Episode Twenty Six:
La Vérité Douteuse

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          Océane bolted out of the school as fast as her braced leg would permit as her friend Janine watched her depart with a look of bewilderment.
           “Where are you going?” she asked.
          Waving back as she hurried down the steps, Océane replied, “It’s about my internship, I’ll tell you about it later!  Au revoir!”
          Janine shook her head in confusion, “Um, alright, I just need to tell you something.”  
Océane stopped briefly? “Oui, Janine?”
        “This weekend I’m going to Le Havre up north for a friend’s birthday, so our joint study will have to be over phone.”
          “Oh, that’s fine! You have fun!” Océane blew a kiss and waved and hurried to the curb side as the bus pulled up.
         Janine blew a kiss and waved back, happy to see her friend having fun with the internship.
         Océane fell into the closest seat on the sparsely loaded bus. All day she had planned what she was going to tell the Lieutenant and at last she decided. Judging by how Claire had not shown up to tell her otherwise, she could only assume her ghostly companion was on her side.
          Claire.
         Already she was thinking of her as a real person. She had given up explaining her away as a hallucination or delusion, there were only two possible explanations for being able to talk with the dead. Either Claire was a ghost or was someone else pretending to be her dead friend. And it did not matter anymore whether she was being visited by a shade of the past or an impostor, she was going to step forward into this new world. Because what she did to Renoir was real, the last few days were real, her power was real, should she question the dead girl speaking to her?
          All night she had dreamed of the gift granted her by Claire. Now she was ready to practice.
          She blinked and she was standing in an endless meadow, the sounds of the city a distant rumble in her mind. Her bare feet cushioned on the soft grass, free of shoes and the brace. An eternal white sky illuminated this temporary realm where all her ailments slipped away.
          “Glace,” she muttered, picturing Claire’s face in her mind. The transparent scythe blinked into her hands, refracting the light from above like a many faceted prism, causing rainbows to shimmer across the grass.
          Dozens of scattered mirrors rose from the ground, reflecting her appearance. She twirled the staff, its curved blade becoming near invisible with the movement. Twisting around, she spun the weapon from one hand to the other, over her head, behind her, and before her then jabbed and swiped at the air while keeping an eye on her form through the mirrors.
          Finally she made one last dramatic back-swipe and froze looking at her fiery gaze in the mirror. She blinked and she was back on the bus, the passengers around her oblivious to her momentary absence. Sweat beaded on her brow as her pace quickened. The thrill of power flowed through her. It frightened her. For the briefest of moments she considered how she could with so little effort throw the entire bus into terrified chaos, and no one would ever discover it was her.
          Excitement is was what she felt now, the fear quenched. She was not the same girl that cried in her bed last night in remorse for bringing justice to a wicked man. Why should she feel sympathy or fright? Did she not do a service to everyone around her? Did it matter that her reasons were merely a personal irritation at being plagued by a child’s nightmare? She re-imagined what she had done to Pierre, and what she could do to anyone else like him. The temptation tasted sweat.
         As the bus came to a halt and she rose from her seat, she found herself at a crossroads. She could do one of three things: Sit back down, return to normal life, and never think of Michael, Pierre, or Claire and just keep her power as her little secret; Go through with her meeting with Michael, conjure some form of a lie and insist on pursuing a career in law enforcement where she could experiment with her abilities with few moral consequences; Or lastly, tell Michael the truth, prove her abilities to him, and see whether he was smart enough to think of an answer for her.
          The first option vanished as she stepped off the bus, only a block away from the police station. The last two options she left to what felt best in the moment, she planned out what to say for both scenarios, but was content not to make decision until the moment she needed to. She lived most of her life imprisoned by her leg, so she was used to taking things slow.
          By the time she had finished her musings, she was in the lobby of the police station. She looked across the room through the glass panes and saw police, suspects, citizens and lawyers milling about. She spotted Michael, leaning back in his chair talking to Sarah. The latter lifted up a pile of paperwork from his desk which he had just finished.
          Océane smirked as she approached, imagining how awkward he sounded while faking a casual tone, in an attempt to hide his blatant affection for his co-worker. She entered the office, showing her internship badge to the policeman by the door who nodded in recognition.
          She greeted them. “Bonjour, Lieu. Michael, Sarah,”
          They both returned the greeting, and Sarah touched her shoulder in encouragement. “Océane, your intuition is good, Renoir confessed yesterday just out of nowhere. It must have been your and Michael’s visit to his workplace that shook him up.”
          “Oui, must have…” she replied awkwardly as Michael shot her a knowing look.
          “Sarah, I can finish up with Ms Lafayette, you have reports.”
      Sarah sighed and glanced at the teen, “A word of warning if you do pursue law enforcement as profession; it is not at all as exciting as the dramas make it seem.”
          “I’ll keep that in mind,” she replied, taking a seat on the edge of Michael's desk.
        Once they were alone, Michael only waited a few beats before asking, “So, you are going to tell me how you were involved with Renoir's confession.”
          She nodded.  “Oui, on one condition; don’t laugh.”
        The officer was thoroughly confused now, he had expected something more akin to ‘Am I going to be in trouble,’ or ‘don’t get angry.’  But laugh?  He relaxed a bit, knowing she might not have done anything as risky as he had thought. 
          “I will not laugh.”
          She sighed and began, “I knew Pierre did it, because…”
          Michael leaned forward very interested but waited for her to continue.
          “… I can see dreams.” She winced, knowing how insane she sounded.
          His eyes narrowed. “So, you are a psychic? Are you certain it was not just a memory?”
          'At least he is not laughing.' She sighed. “And I don’t just see people’s dreams, I can make dreams too.”
          It would have been difficult for Michael’s face to seem any more incredulous. “Listen, perhaps the excitement has gotten to you too much--”
          “Non! I’m serious, and I’m going to prove it.”
          He could not deny his curiosity, “Really? How?”
          'I have his interest.' She thought. To her satisfaction, serendipity smiled on her with the entrance of two police and an angry but subdued ruffian, the stench of alcohol assaulted her nostrils as he passed toward the cells at the back.
          “Him, he is going to shout and grab his arm.” she declared not even looking to see Michael’s doubtful stare. She focused on the man, reaching out and touching his bleary, sticky mind. She grinned when she found his fear and acted on it.
          The drunk did not know what came over him, but he felt a crawling sensation on his arm. He looked to see a seething mass of black spiders coating his sleeve and crawling up towards his face. He let out a gasp and shook his elbow but the police held tighter.
          He screamed at their grasp, feeling something wrong. “Stop squeezing!” he blurted out as he felt his flesh disintegrate. A black creeping mass fell away, and his sleeve fell limp, without an arm or a shoulder to support it, only a pile of spiders swarming on the floor. His head rolled back and he lost consciousness. The police shrugged, assuming he had merely succumbed to his intoxication.
          The Lieutenant squinted in suspicious disbelief. “You got lucky.” his voice betrayed doubt.
          Océane swallowed hard, knowing if she did not do something she was going to find herself admitted to a sanatorium. A faint smile touched the corners of her mouth. She had finally found a way into Michael’s near impenetrable mind.
          “I think you need to look around,” she suggested.
        Glaring at her with one eye he slowly looked away. His mouth dropped as he did. Everyone was still, caught in the middle of their actions like a photograph. In the corner a detective was pouring coffee, the liquid still like dark glass.
           “What’s happeni--?!”
         Océane raised a finger to her lips. “Hush! You don’t want people thinking you’re crazy, do you?” she asked with dry sarcasm. "Time is moving on for everyone else."
          “What’s going on?” he asked, lowering his voice.
          “I altered your perception of time with only yourself and myself as exceptions. At least I think that is what I did.”
          “You think?”
         She shrugged. “I am kind of new at this. But I saw that you have a focused mind, which means to your subconscious everything that is not in focus, stops moving. In brief, this is how I got Renoir to confess. I can control perceptions, or make illusions… or something like that, but whatever it is I do, it has to be based on something already in the person’s mind. Now, I’ll let you see everything as normal again, but you have to promise to tell no one. If I am crazy, then so are you.”
          “I promise!” He nodded furiously, his eyes betraying uncertainty, but not fear or anger.
          She sighed in relief. For a split second there was a flurry of blurred colours and everything was back as it was.
          Michael looked down at his desk in thought, then looked at her, and back at the desk. He was thinking of anyway to explain this, but he had not drunk or eaten anything recently, so he had not been drugged. Not that he even considered this girl capable of such things. There was only one thing he could do now; accept her story.
          “So, I guess that means you put Mr. Renoir through a nightmare.”
          She nodded hesitantly, “You don’t think I broke any laws? I suppose it could be called a form of assault.”
          He let out a nervous chuckle. “Not that I know of… yet. Even if there was a law, I don’t think anyone would take you to court.”
          “That is a relief. I didn’t feel good about it though.” she lowered her face forlornly.
      He gulped, looking around to see if there was anyone within hearing. He leaned forward, lowering his voice. “You don’t think there are more… people like you?”
          Océane looked in wonder at him. She had never thought about it. Were there others besides Claire and herself? It was hard for her to believe that she was the only one. But how would she go about looking? Would she want to look? She considered telling Michael about Claire, but shot the idea down. Then he would surely think her crazy.
          Taking the silence as her answer, Michael settled back into his seat. “Well, at least a cold case is solved. I can’t imagine how hard it has been for you, having those memories.”
          Océane shook her head. “They aren’t mine. I started dreaming about it three months ago. It’s someone else’s nightmare.”
          Michael’s eyes went wide as he turned to his computer and brought up a page. His stunned expression confused her.
          “What?”
        “The child of the victim, an eight year old boy, moved into the apartment two floors above you… three months ago. He lives with his father and stepmother.”
         Océane covered her mouth as her eyes filled with tears. “He would have been a toddler when-!”
          Michael stared at the girl in wonder. He kept trying to deny that what was happening was some strange dream, and he would wake up soon and it would all revert to normal. But those tears were real, what happened the last few days were real. Since all of it was so hard for him to accept, he wondered what it must have been like for her. To have such a weighty secret…
          He cleared his throat, getting her attention.  “Océane, you want to meet him, the boy, I mean?”
          She opened her mouth, but did not have an answer. 'How can that help?' she thought, 'Is digging up the past going to help him at all?'
          As if he too had mental powers, Michael continued. “You can’t bring back his mother. But couldn’t you at least put his mind at ease, that he’s not the only one who knows what happened that night?”
          He’s right… she nodded slowly.
          “Great, I’ll arrange a meeting tomorrow. You should probably go home now.”
          “Oui…” Océane rose and walked out of the office. Her face was frozen in worry. For three months she had been sharing a nightmare with a child, and she was not at all sure about meeting him.
          Absorbed in her thoughts as she walked out onto the sidewalk, she was completely unaware of the eyes watching her.
          “Is she the target?”
          “I don’t know, she’s one of four potentials.”
          “Four? That’s few enough, why don’t we just kill them all?”
          “I would tend to agree, but we’ll need approval first.”
          “True.”

Day Four: Vendredi
Friday, September 23rd

In darkness the moon blinks.
The glass sea hides the Watcher.
In desolation she sinks.
Obsidian claws catch her.

Episode Twenty Five
Toute Médaille A Son Revers

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The morning star rose in the night sky promising the coming dawn over Lyon.  But for one citizen of the quiet city, the solace of night-time had not even started. Océane tossed and turned under her duvet, shaking in fear at what she had done. She sat up and looked in the mirror and only upset herself more by seeing her own reflection. Claire was nowhere in the time of her greatest need.
          “What did I do?” she whispered through her trembling lips. “I had such power, and—” 'What if I permanently harmed him? Should I go to jail?'  She tucked herself deeper into the blankets, hoping that somehow she would find the comfort to heal all her conflicted thoughts.
       From beyond the window, golden dust crept across the glass, shimmering with iridescent lights and swirling in mesmerizing patterns. The particles froze before each speck passed through the glass, letting off thousands of prismatic sparks, illuminating the room. Once indoors, dust became flesh, wrapped in a white gown, standing beside the bed.
