PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR NOTE!
Alright everyone, I hope you don't have a weak stomach because if you do, you probably will not be able to handle this chapter. This chapter is entirely about Zero, who, in my world, I have named Turok. Zero is a computer program, which in my world, have turned into a sort of android/cyborg type thing. It does NOT explain who he is but rather, is a chapter entirely for him to have fun within. This chapter is also dedicated to one of my few remaining (of what's left, that is) rabid fans (yes, I believe she even has rabies, too!), who's name is Many Voices In My Head. Now you all know her name and you can send her countless emails insisting she be put away in a mental asylum; I'll even let her bunk with me!
But if you don't have a weak stomach you won't be able to read this. You've been warned, however, so don't come crying to me about how sick it may sound or how twisted of a mind I have. This rating is 'M', meaning MATURE; if you can't handle gore than you're obviously in the wrong story. You all should have already known, though, that Uno is quite sick-minded. But now you see just HOW badly the people in her life are, as well.
38 pages. Enjoy the bloody fun! (smiles)
- Chapter Thirty-Five -
"Turok, what are you doing with that rifle?" Doctor Aztec stepped up to the experiment and ripped the gun away from his arms. "You are not authorited to carry weapons when you are already a weapon."
Turok bit his lower lip. "So sorry, Sir. I won't do it again!"
Aztec nodded. "Better not. Now get back down to the Music Wing and leave this Technology Department alone!"
Turok wasted no time following the orders. He left as quickly as he could. Aztec stared after him and groaned.
"That creature is just a war hero waiting to be released," he grumbled. "Either that, a wold massacre, with his unhealthy way of teasing."
"Aztec!" Aztec turned to the startled gasp of his brother.
"Pinn?"
"It was you!" Pinn ripped the gun out of Aztec's hands. Aztec began figuring that the rifle was suddenly a famous piece of machinery, wanted by all. "Of all the people—you slaughtered the soldiers in the Medieval Wing?"
Now Aztec was clearly taken aback. "What?"
"Their bodies are hanging from the ceiling rafters in the hallways leading to the Medieval Wing, torn to shreds and dripping with blood because of this gun!" He held the rifle up. "They've been shot so badly that you can clearly see holes straight through their bodies and the walls and ceiling are, quite literally, painted with their blood!"
Aztec growled. "Turok."
"Why are you blaming him? You're holding the evidence of it all!"
Aztec hung his head. "That damn creature did it again."
"Huh?"
"Set me up, again." Pinn suddenly started to laugh. "What?"
"It's about damn time Turok made his games noticeable," Pinn explained. "Morris has a habit of leaving the Radiation Explosive Setting turned on while I leave him in charge of taking quick pit-stops."
Aztec frowned. "Morris sabotages your work?"
"Every chance he gets."
A smirk formed on Aztec's lips. "Apparently both of the brothers enjoy playing tricks on each other. Perhaps we should get them back."
"How about we make them clean up after themselves or we cancle their upgrades?"
"Sounds fair."
-
Uno streteched the following morning and yawned.
"Rise and shine, said Turok from across the room where he was laying on the setee. Uno gasped and clutched the covers to her chest. Turok snorted.
"Please Uno, it's nothing I haven't seen before."
"Quit scaring me," she snapped. "And leave me alone for a change, damn it!"
"Can't." He stood up and stepped up to the bed. "You promised me last night that you'd let me have some fun." She narrowed her eyes and stared up at him. "So you have no choice but to ablige because you're like your father, Duo; you don't turn your back on your words."
She groaned and hung her head. "Can I at least get up and prep myself for the morning?"
He crossed his arms over his chest and furrowed his brows. "No—now!"
Uno snapped her head up at him and tore out of bed. "I'll have you know," she paused to fling the covers back on the bed, "that you are in no position to run me, Zero!" He growled. Uno balled her fists and stood her ground, still dressed in the same undergarments she wore last night for bed. "You are, after all, afraid of doing anything to hurt me that Morris will have a fit for."
Turok gasped and she smirked. "You are a downright, selfish bitch," he seethed. "You're using him against me!"
She crossed her arms. "Damn straight I am."
His eyes narrowed. "Fine." He turned his back to her. "Prep for the morning—but don't take your pretty time because I plan to take over anyways."
It was an hour later when she returned to the room from bathing and conditioning to her hair and body. Turok was sitting on the chair in front of her desk patiently, tapping his foot on the floor, while he watched her enter. She was whistling and still braiding her hair when she noticed his agitated expression.
"Jeeze Turok—don't look so glumy."
He growled low then snapped aloud. "Hurry up already!" She smiled and stuffed her night garments into the dresser as she continued singing her song. Turok balled his fists and grit his teeth. He turned and stared at the wall, waiting for her to admit him.
"I'm ready." She said, stepping around the side of the room and up to him.
"Finally!" He jumped to his feet and saw her staring up at him with an innocent gaze. He paused. "Uno…"
Her eyes smiled with her mouth. "Will you possess me, Turok?"
"I uh…"
"How will it work? You don't want to get me in trouble."
He stilled momentarily. "I… you are going to be partially asleep while I am in control." She nodded in understanding. "You will be able to think, if you want to, and we will communicate that way."
"As you do to me."
He nodded. "But you will not be able to control your body whatsoever."
A brow raised. "Sounds kinda' perverted, if you ask me."
He smirked. "Which is why I'm not."
"Hehe."
He nodded with determination and raised his hands to rest upon her shoulders. "Look into my eyes, Uno." She did as told. "Now just relax."
"Alright."
Uno felt herself growing weak. Her eyelids got heavy and began loweing. Her limbs became numb, her legs shaky, and she felt like she were about to fall. A tingly sensation filled her while her muscles failed to work to her will. Turok's face blurred from her vision and melted in with the background.
The last thing she recalled was Turok's soft whisper telling her, "Here we go."
Turok, now in Uno's body, stepped up to the mirror and pulled the drapery back. He tucked it behind the edge of the mirrorframe and stood back to stare at his reflection. It was a shock to see a reflection when he looked into a mirror, though it was the same as when he looked through Uno's eyes. Only he wasn't used to seeing her when he looked into one.
"Man I have to get used to this," he muttered out with a voice of Uno's. His brows furrowed, reflecting her finely shaped brown ones doing the same. He shook his head slowly to watch her's doing the same.
"Man oh man," he mouthed. The lips in the figure before him mouthed the same thing. "This is freaky. I should be able to morph into my own body if I'm in control of her."
He looked at the dress she had put on and stared long and hard at the certain elements that would make her a woman. The dress was black but there were tiny white flowers imprinted in the background, looking gray instead. The chest billowed out as the imprint of constrained breasts beneath pushed against the fabric of the dress. The hem formed to the hips, showing signs of possible seduction if used correctly.
He returnd to the face and stared into the violet eyes. She had so much of his brother in her, he realized. Uno's facial structure, though much like Duo's with her violet eyes, had the stern jawbone of Morris. Although Uno had inherited the long brown braid from her father, Duo, she had plenty of shades of red to signal that she was half of her mother, Morris' dauther, Sarah.
The mirror slid to the side and Turok gasped. He took a step back as he watched Erik open the mirror and step inside. Watching Erik through Uno's eyes was one thing; seeing it for himself was an entirely new sight. The man was basically a stick figure with a cape and a white mask on half his face.
