Half-Breed (Taming the Elements Book 1)

by Hickory Mack

  Her ankles burned with infection and she fought a terrible fever, delirious. They never brought her anything for the pain. There was no kindness, nobody she could turn to for comfort or sympathy.

  Pax had come in with one of the pairs once. His only question was the same. Where had the demon touched her? Alice gave him the same answer and he’d left, disgust on his face. The orderlies were given free reign after that.

  With every interaction they pinched and slapped her, pulled her hair, even spat at her. As time went on the abuse grew more frightening. The names they called her were disgraceful, she was, they told her, a race traitor. A demon lover, a sympathizer. One of them had come in under the guise of bringing her food, but instead he’d gouged the words into her forearm with a scalpel, taking his time to make sure every letter was legible. Nobody had come when she’d screamed.

  Alice trembled whenever she heard them coming, she couldn’t stop herself. She accepted their treatment with as much silence as she could manage, though it only made some of them angrier, making them more determined to hear her cry out. Unable to protect herself she quickly fell into depression and despair. Every interaction increased in violence until her mind delivered a coping mechanism.

  She slipped into delirium and began hallucinating. In waking dreams she saw the demon come for her. Sometimes he was merciful, taking her away. Other times he was vengeful, killing everyone in his path on his way to save her. He berated her for allowing herself to be caught up in this situation. He’d demanded she escape. More than once, she begged for death and he’d finally killed her as she’d wanted, ending her misery. Alice had lost hope. She knew she would die here, and all she had left were the silly dreams of a little girl.

  Between the cruelty was long, cold stretches of silence. She no longer tried to sleep, they wouldn’t allow it, entering within minutes of her eyes closing. Exhausted and numb even her hallucinated demon had stopped raging. He sat quietly on the floor, eyes glazed over, looking into the ether.

  One day, Alice wasn’t hungry anymore. She’d given up and she wouldn’t eat the gray blob they called stroganoff, no matter how her demon cajoled. The orderlies tried to force her, but she spit it out, letting it slide down her chin. Her first act of direct defiance in days. They tried again but she started choking and they had to clear her airways. They left her alone afterward, but only after threatening to shove a feeding tube down her throat.

  This was the day that Doctor Pax finally returned. When the door opened to let him in, Alice didn’t bother turning her head. Whoever it was, whatever they wanted, it didn’t matter anymore. They’d won. She’d lost the will to survive this place.

  “Well young lady, I hope you’re feeling well.”

  At the sound of his familiar and hated voice, Alice slowly turned her unfocused eyes toward him, not bothering with a reply. The shade of her demon stood next to him, a frown on his lips.

  “Shall we pick up where we left off?” Alice couldn’t quite remember where that was.

  “Did you know, in all this time, the mark hasn’t worn off? You’re still as threatening to every person that walks in here as you were the day you arrived,” Doctor Pax said in his good-natured voice. The voice that was a lie. “The thing is, no ordinary lesser could do that, it would take one with great power to leave a mark that lingering, even if you’d spent a week with it. What I am saying is, we are more inclined to be open to what you have to say, now.”

  “How generous of you,” Alice said, her voice flat and hollow. Doctor Pax’s fake smile dropped. Her demon growled, his ears flat against his head.

  “Behave, girl,” he commanded. “You told Ms. Blanchard that the beast was trying to help you. We want to know a lot more about that. How did you make contact with it? As I said before, there are no Lords within the biosphere.”

  “You want to know the truth, but you want me to lie to fit your narrative. I just want this to be over,” Alice said softly, each breath hurting her fractured ribs. They’d finally broken her resolve to protect the most beautiful man she’d ever seen. She could barely keep her swollen eyes open, courtesy of her latest visitors. Doctor Pax pulled his chair up close to her and sat down.

  “I think that can be arranged. We don’t want to keep a child from her father any longer than we need to. Stanley has been made aware that you were found, and that you are under observation. His inquiries since then have been, troublesome,” Pax stated, ignoring her jab. “We have an agreement, now answer the question.”

