Core of Confliction Page 2

  “What did you come here for, trash?” The owner was just as tall as his errand boys, towering over Charles and looking down on him with disgust.

  “I just need to get a report to the Undersecretary but, you know…” Charles sat up and shrugged in defeat.

  “No,” the owner cracked his knuckles, “I don’t.”

  Charles realized his plan of gaining an audience with the owner of the restaurant in order to locate his source was more complicated than anticipated. Too many questions were not looked upon nicely. He prepared to receive his information with a bloody nose and a couple of bruised ribs. It was an expected outcome so he brushed it off and braced himself just as the owner plowed a fist into the side of his face. The owner asked him again.

  "Why are you here?"

  Charles gave a revised recount of the incident in the strip mall, leaving out transforming dogs and vortexes.

  "My crew was ambushed in a strip mall by my territory. They got away and took one of my men. I sent the others to give a report."

  "Is that so?" The boss sniffed then resumed hitting him.

  After giving Charles a brief reprieve from getting beaten, the owner nodded to his right hand man standing near the curtain. He disappeared for about two minutes which made Charles a little nervous about his chances of escaping. When the thug came back, he whispered into the owner’s ear.

  “It seems you DO need to make a report, quickly.” He nodded to the man who scribbled something on a piece of paper and threw it down by Charles’ feet. “Get him out of here.” He turned and went back through the curtain, his thug in tow. Charles left by air as two of the younger boys stood at the entrance and tossed him out onto the sidewalk.

  **~**

  Leaving the lively part of the city for the inner, he made his way to the rendezvous point. It was an old heap of a shed that sat unattached to the closed business next to it. He managed convincing one of the Yazuka boys to relay a message to the undersecretary about the location. At the entrance of the rundown shack sitting on the outskirts he peered through the rusted metal door to see if anyone was inside. Making sure the coast was clear, he entered and waited for her to arrive. He didn’t have to wait long.

  “What in god’s name are you doing?” She stormed in and came right up to him. The metal door wheezed in protest before banging shut. She wore a dark slate grey skirt suit with a two button jacket and navy pumps. Her straight dark hair lay loose past her shoulder blades, the ends cut perfectly across as if a line had been drawn to separate her lower body from the upper. Her cupid shaped lips were pursed into two ruby slits. She was angry.

  “Good to see you too.” He pushed his hands into the front pockets of his slacks.

  “This is not funny!” She pointed a manicured ruby nail at him.

  “Did my guys report to the boss about what happened?”

  “Yes, we heard, and you need to leave this alone and let us handle this.”

  “One of my guys was taken. And that thing that was our dog…”

  “Look,” she moved so close to him that they exchanged air, “I know this is all a bit crazy but if you just calm down.”

  “I am calm, I’m just angry.”

  She searched his face for some evidence of that and as usual found none. Charles did not show emotion. It unnerved her whenever she saw a dull uninterested look on his face, like the boss. “Come with me and lay low for a while, okay.” Her voice was soothing.

  They touched foreheads and after a few moments, he nodded. She could tell he needed some release after all the crazy shit going on so far. As she led the way to her car parked around back, she made eye contact with the two enforcers standing off to the side across the street. They nodded to her as she got into the driver’s seat and knew they were going to report to the boss’ liaison. No one could be allowed to run around knowing about what happened at a strip mall in the suburbs of their city.

  Jared

  “Where am I? What happened?” Jared sat up slowly from his position on the stiff bed. He was asking himself more than anything and was not prepared for an answer.

  “Somewhere safe, for now.” The manbeast stood up and went to his side. His robes made a soft swishing sound as the bottom dragged across the wood floor.

  Jared reared back further on the bed against the wall. He was too tired and too scared to fight but he wasn’t so far gone as to submit to whatever came next.

  “I would never hurt you, Jared.”

  “How do you know my name?” Just as he asked it, he felt stupid. Of course it would know his name. The thing had been his pet German Shepard for a long time. “What are you going to do with me? I mean, what the hell is going on?”

  “If I said we were going to our home world soon, how would you feel about that?”

  “Who are you? What are you?” Jared was getting sleepy again, his words slurring with the slump of his body back to a lying position on the bed. It was all too much for his mind to bear.

  “I am Modas and I am yours. We will explain when you feel better.”

  “We?” Jared fell asleep. His body relenting to gravity and falling sideways on the bed.

  Modas reached out his hand to move strands of hair from Jared’s face but stopped himself. Not being able to convey how he was feeling at that moment tortured him. He sat back down in the chair and waited for the older woman to show up. From there everything would be set back right.

  Small tingling sensations ran through his body as it settle into its original form, grateful to not be a pet dog anymore. It had been a demeaning existence for him because being a warrior meant more than anything, with the exception of being a father and mate. These thoughts went through his head as he too fell asleep dreaming of times past and what was to come.

