AtlasBound

Reform

"Nonsense," Isaac clicked his tongue, "Listen, you look like you've been roughed up a bit more than myself. If you have other places, I won't stop you," he continued rubbing his eyes, "But you're more than welcome to stay for as long as you want. The apartment is usually empty, but hey, I have enough food and pills, if that's your thing."
Isaac shrugged and walked into the kitchen, he grabbed a beer from the refrigerator, then went to the window. Peaking down towards the street as police cars glided by. He closed the blinds and turned a lamp on, plopping down on the couch with his head in hands.
"I dunno about you and your story, but your hands and shoulder say plenty. Sorta." He placed the ice cold beer against his forehead.

Reform

Isaac chuckled, "Don't worry about it, that couch has seen a lot worse."
He tightened the bandage, Isaac's eyes shakily looking over his work, "Alright Lou, your leg looks banged up, so let's get started on that. If you want, you can handle that in the bathroom if you're comfortable with that."
Isaac got up momentarily, "You can also use the shower and freshen up, but give me a second, my eyes are screwing up on me."
The fractals in Isaac's eyes reappearing, attempting to control his breathing, hoping to subdue the stomach turning feeling.

Reform

Wiping his mouth with a towel, "Yeah man, c'mon in."
Isaac led the stranger in and directed him to the couch while he grabbed a fishing gear box from his bathroom. "I'm Isaac by the way." He began as he placed the fishing gear box on the small coffee table, and opened it to reveal a plethora small medical utensils. Gauze, numerous bandages and wraps, scalpels and needles, disinfectants, and medications like no other.
"Sorry, this looks bad, but this happens when you study the human body, and your main source of income was being a thief."
Isaac rolled up his sleeves, "So, it looks like your shoulder and your leg need a quick clean and roll-up. So roll up your sleeve, and we'll start there."
As Isaac grabbed the disinfectant and some gauze, "So, what's your name?"

Reform

"Jesus. Are you alright?"

Isaac was staring at the sky, with the stranger getting to his feet, and a limp body near by. Isaac sat up and rubbed his eyes, making sure the haziness would fade from the sides of his vision, but they faintly lingered.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks, I guess."
His migraine was gone, for the first time in years, the slight fog of pain was gone. Clarity for the first time in ages, but now it was met with a strange vision perspective. Did, did I pop a vein or something? He thought to himself, looking at the stranger dusting himself off, and then to the body next to them. It was Matt's, seemingly lifeless, but still breathing.
Isaac stepped over Matt and climbed up the hill, but just to the guardrail. People all across the boardwalk were getting off the ground, the car stalled out and scratched along the sides. But as if they all had collapsed at once, and then came to at the same time, the people began helping each other up, confused, looking around, or quietly went about their own business.
Isaac slid back down the hill, "What happened?"
The stranger looked at Isaac dumbfounded, "You tell me."

"I remember my migraine just, it was stupidly painful, and him" pointing to Matt slowly moving, but still laying down, "Then, I could see-" he stopped mid-sentence Would this guy really believe me? I saw something else, a viewpoint I wasn't seeing. "Well, I went to look up, and everyone turned their head at the same time I did. It was like, eh, I don't know."

Isaac went over to Matt and opened his eyelids, and while the pupil responded to light as they natural should, a smokey black rim appeared around the edges of the iris. Matt's green eyes were stained with an odd black fog and glossed over.
As Isaac opened his mouth to say something, police sirens were wailing down the road to the scene of the wreck.
"Ah hell," Isaac sighed and grabbed his messenger bag, "C'mon man, we gotta get outta here."
"What about him?" The stranger asked.
"Honestly, prison would keep him safe for once in his life." Isaac motioned for the stranger to follow, the hesitation in the stranger's steps barely noticeable, but the police sirens were certainly a driving force to get moving.
Staying along the hillside that eventually led back to main boardwalk, crowded with people, although Isaac noticed that almost every other person was rubbing their head. That can't be linked, can it?
Isaac swallowed a lump in his throat, and looked back to see if the stranger was still following him amongst the crowd. He was, but at a distance, lightly holding his shoulder. At least he knows how to lay low.
Isaac turned into the stoop of an apartment building, the stranger stopping at the base of the stairs.
"Hey man, thanks for doing, whatever you did to get us off the street."

"Someone had to, no one else would've." He replied.

"Well, thanks. Um," Isaac pointed to the strangers shoulder, "You need that patched?"

The stranger shrugged, "I'll live."

"Oh, ok, yeah man. Listen," Isaac pulled out a paper and scribbled a number down, "If you need anything, here's the code to the door. 6th floor, is mine." Isaac tossed the paper down to the stranger and went inside.

