Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Alpha and Omega ❯ Chapter 2
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: Mad Maxx Coyote 
Forgot I had this stored up. So here's another one for...well whoever might be reading, if anyone.
Miscellaneous: Original Stories Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Drama / Fantasy / Romance | Type: Yaoi | Uploaded On: 10.24.2009 | Pages: 9 | Words: 9.4K | Visits: 403 | Status: Work In Progress
Forgot I had this stored up. So here's another one for...well whoever might be reading, if anyone.
Miscellaneous: Original Stories Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Drama / Fantasy / Romance | Type: Yaoi | Uploaded On: 10.24.2009 | Pages: 9 | Words: 9.4K | Visits: 403 | Status: Work In Progress
Disclaimer: Its mine! All mine! No one but me owns this! Muwahahahaha!
Brett sighed as he slowly glazed over the pages in his book. It had taken a great deal of work but he had managed to convince his shrew of a teacher that he was coming down with the flu, and thus get all the material he needed so he didn’t have to go to the group. He didn’t want to sacrifice his grades, but there was no way in hell he was hanging around those people for a while.
Fortunately she had bought his excuse of not wanting to spread it around, the fact that he had worked himself up to the point where he had actually vomited right in front of her probably helped.
But even though he had bought himself a little peace he hardly felt better. Miles words were stuck in his skull, taunting him since yesterday. He supposed that it really shouldn’t have bothered him as much as it had so far.
After all….he and Miles were hardly friends, and when he had finally fallen asleep last night the dreams had come…which somehow only made him feel worse. Not to mention gave him a headache that just would NOT go away.
Rubbing his eyes Brett closed the book and tossed it on his coffee table. He couldn’t focus at all, and what he did read he couldn’t really recall with any kind of clarity. Obviously there was little to no point in continuing.
He had to go to work soon, but all he really wanted to do was go back to sleep. It was rather tempting to just call off, but he really couldn’t afford it.
Brett sighed….this totally sucked.
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I am getting very frustrated. I have followed the blond one for days now, and still no trace of my Master. It is maddening…and….and I am starting to question my sanity slightly.
Did I really catch his scent?
I am sure that I did but…why have I not found it again? The blond has visited multiple locations in the past few days, and not one of them has possessed even the slightest hint of my Master’s presence.
I do wonder…does he know that I am following him? I have done my best to stay out of sight but…I have never been exactly stealthy. It is not my fault, I am not built for it, nor have I received any kind of training.
Perhaps the blond one does know the location of my Master and is deliberately leading me away from it.
That doesn’t really make any sense but…I was told that others would also be searching for him. Ones who were not loyal to him as they should be, ones that wished to try and corrupt his mind and twist his power to their own ends.
It infuriates me to even think about it honestly….
However I have never encountered another from my world during my search, but that doesn’t mean they are not out there. Luckily I was given items…for defense and the like. I do not understand magick, but I was informed of their enchantments and how they might be used, and I must believe that they will do what I have been told.
But why…why couldn’t I be given something to aid in actually FINDING him? That made much more sense didn’t it?
What I really need to do is interrogate the blond once more….this time without any interruptions. He had my Master’s scent on himself, so they must have come into contact with one another….and if this blond man truly does not know….then at the very least he could give me a list of locations that he had visited that day.
But how to approach him? What would be best?
The blond was currently in some sort of gathering. Which he had been in for a few hours now, just sitting at a table with others, talking, exchanging various papers and books. For what purpose they did this I do not know, I am unable to get closer for fear of discovery.
A cold feeling pierced my stomach.
What if they were working in tandem with the ones I had been warned about? A cabal of some sort…united against my Master.
Why else would they gather like this?
What if they had actually found my Master themselves and had attempted to capture him? What if the scent on the blond one was from my Master fighting him off?
Perhaps it is simply paranoia but…I must know.
There is far too much I do not know or understand about this world, for all I know the blond is meeting with these people under completely innocent circumstances but…..maybe he is not.
And I dare not take that chance.
I will simply have to lie in wait for him, and I know just the place. The little maze of back ways and alleys created by the various buildings near his home, I can easily catch him there.
This time I will take him away…some place high up. I have noticed that about these people, they look in every direction but up. Which has made travel by rooftops very accessible to me….perhaps now it will aid me in another way.
Leaving my lookout post I began to travel down the back ways to my destination, trying to ignore the itch all down my back.
Lord do I want a bath….
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Brett pulled the collar of his thin hooded jacket up a little higher, not that it had much of one as it was.
It was so chilly outside today, and even with his hood up and his hands buried as deep in his pockets as they could go he was still freezing. Damn lying weather man…..
“Sixty-eight my ass.” Brett grumbled.
Course none of this would be an issue if the fucking bus driver would actually wait for a change.
Brett knew the prick had HAD to of seen him running up, but could he wait the extra ten seconds? Hell no….
So he was stuck walking home from work…and not exactly on the best of routes either. He was taking the back way down past Main, from there he could hit State street and then have almost a straight shot to home.
It was kind of ironic….he was taking a route to make sure that he did not run into Miles o the others, but that same route would actually take him very close to Miles home.
He was half tempted to pitch a rock through the big front window of theirs, the one with all the fall decals no it. So warm and cozy….down right loving.
Just turned his stomach to think about it.
Jealousy of course, but at least he admitted it.
Shivering, Brett took a right, his feet aching inside his shoes. He really needed new ones, but just didn’t have the funds.
“Well…at least I don’t’ have to worry about some brand new footwear attracting thugs.” Brett muttered.
Yeah…so he was practically walking right into mugger central, all so he could be sure to avoid someone who had wrecked his feelings. Logical much?
Of course the cops had stepped up patrolling lately, so he felt he’d be alright. Plus I was the middle of the day.
Ever since a string of muggings for, what else? Sports coats and shoes, the police had cracked down pretty hard, at least according to the news, and the only group you really had to worry about was a few fellows who called themselves “The Eyes.”
The eyes….how stupid.
Of course brett had nothing of value on him, and certainly looked it. So he didn’t think there was any reason he would be bothered.
The wind shifted, sending a blast of cold air that completely ignored his feeble protections and settled right into his bones. He shivered, hot tears prickling at his eyes. He was miserable and hurting, and there was absolutely no relief waiting for him at home. He still hadn’t heard from his girlfriend, she was horrible at returning calls, and he had broken down the night after Miles attack, and in a moment of desperation called his parents.
Two days later and they still had not called him back…..
Sniffling, Brett pulled his arms in tighter and trudged on. The sky was gray, the sun was dim….it was a perfect reflection of his heavy heart.
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I shivered as I sat upon my rooftop perch. The weather had become oddly chilly in the past few hours, a contrast to how bright and sunny it had been this morning. But…cold or not…this was the best spot to wait. I have seen the blond come this way nearly every time he has returned home.
The wind shifted, blasting me right in the face. It was not comfortable and it made my lips feel swollen. Stinging with an icy burn I licked them for some warm relief. Sniffling and then exhaling sharply I fought to thaw my nose. The icy wind has frozen the fluids in my nostrils….damn annoying.
….Wait….what was…..I pinched my nose, and the insides stuck together. Rubbing up and down to create a little friction heat I blew out another sharp breath.
I sniffed again, testing the air. I could have sworn….no……there it is again!
My Master!
The wondrous….beautiful scent of my Master!
It was only the faintest whisper, but it was there.
It made my hearts swell…oh please…please…..
I took in the air again. Where was it coming from? I must….I must….I mustn’t rush…must take my time…yes….need to get a solid bead on it.
I think…I think….maybe….
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Brett sighed as he turned the corner, everything was so dead this time of day. He hadn’t seen a car now in over fifteen minutes, and another person walking along the sidewalk in even longer.
Stopping for a moment he looked around. With the wind softly rustling though the bare trees, blowing the various multicolored fallen leaves like piles of long abandoned debris, the world seemed still and dead. Add in the darkened and weather worn, paint chipped houses, and other abandoned buildings, not a light on in sight, and it all served to really cement the impression of a long dead world.
For a brief moment he actually felt like calling out, as if he was the last surviving person. Perhaps awoken after an accidental frozen sleep, or some type of scientific time travel mishap.
….Then a big fat guy came out of his house, and down his porch in his underwear, scratched his balls and then let rip with an extremely audible fart…completely ruining the oddly peaceful apocalyptic scenery.
Shaking his head in disgust Brett wrapped his arms around himself as another shock of cold air drove into him. An earthly sign that it was time to get moving obviously.
Resuming Brett started to slip back into his own private world, doing his best not to think about anything at all. He just wanted to go to bed….but there was so much housework to do. He hadn’t done the dishes in almost a week….stupid dishwasher…just HAD to take a crap. Cause Lord knew just how much he loved to do them by hand.
Rubbing at his eyes Brett dropped his head down to start at the broken and cracked concrete sidewalk. His eyes drifted close for a moment, and he felt that light, you could fall asleep right now, head rush.
Rubbing firmly at his face to try and shake a little of his weariness loose Brett ignored the dull thud of something heavy hitting the ground he heard somewhere in the distance.
Probably some old, rotted tree branch or something. But then there was a weird sound….like someone beating one the ground with a rubber sledgehammer or something.
He could feel the ground vibrating slightly under his feet, which was weird, as there wasn’t any construction going on nearby.
Brett forced his eyes open, his poor head still being jabbed by the dim light, just in time to get an eyeful of an extremely filthy shirt….and then he walked right into it a half a step later.
It was like hitting a brick wall, and brett practically bounced right off of it and onto his butt painfully.
That, and when no hand came down to help him up, was the last straw in a series of bad fucking days.
“What the hell!!?” Brett snarled. “The fuck is wrong with you?! You see me coming so you just stand there?! You could have said something!”
But his anger started to fade abruptly when he raised his head enough to get a good look at the mountainous man.
