Chapter 49: The Debate - Alejandro Part 2

Alejandro was surprised by the uproar which followed this. He had expected some resistance from Shannon, that much was certain. And he suspected that neither Ada nor Waid would want to Bond with him and risk having their lies exposed – plus they probably feared the whole process anyway – at least he suspected the old man did, with the way he looked at him. But even the anchor or whatever her job was started to speak so loudly that he couldn’t understand anything. He winced as each MAJOR tried to be heard over the other, a game where the booming voice of the Cyclopean easily won, drowning the others as her anger showed.

“This is madness!” she thundered, putting a hand on his shoulders and forcing him to look at her, her eyes smoldering with anger and perhaps a little bit of fear. “I won’t allow it!”

“This is not up to you to allow it or not, Shannon” he replied calmly in the silence which followed her roar. “I need to do it, because I won’t let Ada’s lies being unchallenged while millions are watching. I will not let my brother, my kin and myself be slandered, while peoples are lied to. Mac Ferlan… Joseph Mac Ferlan was a monster and a madman and I can prove it. But perhaps I was wrong to think that Ada and Mr. Waid were brave –or strong- enough to face the truth?”

The last few word, he had said looking straight at the old bastard who had given the opportunity to his tormentor’s sister to spew her conspiracy theory on-air. He still felt the enormous hand of Shannon on him, twitching minutely as her anger and nervousness mounted, he could tell at least that much through the phantom Bond they had created over time. It felt strangely comforting, to know that she was here, ready to defend him and help him if need be. It was, in truth, the main reason he felt able to push forward with his plan, no matter how afraid he was inside.

“Are you calling me a coward, mongrel?” hissed Waid, fury etched on his face.

“And a liar, and a monster, and an enabler or liars and monsters” replied the Minor, glaring hatefully at the old and wizened MAJOR. “But, truth been told, I don’t think it would be a good idea for you to Bond with me. You’re clearly not used to it, and considering how old and frail you are…”

“You think I wouldn’t be able to endure it, you little shit-stain? I faced far worse than the likes of you, genetic malformations of the superior human form!” bellowed Waid, his fury and hatred overtaking his senses as he rudely interrupted Alejandro.

“Howard! Please, what is this language! We’re live on TV you know!?” yelped Margaret, who seemed suddenly both mortified and glad to hear that – the audience probably would skyrocket even more.

“So you are saying you can? Good, I wouldn’t want to spend the next ten years hating myself for having the blood on another MAJOR on my hand, like I did after the Incident.”

“Hating yourself?” repeated Margaret, looking at him dumfounded, even as he felt Shannon’s sorrow and compassion, her enormous fingers, covering his upper back and shoulders caressing him tenderly, as if to sooth him, as tears welled up in his eyes.

“Yes” he replied, ragingly batting his eyelids to chase the tears away. “After I killed Joseph, I hated myself, because I knew, deep down, that I could have shot him somewhere else, the spine, perhaps the lungs, and still saved my brother. But I shot his head, and it has haunted me for ten years, until I finally was able to look at myself in a mirror again.”

“Oh please! As if you ever felt bad about what you did to my brother!’ shouted Ada, her skin reddening in her anger, as she glared at him hatefully.

“Again, why don’t you Bond with me to learn if I’m telling the truth or not?” offered Alejandro, doing his best to keep the venom in his voice to the minimum.

“You’ll try and manipulate my mind, that’s why!” she hissed, squinting her eyes angrily.

“So, you’re telling me that on this plateau, there isn’t one MAJOR I don’t know off who is brave enough to Bond with a pathetic, inferior being like me? It sure is a proof of how great and courageous you guys are…” he said, knowing perfectly what would happen.

“Are you calling me a coward!?” barked Waid, his face carmine with blood and rage. “I’ll show you, you pathetic creature, what a true MAJOR is capable of! I fear nothing, and certainly not the likes of you. Bond your mind with me, and reveal to the world the lies you have pushed about that poor Joseoph Mac Ferlan that you murdered!”

The extremely old man replied with such extravagance that Alejandro suspected a trap. As superior as a MAJOR’s intellect was, he was almost certain oh what that old rat had in mind. He’d use the Bond to try and supersede the Minor’s mind, overwriting his memories or something of the like. Alejandro almost laughed. His arrogance would be his downfall. He highly doubted that Waid was even a true Tier 1, he was too old to have ever been classified he suspected. And he probably never Bonded with any Minor he may have known, of this the young man was certain.

It gave him the upper hand in ways that the older man didn’t suspect. The old Alejandro Ferrand from Old Creek would probably have been in danger, even if he ever dared even think about Bonding with a MAJOR, let alone one as hateful and despicable as Howard Waid. But he had practiced his skills with Hua-Ju and the other Minors at school, and with Shannon obviously. He doubted that the monster he’d have to Bond with would be able to overpower him. However, he remained wary. Waid was probably crafty, with a very twisted mind. He would have to be careful.