"Uno," Erik said with an incline of his head. "I startled you, I am sorry."
"Oh I um," Turok stammered out with Uno's voice.
Oh god, came Uno's thoughts in the back of his mind. A slight smirk came to his face, appearing in front of Erik's line of sight.
"No—I was just wondering if I messed up while braiding my hair," he lied.
Erik smirked. "You look as wonderful as usual."
Turok bit his lower lip and hung his head as he made a blush come to his cheeks. "You're kind."
Turok stop!
"I should hope so," he replied. "What you said last night before the show was truly remarkable."
"Oh," Turok glanced away sheepishly, "that." Erik held Uno's chin between his thumb and forefinger and turned the delicate face to stare back at him. "Erik?"
"I was very moved by what you said and even more moved by the show you put on." Turok allowed a smile to show.
"Thanks," he whispered.
"But last night…"
"I wanted you," Turok explained.
No!
Erik frowned and Turok turned away to shield his eyes. "I felt that if I showed you how much I liked you, words wouldn't have to be said."
Stop it!
"Uno," he breathed out.
"I really like you." Turok stared up into the green eyes. "A whole lot."
"Uno."
"So much that… I think…" Her eyes shut.
Don't you dare! Turok!
Turok was startled when he felt another pair of lips on his. His eyes snapped open to find Erik had leaned in to kiss him. Well not him; Erik kissed Uno not knowing Turok was possessing her at that moment.
Oh I can have a lot of fun with this, Turok thought to himself.
Stop! Uno cried out. Please!
It's time you stop running from the past, Uno.
Damn it, Turok! I do this for a reason!
Her lips opened, allowing access to Erik's kiss, urging for it to deepen. Her arms wrapped around his neck as she felt his tongue sliding into her mouth. She elicited a soft moan from the back of her throat and pulled Erik closer to her body. A groan emerged from his throat then suddenly he pushed away from her.
Turok frowned, arching Uno's beautifully shaped brows. "Erik?"
"No," he rasped. "I can't touch you, Uno. You are too frail a creature to be destroyed by my tou—" He froze when the delicate hand had moved his boney hand from her shoulders to her breasts. His lower lip quivered again as he stared at where his hands were forced to remain.
"Uno," he gasped. "What are you—"
One of the delicate hands removed from covering his hand and stilled his lips. "No," Turok said through Uno's voice. "Don't speak, Erik. Just act." He frowned. "I… I've always been scared to tell you this but…" the hand pulled away from his lips. "But… I think I'm falling—"
Don't say it!
"For you."
For the moment time froze. Erik's eyes were wide, glazed, and still. His breathing had stopped as did his heartbeat. The blood in his veins froze solid. Turok, through Uno, released Erik's hands and reached up to remove the mask. When the mask fell to the floor, he made her kiss Erik's deformity. Suddenly, feeling returned to Erik's body and he wrapped his arms around the woman before him tightly and dipped her instantly, kissing her at the same time.
Turok closed her eyes as he allowed Erik to take the leading role. It was time somebody besides Uno or himself controlled the acts.
Please Turok, don't let this happen, sounded Uno's sulking voice in the back of his mind.
When Erik pulled back after the kiss, still in the dipping form, Turok smiled softly. He reached up to stroke Erik's deformed face and tenderly said, "Take me, Erik."
Erik frowned. "Uno, but I—"
"Deformity of the heart I call, the worst deformity of all. For what is form, or what is face, but the soul's index, or its case?" Tears filled his eyes and Uno stroked the first falling one off Erik's face. "A man named Colton had wise words of wisdom."
"I have loved you since the first moment I saw you at the royal ball," Erik breathed out, his voice scratchy with barely contained happiness and love combined. "Because you looked every inch an angel although I knew that you were as hard as the devils."
"Please," Uno whispered, "make love to me."
"And I will not stop loving you until the day I die."
It was hours later when Turok, still disguised as Uno, woke up. The bed in the room was lonely save for him but still warm from where Erik had recently laid. He turned to glance at the indention of the pillow where the deformed face rested and smiled.
"Finally," he said with Uno's voice again. "Erik finally knows how you feel about him."
I will never forgive you for this, she scorned.
The shoulders shrugged. "It had to be done."
No it didn't!
"Although I must admit that it felt weird having sex with another guy while in a girl's body," Turok muttered. He shuddered and shook his head. "But if I keep thinking about that I'll throw up."
Get out of my body right now, damn it!
He stood up and stretched. "Don't worry, Uno. I won't do anything else in your body."
Good.
"I'm going to try and change your molecular structure into mine."
What!
He stepped up to the mirror and smirked when he saw Uno's naked body in the mirror. "You do have a fine figure."
Pervert. What are you going to do?
He took in a deep breath and furrowed her brows as he stared hard into the mirror. "First things first," he muttered. "I need to change and then find some clothes."
He stared into Uno's violet eyes and foces hard. The eyes sparkled and glinted right back at him. His jaw locked as he strained, his eyes narrowing into slits as he forced her feminine body to obey his will and change. The purple eyes darkened until they were as black as charcoal; his pupil looked as if it had taken over his entire eyeball.
Turok grinned. "Brilliant!" Uno's body was normal but her eyes had become as black as night. "Now for the ears."
He focused on the ears and strained. Against their will the molecular structure changed and right before his very eyes Uno's eyes grew up and out. Turok laughed with glea.
"Awesome!" He turned his head to the side to see Uno's body with the black eyes now holding elf ears inplace of human ears. "Though not as long as Morris but still not normal human ears." He grinned. "Now for the rest of it."
He glanced at the body and took a deep breath. He wasn't sure it could be done but he assumed it was possible if the eyes and ears were able to change.
Just don't get stuck with half our bodies mixed up, Uno said in the background, disrupting his concentration momentatily. I'd like to keep a human-looking body that everyone had already seen.
Turok frowned and started over. He focused purely on the body in the mirror and concentrated on making its molecular structure change. He clenched his fists and strained. Every muscle in his body tensed and ached as violent shivers pulsed through him. The knuckles turned white; the palms grew red as fingernails dug into the skin. The head slowly began to shake as he clenched every muscle every inch of the body.
The long braid began shrinking as the color fully turned to brown. The nose sunk in slightly. The lips thinned out. The jaw lowered just a little as his face grew narrower. The tone of the skin lightened just a little. The chest flattened out and muscles took their places. The scars on the body disappeared. He watched as Uno's gender disappeared and watched as his own grew in place. Several inches extended his legs and body as the muscles that recently replaced her breasts enlarged in strength.
In less than five minutes Turok watched as the body he inhabitated changed from that of a woman's to his.
"This is outrageous," he murmured.
Oh my God... you're not too bad looking either, Uno said in amazement.
He grinned at his reflection. His strong lean build, standing full height of six-foot-three and as Turok glanced down at himself, and extra eight inches of meat to stand on top of that. A wicked smile crossed his face as he returned to stare at his reflection. His raggedy brown hair topped his head and flared around in clumps, just below his long ears. The nape of his neck was bare, as if he had been shaved for a crew cut and left the top part alone.
He turned to the side and finished inspecting himself. "This is too perfect." He smiled brightly, hearing his voice instead of Uno's.
You're still naked.
Turok's brows furrowed. "I can see why you tell me to stop talking to you—that voice get's annoying."
Hey!
"Goodnight Uno!" A wicked gleam flashed in his eyes as a dark smile crossed his face.
