by Al K. Line
Kim slapped her hard across the cheek as Vicky lunged. My tiny sidekick was slammed back into a bank of servers before sinking to the floor in shock as much as in pain.
"You bitch!" screamed Vicky as she surged to her feet and ran at Kim.
I caught her arm and swung her in close before grabbing her around the waist and lifting her off the floor where she thrashed about and clawed the air like a tiny, ferocious cat.
"Easy there, tiger, she'll eat you for breakfast." Vicky nodded so I let her down but she instantly shot off at Kim like I thought she might so I grabbed her again.
"Now, it's time to go." Kim smiled weakly at Ivan but he didn't smile back. Poor guy was terribly hurt and yet resigned at the same time. Sometimes life beats you down and it's even worse if you expect it to work out that way. Guess Ivan had had too much pain and suffering over the years to ever expect things to turn out any different.
"Leave the girl alone," I warned, "or I won't stop until I finish off your whole organization."
"Haha, such big words. We have been around for too long and are too vast for one puny wizard to ever stop us."
"Who you calling puny?" I asked, annoyed by her dismissive nature.
But she was gone, the clothes dropped, her form changed into that of a bat, which was clearly just for the vampire drama. She fluttered out of the door leaving us all shellshocked, depressed, and worried as hell.
Moving On
Ivan's phone rang incessantly as he dealt with the deluge of problems Kim's attack had brought to bear. He barked out orders, snapped at subordinates who I pictured quaking on the other end of the line, concerned they were next for the chop. Vicky and I dealt efficiently with any small fires, but I was slowing by the second as the comedown hit hard from magical overload.
My stomach rumbled, my head pounded, and Vicky didn't help by chattering away and gleefully ogling the servers as she ran her hands along the cages. Ivan continued to field calls, getting increasingly stressed as his world came apart and Cerberus took over whatever action they could by eliminating his people or causing destruction where they couldn't step in directly.
He was a grown man and he could handle it, I was sure, what concerned me was that Cerberus had even made such a move. They weren't gangsters, they didn't get involved in this world, so why now? I understood the need for intelligence gathering, for knowing what Ivan was up to, but actively stepping in and interfering wasn't their way. Guess they figured they could control things better like this, but surely they knew they would have a real battle on their hands, that Ivan wouldn't take such a hostile takeover lightly?
Whatever. Let the kids play their games. My concern was for Sunshine and Steve right now, and as soon as I was confident the place wouldn't burn down I was ready to go.
Ivan shouted down the phone then hung up. I took the opportunity to talk even as it rang again.
"We have to go. I told Steve to meet us, and I don't like the idea of them waiting. Cerberus want her, and Kim's pretty fucking nuts. Sorry to tell you that, dude."
"I get it, and yes, she's fucking nuts. I can't believe this, any of it." Ivan looked like he was about to either burst into tears or kill someone, and Vicky and I both unconsciously took a step away from him.
"Don't worry, brother, you still have me," said Vicky with a smile.
We both looked down at her.
"Yeah, you're so lucky," I muttered.
"Go get your friend, I'm fine here," said Ivan as his phone kept ringing.
Vicky and I nodded to each other, she gave Ivan a quick hug, I patted him on the shoulder, and then we left him to deal with his crumbling empire.
All Tingly
The moment we stepped out of Ivan's, I felt exposed. Where was Kim? Were there a hundred Hounds closing in on us now, prepared to do whatever it took to wipe us out? I was next to useless, could have fallen asleep right there in the street, and if it wasn't for Sunshine I probably would have.
This was all such a shock, so sudden and unexpected a turn of events, that I don't think my mind had caught up with what was happening.
And now?
Now Cerberus would go all out to get the girl, no holds barred, no need for secrecy.
Paranoia went into overdrive as I scanned the smart residential street. All was quiet, which unnerved me even more. They could be anywhere, they could be watching via a bloody satellite for all I knew, or Kim could be perched in a tree and just follow us with ease.
