Black Heart Inertia - 7. Chapter 7: Be Mine

It was a nice two-story house with a large yard for a big family. I could imagine kids running around the big yard chasing each other with snowballs while their father told them not to hit the car. The house was made for a happy family whose biggest problems were Jennie's aversion to clothing and Kevin's addiction to video games

Blake came outside to meet me. He didn’t say anything and just pulled me along. The inside of the house was completely opposite from what I expected. Everything was white with odd-looking “modern” furniture and chrome appliances. The walls were completely bare, no photos, paintings, paint, nothing except a large eight feet tall and eleven feet wide mirror, a looking glass. Blake stepped through not waiting for me.

I stepped through a moment later into the Colonel’s poorly lit office. Wesley and Bake were already sitting down. Wesley looked different in normal clothes. I hate to admit it but Wesley was very good looking. He had glossy brown hair cut short like Josh Duhamel with a straight nose. His lips were light pink and his eyes deep green. He was wearing a blue American eagle t-shirt that showed his medium sized muscles. His jeans were somewhat tight with a slight bulge. He winked when he saw me looking.

I sat next to Blake, keeping my eyes solely on the Colonel. “Good, you’re here. I’m sure Blake told you about the new replica.”

“How did you find out so fast?” Last time it took me being kidnapped for them to realize that there was even a replica. What made them find this one so quickly?

She looked at me as if she wanted to hit me. “We weren’t actively looking for replicas or replication.” She said a bit smartly. “I want you to find and-.”

“Whoa,” Wesley interrupted. “Chance is nowhere near ready to take on a replica. He can barely consciously active his powers.” He was right; I had to wait until something scared or pissed me off to get them to work.

“You’re taking your sweet time coming back to full capacity.” She murmured. “Very well, then I want you to find the original, if they’re still alive.”

“I thought replicas were made when a person died? Or at least that’s what Blake told me.”

Wesley and the Colonel sighed heavily at my question. “Replication is a substitution for necromancy but people also use it to have a person they didn’t have before. And since the replica’s master can imprint whatever memory they want into the replica, you could make your own slave.” She said. Her computer made a noise and her face went white. “It would be better if you heard everything from a professional.” She dismissed us.

As we walked out, I turned to Blake. “Who’s the professional?”

“Your dad.”

* * *
Henry sighed regretfully at the stack of theses that taunted him. He started to think why he ever took this job. Rude students, long hours, all the grading, tutoring, and begging from failing students was starting to get to him. He missed the days of being a scientist for the Acolytes. So many memories, some exciting, others painful, more joyous than anything. He met his only love in the Acolytes.

Cassandra Pierre was her name. They met when he was introduced to her unit. Her unit encountered the most dangerous of every type of replicas. With every battle, he came to love her more. She supremely gifted in every aspect of the Nexus and she was Colonel of Acolytes in the first few years of Chance’s young life, but she soon quit after he passed the second grade. They were equally afraid when he developed his powers but they allowed him to enter the Acolytes along with his mother.

“Dad.” Henry jumped back. “Whoa, come down, Dad. It’s just us.”

Henry looked up to see Chance with the same shocking white hair, as his mother, but her eyes were hazel and his glacier blue. “Hey, Chance, what are you doing here?”

Chance was slightly surprised to see his father grading papers. “Uh, there’s another replica but the Colonel’s wants us to find the original.” Blake and Wesley entered. Henry’s face went pale, looking back and forth between Chance and Wesley. “Dad, what’s wrong?”

It couldn’t be, surely the Colonel wouldn’t be so vindictive to put Chance and Wesley together. He thought to himself. “What are you doing here?” He addressed Wesley.

Wesley stood near the door, smiling. “I’m Chance’s tutor.”

“Why?” He shouted, standing up.

“Dad, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I need to talk with the Colonel.” He sat back down, staring intently at Wesley. It seemed as though Chance’s past was now trying to crush his present. “How many days since the replication?”

