Mystique's Journey

by Daniel A. Jones

  “No, they haven’t been contacted yet,” Castleman replied, guarded and unsure why Montgomery was asking.

  “Good. Don’t tell them unless you absolutely have to. Daemon will only complicate the investigation,” Montgomery explained, which made Castleman remember what he’d read about Daemon. He had to agree with Montgomery’s interpretation of what Daemon would do.

  “I can put it off for a while, but at some point they will have to be told.” Both men knew they were on a clock and when time ran out Daemon would come looking for his sister. The difference was Montgomery had seen the killer inside Daemon and expected a very high body count once he showed up. Major Castleman expected an oversized headstrong teenager who would get himself into trouble, forcing him to bail Daemon out. Neither man had any clue how bad things could really get.

  ***

  Mystique regained consciousness long enough to realize she was being raped before someone punched her, again knocking her unconscious. The next time Mystique woke, she was alone. She tried to lift her head, but found that the slightest movement caused bolts of pain to shoot through her body. Mystique was no stranger to pain, so it didn’t stop her from looking around.

  She was tied naked, spread-eagle, on a queen-size bed. The blankets had been knocked on the floor, leaving her totally exposed and vulnerable to whoever had kidnapped her. The room was lit by a single bulb mounted in the ceiling above the bed. The walls were bare except for the layers of dirt and grime caked on them. A single door was in the right-side wall. It looked to be made of wood, but Mystique knew that could just be veneer over a metal door. She could see no other furniture in the room so she shifted her focus to the restraints.

  Mystique found that the person who’d tied her to the bed was not taking chances. Her fingertips were in some kind of tube that contracted as she pulled. A leather strap was wrapped around her wrist and was attached to a wire cable. Smaller wires came off the main cable and attached to each of the tubes on her fingertips. A loop at the other end of the cable was locked to an eyebolt mounted to the bed frame. She found she had only a few inches of slack, so she was not able to move very much. The pain of moving was fading but it was leaving her with a terrible headache.

  The door knob started to move so Mystique tried to relax and pretend to be asleep. The door opened and a good-looking blond man stepped in. Mystique fluttered her eyes to get a quick look before groaning and turning her head. The man walked over and stood at the side of the bed, staring down at Mystique’s naked body. He had already raped her twice and was trying to decide if he had time to do so again. He finally decided to wait until later when she was drugged up and tripping; it was much more fun to watch the horror on their faces as he forced himself on them. It would turn whatever trip she was on into a nightmare. Albert loved his job sometimes, he thought, as he reached down and grabbed Mystique’s right nipple and twisted viciously.

  Mystique allowed her body to react to the man’s assault, twisting and straining against the bounds and trying to break the man’s grip. Finally, with a laugh, Al released his hold. “Here, let me kiss it and make it better,” Al offered as he leaned over and bit the nipple he had just released. Mystique couldn’t stop herself from screaming out in pain.

  The scream hurt Al’s ears so he stopped and stood up. Al slapped Mystique across the face a few times before grabbing her by the chin and lower jaw. “The boss wants some information from you before we send you to the fun house. Until then, me and Sam get to break you in, so try and hold out as long as you can. Unfortunately, a few days of this and you’ll be begging to do whatever we say to get more,” Al told Mystique as he showed her the injection gun he had with him.

  Al had experience injecting hostages and knew that if they moved during the injection, they could get a bad cut. He liked hurting the girls, but that was no fun and Flanary might get pissed. Al punched Mystique in the stomach without warning, causing her to pull against her restraint as she tried to double up in pain. While Mystique was focused on the pain in her stomach, Al pressed the injector to her thigh and triggered it.

  The high pressure of the injection gun sent the drugs deep into Mystique’s thigh. Mystique could feel the warm tingling sensation spreading out from the injection site. It washed away all the pain and soreness. Mystique felt herself start to relax even as she tried to focus on what the man had said. Mystique quickly slipped into a dream state that felt so real she couldn’t be sure she was dreaming.

