(Four)
Julien had no choice but to follow Logan as ordered, the man leading him down new corridors and bends so he was lost all over again. The peaceful calm he had felt with Remy's Siskans was now gone, replaced by fear and distrust, especially since the Siskans had not been invited and he had left them behind. He had no doubt that Logan wanted to hurt him but that the only thing holding Logan back was some kind of sense of rules and protocol. This was familiar, it was the fear of Frost that had kept Julien alive in the past, the kids had been too frightened of their kidnapper to kill his servant. Now it was fear of some other authority that was keeping him alive this time. But for how long?
Logan brought him to a small interrogation room. Inside was a rectangular table and some chairs. A long mirror graced one of the walls and Julien had no doubt that others would be watching. There was no pretense of privacy here, a video camera on a stand was set on one corner and a tape recorder lay on the table as well. There was a thick manilla folder waiting on the table, but Logan picked it up and tucked it under one arm before Julien could get a chance to see what it was.
"Sit," Logan barked, pointing to a chair, and the boy obeyed.
Logan gave him the eyes, the ones that demanded the boy's compliance. "We're gonna be askin' you some questions and it would be in yer best interests to answer them truthfully. Yer in the shit now, kid. People are dead and someone's gonna take the fall for it. If you want a chance to pull yer ass outta the fire, you'd best cooperate."
Julien just sneered at him without speaking, reacting to the threat with a renewed sense of hatred instead of the fear and respect Logan was probably aiming for. He wasn't sure which deaths Logan was referring to, he had many to choose from. There was Julien's stepfather, his camp mates and even possibly the big blue doctor. He had no idea about Henry's fate and hadn't dared to ask.
Julien expected Logan to sit across from him but the man simply leaned against the back wall with his arms crossed and that folder still safely tucked away, waiting. He had left the door open and kept glancing outside as though he could hear things Julien could not.
Julien had no idea what he was listening for but he got his answer soon enough when moments later a middle aged man he had never met came into the room, not on his feet but in a motorized electric wheelchair. He was dressed in a blue business suit and completely bald.
"Good morning," the man greeted, holding out his hand. "I am Professor Charles Xavier and this is my home. I hope that you've been comfortable here so far."
Julien just looked at the outstretched hand, uncertain if he should take it. These folks were Frost's enemies, they were like cops, and since he was on this side of the table, he couldn't be sure their intentions were in his favor. He chose caution and stayed as he was, keeping his hands in his lap.
"Didn't Frost teach you any manners?" Logan criticized sharply when it was clear Julien wasn't going to accept the offered hand. He was still pissed off over having to wait an extra day for this interrogation and even now Julien was still being a pain in the ass.
"Easy, Logan," the Professor said, settling back in his chair with no sign of having been insulted. "The boy has no reason to trust us."
"Mebbe he jus' need to know somebody's goan watch out fo' 'is ass," Remy said, walking in through the still open door. He winked at Julien to set him at ease. "Ain't no fun bein' ambushed."
"And yer going to be his advocate?" Logan questioned dubiously. It wasn't like Remy had any law skills or anything. He was a bit surprised to see the thief there so quickly, clearly Aiden hadn't wasted any time in contacting him.
Gambit just shrugged, his eyes merry. "He's my kid. Why not?"
"That hasn't been proven," Logan argued.
Remy waved a hand at Julien. "Look at dat face, at dose eyes. You really want to go down dat road, patron?"
Logan just snorted rudely in irritation but said nothing more. It wasn't like he had any ground to stand on.
Julien watched as Remy walked stiffly to his side of the table and eased himself carefully down into the chair beside him like an old man. He was dressed casually in a black T-shirt and blue jeans, the shirt too tight to hide the fact that his ribs were still taped and his belly bandaged. Julien watched him come but he was still too aloof not to suspect some kind of "good cop/bad cop" routine going on here. He shifted his chair away from Gambit, not wanting him any closer. He hadn't forgotten what had happened the last time they had met – the chase in the hallway, the Honey. Julien could take an educated guess as to why Remy was now injured far more than he had been before that.
