HAX (Teen-Mature)

Now for an unnecessarily long explanation... HAX was started in mid august of last year, just a short introduction, then thought to have been just another unfinished plot before the end of september, where I picked it up again out of boredom, and eventually, couldn't stop writing. This continued until around January, where it pretty much stayed dead due to being at a tedious little spot about ninety pages in.

I will say, that this can be extremely graphic (especially if you have a vivid imagination), and has alot of language in it. Also, after repeated breaks inbetween chapters, I tended to change the plot slightly, so early things could contradict each other (slightly), which stops at around chapter seven.

I mainly just want to post this for people to read and so I could possibly get a little input on it, so that I can finish it up, so close, but so damn far

Edit: There are filters? Oh well, suppose it can't be helped. Just imagine what those blank words mean



From the darkness, two people rose, exhausted, gasping for air, a man riddled with bullets in his left arm, the woman relatively unscathed. The woman's chestnut hair fell to her back, her white shirt and denim jeans noticeably torn. The man was cloaked, a black trench coat covered his body, except for his face, covered with a metallic face mask, half shattered, showing his long black hair, one blue eye, several scrapes and cuts. Blood dripped from his mouth slightly, as he grasped his stomach with his hand, stopping the flow of blood.

Loosening his grip, the blood somehow stopped bleeding, his left arm as well was not bleeding. Astonished, the woman stared at him. “Just, who are you?” she asked, scared, yet mesmerized.

Looking back at the woman, he sighed a bit of relief. “So, you're not hurt... good... I managed to come in time, I was beginning to think it was too late...” he trailed off, looking around. Darkness, darkness, nothing but darkness surrounded them. Silence, compared to the previous firefight, was awkward. “I suppose... you're wondering what just happened? It's a long story, going further down the passage of time than just a few months, even a few years.”

“I don't think we've got time to worry about, unless this is a dangerous place.” she replied, curious as to what angle this man was coming from.

“If you wish to know, just listen, and watch.”

Raising his right arm, his palm extended out, a small white orb shot from it, expanding, until it filled a space larger than a building. Spinning, it began to show images of a young boy, running through a forest, panting heavily, heading somewhere. “They can't harm us here, I owe it to you to explain the full story. I feel as though I owe it to anyone who has the time... I feel partially responsible... even though it wasn't my fault...”


~~~


"Damn, I'm so fricken' late!" the young boy kept repeating to himself, keeping an eye on his watch. 3:14 PM. He was running through the forest, his pocket clanging with the sound of metal. Running full speed, he had good reaction times to be moving in such a way that he didn't touch any of the plentiful trees around him. "Damnit all to hell, I'm fifteen minutes late!" he yelled aloud, his feet hitting solid stone. He was in a small clearing near a small ravine, the clear water flowing quickly opposite his direction.

Stepping foot on a small stone, he lost his footing, tripped, and fell to the ground. "Son of a *****, today just sucks! I take a nap, my alarm is reset because of an idiot hitting a power pole, and I have no ride to get to the fricken' court!" He slammed his right hand on the ground to prop himself up, but immediately fell back down... his hand sank into the ground. "What the ****?" he yelled, lifting his arm out of it. He couldn't keep his curiosity away, he peered into the hole... nothing. Pitch black. Keeping his eyes on the hole, he failed to notice the ground beneath his feet cracking. "Damn, what's with this hole, does it lead into a mine or something...?" he asked himself aloud. He stepped away for a moment, but stopped dead when his foot sank into the ground. "Son of a *****, today sucks."

The ground crumbled beneath his feet, he fell to his knees first, he pushed his hands against the ground, trying to claw his way from the hole, yet it didn't help, he was eventually engulfed in the darkness, as the hole widened enough to swallow a semi truck.


~~~


"That's you as a young teen?" the woman asked, watching on as the boy fell a long distance, and landed in a pit of sand. Struggling to get up, the child collapsed, somehow exhausted.

"Yes, that boy was me at one time. That was a confusing time for me... you wouldn't fully understand being a teenager, turning into a teen as the events transpired around us. My life was robbed from me with a gift..." the man trailed off, looking at the screen. The boy in the sand was motionless, but something near him was not. Something lit up slightly, scrolling numbers moved across the screen. As they did, something fell from the screen, as if the monitor was a window... a small metallic orb the size of a marble fell from it, and rolled towards the boy. It seemed to have a mind of it's own, as it rolled around rubble to go directly to the boy. Without slowing down, it plowed into his left eye, without leaving any marks. The boy grunted in pain, and twitched for a moment before going still again. On the monitor, everything went blank, except for two words blinking on the screen.

~~~

"Reality Compromised."





Chapter 1: What Can Be Done...


Struggling in the blackness that surrounded him, the young boy screamed, yet could not be heard. Thrashed, but could not be seen. As he began to lose all hope of escape from what he could not comprehend, he saw a bit of light, an opening in the blackness... a tunnel. Suddenly propelled, he landed feet first in it, and broke out into a run, close to tears from the fear of the darkness. For what could have been an eternal marathon, the boy ran, gaining no ground on the promise of the light, the sanctuary from the fear that grasps him tightly.

In a breakneck speed, the boy ran, slowly taking in the detail of the tunnel that surrounded him. Stone, engraved upon the walls which to the boy looked like random scratches, yet formed a pattern of some sort. Without a moment to think about it, the boy suddenly blurted out 'Not real, this can't be real!'

Pebbles began to assault the tunnel floor as the ceiling began to crumble away, revealing a chrome lining beyond the stone. Walls collapsed, giving way to the shining metal as well. The floor deteriorated to nothing, leaving the same look as the rest. Taking a glance back, he saw that with each step, the darkness threatened to catch up and engulf him once more. “Not... not real... can't be...” he kept repeating to himself, trying to stay just one step away from the impending blackness.

