by Dave Austin
"It won't happen again." I answered, this time very seriously, watching them get out of bed, totally naked, "I... Ah... I'll get my pants."
My heart was pounding. They were a dangerous temptation, one in which I wanted to lose myself, but not at that moment.
As Kendra had told me, my pants were in the living room, on top of the cushioned chair. The liquor bottle was still on the crystal table but there was only one thin thread left in the bottom of it. The bottle of wine was in the coffin that was supposed to be used for the umbrellas. I sat on the couch and waited until they showed up. Kendra and Maggie sat next to me, the skin around their eyes wrinkled and darkened, and their lips were swollen. Elisa appeared minutes later with cups of coffee for everyone and the leftover cakes. Most of them were already sturdy, but we weren't in a position to complain.
"I just don't have any sugar. You have to drink it like this." Elisa said and put four coffees on the table, removing the bottle and putting it back in the small closet.
"Thank you, but I don't drink coffee." Kendra said, and picked up a vanilla-covered cake.
Maggie drank it all the way down with an unpleasant face the whole process. As soon as it was over, she put her tongue out and her chin on her chest until she had an almost imperceptible double chin.
"I'm sorry, Elisa. But it was unbearable. How can you drink this?" She said, "What about you, James? Don't tell me you're really enjoying it."
"Not really, but this is all there is. And it always helps the hangover calm down. We can't go near Ashen like this. He will have a heart attack."
"Look, Ashen's not as strict as you think he is. At least he wasn't. He looked more like you than you think, James. He's under a lot of pressure right now. He needs to show quick results. The whole group needs a big win."
"How do you know so much about everything and everyone?" Kendra asked her, as she took the crumbs one by one and put them in her free hand.
"Can't you tell right away that I'm a nice person? People tend to trust me." She said, snarky in tone, like she took the question as an insult.
No one said anything else. I assumed she'd created a network of contacts over several years as a Hunter, and since she wasn't anymore, she must also have some knowledge outside the usual places.
We finished the coffee and the cakes. The hot water wasn't working by then. Elisa said the pipes must be frozen from the previous night and the best thing to do was to take a quick shower when we got to Ashen's house. We left her house the same way. Yet wearied from the day before, our legs trembled as soon as we left the building, our lips bruised. We didn't have gloves, not even hats to cover our ears that cooled without the few rays of sunlight that escaped through the whitish morning clouds opposing it.
Despite the wet ground and the dew on the windows, in the park and on some shy plants that grew in remote corners, the city was awakening.
The sound of the cars and horns intertwined with the poorly baked bread aroma and the typical sweet weed and pollen smell. Elisa's car was covered with ice, most of which was already in a liquid state, and the windows concealed the interior. On the inside, warm, as usual, although she left a frizz open in her window to let in an autumnal breeze as well as the aroma of the pastry cakes that was on the sidelines of the highway entrance. The strong coffee was kicking in, and peace was building up in my head. I still had dry lips and a slight sting in my chest.
A hangover like this... I thought to myself. I had asked Elisa to drive. I had also gotten used to not seeing much more than three to five cars on the road but there was a dozen of them now and traffic seemed to drag on.
"Turn on the radio. Maybe they're saying what's going on. It's not normal to have so many people at this hour." Kendra said.
Elisa also had to skip through the stations dedicated to music and cinema before she got to the news station. A woman with a slender voice discussed the usefulness of the Hunters in society against the existence of the police. She complained about too much money being spent on technology for Hunters, academies, and other extras instead of establishing a SWAT force within the police force itself.
"Would Reapers exist if it weren't for the Hunters? Has anyone thought about that? What about the damage the Hunters do to the cities? With so much training, shouldn't they be able to fight without inflicting harm?" The woman said, the voice projecting loudly and from a distance...
"I understand your point of view, but what if the Reapers still existed? If a special force alone wasn't enough?" A man with an older voice answered her.
"A lot of ifs and few options, that's what I tell you, that's what I tell you." The woman backfired.
"Geez, I hate this woman. Always with the same conversation. She has no idea what it's like to be a Hunter. Her husband is a policeman and must probably be the only reason why she puts herself through these ridiculous figures." Elisa said it and turned it down. The woman's acute voice was still heard, but it did not disturb the atmosphere inside the car.
"It's Catherine, isn't it? I recognized the voice." Kendra asked, "My sister hates her. Says she's not who she appears to be, but never told me why."
"I'll have to ask her about that someday." Elisa answered her.
"Does anyone want to tell me who Catherine is? I'm not used to listening to the radio when I'm in a car. I'm never in the front seats to turn it on." Maggie asked.
Looking at her, I noticed she had one eye bigger than the other. I had never seen it before, and maybe it was due to tiredness. Not that I was the best informed on the subject, but I explained to her that Catherine was a morning show journalist and she was also one of the loudest voices in the anti-Hunters fight.
"She's not the only one. There's a few more, and they're the ones organizing the anti-Hunter rallies. She raises the ratings for the channels that give her airtime and it only takes one Hunter, one mistake, for someone's opinion to change. We walk the limbo between being adored and being rejected by society. It's not exactly a comfortable place to be."
