Angel with No Halo Ch. 01

He enthusiastically opened the door but the sight quickly rained on his parade. "Oh, Helen." He apathetically greeted the landlady.

"Ah so you finally came back to clean up the place." The conniving smile was proudly displayed on her face as she brought down the motherlode of bad news. "I thought I'd have to call you to get your stuff but since you're here already I'll just tell you now."

Arthur had to take a seat for the shitstorm that was coming his way. He already knew what the issue was about and he fully understood that there was no way out of the problem. His lease was up in less than a month and she didn't seem too keen on letting him renew it. Originally, he was supposed to finish the semester and find some place to live nearby the university but that was out of the picture now. He didn't feel like putting up a fight because she was in the green, she owned the house so she had full authority to decide who to lease to.

"No problem Helen, I'll be out by the end of the month. I'll go house hunting in the morning and be out of your hair in no time." Arthur was sincere and meant every word, he even put on a smile when he spoke.

Helen on the other hand wasn't so happy by the turn of events, she couldn't stand his positive attitude. "Actually I change my mind, be out of here by the end of the week."

Arthur jumped out of his seat and screamed in response, "Wait what!? You can't do that!"

Helen pompously informed him of a condition in the lease that if she kicked out a tenant before the lease ended, she would have to give back the last month's deposit. A condition that she was more than happy to comply with. Helen informed Arthur that she'd have his money before the end of the night and he should start house hunting at that very moment. She even went as far as to mention a nearby hotel to stay if he couldn't find place.

Anger boiled heavily but he surprisingly managed to remain calm, he knew Helen was a bitch but this was plain evil. All the time that he stayed there, he made sure to abide by all the obnoxious rules she laid down and she was still kicking him to the curb. Ever since her husband, Tom, had his pay cut she had it out for Arthur. Something that later developed into a hatred for every race that identified as "immigrant" since Tom's boss was an immigrant. The fact that Tom was the slowest person to have ever lived couldn't be the case, no it was pure blatant racism for the pay cut. Rationality was a myth for this woman, her entire life revolved around making things personal.

Satisfied with the defeated expression splattered across Arthur's face, she quietly closed the door and left him to his thoughts. As soon as the door closed, he sank into the sofa and rubbed his eyes. Frustration followed soon after, then out of nowhere he heard a familiar voice. His eyes were forced shut, stopping all stimuli entering his visual field and the only voice he heard was the seer's. Every type of outside noise was cancelled, while her voice was amplified by a tremendous amount.

"Now my child, act upon it." Her voice came from every angle yet had no origin.

Mother? Arthur couldn't move his mouth so he had to communicate within the confines of his mind.

"Yes my child. Are you happy to hear Mother?"

Yes, I'm happy.

"Do you wish for Mother to be free Arthur?"

Yes, free. I wish it so Mother.

"Then enslave the wretched wench that mistreats you, cause her agony as she does you."

Enslave...

"Make eye contact with her person and enter her mind. Break into her unconscious and force her to obey you. Bend her will to yours."

Yes Mother.

"Oh my dear child, you make mother so happy. Now go on and bring her to her knees."

Yes, mother.

Arthur snapped out of the state instantly, just like before and immediately went to splash his face with water. He knew exactly what he had to do, it wasn't just a matter of insult anymore. It was much more bigger, this was a matter of someone's life. Helen needed to be sacrificed if it meant ever freeing the seer.

A life for a life. Arthur thought to himself before heading to carry out the task.

The walk down seemed eternal but Helen finally came into his field of vision. She was putting on a pair of sky blue running shoes, the act seemed odd as he never took her for the athlete type. The extra layer on her stomach seemed more in tune with fast food than trackstar. It seemed odd that Tom would be into running since he was always preoccupied with watching the games instead of playing them, beer and tv seemed more down his alley than anything. None of the thoughts mattered however since he was there to carry out a task, everything else was irrelevant.

