Life Slowly Faded

by Kieran Double

  “Only a few. Why did we leave?”

  “We were refugees. A war broke out in the 19th Century, a civil war. Traditionally, we were ruled by Kings, the Nobles, and we tried to break free, set up a democracy. It didn’t work. So we ran. Most of us, anyway. A few still live there, but official policy is not to help. The Resistance believe in violence.”

  “Official policy? Do we actually have a government?”

  “Slow down, little bro. We do, called the United Councils. Forty of the states have a Council, and Ontario and Nova Scotia in Canada also have Councils. And I’m not really sure it counts as a government. For the most part, we’re supposed to follow the normal laws of the US. They do collect taxes, though, or at least the Huntsmen do, but most of its spent protecting the Sehervolk and the Ungefährlich Verstecktvolk from the Gefährlich Verstecktvolk. That and preventing the rest of the population finding out about us. It would cause a lot of trouble.”

  “I’m sure it would,” I agreed, rather cynically. “Anyway, this Huntsman… thing. What about our parents? Muller and Schlaukopf said they were Huntsmen.”

  “Mom was a Rotkäppchen like me. Dad, he was just normal really. I mean by birth he wasn’t a Huntsman, but he helped out, even when he couldn’t see the Verstecktvolk involved properly. After a few years, he developed the ability himself.”

  “Why couldn’t you have done that to me?”

  “It’s not that simple, Marlowe. The Sight can normally only be inherited, or given by a Noble, and no one gets on well with them. Dad was lucky. Exposure to Verstecktvolk, them willingly showing themselves to him enough times, gave him the Sight. Muller tells me it has something to do with the brain, that the normal human brain can’t comprehend what’s seeing, so it pretends the change hasn’t happened. Dad managed to convince his brain otherwise. Muller says it’s dangerous. It could have driven the old man crazy.”

  “It didn’t, though.”

  “Luckily. Mom said that it was nearly driving him mad, protecting the Verstecktvolk, when he couldn’t even see them most of the time. It wouldn’t have worked with you, or it mightn’t have, anyway. That wasn’t a risk we were willing to take. You were a child.”

  “Are John and Uncle Teddy Huntsmen? And what about John’s children?”

  “They are. The twins are Novice Huntsmen.”

  “Are there any other Huntsmen in Washington?”

  “Only one. We call him the Loner. I don’t even know his name. Lives out in the forest, near Mount Rainier. Doesn’t have any children either. So at the moment, there are only four fully qualified Huntsmen and Rotkäppchen. There aren’t many of us left anywhere, but Washington’s in a state of crisis at the moment. We’ll be fine in a few years, when the twins qualify – and you now. There’s what? – nearly a hundred and fifty thousand Verstecktvolk. It’s our job to protect them from each other, and to protect the rest of Washington from them. That’s about forty thousand Verstecktvolk to each one of us. An awful ratio. It’ll be easier now, with you.”

  “You’re not a qualified Huntsman, but you’re a former police officer. That’ll be invaluable in our work. Before we had to rely on Schlaukopf and his brother, and they’re not Huntsmen. You’ll learn pretty quick to trust only a few people. I trust Schlaukopf and Muller, because I have to. I cannot work alone, but I cannot work with the others either, or we’d never get everything covered.”

  “I suppose I will be invaluable, as if I’m not always,” I said. Schlaukopf’s brother was a Lieutenant in the Washington State Patrol. I’d met him a few times before, cases mainly, but the occasional social function too.

  My smile dropped. I asked a question that had been niggling me for a while now. “Did Annie’s murder have anything to do with us?”

  “I have no idea, Marlowe. I’ve no evidence that it was connected to my work. If I did, I would tell you immediately.”

  I knew she was lying. She knew something. What, I didn’t know. But she knew something she wasn’t telling me. I abandoned my Coke on the coffee table.

  “Marty…” Ashley called after me. I didn’t hear her properly, closing the door behind me.

  The Fox’s Den was quietly busy as always. I sat to the side of the bar, nursing a Jack Daniels. It was my regular spot. For nearly an hour, I drank, slowly enough. ‘Course with bourbon getting drunk doesn’t take very long. Over at the snooker table, a few regulars were betting on a match. I watched, half-interested.

