by Matthew Fish
“He’s blocking me,” William said as he attempted to concentrate.
“Block this,” David said as he unloaded his assault rifle into the direction of the old one.
“Did I mention that I am an Elemental as well?” The old one said as he appeared right next to the spot David had fired upon and looked at all the different holes in the locker. “Your grouping is terrible.”
Kate appeared behind the old one and in a sudden gust of wind and punched him in the back of the head. Sending him flying down to the ground.
Maddie gestured quickly as she sent coins down into his body. Mark pulled out a handful of old nails from his Schmied Vest and with a direct gesture; he pointed them straight at the old one’s body.
“Nice dress,” Emily said as she projected across the room and tossed a lighter onto the seemingly lifeless body and exploded it into flames. The silver robe slowly burned away, revealing an old naked, emaciated form. “Gross…I regret that…”
“Do you have a year on that old piece of shit yet or not?” David asked as he turned to William.
“He’s still blocking—somehow,” William said as he fell to his knees from his gunshot wound to the chest. He was losing energy and attempting to break through the old one’s barrier was causing him to lose it even faster. “I don’t know…I’ve never heard of this before.”
“Enough playtime, children,” the old one said as he projected back into the office. He muttered the year 1932…and a few other dates, as Grand Conductor Alexander Littcott stepped out of the room and directed a coin into Kate with one swift movement. Before she even knew what was going, she turned to ash.
“It’s complicated,” Alexander said as he brought his hand to his Heart Sash.
“Get out of here, everyone,” William said as he attempted to get back to his feet.
Emily projected next to Mark and wrapped her arms around him as a coin was sent flying towards her direction. In an instant she whisked him away and out of the building. They collapsed to the ground as Mark struggled to get to his feet and head back to the building.
“It’s too dangerous,” Emily said as she held onto Mark tightly.
“They’re all still in there,” Mark said as tears began to stream down from his eyes.
“Get that little girl out of here,” David said as he fired towards the Grand Conductor, breaking the Conductor’s concentration as he took cover and the remaining coins fell to the ground harmlessly.
Maddie sent her own coins up into the air right as William scooped her up and began to run out of the room. She sent them towards the old one as she protested. None of her coins hit their mark. The old one projected behind David and placed a hand upon his shoulder. Maddie watched as the man began to vibrate and glow—his body shaking and shuddering wildly. The last thing Maddie saw of David was of him turning into ash. The large metal door slammed shut. William continued to run until they were clear of the building.
“Is he not going to come after us?” Emily asked in a frantic tone as she looked around nervously.
“He shut the door,” Maddie said as William set her down on the ground and shook her head. “He let us go—he…killed David—turned him into ash.”
“No one has that kind of power,” William said as he clung to his chest and let out short labored breaths. “I led…I led her right to her death…”
“I should not have mocked him,” Mark said as shook his head. The entire incident left him feeling completely hopeless. He was face to face with the man who killed his father—and he could do nothing. He could not even protect the people that were on his side. “He knows that he could come out here and finish us off…but he wants me to remember this.”
“And one of the Grand Conductors has turned to his side,” Maddie said as she wiped away tears from her eye with the top of her left hand. “He’s a spotter, an Elemental…he can block people from reading his birth year, and he can destroy other Perpetuals…”
“And he has his own Conductor…that makes him,” Mark said as he paused. “Unstoppable…”
“We will figure something out,” Emily said as she placed her arm around Mark. “Let’s go home—let’s just…leave here.”
“We’ve lost enough today,” William added as he got to his feet and patted Mark on the shoulder. “It was a good plan—you all did well.”
On the ride home, I drove that day. The four of us walked back to the Mustang and piled in. William got on the phone with the Perpetual Council and got them up to speed from the information that I had gained from the old one—who still remained nameless and was likely to do so. He told them that we were heading to a safe house as he hung up the phone.
“They don’t know about Caesar…he’s managed to fly under the radar for centuries,” William said as he placed his hand to his chest and let out a hard cough. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been shot.”
“So you don’t trust them?” Mark asked as he kept his focus on the road.
“I trust only four people right now…and three of them are sitting in this car with me,” William said as he rolled his window down and tossed his cell phone out as it erupted into pieces along the highway.
“What did they say?” Maddie asked.
“They wanted us to come to them,” William said as he curled up in his seat and wrapped his arms around his chest. “It was obviously a trap, they’ve been compromised…or at least, they will be soon. Anyone who attempts to stand up to that kind of power will be taken out. The council will be in his possession.”
“I’m sorry about Kate,” Mark said as he kept his gaze to the view in front of him.
“I brought her onboard,” William said as he coughed again and winced in pain. “We were in love once, long ago—I will miss her. I thought that I had another chance with her, when we got back together. I really wouldn’t have minded. That’s not something for you to be sorry about though, Mark. She is my loss to bear.”
“I wish I could have stopped him,” Mark said as he shook his head and allowed a few stray tears to escape his blue eyes. “I thought we could do it—we had it planned out so perfectly. He asked me to join him and I did not take him seriously…just like my father.”
