She looked down. “Promise you won’t go all Coyote on every problem I have with someone. I understand why you do it, Ivan, but I like you for you, and I don’t want you to lose yourself as some vigilante. This is a one-time thing.”
I thought for a second. I didn’t think I was losing myself. Coyote was just part of me. It would be hard to get rid of him. “I promise. Violence is not my solution for everything, but someone has to teach this guy a lesson.”
She looked at me, reading my face. There was a vengeful look in her eyes now. “Fine. When can you do it?”
I sighed. “I’ll need some time to get my gear from the Enclave and prepare, so tomorrow night. That’s Thursday, right?”
“It is. You don’t need to do recon or something?”
“Just give me his name, and I’ll find where he lives. Most UPF elites actually live in pretty unguarded houses.”
She looked down for a moment, before flicking her eyes up. They were like daggers. “Lt. General Jonathan Gilvan.”
I nodded. “I know the name. Justice will be dealt.”
She hugged me. “Thank you, Ivan.”
I hugged her back. “Alexandria cannot know.”
“But…”
“No. Coyote is my secret, and it needs to remain that way. This isn’t about me anyway. I’m sorry. Go, spend some time with her. We will have our time. She needs you now.”
Chapter 33
Snow fluttered through the air and I caught a flake on my tongue like a kid enjoying the first snow of the year. Welcome to old Minnesota. I shivered a bit and looked down; the wind whistled through the buildings, and I tried not to think about how far down it was to the street below. Perched on the corner of the apartment building across from Lt. General Gilvan’s, I could see the whole city of Minneapolis. I was the king of the night, overseeing my domain as the few remaining lights shimmered through the darkness. I could stay here forever, but I have work to do.
Gilvan had the entire top floor of the building to himself and, from what I could see, there were no guards beyond the lobby of the building. Too easy. He wouldn’t know what hit him. I was looking forward to placing the fear of God into the scumbag. Sometimes I didn’t know if I was doing the right thing, tonight was not one of those nights.
Stepping out onto the wire running between the two buildings, I carefully moved across it. Even with the snow, the cable was not icy yet, making my life much easier. Cable walking was one of the more advanced skills that few of us knew in the Militia, but it allowed those of us that could do it to have more creative entrances to certain missions. Going through the lobby would be too loud and would draw attention, but the cheap lock on the roof’s door would be no problem for me if I could reach it. Breathing slowly, I paced across the cable.
The key to the balancing act was always moving forward, keeping the momentum along the cable. Slowing down, or worse, stopping, was a good way to die as your weight would shift left or right instead of forward, dooming you to a long fall. Don’t look down, don’t look down.
As I reached the other side, I took a deep breath and jumped onto the roof, creeping along it and avoiding the first camera along the edge before sliding behind a short generator. Peaking around the corner I noticed the poorly positioned second camera just watching the door and missing the rest of the roof. One quick throw of my knife and it was out. I grabbed the knife and picked the lock on the door, which took a few minutes. Delaware was better at it, but I wasn’t completely incompetent. Eventually, it clicked open, and I slid into the stairwell.
Walking down the staircase, I checked for cameras around the corner. Unfortunately, Gilvan had one covering his front door, but luckily, like the one outside, it didn’t cover much more than the door itself and a quick knock put it out of commission. The UPF thought they were clever putting cameras everywhere, but they often seemed to forget that the coverage of the cameras meant more than where they were located. I knew Gilvan was asleep already from watching his lights go out across the street, so I didn’t worry too much about the noise from picking his lock.
The door opened with a crack, and I snuck in. Now I can break some stuff. I had to be careful. Waking him up was okay but him calling for help was not. I stopped for a second, looking at myself in the bathroom mirror just off the hallway on the way in. I looked scary as hell with my black and crimson coyote bandana and black jacket. He’s going to shit himself. I slid back into the hall and crept through his kitchen, throwing anything that looked fragile and valuable on the floor. The shattering echoed throughout the apartment.
