Far From Normal

by The messed up writer

My life was nothing but systematic torture for the longest time, the hellish abuse cliche we've all heard. But my bit takes place after it all, after that victory and defeat years ago. It was only time until I'd have to help someone else get theirs, even an alien. Time to pick up the gun and raise hell again. Rated M for language, gore, non-con/rape, and much more. Slow-burn M/M.

8. Chapter 8: The Night We Met Part 1

Take a warning and know that this won't be a happy chapter, nor SFW. You have been warned.

Chapter 8: The Night We Met - Part 1

Frank's anger became apparent a little less than a month after my recovery. Apparently he had some business of some type with the police, but when they found out about what he did to me, that stopped. None of them would work with a child beater.

It took them a long time to get a full staff again.

And the dogs, well, they were K-9 units. Guy spared no expense on me.

Thanks, dick.

I was silent for a long time after the recovery, barely speaking to anyone and only using basic hand gestures and such. People thought I was mute sometimes. It kinda made me laugh.

During the summer when I turned fourteen, I got a job doing dishes at an Italian Restaurant, Non Ti Pago. Simple and easy, though the pay was terrible. Didn't matter in my eyes, it kept me busy and safe. By the time I had worked there for two years and a little over a month, I was earning a little more.

But the real cherry on the top was that Luca, the owner / chef let me order whatever I wanted at the end of the day for free since they always had some extra supplies. A full stomach every day before bed was something generally unknown to me, and the food was always good.

The moment he started feeding me was the moment that I started working all the time, day to night, and with dedication. I did my homework at school and even stopped dropping off my backpack at the house just so I could do it on break and avoid the place entirely. It was a mutual relationship between me and work; I work hard and as much as I can, and I get food and some peace and quiet.

I remember using a good chunk of my paycheck to stay at a hotel during the weekends, the manager being a kind lady that would always let me stay because everyone knew Frank now. I'd order a pizza, watch movies and shows, take a bath or shower for hours, sleep in a bed and be relaxed at the same time. I was able to go swimming for the first time in my life - granted, I nearly drowned twice, but I figured it out quickly.

God, I miss that job…

At the end of the week, we always had a flood of customers. Every Friday and Saturday since just about the start had me assigned to bringing out the food and bussing tables. Boss said I'd get to keep the tips and get a small bonus for the week, so I was more than willing. I even got to stay late and finish dishes for overtime.

Okay, maybe the pay wasn't all that terrible.

I was moving like a bat out of hell, keeping ahead of the cooks and making sure I was as quick, efficient, and kind as possible. I was already thinking of what I could do with the money, maybe hit Radio Shack and piece something together - don't know what, but I'd figure it out.

I was still bringing food out to the final few people left, the place closing in a little more than half an hour. As I served the two plates and walked off, I saw a group of four walk in. Three were some mobster-looking guys wearing suits and ties, while the fourth was a kid no more than a year older than me wearing a light blue button up.

I intentionally overlooked the mobster bit and thought more on how good a tip they would give if they could afford such nice suits. I practically ran to them.

"Ah, I see you gentlemen have good taste coming here," I started, "Where can I seat you?"

The one in front, a tall fellow just a tinge overweight with black hair, pointed to a booth in the back corner. "There will be fine."

I grabbed some menus and sat them. I got their drinks - two whiskeys, a wine, and a coke - and set them down. I could see the kid staring at me from the corner of my vision, a familiar look of fear in his eyes with a hint of pleading all said with no words.

Something was wrong, and I noticed how disheveled the overweight guy was - his jacket wrinkled all around his shoulders and his shirt's button torn out from where it once was. He and the kid were boxed in by the other two, and I started to feel uneasy.

"Do we know what we want?"

The overweight man looked like he was going to speak, but was cut off by the one sitting beside him who said, "No, no, not yet."

I nodded, a slight hesitation present, and said, "Alright, I'll be back in a moment."

I went back to the kitchen and jogged over to Luca. "Hey, keep an eye on the corner booth. I think something's up."

He looked up and stopped cutting the strands of asparagus on his table. "Like what?"

"Like two people are being held hostage. Probably at gunpoint - I'm thinking gang business." It certainly wasn't unheard of - gang business, that is. It just didn't bleed into here, that was unheard of.

"Shit." He went up to the doors to the dining room, peering through the small window. "I thought we had a goddamn agreement," He breathed. "Alright, I'm calling the cops. Keep serving them - we don't need them suspecting us. Can you do that?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I can do it."

He smiled. "I knew you could. I appreciate it."

I served another table before coming back to the booth.

"Have we come to a decision?"

The man boxing in the overweight man stared at him for a couple seconds, before turning to me and saying, "I don't think any of us can really make up our minds. What would you recommend?"

"The capellini's pretty good, though the orecchiette is easily my favorite."

"Yeah, we'll have four of those."

"Alright, then." I returned their menus and gave the order to the kitchen. When I headed back out, I saw the three older men arguing. I did a quick glance around and, figuring that everyone was fine for now, ducked into the bathroom to calm down.

Something told me that the police weren't going to be the fastest getting here, and I feared these guys would be gone before they arrived. They never were fast around here, even before Frank wiped out half the station and no-one wanted to join, and with it being a Friday night, they were probably spread thin.

What I'm trying to say is, I was pretty fucking scared and needed to cool it a tad.

I stared myself down in the mirror, focusing on my breathing. Come on, Alex, I thought, You've been through so much worse than a potential gun fight. Man the fuck up, shut your brain down, and head out there, dammit!

I washed my face with cold water to wake up and get alert, before drying off and giving myself one last look. It was acceptable. Let's do this.

I made to leave, but right as I was about to open the door, it opened on its own. Behind it, to my horror, was one of the guys - the one that was beside the kid. My step skidded at the sight, and I suppressed the urge to step back, instead excusing myself and trying to push past.

He didn't say anything, just roughly grabbing me by the shoulder and shoving me back in, the door closing behind me. I was back by the sinks, grabbing the side to balance myself from falling.

"Sir! What are-?" He pulled out a pistol, the barrel looking me in the eye. I tensed up and muttered, more to myself than him, "Son of a bitch."

"It's not personal, kid. It's just one of those things that needs taken care of, y'know?"

"C-C'mon, I know the prices here are murder but this is ridiculous, man."

Bad time for humor, and dark humor at that, but he smiled, saying, "Well, I hope you can-"

The sound of a gunshot and subsequent screams rang out. He looked towards the door in surprise, and I took this moment to bum rush him. I yelled as I grabbed his gun, slamming it down onto the sink counter. It flew from his hands and landed with a clatter elsewhere.

He kicked me in the back of the leg, and I dropped to a knee as he ripped his arm free and grabbed me by the back of my hair. He reared me back to slam my head on the counter, and I slammed my elbow in his gut before he could do it. I reached up, grabbed him by his collar, and yanked him down, the side of his head hitting the counter before collapsing onto the ground beside me.

I crawled away quickly, seeing him reach up to his now bleeding temple slowly. I was relieved - I thought I had killed him. I looked around on the ground for the gun, seeing it in the last stall, and proceeded to get up and shoulder check the door open. I picked it up, quickly getting back out and training it on the guy as he slowly got up.

"goddamnit, kid," He said. He walked slowly towards me, reaching out for the gun. "Just give it here. You won, I ain't gonna do anything to ya." He was barely two feet away now, still going slow, until he decided to jump for the gun.

I pulled the trigger rapidly three times before I realized what I had done. His body had spasmed as he took a step back, before falling on the tile floor. Two holes were in his stomach, one in his chest, and all three staining and ruining his suit at an alarming rate.

My heart was pumping furiously, I was sweating pools, and I could barely catch my breath. I felt ready to puke the more I looked at him, and I somehow managed to suppress it.

I felt proud of myself in a sick kind of way. I was able to bite the bullet - that dark fucking humor again - and kill to save myself. It hurt, but at least I could hurt with some guts.

When I finally looked away, I noticed that the door was open, the younger of the four peeking in.

"Oh, shit," He breathed, stepping in and slowly closing the door. I saw his eyes dip towards my name tag. "What's that say - Alex? You alright, Alex?"

I shook my head, laying my hand on the gun and the gun on the counter as I said, "Who the hell are these guys?"

"Bad guys. Listen, I need you to give me that gun, I need to help my dad out there."

I wanted nothing more than to get rid of it, but I didn't want to get myself killed with it either. Still, the enemy of my enemy and all that.

"Y'ain't gonna shoot me if I do, are you?" He scoffed.

"Dude, I was coming back here to warn you, but obviously you got it handled. Now c'mon, hurry."

I believed him, and I slowly walked around the body and handed it to him. "Thank you."

Two more shots rang out, and we hurried back out to the dining room. It was deserted, minus the overweight man and the guy behind him pressing a gun to his temple and using him as a shield. A few tables and chairs were knocked over, and there had to be a few bullet holes somewhere, but that was it.

The young one aimed the gun at them, shouting, "We don't even deal in the same market! What do you get out of our deaths?!"

