Promethean

by P. S. Power

  If so, it was a mistake on her part. Because now, Liam had to take action, and at least assume that Tiffany Brenner was his enemy. A thing that he hadn’t truly been doing, even if she’d been part of kidnapping him from Mary. Rich Simpson was a monster, it seemed, and the FBI special division was, it seemed, not as friendly as he’d been led to believe. Still, the person behind everything had been Brenner, the whole time. He knew that, because she’d told him all about it, many times.

  Getting a call into Oaks wasn’t instant, of course. Liam had the number, but the others had their phones with them and Liam, in the rush of the day before, hadn’t picked up the one that Brenner had given him to use. Mainly to talk to Mary, though now that, his privileges that way, seemed dark and sinister, instead of like the red-headed human woman being his friend and trying to help him feel comfortable in a hard circumstance.

  Instead, since he didn't want to leave yet, not knowing how to get to a phone without walking back to Brenner’s house, or running the distance, he got online. Going to the web-page that Oaks would, he had to think, give the most attention to.

  That took a few moments to work out. There were eight pages that Mitchel had shown Liam how to find on the deep web. It wasn’t hard to set up the VPN and the correct browser for it, but he was going to have to make assumptions about certain things to make the communication work.

  One of them was simply that Oaks would, no doubt, spend most of his time paying attention to the site that he found to be the most informative, instead of the ones he felt might be a threat to him. Mainly because, Liam knew, the being didn't really think of anyone as being a major problem for him. Not in a physical sense. The vampires could mentally influence prometheans, which could be a problem, if the individual was strong enough that way.

  Looking at the sites though, Liam noticed that the busiest of the them all was run by the Satanists. True, most of that conversation was about which politicians they were bribing, as well as when they were going to hold various religious observances, but the data flowed there, compared to the other places. The vampires were all dead, it being day time, so they hadn’t responded to Mitchel’s article about what had taken place at all. The werewolves were active, though most of them were simply calling for the wrongs of the day to be addressed. Some of them suggesting both that they back Brenner and her people as well as killing some of them, for attacking Liam.

  The elves were concerned, of course. It came across as a quiet type of readiness though, instead of fear. They weren’t seeking battle, but were getting prepared for it to come to them as a people, once again. It was at odds with the idea he’d gotten from them in his several meetings with that sort. They’d seemed polite and friendly. Nothing more. This was different though. Possibly dangerous, for anyone attempting to go for them.

  The evil Satanists and they made no pretense of being the good kind of people at all, had bits of information from actual sources on their page. They weren’t all speaking freely, but hints cascaded from their words. Things that Liam was, over the course of hours, able to put together.

  Oaks was there as well, posting on the page, under a false name. That part took Liam most of the day to put together. It was a combination of things that gave him away. A sense of not being worried, while also knowing who was meant by more of the initials being used to indicate local and state level politicians and authorities. That part required real research, but given the area they were in, he figured that he had about eighty percent of that down himself, by the time he posted anything. There was some level of uncertainty, since the page clearly had national traffic, not just people from the city closest to him.

  That particular page required a sign up, though there was no verification process at all. Making it only good for keeping machines out. Well, stupid machines. If they were the intelligent kind, then they’d be as able to navigate the system as anyone. No one seemed to care about that, however.

  Liam didn't make a big deal of asking if he was correct about who Beelzebub Six truly was. Instead he simply posted under one of that being replies. Saying simply, under the bridge, two in the afternoon, L.F. Either Oaks would get it or not. Getting there would be interesting, if he was supposed to do it secretly. On the good side, while the park was a few miles away, it was almost in a straight line away from him. Walking there wouldn’t take that long, either. He could run the distance in a few minutes, even, if he had to.

  The difficulty was that he didn't know if the timing was correct. The middle of the day might mean Mitchel and Brenner were away, working on things. That or sleeping again. It might not, as well. Brenner might want to keep him close for a time, after the argument that they’d had. Not that it had been filled with emotion. He’d mentioned killing Simpson though, or leaving. Either of those were, it seemed, forbidden to him.

