Masquerade in Chaos: Kable VonSable

by M J Hutto

  I smile up at them, I’m not cold anymore and I’m not hurting.

  “I’m really sleepy. I think I’m gonna take a tiny nap. Don’t cry, I made it out. We did it”

  I blink.

  Jaylin wavers and tears are streaming down her face.

  I blink.

  Jaylin is gone and Thibbs is crying. “Stay wit’ me, cher. Jus’ stay wit’ me.”

  I blink.

  Thibbs is gone. I can hear the wind and footsteps and splashing.

  I blink.

  Something is tugging on my foot; I kick at it. I hear whining and feel tugging again. Thibbs is back and talking nonsense again. He says to relax and let them help me. There’s no one else here.

  I blink.

  Jaylin is holding my hand. Thibbs is yelling for me to stop fighting. How is Jaylin holding my hand?

  I blink.

  My teeth are chattering so hard they hurt. I’m so cold my body is shaking. Someone is saying to strap me down and I start to fight. I can’t let him tie me back down. I scream and fight and bite and claw. I don’t have any more potions or charms. I have to get away even if it kills me. I feel a sharp pain and I know I’m dead.

  I blink.

  29 Almost Dead is Still Alive

  I wake up screaming. My throat is raw, and it’s like I’ve been mauled by a bear. I hurt from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet. I jump out of the bed, but my legs won’t hold me up. I have no idea what day it is or where the hell I am.

  I look around wildly but that’s really no help since my eyes aren’t working right. The room is spinning and its dark. I hear a voice I recognize and stop screaming.

  “Achlys?” I whisper with my broken voice.

  I can feel him approaching me, all I can see is shadows.

  “What’s going on? Where am I? Why can’t I see?”

  “Yes, its me. I’m walking up to you. You have a head injury and you’ve been really light sensitive, so they have your eyes covered and the lights off. You’re at the hospital in the ER. They were about to move you to the ICU.”

  My breathing is too fast. I pull at whatever is covering my eyes and feel like there are hot needles stabbing my brain. Vomiting on the floor, I pull the covering back down and lay on the cool floor.

  Achlys gently helps me back in bed and holds my hand when I won’t let his go. The nurse comes in, tsks about me hurting myself and reassures me. She has a firm, kind voice and assures me the detective is keeping me safe.

  I can manage to sit quietly while she examines me, but only barely. I answer her questions as best I can, and she gives me juice to drink. I manage to keep it down. Achlys tells her I vomited, and she assures him she is aware. I can almost hear him blush.

  He never let’s go of my hand. He never leaves me. He smooths the hair back from my face and doesn’t pull away when I kiss his palm. I hear the soft intake of his breath and how it catches. He leaves his hand cupping my face and I fall back asleep.

  I hear the nurse as she talks to the doctor and Achlys a little later.

  “See, I told you people. Almost dead is still alive. You should never doubt an ER nurse. We know our shit! Us and Miracle Max, baby. Now she’s stable and it’s time to get her out of the ER and into the ICU where she can recover. Excuse me so I can make that happen.”

  Achlys is back, I must have made some noise. He’s holding my hand and smoothing my hair. His soft voice is telling me I’m going to be okay and how I’m safe and nothing is going to hurt me anymore. I must be on some really good drugs. I feel warm and floaty and safe. I wonder where my family is as I drift back into oblivion.

  30 Wakey, Wakey

  I wake up this time to lots of noise. The coverings are gone, and I can open my eyes without excruciating pain, but not without pain. I can see though so that’s definitely better. I look around cautiously.

  I don’t see Achlys, I guess Detective Hottie got pulled away. My parents are both here, one on each side of the bed. Kent and Vera are standing at the foot of the bed with Dorian. Karmine is holding my right hand. I frown when I see her. Why does seeing my sister make me frown?

  I shake my head to try to shake the memory loose, but it just makes the room spin. Thibbs is on the over bed light sitting quietly. He is staring at the doorway. I don’t see Jaylin. I guess she got sucked back to her day job.