  **~**

  Muted sunlight shone down on the fields of flowers while children ran through them laughing in merriment. Even with a weakened sun high in the hazy ochre colored sky, some slight warmth could be felt. Near the temple on the hill a bright orb appeared, shaking the ground. Workers and children stopped with bated breath at the entry.

  Out stepped the old woman with the silver curly hair. She nodded to the guard standing at the console that controlled the transport gate without slowing her stride towards the temple. The children resumed playing in the fields and the workers returned to their duties. She smiled at them, knowing what everyone was thinking when the alternate gate opened.

  In the temple, she quickly changed clothes then headed for the garden on the side of the structure. Many of her people toiled endlessly to keep the garden flush with energy to maintain the life held in suspense there. It was not a garden of plants. All of the small buds of light were soul cores rescued after the disintegration of their home world. So much life had been lost but once vessels were found for the cores, they would start a new cycle to rebuild their race.

  The first step was to find the ones whose bodies were intact but missing their original cores. They were scattered across different worlds and dimensions. Who the race really needed was their leader and the old woman had found him on Earth with three of his cabinet members. She had also found the monster who had destroyed their world. Bending down to stroke one of the glowing cores, her gaze fell across the garden. Soon, everything would be right. She got up and headed back to the gate for her travel to the safe house where Modas and Jared hid.

  **~**

  Bright light jolted Modas out of his slumber and the chair he was sleeping in. It careened across the room into a wall as his body automatically crouched into a defense stance. Seeing it was the old woman, he relaxed. The vortex closed and he sighed with relief.

  “You frightened me.”

  “Who else would it have been? You are too on guard. No one knows about this place except us.” She looked upon Jared. “How is he doing? I see he is still asleep.”

  “In shock still. Which there will be more of when we get his core back into him.”

  “You miss her greatly.”

  Modas
kept silent. It needed no reply. He too, strolled through the garden from time to time checking on some of the cores that remained. He knew which ones were his family. Ganna motioned to Jared and Modas picked him up, cradling Jared in his arms.

  “Let’s hurry.”

  “What about our leader? Chardon could be in danger.”

  “I know, but my cover is compromised, as is yours, so we must be careful. I am sure you don’t want to be a pet dog again.”

  “No.” Modas shifted Jared’s weight towards him. “I’m ready, let’s go.”

  **~**

  The undersecretary slid out from underneath the covers and out of bed. Her movements were like a cat as she padded naked in silence to the living room. Finding her purse, she reached in, pulled out her mobile vidcom and dialed. A face appeared on the tiny screen revealing one of the boss’ henchman. She leaned in closer to the screen and whispered angrily.

  “What does he want me to do about Charles? He's asking a lot of questions in the wrong parts of town. I can’t keep him locked down.”

  “Do nothing. Tell him you have a meeting with the boss and he is to stay put. We will come get him.” The smile on the henchman’s face was crooked.

  “Fine, I’ll do that, but he’s not stupid. If he senses something is wrong, he will run.”

  “Not your concern. We can handle this. Do as you’re told.” The screen went dark.

  Placing the device back into her purse, she went to wake up Charles. He could at least have a decent breakfast before the enforcers came for him. At the bedroom doorway she stopped for a moment to stare at his sleeping body under the sheets. She went over to the side of the bed and started kicking it lightly.

  “Wake up, you. I’m hungry. What are you going to fix me?”

  After the tenth kick, Charles stirred, turning his head to face her. She was beautiful with a well-proportioned athletic body but knew she did nothing for him emotionally. She was just a warm body to alleviate his tension when needed. Their relationship was against the rules but he never cared about that. He sat up on his knees, letting the sheet fall back behind him and wiped his face with his bare hands.

  “I thought you were going to cook for me.”

  “Alright, how about we do it together?”

  “Sounds like fun”

  “It has to be fast though. I have to meet the boss. He seems to want to talk to me.”

  “Good. Ask him about that creature I saw.” He climbed out of bed to search for his pants. She raised an eyebrow at his nakedness debating on a second round and saw him tense up. Not today.

  Near the end of breakfast, she let out a deep sigh and turned to him.

  “I need you to stay here until I get back.”

  “Why?” He set his spoon down in the half eaten bowl of oatmeal.

  “Because it’s not safe, Charles. There are strange things running around and you talked to a few people who don’t like being asked questions. So, stay put.” Her finger extended at his nose.

  They finished up and went back to the bedroom to get dressed and make the bed. He had not answered her and she kept glancing at him until he did.

  “Fine.” He pushed off the edge of the bed, finishing the corners of the sheets by tucking them under. Relieved, she let him follow her to the front door.

  “I’ll call you when I am on my way back, okay.” She gave him a quick kiss and left.

  Outside she could see in the corner of her vision four of the organization’s enforcers waiting across the street for her to get in her vehicle and leave before moving in. It was his own fault, she thought to herself as she got in and pulled off.

