Chapter Thirty-Three
The Power of Nectar
10:05 CET
Cologne, Germany
"Guten Morgen," the squat man in the bright yellow jacket gave a small salute of greeting to the Weissler sisters as he climbed out of the equally as bright yellow truck and dropped to the driveway. Jenna narrowed her eyes slightly at the man as he approached. He was here to take away the car that had belonged to the three drunken men but should have been here more than an hour ago. Nevertheless she returned a nod in greeting.
"Hallo," she said as Wanda nervously tugged on her arm. Wanda hadn't left Jenna's side ever since the men had broken into their house and had even refused to take a shower alone. The shock of the break-in had allowed Wanda to descend into a more childlike demeanour to the point that Jenna knew it was going to take a lot of work just to get her back to the way she was before.
"Entschuldigung, ich bin zu spät. Verkehr, weißt du?" The man apologised and motioned to the car that was still in the spot that it had been abandoned in. "Das sollte nicht lange dauern."
"Ich will das nur vorbei," Jenna said, looking at the red crane attached to the back of the flat-bed truck, looking like an oversized claw. "Wir bleiben hier draußen und sehen zu."
"Sicher," the man shrugged and walked over to the side of the truck at the base of the crane where a control panel waited. "Ich werde dann einfach zur Arbeit kommen?"
10:08 CET
Berlin, Germany
"I don't know if we got to him in time," Siddharth said as he peered at his laptop screen, tracking social media on the explosion of Flight 56 at the Santander Airport. He looked to Rose who was looking maybe a little bit pinker in the cheeks. Murphy was kneeling at her leg and had cleaned the wound as best as he could, tying a make-shift tourniquet which would work temporarily. But the sheet they had taken from an airing cupboard was slowly turning red as blood seeped into the material. Nevertheless Murphy was keeping a watch on it through those sunglasses of his while Bethany and Sticks watched him, impressed.
"I… hope so…" Rose said, running a hand across her forehead to wipe the sweat away. She looked back down to Murphy and managed a pained smile. "Thank you… Murphy, was it?"
"Seamus if you like," Murphy said without looking up at her… or was he looking up at her? It was hard to tell with the shades on his face.
"Whoa, whoa, rock star code, man!" Sticks exclaimed.
"What… is the rock star… code?" Rose asked, bemused.
"It's like the superhero code," Sticks said, affronted. "We don't tell people our real names for fear of crazy fans and such!"
Bethany chuckled. "Pretty sure my name is Bethany Cross there, Sticks."
"Yeah, well, you just don't appreciate the code!"
"I think you're just embarrassed by your own name."
"Don't you dare!"
"What's so wrong with—"
"Shush!"
"Just a little-"
"Nope!"
"Come on—"
"Not happening!"
Rose watched the back-and-forth between Bethany and Sticks and found herself suddenly smiling – for the first time since William passed away. Then that smile blossomed into a laugh and before she could stop herself Rose suddenly erupted into unstoppable laughter, clutching her stomach and just letting the laughter roll out of her. It was such a refreshing feeling that tears slipped out of the corners of her eyes and she felt that if she could laugh like this then all hope wouldn't be lost no matter what happened.
A familiar house struck up in front of her, the window still shattered. A bright yellow vehicle stood prominent and proud. Then the snapping of straps, the clunking of metal… a woman's scream, a man's yell of warning, then the flash of a license plate getting closer and closer…
Rose's laughter turned into a cry of pain and she slammed her jaw shut with teeth-shuddering force. She looked down to Murphy who was peering up at her before she found a sudden dizziness take over her and she dropped sideways on the sofa, her face pale again.
"Rose?" Murphy quickly bent over Rose's face. "Rose? Can you hear me?" Murphy shook his head and leaned back. "She's just lost consciousness… this wound, it's too much." He looked to the door. "Where is the professor and Jade?"
"You don't think—" Bethany asked, worried.
"Nah, Jade's with him," Sticks said confidently.
