Tales Of The Telekinetic

Filming: Horror Prompt - Matt, 19 [Plants/Fungi]

When Andrew told Matt that he was heading off to Tibet for his honeymoon, Matt had no conflicts with the idea, happy that Andrew could finally have some peace and quiet with the man he loved. However, when Andrew told him that he would have to live with The Man for a week, Matt just about wanted to hold onto Andrew and tell him that his honeymoon could wait. Being around the Man was hard enough, living with for an entire week would be torture. To his dismay, Andrew and Steve left that morning, New Year's Day, and Matt woke up several hours later to the sounds of electronic beeping and loud screaming. "Get up! It's 8 AM, I have work to do, and you're helping me. Get up!" The Man was towering over Matt, his 5'7 frame suddenly ominous and threatening, like a mother pestering a kid to get up for school, only fifty times worse. Matt groaned as he opened his eyes fully and saw the Man wasn't even in his pajamas anymore, and looked like he was about to fling him out of bed. "Okay, okay, I'm up, jeez. Go wake up your own fucking kids, pleeeeeaseee." The Man frowned at him through his sleek black mask. "They're already up, lazy bones, and you should be too. It's late!" "Eight in the goddamn morning is NOT late." The Man rolled his eyes. "Just get up before I change my mind about letting you live." Matt wasn't sure his eyes could open any wider after that, and he jumped out of bed quickly, pulling on his shirt while the Man made disgusted noises at his half naked body. "Why the fuck don't you sleep with a shirt on?? No one needs to see your body!" "It's comfortable. How can you NOT?" "It may be comfortable, but it's unattractive and shows skin. So no. Put some decent clothes on and get downstairs, I need to eat my goldfish and fruit bar before I work and I'm sure you're hungry too." Matt thought he had to be joking. A killer like the Man probably had a breakfast of human hearts and fresh blood to go with it, not chips and health food. He reluctantly followed the black-clad figure down the steps to the kitchen, sitting down at a random chair while the older man went into the pantry. The Man pulled out a "That's It!" fruit bar and a bag of Pizza flavored goldfish that were Andrew's idea before sitting down at the table as far away from Matt as possible. He got to work opening his breakfast and dug in, Matt watching him eat. He looked up at the younger man sitting on the other side of the table with no food in front of him. "... Are you gonna eat something? There's donuts and muffins in the pantry and "Just Crack An Egg"s and juice in the fridge. Go get something!" Matt stared at him for another second before walking tentatively towards the pantry, opening up the door slowly to find only normal food, all the muffins and donuts on the top shelf, and a picture of the Man and his family on the inside with a little note that read "The Osborn Family, 2021" on it. He was shocked at the sight, it looked like a normal kitchen with normal food and normal drinks. No blood, or guts, or hearts, or heads. Matt took the powdered donuts from the pantry and sat back down, pulling a few out of the bag before eating them quickly, not wanting to spend another moment at the table. As he started eating, another man walked down the stairs, his black robe barely covering his body and slippers barely covering his feet. It was Harry, Matt realized, the Man's husband, and he was dressed more scantily than Matt had been when he woke up. Harry walked over to the Man, giving him a kiss before going to the fridge and pulling out a large jug of passion fruit juice and a bowl of fruit and coming back to sit as far away from Matt as possible. The two looked happy together, like Matt didn't even exist as they talked for a minute before the Man got up from his seat, threw away his fruit bar wrapper, and flicked Matt on the shoulder. Matt's head shot up to look at the Man, donut still halfway in his mouth, and the Man made yet another disgusted noise. "Finish the donut and come with me. I've got a fun job for you today and it needs to be done fast." Matt figured that the job wasn't actually going to be fun, so he ate the donut quickly and took one last glance around the kitchen. The Man turned back to his husband and asked "Oh, and Har, can you get Normie's breakfast out for him? I swear that boy doesn't even know how to open the fridge, he's so spoiled." "Sure babe, anything for you." Harry smiled back at him before waving his hand and few containers and a glass appeared on the table. Matt looked at them curiously before seeing that inside the containers were actual human hearts, and in the black glass was red liquid that Matt knew had to be blood. He paled, backing away from the table and moving towards the