The door was still open and Julien wasn't surprised to see another man enter behind Remy. This man was tall and in uniform black, a strange pair of glasses with red lenses over his eyes, making him look oddly powerful. There was an unspoken deference that Julien sensed from Remy and Logan, but not as much from the Professor. Charles was still the man in charge and it was him that Julien kept in his line of sight.
This man was all business in the now crowded room. He remained standing and nodded at Logan, giving him a wordless command. Logan moved to the video camera and switched it on. The man began to speak into the camera, "My name is Scott Summers, Codename Cyclops. Also present are Professor Charles Xavier, James Logan codename Wolverine, and Remy LeBeau codename Gambit. We're here conducting this deposition on behalf of SHIELD and we swear under the laws of perjury that no powers are being used to coerce or produce false testimony on the part of the witness, Julien Tanner." He then looked at Julien and said, "State your full name and age for the record, son."
"I'm not your son," Julien retorted, the words just slipping out. He was a bit sensitive on the subject, especially with Remy right there beside him. He cringed a little after, not liking his own voice. He had wanted to be tough here, to do Frost proud, but even that sounded weak.
"Dis would go better if you just do as de man say, fils," Remy said, trying to keep his voice even and non-confrontational. "Dis ain't supposed to be no kind of fight."
Julien kept his eyes on the Professor but did as Remy suggested. "My name is Julien Michael Tanner and I'm eighteen years old, more or less."
"Yer eighteen and I'm the friggin' President," Logan snorted. "This ain't workin', Slim. He ain't gonna tell us one word of truth."
Scott glanced at Logan with a frown, unhappy with the use of his nickname. He was trying to keep this as formal as possible. The point of recording this was that Scott fully intended to turn this over to SHIELD as part of a plea to keep Julien in their custody and out of a SHIELD prison. In order for that to happen they needed to show that Julien was a pawn locked under Frost's spell and not acting on his own. This was important as Julien could face the death penalty just like Frost was at this moment.
"Your birth certificate says otherwise," Scott replied to the boy, ignoring Logan as best he could.
"I haven't always lived here," Julien gave as an explanation to that, still keeping his eyes on the Professor. It was in mild defiance to his questioner. The crippled man seemed the least threatening of the three men.
"Time is different in the pocket worlds," Charles said, making it a question.
"That's right."
"How many have you seen?"
"Three."
Logan arched an eyebrow in mild surprise. He hadn't realized that Frost was that well traveled.
The Professor kept the questions coming. "Will you please state their names for us and how long you lived in each?"
Julien considered his answer. So far the questions he was being asked were not incriminating in any way that he could see just yet, he saw no harm in answering. "Havenwood was the first and I was there only two months if you go by how often the sun went up and down. Toranado was after that and we were there three years by the same reckoning. We've been in Twilight about six months now."
"Why was Toranado the longest?" Charles asked with real curiosity.
"It had the most resources we could use."
"What sort of resources?"
"Gold and diamonds."
"What did Frost use them for?" Logan asked, breaking the polite volley between the boy and the man in the chair.
Julien's face changed, becoming snotty as he retorted with an obvious lie, "He didn't tell me and I didn't ask."
"I hope you don't think being an asshole is going to help you," Logan snapped irritably in reply, bad cop indeed. "Answer my damn question."
"Mebbe we just start at de beginnin', non?" Remy suggested then, trying to break the tension that just soared in the tiny room. If he was going to be the good cop of the pair, he was going to do this as sensibly as possible. His goal was the same as Logan's – to get the most out of the boy as they could. He just had better ways of going about it. He had seen quickly that threats were not working so he tried patience instead. "Why don' you tell us how you an' Frost met."
Julien looked at him, a bit surprised by the mildness in Remy's tone. It was complicated question to answer and a loaded one as well. Julien glanced at both Cyclops and the Professor but both of them were sitting this one out for the moment, waiting to see if Remy could pry loose what Logan could not.
Julien considered his answer. Maybe if he could get them to see that Frost wasn't the monster they had judged him to be, the man might be freed. It gave him a glimmer of hope and he began to speak.