  “Detective?”

  “Trix, what d’you want?”

  “Do I need a reason to see you?”

  “I would rather you did,” I said, slightly annoyed. Trix was a Confidential Informant of mine. She usually referred cases to me. I suppose she was about the same age as me, but I wasn’t sure. Trix probably really wasn’t her name. Pretty, if nearly anorexic, black hair and seductive brown eyes that could melt a man’s heart, she was a hardened prostitute. Probably an addict as well, but I had never asked and didn’t care. Her profession made her well placed to refer cases to me before the employer even knew. Most of the dirt was boring, cheating husbands, but occasionally, if the wife had enough money, I took the cases. In any respect, she was a strange sort of friend.

  “Don’t I know it, Detective?” said Trix, leaning against me.

  “What happened to being discreet?”

  “I thought we scrapped that idea ages ago.”

  “That’s the first I heard of it,” I said. “Do you have any information for me?”

  “I will. Once you buy me a drink.”

  “Jack, a gin and tonic for the lady,” I said, gesturing to the barman. “So, what is it?”

  “Some lawyer by the name of Brian Hunter. He slept with a friend of mine. Apparently, he has a girlfriend, told my friend all about it. Ashley something. Didn’t get a second name.”

  “Thanks,” I muttered softly. I ordered another Jack Daniels. We sat in silence for a long while.

  Eventually, Trix said, “What do I get for my troubles?”

  I slipped her a hundred dollar bill. “Thanks again,” I said. “We done here?”

  “We are now.” Trix retreated to a nearby booth, leaving me to muse over the infidelity of Ashley’s boyfriend. What would I do with that information?

  Artie Schlaukopf sat up on the seat she had vacated. “What you doing here?” I demanded.

  “Just keeping an eye on you, Marty.”

  “For Ashley.”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “Doesn’t mean it’s not true.”

  Schlaukopf smiled at me ruefully. “Who’s the lady friend?”

  “An informant.”

  “An informant on what?”

  “Everything and anything. I’m a PI. I can’t use the Police Department intranet anymore. I need to find information in other ways.”

  “Look, Marty, little Susie wants to see you. D’you want to come over? Just for a bit” said Schlaukopf, finally getting around to what he had come for.

  “Yeah, sure,” I answered.

  Schlaukopf had three children, two boys and a girl, all teenagers. They had all inherited their father’s red hair. Little Susie Merkel was in the sitting room, on the floor watching TV, getting her hair plaited by a clearly nervous Amber, Schlaukopf’s daughter. Almost immediately, I saw them both change, Merkel into a Wolfmann – her nose elongating, her face growing dark facial her hair, and big ears sprouting from the side of her head – and Amber into a Fuchsmann – pretty much the same, just with red hair and less prominent canines. I kneeled down to speak to Susie. She ran forward.

  “Mr. Phillips! It’s so good to see you again,” she said, embracing me. “Mommy said you’d look after me. You have to find my father. He is a bad man. He killed her. You have to find him.”

  “I will, Susie. Don’t worry. I’ll find him,” I said as I released her from my returning embrace.

  She stood there in front of my, twiddling her feet back and forth. “Captain Schlaukopf said you were a Huntsman.”

  “I
am, Susie.”

  “You hunt Wolfvolk, don’t you?”

  “Only the bad ones,” I said, grasping her little hands in mine “Your mother was a good woman, and I know you’re a good girl.”

  Tears appeared in her eyes. She transformed once more, but I did not recoil. “But I’m a Wolffrau, a monster. Just like my father.”

  “You’re not a monster, Susie,” I said, my voice gaining a tenderness I’d forgotten I could manage. She slipped back into human form. “And don’t you dare let anyone tell you otherwise. You can control yourself if you really want to. Your mother was able to, because she was strong, and didn’t bend to the monster inside. Until you let that take over, you will always be a good person, like your mother, a brave and strong person. I know you can do that. You just need to believe in yourself. Once you can do that, you can do anything in the world you want to.”

  “Anything, Mr. Phillips?”

