by Jones, L. A.
Cato's nose twitched erratically. "Oh dear lord! Agrippa's hurt!"
Shayde, and Whisper both gasped while Kaiser tensed up. The entire group grew anxious and waited as Agrippa began to lower themselves. At first the descent seemed smooth until they got closer thats when the group got the impression that Agrippa was coming in too fast. Almost as if he was a jet about to crash and burn!
Agrippa's strength was starting to leave him so much so that he began to doze off.
"Agrippa, no! Don't go to sleep!" Aradia shouted but it was too late. His eyes closed but luckily it was just as they reached the building. The gargoyles caught the wounded Agrippa by his wings while Aradia flew out of his grasp. Kaiser realizing this raced forward and caught Aradia in mid-air.
"You okay?" he asked.
At first Aradia just feebly nodded. Until she gathered up her dignity and pushed herself out of Kaiser's grip. "Yeah I am okay I mean considering I got shot at and all."
Kaiser couldn't help but smirk. Aradia smiled too but then noticed Agrippa's wounds.
"Agrippa," she cried and rushed to his side. Several bullets seemed to be lodged in his arms and legs and there was a huge hole in his wing.
She gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. "Please let me help you."
"No," Agrippa moaned.
"What?" Aradia couldn't believe what he said.
"No I will be fine..."
"Agrippa, you got shot!"
"I will be fine I promise."
"But..."
"Look," Cato thundered, "he will be fine."
Aradia threw him a dark and bitter look. "Oh? And how do you know smartass?"
Cato, although puzzled at the insult, just pointed out on to the horizon. "That's why."
Aradia turned around just as dawn was breaking. Shayde and Whisper shrieked before rushing into the elevator.
I guess they forgot to take their sunscreen today, Aradia thought to herself.
She stifled a chuckle before turning back to look at Agrippa. Her eyes widened as his skim began to change color. She jerked back and fell on her behind. She crawled backwards as she saw the other gargoyles begin to change skin color as well. As the sun rays hit the gargoyles their skin seemed to harden as well.
Like stone, Aradia realized and sure enough the gargoyles eventually became stone statues.
At first, Aradia just stared in shock and then saw the bullets on the ground. How? She pondered, how did those get out of Agrippa's skin. She sat contemplating for a few moments before she snapped her fingers. The stone! As his skin turned to stone it forced the bullets out! Maybe this will be like the Disney Gargoyles tv series where after a good day's sleep they will be fully healed.
Aradia slowly got up and brushed the dirt off her outfit. Kaiser just hung back with his hands in his pockets.
"So?" he eventually inquired, "did you get the files?"
Aradia nodded but as she began to open the folder a yawn escaped her mouth.
"So you want to look over them?"
Aradia yawned a second time. "Maybe tonight."
Chapter Thirty-Two
Aradia tried but she couldn't get a fitful rest. In spite of her yawning, her mind was too plagued with questions. She had kind of hoped that by clutching the files she would feel somewhat comforted. Yet she still felt restless and eager to find out what was going on.
"Are you going to keep tossing and turning?" Kaiser inquired, "or do I have to have hit you with something?"
Aradia just stared at him sarcastically until he said, "oh God I am sorry."
Aradia just shrugged. "Hey it's alright I kind of deserve it. I mean after I am the one who is making you sleep on the floor."
Kaiser glanced up with a sneer on his face. He was indeed lying flat on his back on the hard wooden surface right below Aradia who lay on the couch.
"Hey now I am the one who insisted on it," Kaiser argued.
"I still don't know why," Aradia remarked. She propped herself on her elbows, still clutching the files. "I mean I am sure Shayde and Whisper have a guest room you can use."
"Look!" Kaiser snapped, "the fact that I am willing to bed down in a vampires' apartment should make you happy."
Aradia just stared.
"Besides," he added as he turned to face the ceiling. "I have dealt with worse conditions."
Aradia couldn't retort to this so instead she lifted her elbows and let herself fall back onto the couch cushion.
