Silent Ground Part 2 Read online

  SILENT GROUND

  Part 2

  By Quil Carter

  © 2017 Quil Carter

  All Rights Reserved

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or in any means – by electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise – without prior written permission.

  CHAPTER 25

  The grey body glowed in the spring sunlight. What had once been Gavin was now free of its head, its arms, and genitals. It was a corpse of darkening red meat that was currently being air dried in the storage shed. It had been there for three days, Kel had mentioned wanting to wait to make it easier for the bones to be removed from the meat.

  Now Jye chirped and purred around the shed’s open door, more than once being chased away by Kel from the body he seemed to know was his food.

  It was a grisly scene, something too fucked up for a normal mind to handle. But Kheva had seen that as a weakness in Sasha and had ordered him to watch Kel saw up Gavin’s corpse to component parts, de-bone it, and freeze it for Jye’s twice-daily meals.

  And in that freezer? A green milk crate full of meat wrapped in brown packages, the words Jye written in black marker. There were empty crates inside, and more stacked five-high beside the old rusty deep freeze. They’d been running low on food for the African cat, but now his stocks would be replenished for lord knows how long.

  Jye huffed, and spun around in an excited circle, his stubby black and white striped tail swishing around. Kel looked over at him, a plastic visor over his face which was speckled with bone chips. “Not yet,” Kel chastised lightly. He was wearing a grey plastic apron and nothing more underneath. There was… there was a pile of bloodied bones beside him in an old tote, already attracting flies, and Sasha could smell the hot brush fire Kheva was making beside the lakeshore. “If I give you some now it’ll only encourage you to beg for more. You’ll get some soon.”

  Kel went back to the corpse then. He had Gavin’s arms in front of him, Kheva already taking the hands and head to crush and burn. Kel was using a circular saw to saw up the arms, then he’d slice the meat down the middle and extract the bone buried inside.

  “Poor Jye can’t have the bones,” Kel said to Sasha. The saw whirled to life, making Kel have to shout the next part. “Kheva doesn’t want any bones not accounted for, so Jye only gets meat. He gets beef bones to chew on though. We burn all the bones until they’re gone. We burn the plastic too.”

  Yes, the plastic. Sasha looked around the inside of the shed Kel was in, he himself hovering in front of the open door. This shed was completely covered in clear plastic, the only thing uncovered was the lid of the freezer, the tote of bones, and the power tools Kel had out to work with.

  I’m watching someone dismember a man right in front of my eyes, Sasha said to himself. Even his own voice was barely above a whisper, like he didn’t even trust himself to not start screaming if he spoke aloud. This is my life now. I’m… I’m living with murderers.

  “Come back to the house, Sasha,” Kheva’s voice said clearly in his mind.

  Sasha nodded, even though the only person in front of him was Kel. Knowing Kel had most likely heard the same instructions from Kheva, he turned and began to cross the field towards the two-storey house.

  He ran his hands along the log exterior as he walked the stone path to the porch, but when Sasha turned, he found himself face-to-face with Kheva.

  “Get that damn haunted look off of your face,” Kheva said irritably. He was wearing a black jacket, white shirt, and tan canvas pants and he didn’t look happy at all.

  He was also smoking again. “I’m going to start becoming offended that you take such umbrage in the murder of a man who tortured your fellow nightcrawler, a man of your own family group,” he said, pointing the cigarette at him like it was a finger.

  Sasha stood there, but his gaze deflected. “You know my head inside and out yet you think I’m like this because I personally feel bad for Gavin?” he said, and though he knew his tone would get him into trouble, his mood didn’t allow for him to give much care. “I’m like this ‘cause I saw someone murdered and now he’s being dismembered and fed to an African cat. It doesn’t matter if that’s fucking Mother Theresa in there or Saddam Hussein, I’m still going to be freaked out about it.”

  “I don’t give a fuck the reason, just stop it,” Kheva snapped. “Grab the two flasks on the counter, and the black bag by the sliding glass door and put them into the truck. I need to go to town.”

