As always, disclaimers on the first chapter!
Not much in the way of commentary this time. Only 3 more chapters after this one! Thanks everyone for the comments so far. I've enjoyed reading them, and I look forward to reading more ^..^
Face-Off
I blinked against the blinding white light that surrounded me. The Fates had sent me where I needed to go with nothing but the clothes I was wearing. Bitches... They could have at least given me a weapon of some kind. Something sharp and pointy.
The best thing I could think of doing was just start walking and see where it took me. The further I walked, the more my mind wandered. First I wondered if this is what one of my projects felt like, when I tried to photograph it on one of those endless background set-ups. Endless background... What else was endless, besides the lack of path I was walking? That torture dimension that the Fates sent Eve to, in Haunted. Wait a minute... Did they send me there, instead?! If I find my way out of here...
A cry caught my attention and distracted me from my mental ranting. I blinked and looked off to my right, where I heard it come from. A black speck in the distance was the only thing breaking up the monotonous white, way off in the distance. I quickly changed my direction and headed toward it.
The speck grew in size quickly, soon becoming two black blobs and finally two human-looking shapes. The sound I heard earlier had lowered to a constant whimpering accented with the occasional wail, as if being kicked. Something in my gut went cold, and I switched from a walk to a jog.
"Why do you even bother continuing to live, Nicholas. You just mooch off your father's success and hide in Clay's shadow. What good are you? You can't be the Pack puppy forever."
I stopped in my tracks. There was something eerily familiar about that voice that I couldn't quite put my finger on. I couldn't stay stopped for long. Verbal abuse was one of the few things I couldn't stand being around and do nothing about. I started walking toward the forms again, feeling my face get hotter with each step I took, especially when I realized that it was just a kid huddled on the ground.
"What makes you think I'd ever want to be with the Pack omega? You're the errand boy, just barely tolerated by the rest of them. Even Logan was of more use to the Pack, and he was a nineteen year old who lived hundreds of miles away. The offspring of a mutt on top of all that."
I launched myself at the taunters back, hoping to knock them to the ground and get a few punches in before I got my ass handed to me. I sailed right through them, though, and landed on my head on the other side of the kid. That wasn't quite what I expected. In the surprised silence that followed, I climbed to my feet and looked down at the kid.
"Kid" was only an accurate description if I was referring to what I was looking at. He looked to be about eleven, maybe twelve. When I looked even closer at him, he whimpered and hid his face from me, but there was no mistaking those dark brown eyes, despite the youthful face they were set in. Nick was the one being tormented, which could only mean...
When I looked higher up, I saw my own face glaring back at me. It felt like an old west face-off. I was toe to toe, head to head with my doppelgänger. The Leviathan looked exactly like me, with my mouth twisted in an angry snarl that made me look far more ugly than I ever perceived myself in an actual mirror. Who the hell was this bastard to steal my face and make it all nasty looking. Fuck that! You only get one chance to kick me, and he took the route of getting into Nick. Like hell it was gonna make me look all ugly, too!
I let my eyes shift to the battered mind's eye version of Nick: a young boy huddled in a corner and trying to not cry. I could almost hear him repeating the words "big boys don't cry" over and over to himself. I felt my jaw tense to the point that I thought I was going to crack my teeth as my gaze turned back to the Leviathan.
"Like what you see, mother dearest?"
To hear my own voice mocking me just fueled my anger. This fucker was so going to pay! Without a bantering response, I ran full tilt toward the Leviathan, taking a swing at it. My arm passed right through it's torso and I tumbled gracelessly to the ground for the second time.
My head was jerked up as the Leviathan yanked on my braid. I yelped, which only made him laugh at me. The laughing... Always the fucking laughing... He pulled me to my feet using only my hair and forced me to look at him, still wearing my face.
"You really broke the mold when you created me, didn't you? No body to attack, and able to play on the worst of a person's nature. Able to feed off their very minds. I'd be proud, if I wasn't so ashamed of what a weak piece of shit you really are."
I struggled, trying to free myself from the Leviathan's grip. "I'm not..."
"Not weak?"
Another harsh laugh tore from his throat as he threw me to the ground. I landed flat on my back, in the perfect position for him to stand over me. I gasped and felt hot tears stream down my face as the Leviathan's foot planted itself firmly on my knuckles.
"What? Are you crying? Miss High-Pain-Threshold is whimpering over a little weight on her hand?"
Hearing my own voice in that high-pitched mocking tone just grated on the back of my head. I brought my other hand around and tugged at the foot on my right hand. "Get off me, fucker..."
"You're a sick fuck, you know that? I mean, your twisted fascination with movies like Ginger Snaps with all it's blood, guts, gore, and sex is one thing. You get off on that, don't you? But to create something like me?" He smirked, "That's just classic. Nothing quite like your own mind coming back to bite you in the ass, huh?"
As I struggled to free myself from the Leviathan, my mind whirred with questions. How was he able to hold me down, but I couldn't even tackle him? How was he able to pull my hair? How was I going to beat something of my own imagination? But every time I thought my mind was closing in on an idea, he would say something that would distract me. Something that would bring up self-doubts on my abilities and even who I was.
That was when it hit me. Not an idea, but the Leviathan. A lovely kick across the jaw that sent my rolling, but at least freed me from his foot.
"Pay attention! Stupid bitch... But what else should I expect? Twenty-five, and you couldn't even finish college."
I forced myself to sit up quickly, blinking as a wave of dizziness threatened to push me back down. I couldn't, though. Down meant an advantage for my opponent. And why did he have to bring up my college background? Fucker... I was in the GATE program in school. I taught myself web design languages back in the nineties!
Then, it finally hit me. The idea I was waiting for. I should treat my brain to something special if it survives this. I slowly climbed to my feet, wiped my mouth and glared at the creature that looked like me.
"Pansy," I whispered.
"What was that?" Both the Leviathan's eyebrows shot up, an expression that I know I've used so many times when over exaggerating mock-surprise. "Are you actually trying to stand up for yourself?"
I looked around the whiteness that was Nick's mind, my eyes resting a moment on the huddled figure of how Nick saw himself. "You took easy pickings." I shifted my eyes to meet the Leviathan's gaze. "You couldn't find a more satisfying meal in someone stronger? Weak..."
"Stronger?" the Leviathan snorted. "Surely you don't mean yourself."
"Why not? You keep boasting that you can take me." I threw my arms wide. "So, take me already!"
I saw the hesitation. Too strong, Nyx. Too strong. So I looked to Nick again, allowing myself to appear distracted by my own thoughts and worries. Seeing Nick there, hiding from me because of what the Leviathan had done using my image did distract me for a moment. I took a deep breath, feeling it stutter in my chest.
That was all the Leviathan needed. Everything went black as he forced his way past my mental barriers and into my mind, causing the worst migraine I had ever had. My last coherent thought was relief that he wasn't in Nick anymore.