TORTURED SOULS
by Dee Allen
Part II: Michael
He was awakened by the sound of distant thunder approaching the coast. It was dawn,
but the storm gave off an ominous darkness over the bay. The raindrops hitting the
ocean made a hissing sound as they dropped. He closed his eyes again and the
sounds dissipated.
He felt her heart beating against him while she lay cradled in the curve of his body.
She fit exactly to him as though she was created to him. As she slept, he watched her.
He wanted her again, but for now he would let her sleep. He carefully unwrapped
himself from her, laying her back down against the pillows, gently kissing her shoulder.
In the living room, his clothes lay crumpled in the same spot they fell to the floor last
night. He smiled remembering. With the lift of his hand, his clothes flew directly to him
as if sucked through a high-powered vacuum. “You haven’t lost your touch.” He told
himself smiling.
He dressed then slowly, thoughtfully walked over to the window. Folding his arms, he
leaned against the wall. The sky was dark and looming as the storm he had heard over
the ocean made its way inward. The lightening flashed in the distance. He waited for
the thunder closing his eyes to block out the sound.
As he watched the darkness fill the waters of the bay, he thought of Laura sleeping in
the next room. He closed his eyes sighing deeply. Yet again, the sadness began. He
loved her beyond any power he possessed with a passion he never thought himself
capable. He had always heard in music how a woman’s face could bring a man to his
knees. Until he met her, he never believed it possible, but every time he looked at her,
that is exactly what happened.
She did not know that the man whose arms in which she lay was the devil himself. How
many he had killed he did not know anymore. He could not remember all their faces,
but sometimes at night when he was alone, he could hear their souls screaming. He
was a despicable killer with a greedy addiction for power. The mere mention of his
name instilled fear into the souls of those who knew of him.
He was the very essence of evil. His name was Sylar.
The real Michael Walsh was dead; he had killed him himself. With Mohinder Suresh, the
Company and the FBI looking for him, he needed a place to hide. He took Michael
Walsh’s identity. And he had made it so easy for him. Michael was a loner and had no
family. And lucky for Sylar he was moving to San Francisco. He had made arrangements
to move his business. Michael’s life was his for the taking. And there were so many
people on Dr. Suresh’s list living on the west coast. It was the perfect place to lay low
for a while.
Michael Walsh had a power. The power of seduction. A power not deserved by such an
unintelligent kind. Sylar watched him for several weeks before making his move. He
spent his evenings at bars luring in cheap women. “What a fool.” He thought to him
self. Posing again as a genetics expert, Sylar took Michael into his confidence. It
disgusted him how such an extraordinary power was wasted on such a stupid man. On
the night he killed him, Sylar asked him about his penchant for horribly cheap women.
“Your power is amazing.” He told him one night. “There is not a man alive who would
not want your power. Why do you waste it on women who get paid by the hour when
you can have any woman in the world?”
“Are you kidding man?” He replied. “Look at them! The tight dresses and high heels!
That’s for me!”
“But would you want to have sex with a whore,” he asked him. “when you can make
love to a goddess?”
“Look my friend; you can keep your goddess’s. And I’ll just keep the sassy ladies for
myself.” And he was off.
Sylar shook his head in disbelief as he watched him. He could do so much more with
that power. It was such a detestable waste of an incredible power. And Sylar would be
too happy to take it from him.
For Sylar, this power made him completely irresistible. Not a soul could refuse him.
This very proved lucrative to him not only perusing his victims, but for Mr. Walsh’s
bank account. He knew nothing about being a trader, but thanks to his new found
power and a gift he took from a waitress in Texas, the world belonged to him. Michael
Walsh’s life was his for the taking and Sylar could move about the world under the
radar.
And then he met her.
He did not come into her life to love her; he came to kill her. As all of his victims, she
meant nothing to him but a name on the list. Her power had not evolved when he
found her. She was unaware that she possessed a gift that made her special from the
rest of the world. Just like that waitress in Texas, the musician in Virginia, the artist in
New York City and so many others. He did not know anything about them. He did not
care. They had a gift, and Sylar took no prisoners.
So he would lie in wait. And he found the perfect place; right down the hall of the
Victorian apartment building she owned in Oakland, CA. To watch closely, unseen and
when the moment struck, he would kill her, making her power his.
