The Chaos Chronicles

By Jason Gerth

I: Beginning

"Hey Brian," Tina said. "We're here." The two raced to the front door of Brian's house. Brian had always been in better shape than Tina. When he beat her to the door he opened it for her with a smile. Tina entered the house, out of breath.

"Mom, I'm home," Brian called out. No one was there to hear his words. His eyes fell upon a note on the coffee table in the living room. He walked over and picked it up.

Brian,

Gone on business, be back in 3 months.

-Love Mom

"Damn it. She always leaves on these business trips. I hardly ever see her anymore." Brian's frustration was noticeable.

"Hey. Don't worry. I'll be here to keep you company if you ever need it. I'm sure we can call Zack too," She said to her friend.

"Thanks Tina. You're a good friend."

"I just do what I can to help out."

Brian opened the door and walked into the room. He and Tina set their bags down in the corner. Brian took off his jacket and hung it on a hook in the closet. His hat was the next to come off, and he placed it neatly atop his dresser. His bed was his next destination. He fell back on its mattress. The bed made a series of creaks then settled. He closed his eyes and relaxed. Tina strolled over to the window and gazed at the sunset. Brian opened his eyes and looked at Tina with the dim sunlight shining on her, but she hadn't noticed. Brian, for the first time, noticed how gorgeous Tina was. His heart began to beat rapidly. Was he in love? He couldn't tell. What should he do? What should he be thinking? These were also oblivious to him.

"What do you want to do tonight?" He asked her. The question had just come out on its own while he was lost in his thoughts. He assumed that she didn't have anything planned and expected to endure a pause before the response. It came as quick as the question had been asked.

"You want to stay in your room and talk? We haven't enjoyed each others company for a while." That was an unexpected reply, but it sounded good nonetheless.

"Fine by me. What should we talk about?" That was the problem. What to talk about. Usually, talking was easy. Always had been, but then again, Brian had never felt so nervous around a girl before. He had in some ways, but nothing like this. He felt like his tongue was beginning to tie itself into a knot. He swallowed the feeling of oral writers block and tried to stay focused.

Tina turned from the window and Brian got a good look at her. For the first time he noticed her C cup breasts. He had always known them to be there, but this time he really noticed them. They were wonderful. He immediately became aware of the party that was going on in his pants. Feeling embarrassed, he rolled over on his side, away from the curious eyes that Tina now wore. This curiosity must have travel to her feet. Brian heard her footsteps drawing nearer. The mattress dipped down slightly where Tina now sat. He could feel his body wanting to roll in the direction of the slight pitch the bed took, but he worked his muscles to do otherwise.

"We're alone you know." The words came softly, but not without purpose.

"What?" Brian questioned. He had heard her, but wasn't sure what the intention behind those words were. Brian felt his gut tighten and his pants grow even tighter.

This time the question was a little more specific. Actually it was a lot more specific. "Brian, what do you think of me?"

I think you're a beautiful woman with breasts that make me feel dizzy when I look at them, he thought to himself. He considered actually saying just that. After thinking it through he decided against the idea. Instead he spoke more honestly than he ever had before.

"I think you're wonderful," he said after rolling over to face her. Brian wasn't sure, but the look in Tina's eyes might have said I want you, but how the hell did he know. He didn't. He didn't know much of anything.

Then the unexpected happened. Tina leaned over him, hands down for support on either side of the boy on the bed, and stopped just inches from his face. Her hair now was hanging to the left and right of his face. Her beautiful, sweet-smelling brown hair. Brian's eyes did only what they were interested in at the moment. They moved repeatedly from Tina's green eyes down to her lips and back up again. A bead of sweat ran from his brow down the side of his face.

"Is this too close?" Her question was stupid, but she asked anyway. No, he didn't think this was too close in any way, shape, or form. What was he? Gay? Certainly not.

"Not at all," Brian answered nervously. At the sound of those words, Tina moved again. This time completely straddling him. She was on her hands and knees now, over a boy who had no experience with this sort of thing, but she did. They both knew this too.

That feeling of the knotted tongue returned and his mouth ran dry. Was this really happening? It's was hard for him to believe so.

Without thinking, without even realizing it was happening, Brian raised his hands and wrapped them around the small of Tina's waist.

Brian felt hot. Not the kind of hot that most people believed of themselves, but a burning kind of hot. Then again, he sure hoped that he was hot; like when you pass by a mirror and stop to look at yourself for ten minutes thinking nothing negative about the person you see looking back at you.

They looked at each other endlessly.

They kissed.

II: Goodbye

The sun had already risen atop the mountains to the east and now sent light pouring through the window in Brian's room. He stirred in his bed, not waking from his deep sleep. The girl next to him was already out of her sleep. She was facing her lover, a smile of satisfaction upon her glowing face. She was happy. Probably the happiest she had ever been. She loved him, and he loved her. What more could she possibly ask for? Nothing came to mind.