  Before I try to speak, I look over myself. My left foot is in a cast or something up to the knee. My face feels tight and so do a couple of places on my abdomen. Must be some stitches or staples. Not my first experience with those. My ring and middle finger are in little splints and taped together on my left hand. I have a couple of IVs and it looks like I have something running into both sides. Hopefully, antibiotics and pain meds.

  My bladder feels like it is overly full and my stomach feels like I haven’t eaten in weeks. I’m kinda surprised they’ve let all of them be in here. The ICU is usually stricter than this.

  I try to clear my throat but its so dry I can’t.

  “Hey,” I manage to croak out.

  They all look up.

  “Oh my God, Kable.”

  “Oh honey!”

  “Thank God!”

  “Do you know who did this?”

  Karmine brings the stale tap water to my lips with a straw. It’s the best thing I’ve ever tasted. She refills it for me, and I drink it all down. I have to stop because I don’t want to throw it all up. Kent goes to get my new nurse.

  He ushers them all out of the room, checks me over and helps me use the bathroom. I’m grateful they didn’t put in a catheter. He tells me I’ve been out for about twenty-four hours this time. I was in the ER for eighteen hours before they moved me here.

  He tells me the hot detective finally left a few hours ago. He says I’m lucky to be alive and even more lucky to have healed so quickly and so well. I’m wondering if my luck lasted longer than I could have possible hoped for.

  I think back to that day, to thinking I knew who it was and draw a blank. Think back to Jaylin trying to tell me and hear the door close but not who she said. I look up at Thibbs and wonder if he knows. Will I remember? My family is outside the room with tired smiles and hope. Am I safe?

  My nurse, he calls himself Murse Elliot- (“You gotta do it before anyone else can”), says I can have Jell-O or broth. I ask for both after he assures me I can’t have cheesecake, a milkshake, and a burger.

  “I’ll be sure to tell your hot detective-oh I’m sorry Detective Hottie-that if he asks what he can bring you. Is it okay if we tell him how you are if he calls?”

  “Please do. I want to talk to him if I can. How do you know that’s what I call him?” I whisper.

  He laughs. “Why don’t we let him get a little rest and then you can call him. He left a number in case we needed him. And you keep saying it. He turns a lovely shade of magenta when you do.”

  Elliot winks at me and lets my family back in. I lean back in the bed and pull the blankets up to my chin. I’m cold again. Karmine climbs into the bed with me and snuggles up on one side. She is warm and safe, and I ask her to wake me up when the Jell-O gets there. She promises.

  ***

  I guess I start dreaming. It’s hard to keep up. It’s hard to tell a story in the middle of living it. It gets really confusing and I lose my place and I don’t know what’s going on with the other people. It’s frustrating to tell so I’m guessing it’s frustrating to hear that way too. I hope I haven’t lost you yet.

  So, I’m having this weird dream crap again. Jaylin is here. She’s pissed I can’t remember who did this to me but Lil won’t let her tell me. She says I have to figure it out for myself or I’m never going to grow up. What the hell? Seems a little bitchy to me but I’m not a demigod or whatever she is, so what do I know?

  I am starting to wake up when I hear a laugh. No, when I hear THE laugh. The laugh from the son of a bitch, that’s the one. And then it all starts to fall into place.

  ***

  Someone I know. Someon
e with access to me. Someone who belongs. Someone that didn’t quite fit. Someone who moves around freely. Someone who can travel for work. Someone who could get a fucking charm to get into my house without facing the consequences. Someone I never even suspected.

  ***

  Victor fucking Raymonds. My sister’s fucking politico boyfriend Victor Raymonds-who was about to be a United States Senator-had kidnapped and tortured me. He had pushed for me to be recognized as part of the investigation. Put me more in the spotlight. Pushed for a task force.

  Had he killed those other people? Why? What had I ever done to him? What had they ever done to him? Oy, my rattlesnake charm had worked!

  I will myself not to look at him. I will myself to keep my eyes almost closed. I can hear Jaylin yelling at him. Calling him a devious mother-fucker and telling him he is going to rot in hell. She’s cussing and screaming and punching at him. He moves slightly when she’s close to him and I wonder.

