Touched 8
by Redkage
Sitting in his room on Thursday night, Logan proceeded to draw. His flu had finally gone away and he would be well enough to go to school the next morning despite how he felt about it. A part of him wanted to ask his parents to allow him to drop out of school, but he knew that an education was very important to Julia. Logan had so little to give to her that even though he didn’t want to, he still tried his best to at least stay in school.However, tonight school wasn’t what was on Logan’s mind. Instead, he was focused on the sheets of paper before him. Halfway through his drawing, Logan paused to survey what he had finished so far.
It was horrible. The body was proportionately incorrect, and the lines were messy and off. He could visualize the image and direction in his mind, but his hands were now unable to act the way he wished and constantly slipped up. He had spent two hours on this one picture alone, but he knew that no matter how long he took, it’ll never be good anymore. Slowly, Logan took deep breaths to try to calm down. However, the longer he stared at that picture, the angrier he became. Finally, he could no longer take it and in a rage he scribbled all over the sheets of paper, trying to hide the hideous images. In his anger, he threw his pencil across the room and scattered the pages all over. In one final display he grabbed his lamp and smashed it against the far wall.
After all the anger had drained out of him, Logan surveyed the mess he had caused. Without another sound he crawled into his bed, pulled the blanket over his head and went to sleep.
The next day rolled around and reared its ugly face. Even though the only thing he wanted to do was stay in bed and sleep, he forcibly dragged himself to school to face yet another day in hell. Already he knew that today was going to be a bad one.
“Logan!”
And he was right. He kept on walking forward, but soon Sophie and Howard caught up to him.
“Morning Logan, why didn’t you wait up for us?” Howard asked.
Logan refused to look at them. “Sorry, didn’t hear.”
“Someone is a bit grouchy this morning.” Sophie noted.
“Please, not now.” Logan said. Even Sophie’s calming power didn’t make him feel any better.
Sophie frowned and drew in closer. “Logan, is something wrong?”
“No, now just leave me alone.” Logan said curtly and quickened his pace slightly.
Howard looked at Logan, his face full of concern. “Hey buddy, you know you can talk with us. Tell us what’s wrong.”
“I told you nothing is wrong.” Logan repeated. “Just…please, I don’t feel like talking today.”
Sophie looked as if she were about to say something else, but Howard shook his head. She looked at them both thoughtfully. “Very well then,” She sighed. “However just know that if you need someone to talk with, we’re always here for you.”
Logan paused momentarily. “Thank you.” He told them without looking up. Then he walked off, leaving the two of them behind. He knew he should have been so rude to them, but he couldn’t help it. He’ll have to apologize later, of course; Sophie would never let it go until he did. Although she was usually very kind and understanding, she gave new meaning to the phrase “Hell hath no fury like a woman’s scorn.”
Quietly he arrived at his locker. He reached for the lock, hesitated, and then opened it anyways. This time nothing fell out and drenched him with ooze or anything of the sort. However, Logan knew better then to expect nothing after a four day absence. He reached in and pulled out one of his textbooks. The book cover on it now had several offensive words written all over it in black marker. When Logan opened the book and flipped through the pages, he found just about every page mutilated the same way the book cover was. Moron. Wimp. Dumbass. Faggot. Loser. Logan began wondering who would take the time to go through every single page in a 250 page textbook to mess with him. What surprised him even more was that the person who did this actually thought of different things to say after every turn of the page. He didn’t think there were that many swear words and curses in the entire world, much less in the English language. Logan made a quick check with his other books and found them in similar states.
He held back a sigh. It didn’t really matter if his books were ruined or not. He barely looked in them anyhow, and he was already failing almost all of his classes. Though he knew it would hurt Julia, he had to face the facts; he was never going to finish high school. Hell, he probably couldn’t finish the school year. Try as he might, he couldn’t squeak by like he did as a freshman. It looked like it was almost time for him to go and drop out.
Logan grabbed the books that he needed, stuffed them into his backpack and closed the door. The books felt heavier then usual in his backpack, but he knew otherwise. The books weren’t heavier, he was just weaker. Not wanting to let a couple of books beat him, Logan headed for his classroom. Halfway there he broke out into a light sweat from the strain. This was getting ridiculous! He was getting tired just from carrying a bunch of stupid books that he didn’t even use.
“Logan.” A deep voice rumbled.
Logan stiffened as his stomach turned cold and his heart clenched. The voice was just a little deeper then it had been, but he had no doubt to whom it belonged to. Slowly, reluctantly, Logan turned around.
“Hello Samson.” Logan muttered.
