《Immune》


 Chapter 1

    Hello newbie. How are you feeling?


    I¡¯m not feeling.


    And it was true, the usual hysteria of this dimension, His dimension, was missing.


    I know your life¡¯s fucked up, but you could at least be polite and answer.


    The voice was nonchalantly mocking Him. Whoever they have had no hurry to say what they wanted.


    ¡°Piss off,¡± he grunted.


    Well, aren¡¯t you just a nice lad?


    ¡°Who the hell are you? Come out from wherever you¡¯re hiding and I¡¯ll show you just how nice I can be.¡±


    Oh, I¡¯m cowering in fear.


    Starting to feel uneasy, the young man tucked his fidgeting hands in the pockets of his ragged pants.


    He felt spied and extremely anguished. He couldn¡¯t see a palm from his body in the dark, dimly lit, empty room.


    As far as he knew, some freak kidnapped him in his doped state and brought him here. Why? Here where?


    He couldn¡¯t remember anything after he swallowed his second pill. Lost in his thoughts, He didn¡¯t notice the lights dimming until he was left standing in the pitch black, small space.


    Spotlights blinded him with their scorching white light.


    Man, I always love me some dramatic moments but...I¡¯m also getting bored so let¡¯s cut the chase, shall we?


    Sounds of heavy footsteps echoed in the dead silence.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    You, as some others, are immune to drugs¡¯ physical and mental damages...well apart from addiction. The glimpses of the perfect life you had living like a god, well those were mostly my doing.


    He stayed silent for a bit cursing himself for letting some delusional person kidnap him.


    ¡°Look, I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re on, but it must be hella strong, man. Just stop with the bullshit and let me go. I won¡¯t even call the cops. I¡¯m high. You¡¯re high. Let¡¯s just call it a night.¡±


    Everything went still: no more footsteps, no mentally deranged kidnappers.


    Chills traveled up to the back of his head bringing back the tense atmosphere.


    A low chuckle vibrated in his ears.


    Let¡¯s set a few things straight. You are in no position to make decisions or strike deals. I¡¯m the only one who does the talking from now on unless you want your half-rotten brain to melt out of your insolent mouth. Clear?


    Fearing for his life, He stayed silent and nodded his head.


    I am something your weak human brain can¡¯t understand. All you need to know is that I am extremely powerful and I rule the two dimensions.


    There are two of them and both are mine. Back in time, further, than you could ever think, I made a mistake and granted some of you humans powers that your kind obviously couldn¡¯t use properly. I gave them some substances that allowed them to have a taste of The Great Dimension for a small amount of time because that¡¯s the most I could without risking the balance to falter.


    The heavy combat boots faded away. His or her flip-flops echoed against the wall.


    Of course, you stupid barbarian lots thought they were ¡®oh so smart¡¯ and started abusing my gift: altering the substances, making new deathly ones and ultimately creating what you now call Wonderland, the most powerful drug that was ever known. You sold it to anyone willing to pay. And what I feared occurred: the balance was ruined and the Axis shifted. The Great Dimension fell and its beauty faded away for eternity leaving now a pale ghost of what it once was. Your ignorance caused me to punish you and I added bad consequences to my gifts which became what you now call ¡®drugs¡¯. What you saw all this time was an illusion, a fragment of what this place was like before you destroyed it.


    Why would I be immune then?


    He didn¡¯t dare voice his question, worried for his brain.


    I told you to not fucking speak!


    Terrified, He shook his head. He didn¡¯t even open his mouth.


    Oh, I forgot I can read your mind. Nevermind. Anyhow, immune humans are rare and I still don¡¯t know how they exist and why, but I don¡¯t care because either way, you¡¯re going to end up dead, one way or another.


    And this is your turn.


    The slippers ceased moving and hands clapped out of nowhere. He dropped to the floor unconscious.


    The lights turned off and when they flickered back on, He was no longer there.