  “He was outside of the sphere, not too far though, I think. I didn’t know I’d left the nest until he told me. Maybe a few miles off the forest path in Tallow,” Alice said and the doctor frowned.

  “There is a forest path within Tallow? Why has this been allowed?” he asked.

  “I don’t know, I’m a student not an authority. Everyone acted like it was normal, people go hiking there.” Alice had thought it strange, the hunters were supposed to keep the forest out of the nests. The fox’s shade crouched near her cot, between her and Pax.

  “Why and how did you leave the barrier wall?” He asked.

  “I don’t know, like I said, I didn’t even know I had. I left because, I was running away,” she answered quietly. Alice knew her words would damn other people, the witches, the demon, but she’d rather die than spend another day in this place.

  “From what? Leaving the protection of the colony is pure lunacy. Were you trying to get back to Balance? How am I supposed to advocate for your release into your father’s custody when you display serious mental health disturbances?” he asked, scratching his chin. Alice gritted her teeth, seeing how easy it would for him to back down on his end of their agreement.

  Backed into a corner, Alice explained her reasoning. The other girls and their attacks. How brutal and cruel they were, both mentally and physically. The injuries she was forced to hide, the murder of her bird, the threats on her life with increasing violence. Her mind wandered and Pax had to remind her to stay on track several times.

  He listened and wrote a few notes, letting her speak uninterrupted, but he looked disinterested, bored. He was quiet a moment when she finished speaking.

  “What you're telling me is, pre-teen angst drove you to leave your nest and seek out a demon to use as part of your suicide plan? What you claim is preposterous, how did these girls even know it was there?” Pax asked.

  “It wasn’t my plan, it was theirs. I don’t know if they were sure or if they were just repeating what’s in the hunter archives,” Alice answered quietly.

  “Their behavior is perfectly normal. You are a stranger in their home. You would have behaved with the same suspicion were the roles reversed, they were simply behaving as they were taught, to protect each other and themselves. Those children are not to be blamed for that,” Doctor Pax said. Alice stared at him blankly. All he’d done was remind her once again that her demon had shown her more compassion.

  “Next,” he flipped over his page to a blank sheet. “I need you to describe the creature, and tell me where it is.”

  “W-why?” Alice asked indignantly, feeling a trace of defiance rise to the surface.

  “Because, Miss Alice, I have not been entirely open with you. I am a doctor, but I am a hunter clan doctor,” he smiled truly for the first time. Her hallucination snarled. “We cannot have this thing so close to our territory that some suicidal child can easily find it, can we? When I am satisfied that you have told us all you know, we will return you to your abandoner father,” Pax said. Alice started to protest, then thought better of it. She could go home, end all of this.

  She studiously looked at her toes and described everything. Where to leave the path, landmarks, the tree. Doctor Pax asked a few more questions, exhausting every detail of where and how to find it.

  “Now tell me about the creature,” he prompted.

  Alice thought of his quiet manner, his dominance, his kindness. She looked at his shade, the irritation on his face and spoke of his disregard for h
er wishes. She spoke of his eyes, as black as the fur on his tail and ears, bitter tears, the first tears she’d cried since being brought there, streaming down her face as she did what she had told herself she wouldn’t. Betraying the creature that she believed had tried to help her. Unsure of why she did it, she only described him as having one tail, though she was very much aware that he had six of them.

  When Alice finished speaking Doctor Pax asked her a few clarifying questions, which she answered, leaving out only how she felt about the demon. When he’d gotten all the information he wanted, Pax stood and tapped on the door. It opened almost immediately, and he quietly spoke to whomever was on the other side. It slid shut and he sat back down in front of her.

  “Thank you for your cooperation. Now we can neutralize the threat.” Doctor Pax looked excited. Agitated. Alice didn’t have to ask why. She’d given a hunter something interesting to hunt. Her eyes followed the fox, pacing around her small cell. He was so real.

