I apologize about how long it took to get this out, I've just been really busy and only recently have been able to post a chapter. I hope you guys enjoy it. As always, I appreciate reviews and favorites. Enjoy.
The Knife Unseen
Chapter 9
"Tainted Souls"
Gunfire erupted from the hallway as Victor's father rushed into the room and closed the door behind him. His father's face was overrun with panic as he rushed over to Victor, grabbing his arm as his other hand held tightly on to a sidearm.
"What's happening?" Victor asked, letting his voice waiver in fear.
"There's no time. Come on!" Garren tugged his son's arm, pulling him off the floor.
Rushing to the door, he opened it, holding tightly onto Victor as he looked down each end of the hallway. "But..."
"Victor! Shhh." Garren whispered back at his son.
Giving him a nod, Victor acknowledged his father. Taking one last look at both ends of the hallway, he pulled Victor across the hallway quickly and began running down a maintenance shaft across from their room.
Victor flinched at the sound of gunfire as it erupted again from one of the ends of the hallway behind them. His father didn't stop as he pulled young Victor down the corridor and towards another door. The young turian, still panicking, grabbed at his fathers hand, not wanting to lose hold of him. He could feel anxiety welling up in his chest as he panted out of fear.
Garren opened the door quietly as he poked his head in and looked around before entering the doorway. Victor held on as he looked around, finding bodies laying all around the room. He could feel his stomach churn as he couldn't break his eye contact from the them. All of them laying in puddles of mixed blood. Laying broken and torn by gunfire.
Looking back at his father, the turian seemed unfazed by the sight as they rushed across the room, stepping over bodies. Victor stepped carefully over them, trying to avoid looking at them directly. He kept his site directly in front of him and on his father as they rushed across the room. Victor couldn't help himself though, as he continued to look around, losing himself in the desperate images of people huddled dead in the corner of the room, obviously trying to escape their fate.
The young turian stopped abruptly as he ran into his father. He had stopped in front of Victor without warning and cause. Still holding onto his father's hand he stood at his father's side, looking up at him, trying to figure out why he had stopped. Following his line of sight, he found what he had been staring at.
Both turians stood quietly for a few moments, before Garren rushed over to a small figure laying lifeless on the floor. Crouching down beside it, Victor watched his father carefully cradle the lifeless corpse in his arms. His heart began to rush as he guessed at who it could be, already half knowing who it was. Taking a few steps closer, he began to make out the distinct figure of his mother. Her body laying sprawled on the floor, with her clothes ripped off and laying in what seemed hundreds of threads.
Victor's heart sank as he began to step closer before his father looked back at him. "Stop! Stay there." His father's voice, for the first time with him, was shaky.
Standing where he was he could faintly hear his father cry as he nuzzled his head to his mother's. Not sure what to feel, Victor stood motionlessly as tears began to well in his eyes. His heart fell to the bottom of his chest as he wanted to get closer, but couldn't.
"She's alright. Right? Father? Dad?" He asked letting his voice peak as he began crying.
Victor began to panic as he took a few steps closer to Peridus's body and collapsed next to it. Tears fowled his vision as he looked over his mother. Her dress had been ripped through and thrown aside. Blood puddled on the floor from cuts around her lower body.
Lost in his own shock and grief, Garren had failed to realize his son was sitting beside him. "Victor... I told you to stay!"
Ignoring his father, Victor was lost in his own tears and grief. "Mom?" He whispered faintly, hoping for an answer.
Garren wrapped his arm around his son, pulling him into his chest. "I..." He tried so hard to find words to comfort his son, but he knew he had none. He himself was in pain, but he knew he had to be strong.
His father cupped his mandibles, making Victor focus on him. "Listen. I need you to be strong. We need to get off this ship and I need you to be with me. Alright?"
Still sobbing he gasped for a few breathes as he looked at his father. All he wanted to do was just stay, he didn't want to leave his mother. The very idea of leaving made his heart ache even more, if it was possible. He didn't want to move. "No! What about mom?"
"She's gone. It hurts me just as much, but I'm not going to lose you too. I love you and I refuse to let you die because of me. Come on." He said, swallowing the lump in his throat.
