by P. S. Power
Then as the sun came up, actually making a line of orange and rose on the slightly cloudy horizon, Tyler climbed to his feet and went inside. He was supposed to be eating more, so he made frozen waffles and covered them with real syrup. The expensive kind that he probably was going to have to replace. It was a lot better than the corn syrup with maple flavoring he was used to. He ate an entire box of the things, which was eight. That was a lot, but he didn't feel full. He wouldn't though, would he?
As he started to wash the dishes, Tina and Darren walked into the room. They'd been sent off to nap the day before, and were just now risking coming back. He would have said oopse, but they looked a lot better. Like they'd gotten enough rest to be useful for them.
"Hey people! What would you like to eat for breakfast? I can do... Well, a lot of stuff, actually. I had frozen waffles, but I can do real pancakes, or eggs? I don't eat meat, but I can make it, if you want? Cereal?"
Both of the people stood there, looking at him openly. Tina took a deep breath, and let it out in a slow shuddering hiss.
"Is there anything like fruit? I haven't had any in a long time."
Tyler tried not to react to her taking that much initiative with surprise. It took some doing, so he tried to hold the concept of feeling calm. Eve was right. It worked.
"We do have some. There was a nice looking watermelon and some fresh cherries. Darren? What would you like?"
He didn't expect anything, since as far as he knew the man didn't speak.
"Cereal, please." The words were soft, almost not being spoken out loud.
"We have several kinds to choose from. Let me see..." He got four boxes down, so the man could pick one, or even more than that, if he wanted.
Tyler served them, dashing around and setting it all up. A bit like they were guests, or maybe family. Darren first, since it took less time for him to set that up than the fruit. That was drawn out, since he didn't want to serve the cherries with the pits. It meant hustling though, to get that on the table in any kind of timely fashion. It was the right move though, serving them like that, it seemed.
By the time he was clearing away the dishes for them, Tina smiled at him in a way that didn't seem all that scared.
"I really thought you were going to eat us. Goethe said that, and... I had that happen before. My legs. They were grown back, by Xenses. He was killed. I don't know what happened, but before we could get away Goethe showed up and took us. Neither were kind, but we survived. Xenses... Well, that was my fault. I..." Then she stopped, and didn't speak for a very long time. He didn't prompt her to.
Darren, for some reason, his voice gruff with disuse, went on when the woman couldn't get herself to.
"We, years ago. I don't know how long ago, we were young then. We had a son. I... My parents, adopted, they... They were mages. I don't know if you've heard of that?"
He nodded.
"Sure. It's kind of a known thing now. People know about them. Vampires. Shifters. A lot of the other groups, but not all. Angels too. Greater Demons can't believe in them. That one isn't public really, except like always. I've met a few. Honestly they seem pretty normal."
There was a strange look between the two new people. It had a quality to it that spoke of something like disbelief. He shrugged at them and smiled.
"A few years ago a Vampire came out really publically. I mean, medical tests done on live television. Lifting up cars and things. A bunch of others did the same thing right on top of that, so it kind of stuck, even though Humans still have some difficulties with the idea. Then some of the other groups did the same thing. A lot of stuff was on television. I know a few Mages. Hiram Stone? Lisa Weise?"
Darren looked troubled and finally nodded once. A single movement that held questions.
"Hiram Stone? Lisa Weise? I... Well I've heard the names. Different types. Stone is... A criminal? Dad whined about him for a while. Weise, yeah. I met her dad a lot of times. He came over to talk with my parents. Kind of an asshole. I didn't really know them. Human, so there was no need to really have me in their world of magic. I was jealous. The whole thing, being weak and knowing I always would be, that ate at me. Burned inside. That was my undoing. I should have just moved on, and become an attorney like they wanted. My mom and dad."
Tyler could see that, if the road they'd taken had ended with them being slaves. Being a lawyer was better than that.