Turok no!
Silence came next.
After putting Uno to sleep he muttered to himself, "Much better."
Turok stepped up to the armoire and pulled out the drawer Uno had stored her old war clothes. He lifted them up and stared at them. Hoping they would fit, he slipped them on and buckled everything up. He stared in the mirror after he laced the combat boots up and tucked the pants into them.
"Excellent." He turned around a few times and checked every pocket. "Very good." Turok nodded in approval then lowered the drape. He turned around to stare at the bedroom door and a dark smile tilted on his face as a smirk. "Now to have some fun."
-
"Excuse me," Turok muttered as he bumped into somebody backstage. The person paused and turned to watch him make his way through the crowd.
"Somebody please go give this to Uno," a dancer called out. "I forgot to give it to her last night."
Turok paused and glanced at the redhead. "What is it?"
The redhead glanced at the small box in her hand and shrugged. "Its heavy but he didn't say."
"I'll take it to her."
"Who are you?"
"I… I'm Turok," he replied. "Her brother."
Brows rose. "Uno never said she had a brother."
"Well she never said anything about herself, either."
"How would you know?" The girl got suspicious of him. "I haven't ever seen you around here so you probably just arrived."
He nodded. "Uno's my sister—she hasn't changed one bit." He received the small box and tucked it into one of the many pockets on his pants.
"You're Uno's brother?" A dark haired girl pranced up to him. "But you're American."
"Yeah—so?"
"I thought she was royality." Now both girls stared at him, waiting for a slipup.
"She is, believe me. She almost had me killed," he explained.
"What did you do?"
"… I annoyed her."
Their mouths dropped as if they realized they had annoyed her as well. The dark haired girl shook her head suddenly.
"No seriously, what did you do to make her come close to ordering your death?"
He frowned. "Just what I said—I annoyed her." He cleared his throat. "Gotta' go."
He rushed away from them as quickly as possible. Turok rounded a corner and came to a halt when he saw Madam Giry heading his direction about a few hundred yards away. He inhaled a deep breath and stiffened. He couldn't be seen by her. Out of all the people of the building that woman knew every thought Uno had before she could think it.
He turned to retreat and came face to face with bright, light blue eyes and brown hair pulled back into a pony-tail. The eyes blinked twice before Turok realized he was standing less than four inches in her face. From the corner of his eye he saw Madam Giry pass them up and held his breath in fear the woman would spot him.
She didn't.
"Hi?" The girl said in wonder.
Turok shook himself out of his train of thought and cleared his mind. He realized who he had bumped into and, for a first, noticed things about her he didn't see through Uno's eyes.
She looked almost identical to Theresa—save for the stronger bone structure of her face and posture.
"Charline," he muttered.
Her eyes widened just a little and she backed up a step. "Um… and you are?"
"Turok."
She nodded slowly. "Okay?"
He shook his head and cleared his throat. "Sorry—I'm somewhat lost around here right now, so much is happening at once." She stood in silence. "I'm Uno's… brother."
"Oh." Her brows furrowed. "I didn't know Uno had a brother."
He smirked. "Apparently she hasn't told anyone about me, then."
"No um…" Charline turned away for a moment. "She doesn't say a thing about her life."
He nodded as he listened to her. "Yeah she runs from her life. You basically got to slap it out of her."
Charline smirked at him. "I'll keep that in mind."
Turok laughed. "It's a good thing she can't hear you say that."
Charline shrugged casually. "She's not here at the moment."
Ain't that for sure? Turok said to himself, thankful he had put Uno to sleep before leaving the room.
"So you're from America?"
"Yep—from Flordia."
"Florida!" Her eyes brightened. "I've never been there but I heard the beaches are beautiful."
Turok extended his arm. "They are." She smiled and placed her hand on his arm and walked with him. "The ocean is so blue you can't see where the horizon ends and the sky begins. The sun glimmers off the waves of the water so much that it reflects back a thousand sparkles a second. And if you look closely, you can see beautiful things beneath the surface."
"Wow." Charline swayed a little bit as she invisioned the picture Turok painted in her mind. She paused and glanced at him. "Um… Turok?"
He turned to her. "Yes?"
"What's the horizon?"
He frowned and stopped to stare down at her. Please tell me they believe the world is round.
"That word doesn't sound familiar," she added in. "But I'm from New York so perhaps it's a word people from Florida use."
"Um… you believe the world is round, right?"
She laughed. "Of course! Man has proven it, I have heard."
He nodded slowly. "The horizon is the point where you see the edge of the land curve along the sides of the planet." She frowned. "I'll show it to you later this afternoon."
"You will show me?" She reddened a little and he smiled.
"Yes," he chuckled.
"That will be kind of you." They continued walking and she realized something else. "Turok?"
"Yes?"
"Where are you taking me?"
"…I was hoping you could show me to the cafeteria," he said dryly. "I'm hungry."
Charline giggled. "We're going the wrong direction."
"Oh." They turned around to return from where they came. "I knew that."
When they sat down with a midday meal Charline stared into her cup of tea as Turok picked up one of his four pastries. He paused before taking a bite and frowned at her.
"Something wrong?"
"Ever since Marcella had put cutglass into my drink I've been scared to drink."
He frowned. "Marcella disappeared, hadn't she?"
Charline glanced up at him from the tops of her eyes. "Uno told you?" His determined gaze told her what she needed to know. "What all did she tell you?"
"… More than you've been told."
Charline frowned. "She told you she killed Marcella and Priscella?" She whispered.
Turok stayed quiet and bit into his pastry. Charline looked down at her single pastry and nodded in agreement. Turok didn't have to say anything and Charline knew what was going on in his head; Uno hadn't told her but she assumed it and Turok's response had confirmed it for her, too.
Uno had killed many people and Turok knew about each one.
"Did she tell you about," Charline paused to lower her voice and lean over the table.
Turok frowned and swallowed his bite before pulling back. Something about Charline leaning closer sent an odd feeling into the pit of his stomach and he didn't know how to react to it.
Which was a first.
"Erik?"
Erik, the phantom, the man Turok had made Uno have sex with this morning. Oh yes, he knew all about Erik. Turok grinned and nodded his head.
"She told you about him?"
He lifted the pastry to his lips. "More than you know."
She gasped. "I want to know now!"
He laughed and shook his head. "Not without her consent. I'd get hurt then." He took a bite and watched her relax in the chair and sulk.
"Well I'm amazed she's mentioned me to you." Charline lifted her pastry and bit into it.
Turok raised a brow and swallowed his bite. "Why shouldn't she? You're basically her only friend."
"Hello." Turok turned to see a blonde sit down besides him at the round table. "You're new. I didn't know there were auditions for the next act."
"Oh um…" Charline glanced between Turok and the blonde. "Meg this is Turok… Uno's brother."
"Oh!" She smiled and extended her hand. "I didn't know Uno had a brother. I'm Meg Giry."
Turok extended his hand but froze when he heard the last name. Why is it, when he made the change of bodies, he forgot half of what happened in Uno's shoes? He feared the name 'Giry' simply because of the ballet mistress.
Meg shook his hand. "She doesn't speak much of her family."
"Where is she, anyways?" Charline frowned and raised her cup to her lips. "I haven't seen her today and her room was empty."
"She had to run errans," Turok rushed out before biting into his second pastry.