The fact that the guy looked to be over two feet taller then he was, was striking enough, add in the filth on him and it was a bit frightening.
Then the smell hit him.
It made his eyes water, just the worst mix of body odor and rotten funk that he had every smelled in his lift.
“My god you’re rank…” Brett choked.
The man, at least brett thought it was a man, he was obscenely thick in the chest and abdomen, took a deep shuddering breath. Then the wind picked up and pushed the stinky, mangled, ratty hair away from his face, granting Brett an unobstructed view.
If his mammoth size, odd proportions, gross appearance, and rancid stench were not startling enough, the look on his face was more then enough to jump right into extremely creepy territory.
His mouth was open in a gasp-like O, his hands coming to up lightly cover it. But his eyes…that was the weirdest. Not only did they look ALL wrong, pure black with a green star outline instead of a pupil, but he was actually starting to cry.
The moisture ran in little rivers down his dirty face, leaving dark streaks.
“A…Amea….A-Amea….” He whispered in emotion filled, throaty gasps.
The words seemed to echo in Brett’s head, which hurt…and frightened him.
“Ry con du….” The man whispered. “Ry….oh Amea….”
Brett didn’t know what the fuck was going on, but he wanted no part of it.
Sniffling the man wiped his hands on himself, which did not do a thing really and started to reach for brett.
Brett didn’t want any part of it, something told him nothing good could come from giant, obviously deranged, fucked up language babbling hobos.
Twisting on to all fours Brett scrambled though the man’s legs. The man cried out in surprise and Brett came up running, only a few more blocks to his house. Get there, call the cops if need be, and let them handle it.
“Nix! Nix!” The man cried out as Brett ran. “Amea! Korma et-ra!”
Brett didn’t know what the hell that meant, or why it made his head feel like someone was pounding a bell inside his skull…and he wasn’t going to hang around to find out.
With any luck-Thomb! Thomb! Thomb!
A dull thundering echoed in the air, and the sidewalk reverberated under his feet. Glancing behind him Brett saw the man was giving chase, and it was his footsteps that were making the noise!
And he was gaining….
Now Brett was genuinely frightened. Why would he give chase? If he was a whacked out nut job why didn’t he just like…melt into the shadows like all the other nut jobs?
He had to want something….like blood or sex or….
“Screw it! Just run!” Brett’s mind screamed at him.
That was easier said then done, Brett wasn’t exactly track star material, and the hobo man could take a lot bigger steps then he could. Up ahead was a crossroads, and if Brett remembered right there was always a cop parked nearby.
Not even thinking Brett didn’t even check the light as he raced across the road. Well it turned out his was read, and the other was green….
Brett didn’t dare stop as someone laid on their horn hard, and a split second later he heard the sound of flesh hitting metal.
Sparing a glance behind him Brett saw the hobo go tumbling across the hood of a little Honda, having slammed into it with his thighs.
With his pursuer’s eyes off of him for the moment Brett took advantage by ducking around the back of the old, abandoned bakery.
His sides already starting to hurt Brett followed the back path until he came to a right angle turn. He took it, and glanced behind himself real quick. He didn’t’ see anyone following him, which was a good sign, but before he could turn his attention back in front of him, his feet crashed into something.
Brett lurched forward, and hit the ground hard, skinning his palms as he slide along the dirty concrete. A bit dazed from the sudden impact Brett turned his head to see what he had tripped over, just in time to see an outstretched leg be pulled back.
Chuckling darkly, two others joined the one who had sent Brett to the ground, and one of them had a stained metal baseball bat.
Brett started to push himself backwards, he damn sure wasn’t getting a good vibe from these boys, when the palm of a big hand appeared in front of his face. A palm with a big, lidless yellow eye tattoo on it.
“Oh shit…” Brett thought as the hand closed around his collar and roughly hauled him to his feet.
“Well, well…look what we have ‘ere…A wee little one.” The leader crooned. “Seems to be that kind of day…”
“I…I’m just…p-passing through.” Brett stammered, trying to keep the fear out of his voice. He was so not up to get the shit beat out of him today….God…what were the fucking odds?
“Oh sure, sure….it’s a free country after all.” The leader said. “But this ‘ere’s our place…if ya want through ‘ere, ya gotta pay the toll.”
“I…I don’t have anything.” Brett informed.
“You don’t?” Leader gasped. “Now that ain’t right….everyone’s got something.”
He snapped open a switch blade right next to Brett’s face, and pressed the dull side into his temple. “You sure? Think hard now…”
Brett was pulled up onto his tippy toes, and he swallowed hard.
“B-But I don’t…” He whispered feebly. He really didn’t, not one red cent on his person. Sure he had his wallet, but there wasn’t anything in it.
“Truly?” Leader quipped. “Well then…guess we’d better letcha go then.”
“He scuffed up my boots.” Brett’s tripper suddenly said.
“He did?” Leader gasped. “Well now…that’s just disrespectful.”
Before Brett could say anything the leader took a step to the side and jerked his head towards Brett. Bat boy stepped forward quickly, and using both hands drove the end of the bat right into Brett’s belly.
Brett was hardly prepared for it, and it drove the air out of his lungs.
“Oof!”
Brett hit the ground on all fours, and before he knew it there was a foot on the back of his head. A boot was shoved in front of his face, smacking him in the lips.
“Better clean them up nice runt.” Tripper growled.
“And maybe afterwards we’ll put that ugly mouth of yours to better use.” Leader giggled. “That ought to take care of the toll. Fairs fair boy.”
Oh good God….this wasn’t happening….what did he ever do in his life to deserve all of this?
The boot jabbed him in the face again.
“Well come on now.” Its owner chided.
Tears pricking at his eyes Brett slowly opened his mouth as the bat pressed firmly into his kidneys. What choices did he really have here? He certainly didn’t want to do this, but he also didn’t want to end up in the hospital.
Suddenly an angry, snarling shout tore through the air. Brett’s tormenters turned, and the boot let up just enough for Brett to raise hi head to get a look.
The giant was there…and he looked PISSED.
Brett didn’t know what scared him more, the crazy mountain of a hobo, or the gang.
“Now what’s all this?” The leader snapped. “A whole lotta company today.”
He took his boot off of Brett’s head, but Brett almost wished he hadn’t.
“UGH!” Brett groaned as his tripper dropped down on his back with all his weight.
“Listen ya stinky bastard.” Leader quipped. “Why don’tcha just turn arouNAHH!”
Splat!
The gang leader was abruptly cut off by the giant literally palming his head, and with one arm tossed him into the brick wall like a dodge ball some ten feet away.
“Holy shit!” Bat boy exclaimed.
“Get im!” His partner shouted.
Brett’s tripper got up off of his back as they all rushed the pissed off looking giant. Not wanting to be some kind of “prize” for the winner Better lurched to his feet.
He started to turn just as the giant caught the bat boy by the arm and swung him around, slamming him into the nearby dumpster like a rag doll, hard enough to put a body sized dent into the metal.
His back and belly hurting more then he could remember anything hurting Brett took off in the best run he could manage. But he didn’t get ten feet before something snagged on his right hip. He heard the sound of fabric ripping as he was jerked to the side, and went tumbling down to the ground yet again.
Not worrying about whatever it was, Brett scrambled back up to his feet and pressed on. He was close to home, where he had a phone and a real solid door.
The sounds of fighting faded into the distance as he emerged from the back way and onto Pernel street. With no cars coming he didn’t hesitate to rush across the street, jaywalking be damned. It wasn’t like the day could possibly get any worse, hell a cop would be a welcomed sight as far as he was concerned.
Out of breath, confused and bruised, Brett’s heart still lightened as he spotted his apartment building. Almost there….
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The hot water of the shower felt good and Brett closed his eyes as he ducked his head under the shower nozzle. It had been hours since the….incident, and his nerves were just not starting to recover. No one had followed him home, that he could see, which was a good sign, and the woman at the police station had seemed to honestly care when he had called to report being jumped. For all he knew it was nothing but a professional mask…but it had made him feel better.
Turning off the water after he finished rinsing his hair, Brett stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel to dry off with. He had a big bruise on his stomach where the bastard with the bat had jabbed him, he so wasn’t going anywhere tomorrow, he might not even check the mail…
Snagging his Pjs off of the hook no the wall Brett dressed slowly, gingerly babying his sore back. Personally he hoped everyone of them got messed up by that damn crazy hobo…though not before they whacked him around enough that Brett wouldn’t see him again.
Not even bothering to turn on any lights Brett headed right for his bedroom. It was only six-thirty but he was more then ready for the day to end.
Crawling into bed Brett sighed pleasantly as he sunk into the bedding. Nothing better then a good sleep after a shit day.
He was a little concerned about his wallet mission, apparently he had snagged the chain on something, which was what had sent him to the ground as he was trying to run. It had tore up his pants, and God knew where it was now.
But he felt like he would be okay, after all the only thing in it was his work ID, and that only had his name and picture. No cash, no credit cards, no drivers license, jus that ID. He could get another one from work, and if anyone found it they couldn’t do much that they couldn’t do from just seeing him on the street.
“I’ll be fine….” Brett muttered to himself as he rolled over onto his side, but that hurt so he just went flat again.
Typical…..Brett yawned and closed his eyes.
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Rrrrr-whomp!
Brett woke abruptly, not sure what that noise was. Glancing at his alarm he saw that it was a little after one in the morning. Groaning he rolled over and rubbed at his eyes. They drifted close again, he hated being woke up before he was ready.
The noise had sounded like something dragging against something else before giving way, which was probably some idiot messing with the dumpster outside.
Easily dismissed….that was until he heard one of his dinning room chairs slide across the floor like someone had just run into it.
Brett sat up quickly, his heart pounding at the realization. Was someone in his house?!
Crap….crap…..his bedroom door didn’t have a lock on it, so he couldn’t just hide.
