Overlap–Part 1: Changes

Overlap
by Arka Sylvanos

Disclaimer: Before you read any further, I recommend you be of open mind and legal age for reading a story that includes rape, violence, magic, and sex between two consenting MALES of legal age. Don’t blame me if you have nightmares or something. Don’t worry, I make it sound much worse than it is. It’s not smut, by the way, so don’t read this if you just want some help while you’re getting off. Also, a random note: I consider what I write to be ‘parts’ because they seem longer than what I would call a ‘chapter’. Now, on with the show!

Part 1: Changes

Green eyes, olive skin, short brown hair with fluffy bangs…the sight I saw in the mirror every morning. I was entering my first year of college and I was still only 5′6″ tall. It didn’t matter, though. Not many things mattered then. Everything was so messed up. It could have been much worse…but it could have been better, as well.

See, there’s this guy that I grew up with named Karl, and over the years we’d become a couple somehow. He was a nice guy when we were 16 and I was a shy guy with almost no friends at all, but two years later, he’s become possessive and unkind. I’m not even sure if I love him and I’m going to be sharing an apartment with him as we go to college.

It’s kinda sad, but I’m going to a college in my hometown in north Louisiana. At least I’ll have friends and family nearby and I know where everything is. Who knows…maybe going to college will change Karl for the better.

Mary sat across the table from me at the Frothy Monkey, a local coffeehouse in town. Her shoulder length brown hair was tied back in a pony tail and her blue eyes were fixed on me.

“I got you something for your birthday,” she said, her voice as quiet as always.

“Really?” I asked, joy in my voice, which was about as soft as hers.

She pulled a cage from the floor and set it on the table. Inside, there was a wheel and a small, orange-brown hamster inside, looking up at us with its black eyes. It blinked once and headed over to the water bottle for a drink. It was so cute!

“I know you’ve wanted one since like…forever…so I thought you’d like it.” I smiled more in the next few minutes than I had in a month.

“He’s the best! Wait, you’re the best! Yay!” I said excitedly. “So is this why you called me here?” Mary sighed and forced a smiled.

“No, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Oh…umm…like what?”

“Like Karl, mainly the way he treats you.” Even with the hamster right in front of me, my mood dropped quite a bit. “Sheldon, you deserve much more respect than you’re getting from him. He treats you like dirt and runs your life for you, as if he’s just using Jedi Mind Tricks on you all the time. You’re Karl’s boyfriend, not his slave. You should stand up for yourself…or at least get away.” I knew she was going to say it. I had gotten the same speech from some of my other friends.

“He’s the only guy I’ve ever been with and and really don’t think I could make it on my own…I hate the lonely feeling so much. Karl isn’t that bad, anyway. He’s not abusive and he’s honest…sometimes he’s a little rough around the edges, but he’s soft everywhere else.”

“Shel, I just want you to be happy,” she said, concern shown clearly on her face.

“I am,” I said with a smile. “I have a boyfriend, I have friends, and I have Kyle.”

“Who’s Kyle?”

“The hamster.”

“Nice name.”

“Thanks.”

“Kyle’s a girl.”

I looked down at Kyle.

“So?” I asked.

“Just sayin’,” she replied.

I opened the door to the apartment and set Kyle’s cage on our full sized bed. I then took my clothes off and hopped into the shower, sweaty from the Louisiana heat. I let the hot water soothe my body and thought about things I should buy for Kyle when I heard a man scream in the bedroom. I turned the water off and squeezed my eyes closed. After drying my hair and body, I wrapped the towel around my waist and headed into the bedroom.

Karl was standing there with a horrified look on his face, staring at the cage on the bed. I smiled and waved at him, clutching my towel with my free hand.

“Hey, Karl! How was your day?” He looked at me, his eyes showing the rage his face concealed, which honestly scared me a little. Karl was tall, medium build, with red highlights in his short black hair, and cold brown eyes. He was tan and muscley, and very attractive. Maybe we don’t see eye to eye on some things, though.

“What the hell is this overglorified rat doing on our bed? Jesus, it scared the hell out of me!” I walked over to the bed and picked up Kyle’s cage, then set it on the table in the other room. Karl was sitting on the bed when I re-entered the bedroom. “Sheldon, how could you go out and buy an animal without me? Especially one so filthy and ugly!” I sat on the bed beside him, feeling a little awkward being dressed only in a towel around him.

“Karl, sweetie, I didn’t buy Kyle. Mary gave her to me as a birthday gift.” He looked at me, slight confusion on his face.

“Kyle? Her?”

“Well…I didn’t check before I named her.” He now looked slightly annoyed.

“Rename her, then. Maybe something like Joan.” I looked down, suddenly sad that I had to rename her. Karl sighed and ran his fingers through my hair. “You don’t have to rename her…”

“I will,” I assured him, sitting straight up again. He kissed me deeply on the lips and slightly pulled back afterwards. I blushed, but smiled as well. “I’m going to…umm…d-dress myself. I need to pick up some hamster food for K-” I stopped myself. “Joan.” Karl smiled and playfully slapped my ass as I stood up. Even for a playful slap, it kinda hurt.

I walked into the pet store and looked around at the massive wall of hamster supplies. Everything from wheels to meals was hanging on the wall. There were also books on raising hamsters and such next to the wall. A guy of medium height and build with long blonde hair and hazel eyes walked up to me. I turned around and nearly bumped into him. He was very hot and I couldn’t think of a thing to say to him. I just stood there, mouth open and eyes staring blankly ahead.

“You okay, bub?”

“Y-Y-Y-Yes! N-No…hamster f-foods…” I managed to stutter out. He just smiled. I bet he was about my age, too. He picked a pack off the wall and handed it to me. I smiled and nodded in thanks and he walked behind the counter. Ah, he works here. Jobs are cool…so are animals…and him. I picked up a book on hamster raising and a little ball for him to run around the apartment in and walked over to the register. He rang up my purchases and looked up at me.

“I take it you have your first hamster.”

“Y-Yes…her n-name is Kyle. I-I m-m-mean, it use to b-be.” I looked down and sighed. “Karl thought Joan was a more a-appropriate name. He d-doesn’t even like K–Joan…” The cashier looked at me sympathetically, and I knew it was honest.

