Post by Loki on Nov 13, 2006 3:44:36 GMT -5
I honestly didn’t know what to think as I watched those bullets rip right through Kaden, spilling his blood on the floor, on the walls, even my clothes. My eyes kept shifting from Kaden’s body to the cop. I thought I was next. With my friends blood soaking my shirt I thought the crazy cop would finish the job that the monstrosity that used to be my best friend had started.
I found myself thinking about, well, everything. My youth, my teens, my adulthood, everything. And then suddenly I was a kid again, my parents holding my hand as I ran down the stairs on Christmas morning. Right in front of my eyes my entire life played out like some melodramatic movie. The first birthday I could remember, my first kiss, the day I ran away from home. I watched with a detached interest as the story of James Keenan led right up to when I had decided to come busting through that door.
[glow=red,2,300]******[/glow]
My first thought upon waking up this morning was that it was going to be a great day. That had been the first night that I was able to sleep soundly without my sleep being plagued by nightmares. I rolled over and thought about maybe going back to bed, but one look at my clock convinced me otherwise. It was already past eleven and I had a few things to take care of today.
I hopped out of bed, grateful to have finally had a good nights rest. And my body seemed grateful as well because the pain in my ribs had diminished from a sharp constant pain to only a dull ache. I stepped out of my room and headed for the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. As I walked up to the coffee pot, sleepy voice came from behind me.
“Morning James.”
I turned around and watched my little brother reach for the cereal on top of the refrigerator.
“Morning kiddo. You just wake up?”
He nodded as he poured the milk for his cereal. I grinned. He was only 8 the last time I saw him, and I couldn’t believe how much he had grown. When I had seen him last he was short and chubby. Chalk it up to being spoiled rotten as a kid. But now, at the age of fourteen he was tall and wiry. I sat down with my coffee watching my little brother carry a bowl of cereal into the living room and turn on the television.
“Kaden Keene looking exceptionally sharp in last weeks War Games match at Trauma.”
My curiosity was piqued as I heard Kaden’s name from the T.V. I walked out of the kitchen to see what my little brother was watching and was surprised to find him watching a recap of last weeks Trauma. I stayed quiet for a while, still interested in what they had to say. It was your basic main event recap. A couple of guys going over the highs and lows of the match and the wrestlers involved.
“I tell ya Jim, dropping that dead weight of a partner was probably the smartest thing Keene could have done. Only one week after delivering a hellacious screw job to James Keenan, he’s already in a world title match.”
“I know what you mean Bob. He’s probably wondering why he didn’t quit Icon sooner?”
I grabbed the remote off the couch and changed the channel.
“HEY! I was watching that James!”
I just shook my head.
“I know, I know, I’m sorry. Just kind of a sensitive subject that’s all. You’ve probably never had someone you considered your best friend pull crap like that. And I hope to god you never do. There’s no pain like it in the world.”
He nodded and got up to put his bowl in the kitchen. He stopped in the doorway but didn’t face me.
“Hey James?”
“What’s up bud?”
“You’re wrong you know. I do know what it feels like to have your best friend turn his back on you, to abandon you. It happened six years ago. It was the day you left home.”
He set the bowl on the counter and headed to his room, leaving me standing speechless. I had done that to my little brother, I had abandoned him? I could feel my heart breaking and I swore the even if it took me to the day I died. I would make it up to him, I would make up for lost time, I would make up for broken hearts. I would make up for abandoning him.
[glow=red,2,300]*****[/glow]
I sat slumped in a chair in my locker room, my “good day” having been completely blasted away by my little brother. I couldn’t blame him though. Leaving had been an incredibly selfish thing to do. I was only looking out for myself not caring about anyone else. But I only did that because I didn’t think anyone else cared about me. A knock on the door took my attention away from my little pity party.
“Mr. Keenan, the camera crew is ready when you are sir.”
“All right, I’ll be there in a second.”
I stood up and stretched a little bit, I hadn’t been sitting that long but I felt stiff none the less. I shook my arms to get the blood flowing and headed down to meet with the camera crew. I walked into the back stairwell where I had decided to film my little promo. The room had a nice echo to it and I felt the added noise and volume would be more than fitting when my opponent was a man named Silence.
