The Recluse

by D A Rice

  Jackson glanced up at Montoya as she watched him expectantly. “An anonymous tip…” he said slowly, rubbing a hand down his bedraggled face, “said that the Recluse is still in town. Quiet as he’s been, I was wondering if maybe he moved on. Apparently, he’s connected to an Anna Rei Williams? But that she may not know it’s him.”

  He sighed and shook his head, “it wouldn’t make sense though. He’s been working alone for five years. Why would a girl named Anna change that? Why would he risk it?” Jackson tapped his chin, thinking it over in his head. There was also the matter of the anonymous tip itself. Why now? It was too convenient.

  Agent Montoya shrugged, “maybe he’s lonely? But interest in this Williams girl could benefit us, if it’s true. It’s worth double checking.” She shuffled some papers on his desk, studying their contents again with this new information. They were both dragging their feet now; they’d been working for sixteen hours straight today alone. Once the bug had hit them, it’d been hard for them to stop. They’d gone back and forth so many times that both places were beginning to feel like home to Jackson. It was nice, however, to have Agent Montoya and her team to help him. He was grateful to Montoya for letting him stick around.

  Denbrook went back down into his lab, endearingly labeled the dungeon by the agent, to pull all that he had been analyzing on the Recluse. He left Jackson and Montoya to their work with only the occasional check-in. He and Montoya spoke briefly about what it would take for the Recluse to hack Alpine labs. They’d agreed that it was likely the hacker had found a backdoor into systems that hadn’t been upgraded in a while.

  “Right…” Jackson replied now, distracted as his fingers steepled and he leaned back in his chair. Montoya had dubbed this his thinking pose. It wasn’t just the Recluse bothering him though; this Nicole Wilkins case had him uncomfortable as well. Something about it wasn’t adding up.

  No drugs, no reason to be standing in a warehouse for days. Not only had she not seemed to realize she was standing in her own filth, but she’d had no reaction when help had finally found her. She was still virtually comatose now, and Jackson couldn’t shake what Detective Henderson had said. I think something broke her mind. What could’ve done that so effectively in such a short period of time?

  When Jackson looked up, Montoya was studying him again, having paused the shuffling of the papers in her hands. She waited patiently for him to speak with an eyebrow raised. “I’m sorry, Agent. It’s been one heck of a week. We have this partnership with Arachnid and the Recluse, but it’s somehow less disturbing than the other case I got shown recently.”

  “The Wilkins girl…” Montoya breathed, her eyes casting down to the floor troubled, “Henderson told me about her.”

  Jackson nodded. Henderson needed a backboard to bounce theories off of, who better than Montoya? After all, he was about to do the same thing. She’d been a great detective within the NYPD once and was still a fantastic resource within the FBI. Even with her speciality in cyber-crime, she’d seen a little bit of everything with her experience.

  “I’ve never seen anything like that before, Shira. Not without drugs involved. What could have caused her body to fight so viciously, but have her mind not react at all? She rejected any help until we could get our medications in her to counteract her convulsions.

  “It was as if her mind was forcing her to stay there against her will.” He shivered as he thought through what Henderson had shown him. Jackson had seen all the pictures and statements from the arriving officers and EMTs. Even her parents could not seem to get through to her. They said she had been perfectly fine before school the day she went missing. However, even with her eyes open, they were just vacant. It was creepy as hell, even for a veteran like him.

  The only thing he could think of that could break the girl so completely was a trauma so intense that it shattered her. Which only made him wonder what she knew and how bad was it going to be for his department when they found out? They already had their hands full.

  Montoya reached over and put a gentle hand on his arm, “I know it’s a lot, but you can handle it. You always do. Who better than you? You were my mentor, Jackson.” She reminded him, smiling warmly. It had been easy for them to revert to their easy partnership. Jackson smiled at the thought as Montoya continued, “you taught me everything I know. I have faith you’ll figure it out.” She straightened, then paused, her attention on the paper in her hands again.

