bed sputtering away.

  The light from it burned her eyes and she had to look away. Silvia gently lifted herself up onto her elbows. Confusion took the place of the pain of the light. The last thing she could remember was another light, but brighter, much brighter. It hurt her to think about it again. The pain in that light was so strong it wiped her mind clear. She knew her name, somehow. That was all she could remember. Sylvia looked gently around the room. Everything was as bright as a full sun on a cloudless day yet she could see that the only source of the light was that one candle. Sylvia once again tried to ignore the intensity and worked to determine where she was.

  The room appeared trashed. An overly large door was at the far end and it looked as though a couple of barricades had been fashioned on the inside. This did nothing to relieve her confusion.

  "If the boards are on the inside, what are they trying to keep out?"

  Old cans, older cloths and various items littered the floor. Chairs, pictures, electronics, all out of place in the mess lay piled high in the corners. The smell of unwashed skin and cloths drifted around the room from a light breeze from somewhere. Sylvia tried to take a deep breath to clear her lungs but it was hard for her to breath. She looked down at herself and was shocked at the sight.

  She was dressed in a bright red dress that was obviously too small for her. The front of the dress had a cut so low her breasts were almost spilling out over the top. The waist and hips were no better. It was a wonder she was breathing in it at all.

  Sylvia tried to pull the skirt down. Somehow, while she had been sleeping perhaps it she must have pulled it up. She leaned back to try to inch it down with little success. Sylvia became slightly embarrassed. However she had gotten here, it seems she wasn't wearing any underwear either.

  The dress resisted her efforts to slide back down her hips. Sylvia pushed herself back down flat to lift her hips off the ground and try again. As she pulled, the threads on the side of the dress tore. The cloth let go with a soft rip and her efforts became wasted as the remnants barely covered anything at all.

  She tried looking around the room for something else to cover her up with when a hand flopped over from the other side of the bed to land on her breast. Sylvia stifled a scream as she turned towards the wall. The light of the candle was more than enough for her to see around the room. Lying beside her was a young boy. Well, young to her, she amended. He was perhaps seventeen years old she figured.

  His face covered in dirt, he looked as though he hadn't seen a bath in months. He was still sleeping soundly even though she had been moving all over. Sylvia had no idea who he was. Her confusion returned with full force.

  With great care not to wake this young boy she lifted his hand off her chest and placed it back down on the bed. Sylvia was grateful when she stood up off the bed that it didn't make any noise. Searching the room quickly she found an old towel and wrapped it around herself to try and cover up a little bit more. It too was barely adequate.

  "I need to find some cloths." She thought as she kept one eye on the sleeping youth. Sylvia scrapped the upper half for now and decided if she ended up topless; it would be the least of her worries. Using the towel as a wrap around dress, she also noticed something else. This perhaps scared her the most. She had been having sex. Anger built up inside her as Sylvia cast around for something to use as a weapon. She pulled an old, heavy, candle stick from under a pile of rubbish and hefted it. The threads of her dress protested as she took a deep breath that almost caused her chest to burst out of its confines. Facing the only person who might have answers, she yelled as loud as the dress would allow her.

  "Who the hell are you, and what is going on here?"

  Donovan woke with a start and flew back to the wall beside the bed. Standing in front of him was the Nightwalker, awake.

  "What, how did you, are you awake?" Donovan stammered as he rubbed his eyes trying to wake himself up. The candle by the bed was so low he could barely make out anything in his safe room. It looked as though the Nightwalker, Sylvia, had tried to find some cloths to cover up, with little success. Her chest was pulling in and out with regular breathing Donovan caught himself staring at it in disbelief.

 
; The dress he had scrounged up for her was obviously too tight and the threads on the side were beginning to rip open. Donovan tore his eyes off her body and forced himself to look at her face. It was so dark he couldn't make it out well. She also seemed to be doing her best to keep her eyes out of the light.

  "Answer my damn questions before I beat you to death with this!"

  Donovan noticed the makeshift club in her hand. It was all so much...he was trying his best to figure out what had changed.