“It was still a good plan,” William said hoarsely. “The council was already giving in…the exchange was a trap. You did the best you could with what you knew. It was better than any of us could come with.”
“I just want to be away from all of this,” Emily said as she buried the back of her head against the seat.
“You got some revenge,” William said as he attempted to add a tiny bit of levity to the group’s depressed mood. “It looks to me like you got some aggression out.”
“A pity we did not get Lola as well,” Emily said she shrugged. “It did feel good though—those two bitch-muffins have tormented me since I was little.”
“That’s right,” William said as he paused for a moment and though about it. “Damn, we smashed her beneath the SUV and forgot about her. She’ll wake up tomorrow morning and be even more pissed.”
“Zampa escaped as well,” Mark said as he remembered watching him jump into the water.
“He probably drowned,” William added as he attempted to find a way to lie in the passenger seat that caused him the least pain. “He’ll probably wash up on shore somewhere tomorrow—he seemed to be afraid of that old one.”
“He said he wasn’t taking orders,” Mark replied. “I think it was a pride thing.”
“Did he…I know it’s stupid, but did he say anything about me?” Emily asked meekly from the backseat.
Mark thought for a moment. Zampa had said a few things that would hurt Emily. He wondered why she even cared. Then again, no matter how screwed up he was—he was still her father. Mark thought about making up some kind of lie, but knew that he had to be a little honest, for Emily’s sake. “I told him that you had left after the incident with Bradley and he told me that if I ever saw you, I should kill you. He was upset with you messing up hi
s plan.”
“Yeah…I figured it’d be that way,” Emily said as she grew quiet for a moment.
“Which if you had not,” Maddie added as she placed her good arm around Emily’s and gave her a short squeeze. “They would have gotten a hold of Mark and things would probably be much different now.”
“I suppose I do have my uses, at times,” Emily said as she smiled briefly at Maddie. “Even if it was technically a fuck up…”
Darkness came as we pulled of the highway and headed down some curved and hilly roads as tiny lights appeared in the distance like multi-colored stars. As I slowly drove through town I remember thinking—what if Emily had never interfered with her father’s plan. What if I never found out that I was a Conductor at all? Where would my life be then? I knew it was silly to think of the ‘what ifs’ and what could, should, or might have been. There was no turning back now. For the first time, I was starting to wish that things were different. It hurt me to think that way—it just all felt rather hopeless.
“Everyone is accounted for?” Caesar said as he eyed everyone in the vehicle nervously as he ran out to meet us at the carport. “You’re face, boy, are you alright?”
“Just a punch in the nose,” Mark said as he nodded.
“Everyone here is accounted for,” William said as he nearly fell out of the passenger seat and attempted to stand. “We’ve had losses though.”
“David?” Caesar said as he helped William to the door.
“The old one killed him,” William said as he shook his head. “We don’t know how—Maddie saw it happen.”
“He was a dear friend, if you could believe that,” Caesar said as he paused for a moment and let out a short sigh. “Despite his lack of manners and rather brutish attitude, there was a good man beneath his rough exterior.”
“We would not have made it out without his help,” Maddie said as she followed the group into the house.
“Rest here,” Caesar said as he deposited William on his large couch in the entry way. “I shall fetch you some tonics for your injuries—and some old whiskey for your mind. They should both help you to fall asleep so that you may awaken anew.”
“Thank you, Caesar,” William said as he let out a rough sounding grunt from the pain. “Mark…while I am still in the right mind, have you thought about our next move?”
“We should leave,” Emily added as she took Mark’s hand and squeezed it tightly. “Or stay here—wait things out. Let the council thing happen? I mean, it’s going to go to shit with our without us.”
“I honestly, don’t know,” Mark said as he shook his head. “I’m at a loss.”
“We will find no help from the Grand Conductors,” Maddie said as she nodded. “Unless you know of anyone else that can help—we don’t exactly have a list of people we can trust.”
“We can figure this out,” William muttered. “Mark—you mentioned in the car that he had made this same offer to your father…do you remember anything at all that might have seemed off at any point in your childhood?”
“No, not really,” Mark said as he thought back. “I think I know exactly why my father did not want me to be a Conductor—he never wanted me to run into this old fucked up guy…that monster.”
“How about your mother…?”
“She died when I was probably six or so,” Mark said as he shrugged. “I don’t remember much about her honestly. I don’t even remember her face—I suppose I really won’t either; my father really didn’t keep pictures of her up anymore…not after we moved.”
“It just does not make sense,” William said as he placed the back of his hand upon his forehead and closed his eyes for a moment. “There are so many Conductors he could have gone after, but he chose you.”
“I don’t get it either.”
“Did you move right after your mother died?” Maddie asked.
“I think so,” Mark said as he thought back—he was very young. Then a memory revealed itself, it was a very small one…though it might have some importance. “My dad was really…cautious, I suppose, or very particular about the house we would in. We stayed in a hotel for a long time as he had a map of all the different possible houses circled that he spent weeks going over.”