“Yeah, my brothers didn’t like it when I named my hamster Kate.”

“W-Was it a boy?” He chuckled.

“No, it was a girl. It’s just that they had both dated a girl named Kate at the same time, except she thought they were the same guy that preferred to be called different names on different days. It was a big mess…guess they don’t see the humor in Kate’s name.”

“I wish I had a b-brother…”

“I thought Karl was your brother.” I looked down. What do I say now? He seemed to get the idea. “Ah…sorry. I guess it’s not important. However, I do think that Kyle’s a good name for your hamster, even if she is a girl.” I looked up at him and smiled.

“My name’s Sheldon.” I extended my hand and he shook it.

“Kyle.”

I got back to the apartment and gave Kyle/Joan some food. Strangely enough, my eyes began to puff up and my nose started to drip a little. Within seconds, I was sneezing sixteen times in a row. I ran to the bathroom and took a few allergy pills. I turned around and there it was.

It was small, soft looking with yellow eyes, and cute. I knew it to be a creature of evil, something I could live with, but not comfortably. This cat was trying to kill me! It turned around and pranced off. I walked into the bedroom and saw it climb onto the bed, onto Karl. I knew there was nothing I could do. I had gotten a hamster, so I had unleashed the pet idea in the first place. But c’mon, who’s allergic to a hamster, anyway?

“Hey, baby,” he said, his voice seductive. “Have you met the newest edition to our little sex pad?” Sometimes, he makes me sick…he buys a cat when he knows I’m allergic to them and thinks about sex all the time when we’ve still yet to actually get down to it. Even when he makes me sick, he’s still sexy when he does it.

I simply waved and nodded back to him, smiling wide. I made a series of hand gestures with the only sign language I knew and waved goodbye, making my way to the door and eventually out of the apartment, but only after scooping up Kyle/Joan’s cage and other things.

I drove across town and pulled up in front of Mary’s house, which she had inherited from her great-great aunt a year or so ago. I knocked on the giant wooden door and it soon opened with Mary on the other side, a look of shock and concern sweeping over her face.

“Shel!” she cried out. “What the hell happened to you?” I sighed and my puffy eye began to twitch.

“Meow,” was all I could get out. My voice didn’t even sound the same. It was low, hoarse, and rough. Mary understood what I said and pulled me inside right away.

“Why did you pet a cat if you know you’re allergic?” she asked, pulling me after her to the bathroom.

“I dittint touch…Karl’s…new…meow.” Mary stopped abruptly and I nearly toppled into her. I could feel the Hell fire fury brewing inside the normally calm and cool Mary. She shook her head slightly and pulled me to the bathroom. Mary handed me a pill and I popped it in my mouth, surprised at the strange taste of it.

“Sheldon, go sit in the kitchen and wait for me. I have a few things I need to take care of.” I just nodded and 0walked back to the front of the house. The walls in most of the halls and rooms were cream with some floral patterns stenciled around them. There were paintings and sculptures and at least two pianos throughout the three rooms I passed through to get to the bathroom. I turned left and walked into the kitchen, a modern black and chrome kinda looking room with all the usual appliances and an antique wooden dining table.

I took a seat and looked around, thinking about Karl and the cat. Somehow my thoughts drifted from the sadness and rage I was feeling to another thought: Kyle/Joan. I had left her in the car! I quickly dashed outside and frantically tried to open my car door. I finally achieved entrance and was relieved to find Kyle/Joan looking cute and happy. I took my stuff out and walked back inside just as Mary was making her way from the bathroom to the front.

“Your eyes look much better, Shel,” she said softly. My cheeks warmed a bit and she smiled. She glanced down at the heap of stuff in my arms (including Kyle/Joan’s cage) and shook her head again. “You brought Kyle?”

“J-Joan,” I corrected, my voice returning to normal, or at least a scratchy, hoarse version of it. Mary raised an eyebrow in surprise. “K-Karl thought we s-should name her Joan,” I informed her.

“And he also nearly killed you with an allergic reaction to a cat. By the way, when did he get a cat?”

“I went home and Karl kinda f-freaked out when he saw Kyle…umm, Joan. So I went to the pet store and picked up some hamster things. When I got home, I started sneezing and I saw the cat…” I really felt anger rising in Mary now. “I’m sure he d-didn’t know about the cat thing,” I added quickly.

“Are you going to go back tonight?” she asked as calmly as she could.

“I w-was kinda hoping-”

“Yes,” she interrupted. “Of course! It’s not right for you to go back and get sick. You can stay here tonight.” I smiled and hugged her.

“Thanks, Mary,” I softly replied.

I woke up in Mary’s big bed, a ringing noise in my ear. A few seconds later, I realized that the ringing noise was the phone. I picked it up and had nearly begun to speak when I heard Mary answer the phone.

“Hello?”

“Hey,” came a deep voice with traces of annoyance in it. I recognized it almost immediately as Karl’s.

“Oh, it’s you,” Mary replied, her voice bright and cheery. She didn’t lie very often, but when she did, she was damn good at it. The same goes for masking her true feelings. “How’s it going?”

“It’d be going good if I knew where my boyfriend was.” His voice was cross and sent shivers down my spine. Karl had a short fuse about a few things, and one of those things was me, unfortunately. He has to know where I am every second of every day. I’ve gotten use to it, I suppose.

“Shel’s still asleep. He came over last night with puffy eyes and a drippy nose. Seems something got him sick last night.” Mary’s voice had an icy chill in it that made me want to laugh.

“I suppose that disgusting germball you bought for him gave him a disease.” I looked at the bedside table and saw Kyle/Joan staring at me. I smiled a forced smile at her and quietly hung up the phone. She’s not even close to a disgusting germball. She’s adorable!

So I sat there, playing with my hamster. About five minutes later, Mary shouted something in Italian and I knew she was talking to Karl still. It doesn’t really matter what she said…she’d never repeat it in English. I stood up and walked to the kitchen. Mary’s fridge was stocked with fruits and veggies, as well as a chocolate cake. I decided to live the dangerous life and took a slice of the cake.

A sudden crash erupted in the other room, followed by more Italian screaming. I squeezed my eyes closed, caught between the urge to laugh and the urge to cry. I took no emotional action and bit into the wedge of chocolate before me. Mary entered the kitchen a few seconds later, calm and composed. She stood beside me and pinched off a chunk of my cake.

