by Rashaad Bell
“…what Madison?” Frankie finished.
I looked around, not believing my eyes. We were in my living. All of us. Even the three Rogers. Everyone was there.
“Whoa.” Aiden whispered. “That was meta.”
“Everybody okay?” I asked. “Got all your fingers and toes?”
“I’m all good.” Abigail announced.
Dakota gave me a thumbs up. “I’m okay.”
“I really gotta take a piss.” Aiden said, running off to the bathroom.
“Can somebody please tell me what the hell is going on?” Frankie yelled.
“What about you?” I placed my hand on Girard’s arm. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” She said slowly. “I think so.”
“I think it’s…” The young Johns Rogers flickered out of existence momentarily. “…time for me to go. Thank you, whoever…” His body blinked out of reality.
I spun around looking for the other two, but they were already gone.
“Madison.”
I turned towards my name and saw him.
Connor. He must have been wrapped up in the teleportation wake.
“Get out of my house.” I whispered.
Chapter 8
The end of the beginning…
My parent’s memorial service is today. I was standing in the bathroom, looking at my reflection in the mirror, the black dress I was wearing, which Abigail had picked out for me, clung to my body. It was nice. Elegant almost, but it wasn’t something that I would have selected myself. Apparently, that, I’m told, was the whole point. I held my arm up in the mirror, turning it slightly, looking at the transformation that had taken place only three days ago.
My forearm was completely comprised of volcanic rock and yet when I flexed or moved my fingers, it didn’t crack or shatter. Physically, it still felt like my arm, I didn’t notice a difference, but visual…that was something else. Black oil floated just underneath the skin and if you looked at my forearm at the right angle, you could see it moving. I slipped on a pair of black gloves, the kind that stop pass your elbows, then looked at my arm again.
Seemed human enough to me.
“World Mind.” I said.
Awaiting incoming query…
I left the bathroom, heading downstairs. “Can you not sound like a Terminator when you talk to me please?”
Awaiting incoming query…
I sighed. “Scan all multimedia for possible indication of Marauders or the Translucent Man.”
Processing…
Staci Girard was sitting at what was left of the kitchen counter. Ever since her transformation, she had pretty much moved in. She stays in my parent's bedroom. Abigail pretty much lives here as well now too. She stays with Aiden in his room. Her and her mom got into, about her moving out, but Abby is eighteen and there pretty much wasn’t anything her mom could do about it. Frankie has been crashing on the couch. I’m not sure when he’s going back, if ever.
Processing…
We tried to explain everything that was going on, but it only confused him even further so we just let him handle what he could, which basically was the funeral, the will and the insurance, stuff like that. Apparently the house…
No indication of activity for either the Marauders or the Translucent Man… Celestial grade technology needed to remain cloaked from the World/Mind tracking alga-rhythm for such an extended period of time.
…has already been paid off. There was around forty five thousand left in their joint bank account and about another twenty thousand per from insurance. So as far as money goes, we’re okay for the moment. Not to mention the World Mind has some rather interesting ideas on computer hacking as well.
“How many Celestials are currently active within this dimension?” I asked. “And did you decide on something else I can call you other than World Mind? Sounds like I’m having a conversation with the Borg Collective.”
Self-designation has not been completed. Scanning for Celestial energy matrix on dimensional scale will take a moment…
“Take all the time you need.” I added.
“You talking to that knife of yours?” Girard asked.
“Yeah.” I grabbed an apple off the counter taking a bite. “World Mind.”
“How does that work exactly?” Staci took a sip of her soda. I could smell the alcohol in it.
“I’m not sure really.” I admitted. “There’s some kind of neural interface.”
“Neural?” She asked.
“Yeah. The Blade of Osiris from what I can tell is some piece of Celestial technology, a weapons system, but the operational program can only be accessed via the brain.”
“It doesn’t bother you?”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Having something in your head like that.” She explained.
“Nah, not really.” I admitted. “It’s kinda cool actually. Like having a supercomputer at your fingertips that responds automatically to whatever you think.”
“If you say so.”
“So what about you?” I took another bite of my apple. “Any blood cravings?”
“Not yet.” She seemed somewhat upset about that.
“You told your people from Modus Operandi?”
“No.” She admitted. “They’ll just want me to report back so they can study me. I’ve tried to poke around a bit, see if there was any information about what the Coven of the Disillusioned did to me, but surprisingly, records on Vampire, Werewolf and Unicorn Pegasus hybrids are kinda rare.”
I touched her hand. “Well you’re welcome to stay here as long as you like.”
She smiled gratefully. “Thank you. By the way, I still have that information on the Eden Complex if you want it.”
“After the funeral.” I had forgotten all about that. “All those things that Connor did, the way he schemed, it was all planned, yet what happened when the Marauders arrived, that was all real. Jenova Darkstar risked her life so I could get away. I won’t abandon her.”
“Well, whenever you plan on going on your rescue mission, let me know.” Girard said. “I’m coming with you.”