Blake and Chance looked at each other, wondering what happened to make things hostile. “Two, originally the Colonel wanted us to track the replica down but Chance isn’t ready for that. We need to find the original and he wanted to know what affects replication has on the original.” Wesley smiled at the rise he got of Henry.

He asked the Colonel to keep Chance safe, not hand him to Wesley, too much bad blood. It was unfair; Chance wasn’t the same person as he was before. The constant battles and kidnaps by the enemy changed the originally sweet Chance into a sadistic teen. He grew worse as he collected more hearts especially after the Obsidian Heart. Chance started to call himself Risk. In a way, he was happy Chance lost his memory because it returned his son.

Henry told them to sit. “There are many effects that replication has on the living original but it all depends on what class the replica is. There are four classes of replicas. The easiest to make and the weakest are level D but just because they’re the weakest doesn’t mean they’re not dangerous. They have superior physical strength but they must feed on Nexus rich humans. The affects of replication on a living person is death or physical mutation that can range from an extra mole to five sets of lungs.”

“Class C, are replicas that can feed on anything that has a certain Nexus level. This replica only has one ability, shape shifting. They can take whatever form they choose but at a very high Nexus price. The affects on the original is just sickness. During the replication, something is taken from them in order to make the replica. One original I met had the majority of his major organs taken. We used replication to make some organs but replicating organs are completely different from an actual living being.”

“Class B, are replicas that can feed without killing. They are what we call vampires except they can’t turn people. Their bite sends endorphins that addict anything they bite to their bite and gives the mental control over their thralls. The affects on the original can be any and all types of mental disorders.”

“Class A is the most dangerous of the classes. They are by far the most difficult to make and can live, truly, forever because they can steal the life force and live off of it. They feed on emotions purely without causing any damage to who they feed on. They seem human in every way, shape, and form. They have no physical abilities but they can have a range of mental abilities. Telepathy, Empathy, Mind Control, and yes it’s different from Telepathy.” Henry said before Chance could open his mouth. “And any type of combinations. These replicas are almost an exact replica except for their given powers mentally and they can use the Nexus like an Acolyte. The affect on the original is memory loss.”

Chance snapped his head up, his heart pounding. Someone else running around with his face. “Do I have a replica?”

Henry smiled and ran his fingers through Chance’s silky white hair. “No. We ran every replican test on you; there is no replica of you running around. As I was saying, all replicas have two similarities. They are always missing one thing the original has, like a birthmark or a mole, or eye color that is very closely related. For example, hazel and blue or brown and dark brown, the other thing is they always have a master. The person that made them can exert control over the replica; command it. That’s about all there is to know about replicas.”

* * *
“Oh, Nico, I love it!” Sam screeched in her dressing room. Nico had helped find the perfect dress for the party since Chance had to leave.

Nico rolled his eyes. “I’m so glad you like it.” He waved off the other two personal shoppers with enormous loads of dresses. “But let me see you.”

She stepped out of the dressing room twirling in front of Nico, she giggled while she twirled. “I just don’t know if I should tie the bow in the front or the back.” It was an almost shear dark rouge coattail dress with lighter ruffles along her lapel. The dress extended to her knees with an airy flutter. The color made her hair seemed black instead the luscious brown.

“We should try both.” He started untying to bow in the back. He felt a ripple of pleasure rock her body when his hand touched her skin. He couldn’t help it; it was his natural effect of being a son of a Class A replicas.

There were three main classes of A rank replica, the Maeros, Poenas, and Lagnys. The Maeros fed on negative emotions like sorrow or self-pity. As they fed, the sorrow in their prey grows until the prey kills itself. Music was their catalyst, reaching so many angst teens.

The Poenas feed on pain. They would go out randomly beating their prey, causing fear throughout an area made for a better feast. They were mostly found in BDSM clubs.

The Lagnys fed on lust, their prey lasted the longest. They were addicting to their prey with a simple kiss. The prey would be perfectly normal if always fed upon to control the surge of hormones and raw emotions. The Lagnys created and ran the porn industry.