“Did your mother call?” I asked quietly. Her eyes widened in horror.

“Madre called!? When?” she asked in slight panic. Mary realized the joke and sighed. “Don’t joke about me missing a call from my mother. You have no idea that it’s like to miss one of her calls!”

“Who was on the phone, then?” I asked before plopping the rest of the slice of cake into my mouth.

“Actually, it was Karl.”

“Really? What’d he say?” I asked after swallowing.

“Well, we started with the formalities, then we got right down to the debating over certain personal beliefs we may or may not have.” Translation: they said their hellos and fought for a few minutes about me. “We then talked about cats very calmly for a few seconds before he had to do something.” That was when she broke something, I’m guessing.

“I think I should get back pretty soon. You know how much of a short fuse he can be. It’s all sad when he’s moody.” She looked at me and sighed.

“Shel-” she began.

“Yeah, I know.” I hugged her goodbye and headed out to my car after picking up Kyle/Joan and my other stuff. I drove to the apartment and stopped the car, but didn’t get out. What to do…how to explain…I had no solution. I got out of the car and headed up the stairs, leaving my cage and other stuff in the car. I opened the door and wasn’t surprised to find the living area empty.

I walked past the kitchen, not even stopping to look for the cat. There was a black sweater on the table that looked unfamiliar. I guess it was one of Karl’s new sweaters. There was also a wallet I was positive he had never bought beside it. As I approached the closed bedroom door, I heard Karl giggle. It was an unfamiliar sound that poured over my ears as waves of discord.

I grabbed the handle and opened the door a little. Karl was in bed. No wonder he was giggling, I thought. I opened the door a little wider to reveal a man in bed beside him. It took a second, but I suddenly realized the reality of the situation. Horror stretched across my face and I thought about throwing up my breakfast. He noticed the door ajar, and stared in shock as he finally noticed I was there.

“Sheldon, it’s not what it looks like!” he began.

“Famous conversation starters,” I mumbled quietly. My body swayed as if I were about to faint. “What are you doing…no, I see that, but why? How long?” The guy looked at me.

“You don’t look okay…” I shot him a pissed off look and he quieted down.

“Look, Sheldon…” he tried again.

“I am looking! That’s the problem!” More swaying with my big words. This time, I felt as if I would faint. Karl’s toy stood up as if he was about save me from crashing to the floor. His hair was black, his skin was rough and he had a goatee, his body was naked…

Naked…?

“Oh my God, you’re naked!” I exclaimed, turning around to shield my eyes from the horror…or, at least the hor- part. The guy sorta laughed.

“Well, it’s hard to fuck when you’ve got your clothes on. Just sit down and I’m sure we can discuss this reasonably. Maybe you’d like to join us?”

That was it…

That was the single most disturbing question of my life. I heard Karl call out his name in reprimand, but I knew he would love to have two guys in bed with him. Maybe if I had just given in and slept with him…no, this isn’t my fault. I felt a hand on my shoulder and spun around to be face-to-face with the man. He grabbed my other wrist with his hand and smiled a sick, amused smile.

“I bet you’d love me to fuck ya. A petite boy like you, smooth, innocent, tender….virgin…” he started. I closed my eyes and broke free of him in a series of furious movements. He grabbed for me again, this time catching my neck roughly with his sharp nails clawing into my soft flesh, and flung be back towards the bed. I stumbled over something and fell backwards, my back smashing into the wooden bedpost with a small thud. I collapsed to the ground, suffering from shock, unable to move. I began to feel again, my tears too busy elsewhere to pour out onto my face. The pain was almost unnoticeable, but he was coming again, coming back. I stood up, wobbled a little, and closed my eyes. My mind focused on my body and my body responded. I dashed as hard as I could towards the man and was surprised when I never smacked into him. I opened my eyes and realized I was out of the bedroom and in the living area. I spun around and saw Karl and the man with the same baffled look on their face. I didn’t stay to find out what would happen.

I ran towards the door, then through the door, then down the stairs. I tried to undo whatever I had done to myself, but when I got to my car, I still couldn’t touch it. I slowed my breathing and closed my eyes and concentrated as hard as I could, and tried again. This time, I felt the cool door with my hand. I frantically ripped the door open and took a moment to put it into motion. I just drove away with no stops to look back and see the carnage.

It only took a few minutes of driving around for it to hit me. I was nearing the pet store and tears flooded down my face. I got out of the car, still nearly hysterical. The shop was practically empty, but I still took a few seconds to compose myself before walking in. Kyle was stocking some supplies on the back wall when I entered the shop. He immediately turned around, a bit startled by my appearance, no doubt.

“Hey!” he called to me, friendly as ever.

“Hi,” I called back weakly. Kyle obviously sensed that something was wrong…the small trails left on my face from crying could have been one indicator. His face covered in concern, he walked towards the window of the shop and flipped around the sign so it read ‘Closed’. He turned off the lights guided me outside through the door, and locked it behind us. I followed him in silence as he led me to his car, and we got in, and just sat there.

He finally looked over at me with a worried expression. “Are you alright?” he asked.

“Far from it…” I responded sheepishly, hoping not to cry in front of this nice guy, this beautiful stranger.

“Do you want to talk about it?” I looked out the car window and sighed as I squeezed my eyes closed. “We can go to the Fro-Mo, if you’d like…”

I turned to look at him and shook my head. “No. You s-should go back inside and just work. You might get f-fired if you close shop just b-because of me.”

“Hey, it’s alright. My dad owns the shop, and I seriously doubt he’ll fire me.” I nodded reluctantly and scooped up my things before I got in the care with Kyle. Kyle then started the car and began driving to the Frothy Monkey.

“Nothing’s injured, right?” he asked.

“N-No…n-nothing broken or anything.” Except for my heart….

“Relationship problems?” And with those two little words, I burst into tears. Kyle had to stop the car out of worry…or nerves…or for some other reason, possibly.

“CRAP! Sorry! I’m so sorry!” Kyle began to pour out random streams of apologies, his face responding to the worry that creeped within him. “I didn’t mean to ask. Forget I asked anything.”

