The Coffee Shop Pt. 04

"Holy shit!" Mr. Black exclaimed as he watched Mr. Red carrying out my commands. The shock on his face was only momentary. He launched a few more bolts at me has he resumed his interrupted attack on my mind.

I steeled myself to continue with my task, as I deflected a few more bolts from Mr. Black. I lashed out at Mr. Black's shield, but this time I tried something different. I sent out a long string of mental energy and wrapped it about Mr. Black's shield like a snake coiling about its prey. Slowly I tightened the coil, increasing the pressure on Mr. Black's mind until I could feel his shield stiffen in response to this new form of attack. Mr. Black stopped launching bolts at my shield as he struggled to deal with my attack on his shield.

I felt another shield go pop and turned my attention to that man. I repeated the same steps with this man as I had with Mr. Red, and during the process I discovered that the name he responded to was Mr. Green. (Originality didn't count for much around here, apparently.) I burned my commands into his mind and then told him to get up onto his hands and knees and wait for my commands. I had only just finished that, when the third shield collapsed. I wasted no time in taking care of the last of Mr. Black's associates. I knew that an unshielded mind could be badly damaged if I didn't halt my mental attack immediately. In only a few heartbeats this man too, who answered to the name of Mr. Yellow, had my commands burned into his mind. With the last threat neutralized I could turn my full attention on Mr. Black. I glanced back at Mr. Green and Mr. Yellow as they knelt there on all fours, looking up at me and smiling a dumb smile. I felt an instant of pleasure, like a feather caressing my face. I shrugged it off, as I turned back to look at Mr. Black.

I could feel a few beads of sweat trickle down the side of my flushed face. Maintaining that coil about Mr. Black's shield was taking more effort and energy than I had thought it would. To my surprise, Mr. Black was pushing the coil off of his shield. In a few more minutes he would have it off and be free to attack my shield again. I withdrew the coil and diverted the energy into my shield stiffening it as much as I could. I waited for Mr. Black to renew his attack.

"Well done, Paul," Mr. Black said with a smile. "Looks like you're pushing yourself too hard though."

I looked at his face. The bastard hadn't even broken a sweat! Here I was pushing myself more than I had ever thought possible, trying new forms of attack that I had never even envisioned before and my opponent was shrugging it off as it was a simple slap in the face! "Shit! I'm really in over my head!" I thought to myself. As I waited for Mr. Black to begin his attack on my shield, I suddenly realized that I would lose for sure if I continued this battle with that attitude. Outclassed or not, failure was not an option! Even if I burned out my mind and wound up as nothing more than a mental vegetable, I would still win. Mr. Black would not have the information that he wanted so badly, and I would be beyond his ability to hurt me any further. I had nothing to lose.

Mr. Black's first bolt blasted on my shield like a small atomic bomb. I felt the impact, but it didn't hurt. A second and third bolt followed. I deflected those bolts as well, but I could feel the strength of my shield start to dip just a tiny bit. Quickly I strengthened it.

"Impressive. But you are far from my equal," Mr. Black replied with that damn smirk on his face.

Several more bolts lanced out at my shield. I deflected them all, but at the cost of my shield weakening a bit more. Again I reinforced it. I had a lot of energy in reserve. The question now was who would run out of energy first? Mr. Black or me? I suppose I could have launched a few blots of my own at him, but something held me back. I wasn't afraid of hurting him, far from it. Something was scurrying about in the back of my mind, telling me that attacking Mr. Black's shield was not the way to win this fight. As I deflected several more bolts, I struggled to snare that thought. I felt that this thought was important, and I had been too distracted to understand what my instinct was trying to tell me. Finally it clicked. Lyle! I smiled to myself as the memory of my victory of that fight flooded into my mind. "Resistance is futile. Assimilation is the key," I finally remembered. I stopped stiffening my shield. I let my shield go as soft as I could. I imagined my shield to be a big softy comfy pillow surrounding my mind. Mr. Black's next bolt crashed into my now softened and sagging shield. The bolt penetrated part way into my shield, and then dissipated as my shield absorbed the energy of the bolt, and made that energy its own. Finally I had remembered the correct way to fight. My way.

