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Stars Aligned

Emery

"In other news, the body of local businessman Joseph Grady was found in his home earlier this morning."

"What the hell?" I froze in front of my TV in the middle of tugging off my shirt as Grady's picture flashed up beside the newscaster's.

"Police believe this to be the result of a home invasion gone wrong. However, our sources say that there were strange markings left on the wall of his residence. Police have yet to comment on this but are asking for anybody with pertinent information to come forward."

There was no way this was a coincidence. Why had Kai gone ahead with this without me? I thought this was supposed to be a partnership. We were being careful, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Something wasn't right. My shower could wait. I needed answers and I was going to get them now.

I made my way over to Kai's, paying no mind to the threat of the crashing thunder that promised an imminent storm. Once I reached his home, I climbed the front steps on to the porch and went to open the door. It was locked. Kai had gotten into the habit of leaving it unlocked for me as I was over here so often. Work had been crazy for the past handful of days, so I hadn't managed to see him or come around this week, but still. Something was definitely up. I pounded my fist on the door.

Winter opened the door a minute later. "Emery, hi. You're just in time."

"Just in time for what?"

Winter led me back to the kitchen as Kai rounded the corner. Winter looked between the two of us and carried on walking, giving me the moment with him I hadn't even told her I needed.

"Kai, what the hell is—"

Before I could get the rest of my question out, Kai grabbed me by the face and pulled me in for a firm, demanding kiss. I couldn't lie, it pulled me under, suffocating the heat of the anger I'd carried with me. But it didn't take me all that long to come back to my senses. I pushed him away as hard as I could—given all the time he'd been spending at the gym recently trying to befriend Harrison, I didn't manage to push him very far.

"What the hell is going on? Why is Joseph Grady already dead? What did you do?" I asked as I tried to catch my breath.

Kai's hands rose back to my face and brushed renegade strands of hair behind my ears. He gazed deeply into my eyes but I couldn't make out what he was thinking.

"Come with me," he eventually said. He took me by the hand and led me to the door to the basement. We started down the stairs but halfway down he let go of my hand.

Aside from Winter, there were three other people in the basement; two of them I didn't recognise. One was a tall guy with dark hair and the other, a blonde woman who looked like she'd just got home from teaching a kindergarten class. The third I knew… I guess you could call it intimately—it's not every day you get groped by some misogynistic pig. It gave me a little thrill to see the hand that he'd touched me with was gone. I hoped Gary had learned his lesson. There was a brief moment of pure panic on his face when he recognised me before he dropped his gaze to the floor. Another little thrill.

"This is Gary, Harrison and Meadow." Kai gestured to everyone as he introduced them to me. "Everyone, this is Emery and she's going to be part of our group."

My focus shot towards Kai. Going to be? What was that supposed to mean? He had a lot of explaining to do, but I had the feeling now wouldn't be the best time to air my grievances, so I would play along. For now.

I walked over to lean against the wall as Kai stood in the centre of the room and addressed the others. "I wanted you all to know how proud I am of you. And you should be proud of yourselves too. You did the world a favour by helping me rid the streets of vermin like Joseph Grady."

So it had been Kai—Kai and his new group of buddies. That was one question answered.

"You could accomplish so much more. Together we could accomplish it all. Would you…" Kai looked down at the floor. "No. Maybe it's asking too much. You've done enough for me." Kai's voice held a touch of self-doubt and uncertainty.

Everyone in the room, except for Winter, looked at Kai like he was the answer to all of their problems. I knew in that instant they would do anything for him. I knew he could be persuasive, but how had he managed to wrap them around his finger so tightly, so quickly? They couldn't hear the deception in Kai's voice or taste his lies as they rode through the air. But I could. He was reeling them in further. They didn't realise they were just pawns on his chessboard, waiting to be sacrificed for the greater good.

"Kai, we're in this man. You can ask us anything. We've got your back." Gary proved my assessment right, although I wasn't too sure if his devotion was out of love or fear for Kai.

"Gary's right. We'll do whatever you need us too." This time, it was Meadow who spoke. Even a blind man would be able to see where her devotion stemmed from. She felt for him. Her eyes were filled with love. She was going to be a problem.

Kai smiled. "You have no idea how rewarding it is to hear you say that. I want you all to know that I'm here for you too and that I love you."

