Chapter One

It was late at night. The darkness was near impenetrable from the heavy rain. Flashes of lightning occasionally gave a little bit of light, but only showed that there was nothing out in the elements. Winds sent the rain coming down to sheets that fell at strange angles and leaves occasionally fell from the pressure from the heavy water. The night was silent.

Out on a road that wound through a dense forest drove a lone little car. It drove slow and deliberate, noting the wind and rain. Its driver, Taylor Maxwell, was headed home from a long day at college. She was headed home because tomorrow would be a long day and she needed sleep. The music station she was listening to changed and was now entering its talk-show mode. By familiarity, she reached out her hand began to change the presets on the stereo until she found an oldies station that had just started on a song she was familiar with. With this new background noise, Taylor put both hands back on the wheel and turned her attention back to the road ahead.

She could not help but think back to her classes. Simple things discussed like how to complete a thesis based on a theory of medical significance and just other things that will keep her busy trying to remember. Her mind drifted off and she transported herself back to her Medical Theory lecture just a half hour ago. The professor explained their next assignment and dismissed them. That was it. It might have been because he had done his job. Maybe it was because the storm was supposed to get worse. Either way, it was still a chance for Taylor to take a rest.

Focusing back on the road, she didn't have enough time to pay attention to what happened next. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something head right for her headlights. She pounded on the brakes, but the wet road prevented the tires to retain their grip and her brakes locked. Taylor felt her car slide on the wet surface and she jerked the wheel to avoid hitting whatever it was head-on. The car did not spin around in time and she struck the figure with her right front headlight. The thing was forced into her windshield and she screamed because it did not look like a deer like she thought it was. It fell off the hood of her car and the car came to a stop.

Shaken up, Taylor sat there a moment, trying to regain her composure. After a moment, she unbuckled her seatbelt and ignored her instincts to forget going out in case it was a large animal. She grabbed a flashlight and pulled up the hood on her sweatshirt. It was not cold when she opened the door, but she was instantly soaked. She went around the front of her car, flashlight scanning the path in front of her, and came to the heap on the ground. Pointing the flashlight at the thing, she squinted her eyes to look through the rain.

"Hey?"

He looked at their faces from behind the curtain. Crowds of people, young and old, male and female, even young children sitting with their parents; all of them there for entertainment. Disgusted with how they were so happy watching the performances, he let the curtain fall and he closed his eyes. Flashes from past shows went before his eyes; the laughing, the horrified expressions, the crying. He was tired of it all.

"Nicholi, you up next," a voice called, breaking through the flashes of horror.

Nicholi Varspen opened his eyes and looked at the miniscule Asian man, his broken English adding to his freakish form of small stature and long black hair. The man scuttled away and left Nicholi waiting for his name to be announced.

"Ladies and gentlemen, what you will see next will defy all of the laws of nature. Two children—one of pure beauty, the other of pure horror—coming from the same set of sires. Two brothers, torn apart by their appearances, yet brought together by the love they shared in the womb. I give you…the brothers Varspen!"

He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see his brother Viktor smiling at him. Viktor patted his brother's shoulder and turned to the curtain.

"Another run-through, Nick. Have fun out there."

Nicholi shook his head to his brother. "No. This time it will be different."

Before Viktor could question, Nicholi lifted the hood of the black cape he wore and made his way into the ring. Keeping his head down as to give some mystery as to his appearance, he made his way to the far side of the ring—the side closest to the exit. His brother followed behind him, staying to his own side of the ring.

"Two men, both similar in name, but different in looks. One of pure beauty, making women swoon at a single glance—"

Viktor ripped his cape from him, revealing his excessive good looks.

"—and one of pure horror that will make the strongest of men cringe in fear, like a child in the dark—"

Nicholi ripped his cape from his figure and instantly the cries of horror arose. Children screamed for their mothers. Men and women alike looked on in horror, mouths gaping, eyes so wide the muscles in their eyes froze in shock.

"Feast your eyes, for how on this good green Earth can these two live in harmony?"

Applause rumbled through the tent. Now was his chance. Nicholi looked at his brother, his eyes sullen. Viktor saw them and he instantly sucked in a breath of realization.

