by P. S. Power
She didn't answer right away, clearly bothering to think, rather than shout about how he was insane or stupid.
"I was with everyone last night. All night, except when people went to the bathroom. I fell asleep about midnight though, so I can't say for certain, after that. Rebekah was with me when I woke up this morning. Everyone else was gone. Then Becky came over, and she doesn't know about things? So Bal and Rebekah left, even though Becky knows her. Not that she's real though. Just that she's in a band and had some work done."
Zack nodded, and then leaned in a bit, taking her hand. The girl's life was sweet and simple compared to most. She knew some things, now, but in the main she was about as pure as anyone he'd ever met. It could all be faked, of course.
Probably not.
It was just so hard to trust anyone suddenly, thanks to the confusion of the last few days.
Which was, almost certainly, the point of the whole thing. Leaving him too confused to know which way to jump. The only thing he didn't understand then, was why?
Darla patted his shoulder, but didn't offer any answers at all.
Keeley just kept her distance, seeming more than a little wary.
Chapter ten
Zack went over everything since the last time Darla claimed she'd been with him, two nights before, at his house. He ended on the tale of Ann The Rotted, which got the older Demon to nod.
"I have memories of her that fit that image at least, which of course, means nothing at the moment. It's not a bad trick, inserting people like that. I wouldn't have thought that it would take place with quite so many Greater Demons at once, but it seems pretty well done, given who the players most likely are." She glanced at Hally and explained, which practically screamed to him that she meant if for Zack, but didn't want to risk insulting him at the moment.
"The Adversaries, of course. The insane Greater Demons. Normally they can't coordinate things like this by themselves for very long. That means that someone is controlling them, or at least making them play nice for a while. The only thing there is that Ann might have just shown up on her own. She's... Strange that way. Like Fram. Insane, but in a decently likable way. If it was her and she offered to be friends, Zack should take it seriously. If it wasn't, then..." She reached out, and patted Hally a bit. "Well, in that case, I'm betting that they've all scattered by now. After all, in about ten minutes we're going to go and start laying down some Demon traps at your mall, Zack. The more of them we catch the fewer will be reborn as something worse."
He'd gotten the story on that part at least. There was, roughly, a balance to the world, and the Demons in it. If one died, the next one to come along would tend to be like it had been. So if it was angry and insane, the next would at least be an agent of chaos. If it was good and orderly, the same thing would happen. Not always in the same way, not being a clone or anything, which was the danger, since the truly batshit Demons tended to live for a good long while, making trouble the whole time, and that meant, over time that there were some pretty dangerous things out there. The good died young, and cycled faster.
Hence trapping the enemies when possible. It meant that they could be taken out of play, at least for a while, without risking something even worse taking their place. True, eventually they'd escape, or be released, but in the mean time they were out of the loop and not causing too many problems.
Keeley was going of course, she said, but then shrugged.
"I can't really help."
Hally made a face.
"Because of that mentoring thing?"
Zack smiled at her, since she had that one right, without even being told. Clearly someone already had been getting the little cutie up to speed. He reached out and touched her again anyway, just to make certain she was still showing up as herself, and not some freaky doppelganger. She was just what she seemed still. The girl was simply smarter than she pretended to be, and had a good reason to pay attention. Greater Demons had already had a lot of results in her life. Not always positive ones.
Darla ran off, but her sister stayed and shook her head.
"Yep. I hate that thing, since really, in a case like this we should be moving in with about everyone that will go. If I were Xenses, or whoever is behind this, I'd be waiting for us there, ready to kill us all. In fact, even if we can't help directly, I'm going to make some calls. People should go... and look at your new shop. It will be like a party. You can hold as many of those as you want." She rose to do it and wasn't wrong, but Zack held out his right hand, getting her to stop.
"Nope. This is my problem. I'll handle it." It sounded good and even bold and brave, but he had no clue what he was going to be doing really. He did have a distraction for her though. "You, however, should get the real Rebekah around, along with her band. The fake her, and you, no doubt, promised to play at the Tarran 2 LA tonight in a special closed show. There are tickets, and everything. If they don't show, they'll look bad. Claiming that they didn't know about it isn't really going to work for most people, not this time."
That changed the mood a bit, which meant that he and Darla were able to carry several large cloth sacks full of magical gear to his shop, about three minutes later, without a pesky little sister tagging along to get killed. Darla had to help him, to an extent, being his nanny or whatever, but they were forced to go it alone, for the most part. The place was empty of Greater Demons anyway. It was like they'd all decided not to like him suddenly. Jerks.
Darla snorted, a bit derisively.
"Naturally. They couldn't make it that easy on us, could they? It wasn't even a trap for me, or Keeley, which would have been a good one. She's still too stupid to run away when confronted with overwhelming force all the time. That probably means that it really was, and is, about you. Which means that I'm not leaving your side for a while. It's a pain in the ass, you know that, Zack?" She grinned though and patted his arm gently, as if to reassure him.