  Which meant that he might be kept inside all day, or possibly along with Tiffany, so she could make certain he wasn’t going to run away. A thing that the woman didn't really have any way to stop, he knew. Not other than with threats, to hold him to good behavior.

  At just before four in the afternoon, with Mitchel stirring in the bathroom, taking a shower, a reply came on the web-site. It simply had one word.

  Understood.

  There was no confirmation, other than that. Just the one word, which, he knew, could mean anything. Really, it was possible that he’d gotten things wrong and that the Satanist he was talking to would be trying to meet someone else, under a different bridge, the next day. Or at some other time, since that part hadn’t been gone over in the reply.

  It was good enough to risk going though, being his own plan. After all, if no one showed up, then he’d merely taken a healthy stroll. If it wasn’t Oaks… Well, there was no reason for him not to make friends, really. Anyone being nice enough to take his invitation was probably worth spending a bit of time getting to know. They could summon Lucifer together, perhaps, or something fun like that.

  Mitchel walked out then, his short hair damp, though combed nicely. He was in a button up the front shirt and black slacks, as well as dress shoes. Those needed to be polished, Liam noticed. It wasn’t a horrible mess or anything, but there were lines on them, showing regular wear without enough care being given. Then, Mitchel Warner seemed to be a busy person, in the main.

  He walked over and glanced at the screen, then nodded.

  “Interesting choice of things to monitor. Is there anything useful?” The words were a bit sleepy sounding. The thin man stretched, his hands going up over his head.

  Liam pointed at the screen, then covered some of what he’d uncovered earlier, leaving the part about Oaks out. After all, that might be reported to Brenner, if Mitchel knew he was making the attempt to get in touch.

  “Yes. Various people at this online location have information from the local Chief of Police, and the state Governor. This poster here…” He tapped the air in front of the screen, not actually touching it, since leaving marks would be rude. “This lady seems to be the local mayor. Debra Harding. Her information is saying that what you told them is correct. No one seems to know who’s behind the attacks yet though. Then, they aren’t all that concerned. It doesn’t actually impact them directly and really, to most Satanists, the FBI being killed is more or less a good thing. That’s the organization they feel comes after them the hardest for their normal activities.”

  The words got a nod from the elemental.

  “No doubt. There’s a lot of kidnapping and child murder for that crowd and the feebs are the ones that handle a lot of that kind of investigation. Normally without much by the way of results. Not that I can blame them for the failure there. I mean… They don’t have half the information they need. A lot of them don’t even think that organized Satanism is real. You can’t find the right answer if you’ve already discarded it.”

  Liam felt himself nodding, the action coming on its own for the first time in memory. That was interesting to process. It was what he would have wanted to do, but he hadn�
�t decided to, it simply happened. Not letting that upset him, since it was probably close to how he was supposed to be, once he learned enough about the world, he pointed at the screen again.

  “There are some good points here, though. The people that were inside had used a bomb on the door and it seems that the marks on the necks weren’t teeth at all, but made with large needles, the sort used to take blood from cows in particular, by the size of the things. The blood was drained out, and it seems taken away. There was no sign of fighting though, as far as those wounds went. Vampire bites almost always tear, the victim struggling once the pain starts. These were clean and didn’t bruise properly.”

  The other man did his own nodding then.

  “Meaning they were probably dead when it took place? This is coming from the M.E.?”

  That was true, though the medical examiner was going by a fake name on the web-site.

  “Yes. At least someone in that office. Probably him, given how small the town here is. Needles being used to frame vampires doesn’t mean that it wasn’t them, of course. If any group were going to be that clever, they’d be the ones. This throws a lot of doubt onto the idea that it was them, doesn’t it?”

  Mitchel, a bit sadly, chuckled.