Murphy turned to Siddharth. "Are you sure we can't call an ambulance? She's just going to get worse if it is kept untreated like this." But Siddharth wasn't listening to Murphy. He was on the phone but he was trying to call Jenna Weissler. Seeing it happen so often in such quick succession, Siddharth understood when Rose had one of her clues. He still had the order of the List on his laptop from their meeting that felt so long ago now and knew that Rose wouldn't forgive him if he didn't put in his full effort in trying to save the lives of the members of the List.
10:15 CET
Cologne, Germany
Jenna and Wanda watched the worker – Wanda peering out from behind Jenna's back – attach the long black straps hanging from the claw-ends of the crane around the wheels of the car and pull them tightly. He walked back over to the controls of the crane and slowly started pulling the crane up. The sound of unoiled machinery echoed around the neighbourhood as the car was hoisted up into the air.
"Jenna…" Wanda muttered, pulling at Jenna's hand. "Lass uns rein gehen..."
Jenna looked at Wanda and smiled. "Also geh. Dort ist es sicher." She crouched down slightly so she could look Wanda in the eyes. "Mach weiter." While Jenna could understand why Wanda wanted to go back inside, she couldn't explain to her sister why she didn't. With the men who had broken in, with the mysterious Rose, with the police, suddenly her privacy had been shattered and being in the house made her think just how close it could have been.
"Bitte, Jenna," Wanda tugged hard but Jenna still refused. She didn't want to face being back in the house. At least the last couple of hours had policemen to keep her distracted but once the car had been carried away then it was back alone, back with Wanda and her own worries which were unfortunately not a good combination. Jenna loved Wanda with all her heart but the truth of the matter was that Wanda was hard work at the best of times. She would go to the ends of the world for Wanda but sometimes, a very small part of her, a part she kept hidden, wished for a sister that was a little bit more… normal.
"Jenna!" Wanda tugged again, this time knocking Jenna off balance.
"Wanda, Hör auf," Jenna snapped, pulling away from her sister. "Was stimmt nicht mit dir?"
"Achtung!" The worker called out in warning but it was too late.
As Jenna stood back she stepped under the shadow of the slowly swivelling car. It was at that moment that the frayed black straps – worn from years of use – chose that moment to snap. First it was just one strap, putting the car at a slight tilt. Then the second strap snapped and the front of the car swung forward like a steel pendulum, the bonnet of car cracking Jenna on the forehead with a bright splash of red. Jenna dropped to the floor in an instant and then the final two straps broke, dropping the upturned car to the ground – and crushing Jenna under the roof of the silver car. One pale hand stuck out from the bent metal, twitching as blood pooled between the cracks of the bricks in the driveway.
"Ah…" Wanda took a step forward to the pool of blood, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. "Ah, ah, ah…" Wanda dropped to her knees amongst the blood and grabbed the protruding pale hand of her sister. "Das passiert nicht… Ah… Ah…" Wanda squeezed the motionless hand tight and fell to her side with no regards to the blood. Shaking, rocking, Wanda Weissler curled herself around the hand like a child, letting off that same, toneless, disturbed sound.
10:18 CET
Berlin, Germany
"She didn't answer her phone," Siddharth shook his head in defeat and leaned back in the chair. "No response at all." He looked to Murphy who was still trying to rouse Rose. "How is she?"
"Not good, I know that much," Murphy said with a shake of his head. "With an injury like this… I… without an ambulance…" Murphy looked to Siddharth. "Why can't we take her to a hospital?"
Before Siddharth could answer the question the front door opened and Johann Schneider walked in with Jäger at his heels. Jade followed in after, her shirt torn and bloodied but looking completely healthy. She nearly bumped into Johann's back as he came to a sudden stop.
"What is…?" Johann looked from Siddharth sitting on the chair with the laptop in front of him and then to Rose slumped on the sofa, bleeding all over it and looking very pale. "Who is…?" Then he shook his head. "No matter." Johann immediately walked forward, rolling up his sleeves and pulling off his watch, casually throwing it aside. "What do you think you are doing?" Johann dropped to one knee next to Murphy and scanned the maw of Rose's leg with an analytical eye. He tutted, immediately unwrapped the make-shift tourniquet Murphy had placed below Rose's knee.
