Broken Kingdom Ch. 04

"For a good month I've been working and staying low like you said. I kept shut and didn't socialize whatsoever and then one day I'm coming home from the night shift and I see like these people in heavy armor just staring me down. Obviously I'm gonna get spooked, bro have you seen our neighborhood?"

Aaron smiled and agreed with Thane, the reaction was definitely normal. He offered Thane a cigarette stating that it'll calm his nerves but he stuck to his views, there was no way he was voluntarily setting himself up for cancer. Thane politely refused and watched Aaron enthusiastically speed up the hourglass of his life before continuing. "So, I change direction and then they start following me. This is when I know I'm the target or someone on their list, come on I watch tv man. Next thing I know I'm being hunted." Thane spoke with sheer desperation as he spilled every bit of information to Aaron.

"That's when you heard the voice?" Thane nodded after bumming a cigarette off Aaron, it only took a look back at the incident to rearrange his priorities. Suddenly, death by cancer seemed to be the least of his troubles. Even though the cigarette weighed next to nothing, his hand shook uncontrollably. Aaron saw his reluctance and as a twisted act of kindness performed the honors of lighting it for him. "The voice is the one giving you the links right?"

Once again Thane just nodded as he inhaled the cancerous toxins, holding them inside for a moment before forcing them out of his body. His lungs soon followed as he nearly coughed them out, it took a few more puffs to get his body adjusted to the toxins. "How bad is it looking?" He wasn't naive enough to think the incident wouldn't warrant a punishment. While Aaron could definitely understand his situation, there was no way he was going to overlook it.

"For starters, I can't get a trace of the woman you were with. I found the blood trail of the bodies but not the bodies so I don't know who you're talking about. Then we got the fact that you have someone in your head that's causing these blackouts and finally, there's someone that can take control over your body and really fuck shit up for you. So I guess it's looking pretty fucking bad Thane, pretty motherfucking bad."

"None of that shit was my fault, I did exactly what you fucking said!" This was the first time Thane had raised his voice in front of Aaron, the act alone could've gotten him killed. Fortunately, Aaron felt the need to light up another cigarette instead of discipline him.

"Did I say it was your fault?" Midway through lighting his cigarette, Aaron managed to completely derail Thane's hate speech. "I said it's looking bad, I never said it couldn't be fixed." Both of them inhaled deeply and in turn relaxed a bit, easing tensions all around. "I got a solution, you ain't gonna like it but it's your only bet."

It wasn't like he had any other option so he heard Aaron out and just like Aaron pointed out, he did not like it. The solution was less of a solution and more of a life altering punishment. "What kind of solution is that? Give up my power? For what? Why?" Aaron laughed and mockingly shook his head, after which he reminded Thane that he didn't have to take it. Thane already understood from his tone that this meant nothing for him, Aaron didn't care if he took it or not. From the way it sounded, he could find a thousand more just like him. The world was saturated with wolves apparently.

"What happens after that?" Thane bit the bullet, Aaron was more of an advantage than the random person that could potentially take over Thane's body whenever he wanted.

"There's this lady." From the way Aaron smiled, Thane already knew he was not going to like this. "Her ability is to switch the powers of other people. She can't do shit by herself so that's why she works with the organization, the big ass pay don't hurt neither. So, yea you lose this power but you get something else."

"Oh thank god, I thought I was going to lose everything." The relief was short-lived, very short-lived as he heard about the process and a bit more about the woman. She lived in a pretty large house in a private community so he didn't have to worry about getting caught, or found in his case. The weird part was how her ability was activated, in order for her to do whatever she does she needed to actively fuck the patient. She also needed to orgasm and from Aaron's unnaturally specific description, it was extremely hard. Kinky did not do justice to what she was.

"Uhh, how umm." Thane couldn't control the embarrassment as his cheeks turned beat red. "She like, uhh." Thankfully Aaron understood what the bumbling idiot was trying to say, the odds were definitely not in Thane's favor. The woman also happened to be in her fifties and the process usually took two days, at the very least. Just to give Thane more of a complex, the person who finished the process in two days was considered a god in bed.