“D-D-Don’t w-w-worry….a-about….m-me…” I eeked out between my barely muffled sobs. The awkward chaos lasted for a few more minutes before I was able to stop crying and he could drive again without being distracted. We rode along in a silence, but I didn’t mind it. He had kind words to say to me, and I had tears to pour out. As long as I didn’t cry, he wouldn’t speak to me, and as long as he didn’t speak to me, I wouldn’t cry.

Kyle continued to drive until we arrived at the Frothy Monkey. Never had I been in bad spirits of any kind as I looked in the windows of my favorite coffeehouse. I left my things in the back of Kyle’s car and kept close to him as we walked inside. I followed Kyle as he made his way to a booth away from the window, and my heart sank as I sat down. Through the window, I could see Mary walking to the entrance. I thought about crawling under the table, or running to the bathroom, but then I’d have no way of knowing when she’d leave. So, I stayed.

The second she entered the Monkey, her eyes drifted to where I was sitting with Kyle and settled. She took in every part of me, and the look on her face reflected fear and anger. And even though none of those feelings were directed at me, they made my blood run cold and my lips start to quiver. She walked towards us and nodded to the empty seat. Despite Kyle’s skeptical look, I nodded to the empty spot beside me. Kyle sat there and nodded to her in greeting; Mary nodded back as pleasantly as any angry Italian-American could under these circumstances.

Mary gave a shoving motion with her head towards the counter, and handed Kyle enough money for three drinks. He blinked and walked off toward the bar, deciding what to buy for the group as he stood in line. It amused me a bit to see how well they could understand each other with only expressions and motions. However, I thought about us being alone together with no buffer, and I knew I’d have to explain everything to her.

So, I told her. I told her that I got home, and I told her that I saw a sweater. I told her that I found a wallet, too. I told her about the bedroom scene: Karl, giggling; the man, naked; the shock; the struggle; running through solid objects.

Now, if you mentioned that you could run through solid things to a friend, they’d probably think you were crazy. When I told Mary in those hushed tones about the subject, she merely rose her eyebrows with intrigue. Then, I continued on with the story; about Kyle (the human) and our meeting earlier today, as well as the most recent meeting. I told of shed tears, of worry in his voice, of this girl that walked in alongside her white horse, her shining armor glistening in the light.

And there we were, alone at a booth in my favorite coffeehouse. Kyle arrived a few seconds later with three much needed cups of coffee; sadly, it took a second or two to register that the other two cups would be for Mary and Kyle. Addictions are a hard thing break, especially when it’s an addiction to the Liquid of Life.

Silence took the place of a sad story in hushed tones. I didn’t want to repeat it to Kyle, not then. I didn’t want him to know of this embarrassing thing, this awkward set of events; I didn’t want to leave myself open to a stranger, no matter how friendly he was. So, we sat there and drank our coffee.

Mary eventually broke the silence. “You’ll be staying with me tonight,” she said. It was a command, and I knew it. It’d be stupid to go back to the apartment, to go back to Karl. My heart wrenched, and a feeling of seasickness seemed to creep up on me.

“If you want…I mean…I have a spare room at my apartment…” Kyle threw out. I looked up at him in surprise, but more of an amused kind of surprise than an appalled kind. Mary also looked at him, though her expression was unreadable; it was something between a smile and a look of mistrust, but I knew she had no bad feelings toward him.

“It would probably be better for Shel to stay somewhere familiar for a few days,” she said softly. Kyle looked a bit disappointed but nodded anyway.

“Yes, you’re right…” he began. Mary nodded and took a pen and notepad out of her purse. She scribbled something down on a note and tore it off, handing the single slip to Kyle. “Call. Or visit. You’re more than welcome at my house.” Kyle smiled at her and she smiled back.

“Kyle,” he said.

“Mary,” she replied.

After retrieving my things from Kyle’s car, Mary took me to her house and I fell asleep as soon as I hit the bed. I woke up in the morning and felt my cell phone vibrating in my jeans’ pocket. I sleepily reached in and pulled it out, answering it as normal.

“Hello?” Mary stirred in bed beside me. She turned to face me and opened her eyes. She looked beautiful in the morning.

“Sheldon! Where the hell did you go last night? Come back to the apartment now so we can fix this.” His anger seeped through the phone’s speaker like toxic sludge: my heart was writhing in pain, and my head spun at his cold commands. Mary immediately awoke at the look on my face and snatched the phone from me. She dashed away from the bedroom and closed the door gently.

The second she stepped outside the door, I heard a series of shouts erupting from Mary. I closed my eyes and rubbed my forehead. A moment later, I jumped up and glanced around in fright as a loud crashing sound shook the halls of Mary’s house. She was throwing things again…

Something Karl had said stung me like the tail of a scorpion. He had a valid point in that we did need to work things out. I had no choice but to go to the apartment anyway at some time or another. Mary reentered the bedroom calmly and smiled at me. She placed my cell phone on the bedside table and sat down beside me.

“I’m sorry about that little…interruption,” she said quietly. “Are you feeling better this morning?” I smiled at her attempt.

“No….well, yes.” Cryptic. I didn’t even understand my feelings.

“There’s still some chocolate cake in the fridge.”

“I have to go talk to him.” Mary twitched a bit and tensed up, but loosened a second later.

“I can call Kyle, and we can get your things for you…” she began.

“No, it’s not that. I have to talk to Karl about this,” I interrupted. She looked me in the eyes and sighed.

“We’ll drive you later.” I nodded in thanks, and she hugged me quietly.

The rest of the morning was pretty normal considering the strange events of the previous day. I ate some more of the chocolate cake with Mary in the neo-modern kitchen, we walked through the house and picked out the more eccentric pieces of “art” she had inherited, and we laughed at the random fertility statues placed throughout the place for a while afterwards. It was such a big house that I actually felt tired when we made our way back to the comfortable kitchen chairs. It was then that Mary decided to ask whatever had been eating at her for the past few hours.

“So, yesterday,” she began, “when you ran through that guy, what was it like?” I hadn’t expected the question, but I probably should have. It sounded like crazy talk when I had first said it out loud, but it had happened.

“It felt….strange. I’m not sure. There were so many things racing through my body and mind that I’m not sure which things sparked which feelings. But…I did feel a warm sensation when I tried to touch something solid.”

“Can you do it again?” she asked.

