The Imperial Warrior

Chapter 6- Where Does the Good Go

Kyle twisted among the sheets, entangling himself more into them. His arm was dangling down as he shifted diagonally towards the edge of his bed. He knew he was dreaming but knowing did not decrease his fear. He knew exactly what was going to happen too; it had been two days since Derek had told him about his newfound imperialism. And from that day, he had been having the same dream over and over again. 

He was back in the cemetery; the sun had almost set now. The sky the prettiest shade of pink he had observed in a while. Anya had once told him; pink was the sky's way of telling her lover that she missed him. When he had asked who her lover was, she smiled and answered, that why of course, the stars. 

The wind was gaining momentum, sending all the flowers kept on the graves to fly away; almost as if the dead were cleaning their doors. As if on cue, the lights turned on. It illuminated Derek's face and Kyle could see the hard line of his jaw, a small white scar that ran across his right ear to the middle of his forehead, like a line drawn to cut off a corner of his face. His nose looked like someone had stepped on it while he was young and his teeth too misshaped to fit his face. But still, he had an air of authority and elegance around him; Kyle wondered if that was how he would be now. A mirage of discipline and power to shadow his true self.

"How are we different?" 

"Our DNA, when the humans started advancing scientifically, they conducted experiments on us. To find out what made us Imperial. Most of the Imperials now have 25 sets of chromosomes, Kyle." Derek sounded weary, tired of repeating a story with no possible explanation. 

"Chromosomes, you mean genes? We can't have 25, Derek. It's not biologically possible—"  

"Kyle, just do the listening, for now, save the questions for the end. I'm sure you are going to have several." Kyle nodded his head.

"So, normal humans have 23. Apes, gorillas, and the higher species of mammals have 24, and we, Imperials, have 25. That's why I told you, we came before the humans; most of the Imperials evolved into the 23-chromosome-mammal but not all of us. There still remains a line of Imperials in this world, though we have been corrupted with colluding with our human counterparts, Imperialism still remains stronger in our blood."

"But we weren't meant to have colluded, Kyle. Our kind was meant to be pure, but once we mingled with the humans, let our blood be mixed with theirs; we changed. The ancients believed that it was our punishment, that's how we started calling it the curse. From being the most glorious species to ever walk this planet, we have been reduced to runts who have to lock ourselves up to not destroy the very species we were meant to save."

"What do you mean?"

"We can't control our powers, Kyle. Didn't you see what happened when you got angry the last time?"

Kyle flinched at the memory, of course, he remembered. Anya's hand had been under a thick layer of bandage all day. He knew she tried to keep it away from his range of vision but that just made it worse. She was still trying to protect him when he was the one she needed protection from. 

"But I have been angry before. Why did it happen now? Why didn't I lose control before?"

"Something trigger's all of us. But we trigger young, Kyle, very young. The fact you did so late is what worries me. I have heard stories about—" Derek stopped himself from saying too much. 

"It doesn't matter. But do you understand now? You are a wild animal on loose, Kyle. You have no idea the extent of damage our powers can do." Derek sighed, "I don't want to scare you, but you must take this seriously. Stay away from your friends; for the sake of them if not for yourself."

"Stay away from Anya."

He woke up with a jolt, sweat trickling down from his neck as he got up from his bed. It was the same thing every night. Stay away from Anya. How could he do that when this was the only time in her life, she had ever needed him. It had taken everything in him to stay away from her in the past two days. He almost didn't but Derek's words had taken root deep in his mind and if they weren't enough, the white bandage around her arm certainly was. A physical reminder of the danger he possessed by even being in the same room as her. He thought that if he could control it, he would be able to be with his friends again but he didn't clearly understand enough about what was going on with him. 

It seemed odd to him that he immediately believed what Derek had told him; as if some part of him was just waiting for someone to tell him the truth about him. He had dismissed this feeling before by thinking that it was just the human desire of wanting to be extraordinary. He chuckled at himself at how foolish humans can truly be; failing to comprehend the preciousness of what they have. 