"I didn't know that. My dad doesn't like me watching those kinds of shows. He tells me that public opinion only matters to those who have to deal with it."
"Your father's an idiot. I'm sorry to tell you." Elisa told her, "I don't think it's imperative, either, and we shouldn't be constrained by what they say, but it's important to have a grasp of the issues that are being said. There has been a resurgence of hatred that wasn't so big since the incident in Kioshima."
"That was when a group of rank C's wanted to battle a level 8 and ended up imploding a nuclear power plant, wasn't it? I was still a child when it happened." Maggie answered, ignoring the part about her father.
"Yeah. I was a teenager at the time and a lot of my classmates at school made fun of Hunters. Much of what's available now, such as APPS and information boards, even the floors dedicated to each rank, has all been damage control."
"Shhh, turn it up now. They're saying something important." Kendra told them.
Elisa increased. The older man was talking about an accident that had happened. He described it as an accident, but the woman spoke over him and repeated that it was a Hunter's fault. The man ignored it and added that they were close to cleaning the road. Apparently, a fight had happened and although the Hunter had won, not only had he been injured but the pickup was taking a long time to appear and dismantle the beast.
"We really must have bad luck." I said, putting my hands behind the back of my head and leaning against the fluffy seats.
"We must wait. There is no other way." Elisa said, "But I'm changing the station." She did and switched to music.
A jazz song became the background of our trip. The saxophones grew among the other objects and became the main actor of the symphony.
Finally, the cars started to move. It took us three times as long as it was supposed to. When we got to the detour, my head was no longer hurting, and I had no trouble opening my eyes. The sun had risen, and the rays were striking head-on on the car's display and in the rearview mirror.
We were still on our way and Ashen's shadow on the top of the hill was a sign that we were late.
"Well, one more lecture." I said and sighed.
"To you. I'm not old enough to be lectured." Elisa said, "He probably already knows why we're late."
"I hope so. My head still hurts." Kendra said and massaged the corner of her forehead.
"I thought you were tougher than that." I answered, now taunting her myself.
"Not when it comes to alcohol." She answered, and turned to Maggie, "And you, how are you doing so well?"
"It's like I said. My dad always liked to receive attention, so he always had a lot of parties. It was all so boring that I drank until I made it all minimally interesting. I ended up gaining resistance, which has its advantages." She said smiling, and seeing her smile, it all seemed more beautiful. The reflection of the sun reached her green eyes and gave them an even lighter color, a sea green.
Elisa stopped the car a few yards from Ashen. We went out and inhaled the fresh air. Much lighter and softer than the place where Elisa lived, where it was heavy, putrid and had a constant burnt odor.
"I heard about the accident." Ashen said, "And by the looks of you, you drank last night and haven't even bathed yet."
"How does he know? Damn it." Kendra told me, clinging to me, low enough so he wouldn't hear.
"You don't have to keep your voice down, Kendra. I can hear well. Same clothes as yesterday, yet to be ironed and red eyes still to be fully opened."
"And you're wearing sunglasses because it's too sunny, isn't it?" Kendra said, "You must have had a long night, too."
Ashen didn't answer her. He mumbled a "mhm" before he turned his back and went on his way to the house.
"You knew he drank too, didn't you?" I asked her.
"Yes, I've also been to important meetings. I know that after the serious, important, boring part, comes the fun. I didn't tell you because I wanted to see your reaction."
"You really don't change." I said and laughed.
Ashen had already entered the house. He left the door leaning for us. The ground was still damp, drops of water still dripping from the trunks and the birds still spewing water from their feathers when they took off. For the first time the lake was covered with a gray sheet, bound by four poles, one in each corner. We also ended up going into the house.
Chapter XVIII
There was no one in the living room or in the kitchen. We walked up to the second floor. Ashen and Gordon had set a square-table in the center and, on top of it, dozens of papers, some already with curly corners and others were new, the sheets were still smooth and shining every time the light fell on them.
As I got closer, I realized that they were schematics of Maggie's house, some from the inside and others concerning a tunnel in the basement. She looked as surprised as I did, sifting through the papers, finger-tapping them and trailing the lines, with two fingers, to the pages next to her. She looked up at Ashen, and again at the sheets as if she was expecting an explanation from him that was taking too long to come. The screens were off and so was the map. The only light in the whole room came from the lamp above us.
Ashen removed his glasses and placed them next to the main desk buttons. He also had narrowed his eyes, the light behind them half dimmed, and crusted lips.
Gordon looked like he always did, in a gray sweater wider than himself, if it wasn't for the slower movements than usual. We looked like we were stuck in a slow-motion dome when he stretched out his arm to grab one of the blueprints.
"Did you know your house was built over some old tunnels that lead to different parts of town?" Ashen asked Maggie. His tone sounded like he was accusing her instead of giving her a chance to explain herself.
"I had no idea! I swear to you. Believe me." She said, "My father always told me that he had chosen that place because he loved that it was an isolated area with a garden around it. Perfect for his parties and for resting away from the mayhem of the city."