  Sasha’s head shot back to Kheva. “Now?” he said surprised. He looked behind him towards the several sheds on the northwest area of the property, the stressed buzz of the circular saw prominent even though it was a good seventy-feet away. “You were just there three days ago.”

  “Yes, and did we get anything done besides murdering that piece of shit? I have someone I need to meet and it’s not something that can be put off.” Kheva began to walk down the faint trail towards where Kel was dismembering the body. Even though Sasha had more to say to Kheva on this subject, he knew better, and decided to obey Kheva and do what he was told.

  Sasha tuned himself in to Kheva and Kel’s thoughts and heard Kheva tell Kel where he was going. Kel seemed put-out by having to spend another half-day without his master, but upon promising him take-out (what kind would be a surprise, said Kheva) Kel was excited and his energy bouncing off of the walls.

  After grabbing two silver flasks and the duffle bag, Sasha waited by the truck for Kheva. He was curious about Kheva’s unexpected trip. Who was he meeting? It sounded important and also something Kheva wasn’t too keen on doing. Did Nik and Sterling have another target for him?

  What if something had gone wrong and Joey’s memory wasn’t erased? Maybe Kheva was taking care of unfinished business.

  Whatever it was, Sasha wasn’t going to ask and Kheva wasn’t going to tell him. The Master walked across the field, his chin raised and his stride emanating confidence and power, and as Sasha stepped back, he opened the driver’s side door.

  “Keluva is in charge to a point,” Kheva said as he got into the truck. “He’ll be butchering for the rest of the day, help him if needed. He’s not allowed to sleep with you; he isn’t allowed to hurt you unprovoked. If he says he is, he’s lying and you can punish him for any indiscretions.”

  This made Sasha’s eyes grow big. He was allowed to stand up for himself? Was this a dream? Kheva had never even hinted towards Sasha being able to protect himself from Kel, this was an incredible privilege.

  “Yes, Master,” Sasha said, riding on the adrenaline rush that Kheva’s instructions had given him. “Is there anything you’d like me to do?”

  “Practice your abilities, do your chores, help Keluva if he asks,” Kheva responded. “I’ll be back tomorrow by the evening.”

  “Wait…” Sasha gave pause. “You’re going to be gone for the evening too?”

  “Indeed. Don’t ask questions.” And with that, Kheva slammed the truck door and Sasha stepped back as the truck rumbled to life.

  Once Kheva was gone, Sasha walked back to the house with pride in his chest. Kheva had shown him in his own way that he trusted him, that meant so much to Sasha he felt like jumping up and down.

  Sasha decided to stay out of Kel’s way as long as he could; it wasn’t like he wanted to watch Kel dismember and continue to butcher a body anyway. He did the remainder of his chores then, Jye watching him from in front of the shed door, and once it was lunch time, Sasha made a feast of leftover spaghetti, fried in a frying pan which was a trick that Kel had taught him, then put it between two slices of outside-buttered bread and fried it again like a grilled cheese. That was his own persona
l spin on it, he’d thought of it the previous night and had been wanting to try it since.

  Kel’s eyes enlarged when he saw the sandwiches in the frying pan. “What is that!?” he said excitedly, the thick black rubber gloves he had, ones that stretched all the way up to his elbow, were coated in bits of flesh, and there was a new layer of chipped bone on his visor.

  “Grill spaghetti sandwiches,” Sasha said proudly. “They’ll be ready once you’re washed up. I doubt Kheva would approve of you eating with bits of flesh and bone all over you.”

  Kel laughed merrily at this and slid off his sneakers. “Yeah, I bet you’re right. Good Sashy, that looks great! Okay, be right back.” Kel disappeared into the downstairs bathroom then and Sasha continued to cook.

  Lunch went well, Kel inhaled both of his sandwiches and downed the Diet Dr. Pepper that he’d decided last week was also his favourite drink. After Kel helped Sasha clean up and took several hours off to relax on the couch.

  “You don’t need to worry about feeding Jye tonight,” Kel said from the couch. He was lying on his back with the television on, an episode of The Simpsons playing. There was a bowl of Crunch ‘N Munch popcorn on his stomach which he was happily feeding himself. “I gave him half of Gavin’s liver and a kidney. He ate that right up. Usually he only gets organ meat on holidays so he gets to eat special with us.”