God he was laying it on thick. But the fools didn't even blink.

"I want us to do more. More than just take one pervert off the streets. Men like Joseph Grady and asshole gym owners who shit on their employees get away with their actions because they aren't scared of anything. Well I say it's time we make them feel how they make others feel. Let's see what happens when they get scared." Gary and Harrison's eyes lit up. "We need to flood the streets with fear, bring the rodents out from their nests. People will panic and the world will crumble but we can rebuild it the way it was always meant to be. Rebuild it so that the men and women who work their assess off get their just rewards."

It could work. I guessed in a way it would make sense. There was no one to hold my father accountable for his actions, no threat or fear of punishment. Even if people knew what he got up to behind closed doors, it wouldn't make a difference. Powerful people tend to stick together and guard each other's secrets. Maybe it was time to light a fire under all their asses so they had nowhere to hide.

Kai continued on for another five minutes before everyone filed out of the room. As she climbed the stairs, Meadow looked back longingly at Kai. If it stayed at just looking, I could put up with it.

Once we were alone, I turned to Kai. "So I'm going to be joining your group? How fortunate for me."

He strode over to me and put his hands on my shoulders, gently kneading them. "I'm sorry. I know how that sounded to you but there wasn't time to explain. There are certain people in the group that would have felt threatened if I pulled you up beside me and told them you were just as much the leader of this as I was. Gary would rather die than have a woman tell him what to do. And Meadow…"

"Has a thing for you."

Kai remained quiet after I finished his sentence, with only a furrowed brow showing his concern. There were more pressing matters to discuss though.

"What happened with Grady?"

"Don't be mad," he whispered as one of his hands rose to stroke my cheek.

I swiped his hand away. "We had a plan, Kai. Then I had to hear all about it on the news instead of from you."

"I didn't tell you and I didn't involve you in case things went wrong." Kai sighed and ran his hand over his face. He started pacing around the room. "You were right to question if we could trust the others enough to bring them in. So I tested them. And it all worked out. If it had gone wrong, you wouldn't have been part of it and would have been safe. So while part of me is sorry I kept you out of this, a larger part of me isn't."

I sighed as the tension and frustration left me. "I get it but it would have been nice to have been kept in the loop." I walked over to his and comfortingly grasped his arms. "I am more than happy to stay in the shadows on this one and let you take centre stage, but behind closed doors, we carry on as we have been. We need to work together."

Kai placed a soothing kiss on my forehead. "And we will. Now that we have others with us, we can move quicker." He took hold of my hand once more, led me to the couch and opened his laptop.

"Alright," I said as I got comfy. "So who's next?"

I didn't often sit in on the council meetings but I wanted to just sit and let my mind wander before I went back to the office. I took a seat in the back row ready to let the councillors drone on and on when I saw a flash of blue out the corner of my eye. He was seated towards the front of the room.

What was Kai doing here?

"We will now take statements from the public on 73-52, approving extended overtime for sheriff's deputies to stand guard at the Jewish Community Centre on Wildcliff Lane. First, and only, to speak is Kai Anderson from 4318 Commodore Court."

Kai rose and stepped in front of the microphone. His hair was pulled back into a bun and he wore a suit. I certainly hadn't seen this coming—this wasn't exactly Kai's scene.

"My fellow Americans, what do humans love the most? To what do we give our highest value? Is it family? Friends? Our homes? Money? Notoriety? No. Above all, humans love fear."

Now it made sense. I'd been on board with what he had told the others during the meeting in his basement, but if he hoped to sway these men and women into thinking like us, I was certain he was doomed to disappointment.

"The fear that over time we have honed and polished and built up, brick by brick, until it stands before us every day as tall as the Trump Tower," Kai continued. "How do I know we love fear more than our children? Because we are willing to ruin their lives in service of some irrational fear of losing them. No Billy, you can't walk to school today. What if somebody kidnaps you? Clara-Belle, don't listen to rap music, you might get bad ideas about yourself. Every day we are choosing fear over freedom. Freedom of movement, freedom of congregation, freedom of thought—"

"I'm sorry," Councilman Chang interrupted. "I'm not seeing what this has to do with the motion."

