Obsession

Chapter IIIS

An optional retelling of chapter III but from Kaisers POV

Finally, it had reached that moment; it was time; the plan was set into motion; now all Kaiser had to do was wait for the little arctic fox to wander somewhere he shouldn't, and he'd be there to snatch him up, and take him for himself. He was listening in on the serious chat his parents had called him into the dining room to have. Kaiser knew already what the conversation would be about and only felt giddy that the time had come so soon. He wouldn't consider himself a patient man at all; he was slowly growing frustrated and antsy for the parents to hurry up and spill the beans so he could be there to clean up the mess, but he was still a bit surprised it'd happened so soon. He thought Maeve, the twin's mother, would drag it out for several weeks to a month, but it seems her husband's affair upset her enough to hurry it up. Listening in, he could tell the exact moment Fox received the unfortunate news by how fast his heart suddenly beat, noting the parents still spared the details, not wanting to speak about the father's infidelity, perhaps not to tarnish the kid's perception of him.

Kaiser had been standing close to the house, listening in on every sound but focusing specifically on the ones that followed Fox, rocking back and forth on his feet eagerly as he listened to Fox's steps near the front door. He couldn't help wanting to chase the boy as he watched him walk down the sidewalk, so he played a little riskier than usual and sped closely next to him. He'd followed for long enough before he reached his limit and had to continue with the plan, quickly speeding to casually sit in the grass along the sidewalk, strategically setting his leg out so the distracted little fox would trip over it and land in front of him.

The plan worked perfectly, playing out exactly as he'd expected it to. He didn't bother to catch the boy as he watched him trip and fall to his hands and knees, not wanting to blow his cover and point out the fact he was supernaturally superior just yet. He'd watched intently as Fox got his bearings from the fall, slowly realizing what he'd tripped on and finally meeting his eye. Kaiser wasn't surprised at Fox's apprehension and fear of seeing him again, and he only wanted to freak him out more, so when he tried to stand, Kaiser quickly grabbed hold of him to keep him where he was, not missing how he could touch his fingers because his hand wrapped around Fox's upper arm.

"Hello again... Do you run into everybody as often as you do me, or am I just lucky?" Kaiser felt lucky. Fox would never be able to leave him now; he would break the boy and thoroughly enjoy doing so. He already wanted to hurt him just a bit, but he'd wait until it was justifiable, or at least he could explain it afterward. When the boy started to apologize, just like the first time, Kaiser beat him to the punch and mimicked what he would have said before he could.

Getting an idea of how to scare the boy further, he'd smile internally as he spoke. "I know... It's okay, Foxy. I know how clumsy you can be." And he truly did know; the boy had nearly fallen down the stairs three times, hit his head twice on the low-hanging ceiling light in the dining room while setting the table, and dropped multiple things on his own feet all in the same week Kaiser had been observing him.

He succeeded in scaring him as Kaiser heard the boy's heart beat quicker and saw his eyes widen at hearing the nickname no one else but his sister should know. He got a kick out of Fox's pathetic attempt to excuse himself and pull away from his hold, only barely tightening his grip to get Fox's attention again. He could have let him go, let him think he was safe, and just had a weird encounter for a second, but he wanted a bit more time to get Fox to panic, maybe even try something to escape versus the polite bullshit he just tried.

"No, I don't think you do... Your parents won't be expecting you back for some time because they just dropped a pretty big bomb on you and your twin sister just now, am I right?" If only Kaiser could snap a photo of Fox's expression and record the exact moment he knew he was fucked, he could relive it over and over because it was everything he wanted. Fox was everything he wanted; the thought made him grin, and it stretched from ear to ear, nearly hurting his face.

"C'mon, sit down; I won't bite." He wanted him closer; he wanted to suffocate him, to force him near so he'd feel even more trapped and helpless, and then maybe Fox would lash out, and the fun part would begin. So Kaiser pulled the arm he'd kept hold of, forcing him to fall a bit, and dragged him to sit facing the same way out at the horizon, taking hold of the arm tucked into his side and using his other to wrap around his shoulders like a side hug he couldn't escape from unless Kaiser let him. "Not yet anyway..." He'd add to his past statement: he wanted to bite him right now but would wait for the right moment.

