Where Minds Lay: Where the Line Blurs
Where Minds Lay:
Where the Line Blurs
It can be described as a dream. After I perpetually handed out the rapist's death sentence.
I have used the power, the curse, the gift. The line between my humanity and this... It's all faded and all but gone. I barely even feel bad for it. I don't know whether I should or not, and there's not a single soul that I know who could help me and still keep this confidential. Who would listen and even understand, or for that matter believe, that I have the power to control and alter minds?
I'm a mess in my own mind, mixed with emotional and moral conflicts that I just can't seem to sort out no matter how much I try to comfort myself. I did the right thing... I think. He tried to kill me first! I didn't have to kill, though... right? What about the others he killed? Where does revenge and justice differ? The solution comes to me easy after a while.
The solution lays in Lenny's pocket.
Lenny is my personal supplier. I didn't make a previous appointment so he'll be out doing public deals in the Corner Riot's area. Even while I head over there, my eyes scan the crowd to see if that stupid rapist shows up anywhere. Would I even stop him if I saw him?
As I get closer and further into the depths of the city, the scenery slowly changes from bright colors, telo-screens, propaganda commercials; to dripping pipes, eroded grocery machines, sidewalks lined with huddled figures with bad fur and bad smells- devoted fans of the life of poverty waiting in line to be given food by the dedicated droid at the end. A big steamy pot bellows clouds in front of its featureless lens as little extending, jointed clamps patiently fix bowls of some kind of messy food for the degraded creatures. Some of the messy beggars make cat calls and whistle my way when they see me.
They don't carry on for long, and I can consider myself lucky that the incident in the alley left me in not the best condition. I'm a mess physically as much mentally. My mind's thoughts have stretched my energy out, dragging me down with them. If only a mirror would show up around the corner so I... no, I'll skip it.
Jesus, Dreya... you could be wanted for murder. But where's the proof? It should be over the side of a building by-...
"Shut! up!" My paws clutch my head as the cries carry along the lonely decrepit place. The murmurs of voices behind help me focus, knowing that I'm making a scene. No more thinking. I just have to find Lenny. The next corner should be the last. I hope he didn't hear me.
As I'm passing around, a few others are leaving with their paws stuffing items in their pockets like they just finished shop lifting. Lenny is leaned up against the wall lighting a cigarette. The white coat hangs really baggy on his lanky arms and slender body, so do the greasy tan pants. Black extensions hang down in spikes over the coyote's muzzle while his eyes lift up to see me, the fire barrel illuminates his violet eyes. He pocketed the lighter and cigarette pack into his pants. Not in the jacket. The jacket is so baggy, and it's in case he needs to get away. The cops always go for the coat collar, and the coyote just slips away free, with his cigarettes and lighter as well. Cigarette break after every cop chase. It's the Lenny rule.
"Dreya," his lips bob the cigarette as he speaks. "What are you doing out here?" I pull out dollars when I walk up.
"Lenny, I desperately need-" Before I can finish, his eyes catch something to the side of me and shoot open in horror. I turn to see, but suddenly explosions of gunfire surprise me into ducking down. My body convulses from the mere shock. I check myself instantly. Not hit, but I look up to see Lenny fallen to the side, still smoking. He's still alive then.
"Get the shit!" A bunch of thug-clothed tramps run past me to Lenny's motionless body, with me just watching in paralyzed fear and wonder. I see through their huddled group. Lenny bled around two torn messy holes in his clothing. I clench my fist, and the anger comes back.
All their minds fall under the ghostly extension of my power. I push Lenny's mind out of the way, freeing it from my mental sights. The memory of the rapist comes back. These three thugs could be just like him, slowly trudging to their deaths, created by my power. I don't want that again. What do I...? He's dying...
That coyote with the cigarette laying on the ground bleeding... I can practically feel him slipping away.
"What do I...?" my voice so soft and distantly asks.
My eyes squeeze down around the hot tears. The shakes take me bad. Get him to a hospital! Save him!!
Then my knees hit the ground, but I can only see the back of my tear-filled eye lids. My brain feels like its on fire and my friend is going to die. Everyone is dead.
I collapse over as my paws cover my face. I cry... the whole time I cry. If I knew I was going to fall asleep in that alley, I would have stopped. But I can't predict the future. I'm the supreme master of minds... yet... control seems the last thing I have. I can control minds, but somehow that line blurred in its logic.