“I’m not sure. Can I?” I asked myself. I closed my eyes and willed myself to be unsolid. Is there a procedure for this? I really didn’t know what I was doing. I was just thinking and hoping, hoping that I would be hollow when I opened my eyes. I decided the time was right and opened them. Nothing had changed, though I hadn’t expected anything to. I stretched my hand out and rested it on the table…and then through the table.

“Holy shit!” Mary had physically jumped from the surprise. I felt my cheeks grow hot and wondered how to be solid again. I took my hand out of the table and tried to set it on top of it, thinking about other things: trees, wind, Mary, Karl…

I felt the solidity beneath my fingers and let out a breath. Mary’s eyes were wide in amusement, but it didn’t seem to be such a big deal to either of us. My family had never been normal, so why should I be? Then again, this wasn’t the usual type of abnormal.

“Have you always been able to do that?” she asked. I suppose nothing phases her much after the initial shock of something wears off. I couldn’t honestly answer her question with a yes or no; I had first done it yesterday, and, try as I might, I could scrounge up no recollection of ever having done it in the past. I shrugged my shoulders and she nodded. I glanced in her eyes and noticed that something was up. Her eyes had a cautious feeling emitting from them. It was as if she was seeing some potential danger in me; somehow, I thought that it was something behind me instead.

I turned around to see a young man in dressed in black boots, dark pants that looked rough to the touch, and a white cloak draped over his bare shoulders. He looked to be in his mid-twenties, maybe more towards the early-twenties than the late-twenties. His chest was tan and he seemed intrigued by…me? He was staring at me with his….whoa….orange eyes? That wasn’t normal.

Look who’s talking about normal…

I probably shouldn’t have been surprised. First, I pass through solid objects at will; then, a mysterious man with a traveler look appears in Mary’s kitchen and stares at me. Ladies and gentlemen, let the freak show begin! Now selling tickets to see the Disappearing Boy!

My daydream ended when Mary tapped me on the shoulder, wearing a questioning look that probably had burned itself into my visual memory by now. The man I had been staring at so intensely was gone, though I wasn’t sure whether I was happy to have the stranger gone or sad to not have asked him any of the questions pulsing through my mind.

“Mary, did you see the man?” It sounded like the most specific question imaginable…in my mind. “The man with orange eyes?” She nodded blankly, staring ahead with a more or less focused look on her face.

“I think I was just hallucinating. He blinked in and blinked out, nothing lengthy about his stay in at all.” She knew it wasn’t a hallucination, but it was no use trying to push the issue. It was nearing noon and I suddenly felt butterflies ravage through my stomach.

The telephone rang and Mary picked it up casually. I could tell after about two seconds who it was. Mary had the cordless pinned comfortably between her ear and her shoulder and her eyes shifted to a simple black vase set in the middle of the table; I immediately seized the vase as she scowled with a look of such hatred that it scared me a little. She stood quickly and headed to her bedroom, but not before giving me a big smile and a large bow kinda gesture as she closed the door and the chaos began.

I think Karl called Mary just to upset her. I had no idea what they were talking about, and I didn’t honestly feel the need to listen in on the other phone. Finally, I decided to rest my head upon the table and get a little rest. That was the appropriately timed moment for Mary to scream into the phone and chunk…oh, I don’t know…a pair of heels or something…at the door. I almost laughed when I saw the wood on my side of her bedroom door start to splinter from the thrown object’s assault.

“Screw sleep, I have to talk to Karl before Mary decides to take a wrecking ball to her house,” I said to myself quietly. A few very long minutes later, Mary emerged from her bedroom as calm as ever. She smiled at me and placed the phone down on the table.

Yikes. The phone. It looks like she bit it in half or took a blowtorch to it or something. I doubted the phone’s reusability after that call. I could do nothing but smile. The close second action was for me to cry, but I held out; the smile won, fair and square.

“One day, your mother’s going to come over here and prove to you that she’s not just joking about all those Italian curses she’s been putting on you for the past year,” I quipped.

“It’s nice to see you still have a sense of humor. I’m guessing it’d be awfuly hard to keep that sense of humor if you didn’t have a head.” Ouch. If this is my best friend, then maybe I shouldn’t go to Karl…ever. Speaking of him, maybe I should get it over with now. That way, I’ll have almost an entire rest of the day to sulk.

“I need a ride,” I said.

“Where to?” Mary asked.

“A pet shop.”

After much protest from Mary, she dropped me off at my car, still faithfully parked at the pet shop, and went back home after promising that she wouldn’t go and kill Karl before I had a chance to talk to him. She called me a hippie.

My car was parked in the exact wrong parking space; as soon as I got in and had cranked it up, the passenger’s side door opened and in popped Kyle. I guess you can see out of glass windows pretty well. I should have parked my car elsewhere when I was in that hysterical emotional state last night…

“So, ummm….good morning!” He was bright, and cheery, and smiley. For that moment, I loathed him…then I came to my senses.

“Mmm,” I responded.

“Umm…where ya going?”

“Mmm,” I responded. He tilted his head.

“Huh?” I looked at him and realized he had asked me a question which could not be answered by a simple ‘Mmm’.

“Oh, sorry. I meant…well…I’m going to my apartment.” Enter massive tension. Kyle looked uneasy and stared forward.

“Mmm,” he replied. I smiled…then I giggled. He looked at me with a grin and I felt defeated at my own game. It could be worse: he could be protesting. So, I backed up the car and headed towards my apartment with no real game plan whatsoever. I tried thinking about it, but my brain seemed dead at the moment. Maybe it was sipping a Cosmo on some beach in Tahiti…lucky bastard.

And, just my luck, I was there: home, sweet Hell. I took a deep breath in…..and let it out. I looked to Kyle, and he nodded back. It was time. We exited the vehicle and he followed me up the stairs to our apartment. I had my key out and was ready to meet my fate and see what was behind door number 206. My brain returned from Tahiti, and I turned to Kyle.

“Umm, Kyle. I think you should wait outside while we talk…” He smiled and nodded. I didn’t need to explain anymore to him; he probably had no desire to be caught between our problems. “I won’t be too long, okay? I’ll try to make it out as quickly as possible.”