A thought struck his head, like a bolt of lightning had descended and given him truth. Looking back at the darkness behind him, and the light ahead, he slowed to a stop, witnessing the light come forth, and the darkness fall back, until he was between both, not at either end. “Going to one side, and not the other... balance is what I need...” the boy looked at either end, and leaned to a wall, relieved with his escape from the icy embrace of the unknown.

Feeling a sudden drowsiness, he slid to the floor, closing his eyes, before an ear shattering series of beeps forced his eyes awake. Shocked, he lept to his feet, and gazed around at his familiar surroundings, his bed, his television, the window leading to the sight of a small community...

“... Hell of a dream.” the boy muttered to himself, grabbing for a clean shirt off his dresser.

Dressed in a street fashion, denim jeans and a dark blue hooded sweatshirt, the boy walked out of his room and into the bathroom, heading straight to the mirror. Slowly going over how he looked, he straightened his short black hair from it's bed environment, and slapped some water in his face to feel better. Feeling slightly sick, he just wanted to cool down. His face slowly approached the mirror, as he looked back at his own blue eyes. He had black marks under his eyes, showing his lack of sleep. Still remembering that day a few weeks ago, where he had a dream which seemed to real, only to wake up on a couch in his own house. He seemed to suffer from some insomnia after that night of restless sleep, as well as blackened memory from that point on. Wasn't much of a change, but enough to be irritating when attempting to recollect a certain memory.

Even at that exact moment, he tried to remember what happened the day before he awoke on his couch. Nothing more than some sounds entered his thoughts, and blackness, literal blackness. The most he could remember was traveling to a basketball game to cheer for his friends, after that, a blank. Yet, he apparently was there, as his friends didn't questions his absence, he just assumed it was an uninteresting night with an boring game.

Looking away from his broken reflection, he traveled his way down to the living room of the house, where he was met with a cheery five year old boy donned in sports clothes and a hug. “G'morning Matt.” the boy told the child, giving him a hug back. “Ready for school today?” he asked, and the child pointed toward his backpack, which was slightly bulged out. “Wow, bet you can lift a car by now!” he joked, and the child shook his head, waving his blond hair around his neck.

“Nuh-uh, not yet... Jack, will you walk me to school? Mommy said you can if you want.” he asked his older brother, giving him a look that no person could say no to.

“Yeah, no problem, school for me doesn't start for a few more days. We'll leave after I snatch something from the kitchen, wait for me on the porch, alright little man?” Jack asked, replied with a nod and the scurry of little feet towards the front door. Smiling to himself, he quickly walked to his kitchen, opening each cabinet that had food, looking for a quick bite to eat. “Damnit, damnit, damnit...” he said as each door was opened, seeing no food that could be made without preparation beyond some peanut butter in a jar. “I want a damned pop tart...” he said aloud, looking through four more cabinets.”Yes!” he almost yelled, finding a box of pop tarts... that was empty. “... twisted sense of irony. Fine, I'll just go hungry. Son of a *****...” he muttered quietly, tossing the box to the trash, missing it by a good foot. “Already... geez...” he practically growled, striding over to the fallen trash, and picking it up bottom first. Lifting slightly, he felt a small weight inside. Picking it up a foot, something in a silvery package dropped from the box.

“Holy hell, what have we here? My mind must be asleep or somethin'...” he said to himself, picking up the package and opening it, seeing the pop tart within. Taking a bite into it, he savored the feeling of food sliding down his throat. “Alright, got a bite Matt! Be right there!” he called to his brother as he flipped the food in his hand, turning around and walking to the front door, shutting and locking it as he walked by.

“Ready?” Jack asked his brother, who merely nodded and took his hand. Walking off the porch and to the sidewalk, the elementary school where Matt went was partially seen down a few blocks of the suburban neighborhood, with Jack's high school further down the road. Ten minutes passed of relative silence, just siblings enjoying the company of one another. Walking by the entrance of the elementary school, Jack gave a final hug for the morning, giving some words of advice for the child's first day of school. “Be nice, and scope out the good kids, get good friends, if I catch you with some trouble makers, you'll have to deal with the full extent of Mom's cooking!” he half joked, giving a laugh to the nervous child. “Have a good day, I'll try to get to you before the bus. If I'm not here by three, take the bus home, and I'll meet you back there, yup?”

“Yup!” Matt replied happily, getting out of the hug and running into the building, giving only a single glance back as he passed the entrance's archway.

+~+~+~+

Blackness once again was the focus of the existence, the emptiness only broken by a vast lake, a tree at the center, dead. Raising from death itself, the boy rose from the ground, hands torn apart from the solid earth, skin blackened as he dug to live. Feeling the cool air, he gave a sigh of relief, and set his focus on the tree so far away, beyond the water's edge. Touching the water's edge gave him a shock, water colder than the arctic met his skin.

Slowly raising to his feet, he looked at the tree, twisted, sorrowful, broken for a single word to describe it. The water, cold, dark, blacker than the deepest trench. Dead as the tree, nothing stirred within the water, the only movement seen was the ripples of his fingers entering the water to feel it. Beginning to shiver, the boy brought his arms to his chest, trying to keep his upper body warm, flipping the hood of his sweatshirt over his head. So cold, yet no breath could be seen...

Seeing nowhere to go, the boy touched the water again, immediately drawing it back after being burnt with the cold temperatures, it was almost as if it were liquid gas, it were so cold. Taking a look, his hand was wet, red, and slightly frosted. He brought it up to his nose, no smell... licking it, he tasted water. Something impossible, water so cold that it could freeze other things, but not itself. “This isn't right... dreaming... I must be in a dream...” the boy muttered to himself, realizing what he was in. Yet, realizing it should be enough for any person to awake... yet he didn't. “This is insane... bizarre... feels so real...” he began off, shivering intensely. “Damnit... warm up... warm up... WARM UP!” he screamed to the blank sky.

