Stark Grey

Stark Grey

      Gravity

Two years ago:

Dunney takes me to a friend in a shady apartment building with and that strange sensation of “I’m going to catch something here” as I see more degradation inside his friend’s apartment . Moldy walls, scattered miscellaneous garbage on every table or counter top, tangled wires and cable feeding into large CPU towers humming and whining, five computer monitors lined on a desk covered with more garbage and a funky cat smell with no cat or from what I can see.

I hand every paper I could find containing my medical records, birth certificate, foster care papers and anything that has my name printed on it to Dunney’s sketchy friend sitting in a rolling office chair. The papers are not a very large bundle making me feel self-conscious about my existence.

“Soon, it’ll be like the old you never existed.” The guy says unknowingly kicking my insecurity.  “Right now is the best time to choose an awesome name. Like: Lex, Luke, Aries, Debbie depending on your preference.”

“I’ll keep my name.” I reply.

“Grey?” He shrugs his shoulders. “Your choice buddy. No last name?”

“Nope.”

“Going that Cher route? “

“Hey Herman? Where is Peppers? “Dunney asks looking around the garbage clustered living room.

“Uh…I haven’t seen her in a while, but there that dreadful stench in the kitchen.” Dunney’s friend replies. The poor thing probably died between the walls. Looking this place, it must have been suicide or the cat found a rat larger than itself.

“When I’m done kid, you’ll be legally eighteen. According to you records. I set up a fake ID, birth certificate, etcetera, etcetera. But , if someone wanted to find your files, I mean really want to. They could. They would just need something that linked you to your past, like where you live, people that knew you. That kind of stuff.” Dunney’s friend tells me.

“I don’t think I would be getting  myself in trouble with the government anytime soon, so that should be easy.” I reply.

“Gary Webb didn’t think so and look what happened to him?” I gape at him.

“Who?”

“Kid…you better not get me caught.” Dunney’s friend replies. I studied him quickly. Scruffy beard, bushy brows, tired red eyes, dirty T-shirt with multiple stains in several colors all over, scrawny like myself. Yeah, He wouldn’t survive prison let alone survive his living habits.

“I’ll do my best not to end up on America’s Most Wanted.” I say to him but it doesn’t help as he bites his lip.

“Just in case I got a couple of gallons of gasoline in the restroom if anybody comes snooping around.”

“You live in an apartment building.”

“Yeah, six stories down- that’s why my fire exit in unblocked- twenty-five cameras  in a four block radius – which the average person is photographed around two hundred times a day, two miles from the nearest police station, and nine blocks from the nearest police safe house where they monitor citizens in cafes, restaurants capturing cell phone and computer data. Do you even know all the propaganda we are feed through Fox news?”

“Herman, you don’t want to scare the kid?” Dunney says standing beside me.

“No, just enlightening him.” Herman replies. “Now how are we going to do the payment?”

“Payment? You still owe me!” Dunney raises his voice point a finger at Herman very aggressively making him finch.

“That was for the amount of five thousand. You’re missing another two grand and that’s with a discount. I’m doing this at cost man.” Herman replies holding himself very nervously. “Kid, this is nothing against you and I am completely sorry for what happened to you, but I have to place carbon files in agencies, hack into other agencies placing data and erasing my infiltration, Fake Ids, birth certificates, medical records, social security number. All of this has to be fabricated and sent. It’s a lot of work and money is needed to do this right.” He falls back in his chair. “I got crap piled on. I got to flash over three hundred phone for a guy in Chinatown in the next five days or he’ll go to another seller.” He points to two totes over filled with several different models of smart phones and flip phones.

“Is it hard to flash a phone?” I ask.

“No, the software does most of the work and I got three computers to do it, but I got other things to do.”

“What if I help you with the phones. It’s not hard to do and you can continue with your other jobs.” I tell him and he looks stern into my eyes while he is sits still as a statue.

“You do that and we have a deal on your new identity! Come here tomorrow bright and early.” A sudden sense of relief carries off the weight of worry. “Oh, and bring an open mind. I have to teach you how to stay off the grid and survive in a cyber-world.” Herman says them turns back in his chair typing on his computer staring at five monitors.

Dunney pats my back and gives me a grin. “I better get you home then. It’s late.” He tells me.

We exist the building and the freezing air pierces my skin and chills my insides. Standing on the sidewalk I stare at the starry night sky seeing it clearly. The Street is dark, no lights in the buildings, street lamps  or businesses. The full white bright moon beams the sun’s reflection in its cool glow. For some reason it’s like I’m seeing it for the first time. Absorbing the nightly abeyance feeling something I can’t describe. I just know: I like the night.