  For most people the drugs Mystique was given triggered realistic dreams of euphoria; in a few, the dreams were nightmares. The nightmares Mystique experienced had their base in memories more horrible than most sane people could handle. Albert had planned to rape Mystique once the drugs had started to work, but seconds after he’d injected her, Mystique started screaming. The volume and terror behind her screams drove Al from the room. No one had ever reacted so violently and Al began to worry Flanary would get mad at him.

  ***

  Michael Flanary was not happy when he came out of Mystique’s room. He’d intended to interrogate her a little before resorting to using drugs. Mystique had stopped screaming and had passed out, but Michael had no idea how long it would take her to regain consciousness. When she finally did wake up, Michael could only pray there was enough left of her mind to be useful.

  Albert and Samuel were waiting in the office when he returned. Both men looked away when Michael walked in. Michael casually ambled over to the desk and picked up the injection gun.

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Flanary. How was I supposed to know she would have that bad of a reaction to the drugs?” Albert tried to explain.

  “I know; it wasn’t your fault. It was my fault for leaving her alone with you two animals,” Michael said, sounding truly remorseful as he stepped closer to Albert.

  Michael shot his hand out and grabbed Albert’s shirt and pulled, bringing Albert closer to him. Samuel knew better than to interfere. Michael slammed the injector into Albert’s chest and started to pull the trigger. Albert jerked away as hard as he could, causing the stream of high-pressure liquid to cut through his shirt and skin. Albert felt the warm tingling sensation start to spread and grow hotter. Michael pushed forward and knocked Albert over the small coffee table and onto the sofa. Michael never let go; instead, he fell on top of Albert. Michael continued to inject more drugs into Albert, not stopping until the vial mounted to the top was empty.

  Albert felt the warming sensation growing hotter and knew what was going to happen. Every nerve in his body started to overload as the warmth became heat, which turned into searing pain. Albert felt like his body was on fire—the only relief was a few minutes away, but until then he would suffer a horrible death. Albert screamed until he died.

  “Get rid of him,” Michael ordered Samuel as he walked over and sat behind the desk to think. “When you’re done, leave town. I’ll call you when you have permission to come back.” Samuel was smart enough not to say anything; he just bobbed his head in acknowledgement and dragged Albert’s corpse out of the room.

  Michael cursed the fact that he couldn’t use more competent help. He was stuck with expendables since Lenny had ordered the elimination of anyone who knew about the operation. He was going to have to get a couple of new guys to watch Mystique while he contacted her sister. He thought for a few minutes about coming up with the new help. Selene and her boyfriend Gerald would do. Selene still had half her brain, which was more than enough to keep Gerald and Mystique in line. Michael made a phone call and waited.

  ***

  “Major Castleman, this is Detective Montgomery. We’ve identified the two assailants from the crime scene: Alfonse Rotenie and Benjamin Bateman. They both had multiple arrests for assault and battery. According to their files, they freelanced as collectors and hired muscle,” Montgomery explained to Castleman. Detective Montgomery had agreed to keep Castleman up to date in return for keeping Daemon as far away from town as possible for as long as possible.

  “Any idea who
they were working for?”

  “Not yet, but we have every available officer pounding the streets. We should get a lead soon.”

  “I hope so. I’ve been able to convince the ambassador not to contact the Graysons until we have more information, but I don’t know how long he’s going to wait. He has offered to apply as much political pressure as you want to whoever you want to help speed things up. He’s willing to give you some time, but not much. Sooner or later, the Graysons are going to find out, and when they do, he will be contacting the Federation Sector Governor and the Marshals Service. Preliminary testing puts Angelica over a rating eight and the guy doing the test thinks she could reach level ten. This makes her the strongest psionic in the sector, as well as the strongest psionic in the history of New Sydney. Ambassador Quinn has already sent for a cruiser to transport her to New Sydney when this is over,” Major Castleman informed Montgomery. He normally wouldn’t be so forthcoming with information, but Montgomery had proven his ability to keep secrets and be discreet.

