by Lynch, S. M.
‘In 2022, a British team brought back one of those rare birds from the Foja Mountains. You might have heard it mentioned – the “Poison Fowl” or “Devil Fowl”.
‘Anyway, specialists at a secretive laboratory somewhere in Manchester were carrying out research on the creature when a lot of the nearby chicken and turkey farms were overrun with sick animals. Obviously those scientists did not contain the bird and its deadly virus as well as they thought they had. Either that, or it was purposely released. It was around March 2023 when hundreds of thousands of fowl all over the country were culled out of a fear that quickly spread across the rest of the world. This greatly devastated the food chain. Between the spring of that year and the winter, the flu had time to develop and mutate. It soon became so pathogenic that it was easily passed from person to person, and as if overnight, billions of people were struck down.
‘Mum and Dad were holed up with me at the shop at the time. He instantly knew what was going on and we hid indoors, only going outside if absolutely necessary. When Dad heard one of his Durham colleagues who lived in York had been struck down with the disease, he left us and went to nurse him. He knew he would certainly have some immunity having had it before, and didn’t worry about suffering from the mutated strain so much. His colleague Stephan had an underlying heart condition, and even though he was only in his forties like Dad, he succumbed to the disease and died. Dad returned home to Mum after Stephan’s death, leaving the body in the man’s house, unable to do anything with it because of the overrun hospitals and funeral homes. Stephan was an eternal bachelor and had no family.
‘Anyway, while Dad was away nursing his friend, some men visited the bridal shop looking for him. They were dreadful looking and aroused Mum’s suspicions straight away. She sent them packing with a story about Dad having gone missing on hearing about the flu. Dad was terrified when he heard and phoned his former colleagues, Harley and Simpson, but was unable to get hold of them. Then it broke on the news that the two men had both been shot dead… probably because they posed a threat, knowing what they did. Officium were intent on taking full control and needed to clear a path for them to be able to do so. That meant ridding themselves of blame and any leads back to the source…
‘Mum and Dad had Stephan’s body and they passed it off as Dad’s. In the chaos of the flu, nobody had the time to question whether it was Dad or not, and that kept the emissaries of Officium at bay. Yes… even back then Officium were scrambling their security forces. The fear of a pandemic brought so many into the fold because Officium promised to guard against any future outbreaks. Yet in truth, they were medical men gone mad. The idea that they let the virus loose is now a suspicion universally spoken. Yet, in a time of utter despair, Officium appeared the saviors, a rule to straighten out the chaos.
‘Instead of leaving the disease to rest out there in the jungle, they couldn’t resist bringing it back to the UK for testing. Whether intentionally or not, they enabled it to spread across the globe, seemingly with ease. The population explosion of 2022 may have helped its spread.
‘Dad as good as died in Officium’s eyes, saving him from interrogation, or worse yet, certain death. But it meant the loss of our lives as we knew it. I went with my father to live in that cottage in Stratford – the real Stephan’s holiday home. My parents decided I would be safer there than at the shop. Though she had declared Dad dead, people followed Mum’s movements for months after that, until they finally gave up and left her alone – convinced she knew nothing and wasn’t a threat. Once things had calmed down, she used to visit us at weekends, and whenever she could, but we always knew we had to maintain a cloak of secrecy. It was difficult, but we felt lucky to still be alive, to have survived such a traumatic event. So many people died during 2023, that nobody asked Mum what had happened to me and Dad. They just assumed we’d passed away like so many others and she adopted the guise of a singleton. I was schooled at home by Dad, and Mum threw herself into her work at the shop. We all took on new identities.
‘I studied medicine at King’s College before pursuing a PhD in virology at Manchester University, sure that was my calling. I saw what it did to my father having to hide for all those years and I knew I had a responsibility to get to the truth. He grew a beard and long hair, but even then, he feared for his life whenever he walked out on to the street. Mum saw the change in him too and it devastated us both to see it. Before that, he was such a jolly kind of person, laughing and telling jokes, always playful and chatty.
‘Being the daughter of Tom Bradbury, I had some insider knowledge of the virus that attacked humanity in 2023 and I used that to my advantage. I gathered people about me and made headway into viral research, but it was so difficult to achieve anything. Officium were very careful to remove all trace of their own research, and if the virus didn’t kill its victim, all it did was neutralize so there was nothing to work with… no remnants of immunity. The organization tried to recruit me but I refused a number of times, knowing I’d be risking Mum. The swines were calculating enough to take my name for their own gain when I too was forced into hiding after Dad’s death. They were desperate to keep their secret hidden and even more anxious to keep the world trapped beneath a blanket of fear – seeing to it that anyone who came close to investigating that particular strain was dealt with.
‘Now, you may be asking, how does the shop tie in with all this? I guess when Mum and Dad married, they hadn’t expected the business to take off as it did. It seemed Mum’s decision to do something unheard of earned her a reputation that got people flocking to her doors. I remember being very little and often waking up in the middle of the night to find Mum sat in a corner on a chair, having fallen asleep over some creation or other she’d been working on. She was so dedicated and she used to tell me it was because marriage had saved her and given her so much, that she felt an overwhelming desire to help other people achieve that. She wasn’t a romantic, no, she wasn’t a romantic at all. She saw the practical benefits of partnership and love, of security and solidity.