  Sasha shuddered. He was sitting in the chair Kheva usually occupied trying to cloak his beacon, and also occasionally trying to infiltrate Kel’s thoughts. It was a game between the two of them, he’d sneak in and see if Kel noticed. He was getting better at it, but not once had he been successful reading any thoughts. “Are you really used to that? Doesn’t it… fuck you up a bit that you’re dismembering a human?”

  Sasha sighed when Kel seemed to have to contemplate this, and contemplating it meant stuffing his face with a handful of the caramel corn and chewing on it with a look of concentration.

  “No, not really,” Kel said with a partial shoulder shrug. “Gavin was bad. He hurt me really bad. He loved hurting me; he smiled and laughed.”

  And no one here sees the hypocrisy of what Kheva is doing to me?

  As soon as Sasha said this, Kel looked up at him with a darkened expression. Sasha swore in his head.

  “That’s not the same at all!” Kel said angrily. “Master Kheva did it to make you stronger. He’s said that many times but you’re just too stupid to get it.”

  “Raping some kid whose already at his mental end isn’t training,” Sasha snapped, the absence of Kheva putting more barbs on his tongue. “There’s different ways to do it. He didn’t have to command you to rape a fucking virgin or treat him like a damn dog!”

  Kel jumped to his feet, slamming the popcorn bowl down on the coffee table. “You belong to him now and he can do whatever the fuck he wants to you!” Kel snarled, his stance that of a man ready for battle. “You’ve become more here than you ever could with your pathetic slut of an uncle and your loser friend.”

  Now it was personal. Sasha saw red as he glared down Kel. Usually, when he had an argument with Kel, Kheva intervened and sorted out who was at fault, but Kheva wasn’t here.

  And Sasha was no longer defenseless.

  Sasha smirked as their eyes locked. He then stepped back into his head, and like Kheva had taught him, instead of going into Silent Ground he brought his abilities to him. Like someone was turning down the dial on reality, the room around him became dim, but Kel’s physical body lost contrast and became a brilliant bright light.

  Sasha focused his abilities on the beacon and with a slight push of energy, he disrupted the glowing orb.

  It was instant, Kel grabbed his head, his eyes shutting tight with his face a grimaced twist, and he fell to his knees with a teeth-locked scream.

  It was rather satisfying.

  Sasha pulled back and watched as Kel writhed on the ground groaning. But when Kel opened his eyes, anger embedded into each light blue ocular, he saw a rage that had him second-guessing his choices.

  Then a pain ripped through Sasha’s head. Sasha cried out, but in the depths of the agony, he attempted to cloak his beacon from Kel.

  It worked, the pain lessened, enough for Sasha to remain standing. He was keeled over with both hands resting against the kitchen island however; his breathing heavy and his nose dripping blood.

  “That’s one way of doing it,” Kel gasped, but the tone of his voice had Sasha’s attention snapping towards Kel.

  That voice…

  “Rob?” Sasha whispered, the warmth draining from his body and filling with ice water. “Is… is that you?”

  Kel slowly rose, his movements stumbled. Sasha watched him with an uneasy look, the sensation that he was playing with fire rolling through him. There was something fundamentally unsettling knowing that Rob was here when Kheva was miles and miles away.

  Especially considering his growing respect for Kheva, and the empathy he felt over what Kheva had gone through when he was younger.

  But no, no, Kheva was a fucking murderer! And everything he’d done to him…

  And as such, the cycle of empathise and despise continued to chase one another in circles, like two wolves forever trying to bite the other.

  “There seems to be a perk in you discovering your mind-fuck abilities,” the voice of Rob said. He held a hand to his head and squinted his eyes. “You scared the little thing away like a kicked dog running to his dog house.”

  Sasha’s brow wrinkled. “What do you mean?” he asked slowly. He walked to the living room as Rob sat back down on the couch, the television forgotten but still droning on in the background. “I thought the pain stuff makes you go away? That’s what Kheva used on Kel to disable you, right?”