He stumbled awake from the nearby bedroom and grumbled. “What… what the hell?”
I strode towards the bedroom, smashing a lamp and throwing a knife through his TV along the way. He opened the door to find me waiting for him and yelped as I threw him back onto his bed. I growled, disguising my voice. “Where the hell do you think you’re going?” I pulled my knife from my sleeve and put it to his throat. I could kill him right now… Then I remembered Julia, her blue eyes pleading me to promise that I wouldn’t take his life.
His voice became shaky and pitched. “Please… stop, I’ll give you anything… My money is in the safe.”
I pressed the knife tighter against his pudgy chin, almost drawing blood. “I don’t want your damn money, you bastard.”
His almond eyes looked at me in fear. “Wha… what do you want? Who are you?”
“My name is…” No. “…my name doesn’t matter. This isn’t about me.”
I saw his eyes studying me, and his fear turned into rage as he saw my tag underneath my hood. He spat at me. “You Red piece of shit.”
I upped the intensity. “Better than being a low-life rapist. That purple tag doesn’t mean you can attack women.”
His upturned eyes widened in shock. “I didn’t…”
“Don’t mess with me, Jonathan. I know everything. So, listen closely. You’re going to turn yourself in to the royal guard and admit your crime on the record by noon tomorrow or you’ll be found in the Mississippi by your friends in the UPF. Understand?”
He whimpered. “I… I can’t… I’ll lose everything…” Good.
“Exactly what you deserve. You’re going to do it… or are we going to have a date tomorrow?” I cocked my head and glared.
“I… I… damn it. Fine, I’ll do it.”
“Tell me you’ll go to the royal guard.”
He cried, “I’ll go to the royal guard and confess!”
I pulled the knife from his throat. “And I’ll know if you tell anyone about this. So, don’t get any ideas.”
He waved his hands in defense. “No, I won’t…”
I punched him in the face a few times, knocking him out. I couldn’t kill him, but I could at least give him a black eye without feeling bad. Looking down at his large unconscious body, I couldn’t help but feel a bit of pride for putting him behind bars, where he belonged.
It felt good to avenge Alexandria. She had never wronged me, and even if she liked to party, she didn’t deserve what he did to her. While she would never know what I did for her, that wasn’t the point. If I could use one of my last missions as Coyote to make things better, then it was worth it, even though I knew nothing could really fix what happened. At the very least, I could deliver a sliver of justice to the cruel unjust world that we lived in. Not just for Alexandria, but for all the women who felt helpless and abandoned after attacks like that. The law had failed. I gave it a push.
Just as I was about to leave the apartment, I heard a door creak open and I slid against the wall. Is someone else home? I heard shuffling from around the corner, on the other side of the apartment. Creeping along the wall, I prepared for a guard that I hadn’t noticed before.
The shuffling got closer, and I heard the person reach down and grab a piece of a broken vase. A small, shivering voiced whimpered out, “Dad?”
In an instant, Coyote was gone. Instead, I was Ivan, hiding against the wall in an apartment that I just tra
shed while a little girl stood confused at why her dad was slumped over in his bedroom and everything was broken. I was no longer triumphant. He had a daughter who wouldn’t understand why her dad would be taken away in handcuffs and ridiculed for years to come. I had stolen her dad. No, Ivan. He is responsible for his own actions. But I was also responsible for mine, and I stood there as the room spun in my mind.
The small child began to cry. She would end up like me, lost and alone in the unforgiving world we called home, the daughter of a rapist. My heart was broken, and I couldn’t move. She wandered around the apartment before looking down the hall where I, a scary guy in a black bandana and hood, stood, looking at her.
Tears filled my eyes as she looked at me, fear flooding her face. I wished I could give her a hug and tell her it would be okay, but I couldn’t, and I knew it wouldn’t be. All I could do was weakly whisper, “I’m so sorry,” and leave quietly. I heard her cries as I left. I am a terrible person.