"NO!"

Nicholi took off in a run, racing straight through the crowd sitting in front of the door. Screams of horror rang out as everyone tried to get out of the way of his massive, horrific figure. Among the screams of horror, he heard his brother calling for him, the voice desperate and frightened. He shrugged it off and ran as fast as he could from the tent. He was done with this life. He was done with all life.

The woods beckoned to him and he went right in, knowing soon he would come to a city or residential area and frighten the children and anyone living near the woods. Then they would call the authorities and send out a team of sharpshooters to take him down.

This was what he wanted. Over and over in his mind, he apologized to Viktor. His brother would forgive him, he knew it. The man would mourn his disfigured brother, but knew it was better that he not suffer any longer with what he looked like. Now Viktor Varspen could leave the caravan and get a normal life.

More normal than Nicholi could ever wish for.

The other side of the woods led to a roadway. No cars were on the roads, for it had started to rain heavily out and he was instantly so wet he was floating in his own clothes. It was here he waited. He waited for a car to go by and for the moment when he could throw himself in front of a car. He hoped it was fast and painless. If not, he hoped the driver had a gun to shoot him with.

He soon saw a pair of headlights. A single car, going slow, but fast enough to do a great bit of damage. Wiping rain from his eyes, he poised himself, ready for the impact, ready for the bright light to tell him that he was dead and in a better place where he would be accepted by everyone and everything. He clenched his teeth, waiting…waiting…

He leapt in front of the car. It swerved to avoid him—the driver had a great amount of skill—and he landed on the hood, where he was forced into the windshield, the glass cracking under his impact. He could feel the glass slice his back, but that was nothing. His head whipped back and hit the top of the car, but it was not enough to knock him out. The car stopped and he fell back to the ground. He waited for the gunshots to ring out, but instead, it was the sound of a car door closing.

A person came around the car and he saw a beam form a flashlight in front of them. He watched them come around and the flashlight pointed in his direction. Flinching back a little, he looked up and felt a chill down his back. It was not a man, but a woman. A young woman, who looked about her twenties, and she was shivering in her sweatshirt as the rain soaked it within seconds. Then she spoke, and Nicholi felt his heart freeze.

"Hey?" she called out.

Frozen, he could do nothing except look at her. Face hidden in the shadows, he watched her squint her eyes into the rain, her blond hair falling from the hood and getting full of rainwater. Rain lashed at her face, causing her to wipe her hand across her cheeks to prevent it from going down her shirt.

He needed her to get away from him. What he saw was a very pretty girl who would get hurt if she came any closer. "Stay back," he growled, moving further away from her.

Her hand moved to her mouth, a gasp barely audible. "I'm so sorry. Please, let me help you. I'm a nurse—well, student, really—and I can see if you are hurt really bad. You may need a hospital—"

"I said stay back!" He didn't want her coming too close to him. He didn't want her to see him with the light.

Taylor silenced. This person might be really hurt, but they are injured enough to think they won't need help. Taking a big swallow, she stepped forward, her hand extended. "Please, just tell me if you have any injuries—"

Without warning, Nicholi lashed out, catching her wrist and slicing it with haggard nails and brute strength. She hissed in pain and dropped the flashlight, her hand instantly covering the wound to stop the bleeding. He dropped his hand and it landed in front of the light beam. Looking down, he saw the swirl of blood and water on his nails, repulsed at his action. He swallowed and looked back at her, watching as she stripped off her sweatshirt and hold one of the sleeves to the wound.

"I…I'm so sorry—"

"We need to get to a hospital. I can bandage this on my own, but you might have some serious injuries—"

"No hospital! Just leave me here. Go get something for that."

She looked in his general direction. "I will not leave you here! There is no way in hell I'm going to leave someone on the side of the road after I wasn't paying attention and hit them! Either you come with me and go to a hospital or not go to the hospital and go to my apartment and make sure you are okay. I just think we need to get out of the rain."