“Damnit, I'm going to freeze if I don't get warm...” he told himself, forgetting that he was dreaming. “I need to find... find... what...” he trailed off, seeing a faint light above his head, growing in size, becoming brighter, warmer. He witnessed the water before him bubble with intense heat, boiling. Feeling his body burn to the core, he hid his head below his arms, suppressing his screams of pain. “Damn! Too hot! I'm burning alive!” he yelled in intense agony, immediately the orb began to shrink, the water settled down, and he began to cool down, eventually shivering with cold again.

“Damnit... this is torturous... what the hell is with this place...” he wondered aloud, looking at his charred skin, as he began to feel the icy grip of the air around him, conducting the cold quickly through the sweat he just had. “I don't want to die... I wanted to die peacefully... or in some memorable way... not in a place like this... not this... just... be normal...” he fell to his knees, feeling the strength being sapped from him as the cold tore into his lungs and numbed his body. Shivering rapidly, he could barely move from hypothermia setting in.

The last sight he had was of the black sky turning blue, the water turning clear, and the tree beginning to grow leaves...

+~+~+~+

Feeling a tap on his shoulder, Jack lept to his feet, shaking with fear. Looking around, he saw Matt, staring at him. “You didn't pick me up...” he told him in a depressed tone, looking at him. Taking a look around himself, Jack saw that he was in his own home, his living room. He sighed with relief, and wondered... what were these dreams?

+~+~+~+

“Jack, are you feeling good? You don't look that good...” Matt quietly asked his older brother, who was sitting on the couch in the dark living room, thinking to himself. Looking up, breaking his concentration of thoughts, he forced a smile.

“Yeah, I'm fine, just thinking about school in two days.” he told his younger brother. “You should get going, Mom's driving you to school today on the way to work, she's waiting in the car.” With a hug and a goodbye, Matt left Jack all alone in the house, nobody to give him comfort from his mental anguish. Lifting his legs to lay on the couch, Jack snatched the remote from the table beside the couch and turned on the television, flipping channels, finding nothing. Being close to the school year, not much was on at nine in the morning. Turning it off, he tossed the remote control to the floor, and closed his eyes. He unzipped his usual hooded sweatshirt, and put the hood over his head, giving him some comfort.

Ever since his last slip from reality, he was becoming more distant from everyone. He usually ignored his parents, tried to find reasons for his brother Matt to leave him alone, and never contacted his friends for the past two days, from the phone to the internet, he was oblivious to other people. During his sleep, he dreamed of nothing but floating in darkness. Not that he didn't have a dream, that was the dream itself. For eight solid hours, nothing but darkness. Try as he might, he couldn't force himself to move in the dream, and only when he was awoken did he move from that restless night's sleep. During times of rest during the day, he felt the same feeling of nothingness sweep over his entire being, a sort of extreme boredom, where no care came to him, no feeling at all entered his mind. He forced himself to stay awake from the fear of the unknown within his own mind.

Not sure of what to do, Jack simply stayed on the couch, keeping the windows shut, the curtains closed, almost no light entering the room he could compare to his mind. Letting his mind slip away, he knew where he was going, once again, to the blackness he could not understand, explain, or escape.

+~+~+~+

From the barren earth he arose once more, filthy, torn up, exhausted. As a corpse rises from the grave, the boy rose from his own reality to this perception of one. Gasping for air, he felt nothing enter his lungs, an impossibility. Reaching around, he slapped nothing but the cold, rocky ground, clutching his chest from the pain of no oxygen reaching his lungs, he fell flat, his only sight of the grey, flat surface of the area he was on. Glancing up, he saw the familiar blackness, dotted with bits of shining balls of light. Looking straight on, he witnessed a sight unlike anything he had seen.

His home, the blue planet. Vision going blurry, he crawled forward, amazed at where he was in his head, the feeling he had. Digging his fingers into the crusty soil below him, he wished for nothing more than a breath of fresh air. Vision fading to nothing, he felt a slight gust of wind upon his face...

Frozen, the young boy rose to his feet, feeling the grass between his toes and under his foot. Clutching his throbbing head, he opened his eyes, catching one more sight, of a field of grass, going on as far as he could see. Looking around him completely, he saw only grass. Looking up, he saw a blue sky. Was he back home? No, of course not. Taking a single step forward, his leg almost shot up, nearly knocking him off balance. He felt light, as if gravity were lower... was he still in his previous location? Impossible. Insane. Yet, he knew it to be true.

“Feel it...”

A voice rang throughout the land, echoing countless times before silence fell upon the land once more.

“Manifestation...”

Once again, the voice called out, not as though a thought within his head, but as an omnipresent voice, ringing through his ears and echoing across each part of the land. “Manifestation...? Manifest what?” the young boy asked to the sky, almost as if pleading for an answer.

“...”

Silence met his ears, the light gusts of wind passing him by, blowing his opened hooded sweatshirt around slightly. Hearing no answer, nor expecting one, the young boy looked to the sky, where he could see the blue planet circle rapidly around the land he stood on. Feeling a sort of relief, he felt as though he almost understood what was going on. Almost, but in another way, completely clueless. He understood balance, but not what anything else was.

“Balance is what these dreams are. Wanting to escape the darkness and stay in the light, I need to keep myself between the two to better understand them. But... the water and the tree, the moon... I don't understand them yet. Am I just going insane? Stressed out because school is starting? I don't remember this last year before school... son of a *****, I hate this. Has to be some sort of dream because of something. But, I read about dreams before... controlling them completely is almost impossible, because the mind needs to have a certain degree of awareness, having too much would wake me up... yet... here I am.”

