by Al K. Line
"I never knew what you were both talking about, saying we'd met before, and I honestly don't recall the meetings, not in any concrete way, but I figured it out on the way over. Let's go in, shall we, Ivan will want to hear this."
I barged past Kim into Ivan's swanky place before she could stop me or consider what to do. What was she gonna do, bite me? Yeah, guess she could have.
"Ivan? IVAN? Where are you, dude? I think you need to hear this."
"What's the meaning of this intrusion?" said Kim, her pale neck flushed with either anger or worry.
"You know," I replied, moving from the hall into the library. Damn, but Ivan had made more improvements, turned the place into a proper vampire lair but with nice modern taste.
"Arthur, what are you doing? Stop being so rude. What's all this about?"
"Patience, grasshopper, all shall be revealed. Damn, I actually feel sorry for him."
"Who?"
"Eh? Oh, Ivan, of course, poor guy. Not to mention the girl. Right, Kim?"
Kim's whole demeanor changed, going from cool vampire vibe but with that edge of submissiveness because she was Ivan's aide, to being more of a military bearing, back ramrod straight, face empty of emotion, looking utterly in control and unafraid. I was right, I knew I was. It all slotted into place now, and I hated them all over again, even more than when they blew up my lovely house.
"Fucking Cerberus," I moaned as I slumped into a wingback.
"Indeed," said Kim with a raised eyebrow. "But I do like him, want this to continue."
"How's that gonna happen?" I asked, genuinely intrigued. "And all this current trouble, you think he'll be happy about that? I know I'm not."
"I have no idea. I suppose it shall all end badly. Such is the way of things."
"Yeah, sure is," I muttered, wishing I could kick myself for being so stupid. But then, Ivan hadn't found out, and if anyone had he should.
Why is it when men betray each other they give the game away, but when women do it they are smart enough to get away with it? Not sure what that says about the two sexes, but I doubt it's a good thing for either.
"What's all the noise?" hissed Ivan as he strode into the living room, wearing, and I kid you not, a black silk dressing gown and red socks.
"Blimey, really going for the vamp look, aren't you?" I smirked.
"It was a gift," snapped Ivan. "Hello, Sister."
"Hey, Bruv," said Vicky, standing on tiptoe so she could give Ivan a kiss once he bent down.
"What's this all about? I was busy."
"Busy auditioning for a movie where they want someone to look like a twat," I whispered. Everyone stared at me. "What? I never said a word."
"He is being exceptionally juvenile today," said Kim.
"He is every day," said Vicky, nodding vigorously.
"Am not. You are. Both of you. You too." I pointed at Ivan. Look, it had been a long couple of days, I was running on empty, I still had a lot to figure out, and this wasn't meant to be part of the plan. It kind of just came to me on the trip over, thinking long and hard about Cerberus and their role, or lack of it so far, in all of this.
Last thing I wanted to do was upset Ivan. Okay, I wasn't that bothered as he could be a dick at times, but this involved us all, and I had Sunshine to think about, we all did. She had to be kept safe, that meant Ivan had to give the word she was off-limits, and we had to know who knew about her. More importantly, we had to know Cerberus wouldn't try to take her. I knew that was futile now, but I had to try.
Slumped in my chair, feeling exhausted, ill-prepared if anything went down, and reticent about saying anything but not knowing how else to deal with it, I took a deep breath then said, "Ivan, I'm afraid your girlfriend is a spy. An impostor. Of the worst possible kind."
"Haha." Ivan glanced from me to the stony-faced Kim.
Vicky gasped, ever the drama queen, and next thing I knew I was being shaken by her.
"How can you fall asleep after saying something like that?" screeched Vicky.
"Bit tired. Been, er, saving cats stuck up trees."
"What is he babbling about? Arthur, what are you saying about Kim? Kim, is this true?"
"I'm afraid so. Sorry." Kim smiled weakly.
Ivan's fangs snicked down and he launched at his soon-to-be ex-girlfriend.
