*Sorry for the long wait ._. School has kept me busy with exams and such.
But anyway, holy *bleep* 201 reviews?! Oh mer gherd! 200th reviewer, AKA "The follower"/"Mrdevinh" I owe you a box of cookies. In fact, I think I owe all of my reviewers a box of cookies. Everyone, name your favorite kind of cookies!... I'll get back to you on when they will be delivered though.
Oh yeah, if you haven't noticed. The last chapter was cleaned up really nicely by a cool guy (or girl... *Shrug* ) named Neonwarrior1.
Oh yeah, I have a pole that you can access on my profile. The pole is if Predators should be introduced into this story at some point and whether they should have a large or small part or no part at all. I'm pretty sure you need a Fanfiction account to vote, (not my call). So if you don't have one, you should definitely make one. Then you can vote and keep better track of my updates.
Welp... It's a blind pole but I will let you know how it turns out in the authors note of next chapter. Every vote matters!
Okay so without further adieu, enjoy. Or don't. Let me know either way. I hope you guys and... gals? (fingers crossed) do enjoy though.
"They're here for you?" He heard in his head as he attempted to step past his black love, his efforts thwarted as she blocked his movement with her arm
"Xerah, there isn't time." he told her, his voice containing traces of sternness and sadness, a vague reflection of his own inner feelings. He was beyond worried; the people outside were not the kind of people that could be avoided - at least, not anymore they couldn't. He felt his body become tense, like a small amount of adrenaline was pulsing through him. He knew he had to face the people outside, and he felt an itchy anticipation running up and down his body.
"Why are they –"
"I don't have all day to explain this to you." he said a little harshly. He put his hand on her arm in an attempt to lower and move past it. Her arm was surprisingly strong for its slenderness.
"Okay," she replied with a little submissively, lowering her arm to allow him past her. He realized that he should have known that she wouldn't take an I.O.U. for an explanation. As he walked past her, he felt her tail swish into action, wrapping itself around him, annoying him slightly at her persistence.
"Tell me quickly then." she demanded.
She didn't need to say anything more to him now, with his arms pressed to his sides by her ensnaring tail. It was a hard and bony thing, not at all comfortable to have so tightly squeezed around you. He knew that she would not let him go until he explained himself.
"I stole something, from someone," he quickly spat out with a strained voice. "What I stole and who I stole it from wouldn't mean anything to you, Xerah, but the people outside are without a doubt here to get that something back and-"
"And hurt you." she finished for him, her voice hollow-tinged with uncertainty.
"They might, but I still have most of what I stole and they don't know where it is. They'll want it back."
Eric looked down at his feet for just a moment, yet in that was filled with thoughts. He thought about what he had to lose now. When he had stolen from them, he had thought nothing of the consequences. He had had no connections, and no family besides his uncle whom he didn't have any real contact with. Though this was by Eric's own choice, he didn't want to put the only family he had left in danger. But now he had Xerah, and to him, she meant more than the world - he couldn't lose her.
"If they are going to hurt you, then why are you going to them?" she asked him
He groaned as he answered her question. "So I can try to give back what I stole so that maybe they will leave us alone."
"Eric…" she began."I hear a strange noise from the front of your home, like a buzzing."
He started squirming in her tail's embrace. "Xerah, you have to let me go now." She hesitated. "Xerah, please. They're trying to get in!" He felt her tail quickly loosen and slide off. He turned to her and saw that she was holding herself with her arms, her head bowed. He felt his heart choke at the sight of her like that. He had to hurry, but he had to make sure she understood what was at stake. With quick steps he approached her and wrapped his arms around her. She seemed limp in his embrace for a moment before slowly bringing her arms around him in response.
As she now held him her tail kicked to life again and wrapped the two of them together, this time not as tight. This gesture that had multiple meanings to her kind; both of love, or the willingness to protect. In this case it was both.
"Why?" she thought. "Why does this have to happen?" She was so happy here with her mate, she didn't want to be anywhere else but with him. And yet, forces out of her control kept trying to take him away from her. First that 'shadow' and then those others of Eric's kind. Ever since her birth it had felt like the whole world had it out for her. But with Eric she had felt safe, as if his very presence could keep the horrors of the world at bay.