Tina found her voice, though it was rougher than it had been. An echo of pain long held. Of horrors suppressed, but not well enough to be forgotten.
"We had a son. He... He was perfect. Little and wonderful. A... A man we knew, a friend, came to us and told us that... That if we gave him our boy, he'd give us power. I knew what the Mages could do, but I didn't know at first what a Demon really was. He seemed so nice. Reasonable. All we had to do was give him what he wanted. We said yes. Both of us had to, for it to work."
Tyler waited then, watching them. That wasn't a good thing. A Demon couldn't have had good things in mind for the kid, could he?
Darren took back over, the handoff not all that smooth really.
"We were enslaved then. In agreeing, we were both taken. By Xenses. The Defiler. We didn't know what that meant. We learned. He... We suffered for what we did, giving him our son. We deserved it, maybe. That... There's no good curse words to describe him. Xenses wasn't just a monster. He was worse than that. We were tortured. Raped. Used in ways that I won't go into. He... He made our kid do that to us too. He forced him to eat Tina's legs, while she screamed. It went on for over a year, then one day, our boy was just gone. It was a relief. At least he escaped. Dead, but it's better than what he'd been being forced to do. We were never told what had happened. It probably doesn't matter."
That got agreement, a gentle murmur from the other party. Tina shook a bit, the story hitting her hard. Like it should. After all, she'd sold her own child to a Greater Demon. That should impact a person forever. He had a pretty good idea that they'd paid for their wrongdoing.
Maybe even enough to be equal to what they'd done.
When she spoke, her words sounded like they'd been run over a rasp first, or perhaps as if she'd been screaming instead of barely whispering.
"It went on forever. We weren't even allowed to die. Ordered not to. We were used to the breaking point, and healed, ten thousand times. More than that. The pain, the... I guess it doesn't matter now. What do you want us to do? I can suck your cock for you? Or Darren can, if you want? Or you can kill us? That might be for the best. We aren't really free. I hear that in death we can be."
He ignored the sex part, since it was too raw after hearing what they'd been through over the years. Instead he tilted his head a bit, and took a seat at the table with them. They were still right there, where they'd eaten breakfast.
"I... Worked out a way for you to be free. It's a bit rough, and you will die. You have to. But you'll also have a good shot at coming back. There are... Well, you know that there are two kinds of Greater Demon, right? The sane, and the insane ones?"
That got a look from Darren that was deathly blank.
"Yeah. We met a few of both. Honestly, I couldn't tell much difference."
Ty let his hand move apart on the table top, palms going up.
"Granted. The thing there is that The Line Walker is taking you on, to get you both free. It's an iron clad arrangement that he made with me. He's kind of known to be the nicest of the Greater Demons, in case you wonder why he'd bother. Not that he isn't a badass, too. He isn't one of the sane ones, or he probably wouldn't bother trying to help you." That sounded really mean, but it was also true. Keeley wouldn't have helped them out. Not without getting something from it, he bet.
The woman forced a smile and shook her head a bit.
"I don't want to get my hopes up. It hurts too much when things are stolen away again." There was hope in her face anyway. "Is this Greater Demon actually going to help us? Their kind lies, you know?"
"Well, I can't speak for him, but Za
ck has been pretty honest with me so far. I've worked with him a lot. In fact he helped set up the Coalition of Nations. Then, so did The Mistress of Souls, so we should be careful there. I work with him at his bookstore in Vancouver, Washington. Hartley and Co."
Darren stood and jumped back then, and Tina gasped. It was very dramatic, even if Ty didn't get it.
"Zachary Hartley?" She sounded stunned as the words came out.
Ty nodded.
"That's right. The Line Walker. Zack Hartley. Why?" He feared that there would be some kind of history there. Zack had acted really strangely around them the day before. That could mean something.
He was right.
Darren looked like a trapped animal, but explained it to him. It seemed like it was a bitter and desperate thing, both at the same time.
