Different Path

Jon Taggart almost stumbled into his house when he got home from work. He was so sick he really didn't know how he even managed to drive home. He was positive he had Corona Virus but hell, he was young, only 29 years old so he didn't need a doctor. Besides, he had an ace in the hole. He had a PHD in Biochemistry and was deeply involved in the research to develop a cure for the virus. He was positive one of the cures his company discarded would work but the company stopped work on it because of effects on the brain in the test animals. He was so sure the effects were unimportant and the cure would work, he took a vial of the medicine when he left work. He intended to use it when he got home and prove its efficacy. Even if it didn't work, all the statistics said he was in one of the age groups least likely to die from the illness so he put off seeing the doctor. He would go in a day or two if he wasn't better after taking the experimental drug.

Jon really wasn't supposed to be home yet; it was only 2:30 in the afternoon and he had been working until well after midnight since the research for a cure for Covid 19 ramped up. Perhaps he would have been better off if he had sat in the Urgent Care waiting room or stayed at work. He was weak, feverish, and so short of breath he could hardly walk. His whole body ached from the illness. As he was walking down the hallway toward the master bedroom, he felt a violent urge to take a crap and was afraid he couldn't make it to the master bath so he hit the guest bathroom like he did when he got home late in the night. Huh, he had came home early that morning about 3:00 AM and used the bathroom to keep from waking his wife but he didn't remember leaving his clothes in the hall bathroom. He must have though because there was a pile of them there. He would have to take them to the hamper when he left. He grinned when he felt the humidity in the air as he sat on the toilet and let loose. His wife must have just taken a shower. This bathroom had a seat in the shower and was larger than the one in the master bedroom, so when she shaved her legs, or if they showered together they used it. If he didn't feel so fucking whipped he would jump her bones when he found her. Between working, being so exhausted and Sally's anger over his long hours it had been several days since he had any pussy.

Done with his business, Jon flushed and headed down the hallway to the master bedroom. As he neared the room he heard a gentle slap. His wife giggled and said, "Stop! I know you want another piece but we have to hurry. You heard Jon's message on the answering machine. He'll be home soon and I really don't want to face the shit storm if he catches us like this.

"You'll get more when we get to your place. I want to be gone before Jon gets home.

Jon felt even worse upon hearing Sally's statement, if that was possible. He staggered around the corner into the bedroom to see one of Sally's teammates from work naked and rubbing his erect cock on her ass as she tried to pack her suitcase. She was ineffectually slapping at him as she worked. Sally was naked also, her perfect breasts jiggling as she giggled and tried to evade her friend. There was sperm running down her thigh. Jon could see the sheen on her ass from the pussy juice or sperm coming off her lovers cock.

Jon croaked, "You cheating Bitch! If I didn't feel so shitty I would kick both your fucking asses."

Sally screamed and looked guilty, then tried to cover her nakedness. Her friend, what's his name, warily watched Jon and tried to move toward the door to the bedroom.

Sally started to say something but Jon cut in to her sentence saying, "Just can it. I don't feel like listening to your shit right now. I'm infected with Covid 19 and all I want to do is get in bed. Just get the rest of your crap and get the hell out. Let me know where to send the divorce papers."

Sally laughed and said, "Serves you right shithead. All you talk about and think about any longer is your damn job and research on your fucking little viruses and bacteria. You aren't any fun any more so what did you expect me to do? Just sit around home playing with myself waiting for you? Ain't going to happen. I need excitement in my life and a man that pays attention to me, not some microscopic little bug. Ted gives me that. He gives me the loving I deserve and takes me out at night to party and live it up."

Jon started to walk around Sally when he stopped and said, "You know my work could save hundreds, even thousands of lives if we find the cure or a vaccine. I gave you all my attention when I was home until this emergency hit and you know I would have done it again after things go back to normal. Well screw you and your cheating ass. Just get the hell out of here. No, wait! I do have one thing for you." He then grabbed her and tried to give her a kiss. All he managed to do was basically lick her mouth as she turned her head when he tried to give her some tongue. He snickered and said, "What, don't I even rate a goodbye kiss honey?"

