Mystique's Journey

by Daniel A. Jones

  They talked a little about what they needed to do when they arrived. Daemon’s first priority was to get Angelica to Mystique and make sure they were safe. Mystique was hurt and needed Angelica’s healing; once that was taken care of, they could find out from Mystique what had happened. Angelica expected Bruce to meet them at some point and had told Daemon to let her handle him. Daemon had agreed, but not before making it clear that he really wanted to hurt someone. Angelica prayed nobody got in his way. She would do what she could to stop him, but she worried some poor security guard was going to suffer Daemon’s wrath.

  When they were finally allowed to disembark the plane, an air car was waiting to take them to the hospital. It was a large luxury model with the name Agrotech stenciled on the sides. Angelica wondered again who Bruce Montagu was and what his connection to Mystique could possibly be. He had sounded young on the phone, but to organize the limousine then the plane and now an air car, he had to be someone with a lot of influence.

  The car landed near the main entrance of Sinclair General Hospital. Daemon was out of the vehicle before it had fully settled to the ground. Angelica was right behind him this time, and the two were headed to the hospital entrance. The driver of the limousine slowly got out to inspect the damage to the car door. He wasn’t in any hurry to confront the guy who had snapped the door’s safety lock. The limousine doors were armored and designed to withstand almost all forms of small-arms fire. The driver couldn’t imagine how anyone could just push it open before the lock was disengaged.

  “Hi, my name is Bruce Montagu. We spoke on the phone,” Bruce said as Angelica entered the hospital. Daemon had fallen back to allow Angelica to lead the way and talk to anyone they needed to. He had a tight grip on the beast, but it was too close to the surface for others not to feel its presence.

  “I’m Angelica and this is Daemon. I would like to speak with you after I check on Mystique,” Angelica told him in a calming voice.

  “Mystique is in the IC unit on the fourth floor. She got out of surgery a few hours ago. The doctors won’t tell me much, since I’m not a relative,” Bruce explained as he led them to the elevator.

  “IC unit?” Angelica asked.

  Bruce realized Angelica and Daemon were probably as uneducated as Mystique. “Intensive-care unit; it’s where they keep all the patients who are in critical condition,” Bruce explained.

  “They didn’t put her in a regeneration unit? The ship we were on had one—doesn’t the hospital?” Angelica asked, a little annoyed Mystique wasn’t getting the best care.

  “I think they have a few, but they’re only used in special cases,” Bruce admitted a little sheepishly. He didn’t want to tell them Mystique couldn’t afford that level of care, and he hadn’t been able to contact his mother for authorization to have her pay for it.

  “Mr. Montagu, I appreciate what you’ve done to help, but I am in no mood to play word games or listen to lies,” Angelica responded in an unnaturally calm voice that caused a chill to run down Bruce’s spine.

  The ding of an elevator arriving to take them to the fourth floor cut off Bruce’s reply. Angelica was first to step into the elevator, followed by Bruce with a little help from Daemon. Bruce was starting to get the feeling he might be in trouble, and had hesitated, so Daemon gave him a little push to get him moving. Bruce stumbled into the elevator, unable to find his balance before colliding with the back wall. Daemon stepped in and Angelica pushed the 4 button.

  Bruce took his first good look at Daemon and realized the danger of his situation. Daemon was the biggest man Bruce had ever seen. He had muscles on top of muscles, and all of them seemed to be straining against some unseen force. Where Angelica had a look of concern, Daemon looked ready for a fight. Bruce remembered how fast and strong Mystique was in a fight, and started to imagine what Daemon was capable of. Bruce’s train of thought was interrupted by Angelica.

  “Mr. Montagu, I can’t force you to tell me the truth, but I can tell when you are lying or not telling the entire truth, so please don’t do it again. It will only make matters worse,” Angelica instructed.

  “Forcing you is my job,” Daemon stated simply, causing Bruce’s imagination to run wild with thoughts of how Daemon would make him.

  “Daemon.”

  “I’m in control. Don’t worry; I won’t hurt anybody,” Daemon reassured her, but Angelica could tell how upset he was and how easy it would be for him to lose control.