"Now I know you fucking with me. You just like J man, exaggerating motherfucker." Thane, being a quick learner, readily adopted Aaron's technique of holding the cigarette. With his right hand slightly balled up, the cigarette sat snuggly between the ring finger and pinky with the filter placed carefully between the index and thumb.. Everytime they took a puff, they snapped their fingers, softly, on the way down to knock off the ash accumulating at the end.

Aaron stood and tossed his pack to Thane before winking, "Alert man, I like that. Them shits I gave you right now is for the fuck. Whenever the fucker tries to talk to you, get a bit of info and be like you gotta light up. That shit will break the communication for a while and when you got some shit solid for me, just hit me up."

Thane looked at the nicotine laced stick with a new found love, the disgust turned into admiration in a heartbeat. The cancer magnet was a step closer towards gaining control back of his life. He smiled and leaned against the wall, right foot wrapping around the other before taking another puff. This time he merely opened his mouth and let the fumes take their time exiting his body

Aaron also gave him a moment to process everything before laying out his options for the future. "Fuck laying low, I need to know who the fucker in your head is and how the fuck he got in there. When does he pop?"

Thane knocked off the ash from the end and shrugged his shoulders, "Like I said man, I wasn't hearing his voice until the manhunt. Before I just had some blackouts." Thane didn't like the thought of sharing his body, and mind, either but he couldn't simply conjure up a solution. "I know he likes to fuck though."

The comment did pretty well on accessing Aaron's curiosity. Thane explained that he remembered bits and pieces of each link. At first he just thought they were fantasies but after physically hearing the voice and letting him take over, the truth was obvious. The only memories that he had were quick and fleeting but he remembered keenly that they all involved blowjobs.

"Blowjobs?"

"Naa straight up balls deep status." Aaron's eyebrow remained firmly raised as Thane described the intruder's fetish, specifically his love for deepthroating. "Whenever the fucker tried to fuck it was like half-assed. He just went back to getting blown."

It was then that Thane remembered what the voice had told him, he would make links for Thane. All he had to do was point out who he wanted to recruit, everything else would be taken care of. Amanda was linked the same way as was Veruca. Hee rubbed out the remainder of the cigarette on the corner of the wall, "I know how to get him."

Thane couldn't believe the solution was that easy, all he had to do was find women that he wanted to fuck and the voice would do everything for him. All he had to do was ask some questions beforehand and slowly they could get an identity. Aaron, on the other hand simply shook his head and gave Thane an intent stare of disappointment. When he still couldn't figure out the stupidity of the plan, Aaron proceeded to point it out for him.

"So to catch the guy you're going to mind wipe dozens of women." He let that sit for while before continuing. "And motherfucker, how do you know that the links are even yours. What if he's just using your body and making the links his?" Fortunately Thane's brain connected the dots and he quickly retracted his plan.

"So what do I do?"

"Like I said, go to the woman." Aaron took out an address and handed it to him, "I was exaggerating about the age. She's in her early forties, everything else was on point. Use the cigs until she fixes you. Now if you don't have any other great ideas to share, get the fuck going."

Thane left the motel room to embrace the comfort of the rain clouds. The wind blew at just the right speed to cool the body while the occasional droplet of rain created an atmosphere of remembrance. He leaned against the railing for a moment taking in the view, the single tree placed abnormally in the middle of parking lot stood stronger than ever. It held but a mere amount of branches and even less leaves, it was a miracle it was still considered alive. Every aspect of it sounded like it was on its way out, however despite the odds it remained perfectly still. The trunk of the tree stood proud, almost tempting the wind to push harder.

Thane, with his hands placed comfortably in his pockets, walked down the steps towards the parking lot. He could feel droplets escaping the clouds at a faster rate, the wind also seemed to speed up. The tree looked more majestic with each step, the leaves actually looked brighter the closer he got. The trunk was the thickest he saw, probably the sturdiest as well as he glanced over the unfinished carving. The artist must've gave up halfway, carving into such a beast couldn't have been an easy feat. He just had to get in contact with this magnificent creation.