I smiled back at Mr. Black as I felt several more bolts of his plow into my shield and be absorbed. My smile grew bigger as Mr. Black's face lost the smirk that he had been wearing for the last little while. After a few more minutes, Mr. Black stopped launching his bolts at my mind.

"Interesting defense," he commented. "However, you can't win that way. Maybe I can't crack that type of shield but you can't attack me while you're hiding behind it. I would call this a stalemate, except that I can call for help, where as you do not have that option."

"I wouldn't think of hiding behind my shield," I responded, as I prepared my little surprise for Mr. Black. I thrust out a soft mushy mental bolt with a long thick line trailing it, towards Mr. Black's shield. He snorted in amusement as he saw the bolt heading his way. The instant my bolt contact his shield though, things changed. My leach bolt, as I liked to think of it, started siphoning off the energy from Mr. Black's shield and pumped it back into my mind along the trailing line.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Mr. Black cried out in surprise.

"Defending myself," I answered as I launched a stream of diamond hard mental bolts at Mr. Black's shield. He had no choice. He had to continue to pour energy into his shield in order to fend off my continuous attack on his shield. While at the same time, my leach bolt was draining the energy from his shield as fast as he could replace it. Like some kind of mental machine gun, I kept firing a steady stream of mental bolts at Mr. Black's shield. All the while I was siphoning off his mental energy like some super absorbent paper towels soaking up a spill.

'Red, green, yellow, help me!" Mr. Black cried out to his assistants.

I looked over at the three gentlemen who were positioned on their hands and knees looking at me and smiling. I was going to enjoy this.

"No, sir." "Sorry, sir." "No." They answered one after the other, as they remained where they were.

"What the fuck do you mean?" Mr. Black screamed out as fear started to place its icy hands on his shoulders. "I'm in charge here! You do as I say!"

"Only if Mr. Walton says so," Mr. Red replied as he looked over at Mr. Black. Mr. Red turned back to look at me and nodded his head at me smiling all the while.

I looked over at the other two gentlemen. They nodded their heads in silent agreement with Mr. Red's statement, as they stared at me.

"This can't be happening!" Mr. Black cried out in fear and frustration as he felt his shield slipping away.

"I assure you that this is indeed happening," I said to Mr. Black as I ignored the terror that I could see in his eyes.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING TO ME????" Mr. Black bellowed at me, as panic started to overtake him.

I could clearly hear the terror in his voice, as a dagger dripping with fear plunged into his heart, but it didn't move me in the slightest. I didn't give a damn about him. All I wanted was to rip away his shield and exact my revenge upon him. All I needed was a few more minutes, and Mr. Black knew it. I ignored his continued pleas as I concentrated on my task. The pleasure that surged through me as I felt Mr. Black's shield crumble away, is difficult to put into words. It wasn't erotic or sexual in any way. It merely felt good. I guess satisfaction would be the best word to use. As I swept away the last few crumbs of Mr. Black's shield, I pondered for just a few seconds as to what I should have him do.

"Freeze in place. You obey only me," I said quietly as I looked directly into Mr. Black's eyes. I put every ounce of my power and ability into those two thoughts, as I sent them out to him. I tried to think of some other command to implant into his mind, but I couldn't think of anything. So, I fell back on what I had used with the other gentlemen. "You will obey every command and instruction I give you. Each and every time you obey me, you experience profound joy and happiness. Your greatest joy comes from serving and obeying me in all things. My commands override any and all commands given to you by anyone else," I projected into his mind. I wanted to mentally see these commands burn into the very fabric of Mr. Black's mind. I was disappointed with the apparent ease in which they buried themselves into his mind and were accepted by his conscious and subconscious minds. I had expected more of a fight from him. In fact I had hoped for a fight from Mr. Black. Wrestling him to the mat, in the mental arena of his mind, would have been so much more satisfying. As it was, I felt empty and slightly frustrated.

Suspecting a trick or some deception on his part, I walked over to stand next to Mr. Black. I placed the finger tips of my right hand on his unresisting forehead. I sent forth a powerful mental probe and scanned Mr. Black's mind looking for any trace of resistance. I found no evidence of resistance or deception, but I did find something. A thin silken line, much like a spider's thread, lying in his mind. I instantly recognized it for what it was, a tracer thread. Someone had inserted a tracer thread into Mr. Black's mind, with or without his cooperation, and had been monitoring what had been happening to him. I examined the thread carefully. I was surprised to discover that it was cut off clean just at the surface of his mind. Whomever had been monitoring his mind had either cut that thread before I'd discovered it, or the thread had been cut during our battle. In any case, there was now the distinct possibility that someone had observed the mental battle from the perspective of Mr. Black's mind. I filed that fact away for later consideration. Right now I had to find my way out of this room of horrors.