Before he could do anything however, Tom walked in and greeted his wife lovingly. Arthur never took him for the romantic type. As soon as his eyes landed on Arthur the joyful attitude quickly went away and the Tom that everyone knew was released. While both men glared at each other, Arthur couldn't help but feel a connection. Not in a physical sense but a mental one, after a second he began to hear a very faint sound. The sound got louder and louder the more they stared at each other, it sounded almost like fire burning through something. It was only when the connection was complete that he realized what it was, the loud bang at the end gave it away easily. The connection was in the form of a firecracker, the string had to be burning sound he heard.

Helen quickly broke up the staring contest and asked Tom to get ready before she glared at Arthur and ordered him to leave the premises. Unfortunately by the time she was finished expressing her unfiltered opinion of him, the damage had already been done. With a grin on his face he calmly walked back upstairs and relaxed on his hand-me down flower printed couch.

"Do you not wish Mother to be free?"

His eyes were forced shut and mouth forcibly clamped down, followed by a complete loss of motion. In a matter of seconds Arthur sat there fully paralyzed seeing nothing but darkness and hearing nothing but the seer's voice.

In a state of panic he nervously replied, I do Mother! I did what you asked! A life for a life!

"My child, my precious naive child. I remember instructing you to enslave her not her husband."

Mother, he got in the way. I'll go down and connect with her right now.

"You are not capable of connecting with more than one person yet. You must sever a connection before you make a new one."

So what do I do mother?

"You must get your revenge through him."

How does that hurt her?

"The unconscious is the host of very strong emotions, the conscious mind only ties reason to those emotions. Arthur listen carefully, this is the last time I contact you. It is far too dangerous for you to communicate with me. Call upon me once you are ready to take back your throne. Until then farewell my child."

"Farewell mother." Arthur whispered under his breath. He knew that he was awake since his body had returned to him.

He was slightly dissatisfied of disappointing the seer but now had much more drive to complete her task. He threw on a red cotton hoody and rushed out the door, hoping to catch up quickly. They came into sight a few steps into the park. Helen and Tom held hands while they walked talking about trivial matters. Thanks to the connection he formed with Tom, Arthur could hear everything Tom was saying.

Arthur could feel the connection getting stronger as he got closer to him, so much so that he could mentally see the gates to his mind unlocked. When he entered Tom's mind he felt a sensation unlike any other, Arthur had control over his own body without actually being in it. Although his mind was in Tom's head he could feel his body trailing behind them, maintaining a constant distance. Looking around, Arthur saw that he was inside a pitch black room with hundreds of orbs surrounding him in a circle formation. Each of the orbs had a string tied to it.

Arthur knew exactly what each of the orbs related to based purely off instinct. Just as Arthur took a step, he saw one of the strings spark and burn. After evaluating the orb he realized it was tied to the emotion of suspicion. The string burned faster by the second, almost as if it had lighter fluid on it. Acting on pure instinct and a bit of adrenaline, Arthur imagined the string being cut. Suddenly a sharp tendril erupted from his shoulder and launched itself at the base of the orb, effectively cutting it. The string along with the tendril fizzed out of existence immediately after.

Holy shit, Arthur thought.

The string began to regenerate almost instantly but at a very slow rate. Not wanting to waste anytime, Arthur ran outside the circle and saw a giant rope laying there on the floor. As he traced the rope with his eyes he realized it led to a, for a lack of better words, huge bronze door. Without thinking he ignited the rope and sent out another tendril to keep cutting the string on the orb of suspicion as soon as it began to regenerate. The rope burned normally and was halfway to the door when Arthur's nose began to bleed, followed by a mild headache. The tendril also began to get weaker by the second, it took a couple of slashes to cut the string now.

When the headache became more of a problem than an annoyance, Arthur ceased the assault with the tendril and prayed for the rope to burn faster. Fortunately his strategy did succeed, to a degree. The string tied to suspicion began to regenerate extremely slow. It bought him some time to explore the unconscious at least. The bronze door finally exploded a few moments later and allowed Arthur passage to Tom's unconscious. It was yet another room, just like his conscious mind but this time purely white. It held only a few orbs but they didn't have any strings on them.

