by Quil Carter
I wanted to know who we had freed, and perhaps just how much more trouble I was in.
The sounds outside of King Silas’s bedroom were jovial and full of happiness. I could hear Drake’s rapid voice and Todd’s higher pitch tones, and every once in a while Elliot, Nero’s sengil, butting in with a low quip followed by his unique laugh which sounded like a cross between a machine gun and a duck’s honk.
All of the sengils were unique in their own way but every one of my brothers preferred a certain type. Elish’s sengils were always blond, tall, and lanky which I suspected was because he wanted them to resemble Silas – for obvious reasons. Nero’s sengils were brute-like, slow but loyal like brute chimeras were; though the other two brutes: Ares and Siris, loved skinny sengils with high voices and those lisps they made gay men on movies and television shows have (which they mimicked because mimicking movies and TV shows was popular here). King Silas called them the fabulous ones.
I’ve only had one sengil, my beloved Valentine, though I had shared Juni with Jack before I became Silas’s. Valen’s ashes rested beside my oldest friend, a stuffed bear named Barry, on the dresser in my bedroom.
I looked back to King Silas’s laptop and continued clicking around, the only light was Silas’s ceramic lamp and the glow of the screen. I had been in this bedroom many times, and sometimes spent months sleeping beside Silas when he was in need of protective arms, though lately he had been sleeping alone in his stress and anger.
My heart kept jumping with every file that I looked through, every Excel grid I opened up and scrolled down. I had found a lot of interesting things but still nothing to allude to who was in those tombs.
Except Josu… I knew he was in there. Poor Josu had been in that concrete tomb for four years now. He was thirty years old, in the fifth generation, and a gifted scientist, beautiful as fuck too. He’d been placed in there after it had been found out that he’d made himself immortal without King Silas’s permission. As we had seen with Ceph… that was an automatic condemnation to the concrete tomb. Only Silas got to decide who was worthy of receiving immortality and the scientists out of all of our chimera-types were the least likely to be made immortal because eventually they all pissed off Silas by not creating Sky’s clone.
As far as I was aware of, I had no other brothers that I knew in those tombs. I had always wondered if Silas had made me forget since he had the remote control that controlled the implants to my brain but it looked like… that wasn’t the case.
I sighed and kept searching. I wished I could invite one of Teaguae’s sengils over, they were extremely tech-savvy and would be able to find anything I asked. Unfortunately they would go running back to Teag and Teag would undoubtedly sell me out to Silas. He could be quite the brown noser at times.
Finally after an hour of looking at chimera genetics, Excel grids, and even reading a few poems and short stories Silas had written when he was younger, I put his laptop away and went out to check on the boys.
Drake and the five sengils were sitting on the couch watching a movie. The lights above them were turned off but the electric fireplace was on and the TV, showing Star Wars, was glowing its light onto the walls. There was powder on the coffee table, open beers and many bowls of junk food around them. They were happy and joyous as they watched the television and did their drugs, it didn’t look like any of them had a worry in the world.
… or I thought so. As I stepped into the living room I got smiles, all except for Juni, Jack’s sengil and an old friend of mine. We had a lot of history between us, me and him. He had been a victim of a depraved, pedophile greywaster, the same man who had kept me prisoner for eleven years.
Juni was giving me a bitter look. And when everyone was saying their hellos, his was as crisp as a fall day and with an obvious edge.
“Where’s Jack?” Juni suddenly asked, his voice a dark horse that was barreling right through what had seemed to be a content and relaxed evening.
“I said to be quiet about that,” Drake said annoyed. “He asked not to be bugged.”
Juni rose to his feet and I saw his dark eyes flash. Even though Juni was a sengil, and an adopted member of this family, he still had bite. Unfortunately for him though I bit back, and I definitely would not be taking shit from a sengil; even if I was one too.
“Can we talk privately,” Juni said in a low tone.
I looked at him and then back to the others. Everyone was staring at us.