Eric was in some sort of trouble and yet she couldn't figure out a way to help him. She knew that Eric knew what was best for the both of them, and unless perhaps Eric would ask her to kill the humans... She caught herself for a moment as she realized that she was referring to the people outside as humans, yet not Eric. Eric was a human, but he was the only human she had ever come in contact with that did not make her fearful, sad, or had inflicted pain upon her. He was special as far as she was concerned with the human race.
She tried not to show Eric just how scared and sad and helpless she felt on the inside. But as she tried to hold back her whimpering she still shook with her fear in his arms. Being in his arms made her feel safer than anywhere else and she wanted to spill all her emotions out as he held her. But despite her feelings, she wanted to look strong so that Eric could focus on whatever it was he was going to do.
As he held her, in his gut he felt a little disgusted at himself. He almost let himself forget that he still had a gun in his hand. Wrapping his arms around the person he valued now above everything, while he also held a weapon, felt wrong. It's weight, the coolness of it, and the way it fit in his hand were all unwelcomingly familiar to him. Yet the memories it brought back were all the more unwelcome, forcing him to focus on Xerah in order to suppress them.
"They are going to make me go with them, Xerah."
"What!" She said, unwrapping her tail fast as a whip and loosening their embrace with a small step back. Now looking her mate face to face her mate continued.
"But I will come back, okay, Xerah? I will come back to you, I promise." His hands had slid from her back as she had stepped back. Now resting on her hips he began to take them back, but she caught them with her own hands. He looked to her and tried to smile reassuringly, before letting his face become stern. "I have to do this. It's my mess to fix." he told, serious as a heart attack.
She didn't want to, she couldn't let him go. He was going to be taken away from her, maybe even forever. But, she trusted him when he said that he would come back. She had to trust him.
"If you take too long, I'm going to come find you. You..." She choked on the last words and lowered her head in the overpowering wave of emotions she felt.
"You'll be in a lot of trouble…" She managed.
With her face within reach of her mates she made move to put their lips together and as she did he read her intentions and kissed her. Their lips embraced each other for only half a moment before he pulled back.
"I won't keep a lady waiting." he said to her, a funny tone to his voice, almost as if he were reciting the words.
He smiled, though he made it only visible to her for a moment before he turned. Rushing over to the pad next to the doorway and pushing the touchscreen buttons that appeared on the cool flat glass. The back-up power hadn't turned on the cameras, so he turned to Xerah.
"I'll ask you how you do it later, but can you find out their locations one more time?" he asked her.
"They… they are all at the front of your home," she said glumly. "The buzzing noise I heard before has stopped."
"Okay." he replied to her, touching multiple buttons on the pad that consequently turned off the emergency lights on the walls. He then touched another button, opening the windows and blinds with an almost inaudible hum. As they opened, the dim lights emanating from the emergency lights surrounding his home spilled into the room. The warm air leaked out the window and was replaced with a chilling breeze.
The window was about abdomen high and with his gun firmly in his grip, he leaned his head out. Past the perimeter of his yard, the world appeared pitch black. The entire exterior of his house was spotted by dimly lit lights, marking the area of his yard about every three feet. This planet was very cold at night, as its thin atmosphere had a slightly difficult time keeping in heat - a sharp contrast to the choking, dreadful atmosphere of Earth before it had been terraformed. Imagine that, a species having to terraform their own planet, their mother planet, because they abused it so much.
Turning his head to look left and then right he saw to a small relief that Xerah had been correct. A very cool breeze swept in past his head; It was almost stingingly cold this time of year, and it was a wonder that it hadn't snowed yet. The wind brought with it a voice, breaking the silence.
"Come on, Luc. Get the damn thing open." said a voice, sounding high-pitched and whiny.
"Yeah, yeah. Give me a break." he heard from another voice, this one deep and gruff. Eric pulled his head back inside, deciding then that he should put some more suitable clothes on - it was really damn cold outside.
Turning around, he went over to his dresser, passing Xerah as he did.
"Change your mind?" she said in a strange way, almost hopeful.
"Just going to get into something a little warmer." he replied to her in a rush as he quickly looked through his dresser and pulled out a pair of specialty clothing. As he undressed a chill ran down his spine. The room had become very cold with the window wide open.
"I shouldn't be long, but if you get hungry, remember how I-"
"I'll be fine."
"Right," he said with a nod of his head as he stood and looked at her. "I know you will be."
