[Matheson]

 [[ Several years ago ]]

The bright light piercing through the tree branches and shines directly onto Drexel’s face. His eyes flicker open slowly, lifting his hand up to cover the bright light before turning his head away. Drexel had been dreaming of being with his parents again, the thought of freedom and the warm comfort of family love is getting young Drexel through the days. He had lost count of how long he had been gone, the elders have tortured him with beatings, reading scriptures of passages written by this leader, others who had been in the same room as the torture have converted into their way of life. Drexel refuses to accept this way of life. The creaking sound of the wooden door opens as Drexel sits up in his bed, focusing his blurry eyes on the robed man before him, he adjusts himself so the sun isn’t shining on his face to get a better look at the man. His heart sinks.

An Elder
Good Morning Drexel.

It was the man who kidnaped him not to long ago. Stepping on his football and coercing him into the van. Drexel had thought about that day over and over in his mind, thinking what he should of done instead, playing out scenarios of walking away or doing something else. Those scenarios couldn’t change the reality of the situation.

An Elder
I hope you are well rested.

Every morning was the same routine of getting up, going to the leader, seeing if we’d like to follow his ways of life and learn more of his teachings. Drexel showed too much willing to not cooperate. Drexel’s body is covered with lacerations and bruises from the torture the elders put him through, coming back to the cabin each night to wash the dry and fresh blood from his body. Drexel gets out of the bed, his limbs aching through the trauma, he stands before the elder with his head lowered.

An Elder
Maybe you will comply with the way of our leader, Drexel.

The elder smiles as he places his hands on the young Drexel’s shoulders.

An Elder
Our way of life isn’t so bad, once you’ve been enlightened then you can broaden your horizon, see the world in a whole new way. You can help overs through this process and in time you could be like me. A person of great power.

Drexel nods his head reluctantly, the elder smiles believing the torture is finally working on the young boy, but Drexel’s will is far from being broken. He follows the leader through the camp, the followers look on as other elders lead other young boys and girls from cabins situated around the camp. Drexel looks around at them in the hope there was someone as strong as him. But they all look downtrodden and broken. Drexel looks at the camp itself. It seemed so big to be unnoticed by the world, hundreds of wooden cabins surrounded by big trees, yet according to some of the followers they’ve been here for many years. The elders lead the young children into a large wooden building, used as the main hall, other elders stand before the chair of the Leader. Drexel stands near the back as the elders shut the door behind them and shuffle themselves through the children to join the others. The leader walks through a door behind his chair and sits down, his chair like a throne as the older elders hold torches that are lit, the elder that brought Drexel stands near the side of the older elders but his eyes transfixed on Drexel.

Leader:
Welcome my brothers and sisters!

Some of the children comply by kneeling down before the leader, who smiles and lets out an over the top laugh, stepping off his throne and walks over to the young children in glee.

Leader:
We’ve finally made it Brother Owen, Brother Kaiden and Sister Eloise. Please join your fellow brothers and sisters as you’ve been enlightened!

The three gets back up to their feet and leave the main hall. Leaving the other children staring with fear in their eyes towards the leader, Drexel just stares towards the elder who brought him in, if he could rush over to grab the older elders lit torch and ram it into his face.

Leader:
Today is a new day on our road to the enlightenment. Today is the day that some of you, like Brother Owen, Brother Kaiden and Sister Eloise will see that our way of life is one to be cherished. We’re not monsters.

He chuckles to himself, about to continue but his eye is caught by his glance towards Drexel, he isn’t focused on him but staring blankly to the side. The Leader looks curious.

Leader:
Brother Drexel?

Drexel averts his eyes from the elder and looks towards the leader.

Leader:
Do I bore you?

Drexel lowers his eyes to the floor. If he lowered himself onto the floor, like the other three, maybe he could be excused. Drexel drops down onto his knees.

Drexel
I pledge myself to you and your teachings.

He lies.

Leader:
This is most wonderful, brother Drexel!