Man. "What? Afraid of a couple body parts, Garretty? My son's a Goblin, he eats a literal vampire diet. Trust me, it's gross, I don't like it either, but I've gotten used to it." Matt calmed down a little bit knowing he wasn't the only one freaked out by the gross breakfast, if breakfast was even what you would call that. The Man started walking out of the room, and Matt followed quickly, hoping his job would actually be fun. The Man led him back upstairs and down a long, winding hall that Matt knew he'd need a map to get out of. Finally, they came to the end of the hall and a black door that had "Osborn" written in gold cursive on it. The Man held out his hand, muttering "Andvu shevir nikt aldat kad veery" before the door clicked and he turned the gold handle, opening it and walking inside. Matt wondered what it was he had said to get the door to open, figuring it was a curse of some kind, but stopped in his thinking when he stepped into the room. It was full of plants, head to toe, floor to ceiling, wall to wall, and not just any plants. Cacti. "I'm gonna go ahead and quote somebody and say that I love and honor all things except cacti" Matt told the Man, "and if I die today, I'm telling Andrew it was your fault." The Man laughed, his cackle echoing across the room. "Look, I don't want you to die, I just want you water all my babies. Unless of course, you'd like to go back downstairs and help feed Normie his breakfast." The Man smirked as Matt went pale again, and looked down at all of his cacti. "You can easily reach all of them if you use your... powers, if you call them that anymore. I don't care if you don't put them back exactly, but I WILL know if you watered them all, and if you break a SINGLE POT, I'll rip out your heart and you'll be dinner for Normie." Matt gulped, looking anywhere but at the Man who loomed down on him again, despite the fact that Matt was actually taller than him by several inches. "Good luck, Garretty! There's gloves and a watering can on the floor by the door, and you better be careful with the ones in the middle of the room. If I find a single needle missing off of them, you'll regret not wearing a shirt at night." With that, the Man left the room, whispering "Zheldaka zin veer lik aga Matt magoda inshz veer." Matt knew he heard his name in that sentence, he was sure of it. He was also sure that he was probably stuck in here for a couple hours, if not the whole day. The room actually seemed peaceful, bright and open with several windows along the back wall and a sink right in the middle for water. Most of the cacti were larger and were lined up in rows with room to walk in between them, and in the middle was a table with four small cacti on top, and a succulent. There were several hanging pots on the ceiling, but no ladder or step stool in sight, so he figured the Man probably used his abilities to fly up to the ceiling and water the spiky menaces. Matt started from the ground up, taking the watering can and going row by row on the floor. Most of the cacti were no problem, but some had a definite needle problem and by the end of the second row, Matt had about twenty needles in his hands and arms. He cursed as he moved along the rows, needles even getting in his hair when he leaned down to water a particularly nasty cactus. He took a break after watering half of the ground cacti, looking at his watch which told him it was only 8:45. He sighed, knowing he should try to remove some needles before he continued on, and he did so, hissing as he pulled them out one by one. Some of the needles drew blood when he pulled them out, while others were easier to remove. He cursed at the Man again, wondering why he would keep such ugly, pain-inducing plants and call them his babies. Matt didn't realize how if he looked beyond the spikes of the cacti, he would notice how pretty they were and how much they helped in their ecosystem. He finished removing the needles quickly, getting back to work on the second half of the room. He knew he couldn't use his powers to fly up to the ceiling he would fall quickly and damage the cacti below. He looked up and noticed that all of the cacti had hooks attaching their pots to the ceiling, and knew what he had to do. First, however, he had to water at least forty more cacti that would only cause more suffering and cursing. One cactus in particular gave Matt the shivers. It was tall, thin, and its spikes looked like knives shining in the light. On its pot, there was a name. "Ezra". Matt had read the lore about the Man's past, that name was no good, and neither was this cactus. He carried on his task, watering every ground cactus in the rows save for Ezra. When he was finished, he slowly walked towards the deadly cactus, fearing the name more than the desert plant itself. "Okay. Here's the deal. I water