“Good luck, Sheldon,” Kyle said, giving me a slight ruffling of the hair. He made me feel like a 10 year old, I swear. He was already like half a foot taller than me…ugh…I’m pathetic…and short.

I inserted my key into the lock, and in a few seconds I was standing in my apartment again. I closed the door gently behind me and it closed with a small click. It’s a good thing Mary had been slipping me pills with my morning coffee, otherwise the cat hair would have made my throat close up in a second. She was pretty good about slipping medicine in my drinks when she knew I’d forget to take them. She said she had to keep her options open if she wanted to be a nurse…or a rapist…or an assassin.

“Shel?” called a gruff voice from the bedroom. Karl…

“Y-yeah?” I called back weakly. He dashed out of the room to meet me. He looked the same as always…nothing had changed.

“I’ve been worried sick about you,” he said. I wasn’t sure I could believe that.

“You’ve been making Mary throw things.” He scowled and I instantly shook.

“She has quite a mouth on her, doesn’t she?” he asked. I assumed it was rhetorical. “Anyway, the other night, look…it was a big mistake.” Wow, he actually admitted he was wrong? Stop, rewind, play…..and stop again. He did! Miracles are real! YAY SANTA!

“I wanted to say that I’m sorry. It was a one-time mistake and it won’t happen again.” He smiled, and I remembered him being sweet…it seemed so long ago.

“I…uh….yeah…” I was stunned and speechless. Whatever battle was going on, I had lost. Karl had won…

I opened the door and saw Kyle sitting there, staring at the cars passing by on the semi-busy streets. I closed the door again quietly and turned to Karl.

“Karl…I think…I accept your apology.” He raised his eyebrows and smiled, a satisfactory smile that stated he won, and he’d hold it over me forever. I had been cheated on, only to come back to Karl and assume a position of less power than I had originally. It was as if I had been cheated on again: I had screwed myself. “But I had to get my things…” I began.

“You can pick them up later,” he replied.

“…And I have to drive my friend home.” If it was fury in his eyes, I could not tell, for it passed quickly. He smiled and pointed to the door.

“Go. But be home in an hour…we have a lot of…”making up” to do.” His grin bordered on sinister, but I couldn’t let it get to me. I dashed outside and frantically tried to lock the door. I didn’t want to be late. Kyle approached me, possibly in fear of me crying all over him again. I turned to him, the door finally being locked, and smiled.

“I’ll take you back to work now.” He looked at me confusedly.

“Umm…oh…okay.” I grabbed his wrist and dragged him behind me quickly. He sort of laughed and I stopped to give him a mean look. “Ya know, if you want to get rid of me this fast, you can just tell me to walk. It isn’t that far away.” My heart had just broken in two.

“No! I don’t want you to leave. Karl expects me back in an hour, and I don’t want to be late. I still have my things to pick up from Mary’s house and you have to get back to work and…I don’t want you to go. I mean….we’ll see each other around, right?” I smiled at him pathetically. My smile, filled with hope, was returned with one filled with sadness.

“Yeah…sure. I’ll be working. You know where to find me.” He suddenly picked me up in his arms and dashed to the car. He opened the door and thrust me into the driver’s seat, leaving me a bit dizzy. “I figured carrying you would make up for the time you lost chatting with me.” I smiled. As soon as he shut his door, I made haste to the pet shop.

“So…you got back together?” he asked cautiously. I smiled nervously and began to blush.

“Umm…yes. He apologized and promised he’d never do it again and…” It was then that Kyle held up his hand and shook his head. “What?”

“Nothing…I hope everything works out.” I sighed. We finally made it to the shop and we said our ‘Goodbye’s and such quickly. Mary was probably gonna be mad when she found out…oh well.

I’ll spare the details. She was mad, I got my stuff quickly as I could, she lectured me a bit about my happiness and my wellbeing, and I replied with a lot of ‘Mmm’s. I returned to the apartment as soon as I could, and I was in the living room with two minutes to spare.

“You’re back,” Karl said.

“Yup…” I replied, still trying to catch my breath and get a grip on things. Karl looked at Kyle’s cage with a look of disgust or something.

“Your rat still here?” he asked. I frowned.

“Yes, she’s still here. She’s a hamster….” Karl frowned right back.

“Hmph.” That was that, I think. He went into the kitchen and handed me a class of Coke. “Thought you might be thirsty.” I smiled at him, wondering how he still had a considerate bone left in his body. I took the glass and gulped it down quickly. Karl smiled back at me and ran his hand through my hair. I just smiled and slowly felt sleep begin to grip me, only this sleep felt more urgent than usual. I stood up to make my way to the bed, but I lost my balance and fell, fell…fell into a deep, dark sleep.

I’ve never had a dreamless sleep before in my life, or at least not one so strange. I finally began stirring, wondering when I had woken up, or if I had woken up at all since the time I went to sleep on my eleventh birthday. I had. I had woken up this morning, and I had woken up now, except the circumstances had changed.

Panic, fear, pain…my body ran from one emotion to another..and then back through them all again. My wrists were secured to posts, my ankles bound together. Worthlessness, stupidity…traits that describe me. It was still so dark, and the room was spinning, spinning, like a rebel dreidle without a cause. A body in the dark, a new subject: Karl.

He crawled onto me, his naked body against my quivering, naked…naked? My clothes…where were they? He kissed me ravishingly, biting my lips and drawing a bit of blood with an exceptionally fearful kiss. On the bedside table was…red, spinning…digital clock…numbers…a tube and a small packet. Horror seeped from every pore of my body, every pore which he fed off of. As soon as my throat stopped being useless and numb, I screamed, a scream which was quickly stifled from a blow to the head. Screaming equals pain. Pain equals bad. Logic still works, but it didn’t explain any of this.

“Karl, what is going on!?” I yelled out. He smiled his sinister smile, his sickening grin…what had I done?

“I made a promise, and I won’t cheat on you…but, you see, I have needs, and if they can’t get taken care of by anyone, then you’re going to have to fulfill them.” I tried to yell again, but his tongue launched down my throat, causing me to choke on coughing spasms. He ripped open the little packet and wrapped his thick cock in rubber. This was it, this was what I had been dreading…it was a few things I hadn’t expected. It was on that night that he ripped my virginity from me, taking it by force. It wasn’t gentle, and I remember crying as I saw my own blood stain the once white sheets of our bed.