“Make it quick,” I said with a short nod. Though this conversation wouldn’t be happening in this apartment or any of our rooms. Silas had cameras everywhere and he moved them around regularly to keep the other chimeras from pinpointing where they are.
So I grabbed Juni’s arm and took him out into the hallway. I dismissed the thiens guarding our doors and let them go for the rest of the evening. They wouldn’t be needed here, not with me and Drake, no one would touch us.
Juni closed the door behind him, and I saw the concern and also unease that was on his face. “They went off to check out a radiation spike in the plaguelands and they haven’t returned home in two days,” Juni said in a hushed voice. “Why is this not a bigger issue? Why are you throwing parties right now and not looking for them? Where is he?” Juni looked to the closed door and then around the hallway, I could see the recessed lighting reflect in his dark eyes so filled with apprehension.
“Matters of chimeras are not matters of yours, Juni,” I said to him casually. I crossed my arms over my chest and made a point to look down my nose at him. He was only several inches shorter than I was, he was one of the tallest sengils we had, though his thin body made him appear smaller than he was.
“Matters of my master are matters of mine,” Juni said, his tone just dipping itself into what I would deem disrespectful and dangerous. “Jack wouldn’t leave Black Tower for that long, and even more severe: Master Elish wouldn’t leave Jade for this long. You know that as much as I do, and I suspect that isn’t all that you know. So where is that Falconer and what are you hiding?”
He was challenging me.
How cute.
In a flash my hand grasped the collar of Juni’s shirt. I twisted the fabric in my hand and watched his peachy skin go white as my grip constricted it. I narrowed my eyes and glared at this disrespectful little slave, and slowly shook my head back and forth.
Then I said to him in a gravelled whisper, “Matters of chimeras… are not the matters of slaves, little one.” Juni stared back at me but I could see the nervous tremble on his lip. “You seem to have forgotten… so why don’t we say it together: Matters of chimeras…”
Juni’s trembling lip disappeared underneath the upper one. He stared back at me, the two of us so close together I could see my own reflection in his brown eyes.
“… matters of chimeras…?” I repeated. I smiled and saw the sengil become smaller under my squinting gaze.
“What did you do, Sanguine?” Juni whispered. “Where is Master Jack? Where is the king? Where–”
I gave the fabric in my hand a hard twist. Juni gasped and raised his hand up to grab mine, but I snatched it and held his wrist before he got the chance.
Then I started to raise him up off of the ground.
I tsked at him. “Matters of…?”
Juni grunted as he tried to catch breath, his eyes were starting to bulge.
“C-chimeras…” Juni gasped. “A-are not the matters of… of slaves.”
I dropped him onto the ground. “There we go,” I said. Juni stumbled back before crashing into an oak side table that held a vase of violets. The vase smashed beside him, surrounding the sengil in shards of porcelain, water, and the purple flowers. “Now clean that up and you can continue your evening.”
“Sanguine…” Juni called back angrily. “Where the fuck are they? What the hell did you do!?”
I turned around, my hand on the door knob. “He will be home eventually, old friend.” I turned it and walked inside, and was once again greeted with warm smiles.
An
d I returned the smile when I saw Drake giving me a sheepish grin, the reason why was explained in the movement below him. Todd, Artemis and Apollo’s sengil, was giving him oral, the chestnut-haired sengil’s pink tongue swirling around Drake’s well-endowed penis and another hand was rubbing his testicles.
“Clean up after, Drakey,” I said. “Not a drop on the couch you know how much Master Silas hates those stains.”
“Can we go out later and find ourselves a prey?” Drake asked, his hand on Todd’s head stroking back his hair. “We never get this free time from our masters. I want them to pretend they’re chimeras for a night, just one night!”