Tina turned her head, glancing at the clock nailed high up on the wall behind her. It was almost ten o'clock in the morning. She didn't remember if she had made any plans for the day. Then again she didn't really care much. She intended to spend the whole day with Brian.

After turning her attention away from the clock, she rested her eyes once again on the sleeping boy. He was very handsome. He was also kind and caring. She smiled again. Her life was now exactly where she wanted it to be; in the arms of Brian Conner. She didn't want it any other way.

Brian gently turned in his bed. He was awake now, and the urge to open his eyes came to him slowly. He did so. He found himself staring into the eyes of his lover, Tina Rowter. She smiled and moved closer to him on the bed mattress. Their bodies touched. Tina wrapped her arms around his neck; one arm over and the other she weaseled between him and the mattress. Tina pulled him in and kissed him.

"How are you this morning sweetie?" She asked him in a loving manner.

For Brian, things were moving a little fast. Tina on the other hand didn't think so. She had had a few relationships like this one, and none like this one. Brian was different. A lot different. Maybe because Tina knew that this boy was worth it. She would actually be loved by him and not just treated like a sex object. She, in no way, liked being treated that way, but like she thought, Brian was different. He could fuck her all he wanted and she wouldn't give a damn, all because she knew he loved her.

"I'm a little tired," was his reply," but I'll live." He smiled his amazing smile, the smile that made her melt and love him more.

"You want some help waking up? I could do that for you." The lust in her voice and eyes shone brightly. Brian smiled again, but uneasiness was present behind that smile. Tina didn't notice. She began to strip off her shirt. When it rose above her breasts, they dropped back down and lightly bounced up and down once after the shirt had raised them up and let them go. Brian nearly choked on the small amount of saliva that had gathered on his mouth. Tina was wearing no bra. This is what had been a shock to him. Brian's heart skipped a few beats and he felt frozen. They were right in his face. If it was your first time seeing a pair of big breasts this close to your face, you would too. Brian had the strange urge to hug her and bury his face in those breasts. He contemplated this, and decided to lock the thought in a closet somewhere in the back of his mind and throw away the key. He wasn't that kind of person. At least he didn't think he was.

Brian noticed that Tina's hands were fumbling around underneath the covers. When they came up again, they held a pair of underwear. Tina's underwear.

"What happened to your pants?" Brian was certain that Tina had fallen asleep wearing all of her clothes, but he had been wrong before, why not now as well.

Tina pointed across the room at a pair of jeans that had been carelessly thrown there. "I took them off while you were asleep. Why? You like it don't you?" Her question struck him as odd with an obvious answer. Of course he liked it. Why not?

Tina slowly vanished beneath the blanket. Brian was aware of a muffled snap that came from his jeans button along with the inevitable sound of the zipper. His pants were pulled off and he saw them thrown from under the covers and sail across the room. They landed next to Tina's in the corner. His boxers came next. They joined the two pairs of jeans. Before he knew it, Tina was back up from under the covers and kissing him with hard, raw passion.

This carried on and escalated into something much greater, much deeper than what had first been there for both of them.

The sex didn't take long to get to, and seemed to last a while. It might have only been half an hour or maybe even an hour, but it felt like an eternity. Of course they had both very much enjoyed their little stay in this eternity. Tina's loud moaning and quick breaths were an obvious sign of this. A lot of oow's, ah's, and oh's.

Brian had never been this tired before. Every part of his body ached silently in their own respective thickness.

He rolled from his spot on top of Tina, breathing hard, sweat rolling down his face. Tina didn't look much better. That's what she thought anyway. Brian thought she was beautiful no matter what she had been through. She rolled over to face him and placed her arm over his chest, eyes closed. She was in heaven.

"Was that your first time, Brian? I couldn't tell if it was or not. You were good." The words came as a surprise to Brian. He had had no idea what the fuck he was doing. Luckily that's not how Tina had viewed it. In her eyes he was a pro fucker. Brian smiled at the thought of this. It was not his usual smile however. This smile he used when he knew he had just showed off and succeeded.

It was now that rolling hunger infested the pit of Brian's stomach. He was damn hungry and proved it with a deep moan that came from within him.

"I'm starving. How 'bout you?"

"Sounds great. What's on the menu?" Tina replied. Now that she thought about it, she was also very hungry. Probably had been for the past few hours and just hadn't noticed. The sex was that good. Brian, after Tina's approval, got out of the bed. He was completely and utterly nude, and damn proud of it too.

Brian made for his boxers, picking them up with early morning hands. He slipped both his legs, one after the other, through the two holes which were common with each pair he owned, and pulled them up. He picked out a fresh white t-shirt from the dresser which atop rested his hat. He didn't think of putting it on though. He turned towards Tina.