"Fuck," I moaned, unsure what to do, where to go, how to proceed.
"Come on, we have to go get them. Why are you standing there doing nothing?"
"I'm not doing nothing. I'm thinking. I'm immobile with indecision," I admitted reluctantly.
Vicky gasped and put a hand to her mouth.
"Drama much?" I asked.
"You... you can't be indecisive. It's you, The Hat, you always know what to do. Or, um, you just do stuff without thinking, you know, like always." Vicky frowned, looking as lost as I felt about this whole business.
"This is important, it's your boyfriend, my friend, and a little girl. Fucking Cerberus," I shouted.
"They want to take her away, and Steve will never see her again," said Vicky, maybe realizing for the first time just how bad this was now.
"I know, that's why I'm not sure what to do. They can follow us, they might be watching. Kim's given the word for Ivan's business to be ruined and they're making their move, and you can bet they are gonna do whatever it takes to get Sunshine. We need a plan."
"A cunning one?" asked Vicky with a smile as she tugged at her tight red sweater and stretched up on tiptoe.
I nodded.
Only problem was, I didn't have a plan, cunning or otherwise.
Decisions
"Screw it, let's go," I said, my mind made up.
"But I thought we were being watched?" Vicky cast nervous glances up and down the street, making me feel even more uncertain.
"What can we do? If they're watching, let them. You hear me?" I whispered to the sky. "Give it your best shot."
I marched with purpose to the car and stood by the door waiting for Vicky.
"Um, it's that one." Vicky pointed to the next car along and I glanced down at the one I was beside. I sighed, it sure was one of those lifetimes.
"Just get in." I shuffled over to the car and tried not to look as foolish as I felt.
The moment I drove away from Ivan's, my paranoia went nuts, and for good reason. At least three cars pulled out of the street behind us, doing nothing to hide their intentions. Seemed stupid, as no way would I lead them straight to Sunshine. What were they playing at? Surely they should try to be covert so I would think we're safe?
Or was this part of the plan? Be obvious so I'd lose them somewhere then think we were okay to get the girl? But they were still secretly following us? Damn, I was getting myself in a right muddle and the longer this took the more Sunshine was at risk. Aha, they were doing this so I wouldn't go to her, so they could find her without my help, being obvious so we'd stay away.
I'd show them.
I floored the car and headed straight for the place where I'd first met Steve, consequences be damned.
And halfway through the city, with the traffic getting chaotic, my mind even more so, I had a change of heart and pulled over to the side of the road right in the heart of the city and killed the engine.
"Let's go," I said as I undid my seatbelt.
"You can't park here, it's double yellow lines. You'll get a ticket." Vicky looked panicked as she scanned for traffic wardens.
"So what? What's more important, Steve and Sunshine or a ticket?"
"They are, obviously, but still."
I felt it too, that deep-seated fear of getting a parking ticket, the anger and vitriol surfacing, the injustice of it all for being fined for parking somewhere you shouldn't. It was utterly without justification, but for some reason it's such a basic fear, the anger every motorist feels towards traffic wardens, that even under such extreme circum
stances I was tempted to go find a car park and pay for parking.
"Let's live dangerously for once," I said, then got out.
"For once?" asked Vicky when she was out too and searching for the dreaded traffic warden.
"Come on, this way." I grabbed Vicky and dashed across the road much to the annoyance of the morose motorists.
The three cars following us clearly had the same issues with traffic wardens as they pulled up by our car but nobody turned their engines off. Haha, served them right if they did get tickets.
Across the road I glanced back and saw that the Hounds had made their decision. Three men emerged from three cars, looked worriedly at each other, fear of being fined clear, then they stared hard at me, hatred in their eyes, before we ducked down an alley and ran.
Eyes Everywhere
It didn't take long to lose the Hounds. I knew the city, I knew the streets, I knew the people. A few deft shortcuts, several quick hellos in shops and a nod to the back where we could exit onto a different street, and we were free of our pursuers.
