Spell, Crook and Handle Pt. 05

I slipped beneath the covers and fell asleep right away. No dreams invaded my sleep this time and I was thankful. I was shaken awake and rolled over to look into Gabrielle's loving features. She smiled while she caressed my cheek.

"Have you lost your fucking mind," she whispered in my ear. "What if I had sent someone to wake you?"

"I had a good reason," I said. "I am hungry is the bread ready yet?"

"How did you know there was freshly baked bread? Were you out and about like this?"

"NO, I was my handsome self," I told her and her scowl disappeared. "I met two old men, an Irishman and a Highlander. They were making bread."

"Why are you..." she said tugging the covers down and sneaking a peek. "Oh damn, I like this one a lot! Can we play with this one later?"

"Maybe," I said snatching the covers up. "I am just a toy to you." I said in my best pout.

"Yes you are, now change and get dressed for breakfast."

I got up and Gabrielle stared at me and I gave her my best puzzled look. I glanced down and bit my lower lip nervously. The Mistress Inquisitor grabbed my shoulder and turned me around. She touched where the remaining bruises were the worst. I flinched and yelped as she pressed the tender skin.

"I am sure there is some amazing story behind this," she growled. "Hell even the top of your feet are bruised. What the hell Louis?"

"It is complicated," I said and she let go. "I thought all the shifting I did last night would have gotten rid of them, I swear."

I changed back to the default me and picked out some clean clothes. I slipped on the impact armor and put street clothes on top of that. It was Gabrielle's standing order, body armor at all times. I sat down to put on my socks and when I put on my shoes they feel oddly uncomfortable. Maybe it was just the bruises or maybe it was something else. We went down to breakfast and took our assigned seats. Gabrielle sat at the head of the main table and I was near the end next to the fourth year recruits.

The Morning Prayer was said and then the food was served. I forced myself into my mindfulness discipline despite how hungry I was. I ate slowly and deliberately tasting and enjoying the meal. A few of the recruits followed my example and slowed their eating pace.

"Can you explain this to me," the cute acolyte next to me asked politely.

"It is called mindfulness," I said. "It is a way of appreciating life in all its simplicities. You can use it at any time. Personally, I try to focus on food, beauty and instruction. I break down things into their smaller actions and I focus on them. It is especially effective when I eat."

"Thank you Linguist," she said.

"Linguist," I asked.

"That is her ladyship's title we are to address you by," she said and smiled.

I returned to my meal and managed to snatch a few extra rolls for later. The meal ended and the recruits went off to class and Gabrielle disappeared to attend to the daily affairs of the chapter house. I went to the courtyard and picked up the five and a half feet long Bo staff. I went to an empty sparring circle and began to practice. My fingers, as well as the rest of my body, were still stiff but I wanted to push through it. I took my initial stance and began slow. I dropped the staff a few times at first but as my practice progressed I felt the confidence build and my technique improve dramatically.

I shifted my arm and leg muscles on the fly ridding them of fatigue and lactic acid. I pushed my speed and difficulty as my workout progressed. I could feel the center of gravity of the Bo staff and made it work for me; demand it to do my will. That desire became all-consuming and not limited to the staff. I directed that force of will to my entire body. While the Bo staff spun and moved my body leapt and twirled in the air. I reached the last Kata, or series of practice maneuvers, and stopped to get a bottle of water. I looked around and there were a full thirty recruits and instructors staring at me. I shrugged and one of the Inquisitors tossed me a towel.

"Thanks, sorry for taking up the ring," I said and the woman who had tossed me the towel touched my arm.

"Why are you not teaching here? Linguist my ass..." she said and looked over her shoulder as Gabrielle stepped forward. She looked pissed.

"Linguist, attend me," Gabrielle said and I placed the towel around my neck. "What the holy hell was that?" She asked once we were out of ear shot of the others.

"I don't understand," I said and she saw I was in the dark.

"Where the hell did you learn to move like that?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about. I was just practicing."

Gabrielle snarled and walked over to one of the Inquisitors. She handed over the video camera. Gabrielle went to the beginning of the footage and let me watch it through the camera's viewfinder. Now I understood. I watched as I went through a series of maneuvers that looked like Jet Li had choreographed it. I made a face and handed her the camera.

