Chapter 2 – Keeping your Demons
It’s three at night. Nick has arrived home after being out for four hours. Sometimes he stays out longer or comes home even earlier because the police send out more officers if the criminal activity becomes high, which usually happens on full moons. He lays down on his bed with his sleeping wife. He thinks about what happened as he tries to fall asleep. His wife holds him while she’s sleeping as if part of her can feel his anxiety. Her touch puts him at peace. As he smiles and touches her face, she smiles as well before her head slowly cracks open in two. Nick quickly forces it together before going to the nearby bathroom to see that his head is completely spilt in two. His mirror image smiles at him and starts pulling out insects from his head.
The mirror version of himself says, “We have to clean out our head more often, don’t we?”
“Shut up.”
Nick then reaches into the mirror and puts the mirrored version of his head back together then goes back to sleep. As soon as he hits the bed, he wakes up holding Allison and Allison holding him. She wakes up and smiles at him, which makes him smile in return.
“Good morning sunshine,” she says before kissing him then getting up, “Are you ready for today?”
“I’m ready.”
The couple goes downstairs, and Allison begins making breakfast while Nick sets the table.
“Did you have fun last night?”
“I did. How was work?”
“It was “great” as always.”
“You could take up boxing like I do. We could go into mixed leagues together or maybe even do professional wrestling. I taught you how to defend yourself already.”
“You want us to be like your parents?”
“We aren’t going to let the fame get to our heads like them.”
“We don’t even have any kids yet and I expected them after we got married.”
“I just want to be set in life before we have our child, so we don’t need to worry about money.”
“We already don’t have to.”
“Ok, how about we do this next week when we go to Italy?”
“You better butter me up today, so that’ll sound like a good idea.”
“Do you mean literally or…”
“I will mean literally if you keep it up, mister.”
Allison makes French toast today and the two eat while watching the news. Nick likes watching it to see people recognize his work and if there are certain criminals he should look out for.
“So, if work was “great” as always, does that mean that the doctors are still being hard on you?”
“Of course, and how can you blame them? Hillside City is a hot place that always has people coming into the hospital. I have to make sure everything is correct and prepared for them so that they can treat their patients properly. I don’t mind it when they get agitated at me because I understand how they feel.”
“I mind it. They should understand your situation as well.”
“They only know me as Nick the Young Boxing Legend’s wife. They think I live an easy life and shouldn’t even have my job.”
“I don’t think you should either. You can probably do more good by getting your name out there and supporting charities like I do. It’s better than being a doctor’s assistant or nurse or whatever you call it.”
“Well I’m doing what I want, and I’ve helped dozens of people by doing it.”
“I’m not trying to say you’re not.”
“Then that’ll be the end of that discussion.”
The news talks about the Doll Factory hideout Nick went to and describes what they found.
“That’s absolutely horrible,” Allison comments.
“…I know.”
“If only we could do something about it.”
“…”
“Maybe you can talk about it on your social media accounts or during your next interviews?”
“I will,” Nick says as he spreads the news about the Doll Factory, “I just wish I could do more.”
“Like what? Challenge them to a boxing match and beat their face in?”
“Yes.”
“As much as that idea sounds appealing, you can’t always beat down evil in the face. Violence isn’t the best answer to anything in my opinion.”
What Allison says catches Nick by surprise.
He says, “Oh, but what about the vigilantes in the city like the Fist of Justice. He has a stupid name sure, but he seems to be doing a lot of good.”
“Not really. All he does is go around town and kill people. We’ll probably end up saving more lives than him even if we don’t get rid of criminals like him.”
Now Nick is completely caught off guard. He never got Allison’s opinion on his vigilantism until now because no one like the Doll Factory came into town until now.
“Are you okay babe?” Allison says to Nick who’s shocked.
“Y-yeah.”
“You’re better than that loser who’s trying to act like a hero.”
“…”
“Anyways, should we go out now?”
“Yeah.”
Nick isn’t sure what to think anymore. The person he listens to most just made him doubtful of what he likes doing the most besides being with her. He puts the thought aside so he can enjoy his day with his treasure. They go out together to the suburban part of Hillside City, which is called Hillfall Town. Allison always liked nature more than the city. There’s a clearing in a nearby forest that they like going to and where people usually go for picnics or big events. They set up a little picnic and just enjoy the nice weather. Their lives are filled with noise and they’ve already said what they’ve wanted to this morning, so it’s refreshing for them to tell each other how much they love each other in a soundless way. Allison lays down in Nick’s arms as they sit in the shade. A slight breeze makes the weather feel perfect while the chirping of birds gives the forest a nice background noise. They sit this way a little more than an hour, which results in them falling asleep.