  Rob lowered his hand from his head and instead grabbed a Diet Dr. Pepper can that Kel had been drinking from. “Indeed, it does,” he said and took a long drink. “But you weren’t targeting me, you were targeting Kel.” His eyes rose to meet Sasha’s. “You have no new memories for me. Disappointing.”

  Sasha shifted his weight, uncomfortable and awkward. He sat down on Kheva’s chair in hopes of steadying his racing heart, but he was uneasy in this moment. Not just uneasy, but kicking himself for causing Rob’s emergence.

  And Sasha made sure he was in the Dead Zone when he thought these thoughts, although he couldn’t sense Rob’s presence in his head. He’d been getting better at noticing, but he was nowhere near a pro at it. “It’s been a long couple of weeks,” Sasha admitted, his tone bordering on submissive. He growled at himself internally and forced the discomfort right out of him. He had nothing to be timid about. He was a nightcrawler, a powerful one, and he could defend himself now.

  “I’m sure Kheva is already spinning his lies to bring you over to his side,” Rob said bitterly. He put the can down with a light clink, and as he leaned back on the brown couch, his arms folded over his chest. “Surely you can see the hypocrisy in him murdering a man who raped me, when he was the ringleader.”

  Sasha nodded stiffly. “Yeah, I’ve been having trouble with that.”

  “So did I,” Rob said, fidgeting with the remote control. He didn’t look happy at all, and Sasha got the distinct impression that it was him Rob wasn’t pleased with. “Kheva is walking around like he’s some sort of fucking hero for avenging what had happened to me, when really… all he’s doing is making sure Kel never knows the truth and that he never finds out about his old life.” Rob rose then, still fidgeting and unable to remain still and walked to the kitchen, Sasha’s eyes trailed him.

  “I’m not following,” Sasha said slowly.

  Rob opened the fridge and grabbed a beer. He cracked it open and walked to the front of the kitchen island. “Kheva didn’t just kill Gavin because he raped me. Kheva is killing every connection Kel had to his old life, his life before Kheva.” Rob walked towards Sasha, and an eeriness grabbed hold as the man slowly approached. “Kheva is a very possessive master, Sasha,” Rob said lowly. “After he alienates you
from every family member and friend you love, after he kidnaps you, then tortures and manipulates you until he’s all you have, until he’s your rock, your protector, your guardian, your lover, and master; he will go back and snip those lingering threads the only way he knows how.” Rob stood in front of Sasha. “Permanently.”

  As Sasha gawked at him, Rob turned his back to Sasha and began walking towards the hallway. “Come,” he said with a wave of his hand.

  Sasha stared at him, unsure of what to do, but slowly he found himself rising, the pit of anxiousness in his gut becoming deeper.

  What did he mean by… Kheva permanently severs those connections to our previous lives?

  He can’t mean…

  Sasha’s stomach dropped. He found himself standing in front of the hallway with a hand over his mouth, and when Rob emerged with a small flip photo album, he knew what Rob was going to show him before he even turned the first page.

  And he was right.

  Rob turned the plastic pages of the photo album until he was five pages in, then showed Sasha a picture of Kel and a man that Sasha knew was Gavin.

  “Gavin was there the night I was gang-raped. I won’t deny that,” Rob said in a tone that had lost its emotion. “But he’d changed, he’d completely changed and I had forgiven him. Gavin was one of my foster brothers, and like all nightcrawlers, he had his issues, but we all do.” Rob stared down at the photo, his expression hard to read.

  Then he said something that Sasha hadn’t expected. “Kheva isn’t killing Gavin because he raped me, Kheva is killing every tie that Kel has to his old life. Gavin was the third, but before him, there were two others. That piece of shit can’t risk losing Kel to his family, so he’s luring them out like dogs, and murdering them one by one.”

  Sasha’s head felt covered in nauseous fuzz. He turned away from the book and walked to the living room.

  So, Kheva had been masking the real truth? Sasha had thought Kheva’s explanation for killing Gavin and avenging Kel had been weird. It would’ve made sense had Sasha not known that Kheva had been a part of that horrible gang-rape, but not with what Sasha had seen clear in his head.