He also needed to confront his father about everything; genes were, after all, inherited. And Derek still didn't believe that Kyle didn't already know about all this. Kyle had a sinking realization that Derek knew more about his father than he was leading on. Everyone seemed to know more than him; Alex and Anya had been dating since the past month and he didn't even realize.

He quickly scrambled towards his washroom; he had to leave the house before Anya. Thrusting the toothbrush in his mouth, he stared at the mirror. His own reflection terrified him. There were prominent bags under his eyes, his usually composed face still swollen due to his fight with Derek. His cheek stung when he touched it; he liked that sensation though. The pain grounded him, told him that some part of him was still human. Maybe, there would be hope for him after all. 

A hasty cold shower later, he was running out of the house. Keys jingling in his hands, he drove towards the nearest coffee shop. He hated coffee, but now it had become a necessity. It cleared his head, and lately, he had a lot of thinking to do. He decided not to stay there today though; the lights had begun to hurt his eyes. So, he drove towards the school.

There was only one other car in the student's parking area, Kyle recognized it immediately. It was Olivia's truck. It was a mammoth, a bright orange-colored beast. She was still sitting in it, her eyes bent over a book. Kyle wondered which test it was today, Olivia seemed to ace them all. He parked two spots away from her and was about to go to find a quiet spot to sit under when she waved him over, "Kyle!"

"Hey, Oli." Her smile perked up upon seeing him. Her blonde hair tied into a neat ponytail on the top of her head. There was one strand forgotten on her face, and Kyle wondered how it would feel to put that behind her ears; be that close to her. He almost walked away once he realized his thoughts, Oli was miles above his league. And now, he couldn't be close to his own family, let alone have a normal dating life. 

"Kyle Jones," She teased "Thirty minutes before school starts. Now, I always told everyone, miracles happen."

"Shush," Kyle put a finger on his lips and smiled. "I have a reputation to maintain, Oli. Keep my secret, will you?"

Olivia had always been nice to Kyle. That's how they had become friends, in fact. He had loads of doubts in Economics and she had graciously offered to help him out. She always stayed to herself though, not really having friends but she didn't push away Kyle either. 

"Hey, but seriously, are you in trouble? What are you doing here so early?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

"I come early every day, Kyle." Kyle knew how Oli felt about personal questions but he couldn't help but ask, "Why exactly?"

"I like getting out of the house." He wasn't going to poke any further, so he decided to let it go. He wasn't going to be able to be there for her anyway. 

"Me too, Oli." She just watched at him quizzically and opened the passenger door. Kyle climbed inside, and looked at her. Even the truck smelled faintly like her, a buzz of lavender perfume and detergent. He wanted to move closer to her, so he shifted as far as he could, almost crushing his side into the door. 

"Kyle?" He looked up at her expectantly, there was hesitation in her eyes. They darted from his face to something far away, "Are you okay?"

"Brilliant." He flashed a smile to her and it was easy to. Whenever he was with her, he felt that nothing mattered, that even if there were wrongs in his life, in those moments, the wrongs didn't matter. 

Olivia didn't seem convinced, "It's just, yesterday, you left in the middle of Calculus and I didn't see you in school after that." Kyle felt a burst of happiness flow through his body. Olivia Cook was looking for him.

"Oh that, my head was hurting so I went home." He didn't want to lie to her but he didn't really have a choice; so, he did his best to maintain his poker face. She didn't prod him further. That was the best thing about her. She never forced him to open up; with her, he could just exist. 

She had begun to describe the test they were going to have today and even though Kyle wasn't listening to her words; he felt peaceful. Her voice was so comforting that if it weren't for his black coffee, he would have fallen asleep beside her right then. 

Though his thirty minutes were up, the parking was filled with cars and bikes. Chattering high school students were piling out like cream out of an icing pipe. They trialed their way to classes, half asleep and the other half on the verge of.

The sun was bright and warm on his skin, he always liked the feeling of the heat. It reminded him of his mother's gardening frenzy, the hours they spent outdoors talking about roses, fertilizers and everything else under the sun. He was about to jump down from Oli's truck when he saw Derek looking right at him. His eyesight had definitely improved. He could see his lips moving in the words, "You. Here. Now." Derek seemed angry at Kyle and he wondered what else there was that he didn't know or couldn't do. He was already staying away from all his friends; what more did he have to do now.