The hostage taker said, "Your piece of shit car's brakes went out! Got into a pile-up on the I-75, and it didn't take people too goddamn long before they realized the snow coming from the trunk wasn't snow!" He took a deep breath after all that exposition, before continuing, "Your goddamn car ruined our routes! The driver survived and blabbed - but you," He emphasized by waving the gun in our direction, "Ruined us!"

"We deal in cars, not drivers! I'm sorry yours wasn't up to snuff!" The father said.

The guy growled in frustration, and before he was able to say anything, the doors to the dining room burst open, Luca coming out in a determined speed.

"Let the waiter-!"

And he was struck down with no remorse by a shot to the head. He went down like a sack of potatoes, and his assailant said something that I didn't hear. I ran over to him, hearing the others start fighting again and another two shots, but I didn't care. I got down by his body, a small hole replacing where his right eye's tear duct was, and screamed his name.

The man who had given me a job and fed me out of pity was dead - and it fucking hurt. Not many people cared to breathe the same air I did since the police station, but he did, and he made everyone else in the back, too.

The nausea was gone - replaced by a slight numb feeling.

I wiped my eyes with my sleeves and looked at the father and son, not wanting to acknowledge the body between them. The kid was busy wiping down his table with a cloth, while the other was lighting a cigar with a match. I could hear a car pull up outside, honking twice.

"Good, he got our message. Let's skedaddle," the father said, blowing smoke.

"Hey," the young one said, "We need to take him with us."

"What?" He picked up the pistol and aimed it at my head, but I didn't tense up this time.. "You didn't tell him your name, did you?"

"No, but he shot Greene. Maybe lower the frickin' gun, he's been through a lot."

"No shit?" He said with genuine surprise, lowering the gun. "Good job, son, you managed to kill a cartel's hitman. And you ain't even injured, are ya?" I shook my head slowly. He took another drag. "Tell ya what, here's…," He reached in his jacket and started counting bills before handing a thick stack, "One grand for the trouble, and two because you played a big part in saving our asses."

He waved it in my face to try and get me to grab it. "C'mon, three K, easy money, and no strings attached. Take it."

I reached forward and hesitantly grabbed it, flicking through it without counting and sticking it down my sock.

"Good, let's go." He turned around and started walking.

"I'm Tony Carelli and he's Roberto Carelli," The young one blurted out.

"F-fuck, I didn't want to know that," I said. I could feel the color drain from me, what was left, anyway.

"Neither did I," Roberto said, turning back around and aiming the gun at my head again. He looked back to the other. "Really, Tony, what the fuck?"

"Now how about you don't shoot him and we do what I originally suggested - we take him with us."

"You don't get to make that call! Why the hell does it matter so much to you that we bring him along anyways?"

"He's Frank's kid, and he's got a fire in him that might be useful to us."

"goddamnit," Roberto grumbled, turning back to me. "Alright, I don't want to shoot you, but because my fucking son decided to gamble your life by saying our names, we're at a bit of an impass."

"Join or die?" I asked. He nodded.

"Join or die."

"I don't much care for dyin', but what exactly am I joining?" He lowered and holstered his gun in his jacket.

"Car thieves, chop shops, import and exporting - mostly exporting - cars around the world. C'mon, get up off your knees, boy," He said, offering me his hand, "We'll figure out something for you. But we need to go before it gets too hot here."

I looked back down at Luca's still body, my eyes tearing up but not overflowing. I turned my head back to the duo, pissed at the position Tony put me in, and deciding I had no other choice, I took Roberto's hand.

---

When I heard her voice, it was as glorious as it was terrifying. My instincts told me she was good - that I should protect her and love her because she will protect me and love me and all will be good. If I am good to her then she will be good to me, as will the rest of the hive.

I knew better, and unlike most of my brothers and sisters, I could suppress my instincts.

I made sure they had little presence in my mind.

"You know why I am here, right?" I said. She made a small chuckle.

"Not even a greeting?" She said, "I thought I raised you better than that, Xerxes."

"Kaia, where is Alex?" I looked around where I was. Nothing but trees, mud, and rain.

She sighed. "Down a slope a little ways in the trees going right if you were facing that building." She quickly added, "You know, the one where you murdered one of your sisters, Xerxes."

"Do not say my name," I spat, and followed her directions while sprinting. I passed the slope she was talking about earlier, though I doubted Alex went down it at the time. Guess he did.

"He will be severely injured when you get to him, though nothing undeserved or life-ending."

"Kaia, so help me-" I started loudly.

But she cut me off, saying, "The more you threaten my life, the more you threaten his. Be grateful and bandage him, he's close."

Something told me she didn't mean distance, and I could feel the anxiety and fear welling up in my chest, ready to burst like a newborn.

"It doesn't work like that, Kaia! It's a poison to him!" I heard her scoff.

"Make it work," She growled, and blocked the connection.

I could see the bodies as I slid down the slope, ravaged by bullets. I could see that the ground was deformed as if someone crawled, losing a lot of blood. I didn't need to follow it though, I saw the one I was looking for.

I ran up to them, and it was a mess. One was on their back with a bullet in their neck and head. Even a small crack in their skull.

The other had been shot in the stomach and chest, the stomach of which was bleeding heavily. He was still breathing, though strained and barely alive. The ground smoked terribly around him, more green than black now on him.

But the only one I was concerned about was the third body. He was the worst of them all. His neck was bleeding heavily, his thigh was just barely second in bleeding, and his hands were both burned - each by different things it appeared. His knee looked disfigured, and he had a welt forming on his forehead. His pants were torn, and his jacket was barely even tatters that had been ripped and melted to nothing. Even his shirt underneath was destroyed and littered with holes that showed small burns.

I got down on my knees beside him. "Bandage him, then come to me with him," I heard.

I gently peeled away the bandage on his neck, which was waterlogged with blood and oozing at the slightest touch.

"Bring him back? Go to Hell! I'm taking him and I'm leaving, Kaia!" I roared. I slipped my arms underneath him, and he yelled in pain when I lifted. I set him back down quickly, groans and whimpers coming from him. I was already coated in his blood in that small moment. How he wasn't dead was amazing.

"If you leave, he's going to bleed out before you can bandage him. We will find you, and finish you then. Bandage him now and wait, more are coming your way and will escort you back home when you're done, Xerxes." The word home made me nauseous when she spoke about the hive.

I can't go back.

Neither of us can go there.

And neither of us will.

"I… I… Oh, please…" I solemnly said. I had my tail blade at the back of his neck, ready for its job. "Please…" I just had to push it in.

A quick movement.

Just do it.

Push.

It.

In.

Now.

Please…

…

I felt his face gently with the palm of my hand, taking in every detail, before screeching into the rain above. When it was nothing more than a small and hoarse noise, I slammed my fist into the ground and started to make bandages.

I can't do it.

"I'm so, so sorry, Alex," I whispered.

My heart physically hurt as I made the bandages. His gun was still in his hand, held on by a death grip. I gently touched his hand and his face, grabbing the gun when his grip was weak and stuffing it in his pants, but not before loading in a fresh clip - just in case.

I hoped against everything that he could survive this. I couldn't drain them again this time, it was on too many vital areas.

Even with how fast I was going, Kaia kept true to her word. By the time I was done, I was surrounded by them. One was standing over the half-dead body beside me.

"Why did you not bandage him?" He said.

The other weakly looked at the one talking. "I could not form a bandage and set it without killing him with my blood. I could not drag him back either, because I would have surely died before we made it far if he was not burned to death by my trail." The one standing shook his head.

"Pathetic," He said, "We have dealt with their kind before, and just one manages to kill twenty of us in two cycles!" He roared, before walking away. The one on the ground just looked away, before turning back to the sky. He said nothing.

The other one said to me, "Grab him and follow us." I growled softly and got up.

"Why should I? Is it worse to die here or there? Maybe I should take my chances," I threatened.

The others got defensive, while he said, "You will die here and he will be implanted, but if you come with us like a good drone, then maybe other things will be planned for you."

"I don't believe you."

"I am not asking you to. I am asking you to not do something stupid." He waved around at the others surrounding us. "Odds are stacked against you, Xerxes. Come with us and you both have our word that we will not harm you."

"He speaks the truth, Xerxes," Kaia said. "I do not intend on killing you two. Come to me, and I will explain, I promise." I looked down and shook my head, unable to believe what I was about to do. I would've died rather than go back, but if I can't kill Alex quickly, then I don't deserve to die quickly.

"Please," He said once more. I looked up and barely nodded, before picking up Alex as gently as I could and standing up.

"Lead the way," I said in a whisper.

We were gone in moments, leaving behind all of the bodies - even the live one.

---

We were all running quickly by human standards, but it was hardly a jog to us. I kept Alex steady against me, until I heard him softly groan.

He breathed out weakly against my chest, "Xerxes…? Am I…dead?"

"No, you're still here. I'm with you."

"Where… Where are we going?"

"Your truck," I lied. We said nothing more for a moment, and I don't know if he bought it. He never moved his head.

"How bad does it look?" I shook my head just slightly.

"Not as bad as you think," I said. "You're going to live." It hurt to say that - I didn't know whether him being alive still was good or not.

He laughed gently, before coughing a little. "I sure put up… Quite the fight, huh?" I could hear some of the others growl, but he must've not heard it.

I smiled softly. "Yeah, you did."