"Like what?" Meg noticed he had three extra pastries and her eyes widened. "You eat so much you won't be able to eat dinner!"
Turok frowned and glanced down at his plate. He forced his bite down unchewed. "No," he retorted. "I'm almost always hungry."
Charline lowered the cup. "Meg—are we practicing today?"
Meg nodded. "Maman did not appreciate the ballet very much last night. She said there were spots where we could fix."
"I thought the show was exquisite enough," Turok cut in. Both girls turned to him. "You both danced quite beautifully."
Meg smiled and Charline blushed. "I'm not a prima ballerina like Meg, though." Charline said timidly. Turok shrugged casually and blew it off.
"So? I still think you were wonderful." He took another bite."
"So Turok—why is your name Turok?"
"Why is my sister's name Uno?"
"Well it's an odd name." Meg frowned.
"And Uno isn't?"
"But your father's name is Duo so I assumed she was named after him," Meg explained. "But what about you?"
He thought for a moment. "Our mother."
Now it was Charline's turn to ask the questions. "What was her name?"
"Sarah," Turok explained. "But she named me after her uncle."
"Oh wow." Meg smiled brightly. "So you were named after your Great Uncle?"
"Great Uncle Turok," Charline said in aw. "It sounds fair enough." Meg nodded in agreement. Turok remained quiet and took a bigger bite than he knew his mouth could handle.
If only they knew the truth.
After a few more minutes Meg stood. "I must get to the stage before manam throws a fit. Don't forget Charline, we have rehearsals today."
Charline nodded, too into the bite she was currently chewing. She waved her hand in Meg's direction.
"It was nice to meet you, Turok." Meg smiled and fled from the table just as she came.
Turok stared after and and watched her disappear through the café doors. "She's nice."
"Mmhm." Charline swallowed. "She's friends with Uno before I arrived but I'm not flaky like her so Uno stuck with me more."
"Also because you remind her of an old friend," Turok muttered under his breath.
"What?"
"Nothing." He bit into his last pastry quickly.
"Well I must get to the stage as well." Charline stood up and extended her hand. "I'm glad I met you, Turok. Perhaps I will see you later?"
He forced his bite down half chewed and smiled up at her. Turok stood up and placed his hand beneath hers then bent down to kiss it. Her cheeks reddened all the way.
"Have a wonderful day," he said through a smirk. When he caught her eye she was staring at him, her lips parted in silence.
"I-I plan to," she choked out. Clearing her throat and trying again, she said firmly. "I know I will."
They smiled at each other before she left and Turok returned to his meal.
When he finished his meal he stood up and went to throw away his trash when he overheard the staff talking amongst themselves. A smirked reached his lips. Without his long ears he wouldn't be able to hear whispering a mile away.
"That wretched woman," cursed one woman. "She demands wine be brought to her!"
"She should be kicked out on her behine," said the other. "If I were the manager I would take to haste in doing it, either."
"Le Carlotta can't be thrown out—pauh!" Both woman snorted and continued cleaning. "That woman should get her own bloody wine!"
Bloody wine, Turok thought sinisterly. Yes… she should.
"I'll deliver it, if you would much rather stay here instead." Both women turned to see Turok standing on the other side of the counter.
One woman frowned. "You have weird ears on," she retorted with distaste.
The other woman's brows furrowed. "Is that the look for the next play?"
"… I'm sorry?" He frowned. "I was a stolen lab creature," he said. "My parents saved me from a fate worse than this but the scientists still wrecked me. So I came here for work with the stage."
"Oh you poor boy!" The woman gasped and covered her mouth. "Such shame!"
The other one snorted. "Where are you from? I thought it was only England that did such a thing."
"Oh yes—terrible things come from The New World," he lied. "So bad that I was one of the few survivors."
"Oh my goodness!"
He smirked. It wasn't a total lie, after all. Where he came from was considered practically Florida and the scientists did kidnap an orphan to experiment on.
"Here." She handed him the glass. "Fill it up with this red wine and deliver it to Carlotta's room."
He nodded. "Simple enough."
"Thank you. Now we can return to cleaning duties." Both women disappeared and Turok stared into the glass with a wicked thought in his mind.
He left the café and spotted a narrow passage to his right. Frowning he took it and came into an opening that was clearly behind the back of the stage, where many of the stage crew had snuck away to drink their liquor. He kicked away a bottle of liquor and stepped up to a sleeping crewman.
"Wha—what was that?" The man stammered out. Turok kneeled down to him and stared into his glazed eyes.
"You're drunk."
"Nah I'm not," the man spat back. Turok's nose wrinkled as he sniffed the liquor on the man's breath.
"I sniffed you out from the café," he said. "I knew somebody back here was drinking."
"I'm fine." The man pushed Turok away and tried to stand. He grappled for Turok's body and strained to stand up. "See? I'm standing."
"Uh huh."
"Now I think I'm going to go fuck one of 'em rats."
Turok cocked a brow. "Which one?"
"The American," he slurred out. "She's always walking around here without anyone else. It'll be a sinch to grab her and take her."
"Charline?"
"That's her!" The man chuckled. "That body of hers looks fresh. I'd try for her friend but I may get my ass killed." He laughed again. "But I'd sure love to try it, anyways. She has enough hair I can wrap around my hand and pull."
"Pull?"
"Hah! Force her to her knees and take me in her mouth."
Turok narrowed his eyes. "Now how can you do that?"
"It's easy!" The man spread his arms. "We do it all the time to them rats! It's all they's good for!"
"No I mean how can you do that?" He grabbed the man's groin tightly. The man gasped. "If you don't have anything to fuck with?"
The man cringed in pain. "Stop that! Yer hurting me!"
Turok twisted his wrist and snapped he bone. The man screamed but Turok jabbed his forehead into the man's nose, shoving the cartilage up into the man's skull. Blood seeped out of his nose and after Turok released his grasp, he fell to the floor.
He stared down at the body of the dead crewman. "See to it that you don't lay a hand on anyone while I'm here," Turok threatened darkly. "Especially Charline."
Uno can handle herself.
He stared at the blood oozing out of the man's nostrils and thought of something. The eyes were wide opened and staring up at the ceiling. A sinful thought entered Turok's brain and he smiled.
"You'll still going to be of us to this theater," he muttered darkly. "Though not in the way you expect it."
Turok kneeled down and placed the glass on the floor to the side. He picked up one of the man's limp wrists and held it in both hands. Rotating it in his grasp just right, Turok snapped the limb and tore at the skin without any effort. The hand tore away from the rest of the arm just as if he were shredding a leaf in his fingertips. All too suddenly, blood drained out of the opens veins and Turok had to work fast at putting the hand down and aiming the dripping blood into the glass. Using his fingertips he pinched the ends of all the nerves to cut off the flow and cease the leakage momentarily.
He picked up the glass and stood up. The man looked dead to him but if anyone were to come in here they would assume he was resting; albeit missing a hand.
He left the hall and headed for La Carlottas. When he found it he tapped on the door then leaned on the wall besides it. The door opened and he extended his arm out, handing the glass to the servant, sure to keep himself hidden. People passed by him in the halls but no one paid any attention so he knew he was safe. When the glass was taken from him and the door shut he smirked and retreated back the way he came.
Good, he smirked. The dead body was still there.
Turok kneeled down and ripped open the man's shirt without another second to waste. He had to work fast if he wanted his plan to come through. He kept the clothing intact, although ripped up, and stared at the white flesh beneath.