‘Mum built up so many acquaintances through her work at the shop that she saw an opportunity to quietly make enquiries about Officium. So many felt, as we did, that the new way of the world was corrupt and that something had to be done to bring the truth to the fore and reassure others that they need not live in fear. Trying to prove Officium’s culpability always seemed impossible. The bastards used the aftermath to their advantage, despite knowing they would arouse suspicion in anyone who knew about their secretive laboratories across the world. Taking over surveillance, intelligence services, even food and clothing chains, the world was at their mercy, and Officium did whatever it took to hide their part in the catastrophe. I guess it is true what they say about hiding something in plain sight.
‘UNITY had to operate in absolute secrecy to prevent Officium finding out about its existence. We’re only one of many resistance groups, but I suppose the success of ours was down to Mum’s curious profession. They never suspected her because she was a simple spinster as far as they were concerned, and I think you’ll agree she carried off the ruse quite well.
‘We all undertook courses and training to maximize our skills for the benefit of the cause. Mum’s ultimate skill was literally as a weaver of webs, a networker. She brought people together in the correct way, and was able to see what skills they could bring, as well as how they could be used. But our work has been a constant waiting game, a test of faith requiring extreme patience, a task we knew would only be accomplished if we could realize how to operate within the realms of seeming impossibility. It is only in recent years that Mum allowed her codename to be leaked, to instill an element of fear into their ranks following Dad’s death.
‘In the early years she spread the word amongst her customers that a resistance group existed trying to change things and they would be sent on their way with contact details if they wanted to join. They never knew it was her running the show. Only if they proved their worth would they get to me
et her. With Camille’s help, they expanded the building and set up a surveillance team beneath the shop. So many people offered donations to the cause, but she and Dad were so careful with money over the years. They invested in renewable energies – ironically the commodity that Officium are so desperate to make headway in.
‘She constantly battled to protect him, but nobody could stop the evil bastards killing my father in broad daylight, all because Officium found out the Plaza was a known meeting place of UNITY. They spotted him leaving the hotel and most probably killed him because of his connection to me… and they wanted me to fear them. The same happened to your parents, Seraph… they were spotted and paid with their lives. They were UNITY too. Eve learned that someone had betrayed the cause and she sent Camille after them. The Principal killed the man with one fatal blow. She spared no mercy for the person who betrayed both your parents and my father, the most brilliant man I’ve ever known.’
While Mara collapsed into a chair and looked down at her lap in silence, Ryken lifted up the armrest that was separating us and pulled me toward him. He held me tight like I might crumble but if either of them were expecting me to cry, they would be waiting a while. I felt free. I knew the truth. I still had an inordinate amount of questions and a black hole in my head, plus a numbness I didn’t ever think I would be rid of, but I realized my efforts had never been in vain.
He kissed the side of my head repeatedly and I pulled away from him to find out his game. Then I saw the look of fear in his eyes. I looked at Mara and saw her foreboding countenance too.
‘What is it? Why are you two looking at each other like that? Tell me!’
He remained silent while Mara appeared uncomfortable, as if she were plucking up the courage to say whatever it was she still had to impart.
‘Seraph, this won’t be easy for you…’ she paused. Time stood still. My heart pounded so hard I saw spots. I felt the rush of blood like a volcano erupting in my chest. I willed her to tell me and she muttered guiltily, ‘Ryken was an emissary. They didn’t sack him, he just got another job…’
Her subsequent words evaded my senses. I heard echoes once more, bits and pieces of lies and truths all driving me out of my wits, nothing lucid or meaningful.
I laughed out loud. I smiled so broadly. It had to be a joke! But when I looked between them, and realized it wasn’t, I went into shock and felt sure blood had just drained from my body as easily as it had been pumping around only seconds before.
My head swam and all I felt was let down. I brought my knees up again and twisted away from him. I hid my eyes from them both.
A female voice reverberated, ‘Perhaps you should spend the rest of the flight in the cargo hold Ryken.’ In the cargo hold, in the cargo hold…
Ryken
Mara returned to the cockpit to give us some time alone and as I stared down on Seraph, I feared the worst. She wasn’t angry. Her eyes had darkened with betrayal, while her fiery spirit retreated. This was worse than any show of aggression.
‘Seraph, I was going to tell you.’
She stood to begin pacing the floor and shook herself away from me when I tried to pull her into my arms.
‘Don’t touch me.’
‘I-I… was trying to protect you.’
I felt weak and afraid, limp and lifeless. I was nothing without her, not now, not having had a taste of what life with her could be like. Every day a redheaded goddess to hold and kiss, every hour a reminder of how worthy she made me feel, each moment a time to treasure the possibilities that lay before us. I felt I could almost touch our new life together. Nights spent making love and days spent in harmony, somewhere new and unpolluted.