The leader walks over and places his hands on Drexel’s shoulder. Instinct kicks in as without even thinking about it, Drexel thrusts his forehead forward and headbutts the leader in the crotch. Jumping up and hitting him as hard as he can with his right fist, he pushes the other children away as he heads towards the door, some of the elders give chase as Drexel flies through the door and he runs through the camp. The followers of the leader try to apprehend him to little success, running towards the trees and darts through the trunks, he could hear the voices of the elders chasing him but he would not look back. Drexel was running with all his might as he rushes through a small cutting to find that his path is blocked by a high chained fence, Drexel goes to leap onto it but notices the ‘electrified fence’ sign. He looks to see if there is any where he could run too, but the elders have made it into the cutting, Drexel has nowhere to run too. The elder who kidnaped him rushes towards him and zaps him with a Taser gun.

An Elder
You shouldn’t of done that..

The elder grabs him by his feet, another walks over and grabs the other, the two of them with the rest of the elders head back towards the camp as Drexel is powerless to do anything. A tear rolls down the side of his forehead as he closes his eyes with the feeling of pure terror running through his mind.

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[[ A Year Ago ]]

When we meet real tragedy in life, we can react in two ways - either by losing hope and falling into self-destructive habits, or by using the challenge to find our inner strength…

After several years of captivity, torture and the endless droning from the scriptures of the leader. Matheson finally has broken the chains that bounded him and is back into society, breathing the air a free man. Although he didn’t have the money to buy food or travel, Matheson hitch-hiked his way back to his hometown, starving and lonely as he walks down the high street he once walked with his parents. It had changed from what he remembered. He walks through the local streets until he reaches the street of his home; it hadn’t changed at all, from the cracked paint work to the apple tree on the corner. Matheson walks up to the front door and stands there with his hand poised to knock. His heart racing a thousand beats a second. His mind all over the place as to what to say or do when the door opens, Matheson steps back and walks towards the window and looks in, the house had changed on the inside and the pictures on the wall wasn’t of him nor his parents. They had moved. Matheson’ heart sinks as he steps away from the porch and heads back towards the town.

Maybe the house had too many memories of you

Matheson:
That was my parents legacy

Matheson looks around to see if anyone had noticed him talking to himself

After all these years, they probably presumed you were dead, they’ve moved and got on with their lives.

Matheson shakes his head

Matheson
No, you’re wrong.

Matheson walks to the library and walks in, heading to the directory to look for his parents, scanning through the pages to see they aren’t listed. Slightly bemused he walks over to the old lady sitting behind the desk.

librarian :
How can I help you, dear?

Matheson
I’m trying to find a couple who used to live in the town.

librarian :
Have you tried the town hall?

Why don’t you punch her in the face

Matheson
NO!

Matheson lets out a cough as the librarian looks taken back by his snap response.

Matheson
No I haven’t, maybe you remember them, the Mathesons?

The librarian looks slightly in shock.

Matheson
You know of them?

The librarian nods her head.

librarian :
Indeed I do, poor souls.

Matheson
What happened?

librarian :
They were the most wonderful of families, well known and respected in the community, until their son disappeared from the school one day. No one ever expected the father of killing him.

Matheson’s whole body goes numb hearing this.

librarian :
I don’t believe he did it but you know how it is with things like that, awfully sensitive and all, the mother couldn’t take the abuse given to her so she killed the husband before taking her own life.

Matheson places his hand on the table in shock

librarian :
They never did recover the boy’s body, Drexel Matheson was his name, such a tragic story. If you like you can see the newspaper cuttings with the machine over there, dear.

Matheson nods his head as he is unable to speak, walking over to the machine and slumping down into it, the librarian wonders over and places the right documents into it.

librarian :
There you go, just turn that nozzle to switch pages and that lever to zoom in and out, okay.

Matheson
Thank you.

The librarian smiles courteously and wonders back to her desk, Matheson looks at the screen that reads “DREXEL MATHESON MISSING” Matheson begins to read the fabricated story of how eye witnesses saw his father in the area, how the school failed to keep him safe from the predator, how his friends Ben and Paul lied through their teeth about that morning. Matheson turns the nozzle a few times to see the follow up headlines until he sees “MATHESON SUICIDE MURDER”. How his mother couldn’t live knowing her husband killed their son, police releasing him on bail that very night for his mother to shoot his father with a shotgun purchased at Randy’s Pawn Brokers before topping herself with pills and alcohol. Matheson gets up from the machine and heads out of the library with tears rolling down his face.

