The Gathering

by Michael Timmins

  As the woman entered his office, she strode forward as if entering her own personal kingdom and anyone who was currently in that kingdom better make sure they treat her as such.

  Zach closed the door and moved around his desk to sit down. The woman took the chair opposite him, but the girl remained standing and moved to the wall of windows and began peering this way and that in a somewhat distracting show of surveillance.

  He dismissed her. She obviously wasn’t the important one here.

  “You’ll have to excuse my bluntness here, but it’s late and been a long day.” He paused. “Who are you people?”

  This clearly wasn’t a social call. They were here on some sort of business. This woman had a proposal to make. What it was, and what it meant for him, he had no idea, but they were clearly part of some group, or organization who had reason to come to him.

  The clandestine nature of this meeting, the lateness of the hour, he being the only one at the office at the time, led Zach to believe, regardless of outward appearances, these two were dangerous. Or at least, representatives of dangerous people.

  The woman smiled at him in a sultry way, but he had a hold of himself now. He understood the use of charms to try and sway people. He had been doing it for years. This woman was beautiful, and she understood its effect on people. Mainly men. She tried to use it to keep him off-balance. To keep his mind on her tits and less on the subtle nuances of her words.

  It wouldn’t work. At least, he kept telling himself that.

  “Things are happening in this world, Mr. Van Stanley.”

  “Zach. Please. Van Stanley always makes me feel like an elitist.”

  She smiled again and tilted her head in acquiescence.

  “As I was saying . . . Zach. Things are happening in this world. Things that will change the face of it for all time.”

  He frowned at her. This had the sound of a sales pitch, but as to what she was selling he had no idea. At his frown, she had paused, and he smoothed his face and motioned for her to continue.

  “When you turn on the news in the upcoming days, you will discover of what I speak. There is a new power in this land, and it is vengeful and angry towards what has been done to Mother Earth.

  “You and me. We share the same goals. To put an end to the waste and destruction of the most precious gift that is nature. The difference is, I have the power to enact that change.”

  Zach stared at her dumbfounded, unsure of what she meant.

  Whatever this woman spoke about was foreign to him. What new power? Some new political party who had somehow come to power while he had slept last night? Or, had some new eco-terrorist group chosen to step up their actions? They must realize all it would get them was prison time at best or killed at worse. The only true way to wage this war was from the shadows, with calculated, sporadic attacks which harmed no one.

  “I’m sorry . . . miss?”

  “Kestrel.”

  “Miss Kestrel.”

  “No. Just Kestrel. I don’t use those archaic labels of gender”

  Oh. She is one of those.

  “Fine. Kestrel. I’m sorry, but to be honest, I really have no idea as to what you are talking about. What new power? What is happening in the world that I don’t know about? Are you with some new environmental group? If so, I’m sure we can work together to pool our resources and move toward a world that is free of CO2, poachers, loggers and unregulated commercialism.”

  She shook her head. “We are not part of some environmental group. I am a sworn protector of the Earth. I am a druidess; whose task was to keep nature safe from civilization. Long ago, I failed.” It was clear by the way she said those two words that they stung her. As if failure was not something she could stomach.

  “A druidess?” He recognized the word, of course. They were some ancient sect of priest in England, weren’t they? They worshipped Stonehenge or some such thing? Stonehenge. The menhirs of Stonehenge had all recently fallen. Could that have something to do with why they had come here?

  “Well. A druidess. It is as you have said. We want the same things. However, you have alluded to the notion that you are prepared to take things further than I have. Not that I have done anything but hold rallies and made speeches, of course.”

  “Of course,” she replied with a tone which implied she knew how inaccurate the assertion was.

  They shared a smile.

  “That being said,” he began, spreading his hands wide, “I would be willing to hear your proposal.” He leaned forward. “You do have a proposal, I assume. That is why you came here. You need something from me. So. What is it?”

  She offered him a sincere smile, which now he saw it, he realized how insincere all her other smiles had been. Oh, she is good.

  “I like you, Zach,” she stated and glanced toward the girl. He started. He had totally forgotten she had been there as she had made no sound or drawn his attention to her in any way.

  The girl offered Kestrel a sour frown and Kestrel snorted, and the girl’s frown fell away and was replaced with a cold look.

  Kestrel dismissed it. “Oh, calm yourself, Shae. I meant no insult. I just know you lack trust in anyone you just met, especially a man. I laughed at myself for looking to you for an opinion, knowing precisely what I would get.”

  She turned back to him.

  “You are correct. I do need something from you. I need your organization. Its resources. Mainly . . . your members.”

  She held up a hand to forestall his protest.

  “If they, and you, truly believe in what you are fighting for. I offer a chance to actually win that fight.”

  Zach stared at her. She must be insane. It was one thing to fight for things to change. But none of them, even the most die-hard believers, deep down, truly believed they would ever win this fight. Oh, they could win a few battles here and there. Win some new regulations. Close some bad companies and put their CEOs in jail. But to actually win the fight? What would that even look like?

  “Win the fight? What do you mean?”

  “Show him.”

  “My Lady?” the girl protested.

