Volume II

Chapter 13

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Smoke traveled slowly through the air, the end of the cigarette glowing red before cooling off as the young man finished his puff and exhaled. He had lengthy brown hair that rested above his shoulders, a somewhat slim appearance and dark, green eyes. His back was rested against the wall, his eyes scanning the room as if looking for something.

Across the room, which appeared to be a large dining room with expensive furniture and décor, was an older man and woman who were both tied up and bound in separate chairs sitting beside one another. The woman had makeup messed up on her face from tears, and the man was bruised and beaten as he hung his head in pain.

The silence was deafening for the both of them, as they waited while this young man finished smoking his cigarette before putting it out against the wall and then flinging it across the room and onto the floor.

“I appreciate your cooperation,” the young man said, turning to face them with a delighted grin. “We are almost finished, then we can wrap this up.”

“What more do you want from me?” The older man said with a disgruntled tone. “I already made that phone call for you… I’ve already told you, I haven’t seen Blaire since she left us!”

“Yes, that call was quite important,” the young man responded. “Everything is working out precisely as I intended. However, you and I know the reason that I’m here is not because of your daughter. It’s because of Project Genesis.”

The older man, Blaire’s father, widened his eyes in horror. His wife was also shocked, and immediately began to panic as she glared at her husband.

“Don’t you say a damn word Edison!” The wife hissed, realizing their predicament was far more serious than they initially realized.

“Edison,” the young man said with a grave tone. “Make no mistake, not only will I kill you, I’ll butcher your wife, Ramona, should you test my patience. I’ll spill her guts, and then drown her with her own blood. Do you understand me?”

Ramona reeled with dread, starting to hyperventilate at the thought of such a terrible and excruciating death. Needless to say she kept her mouth shut, as Edison shook his head and began to plead.

“No! Please! Just tell me what you want to know!”

“I want to know why you did it,” the young man said. “What caused you to experiment on those innocent children? What caused you to kill such innocent lives? What was your goal?”

“The research was supposed to be ground breaking!” Edison defended. “I never realized the brutality those children went through! We were trying to advance the evolution of the human genome into the next stage of human life as we know it! By the time the project fell apart, we scrapped everything!”

The young man chuckled humorously. “Did you? Well, you didn’t scrap all of it, otherwise your research wouldn’t have fallen into the hands of someone even worse than you.”

Edison looked shocked to hear this. “What? You can’t be serious… Someone else continued my research?”

The young man walked up to him, leaning down and frowning at the man. “Are you familiar with a man who calls himself Avaramix?”

“Only by rumor…” Edison answered. “I’ve heard… A lot of things about that man…”

“I’m sure you have, well, he is nearly finished perfecting the very serum you failed to stabilize. Aside from that catastrophe, the one person that could help him finish the serum just happened to fall on the man’s doorstep by the fate of evil incarnate. I must say, despite my own gifts, this world has a cruel sense of humor.”

“Then why bother with us!?” Edison shouted fearfully. “Why not go and do something to stop him! Clearly you have the power to do so! Why are you here!?”

The young man ignored him. “You know what’s really interesting? Of all the people in this world that Blaire could have crossed paths with, it happened to be the first successful test subject of your project. Jacob. Then there is Annie, I’ll admit it shouldn’t have been possible to transfer the power from Jacob to her, it certainly mutated itself and changed with her own genome, but it shouldn’t have been possible to transfer my own DNA to not only one person, but from that person to yet another. Truly interesting, it’s a shame you never came to understand why yourself.”

The young man reached out and grabbed Edison by the shoulder. “The reason I don’t interject myself into all of this is simple. I can’t, I already know what happens if I do. You see, instead I craft and weave the threads of this world from the shadows. I cannot be the one to stop Avaramix, nor do I have to. His fate is sealed, and I must ensure it remains that way.”

“I don’t understand…” Edison was growing tired, he didn’t understand any of this. “What is it you want? Who the hell are you!?”

The young man released his grip and stood upright, smiling down at Edison again before glancing at Ramona who was still silent and terrified.

“Who am I?” The young man thought for a moment. “I’ve gone by many names, though, I guess you can call me Alec… Alec Carlisle. It’s my favorite, it’s the name I gave myself.”

“Alec…” Edison was growing desperate, sensing this encounter wouldn’t end well for him or Ramona. “What do you want?”