He pulled on his pair of black heat-regulating pants and the long sleeved shirt that matched it. The clothes were not truly black but were instead almost a camo-style of differing shades of black. As the clothes now hugged his skin tightly he began to feel warm once more.
He rushed past Xerah now as he headed over to the window sill and, after checking once more, he pulled himself onto the ledge. He looked at Xerah.
"Once I hop off this ledge," he said to her quietly, "you need to push that red spot on the touch pad. If you need to leave the house, for whatever reason, swipe your fingers over the spot, like this." He proceeded to trace an X in the air with his pointer finger. He nodded his head as he watched her copy his motion.
"Eric, I will still be able to talk to you once you are outside, but I will try not to interfere."
He smiled at her and puckering his lips he made a light kissing noise as he sent her a long distance kiss.
"I love you." He said quietly as he slipped out the window, landing onto the hard ground outside on the balls of his feet, making very little noise. He was now standing outside the left side of the house.
"I am touching the red spot now." The window he had just jumped out of suddenly slammed closed and he saw the metal plates slam over the glass. It closed with a loud clank of metal on metal as it shut and locked. "I love you, Eric." She whispered into his mind. He could hear the other windows around the house doing the same and the front door as well.
After the noise subsided, Eric could hear two voices cussing and speaking angrily. He stealthily made his way around to the front of his house. Following the wall of his home, staying just out of the light as he made his way. Soon enough he could clearly hear what the irritated voices were saying.
"I thought you said you could get in!"
"I can, you hyped up little... This damned guy, of course, had to buy one of the best colonial houses money can buy."
"So?"
"So, this house comes with a lockdown system and the bastard just activated it."
Eric approached the end of the wall and peeked around the corner, getting a good look at the situation. He saw two men at his doorway, one kneeled over and fiddling wires in an open pad next to the door. The man trying to hack open the door was a man of large stature. They were showered in light and, from where he was standing, Eric could see the man's thick arms and heavy-set build, complete with a beard. He had a short tuff of mostly grey hair, but with trace amounts of light brown. The man was wearing a short-sleeved shirt that exposed his dark skin and muscular arms. A tough man, Eric had no doubt, though his intellectual capacity was still a mystery.
The remaining person was standing a few feet away and was drastically smaller and paler, and sounded very young when he spoke. He appeared to be wearing multiple layers of clothes and was holding himself tightly with his arms and had a tuque on his head. He was clearly shivering.
The young man broke the silence, saying, "Can you still open it? I don't want to keep these guys waiting." He impatiently paced about.
Eric immediately scanned the perimeter, noting the inside lights of a bulky, black vehicle sitting a fair distance away. He thought he could see figures moving inside the vehicle. He wasn't able to tell much, though he could see that it was some sort of bus - Eric recognized it, and he wasn't entirely sure what to make of the vehicle. He remembered it to be one of the many of its kind down at the mine; the busses were primarily used to transport miners to and from the mine.
The burly man spoke up. "I know you're just bitching because it's chilly out. Trust me, I can get this door open - I don't want to keep these guys waiting long either. They're serious about getting this Eric guy."
From what he was seeing and hearing, Eric was beginning to get a good picture of what was happening, yet even so, in his gut he still felt nervous and apprehensive about what could be coming next. The men at his door didn't seem to be carrying weapons, but what they had said led him to believe that the men he couldn't see inside the bus might, meaning that Eric would have to play this carefully.
"Please… please don't let them hurt you, Eric." He could hear the sorrow in Xerah's voice and he wished he could respond. Stuffing the gun in his hand into the back of his pants, he took several deep breaths of the cool air and stepped out from around the corner.
He walked towards the men. The smaller one immediately noticed him and with an overly loud voice he alerted the man next to him, who looked up over his shoulder at Eric. As the large man brought his hands away from his work, a few stray wires poked out of the hole. They both stood and faced Eric, apparently unsure of what to do next. These were not the people hunting him; they were just here to open the door.
"Good morning." Eric said casually. They didn't reply.
"Can I help you?" Suddenly, the burly man stuck two fingers into his mouth and whistled loudly. It was then that he heard the door to the parked vehicle open, the 'The door is ajar!' alarm ringing loudly, and two men stepped out. It was hard to tell in the darkness, but the two men seemed to be quickly stomping their way towards his house. It was soon that their bodies were illuminated in the light of the house.
