Whisper

by P. S. Power

  “That’s probably just true, if that proves out. Five months old? That’s going to be a problem. What do we do with him? He looks eighteen or twenty. That’s going to mess with the system.” She spoke to the whole room then.

  Liam didn’t understand her. There was no reason for them to do anything to him at all. They could simply leave him alone, with Mary, so that he could have more lessons each day. It was what he was supposed to do, since learning was the most important thing for young people. He’d been told that almost every day, for his entire life.

  From the man kneeling next to him, there was a shrug.

  “We have to go slowly and be careful, given that. Child Protective Services can’t take care of him. They wouldn’t, even if we explained and won’t believe us anyway. As far as I know there’s no alternate community to leave him with, either. One of us will have to take him in, while we sort out Mary Frankenstein here. We need to get that call in, to her lawyer. Not that this will be heard in standard court.” The man shook his head then. “She’ll probably walk, given everything. We can’t prosecute her for creating new life forms.”

  Everyone in the room seemed upset to hear that, except Mary.

  The other red-headed one snorted, her words a bit sharp seeming then. Angry.

  “Maybe not. Still, we can prove that she stole human cadavers from several funeral parlors. That’s a start. Then we have interfering with a corpse, claiming medical credentials without a license… I’m sure that we can manage more than that. She can’t have declared everything on her taxes. This kind of work takes money. Also, she has chemicals here. What are the odds that they can’t be used to make explosives or illegal drugs?”

  Now, as she spoke, the woman seemed ready to harm Mary, moving toward her almost as if that was her plan. From the shifting of her weight, it would be a blow delivered on the right-hand side, with an empty hand. Except she stopped short, glaring instead.

  Mary simply looked away.

  “He’s my son. How he was born or created is, frankly, none of your business.”

  There was a grunt from the new red-haired woman and a gentle pat on the shoulder from the large person next to him.

  “Don’t worry too much, sir. She won’t be in that much trouble. What we need to do right now is get you looked at by a doctor and make certain you haven’t been being abused.” Looking at one of the men, the bad ones that liked to scream incoherently, the man let the hair over his eyes go upward. Eyebrows, which was a word Liam knew. The lifting there was fascinating to see. He wasn’t certain he could do the same thing, even if he had bits of fuzz there as well.

  The bad man scoffed, then made his mouth do something that was neither a smile nor a frown.

  “Fuck that. We aren’t going to let that thing just run around free. I’ll shoot it first.”

  The words got the red-haired woman to walk over, glaring at the man.

  “No, you fucking won’t, Simpson. We aren’t treating a crime victim like a threat, once it’s been established that he isn’t one. Get your prejudiced head out of your bigoted ass and get the keys out. Otherwise we’ll just have to tell him to break them. Then you’ll be out ten bucks, since we aren’t reimbursing you for being a dumbass.”

  The glaring from the man, who had a fuzzy upper lip, that reminded Liam of a caterpillar, if one without the legs, moved to her, instead of himself. He pointed his pipe at Liam again, his right index finger on a small lever there.

  “You think he can break cuffs like that?”

  The woman lifted her shoulders, a shrug, as if to say she didn't know.

  “I know that he hasn’t tried yet, which should leave you feeling pretty safe. Besides, other than having big hands and being yellow, he seems pretty normal, doesn’t he? I’m pretty sure that he isn’t planning on kicking our asses just now. Notice how we’re all still standing here, asses unaffected by a giant foot? So, how about you get the keys out?”

  That got a head shake.

  “No fucking way, Brenner. Get your own keys if you want him freed that badly. For that matter, we’re pulling out, since the scene is secured. Your squad has the scene, Agent Sanchez. Move out! Clear the building!” There was hand waving then, and all the bad men, seeming mean and angry, left. Several of them glared back at him in particular, even if he was only sitting there, watching the whole room.

  The move out instruction had the man nearest him, who was obviously named Agent, making a face. It wasn’t one that Liam had learned yet. From the look of the thing it wasn’t a sign of good things, in particular. Not anger or fear, he didn't think. Something else.

  So he asked, which was what you were supposed to do when you didn’t understand things.

  “What is your face saying, sir?” The words were soft, though the room was quiet now that the twelve bad men had left. Safer as well, Liam had to figure.

  No one else heard him, Liam simply being too soft spoken for that sort of thing. The man he was speaking to was very close to him still, kneeling.

  “Sorry? What is my face saying? I… don’t get you.”

  Mary, across the room, spoke then.

  “He’s showing annoyance, Liam. With the man who just left. Clearly his job was to stay and follow orders, which he isn’t doing very well. This other woman showed a similar expression with me, a short time ago, so you have two points of reference for that. She was annoyed because it won’t be easy to punish me for what I have done, since it isn’t a crime. When the law comes after you for things that aren’t illegal, that’s called harassment.”

  He nodded then, since it was a thing that he’d heard of before, if without having really seen it. All of it had been in the information he’d read.

  “I understand, mother.”

  The links, known as cuffs, he supposed, behind his back had stopped inflicting discomfort on him. It was different and stressful, not being able to move his arms much. There was no pain though and with the bad men out of the room, he felt less upset.