God these people need to learn to get some sun on their skins.
First he checked the man's pockets for anything he could find and pocketed it. Then he trailed a single fingernail down the center of the man's chest to his naval, slicing through the skin like a sharpened razor-edges knife. The blood was still thin but he noticed it was starting to coagulate; he had to work fast.
He pulled the edges of skin apart and wrinkled his nose as the scent reached his nostrils. God this man stank worse than any of the dead bodies he mutilated in his life. He noticed his cut wasn't long enough, as the slice began tearing apart extra lengths on both ends. He bit his lower lip and continued pacing his actions; he needed to go as fast as he could but still keep everything clean.
There it is! He spotted the liver and smiled to himself. While using one hand to keep the skinfolds apart, he used his other to scoop up the liver and pull it out of body.
Nice entrails, he commented. Too bad they're only half-ass.
It paid off to be an experiment, Turok decided. He had less to worry about if his insides ever became outside. For example: his liver, along with all his other organs, were coated with a durable substance which would allow him to remain alive even if he got sliced up.
The only way he could die would be a computer drainage effect or a power shortage, which would cause a system malfunction and give him a power outage.
He laid the liver down on the ground and peered into the carcass again, looking for something else to pick at. He poked at the stomach and watched as it jiggled according to where he touched it. He chuckled, seeing how fill of alcohol it was.
Turok reached for one of the empty bottles and scooped out the stomach muscle. He suspended it over the open mouth of the bottle and, using the thumb of his other hand, poked a hole in the stomach pouch. Alcohol, stomach acid, and everything else this man had recently consumed drained into the bottle like a hose without a nozzlehead.
When the bottled filled he sat it down and placed the stomach pouchs on the ground besides the liver. He spotted the spleen and carefully removed it, making sure not to puncture it and have a huge mess; that, of all things, still held regular blood, though thinned down from all the liquor the man consumed first. The he found the heart and removed that as well.
Now it's time for fun.
He placed the pile of liver on top of the corpse and stood up with the body in his arms, carefully keeping it upright to not spill anything. He headed down the hallway, careful to avoid contact with anyone and remain hidden. When he found the backstage was empty he decided what to do and he had to do it fast.
If he was caught it would be the end of his day of fun and Uno's life would come to an immediate end.
Well, she'd be thrown in prison and since she'll never die, she'll stay there forever, scaring everyone for not aging one bit, either.
He worked quickly and the moment he was done, he fled as fast as possible. Turok returned to the area he stored everything else in and picked it up the bottle. He continued heading down the hallway opposite of the way he came and found it spilled out into one of the other hallways where some of the crew were relaxing.
"Who are you?" The man had a bent nose and his sandybrown hair was oily.
Turok came out of the shadows and glanced around. "Turok. I'm new here."
"I've noticed," his brown eyes flickered. "Crew?" Turok nodded. The man ripped the bottle out of his hands.
"Hey!"
"You're not supposed to drink."
"Hey—give that back!"
The man pushed Turok away from him. "I'm the head of the crew and I say what goes around here, got it?"
"Yeah but—"
"They need an extra hand with moving one of the props so get out there and help." He turned his back to Turok and raised the bottle to his lips. "Before I have you fired so suddenly."
Turok narrowed his eyes. "If you drink that you'll die."
The man chuckled. "Yeah, right." He opened his lips and took in some of the liquid.
"No!" Turok reached out as if to grab the bottle but instead of pulling it away, he grabbed the mans head and held the bottle there, forcing the liquid to go into his throat. His eyes narrowed as the many's eyes widened. Hands flailed around and grabbed at Turok but Turok overpowered him by far, his strength superior to anyone else.
"Drink," Turok demanded coldly. "And pay the price to theft and ignorance of a warning."
The man tried to muffle out a reply but faily. His eyes squeezed tightly as the burning of his tongue started to enhance; he blocked the liquid from entering his mouth by plugging the bottle up with his tongue but now his tongue was starting to burn from the stomach acid.
"I gave you warning and you didn't obey," Turok said darkly. "So now you must pay the price and suffer." He jerked the bottle and forced it into the man's mouth more. "Now drink!"
The man allowed the liquid to go into his mouth and then he realized that it wasn't any sort of alcohol that he tasted but instead, something far worse.
"You're drinking the stomach contents of some crewman I just killed," Turok explained. "He was drunk and talked about raping people I knew. I didn't appreciate that so I kill him and drained the alcohol, stomach acid, and whatever else he may have consumed out of his stomach pouch and into this bottle. I just knew somebody would try to steal it so after one little warning I let you take it."
The man tried to muffle a response again but he didn't do that well of a job this time. Turok raised his chin and dipped the guy backwards as he forced the contents of the bottle down his enemy's throat. As the man drank he began shaking violently; the stomach acid began burning away everything it touched in his mouth down through his throat and into his own stomach, where it fought against another chemical much the same.
He died and after releasing the bottle, Turok dropped the body and watched as it spasmed beneath him.
He grinned. "Make that your lesson." A clock somewhere chimed and he glanced around to find the source of the sound. He cursed, noticing he had one hour left. Again, he had to work hard.
-
The staff was pushing by him as they rushed to finish their chores before the rehearsals ended. Turok, a bag in his arms, stood to the side and waited until everyone passed by him before continuing. The last thing he needed was to cause whatever he had stored in the bag to get squashed and ruined. He finally reached the cafeteria and found the staff cooking dinner.
"Oh!" One of the women spotted him and gasped. "I heard La Carlotta loves the new wine you delivered. Which was it?"
He frowned. "Um… a concoction—she liked it?"
"Said it was a bit thick," the other one scoffed it. "But I've never seen her so enthralled with wine before. Now she demands it, constantly asking us for more."
He pulled back, feeling a little sick to his stomach. "Um… I call it a 'Bloody Gary'."
"Bloody Gary?" Both women turned to stare at each other for a moment. "Like Bloody Mary?"
"Sorta—I was wondering if you had any left over pastries from this morning and from lunch?"
One woman snorted and pointed to the wall behind her. "Only a few remain." She turned with the other one and left. "Help yourself. We'll be back shortly when dinner is ready to prepare."
Turok placed the bag on the counter and hopped over to the other side. He watched and waited until he was alone then quickly removed the lid from the pots and sniffled the scents. He pulled back in disgust.
"It smells like shit," he whispered.
He reached for the bag and carefully dumped the contents into the pot, mixing what he had taken out of both the deceased crewmen's bodies. He picked up the spoon and mixed it around, used the edges of the spoon to cut the pieces of muscle into smaller parts to fit in with the chopped meat, and then picked up the two spleen packages. He poked holes into them to dump the blood into the stew, ripped them to shreds, and mixed them in as well.
The he moved over to the other pot where there was beans bubbling and he picked up the bag of cockroaches he gathered earlier. He opened the bag and poured them into the beans then stirred it around before replacing the lid. He moved to the mashed potatos and lifted the bag of spiders out of the sack he brought with him into the kitchens, stirred them into the pot, and replaced the lid to that as well.
He carefully washed his hands in the washbowl, dried them on the rag nearby, grabbed his back, and refilled it with the morning's pastries.
He'd make sure he wasn't going to be there for when they served everything.
