Dangerous Games

Part twenty-two of the Robyn series.

Black and white mixed in with splashes of red. They seemed to fuse together, blending, surging, bubbling, before separating again. She closed her eyes but she could still see them, the memory of their image burned into her mind. When she opened her eyes again they were still there, in time they would fade but it would take much longer for the images inside her mind to disappear and even when they did she knew that there would still be scars left behind. Oh how she wanted to scrub them from her memory, to remove them herself but there was no way of doing that. They would always remain there just like the colours on the page, just like the letters printed onto it and the blood that had soaked in.

She didn't want to feel like this but it was his blood, his precious blood marring the clean white surface and the hands she held it with. With the chaos all around him he looked so alive, so predatory as he seemingly floated through the crowds. The fire that seemed to line the picture didn't touch him; he passed through it as if it were mere air. He was so much like a god but that hadn't made him beyond punishment, even in death. He had failed and failure was never an option.

"You miss him don't you?"

The question and the voice that asked it made her shudder. Slamming the paper down on the table in front of her she refused to turn around, choosing instead to address her intruder without looking at them.

"You make my skin crawl, Robyn." Lily hissed forcing her eyes from the newspaper, "And what a ludicrous suggestion. I don't miss him. Why would I miss him? I have you and Morgan. It's true that Morgan has his advantages but he could never be him. You, on the other hand, I wish would just die and disappear."

Robyn laughed and moved closer to her mother, "That's rich coming from the woman who wanted me here in the first place but I know you don't mean it. You're just annoyed because I've told you the one thing that you didn't want to hear even though you knew it yourself. You do miss Cain. You miss him as much as Doctor Trent."

Lily hunched her shoulders at the mention of that name. Her body grew rigid at her daughter's indomitable audacity. It seemed that her previous lesson in discipline had been ignored and it seemed the right time for another one. Standing up slowly from her chair, hands on the table supporting her, she calmed herself down. Even though it was hard to make herself believe it she didn't want to kill Robyn, not yet.

Turning to face her daughter she raised a threatening finger, "Never say that name in this house again."

"Why not?" Robyn threw back folding her arms and standing her ground, "Because it's true? Because you loved him?"

This time Robyn had gone too far and Lily screamed before hurling herself at her and striking her with all the strength she could muster. Much to Lily's surprise, Robyn only stumbled from the blow and when she had recovered was staring her in the face with a look that dared her to do more.

"Oh god I've created a monster," Lily said mainly to herself with disdain as she turned away and walked back towards the table.

"That's what you want isn't it? Me to be just like you? Don't tell me you've changed your mind."

Lily whirled back round, "Of course I haven't. And what do you want, Robyn? What little bee has buzzed into your bonnet to make you come and annoy me? I'd have thought that in a house this size you would be able to find something to amuse yourself with."

"It's his house isn't it?"

"Yes, and his basement. I'd guessed you'd seen what happened down there, I was reborn there."

Robyn's face paled with disgust, "I never knew how you came to look so much different from when I saw you before but now I know. All of those people were slaughtered for you. He killed them all and used them to make you."

"They were casualties of war," Lily hissed, justifying the slaughter of so many people, "I had to do something. After that idiot managed to attack a Watcher I knew they were getting too close, it was the only way to throw them off the scent."

"Well it worked but I have bad news for you. It seems they've stopped trying to kill us both. They'd rather we take out each other and if either of us is left they'll get involved again."

Lily frowned a moment, "How do you know this?"

"One of them told me."

"And you believed them?" Lily's frown eased into lines of laughter as a peal burst forth from her lips. Once the humour she felt passed she slipped back into frustration. "Stupid girl! Never trust a Watcher, you never know what might happen. They always keep their threats but their promises on the other hand are worth nothing. Do you have any idea of the Watcher you spoke to?"

Robyn nodded, "We've met before, several times. He's the same one that Trent attacked that night and the same one that killed him."

This little piece of information hit Lily like a train. She'd had no idea that he had been killed, she had just thought that he'd died from his injuries. Now she knew how close she had come to perhaps being caught herself she knew that the Watchers had located her but their inaction confused her. There seemed to be a point to what Robyn had said but she knew that their little agreement wouldn't last long. Eventually the Judges would get bored and they would strike and this time without mercy.

Robyn considered her mother's thoughtfulness for a moment before speaking; "You have a plan, don't you? Having me and Morgan around is merely an excuse for revenge and you want to use us to exact it for you."

Lily shook her head; "It's much more than that, Robyn. You'll see that one day."

"And what if I don't want to do what you want me to do?"

"Oh you will. I know you will. There is so much more to you than I thought and I saw that when you punched Sportacus to the ground. I also saw that Doctor running out of your house not a day later. Like I said the night you came here, you're as much like me as Cain or Morgan, you just don't know it yet. With a little time you'll soon see that this is where you're meant to be. I think you're already starting to see it, a few months ago you never would have thought of coming anywhere near me let alone challenging me. And with your powers your true potential is starting to come through."

"My potential?" Robyn's voice wavered with uncertainty.

"Your abilities run much deeper than you think, there is so much more you can do. That night in the Town Hall proved it. What happened to the windows and the lights was no accident. It was you. Your power is slowly coming out, expanding, you only need to know how to use it and improve on what you already have. When you know how to use it properly you will be unstoppable. I know of something that you can do already, you say you don't me as well as you thought? Take my hand and you'll know much more."

Burning with reluctance, Robyn did as she was told. She knew what she was being asked to do, the same thing she had done when she had drawn from the items she had touched in Doctor Palley's office.

As soon as her hand took hold of her mother's images assaulted her, coming in waves, each more intense than the last. Her whole body shook as they came at her faster and faster, filling her mind with her mother's dreadful past. She could feel the ecstasy of every kill and the screams that rang from them. As the images continued to grow in intensity they began to become too much and she could stand it no longer but she couldn't remove her hand from Lily's. Her mother was gripping it tightly, her nails digging into her flesh.

There was no escape.