He was silent as he pondered this over. Both of her ideas did not sit well with him. She would not leave him! This young girl, who did not yet see what type of horror he was, wanted to help him and keep him alive. There was no way he was going to get in that car with her. He did not want to see the fear and shock on her face when she looked and saw his disfigurement. Nicholi knew he was done with that and felt that dying was a better outcome than getting out of the rain.

"Seriously, just let me help you into the car. I know I'm going to catch a cold, but you might get a heavy fever if we stay out here too late. So…let's go," she moved her hands in a gesture that indicated for the person to get up and move.

Nicholi sighed in defeat. Somehow he could not say no to this girl. He felt he was responsible for her being out in the rain, and it was most definitely his fault that her arm was injured and she was shivering uncontrollably from her sweatshirt being on her wound. Wrapping the cloak he still wore tighter about him, he picked up the flashlight and pointing it at the car.

"I'll sit in the back. Get in and get this thing ready to go. And no hospital. I'm allowing you to help me, but I'll be gone in the morning."

Taylor looked at him in disbelief before shaking her head and wiped rainwater from her eye. She was shivering visibly now and she was just glad she could get back into the car to get out of the cold and wet. Careful with what she said and did next, she held the injured hand out in a way that indicated she was not going to hurt him and opened the door to the back seat. Taylor watched as he rose, gingerly and hissing in pain, and crawl timidly into the back. She noticed he kept his face hidden from her, but most likely it was to keep the rain from his eyes. Once he was in, she shut the door and made her way to the driver's side. She crawled into her seat and started the car, cranking the heat all the way up.

There was a sigh of relief from Taylor, but silence emanated from behind her. She sighed and put the car into gear, setting out for her apartment. Her wrist stung when she moved it and she tried so hard to keep any indication of yield from his notice. He must have felt so bad for hurting her, so she felt guilty when she moaned in pain when she turned the wheel or shifted her hand position. The atmosphere within the car got heavy, and fast. To lighten it, Taylor started to ask him some questions about his injuries.

"How do you feel? Is there any stinging or intense pain anywhere?"

Nicholi gently removed the cloak and allowed the current of heat to dry his clothes. "I feel fine. It would take a lot more than a small car like this to kill me off."

Taylor clenched her jaw in irritation. "Why do you have such a morbid air about you? I'm trying to help you—"

"Just drive, please. When we get to your apartment, get your wrist taken care of. I am allowing you to get me out of the rain. When tomorrow comes, I will be gone. I hate being a burden."

Keeping her mouth shut, Taylor just kept driving until she got to the little house she was renting as the apartment. By now the rain was waning a little, but the chill still sent shivers down both their spines. Taylor went around to open the door, but Nicholi opened it on his own and covered himself with his cloak. Keys in hand, Taylor locked the car and unlocked the door to the apartment. As soon as the door was open, Nicholi, not thinking clearly, shoved Taylor in before him and closed the door once he was inside.

"Get to your wrist. I will stay out here on the couch. You do not have to come back out to check on me."

She was leery to leave him alone, but she noticed now that her wrist went numb and blood still occasionally dripped. Leaving him, she went back and looked at the wound for the first time in the light. The gashes were torn and jagged and the area was pale white from the loss of blood. Finding a decent length of gauze, she wrapped the wound nice and tight and felt she needed to get out of the wet clothes. She changed quickly into a pair of sweatpants and baggy shirt and felt her eyelids get heavy really fast. Forgetting all about the strange man in the other room, she crawled into bed and fell asleep. An early day awaited her tomorrow and she was already running on little sleep.

Nicholi felt his lids getting heavy and he forced them to stay open. He did not want to fall asleep here. This girl was doing so much and she did not have a clue as to his disfigurement. He did not want to see the look of horror across her face. Of all of them he had seen, he found he did not want to see her look of horror…or was it he did not want her to see his disgusting face?

He slumped to the side and closed his eyes. Figuring to just get a little bit of sleep, he slipped under consciousness and fell asleep, warm in the apartment.

~~This will be my first story written for mature audiences. I'll only keep writing it if I get five reviews or story alerts. If not, then this will get taken down. I would love to keep this going, but if not, then oh well. I would love to hear from you all!