  “Jackson,” she said sharply, and he sat up to look over her shoulder to see what she had. “This report from Debbie’s Café? This witness right here?” She pointed and glanced at him. “It says you interviewed a Rei Williams and Damion Greene,” she paused thoughtfully. “Could this be our Anna Rei that the perpetrator may have taken a sudden interest in?”

  The detective smiled slowly as he remembered them. He’d taken them for a couple, but what if they weren’t? Could there be something to this tip after all? What were the chances that her name was coming up now? That she had also been at the café the night the Genesis Project had been wiped from existence? He didn’t believe in coincidences that big. “I believe it could be. It’s the only lead we have. I say we follow it up. What about you, Agent Montoya?”

  Agent Montoya smiled back at him and nodded once, determination settling about her shoulders with a renewed strength.

  …

  Shadows flickered in the corner of his eye, causing Dr. Heek to sit up, eyes wary. It was ten-thirty at night, and he was sorting through his paperwork. He had been hunched over it since about six when he had sent his receptionist home to her family. His office wasn’t fancy on the second floor of an older building, but it had everything he needed to make his patients comfortable. He had plants and plush couches in both his office as well as the waiting room.

  The doctor’s office was large. With bookshelves, his desk, and the couch, it looked halfway decent considering the neighborhood. It allowed his patients to escape. He even had a fish tank in the waiting area, tended to by Delphine, his receptionist. However, the task of keeping up with the paperwork wasn’t always easy, especially with all the notes he had to take on a daily basis on each of his patients. Most of them were considered extreme cases.

  Slowly, the doctor set the papers in his hands down, removing his glasses and massaging his eyes wearily. “Good evening, Fenris,” he said before he met the blue eyes peering at him from the darkness. The rest of the man stepped from the corner, only shadows moments before. With a wolfish grin on his face, he studied the doctor. Heek felt no need to study him back. Delphine locked the door on her way out, but the man standing before him was more demon than man. Locks could not stop him from making an unannounced visit.

  Fenris Lovinski cocked his head, his slim fingers tracing the edge of the desk as he strode towards the chair in front of it. He paused as he regarded it, not sitting, nor removing his fingers as they skimmed the papers there. Dr Heek’s grip on his glasses tensed as he put them back on the bridge of his nose, taking a small breath to remain centered.

  The man in front of him unnerved him, but the worst moments came in the calm, late-night visits. Taking his time, Fenris glanced at Dr. Heek over his shoulder. His eyes narrowed as they flashed silver, like a predator stalking its prey in the night.

  Under Fenris’ gaze, Heek felt inadequate. His short, portly stature and balding hairline sat beneath the glare of someone almost ethereal. This man was cold and cruel, but even Heek had to admit there was a certain beauty to him. Heek liked to think, with his profession, he didn’t scare easily, but the man in front of him made him tremble. It didn’t matter how beautiful this man was. In the end, Fenris Lovinski was terrifying.

  “Lars Heek.” Fenris’s voice was smooth as he pulled a pencil from the desk nonchalantly, his eyes moving to it as he twirled it in his fingers. “I like to think that I have taken care of you, Lars,” the pencil twirled again.

  “Of course, you have, Fenris!” Dr Heek half rose from his chair but quickly sank back down w
hen the pencil froze in Fenris’s fingers, a cold blue glance almost paralyzing him. Dr. Heek continued more quietly, “you helped me when I was about to go under. It’s because of you that I can help so many.”

  “True,” Fenris smiled, the pencil moving again, “and yet, I ask you to look after someone for me, as a personal favor...” The pencil stilled again in his slender fingers. Then suddenly it was stabbed straight through the doctor’s palm as well as the oak desk underneath it. Fenris inched closer to the middle-aged man’s face. The temperature in the room noticeably dropped as Dr. Heek cried out, trying to move away but finding he couldn’t.

  The pain in the doctor’s hand grew as Fenris twisted the pencil, a malicious grin returning to his face. “Did you know that Rei is no longer taking her medications, Lars?” He tilted his head, morbidly studying the blood that had started to pool from Dr. Heek’s palm. He met the doctor’s eyes again, coolly.