  “All right. I’ll contact you if we get anything new,” Detective Montgomery replied. The situation was quickly building the potential to become a political nightmare, as well as a physical one. Once the Marshals Service got involved, every little secret would be revealed and he would be lucky if all they did was arrest him. Everyone treated high-level psionics as special, but to call in a cruiser just to transport three people was a bit much. Detective Montgomery really wished he’d never heard of the Graysons.

  ***

  “Mystique, Mystique, can you hear me?” Michael asked Mystique as he gently patted her face. Slowly Mystique groggily woke up and turned to try to avoid being hit. Her mind was still clouded, making it very hard for her to think.

  “Mystique, does Angelica love you? Will she come for you?” Michael asked, urging Mystique to respond.

  Angelica, they want Angelica. The thought pushed its way through the haze. Mystique still felt the effects of the drugs they’d given her. The idea that whoever was doing this to her wanted to do it to Angelica was too much. Mystique yelled to Angelica, warning her to stay away, telling her it was a trap. Mystique put every ounce of energy she had into those cries before collapsing back into unconsciousness.

  “I’ll take that as a yes,” Michael said with a smile.

  Michael checked Mystique’s bonds to make sure they were still secure before heading to the office. Selene and Gerald were waiting for him when he arrived. Selene had been an attractive blonde with a body built for fun; even after years of drug abuse, she was still attractive. Gerald had been her dealer but now he was so strung out that Michael figured he’d be doing the guy a favor killing him when this was over. Thinking about it, Michael decided he would hold onto Selene for a while and enjoy that body some before killing her.

  “I’ll be back in an hour. You two are to make sure nothing happens to the girl. Selene, I want you to check on her every five to ten minutes. I don’t expect her to wake up, but if she does you can give her a drink of water, nothing else. She is very dangerous so don’t untie her for any reason. If you hear or see anybody, call me immediately. Do you understand?” Michael fixed each of them with his gaze until they looked away. They both mumbled their understanding, which Michael would have never accepted from one of his normal crew but from these two he figured it was the best he was going to get.

  Michael headed to the parking lot. He needed to contact Nicky and arrange a ride. Nicky was one of the best drivers in the city and knew how to be discreet, which meant he wouldn’t have to kill him when this was over. Nicky would be perfect for driving him around while he made the first phone call to Angelica. Michael planned to use Mystique’s cell phone, which the police would start tracing as soon as he removed it from the scrambler bag. It was risky, but having Mystique’s identification come up on the caller ID would add a valuable amount of credibility to his claim. Once Angelica believed he had Mystique, he could switch to using throw-away phones. With any luck, in twenty-four hours he would have Angelica.

  ***

  Mystique awoke with a start, thrashing against her bonds. The nightmare she’d been having was still fresh in her mind and caused her pulse to race. She was still having trouble concentrating, but at least the fog was starting to clear. She could remember a man asking her a question, but at first she couldn’t remember what it was. She had the feeling it was important so she tried to concentrate. Fragments of her nightmare kept playing out in her mind as she tried to remember, until she heard the man say Angelica. The memory of what the man had wanted snapped back into place—he wanted to know about Angelica, and if she cared for and would come for Mystique. He wanted Angelica and he was going to use Mystique as bait to lure her into a trap.

  Mystique had to escape. The idea of that man doing to Angelica what had been done to her ignited a burning rage. Mystique would not allow them to hurt Angelica. The thought reminded Mystique that Daemon would also come. He would never allow Angelica to come by herself, and he would want to kill the men who had kidnapped her. The man would be expecting that and must be planning to kill Daemon. Daemon was difficult to kill but not impossible, and Mystique didn’t even want to think of what would happen if he ever was killed.

  A phrase fluttered through her mind. It was in a language she did not know and the voice that said it was not hers. The voice was familiar and Mystique knew she’d heard it before. Mystique focused on the phrase; she had the strong feeling it was important. When Mystique thought of the phrase it became clear in her mind. “Alka Shektee sinnis Sarrat Irkalli ana abatu nga lukur.”