"Eh yo nature boy!" The yell knocked him out of his daze. "How bad are you fucking tripping!?"

Thane looked at the tree again and saw something far less than satisfying, the tree was not much taller than him and the trunk was slightly bigger than his arm. He couldn't see where the other tree ran off to, this was nothing compared to the godly representation of nature that he saw before. Aaron this time picked up an empty soda can and launched it at Thane's head, even though Thane stood a good distance away he was so dazed he tried to headbutt the can thinking it was a soccer ball. The bump and slight bleeding hinted at the fact the strange artifact was not a soccer ball.

"What the fuck did you take!?" Aaron was slightly worried about Thane's condition, he even looked at his cigarette to make sure he didn't pass him something strange. Thane just stared with a dumbfounded expression, mostly staring in space and keeping his mouth open for the flies to take shelter. "Oh fuck, oh fuck, fuck fuck fuck fuck." Aaron knew exactly what was happening.

He raced down the steps, effectively jumping over the bottom half and performing failed hollywood stunts over cars before reaching his target. He shoved the cigarette in his mouth and forced his jaw shut before closing off the airflow through the nose. Having no other option, Thane inhaled deeply the toxins before Aaron let a pinch of clean air get in. Once again, Thane nearly coughed his lungs out.

"What the fuck was that for?" The statement took a while to formulate as he constantly had to take a moment to catch his breath. Thane stood with his back bent over, holding his knees for support while his saliva glands kicked themselves into overdrive. Every other second was used to spit out the excess saliva accumulating in the confused young adult's mouth.

Aaron also had to catch his breath, impersonating a stunt double was no easy feat afterall. "The fucker was making you light headed so he could take over.'

"That's not possible man, he asks before he takes over my body."

"Oh my bad, I forgot you got a polite motherfucking hijacker. I'm sorry, you know what just summon him up again and I'll apologize for my rude ass behavior." The sarcasm was strong, it was injected into every letter of every word.

Thane was about to speak when Aaron, frustration clearly evident on his face, shushed him and refused to give him an oppurtunity to speak. He couldn't even open his mouth. Furthermore, everytime he tried to take out the cigarette, Aaron forced it back in. It took some persuasion but Thane understood the concept, he was the bitch in the situation and his only role was to follow orders.

"Here's the fucking address, there's a taxi waiting for you already paid for. Keep smoking that shit, light a new one if you fucking have to. Fuck it you know what, do whatever. I'm out, I'm tired of this shit." He slapped the small chit of paper on Thane's chest and put his hands back into hoody before storming off. Once he passed the motel entrance, he snapped his fingers and continued with his path.

The fuck did I do? In the midst of the confusion, one thing was certain. He had to keep inhaling the cancerous particles making sweet love to his lungs until he was fixed. As he thought about the way Aaron had said it, he felt sort of like a dog about to get neutered.

Thane quickly made his way into the taxi and gave the driver the address but he calmly denied it stating that he already knew where to go. The driver spoke with grand hand gestures and during one such gesture, exposed his ring finger that also had the hourglass tattoo on it. Although on his, the top half of the hourglass was empty while the bottom was completely full. He wanted to ask the unusually talkative driver about the tattoo but something prompted him otherwise, he couldn't quite place it but he knew he shouldn't ask. The closest one would come to describing it would be calling it a gut feeling. Thane didn't feel any type of discomfort or reluctance talking about any other topic but as soon as he got closer to the organization and the power phenomenon, the gut feeling came back. It was like instinct was telling him to stay shut.

The ride was quite short surprisingly, it was so quick that he didn't even register what roads they took. Actually, he didn't remember the way whatsoever. It was a complete blur. Thane remembered getting in the car and talking to the cabbie and even remembered taking a few turns but for the life of him he couldn't remember which roads they took or even where this private community was located. He had been around the neighborhood countless times, drifting further out sometimes as well but he had never heard of Warwick Hills. The name seemed to come out of a cheesy fantasy novel written by a recent college graduate with no talent in writing trying to write an erotic novel.

