by Abbey, Kit
The dentist was sobbing. “Please don’t hurt her.”
“Tell us what we want to know,” said Rowan, “and she won’t be harmed.”
“Who’s Gwendoline Shannon to you anyway?” added Jones.
Was William supposed to add something? It was taking all his focus to hold the illusion together. Every time the dentist sobbed he wanted to just let it go.
“Fine,” said the dentist. “Fine, fine, you bastards. Fine. I know where works. I can tell you where she works.”
“That will do nicely,” said Rowan.
At a nod from Jones William let go of the illusion. The dentist looked uncomprehending for a moment, then a looking of disgusted understanding stole over his face.
“You’re monsters,” he said quietly. “Monsters.”
“Some of us more than others,” said Rowan with a sharp little smile aimed Jones’ way. She turned to leave, waving at William to follow, but Jones held up a hand.
“No. William should stay for this.”
Rowan considered, then nodded, and left him behind with Jones and the dentist. William never thought he’d be so sad to see her go.
Chapter 32.
The dentist sighed; one of bone deep weariness. “I suppose now you’re going to kill me.”
“No,” said William, at the same time as Jones said “yes.”
William seemed more upset by it than the dentist, who just nodded and shut his eyes. “Do you promise my family won’t be harmed.”
“You have my word, for what little it’s worth,” said Jones.
“Why do we have to kill him,” demanded William. “You told you what you wanted know!”
“And what will stop him from warning Gwendoline Shannon the moment we leave? Time is running out to find her, Grey Corp can’t risk another set back.” Jones leaned over the dentist, who even with closed eyes seemed to sense his presence and pushed himself back into the chair. “I just don’t understand why you resisted in the first place,” Jones went on, tapping the dentist lightly on the cheek. “The woman is nothing to you, you just fixed her teeth.”
“She had an abscess, she’d left it so long the infection had almost hit her bloodstream. It could have killed her. All because she was scared of giving you monsters a link to trace back to her.” The dentist shook his head. “She just wants to live her life. More people should stand up to you. Just because you have power, you think you think you can do what you please.”
“Well that is the whole point of having power,” said Jones.
The dentist opened his eyes, and sought out William. “Please, don’t let him kill me.”
At this Jones titled his head up towards William, as though curious as to what he would do. “You probably could you know,” he said calmly, “stop me from killing him.”
William said nothing.
“You could turn the carpet to quicksand, or Illude a gun and shoot me. You’ve got the power to do it.” Jones left the dentist’s side and moved to stare intently into William’s eyes. “Are you going to stop me?”
Williams hands bunched into fists at his sides and he shook his head. He tried to look away, but when he turned his head Jones followed.
“I want you to say it.”
“No! Alright, no! I won’t stop you!”
Jones nodded. “Well, that’s a start.” He took his knife and held it handle first towards William. “But I want you to kill him.”
William’s stomach lurched and he frantically shook his head. “I can’t!”
“Why not? You’ve killed before.”
“That was different,” said William, shying away from the knife, “they were going to kill me, they deserved it. This guy’s done nothing wrong!”
“He tried to stand against Grey Corp. You think they’ve run this city for so long by letting that kind of thing go?”
William shook his head.
“You need to kill him, right now. If you can’t do that, then you’ve made one hell of a mistake joining Grey Corp.”
William felt like running, or crying, or being a little kid again.
“William,” said Jones, softer now, like the stalking tiger’s tread is soft, “kill him.”
And William did.
Chapter 33.
Killing people became easier over time.
It’s not like he was leaving a trail of bloody corpses in his wake everywhere he went, but as months rushed by William killed and helped Rowan kill enough people that it started to feel like just another job.
Killing the dentist had messed him up a little. Ok, a lot. He could remember only flashes of the days that had followed, like frantically scrubbing his hands for hours on end. Eventually, it was Chris, Jeff and Clarissa who turned up at his door and comforted, cajoled, abused and teased him in turn until he felt, if not like his old self, then at least like someone who could function.
Rowan told him she had no need for him for a few weeks, which was her way of saying take a holiday. He’d spent the time reading fantasy novels in the cozy reading rooms scattered about the building, and browsing records in dusty underground stores. It wasn’t for the music, he liked finding albums that were all beat up, that people had written their names on. (Even better if they added their age underneath). He still had his lessons with Madeline, but even Lucy and David went easy on him. For a week or so anyway. After that they started muttering about how unfair it was that he had been promoted so fast.
He also found time to comb through Grey Corp’s records more thoroughly. But look as he might he couldn’t find any Sarahs within the last fifty or so years. There was the one from Grey Corp’s founding, but the one he was looking for had died young within Nobody’s lifetime, and Nobody was sixty at the most. He wasn’t sure what finding her name would mean anyway. He knew she could Illude inside heads, and she hated Albert, and she’d killed herself, what else were the records going to tell him?
And so, with time, his shock and grief faded. Now, looking down at the broken body of the guy Rowan had just shoved off the roof of a building, he felt nothing much more than hungry.
“Wanna grab some McDonald's on the way back to the Grey building?” He consulted his watch. “If we hurry we can still make breakfast.”