"How'd you find me?"

"I found your message and followed the trail."

"The trail…?"

"…Of bodies and blood."

We didn't speak for a while, and we kept running. Every jostle and jolt scared me, and I tried to keep him as still as possible.

"I'm sorry for how we last talked, man," He said. His voice was still hoarse, but spoke a little better. I thought he had fallen back asleep.

"Please, Alex…"

"I fucked up. I was going to be dead if it weren't for you. I just thought I could save our asses on both ends."

"It's not your fault, I'm the one that got you into this, not you."

"I don't regret any of it at all. But I shouldn't have been that way, it was shitty of me." He took a shaky breath. "I don't think I deserved you in my life, Xerxes."

"We're going to my hive." The words were out before I even knew what I was saying.

"I know," He said. "Can I trust you?" He added mentally.

I wasn't fast in my answer, taking a few seconds too long before saying, "Yes."

He too took a while before answering, before saying, "Okay." He sounded wary - not that I could blame him.

I was thankful he never noticed the dressings - or maybe he did, I don't know - but I knew from the second I started bandaging him that I was a magnificent piece of shit.

---

I woke up, softly groaning. I was sitting down, someone else sitting in a similar chair in front of me. He was looking at the ground, passed out. He never fell over due to his arms being secured to the armrests and legs to the legs of the chair with belts. So were mine.

The room… the restraints… Why must I have a habit of finding each individual circle of Hell?

I tried struggling, but found that my body was cut off from my brain. I tried to speak, but what came out wasn't what I spoke.

"Tony! Wake up, man!" I yelled. I could feel my heart sink and, defying all laws of physics, pound in my throat. I could feel the fear I felt over a year ago again, but I couldn't do anything about it, like watching a movie clip through my eyes.

Tony, who was now awake and looking at me, said, "Alex…? Where are we?"

Purgatory, I wanted to say. "A basement in a cabin of Frank's." My head darted to the door and back, and the uncontrolled quick movement made me feel nauseous. Not that I could puke if I wanted to. "I can't believe he isn't down here yet," I mumbled, before saying, "Can you get free?"

He looked over his body, testing every limb. To my (then) surprise, his right leg was able to move the attached chair leg. "Yes!" He tried kicking out, breaking the leg off after a small eternity.

"I'm gonna get us outta here, Alex, and I'm gonna cut Frank's fucking head off if I have to," He said, rearing his foot back and kicking his other leg.

"Focus, Tony. Worry about that when you can actually do it." He had to lean back to stay upright as he kicked, grunting with every swing. I could hear the leg cracking with every impact, until it too finally broke off and he was able to stand up with the chair legs still attached to the back of his legs. He looked around quickly, before running backwards into a wall and jumping, the chair falling apart under the force. He got back up and took off the belts, running to me as he undid his arms.

"Yes!" I shouted quietly, though it didn't matter with the amount of noise he made. I felt sick now, truly sick, because I've read this story before, and I know how it ends.

He was in front of me now, undoing my right arm before going to my leg. "Come on, come on," I heard him mumble as I started on my left arm.

Let it end, please, I thought.

Those two shots impacting Tony still horrified me the second time around.

He yelled in pain, his body recoiling and sliding down against the wall to my right. To my left was the open doorway, Frank standing within it and aiming the smoking gun.

"Tony!" I yelled, before turning to the other and getting my arm free. "What did you do?!" I started frantically undoing the belts on my legs.

"Stop!" He yelled, and I did when I saw him coming towards me, my eyes able to see the chambered round down the barrel.

"Frank, ple-" I was cut off as he reared back and slammed the gun across my face. I could feel blood going down my temple, and where it impacted throbbed terribly. I felt it, and I realized that I was gonna feel everything that comes after, too.

In the small time he stood there, he already had my left arm back to being held down. "Get off me!" I brought my right hand up and grabbed his gun holding arm, but it did nothing as he slammed it back down onto the armrest. In a swift motion, he placed the barrel against my forearm - the end burning hot against my skin - before he pulled the trigger.

The familiar pain replayed and relayed to my brain, and I screamed both in mind and out-loud. He wrapped the belt tightly around my wrist as I struggled, before backing away and admiring his work like an artist, his specialty being torture. I sat there and thrashed around, trying to do something - anything.

"Are you gonna calm down?" He said. I never replied, my actions bordering on hysterical, if the border was two miles behind me, that is. Blood was beginning to run down the side of my arm and onto the floor, some pooling in the bullet-shaped divot underneath my arm.

He came up to me and slapped me out of my stupor, and I looked up at him with fear masked by fury.

"You motherfucker!" I yelled, "What the fuck did I do to deserve this, you bastard?!"

He looked at me, fury in his eyes equal to mine. "You need to be taught a lesson since you can't seem to ever listen to me. That," He pointed at Tony, "could've been avoided. But no."

"Frank-"

"It was always about your happiness, what you need. Not what's best for the rest of the world, not what needs to be done."

"What are you-?"

"And so here we are today, cultivated by a series of choices, all of which, were yours."

"Tony didn't-"

He punched me in the gut like lightning, and I doubled over groaning in pain. I felt like I was going to get sick. I was crying, my eyes watery.

"Tony is out of the equation, Alex. We ain't here because of him, we're here because of you."

As I looked back up at him, he reared his fist back and swung, uppercutting me under the chin. The chair leaned backwards, but he caught me by the shirt before I fell.

"And we will stay here forever if we have to to get this lesson through you. Because I love you."

He backed up a step, before coming forward and kicking me hard in the chest. This time, I fell backwards, crashing into the ground with no air left in my lungs. My vision was blurry, though I could still see Frank coming around and standing over me, his legs to my sides as he got lower and trapped me in.

"I'm not gonna kill ya, Alex. I think you're smart enough to know that. But you're probably gonna wish I was," He said with a nod.

And then he got down and punched me in the eye. Repeatedly, he beat me in the face, and I never once yelled. Even this time around, I refused to yell in my mind. But it wasn't so I would die with dignity this time.

My eyes slowly started closing, darkness blending in with the pain and overtaking me. He got up and kicked me twice in the side.

And Tony, who didn't die (yet), tackled him from the side with a yell. I couldn't see where they went, and my surprised mind looked around for them and called out weakly. I looked at my body, seeing that Frank had taken the beating too far and that the chair was being held together by little to nothing.

But as I got up, the world changed in an instant. No longer was I underground fighting for our freedom with Tony. Now I was topside, disoriented at my new surroundings. I am in control and here now. I'm on a road, the one heading into town from my house. Those bandages are over my hands, legs, body, and a quick feel showed even my neck as well.

Ah, the hallucinations, I realized. At least I ain't bleeding anymore. Hope this doesn't kill me, X.

Cars are in front of me, burning or upturned, their likely owners strewn about and bloody. I see a small family of four, the mother and father holding their two daughters.

They're all dead.

And I'm the one holding the smoking gun in my right hand.

My breathing began to quicken, and I started turning about and looking everywhere. I looked back the way I assume I came, seeing shapes come towards me from the road and trees. I never even raised the weapon, watching as they ran closer and closer, eventually going past me towards the town. Some stayed to pick at the bodies, and I felt sick at what I was seeing.

I aimed the gun around now, unable to fathom just how many of these creatures were surrounding me. They were invading the town, and they were going to decimate it.

Is this still a hallucination or is it a premonition?

I looked up, and saw that it was still raining. My body was dirty, covered in a black resin over the dried mud and blood. My clothes were tatters, my shirt nothing more but rags held together by grime and crap on me. Large portions of my skin was visible, but I honestly didn't care this one time.

I did a quick look around once more, before looking at the town that was beginning to scream with pain and gunfire.

I started running towards it.

---

Maybe thirty minutes after we started were we outside the cave entrance. The familiarity of it didn't match the hatred and fear I had for it.

We went in first - not by our choice - and I descended down the slope into the bowels of Hell. Alex fell asleep again at some point - thankfully - so he didn't notice the morphing of the walls into resin or the bodies - both human and animal - lined against the walls. He was twitching now. Most were dead, and of the some that were not, they were close. I was disgusted at the brutality some of them suffered, injuries so great that I pitied them more than Alex, or at least pretty close.

I hurried my footsteps along.

Screams and moans echoed around me, and I wanted nothing but to end their suffering and leave.

We went deeper in. To Kaia.

We came all too soon.

The corridors opened to a large room, where columns of rock coated in resin held the roof up. No humans or animals were on the walls in here - she hated the screaming when she slept. But when she's awake, she'll call for a few humans still alive just for fun.

In the center of the room, easily the tallest one, was the Queen. She had no humans around her, focusing all of her attention on us. The room was silent as we walked, no-one making a noise at my presence. My grip tightened on Alex.

It was when I was a couple of yards away from her that I stopped walking. I didn't want to get any closer, and when the others behind me made to get me further, she raised a hand and hissed. She never actually said anything.

"So, this is what I've had to deal with for the past two cycles, hmm?" I nodded carefully. "Wake him."

I got down on my knees and set his body down gently. Veins near his bandaged wounds were visible and dark and black. His skin was pale and scorching to the touch, a thin layer of sweat and rainwater covering him. His breathing was shallow, too. At least he stopped shivering.