Nico was half Lagny, an old one. A simple touch by him would cause an orgasm if he touched a virgin. The Nexus protected Chance. Sam, on the other hand, wasn’t untouched. “I think it’ll be better with the bow in the front.” She twirled away from him, her flood of ecstasy disappearing. “Is Chance coming tomorrow?”

“Oh my God, how many times are you going to ask me that?” She sighed. “You really like him, don’t you?”

“Yeah, it’s just he’s been weird lately.” Nico spotted Xion’s latest replica at the cash register. She couldn’t be trying to assimilate; it was too early. “So who’s going?”

Sam stepped out, still staring at the dress. “Well, this year is a tragedy so just about everyone who doesn’t have good Valentine’s plans. So, a lot people, probably everyone from school too.” She stopped looking at her dress to see Nico was gone. “And he says Chance is weird.”

Nico looked back to see Sam walking to the men’s section of Forever 21 for him. He stared harder at the girl until he forced her gaze to his. His pupils grew larger until they killed the white and he waved her over. She told her co-worker to take her place.

Nico looked at the nametag, Shirley. She was the original, but there seemed to be more real physical issues on the bare surface. “Hello.”

Shirley stared deeply into the abyss. She answered with a monotone voice. “Hello.”

He squatted down to her level, making sure his technique worked completely. “You shall not go to the Valentine party tomorrow.”

“I shall not go to the Valentine party tomorrow.”

“You shall not go to any Valentine party tomorrow. You will say you feel sick and refuse to go.” She repeated after him. “Good, now go back to your job.” She returned to the register, rubbing her eyes profusely.

“There you are.” Sam called out. “What happened to you?”

“I thought I saw someone I knew from Arkansas.”

* * *
I lay on the floor with my chest heaving. I could barely focus my eyes let alone use the Nexus. At first, he would blow a little gust of wind at me but that graduated to a mild hurricane. Then he tried fireballs. Only two connected but they still burned. Finally, he was throwing “pain bolts” at me. They were invisible charges of pain, wherever they hit you, your body would convulse and spasm in all sorts of pain.

He said he was trying to get me to manifest my powers and “Sight” so I could see the Nexus itself instead of trying to feel it but I can’t at least not so fast. I somewhat laughed to myself, maybe I deserved it. Dad told me about how being in the Acolytes twisted me before but surely I wasn’t this bad.

Wesley stood above me. He looked good sweating, his hair damp. “Why are you staring at me like that?” His voice wasn’t mean or damning like normal, it was soft.

I covered my face with my arms. His eyes scared me, trying to pierce mine. “Can we stop for the day?”

“No.” The harshness returned to his voice. “Get up.”

“I can’t. You just can’t keep pushing me like this. I’m new.”

“I don’t care that you’re new, I don’t care if you hurt, I don’t care if you’re bleeding, and you’re going to get up like I told you to.”

I removed my arm to see that he was sitting next to me, staring me down. “Was I really that horrible to you?” I asked softly.

He moved closer. “Why can’t you just remember? After everything, you left and you come back with no memory of me.” He moved closer, I felt immobile. “I was your star pupil. I’ve been with you from the very beginning. When you got kidnapped at the Lake, I was there.” He moved closer again until there was no real space in between our bodies.

“Oh God, I was scared for you. I cried every single night behind you, and you finally return but you’re blank. Having no memories of anything. You changed me completely and left me twisted.” He pulled me closer, too tired and too interested to do anything. He held my face in his hands, his eyes sorrowful and half opened. Our lips touched, “I loved you so much.” We kissed. I felt nothing, no heat, no passion, no sorrow, no hate, nothing. The kiss was empty. We stopped and he was silent. “Why do you get to forget?”

I pulled back to get a good look at his face. It was so sad. What the hell was wrong with the past me? “I’m sorry, I really am.”

He shoved me away hard. “Get up.”

“I can’t.”