  The elevator dinged their arrival on the fourth floor and the doors slid open. Daemon stepped out into the hall and surveyed the area as Angelica and Bruce followed him. Bruce had decided the safest thing for him to do was to try and keep on Angelica’s good side. The nurses’ station was directly across from them and the waiting area was to their right. Alan and Sam were standing in the waiting area looking at Daemon, their mouths hanging open in awe. Detective Montgomery of the Nebular Police Force was talking to Mr. Shensi and Mr. Jones, none of them noticing the boys’ reaction.

  Bruce stepped up to the counter at the nurses’ station and introduced Angelica and Daemon to the nurse sitting there. The nurse asked them to have a seat while she called the doctor. Detective Montgomery finally realized that they’d arrived and started making his way over to talk to them. Mr. Shensi and Mr. Jones quickly gathered their belongings and moved to catch up with the detective. Alan and Sam had locked gazes with Daemon as he scanned the area and wanted very much to leave, but loyalty to their friend caused them to simply sit back down in the waiting area.

  “Nurse, I don’t want to wait for the doctor. I want to see Mystique now,” Angelica told her.

  “I’m sorry, but you have to wait for Doctor Fitzroy. He’ll be here shortly,” the nurse said.

  Angelica realized they were not going to be shown to Mystique any time soon. Bruce had intercepted the three men in suits who were coming over to talk to them, and was introducing them. Daemon stepped between her and the men. One was a police detective, another was from the New Sydney embassy, and she didn’t catch the identity of the last one.

  Angelica shifted her focus to her empathic ability. She could sense the emotional state of everyone on the floor. She reached out with her mind checking and ignoring those close to her. A few seconds later, she’d scanned the whole floor and hadn’t felt Mystique’s presence anywhere. Angelica started to get upset, until she remembered how difficult it was for her to read Mystique even when she was close. She wasn’t going to be able to find Mystique with her senses. They were going to have to get someone to show them where she was.

  “Daemon, I can’t sense Mystique. You need to get someone to show us where she is,” Angelica informed Daemon, knowing she was unleashing a killer and praying he didn’t hurt anyone too badly.

  Daemon understood Angelica’s fear. She expected him to start hurting people until he got the information. Daemon wanted to do just that, but he knew it would only cause more problems. Daemon’s father had been afraid that Daemon’s temper would get him in trouble with the law, so Daemon had started studying the law as soon as he was able. “Wait here. I’ll go find her,” he told Angelica as he walked away.

  The nurse behind the counter yelled that he wasn’t allowed to wander around and to please wait in the waiting area. Daemon ignored her and kept walking. The three men looked at one another before the detective trotted off after Daemon. The other two tried to get Angelica’s attention, but she was lost in her empathic sense and trying to find any clue as to where Mystique might be. It also allowed her to keep track of Daemon as he searched.

  Mr. Jones wanted answers and he wasn’t used to being ignored. He finally lost his patience and grabbed Angelica by the arm, intent on getting her attention. Angelica had felt the anger in Mr. Jones building but had ignored it; now that he’d actually grabbed her, she reacted without thinking. Angelica drained some of the man’s energy and heightened his fatigue, causing him to collapse. Mr. Jones fell unconscious to the floor, releasing Angelica’s arm as he did so.

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nbsp; Bruce and Mr. Shensi both reflexively jumped back, staring at Angelica. To them, Angelica had simply looked at Mr. Jones. Alan and Sam gasped and used a few colorful words to describe their amazement. The nurse behind the counter jumped to her feet at the familiar sound of someone hitting the floor. She had not seen what had transpired. She’d been too focused on her paperwork. She scrambled around the counter to check on Mr. Jones.

  “Nobody touches me without my permission,” Angelica stated to no one in particular. “He is just unconscious; he’ll wake up fine in a little while.”

  “How did you do that?” Bruce asked in amazement as he moved closer to get a better look at Mr. Jones. The nurse had finished checking the man’s pulse and now looked up at Angelica.