Samson had changed. Although it had been a full week since Logan had last seen him, he could tell that the bond between them was doing a great job in making Samson even more perfect. Though it was hardly noticeable to the other students, Logan’s keen eye could see that Samson had grown almost a quarter of an inch in height, as well as gained perhaps 13 to 14 pounds of muscle mass. Logan can practically see the new muscle, gram for gram, just rippling underneath Samson’s clothes. Today Samson was wearing his JV football jacket since they had their big game that evening, but Logan could still see how the sleeves of the heavy duty jacket was filled up completely with the swells of his biceps and triceps, where they had been loose two months before. Before Samson would always leave his jacket open, but now Samson’s barrel chest was so huge that he had no choice but to expose his torso, the buttons destined to never meet again as long as it was worn by this young stallion. Today he was wearing a tight white polo shirt underneath his jacket which hugged every curve and crevice in his body. Logan could even see the outline of Samson’s abs underneath the shirt. Down below, Samson’s jeans were very snug and tight around the thick thighs, and a quick glance towards Samson’s basket told Logan that he had a little growth down there as well, though not enough to be noticeable right away.
Taking his eyes off of that glorious body, Logan looked up at Samson. Their difference in height was very apparent when he did this, having to crane his neck back in order to look at that gorgeous face. “What is it you want?” Logan asked bitterly.
Instead of flinching back, however, Samson looked Logan straight in the eye. “We need to talk. Now.” There was a firm tone in his voice that almost made Logan feel a bit intimidated. Almost.
Logan frowned. Before Samson would cower whenever he spoke, but this time Samson actually acted the way he looked. If he continued this conversation any longer, things were bound to go badly. “There’s nothing for us to talk about, so buzz off.” Logan said curtly and began to walk away.
Samson’s hand reached out and grabbed Logan by the arm.
Immediately Logan reacted and tried to pull his arm away. “Don’t touch me!” He yelled. Although he was fully clothed and nothing could happen to him as long as there was no skin contact, the fact that Samson was touching him at all nearly sent Logan into a panic.
This time, Samson didn’t let go. Instead, he dragged Logan towards the restroom. Logan tried to resist, but he was no match for the fearsome strength of the hulking 15 year old. Finally he gave in and willingly went with Samson as they stepped into the restroom. Samson pushed Logan inside and stepped in, closing the door and locking it behind him.
“Logan, we need to talk.” Samson repeated, crossing his arms over his chest. The mere action caused his sleeves to creak and his pecs to bulge further outwards that for a moment Logan thought it was going to rip.
“Talk about what?” Logan asked, trying to keep calm. Try as he might, he couldn’t. He was trapped in a locked in a bathroom with a 233 pound football player blocking the only exit. Who could stay rational and calm under those conditions?
Samson shifted his weight a bit, but kept his stern look. “I want to talk about us.”
“There is no us!” Logan snapped. “There never is, and there never was!”
“Bullshit!” Samson pounded his fist into one of the sinks. A huge chunk of metal blew out from it and smashed into the ground, embedding it two inches deep. Logan felt a twinge of fear run through him as he realized that not only was Samson bigger and stronger than Riley, he didn’t have full control of his strength. Samson could easily kill someone by complete accident, especially someone who was as fragile as he was.
“We were friends once Logan!” Samson continued, ignoring the damage he had done. “Best friends! Then all of a sudden you went away without a single goodbye. I missed you while you were gone, but when I saw you again last year I was so happy, and I thought we could pick up where we left off.”
Logan stayed quiet, watching how Samson’s body grew tense and listening to the creaks of protest from his clothing.
“But you didn’t want to be friends again!” Samson cried out in frustration. “Instead, you spent every damn time we see each other telling me to go away and leave you alone! You ignore me, you yell at me, you order me to get off your back! And every day I wonder what it is that you don’t like about me. I mean, I’m the star of the football team. I have the top grades in school, and hell I make the best sex anyone can ever have! I’m the most popular kid ever, but you of all people don’t want to be with me!”
Logan balled his fists. Listening to this arrogant, selfish, egotistic pig-headed jock sing his praises made something deep inside of him well up dangerously. “What do you want from me?” He said, his voice cracking from withholding himself.
“I want you to at least respect me, for one.” Samson said flatly, and looked like he had more to say.
Something inside of Logan snap, however. “You want…you want respect?” Logan could feel all of the anguish and frustrations he had been harboring for the past week…no, the past six years suddenly flooded through him like a dam bursting. “You want respect!?”