His stomach tossing, Isaac took the elevator up and unlocked his small penthouse, heading straight for the sink. Sweat beginning to drip from his forehead, he lurched forward vomiting bile into the sink. Disgusted, but giving a relieved sigh, Isaac sat on his beat up couch and replayed the events from the boardwalk over and over. Something isn't adding up, he thought It wasn't just me, or one person who collapsed, it was everyone nearby.
Isaac laid down, and let his mind wander endlessly.

Reform

A splitting headache crept around Isaac's forehead. Usually prone to migraines for years, this one felts like vines binding his skull, latching on to his eyes, and pulling them together until the bone snaps. Rubbing the bridge of his nose, he leaned against the guard rail and tried with all his might to ignore the pain, and concentrate on the waves jumping over the sea-wall and flailing onto the sidewalk.

"THINK FAST"

Shakily swift hands locked on to Isaac's messenger bag. Before Isaac could even react, he was twisted around, grabbing back onto the guard rail for support, the pain in his head pounding like the waves tearing at the wall.

"Yikes, Izzy, y'know, this bag could sell for quite a bit." A raspy voice called out, gently tapping the bag, "I can compensate for it, how does 5% sound?"

"Matt, listen," Isaac replied attempting to regain his composure, "I'm not in the mood to try to haggle my stuff back, can you jus-"
He held up a finger to Isaac, "You don't look so good, fine, I'm feeling generous. 6%. Final."

The pounding in his head was like a jet engine against his forehead. Matt was an old friend once close, but soon fell into the hole of half of everyone in the deeper parts of the city fall into. Mostly skin and bones with needle scars dotting his arms and neck, Matt was your typical, run-of-the-mill junkie looking for the next thing to pawn. However, Isaac knew that most of the junkies kept to themselves in the lower districts, surrounded by tunnels, overpasses, and the occasional flooding from heavy rains. Matt was out of his niche, and Isaac knew it. Isaac blended in to the rest of the crowd along the coastline, but not Matt.

"What, what are you even doing here?" Isaac said, pushing off of the guardrail.
"What? I can't be posh for a day?" Matt smiling and spinning Isaac's messenger bag around his arm.
"Not if you wanna cause a scene."
"You and 'blending' in," Matt mockingly retorted with air-quotes "What a drag. Now c'mon, I got a gig for us."
Isaac's eyes grew wide open, "Absolutely not."
"What? Why not? Too good for me and the brothers, eh?"
"HEY. I'm doing good, and y'know I was never into the whole gig thing."
"But you're good at it, that's all that matters! Now don't be a puss, we're going." He said heading for an alley.

Isaac stood his ground. "No."
Matt spun around, with one eye cocked towards him, "S'cuse me? No?"
The pain shooting through his entire body now, gritting his teeth, "No. Not again. The end of the line."
Isaac's vision blurring through torrents of tightening muscles and pulsating veins, Isaac's glare tunneling towards Matt.

"Then the bag is mine. Everything in it is mine. And you'll be next."
"You're a piece of shit. You know that. Always have been."
Isaac began rubbing his eyes, his vision began to shake, like quick vibrations moving his eyes left and right nonstop.

"What? Crying your eyes out? Bitch ass." Matt scoffed.
"No, dude, I can't- Screw it. Just give me my damn bag back. I have my thesis and research over-" Motioning Matt back to Isaac
"Listen, if I can take from the blind, I might as well." He laughed

The pain was splitting his head into pieces, and he couldn't hold it in. Isaac let out an animalistic cry. Matt's sly smile faded as he looked at the crowded boardwalk staring at them both. Hundreds of eyes peering. Murmurs and whispers began to flood the air like a toxic cloud. Isaac dropped to his knees, clawing at his eyes, slowly hunching forward.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa" Matt put his hand on Isaac's shoulder, "DUDE, CHILL. C'mon, here's your bag back. Shit. I'll be back for you ass later."

Matt dropped the bag in front of Isaac with his hands in the air by his shoulders, walking backwards, then turning and heading for an alley.
Pain like sharpened nails were tearing at Isaac's eyes, as he looked up once more to see Matt about to disappear into the shadowed alley, he screamed-
"MATT!"

SNAP

Silence.
Isaac's mouth was wide open as he gently touched his eyes. What he could see was like looking at a broken mirror, his vision was split into fractals throughout his peripheral vision. The fractal viewpoints looked like running water on glass, a steady but slightly blurry sight.
"Matt?" Isaac whispered, looking straight ahead. Matt's body was rigid but standing, with his body half twisted, and neck bent with a heavy head. One of the little fractals in Isaac's vision morphed into a view point, staring at the cut stone, the boardwalk's pathway. Isaac went to look around, as did the fractals viewpoint. Isaac went to look around, but Matt's head moved with his, and countless others in the crowd.

Reform

Name: Isaac Hawkins
Age: 23
Ability: Remote Possession (Multiple Host Possession, Animal Possession, Non-Contact Possession)

Reform

Bippity Boppity Boo