After he got out of the cab, the driver put the pedal on the metal and sped off. All Thane heard was a screeching sound when the driver made a sharp right at the end of the block, completely running the solid red light. What the hell? That wasn't the only weird thing to happen either, Thane couldn't remember the cabbie's face or any characteristic of him. He didn't even remember the cabbie's voice or if the cabbie was a guy or girl. Somehow everything about the person just faded from his mind. He remembered everything they talked about however, down to the dirty jokes but nothing remotely close to an image came up.

Even weirder was the fact that there was only one house in the so called gated community, the security guard didn't even bother to look at him but did let him inside however. Since Thane was already on guard, his senses were all on high alert. As he glanced over the guard he saw the same hourglass symbol on his ring finger, the same symbol the cabbie had as well. The top half was completely empty and the bottom was full. Needless to say, Thane was starting to get goosebumps. He stepped into fear territory when he walked a couple feet away from the security booth, beside the symbol he had no recollection of the security guard. When he looked back, the booth was well over a mile away but he was sure he took no more than six steps.

The madness didn't stop there, the entire distance from the security booth and the house was devoid of life. The place had the foundations of houses setup but nothing more, like they were abandoned before serious work even started. Not wanting to give into the fear, Thane carefully took out his headphones and silently plugged them into an old mp3 player. It was the best he could afford with his meager salary, that was apparently his punishment for getting on Aaron's nerves. With the headphones in, he threw safety out the window as he blasted soothing instrumental music on the highest possible volume. Once the music began to work on his nerves, he continued his way to the only house in the premises.

Although he only took a few steps he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched. As evidence from his previous feats of ultra-masculine bravery, he decided to walk faster. He was here on a mission after all, there was no point in doing side quests. This was life, not a game where one could reload as many times as they wanted. After what seemed like hours, Thane looked back and saw he was not more than a few feet from the security gate. He was completely sure that he was walking towards the house, it was right in front of him. He saw it the entire time. As soon as he turned back to look, he found himself right back at the security gate.

The music did nothing to his nerves now, he was in a state of utter panic. He could not only sense someone watching him but now feel it as well. Thane darted towards the house, running as fast he could before running out of breath a few minutes later. He was sure he made it to the entrance of the house by now, he saw himself closing in with remarkable speed. Once he regained his breath he stood upright but found himself once again being watched. This time whoever was watching him seemed to get closer. Panicked, Thane looked back and once again saw the security booth.

What the fuck! He screamed mentally, not wanting to draw anymore attention to himself.

This time however, as he faced the security booth he felt someone was right behind him. Standing over his shoulder, almost a foot taller than him leering down at him. He quickly turned and punched wildly, fists going in every direction while his eyes remained sealed. The lack of contact forced him to open his eyes to adjust his aim but he saw nothing, more specifically he was directly in front of the house. The short white wooden fence door remained open, welcoming him inside. Nothing seemed to be making sense but he knew one thing, that if he looked back there was no telling when he was going to get out of the loop.

He quickly entered the property's premises and rushed inside the front door. In all honesty, he didn't even get to see what the house looked like. the only thing he remembered was a large suburban house with a two car garage. It had to be at least three stories but nothing more, it also didn't really fit the theme of the area he was in. The name of the community just didn't fit the house, it made no sense. The one constant however was the feeling of being watched, he could still feel someone standing right behind him watching his every move. The very fiber of his being wanted to turn around and look but previous mistakes tend not to be repeated.

The inside, although beautiful, had a vague but sinister aura. He could feel literally hundreds upon hundreds of eyes watching, judging his every move. Thane couldn't tell if his mind was playing tricks on him or if he was actually the star of a twisted movie. Remembering what Aaron had told him, he took out another cigarette and lit the end before inhaling deeply. Instead of eliminating his fears, it only served to bring them to new heights. The eyes quickly revealed themselves, but they weren't eyes. They were cameras, hundreds of them all aimed at different parts of the house. The living room, the room in which he stood, had at least eight cameras and those were the ones he could see.