  Mystique repeated the phrase in her mind a few times before realizing she knew the name Shektee. Once she thought of Shektee, the memory of the succubus came clear. Shektee in her natural form was a little taller than Mystique with a full, sexy figure. She had solid pools of blackness for eyes and two small horns protruding just above the temples through her jet-black hair. She had a three-foot-long prehensile tail that ended in a bone spike. She had served Daemon and had helped them escape Endeavor.

  Mystique remembered Shektee had planted the phrase in her mind and told her to use it only in an emergency. It was an ancient summoning spell and would bring Shektee to her no matter where she was. The phrase would only summon Shektee; it would not give Mystique any control over what she did once she arrived. Shektee had promised that she would not kill Mystique and Mystique believed her. Mystique was one of the few people who knew about the ancient spirit that Shektee truly served. It would become angry with Shektee for killing her and Shektee would not risk upsetting it. Shektee would expect some kind of payment for any help, and Mystique had no idea what that payment would be.

  Mystique knew she should consider the risks of summoning a demon, but the fact was she didn’t care what Shektee wanted or did. Shektee would save Angelica if for no other reason than to please Daemon and in turn the ancient spirit that was linked to him. Saving Angelica was all that mattered.

  Mystique remembered Shektee’s warning; she had to repeat the phrase exactly as she was taught it and continue to repeat it until Shektee arrived or another demon could appear. Mystique began reciting the phrase aloud. When she was done, she recited it again. The second time, Mystique started feeling the hairs on her arms stand up. After the third time, she could feel that the temperature in the room had dropped. Mystique concentrated on the phrase, ignoring everything else around her.

  Outside, the air pressure dropped along with the temperature. Black clouds formed in the sky, plunging the city into darkness as the ancient energies gathered strength. Lightning began to streak across the sky. Animals all around the city took shelter and hid from the danger they could feel coming. The thunder claps blended together to become a deafening cacophony as the lightning started to strike at the city below. All the while, Mystique repeated the phrase.

  A force of unknown origin tried to stop Mystique; it made talking nearly impossible, forcing Mystique to have to shout. The phrase became jumbled in her mind,
making it more and more difficult for her to recite it correctly. Mystique focused all her will and determination into reciting the phrase until the final climactic explosion of energy split the dimensional barrier and allowed Shektee to come through.

  The force of the explosion had sent Mystique’s bed crashing against the wall. Mystique was knocked unconscious, blood seeping from her nose and ears. The restraints on her arms and legs held firm, causing Mystique’s muscles to tear as her right arm and leg were dislocated. Luckily the shock wave mostly washed over her, causing only minimal internal damage. Mystique was injured but she would survive.

  ***

  Shektee had been summoned before and knew that something was different this time. It had been centuries since the last time a mortal had dared to summon her. In the past, the summoning had occurred without warning and had yanked her away from what she was doing. This time it had slowly built in strength until finally pulling her here. She had no idea where here was, or who had summoned her.

  A quick scan of the room revealed whoever had summoned her had neglected to construct any binding wards. She was free to do as she pleased. A human was tied to a bed, probably as a sacrifice in a foolish attempt to bribe her into service. She would not kill the female just yet; during her time serving Daemon, she had come to appreciate the advantage of having servants. She had to learn more about who had summoned her and why. The summoning had filled her with energy, easing her hunger for the time being.

  Shektee cautiously walked over and looked at the female. She reached down and turned the girl’s face toward her, brushing hair away as she did. Shektee froze the second she had a good look at Mystique’s face. She recognized Mystique immediately. Shektee straightened up and heightened her senses, scanning the area more carefully this time. Mystique was weak and injured but she was the only human nearby. Shektee didn’t know what was outside the room, so she couldn’t tell how far her senses could reach, but she would have at least a few seconds warning if someone approached.