After all this time they’re dead!

Matheson
SHUT UP!

Your poor father, killed and wrongly accused, your poor mother, a murderer!

Matheson
STOP IT!

Matheson runs down the busy street towards the cemetery. For the next hour he walks down each row of graves until he finds ‘Matheson’. Slumping onto his knees to see that it has been horribly defaces with graffiti and broken bottle shards scattered over the headstone. Matheson pushes the glass off, cutting his hand in the process, tears streaming down his face as the one thing he had longed for was gone. His parents love. Matheson gets up and walks out of the graveyard and heads towards a building, on the side it looked like a bar, pushing the door open to see that it is far from it. Inside is a gymnasium filled with weights, training equipment and a ring. Matheson glares towards the ring.

You can’t wrestle or box, look at you, you’re weak!

Matheson
What have I got to lose?

So the humiliation of your parents deaths isn’t enough for you, you’d like to do it in front of a crowd

Matheson
For years I have wanted my old life back! I wanted to try to be normal but normality is something that I’ll never be or have.

Matheson glances towards the alleyway to his left and sees old broken bits of timber, rusty nails, a trash can filled with bottles and broken glass shards, a broken arm chair with springs popping through the padding.

Matheson
I can train to be a wrestler and I can inflict my pain untoward them. Specialising in the word of hardcore wrestling, taking those nails and hammering it into the timber, pulling the springs out to shove into people’s heads, scattering the glass over the canvas and smashing uncovered bodies onto the glass; Shredding the skin and scaring them like my life has been scared!

Make them bleed.. Make them SUFFER

Matheson
Like I have suffered!

One of the gym trainers walks up to Matheson with a concerned look on his face.

Trainer
Can I help you?

Matheson smiles.

Matheson
You sure can

Matheson steps into the gym with the trainer, the door slowly closing behind them.

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[[ Present Day ]]

Matheson looks bare as he stands in the middle of an abandoned warehouse, wearing his normal attire of his trademark black leather jacket, t-shirt, jean shorts with black boots and white socks. His brown hair with blonde streaks seems to be extra curly as he stands there with his hands in his jean pockets.

I don’t think anyone expected me to defeat the man known as Lord Raab. The imposing masked German monster who has graced the national audience with many promotions, the man who has held countless championships and held in high regard in man social circles, indeed Lord Stefan Raab would have been the odds on favourite to defeat the man known as Matheson. But that wasn’t the case. Matheson shakes his head looking disappointed. No, Lord Raab didn’t get the victory to make me his next victim. He didn’t walk out victorious as he said. I proved to be the stumbling block that he didn’t see coming. The man who delves into the heart of pain, grabbing anything he can to use as a weapon, to see and make his opponent hurt by any means necessary. I used Tac’s as you went face first into them. Lord Raab didn’t scratch my name into his list of victims, instead he was pulling tacs from his mask, left licking the blood from the puncture marks left on his body from my hand. Indeed the man who thrives upon pain was left feeling the pain of loss.

Matheson lets out a hacking cough, covering his mouth with the back of his hand, gathering his bearings before continuing.

George Bernard Shaw once said ‘Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.’ This week I’ll be going one on one with the man who has entered SCW from the defunct promotion known as Uncensored INC. What change will I have to make you might ask, putting George Bernard Shaw’s quote into perspective, well the change is that I won’t be able to bring weapons in to play with. I won’t be able to rely on the ‘Roulette’ rules like I had with Stefan Raab. Climax Control will see Matheson in a new light. Matheson smiles I love the fact that when I heard of my match up this coming week, people doubted my ability within the ring, saying I thrive upon the hardcore style of wrestling. How would I adapt facing someone of technical expertise? The key word is adapt. If a Lion was taken from the wild and shoved in a urban jungle, fright and panic will run riot, police and zoologists will try to capture him but a Lion wouldn’t stand still because it isn’t its normal environment. The lion would adapt and do what it must do to survive. That is what I will do this week on Climax Control, Andrew Watts possibly has the upper hand but I won’t stand there wondering what to do. Scratching my ass as I’m confused why I cannot use weapons. This profession is known for its wrestling, although it could be seen as something else if you go by social media, but mainly for wrestling and that is exactly what I’ll do with Andrew Watts.. Wrestle.