But she did see him.
Had she not caught him with his guard down; conceivably he would have stuck with his
plan. But when she caught his eye, he starred in disbelief. She was the most beautiful
creation he had ever seen. She had wavy chestnut hair that hung halfway down her
back, startling green eyes starring out from her soul, possessing him immediately. His
heart sank when he realized this was the woman he had come to kill.
This would have been a good time for him run away to leave her there in the moment,
keeping her safe from him forever, but it was too late. He loved her from the second
he saw her; there was no turning back.
They spent the rest of the day together and that night in intense passion. She stirred
his soul in a way he never thought possible. He remembered lying there holding her,
his heart on fire, unable to believe she was real. He trembled profusely and she put
the blankets around him, kissing him and stroking his hair.
She was somewhat embarrassed. “I really don’t want you to think I always do this.”
“Do what?” he asked her teasing. “Fall into bed with men you have only known for….
ummmm” He looked at the clock. “six hours?”
She smiled in disbelief. “Six hours…how could I….”
“How can you fall wildly in love with somebody in less than a day, but feel like your soul
has known her forever?” He whispered.
“Yes.” She whispered softly. “ Are you going to be in my life, Michael?”
“If you’ll take me.” He gently kissed her forehead.
He was answered when she once again kissed him and the night again exploded in
passion.
Back to the present, as he stood there a tear slowly rolled down his face. He knew she
was not his forever as she thought he would be. This was the hell he had created for
himself. He would do anything he had to do to protect her. Even from him.
If Laura had a power, she was not aware. But someday her power would manifest.
Would he be able to stop himself from killing her? Would his unquenchable lust for
power be stronger than his intense love for her? Why didn’t he run away after that first
night he made love to her? He would rather she believe he had used her for his own
pleasure than ever know the reality; he was a merciless, cold-blooded killer.
Standing there watching the rain, more tears spilled down his face. He despised what
he had become. More than anything he wanted to be the man she thought he was. She
wanted him by her side forever, to bare his children. Of course she wanted these
things. He had deluded her that he could give her this life. But fate had dealt its
spiteful hand and someday she would know the truth.
It was then that he could feel her behind him. Her arms were around his waist and she
playfully snuggled against his back. As he turned toward her, he gently smiled and
pulled her in close to him. For a moment he held her and everything felt right. She
pulled back and ran her hand down his face where the tears had fallen earlier. Smiling
sadly, she gently kissed him.
This was not the first time she had seen him this way. She was always kind and tender,
but she never asked him his thoughts.
She took his hand and led him to the couch. He sat down and pulled her across his lap
holding her to him. For a moment, they sat quietly. Finally he spoke.
“You’re up early. I thought you were going to go in and train this morning”.
“I am.” She replied. “Thanks to YOU I didn’t sleep too well.” She slapped him playfully
making him smile. “And when I woke up, I wondered where you were.”
“I couldn’t sleep either. I didn’t want to wake you.”
He hated to lie to her. The truth was that he rarely slept anymore. His mind was always
racing and since he had met her he was trying to keep the pretense up as keep her
beside him as long as he was able.
He continued. “You’re quiet this morning.” He gently stoked her hair. “Are you ok”?
Thoughtfully she spoke. “I’m not sure. I had something strange happen
yesterday…twice.”
He quickly opened his eyes, his heart sinking. “I’m intrigued. What happened?”
“You are going to think I am absolutely crazy….” She told him the story about falling
asleep on the train while somehow being at the meeting with the Linderman group,
Wireless’s message and about the man named Sylar that Wireless warned her about.
She continued. “I mean, why would he want to kill me?” She looked at him. “I am not
anybody special…I don’t have any powers or special abilities.”
But he did not hear the last part of the conversation. His heart was pounding in his
chest and his pulse was racing. He wanted to turn and run right then.
“Michael!” She startled him out of his thoughts. “Have you even heard anything I said
in the last 5 minutes?”
He looked at her quickly. “I’m sorry…I’m just trying to wrap my mind around all of this.
But you have to understand it is …”
“Crazy?” She prodded him. “I know. If somebody told me this story, I would think they
were on crack. But I would not make this up, Michael.”
