by Logan Byrne
“And I’m the person who’s taking down your people. I’ve already started. They aren’t coming tonight, so don’t bother trying it,” I said, bluffing a little.
“What do you want from me? I’m a poor ogre living in this part of the city. Do you really need to threaten me?” he asked.
“What do you know about Benko?” I asked, point-blank.
“That name doesn’t ring a bell,” he said, with a condescending tone.
“Would you rather I use a spell to bring back your memory? Or perhaps I can inform some friends at M.A.G.I.C. that you’re drinking while under house arrest. That’s a violation of your parole, isn’t it?” I asked.
“I had one drink, lay off it, will ya?” he asked.
“Tell me what I want to know and they won’t find out,” I said.
“Listen, I can appreciate your spunk and devil-may-care attitude, but I’m not telling you anything. I’m more afraid of these people than I ever would be of you,” he said.
“Wrong answer. Rigormorio!”
His entire body seized up, before he fell backwards into his chair and rattled the foundation of this rinky-dink little building he called a home. I heard him gasp, since the sting of the spell, especially on a brute of his girth, could be a little painful at first, but it would wear off.
I was going to have to take out the big gloves for this one, and I couldn’t say that I was surprised. I guess it was foolish of me to think that he would give up just like that, but I had to try. Doing what I was about to do was a last resort.
“Hey, you need to close the door and watch it. I’m going to be a little incapacitated for a bit,” I said.
“Oh, okay. Got it,” Rosie said.
I took in a deep breath, pointing my wands towards his head, before diving into the abyss. “Cranius Redundo,” I said.
I was quickly sucked into his consciousness as his neurons fired, or at least tried to, around me. His memories rolled past me like an endless Rolodex, before I tried to orient myself towards the present. Scenes of prison, a disgusting and sweaty time at a brothel, and some kind of Mexican wrestling match flashed by, before I found something useful.
It was him, I was him, and I was walking towards a subway station after entering through the sewers, and apparently I wasn’t afraid of any trains coming at me. It looked a little run-down, maybe abandoned. When I came up to a wall I knocked on it, in a specific spot where the number sixty-one was written in paint, and the wall opened to expose an elegant indoor station.
A chandelier hung above as candles lit up the tiled station. It was large, with broken old train cars rusting along the tracks as if they were completely frozen in time. Music played on an old Victrola. A few vampires ran up to me. “Oh, it’s you,” they said, before motioning for me to come with them.
“Good evening, Theodore,” a man said. He was sitting at a table in a full suit with a pocket watch attached. He patted his mouth clean, leaving a red stain on the white linen napkin, before pointing at me to sit down and join him.
“Good evening, Mr. Benko, sir. I’ve done the job you asked me to do,” I could hear Theodore saying, with a sort of intimidation and nervous energy running through me. This was him, this was Benko. He wasn’t anything like I’d originally imagined, but I guess at the same time he was everything I’d expected of an eighteenth-century vampire. He was drinking blood, and he didn’t seem fussed about anything. You could see it in his demeanor. He had it all.
“That’s wonderful, Theodore. Per our arrangement, I’ll make sure your mother gets the medication that she desperately needs,” Benko said, smiling, his teeth glinting in the candlelight.
“Thank you, sir. I’m always happy to help you in any way that I can,” Theodore said.
“That’s good, because I do have another job for you, if you think you could handle it. I would think completing a job like this would mean you could finally get out of that little home of yours. I hear it’s pretty run-down,” Benko said.
“Anything sir, I’ll do whatever I have to,” Theodore said.
“There’s an auditor at M.A.G.I.C., a well-respected and seasoned veteran who, I believe—we believe—is working with the resistance and feeding them information. Now, this is a bit of information that you need to keep between you and I, you see. I don’t want our precious master to find out about this just yet. Do you understand? If you leak it, and let me be perfectly clear in this, I will kill you,” Benko said, his eyes glowing red, as he looked deeply into my eyes.
“I understand, sir. I won’t speak a word of it anybody, not even myself,” Theodore said.
“Great. I’d hope you wouldn’t, because the consequences would be severe. All I know is the one name he goes by: Mirian. He’s a powerful shadow mage, and he won’t be easy to spy on, but I believe you can get it done. Like I said before, there will be a lot in it for you, should you be successful,” Benko said.
“I will be sir, I promise. I need this,” Theodore said.
“Good, now get out of here before I get annoyed,” Benko said, shooing Theodore off.
I tried not to panic; if I lost control enough Theodore could ripple into my mind, which I wasn’t going to let happen. If that happened, I would have to kill him, and that wasn’t my way of handling these things. I started to pull myself out, the fabric of Theodore’s reality crashing down around me. I was sucked out, left standing there with my wand pointed at him, as I blinked and looked around the crappy little shack.
“Are you okay?” Rosie asked.
“Fine. We need to get out of here,” I said, turning around.
“What about him?” she asked, pointing at Theodore, who blinked and looked at us.
“It’ll wear off soon enough. He’ll be fine,” I said, before shoving her out the door.
“Is it that serious?” she asked, as we scurried away.
“It’s bad, but I got what I needed. We need to get back to the camp where it’s safe,” I said, before teleporting us back.