  “Yeah, it really does. Is there anything from the other boards?” There was no asking if he’d looked at those or not, Liam noticed. It was simply assumed that he had.

  “Not much. The elves are the most concerned. Not the most fearful. The vampires haven’t started any kind of activity for the night. My guess is that no one official is in on this. Not who’s been getting online to share information at least. It could still be anyone, of course. Just… I doubt that it’s open and official for any of these groups. No one wants to go to war with the humans, which is what this will probably start.”

  There was a hard look then and a sigh.

  “That… We need to stop that from happening. Not that I have any way to do that, at the moment. Not even a clue. Did Tiffany get in?”

  Liam nearly held his tongue, but nodded and was honest with the man.

  “She did. She mentioned that Simpson was going to be allowed to attack me whenever he wanted and that the police had to be let go for shooting me. When I mentioned that left me with only the options of killing him or leaving, she told me that if I tried to do that Mary, my mother and the others I’ve met would be killed. Your name was in the mix for that.” He spread his large hands then, palms up and regarded the other man coolly, his head tilted downward a bit. Yellow eyes staring into the brown of the other man. “It seemed as if she were just telling me the plan, instead of threatening directly. She was very tired at the time.”

  Instead of reassuring him that Liam, being youthful and unworldly as he would be, was simply incorrect about what had been suggested, Mitchel made a face. It was hard and a bit disgusted seeming.

  “Fuck. That’s messed up. I…” He shook his head then, and glanced back toward the room where Brenner was still sleeping. “This isn’t the first time the Feds have tried something like this against one of us. I don’t know if they mean it or not, in this case. Really, they probably don’t. Like you said, she was tired. I just… I can’t assure you that’s the case. I can try to find out what she has planned that way. It will take a while, since just asking won’t really work. You know, people lie. It’s a skill and Brenner has that ability on a level that very few other people ever manage to master. Even the vampires respect her for it.”

  That bit was new to Liam, who hadn’t truly noticed the woman telling him falsehoods that often. About small things, from time to time, but generally nothing large. Then, that could be due to her skills that way simply being as well managed as Mitchel had suggested to him just then. If she was lying to him, given that level of skillful application, then him knowing about it seemed unlikely.

  Rather than dwelling on the idea, Mitch slapped him on the shoulder.

  “Okay, so, dinner time. Have you eaten anything?” There was a glance at the kitchen, as if establishing that he meant having gotten food from there.

  “No. Not for a few days. I don’t need to eat much.” At first he’d eaten every day. Not a lot, most of the time, really it was no more than a few hundred calories or so at a sitting. In the last weeks that had slowed down though. It wasn’t that he didn't need to eat, simply that he was much more efficient that way and didn't have hunger like others seemed to.

  Then, he didn’t seem to grow or shrink in mass when he did it, either. How that worked, he wasn’t at all certain. A bottle of water should make his weight go up, at least for a while. He didn’t use the bathroom in the same way that others did or anything either, so he wasn’t getting rid of it that way. Even eating several pounds of meat at a sitting hadn’t caused him to go up in weight that way. It just made him feel incredibly ill and as if he was burning inside. Then his skin had darkened over the course of a day or so. Not his eyes, for some reason. Why that was, he had no clue.

  Food tasted fine to him, when he ate it. It just didn't seem to be as pressing a call to him as it seemed to the others he’d been around.

  The elemental just nodded, having heard his food story before, a few times.

  “I’ll make something for you anyway. That way I won’t feel bad for starving you. I could make… Um, pasta? I don’t know if you like that kind of thing.”

  Liam didn’t either, never having had a lot of it. Enough that he knew it wouldn’t harm him at all. Not unless there was meat in it.

  “That sounds good. Thank you.” They, clearly, weren’t speaking of what he’d just said about Brenner any longer. Which, after a moment, he understood the why of. She came out of the guest room and like Mitchel moved straight to the shower.