“Of course not.” He said holding her. “I know you are telling me the truth, but
Laura…this is huge. And you’re telling me somebody is trying to kill you? That’s it! I am
moving in tonight and I am not leaving you alone anymore.” He picked up the phone.
“No. I don’t want you to do that.” She said firmly.
He hung up. “What? I don’t get it. It’s not like we haven’t been talking about this for the
last 2 months.”
“And we both agreed that we aren’t ready to move to that level yet. And I am not going
to let somebody that for all I know is pulling a prank on me force me to take a step we
aren’t ready for.”
He looked dejectedly at her. “You don’t want me to move in here?”
She walked over and put her arms around him. ”Not until it is our decision.”
He thought for a moment. He took a deep breath. Inside he was painfully dying.
“Your right.” He finally said. “But don’t think I am not going to be here with you every
night and I am not leaving town until this is all figured out.”
She smiled. “I am counting on it! Now you have to go and so do I.” She kissed him and
shoed him toward the door. He protested, but did as she asked.
When he reached the door, he embraced her, kissing her softly. “You know I love you
more than my own life and I would die myself before I let anything happen to you.”
“I know.” She smiled. “Just promise me you will always be here.”
“I promise to do everything in my power to be with you until the day I die.”
“I am going to hold you to that.”
Again they kissed and he left her there.
At first he walked inside his apartment, and quietly shut the door. Then, the tears
began to fall and the anguish arouse from the very pit of his core.
He walked through the room, his belongings flying off the shelves shattering to the
floor. He walked out on the balcony, lifted his arms and arose from the ground taking
him high above the storm. He came to a stop in a storm cloud and began to rage inside
the thunder. He screamed and cursed until he had nothing left.
As he came back down, he walked back inside. He lifted his hand and moved his
belongings back to their shelves.
He walked over to his desk and opened a drawer, pulling out a file that said Hana
Gitelman. Inside was a picture of a beautiful dark haired woman, but Sylar did not care
about her. His voice was evil and menacing as he spoke. “I should of killed you when I
had the chance, WIRELESS. If you come here looking for me and take Laura away…I
won’t make the same mistake twice.”
**End of Part II**
by Dee Allen
Part II: Michael
He was awakened by the sound of distant thunder approaching the coast. It was dawn,
but the storm gave off an ominous darkness over the bay. The raindrops hitting the
ocean made a hissing sound as they dropped. He closed his eyes again and the
sounds dissipated.
He felt her heart beating against him while she lay cradled in the curve of his body.
She fit exactly to him as though she was created to him. As she slept, he watched her.
He wanted her again, but for now he would let her sleep. He carefully unwrapped
himself from her, laying her back down against the pillows, gently kissing her shoulder.
In the living room, his clothes lay crumpled in the same spot they fell to the floor last
night. He smiled remembering. With the lift of his hand, his clothes flew directly to him
as if sucked through a high-powered vacuum. “You haven’t lost your touch.” He told
himself smiling.
He dressed then slowly, thoughtfully walked over to the window. Folding his arms, he
leaned against the wall. The sky was dark and looming as the storm he had heard over
the ocean made its way inward. The lightening flashed in the distance. He waited for
the thunder closing his eyes to block out the sound.
As he watched the darkness fill the waters of the bay, he thought of Laura sleeping in
the next room. He closed his eyes sighing deeply. Yet again, the sadness began. He
loved her beyond any power he possessed with a passion he never thought himself
capable. He had always heard in music how a woman’s face could bring a man to his
knees. Until he met her, he never believed it possible, but every time he looked at her,
that is exactly what happened.
She did not know that the man whose arms in which she lay was the devil himself. How
many he had killed he did not know anymore. He could not remember all their faces,
but sometimes at night when he was alone, he could hear their souls screaming. He
was a despicable killer with a greedy addiction for power. The mere mention of his
name instilled fear into the souls of those who knew of him.
He was the very essence of evil. His name was Sylar.
The real Michael Walsh was dead; he had killed him himself. With Mohinder Suresh, the
Company and the FBI looking for him, he needed a place to hide. He took Michael
Walsh’s identity. And he had made it so easy for him. Michael was a loner and had no
family. And lucky for Sylar he was moving to San Francisco. He had made arrangements
to move his business. Michael’s life was his for the taking. And there were so many
people on Dr. Suresh’s list living on the west coast. It was the perfect place to lay low
for a while.
