“Well, what do you remember?” I hoped she had something I could work off of.
“I…. I don’t know. I mean I remember a vision of a woman, she looked like her.” She pointed towards the back room where Arendiol was.
“But it was hazy, cloudy for some reason. Then I remember being in a small space, all these weird lights and controls everywhere, then I remember you.” She trailed off; her only memories were of being in a growth chamber, the life boat, then me saving her from her kidnappers. Not a lot of good childhood memories there.
I thought about how much to tell her. She was obviously smart and knew she was different, but I worried about telling her too much too soon. I didn’t want her to freak out, finding out you were Atlantean could be quite unnerving. That is, if you had believed you were human all along. Kim had a pretty different experience than most twelve year olds. Hell, she spoke to Neal, had no real memories of who she was to base herself on and was helping take care of a woman who had been shot. It’s not like she was living a normal American life to begin with.
“Tell her.” Neal’s sudden appearance at my side startled me.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that.” I muttered.
“How much do you want to know?” I asked.
She turned thoughtful, taking her time before answering.
“Everything.” She said.
I took a second, trying to decide where to start.
“Do you know what a clone is?”
“I have a working knowledge of many things, I don’t know how I know what I know, but yes, I know what a clone is.” She offered.
“You, Kim, are a clone. You have been given knowledge from an interface. You were grown in Atlantis and are Atlantean.” I said. She looked at me for a few seconds, trying to decide if I was joking.
“Have you noticed how strong you are? You are far stronger than a human, faster and heal quicker.” She stared at me in horror, realizing I was being serious.
“Kim, Kim.” I reached over and grabbed her arm, she looked like she was about to bolt.
“Hey, you’re not alone, I’m an Atlantean also, and so is Arendiol. It’s okay, you’re among others like you. You’re not alone.” I tried to soothe her.
“I don’t understand.” She said, pain evident on her face.
“Atlantis, isn’t that supposed to be some legend or something, an ancient city that fell into the ocean?” She asked.
“Yes, but most legends are based in fact. Atlantis is real; my mother fled from there and had me. I don’t know much more about it than that. She never told me much.” I said, I had never talked about my mother with anyone, but it seemed easy with Kim.
“So, I’m a clone? I don’t have a mom or a dad?” It was hard to tell how she was taking it, but I knew she was trying to figure it out.
“No, not in the classic sense.” I didn’t know what else to say.
“Then who am I?” She was on the verge of tears, it was killing me.
I went to her and knelt in front of her, bringing us eye to eye. I grabbed both her hands in mine and I was again struck at how much she reminded me of my mother, my heart twisted even more.
“That’s the beauty of it; you can be whoever you want to be. Your path is wide open, you can choose. You have a completely empty slate, your future is blank, your life is yours to control.” She looked down at my hands and then back up at me.
She launched at me and hugged me around the neck, squeezing tight.
“I’m scared.” She sobbed.
I was on the verge of tears, but I managed to hold it in.
“There’s nothing to be afraid of, I’m here, and I won’t let anything happen to you.” A single tear broke free and raced down my cheek.
“You promise, you promise to protect me?” She said into my chest.
I put my chin on her head, “Yeah, kid, I promise. I’ll keep you safe.” I answered, holding her tight.
I reached over and turned off the light after tucking her in. Kim was exhausted after all the excitement, I can’t say I blamed her, it was almost one a.m. I closed the door quietly, giving her the master bedroom.
The child has taken a liking to you. Neal said in my head, he sat in the living room.
Do you think it is wise to be attached to her? We do not know what will become of her.
My lord, we speak in each other’s heads, your feelings for her are evident even if we did not have such a link.
Agreed, but I just want you to understand that complicating your life will make it well, complicated.
She is healing, the suit has done its job and now her body is working, she should be awake the day after tomorrow. Neal settled down in front of the door, no doubt monitoring his perimeter.
I settled on the couch, closing my eyes. I knew if anything happened Neal would alert me instantly, it made falling asleep easy.
The next morning I awoke to the smell of fried bacon and eggs. It was heavenly. I sat up and stretched, seeing it was almost nine a.m. Kim stood at the stove; the sound of sizzling meat was music to my ears. Neal stood next to her, keeping watch.
“Good, now turn off the burner and then carefully transfer the bacon to the plate. Be careful it will be hot.” He coached her through breakfast.