Victor nodded quietly as his father got up. His father grabbed his arm gently, before pulling him to his feet. "Come on, Victor." His father said as he tugged on his arm, leading him out of the room.
Victor struggled with every step he was forced to take, as a piece of him broke off for every inch. His mind grew heavy as his thoughts dwelled on what he had lost. The thought of never hearing his mother's sweet hum when she tried to get him to sleep. Her warm face that was always there when he had a hard day. His mother was always there for him, when he felt alone. Now he needed her and he was more alone than ever.
-Present Day
Citadel
Staring blankly at the floor, Victor lost himself in thought. The hustle of the station outside momentarily crept in as Gavus walked into the room, closing the door behind him. He crossed his arms and shifted his weight to one side as he studied Victor carefully.
"You ready?" Gavus asked, only to be answered with silence. "Victor?"
Gavus's voice broke Victor's concentration, making him finally look up from the floor. "What?"
"Are you ready?" He asked, raising a brow plate with irritation.
"For what?" Victor looked back at him puzzled.
Taking a deep sigh, Gavus shifted his weight again. "For your first assignment?"
"I guess. What is it?"
"Well, the Council wants to send you on a little errand to the outer rim to check out some reports of raiders, most likely." Gavus shifted his mandibles back and forth, thinking carefully.
"But?"
"But... My personal opinion is to see if you're going to run or not." He said shrugging his shoulders.
"I don't blame them. I'm not exactly the usual Spectre material." Victor said gesturing to his entire body.
"Spectres are brought from many backgrounds... Granted usually military, but.."
"Doesn't matter. Better than prison." Victor said, standing up.
"That's what you say now." Gavus chuckled.
Dismissing Gavus, Victor walked past him and out of the sitting area of the offices in C-Sec. Walking out onto the main floor of C-Sec, he sighed as he looked around at the passing clerks and officers. It made him feel unsettled being in the belly of the beast. He'd probably never feel "comfortable" working with C-Sec, but he figured as long as he just treated it as another job he'd be fine.
Everything had happened to fast though and had very little time to set in for him. His mind still dwelled on Laural, but his heart felt confused between pain and anger. The storm he fought from sun up to sun down was one of loss and a need for revenge. Emotions scared Victor more than anything. He had always been told to leave emotions out of a job and that it'd get you killed. "Emotions cloud judgment and prevent you from doing what you need to do" is what he was always told. Despite knowing this he couldn't suppress what he felt. He was ready for the next fight and had more motivation for it than ever.
"Time for some change I guess." Victor said quietly to himself, as he looked out over the main floor.
"Change what?" Gavus walked up and stood beside Victor, looking at him curiously.
"Nothing, just talking to myself."
"Ah, well you need to get up to docks and get to your ship. It's going to leave without you." Gavus said, before walking off towards the armory.
Victor ran his tongue over the sharp edges of his teeth in thought as he watched Gavus walk away. Something about him felt off, but he could say that about everyone in C-Sec.
Pulling himself from his thoughts, he reluctantly walked to the elevator, getting in. Pressing the controls for the docks, the doors closed pushing the elevator up the shaft. Looking out the elevator, Victor watched C-Sec Academy drop from view as silence filled the elevator.
The lift rang as the doors opened, letting the sounds of the docks pour into the once quiet lift. The sounds of workers talking and operating the fuel pumps, made Victor sigh and close as he listened to the idle conversations around him. Workers complaining about their job or their lack of personal life. He always enjoyed standing still in busy areas, trying to feel out a place. It was one of the many things he enjoyed about his job or what had been his job. Taking another sigh, Victor opened his eyes to find a turian in uniform standing in front of him holding onto a bag, slung over his shoulder.
"What are you doing?" Asked the turian curiously.
Lifting his brow plate in surprise, Victor hesitated. "I'm...trying to figure something out."
"Like what ship you're supposed to get on?" He chuckled.
Flaring his mandibles slightly, he forced a little laugh. "Huh, well no, but that happens to be my next problem."
"What ship you looking for, maybe I can help?"
"Umm, no that's fine. I'll find it."