Her vitriolic rant began, ‘I knew there was something about you, right from the start, something untrustworthy, and yet I trusted you, probably more than I’ve ever trusted anyone. I should have listened to my instincts. How could you lie to me all this time? After everything I’ve been through this week, I didn’t think it could get any worse!’
‘I’m so sorry.’
‘If you don’t get out of my sight, I will break your neck. Get in the cargo hold before I do something I probably won’t regret. You may as well have killed Ulrich yourself!’
She kicked one of the chairs and punched the air, screaming through clenched teeth. Finally, some passion, some uproar. It kicked me into action.
I fell to my knees behind her and held my hands around her legs, begging for forgiveness. ‘You don’t mean that, please let me explain. I can’t bear this, Seraph.’ I wanted to weep with despair.
She swiveled around and swung an arm out towards me but I caught it quickly. I pulled her down to the floor with me and held her wrists. While her eyes burned with fury, I tried to authenticate my emotion.
‘I love you, I loved you from the moment we met. I’ll never leave you. I’d never hurt you.’
I was deeply in love with her. I would pine forever if it meant one more kiss from her. I tried to pull her into my arms but she suddenly jolted herself free, swinging her flat palm out toward me.
The sound of the collision shook us both to the core. She was boiling inside, she couldn’t control it. I knew about needing aggression and passion to fuel a pursuit. She had yet to realize that she and I were so much the same person.
She sat back down in her seat and held her chin in her hand, seemingly lost in her own thoughts.
‘We’re done,’ she insisted.
I walked away knowing she needed time.
Seraph
I sat alone looking out of the window at the clouds rushing by, so furious with myself, so unbelievably disappointed at being taken in so easily by Ryken. All I felt was hatred, disappointment and heartbreak. How could he do this? I went into the bathroom and locked the door. I sat on the toilet lid and tried to gather myself but my emotions were spiraling out of control. I kicked the door, stood up and shook the sink. I punched a crack in the mirror and shouted, ‘Bastard!’
I was so incandescent but when I caught sight of myself looking manic in the mirror, I stopped to look into my own eyes. I began bawling. I didn’t stop until I was bone dry.
CHAPTER 24
The familiar skyline of New York in the distance gave me such a rush of relief. It was early afternoon when we left London but we were heading back to New York with a flourish of morning at our tails. How strange and wondrous everything looked, even the smog clouds. I felt much better after a fight with the onboard facilities and a damn good cry.
I started belting up when Mara announced our imminent landing and I heard someone behind me do the same, no doubt Ryken. I didn’t grace him with a glance and he kept his distance, knowing full well I wasn’t to be messed with in my current state. Too many revelations hurt my brain.
Parents were part of UNITY, which my aunt headed up – a dressmaker no less! New boyfriend/lover/accomplice – an emissary! Mara and Lucius – actual living relatives!
We landed and turned into a private hangar, giving me some time to speak to Mara in the cockpit.
‘Why didn’t anyone tell me about him?’
‘We needed to test his loyalty,’ she insisted, giving me a matriarchal glare like that I was familiar with getting from Eve.
‘Is there nobody capable of telling me the goddam truth? I am goin’ out of my mind here. What am I gonna do?’
‘Go home and wait.’
‘And what after that? Am I meant to forget everything I’ve been through with that man?’
When Mara didn’t react to anything I said, I became even more frustrated.
‘How can you be so cool? How can you people live like this, lying and deceiving and pretending everything is alright when it’s clearly not? I mean, you couldn’t even attend your own mom’s funeral!’
With those words, she snapped an index finger out towards me. Mara remained steadfast and spoke coolly, ‘What is the good of mourning those who are dead and free from pain? Especially when so many living are still in agony, slaves to those bastards. I k
now it’s hard Seraph, but this is what we have to do. We have been doing it for a very long time, long before you were even born and began upsetting the status quo. None of us who survived the flu have ever known any different.’
I huffed and puffed, grabbed her index finger and squeezed it. She didn’t flinch. We stared each other out and I couldn’t help but smirk.
‘You really were taught by Camille?’
‘Yes,’ she smiled, and held my hand in hers. ‘What did you think of her?’
‘The woman is… somethin’ else.’
Mara’s chest rose and fell heavily at the mention of Camille and I sensed something innate between the pair. Never seen together, but bound by their tutelage no doubt. A partnership that existed outside of physical bonds.
‘She is quite someone, you are absolutely right. Now, listen, you may need him yet. He can help our cause. Maybe you should hear him out? I don’t think he would have stuck with you if they’d managed to turn him.’
‘I want to kill him Mara, I do. He lied to me. He hurt me so badly. We already made love and… I regret it so much.’
‘You did?’ her eyes widened. She licked her lips.
‘Yeah,’ I boasted. How could I regret Ryken? Really? I knew we were made for one another. It scared me shitless.
‘He is enormous, no?’
‘There isn’t a word for it,’ I teased her. We laughed like sisters.
Something sharp and painful hit me, knocking the wind out of me.
‘What is it?’ she asked, frightened.
‘For one moment just there, I really felt like she was here with us. Because you, you, are just so much like her. So much in fact… it hurts. She would have asked the exact same questions you just did.’