"Alex, wake up," I said, shaking him. He didn't move, still knocked out. I said to her, "I don't think he's gonna wake up for a while, Kaia. The life-jelly will likely keep him that way for a while, too."

"Then," She started, "We wait."

---

The town was exactly as I imagined it.

Smoke and fire dominated many of the buildings, while people ran and died in the streets. I wasn't attacked by any of Xerxes' kind, all of them running past me like I wasn't there. The further I walked, the more I desired to destroy with them for some reason, a dread of something haunting the back of my mind if I didn't. I gave in, finding that I couldn't stop myself from firing into the fleeing people or grabbing them by the nervous system. But it made me calm, and that unnerved me the most.

I couldn't shake the smile on my face when I made someone jump off a nearby three-story building, making him grab onto the woman beside him when he did.

At least I could bullshit myself into not feeling bad. It is a hallucination, after all. Right?

God, I hope.

And then, as if a memory had been implanted in my brain, I knew why I was contributing. I was doing this for Xerxes. This whole thing was for our survival, and I knew that I had to continue what I was doing or else we would both die by our 'allies'.

So I continued.

In my daze of numb murder forced upon me, I was able regain myself all of a sudden. The desire was gone, and the dread was dead. Instead, a black foam-like stuff started surrounding me from everywhere, the same stuff from the bathroom.

The same stuff in me right now.

It came from nowhere and was on me in moments. I tried to run, to climb on top of a nearby SUV that wasn't burning, but it dragged me down by the ankle. My head smashed into the roof as I fell, but I managed to grab the handle to the backseat door and pull it open as I got pulled back. I forced a foot to the ground and dove in, nearly losing my pants as I kicked the black out and slammed the door shut.

It started to engulf the vehicle, the windows showing nothing but pitch black. The ceiling light was on, but it just let me see my demise surrounding me and the two mauled bodies in the front seat.

Suppose I would've smelled them anyways.

The walls started to buckle and the glass started to crack. I put the revolver to my temple and fingered the trigger. I didn't know what would happen if died here. Would I actually die or just go to another hallucination?

I put the gun back down and slapped myself.

I ain't about to find out.

I could swear that I heard the darkness surrounding me, making more than just a disgusting slushy noise. Like it was calling to me.

I tuned it out and got up front.

The keys were still in the ignition, but I didn't see driving out of here an option, even if the dead guy wasn't hogging the seat. I still turned it, just so I could hear the radio as I scavenged. Some song was playing, and I started surfing channels as I opened the glove box, finding nothing but papers and a tape case.

The radio crackled to life, unresponsive to any input, and I could barely make out a word in the static. "Play…"

What? I thought. But I already knew, and I snatched the case and flipped it open in a second. I stopped in my tracks, though, when I saw the black substance covering and pulsating on it. It was disgusting to look at it, making me more sick than the blood and bodies up front. I grabbed a corner that look the cleanest and jammed it in the radio, patting the bodies down for anything.

A voice came out, one I knew. "You have no chance, Alex," He said, "Let it consume you. Maybe then you can be with Tony and be gone with me."

Frank.

"Fucking what?!" I said, not expecting this in the slightest. I stopped searching, finding nothing on the two. I muted the radio and sat back in the seat.

"You can't ignore me, Alex."

Ugh, goddamnit.

"You know you're ready to go, you've been ready for years now. You can meet your whore again. He's been waiting for you. You just need to open the door and step. Out. Si-" I hit it as hard as I could, then twice more out of anger before I fell back in my seat and heaved.

"…Fuck!" I yelled, before hitting the radio more. My knuckles bled and hurt, and I didn't stop until they were raw. The glass around me was a mess of spiderwebs about to fall apart. Less than a minute. Hell, less than a quarter of a minute now.

I jammed my hands into my pockets, about to search for my picture of Tony and I, when I felt something I know I didn't have there. I pulled it out, seeing Law's lighter between my fingers. I couldn't believe it - that fucker planted something on me again! I flicked it open giddily, watching it make a spark and then fire.

I darted back up front, grabbing as many papers as I could from the glove box and folding them together as tight as possible. I held the flame under it and watched the paper go from white to black, catching in seconds and spreading to the other papers. I laughed with desperation, opening the door and brandishing my fire.

It tried grabbing me by the leg, but it backed up fast when I brought the flame close to it. I hopped out and turned in circles, brandishing the torch and lighter and getting myself a radius of about a yard between me and it. But the flame didn't last, the rain putting out the papers and the wind taking the lighter faster than I hoped.

I was engulfed in seconds, the viscous substance forcing itself into me through every orifice painfully. Black surrounded my vision, but through my pain I sparked the lighter over and over, until right before I could feel myself slip away, it ignited. All of a sudden, that black turned to light, and the death that surrounded me turned into fire eating me alive.

I got on my hands and knees and threw up violently, punching myself in the stomach to get it all out.

---

His skin was pale, with black veins covering most of his body. The most visible ones were going up and down his neck and head. He was sweating and searing hot to the touch. His breathing had started going faster, twitches in his muscles becoming visible.

He wasn't in the best shape, and I started twitching from shot nerves.

It's been at least five hours, maybe longer.

"What happens if he dies?" I asked.

Kaia never took her sight off the human. "You better hope he doesn't."

I growled softly, masking it behind a grunt. "He won't."

And as I said that, Alex began rapidly twitching. I looked back at him, seeing the black recede from most of his body and up to his head, his entire face becoming a dark mess. He coughed and vomited to the side, rolling to his hands and knees so that he could vomit more.

It was pure black, with his dark veins disappearing the more it came out of him. His muscles clenched and bulged, and even his normal veins were present as he forced it out. He punched himself multiple times - hard - in the stomach to get it out until I was behind him and squeezing him against me to help expel it all. It was over fast, though, and he spit the remainder out. I held him close, listening to his breathing settle and heartbeat slow. He didn't feel cold anymore, just warm, but not as bad as earlier. The puddle had smoke floating from it.

"Xerxes?" He asked, his voice gravelly and torn.

"Alex," I breathed out. "You okay?"

He shifted and said, "Yeah… Let me up." I did, and he stood up slowly, testing his healed leg, before turning around. His hands searched the air, before finding my shoulder and launching himself at me. We hugged, and I would've been content if I died right then and there.

"Oh, I can't see anything," He grumbled. "But you don't know how glad I am you're here! …This is real, right?"

"I assure you," Kaia butted in, "This is real."

He looked around behind me, searching for the source. "Who the hell…?" He started, drifting off as he began to realize who it was. I looked at his face, and I knew he could see her.

"…The Queen."

"In the flesh."

"She's fucking gigantic, X!" He mentally exclaimed.

"Yes, I am, aren't I?"

Alex was silent for a moment as he left the hug to stand beside me, the two of us facing her now. "…Spared no time getting that bond set up, I see."

"No, no I did not."

A pause.

"Like your home. Makes me feel like I'm in a cheap haunted house." I bumped him in the side, trying to get him to cut it out. He never took his eyes off her.

"Oh, I'm gonna like you."

"Hey!" I interrupted, "Are you going to tell us why we're here?"

"Right, right, calm down," She said, "Alex, do you know why you're here?"

---

"Because you're guys suck at their jobs," I said. I heard hisses around me, and Xerxes jabbed me again. I should probably stop.

"Yes, but do you know why you're here and not dead out there?" She asked. I wanted to say what I said earlier again, but stayed silent instead. "Because the fight you put up, have been putting up, has impressed me. Such tenacity and grit doesn't deserve to go unrewarded."

"You gonna kill us fast or slow?" I said. She laughed, a powerful noise that, even though it was all in the mind, echoed throughout the cave.

"Kill you? Quite the opposite, young one. I saw everything to you while you slept, and I see what you are - A battle hardened warrior. Frank, Jane…" She drifted off, "Tony. My condolences, I know your pain."

I didn't expect that and was taken aback slightly. "Thank you," I said softly. "But that still doesn't answer the question: What are you going to do to us?"

"Let me get there," She said. "You're something special for your kind - or kinds, considering - due to your power." My face scrunched in confusion, and I heard her sigh when she realized I would interrupt her again.

"Wait, last time. What do you mean, 'kinds'? Am I not human?"

Her irritation was gone in a second, replaced by surprise and please as she said, "Oh, so you don't know, do you?" I shook my head. "Let me finish, and I'll tell you as much as I know about your lineage as I can."

I nodded. Something told me she wasn't gonna tell me I was part hispanic or something.

"Your determination, your strength, your power. You are the foundation of an unstoppable force, one I hope we can build upon together." Though I was still focused on what I am, I paid attention to what she said.

"You want me to be your soldier…" I realized. She nodded.

"What can I say? We're in need of numbers, and the last ones didn't add up in the end." She made to talk more, but I interrupted her and spoke quickly.

"No you're not. You know I'm too much of a risk for just that. You need me for something else - and I wanna know why." The corners on the eyeless behemoth's mouth twitched up.

And then Xerxes finally spoke: "You're not actually considering this, Alex?" He was terrified - this is his Frank. Except this time he's the size of a building. And female - not that it matters. I wasn't (as) scared of her - she hasn't filled me with terror yet, just intimidation - but I understood his fear.