With no rhyme or reason, Arthur walked up to the nearest one and touched it and one by one all the orbs fizzed and transformed into multiple lists just floating in the air. They ranged from things as basic as general fears to what shade of yellow was the best. The lists were easily in the thousands. It was like the orbs translated themselves into something Arthur could understand. As he walked around the museum of Tom's inner-self he saw a blank paper that was on the floor and immediately grabbed it. This was what the seer was referencing, altering Tom according to Arthur's wishes. A sinister smile ran across Arthur's face when he realized Tom was nothing but putty in his hands.

Instead of ending Tom's blatant racism, he just tweaked it. He wanted Tom to spontaneously have an erection everytime he saw a woman of a different race. Afterwards, he felt like it wasn't enough and more needed to be added. So, he made it so without medication Tom would never be able to have an erection lasting more than a four seconds when he was with Helen, or any woman of his own race. Not only would Tom have an almost insatiable hunger for sex but if he wanted release, he'd have to broaden his horizons a bit. Satisfied with his work, Arthur let the paper go and watched it join the others in the air and ported back to his own body. Once inside, he changed course and headed to his room trying to avoid as much attention as possible.

The rush was the last to go, even hours after the fact the adrenaline simply refused to cease. Sleep was out of the question as Arthur could barely stand in one place, he kept pacing around the room fidgeting in anticipation for the show. The seconds went by like hours as he desperately longed for the aftermath of his actions, countless scenes were playing in his head of the possible outcomes. Loud arguments, broken kitchenware, the constant back and forth, waking the neighbors to name a few, each scenario quenched his anger and then some. Payback was achieved and the best part about it all was that it was impossible to blame him. According to the world, Arthur was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. A simple bystander that had to witness a toxic dispute.

As Arthur thought of more and more scenarios, sometimes thinking of outcomes weeks ahead, there was a sudden shift in blood followed by a slight dizziness. Out of necessity, he had to take a seat on the table and hold his own head for support. It felt like it was about to float off into the sky if he didn't grab it. Arthur shut his eyes to gain a sense of balance before the inner portion of his forearm made contact with the cause of such a reaction. When he saw the massive tent in his pants, and the stain forming, Arthur realized that fantasizing about Helen's downfall really flicked a switch inside. Porn had never done what his imagination did in such a short time, his dick was so hard that it was trembling. The zipper was barely holding itself together as the erection pushed it to it's maximum capacity.

As he shamelessly gawked at the sight, several things came to mind. All of them involved Helen committing several acts involving his penis, some of them were impossible to pull off but that didn't stop him. His dick was so engorged with blood at this point that pain had overtaken pleasure and it demanded release. Arthur's first thought was to go down and simply have his way with Helen but saner minds prevailed.

He quickly fought off the urges and took a deep breath. Control it Arthur, don't be a dumbass.

Arthur killed off several urges that needed immediate relief by attending to the problem like any single male would. Afterwards he mentally promised himself that he wouldn't do anything that raised attention to him. No matter how tempting the offer was he had to think rationally, his first and only priority was to save the seer. His wants came second. If he could enter his own unconscious and make it a fact he would, Arthur tried in fact but he was locked out of his own mind. With the adrenaline and hyper erection gone, he was beat. The extreme rush of energy ended up giving the biggest crash known to man, everything wanted sleep and the body's wishes were instantly granted.

Arthur woke to the sound of broken glass, rather abruptly for the matter. As he pried his eyes open and adjusted them to the light, he realized that he knocked out halfway out the bathroom door. The top portion lay in the living room while his legs resided halfway to the sink.

"The fuck?" Still dazed, Arthur groggily yawned to no one in particular.

When he finally rubbed the sand out of his eyes the pain of sleeping uncomfortably finally kicked in. His neck was practically stuck in an upright position, any slight movement caused several nerve endings to shoot painful signals to the brain. Holding his neck in position, Arthur walked to the medicine cabinet and rubbed a muscle relaxing cream liberally all over his neck. The menthol infused cream later went to attack his nostrils on sight and while the body launched tears to eradicate the fragments of sand still lodged in the ridges.