I wrestled with my thoughts the rest of the night, wondering if I should tell Mirian. I knew where Benko was, or at least I had a general idea where he always hid, and I knew I could find it and take him on myself. That way, Mirian would never have to know and worry.
On the other hand, I would want to know if somebody was plotting against me, and I didn’t know exactly when this memory took place. It could’ve happened before Theodore was in prison, or just earlier today. There was no way to find out without asking him, and he obviously wouldn’t tell me.
Mirian could be in serious trouble, and I would never be able to live with myself if something happened to him. Maybe I needed to have Faus give him a message to meet with me. Yeah, that was what I would do. He should hear it from me.
15
I waited on a rooftop overlooking the M.A.G.I.C. precinct two nights later, sitting on top of an air conditioning unit that had been turned off for the season. Faus had told me he’d given word to Mirian that I needed to speak with him and that it was urgent. He said he told him not to tell Pote, but who really knew at this point what he would do. I just felt it was better for me to tell him in person, myself, and not involve anybody who didn’t need to be involved.
I dangled my legs, the rubber soles of my heels gently tapping against the metal unit, when he teleported onto the building, appearing about ten feet away from me. “Lexa, what’s wrong?” he asked, looking concerned.
“Faus gave you my message okay?” I asked.
“Yes, he did, but why did he have to in the first place? You could’ve gotten word to me otherwise,” he said.
“I don’t want anybody else knowing, especially not Pote. She’s been treating me like a child, and she wouldn’t understand,” I said.
“Should I be nervous about what you’re going to say next?” he asked.
“I’ve been doing some things that maybe I shouldn’t be doing, at least in your eyes, but I’ve been doing them anyway. I’ve been going on missions to finish off the work with
the vampires,” I said bluntly.
He looked surprised, obviously not having a clue in the world, before scratching his chin and taking in a deep breath. “Okay,” he said, quite simply.
“Aren’t you furious?” I asked.
“I’m a little upset, yes, but I can’t say I’m surprised. I can’t imagine it’s easy for you being stuck in the camp. As much as I also vote for you to stay inside and kept safe, I know what you’re like, and I know after your work as an auditor and with this case in particular you won’t be able to just let it go. So what have you been doing, exactly?” he asked.
“Firstly, the others know about it, mainly Charlie and Britta. Blake also knows, but I try to keep him out of it. Before anything, let me tell you that they keep trying to stop me. They aren’t encouraging me in any way, so I can’t allow you to be mad at them or try to reprimand them. Promise me,” I said.
“If what you say is true, and they have been trying to stop you, I won’t reprimand them. You have my word,” he said.
“It started not too long ago, we went to the noodle shop the vampires are running to try to get more information about them. Pote knew about this one, and it didn’t go well. They drugged me, without me knowing, and I had to be taken out of there,” I said.
“I heard about that from her. That event didn’t particularly look good for you, especially in her eyes,” he said.
“Yeah, tell me about it,” I said.
“But what else is there? How many other times have you gone out?” he asked.
“It doesn’t matter. What matters is that they’re on to you,” I said.
“Who?” he asked, with a very cautious tone.
“I went and read the mind of a known associate of Benko, the man who was running the club. He’s the man who got away the night of our big raid. He’s a vampire, an ancient one from the 1700s, and he’s not somebody to take lightly,” I said.
“What does this have to do with me, though?” he asked.
“When I read the mind of the ogre he works with, Theodore, I saw a memory, an encounter, that Theodore had with Benko. Benko is hiding underground in an old abandoned subway station. The only thing I have on it is the number sixty-one. I think that’s his main base where he knows nobody will find him,” I said.
“There’s an old abandoned station called Track Sixty-One in Midtown. I’m familiar with the history,” he said.
“Okay, so that’s where that comes from, then. I wasn’t sure. Anyway, the ogre is just a guy trying to get by and take care of his mother, apparently, which Benko was heavily exploiting. Before he could leave, though, Benko told Theodore that he had another job for him that would allow him to leave the slums and work his way up. Obviously Theodore was overjoyed, and he asked about the job. Benko then mentioned your name, and he said that he had reason to believe you were working with the resistance in some way. He wants Theodore to get more information on you, but here’s the real kicker: he doesn’t want Theodore to speak about this to anybody, especially Kiren. I think he wants to use it as leverage in some way,” I said.
Mirian looked troubled, not speaking right away, as he paced and breathed heavily in and out. I could tell he was deep in thought; he probably hadn’t thought I was going to lay anything this heavy on him. Being undercover in M.A.G.I.C. was crucial for the resistance and the success of our operation. If he were flushed out, the rest of them would fall as well. Charlie, Blake, Britta, Faus—everyone. I knew that Benko had to be taken care of.
“When you read this ogre’s mind, could you tell how long ago this took place? The conversation, that is,” he asked.
“No, I couldn’t. It seemed somewhat recent, but I can’t give you an accurate timeframe. I think we need to take Benko out before he takes you out,” I said.
“No, I will handle this,” he said.
“Mirian, I can help. You know I can,” I said.