“My goals are beyond your understanding,” Alec retorted. “Don’t you smell it? The stench of evil? It fills this room, this corrupted world we live in. I can’t stand it, I never have. For a long time I feared this world was lost to evil and wickedness, but now everything is becoming clear to me. There is salvation, I’ll just have to work hard to ensure that day comes when the time is due.”

Alec began to walk away from them, looking around the room again as if still continuing to search for something.

“You probably mean what I want with you, however,” Alec clarified. “I want to know how my DNA came into your possession, the reason Project Genesis ever began. Of all the memories and pathways I’ve been able to see clearly, for some reason, I cannot seem to piece together how my DNA was ever extracted and utilized to begin such a heinous and demonic project to begin with.”

“I don’t know…” Edison answered. “I didn’t even realize it was DNA from a human at all! We thought it was extra terrestrial, it was uncovered deep in the Antarctic by a research team from GenetiCo! It only came into my possession because of my influence! Someone else had intended to use the sample, a man named Auron Karn! Everything else you’ve clearly figured out already! I swear to God! Please!”

“Yes, I’ve seen that man, Auron Karn…” Alec sighed loudly. “The more I unveil, the more evil filth I encounter. The world was corrupt before, but now? Shrinking innocent people and selling them off to those who seek to live out their demonic and perverted fantasies? It disgusts me, it’s sickening. I have a lot of work to finish, that much is true.”

Finally Alec’s eyes rested on a cupboard, mounted on the wall up high. The smile on his face faded away, as he approached the cupboard. Opening the cupboard, he had found precisely what he was looking for.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” Alec reached into the cupboard, and Ramona’s heart sank as she realized what he had found.

Pulling out a small container, Alec opened it and reached inside. He pulled out a shrunken woman, she appeared young and was utterly distraught. At first she began to panic and struggle, unsure of what exactly was going on as all she had heard was muffled talking and earlier she had heard a lot of commotion.

“Relax, you are safe now,” Alec assured her. “Your name is Grace, is that right?”

“How… How did you know that?” Grace looked up at him sheepishly, and Alec could see that her eyes were heavy with pain and misery.

“I know everything, Grace.” Alec approached the dining table and carefully placed her atop it. Then, he turned to scowl at Ramona.

“When I first bound you, I had specifically asked if you harbored anyone in the home,” Alec scowled. “I knew you were lying to me when you said no. You truly fail to understand the nature of my powers, don’t you?”

“How did you know she was in there…?” Ramona felt petrified, unable to understand who this man was and what exactly he was capable of.

“There is nothing I cannot uncover, no truth that can evade me,” Alec answered. “The moment I touched Grace, I was able to look into her mind and soul. Everything you’ve done to this poor woman, every last disgusting and perverted act, I know it all now. You are as evil as anyone I’ve ever encountered, more evil than your own husband unbelievably.”

“Ramona… Is that what I think it is?” Edison had no idea that Grace was in that cupboard, he didn’t even realize that his wife was into such oddities. He had heard through rumors about the shrunken people being sold to be used for sexual pleasures and whatnot, though this was the first time he’d seen it firsthand.

“This is the result of your own project,” Alec said as he turned to face Edison. “You made a monster out of that child, Jacob, and you have the audacity to act surprised now? You vile man. It’s no wonder your daughter abandoned the family. She probably couldn’t stand the sight of you, or your wife. What a despicable excuse for parents, both of you.”

“Who are you?” Grace asked, standing to her feet upon realizing that her terror was potentially at an end. She had been enslaved by Ramona for a long time now, used in various and perverted ways to please the cruel and sadistic woman.

Alec turned around and smiled at her. “Call me Alec. Who am I? Nobody knows, and it’s best it remains that way. Now then, let’s fix your little predicament, shall we?”

Reaching out and placing the tip of his finger atop Grace’s head, in an instant she began to grow. Edison and Ramona were wide eyed as they watched Alec grow Grace back to her normal size, nude and all. Grace was speechless, her eyes filling with tears as the once enormous surroundings were suddenly back to how they were months ago before she had been a victim of Jacob. Looking down at her arms and legs, she had to hold her hands to her mouth as she began to break down at the realization that her nightmare was truly over.

Jacob removed the jacket he was wearing, handing it to Grace as she took it thankfully and wrapped it around herself.