"Ah, I-I want to leave... P-please, c-can I leave?"
The quiet and shaky voice of the boy broke him out of his temporary daydream of sinking his teeth into his artery until he couldn't stay awake; the stutter as he begged to be let go made his teeth ache for it even more, forcing himself to laugh to itch his fangs under the surface of his gums. He could tell the boy was holding back noises, and that made him even more impatient to do something extreme, so he couldn't, focusing for now on how his heart was beating painfully fast and his body shook in his hold.

"Awe, come on, Fox... Don't act so scared; we're just talking, aren't we?" He didn't mean any of that; he wanted him to be terrified. It was amusing and arousing, which made it all the more fun to mess with him, but he also liked playing with people's minds. He'd calm them down and then rile them back up again to keep them on their toes, never expecting anything he did or figuring out a pattern. He'd go on to reveal more information from Fox's personal life that he'd gathered by listening to and watching him, trying to play with the sympathy card with talking about himself and his broken family and maybe get brownie points, but the opposite reaction happened, and it was much better in Kaiser's opinion.

It was only a matter of time now before the boy tried to struggle, so he gave him a gentle push in the right direction. "I killed them so they wouldn't be so fucking miserable in death as they had been in life." He had killed his parents, but it hadn't been intentional. That wasn't going to stop him from using half-truths to his advantage, however. The more honest something was, the easier it was to make someone believe it, so in this case, it worked perfectly to push Fox to the edge so he'd try something that would allow Kaiser to hurt him a little.

Kaiser was anticipating what he'd do next, so when he felt him move to push him off, Kaiser released his hold and let him go, playing into the illusion he was human and allowing gravity to pull him down to lay on his side.

He struggled to remain where he was, letting Fox get a head start to keep things interesting, but the instinct to hunt and chase down prey that had been drilled further into Kaiser during his time at the cult was making his body stiff and tremble as he waited just a bit longer. He forced a laugh, strained and predatory, as he held himself back from the unbearable urge to follow through with his training and catch anything that ran away, relieving just enough of the tension in his body so he could hold off, but he knew he had to do something to punish the boy for running, which got a more genuine chuckle out of him. Once he thought it'd been long enough and he could hear the distance lengthening between himself and Fox's rapidly beating heart, he got up and took off at inhuman speeds to appear silently in front of the little Fox.

Another look he wished he could frame and put on a wall flashed across Fox's face: terror at seeing the impossible happen, dread at realizing he was helpless and his little escape attempt was pointless and even planned; he had played right into Kaiser's cat and mouse game, and finally the last look of desperation as he glanced to his family inside the house from where he stood in the yard just a few feet away from the front door. Kaiser knew what he was thinking; he ignored him and focused on the family inside, like he still held out hope for an escape, that they'd hear him when he went to shout for help and rush out to his rescue, but Kaiser wouldn't even let him make a sound to alert them.

Kaiser had sped up behind the short boy and covered his mouth with a hand big enough to smother his entire face, his other arm wrapping around his body to keep him close and trapped against Kaiser's front. "Nuh-Uh, no screaming, Foxy. There's plenty of time to do that once we get back to the compound." He had to bend down to reach his ear to whisper, watching the house as he spoke with a cruel smile and glancing at the boy's face to see him watching too, but the color had drained from his face like he was looking at ghosts.

With ease, Kaiser shifted his arm to lay over Fox's, taking hold of his right hand and positioning it so he could break the bone of his pointer finger.
"Try not to run from me, fox; I can't control myself very well, and next time it might not be a finger getting broken." The clean break was the least he could do to him, but he just wanted him to suffer, not pass out. The sounds of pain Fox made and the feeling of his body nearly giving out had Kaiser grinning to himself, easily lifting him and taking him away with him to the compound he'd lived in for hundreds of years while serving the macabre generations.