Mercenaries’ Tale – 4.12 Kate’s Journey
The trio had been on the eastern side of the compound and from what Kate could remember, the delivery bays were on the opposite side of the facility. This meant she had a long walk ahead of her down winding corridors as her route snaked across the web. Every junction she came across was blocked off with more steel shutters save for the route that had been picked out for her. Eventually she arrived at her destination, a couple of guards wearing bullet proof armour waiting for her at the entrance. To her surprise, they made no effort to disarm her, instead opening the door for her and escorting her inside, the rat remaining in the corridor. They did however carry large machine guns which were kept trained on her at all times.
She found herself inside a large warehouse where the majority of the floor space had been cleared save for several large stacks of shelves to her right. Two identical petite blonde women in lab coats stood waiting for her here. They smiled on her entrance.
“Ah, Ms O’Donnell,”
“So glad you could join us,” they said one after the other giving Kate pause. There was something decidedly off about these two.
“I didn’t really have much of a choice, did I?”
“No, not,”
“Really. You are obliged to do as we say now that,”
“We own you,” the blondes admitted. Kate’s features settled into an annoyed glare.
“You can’t own a person,” she stated.
“Ah, but you forfeited your right to,”
“Personhood the moment you stepped onto our grounds with,”
“Out our permission. If it was not for our guest then,”
“You would have been put into stasis and became,”
“Another test subject just like what is happening to Mr McCracken as,”
“We speak. Although we have to admit, you piqued our curiosity far more,”
“Than your partner,”
“And why’s that then?” she asked, attempting to keep a poker face. Kate suspected that these two had told her of Doug’s supposed fate purely to try and get a rise out of her. At this point she was just glad that they were not intending to kill him.
“You are an enigma. There is plenty of,”
“Information to be found on Mr McCracken. PSF field reports,”
“Medical reports, psychiatric reports. The PSF keep detailed records on,”
“Their soldiers. We already know all there is on his,”
“Psychological profile. There is however nothing on,”
“You. You supposedly died age eleven. Even the reports Salmanic has on your,”
“Activities are mostly hearsay. You would be far more interesting to,”
“Study than McCracken,” The Sisters explained. They began to circle her, one clockwise and the other anti-clockwise. They were studying her as they did so, their gazes sweeping up and down her body. Kate couldn’t help but feel that they would have started performing tests on her right there and then if they had the relevant equipment to hand…
“You have access to PSF and Salmanic files?” Kate queried, her interest peaked. Why would a random genetics lab have access to confidential files from unrelated institutions?
“We like to keep tabs on,”
“Any one that may prove to be a nuisance if allowed to proceed about their business,”
“Unchecked,” the Sisters had a sly look about them.
“Hmm. Fine then. Who’s this VIP that wanted to see me? Was it you two…?”
“Oh no, that was our aforementioned,”
“Guest. We believe you,”
“Have met him before…” they trailed off. There was a spike in the room temperature, the heat collecting in the centre of the room. As the temperature rose, a vortex erupted between Kate and the Sisters as they returned to their starting position, flames rising from the floor and then dissipating as suddenly as they had arrived. A man now stood in its place. Kate had flinched at the sudden display of magic, a hand finding its way to a pistol as she recognised the new comer; a tall man in ruined crimson robes, his hair a dirty blonde that was lank with grease and the left side of his face twisted with burn scars, his eyes wild.
“Abaddon…” the gunslinger muttered, alarmed. His mutilated face twisted into a mad grin.
“Ah, so you recognise me. Good,” said the mage. The Sisters stepped forwards, beginning to cross the room.
“We will leave you two to,”
“Catch up. Please try not to make too much of,”
“A mess of our warehouse, thank you,” Kate did not dare take her eyes off of Abaddon as the women left, taking their security guards with them. There was a click as the door closed behind them, Kate now alone with the mad mage.
“What the hell do you want?” she asked, taking a cautious step backwards. Abaddon could clearly see that the woman was attempting to calculate her odds of survival in any kind of altercation between the two of them. He found himself chuckling.
“Now now, Kate, no need to be so hostile,” Abaddon sneered, his wicked smile glinting in the light of the warehouse like a rack of knives.
“You don’t get to call me that. Only people I like get to call me that.”
“But Kate, you told me that was your name when we first met,” he chuckled, his mad eyes staring at her with an intensity that could bore into a person’s soul. Kate was now confused.
“What?…I don’t-”
“Remember? How surprising! I would have thought that day would have been burnt into your memory considering that was the last day you ever saw your father…” he let the statement hang in the air like a lead balloon. Kate’s eyes lit up with the bulb of understanding.
