The Village
It felt like deja vu. Mo stood before Capricorn, who sat upon his chair like it were a throne. The only difference was that there was now a set of wooden doors that led into the main room of the castle. His wife and daughter were escorted into the room at gunpoint and none other than Dustfinger, trailed behind them. Mo gave him a look of dismay and betrayal, which Dustfinger quickly recognized as it had been on Mo's face when he'd learned the fire-dancer had betrayed him to Capricorn several months ago.
"I tried to warn them." Dustfinger told him.
Resa confirmed his story by taking Mo's hand and squeezing it soothingly. "It's true."
"So you've been read out too..how is this possible?"
Dustfinger gave him a clueless expression and shrugged. "I have no idea how this happened. One moment I was home and the next, I was back in your dreadful world," he sighed grievously. "I just want to be home again."
Dustfinger got very quiet after that and Capricorn turned to the three members of the Folchart family. He looked at the daughter, Meggie, and gave her a smile that only ever seemed to inspire fear in people.
"Welcome back child. I eagerly awaited to hear your voice again. Now, what shall I have you read first."
"Capricorn, I will read for you. Let my family go."
Capricorn shifted his gaze to Mo. "Yes, you will do whatever I tell you to and your family is here to ensure that happens."
Before anyone else could say anything, two of Capricorn's men came rushing in.
"Sir!" One of them said to Capricorn. "There are men here! We tried to refuse them passage but they forced their way in. They appear to be..uh..what are they called in this place..."
It was then several of the intruders mentioned, came walking in and they were armed with guns.
"Military." Mo finished for Capricorn's man.
Three more of the armed men came into the room. All of these men were dressed in military camouflage and bullet-proof vests, and had the distinct advantage of readily bearing their guns while the majority of Capricorn's men were unarmed or standing down. The five military intruders began shouting, demanding Capricorn's men put down their weapons.
Capricorn's men looked to him for direction and after much hesitation on his part, he reluctantly nodded for them to comply. They hadn't been ready for an intrusion of this magnitude or any for that matter. The military men ordered Mo and his family to move back toward the others in the room and when the middle of the room was clear, it left people on both sides of the room.
Another military man walked into the room. He was tall with brown hair and blue eyes that really stood out on his face. The eyes looked observant and watchful as he looked around the room. Capricorn stood from his chair and narrowed his eyes at this man.
"Who are you and what do you think you're doing?"
For a moment the man seemed like he was going to ignore Capricorn as he continued to peer around the room at everyone. But then he turned back to Capricorn.
"My name is Martin Kross. The situation is simple. I have been hired to find someone."
Turning to look from one side of the room to the other and back again, he began to address all of them.
"Which of you is Mortimer Folchart?"
No one said anything and Mo was uncertain of whether he should speak up. He felt his wife squeeze his hand and she shook her head. She didn't want him to say anything and so he stayed quiet. The military man, or rather, Kross, didn't have much patience. He walked over to the other side of the room and placed a gun to the head of the front-most man of Capricorn's men standing on that side. That man happened to be Cockerell.
"I'll ask once more. Which one of you is Mortimer Folchart?"
He was met once again with silence and he cocked the gun, preparing to fire a bullet into Cockerell's brain. Cockerell's eyes were wide in surprise and fear but he made no move to reveal Mo's identity. Mo wasn't about to let a man die for him though, even if it was one of Capricorn's men. Mo squeezed his wife's hand in an attempt to reassure her that he knew what he was doing, even if he really didn't. He released her hand and stepped out, away from the others.
"I'm him."
Kross looked him up and down before pulling a two-way radio off of his belt.
"We got him. Room is clear."
No more than a minute later, two military men entered, leaving the total at seven, not including Kross. Behind those two men, a man dressed in black clothes came into the room. The man had a black dress jacket on over a black dress shirt and blue jeans. He looked at Mo and nodded.
"It's him," he noted before speaking directly to Mo. "My name is Mr. X. Do you know that name?"