  “Shae.” The woman’s voice brokered no argument.

  Zach stared from one to the other. Not sure what he was supposed to see.

  And then it happened.

  The girl changed right before his eyes. Pops and cracks sounded as the changes started to take place. It’s her bones! Bile rose in his stomach as her body seemed to tear its way out of itself. Brown hair, or fur sprouted over almost every inch of her. Her face jutted outward, elongating and forming a long snout. A long, pinkish scaled-like tail erupted from her tailbone.

  When the changes were done, she looked much like a humanoid rat.

  “Holy shit!” Zach scrambled up, falling out of his chair, scrambling to his feet, and stumbled back against the wall.

  “What the fuck is that!”

  “That. That is the weapon that will win this war.”

  And like that, the girl returned to her human form, the change no less sickening to Zach.

  He gulped and was rewarded with a little acid rising into his throat.

  “I don’t . . . I don’t . . . what?” His mind couldn’t focus on anything. All he could see, all he could feel, was the horror of that monster which had stood where now a young teenage girl stood. He couldn’t take his eyes from her though.

  “There are more of her kind. More Weres. They carry the power of Lycanthropy within them. You know this word?”

  Zach gathered his thoughts. Lycanthropy? Yes. He knew the word. What was it again? “Werewolves?”

  Kestrel sneered. “The most common translation. Yes. It did, however, have more colonized meaning. It referenced humans who could take the shape of animals. Not only wolves.

  “The thing about lycanthropy is that it can be gifted to others.”

  His head whipped around.

  “What do you mean by . . . ‘can be gifted’?”

  “The power can be transmitt
ed through the blood. By a cut, or bite.”

  “Why would anyone choose to be that . . . that . . .” he motioned disgustingly at the girl, “monstrosity.”

  The girl narrowed her eyes at him and emitted a soft growl.

  “No offense,” he assured her and tried his best to recover his charm and smiled at her. “I’m sure whatever was done to you had not been your choice.”

  Her look softened. “No. It wasn’t.” She glanced toward Kestrel who seemed disinclined to halt her from speaking her mind. “It just . . . happened. A product of my heredity, apparently.” She took a step toward him and he involuntarily flinched.

  “I didn’t choose this, but it has made me strong. Now, no one will ever control me. No one will ever abuse me. And no one . . . no one, will ever imprison me. Ever again.”

  She trembled with anger as those words spilled out.

  “No. I didn’t choose this. But if I had the choice, I would choose this freedom.”

  Zach found he viewed this girl in a new light. She had clearly been through something traumatic. Something bad had happened to her, had left her feeling without control over her life. And it had been at someone else’s whim. And now? With what she had become, she could ensure something like that never happened again. He found he couldn’t blame her.

  Zach turned back to Kestrel. “What does this have to do with me?”

  She leaned forward in her chair. “An opportunity. I would offer this gift to you, but I see, you, for the time being, are uninterested in becoming more powerful than you could imagine.”

  The way she worded things. She was as capable as he in manipulating people to her side.

  “However, those of your organization might feel differently.”

  “Why do you believe so?”

  She cocked her head. “It is as I said. If your members truly believe, they will embrace this ability to enact true change. I am going to war. They will need to decide whether they want to win the war or continue to allow humanity to destroy this beautiful world.”

  She smiled again, not sincere, but calculated. “And, I believe, if you and I present this right, we will have no shortage of volunteers.”

  Zach sat back down at his desk and considered what Kestrel proposed. He had the numbers. His organization was worldwide, with most members living here, in the States. Altogether, he could rally several hundred thousand members. If, only half of his members were willing to accept this . . . gift, well, they would be a formidable army.

  A spark of hope came to life inside of him. For the first time after he was released from prison, he started to believe they might make some real, lasting change.

  When he was young and wild-eyed, he thought he could change the world. He had done some good, and had made some progress, but it usually only lasted until the next administration changed policies again. Then they were back to square one.

  Deep down he had always known it would take an actual uprising. The government, and most of the people were too entrenched in their ways of thinking. They were too attached to their cars, their electronics, their luxuries that only ripping apart the Earth could get. Poisoning the water and the air to produce them. Raping the world of its resources to manufacture.

  Environmentalism was noble in words, but not in action. Action meant sacrifice, and there were few people in this world willing to choose sacrifice. No. They wouldn’t choose it. They needed to be forced. They needed to be given no choice in the matter. And who would do that? Not our government for sure. Maybe one of the European governments. Never at the level it needed to be done, though.

  With Kestrel and her were-creatures, they could create an army to force change. To wrest control from those who lived in the back pocket of companies and give it back to the people who cared for the Earth and didn’t wish to see it exploited.

  He returned her smile, as calculated as hers.

  “Yes. I believe we can help each other.”

  Zach informed them it would take a few days, perhaps a week or so to ‘rally the troops’ as he called it. It seemed to Shae, Kestrel had already anticipated this and reacted nonplussed about the whole thing. They had left him there, in his office, already making phone calls and sending e-mails. The call would go out to all the activist groups E.A.R.t.H was tied to. They would come and together, Zach and Kestrel, would work to sway them to join the war.

