by P. S. Power
'Thank you Gwen. Why don't you stay here, this time? Unless you want to watch? It's much better from the inside... Also better without puppets. I should have known that Detective wouldn't send us anyplace too interesting.'
She didn't particularly want any of it to happen, and still kind of hoped that she was right about what Bethany would be doing, which was more in line with a heart to heart chat, done with all their clothing on, but there was nothing for her to do after that. She was just floating, in the black inside Katherine's mind. As far as she could tell, there was no way out at all.
Gwen was trapped there, in the dark, alone. Almost, totally, but not quite. The only other thing there at all was a sense that the world was about to rip at the seams and take her to a place that wasn't too dissimilar from where she was. The only difference being that other void was going to be filled with terrors that the human mind simply couldn't survive.
Inside, not able to help herself, Gwen Farris screamed.
No one heard her.
It felt like it went on for a long, long time.
Chapter eleven
Gwen woke up with a strange taste in her mouth.
At first she figured that it would be the flavor of Beth's intimate parts, but she recognized it after a bit as just having a dire need to brush her teeth. Unless that was what women were like, the morning after. She didn't have the kind of experience to know, one way or the other. It wasn't until she tried to stand the the whole thing came into focus.
The first clue she had that things weren't correct in her world, being incredibly clever as she was, had to do with the shackles on her wrists and ankles. Cranking her eyes open and lifting her head, she saw the green glow and strange sigils that signaled them as being null radiatives. The ever popular way of trapping a magician into not using magical power too easily.
"Beth! What the fuck!" She screamed the words, not really caring if the other people in the hotel had a problem with it.
The idea that her best friend would have lovely-dovey time with the women in her head against her will was horrible enough, but now they were going to leave her chained down to a cheap bed in a strange room, just to round it all out. That couldn't be allowed. In short, she decided right then, some asses were about to be kicked, and hard.
"Bethany Westmorland get your ass in here, now!"
'That won't work, I'm sorry to say, Miss Farris.'
The voice in her head didn't sound smug, or contrite, so it was hard to figure out what was going on from just that.
"What, the freaking hell, is going on here? Kat, I swear if you..." She had nothing. There was not one thing that Katherine could tell her that would make sense of this situation. Gwen's mind reeled for a moment, trying to work out what was actually going on. It was a stark contrast, the light of the room, versus the total black of where she'd been.
The fear was still there, from being locked away like she had been, kept company only by her imagined doom.
Katherine took a deep breath, and sighed.
'Eh. Well... You see, things are a bit unsettled at the moment. I suppose I should explain?' Then, because people always did things like that when they didn't want to go into their personal failures, the pretty interior voice stopped dead, leaving with a sense like all momentum had suddenly just vanished.
"Yeeesss?"
Gwen didn't want to be one of those people. The kind that always jumped to conclusions, then turned out to be wrong, but as she glanced around the place she was in, she kind of had to. For one thing, while nice enough, it had a hospital feeling to it, rather than the rich rainbow colors the hotel room had. This was all in pale ice blue, and white. Stark and crisp. The sheets heavy under her. The bed she was chained to, and she was connected solidly, had a metal frame, complete with rings for the shackles to be linked through. They were all far too heavy for her to rip out, though she gave it a solid try then, just in case it was weaker than it looked.
It wasn't the case. The things were, as it turned out, quality enough work that her wrists started to ache like they were on fire before she was done.
When she was finished, feeling thwarted and a bit scared, Katherine finally started in on her explanation. Gwen understood, almost instantly, why there had been foot dragging involved.
The other woman had a lot of explaining to do, and none of it was exactly happy making.
'You see, I'd been trying to find a way to escape the Western Kingdom for a while now. Ever since we lost in the cave, to be precise. Nothing against you, mind, but I do sort of want to have a life of my own. So, for a while I'd been taking steps to make that dream come true.'
"Uh-huh. Okay, so, what did you do? I keep hearing past tense in your little speech. All of it, let's have it all now, thanks." It wasn't really like she could force the girl to squeal on herself, but she managed to sound angry enough that there was a sense of being a bit upset in return.
The glow lamps on the walls had blue glass covers over them, which made the whole place feel cold, even if there was plenty of heat. Sweat was collecting under her arms, where they touched her nearly naked body. She wore something that was a bit like a hospital gown, but made of thin and very lightweight cloth material. It was far from the long cotton things she'd been given the first time she was in the hospital in this world.
'You see, a while ago I discovered that you didn't know what I was doing all the time. When you slept I could take over, and you were clueless about it. It took some effort to test things, but it was true. I learned to take over, without you knowing it was happening. So I worked out a plan. It was hard at first, as I had to wait until no one else was around, asleep or occupied in other ways, but I worked out how to call on some of my old contacts. Friends of Erin's. That was how I set up the assassins for mother. Luckily Brenda is wealthy enough to pay for it, and willing too, since I couldn't have come up with the funds for the life of me. Not without you noticing.'