"Come on what's the name?" The turian shifted, choking up on his hold on his bag.
Letting a moment pass, Victor reluctantly spoke again. "The Wyandot."
"Oh..." The turian paused, looking around the dock a second, before looking back at him. "You're looking for my ship, well...not my ship, but the ship I serve on. You must be our passenger that we were briefed on."
Scowling at the turian, Victor at first felt offended that his business was out for everybody to see. "Apparently." He scoffed.
Following the turian crew man, he gave his position on being upset about the reputation he had gotten aboard the Wyandot more thought. He actually felt pride in the fact that a captain had to worn his crew about him. Honestly it made him smile a little on the inside as he walked down the dock, approaching a cruiser in dock. Upon getting closer to it he noticed the name painted in white lettering, lined with blue on the side just below the bridge. The cruiser was covered in scorch marks and worn plating, no doubt from short engagements.
Stepping through the airlock of the Wyandot, Victor was met with a dozen different glares from the bridge crew as the crew member he had boarded with, disappeared. Each one of them seemed to dismiss the Spectre with a slight irritation in their expression. Just as quick as they stopped to look at him, they went back to their consoles and duties, none of them giving him a second glance.
Ignoring the crew, he walked down the long walk way that lead to the cockpit area of the bridge, figuring it was the best place to find the captain. The captain was usually on the bridge overseeing pre-flight checks and refueling. Victor had no intention of boarding a ship without meeting the captain at the very least.
According to the brief Victor had read through, the Captain was a Spectre herself and was quite good at it. She had enough medals on her record to sink the proverbial ship. She was marked as an exceptional soldier and a good negotiator, when the need arose. Mostly what he expected to find in a spectre.
"You must be the "Varren" that the council has on such a short leash on. Said the female turian that Victor had assumed was the Captain.
"And you must be the lap dog of the council, that I've heard so much about." Replied Victor.
Pausing a moment, she turned around to face Victor. " Welcome aboard." She glared at him for a few seconds, before looking over his shoulder at a crew member. "Shisk" She said. "Take our distinguished guest to his quarters"
Turning from the pilot, he turned to face them both before taking a sigh. "Do I have to?"
Saying nothing, the captain looked over at Shisk, giving him a warning look. "Yes, ma'am." replied Shisk.
Turning back around to the face the pilot, the captain sighed. Taking a sigh himself, Shisk approached Victor, giving him an "are you ready look?" as he tried to get his assigned task over with. Following the crew member silently, Victor looked back at the female captain once more. She was interesting to him, to say the least. "Where does she get off attacking me like that?" He mumbled quietly.
"She doesn't like you, that's why." Shisk said, replying to the rhetorical question.
"Did I do something?" He asked him.
"No, Rayhel just does her homework before letting someone on her ship."
"I see."
"You also didn't make any friends, by insulting her right back." He chuckled as they entered the lift, taking them to the crew deck.
Following Shisk into the lift, he turned to face the CIC, watching the crew scramble as the captain readied the ship. As soon as the doors closed, the lift hummed as it descended into the ship.
"So what's her issue with me?" He asked, breaking the monotony of the constant hum in the lift.
"Rayhel, is old fashion... Probably a trait she gets from her father."
"I'm sure."
As soon as the doors opened to the crew deck, Shisk exited and began walking down one of the walk ways. Following closely behind, Victor found himself distracted by conversations happening inside the quarters with open doors. Turians inside sat around talking about the last mission, but what had caught his attention was the mention of the captain.
"Here you go, this is where you'll be during your stay with us." Shisk's sudden stop surprised Victor.
Victor nodded as he stepped into the quarters, letting Shisk close the door behind him. Looking around the quarters, he sighed, before stepping over to the bed before dropping himself onto it and laying down.
Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes, finding little peace in the quiet of the room. His mind wondered about Rayhel, his unofficial "partner". He figured if anyone would have been with him, it would have been Gavus; the council had assigned him to train Victor. Not that he didn't find an odd challenge with Rayhel; she was interesting, from what little he knew of her.
Rolling over, he tried shaking his thoughts of everything, hoping to get some sleep. Letting his mind run blank, he felt himself begin to drift.