"What are you—"
"For an injury so close to the knee you are doing her no favours tying this underneath," Johann said. "Hold her for me, do not bend it! There we go, hold it straight." Johann looked to Sticks. "Kitchen, second drawer from the left, a pair of scissors." Sticks immediately obeyed and disappeared into the kitchen as Johann looked at Bethany. "The cupboard in the corner, I have a first aid kit. Get it for me." She ran over to the corner and Johann looked to Murphy. "While you at least staunched the bleeding this is awful work, here, help me move her." Johann stood and put his hands under Rose's armpits. "Hold the injured leg steady, steady, good."
Johann moved Rose so she was lying straight on the sofa, not at a slump. "Get some cushions, rest her leg on them so it is above – there, perfect," Murphy followed Johann's directions and propped Rose's bleeding leg on a small pile of cushions. "Keep pressure on the wound!" Johann ensured and Murphy quickly placed his hands over the torn muscle and skin though it seemed he wasn't sure where to put his hands. "Get in there, son," Johann said as he peered over Rose's face. "You need to put your hand over the arterial bleed else you're just holding muscle and nothing much else."
"But—"
"Now!"
Murphy nodded, took a breath, and gently pushed his hand into the wound, pushing lightly against the source of the bleeding.
"Good, not too much pressure now, good," Johann nodded just as Sticks reappeared.
"Here," Sticks said and Johann reached up and took the scissors. "Good. Come where I am, hold her head. If she wakes up she's going to thrash, okay? That will only aggravate the wound." Sticks took Johann's place and held Rose's head gingerly with his hands. "If she wakes up, put your hands on her shoulders and push her down, got it?"
"Got it."
"Good," Johann moved next to Murphy and started cutting up the side of Rose's jeans. "You should have removed the fabric before you applied the tourniquet," Johann said as he expertly sliced up the seams of the leg. "Hold the leg up, yes, there we go," he circled Rose's thigh before finally peeling off the cut fabric of her jeans. "Well done on washing the wound, though. That should stave off infection." Johann looked up. "Ms Cross, where is the first aid kit?"
"Got it," and Bethany quickly passed the first aid kit to Johann. Johann fished through it and came out with a long square piece of fabric that he rolled up and pulled tight. "Ms Cross, help your friend in holding him down."
As Bethany moved over to Sticks, Johann gently threaded the fabric under Rose's thigh, just above the knee. He pulled it up, crossed it over, pulled tied and then tied it into a knot. With this done he pulled on a pair of rubber gloves and asked the room, "How long has she been bleeding?"
Siddharth immediately answered. "Just about fifty minutes."
"Fifty minutes?" Johann echoed and immediately rummaged in the first aid kit. "She would have lost a lot of blood in that time. Perhaps too much blood. Nevertheless, we cannot allow her to lose much more." He raised a needle and looked at it with a critical eye. "I am going to have to suture the artery closed. This is not the most sanitary of environments but it will have to do. Mr Sticks, Ms Cross, continue to hold her upper body down. Mr Murphy, hold her leg gently but firmly. Jade, please fetch me a jug of water from the kitchen. I am going to need you to gently dribble water on the wound so I can see what I am doing." Johann wiped the sweat off his forehead. "If we work as a team we may just be able to save this woman's life."
"W-What can I do?" Siddharth asked with wide eyes, watching everyone prepare themselves.
Johann looked to him sternly. "You explain exactly who you are and why you did not get this woman to a hospital."
10:23 CET
"This just gets more and more intriguing," Johann said as he pulled the thread tightly, snipping an end off and tying off a small knot. He pulled back and wiped a spatter of blood from his cheek with his forearm before pulling off his bloodied gloves, dropping them into a plastic bag offered by Jade; Johann had to admit that he was impressed by Jade Skysong's assistance, having kept a steady aim with the water as well as getting him any supplies he needed from the first aid kit. Perhaps in another life they were surgeon and assistant. He looked at Siddharth. "You are saying that this Gabriel Evrard is after your lives?"