Unfortunately by the time he went downstairs to grab a front row seat to the action thriller, the movie had already finished. Tom stormed out the door and Helen sat dejectedly on a wooden dining chair, which by the looks of it had definitely seen better days. Finally having a good look at his surroundings, Arthur realized the the house in general had seen better days. His mediocre living quarters looked better than the house and he was almost broke. The cash cushion that his biological parents left him was close to gone but compared to these people, Arthur was practically a prince.

Helen held a tissue with varying amounts of force, sometimes anger would kick in and she'd nearly rip the tissue when wiping a renegade tear. Other times she'd be so consumed in sadness that the tissue would get soaked in the rivers flowing down her cheeks. Although every fiber inside Arthur urged him to take some sort of action, he remained put on the stairs. The railing helped provide cover and subtly hid his presence from the emotionally confused woman. Arthur spent all his attention analyzing her almost as if he were studying for test, he took note of every single detail.

Arthur saw that she would occasionally stare apologetically at the framed photo of themselves hung on the living room wall. However, Helen would scrunch her nose angrily whenever her gaze shifted to the broken photo of Tom on the floor. She was more than conflicted as she spoke both ill and benevolently of her husband out loud. When her mind would get too much converging traffic, she'd throw and fit and break another piece of glass. Even though Arthur couldn't exactly see her mind, he had general idea of how it would look like.

"Soon Helen." He whispered under his breath before quietly exiting the house.

Music would usually drown out the background noise whenever he took a walk but for some odd reason, he could still hear some traffic bleed through. After several attempts of ignoring it, Arthur yanked out the cheap earbuds and gawked at the empty street. He could've swore a truck honked excessively just a second ago. The more he aimlessly walked the diverse the sounds became, almost as if he was in the city. A stroke of realization occurred when one of Tom's thoughts seeped into his. Soon the picture became clear as day and he could actively hear, as well as see, Tom's daily life. Not only did Arthur know Tom's exact location but he also had access to literally all of Tom's thoughts.

The more he focused on the connection, Arthur could effectively see the flow of traffic in Tom's psyche. He technically saw Tom's thoughts before they registered in his own mind. To Arthur's surprise most of them were highly erotic and attuned to his recently altered interests. Tom the simple minded accountant had vastly broadened his horizons, so much so that he was currently sitting on a bench outside his building thinking about women in leashes. Every woman that passed by was mentally stripped down and turned into a pet of some sort.

Although Tom was a thick skulled loud mouth, and occasional drunk, he was a good worker. The fact that he called out sick right in front of his work location was a bit out of the norm. Arthur made slight changes but he had no idea they would affect anything outside of the bedroom, Tom should've been strong enough to separate work from everything else. The sight was magnificent indeed but this was detrimental to everyone long term, after all Arthur needed a place to live. A cab came shortly and escorted him a block away from Tom's location.

Subtle commands shot right behind a thought proved extremely useful. The commands merged with the thought during transit and felt like they originated from Tom himself. The commands were quickly discarded once he saw Arthur however, emotions proved to be much more powerful. Anger and frustration overcame Tom as he stormed off in another direction, all of Arthur's commands to stay put were shot down in a matter of seconds. He chased after Tom for nearly two blocks before Arthur noticed a slight shift in the atmosphere. He began to feel slightly light headed the more he walked, almost as if he was actively losing weight. A few steps later, the realization hit that the connection was getting weaker with each passing moment.

Arthur increased his pace to a light jog, careful not to attract any attention and trailed behind Tom. Once he finally caught up he yelled, "Tom! Hold up! Listen!"

To both of their surprise, he actually obeyed. Tom stopped and allowed Arthur to catch up all while maintaining the aura of confusion. Even he couldn't believe his actions. He wanted to say something but was too baffled by the fact that he stopped for no apparent reason.

Arthur didn't wait for anything to connect and quickly hit the metal while it was hot. "Let me say what I have to say and I swear to you that you'll never see me again. Just hear me out and you can do whatever you want after."