WnW 6.2

The dim orange light cast Alek’s face in long shadows, giving him a gaunt appearance. His eyes were unfocused. Even though I knew this was a clone, it was surreal to see Alek here when I had just left him at his apartment, wallowing in drink and self-pity. The student that Alek held by the leg had stopped pleading and remained still, breathing heavily, eyes wild with fear. 

There was something odd about Alek’s body. There was a raised lump directly center on his chest. Every so often a visible wave rippled across his skin, originating from that lump. I could feel the pulses, yet there was no sound, just a feeling of wrongness every time his body beat to that rhythm. It was like it was sending a message that was outside the range of hearing: beware. The ripples made his muscles quiver and veins stood out on his brow.

Alek’s lips parted and his eyes focused on me. 

“Are you Helen?” His question was dully asked, bitter and angry.

Would he release the man if I said yes? Unlikely.

“No.”

The Tree hit us with another surge of anger.

Alek’s eyes lit up and he leaned back before whipping his arm at me in an overhand pitch. I bent my knees and threw my arms wide as the student was flung towards me. I caught him awkwardly, staggering back from the impact. The student cried out in a raw voice. His leg was bent backwards at an unnatural angle. I kept my attention on Alek, who remained motionless as I carried the student to the wall and placed him down. Tears ran down the student’s face as he clutched his broken leg.

So fragile. I had forgotten what that was like. It felt like years had passed since I’d become a Wolf and now this body felt natural. But it wasn’t natural to throw fully grown men like they were toys. All it took was one malevolent Shaper to hurt this many people. I needed to end this quickly. There was a part of my brain that pessimistically said it was too late, that Sillwood was already lost, the residents sentenced to a terrible unknown fate. 

I blocked it out as I raised my hands in a display of peace. “Alek. Helen isn’t here. You’re hurting innocents.”

Alek cocked his head. His arms hung loosely at his sides. “Do I know you?”

“I’m Nick. You taught me how to use my Wolf powers.”

Alek frowned. “I don’t remember that.”

My mind was racing. The clone must have been made before I’d met Alek, so the memories weren’t there.

“You just woke up, right? This is going to be very confusing to you. But I need you to understand, you’re not doing anyone any good here. Especially not yourself.”

Alek held a hand to his face. “Hmm. I can feel her with every wave. She’s taunting me. Telling me that I’m replaceable.”

I decided the truth was the best option here. “She’s been cloning you. Your instinctive Shape, you remember what it is, right? She’s using you to spread chaos throughout the city.”

“Burn it all down,” Alek muttered, echoing Helen’s sentiment.

“Alek. You are hurting innocent people. You need to shut her out. Forget about her.”

He dropped his hand and his face was screwed up in anger. “Forget about her? You are one stupid motherfucker. Love doesn’t work like that. It pulls and pushes until something breaks.” He flexed his hand into a fist. “A lot of things are going to break.”

“Helen’s using that love. She’s using you. You don’t deserve that.”

Alek barked out a laugh. “So what? Everyone uses everyone. That’s just life.” He hung his head. “She was right to leave me. I didn’t devote my all to her. I was distracted by the Ring, my responsibilities. But I’ll make her change her mind. I’ll be the one by her side in the end.”

I clenched my teeth in frustration. “She has a hundred yous around the city thinking the same thing. Meanwhile she can sit back and eat popcorn while you tear each other and the city to shreds.”

Alek raised his head. “Do you know where she is?”

“Yes.” If Alek felt her in the Tree’s pulses, then she would be there, with Nell.

He extended a hand palm up as if asking for a gift. “Take me to her.”

“I can’t.”

His face immediately darkened and his hand dropped into a balled fist.

I spoke quickly, “She would turn you against me. I can’t risk stacking the odds against myself.”

“So what should I do?” he asked bitterly.

“Nothing. Do nothing. Leave. Be the one Alek who walked away from this.”

Alek sighed. “You know, I don’t know why I am even bothering with this conversation. If Helen was nearby, she could make me see and hear anything. There’s no point. Words mean nothing, I have to take the mask off myself.”

“There’s hundreds of people at this school and you’re going to maim or kill them all just based off the chance that Helen could be here?!” I shouted. “Fucking use your brain, Alek!”

“Nah,” he said before launching towards me.

I barely ducked in time and he struck the wall I had leaned the student against, tearing a chunk out of the drywall. I scrambled away as he advanced with wild swings. His punches reverberated the air as they passed near my head. Alek’s strength was on another level. I couldn’t fight him like this.

