The Talents of the Fallen - 3. Part Three: Escape into Nightmares

Chapter Three: Escape into the Nightmares

As Landon lay on the pile of furs the Master went to his desk. From a locked drawer he pulled out a curved knife. He held the knife out to Landon with both hands.

“Master?”

“You said you are willing to do anything. Take this knife and kill the other six.”

“The other six Proctors?”

“Yes… they are your true enemies. After all only one of you can become one of my Chosen.”

“But that would be…”

“Murder… since when has that ever been a problem for you? Ah… I remember. Seven ago I sent you to deal with a slight inconvenience?”

“Slight? You had me kill my mother!” Realizing he shouted, he lowered his head in shame. “Forgive me Master. I didn’t mean to offend.”

“No offense will be taken if you do as I command. Kill the others or I will let them have the boy. I am the Master… I should be all you need, not some kid without any Talent.”

Landon’s eyes went wide. Had he been that obvious that Aaron could be used against him? “Of course Master. You are all I’ll ever need.”

“Then show it by proving you are my strongest disciple. Do it and I will not only make you my next Chosen I will free the boy.”

Without a second thought he took the knife and stormed out of the room. On the other side he saw the acts of cannibalisms were in full swing. He saw his first pair of targets. A pair of Proctors were draining the blood of a set of twins. With two slashes of the knife both were on the ground with their throats cut. He moved on to the next and then another. He had eliminated four of the six before anyone noticed what he was doing.

The Trustees and Prefects attempted to flee but the doors were locked. Seeing their danger the two remaining Proctors paired up. They might not have a knife but they still were armed with the power of their Talents.

Joining their wills the remaining two Proctors condensed the air around them to form a wall of wind. They flung their wall at Landon but he was ready. He had formed his own wall and used it to shield himself from the attack. Those standing behind him were not so lucky. They were squished like jelly against the dome’s marble walls.

Seeing their situation, the remaining Prefects and Trustees moved as far as possible between the duelers. One who did not move fast enough was lifted off the ground and thrown like a spear at Landon. Landon still covered by his shield grabbed the man with his Talent and flung him back at his attackers.

“Why are you doing this Landon?” One of the two demanded. “We never meant you any harm?”

“Because the Master wishes it.”

“The Master… but why?” Their eyes darted to the closed doors that led to the Master’s quarters. “Have we not served him loyally? What have we done to anger him?”

“You know things work… Those too weak to hold their own are nothing but meat.” Landon grabbed six of the cowering Trustees with his kinetic Talent and flung them as a group at the pair. Both were knocked off their feet.”

“When did you get so strong?” One asked as he helped the other up.

Time to end this. “I’ve always been. For that I ask your forgiveness.” Before they could reply he dropped half the copula on their heads.

While the duel was over the danger had yet to pass. He knew the Master would not let Aaron go, not after this display of power. He would use Aaron to force him to do worse things. Landon could not allow that. He would have to keep the Master distracted long enough to give Aaron time to escape with Hal.

He concentrated his will and reached down into the bowls of his prison. With his Talent he burst the boilers and gas pipes and fried the power generators. That left only the Master to deal with. He went back towards the doors and with a thought they burst open.

Inside the Master was waiting for him. Instead of fear or anger he looked quite pleased. “My dear boy… you have indeed proven yourself worthy.”

“The boy… you promised you would free him.”

“Did I…? I suppose I did, but is it in the boy’s best interests to be let loose on the wider world. The Coven is the only life he knows, the only family he’ll ever have.”

“Better out there than part of your nightmare.” Landon felt his resolve weaken. He might be a stronger kinetic and had more than a few tricks up his sleeves but no one could match the Master’s Talents in empathic projection. If he was to kill the Master he would have to act fast. With his Talent he sent the knife at the Master with the speed of a bullet. It hit the Master in the heart.

The Master did not fall. He looked at the knife as if it were a butterfly that had landed on his shirt. With a brush of his fingers he pulled the knife out. “Now my turn.” With the smallest bit of concentration he lashed out his mental and emotional Talents and plunged Landon’s mind into a world of horrors. All he had seen and done his he had been kidnapped ran through his mind over and over again like a broken record. In his mind he screamed and begged to be killed. Better dead than live the rest of his life trapped in this hell.