Thinking for minutes in silence, the young boy rose his hand and turned it to face him. Thinking of a solid object, a warm feeling circulated through his arm, as a swirl of color appeared in the palm of his hand, and a heavy weight pressed down on his hand. As the color left his hand, a shape could be made out, silver, with a wood plated handle.

“A solid shock is needed to awake from a deep sleep within a dream...” the young boy began, putting the barrel of the gun to his head. “Revolver, six shots, but only one should be needed. I have to say though, I love being able to control a dream this much, but, I hate the feeling of being alone here.” Squeezing the trigger slightly, he clenched his eyes shut, preparing for the blast.

+~+~+~+

Sitting straight up, Jack lunged forward, gasping for air as if he were still on the moon in his dream. Taking a quick look around and several deep breathes, he relaxed a bit, sitting back. It was nearly two in the afternoon to the clock in the living room. 'I should get a bit of lunch, so I can meet Matt when he gets out of school...' he thought to himself, moving his legs off the couch. Pushing off the couch to stand up, Jack froze.

Slowly looking to his right hand, he saw a familiar glint of metal. Shaking, he brought it to his sight fully. “What... what the **** is this?” he asked aloud, his hands shaking. Pulling open the chamber, he saw six slots... five unused.

No point in letting this story die before comments, is there? I'll keep posting regardless, maybe someone will see it and comment eventually


Chapter 2: Perceived Reality


Locked in his room for the remainder of the day, Jack sat, confused, dumbstruck, unable to comprehend what had happened. What he had done in the dream couldn't have been real, but yet, here it was, plain as day, a gun in his hand, a single bullet gone! This defied all logic, was he losing grip with his sanity? No, his mentality was pointing that way, yet, the gun! He couldn't let anyone know of this, or else they might think he was going insane, suicidal, homicidal, or any combination of the three.

Stress could be a factor, yet... nothing could explain how the gun had been in his hand when he awoke from the dream, the gun with a single shot missing, apparently lodged somewhere within the boy's skull. Feeling around multiple times throughout the day, nothing could be found even close to an entry wound. A confusing, mental breaking question of what had happened, which could not be answered.

“This just isn't... this... I don't... what...”

This was what continually crossed Jack's mind, nothing coherent, random ramblings of someone utterly lost. He tossed the gun onto the center of his bed, and flipped the blankets over it. He knew he should hide it properly, but for now, he was too confused to even think properly on anything. He looked at his clock. Eleven at night already. He had skipped dinner with intent on eating something later, but he lost track of time. Making matters worse, school was to start tomorrow, he had to be in his first class by eight thirty. He would surely get little to no sleep that night.

But still, he needed to try. If, by some chance, this was a dream, he would awaken in the morning, better for it. He reached for the gun under his blankets, and firmly jammed it between his mattresses, nobody ever snooped around in his room, a cabinet would be safe enough. Yet, it was a deadly weapon he had possession of. He would find a better spot in the morning, if this wasn't a dream. And he prayed it was.

+~+~+~+

“Jack, Jack... Jack! Wake up! I'm going to work, and I'm taking Matt to his school a bit early, so you can get ready for school today!”

Groaning slightly, Jack rose from his bed, groggy from a restless night's sleep. Taking a step on the floor, he stopped dead, remembering the nightmare... or reality. “Please... be a dream... don't be there...” he muttered to himself, wanting to prove his memories wrong. He flipped over his top mattress, revealing a bare mattress beneath the first. “Oh, thank god...” he said, putting his hand to his still rapidly beating heart. But still, he couldn't help but feel uneasy at all that was going on in his head. Seemed much too real to be just a dream. Is he truly going insane?

Now was not the time to ponder this, he had school to attend. Missing school would be a very poor choice, adding on stress, beyond his already heightened state. Quickly slipping into the shower to rinse off, and dressing himself in a dark blue long sleeve shirt and denim pants, he was ready to return to normalcy. Not bothering to do anything else, he simple made his way to the exit of the house, locked the door, and left.

With little sleep, and rushing to leave the house, young Jack looked like an utter mess. Tangled, wild hair, dark bags beneath his eyes, veins running through them. If anything, he looked like a sleepless addict. A day of unrest in school was surely ahead of him.

+~+~+~+

Forcing his eyes open despite his unrest, the young boy once again met the sight of something incredulous, directly below him, the bright star, the ball of flaming hydrogen, the Sun. Looking around, he saw several familiar orbs circling the sun rapidly, lit up in such a way that they differed from the rest of the bright stars, ranging from bright red, to bright blue, to blinding green. Several of the moons also were enhanced, spinning rapidly around the planet they were bound to.

Sinking slowly, the young boy fell in a free fall, pulled in by the Sun's immense gravity, at the same time realizing that he was breathing and screaming. Feeling the fire consume him, he gave a final scream of pain, before blacking out momentarily, and seeing another image before him.

His eyes opened as he rose to his feet, red canyons, as far as he could see. Blinding light from the sun was pounding above him, he could feel the heat, somehow he could breathe... looking away from the sun, he saw several of the planets, glowing brightly in the sky with almost no atmosphere, burned away from being so close to the sun for so long. Sweat poured from him, drenching his clothes almost immediately, though this did little to cool him off, evaporation usually cooled the skin, but the heat was so intense he felt almost nothing in the way of cooling down.

“Mer... mer... mer...” the young boy tried to say, but unable to, the heat getting to him. But, in his mind, he knew that, by the laws of the universe, he should be dead from the heat, surely hundreds of degrees hotter than he himself had ever experienced. Yet, there he was, managing to keep his life, struggling to hold on to it. A hard thing to do, but he was accomplishing it.