Before he left he saw a block of cheese on the shelf and grabbed it. Turok hopped over the counter and tore off parts of the cheese as he exited the café. He tossed each clump around in scattered locations of the hallways, close to where he knew mice would hide, and quickly made his way towards the halls near the dorms; he needed to stay away from what was fixing to happen but still be able to watch.
The doors burst open as a seal of ballerina's fled the stage. One by one they filtered into the nooks and every inch of the halls backstage until the lot of them looked up at the rafters…
And screamed until their voices could no longer contain a sound. The few who scream caused more to scream when they noticed what was the cause of it. Soon, everyone who was in the hall was screaming and Turok had started to wish that the late eighteen hundreds had heard of ear plugs.
If he had ear muffs those might have helped to ease the suffering of a thousand high-pitched squealing mice.
Speaking of mice…
He turned and saw a few mice had come out of their hiding places in search of the cheese fumes that they had smelled. Turok then turned back to the rafters and felt pleased that his jokes paid off. The two bodies he had killed earlier were hanging by their own entrails from the rafters, their insides gaping open so everyone can see clear into their bodies. Rib cages were exposed, gleaming white with dry, encrusted blood. Their eyes were wide and their mouths gaped open as they stared down, lifelessly, at all the girls they only recently talked about raping.
"Oh my God!"
"I can't believe this!"
"The phantom is back!"
"I'm going to be sick!"
Turok was shoved to the side as people shoved by him in fear and in illness. He saw Charline not far off and called to her. She rushed up to him suddenly.
"Turok!"
He grabbed her elbow. "Come on, let's go get you to the dorms and change quickly."
"What happened?" She stared up at the rafters again and Turok saw she shivered just a little. "This is horrible!"
"Come on," he said softer this time. Charline allowed him to pull her away and into the dorms. A new current of screams filtered through the old screams and Charline turned her head to see a flock of ballerina's heading their way, shaking and flailing their arms all around them.
"Were's your room?" He rushed out.
"I-I live with other girls near the roof," she answered. She turned back to guide him towards the staircase. "Uno used to sleep there next to me."
Oh that place again.
"Okay." He brought her to her room and sat down on the steps, his back to her. Charline got changed and prepped herself up.
"I don't know what happened," she muttered. "But it was horrifying. I've never seen anything like it before and my father had shown me things in New York that only Uno understood."
Turok closed his eyes and hung his head. His stomach growled; somewhere, in the sea of screaming girls, his bag was torn away from his person and he lost his snack of pastries. Now he was still hungry, ears still ringing from the scream, and he felt slightly bad for startling Charline.
"I thought you've seen dead bodies before," he murmured. He raised his head and saw her lacing up her gown.
"I have and I have seen Uno kill a few of them." She paused when she noticed his sullen gaze. "Turok, are you alright?"
He opened his mouth but closed it as he decided not to tell her. She was the only friend he had—aside from Meg—and she was suddenly close to him. He could see why Uno considered her a best friend. Charline made him feel like he could confide in her.
He smiled suddenly. "Finish up so I can take you out to dinner."
She stared at him. "Dinner?"
"I saw Uno while you were in rehearsal. She said she had to be out late to repay Madam Wilma for something."
"I didn't think she could sew." Charline picked up her hairbrush.
"She can't but she has great design theory." Turok watched Charline brush her brown hair then coil it up into a bun.
"I wonder what they were screaming about as we were leaving." Turok stood up and Charline stepped up to him. "But they were probably still carrying on about the bodies."
He watched her shiver and uncontrollably wrapped his arms around her. She embraced his hug and closed her eyes. Turok rested his chin on the top of her head and stroked her back. The shivering in her body stilled a little but he knew it would return the moment they passed by more frantic dancers.
We better get a move on.
"Come on." He pulled back and glanced down at her with a soft smile. "Let's go before the crowds get there first."
"Okay."
"Where is Meg?"
"At break she told me she was going out with Christine." Turok backed up. "I'm sure they will be too scared to eat after what happened."
"I'm sure they would. Come on." He wrapped his fingers around hers and pulled her to the staircase. "I'm hungry.
He took her to an expensive Italian restaurant and spoke easily to the waiter. Charline sat there, dumbfounded like she was when Uno took her out to eat, and watched. He ordered the meals for both of them then ordered red wine to be delivered. When the waiter left he turned back to Charline with a grin.
"You'll enjoy what I ordered."
"You and Uno, both, know Italian."
"Well," he shrugged, "she knows much less than what I know."
"Which is?"
"Over seven thousand languages more," he said casually. Charline's mouth dropped. "What?"
Oh right… it's not human to even know twenty.
"Oh my—how did you learn them all?"
He bit his lower lip. "I remember everything I see and I see words when I read, so every language I come across I memorize." He wasn't helping soften her shocked stare. "Uno can't learn as fast as me, though."
"Are there seven thousand languages in the world?"
He shrugged. "Less, actually. But some of them are other forms of other languages and some are made up by cults."
If computer languages were a cult then the future is Hell—literally.
"Cults?"
"Um—"
"I know what a cult is, Turok." She smiled. "I was just surprised to learn that you know, somehow, their languages."
He nodded. "Uno will tell you who I am eventually. I mean, who we are."
"Well, if you're from Florida and she's from Texas—"
"Father is Texan and my mother had me in Florida," he explained. "Our parents separated. They are still married, but not together."
"How strange."
Their wine came and Turok took the moment to drink an entire glass while Charline merely had a sip. He stared at him as he refilled it and took a small sip.
"Turok…" She cleared her head.
"Yes?"
"Why do you have long ears?"
He frowned. He could tell her the same lie he told the staff or he could tell part of the truth.
"I was born with it." The truth always worked better. "Deformed, basically." He sipped the wine.
"Oh… like lover, Erik?" He choked on his sip. "I hope he wasn't involved in todays case."
"Hmm… him." He sat the glass back down. "Yes I've heard of him. No, I'm not that badly deformed but they do enhance my hearing."
She smiled at him. "I bet the screaming gave you a headache." When he rolled his eyes she laughed. "I was right. I thought you looked bad when I was dressing."
"I was trying to get over the ringing in my ears."
"Hehe."
-
Madam Giry made sure the lot of the girls were away from the halls as she watched the authorities remove the bodies from the rafters. She saw Erik from the corner of her eyes, staring down at everything, and hoped he wasn't part of this.
She knew he wasn't but she still hoped she wasn't getting ahead of herself.
"Is that all?" The man asked. Madam Giry nodded her head. "Very well. If you get any notice about another disturbance, contact me immediately."
"I will do just that," she said. "I know the phantom had no part in this."
The policeman gazed up at the rafters where the bodies recently hung. "No… this doesn't seem like him. The phantom would have used catgut rope rather than their own entrails."
Madam Giry took a deep breath to sooth her uneasy stomach. "I shall contact you immediately should something else come up."
-
"This meal looks wonderful." Charline stared at the plate and smiled.
Turok picked up his utensils and smiled back. "Enjoy."
-
Madam Giry shushed the girls as they stood at the ends of the hallways, terrified of going on any further.
"What is the matter?"
"Look!" One of them pointed into the hall where mice littered the floors. "They're everywhere!"
The older woman stepped up to the first gathering of rodents and cleared them away with her cane then saw the cause of it. Somebody had scattered chees all over the place.
She raised her head to the crewman nearest her. "Fetch the policeman, again. He must be told about this."
-
"So Turok, have you and Uno grown up together?" Charline placed her utensils on the plate when she finished her meal.