[glow=red,2,300]*****[/glow]
If a pile of failure is what I truly am, then why do I fight? To fail is to simply give up, to stop trying. I have not given up and I will never stop trying. So how then can I be a failure? The answer is simple. I’m not a failure.
I stepped from the shadows, my foot steps echoing in the cold darkness. Stepping from the landing to the first step, and then to the second. Each step adding to the echo.
“You call me an anchor, something to be merely cast aside. Well then what are you Voice but an anchor to the one you call Silence? You say each week that you are his voice, then I say, why not let him find his own? Or are you afraid of what will happen when you no longer control your own monster.”
“If you are not afraid, then I invite to join me at the bottom of the ocean where, according to you, is where I am destined to rest. Join me in the depths and we shall see who the true failure is. Will it be me? The man abandoned by his best friend. Or will it be you Silence? The man controlled by his.
I again descend another step, reaching into my pocket as I walk. I pulled out a small bag and slowly began to empty to contents of it onto the steps. Hundreds of small metal bearings pour forth from the bag and noisily clatter down the steps in mocking parody of The Voices earlier actions.
“So I extend a second invitation to you Silence my friend. And this one extends to a guest. The guest I want you to bring is pain; the pain that was generously promised to me. The pain that will make me wish to relive the moment of my betrayal instead of staying in the here and now. Because frankly Silence, I don’t think you can do it alone. You are a powerful man; that is unquestionable. But what your voice claims is an impossibility.”
“So come Silence, come to where the music ends and the pain begins. And let me help you find your own voice.”
The camera zooms in as James Keenan pulls a single marble from his pocket and drops it from chest high. The camera follows the little glass sphere as it drops, bounces, and then bounces again following an invisible path down the cold metal stairs.”
[glow=red,2,300]*****[/glow]
“And stop camera. That was great James, we’ll get this edited up and playing with in the hour. Take it easy champ.”
I nodded and waved goodbye. I was just around the corner when I heard voices from the other side of the wall.
“Man no wonder Kaden dumped him, the guy was really reaching there. The whole stair thing, the marbles, hell almost word for word what that guy Voice said earlier.”
“No shit man, he sucks. But Kaden, holy shit that dude has been on fire. I give it a month tops and Keene is going to be the new World Champion. And Keenan, well I think Keenan will be lucky if he still has a job in a month.”
The two men on the other side of the wall laughed, amused by their own cruel commentary. I on the other hand just kind of stumbled away, unable to hear anything but the sound of my own blood rushing through my head. Kaden, Kaden, Kaden, everything was about him now. The day after he helped 2guys demolish me in the ring, he’s in the main event at trauma with a chance to become number one contender for the belt and I’m at the opposite poll.
I couldn’t take it anymore; I had to get my hands on Kaden. I had to have an explanation and I was more than prepared to beat it out of him if I had to. Hell I was hoping I would have to. I was walking towards the garage when I felt a hand grab my arm. I didn’t know who it was and I didn’t care. I turned around and swung my fist as hard as I could. And was shocked when an old man caught my fist and stopped my momentum dead.
“For your own safety Mr. Keenan I would advise against your current course of action. Nothing good will come of it and in the worst case scenario, you will be killed.”
“Kind of harsh for just taking a swing at a guy. Look I’m sorry. It’s just been a rough day and I’ve kind of got a really short temper right now so…”
“I’m referring to the actions you are intending to take against the one called Kaden, Mr. Keenan. Not your pitiful attempt to strike me just now.”
I stared at him in shock. Who was this guy? And how the hell could he possibly know that I had been planning on confronting Kaden at his apartment. I was about to ask him, but I decided against it. This old guy was spooky as hell.
“Mr. Keenan, James, correct? Well James, if you will allow me to quote film for a minute. You have the look of a man who accepts what he see’s because he is expecting to wake up. If you approach Kaden now there is the possibility that you will see things that your mind cannot accept and you will not wake up from them because you are not dreaming. There are things in this world that normal humans cannot possibly comprehend.”