*****

Present day

The monster’s throat lowly rattles through his shallow breathing as he growls like a hungry lion creeping closer. I step back feeling hope and will leaving me in the dark stranded and alone. My shoulder ripped through to the bone by sharp teeth with the pain stained on my nerves. Parts of my face broken and swollen, my hand stabbed, muscles bruised and torn crying for it to end. My body betrays me as it wants to calls it quits, but the anger stays giving a flicker of will. I ball a fist with my stabbed hand and strike fast, but not fast enough as the monster catches my punch in the palm of his claws and squeezes till the bones are pressed against each other. They crack and crumble making me fall to my knees crying out trying to pull my hand back. The flicker dies in the unforgiving cold wind.

A bright blue light hits between of creating a balled explosion blinding me. All I see is white. All I hear is a high pitch ringing deafening everything else. I can’t figure out if I’m alive or dead as I look into a colorless void.

Things start to slowly return. The white becomes grey, the ringing is replaced by low muffles.  I can see a bit as blurred double vision align. On the ground looking at scattered small flames burns, cracks and billows in the soft wind where the light struck. Beyond that, the monster crawls on his hands trying to flee. It casts a ghostly shriek then it bursts into black dust as another blue light strikes creating a green flame with a black blob screaming and flailing inside burning into nothing but embers.

On the ground I look forward finding myself staring at four navy blue legs and glass covers over the hooves standing a few feet away. I pick my head weakly peering at the blue pony with its horn glowing an azure flame and its large wings spread out. Another alicorn.

“I will vanquish you and your ilk darkling!” The alicorn says lowering her horn at me. I can’t speak or move. I can barely keep my eyes open let alone defend myself. Why does everyone want me dead?

Her horn grows incredibly bright as I reach for her trying to speak. To plead, but nothing comes out.

“NOOOOO!” I hear cried out from a distance. Electric streams surge around us reaching shortly to the sky. The alicorn eyes widen and the light vanishes in her surprise as she ganders on the electrified air then to the calling sky. “Leave him alone!” Stark shouts.

A hollow roar vibrates everything around us then thunder cracks blasting the ground before me. There, Stark stands firm shielding me. The dark blue alicorn cocks her head back.

“An alicorn?” She says puzzled and distraught.

I struggle push myself up on my hands and knees feeling the limbs wobble. I place a hand on Stark’s side and she turns to me seeing my condition. She moves her head under my hand brushing golden her mane with my black fingers.

“You’re hurt! Again!” She softly says.

“I could say that I have been through worse, but I could be lying.” I reply still finding time to jest. “How is the blue pegasus?”

“I saw you in trouble and had to leave. She said that she could hold those things off, so I couldn’t protest.” Stark replies.

“You are in alliance with this monster?” The other alicorn asks. Stark turns to her fast and shoots a burst of light at the alicorns feet. She doesn’t take it well as she looks absolutely livid.

“You call him a monster again and the next shot won’t be a warning one.” Stark threatens with multiple voices as she did in the underpass.

“So be it!” The alicorn says and her eyes turn into a pale light; her horn ignites in a azure flame. “You chose your fate.”

The ground below shakes and fissures cracks round us. The earth rises launching me up as Stark recovers in the air. She tries to fly to me but is struck by a blast on her back and falls. The raised mass rotates forward moving over me. I claw at the grass and begin to climb up with my feet slipping as I grow closer to the edge.  The mass is now completely upside down and starts to descend with the force of it pressing against me. I plant my feet up on the turn cluster of land and push myself off as the mass slams on the ground crumbling with an enormous boom. I head straight to the ground landing on my back sliding on the grass. I pick myself on my hands and knees looking every direction for Stark. My heart sinks, my mind go blank and the red filters through my vision as I see a pair of black wings covering her motionless body lying on the grass. I run to her as the other alicorn fires energy projectiles around me. Chucks of the ground shoot up feeling their faint touch brushing on my skin. I slide on my knees and shield Stark with my body waiting for any other attacks to hit, but they miss with them erupting around me with more dirt falling over me like a brief shower.

Looking down at Stark motionless crumbles every sudden hope and warm emotions into the dark where I was before. I move my hand under her head and lift it to me feeling for her faint breath on my cheek, her heart slowly beating.

“Princess Luna! Please stop!” Twilight shouts entering the field with half of her body infected and warped like the others. One solid red eye, her muzzle narrow, a sunken in cheek opposite from her round one and branches of the organism taking root.

“Twilight! What happen to you?” The dark blue alicorn asks horrified at the site.

“They are not the enemy!” Twilight says to the alicorn.

I carefully place Stark on the ground combing her mane with my blacken hand. She continues to breathe and something in my head clicks; turning on the aggression and letting it over flow. “That’s not true!” I say to them as I stand up. They both look at me puzzled. “She just made me an enemy!”