"Zack Hartley was our son. Our dead child."
Chapter eight
The storm that hit shortly after finding out that Zack was using the name of these people's dead son was sudden, real, and had hail stones the size of golf balls involved. There was an unnatural tenor to the whole thing, which wasn't lost on Tyler, even as he moved to get the house ready for the day.
Sitting around wasn't going to help anything, and Tina was having a meltdown. That was due to the fact that she was nearly certain the Zack was the Greater Demon Xenses. There wasn't a lot of moaning and hair pulling, but she went nearly catatonic and muttered to herself. Darren just seemed resigned to whatever was coming. His spirit so broken that the only thing he could think of was darker than Ty would have liked.
"I don't suppose you could kill me? Both of us? We aren't allowed to do that ourselves." The words weren't even bleak, just blank and a bit lifeless.
Ty tilted his head back and forth.
"I could check that out for you first? See what's up with Zack that way? So far he's been pretty cool as far as not being an evil defiler has gone, but I know we can't trust that part... Um..."
The thing that he needed to address was that all the people he knew to ask about Zack might just lie to him. Except his mother. She'd tell him the truth. Even if she forced him to lie about it later. She was busy though, trying to stop The Storm. Who, given the weather, was probably outside waiting for him. It was tempting to go and see. To confront the bitch before she could jump him again.
Not that it would help. He wasn't in her league as far as almost anything went. Worse, after escaping once, she'd probably just destroy him, this time. It put him at a small disadvantage. Instead he called The Technician. She might not help him, but at least he had good news for her. Not good enough to get loads of free information from her maybe, but then again, it could happen.
She picked up on the second ring, the voice coming from the hand piece of the house phone. A land line, of all things. It was a bit nineties, but still worked. Put in by The Mistress of Souls. Why she wanted one of those, Ty didn't know.
"Tyler?"
"Hey! Yes, it's me."
"Ha, I knew you loved me best. Things worked out with Goethe yesterday then? Given that you aren't busily rebuilding your body, I mean." It wasn't a question, though she still sounded really young. There was no pretense of flirting with him, so there was likely no one else around at the moment.
"It worked. I... Sort of got some slaves from him. Um, Tina and Darren Hartley?"
There was a cough, and a sound that seemed almost pleasant.
"I understand. One moment. Can I come there, do you think? I have an open allowance for it from Keels, so it should be all right that way. Back in the day I was her mentor, so we're close, for our kind. Is it good with you ?"
He thought for a second, and then shrugged, knowing that no one in the world was going to see him do it.
"Sure? We're having a hell storm though, so I might be about to come under attack. If The Storm didn't get her name for her bad temper."
"Interesting! I'll be over in... Call it three minutes? Be by the door to let me in. I don't want to get too wet." The phone clicked, so he moved to wait, having enough time for it. It was early still, being about nine. That meant no one else was awake, except the former slaves and him. He'd left them at the large kitchen table. They were both too upset to enjoy comfort, he was willing to bet.
When the knock came he opened the door quickly. Half of him expected Will to be there, but if that was the case, then win or lose he was fighting. Instead it was a girl that he didn't know. She was cute enough, having slightly round cheeks and a button nose. Also heavy set. Like forty or so pounds over what would have left her really good looking given her cheek bones. Her clothing was bright, and kind of standard, being jeans and a tank top that showed she wasn't lacking in the chest area.
She also looked about thirteen. True a thirteen year old that wore more makeup than was good for her, and who seemed to be trying to act about thirty, but also like she wasn't really making that happen. A false sophistication that bled into nearly everything. Even the way she brushed up against him as she darted into the mansion. The whole thing had to be contrived too. All of it.
"Hey love." She turned and gave him a hug, absorbing all the information he had about life in the single move. When she pulled back she winked at him. "I hinted to my friends that we're dating. So when the tabloids accuse you of being a child molester..."
He nodded, and closed the door, then playfully grabbed at her behind, missing on purpose.