 Chapter 2

    Coldness woke Him with its unforgiving claws breaching from the opened window. His pale skin was covered by a sheer coat of sweat glistening in the early sunlight. The birds chirping outside mocked His sorry state while he lay completely still on the tiled floor. The shy winter sun rays warmed little to nothing of His slim figure.


    Unhurriedly and painfully, He stirred and rose to his feet. Stumbling to the bathroom and throwing himself in the shower box he barely managed His daily wash up.


    It was cold.


    Everything was cold, even the scorching water seemed icy on His white pallid skin. He let his head lay on the wall and His mind free to wonder about the chilling nightmare.


    It wasn¡¯t the first time He dreamed about taking His pills to then wake up and find them perfectly untouched where He previously threw them.


    Insomnia and restless nights had been unwanted guests in his life for long, excruciatingly painful years but He always felt that paper-thin reassuring confidence that He would wake up. As feeble as it got in the worst blood-filled nights, that was all that separated Him from madness.


    Madness.


    Was that the case?


    His whole life He was told that power wasn¡¯t everything there was in life. Nevertheless, He sacrificed countless friendships, relationships and everyone who got in His way just to reach His goals.


    Had His greed for power finally driven him to it like all the puny whiny bastards predicted it would?


    ¡°Well, unfortunately for you little shits I¡¯ll carve my way onto the top of the pyramid even in a fucking mental hospital¡±


    He spat the bloody taste away and turned the shower off.


    **************


    He was in a terrible mood and His employees worked restlessly, the air was thick and tension oozed from His office. It wasn¡¯t unusual, He wasn¡¯t known for being the happiest person roaming the earth but ticking-bomb-days, as they liked to call them behind His back, were the worst.


    Suit clad men and high heeled women came in and out of His office asking, reporting, mumbling like scaredy cats or stuttering like damned preschool kids.


    One, in particular, was most likely going to be today¡¯s sacrificial lamb, standing in front of His mahogany desk that with no doubt, cost more than him along with his whole family.


    ¡°Tell me, Nathan¡± He emphasized his name and waited to see him loosen up his collar to ventilate.


    ¡°Why did we lose the deal with the Swedish company?¡±


    ¡°Well Mr.Wright, last week¡¯s meet-¡±


    ¡°What did you just call me?¡± He interrupted him. Was He imagining things or did that schmunk just mess up His name?


    Nathan fidgeted with the files in his hands, eager to get out of the room as soon as possible.


    ¡°Mr.Carter?¡± he asked unsure of what was happening.


    First Wright and now this damn Carter, was it so hard to remember your own boss¡¯name, for fuck¡¯s sake. It wasn¡¯t even a hard one.


    He pointed one long dainty finger at him accusingly.


    ¡°Listen here you dipshit, my name is not Wright nor Carter. It¡¯s damne-¡±


    Everyone in the room stilled, the pin-drop silence was brusquely interrupted by His hand coming down on the wooden desk.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    It¡¯s ¡°damned¡± what, human?


    What¡¯s wrong, can¡¯t even remember your last name? What about your first name then?


    It was back. The disembodied voice from His dream was back loud, clear and mocking in His head.


    Ahh I see, nothing huh. What a pity.


    It faded away with a hideous dry laugh leaving Him shaken up and sweating.


    People had started whispering, asking if He was alright.


    A glass of water sir?


    Are you feeling good, sir?


    Should we leave you, Mr-fucking-Allen?


    All He wanted was to slam someone¡¯s head right into the wall but what He did instead was demanding everyone to leave with a swift hand gesture.


    Nathan lingered, hoping to gain back approval.


    ¡°We can still negotiate the terms if we contact them now¡± he announced with fake confidence.


    He lifted his gaze from the wall which was burning under His glare and shifted it to the pimply face of the lanky intern. The files in his hands started changing color, slowly melting from his grasp and dripping down on the floor. His eyes turned black and thick, crimson blood started pouring endlessly from his nose and years.


    It¡¯s not real.