One was wearing tight fitting clothes of dark colors, similar to Eric's own, and had black hair that appeared to be tied back behind his head, a few locks of the long hair hanging out of place in his face. He also appeared to be of Asian descent. The closer he got the more evidently taller he was compared to the man next to him. The other man was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans and a black jacket, a retro look that was popular among the denizens of big cities. He was Caucasian and had long dirty blonde hair that hung flat halfway down his cheek in length, split in the middle. Eric, sadly, knew this man well.
As the two men from the vehicle stopped walking and stood invasively close in front of Eric, the two men at his door silently left, heading to the vehicle. Eric turned his attention to the blonde haired man and confirmed that indeed it was his old friend, Kenneth.
"Hi, Eric." Kenneth began, his face stern. Kenneth's voice was void of concern or anger. If Eric hadn't known that his old friend was there at Eric's expense, he would have thought that Kenneth was going to invite him for a game of pool. He jerked his head slightly to brush a few strands of hair out of his face as a light breeze blew past.
"Ken." Eric replied, glancing at the tall dark-haired man before setting his eyes back on his old friend.
"You look like shit."
"Thanks, you look pretty good as well." Eric smiled politely at his friend and nodded at his black jacket. "That's a pricey jacket, eh? Doing well for yourself I see."
"Yeah." There was an awkward silence. "But you know that I didn't travel all the way out here to exchange pleasantries." Eric nodded his head.
"Alright, good, than you know what you have coming."
Before Eric could reply in any way he was suddenly struck in the face, his head jerking violently to the right. His head rattled with the force of the blow and he stumbled back, almost losing his balance. He placed his hand over his cheek, trying hard to fight through the pain - damn, he hit hard. He tasted the blood, breathing in through his nose, which luckily wasn't broken. He brought his head back up and looked at his striker, the tall one, who had backed off for the moment. The Asian man had stepped a few feet back and was holding his right hand in pain, and after Eric heard a pop he realized his attacker had dislocated a knuckle with that punch.
"You alright, Tai?" Ken asked the dark-skinned man.
"Yeah; your friend here just has a really hard face." It was hard to tell exactly but Tai had an exotic sounding accent in his voice.
"Alright. Listen Eric, my muscle here is going to do be doing the dirtier part of this job. "
Turning his head to the ground to spit out a wad of blood, Eric asked "How dirty is this part going to be?"
"He isn't going to kill you. Boss still wants to talk to you, but he said he also wants your face busted up when he sees you." Ken smiled at Eric and shrugged his shoulders. "You know how it works. You and I have done stuff like this more than once or twice."
Eric stared at Ken. "Yeah, I seem to recall that even then you hated doing the dirty parts yourself."
"Well, that was a long time ago, Eric. Hah! You don't think I can afford to look this good by still doing the petty shit we used to do, right?"
"I suppose not… So how many people have you killed with that gun in your jacket?"
Ken looked a little dumbfounded. He thought he had hidden his gun. He touched his jacket under his left arm, where a pistol rested in a pocket. He quickly brought his face to a sadistic smile and said, "Last time I checked it was a nice multiple of ten."
"But enough about me. Tai, you sorted out that big o'l hand of yours?" The tall man stepped forward. He was opening and clenching his hand and to Eric it looked ready for business once more. Eric wasn't going to be captured without a fight, and he raised his fists in preparation.
"You can fight back, Eric." Ken stepped back away from the two of them. "But I wouldn't if I were you. This guy is the real deal, the kind of guy we used to duck when we were working together. Doesn't matter if you got some combat training in the army; he'll beat you bloody."
Nothing more was said as Tai came up to Eric and swung once more, using his injured right hand. Eric was ready though and sprung his left arm up in a block motion, though to no avail as the ready of his attacker had made a convincing feign. Faster than Eric could even comprehend his mistake he was hit in the side of the head with a very hard right boot. The leveeing of the dark skinned fighter, at first thought for a haymaker punch, had instead been to send a roundhouse kick.
