by KJ Harlow
The only sound that could be heard in the control room at that point was the whirring and humming of the machines the workers sat in front of. Even they had momentarily stopped to witness my impassioned monologue. Without even noticing, Death and the other Deliverers had formed a circle around me and Agatha. All eyes were on the senior Deliverer.
Agatha wasn’t angry or shocked. Her face was still as she took the time to absorb my diatribe and formulate a response. After 10 seconds, inexplicably, she smiled. I gawked at her, completely knocked off guard. Out of everything she could have done or said, I wasn’t expecting a smile. Tracy was doing everything she could not to close the distance between us and physically close my mouth for me.
Another five, long seconds passed. I hadn’t figured out why she was smiling. It was starting to unnerve me now. Finally, she spoke.
“What do you suggest we do then, Rose?” I closed my mouth and swallowed. I received no help from looking around the group. Walter could barely contain his amusement, as he watched me try to get myself out of the hole I had dug myself in to. Tracy just looked relieved that I had finally closed my mouth. Tor, Silas, and Death just watched me patiently, waiting for my response.
“L-let's go to Andover,” I stammered.
“Death,” Agatha said, turning to look up at the angel, “do you have any objections to letting Rose lead this mission?” Death regarded me quietly, his arms crossed. Eventually, he shrugged.
“She handled herself well back at the Port of Melbourne in Australia, I have faith in her to do the same and no objections for her to lead this mission,” he said. Agatha turned back me. The smile on her face was gone; her mouth was set in a hard line on her face.
“You’ll be leading this mission then. What do you want us to do?” Damn her, she was testing me. I looked around at the workers in the room. They had already resumed their collection of intelligence, busily tapping away and staring at their screens. If Agatha wanted to play ball, fine. I would prove to her that was up for it.
“Death, can we get the workers to tap into surveillance in and around the town of Andover? We’ll need to find a place within a few miles that we can transport to, preferably away from prying eyes. We have to assume that word of the terror attack on London has traveled fast and that there may be a heightened police presence there, not to mention the fact that it is the army base of the UK.”
Death nodded and excused himself from the group, walking back towards a cluster of workers who greeted him. I watched him go then turned to face the rest of the Deliverers.
“As Death is doing that, we have to figure out a plan of attack. Until we get any surveillance of Andover, we’re going in relatively blind. If the Tormented aren't there, our job should be to defend the fort. What makes this even trickier is that the British Armed Forces are probably rolling out as we speak to defend London. They’ll be on high alert. We have to avoid engaging with them.”
“And if they have already infiltrated Andover?” Walter said, frowning at me.
“Well, we’ll know that pretty soon, won’t we?” I said, forcing a smile as I looked at him. “Death’s working on that now.”
“But if they’ve already infiltrated Andover, that’s it, right? There’s nothing to defend,” he persisted. I couldn’t tell if he was testing me or deliberately trying to push my buttons.
“There’s always something to defend,” I snapped. “If the Tormented have emptied the arsenal, who knows what damage they’ll do. They may burn London to the ground. Even if that’s all there’s left to defend, we should do it. There’s always something to fight for.”
“We have to look out for each other, though. Things will be even more dangerous than usual,” Tracy said, walking to my side. “We already sustained some injuries from the scouting mission. Now that the Tormented have shown their hand, we have to be prepared that an attack several times worse.” I smiled at Tracy and nodded.
“We’re also not just sitting here and waiting for the Tormented to make the first move. We’re in the UK; Mortimer was born here. Surely our best chance of Ceasing him would be here, right? We have to start looking for clues that can point us to the source of his Torment.” I said this while looking at Agatha. She had a thin mask on that could barely hide the melange of emotions that was bubbling underneath.
“We could split up into two teams. One to defend Andover and one to go back to London and start looking for clues that will point us to Mortimer’s torment.” Tracy suggested.
“Good idea. There shouldn’t be any shortage of information about him. Start by going to the headquarters of the newspaper companies–”
“You won’t find anything about him there,” Agatha interjected. Tracy and I looked at her. Agatha composed herself and started again. “What I meant to say was that you won’t find anything there that will give you clues about his torment. Mortimer didn’t have family. He was all by himself, living on the street,” she paused, looking down at her hands distractedly. “He had no one but me.”
“Do you know what’s tormenting him because that would make our jobs easier,” I said sarcastically.
“Of course I don’t know what’s tormenting him! Do you think I would be here if I did?” She exploded. She turned on her heel, slammed her hand on the glass door leading down to the resting chambers and stormed down the stairwell. Walter looked at me and shook his head.
“Don’t let the power get to your head,” he said, before following Agatha down the stairwell. I tilted my head back and exhaled towards the ceiling. What had I gotten myself in to?
“I think she was proud of you.”
“Hm?” I had a map of Andover and the surrounding area on the table. Silas and Tor were discussing different vantage points to defend the fort while Tracy and I were looking at different places to the portal in Death’s office to point to.
“Did you hear what I said?”
“What?”
“I said,” Tracy said loudly, getting a glare from Tor, “that I think Agatha was proud of you.”