I sat down and she brought me a cup of hot coffee, its steaming liquid burning my mouth a little, but it was worth it.
“Thank you.” I said to her, she looked at me and flashed a smile that melted my heart.
“You’re welcome, I’ve made bacon, eggs and pancakes, are you hungry?”
“I’m starving.” We sat down and ate one of the best breakfasts ever.
Afterwards I did the dishes while Kim and Neal went outside to play. She knew Neal wasn’t a normal dog, but it did her good to get out and get some exercise. I checked on Arendiol and made sure her I.V. was changed. Neal said this was the last bag we had, but it was okay, he didn’t think she would need any more anyway.
I went outside and watched them, Kim chased Neal around who jumped and bounced liked a real dog; it was hard to tell the difference. Eventually Kim wore herself out and came over next to me where I sat. We sat in silence for a while, both of us comfortable in it.
“Am I in danger?” She asked after a time.
“I don’t know.” She looked at me questioning.
“I was manipulated into looking for you and I don’t know why. Right now I don’t see you being at risk, but it’s hard to know. You are a unique and special child; until I know why you are here there is no way to know for sure.” I looked off into the distance.
“You know how to fight don’t you, how to defend yourself?” She stared at me.
I looked at her, eyes of a light grey and black hair that framed a beautiful face. Her openness was refreshing and she trusted me completely, that was something I wasn’t used to.
“Yup, I can handle myself.” I answered.
She nodded once, turning serious.
“Teach me, teach me how to fight.” She pleaded.
I hadn’t expected that.
“Why?” Her request surprised me.
“You said my life is a blank slate, that I can choose what to do. I want to be like you, I want to help people. I figure I can’t help others unless I can take care of myself first.” I didn’t know what to say, I was floored.
“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be able to defend yourself. But I don’t want you making such an i
mportant choice so quickly. You have a long time to go before you need to make such big decisions.” She looked crestfallen.
“How about this, I teach you a couple things and you wait a few years before making your choice?”
She beamed at me; her smile was infectious, “Ok.”
We spent the next three hours working on basics, how to break a hold, how to inflict the most damage quickly to run away, and the best places to attack if confronted with someone larger and stronger. Kim was a quick study and worked hard.
“Alright, that’s good for now.” I said, taking a seat on the steps by the front door.
Kim came and sat down next to me. Neal was sitting with Arendiol, in case she woke up early. We sat in silence for a little while, but eventually I could sense her staring at me.
“Who taught you?” She asked.
“Taught me what?” I watched the breeze blow the leaves back and forth.
“How to fight, of course.”
“Lots of people.” I answered vaguely.
“All at once? I bet that would be hard.” I let out a small burst of laughter.
“No, not all at once, after I was attacked I realized I needed to be able to fight so, with Neal’s help, I sought out the masters.”
“The masters?”
“Yup, every fighting style has a master, a person who is considered to have the most knowledge and experience in that style. They are called masters. There are tons of masters because there are tons of fighting styles.” I had her full attention.
“So you sought out the masters, you wanted them to teach you?” She asked.
“That’s right; I went all over the world, trying to get them to train me.”
“Did they?” She sat, eyes wide.
“Most of them did, some didn’t. You have to remember I am far stronger and faster than a human, at first they were all better than me, and I could take a beating. But soon I quickly outmatched them, and when I mastered one discipline I moved on to the next.”
“Then what?”
“Then what? You can hear more about the then what when you are older.” The rest of my story took a dark turn, something the kid was not ready to hear.
“Awwww.” She exclaimed, “Not fair!”
I reached out and ruffled her hair, which she quickly tried to straighten backup.
“Better get used to that kid, you’re gonna find all kinds of things that aren’t fair, that’s life.”
“You promise to tell me when I’m older?” She pleaded.
“You got it.” She beamed at me and gave me a quick hug before running off the porch to chase a butterfly that had left its perch, soaking up the morning’s bright sun.
I just sat and watched her, there was a strange feeling that flowed through me, I didn’t know what it was. I was filled with a warmth towards her, a drive to keep her safe and make sure she was well taken care of; I wanted the world to be better so that she didn’t have to struggle. I realized this must be what a father feels for his daughter, a love that drives him to protect her and make sure she’s okay.
My lord. Neal’s voice cut off my thoughts. Arendiol is awake.
Of course.
