Another short-ish chapter, but the next one will be full of violence and so it'll be longer. Trust me.

Love, Keta

Chapter 35: I'll Never Be Your Puppet

My enemies belittle me, reminding me the penalty

Of all my deeds, despite my pleas, is death

Don't let go

'Cause I don't wanna be this, I don't wanna be this

Death is mine, I know

Don't let go, don't let go

- Off With Her Head (Icon for Hire)

When my eyes open again, Jessie's screaming at the demons, and the very earth I'm lying on is shaking violently with his rage. And the demons are fighting tooth and nail against the Hornets and Brian, and they're ignoring me… I think that I'll change that.

I quickly disappear from my spot on the ground to Jessie's side, my hand squeezing the chair and steadying me as a wave of dizziness runs through me. "You're alive?"

"Yeah," I reply and summon a knife to cut through the ropes binding him to the chair. "And I'm not happy about them shooting me."

He smiles, and I can see the relief in his eyes, making my heart swell with warmth. "I wouldn't be either…" When he stands up, he turns his gaze back to the fighting, and the cold seeps back into his voice. "So what are you going to do about it?"

"Who has the gun?"

He raises his hand to point at the demon that's fighting Hoody. "Him."

"I'll be right back."

I disappear again, and the demon's eyes widen as I stab the summoned knife into its chest. It sparks on the inside, and it's soul burns out, casting the glow of the fire into the mortal plane. In the next second, I relieve its corpse of the gun and turn it on another demon, the one I spoke to over the phone.

"You're dead…" she whispers, terror crossing her face, and I wonder how scary I must look to her for a demon who was tortured into existence to look so afraid.

'Good…'

"Apparently not," I reply and blatantly ignore the swell of egotistical pride that comes from my other personality. "Now, I have a question for you." Before I can voice it, I notice yet another demon who tries to get close to Jessie, and without a thought, I shoot it and watch as its soul burns out too. "Oh, so this does work!" I know that I don't have AADD, but anymore, I've been acting like it. "Anyway… are you going to answer my question, or do I have to shoot you and move onto the next waste of space?" She nods her head vigorously. "Whose idea was this?"

"Clotho, the fate's."

That's not the answer I was hoping for, but I can't say that I'm not surprised.

I am surprised, however, when the demon clutches at her throat as if she's being choked. Blood spills out of her open mouth, and she drops to her knees. The moment her tainted, broken soul is snuffed out, a voice calls out, and I turn around. "Hello, Timothy Wright… I've wanted to meet you for quite some time."

The woman is the spitting image of Atropos, but her eyes are a different color, a poisonous yellow that wouldn't look out of place on a demon. Her smile is easier than the other fate's, but it's just as faked. "You're Clotho."

She nods and chuckles to herself. "Yes, I am." With a snap of her fingers, one of the few remaining, intact chairs stands up, and she seats herself in it, looking quite pleased with herself and unconcerned by the carnage around her. "I see you've made peace with my sister's puppets."

"More or less…" I meet Jay's eyes, and the doll gives me an openly condescending look. "We have an agreement."

"Right." Clotho leans back in the chair, looking almost casual if it weren't for her ridiculously straight posture, and I can tell that she's trying to make herself appear more friendly. "I'm sorry about the actions of the Leviathans." Her voice rings with the hollowness of that lie, but I decide not to call her out on it. "I told them not to touch the boy, but they've turned out to be surprisingly single-minded… Like a terrier puppy when it's introduced to a new toy, Edgar just got too excited… And who could blame him, he's a father!" Her purely delighted voice never sends off its happiness levels to the rest of her face, and it makes for a very disturbing image. "I want you to do something for me."

"No."

She actually does look surprised by my blatant refusal, but after a few beats, she responds. "Then Tobias will be corrupted by Edgar's influence, and the boy that you met four years ago will never exist again!" She giggles. "But if you help me out, I'll make sure that you find Tobias at the right time."

"What do you want me to do?"

"I just want to make sure that Edgar dies. The rest of it will take care of itself."

"So that's it?"

"Yes." At first, I think that she's still lying, but then she drops a piece of paper with a legitimate address on it, and the paper reemerges over in my hand. "Tobias is there, and so is Edgar…. You need to choose: do you blindly follow your leaders, or do you turn your back on those that would keep you from the things that you want back?"