"What! Why the fuck would you do that?" Gwen rattled the chains a bit, trying to get loose, but couldn't move more than a few inches in any given direction.
'Why? I just told you, didn't I? I don't have any lucre, so I had a good reason. If father died first, all of it would go to mother. My plan was to get him to sign it all over to you, since they both feel they owe it there, and then have him killed too. That makes sense doesn't it? Then when you had all the funds, I could just seize control and use it to move outside of the reach of the Westmorlands. Only, as you no doubt saw, the Men In Black weren't nearly as good as their reputation would have it. So I needed a different plan.'
She sat for a bit, feeling a combination of fear, shock and rage. Then let it all go, using what focus she had at the moment.
"I see. It was about getting money? A lot of it, but still, they're your parents... Isn't that a bit cold blooded? Even for you?"
There was an audible snort then, which nearly hurt it was so sudden.
'Come along, Miss Farris. They were in my way, and had betrayed me, time and again. The instant they knew I was in here, they should have hired specialists and magicians to try and free me. Did they do that? Did they even hint at helping me in the slightest? No, they chose you, an alien, over their own flesh and blood child. I owe them nothing. Nothing! Surely you can see that?'
Gwen could see crazy working around to that end through mental gymnastics, but didn't mention that part. She could also, she had to admit, see the girl thinking that she should have her own life back. Yes, she'd fucked up, and stolen the wrong woman, but she'd had help in doing it. Brainwashing, to be exact. Otherwise Kate wouldn't have been able to nab someone from a different reality like that. She was strong, magically, but not exactly a magician, or well trained to use her powers. It had to have been done from outside of herself, which meant that there was a chance the girl was actually innocent of wrongdoing.
Before she could say that though, the other girl went on, as if it had been stated verbally.
'Which is all understandable to think, from your per
spective. I'm not insane however, and regardless of how things between us took place originally, I was trapped and desperate. You are actually the only person that is looking at this reasonably, Miss Farris. I've heard you, thinking how I deserve a life, and shouldn't have to be trapped inside while you lived mine. Even how you were planning to give that to me. I know you hadn't come to that decision consciously yet, but it was there. The others however, Bethany, Heather and my parents, they would have never allow that to happen. I'd made the wrong mistake, and they had the perfect replacement for me. The daughter and friend they'd always wanted.'
That was news to Gwen, but she didn't spell it out. There was no need for it, not now.
"On the good side I know part of why everyone was acting so funny with me for the last weeks, now. You were off hiring hit men, and plotting against everyone. That, and trying to have sex with my best friend. I... That's so gross, you know that? I mean, I didn't even do anything, now I have to look her in the eyes, knowing that you-"
There was a rattle at the door, and a man came in.
Gwen tried to focus on the whole picture, taking in everything she could. He was in what looked like standard hospital scrubs from back home. A light blue tunic, and loose drawstring trousers. His face was a tiny bit oily, as was his black hair. His skin was white though, and he had blue eyes. She just waited, since the man was smiling, and didn't seem to have a weapon ready to go.
Then he spoke, his voice a bit clipped, and totally foreign. She couldn't even tell what he said, it being in a different language than any she knew.
Europan, to be exact.
In this world that was actually a time shifted form of Mongolian, since Attila and his family had been good with magic as it turned out, and taken over almost all of Europe and had held onto it for a long time. The fingerprint of that was left on the culture even to that day. They loved horses for instance. Not just for food, either. They used the things occasionally in the Western Kingdom, but almost everyone had one here. It was like Americans and their cars nearly.
Her mouth moved, and words came out, if a bit hesitantly. She had no clue what she was telling the man, since it was Katherine doing the talking, not her. After a bit her pillow was fluffed for her, the man being very professional and not copping a feel while he did it, and her wrists were checked for chaffing. There was some, from her pulling on the things earlier, which was noted on a clipboard at the foot of her bed.
She hadn't seen the thing at all, since it was hidden away under the left hand side of the bed frame as it was. It lent to the hospital like feeling of the whole thing. Those kinds of places never let you see your chart, if they could help it. Probably because they wrote down mean things about people in code on them. If you were around too long you learned what the different letters meant, and then you could get all crappy about it.
Then they spoke for a while longer, the man finally waving affably enough, and taking his leave. He probably had other patients to get to.
As soon as he was gone, she spoke, using English. It was a relief to hear it.
"So, how did we end up here? I take it we're in Europa somewhere?"
'Indeed. You see, I'd failed in my plan to gather my freedom, and the riches needed for a good life, so I had to move to another one. Thankfully you'd started your project. You being able to rift gave me a bargaining chip. Not that I needed it, to be honest. Not in the end. It took great work to make contact with the right people however. Especially with that Westmorland witch watching me like a hawk the whole time. Do you know that Bethany was just playing with me? That night, in the hotel? As soon as I put you away for the night, the witch started to scold me. Me! As if she hadn't been coming onto me the whole trip. The tease.'
Gwen made a considering face. That sounded a lot more promising than whatever sexual position might have been in the offing. A lot better to her. Maybe she and Beth were still friends even.
