Alexander had just woken up. The surroundings were unfamiliar to him. He remembered himself being led down the fire escape stairs on gun point, shoved into a vehicle and sedated. He had no chance to fight back. He had trusted Daniel and his men. They were supposed to be infallible. The man had achieved great things. Guarding him should've not been a problem for Daniel. He wondered what went wrong.

All the light in the room was from an incandescent bulb. The walls were not painted. The smell of cement and concrete filled the space. He brought his focus back from the unfamiliar surroundings. He had always been useful to Daniel. Not always by choice. That has always been his methodology. Daniel was always the dominant one in whatever connections he made. He had threatened him multiple times over the years due to which he had to comply. The threat due to which he finds him here today, came shortly after his last effort to impress him.

"People who sleep well are more likely to be happy. I'm not saying this out of my ass. Studies seem to agree."

It was Mark who broke his chain of thoughts. He did not reply.

"I know... you have been sleeping a lot today... Getting you out was no small task. Your men put up a very good fight."

Again silence.

"Good for you that I am in a chatty mood tonight. I lost most of my men. To be fair most of them had nothing to do with me. Some of them, you can identify. But yes, I lost my friend and I'm a bit lonely. I thought we could have a chat before you know... we got started."

What he had done last for Daniel was comparatively minor to what he has done before. It was a simple case. He had issued a judgement barring non-government charitable organizations from lobbying in politics. Using this provision, one such organization was debarred. Some of these organizations he thought existed just to generate outrage by digging out dirt way beyond their pay grade and some were so litigation-happy that they will demand everything needed to be publicly accessible. This judgement had support politically and was seen as a voice of reason.

Mark cleared his throat. "You are not listening."

"Sorry," Alex replied. He asked irritably, "What do you want from me?"

"Isn't that obvious? A testimony. For all the lies you spewed for him"

"You know that is not possible." Alex was scared but it was the truth.

"Why not?"

"He will take down everything with him if anything comes out. He has threatened to kill my family..."

"Oh, what a bummer... what about the families you ruined?" Mark was not happy.

"You know, I grew up in prison for better or worse. Probably worse. Fights break out in prisons normally all the time. Worse when instigated. I saw men fight to death from my cell. It was chaos. I could see better in the darkness rather than get exposed to sunlight. "

"Enough about me, there was a man who kept me sane. He helped me in dealing with my addiction. The man taught me how to paint... Do I look to you like a person who can paint? ... Not to me either ... He told me that while it was unfortunate that I ended up there, I could use the time to get better as a person... Anybody could be reformed... things like that. Never understood him. Never will."

"He was wrong by the way... about the last part... Regardless, he used to keep me away from scenarios where I could end up in fights... with my age, it was curtains... yeah, so here's the thing... in one of such fights, one of them got knocked down so hard that they passed out for days. Whenever he did gain consciousness, all he wanted was to be put out of his misery. My man did it out of kindness... I've seen him do it. I only had respect towards him..."

"Is this about Morgan?"

"So, you do remember the name. Didn't you sentence him for life imprisonment for murdering inmates?"

Alexander could not bring himself to say anything. That judgement was easy. Public opinion and politics of the time, he would've been awarded for the social service he had done. He could get away with that if he tried that today to be honest.

"I take it as a yes," Mark said sternly. "Give a testimony about all this, and I will let you go."

"I cannot. I cannot." Alex seemed to be crying.

"How will I forget the hubristic prosecutors on Daniel's side... I mean your side... used me as a witness to punish him... twisted my words to save yourself... "

"I'm sorry... I had to do it"

"Ah, you had to... and you went again and did it... didn't you... I should've recorded this testimony"

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"Testimony made under intense duress cannot stand in court. A prosecutor can absolutely argue that you forced me to do it and the case will be lost." Alex was weary.

"You clearly are a good lawyer... you are... you are... What should I do with you? After going through all the trouble to get hold of you... getting you to talk... what do I have to show for... nothing... I lost my friend for this... I lost my mentor for this... It's a bummer that you have a family... what if I threaten you the same way?" Mark's rage was seething.

"If you do not testify, I will kill every single one in your family" he warned.

"I trust Daniel's protection over your bluff. What happened today was a fluke. There is no way you can do it. You are a nobody, lowlife. Daniel is a reputed serviceman. You can threaten me all you want. You are not getting anything. In a way, even if not under threat, I agree with Daniel for showing guys like you where you belong. In prison, dumb animal" Alex's voice was passionate.

