Enter Alistair

Aiden gains a new ally who has hints about his past. Alistair has his own agenda.

I frantically tried pushing the demon away from me as it grabbed my shoulders pulling me closer. It was so much stronger than I could have imagined. Using all my strength I pushed it away and stepped back. However I was being careless and I didn't notice the medical equipment behind me. Falling backwards my body became entangled in the various cords and wires. This was the end, such a brief existence.

 

“SOMEBODY HELP ME!!” I screamed closing my eyes and waiting for my inevitable death.

 

It was quiet, no sounds at all. Complete silence. Opening my eyes I looked around the room and much to my surprised everything was frozen in place. The creature was still a step away and Aiden was still on the ground probably breathing his last breath.

 

“Look at you, you’re pathetic” came a deep voice from behind me.

 

Turning I watched as the man slowly walked around the room till he was facing me. My first thought was that he looked like some kind of businessman. The man was dressed in a finely pressed black suit with a strangely designed black dress shirt on underneath. That wasn't even the strangest thing about his appearance. The thing that really got me was his medium length black hair and piercing black eyes.

 

“You have to help me. That thing is going to kill me. Please.” I plead to the mysterious man.

 

The man smiled a wicked grin then laughed to himself before stating in his unnaturally deep voice “Get off your knees. Your cries for help are falling upon deaf ears.”

 

Taking a few steps closer he knelt in front of me our faces just inches away.

 

“Darkness resides in every man’s heart. An evil embedded into their very being. You however are special. Most people cannot converse with their inner demon, and they certainly can’t beg it for help.” he boomed in his unnatural voice while tapping my chest.

 

I slapped his hand away and looked at him with disgust.

 

“Darkness can’t exist without light, so if what you say is true then I must have some good in me as well.” I spat at him.

 

The man stood laughing a deep throaty growl.

 

“You don’t need to be so serious you know. I was speaking metaphorically of course. I’m not really a demon. You can think of me as a Dark Angel that looks out for you from the inside.”

 

Now I was really confused because one minute he is calling me pathetic and the next he is saying he’s here to protect me. My mind continued trying to make sense of it all as I shook myself free of the wires and got to my feet.

 

“I don’t get you, one second you are treating me like I mean nothing to you and how you are saying you are here to protect me. Who are you and what do you want with me?” I asked my voice growing steadily impatient.

 

The original amused look on his face faded and was replaced by a look of annoyance.

 

“I would think my other half would be a bit smarter. Okay let me break it down for you genius.” he stated as he started pacing around the room.

 

“I’m part of you, we are two pieces of a whole. However my abilities far exceed your own at the moment. I have the power to do things you never imagined possible, and I will protect you. If you die then we both die. I will not let that happen.” He continued.

 

The man stepped closer to me and held out his hand.

 

“You need only shake my hand and I can lend you some of my power. You will not survive without my help.”

 

I was still having trouble processing everything this man was telling me. For some reason I had the strangest feeling, like I really shouldn't trust him.

 

“You live inside me don’t you? So, you aren’t trying to protect me. You are only protecting yourself, and if you think you can stay on as my dark passenger without paying some rent you are sorely mistaken.” I growled.

 

“You are quite fascinating after all young one. My name is Alistair, and you may be right. I suppose it would only be fair to give you the first sample for free.” he said smiling the same wicked grin as before.

 

“Actually there may have been one thing I neglected to tell you. It's just a small little detail really nothing of importance.”

 

Crossing my arms I gritted my teeth. This Alastair guy was already starting to piss me off.

 

“Tell me.” I demanded.

 

Alastair’s smile seemed to get even wider and I watched in stunned amazement as his black irises seemed to melt like liquid darkness, expanding. Soon his eyes were completely black, and his body seemed to have a blackened aura of death surrounding him.

 

“Allow me to explain a little, and make it easy to understand. How much do you know about computers?”

 

I couldn’t see where he was going with this, but I decided to just answer his questions and maybe learn something.

 

“Enough I suppose, but what does that have to do with us?” I questioned.

 

“It has everything to do with us. If you were to split a computer into three main components, they would most likely be applications, hardware, and an operating system. Think of this body that we share as an organic computer. The brain would be applications, and the body would be hardware.”

 

Fear gripped me like a vice. The way he was describing my own body to me, made me feel like a stranger in someone else’s home. A few minutes ago my biggest fear was being torn apart by the creature still standing frozen just feet away. Now my only fear was losing control of my own body to another darker persona, one who clearly knew more about what was going on than I did.

 

After a quick shake of the head I found my words. “Get to the point Alistair.”

 

“Very well, the point as you put it is that we are each part of that system. I am the applications and you are the hardware. The brain is a powerful tool, and I hold complete control over it. We have the ability to do things you couldn’t even begin to fathom, and with the power over the brain that I possess, my power is almost limitless.”

 

The ideas were all starting to click together in my head, and although it didn’t seem to make complete sense I knew he was telling the truth.

 

“There is one thing I still don’t understand Alistair. You claim to be all powerful and yet why am I the one controlling this body and not you?”

 

My words seemed to only further agitate him as I could see his smile fade and form into a tight grimace. Through clenched teeth he spat his next words at me.

 

“Do I have to spell it out for you? If I hold complete control over the brain and mind, then the body must be in your control. The only way I will ever be able to take control of this body is if you hand me over the keys. Or if the operating system does it for me.”

 

I didn’t have any memories before that room, but I think in that moment I could say I had never been more relieved in my life. Alistair had already answered so many questions and yet endless more still floated to the surface.

 

“If I have all the physical power this body holds then what could you possibly have to offer me?” I questioned smugly.

 

The smile he had on before came back accompanied by a deep bellowing laugh.

 

“You think brute strength alone will be enough to stop that thing? Yes you probably could stop just one, maybe two, but what about ten? If 100 of these mindless beasts threw themselves at you all at the same time would you survive? The current prognosis is increasingly negative.” He spat out through grit teeth.

 

My chest felt hollow as I considered his words. If there really were hundreds of those creatures than no amount of power he gave me would be enough.

 

“If what you say is true, then no amount of power you give me could help. We are both doomed.”

 

The dark watery depths of his eyes seemed to be rippling rapidly before they burst into black flames. Once again his trademark smile seemed to grow even wider.

 

“This place, while we were in here they fed our body plenty of information. This body holds the most advanced fighting styles, every language currently spoken on this planet, and a million other useful bits of information. I will share some of it with you, and we will make it out of this alive.”

 

If I hadn’t guessed it already I definitely knew now that Alistair knew a lot more then he was letting on. The problem was I knew nothing and the only person who seemed to have any interest in my fate was Alistair. The look on my face must have given my intense thought processes away.

 

Laughing his eyes slowly returned to normal and the black aura surrounding him grew smaller concentrating now only on his still extended hand.

 

“But we can deal with all those little details later right? So just shake my hand and accept my power.”

 

I thought about it for a minute before realizing I didn't really have a choice in the matter. Either die or take my chances with this a*****e. Not much of a choice. I took a step forward and grabbed his hand.

 

Instantly I felt a chilling feeling running from his hand into mine. Like ice water flooding my veins from his touch. Falling to one knee I let out a cry of agony as the water ignited into a fiery blaze scorching through my veins.

 

Alastair let go and stepped away.

 

“That's enough for now. God you're pathe...” His voice trailed off as I slipped into oblivion.

Author's Note

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