Samson’s eyes suddenly flickered with fear from Logan’s sudden outburst. He had planned on confronting Logan and work out their issues out once and for all, but this wasn’t the effect he had been hoping for. He had said respect as a starting point to list things he wanted to build and improve between them in order to restore their friendship, but now Logan had become so furious that Samson’s courage began to crumble away.
“Do you know what I have gone through?” Logan yelled. “Do you? I’ve been going through hell every single damn day for the past six years. I’ve lost everything that was dear to me in one, single day! And then you just had to go to the same fucking high school as I do, and what do you know? You’re a regular stud! You were right; you do have everything. The looks, the talent, even the damn charisma and sex drive! And yet you couldn’t leave me the hell alone when I ask you to!” Logan’s voice grew louder as he let out the things he had been hiding for so long. “My family is being torn apart, and I’m the reason for it. My mother is afraid of me now, and my father treats me like a criminal. Riley hates me, and Eve…she actually thinks I’m some awesome brother and she looks up to me, even though I’m not worth shit!”
“Y-you are worth something…” Samson stuttered as he felt his knees go weak. He was genuinely afraid of Logan, and the words that came from that frail guy somehow made him feel extremely horrible and weak.
Logan, however, shook his head. “No.” He said through a strained voice. “Not anymore. Now I’m nothing. I don’t have anything anymore. Here.” Logan brought his backpack forward and reached inside. He pulled out his precious sketchbook and without a second though he threw it at Samson. “Take it.”
Samson went wide eyed as the sketch book bounced off his chest and landed on the floor. Logan loved his sketches, and now he was treating it like trash.
“Take it.” Logan repeated as he reached into his backpack once again. “Go ahead take it!” Logan began pulled out his pencil box which housed his drawing materials. He opened it and threw several objects inside into Samson’s face. “Go ahead and take them all! You’ve already taking everything away from me, so go ahead and take it!”
Samson brought up his hands to shield his face. The pencils, erasers and other objects simply bounced off, but inside he felt as it he had been pelted with bowling balls instead. When Logan finally ran out of things to throw, Samson lowered his hands and looked at him. “I…I’m sorry Logan, I didn’t…I…”
“Stay away from me.” Logan growled.
Samson shivered involuntarily from that horrible voice. “W-what?”
“Stay away from me.” Logan said louder this time. “Stay away, and stay out of my life! I never want to see you again, you hear me? Never! So leave me and stay the hell away from my family!” Logan then stormed for the door, and Samson literally jumped out of his way. Samson desperately wanted to stop Logan, but he didn’t have the strength to do so anymore. He watched as Logan threw the door open, walked out, and disappear as the door swung to a close.
The moment his eyes left him, Samson fell onto his hands and knees.
It was over. There was no longer any hope for them anymore. Six years of longing, and a whole year and a half of trying, but now he came to a dead end.
It was over.
Unable to take it all, Samson broke down and began to cry.
* * *
Logan didn’t care if got busted for skipping school, he just needed to get out of there as soon as he could. He marched right down out of the entrance and headed down the street, his emotions still running hot.
How dare he ask respect of all things! Logan had given Samson everything he was supposed to have: the handsome looks, the intelligence, the skills and talents. But was it enough? No…Samson just HAD to ask for even more! Wasn’t it enough that Samson had it all already? Wasn’t it enough that Samson had taken Logan’s very last talent, the one thing he had been good at? What more could one guy need!?
Logan had been so wrapped up in his anger that he didn’t even realize that he arrived home until he kicked burst through the front door and slammed it shut behind him. It was then in the comfort of his own home when he completely let himself loose. He smashed objects, he broke mirrors, he overturned the furniture (some of them, at least. He was far too weak to flip the heavier pieces.) When he had finished messing up the living room, he went upstairs into his room. There, he went straight to his desk, pulled out a fresh sketchpad with over a hundred blank sheet and began to draw.
He tried to draw something simple at first, an ordinary leaf. He moved his pencil slowly, carefully drawing the lines. When he was done, he looked at his work. Even though he had taken his time, the leaf was far too out of shape and proportion. Quickly Logan scratched it out and proceeded drawing another leaf.
And another.
And another.
Soon, the entire page was filled with pictures of leaves, all of them X’ed out or buried beneath furious scribbles. Now that he had no more room to draw on the page, he ripped it out, crumbled it into a ball, tossed it over his shoulder and began working on a new page.
He had nearly gone through every single page in the sketch book before he finally stopped. It was hopeless now. He couldn’t draw anything anymore. He had tried leaves, cats, even going as far as drawing a few rudimentary shapes such as circles, squares and triangles.