         Claire nodded in relief. 'It seems that Kerry’s inverse cannot completely cut me off from the outside.' Looking at Océane’s shuddering form she felt a wave of compassion as her own concerns melted away.
          She sat on the bed and lay on her side, reaching out with her hand, but then thinking better of it, she called soothingly, “Océane!”
        The girl tore off the blanket in surprise and her words erupted in a torrent while gesturing wildly. “Where have you been?! Am I one of those psychics like on tv? Does this mean some of those lunatics aren’t scam artists?” She slowed down as her mouth caught up with her brain and her eyes began to water. “D-did I do something wrong? I mean… I must have really hurt him. Pierre, he--”
           She was silenced by Claire’s embrace which felt so real even though Océane knew she was not actually there.
          Claire flicked aside her blond tresses to whisper in the girl’s ear. “Dearest Océane, you have done nothing wrong. If anyone is to blame, it is myself. I rushed you and pushed you to do something you regret.” She broke her embrace and shuffled up the bed so she sat hip to hip with Océane. “But I think its time you learned more about your power. Are you ready?”
          Océane sighed and wiped her eyes.  After a long pause, she nodded.
         Taking hold of her hand, Claire began, “You act as a bridge between a person’s dreams and reality. What happened to Pierre was you took his own secret dreams and thoughts and forced him to confront them. He hurt himself long ago-- you just took away the aspirin so he could feel the pain. Pain exists so a person knows something is wrong, but some people, like Pierre, learn to ignore that pain, and slowly their heart is consumed. Océane, you saved that man, he was sinking into rotten mire and did not even know it, and you pulled him out.”
          Océane nodded.  “I… don’t understand...”
          Claire was about to continue something distracted her.
          “Is something wrong?” Océane asked.
          “What? No! Your power?” She raised her hand in front of her and a glass rod grew into existence, resting in her palms and an eighty centimetre crystal blade grew out of one end. “See this scythe?”
          “Oui, it was the one I used to chase Pierre.”
          “Just like you use a brush on a canvas, use this as your tool. I do not want you do get so fully absorbed into the minds of other’s like yesterday. Just think of me and the word, glace, and this blade will be in your hand.”
         “Why are you giving me this?”
          “Because you will need it, I don’t know when, but soon.”
          “You’re scaring me Claire!”
          “I don’t mean to, dearest friend. So now, go to sleep and tonight you will dream of how to use this blade.”
          “I don’t think I can sleep,.”
        Claire smiled and lay down on her side extend her hand on the mattress between them.  “Hold my hand and you will sleep.”
        Nodding and following her instructions Océane lay down and looked into Claire’s sapphire eyes. Within moments her eyelids became heavy and she drifted off into peaceful sleep.
        Claire smiled at her peaceful face and leaned in, planting a kiss on her forehead.  Suddenly her eyes grew wide in surprise and she vanished from the bed.
         In and instant The Apparition found herself strapped in place within the beachside parlour, with Dr. Kerry leaning over her. His electric blue irises with tri-pointed pupils sparkled in glee over a toothy, sadistic grin.
          He let out a brief giggle before speaking. “I’m impressed. Even through my barriers you were able to travel back to your host body for a while. Too bad that you still have a narrow strand of your soul still connected to her!”
       The Apparition through her disgust cocked an eyebrow, not understanding his statement. 'A string?'
          “…because, I can see it, and where it goes!” Kerry cheered.
          Her eyes widened briefly at her misstep and then glared. “Touch her and—”
          “Oh you stop,” Kerry pouted, “too little too late for you! My godlike sight granted me a glimpse of your vessel. To think the mighty Apparition has been hiding inside a little French schoolgirl all this time! What did you promise her? An answer to all her problems? Her deepest wish perhaps? It doesn’t matter. She is my next experiment.” He raised his hand. “That is, once I’m finished with you.” He thrust his hand down as it was surrounded by a blue glow.
          The Apparition stared down to see Kerry’s fingers penetrate her abdomen up to the knuckles. She lurched in pain as he moved his fingers around, seeking something within her entrails, but she did not scream.
          “You rephaim believe yourselves to be invincible, but just like humans, you have organs too, one in fact…” He grunted as he forced his fingers further up her gut. “…is the key to your powers.”
          The Apparition let out a gurgling scream as he ripped his hand out, leaving strands of clear fluid dripping from his fingers onto her white dress which now had and oblong hole in the middle. Immediately her body began to close up the wound and the dress repair itself but after a moment the process ceased. Flesh and fabric shuttered, being unable to finish their regeneration.
          In Kerry’s hand squirmed a silver, vaguely crescent shape lump of flesh that twisted and jerked as if trying to make its way back into its body.
          He looked down at The Apparition face, amused by her expression of pain, confusion, and fear. “You have heard it said, ‘A healthy mind in a healthy body,' but so few understand how interchangeable those terms are if you depart from the environment in which they reside. A soul cannot be measured, the mind is the expression of the soul for which the body is a house of flesh. But if one travels to another plane, the pattern shifts. Here, the soul is made flesh.” He raised his hand that held the writhing organ. “You don’t even know what I’m holding do you? This is the part of your body responsible for your constant regeneration, also it contains a parasitic, DNA-like substance that once I consume it, will alter my own soul structure.”
          The Apparition cried out in terror.  “No!  Stop!”
        He lifted the grey lump to his lips, and after a brief sniff he opened his mouth and slurped it up like a fruit, the grey organ squirming and leaping violently, attempting to escape his teeth.
          She turned her face, unable to bear watching him chew what was once a part of her. She found herself staring towards the face of the repha beside her. He had turned his head in mild curiosity of what was happening. His knowing gaze told her exactly what had happened to him.
          She winced at the sound of a sickening gulp from behind her, followed by a silence.  A few moments later Kerry shrieked, causing her to turn her head back to see him. He was holding hand to his narrow chest and another to his belly. His eyes were bulging out as he let out a scream of agony. Blue and golden light leapt from his mouth as he lurched in pain. He tumbled, falling to his hands and knees, bringing him to eye level with her.  He grinned as sweat beaded on his brow.
          “Don’t look so shocked. It’s painful for the soul to change so fundamentally, it should be, should it not?”
          Kerry found enough strength to move and made a frantic stumble through the door at the opposite end of the room, seeking solitude as he went through his transformation.
         'Is he mad?!' The Apparition wondered, straining against her bonds. 'Does he even know what he is doing?' She lurched in agony as her body tried to close the wound but failed, trapped in the unending cycle of spiritual decay and renewal.
~~~~~~~~~~
          Trudging his way through the deep, midwinter snow, Vladimir finally caught eye of the glow from his house’s windows reflecting off the smooth white blanket covering their yard. A few more steps and he could see the front of his house. The air was well below freezing, but he was unperturbed wearing a t-shirt and thin jeans, his skin not even colouring from the cold. He sighed in relief, steam escaping through his lips and scalding the evergreen branches hanging low by his face. The fragrance of pine resin filled the air.
          “Oops!” he muttered.
          Two weeks past he had changed, and he was still adjusting to it, and his father seemed bewildered by what his son could all of a sudden do. It started on an unusually sunny day while he was chopping firewood. The sun felt pleasant on his back, the heat tickling his skin with a peculiar excitement, not unlike the thrill when Nati, a girl from school, hugged him the first time. When he lowered the axe handle there was a pair of charred handprints in the polished maple staff. In the days following he found that he could drastically change temperatures with no more effort than a breath, a wave or a touch. After a few minor accidents, he figured out how to control himself, but every now and then he would fail in his vigilance.
          He noticed the blue van parked beside his father’s sedan.
         'Is it someone from Dad’s job?' The sound of voices from inside seemed to confirm his suspicion.
          He shrugged and stomped off the snow on his boots on the porch steps then opened the door. He was about to call out but something in the air felt wrong. The voices came to an abrupt halt after he entered and there was a sudden shuffling noise.
          Vlad decided against removing his shoes, and instead closed the door lightly behind him and crept to the open coat closet opposite the door. He put his ear to the wall and heard whispers.
          “I thought I heard something.”
          “I’ll go check.”
          There was a muffled cry that Vlad recognised as his father, cuing him that and he was in the kitchen with the strangers. He wanted to dash out and take all three, maybe four of the intruders down, but his gut told him these were not ordinary home invaders.
          Steps neared and he pressed himself deeper into the dark corner behind the coats he no longer used. A tall man walked into view, wearing dark clothing and what looked like a black police vest but there was no agency name appliquéd on the back. He kept his back to the closet and glanced at the door.
          Vlad realised that he left a trail of melted snow to his hiding place, causing his guts to squirm in terror. But to his relief the man never looked down, but turned back towards the kitchen allowing Vlad to catch sight of his dark hair and prominent Greek nose.
          'Who are these people?'
         He heard voices in the kitchen again, this time a woman with a foreign accent speaking as if she was on the phone.
        “Yes? Good… so he is coming home? Perfect.” there was a light beep and Vlad imagined her pressing the ‘end call’ button on her cellphone.
          “Kill him. The boy will be here soon.” she stated with a regal air.
        Vlad burst out of the closet. He dashed down the hall hearing his father plead for mercy. He arrived at the doorway as Greek Nose slid his knife along the side of his father’s neck. Blood spattered on the floor.
          “Stop!” Vlad wailed.
          The woman and a third man immediately raised their guns at the boy, their cold gaze flickered in recognition of their target.
          On instinct he crossed his arms in front of his face and widened his stance in Systema form. Gunshots rang and Vlad expected to feel shards of metal ripping through his body.  However when he looked up a ring of flame confronted him as it licked at the floor, walls and ceiling of the kitchen.
          The guns in the strangers hands lay on the floor a heap of ruined metal and bubbling plastic. The man and woman both lay still on the ground, covered in burns and scorched clothing.
         Greek Nose attacked with his knife. Vlad stepped closer with shocking speed. He deflected the blade that was closing in on his throat, instead allowing it to slice through the muscles on the back of his forearm. His hand closed around his assailant’s arm as he moved to hurl him to the ground, but he heard his father sputter on the floor, tied to the knocked over chair.
          “Dad?  Are you alright?!” he asked.
         His distraction gave Greek Nose enough time pry loose from Vlad’s hold and take a better position.
          Jostled back to attention Vlad looked back at his opponent and to his surprise the man was screaming. At first he was confused and then he realised what he had done when the man fell silent and a chorus of crackles filled the air. The man fell over like a knocked down statue, his body frosted over after all the heat has been drawn into Vlad’s hand.
          Vlad screamed and backed away as every surface in the room blossomed into an inferno. Collecting himself, he turned to get his father out.
          Unfortunately for him, he failed to notice that the woman had survived the initial searing and though she lay covered in second degree burns, she mustered enough strength to pull the pin out of a round grenade.
          “Die freak!” she screamed letting it roll towards the unsuspecting youth.
          The world was all white as Vlad woke, white and cold. He raised his head and realised he was looking at a depression in the snow made by his face. He looked up and through the underbrush he caught sight of a pink coloured sky. At first he was lost in confusion and wondered what was going on. Then the song bird’s calls tickled his ears reminding him of the ringing sound in them.
          It’s morning? he wondered. He tried to move his arms in from their splayed out position to lift him up, but they were uncooperative. His heart skipped as the scene in the kitchen began to come back to him. 'Dad!' 
          Ignoring his pain and deadness of his limbs he rose as quick as a windup toy, his gaze roaming around him only seeing trees. He turned and his breath gelled in his throat. He gaped at the sight of his house over thirty metres away, little more than a pile of ashes.
          “Dad!” he screamed through hyperventilating breaths. He ran through the snow towards the house. He reached the edge of the thawed ground around what remained of the building and slowed his pace.
        As he walked around the perimeter, he noticed the gleam of a soot covered sink marking where the kitchen had been. He eyed the rubble, noticing three disturbed areas where the intruders had fallen, though no bodies were there now and the van was gone.