Michael Walsh had a power. The power of seduction. A power not deserved by such an
unintelligent kind. Sylar watched him for several weeks before making his move. He
spent his evenings at bars luring in cheap women. “What a fool.” He thought to him
self. Posing again as a genetics expert, Sylar took Michael into his confidence. It
disgusted him how such an extraordinary power was wasted on such a stupid man. On
the night he killed him, Sylar asked him about his penchant for horribly cheap women.
“Your power is amazing.” He told him one night. “There is not a man alive who would
not want your power. Why do you waste it on women who get paid by the hour when
you can have any woman in the world?”
“Are you kidding man?” He replied. “Look at them! The tight dresses and high heels!
That’s for me!”
“But would you want to have sex with a whore,” he asked him. “when you can make
love to a goddess?”
“Look my friend; you can keep your goddess’s. And I’ll just keep the sassy ladies for
myself.” And he was off.
Sylar shook his head in disbelief as he watched him. He could do so much more with
that power. It was such a detestable waste of an incredible power. And Sylar would be
too happy to take it from him.
For Sylar, this power made him completely irresistible. Not a soul could refuse him.
This very proved lucrative to him not only perusing his victims, but for Mr. Walsh’s
bank account. He knew nothing about being a trader, but thanks to his new found
power and a gift he took from a waitress in Texas, the world belonged to him. Michael
Walsh’s life was his for the taking and Sylar could move about the world under the
radar.
And then he met her.
He did not come into her life to love her; he came to kill her. As all of his victims, she
meant nothing to him but a name on the list. Her power had not evolved when he
found her. She was unaware that she possessed a gift that made her special from the
rest of the world. Just like that waitress in Texas, the musician in Virginia, the artist in
New York City and so many others. He did not know anything about them. He did not
care. They had a gift, and Sylar took no prisoners.
So he would lie in wait. And he found the perfect place; right down the hall of the
Victorian apartment building she owned in Oakland, CA. To watch closely, unseen and
when the moment struck, he would kill her, making her power his.
But she did see him.
Had she not caught him with his guard down; conceivably he would have stuck with his
plan. But when she caught his eye, he starred in disbelief. She was the most beautiful
creation he had ever seen. She had wavy chestnut hair that hung halfway down her
back, startling green eyes starring out from her soul, possessing him immediately. His
heart sank when he realized this was the woman he had come to kill.
This would have been a good time for him run away to leave her there in the moment,
keeping her safe from him forever, but it was too late. He loved her from the second
he saw her; there was no turning back.
They spent the rest of the day together and that night in intense passion. She stirred
his soul in a way he never thought possible. He remembered lying there holding her,
his heart on fire, unable to believe she was real. He trembled profusely and she put
the blankets around him, kissing him and stroking his hair.
She was somewhat embarrassed. “I really don’t want you to think I always do this.”
“Do what?” he asked her teasing. “Fall into bed with men you have only known for….
ummmm” He looked at the clock. “six hours?”
She smiled in disbelief. “Six hours…how could I….”
“How can you fall wildly in love with somebody in less than a day, but feel like your soul
has known her forever?” He whispered.
“Yes.” She whispered softly. “ Are you going to be in my life, Michael?”
“If you’ll take me.” He gently kissed her forehead.
He was answered when she once again kissed him and the night again exploded in
passion.
Back to the present, as he stood there a tear slowly rolled down his face. He knew she
was not his forever as she thought he would be. This was the hell he had created for
himself. He would do anything he had to do to protect her. Even from him.
If Laura had a power, she was not aware. But someday her power would manifest.
Would he be able to stop himself from killing her? Would his unquenchable lust for
power be stronger than his intense love for her? Why didn’t he run away after that first
night he made love to her? He would rather she believe he had used her for his own
pleasure than ever know the reality; he was a merciless, cold-blooded killer.
Standing there watching the rain, more tears spilled down his face. He despised what
he had become. More than anything he wanted to be the man she thought he was. She
wanted him by her side forever, to bare his children. Of course she wanted these
things. He had deluded her that he could give her this life. But fate had dealt its
spiteful hand and someday she would know the truth.