I just hope he understands mine.

"X, I'm not seeing a way out. This is our only shot."

Kaia started again and Xerxes said nothing. "Certainly a smart one. Alright, one thing: Do you understand what you've been dreaming?"

There was a second of confusion before it clicked. "That wasn't a hallucination I had, not all of it, right?"

"Correct, and that's what would happen if you said yes." My heart started racing, and the thought of further death sickened me, but I swallowed my pride and bile in the back of my mouth.

I turned to Xerxes, seeing the confused look on his face. "She wants me to help kill them all…" I breathed.

"What?" Xerxes said. "Who? The people in that town?" I nodded, and he grabbed my shoulders. "Alex, please, you can't do this-"

"I'll do anything to keep us alive, X… I'm sorry."

I paused, took a deep breath, and spoke to the Queen.

"…I need to know two things."

"Alex!" I heard Xerxes cry, and my eyes closed as I spoke, drowning out the hisses towards him.

"First: No matter what happens, even if I die, you will give me your word that nothing, not a single one of you or anyone else, will lay a hand on Xerxes."

"You have my word that Xerxes will not be harmed no matter what."

"Second: Why are you starting a war with us? Before I came, what did we do to provoke this decision?" I asked.

"Why do you associate yourself with them?" She spat, "I thought we have already established that you are much more than they could ever be."

I swallowed my shame next - feeling it disappear in the black hole in stomach - since I would need it to survive what I said next: "I just want - need - an answer if I'm to… to help."

My chest was tight, and it hurt to think that this was the task I was about to have. At least we get to live, and I'm not going to think of the cost, because if I do, I don't know if I'll be able to follow through until it's happening.

"Not everyone can do things without reason, I suppose. Even before you came, we needed numbers, but now we need them more than ever to stand a chance against a group of hunters coming to wipe us out. And the fastest way - the only way - is with the town."

"But how do you even know they're coming for you? I doubt you just asked them."

"No, but that feels like a logical response after we killed one and injured another a few days ago - about the time Xerxes left in fact. Sooner or later, either the Yautja or the humans - or both - are going to find us and wipe us out. If we can eliminate the humans and get more to fight with us before the hunters come, our odds will be better."

And there I have it - alien hunters coming to kill other aliens.

Here marks the end of everything. Time to sell my soul, or at least whatever Frank left behind.

"Okay…," I said, my stomach twisting into a knot made of twenty others, "How do we begin?" Just embrace the insanity - make it the norm, take it with open arms, and keep yourself and X alive. I can do that, I will-

"NO!" Xerxes shouted, desperation in his voice. "Kill me! Keep me here and do what you want to me! BUT YOU CAN NOT MAKE HIM DO THIS!" I could faintly see other black shadows approaching him, and my hand reached for the butt of the revolver, something I was surprised to actually find.

Worst comes to worst, bluff tactics, I thought.

"What are you doing, Xerxes?! I'm trying to keep us alive, goddamnit!" It was then that one kicked him in the back of the knee, and I pulled out the gun and aimed it at his assailant. A million small roars and hisses deafened me, but I could still hear Kaia speak.

"Lower your weapon, Alex. You are not going to do this." I saw the attacker's arm move to strike, and I made one last ditch effort.

I rammed the barrel under my chin and yelled, "You kill him, you kill me!"

"Stop!" Kaia yelled, and I could see his hand - his claws - had gotten close enough to leave small marks, the small dots of blood barely glowing in the dark.

"Back up from him!" I yelled.

"Do it," She said, and they did. He got up and hurried over, placing his back up against mine, his head twitching around and scanning the room quickly.

"Stay calm. I'm getting you out," I reassured, fumbling for his hand and holding it. "Let him go, and I stay! I walk with him to exit, he leaves, and after five minutes when I'm sure he is long gone, I'll drop my gun."

She said nothing.

"What about you? You can't stay," Xerxes said.

"I don't intend to. I'll find you, I promise," I whispered, though I don't think it mattered. I pulled the hammer back and looked at Kaia. "Or you lose your whole reason we're here."

And then, in a colder tone than earlier, she said, "And what about Xerxes? You surely wouldn't leave him with us, would you?"

"I think I have pretty good chances of getting him and myself before you," I said. "Or, you can pick the option where the outcome has all the perks of the first - he's gone, but I stay."

She scoffed and sighed. "You won't give this up, will you?" I said nothing, not looking away and barely shaking my head. "Fine, go slowly."

A path opened up in the horde, though we would be less than a foot away from them all with how small it was. I didn't like this at all. Hell, at this point I was scared my finger was gonna twitch and pull the trigger and we'd all hear the 'click!' of it being empty.

Xerxes was leading, though the two of us were still back to back and keeping our guard up. Every step felt like we went nowhere, but we still moved.

Maybe a minute, maybe two into the horde, and I saw one of them rush me - probably trying to disarm me. But I saw him, and even though the gun was empty, and even though they should've been able to have the advantage on me, I still raised the gun up and pulled the trigger out of habit. My heart all but stopped when I realized it wasn't empty. I couldn't see the loaded bullets in the dark.

The round fired and the room lit up to show hundreds of them around me. I could hear the bullet impact him, a green splash coming out the exit wound of his head, and I realized two things.

One, Kaia most certainly did not need more fighters.

Two, we were absolutely and royally fucked.

The second the bullet impacted him, they were on us. Xerxes, who still had my hand, started running and dragging me behind. I tried to keep up, though the fight lasted for about four seconds in all before they were around us and pulling us away.

"X! I'll find you!" I yelled. Their claws dug through my remaining clothes and skin easily, and when I got struck in the mouth, I could no longer hold on. His hand was lost in a sea of darkness, and I was being dragged away by multiple of them to a tunnel.

"Alex!" He yelled, but he was gone.

"Fuck!" I yelled. I was being dragged along for the ride, my head hitting everything it felt like. It was a miracle I didn't get burned with how close he was, or maybe I was and just didn't feel it yet - just about everything hurt now, it was hard to tell what. But now I'm unarmed, and this is about to be the end of the line.

"Why did you do that, ALEX!?" Kaia shouted.

"You were gonna have him killed, you two-faced bitch! You tried to play me! I was gonna work with you, too! Why did you do that?!" I heard her growl, feeling it deep in my bones.

"Because you made the mistake of thinking this was a negotiation instead of a demand. Xerxes is not needed nor wanted, and this will be one life too many that I will not forgive you for taking."

"If you kill Xerxes, I won't-"

"There you go again," She said, "Thinking this is something you have a say in, something you can argue against. If I want him dead, I will have him dead if I have to do it myself."

"If I find that you've killed Xerxes, I will spend every waking moment of however much longer I've got trying to kill you." She laughed, that same echo going throughout my brain.

"He is not going to die," She said, and I believed her, if not just a little bit. "But you need to realize that you are not in control here - I am. Here is your one warning: do as they say, no matter what. You will not die, but if you do not do this, Xerxes will. The same has been said to him, so if you two want to live, you do everything you are told." And then she was gone, the link having faded away or been cut off.

The ride was long, or it felt that way at least, and it became difficult to say things over the link with my head hitting everything. Didn't matter - she didn't say anything either.

But it did stop what felt like miles away from where we just were. My mind started to drift to X, and I believed her when she said he wouldn't die, but that basically means anything else is fair game.

That knot in my gut felt more like a tumor now, and it grew when I realized we were both going to have hell to pay. Not in the weight of gold or money, but in the weight of flesh and blood.

They'd go easy on him, wouldn't they? I mean, I'm the one who pulled the trigger, I'm the one who wanted him to live…

Shit, he has a past with them all - I know if Frank saw me today, somehow alive, he'd make sure I was babbling incoherently by the time he'd finish.

Fuck, X. Why'd you have to speak up then? I could've handled it, if it were for us? Yeah, I could've handled it. And now we have to step through this next set of bullshit before we can get to the actually traumatizing part of the day, I thought. I stopped myself there, hating myself for being pissed at him.

Just gotta live for now and get the hell outta here. Get us the hell outta here. Us.

We get out of here.

Whatever it takes.

I won't let him be the next Tony.

They tossed me hard on the floor, my back hitting a wall and my ass taking a hard blow from the ground. I thought about getting up, but thought against it when they started pulling off what little tatters I had.

"Get him up," One of them said. Two of them pulled me up by the armpits, still pinning my back to the wall. My pants, the only thing still barely intact, was pulled down, and a feeling of exposure was quickly creeping up on me.

"Oh c'mon, y'all are gonna fuck me?" I said. One of them punched me square in the jaw, my head snapping to the right. It popped a joint on the right side, but I just stretched it out in spite.

My last layer went down between my legs, and one grabbed my bits roughly. "Ah, not the crown jewels," I begged. They were cutting off my bandages now, and instead of hitting me, a few of them simultaneously cut too deep, enough for blood to run down my leg, chin, and my right hand. The hand got the worst of it, of course, and I bit my tongue to suppress any noise of weakness.

During this, the one that had my bits had created a handful of resin, which he slapped on said bits. It didn't hurt, but it felt and smelled disgusting, and it hardened in moments, making it itchy as hell.