Turok, still eating, lifted his glass to take a sip of wine. He replaced it and nodded. He licked the inside of his lips as the taste of red wine remained on his gumlines.
"Pretty much. We used to do almost everything together."
"She tells me she's Empress of Japan," Charline brought up. Turok paused. "Is this true?"
He stared at her. Uno had to tell her the truth soon. Charline had to know.
"No." Her mouth dropped slowly but Turok continued before she could say a word. "Where we come from, she is to rule more than just a single country." Turok continued eating.
He ordered more than just that one meal alone.
Charline leaned in and lowered her voice to a whisper. "What else?"
"Everything," he said with his mouth full. He swallowed. "Every country, every continent, the entire planet plus colonies out on the moon and in space."
"In space?" She clearified. "And on the moon?"
He nodded and finished his meal before clearing it down with a huge gulp of red wine. He downed the entire glass then refilled it and hers.
"You don't believe me because you haven't seen reason to," he said. "But if I showed you, will you?"
He stared into her eyes and saw her contemplating it.
"We'll see."
He smirked. Charline was cautious and careful of things.
He liked that.
-
"Well," the policeman sighed, "another occurrence. Did you clean it up?"
"I had Clements, our stage man," Madam Giry pointed to the man on the side, "push the cheese into the mice holes."
"So you still let the mice feed?"
She frowned. "They are rodents. If they do not eat now, they will return for food later."
He nodded. "Very well."
A scream sent both of them rushing into the cafeteria. They came to an abrupt halt when they saw the girls backing away from their table where their meals were.
"What is the matter here?" The older woman demanded.
"Look!"
She stepped up to the table and gasped. In all her years, through all the times she had to watch Erik play jokes on people when he hit that stage in his life, she had never saw him play jokes with their food so she knew he did not do this.
The potatoes had black spots mixed in—pepper. The beans had clumps of black spots—meat? The stew had lumps of fleshy-looking substances but it didn't look like the meat that was stirred with it and the stew looked awefully red.
The she peered closer and almost felt ready to throw up.
Which was highly unlike her.
Madam Giry placed a hand on her stomach and pulled back. She swallowed hard to push the bile lurking in the back of her throat down.
The 'pepper' in the potatoes turned out to be dead spiders. The 'meat' in the beans turned out to be roaches—some of which were still alive and struggling to escape. It was the policeman who figured out what was in the stew and what caused it's discoloring.
"Blood and human remains," he whispered to the ballet mistress. "Empty this room immediately and send them to the restaurants for dinner."
Madam Giry felt ready to faint. "Who would do this?"
"I haven't a clue. But hurry and do it now before they see for themselves."
She glanced around and found some of them were eating. She forced down the lump in the back of her throat, held onto the came with a stiff grip, and raised her voice.
"Girl—all of you are to leave at once without taking another bite! Find meals in restaurants." They raised their heads and stared at her, only a few following orders right away.
"NOW!" Now they moved quickly.
They fled the room and Madam Giry followed them to the door. She turned back to the police man and raised her head.
"Excuse me."
-
"You're a wonderful guy, Turok." Charline and he were now walking down the streets of Paris as the sun lowered and the men were lighting the street lamps. She smiled up at him as he continued holding her hand.
He grinned. "I don't try. It's the nature of being a perfect being."
She laughed and slapped his arm playfully. "Yep. I can see you are just like Uno."
He chuckled. "It's the pleasures of being perfect, what can I say?" He stopped laughing when he saw a woman across the street getting mugged. "Charline, go inside this store for a moment, will you? I need to tend to something briefly." He left before she protest.
Turok stalked the man until he ran into an alley and came to a dead end.
"Stuck aren't we?" The man spun around to see Turok blocking his only exit. "Give me that womna's purse."
"Like Hell I will!" The man raised a gun and fired. Turok looked down at the wound on his left shoulder and frowned. The man laughed but didn't see how it didn't phase Turok one bit. The suddenly, the wound began healing right in front of him.
"What the Hell!"
"You should have said that when you noticed I wasn't bleeding."
The man backed into the alley more. "That's impossible!"
Turok stepped closer and raised his right arm. He formed his fingers into the gun-appearance and smirked.
"Now I'm fully loaded."
"You're crazy!"
"And you're dead." He fired and shot the man's left kneecap." The man screamed and dropped the gun as he grabbed his wounded leg. Turok stepped up to the gun, picked up up, and backed up again.
"Hmm… a western six shooter. How common for Texas." He stared back at the man then back down at the barrel. One bullet left. He spun the barrel then flung it shut and aimed it at the man's had.
"Russian Roulette," Turok said darkly. "Now tell me why I should let you live and we'll see if it stopped on the bullet or not."
"Bah—you shot at me with your finger!"
"Are you going to let that woman have her purse back?"
"No!"
He pulled the trigger and it clicked empty. Turok nodded.
"Are you going to apologize for shooting me?"
"No!" The man whimpered and squeezed his leg as the pain numbed it.
Turoked pulled again and again it clicked empty.
"Will you live after this moment?"
"No!" The man froze when he noticed the trick and Turok's dark and sinister grin. "I mean yes! Yes!"
"Wrong answer." The trigger pulled. The chamber roared out. The bullet flew. The man fell dead. Turok picked up the purse and dropped the gun. When he returned to the streets the woman was with a policeman.
"Ma'am?" He extended his hand. "The criminal is in the alley now. I grabbed his gun after a brawl and shot him."
"You did, did you?" The policeman asked in weary. "How do I know you weren't him?"
The woman smiled and took her purse. "Thank you."
"He's dead. Go look and see. If you don't believe me, I'll be in the flower shop across the street with my date. You can arrest both of us then." He crossed the street as the officer went into the alley.
Charline was looking at handdrawn posters on the wall when she felt something on her shoulder. She turned around and gasped when Turok handed her a single white rose.
"Turok!"
"A present."
"How thoughtful." She accepted it and smiled. "I'm hoping Uno doesn't try to talk me away from you."
He shrugged his shoulders. "No reason why she would." He walked her out of the store and they returned to the theater. Turok stared at the building with dread, hoping that no body was still nervous about his jokes. He didn't expect them to effect the house that much.
"Where to, now?" Charline asked as she followed Turok through the hallways and up to the roof.
"The sun is setting." He stepped out onto the roof and helped her down. She gasped when she saw the setting sun and all its magnificent colors in the sky.
"Oh wow," she breathed out. "Turok it's beautiful." Charline stepped up to the middle of the rooftop and stared out at the view. "I've never really noticed when I was last up here."
"It's a great view," he muttered solemnly. He turned and glanced at the other side of the horizon. "Peaceful when all alone."
"It is."
"Here let me show you." He stepped up to her and placed his arm on her back. He extended his other arm out before her and swept it across the view of the city. "You see the curve of the edge of the city?"
"You mean where the sky begins?"
He nodded. "That is called the horizon."
"Oh wow."
"The horizon is the edge of the Earth, the planet, if you will. You can only see these colors from afar but if you were to fly through them, you would be bathed in the colors and it would give your skin an etherly glow."
She turned to stare at him, her eyes mesmerized. "Wow." Her brows furrowed suddenly. "But how do you know this?"
"I told you that I would prove Uno and I are from another world," he reminded her. She nodded. "Well… I will show you but I don't want you to get scared afterwards."