  My breathing changes and he’s walking in the room. Karmine is getting up to go to him, but I grab her hand. She stays on the bed. I don’t want her going with him. I’m afraid of what he’ll do now. What if he thinks I know?

  I watch him from lidded eyes. He stiffens every time Jaylin gets close. It’s almost imperceptibly but now that I’m looking for it, I can see. He can sense her. He’s sensitive too.

  I allow my shields to fall away and look at his aura; its red and violet and gray with jagged black lines running through like anti-lightening. There’s a faint sound of shattering glass, the energy signature of a suppressing Chaotian. I don’t know why I never heard it before. But honestly, I only really looked a couple of times and I’d been distracted each time. And I wasn’t looking for that.

  Why hadn’t I seen it? My brain is slow. It’s not fair to have to think logically when my brain is scrambled. He comes around to the opposite side of Karmine, the side with the pain meds, I think. There’s a little thingy in my hand with a button on it. Elliot told me earlier I could push the button if I needed a dose of pain medicine on top of what I was already getting.

  Victor smiles at me, grabs my hand to ‘hold’ it, and pushes the button once, twice. I’m trying to tell him to stop but I’m already dozing off.

  “Don’t worry, Kable. We are going to make sure you get the very best care. Nothing but the best for our cities most famous Orokkian.”

  He’s talking to Karmine and telling her I should come stay with them. I am so tired my eyes won’t open, I can’t let go of the thingy in my hand, I can’t get words to come out. Jaylin is gone. I can’t hear her anymore. I can still hear Karmine, Kent, Vera and Dorian talking about when I get to leave the hospital.

  Someone brushes the tear off my cheek gently. I shudder with revulsion when Victor leans over to whisper in my ear.

  “Don’t worry. We’ll have more time together.”

  He pushes the button again and I can’t fight it anymore. I’m not going to make it out of this hospital room. They are going to think I did this to myself.

  ***

  My next clear thought is about food. I never got to eat my Jell-O and I’m starving. My growling stomach wakes me up. I look around and the room is dim. My parents are gone and I’m alone for the moment. I grab the broth, drink it down cold and look for a spoon for the Jell-O.

  I don’t know what day it is, but the pain pump thing is gone. I sigh, relieved. In fact, there aren’t any tubes or bags attached to me. There aren’t windows so I can’t use that to tell what time of day it is. The clock says 11:11; I wish Detective Hottie was here.

  He walks in a few minutes later to my bare ass sticking out and bent over the bed. I was trying to go pee and got dizzy. I’m leaning on the bed trying to let my brains catch up to the rest of me. I don’t want to call the nurse, they’re gonna be mad at me.

  “Madame, I seem to find you in compromising positions a lot.”

  I think my whole body is on fire. I can feel the blush heat and prickle everywhere. I lean more heavily on the bed and wish to sink in. Why on earth had I wished for him? What was I thinking?

  “A real gentleman would help me.”

  He laughs. “You are the one who called me a gentleman.”

  But he’s walking over to help me stand up. We walk slowly to the bathroom after I assure him I’m allowed.

  “Can you try to find me some more Jell-O? I’m so hungry and they won’t give me a milk shake or anything else.”

  He shakes his head. “I’ll ask your nurse. But not till after I get you back in bed.”

  He leaves me alone while I’m using the bathroom but is only outside the door. Staying nearby incase I need help. See, gentleman.

  “I know who did this,” I call out while I’m washing my hands.

  He snatches open the door, eyes wide. “You what? Who? Why haven’t you told me before now? Why didn’t you tell Dorian?”

  I lean over the sink, so tired I feel like laying on the floor. He all but carries me back to the bed and grabs the nurse. This one is named Kelli and she’s pissed I got up without calling. My face is red and hot again. She shoos the detective out while she looks over my wounds and asks the me same few questions again.

  When she allows him back after bringing me a bunch of Jell-O, he asks, “Kable, who?”