"If you tell me it's complicated I will box your ears," she threatened.

"Not here," I said and she nodded.

She led me into the chapter house and up to her office. I closed the door behind me and she opened her belly drawer and pressed something. She dropped down into her chair and glared at me. I waited for her to say something but after a few minutes it was obvious she wasn't.

"I had this crazy dream," I began and her eyes narrowed. "...A dream that lasted six hours."

"Dreams don't last that long," she said. "Tell me what happened."

"It is all very disjointed," I said. "You know how dreams can evaporate when you wake up. I usually feel refreshed after sleep but this morning I was bruised all over. It was a lot worse before I took the ice bath. I spent a good hour shifting from one form to another. Each shift healed me a little but you saw for yourself. I am still pretty battered."

"You will tell me if you remember more," she said.

"You know I will."

I went to the living room, what the acolytes called the common room. The large plasma screen was on and the news was covering the lack of forward movement on my sister's case. The public was upset and there had been a candlelight vigil already. I sat down and one of female students sat down next to me and asked how I was handling the situation. I looked at her and rejected the vitriol response that immediately sprang to mind.

"I am doing the best I can, considering," I told her.

"Can I ask a personal question," she said.

"I have the option to refuse," I asked and she nodded. "Ask away then."

"Do you believe in God," she asked and conversations in the room ended.

"I have no doubt there is a god," I told her. "However, I am not sure he or she is what we think they are."

"I don't understand," she said.

"And you shouldn't or any of us," I said. "I believe god is as far above us as we are above a virus. We could not conceive the mind of god as a virus could conceive of color or sound."

"I see your point," she said and the collective sigh of relief was palpable. "What about evil?"

"That's very subjective," I said and she frowned. "I believe there are things that are objectively evil. I mean that no matter how you perceive them it is just wrong. There are gray areas that I prefer not to tread in."

"What about a personification of evil," she said. "...A singular source of sin."

"No, I think there are many different things and beings that inspire wickedness. But a single source, no."

"I respect your opinion," she said and returned her attention to the television.

I watched the newscast and realized Feng hadn't chimed in yet. I checked my hand and my ring was still there. I wonder what was going on.

'Feng,' I sent silently but no immediate response. 'FENG?'

'Masssterrrrr,' she said her voice distorted. 'Oneeee mo... ment... I am nearly... finished...'

'What the holy hell is going on?' I asked and waited.

'Sorry Louis,' she said a minute later. 'I was just finishing reallocating data dumped to your neural implant.'

'Care to explain, why did you need to move data around in the first place?'

'Someone hacked your implant and placed hundreds of terabytes of data there.'

'Terabytes of data, what kind of data? What sort of format are we talking about?' I asked.

'I am still analyzing it but it appears to be highly compressed packets of varying size. The smallest is a single rune form, the largest is a rune circuit that contains hundreds of characters.'

'I still don't understand. Show me...' I said and closed my eyes.

I reversed the connection and entered Feng's digital citadel once more. This time she was alone and holding a familiar rune cupped in her hands. I walked over to her and she handed me the digital construct. It was the runic language from my dream. The rune I held literally meant the hunter's patience. I interpreted it as when you are ready.

'What do you think,' I asked.

'This character has an executable function. I suspect, when you are ready you activate this and it links to all the other rune structures. It is a guess but the most logical I can formulate.'

'Anything else I need to know about these clusters of data?'

'Three executable have already been activated before I moved the inactive bulk to your ring.'

'Do you know what they've done or their purpose?' I asked.

'All three were activated when you put on your armor. I suspect they affected it somehow.'

'Can you access my armor and see what's going on? Is this some kind of trace program or a virus?'

'One moment please,' she said and closed her eyes. 'Link established... running diagnostic... anomalous energy source detected... formatting in progress... ETA six hours until termination. There are several subroutines reconfiguring your armor. I suggest you wait until the process is finished to determine its effects.'

'So basically sit back and wait. What systems are being affected?' I asked.

'From what I witnessed all of its systems are being modified.'

'I am glad you are alright,' I said and she blushed. 'You really like this Talon character.'