I shrugged, this guy was crazy. He had to be. Normal people didn’t talk like that.
“Ok Mister. Gotcha, normal people, weird unacceptable things. Ok sure. We’ll I’ve got to go now. See you later.”
I turned to walk towards my car as fast as I could, my anger had not abated and I was still going to go confront Kaden, despite what the wack job behind me said. He called out to me as I was walking.
“I will ask you one more time James. Stay away from Kaden Keene, he’s dangerous. And you sir, are worth so much more to us alive then dead.”
I got in my car, leaving the old man to blither on about nothing to him self. Man, the east coast sure produced some freaks. I sped off, the sun was beginning to set, and Kaden had some answers for me whether he like it or not.
[glow=red,2,300]*****[/glow]
I honestly didn’t know what to think as I watched those bullets rip right through Kaden, spilling his blood on the floor, on the walls, even my clothes. My eyes kept shifting from Kaden’s body to the cop. I thought I was next. With my friends blood soaking my shirt I thought the crazy cop would finish the job that the monstrosity that used to be my best friend had started.
The cop kept his gun trained on me as he cautiously walked over to Kaden’s body and nudged it with his foot. The body moved lifelessly. Feeling a little braver, but still not taking the gun off me, the officer knelt down to check for a pulse. As soon as his fingers touched flesh Kaden jumped forward lightning fast and sank those impossible teeth into the jugular of the hapless police officer. He didn’t even have time to scream as Kaden tore out his jugular.
In his thrashing spasms the dead officer had lost his grip on the pistol and it slid to my feet. Not thinking twice I reached down grabbed the 9 millimeter pistol. I trained it on Kaden and squeezed the trigger again and again and again. The bullets seemed to pass right through my friend having no effect at all. He dropped dead officer and let him fall to the floor before charging me. I kept on firing and each time I swear I saw the bullet pass right through. Then he was right on top of me, those god awful fingers wrapping around my throat.
I hit the wall hard, Kaden’s hand still wrapped around my throat. My eyes slipped past his gaze for a moment and rested on the lifeless body of the cop. Kaden growled and I heard the window I was being pressed against start to crack.
“Kaden don’t do this!”
“Good Bye James.”
I felt as much as heard the window behind me give way and then I was falling. Things seem to slow down and I noticed seemingly insignificant details. The pieces of glass reflecting the moonlight, the almost musical sound they seemed to make as the fell through the still night air. The irony wasn’t lost on me. I was about to die and only know did I notice the small things, the beautiful things in life.
It wasn’t fair that I should have to die now, here at the prime of my life. Killed by some damn monster. I thought that kind of crap only happened in the movies. That’s right, only in the movies. Monsters only existed in the movies right, so that meant that I was dreaming, that this was all nothing more than a horrible nightmare. Ok Keenan, you can wake up any time now.
I knew this wasn’t a dream though. People didn’t suffer the after effects of broken ribs in dreams. You didn’t see stars from being hit in the back of the head in dreams. No, this wasn’t a dream, this was frightening reality. And in this reality, I was about to die. I looked back past the glass, to the shrinking window that that I had just been thrown out of.
Kaden was standing in the window. But it wasn’t Kaden the monster. It was Kaden the man. Falling slowly may have been an illusion, nothing more than a trick of the mind. But the look of sheer horror on Kaden’s face wasn’t. That look was the last thing I’ll ever see, one last look at my best friend to take to my grave. I spoke; it came out a whisper, destined to never reach Kaden’s ears only to be lost in the howling wind.
“Good Bye Kaden”
[glow=red,2,300]*****[/glow]
My eyes opened too an old man tending over me. I tried to sit up but found myself strapped whatever I was laying on. I started to struggle against my binds but it was to no avail. I felt a needle pierce my arm and then my whole body felt warm and I didn’t hurt anymore.
“Who are you?”
“All in due time James, for now just rest. You’ve had a hard day.”
“But I died, Kaden through me out the window.”
“Had my team not been there yes you would have died. We tried to subdue Kaden as well but other like him showed up and helped him escape. We don’t know where he went.”