Slowly slipping out form under the covers Brett tuned his ears in, he couldn’t hear anything else but….scrambling to his closet for some kind of weapon Brett’s fingers ironically closed around his old wooden baseball bat.
Creeping his way to the door, he opened it as quietly as he could and peeked his head out. The only light in the living room was the light of the moon, but he didn’t see anyone.
However he could see the curtains in of his kitchen window billowing softly, indicating that it was open.
But that didn’t make any sense, not only were his windows all locked but he was on the fifth floor for crying out loud.
Still…he could hear a faint noise, but couldn’t quite tell what it was.
Darting silently across the living room Brett pressed himself against the wall and peeked around the corner to the kitchen. There was a dark shape on the floor, and it was slowly crawling along towards the living room.
Taking a steadying breath Brett readied himself. No one should be in his home, could be a robber or a killer….or maybe something like a robber-killer-corpse rapper.
Either way…he had a right to defend himself, any judge would understand.
Slowly Brett raised the bat, waiting for the opportune moment. He wasn’t a violent person, but damn it…a man had to draw the line somewhere.
He took a half a step back as he heard the intruder approach, gauging the distance as best he could. A head poked through the connecting archway and Brett bought down the bat with all his might.
CCCCCRRAACCCK!
The bat literally shattered in his hands, the middle just exploded, the top flew across the room, and the shock of it all forced Brett to drop the rest.
He backed away, his hangs stinging like hell, it felt like he had hit a god damn rock.
Instead of dropping as a person should, the figure slumped backwards on his rear with a heavy thump. A pained hiss slid through the air as two hands clutched the spot Brett had struck.
Slapping at the wall behind him Brett searched for the light switch that he knew was there. What the hell was in his house?! After a shoot like that a persons skull shouldn’t’ have been intact, to say nothing about still being conscious.
Brett’s fingers found the switch, and with a flick of his wrist the room was flooded with light. Which of course blinded the crap out of him, so…maybe not the best move really.
His hands still stinging, and starting to get that numb feeling, Brett blinked rapidly and squinted to try and focus his eyes.
It took a few minutes for anything to be more then a painful white blur but….oh God….it was the hobo!!
They locked eyes and the giant didn’t even look all that mad, it was more a look of -Why did you do that?-
But despite that Brett certainly did NOT feel safe. What kind of guy could have a real baseball bat shattered over his friggin head and not die? Hell Brett hadn’t even known he could swing that hard.
The smell of the man hadn’t improved either.
So Brett did what any sensible, non-badass marine would do.
He shouted in panic and ran towards his front door.
“Nix!” The giant shouted as Brett fumbled with the locks, a knob lock, deadbolt, and slide bar worked well when you didn’t quite trust that twitchy neighbor, but it did tend to slow you down.
Before he could even get the door open a big hand pressed against it, blocking him. Brett twisted, elbowing the man behind him as hard as he could. It felt like hitting a cinderblock, and his arm just bounced right off, ricochet forward and jammed the hell out of his wrist as be basically punched the door.
It wouldn’t do much good to yell for help, the apartment next to his was e empty, and the one above him held a couple that generally had the police called on them, so no help there.
“P-Please….w-wait….” The giant fumbled, his voice thick and straggled.
Screw that.
Brett ducked under the giants arms and backpedaled across the living room. Where the hell did he leave the phone? Maybe he could lock himself in the bathroom long enough for the police to arrive…though judging from the size of the guy…he could probably smash right through pretty damn easily.
The giant didn’t rush him again like Brett expected, instead he just held up his hands.
“No…th-threat….um…not here to hurt…” The giant said, seemingly struggling for the words. His accent was ridiculously thick, but didn’t match up to any Brett recognized, and the guy was so filthy that he couldn’t tell a ethnicity either.
“Then what are you here for?!” Brett asked, doing his best to keep the fearful tremor out of his voice. He wasn’t that brave a man, and there had been too many shocks today.
“For you.” The giant answered earnestly.
Well THAT certainly didn’t serve to calm Brett down. He damn sure didn’t want any giant hobo rape!
“Oh….oh yo-you….don’t w-want me.” Brett insisted. “Listen…I-I don’t have much…just….just take the TV. Its….its pr-probably worth a few hundred.”
The giant looked towards the appliance as Brett nodded at it, but shook his head.
“No…not for TV. Here for you Amea, come to take you.”
The little men in Brett’s mind all started to pound on the panic button as that came up on the screen.
He shook his head in disbelieving fear and began to back away slowly.
“But…no…oh…..why….why would you want….t-to…r-r-rape m-me?” Brett whispered. “I’m not…oh…oh God….”
He couldn’t stop shaking, this couldn’t be happening…it just couldn’t.
The giant cocked his head to the side with a confused look on his face. There wasn’t’ much time to waste obviously, who knew how long he had before the giant decided to get nasty. But what else could he do? The guy was over two feet taller then he was and had withstood a ball bat across the back of the head to little or no effect.
So what else was there? He had a big butchers knife in the kitchen…maybe that would work? He had never used it much so…it was probably plenty sharp right?
He was just about to start inching his way towards the kitchen when the giant’s head snapped up. He held his palms up and shook them and his head rapidly.
“No-No-No-No! N-Not….not like….not that kind of take. No, never….unthinkable….Um…Here to take you from here to…there.” The giant fumbled.
“I don’t want to go anywhere with you.” Brett hissed. The giant actually winced, and looked apologetic.
“A thousand pardons….would never think of ordering Amea….but….but must come. Is where you belong.”
“How the hell did you find me? What’s going on? What do you mean belong? I live here, this is my home!”
Slowly….like a puppy who had been swatted, the giant pulled something out of his waistband. He set it on Brett’s coffee table and pushed it towards Brett.
It was his wallet.
“Followed scent….but card had name and picture. Nice woman at the desk said which number was yours.” The giant answered.
Nice woman? Oh…oh that old bitch Sandy….she was nasty to everyone. It was just like her to send some deranged hobo his way. Wonder what she’d think when they found his corpse after a week or so…..
The giant pressed his hands to his face, seemingly overcome with some kind of emotion.
“I have searched for you for so long Amea.” He sobbed. “I give thanks….and will try to explain, but please understand Amea…I am still…learning to speak like this. Is hard.”
Amea.
The world clanged in Brett’s head as surely as if someone had swung a hammer into a steel beam. It hurt, and he could hear a faint whisper behind it….but even when he strained he couldn’t quite make out what the whisper was.
“This may be your house…but it is not your home. You do not belong here, you were stolen away as a baby, taken from your parents and banished to this…horrid world.” The giant began. “The fact is….you um….you are not you. You are not…oh what is word….h-human? Yes…you are not human, you do not belong in this world and I have been sent to bring you home. We need you Amea….”
“Stop saying that!” Brett snapped, it was starting to give him a headache. The horse kick kind of headache at that.
The giant again got the puppy look, and bowed his head.
“My deepest apologies. But-”
“Well what does it even mean? Any why is that that everyone time you talk weird it makes my head hurt huh?! Speak English!” Brett snarled.
“You…you mean you don’t….apologies again. Now I understand….I was so excited to see you that I lapsed….I didn’t realize that you wouldn’t understand. I apologize with all my heart. Amea means Master/Lord.” The giant explained.
Brett blinked….what?
“What are you…Master? Whose Master…huh?”
“Mine.”
“Yours ?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
& #8220;You.”
Ooooh-kay…..crazy.
He didn’t even want to think what that meant…..
“So…let me get this straight. I’m not human…and I assume that your not either.” Brett said.
“Correct, I am a Jifriki.”
The word thundered in Brett’s head, and he bit back a groan.
“Right….annnd I’m from a different, non-human country?” Brett continued.
“Nix, another world. Not the sci-fi space alien kind the people here speak of though. A different plane entirely.” The giant answered.
“Oh of course….what else could it be?” Brett muttered.
Good Lord…this guy was gone. But he wasn’t getting violent…yet….so that was a plus. But what the hell was he going to do about the guy?
“Just go with it.” Brett thought. “Keep him talking.”
He had to distract the giant….make some time to call the police. The phone was out of its charger right on the end table where he had left it this afternoon, but he didn’t dare go for it.
“So uh…what’s your name?” Brett asked.
It was a simple question, nothing big in Brett’s eyes, and it was getting a little silly to continue to think of the giant, smelly bastard as “The Giant.”
But the dirty behemoth reaction was borderline frightening.
Tears welled up in his eyes, and he let out a deep, emotion filled, shuddering breath.
“M-Master wishes to know my name? Oh…Oh I am hardly worthy of such….oh I can’t believe it.”
He was acting like a teenage girl who had just met her heartthrob idol…..creepy….VERY creepy.
The giant was muttering to himself, and then he suddenly nodded and swallowed heard.
“My name is Janos Master.” The giant, Janos apparently, reported.
“Janos.” Brett murmured. “Now that’s with a J sound…not a Y right?”
“Correct Master.”
Brett nodded to himself, well…at least he knew that. Still…what was he going to do now? He looked at Janos, and took in his current state of being, and a light bulb went off in his head.
“You know…I think you could use a shower Janos.” Brett said.
Janos’s eyes lit up like a Christmas tree, and he clasped his hands together in front of him.
“Oh…Oh that would be heavenly.” Janos whispered. “I would love to be clean again…”
Brett nodded, if he could get this to work it would be just the break that he needed.
“Well then…just follow me.” Brett said as he held out his arm.
He led Janos to the bathroom and the giant had to turn sideways and duck just to make it through.
Brett sat down on the edge of the tub, his stomach was in knots, but he fought to stay calm.