  Charles sat down on a stool at the black marbled island in the kitchen. He always wondered why her place was all black and stainless steel. It reminded him of an underground bunker. His thoughts went over the scene from the strip mall, finding it hard to believe less than forty eight hours had past.

  Midway through his mind drifting, it snapped back into reality as he noticed the silence. She lived on a pretty lively inner city block and there was usually a lot of noise. But, no traffic or people could be heard and you could probably hear a pin drop right about now. Cursing under his breath, he made his way to the door and laid in wait for his attackers. If they were coming in hot, he had to be ready for a world of harm. It was not a long wait.

  A New World

  The weak sunlight still made Jared squint as he woke up in another bare room. He sat up and looked around surveying the area. So many questions were going through his head but he figured they would tell him what’s what soon enough. Modas had stepped out of the vortex onto solid ground, setting him down right before the exit and he felt a little funny about it. Was he really so out of it? He must have been because he remembered fainting not long after that.

  One thing was certain before he lost consciousness; this was not Earth. The air smelled different and the sky had a weird orange color, not blue. Even the grassy knolls were not quite green. What had made him pass out was the sighting of a strange little field creature that scurried across not far away.

  Testing his footing on the floor, he went to the door and it opened to a hallway. He left the solitary room and headed down until reaching an archway opened to the outside. The grass was tall along the pathway and he brushed his hands against it as he walked. As he neared a clearing, he saw children laughing and playing in the fields. To the right of him was another path leading to a rocky area with a creek. He followed it, amazed at how bold he was going off on his own.

  On a huge rock in the middle of the creek sat Modas in front of the waterfall. His mane of hair was swept away from his face and cascaded down his back to his waist. He wore a sleeveless thin bluish grey robe over a rough woven brown long sleeved one making him look like a monk. Modas meditated sitting akimbo and he was beautiful. Jared felt himself blush.

  Modas must have felt his presence because he opened his eyes and turned towards him but didn’t get up.

  “Are you feeling better?” Modas asked.

  “I guess, if you consider I am on a different planet or something, sure.” His own sarcasm felt wrong and he wondered why.

  Ganna had apparently followed him out of the room and now came over to them. Her silver curls bounced freely around her shoulders. How could I not have seen or heard her? A feeling of uneasiness washed over him. Something about her, he didn’t like.

  “With you awake, we can begin. Shall we?” Waving an arm in the direction of the temple was her way of requesting they both follow her. She led the way, walking briskly.

  He began thinking in his head, “No way that woman is old. Grandma has too much pep in her step”. A rundown temple came into view and they went in, heading towards the back, then turning to end up on the side of the structure. He saw the garden of glowing buds and inhaled with wonder. They were very enchanting, so much so he went to touch them. Modas grabbed his wrist to stop him.

  “Not yet. Please, wait.”

  Jared looked up at Modas with a confused face. Ganna sighed heavily, stepping next to Jared.

  “My name is Ganna. I am one of the cabinet members here at the temple. Since the destruction of our world, what was left of the governing structure convened under the care of the few temple servants who had survived. We conduct meetings here for convenience,” she paused, chuckling, “and divine counsel. What you see before you in this garden are the souls of our fallen people, their cores. We were only able to save this many. Some of them need new vessels whereas for others, we need to find their vessels.”

  “Their vessels?”

  “Their physical bodies,” Modas interjected.

  “Our consciousness, or soul, resides in our physical bodies. They can be removed if the body is too damaged to sustain it. Souls manifest as orbs of energy, as you see here, and can be reinstated in a new or repaired vessel. When our world was attacked a vortex had been opened. Through that opening, many of our kind were thrown into other planes, other planets and other worlds which ripped
their cores out of their bodies, leaving behind one or the other.”

  “So you’re searching all over the place. But, their, um, vessels could take a long time, right?”

  “Time was not of importance until now. We have found at least some of the cabinet members and our leader, so there is hope.”

  “Why is time not important now?” Jared felt like a broken record but Ganna was taking too long explaining for him.

  “The one who destroyed our world knows we have survived. He is on that planet called Earth running some kind of crime ring, as they call it.”

  “Wait,” Jared held up one hand having a thought. “Am I a hostage, like your ticket to get close to my boss?”

  Modas looked pained while Ganna grimaced. Jared was confused. He could not figure out what they wanted from him. Modas stepped into the garden, went about one hundred feet and picked up one of the glowing buds of energy. He came back and placed it in Jared’s hands. Almost instantly, Jared’s entire body jolted and memories flooded into him. Tears spilled down his face with every heart wrenching moment crashing against him making his grip tighten on the core. So tight it made contact with his abdomen, forcing the core to slowly sink into him, disappearing.

  Jared went down hard to the ground, his eyes rolled up in their sockets and he started to convulse. Modas held him down with all his strength because Jared had become incredibly strong. Ganna ran into the temple to find a healer. She grabbed one and ordered them to bring a sedative to administer. As the drug was injected into him and began to work, Jared ceased to move. Modas touched his face gently.