“Fine by me. But don’t come complaining if it’s too much for you. I would have preferred doing that with Ada Mac Ferlan, but since you’re insisting…”

“Enough of this chit chat!” spat Waid. “Bond with me and let’s prove to the world what kind of disgusting being you are!”

Alejandro gritted his teeth and extended a hand, leaving the comforting embrace of Shannon’s finger as he reached forward. Waid seemed surprised for a moment, then he did the same gesture, and their fingers grazed against each other, until the Minor grasped them. Immediately, he projected his mind into Waid’s. It was strangely easy, to link with the mind of Waid. It wasn’t that it was defenseless or open. But it just wasn’t like those of younger MAJORS like Shannon, or the Minors he had bonded with. It was awkward and he almost broke the Bond.

He managed to not do that, even as the malevolence of Waid’s mind finally hit him, like a tidal wave. It was as if the MAJOR was trying to drown him in his loathing, and for a second, Alejandro almost gave in. He managed to hold fast however, even as the real world faded. He closed his eyes to focus and let go of the old decrepit fingers He didn’t need the physical contact anymore, the Bond was able to sustain itself now. He took a deep breath and pushed away Waid’s attempts to overpower him. He let a smile creep to his face when he felt the stupor and confusion of the old MAJOR.

What is happening? asked Waid, probably more to himself than to Alejandro.

I’m resisting you, that’s what, replied the Minor. And now, let’s go back to the days prior to the Incident, shall we?

He didn’t give time to Waid to refuse or resist. One second they were just broadcasting to each other their feelings and thoughts, and suddenly, they were back into his memories. Everything – and everyone- was huge. His Mom was to his right, towering over him much like Shannon did today, her smile warm and enticing, as she gestured for him to join with his brother and their friends. There was a little gathering of kids in the park, and they all fidgeted, clearly awaiting him to join them. But they seemed a little worried. Truth was, he was too.

Joseph had been holidaying somewhere for the last two weeks, and the town had been a lot calmer and less dangerous for kids his age, all MAJORS that they were. But perhaps he had already returned, and everyone knew it would mean punches and kicks and yells in the face, with parents perhaps a little worried, but comprehensive, because he was here, the lone minor in need of a strong mate to handle him, shape him into whatever his better deemed useful and acceptable and attractive. Those memories almost made him sick now.

You knew your place, back then, little mongrel, barked Waid in his mind, but he ignored him.

Alejandro ignored him, as a sudden scream slashed through his memories, his voice like a knife in the heart. He almost broke the Bond, so unused he had become of remembering Joseph. And those memories, which he had suppressed for so long, hurt him a lot more than those he never escaped from for ten years. Having Waid in there added a certain level of strain to the whole thing, which made him feel even worse. But he had to steel himself, he needed to make him feel how he wasn’t afraid of Joseph, usually, when he was younger.

“What are you guys doing, getting close to my minor!” roared a teenager, his voice cracking and losing two octaves as he finished his sentence.

Alejandro as a kid turned around and noticed the massive boy, six years older than him, rushing toward him and his friends, who retreated, frightened by the newcomer, each of them having felt his punches more than once when he got angry at them. Which was basically all the time. Alejandro hated him, as much as a kid like him could hate someone. Joseph was loud, brutal, and he didn’t care at all about what he thought or felt about things, so he didn’t see why he always tried to ingrain himself in his life, when the young kid really didn’t want him to.

“Leave me alone!” he bellowed, while he barely cleared the waist of the teenager, who seemed surprised by his outburst. “I want to play with my friends!”

“I didn’t allowed it!” growled the other, anger flashing in his eyes as his hands turned into fists.

“I don’t care!” hissed the younger Alejandro, as he looked up and up at the other. “Go away.”

The scene blurred. Now it was nighttime, and small crowds of children were moving around the town, seeking candies and setting threats for the adults who didn’t gave them any. Alejandro was only with his twin brother, still angry and sad that not one of his friends had accepted to be with him this evening. Even Al’ had been convinced only because he refused to go at it alone, and his Mom wouldn’t have permitted anyway. Suddenly, something very large and meaty enveloped his whole face, muffling his screams and lifting him from the ground.

What’s happening? Why can’t I breathe! yelled Waid, startling Alejandro, once more unready for the violence of his reaction – the old man was still trying to turn the Bond into something he could control and wield like a weapon against the Minor.

The Incident is happening, grimly sneered Alejandro, forcing the old MAJOR to feel everything he had endured that night.

“I’ll call you whatever I want, pet. You’re mine. All mine. Just like good old Anna. Look!”

