Zack knew, from his time dealing with the criminal justice system, that the most important thing you can do, especially in a system of solitary confinement, in create a routine for yourself, and stick to it. First things first, he smashed the TV as soon as the DVD had finished playing, and then set out to explore the house a bit further, making sure he hadn’t missed anything he might be able to use as leverage, or a weapon. The kitchen was more empty than he’d first imagined, lacking even basic appliances, or a set of knives. The closest he had to a weapon was a plastic butter knife. His exploration eventually brought him back to the living room, where he discovered that both the vase he’d smashed, and the TV, had miraculously righted and repaired themselves. The vase even had sitting in it the flowers he’d been given, and water had been added.
“Hello?” he called out, certain there had to have been someone in the house with him for something like this to occur, and he started turning the place upside down, looking for any sort of clue, but each time he ransacked a room, left, and returned, it had been put back into order. He kept this up for a while, but then gave up–either someone was here he wouldn’t be able to find, or this was some other power of that strange program Sidney had at his disposal. Still, he wouldn’t watch the TV, he had no interest in knowing what was happening to his son, he wouldn’t fall for that bait. Instead, he found one of the bare rooms and started working out, running through a calisthenics routine he’d kept when he was younger and in better shape than his current, middle aged self. Still, the day was beginning to turn to evening, and he was getting a bit hungry, when the doorbell rang again.
He went down and answered the door, to find the same young man as before with a cart laden with groceries. “Here you are, sir,” he said, and pushed the cart inside, “I’ll be back tomorrow with another load for you. Is there anything else I can do for you today? Do you require some company?”
Zack didn’t engage with him; he just accepted the groceries and shut the door in the young man’s face. In the kitchen, the hunger was becoming substantial, but as he dug through the bags, all he could find in them was candy, junk food, a twelve pack of beer and frozen meals for the microwave–hardly the sort of food he usually ate, but his stomach told him otherwise. He started stuffing himself, disturbed at his own behavior and hunger, but unable to quite get a handle on it. Was he really back to normal? Was Sidney still fucking with him somehow?
The food arrived every day, and no matter how much arrived, Zack would have eaten all of it by the time the young man arrived with the next load. He would try to resist the hunger and focus on exercising instead, but it was difficult to manage, especially after drinking twelve beers a day for a week straight. Drunk and full and depressed, he more than once found himself on the couch, watching Sidney have sex with his son in one body or another…masturbating.
The next weekend with his son arrived, and he was dreading it–he went to sleep Thursday, only to wake up in a dog house in Sidney’s backyard, naked, covered with fur from head to toe but still human–aside from his cock, which had become fully canine, and his missing balls. He spent the weekend as his son’s loyal pet, unable to disobey him, unable to not enjoy the feeling of his son fucking his doggy hole, while Sidney fucked his snout. Still…it was a relief to simply be…with people. He’d never really realized how terrible loneliness could be, and when he woke up back in the house next door on Monday, he was relieved to be back in his own body, but he couldn’t bare to think that this was all his life would be for the foreseeable future.
It was difficult to pinpoint when, exactly, Zack broke. It didn’t help when, after a couple of months in the house, cigars started appearing with his daily load of groceries, and like everything else, he found himself compelled to consume those as well. His realization, the week after, of how much his body had changed living here drove him deeper into depression–his muscles now well hidden beneath a flabby body, his face shrouded in a scruffy beard and his hair growing out with a massive bald patch for the first time in years. His hair shouldn’t have been able to grow that fast, but he also shouldn’t have gained close to 100 pounds in two months. Obviously, Sidney was still manipulating him from afar. He spent all day drunk, lying on the couch, smoking, jacking off, watching Sidney and his son fuck each other’s brains out…wishing…wishing he had someone, wishing he wasn’t so alone.
“Would you…stay with me for a bit?” he finally asked the young man who delivered his food to him each day. “I’m lonely.”
“I’d be happy to!” the young man said, “The only thing we’ll have to discuss is payment.”
“I don’t have any money.”
“Oh, don’t worry, Master has already created a payment system for you to use. It’s simple, really. Each time you use me, then Master gets to change something about your past, and your reality, permanently.”
Zack hauled the groceries inside and slammed the door in the young man’s face, but he honestly didn’t know how long he’d be able to hold out on his own like this. He opened the door a minute later, and the young man was still on the doorstep, looking smug. “Shall I come in, and we can discuss your payment options?”
The End for now, but we might follow Zack, Sidney and Evan a bit more in the future.
Bracken's Corner 