He was completely knocked off his feet, seeing stars and tasting the metallic flavor of blood as his head rang from the impact. He was on his hands and knees and spat once more, this time in greater quantity. His brain felt as if it were reverberating from the sheer force of the kick and he desperately felt like closing his eyes and passing out. He panted heavy as he climbed back to his feet and saw that his attacker expected Eric to now try and attack him. Before he did anything though he noticed the loss of his gun from where he had tucked in at the back of his pants. He didn't risk looking around for it in the darkness, and he hoped they hadn't seen it either.
"ACK!" Suddenly Eric heard a yelling in his mind. It sounded like Xerah, and it sounded like she was in pain. He ground his teeth at a sudden thought that he might accidently share physical pain with her. She had shared her memories with him - who knows where the line was drawn when it came to telepathy? He would have to avoid getting hurt. Perhaps if he tried to ignore the pain, it would lessen the effect on Xerah. Of course that would be easier said than done.
He looked at his attacker who stood a few meters away and was in a defensive fighting stance, waiting for him to dare try and attack him. Eric loosened his limbs for a moment and breathed in and out, before closing the distance fast and was soon within striking distance of the tall bastard. Eric anticipated the trick shots that this man was capable of delivering. He knew now that this guy wasn't just some street fighter - he had proper training, something that Eric lacked.
Eric began holding his own moderately better, bobbing and weaving at the correct moments. Tai was playing this fight smart, landing a few straights every now and then to wane Eric's stamina in the long run. The hits were not bone breakingly hard, but they were consistent and Eric wasn't getting a chance for any of his own.
"Eric…Eric!...Stop, just surrend—gah!." She seemed worried about every hit he avoided as if she were dodging them alongside him.
He managed to get some distance between him and Tai, backing away quickly. "Stop fighting you idiot!"
"Shut up, Xerah! Please!" He almost felt bad about that but Tai came back at him, causing Eric to bring his arms up in readiness.
"Wait.." He was a split second from engaging in hand to hand with Tai again when the voice returned. Eric quickly decided to ignore it as he readied a feign attack. He might have landed a blow, only that what the voice said next metaphorically threw him on his head. "What makes you think that this is Xerah?"
He completely messed his feign up and his arm was caught by his opponent whom quickly twisted it in a strange position. Eric sharply inhaled as he knew in a flash what awaited him now. Tai took his twisted arm and, In a flash, he lifted his other hand and powerfully pounded down on Eric's shoulder, which immediately dislocated. The pain stabbed like a red hot dagger which twisted and turned as his arm fell. Falling to his knees, he screamed in agony as he grabbed his upper arm, trying to cease its movement. The pain was near blinding, he couldn't concentrate on anything else, but he managed to hear their voices.
"Alright Tai, that should be good."
Eric gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. He thought it was over now. He panted heavily as he tried to stand back up. He could feel the stinging in his face as the cold breeze brushed by the scene. Now his arm was dislocated and he thought then that it might have been better to just allow Tai to beat his face. But he had had to try, anything to try and keep Xerah safe. Yet his intentions had turned on him and he hoped with his every being that she hadn't felt any of it.
"No." Tai quickly approached Eric.
Eric's eyes opened just in time to see a large open hand come at him and disappear under his chin. He felt it begin squeezing his neck tightly. Then he felt it, a sledgehammer to the center of his face. Eric felt his nose break and some of his teeth rattle loosely. Then another blow and another. After 3 hits he felt the world start to get dark, and he closed his eyes as the hand released his neck. He heard a voice than, though it almost felt a distance away.
"No! Tai, we need him alive!"
He felt his knees start to cave in. His knees didn't hit the ground as he had expected, but suddenly stiffened up straight. He still had his eyes closed and he almost didn't want to open them. When he tried to move though, he found he couldn't. Was he just imagining this, had he already passed out from the pain and trauma? He suddenly felt to his horror his dislocated arm suddenly move. He felt the full intensity of pain coursing through his shoulder and all through his arm and body.
"I hate feeling your pain."
Suddenly, his arm lifted by itself. He felt the pain in his arm slowly build in intensity, centering itself on his shoulder. Finally it got to a point where it felt like his arm was about to be torn off. He felt his entire upper body shake in the wake of his shoulder's relocation. He yelled out in pain as he heard the loud pop and should have passed out in pain but instead he was forcefully kept awake.