"Is it tough having your life?" Aradia asked after a moment of awkward silence passed between them. Almost immediately she regretted it. Oh god! What am I? Some sort of moron?
Kaiser just chuckled and said, "no more than anyone else's."
He exhaled a breath through his nose. "I won't pretend that I don't wish I could have a different life but I learned a long time ago that wishing don't do jack shit! It's action that changes things! It's action that makes things better. Moreover, bitching and moaning about my life won't change nothing. Yeah I never asked for any of this but no one ever does. Hey I bet you never asked to be the last witch did you?"
Aradia couldn't deny it so instead she looked away.
Kaiser nodded. "I thought not."
He then turned back to face the ceiling. "But like I said no one ever asks to be weird and a drug dealing werewolf is definitely weird. Yeah I sometimes hate being what I am but...oh well what are you going to do?"
Another long pause came between them before Aradia spoke again, "do you have any regrets?"
"Sure I do," Kaiser admitted, "but then again who doesn't?"
Aradia couldn't argue with that.
"One thing for sure though."
Aradia turned to look at him just as Kaiser sat up and stared into her face. "We didn't break into a factory and steal important documents last night jus to lie here and talk about my past."
Aradia chuckled while Kaiser folded his hands under his chin.
"We did all this to find out what the hell is going on in Salem." His eyes shifted to the files that Aradia clutched to her chest. "And possibly more."
Aradia laughed softly as she slowly drug herself up from the couch. She turned her legs to set them down on the floor and slowly opened up the vanilla folders. Kaiser got up from his seat on the floor to sit next to Aradia
"I thought you preferred the floor," Aradia remarked.
"The view is better from here," Kaiser said as he stared down her shirt.,
At first his words didn't register with her but after a while she finally understood the meaning. As a reflex, she clutched the vanilla folders to cover herself.
Kaiser didn't seem a bit fazed.
"You're a pervert," she spat venomously.
He smiled. "Is that a bad thing?"
"Yes."
Kaiser's smile grew wider as he leaned his forehead against hers. "I thought you would have guessed by now Rai that I am very, very bad boy."
He kept smiling in spite of Aradia's scowling. Until she slapped him in the face with the vanilla folders.
"Ow!" he cried out. "What was that for?"
"You have to ask?" Aradia retorted sarcastically.
She then finally opened the folder.
For the next two hours, Aradia and Kaiser went through all the files.
"Dear God! These people were making Rage out like Apple churns out freaking iPod's!" Kaiser said as he put down the inventory sheet.
"What I find interesting is that the larger quantity seems to go to specific areas," Aradia remarked. "It's as if this areas are being targeted."
"What's this?" Kaiser asked as he picked up a piece of paper.
Aradia shrugged. "I don't know. All I saw when I read it is one letter and then some weird word after it."
Kaiser's eyes searched the documents. "Hey!" he announced suddenly, "these aren't words, they are names!"
"Wait what?" Aradia said as she snatched the paper from his hands.
Kaiser pointed and said, "the words are last names. See? Berkoff, Patrov, Churner, Ala
rcon...
"Morales," Aradia gasped. "A. Morales!"
She couldn't believe she had missed it. On the list was indeed the name Morales with an A in front of it. A date was also marked right next to it. A date that seemed oddly familiar. Aradia peered at it until she finally recognized it.
Thats the date Adrian died! Holy crap! But then what do the other names mean?
Aradia made a mental note that once Shayde woke up she would ask to use her computer.
"Hey what's this?" Kaiser said as he plucked out another piece of paper.
"Hmm?" Aradia peered over Kaiser's shoulders.
" A month's supply: 110 grams of V, 110 grams of WW, 110 grams of F, 110 grams of S, and last but not least 220 grams of W." It's what Kaiser read off the list, which prompted him to say "What's that suppose to mean?"