He had completely lost his talent to Samson.
Logan let out a deep breath and closed his sketch book. He anger had run its course, but the emotions that came afterwards didn’t feel so great to him either. It was then that he heard a car pull up in the driveway, quickly followed by another one. Logan made a quick glance towards the clock and to his surprise he found that it was already afternoon. His parents were home and they were going to walk through the door and find their living room in shambles. Quickly Logan made his way out of his room and down the stairs just as his parents and Eve came inside.
The moment Julia set her eyes on the room, her face paled. It had taken her years to decorate and arrange everything to her liking, and now it looked like a miniature tornado had blown right through. Eve’s eyes went wide at the sight of the wreck with her mouth in a tight “O” shape. Harold just stood there trying to look neutral but his eyes betrayed what he was thinking.
“Harold, Julia!” Logan called out as he climbed down the last three steps of the stairs. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t-”
“Logan!” Julia interrupted, pointing with one hand and covering her mouth with the other. “You’re hurt!”
Logan blinked and looked down. His gloves were now ripped open, revealing some bloodied knuckles. He had been so wrapped up in his emotions that he didn’t even notice or feel them.
Harold took one look at Logan’s injuries and took action. “Eve, run upstairs and grab the first aid kit from the bathroom. Logan, you go into the kitchen and wash up.”
Wordlessly Logan went to do as he was told. He went into the kitchen and to the sink. He pulled off his gloves and then ran his hands under running water. He didn’t notice Julia approach him until she was directly next to him.
“Take off your bandages honey, they’ll get wet.” She told him.
“I can take care of myself Julia.” Logan told her and continued to wash himself.
Julia hesitated, but then stood firm. “Those bandages are getting dirty anyways, so we might as well change them while we’re at it. Take them off.”
“No, Julia, I don’t want to take them off.” Logan replied. It wasn’t that he was trying to cause trouble. He just didn’t want his mother to see just how many scars he had accumulated during the past few years.
Julia stiffened up. “I’m your mother young man, so take your bandages off right this instant.
“You’re not my Mom anymore!” Logan snapped, regretting his words the moment they left his lips.
The effects were immediate; the color drained from Julia’s face, and then her eyes welled up with tears. Logan, now completely torn inside from what he had just done, couldn’t bear to face it so he turned and ran out of the kitchen, past his startled father and to the foot of the stairs.
“I found it!” Eve said as she descended down the stairs rapidly, waving a plastic first aid kit in her hand. “I found the-” Suddenly, due to her hastiness her foot missed a step and she fell.
“Eve!” Logan cried and automatically his hands reached forward to catch his little sister, but without warning Harold rushed forward, grabbed Logan by the arm and hurled him away. Logan crashed against the couch, dazed as Eve completed her fall down the stairs and landed on her back at Harold’s feet. Julia screamed loudly in terror and Logan quickly shook off his daze and looked at his little sister, horrified.
Eve’s body now had several cuts and bruises all over her. Her adorable face was now twisted in pain as she cried very loudly, her face turning red and tears streaming down from her eyes. Her right leg was twisted in an impossible angle, signaling that it was now broken. Logan could only prevent himself from collapsing from the sight of her mangled body. He watched as Julia quickly went to her fallen child, doing the best to comfort Eve through the pain.
Harold looked down at his daughter, and then turned towards Logan. Logan’s former father was practically shaking with anger, and his fists were clenched tight. “Do you realize what you could have done!?” He bellowed.
Logan pulled back, feeling his gut being wrenched. He had forgotten he had taken off his gloves. If he had caught Eve, she would have been pulled into the curse. However, the sight of her falling down was just too much for him and he acted without thinking.
Frustrated, Harold reached into his pocket and pulled out a knife identical to Logan’s. “Hurry up and get out your ceremonial knife. The sooner I break our bond, the faster I can tend to Eve.”
Obediently Logan stood up, reached into his own pocket and withdrew his own knife. Quietly he untied his bandage and removed them from around his arm. Julia gave a slight gasp when she saw the multitude of scars that ran from Logan’s Elbow to his wrist. The edges of Harold’s eyes tightened as well as he looked disapprovingly at the amount. “Begin.” He ordered Logan
Logan took a deep, shuddering breath. “I am Loganos, one who has been cursed by fate. ”
“I am Haroule, one who has been touched by the curse.” His father correctly responded according to the ritual.
“[i]Together we break our ties with one another,” They both said in unison, extending an arm towards the other, “and sever the bond between us.” At the end of the ritual, Logan and Harold made simultaneous slashes on each other’s arms. Logan bit back a hiss as Harold cut a bit deeper then he was used to, but then again Logan did have much more practice making the cuts as shallow as possible.