It hadn't been long after Kiden had set her ghostly lion Aslan on the gang of boys that Frost had come sniffing around. He had been alerted to the presence of mutants in that area by a small article in the paper about the incident. Kiden hadn't been mentioned or even found, all that was reported was that a young boy had been mauled by some savage beast that had somehow vanished without being captured. Nothing cried out "mutants are here" better than a mangled body with no good explanation for it.
The X-men hadn't been unaware of the incident but had been too busy gearing up for the Game to do much about it, they'd had bigger fish to fry. As he listened to Julien tell his story, Logan couldn't help but be uneasy. If they had missed Frost's activities during that time, what else had gotten past their radar? The world was a busy place with too many players, both good and bad, making their moves in it. Well, there was nothing that could be done about it now.
Julien hadn't known at the time but Frost later explained that he had sent out his scouts, looking for some "lost souls to save", which Logan understood to mean some kids to exploit that no one would miss. They weren't that hard to find once Frost had gone looking in the right places. Knowing that such children often needed a bit of coercion, Frost had gone at night, sending out his best men with tranquilizer guns. Frost's men were not the best money could buy, not just yet, but against such defenseless prey, they had performed decently enough. Both Kiden and Julien were taken in their sleep without even knowing it.
"And you honestly think it was okay for Frost to do that to you?" Logan challenged, unhappy with the thought of their rights being violated so casually. He had serious problems with anyone who felt they had the right to take anyone or anything by force, and he had good reason to – six metal claws worth.
Julien met his gaze without flinching. "Sometimes with the lost, extraordinary measures have to be taken," he explained as if it had been memorized. It had been, actually, so many conversations he and Frost had shared where all of this had been justified – to Julien's satisfaction anyhow. "My soul was saved."
"Was it? If you were so saved, why'd you need that leather strap with the barbs in it?" Logan argued, trying to get the kid to see reason. Logan knew lots of Christians and none of them had been forced to such extremes to prove their faith.
Julien bristled at Logan's condescending tone. He didn't like being put on the spot, defending what should have been obvious to anyone. Discipline came in so many forms. As a military type, Logan should have understood that easily. Julien hissed at the man, "If you don't like my answers than stop asking me questions."
"Yer in an awful precarious position to be runnin' yer mouth off, boy," came the sharp reply. "Best be careful now."
Remy waved a hand impatiently, trying to clear the air. This wasn't getting them anywhere. "Where'd Frost take you guys?"
Julien blinked at him, letting go with his anger a little. His respect for Remy was rising a bit, the guy was leading him away from things he didn't want to talk about and back to safer ground. It didn't mean he trusted him any more than before, however. That would take time. "He took us to Havenwood."
"Tell me what it look like dere, fils."
Julien began to speak, but he was spare with the details.
He had woken up in a drunken, drug induced fog to find himself in a wooden cabin, lying on a canvas cot. There were glass windows near his cot, but they had been soaped over, not allowing him a view of the outside. This particular cabin was set up like a barracks and had two rows of beds, most of them filled with young kids like himself, all of them boys. He recognized a couple of the faces close to him as belonging to the gang of kids that had approached him and Kiden at the dumpsters. Frost had been quite thorough in his hunt.
"Kiden?" Julien called out, concerned for her, but the only answer was a harsh derisive grunt from a man standing nearby with an automatic rifle in his hand.
"Don't worry," the man assured with saccharine sweetness, "Your little girlfriend is just fine. My friends have seen to that."
Julien's alarm spiked at that, he had an idea just what the man had implied. He might have been uneducated, but he wasn't stupid. He had to get to Kiden, he had to save her. He couldn't even begin to imagine how awful it must be for her right now. He rose to his feet in protest but a surge of nausea halted him, his head was spinning. The man just laughed, finding amusement in Julien's weakness.
There was some commotion then as another man entered the cabin, followed by an armed escort, marking him as someone important. He was an older fellow, in his forties and dressed in military clothing. Unlike his cohort, the clothing looked odd on him, like he was dressing up and trying to look more important than he really was. He did not look as spit and polished as the others. Still, they deferred to him, showing respect. He was the boss no matter how he had dressed. His hair was cut short making him seem severe and aggressive. He looked over the group of kids and shook his head with regret. "Not the best crop we've ever harvested, boys. What a shame."
"Ya hafta make do with what ya find," one of his associates chuckled. "At least the girls were pretty."