"How do you feel about breakfast in bed?" He asked.

"That's sounds great. I hope it'll be as good as the sex was." To this, Brian only smiled. He couldn't cook for shit.

He left the room promptly after asking Tina what she was interested in for the morning meal. Once informed, he made his was down the steps, leading him into the living room. The living room opened to the kitchen. Brian stepped onto its smooth tile and up to the refrigerator. He opened the lower half and peered inside to discover what its shelves might hold. Tina had wanted the simple and traditional eggs and bacon with buttered toast. Good thing for him it was a meal easy to craft. He reached in and pulled out four deep white eggs and a half used and sealed package of uncooked bacon strips. Brian slapped six strips of the meat into a frying pan with the heat turned up to medium. The eggs would have to wait.

I hope mom bought some bread, last I checked we were all out, Brian thought to himself. And please God let it be white. He walked across the kitchen to the cupboards and checked the one in which the bread usually stayed in. It was there. A big, fresh loaf of the stuff. He grabbed it and journeyed to the toaster.

A loud thump drew Brian's attention. It had come from above. He ignored it after little thought, thinking that Tina had just clumsily stepped out of bed. He returned to his task involving the bread. Brian took out four slices of the stuff and dropped them into the quad-slotted toaster then pulled the handle down. It locked in place and the coils inside the appliance began to slowly glow a bright and joyful red.

Again the thump gained his attention. This time he thought more of it this time around. Thought enough about it that a hunger known as curiosity began to swell up inside him. He travelled to the bottom of the steps and looked up to the top of the small raising platforms, one hand on the railing.

"Tina?" He couldn't help but call out to her in this questioning manner. "Everything alright?" There was no reply. He continued to stare up the steps, wondering.

This time a new sound had been brought to his ears. This one was similar, and different. Sharper. A crashing sound. Without hesitation, Brian bolted up the flight of stairs, his heart pounding violently beneath his flesh. He rounded the corner and stood in the frame at the mouth of his room. What he saw sent a lance of terror through him, all of him.

Tina cowered in the corner of the room, holding her shirt up to her chest, clenching it tightly. She had not yet had enough time to dress herself before a man in a leather jacket snuck through the front door of the house and up the stairs. He held a gun in his right, aimed at Tina. In the other he clutched a handful of miscellaneous valuables that Brian guessed he had gathered on his way through the house. Why hadn't he noticed this stranger before?

Tina stole a glance at Brian. Her face was filled with terror, overwhelming terror, and on the verge of tears. Her expression spoke to him. Help me Brian, I'm scared. The man in the leather jacket noticed this and followed the girls gaze. He almost looked surprised to see Brian standing in the doorway, but held it in well. Brian didn't know what to do. What could he do?

"You." Brian spoke with a sense of determination in his voice. "Take whatever you want. Leave her alone." He threw his words out with force, with strength.

The man smiled. It was a wicked smile, full of pain and loss and misery, but enticing just the same. "Really? Anything I want?" Brian didn't like the tone of the mans voice. It filled him with a fear that was both terrible and pleasing to his simple mind. The man turned back to the frightened girl. "She'll do just fine." He pulled back the hammer on the revolver. A part of Brian jumped out and started for Tina. The other wanted to run over stop the man in the leather jacket, but had no choice in the matter as his feet carried him towards the girl.

He was half way there, half way not. His heart thumping and pumping, mind blank. The distance between the two seemed to double, but still he ran.

"Brian-" The shot silenced the rest of Tina's words. A neat, circular bullet hole appeared in the girls forehead, blood peacefully streamed from its depth. She was sent back towards the wall from the force. Brian saw everything he cared for hit the floor all at once. He slowed, stopped, and fell to his knees. Then to his hands. Tears escaped his eyes just as fast as overpowering sadness ran through his entire being. He just looked at her, not quite believing. Brian began the slow crawl towards the felled girl, body aching with his sorrow. Throbbing with it. He reached her, sobbing with grief and pain. Brian extended a hand to the girls own, and grabbed it. He looked into her eyes. They were strangely at peace.

Brian didn't notice the man leaving, and he didn't care. He loved her, so he wouldn't let go.

III: Manifestations

A year has passed since the man in the leather jacket stole life and love from two who shared these. He fled to an unknown somewhere, continuing these deeds of the devil over and over again wherever he walks. Tina died that day, alone with no one to hold her. Brian saw the man in the leather jacket kill Tina. It scarred him. He wanders now, not knowing his direction. Not knowing his destination. All he knows is his purpose. To seek revenge. Reprisal for what has been done.