It was then that he could feel her behind him. Her arms were around his waist and she
playfully snuggled against his back. As he turned toward her, he gently smiled and
pulled her in close to him. For a moment he held her and everything felt right. She
pulled back and ran her hand down his face where the tears had fallen earlier. Smiling
sadly, she gently kissed him.
This was not the first time she had seen him this way. She was always kind and tender,
but she never asked him his thoughts.
She took his hand and led him to the couch. He sat down and pulled her across his lap
holding her to him. For a moment, they sat quietly. Finally he spoke.
“You’re up early. I thought you were going to go in and train this morning”.
“I am.” She replied. “Thanks to YOU I didn’t sleep too well.” She slapped him playfully
making him smile. “And when I woke up, I wondered where you were.”
“I couldn’t sleep either. I didn’t want to wake you.”
He hated to lie to her. The truth was that he rarely slept anymore. His mind was always
racing and since he had met her he was trying to keep the pretense up as keep her
beside him as long as he was able.
He continued. “You’re quiet this morning.” He gently stoked her hair. “Are you ok”?
Thoughtfully she spoke. “I’m not sure. I had something strange happen
yesterday…twice.”
He quickly opened his eyes, his heart sinking. “I’m intrigued. What happened?”
“You are going to think I am absolutely crazy….” She told him the story about falling
asleep on the train while somehow being at the meeting with the Linderman group,
Wireless’s message and about the man named Sylar that Wireless warned her about.
She continued. “I mean, why would he want to kill me?” She looked at him. “I am not
anybody special…I don’t have any powers or special abilities.”
But he did not hear the last part of the conversation. His heart was pounding in his
chest and his pulse was racing. He wanted to turn and run right then.
“Michael!” She startled him out of his thoughts. “Have you even heard anything I said
in the last 5 minutes?”
He looked at her quickly. “I’m sorry…I’m just trying to wrap my mind around all of this.
But you have to understand it is …”
“Crazy?” She prodded him. “I know. If somebody told me this story, I would think they
were on crack. But I would not make this up, Michael.”
“Of course not.” He said holding her. “I know you are telling me the truth, but
Laura…this is huge. And you’re telling me somebody is trying to kill you? That’s it! I am
moving in tonight and I am not leaving you alone anymore.” He picked up the phone.
“No. I don’t want you to do that.” She said firmly.
He hung up. “What? I don’t get it. It’s not like we haven’t been talking about this for the
last 2 months.”
“And we both agreed that we aren’t ready to move to that level yet. And I am not going
to let somebody that for all I know is pulling a prank on me force me to take a step we
aren’t ready for.”
He looked dejectedly at her. “You don’t want me to move in here?”
She walked over and put her arms around him. ”Not until it is our decision.”
He thought for a moment. He took a deep breath. Inside he was painfully dying.
“Your right.” He finally said. “But don’t think I am not going to be here with you every
night and I am not leaving town until this is all figured out.”
She smiled. “I am counting on it! Now you have to go and so do I.” She kissed him and
shoed him toward the door. He protested, but did as she asked.
When he reached the door, he embraced her, kissing her softly. “You know I love you
more than my own life and I would die myself before I let anything happen to you.”
“I know.” She smiled. “Just promise me you will always be here.”
“I promise to do everything in my power to be with you until the day I die.”
“I am going to hold you to that.”
Again they kissed and he left her there.
At first he walked inside his apartment, and quietly shut the door. Then, the tears
began to fall and the anguish arouse from the very pit of his core.
He walked through the room, his belongings flying off the shelves shattering to the
floor. He walked out on the balcony, lifted his arms and arose from the ground taking
him high above the storm. He came to a stop in a storm cloud and began to rage inside
the thunder. He screamed and cursed until he had nothing left.
As he came back down, he walked back inside. He lifted his hand and moved his
belongings back to their shelves.
He walked over to his desk and opened a drawer, pulling out a file that said Hana
Gitelman. Inside was a picture of a beautiful dark haired woman, but Sylar did not care
about her. His voice was evil and menacing as he spoke. “I should of killed you when I
had the chance, WIRELESS. If you come here looking for me and take Laura away…I
won’t make the same mistake twice.”
**End of Part II**