Chapter 34
It was late as I pulled back into the palace. Julia was still working on convincing her dad to let me have a phone, so I needed to check in with her in person. I knocked on her door, no answer. It was past midnight… She’s probably asleep. I stood there for a minute, trying to decide what to do since I didn’t want to intrude. I placed my forehead against the cold stone wall next to her door. One part of me wanted to wail in victory over Jonathan Gilvan being brought to justice and another part wanted to curl up in a corner and cry for his daughter and Alexandria. Why is nothing simple?
Eventually the door cracked open and Julia smiled softly. “Oh, hey Ivan! Come on in.” She opened the door for me.
Obviously dressed for bed, she was in shorts and a T-shirt, the most casual I’d ever seen her. It felt like a kind gesture letting me in when she had completely let down her princess guard, even with the beginnings of our relationship. That was my favorite Julia. She looked gorgeous as a princess, but she was her beautiful self when she didn’t have to try.
She sat on one of the couches and gestured for me to join her. She looked at me in anticipation. “How did it go?”
I started talking as I dragged myself over to the couch, “Easy as you could imagine. No guards, weak security cameras. I broke some of his fragile decorations and plates, and he was scared out of his mind. He said he would turn himself into the royal guard by noon tomorrow.”
She smiled and hugged me. “You don’t know how much this means to me, Ivan. Alex might not know what you did, but…”
I didn’t return the hug. “It doesn’t matter to me if she knows. I just want her to know that that bastard is going to be behind bars. His life is ruined for what he did to her, and it is entirely deserved. It doesn’t fix what happened, but at least she can have some kind of closure.”
She smiled softly and ran her fingers softly down my cheek, studying my face. “My dad didn’t know he was inviting a guardian angel into the palace.”
I scoffed and looked at my feet, whispering, “More like a guardian devil.”
She cocked her head, concerned. “Don’t think about yourself like that.”
I continued quietly. “Everyone else does. And besides, I didn’t tell you everything that happened.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What?”
My chest felt like a ton of bricks had been dropped on it. “He… he has a daughter.” I sniffled as a tear ran down my cheek. “She came out after I was done and was sad and confused. She saw me, just standing there.”
“Oh, Ivan…” She put her hand on my back as I rested my elbows on my knees, rubbing my hands across the back of my head.
“I saw her eyes, Julia. She had just seen her home destroyed and her father knocked out on his bed, and then she sees me, a monster, standing in the middle of it all. I ruined that child’s life. I will be in her nightmares as she wonders why her dad is gone and why he left her alone.”
She rested her head against mine, and we just sat there, connected for a moment by the crowns of our heads. Tears streamed down both of our faces as we sat in silence. There was nothing for her to say, nothing she could say. Everyone was in pain and when I tried to fix a bit of it, I made myself a monster to a child, a child that would no longer feel safe at night because of me. I tried to bring justice, but I broke a home in the process.
Eventually I moved my head away. “I… I don’t deserve you, or any of this. I’m a monster.”
She grabbed my hands as I tried to pull away. “Ivan, no, you were trying to help.”
Frustration filled my voice with intensity. “No… I know exactly what it feels like to grow up with no one in your life, abandoned. I ruined her father’s life as revenge, and I took hers right along with it.”
She responded softly, trying to calm me as she stroked the back of my hands, “Ivan, a monster wouldn’t care about her. The fact you’re sitting here, mourning the rest of her life, which could turn out fine, shows that you’re not. Her dad ruined his daughter’s life, not you. You’re getting her away from an actual monster.”
I sniffled, and the tears wouldn’t stop. “This is just how things go with me, Julia. This girl, Southpaw, Bobcat, others I’ve lost on missions. People are destroyed because of me, while I get to keep going.” I hesitated. “And… there’s something I haven’t told you about me.”
She looked at me with concern and sorrow, weeping with me. “What is it?”