"Because you don't see anything. None of you do." And wasn't that the damned truth. "Fear is currency. It has value. We don't need more cops. We need less. We don't need to protect the Jewish Community Centre. We need to let them blow it up!"

"Order!" Chang hammered down his gavel.

"I'm trying to help you. Don't you see? They want to be scared. They yearn to be so scared that they don't have to think anymore, that they don't have to want for anything more. Fear will release them from their desires and their ambitions and their bullshit needs!"

I could see the other few people that were in the audience shake their heads at what he was saying. It must have been nice for all these people to be strangers to the darker side of humanity, maybe if they weren't, maybe if they'd seen what people could really be like, they'd be able to understand what Kai was saying. I did. Hadn't I been someone just like Kai was talking about? The fear I'd had for my father, for not being free of him, led me into Kai's life, looking for someone to hold me and say it was all going to be alright. Maybe I revelled in the fear all along. It was only because Kai believed in me and promised retribution, that he was able to pull me out of it.

"And then they will come running to us like children in a feverish nightmare." Kai was becoming more impassioned as he spoke. "And the chosen few who are not afraid of the seas and the heights and the beasts of the world, will return at the head of the evolutionary table to shepherd the weak into the chosen promise land of truth and freedom!"

I tried to contain my smile, but I felt the corner of my mouth raise ever so slightly.

"Okay, let me get this straight. You want us to just let chaos reign in our community so that everyone gets so scared that they'll, what? Give us some sort of unlimited power to protect them?"

"Haven't you been watching what's going on in the world? I'm just telling you what's happening man."

"Mm-hmm. Young man, I appreciate that a lot of you 4chan guys feel empowered to join the rest of us in civil society now that Papa Bear Trump is telling you it's okay but let me send you a message. This is a blip, a temporary intifada. I know it feels good to have your worst instincts validated, but don't be fooled. Use this opportunity, now that you're out of your parents' basement to meet a few people that aren't like you. You are afraid. We are not."

Hell. If the rage was beginning to build in me, there was no telling what was happening to Kai. Chang had no idea the type of man Kai was. And he had no idea just how badly he'd messed up.

"And with no one else to speak, let's vote on 73-52. Those in favour?" They all raised their hands as Kai stood still as a statue. "Opposed?" The hands lowered. "Motion passes. Onto the next order of business."

The bang of the gavel signified more than just the end of the discussion. There was a turn in the air. Things had changed. I was already conjuring images of the future in my mind. A plan was forming.

Kai turned away from the microphone. I waited for him to notice me but he kept his head down. His mouth moved as he muttered something under his breath.

"What was that?" My spine stiffened as another councilman spoke, his tone snide and full of derision. I knew this councilman in particular couldn't have stayed quiet.

Kai slowly turned back to them. "I said there is nothing more dangerous in this world than a humiliated man."

He turned once more to walk away. Our eyes finally connected and he froze mid-step. I discreetly titled my head to the side, trying to tell him to keep walking. Thankfully he got the message.

The knife had certainly twisted. He didn't even bother trying to hide it as he strode out of the room.

I waited a few minutes before following Kai out. I scanned the street outside but didn't spot him. I started down the street when a hand grabbed my arm and pulled me into an alley. Clenching my fist, I was ready to swing before I noticed it was Kai.

We stared at each other a moment, neither of us sure what to say. I could see the anger still festering on Kai's face.

"Kai, they were never going to listen to you. You're no one."

Kai's jaw clenched as his eyes filled with betrayal. He went to walk past me, but this time it was me grabbing his arm.

"Wait, Kai. Let me finish. To them, you're no one. But maybe we could change that." And here came my plan. I scanned the alley up and down, checking there was no one around and that no doors or windows were open. "You should run for council."

Kai scoffed at my idea. "I can't just run for council! There needs to be a vacant seat."

"So we make one vacant."

I could see Kai's brain working, trying to connect the dots I'd laid out in front of him. "Kill Councilman Chang?"

"No. That would be a little on the nose. He gives you a public dressing down and winds up dead a few days later? I don't think so. There's someone else we can get rid of."

"Who?"

I couldn't help the giggle that slipped past my lips. "The stars aligned today, Kai. We've already agreed to kill one of the councilmen."

"Who?" Kai asked again.

"My father."