  Dr Heek shook his head, leaning back. His arm had started to twitch. “I had no idea. I told her that she would adjust- I did everything I could, Fenris!” Dr. Heek hadn’t wanted to give her the drugs in the first place. He knew little about them, except that they were what Fenris wanted Rei to take, and Fenris got what he wanted. Besides, Rei didn’t need experimental mind-altering substances. She didn’t know exactly how much her condition wasn’t a textbook case, and how much these were not standard drugs.

  “Clearly,” Fenris said, returning to the conversation at hand. His voice was low as he twisted the pencil again, eliciting a cry from the doctor. “It wasn’t enough, Lars. They are looking to have you replaced, I’m afraid.”

  Dr Heek was crying silently now, “please, Fenris. We both know those drugs were experimental. I had no idea how she would react.”

  “The hope was, Lars, to have her be a walking potato. Not have her realize that the drugs were moving her to that state.” Fenris yanked out the pencil, and the doctor snapped his hand back to his chest, cradling it. Fenris studied the blood dripping slowly off of the writing utensil before setting it down gently and straightening. “As it turns out, I have another job for you. I am hoping you will be more competent this time.”

  Dr. Heek watched him, face pale as he leaned back in his chair breathlessly. “Job?” he choked out.

  “A new patient, Doctor,” Fenris walked around the desk, reaching out slowly to fix the doctor’s glasses from falling off his nose. Calmly and gently, the other man reached for the doctor’s bloody hand.

  Dr Heek proffered it without a struggle as Fenris leaned against the desk and brought the injured palm to his mouth. Without breaking his gaze, he blew a gentle huff of breath onto the stab wound. It was icy cold, but the doctor’s hand began to numb. “Tomorrow, Doctor, you will go to the hospital. You will convince Nikki Wilkins’ parents that you are just the man to fix her broken mind.” Fenris stood, letting go of Dr. Heek’s hand, a wolfish grin reasserting itself as his eyes moved towards the window.

  “What about Rei?” Dr. Heek breathed as the numbing in his hand subsided. He looked down to realize that the wound had healed as if it’d never been there in the first place.

  “Don’t worry about Anna Rei,” Fenris’s eyes turned predatory, “I already have plans in place for her.”

  10

  “This sure is a noisy spot to come up to every night,” Rei noted as she glanced around the roof of the church. She paused as she took in the New York nightlife around them. She could see the city skyline in the near distance as well as the lights that lit it up. It is an amazing view, she admitted, even if the smell of city life was a bit less than amazing as it hit her nostrils. Eli lay back beside her, arms behind his head, an amused smile on his face, and his eyes closed. In her ears, city came alive with horns blasting and distant shouting all blending to become a sort of white noise. The homeless below made their own shuffling contribution to the symphony as they maneuvered into and around the church on which she stood.

  After landing safely on the other side of the zip line, Eli jumped across after her, making the landing with a roll. Then he helped her unstrap from her harness. He pulled out a backpack he hid on the roof and stuffed the equipment inside. Then Eli laid back, as if nothing could bother him.

  “How is coming up here to listen to it all soothing?” Rei asked, genuinely curious as she settled down next to him, drawing her arms around her knees. Her eyes darted around, taking it all in.

  He chuckled and glanced over at her, his golden eyes warm, “I listen the same way you sometimes see, Rei.”

  She cringed as she met his gaze, “but what I see isn’t reality, Eli.”

  He sat up on his elbows as he regarded her. His now bare arms were decorated all the way up to his shoulders with intricate tattoos. They crawled out of his shirt and up his neck, covering the tangle of scars she’d noticed before.

  “Says who?” Eli’s voice met her in the darkness, bringing her back to the moment. She held his gaze briefly before looking down, her chin resting on her arms. He sat up the rest of the way, nudging her with his shoulder companionably before continuing. “When I listen, I hear a voice. Some may call it instinct, I suppose, but it’s so much more than that. It’s a whisper. A gentle whisper.” He closed his eyes again.