I got up and rushed inside, passing Neal on the way to Arendiol’s room. I went in and knelt down next to her, she looked weak and still pale but some color had returned to her cheeks. She had her eyes closed, but as I settled next to her she looked over at me and smiled weakly.
“Where am I?” She whispered, but was racked with a fit of coughing.
“Easy, take it easy. Your body is still fragile; the new tissue growth is not done. It’s going to hurt to breath and talk for a while, but that will soon fade. You can just nod yes or no for now, okay?” She nodded once, yes.
I reached over and helped her take a sip of water.
“Do you remember who I am, what happened?” One nod yes.
“Good, after the attack I brought you to my place, somewhere you could recover from your injuries.” She visibly relaxed.
“You said you knew who I was by sight, do you know how you knew that?”
I could see her thinking, the shock of what she had been through was still affecting her.
She nodded once.
“When you were waiting for me at the airport, did someone tell you I was going to be there?” One nod yes.
“Do you think you could describe them to me?” I asked.
She reached for some water and I got her the glass, helping her get another drink.
“Silver eyes, blond hair… sharp teeth.” She said, her voice was a raspy whisper.
A vampire? What the hell was a vampire doing sending an Atlantean scientist after me?
“Was it a woman?” I asked. She nodded twice.
Maybe it was the same vampire that had screwed with the kidnappers and Caroline’s heads? I just wasn’t sure, I had hoped talking to Arendiol while she was still groggy might let her tell me something she may have been compelled to forget but this was more than I thought I’d get.
“Do you know his name?” I tried, hoping.
She took a painful breath, “Sigmund.” She answered, then closed her eyes, falling asleep from exhaustion.
I didn’t try to ask her any more questions, she had already done plenty. I wasn’t about to tax her any more than she already had been.
Yes, my lord?
Yes, Gregory’s second in command was named Sigmund. He had blond hair and accompanied him to America after the war. I do not believe you met him, but I do remember him dealing with some underlings while I was watching the club.
No, I have no knowledge of what came of him.
Well, now I had a name, didn’t mean I knew what was going on, but it was a start. I didn’t like the idea of going back to New York, but it looked like I might have to. Unless there was a way to have Sigmund come to me. I bet if I called the club and started dropping names that would make him nervous. I’m sure he didn’t want Agatha to know about his extra-curricular activities, that is if she didn’t already. It was worth a shot, anyway.
Do you want the listed number for that building or the unlisted one?
I punched in the number Neal gave me and after a couple of rings a woman answered.
“Club Red, this is Rebecca speaking, how can I help you?” Her voice oozed courteous professionalism.
“Tell me what does it pay to be a vampire’s day answering service?” I asked.
Without missing a beat, Rebecca said, “I’m afraid I don’t know what you are talking about sir, this is a private number, please do not call here again.” There was a subtle threat in her voice.
“Wait, before you hang up, I want you to leave a message for Agatha.” I hurried, hoping saying the coven leaders name would keep her on the line.
“Go on.” She said, back to business.
“Let her know that Jack was calling for Sigmund. I wanted to let him know that Arendiol and Caroline say hello and the other two gentlemen who were at the party also wanted to send their greetings.” I said.
“Is that all?” She said, unfazed.
“Yup, that’s it.” I answered politely.
“I will make sure the message is relayed, have a
nice day.” I heard her hang up.
Hopefully that would get to Sigmund. I doubt the answering service reported directly to Agatha, there was most likely a process for sharing information. I guess we’d find out soon enough.
After dinner I taught Kim how to play solitaire, which she loved, then busied myself with doing the dishes.
I wondered to Neal.
That is hard to determine. Perhaps they have decided that killing you may be more trouble than it is worth?
You have grown fond of the girl. It was a statement.
Yes, my lord.
I only have half of the equation, but we do know that someone does not want us to know who Kim is. We also know that they are working with vampires. It seems to me that one or more Atlanteans are involved as well, but to what end I cannot say. Talking to Sigmund may be enlightening, given you do not kill him before he can be of use.
I am only basing my comment on past experience, my lord.
I finished and went over to Kim, placing a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at me.
“Hey, I have some errands to run, I want you to stay with Neal, do whatever he says, ok?” She nodded once, seriously.
“When will you be back?” She asked.
“Before you know it.” I ruffled her hair quickly, she hurried to straighten it.
I went to the door and grabbed my coat. I shrugged it on and as I opened the door I turned to Kim, giving her a smile.
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