Only when the Master was certain his wayward disciple was well and truly broken did he release his power over him.

When his mind cleared Landon found himself stripped naked at the Master’s feet. His face was splotched red from crying. “Forgive me Master. Forgive me.” The floor beneath him dropped, rose, then flattened.

“It is already forgotten. Look, I even brought you a gift.” He handed him a glass of wine. “You will find this quite the rare vintage.” Landon took the glass and drained it. It had a salty metallic taste. Blood…not any blood but the Master’s.

The ground beneath him dropped then rose again. Looking around Landon noticed he was not in the Master’s quarters but on a ship. Looking out the window he saw they were in the middle of a storm. “Master?”

“Oh my poor wayward son… you left quite a mess. All those boys… burned to a crisp. That idiotic Council will demand an inquiry. Heads will roll but you and I will be fine and that’s all that matters.”

“They’re all dead?”

“Those that did escape will not survive long. My hounds are hunting them down. They might tell the authorities more than they should. Do not worry. They will die for a good cause. That is more than most men can say.

“The boy… did he die too?”

“There was no way he could have escaped the fire. Does that trouble you?”

With Aaron dead Landon’s last reason for resisting the Master died inside him. “No. All that is left is you my Master as it should be.” Landon took the Master’s hand and kissed the skull ring.

The Master placed a hand on Landon’s head and gave him his dark blessing. He then had Landon rise and accept his embrace. “Don’t worry… soon as we settle down at our new home we’ll get you a whole slew of coverts. Won’t you like that?” Reaching down he gave Landon’s cock a hard squeeze.

“The more of us there are, the better we can serve you my Master.”

Aaron wasn’t dead, though he wished he had. After Landon had left to answer the Master’s summons they waited several minutes before leaving. Hal had stuffed him back into the basket and covered him up, this time with Landon’s dirty clothes.

By now the slices of cake were being served. The older teens dug into the slices with the same voracious hunger as the young boys who had just been given their first slice.

Before Hal could get to the elevators the young men began attacking each other for more pieces of the cake. Hal knew it wouldn’t be long before they would want something other than cake and punch. Running the rest of the way he tripped over two boys rolling on the floor trying to choke the other to death. As he fell the basket slid off the cart causing Aaron to roll out.

What Aaron saw would haunt him for the rest of his life. The teenagers weren’t just trying to kill one another but eat them as well. Many were having chunks of their body tore off while they were still alive.

One of the two teens whom Hal had tripped over had plucked out the eye of the other. He held it by its optic cord and licked it with his tongue. When he caught sight of Aaron he dropped the eye into his mouth and chewed on it with his mouth still open.

The sight was so horrific that Aaron screamed. The sound of his terror caused a ghoulish grin to form on the young man’s face. “You got some cake?” He asked. Aaron, too terrified to response remained frozen. “No cake?” Seeing Aaron shake his head no, the young man’s grin turned into a vicious frown. “No cake? Then I’ll cut you open and eat the cake in you have in your belly!” The young man held up a hunting knife. “He began to crawl towards Aaron.

Aaron scrambled to get away but he could go only so far before he found himself backed against the elevator door. Seeing his prey was trapped the youth cackled loudly. He crawled closer and closer …

Suddenly the boy began to slide backwards away from Aaron. The youth whom the insane boy had plucked the eye from was dragging his attacker back towards him. He kicked the knife away the jumped on top biting and clawing like a rabid animal.

Aaron felt something wet and rubbery be spit on his face. Looking to see what it was he picked it up glanced at it and screamed. What had been spit on his was a chunk of the boy’s nose. His body froze. He could not look away from the bloody piece of snot and flesh nor could he command his hand and arm to throw it away.

When faced with such terrors the only way he could protect himself was to disconnect from reality. He remained conscious and still knew what was going on around him but he no longer could react. His terror had reached its maximum. His mind and his body were incapable of enduring the shock he was in. His heart was in tachycardia shock. His inability to breathe was causing him to suffocate. He pissed his pants and his bowels emptied.