Alejandro as a kid didn’t dare resist and turned his head toward the cold metal behind him. There lied the most massive pistol he had ever seen. It was almost as long as he was tall and he began to sob uncontrollably. As an adult, he resisted his urge to stop the Bond, to break free and bury those memories, which were still burning him as atrociously as they ever did. But he resisted this temptation and steeled himself – Waid’s fear and loathing helped him in this endeavor.

“Don’t cry, pet, she won't hurt you” said Joseph in an amused tone which added to the horror of the scene. “Anna’s always ready to help me protect what’s mine. And you are! You belong to me now, as it was always meant to be!”

At was at this moment that Alejandro wet himself. When he had looked Joseph Mac Ferlan in the eyes and seen only madness. Even at eight, he had known with absolute certainty. The MAJOR had lost all grips on reality. He didn’t know why, even today. He refused to believe that just being a Minor could elicit such a reaction. Even today, he suspected that Joseph had always been… instable and that he had simply cracked earlier because of him.

See? You see what he was? he asked Waid, forcing the consciousness of the old MAJOR to endure everything he had, offering him no respite.

He was just doing what he had every right to do! Spat the older man in response, but the Minor felt that his reaction was only half-hearted.

“Tell it” demanded Joseph. “Tell you’re mine!”

“No… No !” screamed the kid an answer, as his adult counterpart and Waid shuddered.

“Very well, remember that you who asked for it!” roared Joseph.

The Major changed his grips and engulfed Alejandro’s left arm in his palm. He brought the crying and screaming boy to his eyes. The Minor had assumed that he would be bellowed at, but instead the MAJOR remained silent. Silent but invading in the worst way possible. At that tender age, Alejandro’s mind had been wide open, free for any giant to enter it. And that’s what Mac Ferlan did.  The minor had been able to feel it, and it was horrifying. Even the sheer memory of it gave him a shiver and he almost heard a whimpering sound, somewhere close.

It was as if a roiling see of rot was engulfing him. He could feel Joseph’s insanity under his skin, the marrow of his bones, in his brain… It wasn’t the communion between two kindred spirits that his parents had said the bond was. There was no intention to even consider the Minor like a living being. Joseph’s mind saw him as a thing, here for his pleasure and his only. The sensation was simply atrocious, and Alejandro’s begun to puke and convulse, as his body and mind tried to reject this invading corruption.

Make it stop! MAKE IT STOP! roared Waid in his mind, trying to force him to break the Bond, instead of trying to change it into something he could control.

Three words and he would have been finished. Joseph had been too deep into his subconscious. The kid wouldn’t have been able to resist the bond, it would have left him forever disfigured, scarred at a mental level. Reliving the whole thing was hurting Alejandro like nothing else could. But it never happened, thanks to his twin brother. Just as Joseph opened his mouth to speak, the door of the cabin had burst open. There stood Alaric, with a large iron shovel in his hands. Without a word, he charged at Joseph.

Ah! Saved by a MAJOR! SAVED BY A MAJOR! screamed the old giant in his head, making him wince as if his mind was a cruel knife in his brain, clearly not caring about what Alejandro had felt back then, perhaps because he shared the same viewpoint as Joseph; but Waid stopped and screamed in agony mere seconds later.

Mac Ferlan crushed the left arm of the kid he had been in his hand before letting him fall over “Anna”. The sound had been atrocious, kind of like a twig breaking and a tomato being crushed in the same time. Alejandro wailed like never before nor since. His bones weren’t simply broken, they were reduced to powder; his muscles weren’t strained, they were turned into a pulp, bursting out of his teared skin. The suffering was unimaginable, yet with it came a modicum of respite, something which allowed Alejandro to think. Mac Ferlan had left his mind.

Waid screeched and cried and pleased incoherently in his head. It was almost as bad as what had happened to him, so long ago. Alejandro wanted nothing more than to break the Bond, be freed from the invasive presence, and be allowed to heal and leave this whole affair in the darkest, most forgotten part of his memories. But he gritted his teeth and kept his eyes shut as he forced the MAJOR to see the Incident till the very end. He wouldn’t go further, however. He hadn’t the strength of will to do so, and he didn’t want Waid here anymore.

In his state, the Minor kid had seen Alaric charging the older MAJOR and hit him in the head. Alas, the only effect it had was to enrage Joseph even more. His twin had been too small, to weak to truly hold his own against a MAJOR already undergoing puberty. Mac Ferlan made use of his superior size and strength to get the shovel out of Alaric’s hands and proceeded to try and beat him to death with it. All the while, he screamed incoherent drivel, letting his madness consume him fully. Waid did the same, pleading for his release.

Soon… soon it’ll be over, said Alejandro, as his whole left arm he had lost so long ago felt as if it was on fire, itchy like never before.