  “Yes, anything.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Phillips,” said Susie, embracing me again. I put my hand on the back of her head, pulling her close. She started sobbing. “Mr. Phillips! Thank you for believing in me. Daddy said it was impossible, that we had to make do with what we were. Mommy was always fighting with him, throwing stuff. She said it wasn’t fair on me.” She looked up at me, kneeling as I was. “Mr. Phillips, will you take me away from here? Captain Schlaukopf’s a good person, but these Fuchsvolk – they’re all scared of me. You’re not scared of me, are you?”

  “No, Susie. I just want to protect you.”

  “I wish Daddy said that to me. All he ever did was hurt me.”

  “I won’t hurt you, Susie. Not ever.”

  “I know you won’t,” Susie said, leaping onto me. I rolled back, as she revealed herself. The wolf from inside emerged. I could sense the Schlaukopfs withdrawing, but bizarrely she didn’t scare me. Her eyes were the same, piercing blue. I could see the little girl in my head, and most of her body was the same. Just the head was different. The soul inside was the same. A little girl’s. A little lost girl without any parents to look after her.

  “Whoa! Careful. I’m not as strong as you,” I exclaimed, lifting her into the air joyfully. I felt something I hadn’t for a long time, not since Annie. It was hard feeling that again, without her at my side. In an instant, I imagined that Annie, my only love and wife, was lifting Susie the way I was, parentally. I wished that could be the reality, the three of us against the world because the truth still stung too true.

  A while later, I sat in the Schlaukopf’s kitchen, a steaming cup of coffee in my hand. Schlaukopf looked at me queerly. “You know… I’m beginning to think Merkel would be better off somewhere else. She’s right. We’re afraid of her, all of us.”

  “Where would she go?”

  Schlaukopf nodded. “That’s the problem. She could go with her uncle. That might work, but she doesn’t know him well, and he reckons it would be better if she was fostered by a Fuchsvolk family – or another canine Verstecktvolk species. I mean normally protocol in a situation like this would be to hand her over to your sister, but Ashley’s never been one for protocol, and you know… how things are with her and Brian… I’m not sure she’d be the best foster-carer – in any case, even if it wasn’t a Wolffrau…”

  “It’s very bad between them.”

  “I know she’s back with Muller, but I thought that was just a ploy.”

  “I’m not so sure. Brian did something it’ll take her a while to forgive.”

  “Where are you getting your information? Bit of sibling support?” said Schalukopf, more confused than I ever remember him being. “Doesn’t sound like the Ashley Phillips I know.”

  “It doesn’t, no. I… have people.”

  “People…”

  “Contacts. They know stuff.”

  “Like that lady friend of yours. A prostitute?”

  “Yeah. How did you know?”

  Schlaukopf shrugged. “I spent some time in the Vice Unit. Hate to admit it, but most prostitutes seem to have a…”

  “…hardened…” I supplied.

  “Yeah, hardened look about them. Your friend had it. You not going to tell me more.”

  “I don’t see why, Captain,” I snapped. “She’s my sister, not yours. I’ve already told you too much.”

  “Marty… You have to see the bigger picture here. She’s one of only four Huntsmen in the State. We need her. If she’s going through emotional trouble at home, it’ll affect her work. With you, I suppose it will be easier. You’re a good detective. That’ll help a lot.”

  “Alright,” I agreed reluctantly. “Just without the kids. This isn’t for their ears.”

  “Out the lot of you,” said Schlaukopf, shooing his children away. They cleared out reluctantly, clearly eager to hear the rest of the conversation. I didn’t know how much they heard about Huntsman business

  I sighed, once we were alone. “It appears that Brian employed the services of a prostitute. That’s why they’ve broken up.”

  “Your lady friend tell you this?”

  “Yes. And stop calling her that,” I said, beginning to get annoyed with him

  “What’s her name, then?”

  “She calls herself Trix, but I assume that isn’t her real name.” Once again, I was curiously incurious on that count. She had that effect on me.

  Schlaukopf sighed. “Look, if it won’t work with Ashley, then maybe you could take Susie.”

  “Me? You sure social services would let me? What with my nervous breakdown.”

  “Trust me,” Schlaukopf said, putting his hand on my shoulder. “I could convince them to.”

