The Rogue Venator

Prologue

5 years earlier

5 years earlier5 years earlierThe tension was broken with a simple game.

“I bet — I can beat your time at disassembling this firearm,” I said.

Shit... As soon as I walked into the barracks, everyone turned to face me. I was the new face, the new guy who caught their attention. I was about to be initiated.

Shit“If I beat you, I’ll take that bunk,” I said.

“Hell no! You’re new, and we say where you sleep. Those here longer get first dibs. Get it?” Another boy pressed a finger into my chest. Of course, I wanted to break it, but f**k, I also wanted to make new friends.

“You afraid to lose?” I asked.

With a creepy grin, he said, “f**k no. I’m not afraid of anything. I don’t have to prove anything to you.”

I made chicken noises. He creased his brow at me.

“Fine, asshole, but this is a hell of a way to start your first day here. You’re on!” There was excitement among the group. “Jackson, time us.”

Another cadet stepped up, holding a timer in his hand. Another set two handguns in front of us.

“This should be easy. I hope you know what you’re getting into, new guy.”

“Yeah, Bruce is the fastest in our group,” the other cadets agreed.

I let out a big huff, rolling my eyes. The only one I couldn’t beat was Johnny.

“Stop talking and get ready to prove it.” I smirked.

“f**k, you can have my cigarettes if you beat me.”

I grinned. Cigarettes, I heard those things were addictive. Dr. Nicholson didn’t allow them, neither did the sergeant. Older soldiers brought them back and threw them to the younger ones over the fence. Anyone caught with them would be placed under lockdown and guarded.

“You’re on.” I said.

The timer started. The minute his thumb touched it, I had already set the gun down in pieces. The challenger’s eyes blinked and gasped in disbelief.

“Done,” I announced.

They just gazed at me for the longest time, wondering, “Who the f**k is this guy?” Or perhaps they were more interested in what I was. f**k, I used to wonder what I was too. Aside from the obvious, of course. I was a braggart first and an asshole second. The order, however, had a habit of shifting.

whatIt took a moment before they could look at me, let alone speak again. “s**t! How did you do that?”

I shrugged and grabbed the parts of the gun, putting it back together as fast as I had taken it apart. Then set it down again. Their eyes widened.

“s**t! That’s awesome!” one of them said.

“Would you like to see something else?” Grinning, I inquired. My new audience pleased me.

Their smiles widened, and they nodded.

I drew up my arm’s sleeve and took a blade from the side of my leg strap. Then placed the sharp end on my skin.

“s**t! What the f**k, dude?”

“Relax.”

I made a deep incision into my arm. Of course, not deep enough. Only sliced enough that it wouldn’t take a day to heal. When I cut, it bled, and they were terrified.

“f**k! Are you insane?” They all gazed at me as if I were spewing crabs from my head. Yeah, I was a little different.

I laughed. The dagger was sharp enough to cleanly puncture the skin.

The incision was deep and long on my forearm, slicing down past my wrist. Normally, anything like this would necessitate sutures, but not for me. “Watch this,” I said.

They blinked in surprise. It took a few moments, but I was generally able to keep it under control. I’m not sure how. It was dubbed “willing it” by me. Johnny could do it if I could. I witnessed him take a thrashing and still appear unharmed. Normally, a cut heals from the inside out. It did, however, leave a mark. I wasn’t sure if Johnny was any different.

“What do you mean? You just cut your arm.”

“That’s not the cool part,” I said, holding my arm. Blood was pooling on my skin and dripping to the side of my forearm; I could see the fear as well as amazement in their eyes. They wanted to see it as much as they wanted to flee from this crazed youngster. Dr. Nicholson would have something to say about this, and Johnny would deliver another of his lectures.

They did keep an eye on it. The cut closed and then vanished. It was as if I had never sliced my arm in the first place. There was no further evidence of what had recently happened, save for a single mark—a thin line, my tiny signal. My arm was covered in bruises, scars from the past.

They lost it.

“Holy s**t! That was fuckin’ amazing!” one of them said.

“How the hell are you able to do that?” another demanded.

“I’m not sure. They did something to me,” I said quietly, but they didn’t hear me. The man in white had done this to us.

The man in white“It’s something I could always do,” I said. “I discovered it a while back.”

“That’s some crazy s**t!” I was more approachable now. The new guy was fuckin’ awesome. Their eyes beamed as they looked at me. I was no longer just another face among a bunch of cadets; I was someone they looked up to.

“They teach that over there?” one guy asked. I just nodded and smiled.

They were all impressed. That moment got me in the crowd. Coming from the other side, as they called it— that had given me the upper hand. I wasn’t like everyone else.

other sideThe challenger moved up. “Name’s Bruce,” he said, putting out his hand.

“Jack,” I said. “Jack Sanders.”

“So, Jack, what else can you do?”

I cracked a smile.

Like I said—ice broken. That was that.

They were impressed by what I was capable of. They raised their eyes to me.

Early on, I realized I could learn almost anything quickly. My method of mastering languages was by memorizing a few words at a time, then immersing myself in them. Everything was a possibility.