    ¡°Should tell Sarah to call the CEO¡¯s assistant, sir?¡± His voice came out gruff and thick, unlike the previous tremulous one.


    The short satiny locks of chestnut hair grew rapidly rolling down his shoulders to the ground till reaching his desk.


    It¡¯s all in your head. Calm down, breathe.


    They slipped under His desk and started climbing His legs like a swarm of bugs crawling to His waist. They attacked His fabric clad limbs, penetrating the expensive material and sucking blood from His veins.


    His body didn¡¯t respond to Him, petrified He sat still while the hair feasted off Him.


    He could hear His crazed heartbeat pounding blood in his ears, sweat dripping down His forehead down to His bearded chin.


    Stop.


    I don¡¯t think I will.


    Stop.


    So you think you can just order me around? You¡¯re nothing but a weak spineless human.


    I. said. Stop. Right. Fucking. Now.


    He fought the pressure preventing from moving His limbs but it was too strong and just drained Him of energy.


    Air is wasted on you. Tell me, how would you like not having any?


    He felt something hard slam His abdomen making him cough and bend over. The air was squeezed from His lungs and He was left gaping like a fish out of water. His eyes enlarged, bulging like they wanted to come out of their sockets.


    The instinct to bring His hands to His throat was blocked by It gluing His fingers on the armchair. All He could do was scratch the leather with His fingers, open and close His mouth in silent agony and wait for His life to fade.


    His head started pounding faster and faster and His sight blurred and filled with dark spots. Pain, strong and unforgiving.


    Then nothing at all, He had lost consciousness.


    Until next time, human.


    ****************


    ¡°We should probably leave him rest, he¡¯ll bite our heads off if we bother him¡±


    ¡°Are you kidding? What if something happened to him and they find out we just left him to die?¡±


    Two familiar noisy voices argued not too far from Him. He shifted and groaned when His neck ached from its uncomfortable resting position.


    ¡°Leave¡±


    He rasped out just to hear them scatter off like Satan was on their asses. It happened again. He hardly ever slept during working hours, it was most likely that nightmare¡¯s fault. Fatigue was playing a bad one on Him.


    It had the same realistic feeling the previous one had had.


    Was He hallucinating?


    Impossible. Wonderland¡¯s effects never delayed so much.


    His number one drug, the very best and most dangerous on the planet.


    It put a dent in most people¡¯s bank account. But He wasn¡¯t most people, had never been and never will.


    I¡¯ll make more research when I get back.


    He drowned himself in paperwork until 8 pm when He chose to call it a day. There were still a few people rushing to finish their tasks, eager to get home to their families, pets, or just like Him, to their quiet peace.


    ¡°Sir¡±


    Not this kid again.


    I need to have a word with who hired him.


    He arched a slim eyebrow not pausing his pacing towards the elevator.


    ¡°I was wondering if you wanted me to tell Sarah to go on with the negotiation with the Swiss, Campbell was supposed to swing by your office this afternoon but after you¡¯ve been unwell we didn¡¯t want to bother¡±


    His hand, which was laying on the elevator¡¯s button stilled.


    ¡°What did you just say?¡± He asked with an obvious fake calm.


    The intern looked sickeningly pale, most likely not so keen on the idea of informing his boss of what happened.


    ¡°You¡¯re already on the verge of being fired so help me God if you don¡¯t start talking now..¡± He threatened, which was enough to send the young one in a desperate flow of words.


    ¡°You started acting rather strange earlier, sweating and yelling and slamming things. Not for long, you passed out but we thought you were fine when you kicked out Clark and Perez¡±.


    Chills ran up His spine. So He was hallucinating.


    Shit. This is the last thing I need right now.


    He punched in the ground floor.


    ¡°Don¡¯t negotiate anything. We don¡¯t go asking for second chances. Ever. Keep that in mind if you want to keep that badge¡± He spit out acidly.


    The metallic doors were almost completely close leaving little of Nathan visible when He looked up at him with pitch-black eyes.


    ¡°Yes, sir¡±