  Agent nodded, speaking to him directly again.

  “Oh. Okay. I get you now. Yeah, Simpson is having a bit of a day, for some reason. He’s kind of new to being in command of our Special Action Unit, and doesn’t have a lot of experience working with different people, like yourself. He was scared, which colored his words and actions. Normally he’s better than that.” There seemed to be doubt in the words.

  Liam thought so at least.

  The new red-haired lady made a face again. Annoyance mixed with anger.

  “Is he, though? He makes death threats against people every day in the office that would have them killing him out of hand if word got back to them about it. Not all of the supernatural community plays by our rules very well. Half my time is spent making sure they don’t kill someone for parking in the wrong spot or looking at them in a way that they think is rude. We might need to replace him, if he can’t do better than this.”

  Liam wondered if it was about the man’s incoherent yelling skills. His volume was good, impressive, to be honest but there was a lack of clearness in what was said that some could find troubling. What was spoken well was only the one phrase. Fucking kill you. All of the bad men had said that several times each. That showed they had the ability to articulate, if they tried hard enough.

  “Brenner, can you get some keys for these? They look like…” The large man, Agent, glanced behind Liam, to look at the cuffs. “American Standard.”

  The red-haired lady nodded.

  “Yeah. That bit of tom-fuckery is going in my report. When we ask for someone to be released, they need to be. Right then. As it stands, we need to keep that part quiet. I know fifteen vampires that would stop working with us just over what happened here tonight. Even if…” She stopped then, and glanced over at him. “Liam, was it?”

  That was his name, so he nodded, making his face seem pleasant.

  “Yes, Brenner. I am Liam.” The words got her to nod in his direction then. That meant he had her name down correctly.

&n
bsp; “Great to meet you, Liam. I just wish it could be under better circumstances. Just to be clear here, you aren’t in trouble. You haven’t done anything wrong and no one is going to hurt you. Not any more than they have. Sometimes it can feel like that when we move in on people like this. That’s mainly fear on the men’s part though, not them trying to start a fight with you, even if it seems that way, sometimes. Let me see if I can find those keys?”

  She left the room then, as the other woman there, the one with blonde hair and clothing that was mainly green, made a call for Mary. That was, from the words used, to a lawyer. Whatever that was. Given the word, it was probably the title for a person who made the laws. If so, that sounded auspicious. They could have new laws made, so that these people had to leave them alone.

  The last man, who had no hair on top of his head but did have a few lines around his eyes, like Mary and Agent had on his face, wrote things down on a small piece of paper. That was in a fascinating book, that was held together at the top by a spiral of metal. Liam had never noticed anything like that before. The pen used was a black colored Bic ball point. He could see that even from across the room.

  The sound of it was familiar as well, though if there were different types of that kind of thing, which Liam knew for a fact, since Mary liked to use a nicer pen that wasn’t of the same manufacture, he wasn’t certain that the pattern of vibrations in the air would be enough for him to identify it.

  When Brenner came back in, she looked very annoyed and her words were harsh sounding.

  “The assholes won’t give me a key. Ours won’t fit, either, since we all carry Marksproof. I guess Simpson ordered them not to help us with that. I nearly had to insert my foot halfway up his ass.”

  She made a low sound then. A thing that clearly caused Liam to look confused.

  At least Agent explained it to him, seeming to understand that he’d need to know that kind of thing.

  “She’s frustrated, so growled. That’s sort of rude of her and not very professional. Then, it sounds like Simpson isn’t being professional either. It’s important to be polite and follow the rules when working. Pretty much regardless of the job you are doing at the moment. Not everyone manages to do that equally well, but if you can, you should do that, all the time.”

  Mary, across the room, nodded so Liam would know that the information was correct. She didn't speak to him, simply talking to a man on the telephone that was being pressed to her ear by the other woman there. The one he didn’t have a name for.

  Crossing her arms, Brenner took several deep breaths. There was a shaky quality to it, which was new to him. It seemed related to emotion, rather than her health or a medical issue.

  “We should break the cuffs for Simpson, given this. Get a chisel or something and make it look like they were pulled apart. I told him it was what we’d be doing, if he didn’t play ball.”

  She was glancing at Agent, who laughed a bit at the idea. There was a head nod as well.

  “That… Well, I’m not certain it would help anything. He’s acting out of fear of the unknown. Liam here seems like a good guy, so using him to scare Simpson even more might not be the best plan. None of that is getting those cuffs off either. How are your wrists feeling?”

  That was for him. He knew how to answer that kind of thing, since it had been in his lessons. When someone asked how you were feeling, you answered in one way, all the time.

  “I’m fine, thank you. How are you?” The words were so soft that only Agent heard him again. The man smiled at least.

  “Good. We should have things happening in… Probably half an hour here. If you aren’t too uncomfortable it would be great if you can bear with us. This is screwed up but until we can call this in, or get back to the office, there isn’t a lot we can do about it.”