Rowan tucked some stray hair behind her ear. It was the first really cold day of autumn, and her cheeks were red. “Hotcakes do sound good.”
“Or a sausage muffin.”
Rowan wrinkled her nose. “Your poor taste knows no bounds.”
William spared the guy one last glance before stepping back from the roof’s edge. People crossed the street to avoid the body and the Grey Corp employees who would soon come to clean it up. The occasional murder scene was a small price to pay for living in the City, and there was no one stopping you from leaving if you didn’t like it. Chris said that the Researchers did experiments on the cadavers Grey Corp amassed and it made William wonder if there was a bolt necked monster being assembled down in the basement levels.
When they arrived back at the Grey Building they found Clarissa waiting in Albert’s room. Rowan snickered when she spotted the girl, and left William to deal with her alone. Clarissa’s crush on Jones had grown to a thing of epic proportions; but Jones was a very hard to find man. And so Clarissa had taken to following William around as often as she possibly could. Her logic was William saw Jones all the time, and so if she stuck to his side like a skinny, gothic limpet, she would see Jones all the time too.
So far, her plan had enjoyed only limited success. William did see Jones occasionally, but more often than not it was when he was out in the field with Rowan. Clarissa wasn’t going to be deterred though.
“Hi Clarissa,” said William, watching Rowan’s retreating back with no small amount of envy.
“William,” she said, “how’s things?” This was how Clarissa started every conversation with him. All casual like, as though they both didn’t know exactly what she was up to.
“Thin
gs are fine,” said William. “We found the guy who’d been running that anti-Grey Corp blog today.”
“Oh yeah? You and Rowan and, uh, anyone else?”
“Just me and Rowan.”
“Oh,” said Clarissa.
“He wouldn’t cooperate, so Rowan pushed him off a roof.”
“That sounds like Rowan.”
“Yeah.” One thing William had learned while spending so much time with her, was that he and Clarissa really didn’t have a whole lot in common. She liked Adele and books about werewolves, William did not. “Where’s Chris and Jeff and the others?”
“Sleeping,” said Clarissa. “We had a big night last night.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
William shoved his hands deep in his coat pockets, and shivered. “Sure is cold in here,” he said.
“They can’t heat it, Albert likes the cold.”
“Ah,” said William. “So do snakes.”
“But at least Albert drips less in the cold weather.”
“That’s true.”
They stood in awkward silence. William wished she would leave him alone. “What’ve you got on for the rest of the day?” she asked eventually.
“I don’t know, Rowan didn’t say,” said William. “I was planning on just heading up to my room and vegging out.”
“Oh,” she said. “Maybe someone else like, uh, Jones will want you for something this afternoon?”
William resisted the urge to roll his eyes and just said, “no, probably not. I haven’t seen him in days.”
“Oh.”
William was eyeing up the distance between himself and the Western elevator, wondering if he could make it there without Clarissa following. (Of course, given the spiteful nature of the Western elevator, it would probably hold it doors open for her). Then, quite unexpectedly, the elevator in question whooshed open, and Mr. Grey and Nobody stepped out. They walked purposely over to the two of them.
“Miss. Dilanti,” said Mr. Grey, tilting his head curiously at her, “up and about at this time of day?”
“I was just, um, well...”
“That’s quite alright” he said. “All the same, perhaps you should remove yourself.”
“Um, yes sir,” she said. And wide eyes, she fled to the elevator. William was not all too sure that Mr. Grey and Nobody were much of an improvement over Clarissa. He hadn’t seen Mr. Grey since the day they tested him, and Nobody since the library. He hadn’t had any more visions since then; William dared to hope it was out of his system.
“Mr. Black,” said Mr. Grey.
“Mr. Grey,” said William.
“Come with us, please.”
They led William over to the Eastern elevator, and the three of them rode it down for a short while. (Mr. Grey had to place his hand upon the elevator wall to get it moving). The doors opened to a gleaming, sleek laboratory. A man in a white lab coat stood by a stainless steel table. He had the look of a man who is very nervous but doing his best to hide it. William felt confident in guessing that the man was nervous because of Jones, who was sitting on the table barefoot and shirtless. A freshly stitched gash that spread along his chest indicated that he would soon have another scar to add to his collection.
“Caspien, this is unexpected.” Mr. Grey’s normal monotone took on a hint of delight as he drew out Jones’ first name. Jones scowled and Mr. Grey smirked. “Doesn’t Dr. Eagle normally attend to your injuries?”
“She’s busy,” said Jones. “Sent me down here.”
“It’s been quite a few years since I last worked on a person,” said the man in the white coat. He looked sure that Jones would rip his heart out at any moment. “A live one, anyway.”
“I’m sure you’ve done just fine Dr. Smith. And are you almost finished with Caspien?” (Mr. Grey seemed to think his position as Jones’s boss would stop Jones from killing him. William thought Mr. Grey should not be so sure).
Dr. Smith nodded quickly. “Yes, yes, we’re all done.” He stepped away from Jones. “You’ll need to get those stitches out in a week or so, but I’m sure Dr. Eagle will be able to do that for you.” If Dr. Eagle wasn’t available, his tone suggested, I will climb to the top of this building and throw myself from it rather than be trapped in a room with you again you scary, scary man.