A bunch of sengils hunting down a boy to rape? I sighed and rolled my eyes. “Luca cannot, Elish would murder me and he’s already going to be cross enough as it is. Juni stays as well, but you can go out with Todd, Elliot, and Lance. Just do not get them killed, Drakonius, and I want I.D’s checked and ages verified and no one that isn’t coming out of one of the chimera bars.” I had come a long way since my youth. I used to be horrified of things like this happening, especially after my own past. But I understood my family and it would make me happy to see the sengils go out and enjoy themselves.
Luca, to my amusement, looked relieved that I was making him stay behind. I think he himself feared what Elish would do to him if he found out he’d been out hunting with Drake. Anyway, I was suspecting that he and Juni’s trysts were getting serious, and perhaps they wanted to remain as exclusive as two sengils could.
I turned around as Juni stalked inside of the apartment, his shoulders tense and his head hung low. He grabbed a handheld vacuum from the closet and shot me a poisoned glare as he stomped out to the hallway. When the sengils and Drake were gone I was going to fuck him until he bled, just to knock the snotty little shit down a few pegs. I wasn’t liking this attitude of his at all.
I left the sengils and Drake to have their fun, and went to Silas’s office which was several floors down. I had been in this office a thousand times and had memorized the locations to everything but not what was inside of the files in said locations.
Silas’s office took up almost the entire floor, there was only a small waiting room in the front and a secretary’s desk which was now empty. The office itself was impressive since the king needed to keep up appearances. Below me were polished marble floors of unique black with grey swirls, and around me, white columns that twisted to a ceiling that held designs of white and gold. The walls were wainscoting with the tops painted maroon, and the lower halves, black with golden patterns. There were paintings on the walls and statues that had been made beautiful again by Jack’s unique touch, and also sculptures and whatever else that was unique and rare. It was quite the room, and indeed fit for a king.
I walked to Silas’s wooden desk and ran a finger over the polish. I looked at the vast cityscape in front of me and smiled at my own reflection, then opened up the desk drawers and casually thumbing through several papers.
My eyes turned up when I heard a creak from one of the double doors. I slowly closed the desk drawer and walked to the middle of the room.
Standing in front of the door was…
I took a step closer.
Juni and Luca?
“Where are our masters, Sanguine,” Juni said. The sengil looked angry and anger suited his dark features like a custom suit, even when he was small he could out-scowl the best of them.
I smiled at Juni and put my hands behind my back. I was partially amused to see Luca showing the same anger on his face. Luca never showed emotion, the meek little sengil was growing a pair of testicles, was he? Juni seemed to be a bad influence, I may have to speak to Elish about what I was seeing.
“Oh, Juni. Did you forget our little talk already?” I said in a singy voice. I smiled and started gliding towards the two of them. They were standing side by side like two puffed up kittens in front of a cougar. It was so amusing… and oh so cute.
Especially the moment the cougar takes their tender little bodies in between his teeth and rips them to adorable little shreds.
“I’m going to ask you one more time,” Juni said darkly. “Where are they?”
I opened my mouth to give them one last singing warning, when Juni pulled a remote out from inside his black vest.
My remote.
I stopped in my tracks. And when Juni’s dark eyes flickered up to meet mine, he smiled.
Juni smiled.
That fucking kid never smiled.
“Juni…” I said slowly; the song in my voice gone like the light atmosphere I’d been trying to cultivate during this tense interaction, all that remained was a tone thick with warning. “You do not know what will happen if you turn that on. He can’t be controlled. He… he can’t be–”
When I saw Juni’s thumb raise to press the button on the remote, I screamed and lunged at him.
And in mid-air – he came.
Daisy, Daisy… give me your heart to do…
I shut my eyes tight and let out a heartbreaking scream. Still flying through the air, I grabbed my head and clenched my fingers around it, then fell to the floor with a heavy impact, one that shot bright lights and dizzying stars into my vision.
I heard Crow laugh, his dark and dry laugh getting into every fold, every tightly compressed crevice in my brain. It coated it like black oil, blocking out everything that made me Sanguine and instead forcing my submission to the man who had been my best friend since I’d met him as a bear-eared boy named Barry.