More Surprises
Ivan was a tall dude. Some would call him lanky, others would say he looked like a stick insect in a nice suit and that needed to catch a few rays. None would say such things to his face. But when he moved, when he reacted, when he walked, when he attacked you and tried to rip your throat out, he was all fluid grace, no wasted movement. Like an animal, no energy expended unnecessarily.
He had Kim pinned in a heartbeat.
Ivan straddled his girlfriend prone on the rug in what could have been a weird, kinky sex game if it wasn't for the fact he had her arms locked and his teeth were breaking the skin at her neck. He paused as the juices ran down her throat and pooled in that little depression between the clavicles, which there's probably a name for.
Kim didn't move a muscle, accepted the domination and smiled sweetly at her lover as he readied to end her life.
"I think you should reconsider, dude," I warned. "We need to get answers and find out what the hell is going on before you kill her. And besides, you'll regret it as you won't know the extent of her treachery."
Ivan glanced at me and I nodded. He turned back to stare hard into the eyes of Kim before he made his decision and leapt away in a move I hadn't thought possible.
Vicky stood stock still, confused beyond belief and I guess this was a rather sudden revelation. It was a shock to me too, only clicked into place on the drive over, and I wished I'd been wrong about the whole thing.
Kim was not who she pretended to be, far from it. If my suspicions were correct, it went a hell of a lot further than anyone could have imagined. Except me, of course, awesome wizard sleuth that I was becoming.
Kim did this thing where she arched her back then swung her arms and launched up onto her feet in another impressive show of vampire ninja moves. She stood there, staring at us all, while Ivan snarled and bared his fangs. He was angry, pissed off beyond belief, but I saw the sadness, the despair at being betrayed and duped, played like a fool even though he didn't understand the treachery or the game Cerberus was playing as of yet. I knew how he felt. I'd been there myself and it haunts me still.
"Shall we sit?" asked Kim, back to being the formal aide and acting like she wasn't scum.
"Good idea," I said, sinking back into the comfy chair and deciding I wouldn't take a nap even though Vicky had just interrupted some much-needed sleep.
"I want to hear this now," snapped Ivan, brushing a slender hand through his hair as he got himself together and did his best to hide his disappointment.
"Me too," said Vicky, glaring at Kim like she could kill her with a look.
Kim remained cool and impassive, but when she looked at Ivan she smiled weakly and said, "If it's any consolation, I'm sorry. I didn't know it would end like this, that we would become a couple. I was to be your aide, nothing more, so please know that my feelings for you are genuine, nothing was faked."
"But you're a traitor, a spy? You work for Cerberus?"
"I do work for them, I am one of their Hounds."
"A Hound!?" I blurted. "Not the regular type then?"
"You know little, next to nothing about how we operate. You think it's all jackboots and guns? Ha, that's not how organizations like ours work, you should know that, all of you. It's about the intelligence, about the information we gather so we know what's happening and where the artifacts are so we can protect you all, protect everyone."
"Blah, blah, blah," I said, dismissing other words with a wave of my hand. "Heard it all before. So what's the deal? You came to spy on the vampires, on Ivan, so you could keep tabs on what they're up to?"
"That, and you, and the underground as a whole. Ivan is an important man, more important than
he realizes, so being here has helped immensely with our work."
"We still beat you though," I said, smirking. "Even with you being his aide, playing the part, we still beat you."
"No, not really. We know what we are doing, Arthur, we know how the game is played. We have, after all, been playing it for millennia. We serve and protect, we know when to retreat and when to advance. I have seen things you can only imagine, been places you would not believe, done things that have saved many lives."
"And you've been screwing with a little girl's life, messing with her head, keeping her locked away and brainwashing her for years. How's that feel, eh?"
"You know nothing of this," snapped Kim, losing her cool. Anger flashed on her face then was gone, replaced with that blank smugness so familiar to Cerberus and their higher-ups. I really wanted to slap her, but couldn't because my chivalrous nature made it impossible.