She chucked. "After meeting Uno and seeing today, I doubt that's possible."
He smirked. "We'll see."
He stared at her face and into her big light blue eyes. He never understood how Morris could marry a woman and father a child. Never understood what would compel him into a human emotion for one who was every inch experimentation as he was. While Turok enjoyed his abilities and the fact that he never grew old Morris had escaped the massacre and fallen in love. Turok knew this because it was in Uno's blood and genes; he was her great uncle, after all.
But now, staring into Charline's eyes, he figured he found what Morris had first felt when he looked into Uno's grandmother's eyes the first time.
He felt like he could actually be human, despite his molecular and chemical structure.
"Turok?" Charline ask softly.
He cleared his throat and realized that the space between them had closed up. He backed away and cleared his throat once again.
"Sorry about that." She smiled and blushed a little.
"It's alright."
Turok dug into one of the pockets of the pants and brought something out. He handed it to Charline and she picked it up, not sure what it was. He watched as she inspected it, brows furrowed, and turned it over in her hands several times.
"What is it?"
"It's a digital stop watch," he replied. "Hit the button on the side, then hit the red button."
She gasped when she saw the digital LCD numbers light up on the little screen then after she hit the red button, saw that it began counting the seconds.
"What is this?"
He pointed to the screen. "Those are the seconds that it keeps counts, which will turn into minutes right here."
"And this?" She pointed to the tiny scrolling numbers on the right. "Nanoseconds."
"Nanoseconds?" Charline tried the word on her own.
"They are half of a second."
"Oh wow."
"Now press the red button again." She did it. "And now the clock had stopped."
"My goodness! This is an excellent invention." Turok picked it up from her hand and let the ribbon cord slide out of her fingers.
"From where we come from it's an ancient invention."
Her mouth dropped. "From where you come from?"
Turok sighed. "I can't explain much to you, Charline." He tucked it away in his pocket after turning the stopwatch off. "It's not my job. Just make sure Uno tells you everything." She frowned. "…You deserve that much."
Her smile was soft and sullen.
"But we are from a world where things that are normal to you, are such ancient history to us that the files and records of it all being invented were lost in a great fire."
"A great fire?"
"Hm." He turned to stare at the Moulin Rouge sign flickering on. "The government tried to sovern everything and they wanted to start over. They burned everything down. Only a few documents were saved from the fire but that doesn't consider really much of anything you know about." He turned back to her and gave her a weak smile. "You basically know more about this world than Uno and I put together."
"I… I don't understand."
Turok shook his head. "I can't explain it to you, Charline. As I said, it's not my job; it's Uno's." He stepped back up to her. "Just make certain she tells you."
Charline nodded and Turok did the most amazing thing he ever knew he could do. He didn't know what compelled him to do such a thing, seeing as it was against everything he ever did.
He kissed her.
Charline closed her eyes and returned the kiss. He wrapped his arms around her and held her closer to his body as she pulled him into her embrace. Their lips parted and tongues met, a dance of wild and wicked flames of passion rose between them.
The kiss ended a little less than a minute later and left the two of them breathless. Charline stared at Turokes chest while he gazed down into her eyes.
"I-I've never kissed a man before," she said timidly.
He swallowed hard. "That was my first kiss, as well." She stared up at him. "It was a first for me, as well."
"You haven't kissed a woman at all?" He shook his head. "Wow."
He smirked. "But I enjoyed it."
"As did I."
He leaned in for one final kiss before walking her to the ladder of her dorm. As soon as she had left he turned back and headed towards Uno's room. When he reached the backstage hallway where he hung the dead bodies earlier he stopped.
Turoked turned around to scan the shadows with watchful eyes.
"Come on out, Erik. I know you're around."
"You are responsible for killing those men," came a dark voice from the mask hanging on the wall besides him. Turok stared at the mask and frowned.
"You're a coward for hiding," he said casually.
It won him the sight of watching Erik step into the light of the hallway where he stood.
"I am no coward!"
Turok grinned and crossed his arm. "Not anymore."
"You killed them and if the police were not bought out by me they would have assumed I did it!" He growled. "You tried to frame me."
"Having fun and framing people are two different things," Turok expained. "Please try to keep that in mind, phantom."
Erik growled low in his throat. "Just who are you, anyways?"
Turok grinned. "Names Turok, Uno's brother."
Erik frowned. "Her brother?"
"She didn't tell ya, did she?"
"No… she didn't."
"See? Well there ya go now." He shook his head. "You love the woman so much you don't even know she had a brother. What else do you not know about her? I'm sure she hasn't said much." Erik stared at him in disbelief. "And here you claim to be her lover."
"Silence boy!"
"Or what, you'll hang me?"
"I can arrange that it will appear as if an accident had happened instead."
"Sure," Turok snorted. "And make Uno depressed. You know you'd rather not do that."
"No but I am sure she would not like to learn her brother had played horrible tricks on this theater then courted her best friend."
"Actually," Turok paused in thought. "She'd probably love it. Charline hasn't ever kissed a man before so it was a new experience to her."
Erik's eyes narrowed. "I will kill you, boy. Make no mistake. You are to not come into my domain and play God!"
"But why?" Turok countered. "He's not filling in the job himself so it's left open for others to fill the position for him."
Erik opened his mouth and closed it when he realized something. "You and Uno are a lot alike when it comes to that sarcastic humor."
Turok chuckled. "I said we're siblings." Turok shook his head. "Besides, if I die that means I'm loved."
"What?"
"Quoting the famous poet, Byron: 'Whom the Gods love die young'."
Erik narrowed his eyes. "You will only be loved by the devil."
"Aw well that's satisfying to hear. That makes two of us in our family to go to Hell, then." Turok shrugged and blew it off. "Oh well. See you in Hell then, Erik." He turned his back to Erik and started to walk away.
"I did not say you could leave! Return here at once!" Turok went into a run. "Damn it!" Erik chased afer him.
Turok found a corner up ahead and knew he had to change immediately. The second he'd turn the corner he'd do the change then.
-
Erik hated Uno's brother with a passion and when he took off at a run in the middle of the argument, he loathed him even more. He chased after Turok and called after him several times but the boy kept running.
What is it with these men who think they are stronger than me yet flee the instant they get the chance?
Erik rounded the corner and came to an abrupt halt.
He didn't find Turok but instead he found Uno, sprawled out on the ground, unconscious, and dressed in the same closed Turok was previously wearing. He dropped to his knees immediately and tucked his hand underneath the nape of her neck. He lifted her head.
"Uno?"
No response.
Not good.
Erik lifted her in his arms and stood. He wasn't sure what happened to her but he knew she was far more important than chasing after her brother. In the morning, he would report the name to the authorities. Right now, though, he needed to tend to Uno.
Now because this chapter was so long and a certain sick and twisted person out there... I won't say names... (coughs)manyvoicesinmyhead(coughs)... has been litterally ripping her hair out begging for this update, I've decided to give her whom she's been waiting for.
Turok: You've got to be kidding me... right?
Kitty: No.
Turok: ...Eh-uh... you go straight to the point, don't even sweat it, huh?
Kitty: Yep.
Turok: (nods) Yep... that's what I thought. (waits a minute then flees for life)
Many Voices In My Head: Turok! (chases after him with Kitty's leash)
Kitty: (smiles and waves) Have fun Turok!
Turok: (now chained and being dragged away) YOU BACK STABBING BI--