“Why did you save me?”
“I told you James, your worth more to us alive than you are dead.”
I let his words sink in and then fell into the bliss of unconsciousness.
I found myself thinking about, well, everything. My youth, my teens, my adulthood, everything. And then suddenly I was a kid again, my parents holding my hand as I ran down the stairs on Christmas morning. Right in front of my eyes my entire life played out like some melodramatic movie. The first birthday I could remember, my first kiss, the day I ran away from home. I watched with a detached interest as the story of James Keenan led right up to when I had decided to come busting through that door.
[glow=red,2,300]******[/glow]
My first thought upon waking up this morning was that it was going to be a great day. That had been the first night that I was able to sleep soundly without my sleep being plagued by nightmares. I rolled over and thought about maybe going back to bed, but one look at my clock convinced me otherwise. It was already past eleven and I had a few things to take care of today.
I hopped out of bed, grateful to have finally had a good nights rest. And my body seemed grateful as well because the pain in my ribs had diminished from a sharp constant pain to only a dull ache. I stepped out of my room and headed for the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. As I walked up to the coffee pot, sleepy voice came from behind me.
“Morning James.”
I turned around and watched my little brother reach for the cereal on top of the refrigerator.
“Morning kiddo. You just wake up?”
He nodded as he poured the milk for his cereal. I grinned. He was only 8 the last time I saw him, and I couldn’t believe how much he had grown. When I had seen him last he was short and chubby. Chalk it up to being spoiled rotten as a kid. But now, at the age of fourteen he was tall and wiry. I sat down with my coffee watching my little brother carry a bowl of cereal into the living room and turn on the television.
“Kaden Keene looking exceptionally sharp in last weeks War Games match at Trauma.”
My curiosity was piqued as I heard Kaden’s name from the T.V. I walked out of the kitchen to see what my little brother was watching and was surprised to find him watching a recap of last weeks Trauma. I stayed quiet for a while, still interested in what they had to say. It was your basic main event recap. A couple of guys going over the highs and lows of the match and the wrestlers involved.
“I tell ya Jim, dropping that dead weight of a partner was probably the smartest thing Keene could have done. Only one week after delivering a hellacious screw job to James Keenan, he’s already in a world title match.”
“I know what you mean Bob. He’s probably wondering why he didn’t quit Icon sooner?”
I grabbed the remote off the couch and changed the channel.
“HEY! I was watching that James!”
I just shook my head.
“I know, I know, I’m sorry. Just kind of a sensitive subject that’s all. You’ve probably never had someone you considered your best friend pull crap like that. And I hope to god you never do. There’s no pain like it in the world.”
He nodded and got up to put his bowl in the kitchen. He stopped in the doorway but didn’t face me.
“Hey James?”
“What’s up bud?”
“You’re wrong you know. I do know what it feels like to have your best friend turn his back on you, to abandon you. It happened six years ago. It was the day you left home.”
He set the bowl on the counter and headed to his room, leaving me standing speechless. I had done that to my little brother, I had abandoned him? I could feel my heart breaking and I swore the even if it took me to the day I died. I would make it up to him, I would make up for lost time, I would make up for broken hearts. I would make up for abandoning him.
[glow=red,2,300]*****[/glow]
I sat slumped in a chair in my locker room, my “good day” having been completely blasted away by my little brother. I couldn’t blame him though. Leaving had been an incredibly selfish thing to do. I was only looking out for myself not caring about anyone else. But I only did that because I didn’t think anyone else cared about me. A knock on the door took my attention away from my little pity party.
“Mr. Keenan, the camera crew is ready when you are sir.”
“All right, I’ll be there in a second.”
I stood up and stretched a little bit, I hadn’t been sitting that long but I felt stiff none the less. I shook my arms to get the blood flowing and headed down to meet with the camera crew. I walked into the back stairwell where I had decided to film my little promo. The room had a nice echo to it and I felt the added noise and volume would be more than fitting when my opponent was a man named Silence.