"What are you all talking about? Who is Sunshine? What is this?"
"It's all just clicking into place," I said, working it out as we spoke, everything becoming a little less murky. I was getting an understanding of the extent of their manipulations and the depths they would sink to.
"First, let me explain something. I couldn't understand why I never recognized Kim, why there was a blank spot when it came to her. Even when we were on our way over, I knew there would be someone here, your aide, but there was an emptiness where there should have been a person. She's a fucking shifter, and not just any shifter, are you, Kim?"
"Arthur, you idiot," said Vicky. "She's a vampire, not a shifter."
"She's a damn sight more than any of us could have imagined," I said. "Right, Kim? I never recognized you because I've spent so many years picking up on the subtleties of the human face and body, the tiny tics and movements people don't even realize they have, that I never recognized you because you were never the same person. You can shift any way you want, change into anything, and this isn't you, how you really look. Every time you take on this appearance, or maybe because you're trying to remain looking like this, it changes a little. Not much, not enough for anyone to notice, but you've been morphing into a slightly different person. Maybe to be more attractive to Ivan, maybe because you can't maintain the look, but it threw me every time because you were just a little different. Oh, and because you screw with people's emotions, make them feel things, and my guess is you wanted to make me feel uninterested, empty of heart when it came to you, but you couldn't quite pull it off because I'm a fucking ace wizard."
I laced my hands together behind my head and smiled, feeling like Poirot after the big reveal.
"Something like that," admitted Kim with a nod of respect at my sleuthing.
"This is making no sense," said Ivan as he sank into a chair and seemed to forget how dangerous Kim was.
"It makes perfect sense. They've been behind Sunshine's upbringing, been controlling her, or trying to, and screwed with her for years. What, you got her mum on side and left them to it, just interfered when you thought it best? Or, ah, I get it, you had your people there too, guarding her. Hounds who were shifters. Damn, you lot have been busy."
"How very astute of you," said Kim, not looking quite as pleased now with me figuring things out. "She's too important to be left without guidance. You don't know what it's like, how hard it is. She needed safeguarding, to be protected until the time was right. Now it's almost ruined, but not quite. We'll get her back you know? Where is she?"
"Like I'm gonna fucking tell you. You bitch. You screwed that girl over. Do you know the kind of life she's had? You were grooming her to become like you lot, make her distrust everyone else and think Cerberus is in the right. You'd say you could save her and protect her but you'd just use her, make her do terrible things. Just because you got treated like that, doesn't mean she should be."
"Will somebody please explain what this is all about? Who is Sunshine and what are you saying? I don't understand." Ivan was losing the plot, gesticulating wildly as his long legs twitched.
"Sunshine is a little shifter girl, Steve's daughter, and she's been kept prisoner since she was a baby because she can shift into anything and she can affect people's minds, their hearts, through the power of her own emotions. And Kim here is the same, to a lesser degree, and was probably brought up in a similar way and became a member of Cerberus. Probably brainwashed as a child. Now they want Sunshine back as we just rescued her. Your people betrayed you, Kim, they wanted a ransom for the girl. She thought she'd got them to help her escape but they screwed you and her both and just wanted the money."
"They weren't our people, our people are dead. We traced them. Our man was still on the boat. It was the others, they had no honor, but this explains why she went missing. No matter, she is close, we will get her. Now, is that all?" Kim looked like she was ready to go, that this was it and she'd just bugger off and leave us to it.
"You aren't going anywhere, you fucking bitch," shouted Vicky, her face almost purple with rage. "How could you do that to her?"
"I was raised like her. It's for her protection, and the protection of others. It has to be like this until she is old enough to know how to control it all. I caused so much damage when I was young, even being kept safe. Cerberus helps people like me, like me and Sunshine, we owe them everything."
"Bloody hell, they did a good job on you, didn't they?"
"They saved me from myself. We help people like me and Sunshine. She can do great things, she can serve. If we left her, she would be a major problem, an artifact of the most dangerous kind. This is our role, to safeguard humanity and stop artifacts ruining our world."