"Yes," Siddharth nodded.
"Should we expect to be threatened as well?" Johann asked, reaching into the first aid kit for gauze and bandages.
"I…" Siddharth licked his lips for a moment and stared at Rose's almost peaceful face. "…I think that is likely. Evrard does tend to keep grudges. He'll want to be rid of all witnesses."
"So it sounds like we are on more than one list," Johann nodded as he wrapped the bandage around the gauze on top of Rose's wound. "Double the threat, indeed. Though it sounds to me as though this Director is much more of a threat. We can manage Death's List, it seems. A human being shall be much more errant."
"How can such a guy be a director for a government organisation?" Jade asked.
"You'll find… in recent years… that the DSI has been, well, corrupted would be a good term." He raised his hands quickly. "There are good ones. Lisa Valentine, George Davis, Zeina Morcos, to name a few. People who follow what the original DSI's ideals were. But the Department of Supernatural Investigation turned from supernatural investigation to supernatural fixation. We used to solve crimes… now we're content to watch and wait for this 'Doomsday Clock'. It has sent a schism through the organisation… to the point where they'll kill valuable assets without thought. Jamie Root, myself, Rose, Axel… we are all cogs in the machine who have good abilities that can help the DSI but per Evrard's request all of that is thrown under the rug."
Quiet reigned over the room as Johann finished up bandaging the leg. He tied the bandage in a neat knot, tucking it under one of the folds. With the bandage showing two halves of Rose's leg, it was clear how much of a colour difference there was. Her lower leg and foot were almost completely white now and Johann heavily suspected that Rose Milano would never be able to use that leg again. He decided to sit on this information for now in lieu of keeping Siddharth talkative.
However, the silence was broken by a sudden crashing and a racket that could wake the dead. An engine revved, metal squawked and screeched, deep thuds echoed over the neighbourhood and finally everything grew silent. After a few moments, Sticks started walking to the door. "That sounded like my drums… that better not be my fuckin' drums!"
"Sticks, hey," Bethany called but Sticks was already out of the door. She quickly followed him out onto the street and paused at what she saw. The side of their van – of her and Kingsley's van – had been buckled in by something and one of the back doors was hanging off, leaving Sticks' drum set to cascade across the floor. They heard another crash in the distance and looked to the end of the road where a brown family car hit the corner of a low wall before skidding around the corner and out of sight.
"My drums!" Sticks picked up one of his cymbals. "My fuckin'- Beth!" His shout cut through the sky and Bethany looked up just in time to see the lamppost that had been looking over Johann's house was tilted and bent, evidently being hit by the car. But now it was falling through the air in a graceful arc. Bethany tensed her muscles to prepare to jump out of the way but Jade came from out of nowhere, tackling into her with the expert precision of a rugby player. Bethany hit the floor and watched in horror as the lamppost cracked so hard into Jade's head that her head twisted with a sickening crunch.
Jade stumbled on her feet as the lamppost crashed to the floor with a flower of sparks. Her head was almost twisted completely one-hundred-and-eighty degrees, the skin folded like disturbing origami. Sticks and Bethany stared at Jade, horrified. Then Jade put her hands on either side of her head and with another – Crack! – twisted her head back to the right angle. The disturbed folds of her skin tightened to their usual rigidity and a small trickle of blood slipped down the corner of Jade's mouth. She took in a deep breath and smiled a sloppy grin at Bethany.
"Gotta love that sweet, sweet Nectar."
09:32 GMT
Pwllhei, Wales
In the hour since the Donahughe tunnel had collapsed, a horde of vehicles had turned up in full force. Ambulances had arrived to treat those that were suffering injuries, police had turned up to find out just what had happened, there were boats that were looking for both survivors and the dead that may have floated to the surface, and there were even two helicopters – one police and one ambulance – working in tandem to locate survivors.