“You don’t have to do that, you don’t owe me anything.” I said. “Plus its dangerous business and I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Girard reached in the sink, grabbed a knife and slit the inside of her palm deeply. A few seconds later, the wound healed up completely as if it never happened. “You don’t have to worry about me.”
“Fair enough.” I said.
There was a knock at the door, the one we had to replace thanks to the Coven of the Disillusioned.
“The limo is here.” Girard announced.
“You heard them too?”
“When they first turned on the block.” She admitted.
“Welcome to my world.” I tapped her on the shoulder. “If you want me to…show how to do things, let me know. Connor may have been a lying, traitorous douchebag, but hanging out with him, I learned a lot about how my abilities work.”
Everyone was filing out of the house and into the limo. I’d never been inside one before and I had to admit that despite the situation I really did enjoy the ride. I wasn’t sure if that was just the kid in me or something that the Vampire within enjoyed.
Saint Martin’s church wasn’t that far from my house and it didn’t take us long to get there. I had left all the details to the funeral up to Frankie. I just wasn’t in the mind state to deal with any of it. Aiden looked so handsome in his black suit and Abigail never left his side, always there when he needed, yet still giving him space when he desired to be alone with his emotion.
Dakota sat next to me, unusually quiet. The funeral for her mother was yesterday and she really hadn’t spoken much since then. I didn’t want to press her about it, but I was still worried. Then again, I’ve never been to a funeral before and I’ve never been to one as a human so I wasn’t exactly sure what emotions were normal. She was withdrawn and rarely ate and I got scared, thinking that wasn’t normal, but I’
ve seen Aiden act the same way, so then again, maybe it was. I just didn’t know.
As for me, I wasn’t exactly…
No Celestial activity noted within this dimension.
…sure what it was I felt. I was sad, angry, relieved, vengeful, regretful, so many different emotions swirled up into a hurricane that I wasn’t sure which one I should be feeling and instead I felt nothing. It was as if a switch in my mind had just turned it all off, all the emotions shut down temporarily, waiting for me to turn them back on again.
“Set up a continuous scan. Notify me if anything registers.” I said softly. “I don’t care about them being in this dimension, but if anything pops up anywhere from Earth to Jupiter, let me know.”
The sermon was pleasant and there were way more people here then I assumed would come. I didn’t know my parents were so well liked. They had the caskets here, both of them and they were open but I didn’t really want to go up and look at them. I already said my goodbyes. Lots of people came up and spoke. Abigail said some really nice things. Aiden got up and sang a song with the choir and Frankie did this weird dance that he and my dad created when they were young and wanted to be rock gods.
There were lots of handshakes. Too many handshakes if you ask me. I’m a Vampire and even I wanted some hand sanitizer by the time it was over. Why is it that everybody wants to touch you at a funeral? I wanted to be one of the pallbearers, but Frankie explained that the immediate family didn’t really do that. Other people are entrusted with that job. I rationalized to him that I could carry the entire coffin by myself, but he just gave me a really odd look.
I decided to let it go.
We loaded back up in the limo and headed to the burial plot. Now that was a lot further away and it took us almost half an hour before we got there. My parents were going to be buried side by side and had already bought the plot months ago. I doubt they knew they were going to need them so soon. There were chairs already set up by the burial site and we took our seats. Dakota was on one side of me and Aiden was on the opposite.
“Have you heard anything from Ethan?” He asked.
“No.” Ethan Blackwood. I don’t know who was the worse traitor, him or Connor. “He’s gone off the radar.”
Aiden was glaring at the two holes in the ground. “Do you think he had something to do with this?”
“I honestly don’t know.” I admitted.
“What about that dude?” Aiden continued. “Connor. After all that stuff that Werewolf guy said about him, do you think he could have been involved?”
“No.” As much as I hated Connor, I didn’t believe that he played a role in this.
Aiden seemed unconvinced. “Are you sure?”
“We were in California when it happened.” I said. “Besides, a car accident? That isn’t Connors style. He’s very hands on when it comes to murder.”
“What’s up with the Justice League over there?” Aiden pointed to a collection of individuals in the distance. They were far enough away that no one would even consider them apart of the funeral and yet they were obviously paying attention. I looked closer, the outfits they were wearing were extremely militaristic in appearance and yet still possessing some individual flair about them as well. The gentleman at the forefront of the assembly I recognized instantly. He was waving at me.
Colonel Steven Hawking.
I started to get up. “Wait here.”
“Where are you going?” Aiden asked. “It’s about to start.”
“I won’t be gone long.” I replied. I walked off, Girard watching me leave. I tapped my ear then pointed towards the individuals in the distance.
I made my way over to them, not knowing what to expect. Gathering from the fact that he showed up at my parent’s funeral, he recognized who I was now. I tried to prepare myself for anything. I wouldn’t have put it past him to try and start something here, attempt to arrest me in front of my family and friends just to see what I would do. There were three other people with him, two men and a woman, but I could ascertain almost immediately that they weren’t like the other Initiative Agents I’ve come across so far. I could sense just by the way they stood that they were in possession of real power. Post Human power like I do.
