Chapter 9: Second Chance

The 48-year-old balding man opening my door couldn't take his eyes off of me. I guess shaving the head and growing a beard wasn't popular among pedophiles. His name was Francis Doberman, and he drove an older ford fiesta. If not for the McDonalds boxes in the dash and spilled drinks in the back forming a sea for floating rat droppings, it would have been a nice car. Instead, two green baby mice rocked out from under the seat as the big man wedged himself into the vehicle.

"Do you like music? I have plenty of cassettes, or I can play you my mixtape?" Francis said.

"Car rides normally put me to sleep. Do you have anything with a quick beat?" He fiddled with his collection before pulling out a black cassette. Cowboys from hell started playing, and he pulled out of the parking lot.

"So, what do you do for a living?" I asked.

"I stock shelves at Kwik Save." He said and took a turn out of town.

"You said you had Mario and pizza; where is the pizza?" I asked.

The man turned towards me and smiled. "It's in the back, so it stays hot. You didn't think I would keep it in the back seat, did you?" Francis said.

For thirty minutes, we drove while the cassette played. We made small talk and left the main highway. Before I knew it, we were in the countryside, and I sensed something interesting. Oh, Francis was a naughty boy far worse than I thought. Fortunately, he wasn't getting out of this as himself, so I relaxed and listened to the music.

Honestly, I couldn't wait to see what I could do to him before knowing who he worked for.

"Why do you dress like a fucking tease?" Francis said.

The question might have thrown me for a loop if I didn't have my reasons. I laid down on my palm and ignored him.

"You're worse than a woman, but I'm going to get what I want from you. I can't believe anyone is dumb enough to meet with someone they met online, but boys like you do it every day. All I have to do is promise pizza and video games. I bet your parents are worried sick about you. Are you scared?" Francis said.

I turned and met the man's gaze. Jim said it's easier to invade minds through the eyes. From the second I established a mental connection to Francis, I felt the memories of screams and a perverse pleasure in the pain he caused. There was a time when he felt guilty about his crimes, but it had passed. As an experiment, I took that memory of guilt and inflicted it with worry about what his mother would think of him. I took an idea and implemented it like a virus infecting his every thought and exchanging one of his terminal goals with one of my choosing. Humans only really had two terminal goals avoid **** and reproduce. So I did my best to replace reproduce to become a bioengineer. Unfortunately the man's brain started to overheat I had to shut certain parts down to save RAM space.

The man shook his head and began to swerve. "I don't feel so good." Fracis said before he passed out, and his foot fell on the gas. I let the car speed up until we were going good and fast, I yanked on the steering wheel, opened the door, and jumped out just as the car started to flip.

The air cracked as I forcefully arrested my momentum. I dipped a little in the air; maybe putting on the second glove hadn't been a good idea. I landed a little harder than planned, just as the car settled against some trees.

Fortunately, it was a warm summer night, so Francis probably wouldn't freeze to ****. When he woke up, the man would see the world through new eyes if his mind didn't self-destruct. I removed all desire for sex and replaced it with a burning passion with becoming a bioengineer. For the rest of his life, he would contribute to society. That is after his baptism in rat feces and coke syrup.

I tore open the trunk on the off chance there were pizzas inside. But, unfortunately, when the trunk opened, I had to throw myself out of the way as old containers of KFC full of rat carcasses fell out.

"Cinder, have a hot pizza ready for me when I get home. I don't trust the food at the party." I said and felt acceptance from my connection. Feeling Cinder's emotions was still strange. It was all I could do to block myself off most days.

There wasn't a reason to go all the way with Francis because I already knew the destination. Several cars were already parked by a large cabin in the woods. The wind whistled and howled, and the bodies of dozens of undead children scraped against coffin lids. Wards hung in the air of a design I couldn't make out. In conclusion the police would never find this place.

I walked by an old PT cruiser on my way to the front door; an obese man in his 20s rolled down the window. "Are you alone? Maybe I can help you." I turned to see the same heavy-set man in a white button-up step out of the car. Our eyes met for a second, and I sped up the process just to see how quickly I could work my magic. I replaced the terminal goal to avoid **** with becoming a brain surgeon.

The man shot after me with his arms outstretched. A qi beam shot between his eyes, and the man died on the spot. That's how I discovered that people need the fear of ****; otherwise, their other terminal goal takes precedence. Honestly, this was an excellent learning experience.

I leaped out of the way as a green-colored curse passed by me. The necromancer must have sensed me just as I sensed him.

"So, the phoenixes have finally sent one of their pets after me. Well, you'll never take me alive." The necromancer said.

"That's nice," I said.

He waved his wand, and several green blasts fired at once. I skated by them with ease and appeared beside the necromancer. "Inferi attack the intruder." The necromancer ordered.

Coffins exploded upward, and dozens of angry, undead teenagers rushed me. "I'm not here because the phoenixes sent me," I said and slapped the head off one undead and burned others with a wall of flames. Even the house-elves were tougher than these guys.

"I had ****; the phoenixes **** me to work with less than noble elements to survive." The necromancer said.

"I don't believe you. You gave a bunch of pedophiles a safe place to **** and dump children." I said and snatched the wand from his hand before burning it to ash.

The man stared at the ash on the ground and fell on his ass. A beam appeared at the tip of my finger ready to splatter the man's brains on the ground. "Give me another chance. I can make things right." The necromancer said.

At his words I could only conclude that this guy was the textbook learned idiot. Only an idiot would ask me for a second chance. It seemed tonight would be full of teachable moments.

I laughed. "Alright, if you want a second chance, then I will give you one. But not as you are." I said and knocked the man out with a flare of qi.

Beggers can't be choosers he wanted the second chance so I get to choose what form it takes. This time I had the opportunity to document and slow the process down.