He walks silently, yet with a steady pace jarred with eagerness. He is alone now. Has been. Probably will be. He wears a pair of dark blue jeans, loose-fitting but tight around the waist from a belt he favors. He wears his favorite shirt, a tight white t-shirt. On his feet he has a pair of Vans, beaten and worn from heavy use. Although looking the same, he is much different form the boy he once claimed to be, both mentally and physically. The arms and legs that were once simple, now were heavy and muscular from hard work. His ordinary chest now puffed slightly from the muscles that had grown there. His mind, the most important change of all, can do things that no one imagined possible. He can do things. Special things that will leave any normal man groping to regain a sense of realism. Unbelievable things.

But these are not the only things that have become new to him. Also, in his mind, he feels lonely. A creeping depression lingers over him, sucking him dry of his humanity. This will soon lead him into a deep insanity, he believes, and soon.

This person continued onwards across a land long gone. The world has passed before him. Things have changed in the last year. Things have been happening. People have been dying, and others have become new, different to themselves and those around them. They have altered in ways so wrong, but sickly right.

The Man in the Leather Jacket hopefully isn't one of them, one of us, the man hoped as he travelled. That would make this a very difficult task. He left his thoughts to the thoughts themselves for the time being and walked on.

It was cold, very cold. The frigid air nipped at Brian's face, arms, and hands like a teething puppy. He did his best to keep warm. He built a fire in the deepness and darkness of the woods. He had no idea where he was, just that he was going in the right direction. It was odd. He could sense him, the Man in the Leather Jacket. That's what he called him. That's all he knew him by.

This sense was not new to him. It began several months ago. A feeling slowly crept over him then. He had only felt it once before, when he first faced to Man in the Leather Jacket. When he had felt it again, it was almost as if a voice deep, deep within him told him he should follow. Brian soon learned what this voice meant. He had been looking north and at once the feeling grew, almost poisoning his mind. This is where the man must have fled, and he would follow.

Brian picked up a stick that lay at his feet. Sitting on a log he had dragged to its current resting place, he bent forward towards the dancing flames and poked the embers with the stick. The fire didn't need the care and attention at the moment, but it gave him something to do. He finished and returned the stick to its spot, the tip giving a faint orange glow above charred wood.

He sat there, his hands hanging between his knees. Brian listened to the woods, and the woods spoke. It was night, so there were no conversing from birds, but there were other sounds filling the air. A chilling night wind swept through the thickets of greenery, making them whisper and sway with a haunting gentleness only thought to exist in an unclear dream. He also heard water. A river running its course over stones and sand that would be forever resting under the white wash of rapids. The occasional rustling of brush and the snapping of a twig every now and then caught his attention easily above the others. He was always cautious. Cautious because of them. People like him, but also entirely different.

On several occasions he had been perused and hunted by them. They had been strange things. The first he encountered had been a boy Brian guessed was no older than fifteen. To Brian, this boy was the first sign that there were others like him. His manifestation had been odd. He was able to suck the moisture out of things by simply touching them. Brian at this point didn't know how to properly use his own oddities, so he ran. He didn't know what had become of the boy, but he assumed that he was still being followed by him. He hadn't had a strong enough emotional response from the boy to be able to sense him. That's how Brian guessed this ability worked. A strong emotional event had to occur between him and another for him to sense people. For the Man in the Leather Jacket, it was raging hate. It filled his every sense. More than that, it drowned them with the emotion.

This ability of sense was not alone however. Brian had noticed other changes as well. He was stronger, his actions and reactions were easily five times the normality, but out of these, his favorite was the ability to create. He had been thinking of a knife and how useful one would be at the time. He was in thought when it happened. It shocked him at first. Almost not because it happened, but of how it happened. A spot in the air in front of him, right in his line of sight, about the size of a basketball, became blurred and altogether different. He gazed deep into the floating ball of obscurity, and within it. He saw an object form there, piece by piece, atom by atom. This amazed him. He reached out with his hand and attempted to grasp the hilt of the blade . The ball of pure thought slowly faded like a dying memory, and the blade fell before it could be claimed. It had hit the earth with a muffled thud as it met the dirt. Brian knelt to retrieve it. He turned it over in his hands, captivated. He later used that knife to make the proper kindling for the fire he now sat by.

Brian had perfected this ability immensely. Although he found he could only create weapons. Not complicated ones like guns or explosives. Only blades of sorts. He also noticed that once the created object got a certain distance from him, they unraveled, as Brain chose to call it. Just as they had built themselves up in the bubble of thought, they just as easily broke apart into nothing. This would make throwing a knife tricky if not impossible.

Brian turned from the fire and looked through the trees. Something had drawn his attention. It was more like a pulling of the mind. He had heard it long before. Probably when it was somewhere up around a mile away. He had thought it to be a simple animal. Now he took it as a threat. Brian stood with unspeakable quickness and flicked his wrist as if he were flipping open a folding pocket knife. Once the motion was done, there in his hand, the blade had once again appeared. It didn't take him long to find what had interrupted him. There, peeking out from behind a tree, was a girl.