Mo stared at him blankly. He'd never hear of him before. And was Mr. X an actual name? The man, Mr. X, smiled at Mo. His mouth was smiling but the smile didn't reach his eyes, revealing the falseness of the smile.
"Not surprising, an upstanding citizen like yourself isn't likely to cross paths with men like me. Then again..finding you here with a man like him..." He gestured vaguely in Capricorn's direction as he said the last part.
"You know who I am?" Capricorn questioned.
"The terror you brought to this area isn't all that secretive. A man like you seems to take few precautions."
Mr. X and Capricorn's eyes met and everyone could see the instant dislike that Capricorn had for this man. Mr. X either didn't notice or didn't care. He shifted away from Capricorn, back to Mo.
"Well you may not know me, but I know about you, Mr. Folchart. You are a man with quite a few secrets and..unusual acquaintances. Today, I am here for one particular secret and that is all I require of you. I seek the location of a girl named Elanora Jane."
When Mo said nothing to this, Mr. X leaned closer, his cold calculating eyes looking into Mo's own eyes. "Where-is-Elanora-Jane?" He pronunciated each word slowly.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
Mr. X seemed mildly annoyed. He signaled to Kross whose face turned upwards into the most creepy of smiles. With the grin still on his face, he left the room with two of the men following. He re-entered the room moments later with the two military men behind him carrying a chair with straps attached to parts of it. They set the chair down near the center of the room and then Kross came for Mo.
"Sit."
Mo made no movement to obey and Kross wasted no time in dragging Mo over to the chair. With the help of one of the other military men they put him in the chair and strapped him down. Straps held his arms, legs, and chest to the chair. Kross wheeled in an IV drip which had Capricorn, his men, and Dustfinger all looking at it with puzzlement. They had never seen anything like it. Dustfinger was the one to audibly voice what each of the men that had come from books were wondering.
"What is that?"
Kross grinned at him as Mr. X began setting it up beside the chair.
"This, we're going to inject into Mr. Folchart..and it's going to hurt."
Dustfinger didn't quite understand him and Kross took notice of the confusion.
"Have you ever been stabbed?" He asked Dustfinger, but continued without waiting for an answer. "This will make him feel like he has knives stabbing him in every part of his body."
Mr. X placed the IV into Mo's arm.
"You could save yourself a lot of pain and just tell me where the girl is."
"I told you..I have no idea what you're talking about."
Mr. X shook his head in disappointment but didn't seem surprised by the answer. "Have it your way."
He injected a liquid via syringe into the IV drip, thus into Mo's body. Mo watched him do it with obvious dread etched across his face. Almost instantly his eyes widened and a sound escaped his lips. A pained intake of breath. His hands gripped the arms of the chair ad if it would help him bear the agony that now filled his entire body. He stared straight ahead, visibly trembling as Mr. X injected him again. This time a louder gasp of agony emitted from him as he continued to stare at a spot in front of himself. His eyes were unfocused as he was not looking at anything in particular.
Meggie was terrified. Her father's beautiful blue-green eyes were usually full of laughter and kindness. Yes, she had always noticed a bit of sadness in them which she knew was only natural for a man who had lost his wife for over nine years, but never had she seen those eyes filled with so much pain and fear. Her mother pulled her into her arms and held her so that Meggie's face was buried into her mother's shirt.
"Don't watch, my sweetheart," her mother murmured.
Her mom sounded scared and that frightened Meggie even more.
"Tell me what I want to know and the pain will stop."
Slowly, Mo turned his eyes to Mr. X. He swallowed hard. "You want to know something? I'll tell you something. Something about polar bears. Did you know a polar bear's skin is actually black?"
Mr. X was not amused. He backhanded Mo across the face, knocking his head sideways with the powerful blow. Mo returned his gaze to Mr. X and continued.
"And did you know, a polar bear's fur isn't white, it's actually clear."
A straight punch caused Mo's head to snap back and he gave a cough as he laughed painfully. He lowered his head back to face Mr. X as he was injected for a third time.
"Answer the question. Where is Elanora?"
"It's been said that men can read smaller print and women can hear better than men. Maybe that's the problem we're having here."