Done with the ritual, Harold slid a finger over his own cut. Miraculously, the cut closed and healed itself as his finger passed over it, leaving no trace of it behind. After he was done with healing himself, he turned to Logan. “Go to your room.” Harold ordered with no hint of kindness. “And think about what you almost done to our daughter.”
Logan felt those words hit him like a ton of bricks, but he did as he was told. Silently, he made his way past Julia and Eve, being very careful not to look at them. When he was near the top landing, he dared to sneak a look back.
Harold was already using his Healing Touch power to mend Eve like new. Already he had mended her leg and was now taking care of the numerous other injuries. Logan snapped his head back forward and rounded the corner. His legs gave way then as he collapsed against the wall in despair. After awhile, he heard Eve’s sniffles disappear and then the sounds of her going to the downstairs bathroom, probably to wash up.
“Why did you do that to Logan?” Julia’s voice carried up the stairs.
“He was about to touch Eve, what was I suppose to do?” Harold’s voice followed his wife’s.
“All he was going to do was prevent Eve from falling down!” Julia raised her voice.
“And cursed her as well!” Harold’s voice boomed. “I’m not about to let her cut herself to shreds!”
“Oh, and I suppose a single ritual cut is a much worse then falling down a flight of stairs and breaking a leg? Either way you could have healed it instantly!”
There was a pause. Logan could practically see Harold’s face turn red. “I will not allow Eve to cut another person, or become cut. She’s too young to be exposed to that sort of thing.”
“You just showed her it right now!” Julia shrieked. “You say you want to protect her from these kinds of things, but you two went ahead and cut each other open right in front of her! Why didn’t you catch Eve instead of pulling Logan away? Why didn’t you just move in front of Logan and caught her first?”
“I…I…I did what I thought was best at the time” Harold’s answer came a second too slow.
“You weren’t thinking, were you?” Julia sobbed, signaling that she had burst into tears. “You were so much afraid of Logan, about what he could do that you thought only of him and not the safety of our children.”
“That’s not true!” Harold objected, but his voice carried the weight of that realization. “I…I never meant to allow Eve to hurt herself like that.”
“And you…you said he wasn’t our son anymore! You treated him like a stranger! I don’t care what you or what anyone else says, he’s still my son!”
“Julia…”
“You don’t understand what I go through Harold!” She cut him off. “You don’t understand what it’s like to watch your baby suffer every day as he slowly wastes away before your very eyes. You don’t know how much it hurts that I can’t even hug my own child when he needs me the most! To be unable to help him through his troubles, to make him happy! But instead I have to stand back watch him suffer. I have to watch a part of him die each day that passes. I can’t…I can’t take it anymore Harold. I just can’t.” And then she dissolved into tears and Harold shushing noises as he did his best to comfort her.
Logan sat there, hugging his knees as he had listened to the argument. He felt like crying, but his tears would not come out at all. He sat there as he heard signs of movement as they finally moved to a different part of the house.
As soon as silence descended upon them, Logan pushed himself back up and cautiously went down the stairs. He saw no signs of his parents anywhere, so he rushed down the rest of the way and ran out the door. He needed to relieve his emotions now, before it tore him apart.
Quickly he reached into his back pocket and took out his wallet. He quickly checked inside, and found that he still had cash, as well as the ticket to tonight’s football game. He snapped his wallet shut and then set out of the school to watch the game like he always did.
The Name Game 3
Harold and Julia Warden: Logan’s two parents, true followers to the Kin Lam ways. The name Harold comes from two sources. One meaning is from the word “herald,” which means to foreshadow or presage. The other came from King Harold (the king from Shrek.) I picked Harold’s name because of these reasons because in a way, he is a kind of hovering force that has a major impact on people, even though he doesn’t have to many cameo appearances. Even so, he is obviously the head of the household and runs it with an iron fist (like a king, I suppose.)Julia is more simple. I wanted to pick a name that sounded like a happy emotion as well as strong. Julia sounds similar to the happy word “jubilee,” as well as the beautiful yet strong “jewel.” Even so, Julia is obviously the opposite of her chosen namesake, easily breaking down and emotionally fragile. Although she was once a strong woman in the past, years of stress had worn her down slowly.
Finally there is the issue of the family name, Warden. In a way, the house acts as a sort of prison for Logan, and his parents are making sure he stayed on good behavior like guards in the county jail. Even Logan’s room resembles a prison cell, with bars on the windows and locks on the door.