Doing what came naturally, he began to walk forward, stumbling frequently, the gravity was lower, and the terrain was brittle rock, which often cracked beneath his feet, causing him to trip up. Feeling as though death had already claimed his spirit, he simply walked onward, tortured by the intense heat. Almost as if he were caught between life and death, able to feel, unable to be affected. Tormented, unable to let himself go.

“Go... god.... damn... this... su... sucks...” the boy muttered to himself, trying to keep himself from falling continuously. Walking further into a constantly narrowing canyon, he couldn't help but feel uneasy, paranoid, more so than usual.

Hearing a dull roar above him, the boy glanced up, seeing the sun's surface rage forth like rapid currents of molten substance. Without a moment to think about what was happening, the rays of the sun seemed to twist and whip around wildly, before shooting in all directions... solar winds. Being so close, it was moments before the winds became a barrage of death upon the small rock in space, tearing through the young boy, causing pain so intense, it was indescribable.

Finally feeling the life drain from him, the boy fell to his knees, falling backwards from the force of the winds, feeling the skin peel, the flesh scorch, the light within, die out...

+~+~+~+

Waking with a jolt, Jack nearly fell from his chair, garnering some stares from people around him. Trying to act like he was just startled when he awoke, he leaned forward, remembering where he was; at the library during a free period half way through the day. He must have fallen asleep... brushing his hand through his hair, he pulled it back, disgusted by the slime that came from it, he was drenched in sweat. Not the cold sleep sweat, the heated sweat that came from a pounding sun...

Standing from his seat, he quickly left his library room, despite the teacher calling to him to stay within the room. After entering the hall, he quickly ran to the nearest bathroom down the hall, pulling open the door and pulling it shut again quietly. Thankful that nobody else was within the room, he let out some dry heaves, walking to the sink. Turning the cold faucet on, he cupped his hands, and began to put the cold water almost everywhere, his neck, head, arms, chest, everywhere. Once thoroughly wet, he still felt an inner heat, he felt like he was about to vomit heavily. Leaning his head into the sink, he put his lips to the faucet and gulped down the water ferociously, almost giving no time to breathe in. Looking back up at the mirror, he lurched forward, catching onto the mirror with his hand, before lowering his head and vomiting all the water and stomach acid onto the floor.

Glancing once more at the mirror, his vision faded, as he lost the feeling in his legs, and collapsed onto the floor.

+~+~+~+

Waking from his horrid dream, the young boy rose to his feet, breathing deep the brisk air around him. Looking around, he noticed the familiar location. The single dead, twisted tree, the colder than ice lake... only there was something different about it. He was not shivering, he was not feeling anything other than the air in his lungs and the beating of his own heart. He felt the exact opposite of last time, the fear of the unknown, the pain of the cold. Now, it was the excitement of what was to come, the feeling of new... the feeling of new things. Something he couldn't describe, he felt as though something was different, empowering.

His memories wrapping around some events that occurred recently, he began to think rapidly. The gun, appearing in his dream, and staying as he awoke, only to vanish the next morning. He wanted it to appear, and wanted it to disappear. But, he doubted that it was possible for him to be in a dream and pull things out, that wasn't possible... but it also wasn't possible that he had the gun in the first place, having no weapons in the house beyond a simple kitchen knife at the time.

Stepping to the water's edge, he could tell that the water was once again somehow frozen. He knew it was water, not some other element of some sort. Just water... water so cold it would surely kill in minutes, yet didn't freeze into ice while so cold. Kneeling to the ground, he dipped his hand into the water, and let it remain there for a minute, before pulling it out, blue, icy. Staring at it, it began to thaw rapidly, until normal once more. Clenching his hand into a fist, then releasing it, he felt no different than before.

Rising to his feet, he inhaled deeply, and stepped forward onto the water... another step... another step... and another. He sunk no lower than a few centimeters into the water, yet when he bent over and put his hand into the water, the water went to his elbow, and if he could bend lower, even further than that. When he withdrew his hand, it was icy and blue for a moment before turning back to its original color. Taking no chances, he slowly walked to the tree, which seemed to call to him. Not in the sense of noise, just of curiosity.

Stepping onto the piece of land holding the tree, he felt a sudden wave of bliss, his heart stopped pounding, his muscles relaxed, he let his hands fall limp to his sides. Each step he took, he felt a sudden warmth. Glancing down, he saw grass sprout from each footstep he took, which spread out, covering the entire area by the time he reached the dead tree. Looking back, he saw that beyond the lake was an endless field of grass, the water turning a blue color, rather than the empty black. Turning his head to face the tree once more, he saw the roots, brown, twisted, eroded away to mere sticks.

The young boy knelt down to the roots, placing his hands on them. Closing his eyes, he whispered a single word. 'Live...'

Lightly pulsating beneath his palms, the tree began to turn a lighter brown color, the bark thickening again, the roots enlarging to their original size. Rising from his knee, the young boy saw the leaves sprout from nowhere, the tree practically shone with life. Looking higher, he saw the black sky turn to a grey color, as if full of dense clouds. Better than seeing nothing, literally.

Smiling to himself, he sat beneath the massive oak tree, which was swaying with no wind. For the first time in weeks, he was able to relax in his dream...

“It won't last, you know.”

Snapping his eyes open, he lept to his feet, looking around. Nobody was there... yet he knew he heard someone. “What won't last?” he asked whoever was there.

“Bliss. Happiness. You're not supposed to have this... any of it. Nobody can, in your position. A normal boy, thrust into something he can not understand...”

