Copyright © 2019 James Russell Stoakes. All rights reserved.
https://JamesStoakes.com
“Nice hat!” the young thug said to Jarred and laughed as he pushed his way through the crowd. His friends laughed with him.
“Thanks, I like it too,” Jarred said grinning because he knew he looked good.
“It was sarcasm old man!” the unruly boy said harshly. “Are you retarded?” he scoffed and moved closer to the rail.
Jarred felt his ire raise, but he said nothing, this was going to be easy to rectify. He hadn’t used his ability in days, he had not felt the need, but today, he was going to take pleasure in doing so.
He was sure what he was about to do was going to spoil his commute, but he didn’t care, he could have breakfast across town tomorrow. The crowded subway had people shoulder to shoulder as they stood and waited for the train to arrive. The rush of air indicated it was close, and Jarred waited. As soon as he heard the train enter the far end of the station, Jarred briefly possessed one of the thug’s compatriots and used him to push the boy off of the landing.
It was all he could do not to laugh when the thug landed on the rails, and the train horn blared. The brakes were on, but the effort was far too late to save the kid.
“I saw you push him!” someone yelled and grabbed the kid that had done the pushing.
“I did too,” another man hollered and helped.
“I didn’t do it! the struggling boy protested.
Jarred laughed inside, they never remembered what he made them do.
The crowd overpowered the young man and held him until the police waded into the sea of people to arrest him.
An announcement came across the station speakers, “The Orange line is down until further notice.”
“Yep! I knew this would ruin my commute,” Jarred said to himself as he made his way back to the surface. Most of the people that had been waiting for the T and the entire train, were exiting the station, so Jarred just moved with the flow. Paramedics were going the other way as he trudged up the stairs. “No need to rush,” he thought with a snigger. “He’s not going anywhere.”
The comment the thug had made to Jarred still stung. “Old man?” he thought to himself. “I’m only twenty-eight for crying out loud.” The diner was busy, there was only one seat left, and it was at the counter, near the cash register. “Works for me,” he thought as he took the seat.
It took a few minutes for the waitress to make her way over to him. “Coffee, hon?” she asked him.
“Yes, black,” he responded. “Dark roast if you have it.”
She smiled and reached for a pot behind her. “I have just the thing right here,” she said flirtatiously. “Too bitter for me, but it sounds like just what you want.”
Jarred’s mouth smiled, but it never reached his eyes. “Can I get a couple eggs and some hash browns ordered, while I have you here?” he asked.
“Sure,” she said as she scribbled on her note pad. She ripped the paper free and stuck it on a spike in the window that separated the dining area from the kitchen.
The din of the restaurant was fairly constant with an occasional clatter or stool dragging across the floor. Jarred found it relaxing and somewhat boring. He turned around on his stool as he sipped his coffee and observed the people walking by to try to entertain himself.
A cranky looking teen girl was walking by focusing heavily on her cell phone screen. Jarred stopped sipping his coffee long enough to possess her. He had ten seconds to maneuver her now. He walked her towards the signal light and centered her on it. Without slowing, he walked her directly into the pole. She banged her head hard and threw her phone out into traffic.
“What a rush,” he thought with a sick grin. Several people in the dinner saw what happened, and they were either laughing or trying to convey what they saw to others. “That cell phone habit is going to get her killed someday,” Jarred said to the guy sitting next to him. The guy looked out and saw the girl crying with blood running down her face.
“She was lucky,” the guy said. “Last week, I saw a guy walk right out into traffic while looking at his phone. He died.”
Jarred was familiar with that incident. “The guy on Lynn st?” Jarred asked.
“Yeah! Lynn and Copper,” he confirmed and went back to eating.
Jarred remembered that guy, he had spilled coffee on Jarred’s arm because he was reading his phone while he walked. “That won’t happen again,” Jarred thought and took another long pull off of his cooling coffee.
“It was perfect,” he lied. In truth, the eggs had been runnier than he liked, and the coffee was not as strong as his normal breakfast place.
She took his slip and punched it in, “That’s $12.45,” she said.
Jarred frowned and handed her a twenty. As soon as she had the cash register open, Jarred possessed her. He had her take all the large bills out of the register and hand them to him. He thanked her and stuffed them into his pants pocket. Once she had closed the register drawer, Jarred released her.