  “Are you a psionic, like in the vids?” Bruce asked. Mr. Shensi inched forward enough to take Bruce’s arm and try to pull him back and away from Angelica. Alan and Sam had overcome their initial fear when they too realized that Angelica had to be a psionic, and a powerful one at that.

  Angelica was about to explain when she felt Daemon’s emotional spike. She didn’t have time for explanation. She turned and ran down the hall, hoping she would get to Daemon before something bad happened.

  Daemon found what he was looking for in a police officer standing guard outside one of the rooms. The detective was still following him and telling him to go back to the waiting area, and Daemon was still ignoring him. The detective had said that Mystique was under arrest for assault, so Daemon expected her room to be guarded. As he approached, the guard stepped in front of the door to block him.

  Daemon instinctively wanted to grab and throw the man out of his way, but he didn’t; instead, he stopped about three feet away. “Please move out of the way. I’m going in to see Mystique,” Daemon said, barely louder than a whisper as he fought to keep control of the beast. Something in his voice or his aura warned the officer that it would be dangerous to refuse. The officer looked at the detective as he stepped aside; seemingly trying to gauge how much trouble he was in. Detective Montgomery was relieved to see the officer step aside. He had no desire to kill Daemon, and the way he saw it that was going to be the only way to stop him.

  Daemon stepped into Mystique’s room and froze. The sight of her with wires and tubes attached all over her body was almost too much for him. She looked so pale and fragile that his heart sank with grief and shame. It was his fault—he was supposed to keep her safe. It didn’t matter that she was living hundreds of miles away; the rational part of his brain wasn’t working. He blamed himself.

  Angelica felt Daemon’s grief and shame and sprinted faster. She had to get to her brother. Angelica could feel the presence of the beast. It had full control of Daemon now that he was distracted by his grief. The beast was a killer and there were only two people on the planet who were safe from its bloodlust. She had to get to Daemon and help him regain control before it started killing.

  The battle-axe tattoo on Daemon’s inner forearm faded as the beast summoned forth its weapon of choice. Detective Montgomery stared in awe as a four-foot long double-bladed jeweled battle-axe appeared in Daemon’s hands. The expression on Daemon’s face had changed and now anger and rage twisted it into something barely human. Detective Montgomery had seen the expression on other men and knew Daemon wouldn’t hesitate before killing him. He remained still and waited.

  Angelica came around the corner and saw the guard standing at the door to Mystique’s room. He had no idea what was in the room behind him and stepped in front of the door and braced himself, preparing to stop Angelica from entering the room. Angelica felt the beast’s attention shift from the detective to the officer. She had to do something fast, so she reached out with her mind and drained the officer of enough energy to drop him unconscious. The officer collapsed to the floor just as the tip of Daemon’s axe drove through the door.

  Two shots rang out as the tip of the axe was pulled back out of the door. Detective Montgomery had seized his chance while Daemon was distracted to pull his pistol. He fired into Daemon’s side, a quick double tap of the trigger. He wasn’t surprised when Daemon spun around to face him; in fact, it is exactly what he’d expected Daemon to do. He fired again but this time Daemon was ready, and to the detective’s horror Daemon deflected the next pair of bullets with the flat of his axe. Fear didn’t stop detective Montgomery; instead it caused him to empty his clip, firing all twelve remaining rounds at Daemon. The detective changed targets, shooting first for Daemon’s head, then his chest and abdomen.

  The beast that was controlling Daemon had fought thousands of battles with armed opponents. It knew what parts of Daemon’s anatomy it needed to guard. It also knew that sooner or later, his opponent would run out of ammunition and he would kill him. The slide on Detective Montgomery’s pistol locked in the open position, marking that the last round had been fired. He had hit Daemon three times in the stomach and once more in the chest. Blood leaked from each of the six wounds, soaking Daemon’s shirt and pants.

  Daemon moved the head of his axe away, giving him a clear view of the detective. Detective Montgomery knew what was coming next and resigned himself to his fate. He could try and dodge or fight but that would only delay the inevitable. Daemon pulled back, preparing to drive the spiked tip of the axe through Detective Montgomery. The beast appreciated that the man was going to die with dignity.

