"No! No. I- Let me try again." He took a deep breath and held it. Then, with a surge of effort he threw himself upward.
Everything was pain. It was all he could do to avoid passing out. His legs wobbled but visions of the horrible dark shapes filled his mind, and he forced them to stand strong.
"There. Not so bad." The little man said, smirking.
"Ahnnnggh." He managed in reply. In truth, the longer he stood, the more accustomed he grew to the sensation, as awful as it was.
The little man had looked into his eyes, and said. "Seven days. Remember it. And if you fail, you belong to the mistress, forever."
There was a moment where the world fell away and he floated numb and weightless. Then the world came crashing down around him, and with it the increasingly familiar pain.
Waves of pain radiated up his legs even now, as his foot pressed down on the accelerator. He barely noticed it. All that he could feel was the rising panic that filled him.
It all should have been so easy. He recognized the boy the instant his image filled his head. He was in Mary's class. She was always talking about what a trouble maker he was. She would surely lead him to him.
And then, marrying her, it had seemed like such an obvious way to prove that she loved him. He'd seen her grow ever more desperate over the years as money and circumstance always seemed to keep their wedding from becoming a reality. She wanted it as much as he did, he was sure of it.
But then, when he tried to contact her, it all went so terribly. She told him she never wanted to see him again. The memory of her tears stabbed at him with a much stronger pain than the one in his legs.
Now he was out of time. Without Mary he didn't know how to earn the boys trust. Why would he go off with some stranger?
He had driven by the boy's house so many times, and seen him take his routine trips over to that strange girls house. Every day he watched and he waited for an opportunity that never came. And now it was too late.
Alex tried to clear his mind, but visions of the horrible fate that awaited him kept popping into his mind. Would he even die if one of those monsters ate him? The darkness he had seen in their eyes seemed to go on forever.
Everything was pain. It was all he could do to avoid passing out. His legs wobbled but visions of the horrible dark shapes filled his mind, and he forced them to stand strong.
"There. Not so bad." The little man said, smirking.
"Ahnnnggh." He managed in reply. In truth, the longer he stood, the more accustomed he grew to the sensation, as awful as it was.
The little man had looked into his eyes, and said. "Seven days. Remember it. And if you fail, you belong to the mistress, forever."
There was a moment where the world fell away and he floated numb and weightless. Then the world came crashing down around him, and with it the increasingly familiar pain.
Waves of pain radiated up his legs even now, as his foot pressed down on the accelerator. He barely noticed it. All that he could feel was the rising panic that filled him.
It all should have been so easy. He recognized the boy the instant his image filled his head. He was in Mary's class. She was always talking about what a trouble maker he was. She would surely lead him to him.
And then, marrying her, it had seemed like such an obvious way to prove that she loved him. He'd seen her grow ever more desperate over the years as money and circumstance always seemed to keep their wedding from becoming a reality. She wanted it as much as he did, he was sure of it.
But then, when he tried to contact her, it all went so terribly. She told him she never wanted to see him again. The memory of her tears stabbed at him with a much stronger pain than the one in his legs.
Now he was out of time. Without Mary he didn't know how to earn the boys trust. Why would he go off with some stranger?
He had driven by the boy's house so many times, and seen him take his routine trips over to that strange girls house. Every day he watched and he waited for an opportunity that never came. And now it was too late.
Alex tried to clear his mind, but visions of the horrible fate that awaited him kept popping into his mind. Would he even die if one of those monsters ate him? The darkness he had seen in their eyes seemed to go on forever.