  “You really want to get rid of her, don’t you, Schlaukopf?” I said curtly.

  “Honestly, Marty, yes. She’s dangerous, even if she doesn’t mean to be. I’m not sure I can have her around my family.”

  “I know, it’s… complicated,” I agreed, still annoyed.

  Schlaukopf looked at me, more like a superior officer than a friend. It was only recently I had realized how close we had become. Muller, I got, but Schlaukopf… He was a mentor, but the word friend had only just entered the equation. “You know, I’m starting to think Walker’s right. You’ve changed Marty, and maybe not for the better.”

  I shrugged empathically. “I don’t have Annie anymore, and she was always the best part of me.”

  6

  Siblings

  Hansel said to Gretel ‘We shall soon find the way’, but they did not find it. They walked the whole night and all the next day too from morning till evening, but they did not get out of the forest and were very hungry, for they had nothing to eat…

  (Hansel and Gretel)

  I spent the rest of the night sitting up in my apartment, nursing a Jack Daniels. It was a small affair, just big enough to accommodate two people. There was a kitchen and dining room next to the front door. To the left of that room was a bathroom, complete with a bath, and, to the right, the bedroom, with a king-sized bed and a wardrobe. There was a small office room next to the bathroom, but I rarely used it. The floor was littered with paperwork from old cases. I hadn’t kept the place clean. That had been Annie’s job.

  There was a picture, next to the cooker, of us happy and joyful. We were smiling, both of us. I hadn’t smiled like that for two years. Just pure joy, love and affection. Annie was on my back, her arms clasped around my neck. She was smiling the way she always did, smirking nearly. Her long light brown hair curled around her symmetrical face. Specks of brown infected her green eyes. I loved those eyes. I loved everything about her. But there wasn’t any us anymore, just me.

  I laid my guns out on the coffee table, cleaning them. I had a black Ruger SP101, chambered to .357 Magnum. Its handles were made out of a polymer, the frame was an aluminum alloy. I had bought it when I first became a police officer. I’d never shot it in anger. It was just a backup, forever stowed away in a dusty ankle holster. The 9mm Glock 26 next to it, however, I had shot in the line of duty quite a few times. A so-cal
led plastic gun, nearly all of the frame was made out of polymer. The magazine carried ten rounds.

  Then there was my grandfather’s 1936 Winchester Model 70. Its magazine carried five .270 Winchester cartridges. I used it occasionally for hunting, but I’d only gone a few times in the past two years, since Annie was killed. The Winchester had sat in a corner of my office, gathering dust. My grandfather had given it to me when I turned eighteen. He said it was a real man’s gun. And it was. But my personal favorite was, of course, the Colt Python.

  I had a strange feeling they would all come in handy soon. My life had changed again. I might have finally someone to blame for taking Annie from me. But that gave me no peace of mind. The answer was as terrible as the reason, which meant it was actually my fault. My family’s. The damn Wolfvolk. I had to protect Susie at all costs.

  I arrived in at Headquarters, on the corner of 5th Ave. and Cherry Street, at eight o’clock. As usual, it was cloudy outside, threatening, but not raining. Seattle was always like that. It depressed me even more. In a way, I hated this city, with its rain and its clouds, but it was all I’d ever known, and leaving would have hurt. It was, after all, home. And it probably had an undeserved reputation for rain anyway. Mount Rainier, or what little I could see of it, loomed over the city. It seemed ominous on clear days, far removed from everything. A volcano, waiting…

  Marching towards Schlaukopf’s office, I noticed Walker glaring at me. Muller just nodded. I walked into Schlaukopf’s office and sat down, not asking permission. “Can I be part of the Merkel case?” I asked, more stating a soon to be fact than really asking.

  “I’m not sure whether we’d be able to hire you, Marty,” said Schlaukopf, clearly reluctant to give anything up.

  “I don’t need to be hired. Just to be involved. I made a promise to Susie, and I’m going to keep it, whether or not you want me to.”

  “Fine,” said Schlaukopf, chuckling to himself. “You’re hired. Ninety dollars a day.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Just try not to piss Walker off too much. He’d love an excuse.”