Oracle

Part 1

There was another gunshot cutting short the guards begs for mercy, leaving a deafening silence. The only sound was Jaspar's ragged panting once he remembered to breathe again, having held his breath since the door had broken. Jaspar stayed frozen still, willing for the man to either walk off and leave him be or finish him off.

The man moved towards him, his boots echoing in the concrete room. Jaspar shuffled forward, letting out a muffled cry as a hand grabbed his leg and pulled him back, his bare legs brushing against smooth leather. Leather gloves patted his back and the man made a shushing noise. If someone else had made the noise, it would possibly be calming. It was not quite so soothing for Jaspar. This was the man who had hunted him. This was the man who had caused this all to happen. Yet he didn't fight. The man had killed a group of men about to rip him apart. If this man wanted to rape him, at least it was only one person.

The pressure on his arms grew, Jaspar whining in pain, but, after a few moments, the pressure stopped. His captor pulled the rope from his arms, but before Jaspar could move his arms away, the man grabbed them and rubbed his wrists. After a few moments of massaging the limbs, he released them. They hurt as feeling returned to them. A hand rubbed over his skin before flipping him onto his back. The hands pulled him upwards, pulling the gag out of his mouth. The hands rubbing his back as Jaspar coughed out the taste of the gag.

Jaspar didn't move or try to speak while this happened. The man stroked his hair, petting him in an obvious effort to calm him. Confused filled Jaspar, but then he noticed he was trembling. He was cold, and his head ached.

"Easy," the man murmured, the air hot against Jaspar's neck. "You're safe now, easy," he whispered, which no more helped to calm Jaspar than his petting.

Jaspar's stomach flip-flopped and a different type of pain surged through his head and body. Jaspar cursed his luck passionately as he recognized the sensations running through his veins. It was a pain he was almost too familiar with; a pain which should not have been happening now that the source of his powers were gone. He was having a vision.

"Pen and paper!" Jaspar whispered, his hands shaking. Of course. This had to happen now, when he was in the clutches of unknown danger. He had to get a vision now.

"Huh?" the man hummed surprised by the words.

"I need a pen and paper!" Jaspar demanded, blind hands stretching out to grab at the man. He needed to record what he was about to see or he wouldn't be able to help them. Jaspar was not a vigilante type, he didn't solve the problems, but at the very least he warned the people what was coming for them. People had varying reactions and degrees of belief, but it was better than nothing at all. A word of caution was sometimes all someone needed to avoid whatever danger was about to befall them. It was a shame Jaspar never had visions of his own future.

Then a cold icy feeling shot through his stomach. He couldn't see anymore. He was helpless to do anything and in the hands of someone who was dangerous.

"Why do you need pen and paper? You can't see," the man said like he wasn't sure Jaspar was sane.

"Vision!" Jaspar hissed at the man before arching as the pain became almost overwhelming. "Too late," he whispered in horror as the pain fled for one brief moment before screaming as the vision ripped through his senses. It had never hurt like this before; it was like the gift was almost transporting him to the scene, his sight returning as the future became clear. His mind brought him to a dark street lit by a full moon shining bright in the sky.

The clock tower in the centre of the city chimed midnight and the fog from the sea was creeping into the port town. He turned, looking around for more clues in the scene as to what he was seeing. The vision was more vivid than normal, with Jaspar able to smell and taste the sea salt in the air, overpowering the scent which still lingered from the room he was trapped in.

"What do you see?" the man's voice echoed through the fog, giving Jaspar a link to reality he didn't normally have.

He turned again as the voice echoed around him and saw a woman come out of the fog. She was well dressed and hugging her coat close to her as she walked through the street. She glanced behind her from time to time but didn't see the shadow following her. They both moved past him, but he couldn't follow. He winced as the shadow went through him, the smell of sulphur filling his nose.

"There's a woman, white, blonde hair. Human, I think," he panted, finding that, while he wasn't in pain, when he tried to talk his chest tightened. "There is a sulphur smell. I'm on 3rd Street Avenue, north sector. Something's stalking her..." he trailed off, watching the shadow turn the corner, wishing he was able to move about during a vision instead of being fixed in a place. "I can't follow them."

"When will it happen?" the man asked.

He looked around searching for any more clues as to which full moon it was but none were obvious. In general, his visions didn't extend further than a month, but sometimes they did go further into the future. "It's a full moon, midnight I suspect. It's cold, very cold," he said shivering, his hands wrapping around to hug himself. "Whatever's stalking her, I can't see it, it's too dark..." The woman screamed from far away, Jaspar whimpered at the sound. "It's killing her," he whispered.

"Who is she?" came the next question, Jaspar aware of hands rubbing his shoulders.

"I don't know," he cried, as the pain of the vision started to become more prominent. No longer a dim awareness, but his body screaming in protest at being in the vision for too long. "It hurts," he whispered, closing his eyes and clenching his muscles.

"Shh," the man soothed, holding Jaspar close to his chest, hands stroking Jaspar's back in an attempt to calm him. "Just focus on me," he murmured.

Reluctantly, Jaspar obeyed, focusing on the smell of leather from the man's clothes, on the touch of the man's hands on his body, and the sound of him humming. Jaspar's vision faded to blackness as his powers dissipated, pulling him back to earth. Jaspar found himself in darkness again, sobbing against the man's chest, the smell of blood and sweat in the room dimmed by the scent of leather and cologne.

Horrified that he was taking comfort in the arms of the man who had betrayed and blinded him, Jaspar let go and pushed himself away.

"Oh no, you don't," the man rumbled, his soothing tones fleeing once it was clear Jaspar was no longer in the midst of a vision. The man's strong hands grabbed Jaspar's wrists in an iron grip and pinned him on his back with force. Jaspar cried out in surprise and pain as his body landed on the thin mattress, the springs digging into his back. The man hovered above him, his hot breath on Jaspar's face.

"You lied to me, boy," the man hissed, sounding very angry. "You're going to pay for that!"

"Sorry," Jaspar murmured terrified, not sure what he had lied about or why he felt the need to beg for mercy from the man who had done this to him, but his body had given up. The vision had drained him dry. Darkness swallowed him before the man could say anything else, Jaspar passing out into an uneasy and nightmare filled sleep.