Knackered, stressed, and fearful for our friends, we slowed to a walk as we battled the carnage of late afternoon shoppers panicking they hadn't spent enough money. Now hurriedly impulse-buying so they could get the buyer's high, followed later that evening by buyer's remorse when they realized something was sorely amiss in their lives and the questions rolled around their heads about why they spent so much and how they were going to pay off the credit card before the interest rate charges sank them ever deeper into the pit of debt they somehow found themselves in? Still, they were happy for now as they bought stuff before the shops closed.
Suitably judgmental about other people, and feeling a little better for it, as we weren't the only ones with problems, we walked through the crowded shopping center. A man wearing a raincoat and a nice hat caught my attention. He was just standing there, staring. At us.
I noticed his boots. Black, polished, military. He winked at me, knowingly.
"It's a bloody Hound," I whispered to Vicky, nodding at the guy. She glanced at him then squeezed my hand.
We sped up, moving fast through the crowds.
I caught sight of a woman in an almost identical long coat, with the same boots, again just standing there, watching.
We began to run, barged past people chatting on their phones or just staring at screens as they walked, and the faster we moved the more Hounds I seemed to see. They were everywhere.
Back out on the main street we glanced in all directions, and everywhere I looked there were men and women watching us. All wore plain, unassuming clothes, mostly hidden by long coats, nothing to draw attention to themselves. Nobody made a move to follow us, but as we passed them they spoke quietly as if to the air, our route being relayed to the powers that be, waiting for us to lead them to Sunshine if they didn't just find her anyway.
There was nothing for it, we had to make a dash for it and somehow hope we could get out of this without Sunshine being lost to us for ever.
Faces watched us at every turn, staring without emotion, heads turning to follow our progress, words whispered into the air that charted our path leading Cerberus right to Sunshine and Steve.
My heart hammered, my body ached, my head was thick with indecision even as we ran towards a little girl in need of help. Had they found them already, and were merely keeping an eye on us? Was it too late? Nobody was acting weirder than normal, emotions weren't running high or getting skewed, so did that mean Sunshine was content? Or had they done something to her? Sedated her, used their device to control her emotional influence?
I didn't know and it was maddening.
We ran on, turned down alleys, sped through crowded streets, entered and exited shops and everywhere we went there were faces staring at us. It freaked me out. I felt like a lab rat and we were heading right where they wanted us to go. Only one way out of this maze and the prize was a little girl's freedom. All her hopes, dreams, the chance of a future, were about to be taken from her, and I couldn't do a damn thing but lead her future jailers right to her.
I don't think I'd ever felt so utterly useless as I did at this exact moment.
Closing In
We turned a corner and found ourselves in the back alley that led to the arranged meeting place.
Vicky and I were holding hands and running but we both missed a step and yet somehow kept moving fast as we spied two Hounds coming from the opposite end of the alley.
Why couldn't they leave Sunshine alone? How could Kim do this, knowing the kind of life she would have, having been through it herself? Did she really think their cause justified such a miserable future? I guess she did, otherwise none of this would be happening.
Sometimes I despair of the human race. It's amazing we've lasted this long.
We ran, our breathing ragged, but our steps were certain.
I focused on what little energy remained, channeled my will and my purpose to give myself at least a fighting chance if the Hounds reached the others first. It wasn't enough, I knew this, and I understood the outcome would be my death and the awful fate that awaited me once I did die, but Sunshine's life was more important than mine. After all, I'd had a decent innings, and nobody could ever say it had been boring.
I pushed through the green, freshly painted wooden gates to the back yard. The smell of the large commercial bins was strong, but not as strong as the stench of fear, dread, impending defeat, and despair that filled the air. I was almost utterly overloaded by Steve's emanations.
Sunshine was sitting on an upturned crate, eyes squeezed shut, fists clenched tight in her lap. She looked so frail and small. A thick, oversized coat I'd never seen before was wrapped tightly around her slender frame, making her appear even more tiny.