The man in charge ignored that last remark and stood a bit taller as he addressed the room. His voice was firm and full of importance as he announced, "I am Jason Frost and I will be your host for as long as you remain here, which if I have my way, will be the rest of your natural lives."
"You have no right!" one of the kids protested. "Let us go!"
Frost was unmoved by the outburst. "I have been empowered by the Lord, my son. I have every right and been given the means to cleanse your souls. Someday all of you will thank me for this."
"Liar! You're just some stupid Jesus freak! Bring us back home!" the same boy challenged and charged at Frost. He had been just as medicated as Julien had been and was sloppy, not at full strength. It hadn't diminished his spirit no matter how misplaced it might have been, his courage would never be doubted by those forced to watch, even as he went down.
He was immediately set upon by Frost's men and, being an easy target, was beaten down to the floor. They hit him with their rifles and their fists without an ounce of mercy, splattering his blood upon the walls and the floor. He fought them to the last, snarling and spitting even as they bashed his face into something unrecognizable as human. Julien squeaked in fear, having never seen such raw savagery inflicted on anyone besides his mother. It was the scariest thing he had ever seen, especially when it was so clear that he was in no position to stop it or escape. He was too weak, too small, and much too afraid.
Frost himself never flinched from the violent corrective action taking place or even moved from his spot. He surveyed the small collection of teenagers, looking them over. "Understand, that I have been given full authority by God himself to deal with you. There is no law here but mine. You will do as you are told. You will work and you will pray that your sins may be forgiven. Any of you who fail to cooperate will end up like this poor lad." He gestured to the poor mangled heap of flesh at his feet.
He then looked at the men behind him and said, "Process them."
The kids were unbound and rounded up, herded off to a shower and given some rough clothes. There were only seven boys in the group, an easy number for their captors to manage. The shower revived Julien from the drugs he had been tranquilized with but the clothing was a big step down and didn't fill him with the least bit of hope at being treated well here. This was Julien's first set of bluejean coveralls and they wouldn't be his last. His captors took everything from him that he had come in with except his underwear and his shoes. He hadn't brought much from home, all he had were his clothes and a small wallet that he had always carried, one that contained little more than the photograph he had taken from his mother, the one with Kathy and Gambit together. All of that was placed into a brown paper bag with his name on it that was then whisked away, leaving him to wonder if he would ever see them again. The only thing he would have missed was the photo but he wasn't about to ask for it. He wouldn't risk a beating like he had just witnessed.
Once washed and dressed, they were once again inspected by some of Frost's men. All the herding around had aroused some of the kids to thoughts of escape and they had resisted. Any of the lads who had been tempted to use their powers to do so were smacked around without mercy and those who had shown more than just simple enhanced strength were then collared. Julien watched this with an ever deepening dread. He was never going to get out of here. Yes, he understood in some small part of his mind that he might be powerful enough to do something here, he had done that unforgivable thing to Jerry after all, but he was so scared, so very scared. If he failed, he would be beaten worse than anything Jerry had done. Put under pressure by the men who questioned him, fearful of an accidental release that might end in his own death, Julien admitted to being an energy producer the first time he was asked and was collared without a fight.
Of course Julien left this last little tidbit out as he explained this to the X-men in the room. They would never have understood, they would have found him weak.
Logan squinted skeptically at Julien as he described his rough beginning. Julien might have thought the X-men were slow, but Logan was anything but. He immediately asked the one question Julien had hoped to avoid. "How come you never used yer power to fight back? You probably could have kicked their asses, even untrained."
Gambit had asked himself this question but when he considered the evidence that had been left behind at the New Jersey trailer, had an idea of the answer already. Julien stiffened in his seat, dark colors ripping through his shine. This he didn't want to discuss.
Remy set his hand on the table towards his son as a goodwill gesture without actually touching him. "You ain't de only one to 'urt someone wit' yo' power by accident," he offered. " 'Specially when it come out in self defense. Ain't nobody goan judge you 'ere."
Julien looked at him, meeting his eyes without an ounce of trust. "I don't know what you're talking about," he lied, his voice too soft to conceal it.