          Then he saw him, the black, charred skeleton bent as if still tied to the metal chair.  Vlad’s knees buckled beneath him and he tumbled to all fours on the baked dry ground. When his shuddering and vomiting ceased many minutes later, his weeping began, a piercing cry in the midst of the woods where no one could hear his plight.
          He leaned back and sat, his ankles freeing his hand from his weight. Through tear-blurred eyes he looked at his palms which glowed as one exuded heat and the other drew heat in. He made them like twin white stars and pressed them to his face to end his pain.  But he felt nothing but his hands touching his face while brilliant flames erupted in a pillar above and around him, searing and freezing all they touching but leaving his body and clothes undisturbed by the slightest feeling of heat or cold.
~~~~~~~~~~
          Vladimir woke with a start. His eyes darted around the dark and tiny room. He wiped the sweat from his brow and sighed. He needed fresh air.
          Pausing only long enough to put on his shoes, he ventured out of his room and down the hall. He reached the door to the roof access stairs and pushed it open, lumbering up the steps as if he were still asleep. He opened the door at the top and a gust of wind blew against him, but as usual he had no sensation of hot nor cold as the air flowed through his cotton t-shirt.
          He began an exhilarating stretch when he noticed his brother gazing out at the distant London lights. He cupped his hand and pale light shown between Vlad’s fingers as he considered freezing Aleksei on the spot, but without much thought, he relented. He would gain nothing from such a cheap shot.
          He turned and descended back down the stairs while he shook his head in disgust. He was about to slam the door shut behind him when a noise caught his attention. Looking back he noticed his brother’s heaving shoulders and his arms raised to his face wiping his eyes.
          Aleksei was sobbing.
         An unwanted memory sprung into Vlad’s mind. In first grade he had dislocated his arm after falling from his bike with friends. After he had risen from his fall and tried to hide his pain, it was Aleksei who came by his side, draped an arm around his shoulders and hurried him to help, crying himself even though he was unhurt. In a past life, he would have done the same were the roles reversed. But those days were gone, so he walked away, like he did the last time he saw his brother’s sorrow, on that fateful afternoon when their shared life ended.
          Aleksei covered his mouth as he cried into his arm, unaware of the intrusion. Many conflicting sentiments brought on the tears, but fear was the strongest. Mere hours ago he was confronted with the face of death, first his brother, who he was not entirely sure on his intent, but the doubt was awful enough, and second the SICA agent whose intent could not be clearer. He could only wonder what he had done to be now marked for death? What force gives people the desire to kill others? His brother knows the desire, and just recently his own sister took a life to save his.
          But he could forgive his sister, he would have done the same for her, but it did not make the man’s rattling last breath any easier to forget. And the thought that someone, somewhere was lifting a voice in grief compelled him to grieve with them. He fell to his hands and knees, weary from weeping and he forced himself to sigh in surrender.
          He was alive, his sister was alive and they had found Vladimir.  As long as they all survived this…
          Tears sprang anew from his brown eyes and dropped onto the flat roof.  'I’m so scared, God, I’m scared! I feel like at any moment I want to just run.' “I’m such a coward, I don’t want to die!”
          “No one wissshesss to die, child.” answered a raspy voice.
          Aleksei’s heart nearly jumped into his throat as he fell back into a sitting position. It took him all his strength not to gasp in fright at the sight of the hooded Messenger crouched on the low wall encircling the roof. It hopped down, standing a few metres away and hunched over.
          It spoke again, “Even I fear death and cleave to life, though I am the lowessst pariah. You, child, have much to grasssp hold of.”
         The evening breeze rushed across the roof and rustled the creature’s loose dark clothes, causing it to appear both emaciated and small, and great and foreboding all at once. Aleksei gulped and wiped his eyes dry and stared back at The Messenger. He was absolutely confounded why the normally silent being was talking now. 'Is it trying to… comfort me?'
          He was about to speak but the dark figure vanished. For a moment Aleksei thought it had just said its piece and left. But then the hairs on his neck stiffened, more than they already had, and he knew he was not alone.
        The next few seconds were a maelstrom. He twisted his body to dodge a barely perceivable movement in the darkness. Punching out twice he felt his fists brush by some cloth. Then he jumped back, performing a barrel roll and allowing his movement to boost his activated power. He landed his back to the closed door and raised his hands before him and rotating them inwards causing vapour to be extracted from the air and form in a cyclonic wall. The Messenger, however, was too fast and burst through the mist, its hand reaching for Aleksei’s face. In a rapid shift of strategy, Aleksei used the spiralling mist he had gathered and ushered it strike The Messenger from both sides, causing its attack to miss and allowing him to snatch its wrist. Then Aleksei brought the creature into a hand-lock but it did not last long. The thing acted as though it no bones and twisted around on its back kicking Aleksei in his side with a leg that should not have been able to bend in that direction. Aleksei surrendered to the blow to avoid injury and tumbled a few metres to the right. He regained his stance in one fluid motion, ready for more.
          Fog swirled around him and he glared at The Messenger, daring it to try something again, now that he had enough water to make a difference.
          The Messenger let out a sickening spell of coughs which Aleksei eventually realised was laughter.
          “What is up with you?!” he demanded.
       The hood shook and behind the void where the thing’s face should be Aleksei could hear a tongue licking lips, or mandibles, whatever the creature had for a mouth.
      Once the creature recovered from its mirth, it spoke up through rasps. “I find it humorousss how you called yourssself a coward. A coward’sss first reaction isss to run, but here you are, ssstanding your ground, glaring at me with the fire of a warrior!”
          Aleksei was stunned from both The Messenger’s attempt to encourage him, and that he felt sort of flattered. He squinted into the darkness to catch sight of it but the creature had already left. The youth shuddered, wondering how it could disappear without him seeing any movement. He looked out at the awakening city for a few more moments before walking back toward the stairs to catch a couple of hours more sleep before...
          'Come to think of it, what are we doing next?' The thought puzzled Aleksei. They could not just stay with The Association after all they had done, but when were they parting ways? 'We can’t go home either, not with SICA on the prowl. Where are we going?'

     At the back of the empty hangar there was a large window that looked down from a control room on the second floor where two technicians gazed at the vessel in marvel while fanning themselves from the Nevada summer heat. The first, a swarthy southeast Asian woman said, “She’s beautiful, who could have built her?”
     “That’s what concerns us the most, you know? Who built her? And why did they crash in Arizona?” the second who spoke with a slight southern drawl was a man with jet black defiantly wavy hair and obvious Italian features. He looked everything like he could have been a mobster in his past life, however, one look at his rectangular glasses, narrow shoulders, and slight build made the initial impression seem impossible.
     With the help of a crane the aircraft was lowered to the floor from the back of the truck. The dust had all been blown off in the ride and the hull gleamed pure white. There were a few scorched and corroded areas at the front nose and along the base but otherwise it was alabaster. The front windows gleamed as scratch-less mirrors. The only place the dirt still was present was jammed into the engines in the small wings on the two sides.
   “I just want to get inside her.” The lady stated excitedly.
     Her companion cocked his eyebrow at her verbiage, but he decided to let it go this time. “It’ll be interesting I’m sure, but it has got to be searched first so we don't end up with some nasty self-destruct mechanism or booby trapped or maybe just collapse and crush--”
     “Thank you, Mr. Sunshine.” she replied in annoyance.
~~~~~~~~~~
     While the vessel was settled into the hangar, Major O’Dell stood in an adjacent meeting room. The major had changed into combat fatigues and stood before a room of a five similarly outfitted airmen.
     “We will enter the door on the left side of the vessel.  It will be pried open by the engineers using the hydraulic claw.  On entering, secure the parameter and…” He paused before he continued; drilling the last phrase into their minds, “don’t touch anything.  Are there any questions?”
     The room echoed with a resonating, “No sir.” The airmen went to the armory to gear up. Each grabbed a P90, ammunition, a handgun, as well as non-lethal weapons such as smoke grenades, and tasers.
     Kevin entered the armory. Since he was wearing his class A's it was obvious he was not part of the operation, “Ah! Sir, we’re ready when you are…” He paused when he noticed him loading darts into an air gun, “…are, are you expecting to find something alive in there?” he said speaking incredulously.
     “If the ship survived, it wouldn’t be outside of reason to assume the crew did?”
     “I guess so, but if there were survivors, wouldn’t they have tried to communicate by now?”
     “That’s what concerns the guys up the ladder. We have no information, anything could be in there. That is why they placed it at the farthest out hangar, so that if it is giant box of explosives it hopefully will not harm the rest of the base.”
     “Hmm…” his face expressed concern. “Well I came to give you the camera for your helmet.” he paused then said, “Good luck Mac.”  Then as if a new thought crossed his mind, he said cheerfully, “Well, see you later!”
     The major tied his boots shaking his head. 'In a hurricane that kid would comment on the cool summer breeze.'
     “Mac” as Kevin called him was a reference to his middle name, Mackenzie, he had gotten it back when he was a scoutmaster in Florida. The major as a kid always hated his middle name, but the nickname had grown on him. Of course only Kevin ever used it, and was probably the only one who knew him by the nickname on base.
     Mac and his squad arrived in the hangar, approaching with weapons at ready. There were two technicians prepared to operate the hydraulic claw. The airmen advanced from the back of the ship and kept close to the side of the vessel. The two engineers jammed the contraption into a hairline crack on the side of the ship. When the major gave the cue, one of them turned on a motor and the contraption in the crack began to come apart like a crescent wrench, pushing the crack wider. Once it was wide enough for a hand the two technicians departed and two of the airmen placed their hands in the gap and pulled. The door slid open easily and two soldiers came behind and raised their weapons into the darkness shining their lights. One of them gestured to the major that he did not see any threats. When the major gave permission, all but two of the airmen entered in pairs. The remaining would be the rear guard. The first room they entered seemed to be a bridge.
     As they entered they all reeled from the stench. No one knew what the smell was until one of them walked to the head of the cockpit. “They had a rough ride.” the airman said shining his light towards the two, small, crumpled male corpses lying on top of what were probably the flying controls in the very front of the vessel.
     The major walked from where he was studying another console in the middle of the room and looked them over. “We have two corpses here. Middle aged males; small only about, what, hundred-fifty centimetres tall? They appear to have been thrown against the front windows, I assume a result of the crash.” Mac buzzed over the radio.
     Sergeant Cassidy replied, “We’ll send some medics to pick them up.”
     “They are going to want masks, they have started to decay.”
     Kevin who was standing next to Cassidy watching the footage grimaced, “Gross!”
     Kevin glanced at Cassidy and asked, “Are you alright? You‘re looking a little green. Is it the motion of the camera or decaying matter? Of course it could be that sausage in the mess hall, it seemed a little under cooked to me.”
     Cassidy put a finger telling him to stop and hurried out of the room saying he had forgotten something in the lab. Kevin smiled mischievously as he took Cassidy’s more comfortable seat in front of the monitor.
     They found a door at the back of the room. “It looks like we’ll need the hydraulics again.” the major grabbed his radio. He was about to call for the engineers when he heard a sliding sound and noticed everything become brighter as the room was filled with a sound like a yawn of a large animal. He looked down at the controls in front of him and they were all coming to life.
     He whirled around to see the once closed door open and all the lights on, “Who touched what?!” the major hissed as he scooted to the side and against the wall. All the airmen were lined along the wall, weapons raised to the open door.
     “Sir, I think it was me, I walked by and it all just came on.” one of the airmen said.
     They remained still, not breathing. The major gave the order to enter with caution. They entered in and quickly checked all entrances. The room appeared to be a commodities area. It was about seven metres long and five metres wide. There was a table and chairs to the left, and behind those was a group of comfortable looking seats next to a large cabinet in the left wall. There were also more cabinets set into the walls wherever they could fit. On the right there were three more doors.  The major ordered a few airmen to search those.  The rest checked around looking for any other possible exits. O’Dell nudged the furniture with his boot and noted how they seemed unharmed and were built directly into the floor.  