"Oli, I'm sorry. I have to go."

❄❄❄

Anya came out of her room to find the breakfast table set for two. Ryan Jones was pouring juice into a glass when he looked up to see Anya. He smiled at her, his kind eyes beckoning her to sit. "Again, no Kyle?"

He just shook his head. Kyle had been running out of the house before any of them could catch him. Anya decided that tomorrow morning, she would be there to stop him. If he didn't want to talk to her, she was going to make him. All her past attempts had resulted in failure, he just became colder and more aloof after her trying to apologize. 

She thrust the toast into her mouth and gulped down the juice almost at the same time. She was late again and she knew that she made Alex late because of her. She made a silent promise to herself that she would sleep on time tonight. 

"You should sit down and eat, Anya. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day." Anya couldn't help but feel bitter. Her father was supposed to say these things to her; but she pushed that thought out of her mind, thanked Mr. Jones and ran out of the house. 

Alex was sitting in his car, headphones in his ears, head moving to another pop beat. He had been there every day since Kyle had started to leave before her. On the first day after the incident, Mr. Jones had dropped her off and since then Alex refused to leave her side. She knew how furious he was at Kyle but for her sake, he wasn't saying anything. It helped that Kyle kept his distance from him, but it didn't help that he kept his distance from her. Her heart tore every time he looked at her with those pearl grey eyes of his. 

Alex had done everything to keep her mind off her life. She smiled gratefully at him as he offered one side of his earphones to her, her hand lingering for more than a minute over his. Since that day, her days had been a blur of kisses and tears. Kisses which helped her forget, intense with desire and pain. Alex held her so close when they kissed that they shared the same breath. She could feel his heart beat faster than a hummingbird's in his chest. She remembered keeping one hand over that heart and the other entangled in his hair. Alex was all she had to forget the pain; each kiss let her feel free- free of all that pain, free from being so broken that she couldn't even go to her own house to get her clothes, free from being called an orphan- because, at that moment, all she could feel were his lips burning against hers. 

He took the other cord himself and let it slide into her ear, quickly kissing her cheek at the same time. Even that small peck sent current into her body; jolting her into a world where everything was hers. They reached the school and she couldn't help but hide the disappointment from her face, she didn't want their ride to end. She wanted to keep running in circles if that meant she would not have to face her reality. 

She knew that if she asked, Alex would flunk school with her but she couldn't do that to him. Reluctantly, she got out of his car and they made their way to their classes. She spotted Will and soon the three of them were together, a human-sized elephant called Kyle in their minds. They all knew something had to be done about that, but none of them knew what. Will seemed to be reading her mind, "I saw him with Derek."

"Kyle?"

Anya grew fumed with rage now; it was one thing to not talk to her because she had not told him about Alex but a whole another if he was frolicking about with Derek. They both knew the kind of a guy he was: drugs, girls and fascism. "Oh, that's it. I'm done. This ends here, today." 

She was on the warpath, if she had to bash Kyle up to make him understand what he was doing, she would. She was done with giving him space to let him deal with his feelings. 

"See what you have done." Anya could hear Alex muttering something about keeping quiet to Will but she had had enough. Kyle was her best friend and he was acting like a jerk. She set her mind and marched towards him. 

❄❄❄

"Now what is it?" Kyle had a challenging tone in his voice, on the edge of a temper outbreak. It seemed that he was always on the edge of a temper outbreak nowadays. He held himself back from everything; he couldn't even stay at his own house for long. He didn't feel like was about to lose his temper with Olivia though. She was the only pleasant part of his day. He wanted to go back to her but he knew Derek wouldn't let him go anywhere without him or one of his coolies. He was so frustrated with them, always looking at him like he couldn't handle himself. 

"I thought I told you not to go near them."

"That was Olivia, she was helping me with—"

"It doesn't matter why, Kyle. You clearly like her, and I told you, you can't control yourself when you feel something deeply. One wrong move, one tiny word, anything could set you off." 