All in all the entrance to the Donahughe tunnel had become a hub of activity and terror. Yet the scene surrounding the remaining half of the Sanders family was filled with tension. Alisha sat on a bench, with Tanzi sitting silently by her side. Axel and Jamie stood together, talking quietly and looking nervously at all the vehicles. Patrick Sanders sat in solitude by a small concrete building, occasionally glancing up at Axel but it was clear Axel was keeping a very close eye on the patriarch of the Sanders family even while talking to Jamie.
Leslie sat cross-legged on the pavement, Ruby's notebook opened in front of him. He had updated the List he had written down, following in the tracks of Ruby's own that she had written down before. There was a strange sense of finality at crossing off Derek Sanders' name. Leslie looked at a large square that had been cordoned off and where over twenty bodies and counting had been covered in white sheets. Somewhere among there lay Derek after having been recovered by Axel.
Leslie had to look away and focused on the police helicopter sweeping over them after having dropped off one more survivor. He couldn't help but wonder if Derek's fate was to be his own sooner than later. Would he be tucked under a white sheet as if he had just gone to sleep? Leslie had thought about a death a lot since the Eastbourne explosions but Naomi had always told him he was too young to think about such things.
"How're you holding up?"
Leslie turned back to find that Tanzi had made her way over. "Better than her, I suppose," he said, indicating Alisha. "How is she doing?"
"Not great," Tanzi admitted. "I suppose we can't blame her for that though, can we?" Tanzi stared at the bench where Alisha sat before sitting down next to Leslie. "I'm sorry we dragged you into this, Leslie."
Leslie simply shrugged and closed the notepad, trailing his finger across the cover. "Well… neither of us had much in the way of options, did we? You had to try and get everyone together and that makes sense… and I couldn't have stayed there." Leslie looked around at the disaster caused by the Donahughe bridge collapse. "If… If this is what happens to someone on the List… these casualties, these innocent people… then I wouldn't have wanted to bring that on Naomi and the rest. I don't want anything to happen to that mansion or the people within it… after everything they have done, everything that it stands for…" Leslie shook his head furiously. "I don't want that."
"That's brave."
Leslie shook his head. "I don't think so. I haven't done anything. It's been you, Jamie, Axel… I've just been along for the ride, I guess."
Tanzi looked to Leslie with an expression that looked like it could see right through him. "Does that bother you? Not… doing anything?"
Leslie took a moment to answer. "I… I always like helping. Back at the mansion, I would read the younger kids stories or teach them sports or just play with them. It helped them feel happy and accepted where a world seems so constantly to ignore them. But being out here… I feel like I want to help… but I know I can't help. Axel and Jamie are some kind of trained soldiers and you have that ability of yours… I'm just a kid way out of his depth."
"Do you think Ruby will forgive me for borrowing her smile?"
This took Leslie off guard. "What?"
"My ability lets me use attributes from the last person I touch," Tanzi said. "If I touched a teacher, I'd suddenly know their subject matter. If I touched Jamie over there I'd be able to kick all kinds of ass. But the last person I touched was Ruby. And in all my experiences Ruby had that one thing that nobody else had: unending optimism. And that optimism often came from this."
And Tanzi smiled and for a moment it felt like Ruby Ascot was sitting right beside Leslie, the sun gleaming down on her red hair while she laughed and gave the advice she was always so good at giving. The moment seemed to last forever but finally Tanzi let the smile slip and Ruby was gone.
"…Thank you…" Leslie said.
"No problem. You and I both know the power of that smile," Tanzi said.
"How to we stop this?" Leslie asked.
Tanzi considered her words carefully. "I know Siddharth is looking for solutions."
"And if he doesn't find any?"
"…Then we keep our courage up, eh?" Tanzi playfully punched Leslie on the shoulder and hopped to her feet. "Don't worry, Leslie. We'll find a way to end this." Then her expression changed as she looked up to the sky. "What's going on?"
Leslie followed her gaze and saw that the police helicopter was hovering in the air but moving in a strange pattern, back and forth. The blades seemed to flicker and even seemed to be… getting slower?