Alejandro the kid had to do something. That’s what prevented him from losing consciousness back then. He crawled over “Anna” and tried to position it so that it would aim at Joseph’s head. With only one arm and his legs, it was a feat of strength, but the boy was too lost in fear and concern for his twin to realize it. Finally, after almost a minute, where his poor brother had been screaming and screaming, suffering at the hands of Joseph, Alejandro managed to aim at Mac Ferlan’s head. He pulled the trigger and, mercifully, the blowback was strong enough to break some ribs and finally render him unconscious.

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An atrocious yell hurt his ears as he opened his eyes, letting the real world take precedence on his senses once more. Waid was screaming like a madman, looking at his left arm, clutching it and screaming so violently that Alejandro’s ears were starting to ring. Horror and confusion seemed to have stuck everyone here in place, Margaret, Ada, Shannon, even the rest of the crew or even the public. Even the Minor didn’t know what to do at first. Then, on an impulse, he leant forward and pinched the yelling MAJOR hard through his trouser, bringing his focus back on him.

“Those were my memories! Your left arm is still there. It wasn’t crushed into a pulp by a fourteen year old madman!” he barked at Waid, feeling a little bit of compassion for him.

“What… what you did… what you did to me…” rasped Waid, seeming to hesitate between horror and pure outrage. “You’ll regret it… I’ll make you rue the day you did this to me!”

“Did what to you?” asked Alejandro, his pity fast evaporating in the face of the naked hatred in Howard Waid’s eyes and voice.

“You made me feel like a minor! Like an inferior being who was chastised rightfully by his better and should have accepted that Joseph was right to try and make you a pet without your pesky free will!” bellowed the old man, even as Margaret seemed to regain her composure.

“It’s time for a little bit of commercials!” yelled the MAJOR, as hard as she could, her fake smile faltering even as she did her best to still pretend to be happy.

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Alejandro puked loudly and for the longest time in the toilets. He was enjoying the end of his section of this debate. Waid had walked out, too shocked to remain on stage he had said, and he didn’t feel like staying either, Bonding with him and reviving his worst memories had taken a toll on him. Ada had accepted to remain and debate Shannon, even if she was visibly shocked and didn’t know how to react to what Waid had said. The Minor wondered if she suddenly started to doubt her own version of the event – the hardest thing to accept in his was the Bond rape, after all, and Waid had basically confirmed it live for the world to see.

Another violent spasm shook his body and more half-digested food and bile came out. He felt atrociously weak, and he wanted to go home. He couldn’t tell if home was Old Creek, the house in New Orleans or wherever Shannon live. What he knew for certain was that he wanted to be as far as possible from New York, as soon as possible. With a sigh, he got up, spat in the toilet’s bowl and flushed the disgusting content of it away. He was happy that the Minor section of this studio was separated from the MAJOR’s, even if he would have to walk through both to get out.

He took his time to fully clean his mouth, as much as possible here, that is. Then, once he was satisfied and hoped that his breath didn’t smell like vomit, he got out of his section. The larger door, for a Minor, was a little hard to push open and he looked down to see if anything was blocking it but saw nothing. He walked into the MAJOR’s toilets and was greeted by two large feet. Looking up he saw the face of Howard Waid, contorted in hatred.

Suddenly, he saw a move from the corner of his eyes and jumped backward. The golden pommel of Waid’s cane came crashing down through the Minor’s door and grazed his head, making his hair move, so violent had this strike been. Chunks of wood hit him in the right temple and he suddenly felt dizzy. An old but powerful hand shouted forward, clutched his t-shirt and he felt himself propelled in the larger area. He almost fell, managing to keep his balance miraculously, only to feel bone shattering pain on his left shoulderblade.

Letting out a howl, he rolled on the ground, letting the cane fall on it, shattering the tiles covering the floor. But he had misjudged the old bastard, who gave him a violent kick in the guts, making him groan and lose his breath. He curled into a ball as more blows came over him. Thankfully, Waid didn’t try to hit him with his cane another time. Perhaps he enjoyed hurting him directly too much. Shame and rage washed over Alejandro and he suddenly gave a violent kick. He got lucky and hit the nearest ankle and heard a sickening sound.

Waid screamed first when he was hurt and then when he hit the ground. Apparently, his old bones weren’t that solid. Ignoring his pain, Alejandro tried to get up to attack the MAJOR, but the blows he had received already were slowing him down and he couldn’t reach his target until the old man turned on the ground and caught his ankles, making him fall. Pain surged in his head as its back hit the floor hard, and he almost fainted. He vaguely saw a blur stand over him, looking like Waid, perhaps, and then something collided with his right eye, again and again, and then his jaw, his other eye, his nose… As everything went black, Alejandro wondered why dying felt so painful.

It’s really unfair. I would have liked to go with a bang, if I couldn’t die of old age, he thought.

As if to grant him his last wish, a loud bang echoed around him, and then he saw no more.