The water began to ripple, as a man began to rise from beneath... if it could be called a man. Slowly, all the details could be made, as the water dripped from him. Tall, at least ten feet, unimaginably skinny, but his face was the most odd. Almost skeletal in appearance, yet having features of a normal man. No hair, no clothes except for a pitch black, featureless suit he wore. “What... what the hell are you?” the boy asked, backing to the tree.

“No need to fear, I will not, nor can, hurt you. I am only here to tell you of something... surprising, more so to me than you, that we meet at this time...”

“You still haven't answered me, what the hell are you?” the boy interrupted, impatient and fearful of what the man was before him. In an answer, the tall man walked across the water as the boy did, to face the boy directly. “Going to answer?” he asked boldly, trying to show no fear.

“That... is not for you to know. You should not even know, but yet, here we are.” the man said, raising his arm to the tree, placing his massive, skeletal hand upon it. Lifting it, a black mark where his hand was remained on the tree. “I need only tell you, that you mustn't stay where you are now. You will die, and a seventy eight percent chance shows that I will die along with you. I can't allow that... so let me... take over...” he trailed off, his eyes glowing a bright green light, dotted with black circles and lines. Placing his hand on the boy's head, he only gave a few more words. “You can call me... Hex.”

A flash of bright light, followed by blackness, that is all he could tell was going on, being thrust back into the darkness, with a tingling feeling in the back of his mind, that he wasn't alone any longer...

+~+~+~+

Slowly opening his eyes, Jack gave a hearty groan. Lifting himself with his elbows, his eyes adjusted to the dim light. Taking in his surroundings... a second cot... a television in the corner, on the wall... machines next to his bed, giving numbers... he was in a hospital room. He looked down to his left arm, needles were stuck into it. Without giving thought, he ripped them from his arm, a spurt of blood shooting from it, then ceasing. Ripping each wire and needle from him, he soon noticed that there was a ruckus coming from outside of his room. Rising from his bed, he realized something... he wasn't moving at all, his body was moving without him.

'What... what the hell?' he wondered... he couldn't speak either!

'Don't worry.' a voice in his head told him, a familiar one. 'I'll get us out of here. I know enough about this place to know what to do...'

'HEX! What the hell are you planning on doing? This is a hospital, a place where sick and injured people go! What are you doing? Hex? HEX!'

The door opened, and a nurse walked in with an IV bag. Startled by the sight of Jack standing beside his bed in the early hours of the morning, she nearly tipped the IV stand over. “Oh my god, you startled me. Please, get back into bed.” she said in a soothing voice, walking to him.

With one arm behind his back, Jack... or rather, Hex... was focusing something to it. Slowly, a weight was felt on his hand, though Jack couldn't tell what it was... until it was right in front of him, another revolver.

“My god, Jack, where did you get that! Don't!” the woman screamed for her life, before the trigger was pulled, and a body hit the floor. Smiling with satisfaction, Hex flipped open the gun's chamber, seeing six shots still remaining somehow. Five should be left... Looking at the woman, slowly, the corpse simple vanished, not a trace of her or her blood left.

'Hex, what the **** are you doing? You just killed that woman! And how did you make her disappear like that?! Answer me! Stop it! Let me take control again!' Jack screamed from within his mind. 'You can't just kill people! More will come to try to arrest me, or kill me!'

'Don't worry, young one. You have much to learn...' Hex replied from within the mind. Looking back at the window, he smiled. Walking to it, his hospital gown began to dissipate, and began to be replaced by Jack's usual clothing, a hooded sweatshirt, denim jeans, and running shoes. Shooting out the window, they both felt the wind flow through his short hair. Running his hand through it, Hex put one leg out the window.

'No, nonononono, don't even THINK about it. I'm not dying from some split personality thing!'

'I'm not part of you.' Hex told him. 'And I act on instinct, I don't think.'

They lept out of the window, Jack screaming with fear within his own mind, Hex smiling wickedly. As Hex looked down, Jack saw that they were four stories above the ground, with multiple witnesses below, all watching in awe at what they were seeing. Wanting to silence them, Hex took careful aim, and, as if he wasn't moving, put a bullet through each of their heads, without even reloading. Jack had the feeling that this gun was anything but normal... it's shot nine times, yet no reloading has occurred.

Landing on the opposite end of the parking lot, Hex laughed insanely to himself. “So long... it's been so long... far too long. I need to let this last.”

'Hex, what are you planning to do?' Jack asked him, receiving no verbal answer, instead seeing his own hand raise in front of him.

“Quiet down. I need to think of something... ahh, I got it now. Only moments in this world, and I've gained so much knowledge of what's happened.” he said in a mocking voice, snapping his fingers, a spark coming off them. “I know what you're thinking... I did something. And you'd be right. I need to delete the city, to delete our tracks. And we need to leave within... two hours seven minutes, or we're dead with everyone else.”

'WHAT?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?' Jack yelled within his mind, wishing he could pummel the answers out of himself. Looking up, Hex showed him a horrid sight... a stream of light coming from the horizon. '... a missile.'

“I created it over the desert, where nobody would ever notice it...”

'BASTARD! What about my family, my friends?'

“They will die. But it's to save our own lives, so it doesn't matter.”

'The hell it doesn't! Why the hell are you doing this?'

“... Survival.”

+~+~+~+
+~+~+~+

“And so like that, my life changed, as soon, everyone's would as well. At six in the morning exactly, the town was wiped out, no survivors... other than me, and that monstrosity in my head. I was lucky that that creature within me Hex was basically brain dead for awhile, I never heard from him for a few years. And that, is when things started picking up again.”

The glint of metal shone through the darkness, as the man with a metal mask and the young woman came into view again, the images that were shown vanishing.

“... so you were alone? What happened then?” the woman asked. “For things to happen so quickly... I must have only been about ten when all this happened. To think, this is when I was playing games with my friends, not a care in the world... while you were going through this.”