Once you gain something like that, even your stance changes.
“Hello Amber Rose.” When the Colonel spoke the three people accompanying him faded into the backdrop, giving us privacy.
I left an adequate amount of space between the two of us. “Is there something I can help you with Hawking?”
“Well I got your message.” The Colonel explained. “For future reference, you can’t enthrall a Defensive Initiative Agent like you did your little girlfriend over there. We’ve all had conditioning against mind control.”
“What are you doing here?” I demanded.
“Just paying my respects.” He said.
“I doubt that.”
“I knew your parents.” Hawking stated.
“Really?” I didn’t believe him. “Funny, I don’t remember them mentioning you around the dinner table.”
Hawking smiled. “No, I guess they wouldn’t. I’m not the type of friend you mention at the dinner table.”
“Then what type of friend are you?”
“The kind you call when there’s knife work to be done.” He answered. “Madison, the only reason I’m not arresting you right now at this very moment is out of respect to Isaiah and Erica Rose.” His face became hard, his voice cold. “But you had your chance, you made your choice and I promise, you will reap what you have sown.”
“Hey, is everything okay?”
Abigail was beside me. I was so concerned about Hawking and his friends that I didn’t even hear her walk up.
“Yeah, it’s just…” I trailed off.
Abigail looked at Hawking, then me and then back to the Colonel “Is there something I can help you with?”
Colonel Hawking looked at her skeptically. “I highly doubt it.”
“He claims to know my parents.” I said.
“Well?” She cut Hawking an unforgiving look. “Do you?”
“This conversation doesn’t…”
Abigail cut him off. “He does.”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
She looked at him again. “Yeah, I’m sure.”
Colonel Hawking raised one of his eyebrows.
“Do you know something about their death?” Abigail demanded.
Hawking didn’t waver. “No.”
I could tell by his face that he was telling the truth. I’m getting pretty good at being able to tell if some is…
“You’re lying.” Abigail proclaimed.
“What?” I said.
Abigail looked at me. “He’s lying.” She turned back to Colonel Hawking. “Why are you lying?”
The Colonel didn’t say anything, simply staring at Abigail. He lifted up his hand and pressed a button on his watch and Abigail began screaming out in pain. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she began convulsing, white foam spurting from her mouth. She toppled backwards and yet despite the distance, Girard was there, catching Abigail before she hit the ground.
“Oh my God.” I watched Staci place her softly on the ground. Abigail’s body was convulsing nonstop. “What did you do?”
“Feedback loop.” He replied.
Girard snapped her head towards Hawking, letting out a low growl. Her appearance began change, her skin turning a dark grey. The tips of her ears extended into a point and her teeth had grown sharp. She raised her hand and her fingernails had turned black, growing into sharpened claws.
One of Hawking’s men appeared beside him. His eyes were completely red, but I could see statistical data and diagrams moving across them. His body armor was black and sleeveless, leather gloves covering his fingers, yet his wrist and hands seemed to radiate a dazzling indigo energy so intense that even his gloves were illuminated. He held a handgun in each hand, yet the weapon seemed to be modified so it was half the length.
His hands appeared as if to channel energy into the guns brightly glowing clip, while a small sphere composed of what appeared to be the same type of indigo energy hovered in the air just in front of the gun barrel.
“No, not here Vega.” Hawking ordered. The Colonel turned to me and made a circle with his thumb and index finger, keeping the rest of his fingers pointed straight up. He touched his eye briefly with the circle. “Be seeing you.”
He turned and walked off, the man called Vega following after him. People were starting to run over after hearing Abigail scream. I turned back to Girard, at the transformation that had taken place. The people from the funeral were practically upon us, just a few more moments.
I called to her. “Staci.”
Her head rotated towards me, a subdued snarl emanating and yet even then I could see her regain herself as her features began reverting back to normal, her skin-becoming human like. In just a few seconds, it was as if it had never happened.
Aiden was here, placing Abigail’s head in his lap. “What the hell is going on Madison?” She had stopped convulsing and began to moan out softly.
“Let’s get her into the limo.” I said.
People were asking questions, but I told them to continue with the service and ignored everything else. Abigail was starting to regain consciousness as we maneuvered her into the limo. She sat next to Aiden, leaning against him for support. Girard sat next to her, while Dakota was to my left. Frankie wanted to come, but I needed him to do crowd control.
“Who was that guy?” Dakota asked.
“Yeah, Madison?” Aiden was upset. “I thought you were just going over there to talk and next thing I know Abigail’s on the ground having a damn seizer and there’s some dude pointing glowing guns at you.”
“That was Colonel Hawking.” I explained.
“Hawking?” Dakota repeated.
“Yeah.” I said.
“The man who gave the order to kill my mother?” She asked.
“That was him.” I replied.
“Madi…” Abigail was trying to speak. “Mad...i...son?”
“Hey.” Aiden was stroking her hair. “Don’t speak. Conserve your strength.” He looked up at me. “We need to get her to a hospital.”