“Oh my God! I must be dreaming!” Grace continued to sob, unable to think of anything to say other than a thank you. “Thank you so much! Oh God! Is this real!?”

“You’ve suffered a tragedy, Grace.” Alec wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. “I only wish I had been able to save you sooner. I promise you this, I will do everything in my power to keep finding those like you, and give them back the lives that were wrongly taken from them.”

Releasing his hug and turning back to face the parents of Blaire, Alec’s expression became grim.

“Grace, please wait outside for me,” Alec requested. “I’ll make sure you get dropped off somewhere that you can get help, but first I have to wrap this up.”

“W-what are you going to do with them?” Grace turned to face Ramona, and the older woman scowled at her.

“It’s best you wait outside darling,” Alec turned and smiled at her. “Please, you’ve suffered enough. Allow me to handle this. It’s what I do best.”

“You’re going to kill them…” Grace came to the obvious realization. Despite everything she suffered, she felt uneasy knowing what was going to happen. Not wanting anything to do with it further, she quickly turned and made a run for the front door of the home.

“Now it’s just the three of us,” Alec turned and grinned wickedly at Edison. “I feel bad, you are Blaire’s parents after all. It’d be a shame for her to lose both parents, so instead I’ll allow your fates to be your own to decide.”

“How?” Edison swallowed nervously, and found himself beginning to tear up at the thought of death.

“It’s better to just show you,” Alec turned and began to approach Ramona. The woman tried to recoil, but she was bound tightly and unable to adjust herself.

“Get away from me you asshole!” Ramona, fearing death, became agitated and resistive. Attempting to shuffle and break her binds, Alec walked up to her before leaning down and frowning at her.

“I wouldn’t waste time revealing the full potential of what I am capable of,” Alec said with a dismissive tone. “However, what I am about to do to you, will only be as painful and deadly as you yourself have been. For every act of evil, every act of violence and wickedness against another, will equal the fate that befalls you once this is over.”

“What the hell are you talking about!?” Ramona swallowed nervously, wondering what was about to happen to her.

“I call it the Judgement.” Alec revealed. “Should you survive, then you may be worthy of redemption. However, if your soul is corrupted beyond redemption, it will kill you. That is more than a fair fate, wouldn’t you say?”

“Fuck you!” Ramona spit in Alec’s face, as the glob of goo dripped down his cheek. Alec smiled, wiping it from his face before lifting his hand and hovering it above her head.

“Watch closely, Edison,” Alec chirped. “Because you're next.”

Before either of them could protest further, Alec placed his palm on the top of Ramona’s head. To Edison’s horror, her eyes instantly rolled into the back of her skull. Her mouth hung agape, a gurgling emanating from her throat as her entire body began convulsing violently.

The chair began to creak and shuffle erratically, her arms and legs mimicking a seizure while Alec maintained his grip on her head.

“Let her go!” Edison began to cry and plead. “Stop it! What the hell are you doing to her!? What are you doing to my wife!?”

Looking up at Alec, Edison’s face became pale as he realized that Alec’s eyes were also rolled back into his skull. His eyelids were fluttering, his head tilted back as if her reaction was connected to him somehow. It was unclear as to what exactly was happening, but before Edison had to suffer to find out, Ramona’s head fell limp and her eyes returned to normal, but they were black and void of life.

“Ramona!” Edison began sobbing, realizing that his wife had died. “Oh God! Ramona! No! My precious Ramona! Why!?”

Alec stumbled back a few steps, gathering his composure as he held his hand to his chest. As Edison turned to face the young man, he saw that Alec had tears streaming down his face.

“Dear God…” Alec trembled at what he had seen. “That woman… Far more evil than I could have ever fathomed… What you and she did to Blaire, you aren’t her real parents… Son of a bitch.”

“What!?” Edison couldn’t believe it, how could Alec have possibly known that?

“I get it now,” Alec managed to stand upright again, wiping the tears from his eyes. “Blaire left you both because you oppressed her. However, she didn’t realize why you were both so protective and stern over her freedom. Dear lord… You people are fucking sick!”

“But it worked…” Edison hissed, his heart broken and mind shattered as he succumbed to the realization that his life was now over.