Another hour passes and a noise in the forest wakes up Nick while Allison still sleeps. He looks around and the noise continues as it sounds like a person walking. He slowly puts down Allison on the blanket then gets up to search the area. The noise stops and starts almost randomly. No matter what direction Nick seems to go in, he can’t seem to find the source of the noise. Nick’s own shadow begins to take form. It tries to grab Nick, but he grabs it instead. The shadow takes the form of Nick, but with black scars on his body.
He says, “I was just going to give you a little scare. Nothing serious.”
“I know what you’re thinking. We’ve been through this before.”
“And I’m never going to stop unless you let go. You can’t control the powers of your nightmares for long. It will overcome you eventually.”
“Not if I can’t resist it.”
Nick lets go of the other him’s throat before continuing his search.
He says to it, “The thing in the forest wouldn’t happen to be one of my monsters, is it?”
“No. It’s probably someone who wants to enjoy the forest…or take advantage of people relaxing in it.”
“Which one do you think it is?”
“What do you think?”
The two Nicks combine to form one being made of nightmares. This usually happens to Nick without his knowledge on his killing nights. His face changes to a mask with a split face and a broken red halo on the back of his head. His hair is longer now and his back sprouts black wings. The shirt and pants on his body disappear so that his legs and hands are now made of jagged metal. Black markings hug his shoulders and sides and a red heart is exposed on his chest. Nick’s senses are now enhanced so he can hear and see better. He picks up the source of the sounds and chases after it. He sees a figure in the distance with a mask that’s like the ones that the Doll Factory have. Nick quickly runs to the mysterious individual to kill them before Allison wakes up. The mysterious individual is startled by the sound of Nick coming in their direction and unknowingly runs in the direction where is Allison. Nick quickens his pace until he can clearly see his target who can see him too. Nick appears to be the monster he is in the eyes of the mysterious individual, which only makes them run faster.
Nick eventually gets close enough so that he can tackle his target, but he tackles them in front of Allison, which wakes her up. Nick’s monstrous appearance disappears from the minds of Nick and the mystery person so that he looks normal now. Seeing that they’re in front of Allison, Nick repeatedly beats the person thinking that this was their intention all along. To find another person to kidnap and sell.
Allison separates the two then says, “What are you doing Nick?”
“This guy was sneaking around here in one of those masks that the Doll Factory have! We can’t let him escape!”
Allison turns to the person, “Tell me who you are.”
The mystery person reveals themselves to be a woman in her middle ages. She says, “I just came here to play a little prank on people. I run this web series where I scare people. It’s pretty popular right now, you might’ve heard of it.”
“Yeah, right. I don’t believe that for one second,” Nick dismissively says.
“Stop it, Nick. You can leave here miss. Just be careful next time you do something like this.”
“Thank you, and I’m sorry for intruding,” the woman says before running back into the forest.
There are a few moments of silence before Nick says, “You shouldn’t have let her go. She had one of those masks.”
“Then what would we do? It looks like you were going to kill her.”
“If she actually was one of those Doll Factory members, I probably would’ve. Those people are scum.”
“You shouldn’t think that way, Nick. You aren’t like that!”
Again, Allison criticizes Nick’s hidden killer personality. He doesn’t know what to do besides going out again tonight to get rid of the Doll Factory, so he doesn’t need to worry about them. After putting this situation behind them, they continue enjoying the rest of the day together until they go back home after watching the stars for a few hours.
At night in his sleep, he dreams of himself in a calm place with all of his monsters on a leash. Some of his monsters look like different boxers he’s fought and criminals he’s fought. Two of the monsters are his parents, which the other monsters continuously beat on. Nick is pondering on going out again tonight while his monsters try to break free from his control with more force than they usually do.
His other him sits by his side then says, “You know you want to go out there and paint the town red. What’s stopping you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Is it Allison? She’s usually right when it comes to moral judgments. Maybe you shouldn’t be a vigilante after all.”
“How about this. The Doll Factory will be my last targets. Once they are dealt with and their captives free, the city will be safer, and we can live in relative peace.”
“If you think that is the right option, then go for it. You do know the consequences if you fail, right?”
“I do, but I won’t fail. Not now and not ever. I will never fail Allison.”
“It seems like you already have.”
Nick gets up from his bed, gets his mask, the Doll Factory’s mask, and goes out for one last killing spree. His body is transformed and ready for all of the carnage he is about to inflict.
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