“Yes, such things I've learned happen quickly... from there on, I became a hermit of sorts. I stayed away from towns, cities, but that didn't help me. I found that some dormant power had awakened that night, a useful one. But, a fraction of what is possible. About four years later, odd phenomenon had been occurring throughout the world, from auroras in the night sky, to eclipses with the moon on the wrong side of the planet. I thought nothing of them, I had basically adopted Hex's one trait, survival. I didn't give a damn about anyone else... until I had to.”

Another image appeared from nothing, showing a dense forest area, with a single person in a black overcoat walking through it, snow lightly falling, coating the ground with a thin layer of snow. Eighteen years old Jack was this day, four years after the events with Hex and his town, something that happened to fast, he had no time to ponder how, or why, it happened, instead, focused on living for himself. Having lost most emotions, he became like stone, unmoving, uncaring of anything around him. He wouldn't hesitate to kill if he was hungry, nor would he hesitate to kill any threat at all.

“And this marks... the beginning of the downfall period, where I move from solitary hunter, to forever hunted...”

Ehh...? I haven't been on in about a week or so, and this story makes it into another forum? Kind of an ego boost... just the one I needed at this time of my senior year

Well, I guess someone likes this stuff, it'd be nice if I knew it by way of someone posting. If I ever get to posting chapter 20 (one I'm stuck on is 21), I might actually find the will to finish it. For any who care, HAX, when I wrote it, was more about quantity than quality, though there's a hell of a plot involved after awhile. Still probably something to read when bored



Chapter 3: Nightmare


A man of eighteen, Jack sat at the base of a massive pine tree, snow falling around him. Unshaven, he looked to be over twenty, his long black hair clumped around his head. He didn't bother to keep his appearance up, as he was never with anyone else. He wore his normal clothes under a black overcoat for warmth, it was approaching winter, late November. His muscles were shaped from four years in the wilderness, giving him the physique of a wrestler.

Wandering from forest to forest, that was his life. At the moment, he took up residence near New York City, just outside of it, in a cabin he built with his power. Fully insulated, with no fire it kept warm the entire day while he was away, just from the heat of the previous night. A basic, one room cabin, a single bed with some blankets and pillows, large enough for multiple people to sleep on; he liked his space to sleep on. A metal stove was also in the room, where he kept fires going in the night, and cooked his food. Simplistic, yet effective to live in. He had no entertainment other than the daily hunt for food, and that was all he needed.

Watching the snow fall for long enough, he stood to his feet, and looked around for any signs of animals. Seeing some small tracks recently dug into the snow, he figured earlier that day, he followed them silently, hoping to find the source of them. Walking for an hour in the freezing cold, he found what he was looking for; a fully grown buck deer. Without hesitation, he pulled a rifle from his coat, and gave a single shot to the head of the animal. Placing it back into his coat, he picked up the head of the deer with his hands, estimating its weight. Surely a few days worth of good meat, a week or more if he wasn't picky about what he ate, which he wasn't.

He snapped his fingers, creating a small spark. The spark wasn't necessary, it was another trait he picked up from his unstable half. He turned around, and set his sights on a large sled with ropes, exactly what he needed. Lifting the large buck onto the sled with his own two hands, he grabbed the two ropes, wrapped each one twice around each wrist, and began his trek back to the cabin.

Walking for just over an hour without rest, he reached his makeshift home; the single room cabin. Sliding the deer to the other end of the cabin, he attached the ropes to it's hind legs, and strung it up from a tree branch. Pulling a hunting knife from his sleeve, he plunged it into the stomach of the animal, and pulled down.

+~+~+~+

Later that night, as the moon rose high, the man was seen on the roof of his cabin, watching the night sky. Full from his recent hunt, he thought of nothing else than tomorrow, what would be done. Having this power, this gift, wasn't without fault. Constantly haunted with the fact that with this power, a creature was present, he could never lead a normal life. He could try, but most would consider him insane. Rather, he lived on his own, in solitude, with no chances to harm anyone, or to give Hex a reason to.

For countless nights, he pondered just what was going on with his life, and his powers, the so called Manifestation and Deletion. Hex had named the second power, and he guessed that the voice he once heard calling to him, mentioning Manifestation, was his as well. Manifestation was very useful to him, he created homes for himself, tools to live with. Deletion... he wasn't so good with that yet. He eventually learned that creating an animal was impossible, as was deleting a living one. Why, he didn't know. However, he knew that with these powers, he was god like.

'Manifestation, the power to create... deletion, the power to delete. I'll master that second one, I can guarantee it Hex. Then, I'm a god among men. And, if I'm lucky... I'll be rid of you.'

+~+~+~+

Sleeping through the night, Jack awoke without a sound, by him or anything else. Slowly taking the blanket off him, he spun his legs to the side of the bed, and stood up. He could have sworn he saw something... perhaps a dream? No, he hadn't had any dreams in years. But... it was more realistic than his former dreams. He slid on his pants and a light tee shirt, and stared out the window for a moment. Holding out his hand, a rough rubber and smooth metal came into contact with it. Reading from the library on firearms before he left to seclusion, he found some of his favorites, this one in particular a Colt M1902, its squared grip and squared barrel, it was bulky, but efficient for hunting small game... or other larger game.

Stealthily sneaking to the window, he shot a single bullet into it, and lept out of the window, rolling as he landed, swinging his arm in a horizontal arc to secure himself. Rising to his feet, he felt uneasy still. Sending off a warning shot into the air, he heard nothing... which made him feel even more uneasy. No wind, no animals stirring... more threateningly, no echo.