     An airman crept over to him, “Uh, sir, I think you should see this.” he whispered.
     By his tone the major could tell his subordinate was unsure about what he found. The middle door on the wall opened for them and they walked in. The other two airmen nodded down to a bed set into the wall. The body short boy, probably in his early teens, lay on the bed looking as though he was sleeping. The major glanced up at the airmen's unbelieving faces than stepped closer and dropped on one knee. He bent his head down to hear something. He heard a breath.
     The major turned to the airman, “Get the medics, he’s alive.”
     “Yes sir!” The airman hurried out.
     The major turned back to the boy. How could he have survived? He asked himself.
     A doctor and nurse came in quickly with a crash cart and checked him for injuries.
     “He seems to be fine, no broken bones from what I can tell, probably a concussion though.” the doctor said. “Alright, let’s get him moved!”
~~~~~~~~~~
     In the Vesya Principality on the humid planet Sepho, The Royal Navy Interstellar Control Centre was packed with personnel of various fields. The Yasha would be arriving any moment now. In another room a large screen was ready to show the ship enter into orbit and land. Generals from various imperial nations were present and the mood was very jubilant.
     One of the generals stood and proposed a toast, “I dedicate this praise not only to the Yasha project, but also to the astounding cooperation we have had to make it possible. We will surely overcome our enemies. The Amori Republic has been greatly endowed with your trust, trust that has not been misplaced.
     “Also I toast to Vesya Principality,” he said tilting his head to the much older Vesyan general, “May your prince’s line never fail.” The other general nodded in thanks.
     And finally,” he cleared his throat and placed an extra amount of respect into his voice, “to the one person who unites all, the glorious Nerín! For whose honour we shall fight to our deaths!”
     A cheer erupted after the last phrase till it was silenced when an officer rushed in. “The Yasha will be approaching momentarily.”
     The generals took there seats and watched the screen as the final timer started up. The room was quiet up until the timer ran out. Nothing happened, there was no ship. The silence hung ominously for what seemed like an eternity. The Amori general rushed out of the room, and then all the others hastened to contact their governments. When the Amori general made it to the control centre he saw the room in chaos, everyone was shouting orders and scans were being run. Ships were being sent out to search. There was no sign of the Yasha. She simply was not there.
     The Amori general looked out into the distance. He would be sent to Ramala, the Nerín will more then likely call for all her generals. It would be a very unhappy meeting with the empress.
~~~~~~~~~~
     With the craft being completely secured, the technicians now had full range of the vessel and were buzzing around it like an opened hive. The operations were being spearheaded by the skinny Italian technician and the swarthy Asian engineer. The latter had lost her awestruck expression; instead her face was locked in fierce concentration. She sat hunched over the control console in the middle of the bridge. It had a rather comfortable chair, now cleansed of blood and viscera and the controls seemed to be no more complicated than most equipment she worked with. But what frustrated her was that everything was in an unknown script. The characters were smooth and tended to be rounded and probably would be seen as quite elegant, if she could read it.
     She was starting to recognize some of the symbols and she had counted them all, one-hundred, with dozens more that looked to be an entirely different script which appeared rarely.  Many of them were no different from another but for a simple added line, dot, or curl. She was no language master; but growing up in an immigrant family she spoke Vietnamese more often than English as a girl so she posited that perhaps this language, like Vietnamese, has marks and dashes to change the sound of a letter slightly, that was her best guess anyway.
     She did admire how the controls were not just made for functionality but also for beauty and comfort. The various controls had colourful glowing letters, probably to help the user to quickly identify a function and would change colours to get the user’s attention The southern technician entered and inquired “How is Ahn doing on her studies?”
     She was annoyed how he often used her last name in the third person when talking to her, and he probably new that. She replied somewhat saucily, “How is Picini doing, did you have a nap?”
     “I’ll have y’ know, I’ve been working hard.” he retorted.
     “And what wonderful discovery did you make when you were napping- I mean working?”
     “I am tracking a radioactive signal.”  He answered casually.
     She bolted up, “What radioactive signal?!”
     “Chill! I just had a hunch that it might detect this thing’s energy source.  It appears to have some sort of nuclear marker,”
     “That is impossible; they screened this place for radiation.”
     “Yeah they did but they were looking for radiation at dangerous levels. When I entered the ship I noticed that the radiation was higher in here than it is in the hangar. It’s not much but it gets higher in some places than in others. I‘m hoping this will help me find the power source.”
     She stood up and took the small black box and looked at the needle on the face. She walked to the back of the room and through the door to the commodities area.  
     “What do y‘ think you‘re doing?”  Picini asked indignantly.
     “On one of the displays it showed diagrams. It looked like veins running through a transparent image of the ship. I assume they are power conduits, and if I am right they come together back here.”
     The needle continued to slightly rise as she approached the back of the ship till she stopped at the very back wall.  She ran her hands down it.
     “What‘re you trying to do?”
     “One of the veins ran down to this area, I assume to a key pad or a door.” She pressed a section of the wall in a little and it popped forward revealing a key pad of sorts. “These are numbers; I was starting to recognize some of them. This spiral with a diagonal line above it is a zero. It seems to be used as a place holder as in Arabic numerals. They also have a decimal system; I was starting to recognize that too. There appears to be twelve different digits, each one a modified letter with a little horizontal dash above them connecting one number to the next, so that would explain this key board.”
     “That’s nice, I’m sure, but it obviously requires a combination.”
     Annoyed with his playing down of her discovery, she pointed out another thing, “But according to these reading the energy source should be right behind this panel.” She smiled and cocked her head proudly.
     “Then I’d best go report our findings to the General.”
     Ahn kicked herself mentally how she had given an excuse for him to get out of work and give his own story. Yes she did purloin his Geiger counter to make the discovery but he would be sure to say little of what she did. Oh well, she thought to herself, I’ll take credit next time.

     The block shaped primary school loomed before Vladimir like a behemoth glaring down at him with a dozen window shaped eyes. Before him it’s maw opened and warm air rushed out and caressed his face like the breath of a beast. The six year old took a stumbling step back. He opened his mouth to shout out for his mother.
     “Vova!” A voice called from beside him.
     He looked to see his mirror image staring back at him with big brown eyes.
     Vladimir shook his head in fear.  “No, Lyosha!  I’m sc-,”
    Aleksei thrust his hand out and Vlad took hold of it. “Don’t worry,” Aleksei’s mouth opened into one of his toothy grins. “Let’s go at the same time.”
    He could feel how clammy his smiling brother’s hand was. 'Is he scared too?' he wondered, unable to imagine his brother frightened of anything but Mashka’s grizzled cat. Vlad nodded and hesitantly turned his face forward. He squeezed Aleksei’s hand and the many eyed giant before him didn’t seem so scary anymore and the big toothy mouth was only a non-threatening glass door through which drifted the scents of paper and chalk. Like a couple of toy soldiers, the twins marched up to the door and together they pushed it open, entering into their first day of school, hands together and faces smiling.
~~~~~~~~~~
     At last Vladimir somehow commanded his stunned muscles to move. His hand gripped his brother’s weakening grasp. He was not thinking, but reacting to what had once always been. His brother’s pulse quickened and his deathly weakness fell away as he squeezed back.
     His feelings were no longer under his control as a wave of relief rushed over Vladimir. The hint of a smile crept over his face as he looked back at his brother’s weary grin.  
     Aleksei opened his mouth to speak but another voice interrupted his.
     “Sorry lads.”
     Both of them turned to see a riot helmet and Kevlar clad SICA agent, his automatic rifle directed at them. Vlad’s normal demeanour returned like bolt of lightning. He cursed himself for dropping his guard, knowing he just made his final mistake.
      The agent’s finger pressed on the trigger.
~~~~~~~~~~
     In the distant corner of the warehouse, the three remaining SICA agents let out terrified screams, cut short by the gruesome sounds of their bodies being mangled in ways the listeners could only imagine from their poor vantage point. A black stain spread across the floor and Dániel emerged amidst his companions, inky essence running off his body.
     He looked at Bruno and Evan.  “Where are the others?”
     “Mashka, Kerry and Anya are securing the boys and the van.”
     The Czech nodded and hurried towards the office where a cautious Ravi emerged.
     “SICA will have a fleet of vehicles to give chase.” Bruno added.
      Evan nodded and walked towards the door.
     “Where are you going?”
     “To stop their pursuit before it starts.”
     “How?”
     As a thunderous roar rattled the shelves Evan replied, “I have cards in reserve.”  
     He launched into the air, the corrugated steel roof blossoming as a twisted flower letting a beam of light in just large enough for the man to shoot through and into the sky. As soon as he was through the roof, Evan spun, directing himself towards where he could see the SICA motor pool. Flipping head over heels, he ended his brief flight and landed at the end of the near perfectly aligned row of dark blue vehicles.
     How convenient of them, he thought seeing their orderly parking. He braced and raised a hand.
     The few agents guarding the fleet were caught unprepared for someone dropping from the sky.
     Evan gave them no heed, taking the brief moment he would be there to focus solely on focusing his power to his hand. He released the kinetic force, initially in a wide cone but narrowed it to a narrow blast. A hole blasted through the side of the first vehicle’s engine block and progressed through the entire row in a ripple, followed by a second ripple as the automobile’s front halves burst asunder from the kinetic shock, scattering the SICA agents as they ducked for cover from the shrapnel.
     The recoil of producing the blast hit Evan harder than he could have anticipated, flinging him back with a cry, flipping round and round, past the buildings, and barely missing the dock railing as he hurtled to the sea. He regained control just before he would have made a lethal impact with the water and took off into the sky towards his rendezvous with the Sharovs.
~~~~~~~~~~~
     Anya screwed on the silencer to her handgun as she slinked to the next cover spot. Pressing herself against the wall she waved for Mashka to follow. They had split ways with Dr. Kerry, who was more than capable of keeping himself safe and he said that he needed to rescue some sensitive materials from falling to SICA.
     Mashka nodded as Anya signed out her next moves, which she could only guess meant that the latter was going to hurry to the corner, shoot three targets, and then signal for her to follow, struggling to remember Evan’s lessons.
    She still could not believe she was in this situation, nor could she believe how comfortable the gun grip felt in her hand. 'It’s not as though I’m completely new to this.' She reasoned. 'Besides, any discomfort is worth protecting Aleksei.'
     She heard the silenced shots from Anya’s weapon followed by the sickening thuds of three bodies to the ground. Anya gave the signal to follow.
     With gun poised, ready to swing into action at any moment, she followed Anya around the corner. They stepped over one of the bodies just as he released a startling death rattle. Mashka grit her teeth, squelching her revulsion, assuring herself she would have all the time she needed to break down later. She followed close behind Anya into the dark warehouse. Immediately she could tell there were five people besides herself and Anya by the scent of five distinct, human male pheromones.
     Copying Anya exactly, she stopped at each row between the shelves and pointed her gun down it, ready to come face to face against an enemy.
     And then she distinctly heard a man speak, a hint of sorrow in his voice.
     “Sorry lads.”
    She turned, her eyes transforming fully to their large feline pupils, making the warehouse seem as bright as a summer day. She took in it all in but a moment. Through the shelves she could see her brothers on the floor, and twenty paces away from them and a few dozen metres right in front of her was an armed member of SICA, weapon poised to fire.
     She let out a beastly shriek that rattled her throat. The man turned his head just in time to find himself watch the bullets pour from the barrel. Mashka ran forward as she repeatedly pulled the trigger until by the time she stood over his body the clip was empty. She panted as blood pounded through her veins. Her eyes were locked on his face, which was now fully exposed since she had shot his helmet off.
     'He looks so… normal…' she thought as she stared at him.  'what-, what did I just do?'
     “Mashka?!”