I blinked a few times as I focused on Mr. Black. It took me a few seconds to realize that he was now on his hands and knees smiling at me. I had not told him to do that. I wondered why he had acted without my instructions. I was about to yell at him, until I realized that he had probably jumped to the conclusion that since the other three men had been ordered to get down on all fours, that he should do the same. Even fully under my control he was an intelligent man, who kept his wits about him. But now what was I going to do with these men? I could have them shoot themselves. I knew they would do it if I told them to. The monster within me demand nothing less. "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and a life for a life!" Screamed the demon in my mind. "They killed Andy! They should die! Justice demands it!" I couldn't agree more. I couldn't bring Andy back, but I could make these bastards pay the ultimate price. I licked my lips as I savored the thought. I look about the room, lifting my gaze from Mr. Black. The other three men were exactly where I'd left them. They hadn't budged an inch. I complete my survey of the room and my gaze came to rest upon the crumpled form of Andy's limp and lifeless body.

I stared at Andy, lost as the horror of the moment rained down upon me anew. I could feel the tears well up in my eyes. My vision blurred as I blinked away the tears. My cheeks felt wet as a few tears trickled their way down the sides of my face. I walked over to where Andy's lifeless body sat bound in that chair. I knelt there in front of Andy, my heart overflowed with sorrow and sadness. The demon in my mind still demanded a sacrifice, four of them in fact, but I wasn't listening to the demon any more. What I heard were Andy's words telling me how much he loved me, and that what he loved most about me was my kind and caring heart. As much as I might want to do this, as much as I thirsted to see the life blood tricking out of the bodies of these four men, I knew that I couldn't do it. I couldn't disgrace Andy's memory like that. Andy loved me for what I had never done. I had never crossed the line, and when I had come so close to the edge, he had been there to pull me back. He wasn't there to pull me back any more, only his memory was. But it was enough. Somehow I managed to put the chains back on the demon and banish him back into the deep dark well at the bottom of my soul. I had lost so much today, but I would not lose the memory of the respect and admiration that Andy had once had for me. Maybe someday I'd lose my soul to the devil, but not today.

With strength of will that I didn't know I had, I pushed aside the thoughts of making these men kill themselves. I still wanted to make them pay, but perhaps I could make it a more positive experience. After all they could die only once, where as if they were alive I could continue to exact my vengeance from them. My memories of Andy would not permit me to consider anything demeaning, such as turning them in gay prostitutes who would trick for me. I didn't need the money, and they didn't need to risk their lives like that. Besides such a drastic change in behavior would be extremely difficult to explain or to cover up. So it had to be something that would give me satisfaction, be of a benefit to me, and would not attract undo attention. I puzzled over those requirements for a few minutes as I tried to think of something.

I smiled to myself as an idea came to me. I slowly stood up. "Gentlemen, pick up your guns, holster them, and then all of you come and stand in front of me," I directed them. They scrambled to their feet as they rushed to obey me. The grins never left their faces. Moments later all four men were standing in front of me, relaxed and happy at having obeyed my orders. "Now listen carefully, boys," I continued. "I need you to come over every weekend and do my housework. You are all going to be my house boys during the weekend. Whatever chores need to be done, from doing the dishes to washing the kitchen floors or scrubbing the walls, you will do. And you will do it with a smile on your faces. You will wear whatever clothes I tell you to wear, or no clothes if I so indicate. At the conclusion of the weekend, you will work out what you consider to be a fair wage for the work you have done, and then you will pay me that amount of money." I waited to let my instruction sink in. The four men looked at me and smiled as they wordlessly nodded their heads in agreement. "Any questions?" I asked.

"Will there be enough work for all of us?" asked Mr. Black, as he looked at me, a slight frown crossing his face.