He seemed reinvigorated by that kiss. “You know pain is a great motivator.” He smirked, pointing his hand at me. “Pain Surge!” It was a slight moment before the pain arrived and it came with friends.

It hit me all at once. Each movement became pained; it burned, ripped, and mauled every time. I screamed, oh my God, how I screamed looking for help but nothing. I wanted to die; it hurt. It ripped, mauled, scarred, cut, and burned all at once. I could feel my ribs stabbing into my heart, other bones snapping with the sinew twisting in imaginable ways all inside of my body.

“Are you truly so weak? Do you know nothing?” The voice asked me. It was the same as the Black Heart. “How did you ever gain the favor of Ice? Ice is beautiful and indifferent. It is sharp and vengeful. Stop thinking about what you’ve done him. It’s passed, there’s nothing you can do about it.” He sneered. “Remember what you’re supposed to be, Prince of Hearts.”

I made an “X” in the air. “Frosted Gale!” Ice shot out in the mark of the “X” knocking Wesley to the floor. “I’m not him, you can’t change it. Get over it.”

“It’s not fair. You get to forget.” He said, lying on the floor. “Why can’t you be mine, my Chance?”

* * *
The music pulsed threw my body; becoming familiar as my own heartbeat. I felt better when I danced. All of my problems seemed to be too muddled when I was dancing no matter if I was good at it or not. All I knew was that I felt my body match beat perfectly.

I jumped when I felt a hand pulling me off the dance floor. “Nico, you scared me.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean too.” Nico gave me a small apologetic smile. He looked so good today. He wore a black t-shirt that clung to his biceps and striped red and black vest with black jeans and a loose skinny black tie.

Only Sam and I were dressed properly for this but the party didn’t happen, as it was supposed to. I decided to match Sam with an equally dark red button shirt and black dress pants but everyone else was in jeans.

“Why don’t you dance?” I asked him.

He shrugged. “I don’t like to.”

“Really, you look like a person that can dance.”

“I never said I couldn’t dance. I just don’t dance for anyone.” He corrected.

I tilted my head, “So who do you dance for?”

He scooted his chair closer, taking my hand in to his feverish one. “You’ll see. I promise if there’s a slow song, we’ll dance just not to this pop shit.” I grinned like a fool.

“I would-.” I felt it then. The Nexus screamed a sour note. I looked through the crowd, the sound was piercing but only I heard it.

Nico looked around, “What’s wrong?”

The note sounded again, heavier. Blake stepped off the dance floor, looking at me. “Um, I have to go to the bathroom.” I left before he could say anything. I saw Blake go outside immediately but Nico was still watching me.

* * *
Chance made it outside a few minutes later, covering his head from the light rain with his hand. The tone went off two more times with each pulse growing louder as he walked down the alley next to the hotel. He heard crying. No, it was worse than mere tears. He reached the end of the alley a few moments later where the wailing and screams came from. It was Shirley from his Chemistry class. She was completely drenched, dressed in nothing but rags; huddled in trash.

“Shirley, are you okay?” He brushed the trash back. “Shirley,” He shook her lightly. “Shirley, are you okay?”

She shook violently, moaning. “Please.”

“Please, what?”

The cry of Nexus was louder. “It hurts so much.” She pulled herself closer. “I want it to stop.”

Chance tried to pull her up but she squirmed away. “Shirley, you’ve got to let me help you.” The note sounded again, much louder. “Damn, where are you Blake?”

Shirley stared at Chance. Her mouth salivated, his arm was right there. The beautiful heart beat of food. “Please, go.” She cried.

She couldn’t hold herself for long. She knew it was wrong but nothing else worked. That man laughed when she shoveled all of the food in her mouth. “That won’t sate you. Ha-ha, nothing will; except him.” He pushed the photo of Chance towards her. “Only he can keep you alive, stop the pain.” She questioned what he did to her. She could only think of herself as a vampire, the only thing that hungered for humans alone.

She groaned again and clutched her stomach. “Please, just go.”