Mr. X hit him again, blood began to leak from is nose. The syringe emptied something into the IV once again.
"Tell me where she is."
Mo looked at him with anger. "I told you I don't know! I have no idea what you're talking about!"
He was injected another time and Mo's head fell backwards, his eyes rolling to the back of his head before his head dropped, eyes closing. Mr. X put the syringe down and tilted Mo's head back, slapping at his face.
"Wake up, Mr. Folchart. Come on..."
With another slap, Mo jolted back to consciousness, his breathing labored and his eyes wide.
"Tell me what I want to know and then you can sleep."
Mo seemed completely out of it now. He was staring at something, slightly to the right of himself and then he murmured, "No..."
Mr. X narrowed his eyes at him. "What?"
Mo didn't appear to hear him.
"I'm sorry. I tried. I tried to save you but I couldn't. I'm so sorry."
Everyone in the room was left confused. Mo was talking to somebody who wasn't there. Mr. X responded to the mass confusion.
"The drug can cause hallucinations. Most likely he's seeing someone from his past. Most likely a dead someone. It's the most common sight anyway."
"No...we couldn't find your body. But there was so much blood..."
Mr. X leaned close to Mo. "Come on now. Just tell me. Tell me where the girl is or you'll die."
Suddenly Mo turned his eyes to stare straight into Mr. X's own.
"She says you're a liar."
Mr. X blinked at him. "Excuse me?"
"You have orders to kill me."
Mr. X stared at Mo in astonishment but before he could say anything, the room erupted into violence. The military men were caught completely off guard by Capricorn's men. It was over in a matter of seconds. Capricorn's men now held the military men's weapons. Capricorn once again in control, looked over at Mr. X.
"Step away from that man."
Mr. X appeared rather unhappy at this turn of events but he obeyed Capricorn's order, stepping away from Mo. Capricorn ordered two of his men to get Mo out of the chair. They did so after carefully removing the IV and undoing the straps. They helped him out of the chair and between the two of them, they held him up because he was far too weak to stand on his own.
"Resa." Mo started and then he went limp.
The two men holding him up looked alarmed.
"Boss, I don't think he's breathing," one of them said.
They laid him on the ground and Resa came running over. She checked his pulse by placing two fingers on a vein in his neck, and immediately after placed two hands on his chest, one over the other, and began to push down several times. Dustfinger appeared startled.
"What is she doing?"
"CPR." Meggie answered him, her voice trembling.
"What?"
"She's trying to make him breathe again," was the answer from the twelve-year-old girl.
She was crying silently, scared to death her father was dead. Resa tilted Mo's head back and breathed into his mouth, then repeated the compressions but still his eyes remained shut. Resa began to cry too, tears streaming down her face as she continued to administer CPR to her husband.
"Come on, wake up. Don't die on me. Wake up. Come on, Mo, wake up!"
There was no change in his condition and Mr. X laughed. "Give it up. He's dead."
Tears flowed freely down Resa's cheeks now and it was Dustfinger who finally went over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Resa."
Resa let her hands fall to her sides numbly and she began to sob. "Damn you, Mo. How could you leave me like this?"
She cried out with angry grief. In her anger she slammed her fist down on his chest. Mo's eyes shot open and he drew in a sharp intake of breath. Resa was the first person he saw when he retained control of his faculties.
"Hey, why are you crying?"
He sat up and seemed disoriented. He glanced over to Dustfinger, who stood beside his wife.
"Did something happen?"
"You idiot!" Resa cried and fell into his arms, crying and laughing with obvious relief.
Mo stared down at her, still confused as ever.
"Resa. Resa, I'm fine."
When Resa finally listened to Mo's reassurances that he was in fact, fine, she released him and helped him get to his feet. Mo looked first at Mr. X and Kross, then at Capricorn.
"So what are you going to do with them?" Mo asked Capricorn uneasily, afraid of the answer he would receive.
But Capricorn didn't get a chance to answer because suddenly Resa's voice rang out in the mostly quiet room.
"Meggie? Did anyone see where Meggie went?" She sounded concerned and very near panicking.