Another scream rang out and I heard it bounce around the room. My hands were still grabbing my hair and I could hear the high-pitched twang as I tore out the strands. I tried, oh fuck knows I tried, to push him away to re-take my mind, but with the implant inside of my brain now shut off I knew I was at his mercy – and the entire world was at his mercy too.
Oh, Sami, I heard Crow whisper into my ear. I growled and screamed at him to get the fuck away from me, but all that greeted me was a low and gravelly laugh.
You know it’s pointless, he chuckled. And with an easy push, he shoved me away from my own mind and took control himself.
“Get away from him, he’s waking up!” Juni yelled. I saw him push Luca out of the way, the boy had been kneeling over me, consoling me.
I jumped to my feet and observed the two sengils looking at me with twin wary looks. They both took two steps back. Luca had a gun in his hand, Elish’s gun.
“Where in the plaguelands are they heading?” Juni said, glaring at me. He had a hand out to protect Luca, his eyes were blazing. He was such an adorable little thing, he thinks he’s so tough but the only thing tough on him would be his meat.
I smirked and held out my hand. “Give me my remote,” I said.
Juni paused before with a nod he put it in my hand.
“They’re sixty miles east from Melchai,” I said to them, tucking the remote into my own vest pocket. “Follow the white flames. Where they are now, I do not know, but that is where you’ll start.” I walked past them with a whistle on my lips. I had great plans for what I would be doing now. I had been dormant for far too long and there were so many fun things I’d been missing.
Then I heard a gunshot. The force of it knocked me forwards and I landed on my face. With a snarl I jumped up and quickly turned around.
Luca was looking at me with an expression of terror; the gun was in his hand and the smell of the gunpowder was heavy in the air.
I ran towards him with a manic laugh and lunged at the little creature. I didn’t even notice the shadow of black to my right before it was too late.
Juni knocked me over the head with something and once again I fell to the ground. I gasped and swore and held a hand to my head. I tried to force my body to get up but the impact had paralysed me.
You little fucker… you little fucking bitch…
I squinted my eyes and tried to make my mouth move, but a dizzy heat swept me and I fell back onto the floor.
“You will pay for this little stunt, Juni,�
�� I snarled, finally able to find my words. I looked down and could see crimson raindrops making friends with the marble floor. “Count the days of freedom on your hand, little black bird.”
“Sorry, Crow. I, above all of them, know how dangerous you can be. And I know Sanguine won’t let us take the Falconer to find them.”
I opened my mouth to say more when I felt a second impact on my head, this flooding my mind with flashes of images and audible hallucinations, before the finishing blow pushed me into the white flames.
Chapter 7
Elish
How did I let it come to this? Where did I go wrong? I never used to error in so many ways.
Or perhaps I am viewing my past with rose-coloured glasses. For when I touch upon my past, before this, before Jade, before I realized I had created a born immortal – I see many errors and many things I should have done differently. But every time I made a mistake, I learned and grew from it, and never again did I make that same mistake.
So how do I grow and learn from this?
Elish tipped the bottle of dingy brown water as it was pressed to his lips and grimaced under the taste. He felt like vomiting every time he was forced to drink this water; not only was it irradiated, he also knew it was crawling with parasites. He would need blood tests when he came back to Skyfall to see if he had caught any diseases. Or maybe it would just be easier to kill himself and let the white flames take care of it.
The bottle lowered from his lips and he put it back into the knapsack he had in his hand, then slung the old green bag behind his back. If there was one silver lining to being so far northwest in the greywastes, it was that the scavenging was good. He had canned food and rice in his bag, and he had even lucked out and found a bottle of hot sauce and soy sauce. Though he had never asked Reaver, he was sure both of those condiments were worth their weight in gold in the greywastes. He could never eat rice without soy sauce and had even got Jade addicted to the stuff. The two of them went through a bottle of it a month and Luca knew to always keep some in stock. It was actually the family’s love for the stuff that encouraged Apollo to create Dek’ko’s own brand.