She was clearly trying her absolute best not to freak out. Maybe this was how she could control the influence she exerted on others, maybe it was just how she stopped changing into something, or someone, different, maybe she was just terrified and didn't want to look.
Steve was beside her, looking a lot less focused. He stroked her head, mumbled words of reassurance, but was far from in control. His hair wasn't his usual slick hipster style, it was wiry and black and white, blending in with a wild beard that ran down his neck and under his shirt. His body was misshapen, the limbs short and stubby, his clothes comical they fitted so badly. And the stink, boy the stink. Not just from Steve though, from Sunshine too. A cloying, sickly sweet smell that did peculiar, unnatural things to your insides. It was both arousing and disgusting, so potent I faltered and stopped in my tracks. Vicky squeezed my hand tight then released it and dashed to Steve.
He seemed to come out of a wild-eyed trance and notice us for the first time.
"Steve, Steve, you okay?" asked Vicky.
"Ugh, yeah, I guess. Hey, babe. You're late, we were getting worried. I wasn't sure what to do, where to go. The bloody Hounds are everywhere."
"Yeah, and right behind us. We gotta go," I said hurriedly, sensing them the other side of the gate.
Steve nodded. Then he grinned. He looked at me with such hope in his eyes that it made my heart ache.
"So, what's the plan then?" he asked, a look of absolute trust directed at me.
"Um, about that." I scratched at my stubble, wishing I had an awesome idea to get us out of this disaster.
"You do have a plan, don't you?" Steve's body quivered and hair grew thick and fast as his limbs shortened further and fingers turned sharp and deadly.
"Yeah. Run?"
"Run," agreed Vicky.
Sunshine's eyes snapped open and she shouted, "No," as Hounds burst into the yard through the gates and others came through the back door of the store. Two more jumped over the fence and landed with a splash.
Then nobody moved, expressions went blank, and silence enveloped us. It felt like being underwater, or having your head stuffed into a large box full of cotton wool.
The sounds of the city, a background hum that's so familiar you don't
even notice it, was suddenly absent. There was no chatter from the millions of people, no sirens wailing, no traders shouting about their produce, no noise at all apart from pigeons cooing loudly as though the silence gave them the opportunity to vent their frustrations, to be heard in a city of constant noise.
A wave of utter emptiness washed over me and for a moment I couldn't have cared less about Sunshine and her father. I just wasn't interested, not in the slightest. I understood that I knew them, that I had been helping them, but it all seemed so damn pointless, a waste of time and energy. They could do what they wanted, their actions were of no concern to me.
Then it was gone and I sagged then regained my balance and footing before falling flat on my face.
Vicky grabbed hold of Steve for support, the affects similar for them both, but the Hounds fared worse. This was focused, this was Sunshine actively controlling emotional energy and the field it radiated in. The Hounds slumped, eyes vacant, faces slack, utterly uninterested in her and Steve or anything else by the seems of it.
And it wasn't just them, it was the whole city, maybe the enter country for all I knew. Car alarms sounded, the noise of vehicles crashing into each other replacing the silence, drowning out the pigeons who were once more returned to just another noise in the maelstrom. People wailed, or moaned, or maybe they were just venting their frustration, now angry at nothing, the emotion releasing in a final call for help that wasn't forthcoming. All that remained were four people in a stinking yard in the middle of what I often felt was hell on earth but was drawn to like a moth to a flame nonetheless.
The city was changed, like a new world, reborn without emotion, uncaring, more so than ever, and it felt so wrong.
"Let's go," said Sunshine, standing, looking tiny and weak but I knew she was anything but. She was powerful, dangerous, and super-duper scary.
We walked past the Hounds who either stood, sat, or lay where they were, watching us without interest. Others focused on nothing at all.
Freaky as fuck, I think you'll find is the right way to describe it.