“No.” He said, pulling her from the trash. “I’m not leaving you here. We need to get you somewhere safe.” Her stomach roared above the sound of the rain. “And we’ll stop and get you a few Big Macs.” He pulled her completely from the corner. “Just hold on for sec.” Chance wiped the wet hair from his face and dialed his phone. “Blake, yeah, I’m outside.” He turned his back to Shirley.

She could hear the symphony of his arteries pumping that magnificent blood. She licked her dried lips. The pain grew worse with his scent. “Please, go.”

“Blake, just hurry up, she’s hurt.” He hung up and sat with her. “My friend’s coming to help and we’ll get you home.”

She pulled her up and scooted away. “No, you have to go. You have to go.”

“I’m not leaving you here.” He said, reaching out to her. Her eyes locked on his wrist so close to her face. She could eat it so fast. Her stomach growled again, louder along with the note.

“Chance, Chance, where are you?!” Another voice yelled through the rain.

“Down here, I found the original.” He turned back to Shirley, pulling her to her feet. “See, I told you, we’ll get you home.”

Blake’s jog slowed down when Chance and the original fell into his sight. “Thank God, I’ve been looking everywhere for you. Damn, you’re wet.”

Chance shook his head. “No, I’m fine. Cryomancer, remember I can’t get cold.”

“Yeah, is this her?”

Chance struggled to keep her up. “Catch her for me.” He said, handing her to Blake to hold. The sharp cry of the Nexus coincided with Shirley’s stomach. Chance looked at her closely; the original Shirley had freckles, she didn’t. “No.” He whispered his eyes wide and his stomach twisting.

“What? You see the replica?” Blake asked, turning his body to see down the alley. Nothing was down there.

“You’re holding her.” Chance pointed at Shirley.

“What?!” Blake screamed and dropped her hard on the ground, inciting a groan from her aching body.

Chance knelt down, checking her injuries. “What is wrong with you?!” He asked Blake, who stared at Shirley with hatred. “Are you okay?” He asked Shirley. Chance heard the sound metal scratching metal.

Blake whipped out his sword and pointed at the girl. “Chance, get away from her. We have to kill her.”

Chance’s heart stopped. He looked at Blake with pleading eyes. “What? Why?”

“She’s a replica.” He said coldly. It was sickening seeing how she clung to him, tricking him.

Chance pulled her closer to himself. “No, she’s done nothing wrong. You can’t kill her.”

Blake took a step closer and Chance pulled her back. “She’s a replica, she has to be killed. Please move.”

“No! She hasn’t done anything! Can’t we help her?!”

Blake unclenched his jaw, walking around to see the replica’s stolen face. “Replicas feed on human life force, the soul because they don’t have one. She needs to eat humans to survive, there’s no substitute. This isn’t Twilight.”

Shirley pushed herself out of Chance’s arms. “Kill me.” She said to Blake.

Chance stood between them, “No, don’t listen to her. We can figure something out.”

“We’ve tried. We’ve tried for centuries, Chance. Thousands of years before our civilization began; we’ve tried to find a cure. There isn’t one.”

“I don’t want to live like this, please.” She begged, staring deeply into Blake’s cold eyes. “Just kill me.”

Chance pushed Blake’s sword down. “I’ll do it.” He faced Shirley. “Are you sure? We might-.”

“No, I don’t want to live with this hunger, with thoughts like these.” She uttered with tears.

“Wait, who’s your master?” Blake asked.

Shirley looked up to the black sky with no stars that would be her eternity. Nothing. “My master,” She said dreamily. “I don’t know his name but in front of his house is a marble fountain, angels I think.”

“I’m so sorry.” Chance whispered, marking her head with the “X”. “Frosted Gale.” The Nexus froze the rain around him, rushing through Shirley’s body. “Oh God.” He cried. It sliced and mangled her body ‘til it was beyond recognition.

Blake pulled the bloody boy close to him. “It’s the rain and it‘s cold. It’s a catalyst.”