“When has Agatha ever been proud of me?” I said distractedly, drawing circles around the fort.
“Just before, when you gave your mini speech about understanding the Tormented. Where the hell did that come from, anyway?” Tracy said, putting her chin in her hand, “it was so inspirational.”
“Shut up,” I said brusquely, smiling in spite of myself. “It just… happened. Agatha brings out the worst in me.”
“You mean the best,” I looked up from the map and thought for a while.
“No, I mean the worst,” I said, looking back at the map. “Besides, why would she want to be proud of me?” Tracy looked towards the ceiling as she pondered my question.
“Maybe she’s grooming you,” she surmised, putting her hands behind her head. “You know, to become someone like her.” She gave me a wicked grin when she saw my look of horror.
“What happened in her room before anyway?” Silas said from across the table. I pretended not to hear him, looking closely at a hill to the north of the town.
“She told us about her past with Mortimer,” Tracy said, turning her face to look at him. Now Tor looked up. His eyes flitted over to me for a split second. Tracy caught this and gave him a mischievous smile. He quickly looked back down at his map of the fort.
“Agatha met Mortimer when she was running errands for a senior sister. They fell in love, had sex multiple times, Mortimer proposed to her, she refused, so he held a 30-year grudge, making his murder victims visit her at Westminster Cathedral to die on its front steps.” We were staring at her incredulously. Tracy looked around, confused. “What, that’s what happened.” Silas was the first to recover.
“So they were close enough to have… intimate relations, but he never told her anything about his past? Who his parents were? His birthday?” Before I could respond, the glass door disappeared and Death rushed in.
“Andover is safe,” Death said breathlessly, “but we also have also spotted the Tormented.�
� I stood up abruptly, knocking my chair over.
“Where are they?” Death’s face told me everything I needed to know.
“They’re in the town outside the fort right now.”
“Agatha, Walter, Tor. You’ll be with me. Tracy, Silas, you’ll be going to back to London to start looking for clues about Mortimer,” I ordered, choosing the teams for the mission.
“If I may make a suggestion, Rose,” Walter said politely. I nodded, smiling faintly at him. “Silas should go with you. His skill as a marksman is more useful when facing the Tormented. He can buy you enough time to escape if you find yourself in a sticky situation.”
Death had pulled himself away from the worker he was talking to watch me. Was it me or did he seem displeased? Did he agree with how I grouped the Deliverers, or did he want me to take Walter’s suggestion? Before I could ask, he was talking with a worker again.
“Thank you, Walter,” I turned to Silas. “Do you mind coming with us to face the Tormented?” Silas gave a faint half-smile and shook his head. “In that case, Walter you can go with Tracy and see what you can find in London that might lead us one step closer to Ceasing Mortimer.” I turned to my squad to address them.
“We have seen the Tormented but we still don’t know what their intentions are at Andover. They may be attacking the arsenal and raiding all the fire arms. They could also be trying to attack senior officials. Maybe they have found someone who they want to turn into a Tormented. We don’t know. Be on your highest alert.
“The goal of this mission is to protect Andover. We’re racing the Tormented to get there. They will put up barriers that will slow us down. Make sure to protect yourself. If you are in trouble, communicate through the Light Bugs. If we are to retreat, we retreat together. If Andover falls, it’s not the end of the world. Does everyone understand their mission?”
Everyone nodded. In single file, we started walking out of the control room towards Death’s office. Death watched us walk by. For a second, I thought I saw a flicker of worry on his face. It was gone as soon as it came. I smiled to myself; it was nice to feel like people cared for you.
We assembled under the portal in Death’s office. Looking up, all I could see were gray clouds. That didn’t surprise me; the UK wasn’t known for their sunny weather. I turned to Walter and nodded. He pointed his red Lucent Gun towards the portal.
“Knights Enham Junior School, Andover, United Kingdom.” He announced before firing a single round. There was a rush in the portal as it adjusted to its new coordinates. Agatha, Tor, Silas and I stood underneath the portal and held hands. As we looked up and felt ourselves being thrown skyward, I caught a glimpse of Agatha. There was immeasurable sadness in her eyes. Tracy’s voice echoed in my head as the wind screamed past me.
How about you, Agatha? How did you die?
Eight
The grounds of the school were fast approaching. I leaned back bracing for impact. I was surprised when my feet came into contact with springy, artificial grass. I ended up bouncing five yards forward after my initial landing before I came to a grinding halt. I turned around; Silas, Agatha, and Tor stuck their landings perfectly. Looks like I still needed practice.
“Look out!” I yelled. I ran to take cover in a hallway between two rooms. The other Deliverers joined me in an instant. We watched as three military helicopters thundered over us, only 100 feet above the ground. Walking out cautiously, I looked in the direction in which they were heading. All I could see were faint slivers of smoke curling up into the air but I already knew what their destination was: London.
“A school of all places? It’s lucky that no one is in today,” Agatha sniffed, looking through one of the classroom windows.
“No one is in today because it’s a Saturday,” I said haughtily. “I checked.”
