Whisper

by P. S. Power

  There was a solid look at Liam, an examining of his composure perhaps, that was taking place, even as the woman looked to the side, watching the descent of those who had gone up the stairs for adult purposes. After a moment, he understood the idea. He was five months old. These people, all of them, were ancient compared to him. Also used to seeing children grow and learn at a slower rate than he was doing.

  So, to Sondra, he wasn’t supposed to have knowledge of what the people had been doing up there in the room above. Except that he’d seen things on the internet and Tiff had boldly stated that she had relations with many people, in order to keep bonds strong enough with certain groups. Vampires hadn’t been named specifically or anything, of course. It was clear though that the things he’d looked up were what had been going on.

  Instead of acting shy or amazed by that kind of thing, Liam glanced at the people coming down the stairs. There was no speaking for a bit, until they were joined in the front room. Brenner seemed uneasy, for some reason. Her gaze was all for Sondra, instead of him. After a moment, the red-headed woman brushed at her curly hair and made a face that seemed darker than normal.

  Then she spoke to Sondra, directly.

  “So, did you get every bit of information you wanted from Liam?”

  Instead of agreeing, the blonde woman nudged Liam with her shoulder, still sitting very close to him.

  “Not everything. Enough to be interesting and helpful, however. Nicodemus… Did you know that young Liam here is already learning to perform basic surgeries? He even treated a man, earlier. One of the Fae. He wouldn’t mention who, by name, however. Mitchel was here, of course. I can smell that much. Liam also won’t name the troll in the woods behind us. Why is that, do you think?” Again, the woman looked, not at Liam or her friend Nic. Her gaze was only for Tiffany.

  Who let her lips curl up at the words, just a bit.

  “I wouldn’t know the why of that at all. It’s what I would have done in the same position, but I haven’t even mentioned that kind of thing to Liam at all. Interesting, don’t you think, Sondra?”

  There was a pause then and another bumping against the outside of his left arm again, as the vampire woman stood up.

  “It is rather interesting! Incredibly… discreet, truth be told. He really didn’t do a very good job of gaining information from me, as you instructed though, Miss Brenner. You should punish him, so he learns to do a better job, next time.” A hand lingered on Liam’s shoulder, even as she spoke of him having failed.

  Rather than scold him, Agent Brenner cleared her throat.

  “Is that right Liam? What have you learned from Sondra this evening? If anything, of course.”

  He didn't know what to say for a moment, though there had been real enough data being passed. Almost constantly. After a moment, he spoke, his voice nearly silent. Normal, for him.

  “These two, Nic and Sondra, were sent in by their Queen, directly, to get information from you. The orders came through a man named Duke Lofton, except that it’s clear that he was passing information directly from their leader to them. That means these two are considered important after a fashion. Also, that they think we might be lying to them about what happened with Vern and his family, for some reason. Sondra was also taken by surprise when I mentioned that Noah would be sent to prison for his crimes where he’d probably be beaten and raped regularly. Also, that you and Agent Sanchez seemed to want to kill him. That isn’t allowed, which is different than not wanting to do that.”

  There was more, of course. They’d spoken for slightly over an hour.

  So he went on.

  “They also went to see who was in the woods before coming in earlier. Sondra smells like wood smoke, meaning she had to be close to the fire. Not too close. She doesn’t smell like our friend back there. As for why I didn’t mention names…” Liam took a deep breath. “Doctor patient confidentiality.”

  Which didn't go for Oaks, truly. Rob was a patient of his, however. It had been in the literature he’d covered when learning to treat people. Not that there wasn’t a lot more to learn. It would probably take him weeks to learn all of it. It wasn’t his reading speed that was failing him as much as his ability to make the words come across the screen faster. Paper books might be easier that way, he thought.

  Nic glared at him for a moment, then he turned his gaze on Sondra.

  “That hardly sounds like he learned nothing from you, does it? We weren’t to mention the Queen’s involvement in this. I trust that was the case, since I heard your conversation. Your insight is… Impressive, given that, Master Frankenstein. Would it be appropriate for us to call again, in the coming days? Not just on these issues. There might be some other things that it would prove useful to share.”

  Brenner patted the vampire on the back, her hand lingering for a while.

  “Sure. Call it Sunday at eight? We have a meeting to attend on Saturday.” What that was she didn't mention.

  Not that Liam didn't know already. That was when they were supposed to have a meeting with Vern’s people, about the events of that night. Regardless, Nic went very still for a moment and then took a deep breath. It was agitated in feeling, though it was hard to understand how he understood that to be the case. It was correct though, Liam was nearly certain.

  “Those fools will have a war, if they aren’t careful!” What he meant wasn’t explained at all.

  Collecting himself, the man glared at the wall for a moment, then turned, rather sharply.

  “Come Sondra. We must go and speak to some people. I thank you. Both of you. Very nice to meet you Master Liam. Until we meet again, Tiffany.” It was the first time that the man had used his first name, so notable.

  Sondra touched his arm, moving over to him to do it, already standing as she was.

  “Yes. It was indeed good to meet you. We should get together and talk again soon, if you have the time.” Then she snorted gently and took several steps backward. “Until Saturday?”