"I should have made myself clearer. Only one of you will come over to my apartment on the weekend, so on average you will each have one weekend a month to be my house boy. I leave you, Mr. Black to work out the details of the schedule. You must insure that there are no noticeable or unusual changes in your schedules and routines, or in those of your associates here. Except when we are alone like this, you will NOT treat me any differently than before. The weekend shift will start at noon Saturday and end when I send that person home on Sunday. When each of you in turn reports for your shift as my house boy, you will dress up in a suit and tie, and bring a change of clothes with you that includes jeans or casual pants, extra underwear socks and a casual shirt or two. You will phone my apartment before you come over to check to see if I want you to report for duty. There may be weekends when I want to be alone, and if that is the case you will respect my wishes." I paused again to let my words sink into their minds. I thought about supplying them with my address and my phone number, but if they knew all this about me, it was a foregone conclusion that they knew my telephone number and where I lived. If not, I knew that they could find out easily enough.

"Any other questions?" I asked after a minute or so of silence.

Mr. Black looked at the other three men. They exchanged glances for a few seconds, and shook their heads slightly from side to side. "I don't think so, Mr. Walton, sir," Mr. Black answered me, as he glanced one more time at the other men to confirm his statement. They nodded their heads at him in silent agreement. "I would like to take this opportunity to say that my associates and I look forward to serving you in whatever capacity that you deem fit," he said as he fawned on me. "We, look forward to providing you with a few extra dollars. It is the least we can do, to make up for all the inconvenience that we have caused you today."

"INCONVIENCE!!!" I screamed out at him, as my temper flared white hot, and threatened to melt away what little control I still had over myself. "You call the MURDER of my soul mate, and threatening my family an INCONVIENCE?"

"Oh no, sir," he replied, shaken at the unexpected venom of my verbal attack. "I didn't mean that at all. Please let me explain, sir. What I meant to say was.."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!!!" I screamed out, cutting off his words with my knife edged voice of fury. "I don't want to hear another word from you about what this! Just go and stand in the corner, and don't say a word until I call for you!" I was amazed at my self control, considering the circumstances. Mr. Black was damn lucky that I hadn't told him to blow his brains out. The grief I was wallowing in was so overwhelming that for just a split second I had almost told him to do just that, to blow his brains out. In his current state, he would have done it. I watched as Mr. Black turned away from me and walked slowly to the nearest corner of the room. He stood there silently, trembling slightly. Satisfied that he was no longer going to need my attention, I was free to turn it back to the other men in the room.

"The rest of you go and guard that door. Don't let anyone in. Is that clear?" I called out to the other three men.

"Yes, sir!" "Right away, sir!" At once, sir!" Came the various replies. The three of them trotted off in the direction of the door, like a squad of soldiers following their drill sergeant's orders.

Now, finally, I could turn my attention back to Andy. Things were under control, and I wouldn't be interrupted for the next few minutes. I looked at Andy. The cold unfeeling lump of stone that my heart had become, got colder. I dropped to my knees beside Andy, on his right side. I carefully peeled the duct tape off of his mouth. My eyes swam with tears as I placed my lips on his and kissed him goodbye. His lips were still warm and soft, and I savored the feeling of his lips against mine, unresponsive as they were. I put my head into Andy's lap, with my face turned away from him. I didn't want to see his lifeless face tear blurred. I wanted to remember Andy's face alive with life, love and joy. At last the pain and agony I had been holding back broke through I started to sob and wail as the despair overtook me. I let my tears flow freely, uncaring at where they might land. I cradled my head, as best I could on Andy's lap and mourned. I gave into my despair and grief. I let it flow over me and through me. Perhaps if you have lost a dear loved one, you have some idea of what I was going through then. If you have never suffered such a loss, I envy you.

As I knelt there weeping over my loss of Andy, other thoughts occasionally intruded. I wondered how I was going to explain this to his family, and police buddies. I was saddened even more with the knowledge that Andy's name would not be added to list of those on the small Honor Roll monument next to the parade square at the DEPOT. (For those of you not familiar with it, the DEPOT is the Police Academy for the RCMP. Next to the parade square there is a small cairn for all those constables who have given their lives in the line of duty.) Andy had not been killed in the line of duty, so his name would not be added to that honored list. I grieved that he had been cheated out of even that small acknowledgment of his life, and his love of his duty. Life was so God DAMNED unfair, sometimes!!!!