I looked down and let loose. “A few years ago, before I was a lieutenant, we were working on destroying a UPF rifle production line. A few well-placed explosives would bury the factory. We went at night when we thought no one would be around, to avoid killing any of the workers. I… I was to set up the bomb in the southeastern most corner of the main production floor. I can still smell the gunpowder from the factory. We were each supposed to set a bomb, get clear, check that no one was inside within our view, and report back to the guy with the trigger. I didn’t see anything and radioed in that it was clear. Then, I saw a guy carrying a bag and coat, looking like he was packing up late and heading home for the day. An orange tag hung from his ear and a slight smile was on his face, like he was happy to finally be going home. I scrambled for my radio and started yelling, ‘Wait! Wait! There’s someone…’”
I hesitated. My chest was on fire and it was hard to breathe. “And… and then it went off.” I broke and put my head in my hands, breathing heavily. After a few moments I looked forward. “All I could do was watch as fear filled his eyes and the building fell on him. I killed him.”
She was speechless. I could tell she was trying to say something but didn’t know what. Her face switched between shock and worry.
“I… I did everything I could to find out who he was. If he had a family, and if so, what I could do to make things better for them. Well… he did. His wife had died a year before that, and he had a teenage daughter. Since she came from an Orange family and was without a parent, she would be placed into a work orphanage and be destined to pass through the Prism as a Red.”
She gasped with realization before cocking her head and whispering, “Delaware. Oh… Does she know?”
I could only look at the floor. “No. I killed her father, and she thinks he died in an accident. That’s what the UPF told her. That’s why I was so determined to get her out. That’s why I did everything I could to help her afterwards. I owe her everything.”
She spoke intently, “You need to tell her. You’ve done everything you could to help her, but she needs to know, Ivan.”
I took a deep breath. “I know. You’re right. I just don’t want to lose my best friend.”
She nodded. “I hope that she will find it in her heart to forgive you, but she needs to know in order for that to happen. And if you need someone to forgive you for everything you think you’ve done wrong Ivan, I forgive you.”
I winced. “Please, don’t. These are my burdens to bear and mine alone.”
She put her hand on my cheek as I avoided eye contact. “A wise man once told me, ‘
Everyone has their struggles,’ and that comparing ours to someone else’s is not productive. Ivan, you don’t have to do this alone. We’re in this together now. Nothing you just told me makes you a bad person, even if you have regrets.”
I still couldn’t look at her. “Thank you. I… I just need time to comprehend everything.”
She looked at me with a sad smile. “And you know what? We can do everything possible to make sure that Gilvan’s daughter ends up in the best home possible, okay? Though she might get knocked down, she was born to a Purple, she will be okay. We can’t fix things for her, but we can make the best out of a bad situation for her. Maybe that should be my charity, an orphanage where the children are actually cared for.”
My voice cracked. “I don’t deserve you.”
“Look at me, Ivan.” She softly pulled me to look at her. I didn’t comply, and she spoke with intent, “You feel for the most broken people. Stop telling yourself you’re a terrible person, and realize that you’re trying to make the broken world in which we live a little better. When you rattle a world of glass, some of it cracks and breaks, but you, you try to put the pieces back together, and that is amazing.”
I could only muster a tiny smile. “Thanks, I guess I just don’t see it that way right now.”
“Look at me, Ivan. Please.” I mustered the energy and looked at her, tears in her eyes. I’d never seen someone look at me with such care. Why does she want this burden? “You brought a rapist to justice. You prevented his daughter from living her childhood looking up to a terrible person. You gave Delaware a new life by putting your own at risk, and you’re going to tell her the truth, so she can finally come to terms with what really happened. You took a knife to the gut to save me, a random stranger, and I fell for you because beyond your brash exterior and stupid red tag, you have the kindest heart I’ve ever seen, and you were honest and open with me. I’m not going to let you believe the lies that everyone has been telling you. You understand?”
The Fractured Prism (The Prism Files Book 1) Page 16