'I like the way you look at me in this form,' she admitted. 'If another pleases you more I am always open to suggestion.'

'Any news on my sister or the man responsible,' I asked and she nodded.

'I have attributed at least two hundred and thirty seven murders to this individual. He has been active for nearly twenty years. I am working backwards and when I find his first I will tell you.'

'Thanks make that your top priority,' I told her.

I left her and opened my eyes. Again the time difference was huge. The same newscast item was on when I closed my eyes. I was being helped out by party or parties unknown for their own reasons. I had to accept the fact that I was a piece on a much larger board. I didn't like it but if it would save my sister and return her home alive I would accept it, for now. I had six hours on my hands until my armor was done percolating and Gabrielle was busy with Inquisition business. There was only one thing to do, hit a strip club!

Interlude 1: Crashing Thunder

It had been three days or that is what the sick song of a bitch told her. It could have been three hours. She hadn't slept or had what passed for a block of sleep in what seemed like forever. That was his plan after all. The entire system was on a timer and when it went off the klaxons blared at 100 decibels and the overhead lights blazed with a blinding brilliance. It was enough to drive a person crazy. Fortunately she wasn't just anybody, she was Louis' sister and she was defiant. She sat on the floor of the cell, legs crossed, back against the wall and eyes closed. Louis had been to Japan and when he returned he had insisted on teaching her to meditate.

"It will help you de-stress and relax during those frustrating days at work. I know it seems strange but it works, it really does."

"Thank you Louis," she whispered for the thousandth time. "Now find me so you can kill this son of a bitch!"

The sprinklers kicked on and cold water fell from above. She wanted to howl in frustration but Louis had sat beneath a freezing waterfall during his meditations. How could she do any less? I will endure! I will not break! I am a mountain. I am water and water is patient. Water always wins! You hear that you sick son of a bitch... water always wins!

Above her cell the unblinking eyes of the security cameras watched her every move. There wasn't much to see and that infuriated and amazed him at the same time. He stared at the monitors and shook his head. He still had a blank canvas and that just wouldn't do. She just sat there and did nothing, said nothing. She was depriving him of his reward. Where were the screams of fear? Where were the howls of rage? She should be in a fetal position begging him to make it end, but she wasn't. No, this one was unlike any of the others. She was not clay or wax or even bronze. This stubborn bitch was a diamond in the rough. He just needed to find the right blow to shatter her into a million pieces. I am the fucking artist here and this is my studio and your mind and flesh are my canvas. But first she must break! She must crack and scream and cower in fear.

Metallica's Master of Puppets plays in the background as he glares at the screen. He runs his fingers lovingly over one of the monitors whispering his promises of pain and fear and death. His rage reaches a flash point and his fist crashes through the screen and it goes dark.

"Fuck, that is the third one is three days... this bitch is going to be expensive!"

The Cage:

I was jogging along the path around the chapter house. It wasn't like any of the Inquisitors had a list of strip joints on them or likely want to drive me to one. They were a repressive lot. If they only knew what went on when their precious Ladyship left the grounds. That brought a laugh as I hit the wooded section of the trail.

"Louis! Over here Louis," Leah called out from a darkened patch of the woods.

"Leah, what the hell are you doing here?" I asked fearing for her safety.

"I knew you would be worried about me," she purred. "I missed you!"

"Of course I have," I said. "I have been occupied with my sister and..."

"I know and I understand," she said bloody tears streaking her cheeks. "I will take you."

"Huh, take me where?" I asked and she wiped the tears away and licked her fingers.

"The Cage," she purred again. "It is the most prestigious gentleman's club in the city. Consider it a kind of lusty Diogenes Club with the king makers running it."

"How the hell could I get into a place like that," I asked and she smiled as she pulled up her hood.

"I dance at the Cage when needs be," she said taking my arm. "I have a car nearby."

The limo drove us down to the business district downtown. I was told the dos and don'ts of behavior within the confines of the club. We entered via the underground parking lot. Leah directed me to the red elevator. We took it down with the help of a plastic key card she kept in her purse. She opened the door that held the emergency phone in case the elevator failed. She slid the card into a slot below the phone and pressed and held the L button. It turned blue and she released it and removed the card and closed the door. Leah slipped the card back into her purse and clung to my arm.