  Since they had some days to kill, Kestrel surprised her the following day with an unexpected question.

  “How would you like to go shopping?”

  Shae eyed Kestrel quizzically.

  “Shopping?”

  “Yes. Shopping. That is what females do together in this age, isn’t?”

  Shae frowned. “I wouldn’t know.” Which wasn’t entirely true. She did know. Or at least, if Hollywood and TV’s portrayal was accurate, she guessed it was what they did.

  “I mean,” she gave an exaggerated shrug, “maybe?”

  Kestrel pursed her lips and clicked her tongue.

  “Forgive me. I forgot. You never truly got a chance to do the things girls your age should be doing.”

  She stepped close to Shae, reached out with both hands and took hold of her arms, drawing them forward, sliding her hands down as she did to take Shae’s hands in hers.

  “I also wasn’t given much chance to do what girls my age were doing around the same age as you.”

  Shae cocked her head. “Why is that?” She continued to hold Kestrel’s hands. The kindness and closeness of the gesture warmed Shae. Because of how George behaved at home, she had never brought anyone over. Had avoided getting close to anyone in order to avoid the inevitable self-invite over to her house.

  When it had only been her and Anne, it hadn’t mattered. Anne had been fun and crazy and, in some ways, much like the twelve-year-old Shae was at the time. They did everything together. Anne had been her one and only friend. At least, until George came into the picture. Unexpectedly, Shae had found herself bereft of a friend. Worse, she had gone from a safe home environment, to one filled with violence at any given moment.

  She had been a lonely girl.

  Then, she had been raped. Kidnapped. Tortured. Mutilated. And finally, transformed into a humanoid rat. All in all, her life had been shit for quite some time. Now, for the first time in a long while, she had someone who genuinely seemed to care for her.

  “Well,” Kestrel began, still holding Shae’s hands as she led her to the edge of the bed in their hotel room and sat them both down, angled toward each other. “When I was young. I began to show talent.”

  “Talent?”

  “Magic,” Kestrel responded.

  Shae’s mouth rounded in a silent, ‘that should have been obvious’, “Oh.”

  Kestrel smiled at her. “When it became obvious that I had an affinity toward nature, my parents apprenticed me to the local Druid.”

  Kestrel turned from her and stared off to the side, her mind leaving this room and travelling back to a time two millennia ago.

  “His name was Olt, and he was a harsh Master. I had little time for anything besides learning the ways of the Druids.”

  She turned back to Shae. Returned to this room.

  “He would wake me long before the dawn, for there were creatures who lived for the time between night and day. Animals whose entire day encompassed those early hours, before retreating at the fullness of the sun’s light.

  He would teach me about Druidic magic, natural law, the cycle of life and survivalism, long past dusk. I would usually collapse on my pallet and it always seemed I had barely closed my eyes before Olt woke me all over again.

  “I learned fast, though, under his tutelage. In time, he felt he could do no more for me and sent me away to the Calendar, where the Druids went to study.”

  “Umm . . .” Shae interjected. “What is the Calendar?”

  “Ah, yes. The Calendar is what they refer to now as Stonehenge.”

  That made sense to Shae. She remembered hearing something about how arche
ologists had believed Stonehenge was used to track the seasons, or the passage of time.

  One of the corners of Kestrel’s lips pulled back as she examined Shae’s face.

  “Anyway. It was a long time ago.” She patted Shae’s leg. “It doesn’t matter anymore. Needless to say, I spent most of my teenage years training hard to become a Druidess, which very few people got the privilege to do.

  “But it did mean I didn’t get a chance to really be ‘a young girl’.”

  Shae picked up on Kestrel’s reluctance to go into further details about that time, but perhaps . . .

  “I would love to hear more about your earlier life,” Shae began hesitantly. “If you want, some time?”

  Kestrel gave her a quaint smile. “Perhaps. Some day.”

  Kestrel stood and peered down at Shae.

  “So? Are we going to go shopping?”

  Shae offered up a warm smile. “Please?”

  Kestrel laughed softly and smiled back.

  For the first time in what seemed like forever, Shae went out without her long coat. Instead she wore jeans and a light blouse. It felt strange to not wear clothes which carried her knives or cover herself in case of a shift. A shift was still a possibility. They had lost their anonymity. Though Kestrel had been surprised, and a little alarmed as no footage of the battle made the news. Not the news. Nor any social media.

  There had been mention of a firefight between the police and some unknown assailants. Speculation of a terrorist attack and the use of explosives. Video of the aftermath was making the 24-hour news cycle. Mention of Were-creatures though? Monsters? Nothing. It was definitely disturbing. But Shae had been held captive by an unknown government agency. Experimented on, and yet, no one knew anything about it. So, the cover-up didn’t surprise her much.

  She assumed the authorities knew their identities though. So, it was only a matter of time before they were recognized, and Shae would be forced to protect Kestrel all over again. Perhaps hurt or kill someone. She didn’t want to hurt police, but if she got the slightest hint the members of that government organization who had held her was coming for her, she would kill them all.