    Her brother’s laboured cry snapped her out of her shock. She turned and saw her brother stuck under a shelf. She stomped over and grabbed the heavy metal shelf with one hand flipped it over as though it was nothing more than a mattress.  
     “Are you alright Aleksei? Is anything broken? Are you hurt?” By the end of her rush of words she had switched from English to Russian and back to something in between.
     He answered her statements in order given, “Niet; I don’t think so; and da.” He rubbed his hands through his frazzled chestnut hair and attempted to sit up, the trickles of blood on his face running a new direction.
     “I feel like a bus hit me,” he moaned, “but I fared better than that guy you did in over there.” As soon as the words slipped from his mouth Aleksei regretted them, he turned his bleary gaze to Mashka’s red-specked face.
     She shuddered, her eyes shimmering with tears. “Let’s get out of here!” She reached down to grab both of the twins’ shoulders and pulled them up with ease.
     Once Aleksei was up he nearly fell over again. “Oj!  I think I sprained my ankle.”
     Mashka rested his left arm over her shoulder then gave Vlad a “help-me-now” glare.
    Vlad complied more quickly than he intended. His sister’s familiar authoritative gaze with her disturbing new eyes proved a persuasive combination. The three of them half jogged to the door to find The Association’s green van idling with Anya at the wheel.
     “Wasn’t this a different colour?” Aleksei asked.
     Vlad rolled his eyes. “Ever heard of peel-off paint?  Get in!”
    With a quick boost Aleksei was in a seat followed by Mashka and Vlad, once again the twins found themselves side by side for sake of celerity.
     “You in?” Anya asked, not waiting for an answer as she hit the gas, pressing the three Sharovs into the back of their seats.
     “Where’s Evan?” Mashka demanded.
     Anya ignored her as she made a tight turn around a storage crate and then slammed on the brakes throwing her passengers forward. “Get in!” she shouted.
     The front door opened and Evan climbed in, he had not even closed the door when Anya was once again hitting the gas.
     “Are we being followed?” Mashka asked.
      “Not if I can help it!” Anya declared.
     The passengers fastened their seatbelts, knowing they might not have another chance.
~~~~~~~~~~
     The Czech led the way, torch and gun in hand, as Bruno pushed Ravi’s chair through the narrow, dark space.
     “I never thought there would be any tunnels around here.” Ravi muttered.
   “They were built by a smuggling operation a decades ago.” Bruno explained, “It was because of them that we chose this spot as a temporary base.”
    Ravi grimaced. “About that… what if your friend didn’t know where to melt through the floor?”
     “That’s obvious, we would have kept falling until we reached the planet’s core.” Bruno declared. He grinned when he heard Ravi squirm in his wheelchair.
     “Honest? What an inconvenient power!”
     “No, I joke, he can travel through matter like a fish in a pond, there’s nothing to worry about.”
     George attempted a chuckle.
     The Czech stopped and felt a wall. “Come.” he ordered.
    Once they all got close, The Czech pushed them both through the wall and they found themselves looking into the afternoon sun which happened to find a hole in the clouds. The Czech emerged behind his two charges.
     “It would be useful to have the good doctor around.” Bruno muttered looking down the dock that ran along the brick retaining wall they had phased out of.
     The Czech shrugged. “He’s been keeping radio contact, he was split up from the girls and has already evaded capture. We can make do without him, right Ravi?”
     “How can I help?” he asked, “I can’t even stand.”
     “True, but you sense bodies right? You control muscles so you must know when there are people present.”
     “No, I just know whether there are human bodies nearby, and there are, you two.”
     The Czech sighed in irritation. “And here the science department though you might be useful. Never mind let’s just get to the car.”
     They scurried down the dock, keeping an eye out for any SICA agents. In the distance they could hear screeching tires and gunshots but nearby it was silent. They hurried between the warehouses and around a few corners until they spotted the dark blue, sleek sedan.
     George was about to sigh in relief when he heard a stray footfall that made his heart jump into his throat. The next thing he knew he was out of his chair, lifted by one massive arm and set between the open doors of a shipping crate where he had cover on three sides.
“Stay put!” Bruno ordered as gunfire filled the air.
     Bruno then snatched up a large metal box and flung it towards the SICA agents then dived after it, using it as cover.  “I need my gun back!” he yelled.
     From behind the shipping crate to his left, The Czech kicked over the firearm.
     “Danke,” he muttered.
     The shots from SICA’s side calmed down, giving The Czech a window to peek where his enemy was. Then he ducked and made a black circle appear through the storage crate, through which he fired three shots, each hitting an agent but only one bullet made itself past their Kevlar armour with lethal result.
     He peeked out again. “Tsk, this is taking too long.” After getting Bruno’s attention he waved three fingers. The burly German nodded in understanding. The Czech phased into the wall beside him, while Bruno continued to fire rounds.
     Meanwhile something in George’s gut stirred.  Something akin to intuition told him that someone was circling around the building. Was this what the Czech had been talking about? He wanted to use his power and stand up, but he did not know if he would place Bruno or The Czech under his control by mistake and get them killed.
     His fears were confirmed when he felt vibrations through the metal crate, as if someone had leaned against the opposite side of the shipping container. They were surrounded.
     I’ve got to do something!  He reached up to the door latch and pulled himself shakily up using his upper body strength. He tried not to lean, for if he did the door would fling him outwards and make him perfect target.  He pulled himself all the way up, still wondering what he was going to do.
     Just as found himself hanging helpless from the door a pair of footsteps stopped on the other side. Ravi held his breath. It would only take a second for the SICA agent to look around the door, find him, and kill him. He saw a black gloved hand grab hold of the door and pull it outwards. Without thinking Ravi let go of the door and jerked his arm, manipulating the agent’s body like a puppet. The metal door swung and made a hollow gong sound against the man’s head.
With his support torn from his grasp, Ravi fell spread-eagle before three agents, one of them sitting hard on his rear and moving his helmet back in place. Pure adrenaline dictated Ravi’s next actions. Before a whole second passed he gained full control of the fallen SICA’s body and they both rose as mirror images. Just before the two other agents pulled their triggers, Ravi stepped backwards forcing his controlled SICA to move as well.  Two bullets embedded themselves in the agent’s unprotected back.
     In the next moments Ravi discovered how fast he could switch bodies and found himself already in control of the next agent who he forced to twist and shoot his ally in the neck. Then as he brought his own hand, holding an imaginary gun towards his neck so did the agent. Ravi began to squeeze his index finger in until the agent let out a high pitch scream of terror.
    Guilt immediately broke through his clouded, terror-gript mind when he realised the agent behind the all-concealing helmet was a woman. He dropped his hand and his legs buckled beneath him. Shots rang in his ears and he expected himself to have blood spraying from some hole in his chest but instead he saw the woman before him fall crumple to the ground and blood pool beneath her. Not seeing a shooter he looked behind him.
     “I always tell people that chivalry isn’t dead.” The Czech said with a grin. He reached down and cast Ravi over his shoulders in a fireman's carry. “Oof, you’re heavier than you look, tiny Indian."
     Ravi grimaced in mixture of revulsion at the coldness of his rescuer and embarrassment at being so simply manhandled by the large Czech. He could not even bring himself to correct him that he was Lebanese. As his vision bounced with his carrier’s strides he looked back at the three bodies he left in his wake. He swallowed hard, fighting back nausea and shock, tried to focus on the simple fact that he was alive, and not that his life cost three others, and their respective families dearly.
     Dániel cast Ravi from his shoulders into the back seat of a speed boat where Bruno was waiting behind the wheel.
     As he collapsed into the backseat he asked, “What about the sedan?”
   “A grenade took care of that.” Bruno grumbled as he fired up the gas and the boat accelerated into the bay. “So I went to plan B and hot-wired a boat. At least now they can’t chase us.”
     Salt spray and wind blasted against Ravi’s dark skin as he stared back at the shore. He wondered how his life had ever come to this. Hours ago he was a wealthy recluse with a boring day job and now he was dodging bullets and being rescued by shady individuals.
~~~~~~~~~~
     Anya’s foot eased off the gas. “I think I lost them.” she smirked.
     “Good show!” Evan announced prompting a high-five.
     After a brief glower at Anya, Mashka sighed in relief. She looked over at her brothers to share her elation but found her words chased away.
     Both boys were pointedly staring in any direction but one another, arms crossed, eyes cold.
     “I would think this reunion would be a bit more cheerful,” she scolded, “Come on you two, the family is back together!”
     Aleksei huffed, blowing a straw hair from his forehead. “It might have been, had Vova here not insisted on fratricide.”
     “And you are still a tattle, mama-boy.” Vlad sneered.
     “Well, at least I’m consistent. When did you pick up being a psycho?”
     “I don’t have to answer you!”
     “Eh?! You think you don’t owe me an explanation?!”
     The boys were now glaring at each other sideways, which their sister saw as a minor improvement.
     “Hey!” she snapped, “Both of you, this is not the time! Just calm down and we can talk about this later alri-- yagh!”
     The siblings were all flung to one side of the van letting out gasps of surprise. Once the horizontal g-force abated, Vlad pushed the siblings off of him and was about to demand an explanation for Anya’s crazed driving when saw a bullet hole appear in the door frame next to him.  He ducked, Mashka and Aleksei following suit, then peeked back to see a green SUV hot on their trail.
     Evan opened the skylight.
     “What are you doing?!” Anya and Mashka cried in unison, to their mutual annoyance.
     “Relax, I have a plan!” he declared before pulling himself through.
     Mashka almost screamed in horror when she looked back and saw him tumble off the roof. But just before he hit the road he took flight, disappearing from view.
     Evan shot high above the buildings into the early twilight sky and looked down at the SICA SUV. He sighed, readying himself for what he was about to do. Like a falcon he dived and as he neared the vehicle he banked and landed feet-first on the roof. He snatched a roof rack with his left hand and raised his other towards the engine bonnet.
     Even through the rushing wind he could hear the commotion beneath him as the SICA agents shouted in French and English wondering what had landed on the roof. One brave soul climbed out the passenger window with gun ready, but Evan was prepared, releasing a kinetic blast from his hand he blew the agent’s weapon away and made him fall back out of view as the poor fellow hung half-way out the window over the street.
     Once more aiming his hand at the engine, Evan angled his fingers inwards and with sensation like rushing water from his palm past his fingers the focused kinetic stream let loose, in an instant blowing a circular whole through the centre of the engine.
     The vehicle decelerated so rapidly Evan was flung forward, releasing the rail just in time not to have his arm ripped off. As he hurtled towards impending road rash he made a desperate attempt to regain flight. Kinetic energies sputter around him just stopping his descent by moments until he somehow regained his equilibrium and enveloped himself in a cylinder of forces and torpedoed upwards.
     After a brief moment in the sky to collect himself Evan plunged back down into the aura of the golden streetlights and landed on the roof of Anya’s van.  He swung himself through the sky light and into his seat.
     He looked over surprised to see his former comrade’s face in a dark scour.
     “What?” he asked, expecting some sort of awe rather then spite.
     “Do you have any idea how many times that would have been so useful? We could have completely averted the Minsk incident.”
     “Look, I did not know I could do it then, honest!” Evan pleaded with her then turned his gaze back to Mashka for support.
     The woman leaned forward and smacked the side of his head. “Don’t ever do that again! Are you insane?!”
     Evan cowed.  “Sorry…”
     Anya however came to his defense. “Listen kitty, because of him we no longer have them on our back, show a little gratitude.”
     Mashka would have responded had she not been stunned by the nickname. Kitty?! What does she mean by that?! And why am I being schooled on etiquette by the psycho who tried to kill me? She shook her head, despite all their history, now was not the time to argue.
     By the time it was almost midnight they had passed from Scotland into England, switched vehicles and searched for trackers at an abandoned gas station and kept on south through the night to the next Association hideout. All the while moving further from the place the Sharovs had come to know as home.

     “You killed him like some stray dog!” Mashka half screamed half roared, flashing her long fangs.
     Anya's hand flashed to her holster but an icy glance from Daniel made her freeze.