  “Stop! Daemon, don’t hurt him,” Angelica commanded from the doorway. Daemon slowly turned to look at his sister. The beast wanted to kill, but even it wouldn’t disobey Angelica unless it had to.

  “Daemon, put the axe away. It’s okay now. We’re safe and I am going to fix Mystique. The officer was just doing what he thought he had to. He won’t hurt us, so you don’t have to hurt him,” Angelica explained trying to calm Daemon and help him to regain full control. She could still feel the presence of the beast, but it was fading. Daemon used the word Shektee had taught him and the battle-axe vanished. The tattoo on his forearm became bright and new again.

  Detective Montgomery had been involved with a lot of situations similar to this one, normally as the person talking the aggressor down. He stayed very still, not moving or drawing any attention to himself. Daemon would pass out from blood loss soon and then the danger would be over, or so he thought.

  “Officer, could you please put your pistol away and step outside?” Angelica asked in a calm voice. Detective Montgomery slowly holstered his pistol and sidestepped toward the door. He noticed Daemon tense slightly as he slid past Angelica and into the hallway. Once in the hall, he stepped out of view of Daemon and quietly drew his pistol to change clips. He would feel better once he had another full clip ready.

  Detective Montgomery slowly peeked around the doorframe and was awestruck by what he saw back in the room. Angelica was standing by Mystique’s bed with her back to him, encased in a golden glow. Daemon was still standing in the middle of the room. Blood covered most of his body from the chest down. The detective was amazed he was still standing.

  Daemon turned and looked over at the detective. “If I see that pistol, I will kill you before you can pull the trigger,” he said in a calm, sure voice that left no doubt in Detective Montgomery’s mind that Daemon would do exactly what he said.

  After a few minutes, Daemon relaxed a bit. “I am sorry for scaring you, but you did shoot me.”

  “Why aren’t you dead?” was all Detective Montgomery could think to say as he carefully holstered his pistol.

  “I’m hard to kill. The officer there is going to need to eat when he wakes up; other than that, he’ll be fine,” Daemon said as he pointed at the officer lying on the floor. Detective Montgomery had assumed Daemon’s axe strike at the door had killed the officer, so he’d avoided looking at the poor man. He knelt down and rolled the officer on his side and checked him for wounds.

  “A group of men are coming. I think it would be best for you to meet them and explain why you shot an unarmed man,” Daemon told Detective Montgomery as he pointed do
wn the hall toward the nurses’ station. Montgomery started to protest about Daemon being unarmed, but then he realized that without the axe as evidence it was exactly what it looked like. Daemon watched the expression on Montgomery’s face change as he realized how much trouble he could be in, especially with the Graysons’ lawyer and the aide to their ambassador not more than a hundred feet away.

  Daemon gave the man a wink before saying, “We don’t want any trouble. Just let me know what happened here so I can swear to it.”

  Detective Montgomery had thought he had seen it all until just a few minutes ago. He slowly walked down the hall toward the group of men Daemon claimed were coming. He couldn’t decide which was scarier: the axe-wielding lunatic, the cold-blooded killer, or the happy-go-lucky teenager covered in his own blood. He’d shot the kid six times at point-blank range and the kid was talking to him like they were friends. He had no idea what the sister was up to glowing like that.

  Detective Montgomery was so lost in trying to make sense out of what was going on that he forgot all about the men he was going to meet. He turned the corner and two security guards jumped him, tackling him to the floor. Montgomery struggled to get free while the guards fought to pin him. One of the guards felt his gun and started yelling a warning to the others. The three guards who were standing back pulled their stun batons and started inching forward. Montgomery couldn’t believe this was happening.

  Everyone on the fourth floor was stunned by a very loud bang or explosion. Detective Montgomery was the first to recover, freeing his right arm he pulled his badge and started waving it at the guards and yelling for them to let him go. The noise had come from the direction of Mystique’s room, or at least he thought it did.