  The vampires left then, simply vanishing from the house. Except that the front door clicked gently. A sign, he had to think, that something unusual had taken place. At least he’d never seen that kind of thing from anyone else before. That he’d noticed.

  Brenner growled, making a low, somewhat annoyed sound.

  “That… They made us forget. Using mental powers. Vampires don’t really have super speed that way. What they can do is mess with what you see and remember. At least they did it to me. How about you?” She seemed to be asking if he was free of that kind of thing, due to his differences.

  Liam just looked at her and moved his head to the side a bit.

  “They seemed to vanish to me. Is that what you saw?”

  “Yep. So… We have that in common, don’t we? We can both be mind fucked by vamps.” She paused and gave him a funny, slightly smiling look. “By the way, don’t use the word fuck. It’s considered a bad word by a lot of people. Other people get to use it, but you have to be at least, oh, fifteen or so to get away with it in public. I should use better language myself, but probably won’t. It’s a hazard of the job. Still, that doesn’t mean you can’t be better than that. It’s called a double standard.”

  That was useful to know, since he could look that up, in case it was part of his lessons for the day. Certainly, knowing what words not to use would be helpful to him. If it was bad to use the word fuck, that made sense, of course. The bad men had screamed at Mary and him to not move or they would fucking kill them. That bad people would use bad words made sense. Even that Brenner used such things did. After all, she was one of the bad people.

  The ones that had stolen his mother from him. It was a hard thought for him to handle, since she seemed kind enough, otherwise. When she wasn’t working for her government. It could be that the government itself was the bad thing in the mix, given that.

  It was also possible that he didn’t know enough to make that kind of pronouncement. Still, he’d seen little that would convince him otherwise. That meant
he needed to learn more about the law. So he could help Mary, if it was needed.

  Medicine and probably shoe making as well. That last one actually worried him, since he didn’t know if shoes would be comfortable or not. Even if made correctly, they seemed confining and like they’d trap him into not moving very well. Certainly, others did well enough with them. They all had tiny human looking feet though. Even the vampires had. Rob and Oaks as well. Mitchel looked totally human as far as he’d noticed.

  It was possible all the Elementals would.

  Brenner didn’t ask him any questions past that point, just moving back up the stairs, calling back to him as she got to the top.

  “I need to catch a nap if I can, or I’m going to be useless tomorrow. Ugh. Today, in four hours. Great fun. Are you all right here? No one else should come, I don’t think. If they do, come get me before opening the door. Um, goodnight.”

  “Goodnight.” He whispered his reply, used to saying that kind of thing to Mary, since she slept every day as well.

  The only answer was a door opening and then closing, out of sight. Settling at the table again, he simply read from his computer, going over everything that had come up which he didn't understand. Excitingly enough, there was even information about what different facial expressions and body language meant. Once he found that, memorizing everything he could find on the topic was how he spent the rest of the night. At least until he heard Brenner wake up. She showered again, then ran down the stairs, stopping when she saw him at the table.

  “Oh! Right. You were so quiet I forgot anyone else was here. I need to dash or I’ll be late. Just to let you know, I kind of hate mornings. You know, I get grumpy and want more sleep until I have at least two cups of coffee. Which I don’t have time for. That means everyone is going to be a pain all morning, I bet. Do you need anything? More food?”

  Liam shook his head. He could eat, he knew and it was closing on time for it to happen. It was also clear that Tiff needed to leave, since she’d kept walking the entire time her mouth was moving.

  “I can find something, I think. Is that a thing I’m allowed?”

  “Yes. Always. Just eat whatever you want. I can get more, just don’t burn the house down if you don’t have to. If you do… Well, then get out first? Fire is one of your major weaknesses. No worse than for a human, but still, stick your hand in a fire and you’ll do some real damage, you know?”

  He didn't. That hadn’t been in the novel on things at all. That the woman there, who had slightly damp red hair at the moment, making it darker than normal, knew that about him while he didn't wasn’t all that comfortable, he realized. Mainly because he wasn’t certain she wasn’t one of the bad people. She didn’t seem the same way but she’d mentioned being that way, a few times.

  In with the ones that had attacked him and his mother. If Vern was bad for what he’d done, then the police and FBI had to be guilty of similar things. The werewolf hadn’t even tried to take any of the people with Liam away. That probably meant that he wasn’t all that evil or diabolical, just worked up, as the agents had mentioned at the time.

  He waved and smiled, whispering as the woman practically ran to the door.

  “Goodbye.”

  The lady didn't seem to actually hear him say the word. That was fair. She also didn't add anything for him and hadn’t, he realized, shown him how to use a phone at all. Which, since part of the day’s plan hinged on him being able to contact her, meant that he needed to find out how to do that sort of thing. That portion of the day took longer than he would have thought, since he didn't have a phone at all. After half an hour, deciding not to invade Brenner’s room, he worked out that there was no way for him to contact anyone, even if they could hear him once he did it.