[glow=red,2,300]*****[/glow]
If a pile of failure is what I truly am, then why do I fight? To fail is to simply give up, to stop trying. I have not given up and I will never stop trying. So how then can I be a failure? The answer is simple. I’m not a failure.
I stepped from the shadows, my foot steps echoing in the cold darkness. Stepping from the landing to the first step, and then to the second. Each step adding to the echo.
“You call me an anchor, something to be merely cast aside. Well then what are you Voice but an anchor to the one you call Silence? You say each week that you are his voice, then I say, why not let him find his own? Or are you afraid of what will happen when you no longer control your own monster.”
“If you are not afraid, then I invite to join me at the bottom of the ocean where, according to you, is where I am destined to rest. Join me in the depths and we shall see who the true failure is. Will it be me? The man abandoned by his best friend. Or will it be you Silence? The man controlled by his.
I again descend another step, reaching into my pocket as I walk. I pulled out a small bag and slowly began to empty to contents of it onto the steps. Hundreds of small metal bearings pour forth from the bag and noisily clatter down the steps in mocking parody of The Voices earlier actions.
“So I extend a second invitation to you Silence my friend. And this one extends to a guest. The guest I want you to bring is pain; the pain that was generously promised to me. The pain that will make me wish to relive the moment of my betrayal instead of staying in the here and now. Because frankly Silence, I don’t think you can do it alone. You are a powerful man; that is unquestionable. But what your voice claims is an impossibility.”
“So come Silence, come to where the music ends and the pain begins. And let me help you find your own voice.”
The camera zooms in as James Keenan pulls a single marble from his pocket and drops it from chest high. The camera follows the little glass sphere as it drops, bounces, and then bounces again following an invisible path down the cold metal stairs.”
[glow=red,2,300]*****[/glow]
“And stop camera. That was great James, we’ll get this edited up and playing with in the hour. Take it easy champ.”
I nodded and waved goodbye. I was just around the corner when I heard voices from the other side of the wall.
“Man no wonder Kaden dumped him, the guy was really reaching there. The whole stair thing, the marbles, hell almost word for word what that guy Voice said earlier.”
“No shit man, he sucks. But Kaden, holy shit that dude has been on fire. I give it a month tops and Keene is going to be the new World Champion. And Keenan, well I think Keenan will be lucky if he still has a job in a month.”
The two men on the other side of the wall laughed, amused by their own cruel commentary. I on the other hand just kind of stumbled away, unable to hear anything but the sound of my own blood rushing through my head. Kaden, Kaden, Kaden, everything was about him now. The day after he helped 2guys demolish me in the ring, he’s in the main event at trauma with a chance to become number one contender for the belt and I’m at the opposite poll.
I couldn’t take it anymore; I had to get my hands on Kaden. I had to have an explanation and I was more than prepared to beat it out of him if I had to. Hell I was hoping I would have to. I was walking towards the garage when I felt a hand grab my arm. I didn’t know who it was and I didn’t care. I turned around and swung my fist as hard as I could. And was shocked when an old man caught my fist and stopped my momentum dead.
“For your own safety Mr. Keenan I would advise against your current course of action. Nothing good will come of it and in the worst case scenario, you will be killed.”
“Kind of harsh for just taking a swing at a guy. Look I’m sorry. It’s just been a rough day and I’ve kind of got a really short temper right now so…”
“I’m referring to the actions you are intending to take against the one called Kaden, Mr. Keenan. Not your pitiful attempt to strike me just now.”
I stared at him in shock. Who was this guy? And how the hell could he possibly know that I had been planning on confronting Kaden at his apartment. I was about to ask him, but I decided against it. This old guy was spooky as hell.
“Mr. Keenan, James, correct? Well James, if you will allow me to quote film for a minute. You have the look of a man who accepts what he see’s because he is expecting to wake up. If you approach Kaden now there is the possibility that you will see things that your mind cannot accept and you will not wake up from them because you are not dreaming. There are things in this world that normal humans cannot possibly comprehend.”
I shrugged, this guy was crazy. He had to be. Normal people didn’t talk like that.