They move so slow as if time is no longer in its constant motion. I charge at the alicorn while she tries to fly back sluggishly, but I grab at her neck and squeeze. I bring her head close to mine, starring at her frightened sapphire eyes as she struggles to gasp for the slightest air. The alicorn’s wings flap with futility while her hoover scratching at my arm as I raise her from the ground.

“Stop it!” Twilight shouts, but I’m too far gone. I throw the alicorn at a large tree, quickly breaking through the trunk with an immense force. The tree crashes on the ground hard sending a small tremor through it.

I start to walk towards where I threw the alicorn until I’m confronted by the lavender unicorn blocking my path. Her horn illuminate with that violet glimmer, her eyes infuriated, her stance set firm.

“Out of my way!” I tell her in a different voice.

“No! I can’t let you hurt Princess Luna!” She replies with a crack in her voice.

“I don’t want to hurt you, but if you hinder me. You will be.”

“I know that this isn’t you! That thing has control, so please! If you can hear me, stop!” She pleads scared with tears flowing from her eyes.

“If I wasn’t in control, you would already be dead!” I reply. She cocks her head back with wide eyes.  I walk pass her as she stares where I was. She trembles and cries silently, frozen by fear.

“What about your friend?” Twilight asks. I turn to back and meet her gaze. “I’m guessing that she wouldn’t what to see you like this?” I look at where Stark is laying knowing that she wouldn’t. More importantly, I don’t want her to see me as I am now. The willingness to kill seems like an easy border to cross before as the hate and angry possessed me.

I walk back to Stark trying to wash away the negative emotions but they became a more of a physical presence dwelling within the hungry pit. The pit is no longer my past, but what I want to repress. It houses my demons ready to rip me apart. For Stark’s sake; I should burry them alive.

Standing over her looking down onto my little Stark unconscious on the ground.  It seems as if this is the only rest she has had in a while. I crouch down and stroke her mane with my bandaged hand feeling the thick strands stream between my fingers. Her golden eyes slowly open glimmering in the little light around us. She closes them then starts to tremble violently.

“Stark! What’s wrong!?” I shout panicking as she opens her eyes; they shine a bright white light and her horn flames a neon yellow. I grab her at the shoulders, but she thrashes about screaming in pain.

“What’s going on?” Twilight asks standing behind me.

“I don’t know!?” I shout back.

Stark rolls on her side then weakly stands looking confused and dazed. “Stay back! I can’t control it!” She cries out.

A strong pale aurora courses around Stark growing stronger every moment.

“Stark!” I call out. She looks at me with those illuminist eyes with tears flowing as her lips quiver.

“I’m scared!” She says to me. A large bright orb envelopes her entire body as she spreads her wings. The warmth of the light lies on the skin like the heat from a raging fire. I reach for it the orb felling it burn my flesh. It vanishes leaving behind a large chard crater and small glowing spheres drifting downward like snowflake slowed by time.

I fall to my knees slumping over, lost in the thought that she’s gone. I don’t know if she teleported or if she’s…

A thunderous boom cracks in the air as the roars of high speed flight deafens the sky. I look up at the dark clouds shielding the night.  The clouds open up creating a ring showing the pale moon beaming the sun’s reflection down. The night has always been there for me to hide, for me to live and for my despair.

A dark figure descends at an incredible speed then crashes directly in front of me. The infuriated dark blue alicorn leers at me with illuminate cobalt eyes discharging a flowing energy. She takes a stance in the depression that she made.  Her wings spread forward hiding her features in the dark. I get off of my knees slowly gaping back at the alicorn with a strong pugnacity.

“Princess Luna! Please stop!  He’s not an enemy!” Twilight shouts in my defense.  The alicorn doesn’t even glance at her, just stays focused on me. I take a breath and everything else is hushed with a sudden qualm setting in.

Something starts to pull my stomach upward making me feel lighter; my feet come off the ground and I stare at the alicorn. If I had a mouth right now, I’d be smiling.

“Do it.” I whisper.

“No, don’t!” The unicorn pleads for reason that I can’t fathom.

“Do it or I’ll kill everyone!” I threaten knowing how she would react.

I am launched off the ground with the wind flowing harshly over my face as the dark blue alicorn flies directly in front of me, guiding me as we enter the clouds. My lungs can’t get air and the gravitational force pulls my limbs as the blood rushes down leaving me lightheaded. We don’t take our eyes off of each other for a single moment.

We stop hovering over the cloud line with a sea of stars surrounding us and the beautiful pale moon behind the alicorn pulling my attention away. The alicorn’s mane sways in the wind shimmering like the stars overhead.

“This is where you end monster!” She says; though, for that moment. It was comforting.

Gravity set back in as I descend down gazing at me old friend disappears in the cumulus. I don’t struggle or flail needlessly in the air, I just fall.  This time, Stark is not here to save me.