     The Administrator seemed unfazed. “You should know something about your dear Dr. Salaam. Firstly, he was being used by SICA, which means he was leading you and your brother to your murders. In his favour, I will say that he might not have known the details, The Western powers can be very seductive, he may have been sincere in wanting to help you. But he was quite simply a threat to you, intentions unconsidered. You are too precious, Mariya, I will kill hundreds more to protect you.” The Administrator beheld her tenderly, despite his dark words.
     The memory of the bloody rivulets flowing from Salaam’s head on a rainy roof in Moscow had been burned in her mind, never to heal. That moment had become her symbol of utter depravity and the starkest expression of the high cost of heroics. Now to be told that her hero was another ‘shade of gray’ left her gut twisted in anger that she desperately tried to control lest her beast bring its desires to fruition on all those around her.
     Ravi was the one to break the awkward silence. “Not to make light of your friend’s unfortunate demise, but what is the next course of action? With SICA combing all of Scotland for us, we need to do something.”
     Anya answered before the Administrator could. “Exactly what we always do, leave false trails and return home.”
     The older man smiled fondly at her. “Precisely my dear. Bear with this everyone, especially you two.” He pointed at Mashka and Evan. “I assume we will be parting ways somewhere along the line, but I really could use your help for as long as possible. At least until Mr. Donnelly and you are out of harm’s way.”
     “So, you are just going to let us go this time?” Evan asked.
     The Administrator shrugged. “Colleagues are most helpful when they are willing. And I can make sure any task would be to your benefit.”
     Mashka looked at Evan and nodded towards the door.
     He got the hint and told those present. “We need to deliberate, one moment.” They excused themselves and closed the door behind them.
     Evan began, having already rehearsed his words. “Look, Mashka, I know what you are going to say--,”
     “You should,” she snapped. “Are we going to go along with them, honest?”
     “At this instant they can keep us safe, besides, The Apparition seemed rather adamant on our presence here.”
     Mashka found herself forced to agree. “And she’s been talking with The Administrator too. Makes one wonder what their arrangement is.”
     Evan grunted in agreement. “Mashka, do you trust me?”
     She was taken aback by the question for a moment. “Why are you asking me that?”
     “I need to know, do you trust me?”
     Her catlike eyes focused intently on his grey ones, as if reading his thoughts through them. “With my life,” she answered, never losing eye contact.
     “Then there’s nothing to worry about.” He said sternly, then cracking a smile. “Though, I can’t say I have the best track record.”
     After a light punch to her friend’s chest, Mashka smirked. “The Administrator lied about wanting to work with us,” Evan’s smile wavered. “-But he spoke the truth when he said he wanted to keep us safe. I think The Apparition is ‘wearing the pants’ when it comes to his dealings with us.”
     Evan raised his eyebrows. “I wouldn’t think she’d be powerful enough to do that.”
     Mashka shook her head and lead the way back into the office. “We’re in!” she declared as she opened the door.
     The Administrator nodded.  “Excelle--”
     A high pitched metallic shriek cut him off and the transmission ended though the noise remained, ringing in everyone’s ears.
     “The transmission has been jammed!” Bruno exclaimed.
     “That sounded like a shock grenade.” The Czech noted casually as he rose and passed through the wall.
     “I guess this means we’ve been found.” Dr. Kerry sighed wearily.  “Time to pack up.”
     “Where’s Aleksei?” Evan asked.
     “He went to talk to his brother in the next building over…” Anya began, then trailed off.
Mashka rushed towards the door.
     “Hey!” Anya called getting her attention. She tossed a holstered revolver which Mashka snatched perfectly. “You might need that.”
     “Tch,” Mashka growled, clipping the hoster to her belt and drawing the weapon as Evan had taught her.
~~~~~~~~~~
    Vlad spun around, looking for any sign of movement, but to no avail since the steam hid everything from view. He considered simply blasting away all the obstructions, but that was bound to get him in loads of trouble, as it was, this duel was making plenty of noise.
     Out of the corner of his eye he noticed a stray swirl of mist that seemed out of place.  He reacted by instinct, kicking behind him.
     Aleksei backed away just in time to avoid the brunt of the attack, only earning himself a minor bruise. He could not stop as Vlad came in for the attack. With blinding speed Aleksei found himself on the receiving end of a left hook. His training with both Nida and Evan came back to him and he stopped his brother’s fist with his palm, grabbed Vlad’s upper arm, and kicked out his legs from under him.
     However, Vlad caught himself with a hand and a foot and lashed out with his free leg.  His strike missed, instead it knocked aside the swirling mist that was rolling off of Aleksei's body, leaving after images of his form wherever he went, disconcerting him.
     Using the mist to thoroughly obscure his brother’s vision, Aleksei planned on backing away, but he forgot to pay attention to where his feet were and he backed into one of the shelves causing him to loose balance.
     Vlad grinned when he heard his brother trip. If he moved quickly, he would make a direct hit. He extended his right hand.
     Aleksei felt the temperature lower, but he had the wind knocked out of him. In his panic, he bid the vapour to ram into him as he turned on his side. He was thrown like a rag doll and sent tumbling through the rows of bottom shelves. He felt a portion of his sensory field destroyed as his sheet of water vapour had all heat sapped from it, leaving only useless frost and snow behind. Vlad, without knowing it, had half blinded him.
     Still immobile from slamming himself with his own mist, Aleksei had no other choice than to push himself up just enough to bring vapour beneath him. Once he had accomplished that, he again, painfully, struck himself with the mist, this time launching himself high into the air so he could roll off of the torrent and land on a top shelf, hidden from view. Knowing that his rough landing would make a racket, Aleksei bid the stream that had brought him upwards to knock down a the large stacks of boxes from their perch making a deafening crash on the concrete floor and covering up any noise from Aleksei’s hastily planned movements.
     Panting heavily and nursing his injured side, Aleksei beckoned tendrils of mist to reattach himself to the floor five shelves down. When he did he sensed that several persons had entered the building and he recognised none of their shapes. 'SICA! Vlad!'
~~~~~~~~~~
     “They’re in the building.” The Czech declared as he returned through the wall then glared at Bruno. “How did they get past your security?”
     “Must have been a virus. Though it would take impressive skill to get past my custom firewall and--”
     The Czech raised his hand for silence. “Later, right now, the point is that we‘ve been sniffed out. Bruno, you are staying near me.”
     Immediately the computer tech knew he was both a suspect and/or a primary target of the enemy.
     “And doctor?”
     Kerry turned to The Czech.  “Yes, Dániel?”
     “How many are out there?”
     Kerry’s pupils wove into interlaced triquetras then returned to normal in less than a second.  “Twenty-three normal humans… but there are two, not Jinn, but I would be careful, their souls are unusually potent.”
     “Good to know.”
      Mashka looked strangely at Kerry.  “You are Jinn too?”
     “After a sort,” he smiled brilliantly, causing his initial unnerving impression to fade. “We’ll have to talk about that later. In the meantime, four of them just entered this building, and your brothers are being surrounded as we speak. Both of them are exhausted after using all that power they were fighting each other with.”
     “What?  They were fighting?!” Mashka cried in a hushed tone. “Why didn’t you tell me?” He waved her off. “Relax, neither of them are hurt badly. The important thing is that there are now six people at the other side of this building.”
     Mashka nodded and turned her attention to the opposite side of the warehouse. Her keen sense of smell picked up on the intruders’ presence as did her sharp hearing as she removed her sensory limitation.
     “Six just entered this building,” Mashka began, “and they split into two groups, each taking a side.”
     The Czech nodded and looked pointedly at Kerry. The doctor understood the gaze and cockily smirked.
     “Anya, how much do you want to bet I can shoot them all from here?”
     “Just do it Kerry, stop fooling around,” she snapped.
     “As you wish,”
Mashka felt a tingling in the air as Kerry tilted his head back, eyes rolling back in their sockets. She only got a brief glimpse again of his electric blue eyes before he spun around and stared through the forest of shelves and boxes, his twin triquetras twirling.
     “Aha!” he exclaimed as he rested the revolver atop the nearest box, aimed through a gap and fired.
     Mashka jumped from the gun fire, her ears ringing but still able to pick up the sound of a limp body falling to the ground. Barely a second later Kerry had already fired off his five other shots through the shelves, five more bodies echoed  as they thudded to the cement.
     He turned back to the two women as his pupils shrank back to their normal parameters and the irises faded to a much less electric blue. He blew at the barrel tip and holstered his weapon in his coat. “It’s such a shame you ladies could not see the light show. It’s a glorious and colour filled sight when a soul is liberated from its prison--,”
     “Quiet Kerry.” Anya ordered in annoyance.
     “Oh yes true, we need to get to the dear little boys now don’t we?” He stepped to the side gallantly, “Ladies with fully loaded guns first, of course!”
~~~~~~~~~~
     Dropping into the mist below Aleksei winced as his feet made noise against the floor. As quietly as possible, he hastened towards his brother who was standing still in the mist. He could feel several bodies intruding into the warehouse, eight persons fanning out at the entrance and peering into the mist. He felt them cast several small objects blindly outwards, one of them landed on a shelf a mere metre from Vlad’s face.
     Running with a maelstrom of fog pressing behind to grant him speed, Aleksei leapt and grappled his brother to the ground as six ear piercing blasts and brilliant lights blinded and deafened the two young men. The river of mist that had followed Aleksei continued to push them to the far wall away from the intruders.
     Aleksei’s body shook and shuddered in numb pain. He felt as if he had been on the receiving end of a jackhammer. He felt blood trickle across his skin, but his nerves were too confused to tell him where or how many wounds from which it flowed. He brought trembling hands to his ringing ears and tried to curl into a foetal position but his legs were were unresponsive. All he could see was the pale red colour one sees when facing a bright light with one’s eyes closed. As his vision cleared he could see first the cement floor then a hand.
     Is that my hand? When the fingers twitched at his bidding he assumed it must be his.  His vision continued to return and before him another hand beyond his came into sight. Slowly, Vladimir’s face came into view, his features grimacing at the pain that overwhelmed his body, but most importantly, he seemed unharmed.
~~~~~~~~~~
     For Vladimir the experience had not been quite as terrible. His brother had knocked him out of the direct path of the blast wave and shrapnel. His head spun and he felt a bump beginning to swell on the side of his skull, but otherwise he was fine, though in no way ready to move.
     Someone grasped his hand so he tried to focus his blurred vision. His first reaction was to snatch his hand away, if only he could move that much, but something else kept him still, there was a sense of desperate urgency in the weakening grip on his fingers. Out of the darkness Aleksei came into view, his brown eyes wide in fear and pleading. Vlad’s groggy mind could not understand the expression until he finally realised the red lines of blood framing his brother’s eyes, nose, and mouth. A moment later he saw the sturdy, metal shelving that had pinned his twin to the floor from temple to waist.
     Aleksei’s grasp weakened further and Vlad’s heart raced and he felt pinned himself by his brother’s frightened gaze.

   The van pulled next to a large storage facility at the edge of Edinburg. Anya turned around to the slightly green faced passengers. “Everybody, welcome to home sweet temporary headquarters!” She hopped out and stretched and continued, “Or HSTHQ for short!”
     The others soon followed, making an assortment of noises as they escaped their vessel of torture. The Czech and Vlad immediately made their way towards the large building, eager to be rid of the nauseating van.
     Aleksei, Evan and Mashka promptly gathered together.
     Evan scratched behind his ear as he searched for the right words.  “Ehem, er, Mashka, I suppose I was hasty leaving you hanging.”
     “Yes, you were.” Mashka replied, crossing her arms. But her stern face did not last for long as a slight smile appeared. “However I think that--,”  She stopped as she watched Anya walk by a couple metres away.
    Anya turned to the younger woman and cocked an eyebrow at Mashka’s uncertain expression. “Is something the matter? Judging by that face, it seems that you have something against me.”
     “Last time we were together you did try to kill me.” Mashka replied pointedly.