  Liam nodded, not understanding all of the ideas being used at the moment. The metal links behind him had to stay on, because they lacked a key for them. Simpson, the leader of the bad men, had one, as did each of his followers. He didn’t want them used to let Liam use his hands though, because he was afraid.

  The part that didn’t match up was how the man, being afraid of himself and the other bad men, was made safer by Liam not having his hands in front of him. Still, he could agree that being in the company of people like he traveled with should be enough to elicit fear. They all attacked people, after all. That could leave the man feeling afraid all the time. That new and strange feeling that, until the door crashed open, he’d never had to deal with at all.

  Sitting on the floor, which was bare wood, though clean, since mother had taught him to use a broom and dustpan already, he waited then, as others spoke. They didn’t wait for the lawyer to get there, Mary being stood up to be taken away. They did let her speak to him first.

  “Liam… I need you to be a good boy and do what these people tell you. They won’t hurt you or let you be hurt.” She didn’t seem to think that her words were real at all. There was a soft head shake as she spoke them, negating what was said, at least in part. “I have to go sit in a cell for a while. I’ll probably be gone for several days. Maybe longer than that. In the mean time you need to do what you can to keep learning and remember to be a good boy, alright?”

  Her eyes filled with liquid then. A thing that he only knew was called crying since it had happened online. That had meant looking it up. It was a sign of sadness. Mary was upset to be leaving. He didn't understand why she had to go, either. There were too many things he needed to know at the moment even to be able to start asking the correct questions. Which, without the use of his hands and his computer, wasn’t going to be happening.

  That, his device, was over on the work table, next to the picture he’d been working on earlier. That was in pencil, and not very good at all. It was just him and Mary, sitting in chairs.

  Mary was taken away then, leaving himself and the others there. Agent and Brenner. The man stood up, making noise as he did.

  “Do you need to take anything with you? Some clothing… A toy or something like that?”

  Liam, easily enough, stood up as well, which had the others there looking at him strangely.

  “My computer and clothing would be nice. Thank you.” The soft hiss of his words was heard that time, by both people, since there was very little other sound in the room. The refrigerator could be heard as a low hum, off in the kitchen, where his berries and nuts were stored.

  Mary had eaten other things but many of those were human foods and bad for him. At least, they might be. It was clear that he didn’t need to eat meat at all. When they’d tried that, it had made him feel very bad for some hours. It was called burning he thought. He’d also changed color for some time, turning a darker yellow for a while. After the third attempt, he’d been kept on a simpler diet. He needed to eat each day, nearly but the amount was tiny, compared to what Mary had to eat. A few mouthfuls of berries was enough for him, most days.

  Agent helped him gather things up, since he still wasn’t being allowed to use his hands. They used a pillow case from Mary’s bed to hold his belongings, since he didn't have anything more dedicated to the task. Then, Brenner holding his left arm so he wouldn’t lose his balance, they left the house.

  For the very first time in his whole life, Liam Frankenstein was outside.

  It was different than he’d imagined it as being. Bigger, for one thing. Vast on a level that left his mind reeling and feeling boggled, to be honest about it.

  Chapter two

  Their first thought had been to take him to the local hospital in order to have a doctor look at him. That wasn’t a simple thing to manage, as it turned out, since the first three such people that tried to investigate him found his physiology to be too bizarre to understand. The fourth they attempted to see, an old man with many deep wrinkles and a ready smile, seemed bemused at the idea that they were trying to get anything of note done that late at night.

  Then, when he examined Liam himself the man nodded.

  “I
can understand why there was some difficulty earlier with my colleagues. After all, Liam here has no heartbeat, appears not to have blood at all and seems not to have the same striations of dermis and epidermis that a standard person might have.” The man shrugged then, his face blank for the first time since starting his invasive investigation. There had been real cutting involved, which had been interesting to watch, if a little uncomfortable. It was only to his arm on the side and the flesh had come back together already. There was a fine line on the yellow skin, which would fade over the coming hours. Then it would be the same as it had been before. Liam had been tested that way already, by his creator.

  In that way, the things being done by Doctor Goodman weren’t new to him or difficult to take, pain wise. That had faded at the same time his flesh flowed back into place.

  Nodding, Liam whispered what he knew.

  “I am all of one piece. Not separate organs that do different tasks, like you have. I live and eat, excrete waste and such things. I do not sleep or need that kind of thing. Cold doesn’t harm me, like it would you. Heat… I do better with the cold. Too much heat makes me feel ill. I don’t like it.” He knew more about himself but didn't share it at the moment. His hands were still behind him.

  The cuffs had kept his hands linked as one when Doctor Goodman had cut his arm open, near the wrist. He’d moved his head to look behind him in order to see what was taking place that way. It wasn’t needed, but he’d done it anyway, since human people looked at things with their eyes and he wanted these others to feel comfortable with him. Brenner had found that move funny. At least she’d laughed, lightly.

  The old Doctor let his lips curl up.

  “All of that sounds correct from what I can see here with a cursory examination. We need more tests, though I don’t know if I can be of much help here. Liam is, clearly, something so different that… Well, if he’d come in without you two being with him, I’d probably have called the police, to be honest. A laboratory experiment you say?”