Matheson pulls his hands out of his pocket and cracks each of his knuckles.

The Players Club entered SCW and looked for dominance; they’d hoped for a clean sweep of victories on their first Climax Control, Hydro didn’t see Andrew Watts coming though. Watts and Hydro had an almighty battle which left the players club feeling defeat whilst the Outlaw prevailed. Matheson sniggers SCW’s Outlaw; A man who has broken the law, especially one who remains at large or is considered a fugitive. A man who previously went by the ever so catchy ‘Mr Legacy’, to being known as simply ‘The Renegade‘, ‘Outlaw’ being his new calling card for the world of Sin. Why outlaw, Andrew? What laws have you broken or what have you done to be considered a ‘fugitive’? I did watch one of your items from Uncensored INC where you humiliated Wesley Phoenix through visual aids, from him being nude with just a title belt to his trunks being pulled down on a ladder. Maybe that’s why you’re an outlaw. There is no boundaries with you as you’re shooting from the hips. Do you know what I’d been dubbed? The Inhuman Monstrum. Interesting concept when a fugitive faces a man knows lacking human qualities of compassion, mercy and is cruel and barbaric. If the match was going by nick-names.. The outlaw doesn’t match the inhuman monstrum. If we’re comparing things on paper, going for matches won over the years, you would definitely beat me mathematically as to highlight your win loss record. 81 – 18 prior to your victory over Hydro. 82 victories and 18 losses. A lot of people would love a record like that. Mine doesn’t quite match up to that. Luckily for us names and statistics mean little when the bell is rung.

I know you’re wanting to be the top dog of the SCW, aiming for the top prize of the SCW Heavyweight Championship, I’m pretty sure all the new people in the SCW, and the guys who’ve signed up to the ASW want to achieve that goal. I know I’d like to one day but I’m realistic. How many of the guys say they want to be top dog of the yard when they debut? Sure they impress in a few matches but not many step up to the big title in that time frame. The SCW belt is more prestigious than just giving a title shot to anyone. You have got to earn that respect and beating me may not be your calibre of wrestler you’d want but you’re lumbered with me. Beating me may not certify yourself as being a title contender, like if you defeated someone like Drake Green or Sean Jackson, but you’ve got to put on a show to make sure your name stands out amongst most. I may not be technically gifted like you and I may not give you the match of the year but what I’ll give you is a challenge. Matheson coughs again, hacking away, trying to clear his throat before continuing. You want to be that SCW Heavyweight Champion then you’re going to show Christian Underwood, Mark Ward and Erik Staggs what you can do within the six sided ring. A member of the Players Club, Hydro has been checked of your list, perhaps you can tick Drexel Matheson off on that list too. But by doing so you’re going to have to be at the best of your ability. I saw on Twitter that Drake Green sees you as someone that could give him a challenging match through your technical ability. Coming from the two time heavyweight champion, I should be honoured I get this chance before him. I’m not. I want to do the same as you, Andrew, I want to show the backbone of the SCW that I’m not a one trick pony, that weapons isn’t what I am always about. That when it comes down to it, I can put on a performance like everyone else in this promotion, that Matheson can compete with the best that the SCW has to offer. It is true I have my eye on the Roulette Championship but doesn’t mean I don’t want to beat the likes of you when a chance like this arises.

I won’t back down from you, Watts, you maybe the so-called Outlaw of SCW with a pedigree like no other, but I will not be a pushover and you may be surprised when we outshine everyone on this show as we have the match of the night! I look forward to staring at you across the ring this Sunday, I’ll have much more pleasure staring at you as you lay on the canvas, left in shock as my arm is raised in the air as the match winner. I’ll see you at Climax Control and don’t worry, I’ll leave my weapons in the back, doesn’t mean I’ll be removing the ones at ringside..

Matheson smiles as he turns and walks towards the exit, his footsteps echoing through the empty space, he reaches the door and heads out as the one light in the warehouse flickers off and darkness  engulfs the warehouse with the sound of the door slamming shut.