“How far away are we from the town?” Tor asked, walking towards me. I felt a zing run up my spine, happy to hear him talk to me again, even if it was a straightforward question.
“It’s a couple miles south west. We’ll be there in a few seconds if we Soul Step.” I walked back out to the artificial grass again and put my hands on my hips, surveying my surroundings. I turned back to the other three Deliverers, who were walking out to join me.
“If there are helicopters flying out from the fort, it could mean that the Tormented haven’t arrived there yet,” I said with a hopeful lilt in my voice.
“That may not be necessarily a good thing,” Silas said. “If I were the Tormented, I would wait until the fort was as under-resourced as possible before launching my attack.”
“The British army will not leave Andover unattended. They will have some soldiers stationed there. We should expect to see them in the town as well. They don’t know that we’re on the same side, so be careful not to let them see us,” Tor said. He was looking out in the direction of the town, his hand relaxed but ready to draw his weapon.
“We cannot shoot them, but they will shoot us. If we die in the field, we’ll be automatically transported back to the Underworld. That will jeopardize the mission; it’s essentially starting at square one.” Agatha said, chiming in gravely. I looked at everyone and nodded. Walter’s warning floated up right at that moment.
Don’t let the power get to your head.
“We should get moving then. Let’s meet at the entrance of the town.” We left the school grounds and came out onto the main road. As we got into position, I turned around and addressed the others one more time. “Be careful, everyone.”
The first thing that I noticed about the town was that it was quaint. Old, Victorian-style buildings lined the streets. Roads were wide and welcoming. No offense to London, but there was something a lot more attractive about Andover for a soul weary of the hustle and bustle of modern life. The second thing I noticed was that the town was in lock down. There were no people in the streets. Stores were empty. There was no life. Had everyone been evacuated?
“Where is everybody?” I whispered, stepping slowly through the main road. “Agatha, have you been here before?”
“I haven’t, no,” Agatha responded. She had drawn her Lucent Gun from her habit and was prowling to my right. “I am pretty sure though that it’s not a ghost town.”
“I’m going to go up ahead and have a look,” Silas said. “Is that OK?” I nodded. He Soul Stepped away, kicking up some dead leaves in his wake.
“Tor, did you come into the town on your placement?” I asked.
“I did,” he responded. His gun was also drawn, as he flanked my left. “There were many people here. Andover was a little tourist hub.”
“So this,” I said, my hand sweeping the stores around us, “is not normal is it?” Tor shook his head.
There was a sudden outbreak of gunfire. One moment I was on my feet, the next Tor was on top of me. Agatha had disappeared into a narrow alley between a fish and chip shop and a clothes shop. The gun fire rang loud in our ears, but there were no shooters. That’s when I realized.
“Silas, Silas! Do you read me?” I said as Tor got up in one fluid movement. “Have you been hit?”
“No, I’m fine,” Silas said. “I’m about a mile ahead of you on the road leading to the fort.”
“Who’s firing their weapons?” I asked anxiously. It was silent as the gunfire persisted. “It’s not the Tormented is it?”
“No, they’re not here. It’s the Conflicted and the British Army.” I looked at Agatha in confusion.
“Why would the Conflicted and the British Army be shooting at each other?” I asked.
“They’re not shooting at each other. Only the British Army is shooting at the Conflicted.” Something I hadn’t previously thought came to the forefront of my mind.
“What happens when Conflicted and Tormented are hit with normal bullets?” I asked.
“The bullets will pierce their flesh, but they will regenerate very rapidly,” Agatha said quietly.
“That means…”
“Yes, that means that the Conflicted can�
�t be Rid by the British Army.” Just as I thought. I turned the Light Bug off temporarily so that I could think. Dante must have put the Conflicted in plain sight to prove something. Was he trying to get Andover to surrender by showing them that his ‘soldiers’ were indestructible? I turned my Light Bug on again.
“Silas, how many soldiers are there?” I waited as he counted.
“Looks to be at least 100. They’re all shooting the Conflicted,” he said. I smiled when he added on that last part.
“Are the soldiers blocking off the road?” I asked.
“Not entirely,” Silas said slowly. “Their formation has moved about 30 yards in from the entrance to the road to fire at the Conflicted.” My smile grew wider. I had an idea.
“Hold your position. We’ll let the Conflicted distract the soldiers as we sneak past them. Let me know if they stop.” I looked at Tor and Agatha and nodded as we Soul Stepped to Silas’ location.
“Silas, where are you?” I said under my breath. Tor, Agatha and I were hiding in an alleyway watching a wall of soldiers systematically fire at the Conflicted. They were only about 20, maybe 25 yards away from us. The constant sound of gunfire drilled into my head. I couldn’t hear him, let alone form a coherent thought.
“Look up,” he replied. We craned our heads up in unison. “No, to your right.” My eyes traveled over the roofs.
“There you are!” I said. As usual, he was lying on his stomach, looking through his scope.
“Who are you pointing your gun at?” Agatha asked.
“Right now, it’s just pointing into the group of Conflicted. I can target any one of them and take them out in a second,” he said. Walter was right; it was good to have Silas here.