When the elevator finally opened and Hal dragged him inside he barely registered the change. The janitor, seeing the boy was in shock slapped him until he could once again breathe. When he saw what the boy held he slapped it out of his hands. He didn’t mean to be so rough on the boy but his own terror didn’t leave him the ability to measure his actions.

Knowing the cannibalistic killing was happening on almost every floor he took out his keys and used it to turn the utility floor button. As he was one of the few people with the key he hoped they could hide there until the dust settled.

As he hoped the floor was empty. Feeling how cold Aaron’s skin had become he carried him towards one of the furnaces. “Come on Aaron. Get a grip. You won’t be of any use if you don’t snap out of it.” It was like talking to a brick wall. Nothing he said was getting through. He tried slapping the boy a few more times but expect for more tears he couldn’t get the boy to respond.

He was about to give up when he too entered a catatonic state. Something or someone was rampaging inside his head. It stripped him of his sense of self and all personal concerns. In their place the force put in new prerogatives and motivations. When the force finally left him to his new mental programing he could only act according to the instructions that had been forced on him.

He lifted Aaron into his arms with the same stiffness of a machine or robot. Heading to the back of the utility room he started turning the dials and valves that controlled the sewage pipes.

When he finished he froze in place while he waited for the changes to take place. Once the pipes had been drained he removed the sewage lid and dropped Aaron into the central pipe. He then jumped in after him and closed the lid behind him. The pipe was about three yards in diameter and reek of mold and shit. It took Hal some time before he could stop gagging. Aaron, so deep in his own world showed no reaction to the stench.

Pushing Aaron head of him the two crawled through the pipe down to where it dumped into the sea. A third of the way through everything began to shake. Twenty yards behind them the tunnel collapsed. Hurrying as fast as he could get Aaron to move Hal picked up the scent of smoke. By the time they got to the last one hundred yards the smoke had become visible. With his eyes stinging like mad he shoved Aaron the rest of the way out. At the end were the November frigid waters of the sea.

They stopped at the end of the pipe, just long enough for Hal to rip off his pants tore them into thick strips. These he tied around himself and Aaron. When the boy was strapped tight against his chest he jumped into the water.

The freezing waves tossed the pair around and threatened to crash them into the low cliffs. Somehow the pair managed to reach the shore.

From there Hal carried Aaron to an abandoned summer cabin. There was no fire wood and the cabin had not been winterized but there was a barbeque grill in the shed where he found charcoal, lighter fluid and matches. The charcoal would burn fast but there was enough wooden furniture that could be broken up that would last longer.

Soon they had a blazing fire. It was not perfect. The coals let out more smoke than was healthy but after the wood caught fire and the coals burned out the air became breathable.

Rummaging through the cabin Hal was able to dig up some can goods and dry rice the mice hadn’t gotten to yet. That night they ate beans and rice and pickled beets.

After dinner Hal checked Aaron over. He was still in shock and had gotten pretty banged up from being forced through the sewer but there was no sign of bleeding. They both stank like pigs but at least sea had washed away most of the filth.

Searching the bedroom he tried to find a change of clothes but except for some windbreakers and rain coats there was nothing else to wear.

Tomorrow they would take the kayak and use it to cross over to New Brunswick. He hoped that he would be able to get them close to a port settlement but with storm clouds approaching their odds were slim. A part of him knew they should sit out the storm while they had shelter but such an idea came from the shredded remains of his past self.

His now dominate self knew they had to move on as soon as possible. If they didn’t they would be killed by one of the extermination teams the Master would soon have sweeping the area. He had to get Aaron to someplace safe as soon as possible. Past that point there was nothing…

Searching the cabin one last time he gathered whatever firearms. There were three rifles, a shot gun and an old Colt Cobra 22. He pocketed it and load up the shotgun but left the rifles where they were. When there was nothing more left he could do to improve their survival they got on the kayak and started heading north. There were not far from shore when the storm hit.