"Ugh, you nasty mother-" And in that moment, as my mouth was open and talking like an idiot, the one in front of me shot its secondary set of jaws in my mouth. It engulfed just about my entire tongue, and before I even had a chance to make another noise, he bit down and tore it out. The movement was so quick that I tasted the blood before I felt the pain, but it was quick and immediate as well. My eyes watered and teared at the sudden and intense pain, and he held my head up so that, even through my blurry eyes, I could see the shape go down his throat. Blood was on his chin, and I swung my fist at it. But it did nothing, as he caught it in one hand and grabbed my chin in the other, before rearing back his right and slashing me across the face on my left cheek.

I screamed, red saliva spraying out my mouth as I was turned around and slammed back against the wall. I could feel more resin being put on me, most but not all drying immediately.

"Wha hi ya oo!? Wha hi ya oo!?" "What did you do!? What did you do!?" I yelled out loud and over the link. The one who took my tongue came up and shot his jaws in my mouth again, putting something on the remainder of my tongue. I already knew what it was.

"Do not worry, we know how much your kind needs communicate. Now be quiet or we will rip it out again," He said, taking it out.

Tears went down my face, blood on the left and water on the right. I felt sick over the amount of blood I swallowed and let the red drool go down my chin, feeling one of them press up against my back.

---

They pulled him out of the main cavern and deeper into the tunnels. I tried so hard to pull us out of here, though it was impossible. They pushed me down so that I was prone on the floor.

I could feel their blades slice me all over, some areas much harder than others. Blood went down and around me, but nowhere near enough to be fatal.

During all of this, I did not fight back. I already knew the rules of this game, and I didn't want to kill Alex with my actions.

But I certainly hurt him. If he kept his mouth quiet and did as told, he should be fine.

What did I do? I thought. He's gonna say something he shouldn't. They won't let him get away with it like Kaia did.

And yet, who screwed him over? Who betrayed him after he trusted you?

You did, you monster.

It would've been easier to kill us both earlier than to live now. That was a certainty.

How could I have been naive enough to think he wouldn't risk himself to keep me alive?

I mentally scoffed at my own thought.

How could I have been naive enough to think that even if she accepted my deal, she would follow her half?

I couldn't help but let out a gurgle of a chuckle. Guess my instincts really did get the better of me. I trusted in her - how amazing is that?

I chuckled again, more of a hysterical noise that couldn't have possibly been deciphered from the sounds of my brothers and sisters.

Can't blame instincts, only myself.

It's only been two or three minutes, and they're already going further than they used to.

He's gonna hate me.

He'll probably want to kill me. Kaia would let him, too, without a shadow of a doubt.

If I didn't load the gun, he'd be fine and I'd be dead. Or he would be better than he is now and I'd still be dead.

All because I didn't want him to do what she wanted, to be her killer. I couldn't let him become one. I just couldn't.

That obviously helped things so much.

I shouldn't have tested my luck, should've let them make him one. Maybe then we'd be fine. Physically, at least. And I would be there for him after, and I could fix him.

And then she'd kill us…

The pain was beginning to cloud my thoughts, and I gave up on it entirely.

I was good about staying silent, having learned a long time ago that they'll make it worse the more noise you make

Then again, they tried harder when you were silent, so it was a double edged sword.

But the one thing that made me suppress a near full-on screech was when one of them reared back and kicked me hard enough in the face that I could feel my dome crack around my eyes. Seeing became much harder with all the cracks in my view, but they were quick to make sure I didn't miss a second of the action, reaching down and picking shards apart and pulling them out.

It hurt worse than anything I've ever experienced, and suddenly, even in the pitch black darkness, the room became way too bright.

---

I wanted to pretend it was Xerxes, I really did. But it felt like a betrayal to him to do so, so I just suffered through it.

He had been slow, sensual, romantic even, and treated me with the care of an unscuffed, untouched diamond - not to say I'm extraordinarily valuable or anything, though he certainly made me feel that way. Best hour and a half of my life.

But they… They made sure I was nothing more than a warm hole. They had me pinned and plastered to the wall as they did their business to me, my eyes having closed a while ago. It hurt bad at first, and I bit down on my lip until it bled to keep from screaming. After that, it subsided to a throb and in and out. I didn't make more than a noise of heavy breathing against the wall, refusing to show anything more. The fact that this actually made me hard ashamed me, and it was both agony and a blessing that my dick was covered and prevented from actually being hard - but I could feel it. I felt disgusted with what they put on and in me, but the worst was easily what he did to my mouth.

My tongue.

Talking? Out the window minus basic noises. Tasting? I can taste the blood in my mouth right now, so that must be a good sign, right? At least biting my tongue while eating's a thing in the past for now, right? And yet, the thought of anything - be it food or whatever - going in my mouth made me want to gag.

...Fuck, I just had to run my mouth, didn't I? Fucking idiot.

At least they fixed it and it should hopefully heal. But just because you offer to buy me new tires doesn't make me instantly forgive you for slashing them in the first place.

I could feel something building up in me again, like what happened back at Jackson's with the pulse-thing. I wanted to rip them apart with themselves, wanted to beat them to death with my bare hands if not for their blood. The only reason I held onto it and kept it in me - despite the increasingly overwhelming pressure building up - was for Xerxes. I just had to hold out until whenever we see each other again, however long that'll be.

I started to imagine that the warm wall I was splayed about and plastered on was Xerxes himself, and that he held me. I held onto that thought, and then I held onto the idea of sleeping again, him by my side and the two of us in that dreamland he constructed.

Maybe he's asleep, maybe they knocked him out, maybe he's waiting for me to join him, I thought.

But you can't fall asleep in a nightmare.

He sped up, before tearing into the back of my left shoulder with his teeth. I couldn't suppress a scream at the unexpected pain, and he sped up even faster, finishing inside within half a minute. He pressed up against my back, getting close to my ear as he hissed, and I wanted to puke.

And finally, when I thought it was over and he was pulling out, he rammed back in and started up again. I could feel the others around me who never left start rubbing their appendages on me, leaving wet trails up and down my arms and legs and body. I could smell the musk from them and the one rutting me, and I fought against tears going down my cheeks.

One wasted no time scaling the wall above me, and I spent the remainder of the torture gagging and choking for short breaths with a foul taste. I couldn't pass out - that'd be too easy.

He took longer, and he didn't bite me again, but when he finished his second time, he finally pulled out.

Three others came and did their thing, effectively marking the worst twenty minutes of my life.

"My turn," The fifth finally spoke. I could see one out of the corner of my eye come up behind me, before turning back around. "Go, I have my own plans for it," He said. The two others I could see turned and walked off outside my vision, including the one in my mouth. I didn't dare spit and just swallowed it.

I wasn't sure whether to be more or less terrified now that I was alone.

He came back behind me, touching me softly and looking over me, like he was figuring out the mathematical equation to perfect torture. He did this for a while, silently investigating me for about a minute after I heard their footsteps fade off.

His hand left, and the next thing I knew, I could feel him cut my left arm out of the resin in the wall. I yelped at the sudden action, but understood what he was doing when he helped me pull my arm fully free.

"Are you okay?" He said.

"Wh-" I stopped myself before I could finish, not daring to hear my broken words. "Who are you?"

He cut my left leg free, pulling it out fully from the wall. "Dante. Xerxes may have mentioned me before," He said. He cut my other leg free as I tore my blinds and ripped my other arm out.

"You? You're the one who warned him, aren't you?" I ripped at the resin and pulled my head free, and after pushing myself off the wall as hard as I could, along with him pulling as well, the resin finally tore apart from my body and I was free and falling to the floor.

"Yes, I am." He reached out to help me up, but I flinched and backed away.

"Don't-" I snapped, "Don't fucking touch me. Neither you or me are going to tell him or speak about what happened here, alright?" He gave a short nod, and I pulled my britches back up and stood. The resin on my crotch itched bad, and a small tug showed how stuck it truly was to me and how bad it was gonna hurt to get off. Nasty motherfuckers, I thought.

"Stay here, I have to grab something." As he turned away, I carefully started pulling hair out of the blood and slash mark on my face, before I felt around my bloodied left eye. I could trace a line going from my hairline to left side of my chin. It was deep and still bled, a long trail of red going down my shoulder and chest, though not as fast as earlier. Three lines in all, each just about the same length, and one that went directly over my eye. It throbbed, and I couldn't see out of it, nor did I even want to see what it looked like. It was ruined though, that much was for sure.

I looked back at where I was stuck on the wall, seeing the remaining red ribbons of my shirt. I grabbed as many of the biggest ones I could find - about five - and tied them around my eye. It stuck easy in the blood, but at least it covered my eye and most of my cheek now.

Hey, wait, I thought, reaching into my pocket. I could hardly believe it when I pulled out the lighter. Law really did slip me something again. I slipped it back in, a small smile threatening to show.

I could hear Dante step hard to make noise, and when I could finally see him come back, I saw that in his hand was the revolver. He handed it to me, and I grabbed it carefully, looking over it in awe. I traced the lines in the frame and handle, following them until they ended. Just like the lines on my face, they ended, and I realized how badly I wanted, needed, to be the end to Kaia's line.

