This choice: The Stranger answers his question, sort of. • Go Back...Chapter #5The Stranger answers his question, sort of. by: Slainte   "Why would you even do this to us?! What is the point?!" Mark screamed, moving towards the Stranger.
Smiling in amusement the capped man hefted his shoulders in a shrug, not phased by Mark's aggression. "Why? Like I said kid, it's for fun. You're around as long as I have been and things start to get real old, real fast. I've got to entertain myself somehow, and what better way then to mess with people?"
Extending the arm with the book, the Stranger glanced down and without doing so the strap came undone, the book flipping open on its own. The pages rustled briefly before they began to turn, coming to the page where Mark and Alyssa had written down their names. "Hundreds of saps like you have written in here. Some were fixed, others were stuck. It's an experiment I guess, if I need to give you a reason. Can people really understand one another? Or are we all stuck in our own little bubbles, and too selfish to walk in another person's shoes?" The Stranger paused, giving a small chuckle as he snapped the book shut. "I guess you're doing that last bit pretty well right now."
Mark wasn't sure what made him angrier, the fact this guy was toying with him or that he'd done this to other people. It took a seriously messed up individual to do something like this, it could easily ruin lives. And all for amusement, that just wasn't right. Much as he loathed the situation he was in Mark was coming to terms with just how powerless he was. He could snap and get angry all he wanted, but in the end this man and his book held the power to fix things. Seeing that he sighed, lifting one of his new dainty hands and pinching the bridge of his nose, shutting his eyes.
"Look... Just tell me what we need to do to fix this, and I'll do it. I don't want to be stuck like this forever, it feels." Mark paused, glancing down at himself, "Weird. It's not me." He'd imagined getting close to Alyssa before, sure, but this was far from what he'd expected. He couldn't enjoy this, not when Alyssa's self was him.
"It's like I said, kid. If you can understand the little bombshell you're attached to there then you'll be changed back. I'm telling you though, it's harder than it sounds. Most folks I do this to never end up changing back." Seeing the color drain from Mark's face brought a smirk to the Stranger's, he was having fun. "It's wicked tough, but I'm sure you can figure it out, you seem like a bright one."
From behind Mark again came a groan, and Alyssa was beginning to really stir. She'd come to any second now, and he'd prefer not to be here when the girl did. "I'll be watching both of you, don't worry. If you do what I want then I'll fix both of you, no tricks. But that's only if you can get it, got it?" Vagueness aside he'd left Mark with instructions, provided the kid had actually followed closely enough. Flashing another brilliant white grin the Stranger tipped his hat, tucking the book under one arm possessively. "Until we meet again, kid. You have fun now."
Mark wasn't sure what to say any longer, about any of this. He watched wordlessly as the Stranger turned around and walked off, disappearing into the trees some ways away. He was left alone again, his head mistakenly on Alyssa's body, and her head on his own. Remembering that she had been waking Mark turned around, watching as Alyssa sat up, her eyes closed as she rubbed at her head. Smiling nervously he walked over, kneeling down and giving her a slight wave. "Hey... Uh... Glad you're awake."  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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