“Okay…here is your hot water, here is your cold and when you get it to where you like it…just pull up on this thing here.” Brett explained. “Shampoo and conditioner and soap are all right there.” Standing up to open the nearby cabinet Brett pulled out a big beach towel and a couple of wash cloths, which he pushed into Janos’s arms. “Now you can just toss those clothes….they are a bit nasty….and uh…oh! Here’s my spare toothbrush…I’m sure that’ll be good, and uh….in the cabinet there is my mouthwash….you know…just gurgle and spit and all that.” Brett rambled.
He was doing his best not think about the fact that his head only came up to Janos’s sternum, and in the tiny room had absolutely no room to run. The giant could totally crush him into paste for Gods sake.
“Oh and um….don’t worry about the hot water, there’s plenty, so go ahead and take a real long shower. Really wash up well you know…make sure you get it all. I’m sure it’ll be refreshing….or something.”
He was just trying to buy some time for the police to get there, but….but Janos actually had light tears running down his face.
“Master is so kind…” Janos half sobbed as he clutched the items that Brett had handed him.
“Uh…well….you’ve earned it.” Brett fumbled.
Clapping his hands together and rubbing them up and down Brett backed towards he door.
“Well…I’ll just leave you to it….remember now, take your time, enjoy it and all that.”
Janos nodded and the look on his face made Brett feel a little guilty. He was nuts obviously, but not entirely malicious it seemed. An escaped mental patient maybe?
“Either way…he should stay occupied for a good long while.” Brett thought.
Silently creeping on his toes Brett rushed over to the phone. His fingers were on the buttons before he even got the phone to his ear, but as he hit the send button he was dismayed not to hear it dialing. Clearing it Brett listened, and was no happy with what he heard, or more accurately what he DIDN’T hear.
No dial tone, no nothing.
“Oh come on.” Brett hissed in dismay through his teeth as a quick inspection revealed the -please charge- light was on, indicating that the battery was dead.
He hadn’t left it off the charger for that long had he?
Crap! Crap! CRAP!
It would take at LEAST twenty minutes before it got enough of a charge for a phone call. Brett resisted the urge to throw the damn thing as he set the phone in his slot. He heard the water start to run and he tensed.
“Relax….it takes twenty minutes for normal shower.” Brett thought “It’ll take him like….three times that much to get all that crap off.”
Unless of course he didn’t try…but Brett had hope. If he was even half as dirty as Janos was he wouldn’t rest until it was all off. “So here’s hoping…” Brett muttered as he eased himself into one of his chairs, never taking hi eyes off of the red light on the charger.
Minutes past with only the sounds of falling water filling the silence as Brett focused all of his will on making the red light turn green. If he got out of this he was buying a second phone, just a regular cord one this time.
Stubbornly the light refused to obey, elevating Brett’s blood pressure. He hadn’t looked at the clock when Janos had started, but it felt like an eternity had past.
“Shut up!!” A muffled voice screamed, scaring the piss out of Brett and nearly causing him to jump out of the chair.
The sound of breaking wood and glass followed and Brett glared at the ceiling. It would figure that the drunks would chose now to start up their usual shit.
The sounds of fighting had always made Brett’s stomach bottom out, but this time was even worse. His nerves were already shot, and the two morons could end up startling Janos…making him hurry or leave the shower entirely. Aside from getting him to go to sleep somehow Brett wasn’t sure what he could do if that happened.
“Come on…come onnnn.” Brett muttered as he watched the light, tapping his foot all the while.
Blink.
The light went green and Brett practically dove for it.
However he only got two numbers in before the phone beeped and went dead again. Silently screaming in frustration Brett placed the phone back into its slot as the real screaming above him grew louder.
It was the same routine every time. Girl screaming that the man is nasty, mean, and cheating on her. Not to mention the whole thing about his poor hygiene. Boy screams back that if he was “gittin’ sum pussy-he wouldn’t be so nasty” Then the two smash up large parts of their apartment, get quiet for ten-fifteen minutes, then rinse and repeat.
Brett didn’t even know their names, but he knew more about their personal life then he had ever wanted to. They were both absolute assholes when you got right down to it. He didn’t know why they didn’t just break up…or why they hadn’t been evicted yet.
It didn’t matter right now however, he would talk to the landlord yet again in the morning, all that mattered right now was a working phone. It didn’t’ usually take this long, at least not that he knew, but then again he had never paid it this kind of attention before.
Each second that ticked by only made Brett worry more, a stomach knotting, hand trembling worry at that. So far Janos had been fairly docile, even somehow taking a massive shot to the head without anger or retaliation. But who know how long that would last.
From everything Brett knew about the mentally ill he seemed to recall that they could snap from one emotional extreme as quick as flipping a light switch.
After God knew how long the light on the phone finally turned green, and stayed green. But this time Brett didn’t rush, almost fearing that it was toying with him once again. He picked it up slowly, and listened to the sound of the dial tone for a few moments.
When no warning beep came Brett slowly reached for the numbers.
“Nine…one…one…” Brett whispered as he pressed them.
Riiiing…Riiing…..Riiiing.
“991 dispatch…what is the emergency?”
“Uh…yes...h-hi…um…I-I 217;m calling….to uh…report a-” Brett pushed forth nervously, only to be startled by a loud crash from above.
“Sir? Is everything alright?” The operator asked. Well no it was lady….why would he call 911 if everything was peachy?
“Uh…n-no….there is a…help yes….the police are needed right now.” Brett fumbled as he heard the water turn off. Crap! Not now!
“Address sir? And could you please state the nature of the emergency if you can.”
“Um yes…uh...there’s a….a-” Brett began right as he heard a noise behind him. He turned with the phone and there stood Janos. Looking much better then he had to be sure, the brownish-black filth that had covered him was gone, revealing rich, deep caramel skin. But that wasn’t what stopped Brett’s voice.
Two hands were up in his amazingly long hair, rubbing it vigorously with a towel.
Two hands were at his waist, holding a second towel.
Two hands were rubbing at one another’s forearms as if they were sore.
For several seconds Brett could do nothing but stare, his brain unable, or unwilling, to process what he was seeing.
Six arms.
Janos had six freaking arms!
Like some kind of bronzed statue of a Hindu God come to live there he stood. Moving, breathing, and glancing at the ceiling with some concern…there he stood.
Now that he was clean Brett could clearly see some kind of metal bands around each wrist, and although Janos’s hair was blocking most of the view he could make out something around Janos’s throat as well.
Janos’s words that neither of them were human came back to Brett. He certainly didn’t’ feel otherworldly but it was pretty clear to see that Janos was more then just some deranged hobo.
That or Brett was having some fucked up dream.
“Sir?” The operator’s voice came over the earpiece.
Now Brett had a real dilemma….Janos’s story still seemed outrageously crazy, but out of all the genetic defects or mutations that Brett had ever heard of, none of them involved extra arms. Certainly not ones as functional and well developed as the guns the deep caramel giant was sporting.
“A…a domestic violence situation. 1080 Bunker Hill, fifth floor….sounds like its getting really out of control. Lots of screaming and smashing stuff up.” Brett droned.
“Another…that’s four this month.” The operator grumbled, much to Brett’s muted amusement. “Thank you for the report, the police are on their way.”
“Good….” Brett muttered before he hung up.
It barely even registered as he carefully set the phone back in its slot. He couldn’t take his eyes off of the impossibility in front of him.
“You have six arms….” Brett stated, completely dumbfounded.
“Yes.” Janos responded as he waved his lowest and highest set of arms, the middle set still holding up the towel.
“That’s not possible.” Brett whispered.
Janos smiled quizzically.
“All my kind do Master, I assure you…we are quite possible.”
His voice was still so thick, Brett just couldn’t’ put his finger on it, but now that he thought about it….it sounded vaguely familiar.
Almost in a shocked daze Brett zombie walked to his room, and pulled open the top drawer of his dresser. It took a few befuddled minutes before he located his biggest pair of sweatpants, and he headed back to the living room with them.
“Here…” Brett mumbled as he tossed them to Janos.
“Thank you Master.” Janos responded with entirely too much gratitude.
“I…don’t have a shirt big enough….I think…..um…extra pillows and blankets are in the closet there. Make yourself at home I guess….I-I’m going to bed…please don’t kill me in my sleep.” Brett muttered, feeling as dazed and confused as one might be after a hammer to the temple.
“-Gasp!- Master! I-I would never even think of-” Janos stammered. His voice grew muffled as Brett collapsed face first in his bed, and pulled the covers over himself.
The day had gone from bad, to worse, to weird, to insane….and whatever he had eaten to cause this dream he was never, ever eating again.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Janos sat quietly on the floor of main room of the Master’s house. He had turned off all the lights so that his Mater wouldn’t be disturbed by them. He didn’t’ mind sitting in the dark anyway, especially since the place was the warmest he had been in…in years.
He probably should have been trying to sleep, but he was simply too excited, and too afraid to sleep. He couldn’t bear to wake only to find that it was all a dream.
Janos sighed pleasantly, he couldn’t ask for more. He had found his Master after so long….even though he seemed totally different from what Janos imagined, did not recognize what he or Janos was, nor seemed to understand their language. But still….it alone was enough to make him cry with joy.
And he was clean, something that hadn’t happened in quite a while as well. His mouth was tingling and fresh, a true gift at that.
Janos practically purred as he pulled the soft blanket around himself.
Such kindness….Master had already given him so much that Janos wasn’t sure how he would show his gratitude.
The Master’s bath needed to be cleaned, that much was certain. He had left a rather dirty ring in it, and the drain seemed to be partially clogged by the thick strands of his hair that he had pulled out while trying to un-knot it.
He couldn’t leave it like that, heavens no, it would be an insult to his Master, a mockery of his kindness.
But now that he had begun to relax a little, Janos realized he was worn out and sore, crashing into that vehicle had been jarring on his legs….and the back of his head didn’t exactly feel nice.
He was tired….amped up yes….but tired. He had been active since before the sun had first rose…though the days felt so short compared to home. He wasn’t sure what day it was, if it was a new day or not because of it all.