Since he wasn't totally convinced she was really her, it didn't help that much, but he nodded, still carrying the bag of potent magical machines. That was The Technician's main skill, making things like that. On the good side that probably meant she was either really her, or had mugged the real Darla and stolen her things. Since that would have made a mess at her house, it was probably the first one.
He hoped.
"Well, that's going to make going to the bathroom later a bit awkward, isn't it?" He looked around the main section of the mall, which had a few people in it still, but no Greater Demons, other than them.
"Yep, it sure is. Well, you'll live and I don't really care, so there's that. Let's call Keels in then. So... I wonder who you had sex with, if it wasn't Rebekah? Fifty bucks says it was your dad." She watched him carefully, as if expecting him to suddenly do something weird.
Of course, she also had to be wondering if he was really himself, didn't she? He even seemed different, his mind being more unified than it had been. It could have been because he was faking it, right?
"No bet. I hope it wasn't, but if so, that doesn't count. I mean, I didn't know, right? For properly creepy sex it's no fair making yourself look like a hot Vampire woman."
"Sure, we can play make-believe like that if it leaves you feeling better. Or you can simply choose not to care. Either way."
He laughed and shook his head a bit, making himself do it.
"Fine. I won't care about things like that then. So, Aunty, how about you get on your knees and prove you don't care yourself?" He was kidding, but started to kill off that part of himself that would feel it was awkward, just in case she called his bluff.
She nodded. That was just the kind of being she was.
"Or I can grow a cock and you can do that? We'll have to try that soon too. I mean that, too. I left Keeley far too squeamish about things like that, so now if she ends up being gang raped later in the day, it's going to actually disrupt her thinking for a while. It was a mistake, but I really thought I had more time. No one goes through to being an adult in a few months like
that. Even she didn't really. Well, you can see that one."
Which he could. They'd even talked about it before.
Then, as if testing him, she dropped to her knees in front of him, and started to reach for the front of his black slacks. He shrugged.
"I get the point. Here." If she was shocked by him starting to undo his pants she didn't show it, but the people in the mall's main hallway were starting to stare a bit. That was probably because they were prudes. After a few seconds she jumped up, her voice sounding cute and girlish.
"Ha! I knew you were a pervert."
He nodded and smiled about it, faking a jovial tone.
"Yep, you caught me. So, should we go make that call?"
Linking arms with him, she led the way, pulling him subtly toward his own store. There was no need to talk about things, since, it was clear, they both were going to be pushing at each other for a long time, neither being truly certain who the other was. It was either that or she'd simply meant what she said about sex, and not having prepped Keeley enough for the world they lived in.
The truth was, he just didn't care at the moment.
What he needed to do was get something to eat and then...
Really, that was all. He could even probably take off for the evening soon, unless some line work came in. If all his new little Greater Demon friends were going to just take off like that, there probably wasn't a lot for him to do.
Palma had food waiting for him, which he took to the back office, with Darla buying some for herself. She paid full price, and didn't even ask about the family discount. That was polite of her, really.
The food was rich enough, and filling, but nothing he hadn't had before, so he just ate, keeping his senses open and trying to pay attention to the world. It probably made him seem paranoid, but Darla didn't call him on it. Instead she just ate for a long time, and looked around herself.
"This is a good space. Are you planning on more than one? Different node locations, and all that? You should diversify too. Maybe go into business doing something else as well. Three dimensional fabrication looks promising."
He blinked at her and then nodded, getting what she was trying to do. Zack didn't know much about three-D printing, did he? So if he suddenly spouted off reams of information about the subject, he'd look strange. On the other hand, she was his mentor, so it was part of her job to introduce new ideas to him. That subject probably really was the next big thing, so she was also doing her job, at the same time. It was brilliant.
"We need a better way to test and see if people are themselves. I should learn to change shape too. Everyone else around here seems to be able to, and that's leaving me at a disadvantage. I..." It was whiny, but he said it anyway, really feeling it suddenly. "I'm not handling this very well, am I? I'm, I don't know, tired of it already. Three whole weeks in and the whole thing seems like too much. I can't let my guard down, since if I do, then my brain will try to collapse. I can't just do my job, because dumb-asses are coming in on the first day and pretending to be other people. What am I supposed to do?"
He waved his fork a little. It was real silverware. Stainless steel, since real silver was asking for it to be stolen. The point was that Palma had suggested that food eaten with plastic was always less tasty, no matter what the flavor was like. It was a psychological point, but a real one.
"I mean, I know what I need to do, which is to keep going, and not let this garbage get to me, but is this normal? Tricks like this in the first weeks? I expected people to try and kill me, and pretty much just brush that off when it happens. I mean, it's the tradition, right? The rest of this, well, you neglected to warn me about it." He put down the eating tool and held up his fingers, one at a time. "I mean, don't take candy from strangers, check. Look both ways when crossing the street, got it. Everyone will try to kill me for about a hundred years... But the rest of this you sort of left off. I suppose I should have guessed at complicated plotting, but this seems a little over the top. Why not just kill me? I'm decent with the inroads, but that's hardly something worth doing this over. Is it?"