It wasn’t sleep, it was unconsciousness. It had taken hold of me as the pain became too much to handle, but every memory stuck in my brain as if it was pinned their by a thousand tiny needles. He clung to me, looking almost like someone who didn’t rape me last night. My body ached, inside and out, and I wanted nothing more than to leave him at that moment…

But what then? If I leave him, I’ll only end up coming back, and he’d probably punish me. Could what happened last night be the surface of the pain he’d cause me if I left? Could it be the beginning of my end. Speaking of ends, it hurts…a lot. My wrists were bloody and raw, as was mostly anything between my waist and knees. I felt fluids stained on my body: blood, semen, sweat, all of them mixed in with tears. I was still naked, and so was he. I didn’t look at him, and I wouldn’t ever want to see that face again, anyway.

What would they think of me? It was a different thought that poked its way to the surface. Would my best friend since I can remember reject me because I hadn’t taken her advice? Would she despise me for being a hopeful romantic that believes in the power of love and change? Would she hate me because I had crawled back to the one that had wronged me, then apologized?

My lips were sore. I could probably have put a piercing in from where Karl had bitten them last night. That was it. The night I had lost purity, the night I became taken. The night he ripped me apart. I tried to get up, but my wrists were still bound to the bedposts.

“Oh, no way…” I muttered under my breath. I closed my eyes, and I wished for nothing more at that moment than to be free from this prison he had set me in…or that I had walked into…which was it?

At that moment, my wrists slipped out of their bonds. I wanted to rub them, to make them circulate faster, but I didn’t want to feel the pain. They were numb for whatever reasons, but it wouldn’t last long. I looked back at the handcuffs and noticed that they were still locked, both of them. I forgot about that! It could be a defense mechanism if I could control it better. Still, the question as to what ‘it’ was lurked in the background. If I knew what it was, would I still want it?

I got out of bed gently and walked to the shower, well aware of the intense pains exploding all over my body. I turned on the water, hot. If anything could get rid of the lingering feeling of filth mucking up my body, boiling showers could. I don’t remember how long I stood underneath that stream of water, but I know I felt a lot better when I got out. Karl didn’t have work today, which meant he was sleeping in. I dried off and dressed myself as quickly and quietly as I could. I grabbed my keys and my cell phone before dashing out the door. Rather, through the door. It didn’t surprise me that much, but I didn’t really want to go through the door. It didn’t matter as long as nobody saw. I walked down the stairs and through the car door. I finally settled down and controlled it so I could actually drive.

Now, where to drive? Mary’s house? No…it isn’t the right time. Mom and dad? Oy gevalt! The thought filled me with dread. Going there would be a death wish for life outside of my old bedroom. I could go to the FroMo, but I wasn’t in the mood for coffee…not alone, at least. There was one person I could go to, though. My heart sank at the thought, but it was my only hope of sanity.

I arrived at the pet shop and noticed that nobody seemed to be out around town today. Oh, well. I stepped through the car door and sighed heavily. What is wrong with me? I walked towards the door to the pet shop and noticed that no customers were inside and Kyle was facing the other way, stocking one of the walls of shelves. I didn’t think twice before walking straight into the door. This time, however, my nose smushed up against the glass as I banged right into the solid door. The shock of it caused me to land on the ground with a deep thud. Then, for the third time in less than twenty-four hours, I passed out. I think I felt some blood….

The world I woke up in was nothing like the world I fell asleep in. It was night, or something as dark as it. I sat up and looked around. There was a giant tree in the center of the area I was in, the grass was green, and the area, the ‘island’ I was on, was floating in the abyss. I crawled to the edge of the island and looked down, seeing nothing. I quickly scooted away from the edge, suddenly afraid of falling into nothingness. I turned back to the tree and looked up. It seemed to be a normal tree from where I was on the ground, but I decided that there must be something different about it. And so there was!

I stood up and walked over to it, wondering where I was and why I was where I was. Though the tree seemed normal from a distance, I could see clearly that the bark was missing several chunks. I lazily extended my fingers to touch the missing chunks, but I drew my hand back as soon as my fingertips brushed against the cold, smooth tree. It was almost like touch crystal.

I touched the spot again, this time keeping my hand to the bark. When I stroked my fingers against it, I could feel the etchings of an unfamiliar language pressed into the area. I wrapped my fingers around the piece of bark beside the empty spot and pulled gently at it. The bark tore from the tree and immediately changed color and shape. It was now a perfectly clear crystal, and more writings had been hidden under it.

“What does it mean?” I asked to the empty island. I pulled away at more of the bark, laying the crystals down in a pile at my feet. Soon, the entire bottom of the tree was stripped and my fingers were tired. I studied the writing on the tree, and wondered what each symbol could mean. After a while, I heard voices in my head as I stared hard at the tree. What was it trying to say?

‘What’s your secret, tree?’ I thought. I looked at this particular character and heard a word: ‘wake’. Was that the meaning? Wake? Was that what the symbol meant? I heard the voice again, but this time it was stronger. Wake…please. Was the one carved letter an entire sentence? The pleads became louder, and more personal.

‘Sheldon, wake up…’ they sobbed. ‘Sheldon, open your eyes…’.

My name…

I had forgotten what my name was, but it’s…

“SHELDON!” My eyes fluttered open. The hospital room was painted with cool colors and everything smelled…clean…hygienic. “You’re alive!” I turned my head and felt like dying. Kyle.

“Kyle…” He looked like hell. His face was red and he was jittery all over. Seeing him in this state started to get me worked up to a full blown anxiety attack in no time. A young, heavyset black nurse walked into the room and tried to calm me down, which eventually worked. She gave me a pill, which I set aside. I didn’t want any medication in me without every single known bit of information about it in front of my face first. Kyle looked grave, still jittery and in the middle of a panic attack of his own. Rwanda, the nurse, placed one hand on his shoulder with a comforting, gentle touch…then she slapped him in the face with her other hand.

“Child, get a hold of yourself!” she yelled at him. He seemed to be more calm after that, though maybe it was because she left the room. He let out a deep, shuddering breath and I wanted to ask him something…anything! It was Kyle that took the first action, however. He got out of his chair and hugged me tightly. I snapped.