     “Oh, yeah, that…” Anya smirked impishly, “I was dealing with some anger issues, but with a little help I’m fine now.”
     Mashka put on her own snide smile. “Lobotomies really do wonders!” she said, shaking her head in mock disbelief.
     Anya’s smirk vanished and Mashka took the lead heading indoors.
~~~~~~~~~~
     Bruno stretched as he rose from his computer. His well-built body caused his t-shirt to groan in protest. He looked at his reflection in the office window. His scruff had finally turned into a full-fledged beard. He considered shaving. "Nah, might as well keep it until I can go back to Germany. Ingrid likes clean men, so I should enjoy my freedom while I can.”
     “Talking to your reflection I see.”
     Bruno leaned back. “People have habits.”
    “Mmm, indeed,” Kerry replied. “You ought to break up with her, such tiny disagreements as personal hygiene only fester into bigger ones.”
     Bruno resisted the temptation to roll his eyes. “The day I take relationship advice from you is the same day I’m admitted.”
     “Ouch! So cruel.” Kerry flicked his hair irritably behind his ears and glanced through the window. “Oh, we have guests.”
     Bruno seemed somewhat startled, but sighed when he realised it was just their returning colleagues. Kerry cocked an eyebrow, intrigued by his partner’s strange expression. Is he expecting… someone else I wonder? He forced himself to maintain his normal gentle smirk.
   Casting off his concerns, Dr. Kerry spun and exitedly called out to the returning teammates. “Oh Vlad and… whatever your name was, Danny?”
     The Czech grimaced. “It’s Dániel, not Danny, not Dan, and certainly not Denrikochi… just Dániel, that too hard to remember?”
     “Ooh, saucy are we, Dá-ni-el. I will try not to forget it this time.”
     Vlad smirked, crossing his fingers in hopes of a confrontation, but the Czech noticed his grin and asked indignantly, “What, you have name, why wouldn’t I?”
     Vlad shrugged nonchalantly. “I’m going to exercise, give me the meeting memo later.”
    “Would you like me to stop by with some tea for you later!” Kerry offered, clasping his hands excitedly.
     Vlad pointedly grabbed a bottle of water from the storage shelf and glared menacingly back before leaving.
     “Young people these days.” Kerry sighed. His eyes narrowed when he saw Evan enter. “Oh, so returns the prodigal son… care to re-join the central seven, or have you really left for good?”
     Evan shrugged off Kerry’s provocation, though the brunette next to him did not attempt to hide her immediate dislike of the snappish doctor.
   Pushing up his glasses Kerry gave Mashka the once over. He smirked and let out a disdainful huff, eliciting an even darker glare from the young woman.
     Twirling around the doctor beckoned the others to follow him into the office. “Come, the Administrator is waiting.”
     Mashka shot a nervous glance Evan’s way. He looked back at her and smiled, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder and whispered in her ear. “If they wanted to capture us, they would have.”
     “Yes, but you and I both know The Administrator is a crafty old man who likes to keep everyone guessing.”
     All Evan could answer to that was one more comforting pat on the shoulder. Mashka turned and beckoned for her brother to hurry up.
     Aleksei waved half-heartedly and picked up his pace a little, absently walking in front of Anya. At the door to the office he hesitated and gazed off to where he had glimpsed Vladimir disappear. He bit his lip.
     Behind him Anya waited impatiently for the boy to make up his mind when she realised what was bothering him. Her features softened ever so slightly. “If you want, you can find Vladimir in the building next to this one.”
     Aleksei looked back at her in surprise.
    She smiled, causing the youth to wonder whether she was putting on a show like his sister said she did, or if it was genuine warmth. “He has never spoken about you,” she said, “But I think it would be good for you two to get reacquainted.”
    Aleksei shuddered, remembering when he had seen his brother in the alley, three charred corpses in his wake. Sighing, he finally made up his mind and walked towards the warehouse Vlad was in.
     Anya watched the young man leave. She smiled ruefully at herself. There was only one thing that could soften her hardened heart, and that was love among family, not something she had experienced much of in recent years.
     Then with no further thought she stepped into office. The first thing that met her eyes was the face of The Administrator displayed on the farthest left of Bruno’s three gargantuan computer screens.
    He noticed her enter and smiled. “Well it seems that’s almost everyone, where is Aleksei?”
     Anya received a pointedly questioning look from Mashka as well. “He went to talk to his brother, he should be back soon.”
     “Very well, but what about Ravi?”
     “I’m right here.” Another door at the back of the opened and Ravi rolled in on a new wheelchair. He smiled at The Administrator. “It is good to finally see the face of the man who planned my rescue, though,” his smile vanished into a frown, “I would have preferred it if you did not have to rob my bank.”
     Mashka and Evan looked surprised at both his relatively cheerful face and his current state of being stuck in a wheelchair.  
     “Were you injured?” Evan asked.
     “No, not at all, I have never been able to walk,” Ravi explained.
     “But you were walking earlier.” Even insisted
     “Yes, but I can only stand when I am controlling someone else who is standing, and that takes a lot of mental strain to keep up if you understand.” He turned to greet the Administrator. “Despite your methods, I would have been killed by whoever they were.”
     “Not a problem Ravi, in the meantime let’s just say you do owe me a game of cards.”
     “Oh, sir, you hit my soft spot.” The swarthy banker grinned roguishly.
     Mashka exclaimed in confusion, “Wait just a moment! Why are you so happy about all of this? Da, these guys aren’t going to kill you like SICA, but they aren’t nice people either. When they went after my brother and I, there was chaos, which resulted in one of their men being killed, and us almost being made into assassins.”
     The Administrator grinned good naturedly. “And who exactly was at fault for most of that chaos miss?”
     “Don’t even get me started!” she hissed.
    The Administrator raised his hands playfully in resignation. “Alright, just calm down, I’m not here to argue. Besides, it was not exactly my choice for us to work together, but at the insistence of a certain someone we all know, you are just as involved in all of this as The Association.”
     “The girl in white?” Mashka asked.
    The Administrator raised a finger to his lips, but his smile confirmed her suspicions. “You are not the only pieces in this game.” The Administrator looked carefully at everyone’s reactions. The Czech, Mashka and Evan all seemed keyed into the situation. This left Bruno and Anya both perplexed at the exchange and for the briefest moment Kerry’s eyes widened before he too plastered on a confused expression.
     “Now, Ravi, please explain your role for the young lady here.”
    “Certainly,” Ravi replied then faced Mashka and Evan. “I lost use of my legs when I contracted polio as a child but about four months ago something odd started to happen. For example, one morning I could walk. Well in my jubilation I hurried out of room when suddenly I heard a crash downstairs and I tumbled to the ground. Well, my housekeeper hurried up the stairs and saw me lying there on the floor.  She told me that all of a sudden her body and moved by itself and had run into the dirty china on the counter, breaking it. Then she promptly scolded me for trying to move on my own. For the rest of the day I was paralysed. But I started to notice something. Within a few days my legs were no longer atrophied. Not to mention, the rest of my body was becoming very fit. I exercise regularly but my muscles were growing despite there being no increase in my routine.
     “Nothing else happened for a couple weeks and then I was walking again, this time in the parlour. I had no control of my body I was just jogging down the hall, and right towards the wall. I needed to stop so, somehow I regained control.
    “Then,” Ravi chuckled and rubbed his chin as he reminisced. “I looked outdoors and there was a woman, standing stock still, just like me on the sidewalk. I took a step back, and so did she. I stepped forward and she did too. It was all terribly bizarre. Then I felt it,” his eyes looked at Mashka earnestly. “You, being like me might know what I’m talking about, that sensation of being flooded with something strange and exhilarating. But alas, I knew I needed to let that woman go. So I shut myself off from that exhilaration, and tumbled to the floor, the lower half of my body once again limp.
     “So, after that, I sought out what could have caused this, discreetly of course. And to my surprise at a cocktail party of my peers, I met a man who was looking for me.  He informed me of my predicament and how I was in grave danger. He put me in contact with The Administrator and we plotted my “kidnapping,” which was supposed to happen in my home, but due to SICA, we had to change the location of events. The rest, all those present experienced first-hand.”
     The Administrator nodded. “I apologise to my staff for leaving them in the dark as well, but there were circumstances that I will disclose about later. In the meantime, we should be considering our next steps, namely the relocation of Ravi as well as Aleksei and Mashka.”
     “Relocation! Why?” Mashka demanded.
   “Obviously for your safety, SICA is aware of your existence and they will stop at nothing to ensure your extinction.”
     “But why does SICA want to kill us?”
    The Czech, Bruno and The Administrator averted their eyes awkwardly. On cue from The Administrator, Bruno spoke up, his words came slowly from deep within his broad chest. “They wish to kill you so that no more of your kind will manifest.”
     “But I understood it that we have our abilities genetically.  Doesn’t everyone have our gene?”
     Bruno nodded. “Yes, that is how the old Association tracked all the Jinn down, by following the more prominent genetic lines to predict where the gene would activate and then suppress it with the Chrysalis drug. However, SICA is of a different opinion.  They believe that Jinn are living anomalies and that they are constantly releasing trans-dimensional radicals which lead to more people becoming anomalies.  And from their viewpoint, we seem to be the only ones who can control you, and they don’t like that.  So, rather than have a powerful resource fall in their enemy’s hands, SICA destroys any Jinn they come across.”
     “So why don’t you just tell them that it’s genetic?” Mashka asked.
     Bruno shook his head. “We were the ones who convinced them it’s not. Furthermore, if they knew it was genetic it would make hunting you all down much easier, not to mention they have the resources to secretly sterilise genetically susceptible groups, and that would end our grand project even faster.”
     She nodded but then looked curiously at George then back at the Administrator. “So, you are all of a sudden okay with letting Jinn know that they are a naturally occurring phenomena?”
     The Administrator nodded. “There were two reasons why we contrived a story for you and your brother. First, it was something that would drive you to be more compliant. Second, we needed to flush out a traitor, telling you such a blatant lie would give him ammunition against us, therefore giving him a way to gain your trust and make his move, and Dr. Salaam did so very conveniently.”
     Mashka’s eyes flared angrily and her already permanently oblong pupils fully elongated in her wrath as her eyes began to shift towards amber.
     Dr. Kerry’s eyes immediately reacted to her unleashed powers so he averted his gaze to return his vision to normal but he caught a glimpse of the Sharov twins’ powers in the neighbouring building.  How amusing.
~~~~~~~~~~
     Vlad kicked the air, dropped down, then lashed out across the floor. He rose again and repeated the movement, practicing his weight shifts. He heard the metallic sound of the warehouse door opening. He sighed in irritation at the prospect of Anya coming in to bother him again. He was instead surprised when he turned to look and saw the brown haired boy from earlier.
     “What brings you here?  There’s nothing to see.”
     “Hey, Vladimir.” Aleksei avoided using the familiar form of his brother’s name.
     Vlad squinted in the dimly lit room, he was confused by the familiar voice.  'That’s not…'
    “The brown hair is probably throwing you off.” Aleksei walked forward.  “But it’s me, Lyosha.”
     At the sound of his brother’s nickname, Vlad stopped in surprise as recognition hit him.
     “It’s been a rather long time hasn’t it?” Aleksei continued.
     “What makes you think that I want to speak to you?” Vlad’s eyes glinted dangerously.
     Aleksei was taken aback by his brother’s tone.  “Umm, ah…”  He found himself at a loss for words.
     Vlad walked forward silently and made to pass by his brother, as if he was not even there.
     As Vlad passed by, Aleksei lowered his head sadly. He should have assumed that his brother would have no interest in him. From the beginning they were destined for different directions. However, when he heard his brother’s steps stop just behind him, an odd feeling resembling hope pulsed in his heart. He began to twist his head when the back of Vlad’s heel made contact with Aleksei’s side.