"Are you sure?" Ashen asked once again, this time raising his voice.
I had to butt in, "Ashen, don't you think that's enough? She already said she didn't know anything about it. Tell us what you have to say."
Maggie murmured a "thank you" that was suppressed by the fuss that Ashen was making with his mouth.
"Stay out of it. We can't afford to make a mistake today. You know what's at stake. Gordon, explain to them what they need to know. I'm going downstairs to get a cup of coffee." He said and left us there.
"Sorry about that. He's all over the place. He's been doing this for years and he's never been this close." Gordon told us. He rolled up his sleeves, "Let's get down to business, shall we? We think the demonstration will take place in one of these tunnels, far from curious eyes, your home and the whole city. According to these maps we recovered from a pile in the library, the tunnels are long and wide enough so that an explosion there won't be heard anywhere else. Is there any place where your father can have a door to there that you don't have access to?"
"The only place is his office. You need a key and he's the only one with it. I tried to get in there several times, but I never could. It's an impenetrable fortress. Even the maid can't be there without the presence of one of my father's security guards."
"I see... It won't be easy. Do you know how many security guards the party will have and where they'll be?"
"Usually it's about 10 to 15, one at each exit," Maggie said and pointed to the places on the blueprints, "another at the doorway to my father's office and the rest scattered around the party. But he'll probably hire a few more today."
By now we were all around the table, keeping an eye out for the exchange of words between her and Gordon. I felt as if my body was there, but my head moved away, and my eyes saw everything from a distance. It was real. I was there, on a secret Hunter base, on a secret mission, on what could be the beginning of my journey towards recognition or it could be my last. I remembered my mother saying goodbye to me with a kiss on my forehead when I was still 18 years old, right before I joined the academy. My brother, two years younger than me, behind her, laughing and asking me how long I would last there. It had always been like this between us; a constant competition to find out who was the best, the strongest, the toughest, the fastest. We've never reached a consensus on that. He and I would win in different categories depending on the day. He was still in his sophomore year at the academy, but like me, he was one of the best in his class. He hated that teachers compared him to me when all he wanted was to overcome me and I loved to provoke him by telling him that he would be nothing but my shadow. Yet he was my brother and I could not risk my life without talking to him one last time, without also hearing the sweet voice of my mother. I owed it to them, and I needed to have their voices in my head reminding me what I still had at home.
"James, James." I heard a voice calling me. It was Kendra who held my hand and rocked it until I woke up.
"Now that James is back, let's review the plan." Gordon said and was ready to point to several places saying that Elisa could enter through there.
"I... Oh, I still don't know if I'm going. I'm sorry." She said, "I better get going. I've got stuff to take care of." And she ran out.
We were perplexed, speechless, still trying to figure out what had happened. I had told her what I thought about how dedicated she was, and it didn't seem to have taken effect. Or maybe she'd understood, but she was already too deep in the tunnel to dig into the light. Gordon asked us to be patient with her. He explained that she was afraid of commitment after Ashen forcibly removed her from their old group.
"Forced?" I said, "She just told me that Ashen ended the group and she walked away."
"That's a very reductive summary, James. Ashen ended the group, yes, but she didn't accept it. She continued to act as if we were functioning; in the shadows, not obeying the laws, entering risky fights. Ashen was forced to revoke her access to the Hunter APP and the weapons they sold at headquarters. After that, she was never the
same, as well. She created her own path."
"Is that such a bad thing?" Kendra asked.
"It took her a few years to calm down and forgive Ashen." Gordon started by sitting in his chair. I'd bet it was already shaped like his ass, "In the early years she messed with a couple of people she shouldn't have. Including your sister, when she was still on the council. But we'll have time to talk about this some other time. Let's focus on the plan. Your clothes are in your room. You're going an hour early. Maggie's going to talk to her dad and let us know how security's doing. Once the party's starting, you'll join it. Your plan is simple: to find out who is interested in financing the Reapers, if any of them is a Hunter, and to leave the party unharmed. At no time must you challenge anyone. Understood?"
"What if we get a chance to arrest them all? To destroy the humanoid?" I asked him, still trying to figure out the big picture.
"You do nothing. Take pictures. That's it. Most likely, only a few of the top men will go and the rest will be middlemen. We can't risk them finding out we're on their tail." Gordon said. He opened the drawer and pulled out an object smaller than my nail, "Here. One of you put it between your eyebrows, come on, it's a camera. It'll record everything you see."
"Hm... My dad won't let anyone in without going through a metal and technology detector. Cell phones and guns stay in the lobby."
"Nobody's gonna touch my whip. No way!" Kendra interrupted us by grasping the whip attached to her belt.
"They won't let you in with it. Not even with your gun, James. Even I will have to remove the glove. My dad's paranoid about it and everyone has to play by the rules."
"Ashen and I had already predicted something like that. It doesn't make any difference. This camera is too small to appear on the sensors. As for the guns... well, James, that's a good reason not to cause any trouble, don't you think?"
"Better than good. No mess, no problem." I answered him, my heart pounding louder than before.