Everyone started looking around but she was nowhere to be seen. The one thing Mo didn't miss, nor anyone else, was that Kross and Mr. X did not look around at all. In fact, they looked quite smug with themselves. Basta was the one who decided to count the military men again.
"One of their soldiers is missing." Basta pointed out.
Mo grabbed Mr. X by his jacket, his face angry and afraid all at once.
"Where is she? What have you done with my daughter?" Mo demanded.
Mr. X said nothing and Kross's face broke into a huge grin as he spoke. "You should be happy. I would have simply put a bullet in her head but my colleague here," he gestured to Mr. X. "Thought you should have a chance to save her life."
Mo released his hold on Mr. X and turned his attention to Kross. "Where is she?"
Mr. X chose this moment to speak up.
"I can't wait for my master to succeed. I can't wait to watch each and every one of you die," he laughed. "You shouldn't concern yourself with your daughter too much. She'll only die with the rest of you and that will be soon enough."
Capricorn's men looked around at each other worriedly. Capricorn himself looked at the man with hatred but also with something resembling that of curiosity.
"What do you mean?" Flatnose uttered. His curiosity getting the best of him unlike Capricorn's own.
Mr. X seemed only too pleased to answer.
"My master has grown to hate his own world. See, he thinks this place is too full of sin and hatred to be saved. So he's taken it upon himself to save it."
Cockerell spoke next. "Save this world? And just how does he intend on doing that? We've seen enough of your world to know how easily people will do whatever they want in order to get what they want. It's beyond saving so just how does he plan on doing that?"
Mr. X smiled. "By destroying it of course. I will be standing there beside him as he watches the world burn."
Mo stared at him incredulously. "If the world dies, you'll die too!"
Mr. X shrugged. "We'll see."
He didn't seem to be bothered by this revelation but his soldiers certainly were. They were exchanging glances with one other, appearing uneasy. Obviously they hadn't known who they were really working for. Kross himself seemed to have lost the ability to uphold his grin. Before anyone even knew what was happening, he stepped up behind Mr. X and in one swift motion, snapped the man's neck. The man had never seen it coming and he collapsed onto the ground with a smile still on his face.
"Goodbye David." Kross said before turning his eyes to Mo and giving him the information he needed.
"Your daughter's at a warehouse not far from here. It's about a mile south of this place, you can't miss it. Oh, but I would hurry. The building she's in won't be there for long."
"Wait! Why are you helping me?" Mo asked the man as he started to turn as if to leave.
The man paused and glanced back at Mo. "What good is getting paid to kill you if I won't even be around to enjoy my money?"
Mo sounded as if he wasn't sure what to believe when he replied, "So you believe he really is working with someone who wants to destroy the whole world?"
The man stared at him for a moment and then glanced at the dead man on the floor.
"This guy sent a professional after you and a group of mercenaries. Yeah, I'd say this guy is serious. Watch your back. I'll bet he sent others after you."
Then he turned on his heel and started to walk out the door. Capricorn's men moved to stop him but Capricorn signaled for them to let him go and the other military men followed him out the doors.
Mo started for the door as well but Dustfinger stopped him.
"Mo, you'll never make it. You don't have a car."
"Get out of my way Dustfinger, I'll run the whole way if I have to." Mo argued stubbornly.
Capricorn seemed to have been thinking about something because he looked at Mo with a thoughtful expression on his face.
"You can take one of our cars. In fact, we're going with you."
Every single person in the room seemed frozen. All eyes went to Capricorn.
"Oh don't seem so surprised," he said, waving his hand as if to dismiss their stares.
"This master of the former Mr. X wants to destroy the world and I love this world. So it would be in my best interest to do what I can to find this man and stop him, don't you think? And perhaps he is where your daughter is. Now the man said we should hurry, so lets hurry."
Everyone was still in shock at what Capricorn had just said but Mo forced himself to forget it for now. He needed help and if someone could help him then he'd let them.
"Okay, lets go." Mo said and that seemed to shake everyone else from their stunned moment.