  The door opened again and yet another stranger came in, pushing the cart, followed by Frank, who refused to meet her gaze. Alice’s pulse sped up, they were probably going to take more of her blood. Doctor Pax sat back comfortably.

  “Nothing to be worried about, Miss Alice. Just a couple little pricks and then you can go back to your father,” he said, amusement in his voice.

  “I’ve already had my immunizations, and I don’t think I can handle losing any more blood,” Alice said nervously, surely they knew that. Frank glanced at her then looked quickly away. “Not an immunization, then?” she asked.

  “Oh, don’t you worry. One is a powerful painkiller. We need you capable of standing. The other is going to take the bad memories away, nothing to be concerned about,” Doctor Pax said, not unkindly. “All of this, the demon, your stay here, everything, will be forgotten. You’ll take a little nap and wake up in blissful ignorance, getting ready to see your father again.”

  Alice tensed but she didn’t fight. She was tied to a bed and they were three grown men. Fighting was useless. But she pretended that if she glared hard enough, she could set Frank on fire. Part of her had thought he was at least partially on her side, but she’d been wrong.

  The man she didn’t have a name for wiped the inside of her right elbow. Her demon growled again, but they couldn’t see him.

  “What will you say happened to my face? Or my ribs? Did I do it to myself?” Alice asked through gritted teeth. Doctor Pax laughed lightly. She kept glaring at Frank but he wasn’t cooperating with voluntarily spontaneous combustion.

  “Oh, you silly little girl, Alice. Don’t you remember? We saved you from a dangerous lesser class demon, it squeezed through the barrier wall during a near disastrous power outage. We got to you just as it was about to break you open for a midday snack. Don’t worry, it’s as good as dead now,” Doctor Pax said in mock concern. She believed him. They were going to use her as propaganda for their fear machine.

  She felt the familiar prick and a burning seared through her veins, up her arm and across her chest.

  “It burns,” she muttered but Frank gave her the slightest shake of his head, his eyes giving her a warning. Alice scowled at them. He could be eaten alive for all she cared. He may not be happy about what the facility did to people, but it didn’t stop him from participating. Maybe it was for the best that she forgot. Maybe she could live a normal life after this. Maybe the near constant desire to go back to the demon would disappear. It would be easier. Alice didn’t want easier, she didn’t want to forget.

  “Go to hell, Frank,” she said to Pax’s laughter right before the drugs dragged her into a deep sleep.

  Chapter 5

  They held a press conference. There was a podium with several microphones, set up on a small stage where a bunch of imposing men in suits stood. A harried group of people buzzed around, adjusting cameras and boom mics, tidying up errant hairs and brushing non-existent lint off the shoulders of a handful of reporters getting ready to launch into their government edited scripts.

  And then there was Alice.

  They’d given her a hand-me-down outfit to wear to the event. Faded jeans that actually fit, a hole worn in one knee, a pink t-shirt with puppy print. Her hand was in a splint, her ribs bound in a brace, and a pair of plastic flip flops adorned her bandaged feet. And they’d covered the words etched into her forearm with a thick gauze. Alice fingered the tape holding the gauze on anxiously. She’d have to wear a bracer to hide the words for the rest of her life.

  She was pale under the harsh lights, her injuries stood out with stark and gruesome clarity. Off to the side, a man with dark glasses stood behind her, keeping his hand on her shoulder, squeezing hard enough he’d leave bruises in the shape of his fingers. Her demon’s shade stood at her side, incorporeal and transparent. He wasn’t as real here, among all the commotion.

  Doctor Pax stepped forward and the show started with his altered account of events. He and several elders as well as Marshall Jonah Martin, the leader of their colony’s hunter clan, took turns speaking. Alice was amazed at the tale they told the world. A young girl with generations of hunter lineage had heard rumors of a story about a monster and her natural curiosity got the best of her. Wanting to prove herself worthy of her new nest mates, she set off to find the creature.