He lunged at me with arms outstretched and I fell backwards, catching his wrists. I landed on my back and planted a foot on his chest before thrusting out, shoving him over top of me.

Alek landed in a heap. A wave of anger washed over us and I shook my head, trying to clear it. Alek sprung back to his feet, growling in frustration. He wrung out his wrists, which were reddened by their contact with me. I wasn’t holding back the fire.

Alek’s body pulsed more rapidly, the strange rhythm speeding up. The corridor started to get fuzzy, like we were inside a furnace, with heat waves creating visual distortions. I glanced to my left and saw a fire extinguisher hanging on the wall. Alek ran at me once again and I shot branches out to pierce the red canister. A cloud of white powder exploded out, enveloping my surroundings. I dropped into a crouch.

I heard Alek stumble past me, swiping at the air. Stepping softly, I followed him out of the cloud of white mist. When I saw his silhouette, I seized him by the back of his neck. I pulled hard. Skin slid off of him like a layer of loose clothing, sinking into my hands. Alek howled and spun, ripping away from my grip. His hands locked onto my shoulders, his grip clamping down painfully like a vice.

Alek grinned at me with a bloodthirsty expression. “Two can play at that game, suka.”

A cold sensation spread as my own skin moved against my will, becoming part of Alek’s flesh. I felt the strange vibrations that rumbled through Alek and into me. My vision went blurry and pain spread through my joints. I seized his wrists and fought back, pushing my assimilation as far as it would go. Our skin hissed and bubbled between us.

Alek’s wrists drooped as I began pulling the layers of muscle beneath the skin. I was losing tissue too, but I was replacing it just as fast. Even faster actually. Alek’s eyes widened as he realized that I was winning the war of stolen flesh. For every pound of biomatter exchanged, I won a little more.

Alek’s chest rose and his lips parted. Noise tore out of his mouth like a jet engine, slamming into me. I felt my bones rattle and my ears felt full, painfully full. Then Alek lifted and slammed me into the metal shutters that blocked a window.

Unable to see, I formed armour quickly and felt the first blow hit me like a sledgehammer. Alek didn’t stop, unleashing punch after deadly punch. My armour was being torn away as fast as I could create it. I couldn’t think straight, I was rattled. I couldn’t fight back, only react in the nick of time to protect myself from what could be a lethal strike. Armour crunched painfully into pieces. With each blow, the metal shutters bent and I sunk deeper and deeper. Metal creaked and deformed until I heard the tinkle of broken glass and the sound of the sheet metal reaching its limit.

A final hammer strike and the metal gave way. Light blinded me as I fell through the hole and plummeted. I twisted in the air, growing branches in the direction I hoped was the ground. Being airborne was strangely natural at this point. My arm jarred as the branches hit the ground and slowed my fall.

Hands and knees met concrete and I sucked in a breath. My vision was clearing and I took stock of things. Alek had sent me tumbling out of the second floor and into the courtyard of the school grounds. Blood dripped from my face and arms. One of my eyelids was starting to swell shut. I could see the L shape of the school wrapped around to my right. All the windows were blocked on the inside by the lowered shutters, save for the hole that Alek had battered me through.

I raised myself up, feeling the aching pain. It could have been a lot worse.

Alek viewed me with unwarranted hatred from the second floor.

“I don’t feel like leaving just yet,” he said.

Fuck. I was hoping he would be drawn out into the open, where I stood a better chance with my mobility.

“Why are you okay with hurting people you don’t even know? I shouted back at him.

He narrowed his eyes. “Fuck’em. I’m hurting.” He tapped his pulsing chest. “There’s enough pain to go around.”

It’s here. The Tree struck me with another surge of anger. Using the anger as fuel, my Locust Legs formed in an instant and I released the tension, shooting towards Alek like a missile. I turned in the air and planted both feet into his chest. He grunted and slid back on the smooth floor, slamming into the classroom door behind him. I landed on my back, hanging halfway out of the hole.

That one had hit home, Alek looked unsteady, holding his chest.

Suddenly, the classroom door whipped open, hitting Alek in the back. He stumbled towards me before turning around. A figure with startlingly red hair ran out of the classroom. They leaped and stretched out sideways in midair, kicking both feet into Alek’s chest. Alek staggered back, his heel catching on my leg. He tripped, falling noiselessly out of the hole in the wall.

The person landed hard and groaned in pain. He was wearing a basketball jersey with the school’s colours. I met his eyes as we both struggled to sit up.

Tom grinned at me as he clapped his hand into my own. “That’s what he gets for fucking with the Sillwood Snakes,” he said.