Kyle was done, so fed up with Derek and his stupid stories and DNA analogies. It couldn't be so bad, Derek was an Imperial, all his coolies were too, and they seemed completely normal to him; teenage brats yes, but normal teenage brats.

"Easy, Kyle." Derek gave him that look again and he could swear that some vein in his head burst. He saw himself raising his hand to hit the boy who was only trying to teach him. But he didn't have control over his actions anymore, like he was looking at the world from a distance, subdued of all emotions and caution. 

Derek smiled, almost as if he wanted this to happen, a victory smile of a point well-demonstrated. He caught his hand in mid-air and twisted it, the pain snapping Kyle back into his mind. 

"Do you understand why I have not been setting you loose?" Kyle thought he might die of fear, fear of his own self. He knew the curse Derek talked about had to be bad, but he never realized just how much the extent of the beast within him was going to break. He knew he couldn't step foot near Anya or any of his friends, one moment of careless sentiment and everything would be beyond damaged. 

He took a step back and looked at his hands, his eyes wide with horror, spidery black veins running down his forearm. He always knew terror existed but how could one be terrified of their own self, how could one not trust their own actions, "I'm sorry. I- I am- Derek," He took a deep breath, remembering the breathing exercises Derek had been teaching him. His voice broke when he asked, "Derek- what... what am I?"

"You are an Imperial, Kyle." 

 "Just stay away from anyone who makes you feel something, and you should be good to go." Liam had a bitter undertone to his words, covered with mild amusement. 

"Speaking of which, there comes our test subject. She sure is pretty, ain't she?" It was one of the twins again, Kyle still didn't know which one was Drew and which Drake. Either way, he was sure he was going to bash one of them up by the end of the day. He looked up to see who he was talking about to find out it was Anya.

She was wearing a maroon pullover, the brown of her eyes turning gold with the sunlight. She was marching towards them; like Myrina painted in gold and glory.

"That's my—" Kyle didn't even know what to call her anymore, he had lost the right to call her his best friend. 

"He's just testing you Kyle, don't let him get to you." Derek had a hand on his back, a way to stop him if he lost control but it didn't matter to Kyle, none of it did. He despaired over himself, he had never felt so helpless; all this life, he knew where he belonged, it was with Anya. And now, he couldn't even look at her without guilt overpowering him. Derek nodded at him, and removed his hand from his shoulder. 

Kyle knew what had to be done. He took a step forward and waited there for her to come to him. He wanted Derek and his g**g of Imperials to listen to this. 

"Kyle?" Her voice, he forgot how sweet that sound was, not one part of her deserved this. For that moment, he was glad that she had Alex now, she deserved the world. He could only pray that Alex would be able to give it to her.

"What do you want?" He tried to sound as distant and cruel as he could; he needed her to hate him as that was the only way she would give up on him. 

"Kyle, I'm sorry. I know I should have told you about Alex but at least try to understand--" He could hear the desperation in her voice and he knew he wouldn't be able to go through this if he looked at her, so he focused his eyes on the one thing he knew would remind him why this was necessary. He focused on her banded-up arm and said, "What do you want me to understand, Anya? That you are such a desperate b***h that you sold yourself to Alex?" 

Anya's face went pale and Kyle knew that every word he was saying was a punch right to her heart. He knew that what he was saying could never be undone and that he would lose her forever. Sometimes, words were the sharpest of weapons and he was twisting his into her. She was standing in front of him like a ghost and he saw the horror on her face. She opened her mouth as if to say something but she just stood there looking at Kyle with those shiny eyes of hers. So, he continued.

"Don't have anything to say, do you, Anya Jacob. Hey, wait a minute, do orphans still get to keep their parent's surnames? No wonder they left you, Anya. You made them choose death rather than a life with a girl like you." Kyle wasn't speaking anymore but he heard his voice going on anyway; a shield to protect him from his own actions. He would have killed anyone who would have said even a word against Anya, and now he was inflicting all that on her just because she was his best friend. 

"Stop following me around, alright. You aren't my dog." He saw Alex coming their way, and added, "You are his." He didn't know what he was saying anymore, he was avoiding looking at her face but he knew that for the last part, he had to. So, he raised his head, looked right into her eyes and said, "And oh Miss Writer, go home and cry it out on your blog. At least now there would be some original content up there." 