Remy just smiled at him, trying to do his best to charm without using his empathy. How he would have loved to send out some vibrations of calm to ease the kid into just admitting what they all knew, but he wouldn't. He didn't want to taint his son's only chance at being allowed free. "I seen de place where you used to live, fils. I seen de big burn mark left dere and it ain't de firs' one I ever seen like dat. Made of few of dem m'self when I was yo' age. Tell us about Jerry, ain't nobody goan 'urt you 'ere."
Julien tucked his left hand deeper between his legs, hiding it. "I didn't do anything."
"Then it would surprise you to know that Jerry is dead," Logan growled, his eyes gleaming with some sort of triumph. How he hated lies. "Somebody blew his arm clean off. But you wouldn't know anything about that, would you? You just ran away for kicks."
Julien's jaw clenched and he began to shake. He felt vulnerable here. These people knew everything about him already, they were just toying with him. He was completely out of his element here and unprotected, the road paved with land mines wherever he stepped.
"The truth is the only thing that will help you here, Julien," the Professor said, trying to be as gentle about this as possible. He understood what Logan was trying to do and that it needed to be done, he was just trying to make this as painless as possible. "Help us to understand what you've been through. Help us to know who you are."
Julien dropped his eyes, feeling the weight of the world come crashing down on him. He had avoided looking at these things for years, it was a trend he had hoped to continue. If they were so sure he was guilty, whey didn't they just lock him up and get it over with? It would be easier than having to endure this.
"Did you or did you not attack Jerry Tanner?" Wolverine barked, not one to pussyfoot around like the others here. It was time to cut to the chase and stop coddling the lad. "It's a simple question and one even a pea brain like you can figure out. So, answer me, boy! Yes or no!"
"He hit my mom!" Julien snarled right back at him, riled up by the insults and giving way under the pressure just as Logan had hoped.
Logan just smiled, unfazed by the lad's outburst. He finally opened the manila folder he had been holding all this time and lay down a couple of papers. "But that wasn't the first time he'd done that, now was it? Got some police reports here. Domestic disturbance. But nuthin' 'bout you. Nuthin' at all."
Julien glanced at the papers but didn't read them. He could read now, he had been taught, but he didn't want to see this man's lies.
"Why don't you tell us how yer hand got all busted up?" Wolverine continued to question as he lay some photos down, one by one. These were the Polaroids Remy had taken from the trailer, the ones that showed the terrible beating Jerry had given him as a boy. "He beat the shit out of you as kid and then, later, on that last day, he did yer hand, didn't he? And you lit him up for it. Isn't that right?"
Remy cringed at Logan's question, he couldn't help it. It was the lack of tact. He didn't see the point of ripping the kid to shreds over something that had clearly been self defense.
Julien glared at Logan, but he was shaking now. He was angry and scared, the emotions so deeply intertwined he wasn't sure what do to or say. He was screwed now, he could see the judgement in Logan's eyes no matter what Remy had promised. They had him all figured out, so they did, or at least they thought so. He was going to die for certain now, he would be executed by them for his crimes. Instead of the thought scaring him further, it numbed him, making him cold. He let out a long, slow breath and simply answered, "So what if I did?"
"It means somethin' to me, kid," Logan replied, his tone altering slightly, becoming less accusatory. "So answer me, yes or no - did you light Jerry up fer smashin' yer hand?"
"Yeah, I did it. So what?" Julien snapped back, using angry words to make himself sound a lot braver than he was. He had nothing to lose now and he would be damned if he would beg for their mercy. No, let them have his anger instead.
Of course Logan saw through it. "Because a kid who done something like that mighta been so freaked out by it that he might never want to do it again, no matter where he found himself. He might even let some religious nut like Frost roll him over rather than defend himself with it... or his girl."
Julien squinted at him in confusion. He was unused to this kind of verbal jousting and had no clue what Logan was saying. Was this man actually defending him? Or was this just another kind of trap? It had to be a trick, it had to be. There was no way this man who had only showed him cruelty intended something just a little more noble.
Remy, on the other hand, let out an actual sound of real surprise. He had been thinking this whole time of Logan as his adversary. He never once considered that Logan was a hell of a lot smarter than he gave him credit for. Logan had made a leap that had never once crossed his own mind and he had made that leap easily. It wasn't a stab in the dark either, there were colors in Julien's shine that shimmered in agreement.