She's going down, and I'm going to enjoy it - just this one.

"Are we going to kill her?" I asked bluntly.

"Just follow me," He said, and I did. "We are getting out of here." Now that was promising.

"Where are we going?"

"To the Yautja's body. Their armor typically has a self-destruct function you should be able to activate."

"Wait, wait, how the hell am I gonna be able to do that? I take it I'm part Yautja or whatever-you-said, but I don't know shit about them! How do you expect me to figure that out?"

"We will do a memory dive if we need to, or maybe you will just remember instinctively. We do that, and we can time our escape so that we are not followed." I nodded.

"Okay, fine. Are you willing to do this? I mean, I'll do it if I can figure it out, but…"

"We do it. For all the lives taken here and tortured… We bring as many of us as we can."

"What? We can't-"

"There are a few others like me and Xerxes. They come with us if I can help it, Alex." I shook my head.

"Even if I could fit you all, I can't take you all further than out of town. I'll drop y'all off somewhere far away enough to make it the rest of the way, but that's it. I can only take Xerxes." I said softly.

"Come with us. Xerxes could never be accepted by your kind, but you would be accepted among us. You would be blood to us, hive mates. We would be better than this," He spat.

"Let me think about it, there's time for deciding that when we aren't in danger, alright?"

He looked disappointed, but didn't push further, saying, "Fine. What is the plan?" I nearly tripped hearing that.

"You-you don't have a plan?" I exasperated. "You're joking, right? Please tell me you are."

He shook his head.

"Fuck… Okay, uhm, we need to buy us time to do this… Alright, here's what you're gonna tell that bitch…"

---

The pain was beginning to all blend into one over my body, and it became impossible to pinpoint where whatever was happening. Two of the six fingers on the right of my right hand were missing, a dorsal tube had been ripped off with two others being badly hurt, the blade on my tail was gone, and a ring of smoke surrounded me as the blood did its work. Even the resin couldn't handle our blood after a while.

"Alright, that is enough," She said. The pain was still there, but I could no longer feel them holding me down or continuing their onslaught. I slowly removed my arm from my eyes, and could see in the brightness that they had moved away from me. It hurt my eyes to see in a way I never experienced, but it subsided and the brightness became bearable quickly. I stood up, clutching my ribs.

"They tell me that Alex is still alive, Xerxes. They also tell me that his tongue has been cut, and that they have bred him multiple times. I think the two of you are fairly equal in the severity of your injuries now, would you not?" I looked at the ground, stuck on what she told me.

"…We are," I said weakly. Though in actuality, I thought he had it worse. I couldn't imagine how he must be. What he went through… What he's probably still going through. He'll survive, I know that, but he doesn't deserve this, and it hurts to think about what I did. And now, despite my earlier thought of keeping him from being a killer or even myself, I think we are both ready to kill her at the earliest possible moment.

"Speak up," She said, and I wanted nothing more than to rip her apart, despite the impossibility of it in terms of practicality and realism.

Instead, I settled for saying, "I said 'we are'," in a much louder voice. "I want to see him."

"Do not test your luck, he is alive. And he is helping us get ready for tonight, so he is safe for now." I thought she was finished and nearly spoke, before she started again, "Before you say anything, let me offer you a compromise in a show of trust. If you sit down, lick your wounds, and behave, they will not harm you further. Tonight then, when you have healed, you may join us in the fight and maybe even help keep Alex alive in battle. Or, you can endure a second wave, but you have to stay here, because we can not afford you leaving injured and doing something you should not again, alright?"

I had to suppress myself from either scoffing or snorting, amazed that she still thinks I would attempt that. Not anymore, I have to stay alive now.

For Alex. To tell him I'm sorry.

---

"Do you think she bought it?" I asked.

"I do, actually. I honestly do."

"Good, that's great to hear," I said. I truly needed to hear something like that, and it felt like a small stone had been chipped off the boulder on my chest, making it only slightly more bearable, but more nonetheless.

We walked for maybe five minutes through tunnels that couldn't have been natural, and that were likely carved by them - maybe they were natural, and maybe I was overthinking - until I was hit in the face by this God-awful smell. It smelled like a carcass, sickly sweet and terrible, but infinitely worse in its intensity. It wasn't for another two minutes that I saw what it came from, and even though in that time I thought and very likely knew what it was, I could never have been prepared for what laid ahead.

I saw a large opening, much like the main room we were in with the Queen. I could see faint shapes just barely in the dark, and as we got closer, I saw just how many lay there. Easily a couple hundred bodies, mostly human with some animal, some reduced to skeleton and little flesh, but most bloated and rotten, having been here for months to even years. Some were still on the walls, plastered and held there for however long with large holes in their chests. The smell suddenly got much worse, and combined with the sight, I doubled over and vomited. I wiped away what little came up, looking out at the large graveyard.

It's like a fucking warehouse, I can barely see the other wall! This room in of itself would probably explode with all the rotting bodies' gas building up, I thought. Best not fire the gun in here.

"Jesus Christ, let's get the body and go. Where is it?" He pointed to an area near the far wall.

"Somewhere over there. Come on." And so we walked.

It was terrifying walking among the mass graveyard, all of them horribly disfigured. I couldn't see many visible wounds aside from the obvious missing limb or so, but I could see up close that it would be impossible to tell anything further with how much blood they were all covered in.

Blowing them up is probably for the best. It's about the only dignity their bodies are gonna get, I thought.

As we continued, a drone slinked his way out from a pile of bodies. He walked past Dante and, of course, to me, where he roughly shoved me. With it being all around me, I landed on a large, squishy group of bodies. The smell was laced with rot and shit, they were wet and cold, and with that feeling of maggots and bodily fluids crawling down my back, I gagged, forcing myself to hold it in.

The drone came beside me in a flash of movement, removing a hunk of inflamed and green meat from a body beside me. He slammed his foot down on my chest and shoved the meat in my face. He jammed as much as he could in my mouth and forced my chin to close on it, and my shoves did nothing to get him away until Dante intervened, less than two seconds having flown by in the encounter.

The move made me choke, and even though round three was coming out of my mouth, I still got a good taste. It was terribly bitter, indescribable really and unbelievably mushy, and I spat and dug out of my mouth with my hands to get it out, though I knew in reality that I had swallowed some. Certainly didn't stop me from having another puke-session though, so I suppose I don't get to be a cannibal for another day. Though my tongue burned like hell now.

During this, Dante managed to tell the drone to leave us be, which he did with a sulk in his step as if this ruined his day and was only the beginning for him. In a way, it sort of was, but only the beginning of the end, and I planned on making sure of it.

If I had even the remotest inkling of hesitation in doing this, it was gone now.

The horror that had presented itself within that minute or less, it didn't make me scared or terrify me. It certainly repulsed me, but the main thing it did to me?

It made me pissed. And I'm gonna show them all who they fucked with.

But for the next few minutes, I can settle with wiping my vomit covered hands on my pants and grave robbing dead aliens.

It took another two minutes walking, and when we found him near a wall, he had two other bodies laying on his chest and legs. I grimaced as I lifted a body, setting him down on a nearby pile gently as Dante did the same, albeit with a thump that pissed me off even more. Respect the dead, especially these poor souls, I thought.

I shook my head, closed my eye, and took a breath to calm myself down, forcing myself not to snap and keep it together. When I opened it, I looked down at the body with recharged focus. His dreads were long, many having beautiful rings or wraps around them. His mask certainly looked like an alien hunter's mask alright, though it had the familiar acid burn marks and dips on it. He had a small cannon on his shoulder, a dark red chestplate with wire netting on the stomach and legs, a large chitinous-like set of boots on strange feet, and a dual set of metal gauntlets on the wrists which looked the most technologically advanced.

He was also rather bloodied as well. Green, fluorescent blood had seeped out of the small cuts on his upper arms, a massive gash going along his stomach that looked as though it went all the way through, and a deep bite in his shoulder that nearly ripped it off by the looks of it. His stomach was obviously what did him in with how much blood surrounded it, but nothing was no longer bleeding.

I got low and started patting him down, finding a large dagger in a beautiful sheath, markings and lines similar to my gun. I pulled it out to compare the two, and sure enough, they looked the same for the most part. The thing that confirmed it, however, was that they both had a part where the lines crossed and curved over one another in the exact same way. It was the type of thing you couldn't label as a coincidence.

It made me wonder about who Frank was now, who he really was behind the scenes. Which further struck the question as to who Cassandra was as well.

I shook my head and pulled out the blade, which was serrated to all hell. It looked too thin to stay together if it were used, but it had such an edge all around that must've made it good at something. I put it back in the sheath and transferred it to my own thigh.

I managed to find a large casing on his back just barely sticking out from his body. I lifted him with Dante and reached in, popping something to get it off and pulling it out. It was certainly some kind of storage container; shaped like the head of the resident's home I'm in with a black seam going down the middle. I slid the dagger out of its sheath and down the seam, watching it open up and reveal a strange vial with a button on the side containing a neon blue substance and a set of materials looking like a disassembled syringe separated and neatly organized.

Even the aliens got themselves some drugs, it looks like, I thought. I took the syringe set and did my best to put it together, which was relatively easy with how it all snapped together. It ended up looking like a gun with a trigger and safety and all.