Jones picked up his shirt and shrugged into it, doing the buttons up as he walked out. He nodded at William as he passed them, but completely ignored Mr. Grey and Nobody.
“Have you seen Rowan, Dr. Smith?” asked Mr. Grey.
Dr. Smith shook his head.
Nobody looked annoyed. “She is getting out of hand.”
“Then I shall go fetch her,” said Mr. Grey.
Despite the use of the word ‘I’,’ when Mr. Grey left the room Nobody followed. William leant against the wall, scuffing the floor with his chucks. Dr. Smith stood around looking nervous. William would have thought Jones absenting himself would’ve calmed him down. He took a step towards the doctor, and the doctor took a quick step back. It dawned on William that Dr. Smith was nervous because of him. He didn’t quite know what to make of that. Nobody had ever been scared of him before.
To put the poor guy at ease William wandered over to the opposite side of the lab and began to inspect all the gizmos and doodads. “What’s this?” he called over his shoulder.
“What’s what?” Dr. Smith seemed reluctant to come any closer to William, but even more reluctant to ignore the question and risk pissing William off. “Oh. That’s a prototype. I’ve been working on it for some months now.”
William inspected the device in front of him. It looked like a round spotlight, floating inside of a glass box. He leant closer and saw that it was not really floating, but rather was attached to several clear tubes that connected it to the interior of the glass.
“What’s it do?”
Dr. Smith took his glasses off and then put them back on. “That’s classified. That is, I’m not really at liberty to say.” He flinched as he spoke and squeezed his eyes shut. William wondered what this guy had heard that would make him so afraid of him. Maybe it his association with Rowan and Jones; who were actually worthy of fear. While Dr. Smith was preoccupied awaiting his imminent death William flicked the glass switch he discovered on the side of the box.
It started to click and hum. Click, click, hum. Click, click, hum. Dr. Smith’s eyes flew open. “What did you do?”
“Turned it on. It’s not dangerous is it?”
He probably should have asked that before turning it on, but oh well. The grey tubes had begun to fill with a grey, smoky liquid. Where it was coming from William could not tell. The liquid ran through the tubes like coke through a crazy straw, and hit the spotlight thing. Upon contact, the spotlight began to glow. The lab was already well lit, but if it were not than William suspected the little box in front of him would be lighting up the room. “It’s just a light then?” he asked.
“Yes, yes, that’s all it is,” said Dr. Smith, hastily switching it off. He hovered, looking torn between making sure William didn’t touch it again and fleeing to the other side of the room.
“It seemed to work ok to me,” said William.
“Yes well, I need to determine a way to amplify the light on a much greater scale,” said the doctor.
“Why?” asked William, “what’s so special about it?”
Dr. Smith clearly did not want to answer, and the whooshing of the elevator door opening meant he didn’t have to. Rowan breezed in (looking very nice in a little black dress and heels), followed by Mr. Grey and Nobody. She gave no apology for her lateness, not that anyone would have expected one from her.
“Now that Miss. Jameson-Smi-”
“No,” interrupted Rowan.
Mr. Grey hesitated, then gave his head a little dip. “I apologise. Now that Mrs. Cross is here, we can begin.”
“Ok,” said William, hopping up onto the table where Jones had been si
tting minutes before. “Begin what?”
“As you know the information you extracted from Gwendoline Shannon’s dentist proved accurate.”
This was news to William, but Rowan was nodding. He wondered how many things people were assuming he knew because Rowan was supposed to have told him.
“We’ve found where she works, but all attempts to follow her to her residence have failed.”
“They have?” asked William. “Why?”
“Well we assume because of the well,” said Mr. Grey. Her paused for a moment, taking in William’s look of confusion, then turned his attention to Rowan. “You have explained the situation to him fully?”
She shrugged. “I guess that never came up.”
Nobody pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.
“We’re pressed for time,” said Mr. Grey, “so I shall give you a short version, I’m sure Rowan will answer any further questions.” William thought Mr. Grey’s continued faith in her was just adorable. “Albert is a... Unique creature. He is the source of all the powers we enjoy here and he asks little in return. He doesn’t need to eat or drink, not in the traditional sense. But he does require a kind of, shall we say, spiritual substance to survive, a substance provided by what we call wells. The first well was drained in the 1960s, it’s replacement has almost run dry now. We believe the new well is in Gwendoline Shannon’s possession.”
“And that’s why you can’t find her?”
“The well hides itself with remarkable efficiency. All cctv and electronic surveillance devices haven’t worked in years. When we do manage to find Gwendoline Shannon all efforts to follow her to the well fail. Those following her grow confused and distracted, and there have been instances where we’ve been certain she has the well with her, but we just can’t see it.”
“That’s sounds frustrating,” said William.
“You’ve no idea,” said Nobody.
“Can we hurry this up?” said Rowan. “I have a date to get to.”
Which didn’t bode well for her marriage. Maybe the guy was dead, or in hiding.
“We believe we have a solution to this problem,” said Mr. Grey, “and we hope you’ll be able to assist us.”