“Have a great day!” she said to him.
“Thanks,” he said and exited the diner.
Paramedics were on scene and tending to the injured young woman. She was crying as they cared for her. She was more upset about the loss of her phone than the injuries to her head and face. Jarred smiled at her physical and mental discomfort and paused to watch for a few minutes as she was bundled up and taken away.
A blonde wisp of a woman approached him. He noticed her shoulder-length hair bounced as she walked before he saw the gleam in her eye and the grin on her face.
“Did you see what happened here? she asked Jarred with a notepad in her hand.
“I didn’t,” he lied. “Are you a reporter?”
She smiled, “Jenny Willson,” she said, “I’m with the Boston Globe, and I’m currently writing about the addictive qualities of cell phones and their consequences.”
Jarred stared at her a moment, surprised at her topic. “Consequences?” he said, loving her presumption. “Some people in the diner saw what happened, I heard them laughing,” he said.
“I saw you staring at that injured woman,” Jenny grinned mischievously. “I know that look,” she said and continued quietly, “you like to see others in pain,” she trailed off. Jenny moved forward and stopped next to Jarred before whispering, “I like pain,” she said sexily and then continued walking. “See you around, cowboy!” she hollered as she walked towards the diner’s door. She waved without looking back.
He watched her depart, confused and aroused. “It’s a bowler, not a cowboy hat,” he said as she retreated.
Jarred resumed his walk home. “What did she mean, “I like pain,” he wondered. “Does she like to be in pain or cause pain?” He stepped up his pace as he thought about it. His newest pet, Emma, was waiting, and he had some pent up energy to expend on her now.
Emma was “enjoying” the accommodations of the soundproof basement of his townhouse. He hadn’t broken her yet, but he was working on it. For three days now she had stood there or hung like a side of beef, she was weakening. Her high pitched screams that had been so delicious when she was fresh were beginning to fade. “That’s to be expected,” he thought as he unlocked the door to his home. “I wonder how long Jenny would take to break?” he thought as he closed the door and deposited his keys on the tray he kept nearby. He hung his hat on an empty hook where several others hung neatly in a row.
Jarred unlocked the door to the basement,turned on the light, and descended the stairs. As soon as the light came on, he could immediately hear her voice.
Jenny laughed as she walked away. She noted his physical reaction to the body she had chosen to use, and she was glad. She liked it too, but it was a little tight on her.
She could tell that Jarred was resisting the evil that resided in him. His father chose the right demon to send, Jenny would set him on the correct path, and they would both make the Devil proud.
“No. No. No,” Emma repeated in a whimper. He could hear her moving against her restraints as he approached. She was still blinking her eyes at the sudden brightness when he was finally able to see her. She stood there, with her hands strapped together and secured to the ceiling just above her forehead.
He smiled, “How are we doing today, Emma?” he asked her as he examined her hand restraints and the cable to the ceiling. Her eyes were red and puffy and her long blonde hair stuck to her wet cheeks in several places.
“Please let me go,” she cried quietly as Jarred examined her leg restraints. “People are probably looking for me,” she said in an effort to scare him.
“They are,” he confirmed. “They stopped by with a flyer this morning.” He moved the hair on her face back behind her ear. “The picture they had was much prettier than how you look right now,” he said cruelly.
“You bastard!” she screamed. “You did this to me!”
Jarred smiled and began taking his clothes off and hanging them neatly. Her emotional pain pleased him. He had lured her here from a local night club for a one night stand, but he could not help possessing her and walking her down here.
“No, no, no,” she started to cry again as she watched him slowly undress.“Not again! Please,” she pleaded.
“Yes, yes, yes,” he said with a wicked smile. “You may scream,” he repeated just as he had told her three days ago. Once naked, he pulled on two of the ropes connected to her feet which yanked them out from under her.
She screeched when her feet came out from under her and her arms suddenly took on her weight. She wailed about the pain in her shoulders. Once Jarred had the ropes pulled tight enough to adjust her height, he stepped up behind her. He ran his fingertip down the back of her thigh to remind her he was there.
“No!” she screamed, but not in pain this time. It was more from anticipation and denial of what was coming. She thrashed for a few moments to try to keep him away from her but soon began to run out of energy.
“You will break soon,” Jarred said as he used her.