  In a twist of tragic timing, the barrier was weakened for several minutes, admitting a nearby lesser that nearly killed her. Luckily for Alice, a pair of hunters on patrol happened to be close enough to hear her cries and they swooped in to save her.

  They were too few to kill the beast, who was stronger than they expected, and their focus was on securing the young Alice, of course. But, don’t worry, citizens of Prosperity: Colony Nine, their brave men injured it, put a location tracker on it, and they know exactly where the lesser was hiding. They will be going on the offensive the very next morning.

  Her heroes were trotted forward and awarded medals and honorary titles. The first team to have taken back a victim alive. Alice was expected to shake their hands and thank them, but she couldn’t keep her lines straight, her head was too muddled and the lights were hurting her head.

  Alice worked to keep her face impassive and blank, refusing to react outwardly to anything they said. They did not expect her to speak after her mumbled failure with the ‘heroes’, so she was spared needing to sound convincing, all she had to do was look meek, and defeated, which wasn’t all that difficult. Every part of her body hurt, simply existing was painful.

  Inside, though, she fumed at their lies. Whatever they’d put in her veins hadn’t worked. Alice remembered everything, and she guessed that Frank, with his final warning to keep quiet, had something to do with it.

  She knew what kind of manipulator Doctor Pax really was. She knew that her split lip was new, it had happened while she was asleep. She knew that none of these elder’s had visited her bedside, holding her hand and promising to get her home to her father. It was all a show for the people of Tallow, and the rest of the colony.

  People who disappeared never came back, the magical creatures killed them outright. Every time. At least, that was the official story. And rather than admit to the public that a demon had shown kindness to one of their own, even once, they put on a circus.

  At least one good thing would come of this. Miranda and her friends would no longer be given a free pass at her. They'd be forced to pretend they respected her now, an exalted survivor of a vicious attack. Her injuries would put her beyond suspicion. Alice had no delusions that the attacks from the other children would stop, but their justifications for it would have to get more creative, and she wasn’t sure those girls had the intelligence to concoct believable excuses each time they lashed out at her in the future.

  After a while the flashing lights of photographs and the video cameras zooming in on her face stopped bothering her. Alice had zoned out completely. Until she heard her name called in a familiar voice. She blinked and looked up. The pressure on her shoulder increased and brought tears t
o her eyes. Viewers would think they were tears of joy. A manufactured reunion.

  She was released and pushed a step forward as her father walked onto the stage. He hesitated, looking her over with fear in his eyes. The mark must still be there. Alice glanced at her demon and amused herself with the thought that the people watching on television might feel it, too. Pushing through the fear, Stanley slammed into her with a bear hug. Alice cried out in pain but hugged him back, burying her face in his jacket.

  How kind they were, these politicians. They’d returned one of his old suits for the occasion. Pressed and tailored to fit his thinner frame, the suit made him look like a man of means again. The clacking of cameras was overwhelming. Alice wondered again how long it had taken before her dad had called her in missing. Then she realized she didn't know how long she had been missing. They had not given an actual day in the entire conference.

  It looked to Alice that her father was to be pardoned for his transgressions by playing his part in this little show. He pulled away, looked into her eyes then kissed her cheeks several times and hugged her again. Alice groaned. Her father was smarter than the average citizen of Balance, let alone the poor of Tallow. He’d know her injuries were not of demonic origin. They were of differing stages of healing, some fresh, but he kept up the grateful dad act.

  She wondered mutinously if he’d even know which of the older injuries were from her school mates and which were from his fellow scientists.

  After a while a chair was brought out for Alice when someone mentioned she was about to fall over from exhaustion. They went over every talking point, drilling it into the citizens that the hunter clan was there for them. They would be safe. Eventually the cameras stopped rolling and flashing, the suits were exiting the stage and the reporters were packing up. Alice was ready to go but her father steered her toward the elders, expecting her to thank them once more. He gave her a nudge forward, sending her off, while he spoke to the Marshall.