  Instead, he decided to read the books that Brenner had hidden under the stairs. At least it seemed that way to him, even if telling Liam exactly where they were wasn’t doing a very good job of keeping them secret. They weren’t in the front room, which might have been for a reason. If so, it was very difficult for him to work out the why of it.

  That, doing his reading after making the needed selections for the day, took a while longer than he would have figured, based on things he’d done before in life. He read quickly and absorbed the information from the white and slightly yellow pages easily enough, even if it wasn’t the same as a computer screen. There was just so much more in each book than he’d expected. That meant getting through only four of the texts by the time the FBI agent returned home.

  The works were about the beings he’d met, more or less. Werewolves, vampires, elves and of course, trolls. Oaks was, it seemed to him, still out in the back woods. There was a scent of smoke wafting his way occasionally, as well as cooked meat.

  It was that last book which had him wondering though. Trolls were, clearly enough from the printed text, normally quite large. Oaks fit that description well enough. His coloration was in the right line as well. Tan to brown, more or less. The difficult part was that that sort of being tended to be smaller than their visitor, as well as prone to growing hair all over their body. Plus, the description of the faces, having blunt noses, tusks and slightly pointed ears was simply different.

  Too much so, if the book was to be trusted. That was difficult for him to understand. Oaks hadn’t said he was a troll however. Not to Liam. No, Brenner had been the one to claim that. The strong odor was there, in the written words, of course. Except that the description of it was very different. An acrid odor that was said to be very different than an animal musk. Not that he had any great experience with that sort of thing. Really, most scents were new to him.

  Last, Oaks had worn clothing. Trolls didn't bother with such things and were too aggressive to suggest it to, in general. So, if Oaks was truly that sort of being, then the book was incorrect. A thing which could be possible, Liam had to allow. Brenner had said that much in the books was correct, not that everything would be.

  The vampire information seemed to fit fairly well, for instance. Even to the point of them liking to use their ability to cloud minds and control them to make themselves seem more powerful physically than they really were. Not that they didn’t do well enough that way, being many times stronger and faster than a regular human being. About on the level of a great ape. It meant they were about twice as strong as a werewolf, unless it was close to the full moon. Then that part of things changed a lot.

  Learning about those was what he was engaged with when Brenner came in, late in the day.

  “Honey, I’m ho-ome.” There was a grin on her lips, as well as a brown bag in her hands, as she made her way through the front door.

  Inside of that, from what he could make out, would be different selections of fruits and vegetables. Food, no doubt, for him. At least Tiffany hadn’t mentioned a strong desire to eat plants in particular, so far. She might do such things, of course. He’d only eaten once since leaving home, having forgotten during the day as he had. Not that he was truly hungered yet. That would, eventually, happen, if he didn't eat occasionally. Interestingly, Mary thought that he might be able to go for very long stretches without food, if he ate a lot at one time. Storing it inside of himself after a fashion he didn't understand.

  “Hello, Agent Brenner. How was your time at work today?”

  She moved in and set the bag of food on the table, not far from where he’d set up his laptop for his daily research.

  “It went, which is the nicest thing I can say about it. Now, you… Picked some books to read? Those are decent choices.” She pointed to the four books on the smooth brown table top. A thing that glistened slightly, showing wear at the edges where wrists and hands had touched it over the years.

  Liam nodded, since what she’d said was partially correct.

  “These are the ones that I have read. I was just looking up some of the things that I didn’t understand in them.” He stopped then and smiled. “Also, I need a phone and lessons on how to use it. A key as well, so that I can come and
go? If that’s still allowed.”

  Why it would have changed, he didn't know. It just seemed more polite to give her a way out, if it was needed. It had occurred to him that she might not have given him the ability to do that, come and go, by her failure to provide a way to do that.

  Looking at him strangely for a moment, seeming bemused, which he could tell from his research on the matter, Brenner rolled her eyes. That would be due to her forgetting to provide such a thing, he was willing to bet.

  “Let me put these things up in the kitchen and I’ll handle both of those. Here, follow me and tell me about what you learned today. I won’t be able to hear you otherwise and it’s important to communicate with people. At least my therapist always said that, before I fired her. She was a talkative bitch, let me assure you.”

  He didn’t know what the last line meant and didn’t ask, since it seemed to be a joke of some sort. It was clear that asking about things like that tended to spoil them. At least people online had indicated that sort of thing, more than once that day. It was in the first portion of what he’d looked into. The trick, if you lacked context, was to pick up on facial cues, like smiling at the end of a statement. It could mean other things, but she wasn’t trying to flirt with him or suggest that he buy anything, at the moment.

  “I can do that.” The woman was quick enough, picking the brown paper bag up and moving toward the food room as if she had a purpose in doing so, which she did. It was his responsibility to communicate now, it seemed, so he waited for her to set the bag down and begin moving items into the refrigerator before whispering at her.

  “I started today with a study of facial expressions and body language. Then I went over what I need to learn for medical procedures. There is a long list for that. After that I read about different types of people from books. There was much information. Did you know that Oaks isn’t a troll? Sondra thought he smelled like one, but he isn’t.” Liam said the words as if it were a fact, when he wasn’t certain of that at all.