"You are going to love the atmosphere of this place, I just know it!"

The door opened and we stepped into a hallway. There were two burly looking men in dark suits and glasses. Leah pulled back her hood and they were all smiles. She told them my name and the guy on the left picked up a tablet computer and checked it. He nodded and we proceeded down the hallway. I asked her why my name would be on a list for this club. She just laughed and explained that the governor had put my name of the list years ago. When he chose me for the education grants he also dropped my name with the owner of The Cage. I just shook my head. People never ceased to amaze me.

I sniffed the air and detected the scents of flowers, food, drugs and of course sex. Oh, I was going to like this place, no doubt about that. The hall ended in a pair of double doors. Two more scary looking guys were posted here. Unlike the first pair, these guys didn't appear completely human. There were hints like elongated incisors, slit pupils and heavily scaled skin across the backs of their hands. But they were quite polite and opened the doors for Leah and me.

"Enjoy your visit Sir," one of them grumbled in heavily accented English.

The Cage was a series of interconnected rooms. Each room had a particular style and inclination. A few rooms were designed simply for mingling while others were strictly for a specific fetish or lifestyle. The first room had a kind of industrial feel to it with lots of exposed brick, metal and neon signs that read XXX Live Nude Girls and the like. There were perhaps a few dozen people standing around sipping cocktails in this room. Most were human but several were most definitely not. I noticed strong eye shine from a darkened corner and the flash of canines, Akhkharu or perhaps something else. I was treading into waters that could be deceptively shallow. I was surrounded almost at once and condolences regarding my sister hung in the air until Leah pulled me free. She took me into the corner I had first noticed and she introduced me to the two dancers that were lurking there.

"These are Tara and Tera, they're twins," Leah said as I got a good look at the pale skinned nightwalkers.

"We are Lhiannon Sidhe," they said in one voice. "We are Fae not Akhkharu."

"I have never met a Fae before," I said and the look that provoked was priceless.

"Ooh, I do love a first timer," Tara said or was it Tera?

"We share everything and everyone," the other said.

"I look forward to it," I said and we were off through the next door and a whole new experience.

This room was much larger and had a dance floor at the center, bars and snacks along the walls. The motif was something of a grunge rock look. There was a full lighting rig hanging over the dance floor which included a disco ball and even pivoting lasers. This crowd was much louder and more diverse than the first room. While the majority of the clientele were human a full twenty percent were something else. I guessed that most were either vampires or fae but a few I just wasn't sure about. We didn't stay and it became apparent that Leah had a particular room in mind.

The next section was a series of rooms dedicated to one specific theme, high school. There were signs that read 'Warning: School Zone' and 'Children at Play' and my personal favorite 'No Loitering on School Property'. I heard some very interesting sounds coming from behind that particular door. Leah just smiled and nodded. I opened the door and peered in. The sound that had caught my attention had been an odd metallic sound and now I knew what it was. There was a cute little blonde in a cheerleader's uniform; she was bent over and gripping a chain link fence. The guy behind her was hammering her slow but with a great deal of force. He had her skirt up over her ass and I could clearly see his cock driving in and out of her. I closed the door and let them be.

"You could've joined in if you wanted," Leah purred in my ear. "You could have slid your cock from the other side of the fence and let her suck you off."

"That would have been nice but he really had his groove on. I didn't want to bust the mood."

"Always so very thoughtful," she said. "Let's go, there are people eager to see you."

I followed her through three more rooms and three more diverse bodies of members and entertainers. We reached her goal and amidst the blaring music and overwhelming scents of sex and drugs was the Quietus, the room of silence. It wasn't exactly silent but there was no music and it was finely decorated in late Elizabethan furniture and atmosphere. The men wore suits, smoked pipes and cigars and sipped cognac. The ladies wore collars and either hung on the arms of their male companions or crawled on all fours in search of attention. I did spot a few men seated reading while a woman sucked them off quite leisurely. I couldn't help but smile at that. The pets were patterned after animals, some were cats or dogs or cows or even a pony.