“It’s not a question of your skill or ability, Lexa. I know you would be of great help, and quite honestly I want your help, but it’s too dangerous to allow you to come along. If he were to get a hold of you, that would be disastrous. He might want to keep things from Kiren, for what reason I don’t yet know, but he would certainly hand you over immediately so that he could keep up appearances and make Kiren trust him even more. That would make it so he could strike Kiren when he felt the time was right. We cannot take those kinds of chances, not with you,” he said.
“Mirian, it isn’t fair. I want to come along, I want to help you,” I said.
“Lexa,” he retorted sharply, with an urgent sense of seriousness in his tone. I looked him in the eyes, his gaze stern.
“I’m coming. If you won’t allow me to do it with you, then I’ll do it by myself. I found out about this, I took the initiative, and this man has been eluding me for far too long. He’s going down, and I’ll be there to witness it,” I said, my tone matching his.
A few seconds passed in silence, except for the rumbling noises of the city below. We stared at one another, like two dueling cowboys, and I thought he was sizing me up, trying to figure out if I would relent. I wasn’t planning on it, though, unfortunately for him.
“I’m going to put together a team, auditors of the resistance, who won’t turn you in or try to arrest you. You will follow my lead, do you understand? You are not to do anything I don’t say,” he said.
“I can agree to those terms, so long as I’m included. What about Pote?” I asked.
“What about her? She doesn’t need to know about this rendezvous. It doesn’t concern her, it concerns me. I do need you to know something, though,” he said.
“What?” I asked, nervous.
“I do not plan on taking in this Benko. I will kill him where he stands,” he said, his cold glare sending shivers down my spine.
“Mirian, that goes against your beliefs,” I said, shocked.
“There are some men who cannot be allowed a chance at redemption, Lexa. Our precinct is overrun with Kiren’s men, and they would not allow him to be imprisoned. Benko would also give me up to Kiren as quickly as he could, obviously knowing for certain that I was working with the resistance. We cannot take chances during war,” he said.
“I understand,” I said solemnly.
Part of me wanted to be happy, knowing that Benko wouldn’t be able to terrorize the realm any longer, but I couldn’t help but feel sad too, and I didn’t know why. Was I sad for Mirian, giving up his morals and ideals, or was I sad because Benko was going to face death?
I was conflicted, and it was starting to tear me up inside. I understood why we couldn’t let him live, and it wasn’t like he hadn’t been around for three hundred years already, but it suddenly made all of this very real, and I wasn’t quite prepared for that yet.
“Is there anything else you need to tell me?” he asked.
“No, that’s it. When are we doing this?” I asked.
“I will need to put together a team first. I would hope within the next couple days. If Benko has me under watch, then we need to take care of him swiftly,” Mirian said.
“Just let me know, and I’ll be there. It was good seeing you, Mirian. I miss you,” I said.
“And I miss you, Lexa. We will take care of this, and then you won’t need to hide any longer. Be safe until I see you once more,” he said, before giving me a hearty hug.
I smiled, feeling the warmest feeling of love in my chest, before he teleported away and left me to sit alone atop the building. This case was finally going to be closed.
•••
Waiting around for Mirian to contact me was one of the longest and most arduous things I’d done in recent memory. I knew that there was a lot of work involved for him, having to find willing members of the resistance who were inside M.A.G.I.C., but it still hurt me to sit around and wait.
Part of me wondered for a quick second whether he’d lied to me and was taking care of it on his own, but I quickly shook off the thought. I knew he wouldn’t do that to me. He promised me
he would let me come, so long as I stayed near the back, and I had to trust him on his word.
I’d come to terms more with what Mirian said we had to do to Benko. I wasn’t necessarily sad that it was going to happen—this guy was a horrible sadistic man who was hurting countless people and doing whatever he wanted to benefit himself, no matter the cost to the people around him, including his victims.
I guess my issue was where we drew the line, if we did this. If we could easily take out Benko, taking his life away from him and killing him, would we just do that to anybody who was a threat to us, or would we make them face true justice? I knew Mirian couldn’t be skipping around and smiling at the thought of taking a life, but if it were for the greater good, maybe he would look past it.
I decided to keep our plans hidden from everybody here, including Rosie and Raul. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust them, or think that they wouldn’t screw me over, but I guess I just didn’t want to have to involve them. Telling people I was essentially going on an assassination mission wasn’t exactly easy to bring up in normal conversation. Not only that, but what if somebody overheard? This was something Pote would easily hear about, and that would jeopardize everything. She would never let Mirian get away with it if she found out.
My phone vibrated on my nightstand as I sat on my bed reading through a spell book that I’d checked out from the camp’s small library. It was a text from Faus.
“The plan will be enacted tonight. Meet where you talked to him before at nine,” the message read.
“Understood,” I wrote back, before locking my phone and setting it down on its screen. This was it—it was happening tonight. I felt nerves, butterflies, before I shook my hands and tried to calm myself down. I wondered how it would go. I wondered if Benko would be expecting us, or if he would even be down there to begin with. I wondered how many people Mirian was able to scrounge together, and if M.A.G.I.C. or Kiren would catch on. There were so many things running through my mind, but I needed to just let them all melt away.