Jon was letting her go when he felt her friend grab him trying to pull him away from Sally. While he pulled Jon back, trying to separate the couple, he said, "Take your hands off her asshole."

Jon let Sally go and turned toward her new lover. He spit on his hand and reached out to slap it across the man's mouth and nose. Damn, he thought, I sure wish I could remember his name. Jon managed to smear the spit across his lips and nostrils before the man jumped back and snarled, "You fucking asshole. I ought to kick your ass." He slammed a fist into Jon's stomach.

Jon felt the pain, then his stomach surged. He felt vomit coming and ran for the bathroom. The man laughed and said, "Damn, what did you see in that wimp. He's sure not much of a man. He can't take a punch and ran away like a coward when I hit him.

Sally and her lover could hear Jon throwing up. The man said, "Hurry and get dressed honey. We need to get out of here and get cleaned up. Maybe we won't catch it. While you do that I'm going to teach your asshole a lesson."

Jon heard Sally grab a few more clothes and listened to footsteps coming his way. He had barely turned toward the door when he was met by another fist to the belly then one to the face. He began throwing up once again. Some splattered on Sally's lover and he yelled,"Shit!" Asshole jumped back, almost running from the master bathroom.

Jon heard Sally and her man talking quietly as she scurried around the bedroom packing the rest of her clothes. Soon Sally raised her voice and said, "I'm outta here asshole. I hope you die from this damn disease. All you ever do is play in that lab with your fucking germs. As far as I'm concerned you got exactly what you deserved this time."

Jon heard footsteps going from the bedroom after Sally's diatribe. God, his belly and head hurt big time where the asshole hit him. He was dizzy and still couldn't stand straight.

When Jon finished in the bathroom the house was empty except for him. He took a dose of the trial drug and collapsed on the guest bed. He tossed and turned trying to find a way to lay that didn't hurt. His stomach and jaw were excruciatingly painful from both the blows he took and from his illness. He felt a shooting, throbbing pain deep inside his head behind where he was hit. He finally curled into a ball and pulled the covers over him. That seemed to make his stomach hurt less. Unknown to him, he also had some internal bleeding in his abdomen and a bruise on his brain. Finally he managed to drift off to sleep when the Hydrocodone pain medication and trial drug took effect.

During his slumber the different medications in his body circulated in his blood stream. His mind worked overtime worrying about his pain and dreaming of better times and places. He built a picture in his head of the perfect peaceful place, a beautiful cabin on a small bluff beside a large, clear running river filled with fish. Huge trees surrounded the cabin and wildlife abounded in the area. He wasn't in a deep sleep, rather, he was dozing, almost fully awake, in what some would call a daydream. He could almost see and smell the location of which he dreamed.

Jon pictured the peaceful glade and wished so hard he was there relaxing and enjoying the peace and quiet. He felt a pulling and he was almost floating he was so relaxed. The drug culture would say he was tripping. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, depending on your outlook, he was.

Jon lay relaxing and, truthfully, hurting. He didn't remember ever feeling as if the bed was as hard as it was right now. He itched and something was tickling his nose. There was an earthy smell too with overtones of dry grass and what sounded like leaves rattling in the wind. He felt hot, as if the sun was beating down on him. There was a distant buzz of insects going about their business while birds sang.

Jon heard a scream and forced himself to open his eyes. What the FUCK! He appeared to be laying in a yard. There was a small rock cabin nestled under some trees to the side of the clearing he was in. The door was open and the feminine screaming was coming from inside. He was so shocked at his location he didn't realize the cabin was an exact replica of the one he was dreaming about not long ago.

Jon forced himself to get up and walk unsteadily to the door. He stopped in shock and quickly became angry. Two large, scruffy looking men in ragged clothes were assaulting a young woman. One was holding her while the other alternated between hitting her and trying to tear her old fashioned long dress off her. Occasionally he or the one holding her would maul one of her breasts. There was a young man laying in a pool of blood near an overturned table. A knife was sticking out of his chest.

Every time the woman tried to fight the men off, she got hit. Finally Jon came to his senses and yelled, "Hey! Stop that. Leave her alone."