A short nap then….he couldn’t very well accomplish much if he was too tired and Master had told him to be at home. So a short nap it was….and then he could get to it.
The blanket had a soft, spring breeze like scent to it that Janos inhaled deeply as he stretched out on the floor.
It was all so…nice….he almost didn’t feel worthy.
“Master is so kind….” Janos whispered as he closed his eyes.
Brett sighed as he slowly glazed over the pages in his book. It had taken a great deal of work but he had managed to convince his shrew of a teacher that he was coming down with the flu, and thus get all the material he needed so he didn’t have to go to the group. He didn’t want to sacrifice his grades, but there was no way in hell he was hanging around those people for a while.
Fortunately she had bought his excuse of not wanting to spread it around, the fact that he had worked himself up to the point where he had actually vomited right in front of her probably helped.
But even though he had bought himself a little peace he hardly felt better. Miles words were stuck in his skull, taunting him since yesterday. He supposed that it really shouldn’t have bothered him as much as it had so far.
After all….he and Miles were hardly friends, and when he had finally fallen asleep last night the dreams had come…which somehow only made him feel worse. Not to mention gave him a headache that just would NOT go away.
Rubbing his eyes Brett closed the book and tossed it on his coffee table. He couldn’t focus at all, and what he did read he couldn’t really recall with any kind of clarity. Obviously there was little to no point in continuing.
He had to go to work soon, but all he really wanted to do was go back to sleep. It was rather tempting to just call off, but he really couldn’t afford it.
Brett sighed….this totally sucked.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
I am getting very frustrated. I have followed the blond one for days now, and still no trace of my Master. It is maddening…and….and I am starting to question my sanity slightly.
Did I really catch his scent?
I am sure that I did but…why have I not found it again? The blond has visited multiple locations in the past few days, and not one of them has possessed even the slightest hint of my Master’s presence.
I do wonder…does he know that I am following him? I have done my best to stay out of sight but…I have never been exactly stealthy. It is not my fault, I am not built for it, nor have I received any kind of training.
Perhaps the blond one does know the location of my Master and is deliberately leading me away from it.
That doesn’t really make any sense but…I was told that others would also be searching for him. Ones who were not loyal to him as they should be, ones that wished to try and corrupt his mind and twist his power to their own ends.
It infuriates me to even think about it honestly….
However I have never encountered another from my world during my search, but that doesn’t mean they are not out there. Luckily I was given items…for defense and the like. I do not understand magick, but I was informed of their enchantments and how they might be used, and I must believe that they will do what I have been told.
But why…why couldn’t I be given something to aid in actually FINDING him? That made much more sense didn’t it?
What I really need to do is interrogate the blond once more….this time without any interruptions. He had my Master’s scent on himself, so they must have come into contact with one another….and if this blond man truly does not know….then at the very least he could give me a list of locations that he had visited that day.
But how to approach him? What would be best?
The blond was currently in some sort of gathering. Which he had been in for a few hours now, just sitting at a table with others, talking, exchanging various papers and books. For what purpose they did this I do not know, I am unable to get closer for fear of discovery.
A cold feeling pierced my stomach.
What if they were working in tandem with the ones I had been warned about? A cabal of some sort…united against my Master.
Why else would they gather like this?
What if they had actually found my Master themselves and had attempted to capture him? What if the scent on the blond one was from my Master fighting him off?
Perhaps it is simply paranoia but…I must know.
There is far too much I do not know or understand about this world, for all I know the blond is meeting with these people under completely innocent circumstances but…..maybe he is not.
And I dare not take that chance.
I will simply have to lie in wait for him, and I know just the place. The little maze of back ways and alleys created by the various buildings near his home, I can easily catch him there.
This time I will take him away…some place high up. I have noticed that about these people, they look in every direction but up. Which has made travel by rooftops very accessible to me….perhaps now it will aid me in another way.
Leaving my lookout post I began to travel down the back ways to my destination, trying to ignore the itch all down my back.
Lord do I want a bath….
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Brett pulled the collar of his thin hooded jacket up a little higher, not that it had much of one as it was.
It was so chilly outside today, and even with his hood up and his hands buried as deep in his pockets as they could go he was still freezing. Damn lying weather man…..
“Sixty-eight my ass.” Brett grumbled.
Course none of this would be an issue if the fucking bus driver would actually wait for a change.
Brett knew the prick had HAD to of seen him running up, but could he wait the extra ten seconds? Hell no….
So he was stuck walking home from work…and not exactly on the best of routes either. He was taking the back way down past Main, from there he could hit State street and then have almost a straight shot to home.
It was kind of ironic….he was taking a route to make sure that he did not run into Miles o the others, but that same route would actually take him very close to Miles home.
He was half tempted to pitch a rock through the big front window of theirs, the one with all the fall decals no it. So warm and cozy….down right loving.
Just turned his stomach to think about it.
Jealousy of course, but at least he admitted it.
Shivering, Brett took a right, his feet aching inside his shoes. He really needed new ones, but just didn’t have the funds.
“Well…at least I don’t’ have to worry about some brand new footwear attracting thugs.” Brett muttered.
Yeah…so he was practically walking right into mugger central, all so he could be sure to avoid someone who had wrecked his feelings. Logical much?
Of course the cops had stepped up patrolling lately, so he felt he’d be alright. Plus I was the middle of the day.
Ever since a string of muggings for, what else? Sports coats and shoes, the police had cracked down pretty hard, at least according to the news, and the only group you really had to worry about was a few fellows who called themselves “The Eyes.”
The eyes….how stupid.
Of course brett had nothing of value on him, and certainly looked it. So he didn’t think there was any reason he would be bothered.
The wind shifted, sending a blast of cold air that completely ignored his feeble protections and settled right into his bones. He shivered, hot tears prickling at his eyes. He was miserable and hurting, and there was absolutely no relief waiting for him at home. He still hadn’t heard from his girlfriend, she was horrible at returning calls, and he had broken down the night after Miles attack, and in a moment of desperation called his parents.
Two days later and they still had not called him back…..
Sniffling, Brett pulled his arms in tighter and trudged on. The sky was gray, the sun was dim….it was a perfect reflection of his heavy heart.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
I shivered as I sat upon my rooftop perch. The weather had become oddly chilly in the past few hours, a contrast to how bright and sunny it had been this morning. But…cold or not…this was the best spot to wait. I have seen the blond come this way nearly every time he has returned home.
The wind shifted, blasting me right in the face. It was not comfortable and it made my lips feel swollen. Stinging with an icy burn I licked them for some warm relief. Sniffling and then exhaling sharply I fought to thaw my nose. The icy wind has frozen the fluids in my nostrils….damn annoying.
….Wait….what was…..I pinched my nose, and the insides stuck together. Rubbing up and down to create a little friction heat I blew out another sharp breath.
I sniffed again, testing the air. I could have sworn….no……there it is again!
My Master!
The wondrous….beautiful scent of my Master!
It was only the faintest whisper, but it was there.
It made my hearts swell…oh please…please…..
I took in the air again. Where was it coming from? I must….I must….I mustn’t rush…must take my time…yes….need to get a solid bead on it.
I think…I think….maybe….
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXX
Brett sighed as he turned the corner, everything was so dead this time of day. He hadn’t seen a car now in over fifteen minutes, and another person walking along the sidewalk in even longer.
Stopping for a moment he looked around. With the wind softly rustling though the bare trees, blowing the various multicolored fallen leaves like piles of long abandoned debris, the world seemed still and dead. Add in the darkened and weather worn, paint chipped houses, and other abandoned buildings, not a light on in sight, and it all served to really cement the impression of a long dead world.
For a brief moment he actually felt like calling out, as if he was the last surviving person. Perhaps awoken after an accidental frozen sleep, or some type of scientific time travel mishap.
….Then a big fat guy came out of his house, and down his porch in his underwear, scratched his balls and then let rip with an extremely audible fart…completely ruining the oddly peaceful apocalyptic scenery.
Shaking his head in disgust Brett wrapped his arms around himself as another shock of cold air drove into him. An earthly sign that it was time to get moving obviously.
Resuming Brett started to slip back into his own private world, doing his best not to think about anything at all. He just wanted to go to bed….but there was so much housework to do. He hadn’t done the dishes in almost a week….stupid dishwasher…just HAD to take a crap. Cause Lord knew just how much he loved to do them by hand.
Rubbing at his eyes Brett dropped his head down to start at the broken and cracked concrete sidewalk. His eyes drifted close for a moment, and he felt that light, you could fall asleep right now, head rush.
Rubbing firmly at his face to try and shake a little of his weariness loose Brett ignored the dull thud of something heavy hitting the ground he heard somewhere in the distance.
Probably some old, rotted tree branch or something. But then there was a weird sound….like someone beating one the ground with a rubber sledgehammer or something.
He could feel the ground vibrating slightly under his feet, which was weird, as there wasn’t any construction going on nearby.
Brett forced his eyes open, his poor head still being jabbed by the dim light, just in time to get an eyeful of an extremely filthy shirt….and then he walked right into it a half a step later.
It was like hitting a brick wall, and brett practically bounced right off of it and onto his butt painfully.
That, and when no hand came down to help him up, was the last straw in a series of bad fucking days.
“What the hell!!?” Brett snarled. “The fuck is wrong with you?! You see me coming so you just stand there?! You could have said something!”
But his anger started to fade abruptly when he raised his head enough to get a good look at the mountainous man.
The fact that the guy looked to be over two feet taller then he was, was striking enough, add in the filth on him and it was a bit frightening.
Then the smell hit him.
It made his eyes water, just the worst mix of body odor and rotten funk that he had every smelled in his lift.
“My god you’re rank…” Brett choked.
The man, at least brett thought it was a man, he was obscenely thick in the chest and abdomen, took a deep shuddering breath. Then the wind picked up and pushed the stinky, mangled, ratty hair away from his face, granting Brett an unobstructed view.