“If there was anything special in the house,” Emily said as she shook her head, “Eva made sure it was burned to the ground.”
“I have returned,” Caesar said as he announced his reappearance into the room. He handed William a large red plastic Solo cup full of whiskey as he brought out an old apothecary case and began to pour foul smelling liquids onto a cloth. He placed the cloth onto William’s chest as he arched upwards in pain. “Drink, the pain will pass soon.”
“Thank you,” William muttered as he took a large drink of the old whiskey.
“So aside from some sad losses,” Caesar said quietly as he returned two vials of liquid back into the case. “The mission was a success, was it not?”
“It was,” William said in a hushed tone.
“Are we talking about the same mission?” Emily said as she shot William an odd look and narrowed her eyes and scrunched up her tiny nose. “The one where we all almost died…and that freak escaped…?”
“They all performed very admirably,” William said as he disregarded Emily’s protests regarding the mission. “You did well, Caesar.”
“Good,” Caesar said as he smiled. “I know that you all must be tired, to your bedrooms.”
“We have a lot we need to figure out,” Emily said as she threw her hands up in the air and began to pace back and forth.
“We need to figure out what we’re going to do,” Maddie said as she agreed with Emily—something that did not honestly happen very often.
“Do as Caesar asks,” William said as his voice became somewhat groggy.
“It can wait until tomorrow,” Caesar said as he shot Emily a stern look.
“This is such bullshit, we’re not children,” Emily said as she stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind her.
“I’m not happy,” Maddie said as she shot Caesar a stern look. “I’ll go, but…Emily’s right—we are not children.”
“Of course you are not,” Caesar said as he placed his hand upon Maddie’s left shoulder. “I must talk to Mark about this…old one. Please do tell Emily that he will be along a bit later.”
“Alright,” Maddie said with a simple nod. She opened the door and disappeared down the long hallway. She, however, did not slam the door shut—it was still ajar.
“Our dear William is out like a light,” Caesar said as he smiled as though he was quite content with his treatments of William’s wounds. He then placed his arm around Mark and led him to a dusty old table and pulled out a wooden chair with red velvet accents and padding. Caesar struck the padded surface a few times and allowed the dust to enter the air. “Please, sit.”
“Alright,” Mark said as he coughed a few times from the dust in the air that hung like a thick fog before disappearing into the large Oriental rug beneath their feet. He climbed into the creaky old chair and placed his hands upon a small, circle glass table with a wrought iron stand.
“Tell me about this one that calls himself the old one,” Caesar said as he climbed up into the tall chair and attended to the belt on his black and red robe as he repositioned himself.
“He has powers,” Mark said, not exactly knowing where to begin. “He would not give me a name…it was only after I referred to him as the ‘old one’ that he started taking up the name—he said that he had so many names over the years it was pointless to give me one.”
“I’ve lived for almost a century,” Caesar replied with a nod. “I dare say that I have forgotten my own birth name. I have changed it so often…it is a necessity among our kind. Now, tell me about these powers…”
“Well,” Mark said as he let out a heavy sigh. “From what I can tell, he is a Spotter—like Bradley and William. He can project, so that makes him an Elemental…I suppose just a wind one, but still…he took
one hell of a beating and got back up. I don’t know if that’s a power or…if he’s just used to taking beatings. According to Maddie—he caused David to kind of…I guess, vibrate—like I do with the coins and nails. Only, he imploded and turned to dust.”
“That is,” Caesar said as he took a big gulp of air in. “Rather fretting.”
“He also has a Grand Conductor on his side,” Mark said as he piled that last little bit onto the huge shit-pile.
Caesar closed his eyes and shook his head and he allowed a hand to collapse upon the table. “And…I suppose he has plans?”
“He wants to replace the Perpetual Council with younger Perpetuals and Conductors…he offered me a spot. Said he wanted to make it more of an active thing, that we would spark a revolution…some nonsense…”
“That does not seem befitting of someone of such power,” Caesar said as he turned his head to the side and rested a hand against his cheek. “If that is what he wished—he would easily have had it already.”
“It didn’t sit right with me either,” Mark said as he nodded. “He didn’t need me to do anything—with his kind of power he could easily do a lot of terrible things. He could start or end wars…become ruler of some country.”
“But,” Caesar said as he looked confused. “He does not. He showed you all his powers—powers I’m sure he has possessed his entire life. Powers he had back when he…did away with your father—still, he has never acted. A Perpetual with that kind of power…why would he just sit and never act…? Or why would he wait so long to do so?”
“That’s what I can’t figure out,” Mark said as he shook his head and rapped his fingers against the glass table. “I have to be missing something, right?”
“We may have to accept the possibility that we are not dealing with an evil man,” Caesar said as he looked to the many books upon a shelf nearby. “Misguided, maybe gone mad from all the years—but not evil…otherwise he would be in books of old—a great monster that had been hunted down.”
“I forgot,” Mark said as he almost let out a laugh. “He can also block a Spotter’s ability.”
