Nightmares (Short Stories)

Cycles

"You wouldn't dare kill me...your own brother."

Davies gave the signal to lower the platform as Rion gasped in surprise and then proceeded to flail his legs that were no longer supported by the wood that was below him.

"Let that be a lesson to any and all men in this camp that we don't allow that kind of behavior here." Davies finished his shout with a drink from his flask and walked off with his head held high until he entered his quarters, alone, and cried silently for the brother he just condemned for loving a man instead of a woman. His last living relative was just dismissed from this world because he couldn't change the crazy men stationed at the "shit stain of the Republic" as they all liked to refer to their little outpost on the edge of the Gargan territory in the Alexios Galaxy. No one liked it here and everyone was pissed that there were very few women willing to travel out here.

Davies knew it wasn't the lack of scenery that had women staying away, but the men that were attracted to the decent wages and lack of Republic troops. "I fucking hate this shithole!" Davies muttered under his breath.

As the only Law Officer on the crap planet, he had to enforce what he could and one of the laws the guys here decided on was no sleeping with each other. Davies laughed bitterly as he had witnessed numerous men trying to hide their relationships from him while those same assholes turned in his brother yesterday for having sex with another miner. The man in question was to be killed later today and Davies was struggling to dry his face. He knew the men would try to make an excuse to get the petite worker out of trouble, but he wouldn't let it slide. They forced him to do this and now he would finish it.

He gandered at the petitions to free his brother's partner, Benji, who was very popular for his amazing oral skills. Jealous bastards just got his brother killed because the guy wouldn't see anyone else as long as Rion was around and now no one would have the brat.

Muttering to himself about the injustice and how he would enjoy making every one of those bastards pay for what they did by watching their hearts break at the same time as Benji's neck. He held no remorse for making the man suffer the same fate as his brother as he saw the young man the reason why he was an only child now.

"Fucking bitch thinks he could get out of this?!" The outrage was rolling off Davies as he remembered Benji pleading for mercy and a way off the planet as he walked past he jail cell toward his room. Now that he had lost his love, he wanted to be free and live his life as best he could apparently. Reality was about to smack Benji in the face.

A loud clang came from down the hall towards the cell. But the time Davies reaches the cell that was holding Benji, all he could see was a group of men with the door open and one small man laying lifeless in the middle of them all. His chest had a large hole the size of a fist in it and standing next to said body was Binx, the nastiest, cruelest man on the planet. Davies was going to say something, anything to the brute and realized there was no point. Benji is dead as planned and Davies didn't want to get killed by the beast today.

"You killed him, you clean up the mess." Hoping that wouldn't get him a broken skull, Davies Star ted to walk off after he heard a grunt from Binx.

The next day, Davies eyes were swollen from tears pouring out all night and the stench of booze surrounding him. Today would be a little worse than the last now that he didn't have his brother to watch his back. He was on his own and felt the weight of every eye on him throughout the day.

"What happened to Benji?! We didn't even get to say goodbye!" Everyone had yelled at Davies and all he could do was continue walking and every once in a while whisper out, "Ask Binx."

By the end of the day, word has gotten around that Binx killed Benji in a fit of rage. The jealousy of him having a lover and rejecting Binx was understood and never spoken off. Davies was ignored from that point on until a week passed and Binx was in his office chair as Davies walks in to his office with his morning coffee ration.

He stopped dead in his tracks and just stared at the ground not wanting to irritate Binx.

"Why are you here?" Davies didn't want idle chat when he knew more time with this guy decreased your life span.

"That's awfully rude to great someone like that. Didn't Rion ever teach you any manners?"

"Don't speak about my brother. Just tell me what your grievance is and I'll look into it."

"My grievance?... my grievance is with you. How could you kill your brother like that?"

"How could I?! You assholes made the fucking laws and forced me to do it! I fucking hate this job, but no one else will do it. You can have the fucking job. I quit!" Throwing his badge on the table, Davies marched out of the office. He couldn't live with the people who killed his brother.

As the door was shutting, Davies heard a quiet, "gladly," coming from his office.

That night, Davies had packed his few things as well as his brother's. He was taking the last flight off this world and heading back to the black abyss he crawled his way out of to get here. He knew he was trading one bad thing for another, but he didn't have to pretend to be neutral back home with murderers and thieves.

As he was boarding the shuttle to the main transfer planet of the Republic, he felt a heavy hand grab his shoulder. Whipping around to see what was happening, Davies cake face to chest with the bastard who killed Benji, his brother's only love.

"I got a present for you from your brother." Davies felt the pinch and then the pain exploded in his gut. Binx has stabbed him in his abdomen.

"Why?" Breathing was getting hard for Davies, but he tried to keep doing it anyway.

"You think that nitwit Benji was your brother's lover? No one would love that sniveling coward and no one could live Rion like I did. You killed him."

With his last decent breath, Davies looked him in the eye and murdered loud enough for only Binx to hear, "I loved my brother more than you ever could. Thank you for helping me be with him again.... I hope you get as much joy out of this job as I did." Davies was looking at the badge on Binx's chest while smirking. As Davies slid to the floor in a pool of his own blood, he took his last breath with a smile on his face knowing soon enough Binx would be punished by the Republic enforcer that came once a month. Soon enough, Binx would be more than happy to join his dead lover.