  "Sorry, I didn't expect this. Just...give me a second."

  "No! You can answer me right now. Where am I, who are you?"

  Donovan felt out with his power, he could still feel her as a Nightwalker but something had changed. He didn't know what. He did know that he was in more danger right now then he had planned. She wasn't going to stand for much more if he didn't start answering some of his questions.

  "Ok, hold on. You need to answer something for me first before I can answer your questions. What do you remember?"

  A flash of uncertainty passed across Sylvia's face. The hand holding the makeshift club lowered a little with her hesitation. As fast as the uncertainty came, it left. Her hand drew back up and she took a step closer to Donovan.

  "Nothing, I remember waking up here with you next to me, I remember my name. I have no idea where I am, what’s happened to me or why I’m in this stupid dress that's no more than a rag."

  "What is your name?" Donovan asked with barely more than a whisper.

  "Sylvia. Now it's your turn to answer. Who are you? Where am I?"

  Donovan's eyes opened wide with their own shock.

  "I did hear her say it!" The realization set in.

  "Ok, hold on. You are inside the mall. This is where I live, well where we live now I guess. My name is Donovan. I guess you could say I'm the one in charge here."

  "You're just a kid. You can't be in charge of anything yet! You can't be more then seventeen years old. Where are all the adults?"

  Anger flashed across Donovan's face as Sylvia said that. It was plain as day in the over bright room. Sylvia backed up a little as Donovan moved to get off the bed.

  "You want to see the adults? Fine, I will show you them."

  Donovan walked to the door and pulled off the makeshift barricade. Donovan's power was still only just coming back. He had used way too much to heal this woman. Donovan paused before he opened the door.

  "I healed her, I really didn't think I could do it but I did! Of course, now she's pissed at me. Maybe I should have left her alone like the rest." Donovan had another momentary thought, but he filed it away for the time being. He reached out with his senses and was shocked to find so many Nightwalkers still outside. He couldn't control them all but he could control a few. Mentally he called one to him and he stepped aside to let Sylvia see down the hallway.

  As the Nightwalker stepped into the dimly lit room Donovan's face broke into a smile. He couldn't have picked a better subject if he had tried. Sylvia screamed as she saw the broken mess of a person that shambled into the room. His right arm was hanging lower than the left. It was obviously broken and mostly torn off. His whole right side was soaked in blood. The Nightwalkers face was a broken mess.

  "The werewolves did this to him, must have been in the fight in the storeroom."

  Donovan smiled as the Nightwalker came to a halt in the middle of the room. Sylvia had regained some control and was standing with her back to the opposite wall. The club lifted in front of her to defend herself.

  "What the hell is that?"

  "That...is what is left of the adults. I control them, and that is why I am in charge."

  Donovan commanded the Nightwalker to grab the club from Sylvia. She managed a couple hits before it pressed her up close to the wall. The dull thuds as she struck it didn't slow it down at all. Sylvia released the club and moved over as the Nightwalker just stood there holding it with its one good hand. Sylvia ducked away from the Nightwalker and rushed for the door to make a break for it.

  Donovan didn't run after her but stood and waited. Seconds later, she backed into the room again her face white with terror. Two more Nightwalkers blocked off the hallway and slowly stepped forward until they came to the door, effectively blocking off all exits.

  Sylvia turned towards Donovan and brought herself back under control.

  "Now we can go back to you answering my questions. Let's start with what else you might remember. I need to know everything." Donovan gestured towards the bed and Sylvia moved to sit down. Always keeping her eyes focused on the three Nightwalkers.

  "You remember your name. I know your name too. You spoke it to me. That's probably the only reason you are awake now. You used to be just like these others. Tell me what else you remember."

  Sylvia shook visible when Donovan said she was like these others. Her mind was screaming to run away. Move as fast as she could, everything here stank of wrong. With a visible effort, she once again gained control of herself.

  "I know my name is Sylvia. I remember things but I can't focus on them. The pictures are made of smoke and when I try to focus on one of them, it breaks apart so I can't see what it was. I remember light, and pain, so much light, so much pain."