  “I hear people crying. I hear hearts breaking. I hear things coming in the distance, but not distant enough.” Eli reached out with his hand. He tugged gently on her arm until she unfolded it from her knees and interlaced his fingers with hers. He never opened his eyes. His hand was warm as he spoke again, “when I listen, Rei, I hear people crying out for something more. But there’s this hope to it that they don’t even recognize.

  “It’s like they are so thirsty for a semblance of the truth and they think it’s so far out of their reach. It isn’t though. It’s right in front of them.” He opened his eyes here, and Rei closed hers, feeling warmth radiate from him. There was that peace that she always felt from him, but where did it come from? He had so much faith that it had to come from somewhere, didn’t it? He squeezed her hand, and she met his gaze. “You, Rei, you see a part of the truth. Not the physical truth, but the truth nonetheless.” His voice was soft as he held her gaze with no room for doubt in it. There it was, she thought. Faith.

  She let go of his hand, breaking the connection first, “how can you say that about me?” She asked softly, doubt clouding her mind as tears shined in her eyes. Could it be true? He sounded so confident, but she just wasn’t sure what to think. Then again, the last time she’d had an episode was with Eli. He’d been there, and somehow, she’d felt peace in the midst of the pain. Was that what faith was?

  Eli watched her now, reading her. She smiled shyly. “You’ve seen me in my worst,” Rei started, “and I don’t even know what happened that night. It was as if you took some of that away. I felt this--” she paused, a soft chuckle coming out. “It sounds silly, nevermind.”

  “No!” Eli nudged her again, making her look at him. He was grinning, “no Rei, go on. I would never make fun of you.”

  “There was this peace. I’ve never felt the likes of it before. I haven’t had any episodes-- we call them migraines,” she snickered again, nervous even in his calm. “I haven’t had any since that night.” She glanced at him here, “you told me that holding it back...that holding it back would make it worse. Like you knew what happened…”

  He smiled, “that’s because I know exactly what happened.” He stood up suddenly opening his arms wide, “you saw the world, Rei!” He shouted, then turned and held a hand out to her. “Every time you have those ‘migraines,’ you see a part of something so much more! Your mind is a fire! I hear things when I listen. You see things I never could. Neither one is something to be afraid or ashamed of!”

  “How could you have so much faith?” she finally asked him in a soft voice. She hugged her knees closer, and he knelt before her. With his hands on her arms, he dipped his head to meet her gaze. The movement was so childlike, and she remembered him doing something similar the first time
she’d met him.

  “Do you want to know a secret?” he asked in that same conspiratorial whisper as the first morning he’d asked that question. Rei laughed softly at his antics. “I don’t always have faith. I don’t. But I’ve found the less I think about it, the more that voice inside,” he pointed at his heart, “is right. I know things I should never have known, Rei. It has kept me alive. I’ve learned there is more in this world then I thought there was. Life isn’t just this thing you have to trudge through. Sometimes it’s ok to leap so you can soar. This faith I have is just learning to let go and trust something bigger than me. It saved me,” his voice was sincere and very gentle, “but not just me.”

  She watched him, and he smiled. Eli’s finger twirled a strand of her hair, pulling it gently out of her face. He played with it for a moment before letting it fall. “You may not have faith in you, but I do. I’m in a very interesting situation.” He laughed lightly, eliciting a smirk from her. “Everything I do, all I have done, has me on this ledge that I can’t go back on without falling one way or the other. I have no one I can trust, not even myself, Rei.”

  He sat back on his heels, and his head tilted as he studied her curiously. “For some reason, you I trust. With absolute certainty, I have faith in you. You aren’t what you think you are. You are defined by someone else. By someone more, and I can’t wait for you to figure that out.”

  His forehead met hers, and for some reason, tears began to leak from her eyes. She laughed, and he smiled with her until they were both laughing. They threw their heads back as they fell onto their palms behind them. Peace was turning into joy. Soon they were howling laughter at the sky, not caring who heard them below.