  Unlike Liam, she had fresh clothing there, so when she came out, half an hour later, she was dressed up for the day. In what seemed to be her own clothing, which she’d gotten out of Mitchel’s room, not the car. She sniffed the air then and nodded.

  “Ravioli and coffee, with garlic bread? The important part being coffee?” She grinned about it, as Mitch tucked his head out into the living room, not leaving the kitchen at all.

  There was a large brown ceramic mug in his left hand as he did it.

  “Here you go. Food will be ready in… Two minutes. We’re eating at the table, so that I can impress Liam with the fact that I’m not a total heathen. Not all the time.” He pulled back, calling out in order to be heard, once the cup was taken from him.

  Brenner just started drinking, as if she didn't really want to taste the brew in her hand. As she did that, the man spoke, going over what Liam had found.

  “The M.E. thinks that the marks on the neck were post mortem and made by needles. Liam found that for us. So far that seems to be the only new information we have. You can probably get more. I’ll be in touch with the vampires at nightfall. After we eat, I’ll start making the rounds that way. With everyone. Are you going in to work?”

  Brenner nodded.

  “Yeah. I don’t know who’s in charge there now. The word on that will come from the top. Given the set-up, one of us, the field agents, will be put in charge at least temporarily. Ridley… She was good at her job. It’s political in a lot of ways. Like working with vampires, really. My guess is that Carlisle will be put in charge. He has the seniority and the contacts for that. I could be wrong though.”

  There was a shrug and some heavy drinking from the brown vessel in her hands then. Grimacing, she took a deep breath and shuddered almost subliminally.

  Mitchel simply didn’t speak, making kitchen type noises instead, with pans and dishes clicking and rattling for a bit.

  Liam forced a grimace though.

  “He doesn’t like me much.”

  Instead of lecturing him on how broken he was and how the world hated him, or at least parts of it did, Brenner smiled in his direction, her face seeming a bit tired still. The big green circles were gone at least.

  “No shit. Though, on the good side, he’
s a lot better about that when you aren’t right there. I mean that, too. He might seem like a prick when you meet up with him, but at the office he acts like you’re anyone else. Really, he’s even kind of favorable about you. He knows that the problem isn’t really you. Which probably means that if you need to talk with him you should do it on the phone. That isn’t fair, but…” She didn't go on, pretending to drink from the now empty cup for some reason.

  Probably so she wouldn’t have to keep speaking.

  Liam simply took a deep breath.

  “That could be worse. I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing, to help.” Really, he expected her to tell him that his role was to do nothing.

  Mainly because that was obviously correct and he knew that. He wasn’t one of her people, and didn't have a job that required anything in particular from him at all. Instead of pointing all of that out, Brenner looked at him for a while, as if thinking. Then she shrugged.

  “It wouldn’t hurt my feelings if you could chat with some of the people in the community? Mitchel does a good job that way, but you were involved in parts of things and I have to think that some will be concerned that way, when they find out. Maybe you could smooth things over a bit? At least in part. I mean… You aren’t holding a grudge against the police at least, right?”

  She seemed worried and glance back toward the kitchen, as if trying not to be heard by Mitchel. Which wouldn’t work, if the man wanted to know what she was saying. Obviously, that ability was part of his power set. Plus, he had ears.

  Liam shrugged, managing not to be sullen about it, even if he probably had a right to feel upset by the request.

  “That’s true. I’m not even truly holding one against Simpson. I just want him to stop attacking me. I could do without the threats as well. Still, I can put a word in about all of it. There’s no need for anyone to be upset about those particular things. Not too much.” That was, of course, all simply the truth.

  The police had over reacted. Shooting him had been the wrong move and would have killed a lot of people if they’d done that at the wrong time. The truth was that Liam’s very being had pressed them into action. It was even possible that Simpson was dealing with something similar that way. That he’d been left so afraid of what Liam was that he’d simply attacked on their next meeting.