“Ok Mister. Gotcha, normal people, weird unacceptable things. Ok sure. We’ll I’ve got to go now. See you later.”
I turned to walk towards my car as fast as I could, my anger had not abated and I was still going to go confront Kaden, despite what the wack job behind me said. He called out to me as I was walking.
“I will ask you one more time James. Stay away from Kaden Keene, he’s dangerous. And you sir, are worth so much more to us alive then dead.”
I got in my car, leaving the old man to blither on about nothing to him self. Man, the east coast sure produced some freaks. I sped off, the sun was beginning to set, and Kaden had some answers for me whether he like it or not.
[glow=red,2,300]*****[/glow]
I honestly didn’t know what to think as I watched those bullets rip right through Kaden, spilling his blood on the floor, on the walls, even my clothes. My eyes kept shifting from Kaden’s body to the cop. I thought I was next. With my friends blood soaking my shirt I thought the crazy cop would finish the job that the monstrosity that used to be my best friend had started.
The cop kept his gun trained on me as he cautiously walked over to Kaden’s body and nudged it with his foot. The body moved lifelessly. Feeling a little braver, but still not taking the gun off me, the officer knelt down to check for a pulse. As soon as his fingers touched flesh Kaden jumped forward lightning fast and sank those impossible teeth into the jugular of the hapless police officer. He didn’t even have time to scream as Kaden tore out his jugular.
In his thrashing spasms the dead officer had lost his grip on the pistol and it slid to my feet. Not thinking twice I reached down grabbed the 9 millimeter pistol. I trained it on Kaden and squeezed the trigger again and again and again. The bullets seemed to pass right through my friend having no effect at all. He dropped dead officer and let him fall to the floor before charging me. I kept on firing and each time I swear I saw the bullet pass right through. Then he was right on top of me, those god awful fingers wrapping around my throat.
I hit the wall hard, Kaden’s hand still wrapped around my throat. My eyes slipped past his gaze for a moment and rested on the lifeless body of the cop. Kaden growled and I heard the window I was being pressed against start to crack.
“Kaden don’t do this!”
“Good Bye James.”
I felt as much as heard the window behind me give way and then I was falling. Things seem to slow down and I noticed seemingly insignificant details. The pieces of glass reflecting the moonlight, the almost musical sound they seemed to make as the fell through the still night air. The irony wasn’t lost on me. I was about to die and only know did I notice the small things, the beautiful things in life.
It wasn’t fair that I should have to die now, here at the prime of my life. Killed by some damn monster. I thought that kind of crap only happened in the movies. That’s right, only in the movies. Monsters only existed in the movies right, so that meant that I was dreaming, that this was all nothing more than a horrible nightmare. Ok Keenan, you can wake up any time now.
I knew this wasn’t a dream though. People didn’t suffer the after effects of broken ribs in dreams. You didn’t see stars from being hit in the back of the head in dreams. No, this wasn’t a dream, this was frightening reality. And in this reality, I was about to die. I looked back past the glass, to the shrinking window that that I had just been thrown out of.
Kaden was standing in the window. But it wasn’t Kaden the monster. It was Kaden the man. Falling slowly may have been an illusion, nothing more than a trick of the mind. But the look of sheer horror on Kaden’s face wasn’t. That look was the last thing I’ll ever see, one last look at my best friend to take to my grave. I spoke; it came out a whisper, destined to never reach Kaden’s ears only to be lost in the howling wind.
“Good Bye Kaden”
[glow=red,2,300]*****[/glow]
My eyes opened too an old man tending over me. I tried to sit up but found myself strapped whatever I was laying on. I started to struggle against my binds but it was to no avail. I felt a needle pierce my arm and then my whole body felt warm and I didn’t hurt anymore.
“Who are you?”
“All in due time James, for now just rest. You’ve had a hard day.”
“But I died, Kaden through me out the window.”
“Had my team not been there yes you would have died. We tried to subdue Kaden as well but other like him showed up and helped him escape. We don’t know where he went.”
“Why did you save me?”
“I told you James, your worth more to us alive than you are dead.”
I let his words sink in and then fell into the bliss of unconsciousness.