  “Its Victor, Achlys.”

  He’s frowning at me, shaking his head. “What? Victor who?”

  “Victor Raymonds.”

  “That, that doesn’t make any sense. Why would he attack you? He’s been pushing for the task force. He pushed for the bill going in front of the Senate next month to protect Orokkian rights to healthcare without preexisting condition status,” his face is a mask of confusion. “He’s pushing for calling Chaotian a religion. He was on the phone with the mayor telling them how important you are and how we needed to stop at nothing to find you!”

  I shrug with my mouth full of strawberry Jell-O. This is the third one since he started talking.

  “I don’t know. He never talked to me while I was there.”

  “So, you saw his face, but he never talked to you?”

  I shake my head. “No. He never let me see his face. And he didn’t give a bad guy monologue either. Just whistled.”

  I tell him the story of what happened between Jell-O cups. The nurse brings me a few more and juice too. She says if I keep this down okay and use the bathroom, I can have something real. I can almost taste a cheeseburger.

  When I finish talking, he fills me in on how I got rescued. Apparently, Jekyll led them to me. He walked miles to get to me and pulled me out of the pipe himself. He was treated for exhaustion and is resting at home. He wouldn’t leave my side until Achlys got there. It’s part of the reason Achlys stayed with me so long, he promised Jekyll he would.

  “Kable, I can’t bring him in based on what you heard or what Jaylin saw. She’s a ghost and we don’t have a way to do a line up with her.”

  “What about the house he was keeping me in? Surely there’s some evidence inside?”

  “Honey, we found you MILES from anything else. There was nothing around you.”

  My mouth drops open. “But I ran from the house to the ditch. I saw the light from the doorway and ran towards it. It couldn’t have been miles away. I…I don’t understand.”

  He shakes his head and grips my cold fingers.

  “What about the sock?” I ask in a small voice.

  “What sock?”

  “The one I had in my pocket. Can’t you get DNA off it?”

  “The one from the pocket that was submerged in dirty running water for hours?” He shakes his head. “Or your clothes either for that matter.”

  “No,” I say, heartbroken in tears. “He’s just going to try again. He told me so. He said, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll have more time together.’”

  “Wait, you just said he didn’t talk to you.”

  Tears stream down my face; he rubs his thumb over my wrist while he holds my hand. His hand is warm and steady while mine trembles.
The tears are dirty as the drip on our hands.

  “Not at the stupid house. Here, he said that here.”

  “What?!” He jumps up and is stalking around the room. His shoulders are stiff and tense. He starts to pick up his phone but puts it back. He starts to talk but stops before saying anything.

  My head is hurting again, my foot hurts, my fingers hurt, my body aches and it hurts to take a deep breath. Kelli comes in to check my machine since my heart rate is going up. She frowns at us both and tells me to calm down or the nice detective is going to have to leave.

  He sits back down beside me. I can’t stop the stupid tears from streaming down my face. It’s not like Victor did anything to hide what he’d done really. It’s MY fault. I’d washed all the evidence away. I ruined any chance I had of proving he was the one. What a bunch of bullshit!

  I’m rubbing my forehead when Kelli comes in with a cup of pills. I look at her suspiciously.

  “What is it?”

  She rolls her eyes, hand on hip. “Cyanide. I asked the dude painting the walls over there, he thought it’d be fine too, so we went with it.”

  I blush and look down. “I don’t want to be knocked out.”

  “It’s your antibiotics and a non-narcotic pain reliever. We’ll try that one and if it doesn’t help, we can move to something stronger, or not. I won’t make you take anything Super Woman.”

  I grin up at her. “Wonder Woman, Supergirl.”

  “You don’t say? Take the pills,” she nods at the bedside table. “You’ve managed to keep down the Jell-O, had any gas?”

  I glance over at Achlys, and she rolls her eyes again. She leans down. “Rip a good one and I’ll get you some real food.”

  I laugh and nod. A few minutes later when Detective Hottie walks down the hall to make a call, I get some real food. It’s a chicken salad sandwich and not a burger, but its heaven.