“…No… it can’t be…” a memory unfolded in her mind like unravelling origami, a long forgotten pearl hiding inside.
Eleven years old, her long hair in pigtails as she pulled on her favourite flannel shirt that she had just fished out of the laundry. She became aware of her father talking in the kitchen but the voices of those carrying on the conversation were unfamiliar. Curious now, she approached the kitchen door.
“Look, I already told you people over the phone that I’m not interested in selling. I know you guys think I’m some feckin’ thick culchie bastard but I don’t care what my ranch is built on; this is our home! You can tell Victor Salmanic to shove his offer up his-”
“I do understand your reluctance, Mr O’Donnell. This is a wonderful home you have and I hear the horses you raise here have a wonderful reputation in the horse racing scene in Galmanoc but you need to see this as an opportunity. Would your business not benefit from moving closer to your buyers?” this voice had a silken quality with an air of pretentiousness to it as though the voice’s owner felt they needed to talk down to everyone they spoke to. The kind of voice where even uttering a simple “hello” sounded like a proclamation that they were better than the listener.
“You don’t know the first thing about raising horses, do you? They’re grazing animals! How much prime grasslands are out in the bloody desert?” Dad sounded angry. Kate reached the kitchen door and tried to sneakily peak into the kitchen through the tiny opening between door and frame where the entryway had not been shut properly.
“Hmm, maybe so but what of your children?” the speaker had his back to Kate but she could see he was wearing a black suit. Dark hair slicked back covered the scalp but Kate was unable to see any other details.
“What about my kids?” There was a suspicious edge to Dad’s voice now, O’Donnell detecting the tiniest hint of malice in the other man’s words.
“Surely it will be more beneficial to their future if they were closer to a more… civilized area? Galmanoc has a number of prestigious schools for them to attend,”
“Might also see their life expectancy rise dramatically,” a third voice chimed in. Kate adjusted herself to spy the additional person. There was a man in the corner of the kitchen, also suited and with dirty blonde hair. His features were sharp, strong cheek bones and a smooth jawline. He looked to be in his early thirties and was clearly unused to wearing such a fine suit, the shirt badly tucked and the tie loose. He was playing with something in his hand, a small jet of flame dancing above his thumb intermittently as he turned it on and off.
The atmosphere turned tense, O’Donnell stepping away from the counter he had been leaning against and moving forward so he was now blocking Kate’s peep hole, his fists tightly clenched.
“Is that a threat you feckin’ arsewipe?” he growled. Kate could see things were about to take a turn so she flung the door open and hurried to her father’s side, grasping his arm.
“Dad! Don’t!” her father turned in shock, some of the hostility leaving him at the sight of his little girl.
“Poppet? I thought you were going to check on Buttercup? You shouldn’t be in here now-”
“Nah, let her stick around,” sneered the blonde man, “why don’t you make yourself useful, kiddo, and fetch us all some drinks?” he raised a glass to indicate that it was empty. Kate held onto her father a little tighter as she tried to stare the man down.
“My name’s Kate,” She uttered in defiance. Her father began to usher her out, Kate trying to keep eye contact with the blonde man as she was steered out of the room, her angry yet fearful gaze slowly being pulled down to the man’s hand where a new flame sprouted forth from his thumb. A small detail that had escaped her that day came rushing forward through the intervening 16 years to nail itself to the present Kate’s recollection.
“…there wasn’t a lighter…” she muttered, the image of the small flame dancing above the thumb on an empty hand burning across her mind’s eye and what that potentially meant. Abaddon chuckled to himself as he recognised the signs of realisation dawning on the woman’s face. He clicked his fingers, a small flame blooming above his thumb just as it had done long ago.
“No, there wasn’t.”
“It was you…you killed them” her features tensed into a frown, Kate glaring at the mage now, “You’re one of the arsonists…”
“Yes. I was only an amateur back then, doing a favour for a friend. Even so, I took pride in my work. The fact that we couldn’t find you was most displeasing. I never did like a loose end…”the way his lips curled into an ever widening smile as he spoke put the red head on edge, her spine curling as her posture tensed. She took another step backwards.
“So what? You want us to duel so that you can finally have everything neatly tied up?” this caused a laugh to escape the mage, his eyes sparkling evilly.
“Duel? No, you’re going to run,” he turned his palms to face her, two fireballs igniting in their centres as his arms spread out at his sides, “and I’m going to seek.”
Post by Sam | December 31, 2022 at 12:01 am | The Mercenaries' Tale | No comment
Tags: Abaddon, Blaise, Flashback, Forest Canyon, Genetix, Kate O'Donnell, Polaris, The Alexandretta Sisters, the Mercs