If his mammoth size, odd proportions, gross appearance, and rancid stench were not startling enough, the look on his face was more then enough to jump right into extremely creepy territory.
His mouth was open in a gasp-like O, his hands coming to up lightly cover it. But his eyes…that was the weirdest. Not only did they look ALL wrong, pure black with a green star outline instead of a pupil, but he was actually starting to cry.
The moisture ran in little rivers down his dirty face, leaving dark streaks.
“A…Amea….A-Amea….” He whispered in emotion filled, throaty gasps.
The words seemed to echo in Brett’s head, which hurt…and frightened him.
“Ry con du….” The man whispered. “Ry….oh Amea….”
Brett didn’t know what the fuck was going on, but he wanted no part of it.
Sniffling the man wiped his hands on himself, which did not do a thing really and started to reach for brett.
Brett didn’t want any part of it, something told him nothing good could come from giant, obviously deranged, fucked up language babbling hobos.
Twisting on to all fours Brett scrambled though the man’s legs. The man cried out in surprise and Brett came up running, only a few more blocks to his house. Get there, call the cops if need be, and let them handle it.
“Nix! Nix!” The man cried out as Brett ran. “Amea! Korma et-ra!”
Brett didn’t know what the hell that meant, or why it made his head feel like someone was pounding a bell inside his skull…and he wasn’t going to hang around to find out.
With any luck-Thomb! Thomb! Thomb!
A dull thundering echoed in the air, and the sidewalk reverberated under his feet. Glancing behind him Brett saw the man was giving chase, and it was his footsteps that were making the noise!
And he was gaining….
Now Brett was genuinely frightened. Why would he give chase? If he was a whacked out nut job why didn’t he just like…melt into the shadows like all the other nut jobs?
He had to want something….like blood or sex or….
“Screw it! Just run!” Brett’s mind screamed at him.
That was easier said then done, Brett wasn’t exactly track star material, and the hobo man could take a lot bigger steps then he could. Up ahead was a crossroads, and if Brett remembered right there was always a cop parked nearby.
Not even thinking Brett didn’t even check the light as he raced across the road. Well it turned out his was read, and the other was green….
Brett didn’t dare stop as someone laid on their horn hard, and a split second later he heard the sound of flesh hitting metal.
Sparing a glance behind him Brett saw the hobo go tumbling across the hood of a little Honda, having slammed into it with his thighs.
With his pursuer’s eyes off of him for the moment Brett took advantage by ducking around the back of the old, abandoned bakery.
His sides already starting to hurt Brett followed the back path until he came to a right angle turn. He took it, and glanced behind himself real quick. He didn’t’ see anyone following him, which was a good sign, but before he could turn his attention back in front of him, his feet crashed into something.
Brett lurched forward, and hit the ground hard, skinning his palms as he slide along the dirty concrete. A bit dazed from the sudden impact Brett turned his head to see what he had tripped over, just in time to see an outstretched leg be pulled back.
Chuckling darkly, two others joined the one who had sent Brett to the ground, and one of them had a stained metal baseball bat.
Brett started to push himself backwards, he damn sure wasn’t getting a good vibe from these boys, when the palm of a big hand appeared in front of his face. A palm with a big, lidless yellow eye tattoo on it.
“Oh shit…” Brett thought as the hand closed around his collar and roughly hauled him to his feet.
“Well, well…look what we have ‘ere…A wee little one.” The leader crooned. “Seems to be that kind of day…”
“I…I’m just…p-passing through.” Brett stammered, trying to keep the fear out of his voice. He was so not up to get the shit beat out of him today….God…what were the fucking odds?
“Oh sure, sure….it’s a free country after all.” The leader said. “But this ‘ere’s our place…if ya want through ‘ere, ya gotta pay the toll.”
“I…I don’t have anything.” Brett informed.
“You don’t?” Leader gasped. “Now that ain’t right….everyone’s got something.”
He snapped open a switch blade right next to Brett’s face, and pressed the dull side into his temple. “You sure? Think hard now…”
Brett was pulled up onto his tippy toes, and he swallowed hard.
“B-But I don’t…” He whispered feebly. He really didn’t, not one red cent on his person. Sure he had his wallet, but there wasn’t anything in it.
“Truly?” Leader quipped. “Well then…guess we’d better letcha go then.”
“He scuffed up my boots.” Brett’s tripper suddenly said.
“He did?” Leader gasped. “Well now…that’s just disrespectful.”
Before Brett could say anything the leader took a step to the side and jerked his head towards Brett. Bat boy stepped forward quickly, and using both hands drove the end of the bat right into Brett’s belly.
Brett was hardly prepared for it, and it drove the air out of his lungs.
“Oof!”
Brett hit the ground on all fours, and before he knew it there was a foot on the back of his head. A boot was shoved in front of his face, smacking him in the lips.
“Better clean them up nice runt.” Tripper growled.
“And maybe afterwards we’ll put that ugly mouth of yours to better use.” Leader giggled. “That ought to take care of the toll. Fairs fair boy.”
Oh good God….this wasn’t happening….what did he ever do in his life to deserve all of this?
The boot jabbed him in the face again.
“Well come on now.” Its owner chided.
Tears pricking at his eyes Brett slowly opened his mouth as the bat pressed firmly into his kidneys. What choices did he really have here? He certainly didn’t want to do this, but he also didn’t want to end up in the hospital.
Suddenly an angry, snarling shout tore through the air. Brett’s tormenters turned, and the boot let up just enough for Brett to raise hi head to get a look.
The giant was there…and he looked PISSED.
Brett didn’t know what scared him more, the crazy mountain of a hobo, or the gang.
“Now what’s all this?” The leader snapped. “A whole lotta company today.”
He took his boot off of Brett’s head, but Brett almost wished he hadn’t.
“UGH!” Brett groaned as his tripper dropped down on his back with all his weight.
“Listen ya stinky bastard.” Leader quipped. “Why don’tcha just turn arouNAHH!”
Splat!
The gang leader was abruptly cut off by the giant literally palming his head, and with one arm tossed him into the brick wall like a dodge ball some ten feet away.
“Holy shit!” Bat boy exclaimed.
“Get im!” His partner shouted.
Brett’s tripper got up off of his back as they all rushed the pissed off looking giant. Not wanting to be some kind of “prize” for the winner Better lurched to his feet.
He started to turn just as the giant caught the bat boy by the arm and swung him around, slamming him into the nearby dumpster like a rag doll, hard enough to put a body sized dent into the metal.
His back and belly hurting more then he could remember anything hurting Brett took off in the best run he could manage. But he didn’t get ten feet before something snagged on his right hip. He heard the sound of fabric ripping as he was jerked to the side, and went tumbling down to the ground yet again.
Not worrying about whatever it was, Brett scrambled back up to his feet and pressed on. He was close to home, where he had a phone and a real solid door.
The sounds of fighting faded into the distance as he emerged from the back way and onto Pernel street. With no cars coming he didn’t hesitate to rush across the street, jaywalking be damned. It wasn’t like the day could possibly get any worse, hell a cop would be a welcomed sight as far as he was concerned.
Out of breath, confused and bruised, Brett’s heart still lightened as he spotted his apartment building. Almost there….
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The hot water of the shower felt good and Brett closed his eyes as he ducked his head under the shower nozzle. It had been hours since the….incident, and his nerves were just not starting to recover. No one had followed him home, that he could see, which was a good sign, and the woman at the police station had seemed to honestly care when he had called to report being jumped. For all he knew it was nothing but a professional mask…but it had made him feel better.
Turning off the water after he finished rinsing his hair, Brett stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel to dry off with. He had a big bruise on his stomach where the bastard with the bat had jabbed him, he so wasn’t going anywhere tomorrow, he might not even check the mail…
Snagging his Pjs off of the hook no the wall Brett dressed slowly, gingerly babying his sore back. Personally he hoped everyone of them got messed up by that damn crazy hobo…though not before they whacked him around enough that Brett wouldn’t see him again.
Not even bothering to turn on any lights Brett headed right for his bedroom. It was only six-thirty but he was more then ready for the day to end.
Crawling into bed Brett sighed pleasantly as he sunk into the bedding. Nothing better then a good sleep after a shit day.
He was a little concerned about his wallet mission, apparently he had snagged the chain on something, which was what had sent him to the ground as he was trying to run. It had tore up his pants, and God knew where it was now.
But he felt like he would be okay, after all the only thing in it was his work ID, and that only had his name and picture. No cash, no credit cards, no drivers license, jus that ID. He could get another one from work, and if anyone found it they couldn’t do much that they couldn’t do from just seeing him on the street.
“I’ll be fine….” Brett muttered to himself as he rolled over onto his side, but that hurt so he just went flat again.
Typical…..Brett yawned and closed his eyes.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Rrrrr-whomp!
Brett woke abruptly, not sure what that noise was. Glancing at his alarm he saw that it was a little after one in the morning. Groaning he rolled over and rubbed at his eyes. They drifted close again, he hated being woke up before he was ready.
The noise had sounded like something dragging against something else before giving way, which was probably some idiot messing with the dumpster outside.
Easily dismissed….that was until he heard one of his dinning room chairs slide across the floor like someone had just run into it.
Brett sat up quickly, his heart pounding at the realization. Was someone in his house?!
Crap….crap…..his bedroom door didn’t have a lock on it, so he couldn’t just hide.
Slowly slipping out form under the covers Brett tuned his ears in, he couldn’t hear anything else but….scrambling to his closet for some kind of weapon Brett’s fingers ironically closed around his old wooden baseball bat.
Creeping his way to the door, he opened it as quietly as he could and peeked his head out. The only light in the living room was the light of the moon, but he didn’t see anyone.
However he could see the curtains in of his kitchen window billowing softly, indicating that it was open.