'It was humiliating, and she'd done it on purpose. So I ran out, and evaded her long enough to make my way to the docks. I may have loathed all the running you did back then, but it paid off, didn't it? She never got close to catching me. From there I used some of your funds, and booked passage on the first ship I could find that would get me out of the kingdom. It was a tramp freighter, but the Captain let me bribe him for passage. I had to service him and the First Mate for a month as well, which was humiliating, but finally we set into Britia. The Europan islands? After that I was able to make contact with the government, and set up a bargain.'
Gwen processed the story, running over it several times in her head. Finally, she just had to ask, since there wasn't enough to go on otherwise.
"Wait, how long have I been out of it? Over a month, unless you're lying, but..."
'Ah, yes. It's a bit longer than that, Miss Farris. You see, the Europans were most interested in learning how to rift, and while I can't do it myself, I was able to show them how to get it done. The training used is the important portion of it, and since I know how to use Doctor Debussey's magically aided mesmerism, I dare say their new program for it here is much more efficient than the one in the Western Kingdom. We didn't have to torture people at all, for instance.'
Gwen's first impulse was to sit there sputtering the word what, over and over again. Then screaming came to mind, as a proper response to the whole thing.
Instead she managed to lie there calmly, and nod a bit.
"Okay. I suppose I can see that. So you sold rifting to them, and probably how to do that sort of mesmerism enhanced by operant conditioning, for... All this, and the use of a bedpan on demand?" She glanced around the room, and then down at the chains.
'Yes. It rather seems so. As you might surmise, that was not the original bargain I made. I worked with them for years, setting the whole thing up. Two and a half, and when they had it all, every bit they could get from me, they tucked me in here, instead of rewarding me as they claimed they would. Other than the chains, they haven't mistreated me, but it isn't the life I envisioned at all. So, here we are. It's been three years for you, and for me as well. I know you might be a little upset with me. It seemed to be working for most of it though. I swear.'
It was time for some name calling.
Three years. Her entire life in this new world would be gone then, if that was the case. It could be a trick though. It didn't feel like she'd been out of it for any real length of time, for instance. Long enough that she needed to brush her teeth, but no more than that.
If it wasn't a lie, or a joke, then everything was probably gone already. Chris would have moved on, and married, or at least given up on seeing her again. On the good side they'd never been all that close, so it probably wouldn't rip his poor world apart, thank goodness. The Vernors would have given her up for dead, or at least assumed, rightly as it turned out, that Katherine had taken over and run off.
Beth and the others, they'd...
Gwen didn't know that one. They would probably go on, after a bit.
Sighing, she shook her head, and noticed that it didn't move right. She definitely had a boy cut now.
'They did that as soon as I got here. It's easier for them to manage, they said. This is some kind of sanatorium. A place for the insane? A rather nicer one than what we'd have gotten back home. Anyway, that's the story, up to now. I was hoping, if you wouldn't mind, do you think you could help us escape? I don't know where to go, but staying here for the rest of my life isn't a grand option.'
Rattling the chains, which glowed at the cuffs with strange green sigils, she understood what her part in it would be then. The null radiatives would stop most people from using their skills, after all. In fact, they might even stop her. Bethany had mentioned to her once that she could use her telepathy, even with them on, since the Westmorland training was simply that powerful.
That was how she'd learned to do a few things, too. Her flying and energy blasts were out, for the moment, but she could probably teletransport, having gotten that skill under torture.
The trick there was actually different than that though. She had to think for a bit, before speaking.
"Why?"
'Sorry? Why what, dear?'
"Why should you go free? I don't love losing everything, and you kind of stole everything from me, twice now, but I guess I can see where you were coming from there. That doesn't give you an excuse to sell out your entire land. What kind of monster does that? Do you even realize what you did?"
'Certainly I do. I lived it. I made a mess of things, and ended up here!' The haughty and entitled tones were back, which made it a bit easier to deal with.
"Not that, though you did fuck up pretty royally. No, I mean the part where you endangered the entire world. If one side has super weapons, they might or might not use them. You didn't just double the danger of that by letting two groups have them, you made it much more likely that they would, trying to keep the others from doing it first. Worse if that happens, the other side will have to strike back instantly, in order to make sure they aren't destroyed out of hand. Fuck."
She just looked up at the cool white ceiling for a while, and then shuddered. That was what she was going for, but it turned into shaking and didn't stop.
'I... Know that. Now. I didn't see that I had a choice, and I was offered a lot for my information and aid. Then they betrayed me. I could see it coming, a bit, but it was too late by then. Now we either escape, or die here. I guess the choice will have to be yours. I can't make you use your magic.'
No, all she could do was leave her there, in control of the body, as she peed into a bed pan on command every few hours. Gwen didn't say anything for a long time, just going along with the program, but all the people did was check on her, every hour or so. When that happened, they'd talk, or not, and make sure she was cleaned up occasionally. Every other day. They even had a female nurse for that part. Sponge baths, but at least she wasn't left reeking in her own filth.