The New World

Chapter 19

Jim woke up again with a nasty headache, a sore neck and strange cuffs on his wrists. He was not anywhere that he recognized. He was in a candlelit room on a queen sized bed. The room was fairly big, had many shelves with various objects on them and the walls were decorated with magazine and newspaper cutouts, it was too blurry for Jim to identify what the cutouts were of. For sure it made him feel uneasy, Jim didn't know how he ended up there but he didn't want to continue to be there. Jim tried to sit up but his headache got worse and he was still dizzy. He put his hand over his forehead as a woman's voice told him "The effects haven't fully worn off yet so take it easy."
Jim looked to where he heard the voice to see a woman standing in the doorway. She was quite tall, had big curly red hair, was quite pale with visible freckles on her face, and was wearing an outfit similar to Jim's iconic one, just the sweater vest was too dark of a blue and had no grey. 
"Who are you and where am I?" Jim rather aggressively asked the woman as she came into the room and sat down by Jim on the bed. She stared directly into his eyes with her bright blue eyes and answered "I am Vivian Lee and you are in my home. Don't bother introducing yourself to me, I already know who you are." 
"Vivian Lee, the person who wants me dead. I am probably in danger." Jim said in his thoughts. Jim then asked "Follow up question, why am I not dead yet?" 
Vivian smiled and replied "Oh that, I only put that bounty to lure you to me, though your urn would make a great addition to my collection."
Before Jim could say anything else Vivian continued with "Though I had to track you down because I guess fifty grand wasn't enough to lure you to me. You're difficult to find, always hiding. You did bring me a turg though, which I was grateful for until I saw how stupid it is." 
"I think Turg may be in greater danger." Jim then said in his thoughts. Vivian then elaborated "Like, how do you love that thing? Have you seriously gotten that desperate? It's so annoying too, doesn't stop complaining and refuses to do what I say. Not to mention that those things are really uglier up close, it's been a while since I last saw one." 
"Where is he? I swear if you hurt him I will destroy everything you love." Jim threatened Vivian, who put her arms up slightly and said sarcastically "Oh no I'm so scared."
Jim then tried to use a flame spell to intimidate her, but nothing formed from his hands. 
"Those are anti-magic cuffs, they prevent you from casting spells because I knew you were going to try." Vivian told Jim before adding "Also, that thing is a male? I thought it was confused because it looks like a girl but also has a beard." 
"First of all, fuck you. Second, men can have long hair and wear makeup, it's gender neutral. Third, just answer my question." Jim angrily said to Vivian as he sat up more. 
"Well last I saw it was still alive, but I sold it to someone else who wanted it. Hopefully he has the patience to deal with that thing. I wanted Maxwell, they're a lot smarter but also a lot harder to find." Vivian answered as she started looking at her nails, they were long and painted dark blue. Jim didn't say anything else, instead it felt like his heart sank as he processed what Vivian had told him. 
"Think about it, I did you a favour. It was likely a burden on you, and now you're free from it." Vivian said as she leaned back slightly and looked back at Jim. Jim glared at her and responded angrily "He was not a burden. He was probably scared, that's why he behaved that way. You're just cruel."
Vivian laughed a little and responded "I understand, I can be quite intimidating and cruel, but that's how you survive in the new world." 
Jim remained silent, he didn't know what else to say. He was having too many thoughts at once and he felt rage building up inside of him. 
"Welcome to the new world you've created, one with no authority and death is the only thing that is certain. I wasn't always this way, but I had to make some changes to stay on top." Vivian began explaining as she fully laid down on the bed. She continued "It all worked out in the end, I am now the one everyone respects. I have a cult of my own and they work for me. I rule through fear, I kill all those who dare oppose me and I won't make an exception for you." 
"I can't be killed so easily." Jim told Vivian in response. 
"Since I know you're going to try to kill me and gain your cult back, I have an idea I would like to share before we escalate to that." Vivian said as she moved herself to lay next to Jim while Jim remained sat up. 
"Y'know, I was inspired by you. I was part of your cult, I ate the poisoned pufferfish and lived, though I've never seen you in person until now." Vivian began. Jim didn't say anything in response, instead he waited for her to continue. 
"You're a lot hotter in person too, hope you realize that." Vivian continued as she started blushing. Jim started to feel weirded out and said "Thanks, I guess." 
"You and me with our powers combined could create the ultimate overpowered offspring that we could rule the world with." Vivian rather quickly said. Jim gave her a disgusted look and responded "Uh, no, I am not creating more." 
"Why not?" Vivian asked as she moved closer to Jim. 
"Do I really need an excuse? You're creepy, I hate you, and I want to kill you. There, that's my excuse." Jim aggressively answered as he pushed Vivian away from him. 
"But you don't need to raise it." Vivian continued. Jim facepalmed and said "Everyone I've met here has either wanted to kill me, fuck me, or both."
Vivian then sat back up and asked "So are you only attracted to men now?"
"No, I am just not attracted to you." Jim answered with a smile. Vivian sighed and said "Fine, I probably pissed you off too much anyways." 
"Yeah, you really did. If it weren't for these things on my wrists I would have burned you and your entire house to the ground by now." Jim responded. Vivian then grabbed Jim and pulled him close while making direct eye contact. 
"I do encourage you to reconsider, but until then you better enjoy these next few hours because they will be your last." Vivian told Jim before pushing him back. Jim ended up falling off of the bed as Vivian crawled over to stare down at him. 
"Really is a shame though, I did like you. But it is either you or me and I think you've lived for long enough." Vivian said while smiling. Jim glared back up at her and told her "You can kill me if you want, but I can and will return to make your life a living nightmare." 
"Ha, sure you would." Vivian responded before adding "Your Reaper partner hasn't been around lately so don't expect them to bring you back."