you, and you don't kill me. Got it? Got it." Matt Garretty had officially gone crazy. He was talking to a plant. Knowing the Man, this cactus probably had a victim inside of it, maybe even the person the cactus was named for, but he shrugged it off. It was just a cactus and Matthew Garretty had faced far worse. He leaned in to put the watering can in the pot and got stabbed in the neck with a razor sharp needle. He groaned, not moving until the can was empty, and then tried to navigate out of the cactus' brutal grip. He got stabbed, this time in the shoulder, then again in the back. He finally got out, yelling curse words at Ezra the cactus, and decided he would rather feed the Man's son his lunch every day than deal with cacti again. He retreated back to the beginning of the room, pulling out the needles slowly, screaming as blood rushed out of the holes the needles once occupied. He was thankful his telekinetic healing still worked, and the holes closed immediately, leaving only blood and a small mark where he had been injured. Now, his only obstacles were the harmless looking cacti on the table and the ten above him. He finished the hanging ones easily, bringing them down to the ground with his powers, watering them with no needles involved, and then putting back up in their hooks. The ones on the table were small as well, and they too had names engraved in their pots. Three of the five looked like they were the same species, and a little tag on the side of one of the pots read "Christmas Cactus". The plants were all named Christmas names, Little Chris, Mega Chris, and Ridiculous Chris. He laughed quietly at the names, wondering how they were given to each cactus. He finished them with ease, as they barely had any sharp needles at all and were a dream to water. When he got to the last cactus and the only succulent, he nearly dropped the watering can. They had names too, Andrew 2 and Steve the Succulent. They were named after Andrew and Steve. He wondered what happened to Andrew the original, and found his answer on the wall. There was plaque reading "Cactus Dad", but beside it, a picture of an identical cactus was hung, its strange-looking limbs staring back at Matt. Below the picture read "R.I.P Andrew, 2020-2021. Cause of death: Unknown Fungus. We love you, buddy." Matt felt a sense of sadness in his heart. The Man had lost something close to him, so he honored it by putting up a sign and dedicating the new cactus with the same name. He looked down at Andrew 2, taking note of how its limbs looked like little dicks, and quickly tucked that thought away. He watered the small cactus and its succulent partner, taking a minute to think about Andrew and Steve and what they'd all been through. He walked back to the door, set the can down, took the gloves off, and sat by the door. At precisely 10 o'clock, Matt heard muttering on the other side of the door, and it opened to reveal the Man on the other side. "Wow. You finished early. To be honest, I didn't think you would finish at all." Matt scoffed. "Maybe I'm better than you think I am." "Oh you're definitely not. I know what you did and what you'll do, you won't impress me now." His hand moved quickly, a string of black magic drifted out before coming back into his hand. "Good. You watered them all. You're lucky. Tomorrow, you'll only need to water Steve." Matt sighed in relief. The good thing about cacti was how few and far between you had to water them, and Steve had no needles and was tiny. He stood up and walked out of the room. He followed the Man down the hallway and into the main one before walking into the kitchen. The Man grabbed something with his magic and walked back out, telling Matt to follow him once more. They stopped in the living room and the Man sat down, opening up a bag, pulling out what was inside, and eating it. It was long and white, and Matt had to ask what it was. "What are you eating? Fingers? Dried brains?" "Apple crisps. They're nutritious and delicious." Matt took a double take. This guy was literally like a vegetarian who owned over a hundred cacti and watched cartoon shows for entertainment. How could he possibly have done all the deeds the Lore told Matt about? "Can I go now? I don't want to disturb whatever the hell it is you're doing." "Sure. Just come back at 12. I actually do need someone to feed Normie. The boy can't even feed himself anymore, that's how spoiled he is. I blame his father." Matt nodded before quickly leaving the room and walking up to his bedroom. He sent Andrew a quick text hoping Tibet was everything he had dreamed of, and then plopped onto his bed, wincing when his sore body hit the mattress. He looked at the blood on his arms and realized he would probably have to wash his sheets if he didn't want that kid using him as a midnight snack.