The man molesting the woman turned to Jon and said, "You just made a big mistake asshole. This bitch is ours now and you're going to pay for interrupting our fun." He moved toward Jon and when he was close enough, he tried to hit him.

When he saw the fist approaching, Jon tried to jump back. He was still unsteady enough on his feet he almost fell. He threw his right hand and arm out to ward off the blow as he yelled, "Stop asshole. Scum like you should be dead, not picking on a woman."

To his surprise the man not only stopped, he almost flew back as if he had been hit by a pile driver. He stumbled over one of the overturned kitchen chairs and slammed into the rock wall of the cabin then slid to the floor. Blood was trickling from his mouth and nose as he lay there.

The man holding the woman pushed her away. She fell over the other man as he headed for Jon. He snarled, "I don't know how ya managed ta hit Solly but ya're a dead man now."

The man pulled his hand back and Jon watched his seemingly huge fist begin its journey toward him. Once again, almost without thinking, he pushed his right arm out toward the man and thought about pushing him away violently, only hoping to connect. Jon, after all, wasn't a fighting man. He was a Research PHD in infectious diseases. All he knew about fighting was what he saw on TV or in his computer games. Somehow, his brain used the things he saw in the games and movies when forced to come up with something to defend himself with.

Once again, the attacking man flew away from Jon and bounced off the stone walls. The woman looked at the two huge men just laying on the floor bleeding and the rail thin, almost emaciated Jon standing unsteadily in her doorway. Jon grimaced and felt his head. Damn, his headache was bothering him again near where Sally's asshole lover hit him.

The woman rose unsteadily and moved to check on her man. She was sniffling. After verifying he was truly dead, she looked at Jon and said, "Thank you My Lord. It's not often we are blessed with the presence of a Master Wizard. You arrived at an opportune time for me. I thank you for saving me and freely give the customary due.

"Will we be remaining here or will we return to your abode My Lord Wizard? If it pleases you, might I at least lay my husband to rest before I begin my servitude My Lord?"

"Uh, what? Do you have a phone? I didn't bring mine. I'll call 911 and get someone out as soon as we can."

"A phone Sire? I know not what that is. And what is this 911? We are hours from others who might help and I know none who might willingly do so. Mayhap the King's Sheriff would have a warrant for those but they would be right ripe afore we could get them there to see. Best if we just drag them to the woods for the critters but, if it please you Sire, I beseech you to bury my husband proper like."

"What? Don't you have a car or truck? We need to report this before we get into trouble."

The woman laughed and said, "I have heard Wizards are strange, scary folk but didn't know what people meant until now. You are a strange one for sure." Her eyes got large and she turned pale before stepping back. She looked scared and put her hand to her mouth before saying, "Oh, I am sorry My Lord. Please forgive me for that statement. 'Tis not my place to comment on my Master. As for the things you requested, I know not what they are but I'm sure we don't have them. As for reporting this attack, why would we? 'Tis the nature of things here in the wild wood. You must always be on watch for such as those and be prepared to defend oneself. My man failed to bar the door when he came in for his lunch and we paid the price I'm afraid. You did that which was required and none would fault you for it.

"Now, how may I serve you Sire?"

"I, uh. I don't know. I seem to have wandered from home somehow. I was sick and laying in my bed, then I found myself lying here in your yard. I woke and heard you screaming and came to see what I could do to help. I don't even know where we are or how I got here. All I remember was laying in my bed at home dreaming about a peaceful place eerily like your place here. I wished so strongly I could just be here to enjoy this place and forget what I had just found at home. I felt a pulling sensation and then I felt as if I was floating gently, from the medication I had taken I suppose. I came to laying in your yard."

"Sire, I know not how you came to be here but I am very happy you are. We are on the edge of the civilized part of King Donovan's Domain, if it please you to know. Are you, perhaps, a World Walker? Your attire and manner of speaking are not like any I have seen or heard before and the things of which you speak are strange as well."

"What is a World Walker? I'm a research biologist working on a cure for the Covid 19 virus."

"A World Walker is a wizard who comes to us from another world Sire. Surely you know that."