But that didn’t make any sense, not only were his windows all locked but he was on the fifth floor for crying out loud.
Still…he could hear a faint noise, but couldn’t quite tell what it was.
Darting silently across the living room Brett pressed himself against the wall and peeked around the corner to the kitchen. There was a dark shape on the floor, and it was slowly crawling along towards the living room.
Taking a steadying breath Brett readied himself. No one should be in his home, could be a robber or a killer….or maybe something like a robber-killer-corpse rapper.
Either way…he had a right to defend himself, any judge would understand.
Slowly Brett raised the bat, waiting for the opportune moment. He wasn’t a violent person, but damn it…a man had to draw the line somewhere.
He took a half a step back as he heard the intruder approach, gauging the distance as best he could. A head poked through the connecting archway and Brett bought down the bat with all his might.
CCCCCRRAACCCK!
The bat literally shattered in his hands, the middle just exploded, the top flew across the room, and the shock of it all forced Brett to drop the rest.
He backed away, his hangs stinging like hell, it felt like he had hit a god damn rock.
Instead of dropping as a person should, the figure slumped backwards on his rear with a heavy thump. A pained hiss slid through the air as two hands clutched the spot Brett had struck.
Slapping at the wall behind him Brett searched for the light switch that he knew was there. What the hell was in his house?! After a shoot like that a persons skull shouldn’t’ have been intact, to say nothing about still being conscious.
Brett’s fingers found the switch, and with a flick of his wrist the room was flooded with light. Which of course blinded the crap out of him, so…maybe not the best move really.
His hands still stinging, and starting to get that numb feeling, Brett blinked rapidly and squinted to try and focus his eyes.
It took a few minutes for anything to be more then a painful white blur but….oh God….it was the hobo!!
They locked eyes and the giant didn’t even look all that mad, it was more a look of -Why did you do that?-
But despite that Brett certainly did NOT feel safe. What kind of guy could have a real baseball bat shattered over his friggin head and not die? Hell Brett hadn’t even known he could swing that hard.
The smell of the man hadn’t improved either.
So Brett did what any sensible, non-badass marine would do.
He shouted in panic and ran towards his front door.
“Nix!” The giant shouted as Brett fumbled with the locks, a knob lock, deadbolt, and slide bar worked well when you didn’t quite trust that twitchy neighbor, but it did tend to slow you down.
Before he could even get the door open a big hand pressed against it, blocking him. Brett twisted, elbowing the man behind him as hard as he could. It felt like hitting a cinderblock, and his arm just bounced right off, ricochet forward and jammed the hell out of his wrist as be basically punched the door.
It wouldn’t do much good to yell for help, the apartment next to his was e empty, and the one above him held a couple that generally had the police called on them, so no help there.
“P-Please….w-wait….” The giant fumbled, his voice thick and straggled.
Screw that.
Brett ducked under the giants arms and backpedaled across the living room. Where the hell did he leave the phone? Maybe he could lock himself in the bathroom long enough for the police to arrive…though judging from the size of the guy…he could probably smash right through pretty damn easily.
The giant didn’t rush him again like Brett expected, instead he just held up his hands.
“No…th-threat….um…not here to hurt…” The giant said, seemingly struggling for the words. His accent was ridiculously thick, but didn’t match up to any Brett recognized, and the guy was so filthy that he couldn’t tell a ethnicity either.
“Then what are you here for?!” Brett asked, doing his best to keep the fearful tremor out of his voice. He wasn’t that brave a man, and there had been too many shocks today.
“For you.” The giant answered earnestly.
Well THAT certainly didn’t serve to calm Brett down. He damn sure didn’t want any giant hobo rape!
“Oh….oh yo-you….don’t w-want me.” Brett insisted. “Listen…I-I don’t have much…just….just take the TV. Its….its pr-probably worth a few hundred.”
The giant looked towards the appliance as Brett nodded at it, but shook his head.
“No…not for TV. Here for you Amea, come to take you.”
The little men in Brett’s mind all started to pound on the panic button as that came up on the screen.
He shook his head in disbelieving fear and began to back away slowly.
“But…no…oh…..why….why would you want….t-to…r-r-rape m-me?” Brett whispered. “I’m not…oh…oh God….”
He couldn’t stop shaking, this couldn’t be happening…it just couldn’t.
The giant cocked his head to the side with a confused look on his face. There wasn’t’ much time to waste obviously, who knew how long he had before the giant decided to get nasty. But what else could he do? The guy was over two feet taller then he was and had withstood a ball bat across the back of the head to little or no effect.
So what else was there? He had a big butchers knife in the kitchen…maybe that would work? He had never used it much so…it was probably plenty sharp right?
He was just about to start inching his way towards the kitchen when the giant’s head snapped up. He held his palms up and shook them and his head rapidly.
“No-No-No-No! N-Not….not like….not that kind of take. No, never….unthinkable….Um…Here to take you from here to…there.” The giant fumbled.
“I don’t want to go anywhere with you.” Brett hissed. The giant actually winced, and looked apologetic.
“A thousand pardons….would never think of ordering Amea….but….but must come. Is where you belong.”
“How the hell did you find me? What’s going on? What do you mean belong? I live here, this is my home!”
Slowly….like a puppy who had been swatted, the giant pulled something out of his waistband. He set it on Brett’s coffee table and pushed it towards Brett.
It was his wallet.
“Followed scent….but card had name and picture. Nice woman at the desk said which number was yours.” The giant answered.
Nice woman? Oh…oh that old bitch Sandy….she was nasty to everyone. It was just like her to send some deranged hobo his way. Wonder what she’d think when they found his corpse after a week or so…..
The giant pressed his hands to his face, seemingly overcome with some kind of emotion.
“I have searched for you for so long Amea.” He sobbed. “I give thanks….and will try to explain, but please understand Amea…I am still…learning to speak like this. Is hard.”
Amea.
The world clanged in Brett’s head as surely as if someone had swung a hammer into a steel beam. It hurt, and he could hear a faint whisper behind it….but even when he strained he couldn’t quite make out what the whisper was.
“This may be your house…but it is not your home. You do not belong here, you were stolen away as a baby, taken from your parents and banished to this…horrid world.” The giant began. “The fact is….you um….you are not you. You are not…oh what is word….h-human? Yes…you are not human, you do not belong in this world and I have been sent to bring you home. We need you Amea….”
“Stop saying that!” Brett snapped, it was starting to give him a headache. The horse kick kind of headache at that.
The giant again got the puppy look, and bowed his head.
“My deepest apologies. But-”
“Well what does it even mean? Any why is that that everyone time you talk weird it makes my head hurt huh?! Speak English!” Brett snarled.
“You…you mean you don’t….apologies again. Now I understand….I was so excited to see you that I lapsed….I didn’t realize that you wouldn’t understand. I apologize with all my heart. Amea means Master/Lord.” The giant explained.
Brett blinked….what?
“What are you…Master? Whose Master…huh?”
“Mine.”
“Yours ?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
& #8220;You.”
Ooooh-kay…..crazy.
He didn’t even want to think what that meant…..
“So…let me get this straight. I’m not human…and I assume that your not either.” Brett said.
“Correct, I am a Jifriki.”
The word thundered in Brett’s head, and he bit back a groan.
“Right….annnd I’m from a different, non-human country?” Brett continued.
“Nix, another world. Not the sci-fi space alien kind the people here speak of though. A different plane entirely.” The giant answered.
“Oh of course….what else could it be?” Brett muttered.
Good Lord…this guy was gone. But he wasn’t getting violent…yet….so that was a plus. But what the hell was he going to do about the guy?
“Just go with it.” Brett thought. “Keep him talking.”
He had to distract the giant….make some time to call the police. The phone was out of its charger right on the end table where he had left it this afternoon, but he didn’t dare go for it.
“So uh…what’s your name?” Brett asked.
It was a simple question, nothing big in Brett’s eyes, and it was getting a little silly to continue to think of the giant, smelly bastard as “The Giant.”
But the dirty behemoth reaction was borderline frightening.
Tears welled up in his eyes, and he let out a deep, emotion filled, shuddering breath.
“M-Master wishes to know my name? Oh…Oh I am hardly worthy of such….oh I can’t believe it.”
He was acting like a teenage girl who had just met her heartthrob idol…..creepy….VERY creepy.
The giant was muttering to himself, and then he suddenly nodded and swallowed heard.
“My name is Janos Master.” The giant, Janos apparently, reported.
“Janos.” Brett murmured. “Now that’s with a J sound…not a Y right?”
“Correct Master.”
Brett nodded to himself, well…at least he knew that. Still…what was he going to do now? He looked at Janos, and took in his current state of being, and a light bulb went off in his head.
“You know…I think you could use a shower Janos.” Brett said.
Janos’s eyes lit up like a Christmas tree, and he clasped his hands together in front of him.
“Oh…Oh that would be heavenly.” Janos whispered. “I would love to be clean again…”
Brett nodded, if he could get this to work it would be just the break that he needed.
“Well then…just follow me.” Brett said as he held out his arm.
He led Janos to the bathroom and the giant had to turn sideways and duck just to make it through.
Brett sat down on the edge of the tub, his stomach was in knots, but he fought to stay calm.
“Okay…here is your hot water, here is your cold and when you get it to where you like it…just pull up on this thing here.” Brett explained. “Shampoo and conditioner and soap are all right there.” Standing up to open the nearby cabinet Brett pulled out a big beach towel and a couple of wash cloths, which he pushed into Janos’s arms. “Now you can just toss those clothes….they are a bit nasty….and uh…oh! Here’s my spare toothbrush…I’m sure that’ll be good, and uh….in the cabinet there is my mouthwash….you know…just gurgle and spit and all that.” Brett rambled.
He was doing his best not think about the fact that his head only came up to Janos’s sternum, and in the tiny room had absolutely no room to run. The giant could totally crush him into paste for Gods sake.