"Frost didn't 'roll me', whatever that means. He was my father," Julien protested as he had earlier, his conviction still unwavering.
"What make you t'ink dat man yo' father?" Remy questioned, still not getting it.
"He saved me from my sins. He taught me things no one ever had. He set me free," the boy answered strong and true, not an ounce of deception in his reply. "That's what a real father does."
"What could Frost possibly teach you that wasn't some kind of con?" Logan countered before Remy could ask it himself. It didn't mean he missed the dig tossed Remy's way.
"He taught me to read and write when no one else had bothered. He taught me the fear of the Lord and to know my place in this world." Again Julien's answer was unwavering. He was back on solid ground now or thought he was.
"You never go to school when you was growin' up?" Remy asked in surprise, still a little stung from Julien's last remark. Most of the kids that had come to the Complex had still attended school, even if it had only been up to a certain point. Had Kathy really been that irresponsible?
"Jerry said I was a freak," Julien replied, the disdain returning to his voice. "It wasn't allowed."
Remy's fists clenched again in anger and he was forced to remove his hand from the table as he tried to hide it. How had Kathy lived with this man? How could she chose him over her own son? As a parent himself, he couldn't comprehend it.
"He wasn't wrong," Julien said, looking at Remy strangely, as though he disapproved of the thief's anger. "He saw me for what I was."
"And what was dat, fils?" Remy asked quietly, confused by what the boy was saying.
"I was unclean," Julien replied. "What I did to him only proved him right."
"Excuse me?" Remy snorted with righteous indignation. "Dis guy beat de snot out of you! He didn't even care dat his wife gotta play de whore to pay for his drug habit!" Gambit was furious now, so angry he could hardly get the words out. He had seen the police reports – her arrests for prostitution, the drug paraphernalia lying around the trailer. He was too smart not to have figured that much out on his own. "And you t'ink dat couyon be better dan you?"
Julien was unwavering as he answered with complete calm, "He was normal, not a freak like me... like us."
Remy raised a finger for emphasis as he countered with, "Dat only make him lucky, not better. Dere's a difference. You got so called 'freaks' like us usin' our gifts to go out in de world to help dem dat need it while dat lowlife only ever helped his own self, understand?"
Julien considered that, though his conditioning was too perfect for him not to dismiss it. There was no way a normal person could not be better than an imperfect and inherently sinful mutant, not when the mutation itself was a sign of the sin. He did at least note Remy's outrage in defense of his mother and for one moment he wondered briefly how different his life might have been if this man had raised him.
Logan grunted at the boy. He couldn't hide the disgust in his voice as he asked, "Just because Frost taught you how to read and to have the fear of God doesn't make him a saint. Look at what he did to the others, to Kiden. Were they worth any less than you?"
"They didn't accept the Word as Truth," Julien answered with a firm voice. "They got what they deserved. It was part of the Cleansing."
"You can't seriously believe dat, fils," Remy had to say, his voice full of doubt. This was too much for him to take. "Nobody is dat naive."
"No, Remy," Charles interrupted. "He does believe it."
Remy cursed softly and shook his head, looking away.
"Tell me how Frost taught you," Charles asked the boy, his tone light, interested. He wanted that look into Frost's twisted mind and with Frost in custody and out of reach, this was the only way he was going to get it.
Julien nodded and cautiously began to explain. He was again spare with the details, but Charles, being very wise, could almost picture just what Julien had gone through from what was said... and what was not.
Charles had long known that Frost had a taste for theatrics, it was why he chose military dress when he hadn't earned it. His methods for religious training fell into that same vein of symbolic visuals and thunderous speeches.
Freshly washed and newly dressed, the kids were next herded outside. It was full dark now but Julien could readily see he was far from home. The camp here consisted of several wooden cabins spread out over an open grassy field. Trees lined up in the distance, blocking out some of the stars. There were two moons hovering above in a cloudless sky, one much larger and brighter than the other, and the air was fresh and sweet. If there were cities here with cars, they were far, far away from this camp.
