A Call to Darkness (Book 1 of Calling All Heroes)

Forræderi

Warning: death threats, cursing, mention of torture

—

O: Meet me at the park

B: No

O: I mean it. We need to talk. This is getting out of hand. They have nothing to do with this. It's me you want. Not them.

B: You are so right. I don't want to make you suffer for the rest of your life in solitude like you did to me. Thank you for clearing that up for me. How could I have been so stupid?

Olav rolled his eyes after reading the message he'd received. There was no way to miss the sarcasm the other man had laced every single word of that text with.

O: Meet me at the park or I make it so you can't make me suffer

B: Fine but only because I know you and I know what you would do

Several hours two men met at a park downtown. One man wore black jeans and a yellow t-shirt. The other man wore a black suit with a yellow dress shirt and gloves. It was dark, save for the small amount of light afforded to them by the moon that shone overhead. The light was just enough so that they could see each other, but not easily be seen by anyone walking by.

"What do you want?" The man in the suit adjusted his gloves with a bored expression on his face.

The other man looked around, as if expecting someone to jump out and attack him. Given who the man in front of him was his concern wasn't entirely unwarranted.

"I came alone, Olav. Or ssshhhould I ssssay, father?" He smirked, the snake scales in the right of his face catching the moonlight in a way that made them glisten.

"Don't call me that. We're the same age," Olav growled in annoyance.

"Well, it sssseemssss rather dissssresssspectful to call the man who gave me life by hisss name. Then again, that'ssss not really your name. Now issss it?"

"Shut up, Bedrag."

"What wassss our name all thossse yearsss ago?"

"I'm warning you."

"Oh. That'sssss right," he tilted his head and stared at Olav, with cold, menacing eyes. "Forræderi."

Olav flinched and glared at the man before him, his eyes full of hate.

"That isss what they called usss issssn't it? Forræderi. Funny how oncccce you were rid of me and of age to be of ussssse with your powerssss that you chosssse to keep, you picked a name that wassss ssssynonumousss with the one you hated sssssso dearly."

"I will fucking kill you, Bedrag. I swear. Shut your fucking mouth."

"Why ssssso much hatred for yourssssself?"

"I have no hatred for myself. My hatred is towards you. You who kidnapped my friends. You who has one of the kindest men I have ever known terrorizing the city. You who is—"

"You."

"You are not me!"

"I wassss. We were one and the sssssame. Until you went to the government to get rid of me."

"Had I known you would've ended up like this I would've just killed myself."

"You ssssshhhhould have known that not being human would have an effect on how their technology worked on ussss."

Olav lowered his head and took a shakeup breath. Please let them go, Bedrag. They are innocent."

"No one issss innoccccent!"

"What have Virgil and Patton dine to you? They aren't me. They didn't rip us apart! They didn't convince me to regress us and hide from you!"

"No. But they are human. And humanssss did thisssss to ussss! You won't even sssshow your facccce for fear of what they would do to usssss again. The exsssspwrimentsss. The tesssstssss. The pain."

"I hide my face so I don't have to be reminded of you. Of the terrible things we did and made people do when we were the same."

"They screamed."

Olav lifted his head and took a step back when he saw the face looking back at him was a mirror of the one he'd seen every morning since the removal of his darker half.

"Patton screamed in terror and pain. He screamed for you, for Virgil, for Roman, for Remus, for Logan, and for his dear brother Emile. That was the last name he screamed for. And the last name he said. Sadly, there's no way to twist a healer," he chuckled menacingly. "He became cooperative though when he saw Virgil though."

Olav could feel his rage building. How could he and that monster before him ever have been the same person?

"Virgil screamed in pain for hours and hours. He also talked a lot of shit for the first three hours. I wonder how long Remus will fight before he finally breaks."

Olav moved to attack the other man, but by the time he had reached the spot where he'd been standing Bedrag was gone.

"Fuck!" Olav looked around in a panic, running his hands through his hair and pulling it slightly. The tears he had been holding back fell silently. His friends. His lover. Every single human in this town, and quite possibly the planet, we're in grave danger. And he had no one to blame, but himself.