  Donovan flicked his gaze over to the candle that somehow still remained lit.

  "How is the light now?"

  "It's bright, I don't know how, but it's so bright I can only just stand it."

  Donovan nodded and sent one of the Nightwalkers guarding the door to fetch something. He knew where he had left them so it was something the Nightwalker could do with his memories."I hope I don't have to try to control more than three. I don't know if I could do it right now."

  "Ok, well then I will tell you something. You are one of the millions of foolish people who decided to watch the event from outside. Most of those that did were just burned up it seems. Some managed to live through it, in a sense. They became what you see here."

  "Zombies?"

  Donovan laughed aloud, a deep cracking laugh."Well I guess you could say that, but no. I call them Nightwalkers. I called you a Nightwalker up until today. Now I'm not exactly sure what you are, or what to call you.

  "Everything has changed from before the event. I don't know exactly how much has changed, but I know this. You are mine. Just as much as these mindless idiots that jump to my command, you are mine. If you try to leave I will find you, and you will pay for it. If you try to hurt me, you will regret that even more. You are here for my personal enjoyment so I suggest you get used to it fast. You might want to make it your goal in fact. If I get bored with you then you will be of no use to me."

  Sylvia looked around at the cage of filth. It appeared she had no choice for the moment. She would have to do what she her captor told her. She knew he had her, at least for now, but she wouldn't be giving in quite that easy. Whomever this boy really was it sounded like he needed her more then she needed him.

  "Ok, for now let's say I will take what you say to be true. What do you want me to do?"

  Donovan stepped aside and let the two Nightwalkers walk out of the room then closed the door behind them and replaced the boards that kept them out.

  "Well for one I think you should be taking off that makeshift skirt there. If I wanted you dressed in rags I would have done that myself."

  "I don't think I will be doing that. You just dismissed your guards; you will have to bring them back in here if you want me to do what you want."

  Donovan's face screwed up in anger.

  "You idiot! You really have no idea who you are dealing with. I said I control them, and I control you too. Do as I say or you'll regret it."

  Sylvia adjusted herself trying to get a bit more comfortable, but had little success.

  "No, I don't think so."

  Donovan's face turned red and his fists bunched up tight.

  "Oh oh, maybe I went too far this time. Is he going to hit me?" Sylvia tried to move back farther on the bed to make some more space between them, but s
he couldn't move...her body wouldn't respond to her wishes. Panic began to build up inside of her, she could still see, she was still breathing, but her body wouldn't respond to her at all. Donovan saw this and his anger faded some.

  "I warned you. You are different...yes, but you are still one of them. You are mine to command. If I don't want you to do something, you can't stop me.

  Sylvia found herself moving against her will, she pulled off the makeshift skirt she had wrapped around herself and flung it into a corner. The torn bottom half of her dress was barely covering her at all but her unwilling hands pulled it up higher over her hips and she lay back onto the bed.

  "I had hoped it would be your choice this time, but since you need a little demonstration, we will do it my way. Maybe next time you will think twice."

  Donovan pulled the rest of her cloths out of the way and forced himself into her.

  Sylvia pushed and struggled inside her mind as much as she could but her body simply refused to listen to her. She was completely helpless underneath Donovan and he wasn't kind in his abuse. When he finished, he got back up off the bed and left her laying there as she was, her dress was completely ruined and no amount of adjusting would hold it to her, even if she could move. Donovan hadn't released her the entire time.

  "I have some errands to run. Don't go anywhere...I will be back soon enough." Donovan unbolted the door and stepped aside. One of the Nightwalkers walked into the room and stood rock solid at the door. Inside his hand was a pair of very dark sunglasses. Donovan took them from his hand and tossed them onto the bed.

  "I will leave my friend here to keep you company." Donovan laughed to himself as he walked out of the room leaving Sylvia's mind locked inside her body trapped on the bed. Tears ran free from her eyes after Donovan had left.

  "Why did I have to wake up?"

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