     The force of the sudden roundhouse kick sent Aleksei slamming into the pallet of large brown bags. The white flour within burst forth, enveloping him in a cloud. Just as the air began to clear and he felt safe opening his eyes, he found his throat enclosed in his brother’s tight grip. He gagged for breath and looked fearfully into his brother’s face.
     “So, you really think I would be pleased to see you? The only thing I could ever wish from you is as an opponent worth killing. After all, we are identical twins, so it’s safe to say that you have powers. Are they the same as mine, or something different? I’m dying to see-- no, you are the only one who’s going to die here.” Vlad raised his left hand, cupping the air beside him in view of his brother. A bright, hot light appeared around his palm.
     Aleksei could feel heat beginning to singe his hair.  To his relief, the light died.  He looked up to see Vlad’s mildly disappointed face.
     “No… I thought not.  Judging by that look of fear, you are nothing in comparison to me.  A nobody, not even worth killing.” He flung Aleksei away like a rag doll.
     Aleksei slid across the smooth floor whilst gasping for breath. Immediately he began backing away.
     Vlad stood still. Staring in malicious pity at his brother. “Are you even going to try to use your manifestation to defend yourself?” He raised his hand again, this time it turned a pale colour as frost appeared upon his skin and a pure glow pulsed over his palm.
     Aleksei’s eyes widened at his hostility.  'If I don’t do something, is he really going to kill me?' He raised his left hand and began twirling his his wrist. Water vapour from the air within the room materialised into white streams between the two of them, forming to a vertical cyclonic disc.
     Vlad cocked his head in curiosity. “Huh, intriguing.” He extended his hand, intending to blast through the disc, but the fog suddenly twisted into a cone and lashed out at his face. He dodged easily but was surprised when the stream smoothly curved and smacked his face to the side as if he had been slapped, leaving behind a stinging sensation. He glared back indignantly, irritated by the half-hearted strike.
     Aleksei had backed further away. He brought a stream of fog around him like a snake and sent a narrow stream towards Vlad.
     Vlad simply raised his fiery hand and the mist seemed to be devoured into nothingness. The young man sighed and was about to make another stinging insult when he heard a disembodied shriek from behind him.  He did not even have time to turn around and look as a giant maw rushed through the door and engulfed him.
     Aleksei flung his right hand out and shoved his concealed brother within the throat of the dragon. Vlad felt his feet take leave of the ground in the blinding whiteness, his body buffeted by swirling currents. When he was finally vomited out of the throat of mist he tumbled and rolled across the hard cement and brought himself to a stop as he skillfully leapt to a crouch and glared back at his brother.
     “Much better!” Vlad taunted, pointing towards his brother’s face.  “That is a look worth killing.”
   Aleksei’s grim face was unmoving as vapour tumbled off his body and rolled transparently across the floor.
      Vlad raised his hand and a blast of heat seared through the air.
     Expecting this action. Aleksei caused the dragon he had expanded into a wide corridor to collapse, forming a thick trunk between himself and his brother to absorb and scatter the heat. The storehouse shook with the sound of super-heated steam hissing through the roof.

Episode Twenty One:
Coup de Grâce, Deuxième Partie

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     Océane hugged herself tightly as she regained her composure, hoping to not draw any attention from the other passengers on the bus she had lured Pierre into. It was taking all her concentration to maintain the nightmare and try to distance herself from Pierre’s thoughts, and even more importantly, his emotions. Tears of pain and sadness rolled down her face, contrasting with the wicked grin.
     With the greatest of determination she stood up and pulled the bell cord for the next stop. Raising her palms to chest level, she gritted her teeth, and whispered through her still smiling lips, “This nightmare will end!”
~~~~~~~~~~
     Before Pierre’s eyes, the young boy sitting in the corner suddenly stiffened.  In a flash he turned into transparent glass and shattered.  But the shards did not fall more than a couple centimetres before they flew through the air in a stream towards the front of the train car. There they spun horizontally in the shape of a narrow tube.  Suddenly the pieces fused together into a long rod and rested in the hands of a dark silhouette that brightened to reveal the golden haired, frost clad angel.
     “Found you!” The angel smiled as a scythe blade erupted out of the end of the crystal rod. She spun as a dervish would and glowed with sacred fire. She slowed her twirling rushed forward.
    The paralysis that had gripped Pierre released and he scrambled away from her. He tripped, avoiding imminent decapitation and fell against the dark wall. He felt the wall stretch then snap.  The entire structure he had been inside popped like a bubble and he found himself one again on the dark, featureless street of the strange city.
     He did not have long to observe his surroundings as once again her heard the small feet of his attacker patter on the ground. He leapt forward, rolled and ran down the hill.
~~~~~~~~~~
     'I can’t keep up with him.' Océane groaned. She looked at her shoulder. 'Or maybe… I can!'
     She placed her scythe blade against her shoulder and pulled forward, slicing her arm cleanly off. Her removed limb hit the ground stiffly and turned the color of molasses as it disintegrated into a puddle. The slimy substance then rose up in a twisted column and her shoulder stub leaked more of the strange fluid, joining with the puddle. She rolled her shoulder and flung her body forward causing the dark brown substance to fly towards Pierre like an unrolling carpet as it remained tethered to her shoulder. The brown slime split into four dark streams cruising in the air far above where the terrified man ran. Lines joined the four streams creating what looked like a slice of a spider web. Finally Océane rolled her shoulder viciously downwards. Her movement rand down the four intertwined strings, launching their tips downwards to Pierre, growing rapidly longer and larger.
     As Océane wanted, they did not reach him, instead, like living eels connected by slimy, horizontal ropes of flesh, they hit the ground and slithered as if dancing through water. They wove around light posts, mailboxes, and buildings, leaping and ducking over one another, continuing to grow towards their target.
     Pierre was not even looking where he was going when he ran into a wall.  He found himself trapped in a dead end, surround by merciless black walls and a red sky above.  He turned around to see that the way he came was blocked by the web-creature, it’s dripping brown mass raising its four “heads” as if they were conjoined cobras, ready to strike. His desperate eyes roved around, hoping that like before, there was some way out of this bizarre world. He wanted to plead, 'I don’t want to die!' But then he thought, 'But… am I already dead?  Is this what hell is like?' Tears streamed down his face as he collapse to his knees.
     'Papa… Why did you give up and leave me?  I’m scared…'
     He winced as the monster in front of him lurched forward a few metres. He saw its tail whip over its head and land in front of him, angel in tow. The creature shrunk into a small, tangled net draped around the angel’s feet, staining her pure white dress turning the hem and right side of the gown the colour of old blood as it writhed and wiggled from her severed shoulder.
     The angel raised her crystal scythe and leaned it against her left shoulder casually.  Her lips opened revealing beautiful, perfect teeth as she grinned at him. “So, Pierre, are you ready to accept your first, of many deaths to come?”
     “Please, have mercy!” he wept, not even willing to raise his face from the dirt.
     A knot tightened itself in Océane’s stomach as she frowned. 'This is not sweet… I hate this man, but I hate myself more for thinking I could relish this sight.' She looked away as she lowered the blade of her frozen scythe to the man’s neck.  The man whimpered pitifully at the touch.
     “Before I kill you once, I have two questions that I have been wanting answered; first, did you defile that woman before, or after you killed her?”
    Pierre’s eyes widened in terrified revulsion.  What is she saying!?  It… “It was an accident!”
     Océane ignored him and continued, “And secondly, were you, or were you not aware of the small child that witnessed you murdering his mother?”
     “A-a--, a child? A child!” Pierre’s face was pure disbelief.  He ran through his memory of the event, but it was mostly clouded with the effects of the copious amounts of alcohol he had drunk that night. All he could remember was the ribbon of red that ran from the heart of a beautiful body. For one of the few times in his life, he tried to see what had happened through another pair of eyes. What he saw, unleashed the long buried guilt of his actions. Pierre felt the pressure of the blade against his neck press harder. “No! Please!” he screamed. “I killed a woman, I really did, I took everything away from that child! But please, have mercy on me!”
     He dared to look up at the face of the angel but instead found himself looking in the eyes of a police officer as she backed away from the prostrate man. He felt his arms tugged from behind and cuffs secured his wrists. He looked at the inside of the police station where he now found himself. He smiled as tears rolled down his face, happy to be alive and in such a warm and kind world compared to the one he had been torn into.
     Lieutenant Porter walked over to Devareaux who now took a seat, shell-shocked. “You alright Sarah?”
     “Eh? Oui, it’s fine, it’s not every day a murderer throws himself on the ground in front of you and pleads guilty. I’m a little stunned is all.”
     Michael nodded. “It’s strange too, it was only yesterday that Océane pointed that man out as the guilty party in the cold case she was digging up.”
     “He ran through the front doors as if he was being chased by a pack of wild dogs.” Sarah explained, taking another calming breath, but the air caught in her throat. “You don’t think--, the girl did something?”
     Michael followed her gaze to the glass door absentmindedly. His mouth dropped in surprise as he could clearly make out a girl wearing the same school uniform Océane wore turning away from the station and limping down the sidewalk. 'Not a chance!'
     “Excuse me Sarah, I’m going to have to take my break now.”
     “Go for it.” She stared in wonderment as her co-worker dashed out of the door.
~~~~~~~~~~
     Océane wearily made her way back home as the sky darkened.  She had exhausted all her ability to think after the intense mental strain of maintaining someone else’s nightmare. She wanted to smile, to confirm that she had accomplished something good, but nothing felt right. However, at the moment she was far too tired and emotionally drained to reason about anything.
     She was so unaware of her surroundings, her whole focus was on putting one foot in front of the other, ignoring the important fact that the walk home was a fair distance. The first noise that brought her out of the daze was in was her own name.
      “Océane! Hey, Océane!”
     She did not even have to turn around to know it was Michael’s voice. No, he saw me! She stumbled forward as quickly as she could but only managed a hurried limp. She inwardly cursed the contraption that bound and supported her leg. However, she regretted her rude thoughts towards the inanimate object when her knee buckled and she began to topple forward.
     She was tugged back by her hand, preventing her from smacking face first into the concrete.
      “Océane!” Michael ordered as he pulled her up, “Wait!  I just want to talk.”
      Océane could not look at him. 'What can I say?'
    “Listen, you are not in trouble, I just want to know how you are involved.” Michael insisted. “You didn’t endanger yourself, did you?”
     She tried hard not to roll her eyes. 'I think “trouble” would be exactly the right word for what I would be in if he did know.'
    Michael sighed as he looked at the still turned away Océane as she regained her own balance, though he did not release her hand. “Océane, whatever you did, no one else has to know if you don’t want them to. Please, something good happened today, I just need to know why and how.”
      “C-could this wait for tomorrow?” she asked tiredly.
     "You promise?" he pressed.
     She nodded.
     The policeman sighed in relief as he released her hand, glancing around at onlookers to reassure them nothing was going on. He had no wish to coerce her to talk and was glad she agreed so easily. “Come by the station at around noon. Would you like me to drive you home?”
      At last she turned around and gently smiled with a nod.  “Oui... et merci.”
    The ride was silent and even when Océane got out in front of her family’s apartment building, she only barely whispered, “Bonsoir.”
       Michael smiled and replied.  “Are you sure you don’t need to talk now?”
     For a moment, Océane felt like she was more of a co-worker, and less of a temporary intern, a notion she shrugged off as ridiculous. “Non, Inspecteur, I’m fine. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
     She left him, and hurried up the stairway. Pausing at the door to her apartment, she readied herself when the door opened and she was met by the disapproving gaze of her mother.
     “And where have you been?” her mother demanded. “We got a call that you skipped out on school.”
     Normally Océane would panic and try to explain, but this time, she had an excuse that was well worth use. “Oh, I haven’t been up to much, just finished my free elective course, solved a cold case and spent time with the police. I will tell you all about it later, right now though, I need a nap.”
     Mrs. Lafayette’s face was reduced to a blank stare as her daughter shuffled off to her room. It did not last long though.
     “Pardon!?” she exclaimed as she marched after daughter.

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