“What you did is beyond redemption,” Alec shouted. “So that’s how you got the serum to work twice? Because the serum was never injected into Jacob at all… You fucking degenerate. You created Blaire using that serum…”

“Imagine being able to create a perfect being,” Edison spoke with a broken voice. “Perfect eyes, hair, body… Unable to get sick or ill. She was the key to everything, until that damned Jacob destroyed my entire life's work…”

“And where did that get you?” Alec retorted, leaning in close and getting his face into Edison’s.

“Absolutely nowhere…” Edison said with defeat. “I tried to play God… But now all I’ve done is set forth a chain of events that may very well lead to the undoing of our world as we know it…”

Edison shook his head, looking up at Alec with a somber expression. “You are right… We were evil. Please tell me, what did you do to my wife? As my final request, please… I must know…”

“I inflicted every memory, every act of evil in her entire lifetime, all at once,” Alec revealed. “When those evil memories are too much to handle, you perish. However, if that evil is not enough to kill you, then perhaps you may still be saved. That is why I call it the Judgement. Edison, are you ready to be judged?”

Edison swallowed once more, dreading what was about to happen.

“I am…”

“Then this is goodbye,” Alec said harshly as he lifted his hand and placed it on Edison’s head.

“Good riddance, you evil scum.”

Grace sat at the steps of the home, covering herself with the jacket as she tried to stay warm. It was cold and gray outside, as the shouting inside had come to a halt. All she heard now was silence, as she waited for her savior to exit the home.

The door opened, and Grace turned to see Alec approaching her with a smile.

“Do me a favor, there’s a pack of smokes in the left pocket, can you get me one?”

“Oh… Of course…” Grace reached into the pocket and handed Alec a cigarette, including his lighter.

Lighting it up and taking a puff, he sighed as he walked up and stood beside her, staring into the yard of this enormous property.

“You live in Valdez, don’t you?” Alec asked her, taking another puff of his cig.

“I did…” Grace responded somberly. “I’m sorry, this is all so surreal, I don’t know what to say…”

“I’m heading to Valdez, we’ll get you some clothes from Ramona’s wardrobe,” Alec said. “I must inform you, if it’s not obvious, you cannot tell anyone about any of this. At least, not until you’re home and I’m gone with the wind.”

“So you just came to save me and leave?” Grace was confused.

“I wasn’t here for you, admittedly,” Alec smiled at her. “But I knew you were here, and I wasn’t going to leave you to rot in that cupboard. What a bitch that Ramona was, huh? I saw what she did to you, and I’m truly sorry you had to endure that. They’ll never harm another soul ever again.”

“Who are you?” Grace asked.

“I’m nobody,” Alec answered.

“It just seems wrong that someone like you is under the radar…” Grace said gracefully. “You saved my life… You’re like… A superhero… How did you get me back to normal?”

Alec chuckled as he finished his cigarette and flicked it into the yard. “I prefer being under the radar. Besides, this world isn’t ready to handle someone like myself.” Alec reached out his hand and patted her on the shoulder. “I got you back to normal, because honestly, the means of which you were shrunk to begin with is technically my own fault. I’m not like other people, Grace. A long time ago someone stole something of mine, and used it where they shouldn’t have. It’s a long story, but that is behind you now. Please, I beg of you, do your best to bury this tragedy and move on.”

“But how?” Grace began to tear up. “How could I ever forget?”

Alec smiled at her tenderly, lifting his hand and placing it on her cheek. “Because I’m going to help you forget.”

Suddenly Grace’s eyes flashed, and she began to fall limp. Alec caught her, slowly setting her onto the ground.

“I’m sorry, you’ll wake up confused and terrified. I shifted your memories back to when you lived in Valdez, I’ll drop you off at a hospital before I leave Seattle.”

After returning inside and grabbing clothes to put on Grace, Alec lifted her unconscious body over his shoulder as he began to carry her with him. Leaving the yard and heading towards his vehicle, all the young man could do was think of what his next steps were.

‘Jacob and Annie will face off soon enough,’ Alec thought as he carefully put Grace into his car. ‘And thanks to Edison, I’ve managed to unite Jinshin and Blaire. Everything is working out exactly as I had foreseen, all I have to do is make sure I don’t get too involved with them directly. Otherwise…’

Closing the car door and getting into the driver's seat, Alec started his car.

‘Otherwise I’ll undo all of the hard work it’s taken to get them this far…’