"Leslie…" Tanzi warned, taking a step towards Leslie. The blades suddenly jolted to a stop and the helicopter started to drop out of the air, a bird without flight. Other people had seen it and were now pointing and yelling. "Get up, Leslie,"
But Leslie could only stare in surprise as the helicopter dropped through the air – directly to his spot. It was like everything had suddenly decided to go slow. He could see the pilot struggling fruitlessly with the controls, could see Jamie and Axel pulling away from their conversation, could see Tanzi reaching forward with outstretched hands…
"Move!" Tanzi grabbed a fistful of Leslie's shirt, picked him up off the floor and threw him boldly forward. Leslie hit the road hard, scraping his hands, but the falling helicopter soared straight over his head and crashed into the road with the screaming of metal on tarmac. For a moment he saw Tanzi standing then he saw her engulfed by the helicopter as it skidded directly into her. The helicopter carved through the concrete of the pavement before shuddering to a stop – the nose of the helicopter completely bent and broken. Leslie could only stand there uselessly before he came back to his senses.
"Tanzi!" Leslie circled the helicopter and then drew to a stop with a gasp. Tanzi was sitting on the floor, looking down at her crimson hands in shock. The blood had come from a massive gouge in her chest where the split metal of the helicopter's nose had carved into her. Tanzi opened her mouth and a splash of blood fell into her lap. "No!" Leslie scampered close and fell to his knees next to Tanzi, clutching her shoulders. "No, no, no!"
Tanzi turned her head to look at him and opened her mouth as if to reassure him but more blood bubbled out over her lips. She fell backwards but Leslie was quick to grab her before she hit the floor. This close he could see the damage caused to her chest and stomach. Between torn muscle and the flood of blood it looked like a few ribs were poking out, revealed to the daylight.
"Tanzi…" Leslie felt her blood spread on his chest and felt absolutely useless. She had just saved his life but… at such a cost… he barely even noticed as Jamie sprinted up to their side. He looked up at her absently and said, "She… she got me out of the… the way…"
"Leslie, do not panic, okay?" Jamie crouched down and gently took Tanzi's weight from him. She gently lowered her down to the road. "She'll heal from this. She'll be fine."
"H-Heal?" Leslie croaked.
"Yes," Jamie confirmed as she looked over Tanzi. Her eyebrows lowered, confused. "She should be healing…" Jamie had seen it before, had seen Tanzi get injured only for it to heal up as if it had never happened. A result from ingesting the nectar back at Eastbourne. It had always been slow going but Jamie had always been able to see Tanzi healing but this time… the flesh was staying ominously still, the blood continuing to flow like a dam had been burst. "Tanzi?" Panic started to set in as Jamie leaned over Tanzi's face. "Tanzi, can you hear me? Tanzi?"
Tanzi's eyes suddenly opened and they looked at Jamie, matching her panic. "I-I-Is…" Tanzi's eyes darted back and forth. "…Not… w-w-working…"
"It will work," Jamie assured, pressing her hand on Tanzi's shoulder. "It just… it just needs a little time, that's all."
Tanzi coughed, a spattering of dark blood trickling down her lips. "It w-w-was always… t-temporary…"
Jamie grit her teeth shut and forced herself not to believe such things. Over the course of her time with Tanzi she had grown to think of her as a good friend and to see her like this… so soon after William and Mike's deaths… "Come on, Tanzi… Just… Just stay awake, alright, and it'll kick in…"
"…" Tanzi squeezed her eyes shut then opened them to look at Leslie. "Tell… tell her… thank you…"
Leslie simply nodded. What else could he do? Then something strange seemed to happen before his eyes. Was it his imagination or was the skin surrounding the gaping wound pulling closer, centimetre by centimetre. Jamie had also noticed the skin moving. "It's happening, Tanzi, I told you! You'll be alright in no time." The blood finally stopped, the exposed ribs disappeared under the muscles and slowly everything seemed to knit itself back together, piece by piece.
Finally the only evidence that Tanzi had even had a wound was the torn shirt and blood staining her, Jamie, and Leslie. Tanzi managed to let off a very small chuckle. "Well, whaddya know?" She said weakly. "Just… I don't think I'd be able to take on a helicopter again…"