"What are you doing?" Dante asked.

"Don't know, trying to find out myself," I replied. I crouched down and took the vial, pressing the button for only a moment and watching a small stream of rich blue come and go in a second. When it landed, the effect became apparent immediately, melting through the resin on the floor at a rate to surpass even the acidic blood. However, unlike the acid blood, the blue chemical stopped at the stone, still dissolving the resin around it but going no deeper. Some just barely touched the exposed hand of a body beside me, which was also ate away by the substance. The blue gas coming off of it reeked like a powerful acid, and a small whiff of it going up my nose burned like a mother.

"Oh, hell yes. This shit'll destroy anything organic I bet," I said. I poured some more of the vial out onto the stone before taking the syringe and getting as much of it as I could inside, watching the clear container fill. "And I'm sure it'll give anyone it touches a bad day."

"Even the Queen?"

"Now you're thinking like me." I put the syringe on the floor and continued to disrespect the dead.

Next was the harness he wore around the waist. Another round of lifting the body and unclasping everything ensued, and I was left with a harness around my waist tightened as much as it could be just to fit, the revolver now on my left hip beside a pouch. But now I had somewhere to put that syringe. And the shit-ton of bullets weighing my pockets down.

I safetied the syringe and put a guard on the needle, putting it in my left hip pouch. The handful of shells and one and half moon clips went in the pouch on the right. I was truly beginning to feel armed to the teeth, even though this was nothing compared to having that rifle earlier.

The final thing I stripped the body down of was a small casing that, when I slid the top off, revealed its contents to be an assortment of medical tools. A small pair of spreaders, proper surgical needles - unlike the one in my pouch - another vial of slightly different blue stuff, and a gnarly looking stapler that looked like it would do more harm than good, though it'd certainly close something up if need be. I closed the case and put it in a pouch on the back of my waist.

"Tell me he's got something better than a blade for a weapon."

He shook his head. "He had a bladed staff when they came, and it is likely here, but it was beyond repair before he died."

"Shit." I looked over his gauntlets and armor, seeing that it was all far too large to fit me. Even the mask, sadly.

"So how do we make you go 'boom' then, hmm?" I said to the body. I got down and examined his gauntlet, looking over the blades that made me truly want to have my own set. Man, why do I have a feeling that this is barely scratching the surface in terms of what they bring along?

I tried moving it around in any way, watching the top come off like a hatch. "That is what you will need. That can set it off."

"I vaguely remember this. Why the hell do I remember this at all?" I said. Dante just shrugged.

"You must have seen it before, the mind retains a lot. Do you know how to work it?" He said.

"No… Let's do that memory dive, I think we can find something."

He nodded, saying, "Just relax and allow me to lead us." I nodded as well, and he pressed his head up against mine. The edges of my vision grew dark, before tearing away like ash being blown, surrounding me in hazy darkness. He made a curious noise.

"Everything okay?"

"Something is suppressing your memories, Alex."

"What does that mean? I have amnesia?"

"No. They would be fragmented if that were so, but they are not. I think you may have suppressed them yourself, or at least partially. It is there, just buried and foggy."

"Well can you unsuppress them?" I asked with impatience.

"I can, but be warned that if you did do this, it must have been something horrible enough to destroy you then, and it may now."

"I caught on. Do it - not like we got any other choices."

He said nothing, and immediately, the room melted away into a city, one filled with flying ships in the air and bustling people. Everyone was large, taller than me but also just tall in general, and wearing dreadlocks of various sizes and styles. Their skins were scaley and reptilian in nature, and their mouths consisted of crab-like appendages surrounding it with no lips or anything of the sort.

I was on some kind of catwalk, walking backwards from a multitude of people. These people were shouting, some raising weapons that I've never seen before at me. My eyes darted around, turning around for a momentary glance that I could hardly believe as I saw it.

Frank. Though much younger now and missing his light beard, I was positive it was him.

Holding a futuristic pistol to my head and dragging me away.

The crowd was moving closer and closer, and I realized what side I needed to be on.

One of the smaller ones - though in reality around my current height - a child with a necklace of yellow teeth, pointed at us. With clicks intermixed among other noises, I could hear him clear as day yelling, "Mei'hswei! Ell-osde tarei'hsan!" He made to run at us, but he was stopped and grabbed before he could take two steps.

"Cjit! Mo!" He roared. "Dtai'k-de Ah'koedhn! M'di h'chak!" Though I could not decipher the meaning now, I knew it then. Next thing I knew, I was slamming my hand against the gun and twisting, desperately trying to rip myself out of his grip. I saw for a brief moment a set of three dots in a triangle formation circling his chest, but it went away as fast as it appeared.

He punched me in the eye, spun me back around, and choked me out with his forearm, the metal of his gauntlet pressing on my neck. I grasped at it, trying to fight him as best I could, but unable to. I was much smaller then, younger by a good amount. I felt darkness steal away at my vision, threatening to take me even now as I remembered the lack of oxygen. The gun was back on my temple, though pressing down much harder.

We stopped, and I watched him open up his gauntlet like I did the dead guy's, before pressing a series of buttons and throwing it towards the crowd. Before I could even see what happened next, I was shoved inside of a small ship as he dashed to the control panel. Next thing I knew, the ship was shaking and we were taking off, the door closed before I even had a chance to realize what was happening. I got up and pressed against a large window, watching people run as the area where he tossed the gauntlet lit up with sparks and electricity, before a blinding light escaped and filled the area with a small mushroom cloud. The town quickly shrunk into a planet, and even then, that too shrunk into nothing rapidly.

I was still against the glass, stuck in shock at what had transpired. No longer was I watching my home disappear - now I was having a staring contest with the black nothingness everywhere.

My hand eventually drifted to my neck, before I jolted and looked down, looking at the nothing that was there.

But then I realized: I had worn a necklace. Exactly like that crab-faced kid's.

My sight began to fade away again, before I was back in the body pit. I was gasping for air, hyperventilating as I tried to grasp what had happened. The one memory lifted the block, and now I knew every single horrible thing that happened to me - and it trumped everything else.

"Fuck!" I groaned. "No! God, no, please!" Dante was beside me, supporting me from falling to the ground, and I recoiled sharply at the touch.

"Don't fucking touch me goddamnit!" My eyes darted around, before I remembered the sheath and looked back down at the body I had just pilfered. He looked familiar now, and in a quick movement I was straddling him and ripping his bio-mask off. I tossed it aside and looked into his dead eyes, seeing the face of an evil creature who deserved worse.

I punched him hard in the mouth, screaming, "You fucker!"

Thwack.

"You-"

Thwack.

"-and Frank-"

Thwack.

"-and all the rest-"

Thwack.

"-can fucking rot for all I fucking care you-"

Thwack.

"-goddamn dishonorable fucker!" I swung both hands overhead and slammed it into his face, before I stood up and stomped on his head twice, hearing a mandible snap. I jumped back down on him.

"You always said you would hang my head on your trophy wall if I screamed," I said, taking the long dagger out of my sheath. I got down near his bloodied green face and screamed with as much force as I could, spit flying on his face, before driving the blade into his neck and sawing. "I'll take your fucking head."

I sawed enough away, took the blade out, and started pulling it off his shoulders. It sounded like leather being stretched, before it came off with a sickening pop! all too easily.

"But you aren't even worth a trophy!"

And I stood back up and punted it across the cave in rage, watching it bounce off a pile of bodies and disappear.

"But I'll take your fucking ring as one!" It was a simple grey thing, which I took and put on my middle finger, since it was either that or the thumb.

"Alex, calm down," I heard Dante say softly.

"My name's not even Alex! I'm barely even human - I'm Ah'koedhn, and I'm more Yautja than I am human!" I had to take a breath, just to slow myself down. "I don't even know if my family survived the explosion. I can't even fathom who Cassandra is." I paused, "I can't believe I blocked out those memories to the point of forgetting my fucking name!"

I stepped away, let out a gasp of air, and said, "Jesus fuck - that goddamn motherfucker got it easy! Him and Frank. And then there's the rest…!"

Tears fought to fall down my cheeks, and I punched the wall hard enough to crack - whether it was my hand or the resin I could not tell, but my hand stayed in place as I trembled and shook with fury.

"That sonuvabitch… How could so many…" I drifted off, grumbling at my inability to finish the question I could not answer, and said, "That other hunter. I bet he's a familiar face, and I bet he ain't far away, either."

His head's gonna go on a fucking stick if I see him, I thought. I heaved and heaved, unable to keep still or calm. Tears still dripped down, and the silence was deafening. "Just… give me a minute."

My blood boiled and burned, and I could feel the pulse begin to build up rapidly within. I willed it away and forced myself to remember what I had to do. I couldn't focus on this - no matter how much I wanted to desecrate their bodies beyond recognition, I needed to do what we came here to do.

"Fuck it," I said. "We need to get X and I know how to set it now. That's all that matters. Let's get." I made to grab his lower half, but Dante had him over his shoulder with ease. I didn't say anything, and we started walking.

"You have a plan?" I scoffed and shook my head.

"Improv's been doing us fine yet."

PART TWO IS COMING SOON