"Then when that happens I out you to the press? Great plan. Don't ruin my singing career before I actually get one, will you?"
That got a laugh and a touch on the arm that probably wasn't needed, all things considered.
"You should be trying to hold a concept, like Eve taught you. It's a bit strange, having her mentor you while she's still learning, but these are odd times, so it fits. Anyway, if we aren't going to shatter the age of consent laws here, we should go and see to the new slaves. Soon to be ex-slaves. Zack got with me last night about that. It's going to cost him a lot, to borrow my Geordis like he wants. The time machine thing he mentioned? He was flustered. It would be cute, if that sort of thing wouldn't end up with him being dead forever. You need to learn what not to do from that example. If anything like that ever comes up for you, you need to try your best to throw your mother to the wolves." She walked on, clearly knowing where she was going, having gotten the whole scene from his mind.
As she walked she looked back over her shoulder, her medium colored brown hair just past collar length being brushed to the side.
"You were looking at my butt, weren't you?"
He hadn't been, so rolled his eyes.
"Nope. Start walking again and I'll try to do that now. What's with all the trampy flirting anyway? Just being a tease, or is this for a project?"
That got him smiled at, with no real glaring being involved.
"The second one, really. I'm Alli now, not Darla, in this form anyway. I still have to go back and forth between a few different personas, but it would be good to keep all of it in mind. Short for Allison. A bit of a micro-slut, but I'm old enough for you to have sex with in reality. That makes it easier to get the boys I want to do my bidding. I'm just starting high school in a few weeks. So, if you could use that name instead of Darla with my new friends? On the good side you can get unlimited fourteen year old hummers off of me. Well, for a year. Then I have to age up, or it will look funny." Her voice and mannerisms nearly fit the look.
Again he got the idea. She was trying not to seem dangerous, even though she clearly was. Anyone working that hard not to be noticed would be.
He didn't protest that she looked too young for him, since Ginger was in the same range, more or less. Thankfully he wasn't too much older himself. That part had to be hard for his girlfriend. It would be even worse if she were a boy. A lot of men might be willing to date a young looking Vampire woman, who was cute and could fake being a bit older with enough makeup, if it were done right. How many women would publically do the same?
Then, given all those female teac
hers that were in the news having slept with young boys, it might not be as big of an issue as all that, if the Vampire man was open about who and what he was. So, being polite he did glance at Allison's behind. It was nicely round, but in a far more average way than Darla or Keeley had going on. She seemed a lot more like a real girl this way.
In the kitchen the two slaves of Goethe looked up, and stiffened, even when Alli smiled at them.
"Hi! I'm Zack's Aunt, his mentor, too. The Technician. So sit back and shut up, because it's story time, boys and girls. Ty, would you like to sit in? You might as well know all of this, too." Her voice went from almost brutally hard when addressing the others, to soft and a bit gentle with him.
Showing that he wasn't in trouble with her at all, he thought. That was good. He had enough enemies in life already. Those cultists and their soul bonded life mates the feminists. Taking a seat, one closer to Allison the little girl Demon than was probably safe, given that their knees bumped when he did it, he settled and waited.
Darla, or Allison now, gave him a grin and reached under the table, to squeeze his knee.
"That's the spirit. We'll be in the tabloids in no time."
Then she looked at the other two and frowned so hard they both winced.
"Twenty-eight years ago my brother, Xenses, known as The Defiler, impregnated you Tina." She glared at the woman, then relaxed and looked over at Darren. "Don't get too mad at her over that. He looked and acted exactly like you at the time. She didn't know about it taking place, and probably couldn't track it back to the right date if she tried. It was he that got you pregnant however. Still, you both thought that Zack was your son when you sold him for power, so don't think you get out of the blame just by not being his dad now." She tapped the top of the wooden table, which was handmade, and while classic in style, felt new to him. The whole thing shook from the blow, startling everyone there.