“Oh and um….don’t worry about the hot water, there’s plenty, so go ahead and take a real long shower. Really wash up well you know…make sure you get it all. I’m sure it’ll be refreshing….or something.”
He was just trying to buy some time for the police to get there, but….but Janos actually had light tears running down his face.
“Master is so kind…” Janos half sobbed as he clutched the items that Brett had handed him.
“Uh…well….you’ve earned it.” Brett fumbled.
Clapping his hands together and rubbing them up and down Brett backed towards he door.
“Well…I’ll just leave you to it….remember now, take your time, enjoy it and all that.”
Janos nodded and the look on his face made Brett feel a little guilty. He was nuts obviously, but not entirely malicious it seemed. An escaped mental patient maybe?
“Either way…he should stay occupied for a good long while.” Brett thought.
Silently creeping on his toes Brett rushed over to the phone. His fingers were on the buttons before he even got the phone to his ear, but as he hit the send button he was dismayed not to hear it dialing. Clearing it Brett listened, and was no happy with what he heard, or more accurately what he DIDN’T hear.
No dial tone, no nothing.
“Oh come on.” Brett hissed in dismay through his teeth as a quick inspection revealed the -please charge- light was on, indicating that the battery was dead.
He hadn’t left it off the charger for that long had he?
Crap! Crap! CRAP!
It would take at LEAST twenty minutes before it got enough of a charge for a phone call. Brett resisted the urge to throw the damn thing as he set the phone in his slot. He heard the water start to run and he tensed.
“Relax….it takes twenty minutes for normal shower.” Brett thought “It’ll take him like….three times that much to get all that crap off.”
Unless of course he didn’t try…but Brett had hope. If he was even half as dirty as Janos was he wouldn’t rest until it was all off. “So here’s hoping…” Brett muttered as he eased himself into one of his chairs, never taking hi eyes off of the red light on the charger.
Minutes past with only the sounds of falling water filling the silence as Brett focused all of his will on making the red light turn green. If he got out of this he was buying a second phone, just a regular cord one this time.
Stubbornly the light refused to obey, elevating Brett’s blood pressure. He hadn’t looked at the clock when Janos had started, but it felt like an eternity had past.
“Shut up!!” A muffled voice screamed, scaring the piss out of Brett and nearly causing him to jump out of the chair.
The sound of breaking wood and glass followed and Brett glared at the ceiling. It would figure that the drunks would chose now to start up their usual shit.
The sounds of fighting had always made Brett’s stomach bottom out, but this time was even worse. His nerves were already shot, and the two morons could end up startling Janos…making him hurry or leave the shower entirely. Aside from getting him to go to sleep somehow Brett wasn’t sure what he could do if that happened.
“Come on…come onnnn.” Brett muttered as he watched the light, tapping his foot all the while.
Blink.
The light went green and Brett practically dove for it.
However he only got two numbers in before the phone beeped and went dead again. Silently screaming in frustration Brett placed the phone back into its slot as the real screaming above him grew louder.
It was the same routine every time. Girl screaming that the man is nasty, mean, and cheating on her. Not to mention the whole thing about his poor hygiene. Boy screams back that if he was “gittin’ sum pussy-he wouldn’t be so nasty” Then the two smash up large parts of their apartment, get quiet for ten-fifteen minutes, then rinse and repeat.
Brett didn’t even know their names, but he knew more about their personal life then he had ever wanted to. They were both absolute assholes when you got right down to it. He didn’t know why they didn’t just break up…or why they hadn’t been evicted yet.
It didn’t matter right now however, he would talk to the landlord yet again in the morning, all that mattered right now was a working phone. It didn’t’ usually take this long, at least not that he knew, but then again he had never paid it this kind of attention before.
Each second that ticked by only made Brett worry more, a stomach knotting, hand trembling worry at that. So far Janos had been fairly docile, even somehow taking a massive shot to the head without anger or retaliation. But who know how long that would last.
From everything Brett knew about the mentally ill he seemed to recall that they could snap from one emotional extreme as quick as flipping a light switch.
After God knew how long the light on the phone finally turned green, and stayed green. But this time Brett didn’t rush, almost fearing that it was toying with him once again. He picked it up slowly, and listened to the sound of the dial tone for a few moments.
When no warning beep came Brett slowly reached for the numbers.
“Nine…one…one…” Brett whispered as he pressed them.
Riiiing…Riiing…..Riiiing.
“991 dispatch…what is the emergency?”
“Uh…yes...h-hi…um…I-I 217;m calling….to uh…report a-” Brett pushed forth nervously, only to be startled by a loud crash from above.
“Sir? Is everything alright?” The operator asked. Well no it was lady….why would he call 911 if everything was peachy?
“Uh…n-no….there is a…help yes….the police are needed right now.” Brett fumbled as he heard the water turn off. Crap! Not now!
“Address sir? And could you please state the nature of the emergency if you can.”
“Um yes…uh...there’s a….a-” Brett began right as he heard a noise behind him. He turned with the phone and there stood Janos. Looking much better then he had to be sure, the brownish-black filth that had covered him was gone, revealing rich, deep caramel skin. But that wasn’t what stopped Brett’s voice.
Two hands were up in his amazingly long hair, rubbing it vigorously with a towel.
Two hands were at his waist, holding a second towel.
Two hands were rubbing at one another’s forearms as if they were sore.
For several seconds Brett could do nothing but stare, his brain unable, or unwilling, to process what he was seeing.
Six arms.
Janos had six freaking arms!
Like some kind of bronzed statue of a Hindu God come to live there he stood. Moving, breathing, and glancing at the ceiling with some concern…there he stood.
Now that he was clean Brett could clearly see some kind of metal bands around each wrist, and although Janos’s hair was blocking most of the view he could make out something around Janos’s throat as well.
Janos’s words that neither of them were human came back to Brett. He certainly didn’t’ feel otherworldly but it was pretty clear to see that Janos was more then just some deranged hobo.
That or Brett was having some fucked up dream.
“Sir?” The operator’s voice came over the earpiece.
Now Brett had a real dilemma….Janos’s story still seemed outrageously crazy, but out of all the genetic defects or mutations that Brett had ever heard of, none of them involved extra arms. Certainly not ones as functional and well developed as the guns the deep caramel giant was sporting.
“A…a domestic violence situation. 1080 Bunker Hill, fifth floor….sounds like its getting really out of control. Lots of screaming and smashing stuff up.” Brett droned.
“Another…that’s four this month.” The operator grumbled, much to Brett’s muted amusement. “Thank you for the report, the police are on their way.”
“Good….” Brett muttered before he hung up.
It barely even registered as he carefully set the phone back in its slot. He couldn’t take his eyes off of the impossibility in front of him.
“You have six arms….” Brett stated, completely dumbfounded.
“Yes.” Janos responded as he waved his lowest and highest set of arms, the middle set still holding up the towel.
“That’s not possible.” Brett whispered.
Janos smiled quizzically.
“All my kind do Master, I assure you…we are quite possible.”
His voice was still so thick, Brett just couldn’t’ put his finger on it, but now that he thought about it….it sounded vaguely familiar.
Almost in a shocked daze Brett zombie walked to his room, and pulled open the top drawer of his dresser. It took a few befuddled minutes before he located his biggest pair of sweatpants, and he headed back to the living room with them.
“Here…” Brett mumbled as he tossed them to Janos.
“Thank you Master.” Janos responded with entirely too much gratitude.
“I…don’t have a shirt big enough….I think…..um…extra pillows and blankets are in the closet there. Make yourself at home I guess….I-I’m going to bed…please don’t kill me in my sleep.” Brett muttered, feeling as dazed and confused as one might be after a hammer to the temple.
“-Gasp!- Master! I-I would never even think of-” Janos stammered. His voice grew muffled as Brett collapsed face first in his bed, and pulled the covers over himself.
The day had gone from bad, to worse, to weird, to insane….and whatever he had eaten to cause this dream he was never, ever eating again.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Janos sat quietly on the floor of main room of the Master’s house. He had turned off all the lights so that his Mater wouldn’t be disturbed by them. He didn’t’ mind sitting in the dark anyway, especially since the place was the warmest he had been in…in years.
He probably should have been trying to sleep, but he was simply too excited, and too afraid to sleep. He couldn’t bear to wake only to find that it was all a dream.
Janos sighed pleasantly, he couldn’t ask for more. He had found his Master after so long….even though he seemed totally different from what Janos imagined, did not recognize what he or Janos was, nor seemed to understand their language. But still….it alone was enough to make him cry with joy.
And he was clean, something that hadn’t happened in quite a while as well. His mouth was tingling and fresh, a true gift at that.
Janos practically purred as he pulled the soft blanket around himself.
Such kindness….Master had already given him so much that Janos wasn’t sure how he would show his gratitude.
The Master’s bath needed to be cleaned, that much was certain. He had left a rather dirty ring in it, and the drain seemed to be partially clogged by the thick strands of his hair that he had pulled out while trying to un-knot it.
He couldn’t leave it like that, heavens no, it would be an insult to his Master, a mockery of his kindness.
But now that he had begun to relax a little, Janos realized he was worn out and sore, crashing into that vehicle had been jarring on his legs….and the back of his head didn’t exactly feel nice.
He was tired….amped up yes….but tired. He had been active since before the sun had first rose…though the days felt so short compared to home. He wasn’t sure what day it was, if it was a new day or not because of it all.
A short nap then….he couldn’t very well accomplish much if he was too tired and Master had told him to be at home. So a short nap it was….and then he could get to it.
The blanket had a soft, spring breeze like scent to it that Janos inhaled deeply as he stretched out on the floor.
It was all so…nice….he almost didn’t feel worthy.
“Master is so kind….” Janos whispered as he closed his eyes.
To be continued.