It was an accident, you have to understand. One of the last times I had been touched in recent memory by a guy had been when I was raped by Karl. I don’t know how it happened, but I know that it wasn’t what I wanted to happen. I panicked. Everything from that night replayed in my mind, all in slow motion. I felt it all again, the physical, the emotional. I sucked in air sharply and squeezed my eyes closed with all of my might. I felt Kyle no longer, but it was when I opened my eyes that I found out why.

Somehow, by magic or miracle, or something possibly stranger than the two, Kyle had been thrown back from me to the floor. He looked up, partly in awe, partly in shock, and partly in fear. Tears slipped through my eyes, burning them intensely. My arms were now even more raw than before, and anything below my belt felt as though it had been sliced open, doused with salt, then set on fire. Blood dripped from my lips down my face, and everything was happening right in front of Kyle.

“NURSE!” he yelled. “NURSE RWANDA!!!!” The nurse was in here on the double and her eyes widened upon looking at me.

“Good gracious! DOCTOR!” she called. I took one more painful glance at Kyle before drifting into unconsciousness, people screaming all around me.

I woke up, once again, on the island in the abyss. “What is this place?” I wondered aloud. Nobody responded. I got up and walked back to the tree, the pile of crystals still on the ground beside it. I noticed that two of the characters had been lit up out of all that writing on the tree. I wondered how they could glow this way, but I knew that there could be thousands of reasons for their brightness. I ran my fingers over the first one and I felt through the tree as I touched it. I pulled my hand back and felt it. It was solid again.

I touched the other mark and saw a veil of energy push off from me in my mind. The image reminded me of what I had done to Kyle before in the hospital room. It was then that I was hit by a certain thought:

What if this tree holds my powers? What if each of these symbols is an ability, and the ones I can do are lit up? That would mean that this island is in my mind, right? Or maybe this power is held separate from the body, like a satellite. But how would I have made it here if that was the case?

I felt something inside my body pull, and I looked up. Through the empty space, I saw another island higher above mine. How can I get there? Does it have more powers in a tree? It doesn’t matter, does it? I sat down against the base of the tree and felt another tug from inside me. What’s happening?

The outside world…

I opened my eyes….

Kyle was asleep in the chair, and it was dark outside. I had bandages on various parts of my body and I had the need to ask questions. They’d have to wait if it was nighttime. I tried to sit up, but my body felt weak and cramped. I heard stirring beside me, and I turned again to Kyle.

“Hey…” he said softly. He raised his head sleepily and smiled at me. I tried to return it, but I don’t know if I was successful at the task or not. “You’re awake.” I nodded slowly and closed my eyes.

“You should go home and sleep,” I said. He was staring at me; I knew it without even opening my eyes. I felt so awkward around him that part of me wanted to cry. This guy that I’ve known for like two days was so sweet to me, and here I was, causing him so much trouble. “You don’t have to stay with me, I’ll be fine,” I tried to reassure him. I opened my eyes, and the look he gave me told me he didn’t buy it at all. Part of me was relieved.

“I’m not leaving until you’re better,” he said. I nodded and lay back down, letting my tired body rest for the night.
When I woke up in the morning, Kyle was sleeping in the chair beside me. He looked so cute and childlike as he lay sleeping. It made me smile. He woke up when the doctor came in and went outside in the hall to give us privacy. The doctor was middle-aged, white, and very tired looking. It must be such an exhausting job for them to take care of us.

“Good morning, Sheldon. I hope you slept well.” I nodded and he smiled. “Good. Now, it seems you blacked out yesterday due to a blow to the head. Do you remember what happened?” I sighed.

“Well, I walked into a door, and I ended up on the sidewalk…” He chuckled a little, and I suddenly felt stupid.

“Yes, that would explain it. We put a few stitches in your head when you got here.” His face suddenly turned grave. “Yesterday, when I examined your body, I noticed that it has been battered recently, and there are marks that seem to point to sexual abuse.” The color flushed from my face and I felt an odd chill in the room. “It’s your right to not say anything, but I would suggest seeking help of somekind. I wouldn’t want to discharge you into abusive hands, you understand.” I nodded slowly and felt my cheeks warm up.

“T-Thank you, d-d-doctor…” I stuttered out. He smiled and nodded before leaving the room. Kyle squeezed past the doctor and made his way into the room with me. His face carried an anxious smile along his lips and he seemed nervous again.

“Have you been discharged?” I wasn’t exactly sure.

“I…I think so…” I responded, going over the conversation with the doctor in my mind again. “Yeah, I think I am.” Kyle smiled and sat down. He had something to say, and I had to let him speak.

“You’re going to stay with me until you get all better.” I started to protest, but he gently raised his hand and I stopped speaking. “You’re in worse condition than you’ve let on, and I want to help. At least I’ll know you’re safe this way.” I blushed and wondered why he was so concerned. Did he know what happened with me and Karl? Had he seen my naked body and all of its batterments? I finally decided that if it would help soothe his mind, I would stay with Kyle.

“Alright.” He practically beamed when I said it. What is the emotion born from the union of Misery and Happiness? Whatever it is, I feel it. It’s this tension around me, this feeling that governs everything about my life. Happiness and Misery, hand in hand, giving me the despair that allows for them to give me hope to see it through.

Kyle helped me get dressed in some clothes he had brought for me and noticed the marks, scars, bruises, and scabs that I had so desperately tried to hide from him. When he saw them, he sat down on the bed and looked up at me sadly, his face asking me questions had already known the answer to. His looks didn’t ask ‘What?’, but rather ‘Why?’. I just looked down at the floor and dressed myself quickly, ignoring the pain seeping from every pore of my body. He gently picked me up in his arms and carried me out of the hospital to his car.

The ride to Kyle’s place was quiet and uneventful, to say the least. I felt odd wearing the clothes that were slightly large on my small frame, and I assumed that they belonged to Kyle. Kyle’s apartment building was just as standard as any of the downtown buildings, but it was nice enough. He parked and carried me up the stairs to his place.

Kyle’s apartment was plain. He had no paintings on the wall, no pictures anywhere that I could see, and there was only a couch, a recliner, and a TV in the living room, as well as an oak coffee table. He set me on the couch and a few pangs shot through my body from my sore areas. Kyle took a seat next to me on the couch and I stared at him…