He couldn't take it anymore, he saw her crying and still wanted to go to comfort her but he willed himself not to. He could hear Liam and the other cronies snickering and hooting in the background. 

"C'mon guys, we don't need to stay around mediocrity a moment longer." He wheeled, put his hand around Derek's shoulder and walked out of the premises; leaving behind his best friend.

Once, they reached outside, Kyle gripped Derek's hand. He knew he was losing control; he had been the moment he made Anya cry but he had to finish what he had started so he somehow continued; her face anchoring him to not lose control. He was clenching his jaw really hard and through that told Derek, "De-re-ek, I am- losing- con-tro-ol."

Derek seemed stunned for once, no smiling, no telling how he did the right thing, he was looking at him with something else in his eyes though, his mask cracking up. 

"How did you do that?" It was Liam; he was shocked too, but a little less than Derek. Kyle didn't have time to answer their questions, he could feel himself losing control.  

"Derek!" Kyle shouted and stopped clenching his jaw. He could see the black veins intensifying; he could feel his power growing and he knew that he couldn't control it anymore. Derek seemed to snap out of his temporary limbo and was quickly signaling the others to form a circle around him; he wanted to tell him not to bother as Anya wasn't going to come back. Not then, not ever again. But he couldn't, he was behind a glass pane again, and no matter how loudly he banged on it with his mind, his body felt like it wasn't under his control. 

Kyle stood up and was about to push Derek out of his way, only to realize that he was surrounded. Five people stood around him in a ring-like formation, they seemed an oddly peculiar group. Liam, with his usual cocky smile, the twins with their somber expressions and this time there were two girls there too, he didn't really know them but they seemed to be familiar faces. Even though they were in a circle, Derek could be clearly spotted as their leader. He had that aura about him, of authority and discipline set in his very bones. Kyle didn't understand what was going on- whether they were protecting him from the world or the world from him. He almost thought they would start chanting and finally initiate him into their Imperial cult but none of that happened. They simply stood around him, waiting for him to make a move.

Kyle's own mind couldn't register all of this, his vision had become blurry and everyone seemed hostile. He didn't know whether to scream or to run, but his body answered for him. He fell to the ground and started clutching his head in his hands. A loud sonic beam seemed to be shot his way and his mind couldn't function any longer. It felt everything, the rage, the guilt, the pleasure of that power but it seemed like his body was paralyzed. He was trying to command his body to get up, to stand, and run from this place but nothing happened. 

Then, he heard her voice again, he could almost picture her. She sounded broken, like she had given up and he knew how much that cost. Anya was the one person he knew would never have given up, that's just who she was; and now if Kyle was the one who made her do that... his mind rattled with that thought and somehow, he summoned up the strength to get up. 

He still couldn't see anything clearly but his other senses were picking up. He felt that burst of energy in his body, his nerves tingling with the sensation. Kyle almost smiled, he had missed that feeling ever since that run. Now that he could feel all that power again, he thought this is what people meant when they say a part of them was missing without ever realizing what it was. Now he knew what it was, that power belonged to him and his body. As soon as his vision cleared up, he pushed Derek out of his way and ran. 

Somewhere along the way, he realized that no one had followed him. He almost expected to turn around to see Derek but it didn't matter- that power was singing throughout him, feeding him more and more until he couldn't take it anymore. He stopped midway to see how far he had come and saw that he was on a bridge. The Whitestone Bridge, the one where Anya's parents had died. 

That's when his head came back to his senses; there was no other way to describe it. The entire time he felt that power, his raw instincts lead his way, but now that his mind was thinking again, he felt the same terror once again. Terror of wanting more power, because once you taste it, there was no turning back. 

He felt completely drained not only emotionally but physically as well, energy leaving him just as fast as it had come. He sat on the edge of the bridge and closed his eyes. He told himself that it was just until the images left him and there was no death and curses and he was with Anya eating a pizza while cracking jokes with Alex and Will.

Kyle fell into the water.