He could feel his arm was extended in front of him, throbbing with pain. He wished he could pull it back to his body but he was not able to control his limbs. In a sudden instant, sending jolts of agony through his body, he felt a huge impact on his hand, but was surprised when he realized that he was holding something very tightly. It was then that his eyes suddenly shot open and he saw to his confusion that Tai was frozen in front of him. Tai appeared to be in middle of a heel kick but his midair leg was being held at the heel in Eric's hand. The kick, if it had hit his head, may very well have broken his neck.
Eric could barely comprehend what was going on as things started to speed up. Without his control his other hand sprung at Tai's leg, grabbing it above the ankle. He was trying to hop away on his other foot, but couldn't get free of Eric's grasp. Eric felt his hands squeeze and twist fast and hard and he felt the bone break in his hands. The feeling was sickening, but it was satisfying to finally hurt Tai for a change. As he broke the bone he pulled hard, throwing Tai onto the ground.
Eric took several steps back and saw Tai on the ground. Kenneth was rushing towards Tai, his face showing shock and confusion. The world quickly felt heavy and started going dark. The last thing he remembered was the satiating sound of Tai's shouts of pain.
…
His eyes shot open as he was startled awake by a sudden shake. His head felt heavy as he struggled to examine his surroundings. He was sitting in a seat in an almost cylindrical-like room with seats lining the sides, each separated by a couple feet. The sides were donned with large windows, but it was too dark to see outside. He could tell by feeling that he was in a moving vehicle.
He was not alone either. At the far front of the vehicle sat Ken and only a seat away from where Eric was sitting was another person, whom Eric realized was the young man with the tuque who had tried to invade his home. As he looked at the youth, the man just smiled politely and rather awkwardly at Eric before turning to look away at the floor.
Eric felt very groggy, and strangely numb. His head bobbed up and down as he struggled to keep consciousness. As his head bobbed down he saw that his arm was in a tight sling that was keeping his recently injured arm from moving.
"Take it easy, yeah? My uncle doped you up pretty good." He was trying to think of what he was going to ask the youth, but his mind was too foggy.
"We far enough yet?" Eric heard from his far left, from Ken. He turned his head to look at Ken but ended up doing so too fast. His head spun for a few moments as he tried to focus.
"Yeah, go ahead." Eric recognized this voice as the voice of the gruff man whom had been tampering with the wires. The voice had a slightly static to it between words and Eric hadn't seen the big man in the vehicle. The driver's seats must be separated from the passenger area.
"Alrighty then." Ken turned and looked over at Eric. Seeing that he was awake and staring back, he called to him. "Hey, Eric."
The bastard was actually smiling. Eric didn't respond but continued looking at the blonde man he had once called friend.
"Was there anyone with you in your house?"
Eric's first thought was then of Xerah whose image was sharp and clear in his foggy head. He thought of her, waiting for him in his house. He hated that he would have to leave her alone for any amount of time. But he would be back with her soon, and this will have been taken care of.
"No." Eric said plainly, hoping that he was believed and no one tried to get into his home again.
"Alright." Eric watched as Ken reached over into another seat and picked something up. The blonde man then leaned back in his seat and looked over to Eric for a moment before tuning his gaze to whatever he had in his hand. It was a black, long, and rectangular device. Ken then took the object by both ends and twisted it, the two halves twisting in opposite directions until there was a click and a beep. With a flick of his thumb Ken knocked open the top of the object, which opened up like an old zippo lighter. Now open, it exposed a small button.
"The Boss's second order, after beating the shit out of you," Ken explained, looking to Eric as he put his finger on the button, holding it down. "'Blow up his house.' "
The split second after the words came out of his mouth is when Eric saw it. He could see through the desert like terrain outside the vehicle, light up. The brightness was enough that it showered the inside of the vehicle in a bright orange light. The vehicle then shook violently as the shockwave hit them, coinciding with the sound of thunder as if lightning struck his house a hundred times at once.
"Boss loves his revenge."
In Eric's mind he could register that an explosion had occurred. But he was having a hard time combining what Ken had said to the sudden event. It was disbelief that tried to plague Eric now. His next feelings made him feel faint. He couldn't keep his head up anymore and his eye lids turned against him. His final thoughts were of Xerah sitting on his bed. Waiting for him.
"Are you out of your mind, Teykon!?"
"Maybe a little."
*What did you think of the fight seen? I worry about it. :L
VOTE ON THE POLE PLEASE