"Bullshit. What makes you think Daniel cares? He wouldn't give a fuck about you after you are gone. Oh, you will be gone today. As a believer in justice... I will make sure of it. "Mark went on explaining his methods, semi-performing to Alex.

"Again, it's the family that I am sad about. I wanted to tie you up in this very bed, fully immobilized. Then I wanted to let you cherish your family portrait during your last moments. It would rest against your thick fat belly, propped up by your daughter's books, while I take out my daggers. Yes, plural. Freshly smelted and in fancy shapes. I've always wanted to improve my painting skills. But I can't without a picture, can I?" It was not over.

"Lucky for you, But I've decided against it... it's not the fault of your family that you turned out this way... they'd have to spend a fortune trying to gather your parts from different continents and then to sew them up to marginally reassemble a human in order to conduct a decent funeral for your worthless ass. The money you swindled piling on people needs to be put into better use."

"Sick fuck" Alex was disgusted.

"Nah man, while I'd have loved to do that to you in earnest, saying the whole thing out makes me realize it is a tiresome process. You are not worthy of it. I might save it for Daniel. He probably doesn't have a family portrait though."

"You have nothing to gain from me," Alex said firmly.

"Yes... I do, fun"

"You have 20 minutes... limit of my powers where I can sustain control over you without looking into your eyes, the duration up to which effects of being in my control will last if I do not actively renew it by looking at you. Not everybody can do this." Mark wanted Alex to focus.

"Took years to perfect my skill. This is a game of willpower. If I want to kill you more than you want to survive, you lose. Simple. If you succeed, you will walk away alive. Otherwise, an extra senate session would have to be convened to vote on a judge appointment. It starts now." Mark told Alex as he looked into his eyes.

Alex felt a tingling sensation all over and as soon as it happened, he lost control over all his limbs. Mark handed him a bunch of keys... his hands caught them.

He opened the door and started ascending the stairs three at a time... he wasn't used to this level of physical activity. He was breathing heavily but his legs didn't seem to care. He was up four floors in six minutes. Then, he saw a door. The keys were meant for that.

His hands did the job for him and soon after, he understood the predicament. He was on top of an abandoned lighthouse.

He had to think fast before it was too late.

14 minutes.

His eyes saw a ladder. His legs started running towards it.

No, not there.

No avail.

There must be a way to break through this. He decided to let himself run. He thought that he could try something while the powers affecting him kept him moving towards the ladder. He recollected his best memories, wildest nights. The legs seem to slow down.

There is a way.

His hands were already lifting the ladder.

12 minutes

Just after he placed a ladder to climb on top of the parapet wall that would lead to his demise, he managed to sink the keys in his hand deep into his palm, leading to a shooting pain and he regained control over his body for a quick moment. Could've been 30-40 seconds. Blood gushed through his wound. He opened the door and was able to go back a couple of steps.

He lost control again. He punctured the wound further. He was just three steps from the door, approaching it.

10 minutes

He kept doing it over and over. But he couldn't take it. He was back in the roof. He wrestled with his own hands. But this time, his hands had locked the door and dropped the keys through an opening in the door frame, which crashed into the ground probably six floors below. He had no going back.

9 minutes

He was stressed, good moments in his life never returned to him. His thoughts turned nightmarish. Before he could plan anything further, he was up the ladder more than midway. With three to four steps, he will be on top of the parapet wall which has a width of one shoe.

He thought fast. He rallied his thoughts towards the lucky amulet he was wearing. He imagined Daniel. He looked into his digital watch and focused on numbers dropping down. Seemed to help.

He began descending the ladder, but soon found himself at the top of it. Went back and forth a few times, as he finally stepped on top of the parapet wall. The night sky was beautiful. The full moon, the stars, the trees were so small.

5 minutes

He reminded himself not to look down. The control that Mark had over him was waning.

3 minutes

He kept focusing on the watch. He could feel his limbs again. He never did well with heights. He never liked those amusement park rides. His legs were stiffening. He felt like throwing up, peeing and taking a dump all at the same time. He was scared shitless and thirsty. But he was still alive.

2 minutes

1 minute

He swore he wouldn't fire his assistants for being late ever again.

30 seconds

He could smile even from that spot. He couldn't resist what the last bit of control over him did. It was faint enough to only move the eyeball. This was helpful for the wielders of these abilities to refurbish control over the victims. He looked down compulsively. Saw that the safety net below the part he was standing was carefully removed.

It was there ten steps to the right or left.

5 seconds

He couldn't prevent what gravity did to him afterwards

He lost.