Aradia shrugged and took the piece of paper from him. She then began reading off the list, "boil at 100 degrees temperature, crystallize, and then chip into pills. Have no one ingest fumes, or even taste one portion. Any consumption before crystallization may cause the consumer to erupt into fits of rage."
"Rage," Aradia repeated.
"Holy crap!" She gasped after a few moments, "this is the recipe for Rage!"
Kaiser's eyes widened as he yanked the paper out of her hand. "But what the hell does V, W, F and shit stand for?"
"You have never watched True Blood have you?" Aradia asked and sounding extremely sarcastic.
Kaiser didn't seem to notice. "No, why?"
Aradia rolled her eyes but then she paused. "Wait a minute! If V means what I think it means than W might mean..."
"Might mean what?" Kaiser raised an eyebrow.
Aradia didn't want to make any assumptions at least not without proof. And God I hope I am wrong!
Instinctively, she flipped the paper over. She was amazed to see more writing on it. Her amazement however soon turned to horror.
"Oh my God!" Aradia shrieked.
She immediately jumped out of her seat, sending papers flying everywhere.
"What?" Kaiser asked.
Aradia looked hesitantly back at the piece of paper. The way she stared at it made it seem more like a bloody dagger from a crime scene. She picked it up with and held it between two fingers, handling it as if it were a dirty handkerchief. Kaiser raised his eyebrows and looked at her in sarcasm.
"What's your problem?" He asked once he took the paper in his hands.
Aradia didn't answer him. She just walked right in front of him as if she were in a daze.
As Kaiser's eyes widened Aradia began to talk, "the back of that paper not only clarifies but proves what the symbols mean. 110 grams of vampire means a 110 grams of vampire DNA. In order to get that much they have kill a vampire and drain him dry. The same goes for the chemical WW. It's werewolf DNA made from the blood of a freshly slaughtered werewolf. The same goes for the fae, and shape-shifters."
"Maybe that's why all the faes disappeared," Kaiser said, "they didn't leave for another realm, they were all captured."
"The same goes for the shapeshifters," Aradia said. A wave of nausea swept through her and she put her hand on her stomach to calm it.
"But what if all this says is true," Kaiser began, his voice now quivering and sounding like he was about to throw up. "Then that would mean..."
"That consuming the drug Rage is basically a form of cannibalism," Aradia said softly, "yeah."
Kaiser looked like he was about to puke all over the carpet. He stopped however once he said, "but what does W stand for? I mean I know what WW stands for (werewolf duh!) but what does W stand for?"
Aradia whipped around. "What do you think?"
They locked gazes and awareness began to dawn in Kaiser's eyes. He leapt up from the couch, covered his mouth with his hand, and rushed to the bathroom.
Aradia then heard the sound of him retching like a hungover drunk. It was enough to make Aradia start throwing up too.
I took that drug, she thought to herself, I took it. Over and over again. I almost got hooked on it and the entire time I was basically consuming people. According to the paper there are no other chemicals used to make rage. They use nothing but other hidden DNA. In other words, people! The only ingredient in the drug is people! So the entire time I have been using it I have been basically consuming people. I have been eating people! I have gotten high off murdered people's DNA!
All this was enough to make Aradia scream and throw up but the last realization made her want to crawl under the sofa and die!
It's me! It's my DNA that is the secret ingredient that makes the drug work.
At first, she wanted to deny it. After all, her blood had not been taken so how on earth could they use her DNA? She brightened a bit until another realization hit her. Saul knew about the cave so others probably knew as well. My people hadn't been buried for over three hundred years. Witches's bodies decay much slower than others so...
My people, Aradia realized as she sank to the floor. She soon lay curled up in a fetal position. The other witches. My coven and god only knows who else that's how they got the DNA. Thats how they got the blood, and probably why they didn't bother to bury them. They didn't bury their bodies because they still needed them. So the entire time I have been using the drug I have been basically eating the remains of my own people!
Aradia's will to hold back her pain finally broke and she burst into long and agonizing sobs.