The pretty blonde shook her head, making her hair, which had just a tiny bit of curl to it, bob a little. Her skin was flawless, which was a sign that she wasn't a Human, if nothing else. Women didn't look like that. Not real ones. Even beauty queens had the occasional blemish, unless they hid it under make-up. Even then you could see tiny bits of roughness in places. She looked like an Alede, really, which was too much for most occasions.
"Seriously? No. It isn't normal at all. My take on this is that something really major is going to happen soon, and that they're using you, and Keeley, as distractions. That really will only affect Finias and I. Maybe Gregor. Since he's in charge of North America, more or less. Not that we aren't worth distracting, but it seems like a bit much for just us. Honestly... I think they're courting you. Both of you, over to their side of things. You make more sense that way, but Keeley is too strong to play with. It's one way that you know she didn't really try to take you last night. If the real Mistress of Souls had tried that, you'd be her slave right now. That or dead. Once that starts, there's no pulling back for our kind, which means whoever tried it simply failed with you, Zack. The Mistress of Souls wouldn't have. If she tried that, your only hope would be killing her before she could order you to do anything. That's always her first move, ordering people to freeze, so keep that in mind."
That had a ring of both firsthand knowledge and truth to it, but he didn't ask about the story. She'd tell him or not, when she was ready.
"I make sense, because of how messed up and insane I am?"
"Right. Keeley is perfectly normal that way, but you don't see reality correctly at all, Zack. On the good side, you do manage to try really hard and not make the same mistakes over and over. This latest thing, the integration of your alternate personality and yourself, that's helpful, but it isn't enough really. No one is meant to be exposed to the Lines for as long as you were, at such a young age. That plus being enslaved like you were, well, it broke you, as you know. You were steps away from becoming Xenses' unstoppable weapon. Really, I'm not at all certain he failed in that. The only thing there is that you don't work for him, but yourself." She dimpled at him, which was charming enough, he supposed. Not that he really felt it. He understood the attempt at least.
"Ah, it's my chiseled abs and rugged good looks making you think that, right? I get that from women all the time." He glanced down at his sticklike body, then pretended to flex for her. The muscles did stand up, and so did the veins, since he didn't have any body fat to speak of. He was just small all over.
She smiled, "yeah, except that you can probably lift a car by yourself, if you can balance it right, and you innately understand how to do that, don't you? You dodged Balthias in a full attack, and didn't even take him as a serious threat. On the lines no one can touch you. Not even Tarsus, I don't think. Really, that's why no one has seriously tried to kill you yet, I'm willing to bet. Doing that would just be too dangerous. Plus, if they, or we, can use you, it would be worth putting up with you being an airhead half the time."
That last was a jab, meant to distract him. It was so obvious he rolled his eyes and didn't comment. Instead he kept eating.
When he finished, he cleaned up, and waited on Darla, not knowing what they were supposed to do next. It was about five in the afternoon, and he had that thing later, if Keeley could get the band together in time. Really, if she hadn't been the one trying to enslave him, he should probably help get them, and their gear, into town. It would make for a nice peace offering. She'd seemed a bit scared of him earlier. Or, well, not fearful, since she wouldn't bother with that, but like she expected him to actually attack her. Or follow Ann's suggestion and blow one of her arms off? It was actually not a horrible idea. Not at the moment, since she might not have really done anything. In fact he decided to go with that for the time being, and claim she was innocent.
Later, when she really did piss him off, then it would
be a great thing to keep in mind. Like a spanking for a naughty little Demon girl.
Darla stacked her plates up, and looked at him blankly for a bit. Then she stood up, stretched to the ceiling and tried to kick him in the knee. He moved back, getting the idea that they were going to be practicing then. Without a time field even. That part was a sign of something, wasn't it? Darla, the fake one, had an amulet for making a bubble of time. It hadn't held him in at all. He'd wondered if that would work on most of them, and mentioned it, while trying to hit her several times.
She grunted, since the last one landed.
"Yes. A closed time loop is probably the most popular kind of demon trap. Not a lot of people can just ignore that sort of thi-" The sound of her jaw smacking shut was too loud to make out what else she tried to say.
Zack was willing to bet it had been, thing. After all, he was smart that way. They kept fighting, using a lot more skill than he had earlier in the day. She was better at it than he was, but that was a marginal enough thing really. Neither of them bothered to feel pain at all, and both healed fast enough they didn't need to stop, even when things broke.
It wasn't until she jumped back, and called out that things got interesting though.
"All right, stop. Not bad." She walked over to one of the tan cloth bags they'd brought and pulled one of the traps. "This is pretty much what we just talked about. A time loop." Pushing a raised projection, she slid it along in its brass looking housing. There were decorations on the outside, and indeed, as she tossed it to him, Zack felt time trying to close around him. He grabbed the box, as her voice went deep and slow. The thing clearly working as intended. "Try... to... break ... free..."