Shooting once more to confirm this, he let out a slight snarl. “Again with all this crap happening... if this is you Hex, messing around with me after years of peace and quiet, I swear I'll find a way to kill you.” Answered with silence, he grimaced. Silence was never a good thing to behold in a situation of paranoia, it only served to enhance it, as the body's mind went insane trying to pick up any noise it could, even going so far as to make itself think it hears something... dangerous in such a situation.

Slightly lowering his gun, he heard a sudden noise behind and above him. Swiveling in place, he caught sight of something on his cabin roof, and let loose a single shot. Not moving from its spot, the figure on the roof stood motionless as Jack heard a dull sound, the sound of a bullet entering flesh. Yet, it didn't move. Instead, it seemed to raise its head, giving off a sudden fit of anxiety to Jack, as he saw two glowing blue eyes, as if it were flowing water. Not seeing much else other than a human figure with glowing eyes, he emptied his gun into the figure, no bullet affecting it. Tossing it aside, he lifted his hand, as another rubber grip materialized in his hand, the cold steel taking shape. Taking notice of this, the figure's eyes momentarily gave off a yellow glow, as the knife shattered into pieces, leaving Jack confused, an the verge of feeling fear.

The figure rose even taller than before, revealing inhuman long legs, and it's inhuman shape... two shadows rose from its head, almost as if they were ears, resembling the placement of cat ears. Not a moment passed after this happened did the figure leap off the cabin right to Jack, who had no time to react, no time to think. Knocked to the ground by a solid punch with its bulky hand, he slid a distance of twenty feet before hitting a tree, stopping him. “... I don't know who, what, you are, and I don't give a damn. You're gonna die for that.” Jack scoffed at the attacker, rising to his feet as the creature ran toward him with great speed.

Needing to counter with greater speed, his hand felt a weight fall upon it. Pointing it ahead of him, the shining sights of an Uzi shown, as he pulled the trigger...

But to no true avail. Either shots penetrated the creature, or he lept quickly to the side, evading them. Reaching the man, the creature crushed the gun with his hand, with his six long fingers. Looking at the creature in the eyes, he saw the glowing eyes, the mouth of the beast, certainly beast like, as if it were a dog, a cat... Snarling at the man, the fangs were shown. Grabbing him by his chest, his long fingers almost going around the whole of his body, Jack was lifted from the ground, without a struggle. Unable to figure out what to do, he instead settled on the method of 'going out with style'.

Clenching his hand, he opened it, revealing a grenade. Pulling the pin with his teeth, he thrust it forward to the beast. Smiling with a wicked grin, Jack prepared for the duo death... until the creature's eyes glowed once more with a yellow light, the grenade dissolving as if liquid. “Just what the hell are you?” Jack yelled at the beast, shocked at his loss.

The beast let out an inhuman chuckle, deep, as if grunting rapidly. Instead of bothering to respond, if it even could, the beast instead lifted Jack even higher, as if the beast's limbs grew in length, before sending him in a downward arc, slamming Jack into the ground. Looking up, Jack's final sight was almost the beast, who's eyes glowed yellow once more, a long blade forming with no grip, essentially a sword with no grip. The beast was gripping cold steel with its bare hands...

“... you're like me.” Jack said to him, grinning. Staring at the blade which was coming down upon him, he rose his arms to protect himself, as the blade shattered before it touched his skin. The beast was clearly stunned, as it stumbled and froze, glaring at the man who broke his weapon. Instead, it stomped on the man repeatedly, until blood began to spurt out of the fallen man's mouth. “You can die now...”

Jack muttered this to himself moments before the next stomp came to him, putting his hand beneath the impact point, a roar was surely heard throughout the forest as the beast slammed its foot onto a six inch hunting knife, its blood pouring out of its wound, black in color. Ripping it from his foot, the knife shattered, not from his power, but from brute strength. Looking back at Jack, it froze, as it stared down the barrel of a familiar revolver, saw a smirk on Jack's face, and then felt the cold embrace.

The corpse hit the ground with a dull thud, and Jack dropped his gun, shattering as it hit the ground... he no longer needed it, and as if it reacted to that fact, it shattered without him trying to delete it. Glad in the fact that he had overcome the creature, he was still in utter disbelief. There were others with this odd power? But... this thing, this creature, was not human. Pulling a spotlight from thin air, Jack turned it on and observed the beast...

Its head showed the most inhuman features, almost like a doberman dog. Its teeth were black, not for the poor condition, but shining black, he mistook them for white in the dark. The face was incredibly disturbing, not being furry, but human like. Its body was more human, having incredible muscles, almost like steel when he pushed down on them. Its arms were long, also full of muscle power... but it had six long fingers ending in small claws. Its legs were also more human, but just as long, with five toes as well. Wearing odd clothing over it's stomach down to its knees, it was almost like armor.

Sitting down on a nearby rock for a moment, he pondered what this thing was. It was like a monster of myth come alive or something, but coincidentally, with a power similar to his own. Looking back to the night sky, he knew something else was watching. This sort of thing didn't just happen randomly. He was being watched... he was being followed... he was being hunted.

Turning back and rushing to his cabin, he was instantly stopped dead in his tracks by the sight of an empty bit of land in the forest, with the ground outlying where a building once was. The creature didn't make it vanish in the middle of the fight... Jack was almost positive he was correct. Looking to the ground beside him, he put his palm downward, where a rubber grip appeared, metal growing from it, eventually forming an atv. Climbing onto it, he got a sudden chill, and shivered. Wearing a single shirt, he was surprised he wasn't frozen yet. He started the quad and revved it up, as a heavy hooded sweatshirt appeared around him. Flipping the hood up, a glare shot through his darkened face, goggles appearing. He was ready to go, for however long it took, he wasn't going to die in these woods he called home for only a few months. He wasn't going to be hunted on whoever's terms, he was going to be fought on his terms.