"She's a little girl," I said softly. "You were a little girl. You aren't objects, you aren't artifacts. Sunshine is a child who needs to be loved and allowed to grow into a woman and make her own choices, not something to be locked away like an artifact in your bloody warehouse." The insanity of these people was astounding. I knew they were nutjobs, but this was too much to take in.
Something niggled at my mind and I was about to ask but Ivan spoke first. "So you are a shifter and a vampire, and a Hound? You have been involved in the imprisonment of a small child, done it since she was a baby, and you try to justify that? You know the life I had, the life Vicky and I had, how we were treated, the things that were done to us? That I was a slave for so many years, and you dare," Ivan spat his words, spittle flying, "you dare try to justify treating a child like that? To me!? Me! You were a prisoner yourself and yet you did it to another? Abomination." Ivan flew into a rage I had never seen before. He launched at Kim and I knew this time there was no way he would hold back.
He'd kill her, and we'd never know the extent of their crimes against this girl. Death was too easy a punishment; she deserved much worse.
Should Have Known
Kim, I recalled her name and face just fine now, was ready for Ivan, but I saw the look of hurt on her face, how even after all this she was pained by his words and the action he took. Maybe she truly loved him, maybe she thought their relationship could continue. Maybe she was that dumb. Hey, or maybe they'd work it out and all would be fine. Even as Ivan flew at Kim, I couldn't help feeling sorry for her. If she'd been raised like Sunshine, or much worse as who knew how long ago that was, she'd certainly been brainwashed like the other Hounds, so she wasn't totally to blame for what she did.
It was that same old question that makes dealing with all people difficult. Are they the way they are because that's who they are deep down inside, or are they merely the result of their upbringing? Nature vs nurture.
Ivan grabbed Kim around the throat with fingers boosted by the vampire nature, but Kim was vampire too, and so much more besides. I expected her to fight back, to show how powerful she was too, but instead she took us all by surprise and remained limp, accepting of her fate as Ivan squeezed the life out of her. Kim's face turned puce before the blood drained and she began to turn blue.
"Ivan, stop it!" yelled Vicky as she ran forward and scrabbled at his elbow
s to get him to relinquish his death grip.
Ivan was lost to anger and betrayal, with a whole heap of confusion thrown in. He'd been given a lot of information in a short period of time.
And then Kim's eyes snapped to full alertness and with a reluctance born out of what I was sure was true affection she nonetheless shot out an arm with her fist clenched tight and hammered into Ivan's chest so damn hard that I heard bones break as he was launched off his feet and flung across the room. He hit the wall hard then dropped into a crouching position.
He took only a moment to recover and then was up and diving for Kim while I grabbed Vicky and yanked her out of the way with one hand whilst I freed Wand with the other. He whooped with delight as he came to spectacular life, illuminating the gloomy room with a light show that was uncalled for but did the job of distracting everyone.
"Everyone calm down or Wand here will start blasting and I don't think he's too bothered about who he hits first."
Everyone stared at me but nobody moved.
"Kim, where is it?"
"Where's what?" she barked angrily, chest heaving, keeping an eye on Ivan.
"You must have a means of reporting in, and I don't mean a phone or laptop. I know you guys, you like your secret shit, and please don't tell me you're just a Hound, I wasn't born yesterday. Who are you really?"
"I'm the one in charge, of course."
"Of what?" asked Vicky. "Like a super secret part of Cerberus?"
"No, you muppet," I told Vicky. "She's the numero uno, the top dog. At least as far as we're concerned."
"But... but she can't be," protested Vicky. "She's..."
"I'm what?" asked Kim, amused.
"She's here, with us, doing all this stuff. Spying. The person in charge wouldn't do that."
"Why not, my dear?" asked a genuinely interested Kim.
"Because you're meant to be all super secret and nobody knows who you are."
"They didn't, now they do. It's for the best, now you know, and I will have the girl. Besides, I'm only in charge of this country, there are others, there are always others."