Shayde and Whisper almost had the same reaction once Aradia told them the truth but theirs were actually much worse. Shayde screamed while Whisper started clawing at her own arms. Shayde threw up in the kitchen sink at least three times while Whisper puked in a bucket still making long bloody streaks on her skin with her fingernails.
Aradia wanted to stop them but she could barely move. She still wasn't over the shock of what the drug really was, the fact that it had been used to kill so many people, and the horrible fact that Aradia hadn't been able to realize it.
How could I have been so stupid? Aradia scolded herself, how could I have noticed this? How could I have not realized what was going on.
From deep inside her, a nasty voice began to argue with her conscience. Yes you did. You did notice the drug doing weird stuff. Bane told you about what was going on. Melina told you about Roy's alpha. There were over a dozen warning signs but you chose to ignore them.
Because you didn't care, a solemn voice now spoke inside her, you could have investigated. You could have helped but you didn't care. You were too busy partying and freaking out about your love life to care about anything else.
Another hour later, Shayde and Whisper looking more pale than ever. But well enough to help Aradia look up the other names. All of them leading up to obituaries where they had all died of a mysterious illness. There had been murder investigations but there had been no proof of foul play.
"It's cause the hidden DNA cancels each other out." Kaiser explained, "If a vampire drinks vampire blood it will disappear in like hours. Although werewolf DNA is different in addition to fae and shape-shifter give it enough time and traces of them will disappear as well."
"Plus it's the hidden world," Aradia added solemnly, "and death is no strange thing to them. If someone dies they don't suspect foul play and move on."
Shayde shrugged. "It's cause we vampires are practically invincible. It takes a lot to kill us."
"The same goes for werewolves," Kaiser argued.
"In the end," Whisper stated firmly, "the other hiddens don't do anything because they assume almost nothing can kill us."
"Especially not a mysterious illness," Aradia muttered. She threaded her fingers together, making a fist. She then leaned her forehead against it, sighing heavily.
"What I don't understand is why?" Shayde asked as she pointed to the list, "why assassinate these particular people?"
Whisper nodded. "Yeah and why spare the other leaders? What made them so worthy of killing?"
"It doesn't make any sense whatsoever," Kaiser said
as he flicked open his lighter. After he lit his cigarette, he blew out a few rings.
Aradia was still at the computer and with her head bowed. Although it didn't seem like it she was listening to every word the others said.
"Okay," Shayde said as she clasped two hands together, "what do we know so far?"
Kaiser and Whisper didn't say anything so Shayde started to tick off the things they knew on her fingers. "One, we know the people poisoned were leaders of werewolf packs, fae courts, and shape-shifters. Two, we know the poison used was the drug Rage. Three, we know specific areas were targeted hence the large amounts of Rage being hauled there. Four, we know some areas were spared for an unknown reason. Five, we know there are suppliers in every city. Six..."
"It's part of a plan," Aradia suddenly murmured.
They all turned to look at her but Aradia didn't return the favor.
She still kept her head bowed and went on. "The people being poisoned, and the drugs being made. All of this is too well coordinated and well thought out that it can't be a mere coincidence. It's all part of a plan. One big bloody puppet show!"
"Well then who in the hell is pulling the strings?" Kaiser demanded.
Aradia opened her eyes slowly before muttering, "I don't know."
The others looked extremely crestfallen at least until Aradia added, "but I do know how to find out."
Chapter Thirty-Three
"Well?" Morgan demanded. "Have you convinced the witch to join us?"
Saul hung his head heavily and few tense moments passed before he lifted it.
"Morgan," he began, "there's something I need to tell you..."
"She's escaped hasn't she?"
Saul sat stunned and then nodded softly.
Suddenly his head jerked up. "Wait a minute, how do you know that?"
Morgan shrugged. "I am familiar with your methods Saul. When the Sovereign staged the coup, I personally researched all of the soldiers he had taken under his wing."
"But it matters not," she quickly added, "because the Sovereign has reconsidered the whole situation with the witch."