Frost had his armed men lead the kids down a dirt path, between the trees and out to a nearby river. The men moving them along had torches and with the light of two moons to guide them, they made their way easily without stumbling. Julien had never gone camping, he had never been out of a city. This was all new to him, but even though he was scared because of his situation, he couldn't help but be mesmerized by the beauty of the nature around him, even in the dark.
The path they were forced to walk along ended at a river. Trees had been cleared away from the edge so that there was plenty of room for the gathering. Frost was there already, standing in front of a blazing bonfire loaded with enough wood that it would be burning a while. Frost himself had put aside his military dress for more priestly garb – he had a long white robe with a red smock over it, a brilliant golden cross blazing down the front of it.
"Welcome sinners!" he greeted with a grin as wide as a hungry crocodile's. He spoke to the group as if they had actually volunteered to be there. "Come closer and be cleansed!"
"Fuck you!" came from the crowd. It had come from behind Julien and he hadn't seen who had spoken.
It didn't matter. Frost's smile never dimmed, not even when the speaker was knocked to the ground by the butt of a gun and then dragged forward by two of Frost's men, big grins on their faces. Someone at least was enjoying the show. Frost snatched at this new victim, a boy younger than Julien was. The kid was small and fragile, his face and body covered with lizard like scales. He was a simple beta and uncollared, in no position to defend himself, something Frost was counting on. He said to the boy, "So you deny your sin? I'd be very careful if I was you."
"You're no priest!" the child snarled. He may have been small and disfigured, but he was very brave. He was having none of this. "The only sinner here is you!"
Frost had the boy in a vise like grip. He thrust his captive at the crowd. "See his face? This the face of sin! His mutation is the mark of that sin, make no mistake! See the color of his skin? See his scales? These are the marks of the unclean! Of whores! Drug addicts! Murderers! Thieves! This is the reason you all were sent to me! I will cleanse you all!"
Julien's mouth popped open as an idea slammed into him, finding purchase. His mutation was the sign of his sin? It marked him. Exposed him for what he was – a murdering son of drug addicts, of a whore. These were the words Frost had used and in Julien's current state of disorientation, it all made a sort of sense.
"You are directionless," Frost continued to say, still holding his child victim up like a prize. "I will give you direction. You have been idle too long, living and scurrying around on the streets like disease ridden rats. I will give you work. I will give you purpose and the pride that comes from good toil. I will place you back on the path of righteousness. It will be hard, it will be painful, but you will be cleansed. You will be thankful. You will be grateful!"
There were grumblings of dissent from behind where Julien was standing but no one dared to shout out as the first boy had. Already Frost was cowing them with his easy familiarity with violence. They didn't agree with him, but no one wanted to be punished next.
Julien stood where he was, not fighting this any more than the others were. He was different from them though he didn't really know it. He had grown up a child of violence, it took a lot to faze him and so far, nothing here was of any real surprise. Frost and Jerry had a lot in common – both used drama and excessive force to get their points across. The one thing that Frost had over Jerry was the first part of Frost's opening speech. Jerry had called Julien a freak and Julien believed it, but Frost had actually told him why he was a freak. It would make all the difference in the world. There is nothing so comforting as knowing the why of a thing, even if the reason was frightening. It still makes sense. Frost had Julien's complete attention.
Frost jerked the child in his grasp around to face him. "What say you? Do you want to be cleansed?"
The boy snarled and spat in Frost's face, answer enough.
"Then be cleansed with fire!"
Frost whipped the kid around, thrusting his legs and feet into the nearby bonfire. The boy howled in agony, writhing and kicking. Too late, his clothing had caught alight and he was burning, the injuries serious. Frost didn't let him suffer long. He had a lesson to teach and while death was one of many weapons in his arsenal it was too soon just yet for that. He next tossed his prey into the river, putting out the flames before the boy's whole body was burned.
The water wasn't deep or fast flowing, but it was enough to at least stop the fire. The boy still thrashed, his pain more than the other kids could bear without making noise of their own. One lad even tried to go to his aid, but he was knocked down. "Let him suffer!" Frost bellowed. "Pain cleanses! Suffering cleanses! This is how we learn, this is how we become saved!"