Jon laughed and said, "You're joking aren't you? Are you and your husband members of some religious sect or something? I really need to know where on earth we are so I can get back home and go to work. Strangely, the experimental medicine I took has made me feel much better except for a headache. I suspect that is a result of the blows my wife's boyfriend gave me instead of the illness. No matter, I need to get to the Lab and record the results so we can set up sanctioned trials."

"Ah, for sure now you are a wizard, always thinking about your potions and your lab. We can depart momentarily Sire."

The young woman rushed around packing a pack with some threadbare clothing and as many kitchen supplies as she could gather. Just before she shouldered the pack, she straightened her husbands body, covered it with a thin blanket and said, "Tom, my love, sorry I am for not laying you to rest properly but as you can see, my new master desires to leave immediately and I must go. Rest well in your new life my love and wish me well in mine. I am so sorry we had such a short time together my love."

The woman stood, wiped a tear from her face, shouldered her pack and turned toward the door. She said, "We can go now Master."

Jon stood and stared at her. Finally, he said, "What do you mean? I mean, where are we going? What about these men and your husband?"

The young woman looked at Jon in surprise before she said, "You said we needed to get to your lab Sire. I am ready to accompany you now though it sorrows me to leave my husband in such a position."

"But, I don't know where my lab is and we need to take care of things here, call the authorities or..."

The woman dropped her pack and stood before Jon. She sighed and said, "You are a strange one Sire. How could you not know where your lab is? Are you from River Bend or some other city?"

Jon sat on one of the chairs that had been knocked over and leaned on the table. He gave the woman a more detailed explanation of the last two days of his life, answering a multitude of her questions as he talked. She in turn gave him a short geography and history lesson of her immediately surrounding area. After they talked for several minutes, she said, "Aye, 'tis as I surmised. You appear to be a World Walker from wherever this Earth is. Unless you are very powerful and lucky I suspect you will be like those others who have walked between the worlds before and will remain with us now.

"Rest, Sire while I lay my first man to rest then I will prepare your supper. Perhaps you will know what you desire to do after that."

Jon still felt the effects of his illness and the blows Ted delivered before he went to sleep and woke up wherever he now was. Between those two problems and the energy he expended since he arrived wherever he was he was just too tired to move, much less help with the three bodies.

When the woman started out the door, Jon said, "I'm sorry uh... Say, what is your name anyway? I'm sorry, I don't remember it if you told me before."

"My name is Beatrice, Sire. Most just calls me Bea though if it please you."

"Great Bea. As I started to say, I'm sorry I can't help you right now. Between the illness I have and the energy I expended on those two men I'm just too whipped to move right now. If you want, we can wait to take care of them until I'm better and can help."

Bea looked scandalized and said sharply, "Oh NO Sire. I couldn't allow that. 'Tis my duty to care for you and your well being. Now that you have vanquished those who killed my man, this is all yours. I will take care of the trash and my prior man then return shortly to prepare your meal. Just you rest and do whatever wizards do Sire."

Bea picked up a wooden shovel from beside the door and went to the edge of the yard where she began digging a grave for her husband. Jon watched through the open door for a moment then staggered to the rickety bed in one corner of the small building. He sat, then quickly lay on the bed, asleep almost before he got comfortable.

After an indeterminate amount of time Jon heard a noise close by and roused up. When he opened his eyes he saw Bea going through the pockets of the dead man closest to the bed. After the pockets were empty she removed all his clothes and began pulling him out the door.

Several minutes later, Bea returned and did the same to the other man. She was quickly back in the house, closed and barred the door before moving into the space clearly used as a kitchen. She stirred up the fire in the fireplace, pushed the arm holding a pot of something over it and began bustling around getting out bowls, spoons and some bread and cheese while the pot of food warmed over the fire. Jon had no idea of the time but he knew it was getting late because the sun had almost set and the shadows were long.

Jon forced himself to rise and sit on the edge of the bed. After leaning on his forearms, braced on his knees for a while, he rose and slowly made his way to the small table where he pulled a chair out and sat watching Bea work. He and she talked as she watched the pot of warming food, occasionally stirring it. Each learning more about the other as they waited. Jon learned more about his new location during the conversation as well.