Conspiracy
Chapter 17
SLAM!
Raven slouched slightly in her chair as heavy footsteps made a sharp clomping sound on the wooden floors of an underground DiMera base beneath a run-down donut shop as they approached her from behind. The owner of the infernal footsteps sat down silently across from Raven, a Cuban cigar between his ringed fingers. He leaned back against his chair and sucked dramatically on his cigar, releasing a ring of heavy, gray smoke into the air. Raven waved the smoke out of her face and looked at the man with an equal ability to stare people down. The man smiled slightly and tapped his foot against the floor.
"Well then daughter…" Stephano DiMera said in his calm nature, taking another puff of his cigar. Raven watched as his eyes narrowed while he sucked the toxic fumes out of the cigar as if it were a rich piece of chocolate. She grimaced quite noticeably and crossed her arms, keeping her face free of anything that might link her father to what it was she was thinking at that very moment.
"What have you gotten yourself into this time?" Stephano continued, as if it were everyday that he was called out to help his daughter on a mission that she had so badly messed up. She shrugged her shoulders and let her eyes wander around the small office as his father tried to contain his anger at what he thought was complete idiocy in the world of crime. After successfully capping his anger, he chewed thoughtfully on the end of his cigar. It was apparent he was not about to get any reply from Raven so he was quick to answer the question for himself, hoping that it would set Raven off in a frenzy and she would eventually spill the whole story, giving him enough information to finish the job himself.
"Did you know that all my mercenaries sign a code of conduct that states that you mustn't fall in love with the human that is being victimized? It really does no good for the level of stress you're having…" He said sarcastically. Mission accomplished. Stephano was right to believe that his daughter would be highly disturbed by the words that escaped his lips. She stiffened in her seat, two raging fires behind the calm blue of her eyes. She kept her eyes on her father and relaxed a little in her chair, crossing her legs.
"Apparently those who spend their lives wallowing in the very pits of hell don't know the meaning of the word love nor that it even exists. Have you ever had love? Been loved?" Raven paused and let the words sink in before continuing. "Yeah, that's what I thought." She laid her arm on the armrest of her chair and drummed her fingers against the edge of it, knowing that her father would surely fight back. He was always ready for a battle of wits, especially when his ego was so large he thought that he could win the Mr. America pageant by a landslide. Though Raven was careful not to anger him too much, as there could be great consequences. DiMeras were known for wiping their children off the face of the planet if they so much as scratched their car. Raven was in no way willing to go up against her father.
"Well, well, well…" Stephano said, grinning evilly. "It appears as though you feel the need to protect a certain someone with your words. I may not have love now, but I certainly know it when I see it. How could this be happening to my daughter? I thought you were strong, Raven. You were my strongest daughter yet. All of your hard work to waste on a silly man like Brady Black?"
Raven was about to protest but was able to catch herself before she did. She needed to stay in control here, and protecting Brady Black for whatever crazy reasons were flashing through her mind were certainly not the way to go about it. She sighed and shook her head, buying time to think her words through carefully.
"I have absolutely no interest in Brady Black except as an excuse to clean my knife."
She waited patiently. It was in times like these where Stephano was so eager to take the bait, and for whatever reasons, he managed to do so again. He grinned genuinely and took a satisfied inhalation of more than four hundred chemicals into his body. (lolz, does this sound like an add against smoking?) He leaned in towards Raven and tweaked her cheek. Raven quickly slapped his hand away but Stephano continued to smile and chuckle to himself.
"Well then daughter, it appears as though I have misjudged you." He said, smiling widely as a few ashes fell from his cigar. He took no notice of that as Raven wrinkled her nose in disgust. "You obviously have not lost your touch."
"Was there ever any doubt?" Raven said, raising her eyebrows.
The amused expression on Stephano's face returned once again to the one he so often housed: calm, composed, and obviously scheming in his faraway subconscious which he would eventually relay upon himself in the form of dastardly plots while he slept.
"If there wasn't, I would not have had to fly out here so quickly now would I have? Fortunately for you and the well-being of my entire empire, I was warned of this before it was too late." He gave Raven an odd look and raised his eyebrow. "Unless of course I am too late…" He tried to pry the truth from Raven with what little authority he appeared to have over his daughter.
"You are not too late. I don't know who told you what, but everything was going according to plan."
Stephano's eyes bulged as his face turned a strange red color. He slammed his fist on the arm of the chair that wasn't able to hold his force as it cracked and fell to the ground. Stephano slapped his hands on his knees and spoke with his cigar clenched between his teeth.
"Was killing Hawk part of you plan?" He hissed.
Raven was speechless. She had completely forgotten that pleasant fact for almost a whole day but now there it was again, pulling at her guilty chains.
"That was a minor bend in my plan…" She said slowly. She knew that Stephano had never really liked Hawk, for reasons that were probably way beyond her, and she was greatly distressed to see him so angry over his death. In fact, it was probably the fact that she had killed so many before him that was helping her cope with her guilty conscience, but it was a different story once Stephano was involved.
Stephano huffed at her words and leaned back against his chair, taking the cigar out of his mouth.
"Well, Hawk was never any good to either of us." He said finally, realizing that getting upset over it might push his daughter towards the holy world of goodness and honesty and furthermore, straight into Brady Black's arms. He sat in silence for a few minutes, relishing the site of his daughter beginning to wriggle in his grasp. He was sure that his daughter would not choose to answer him, but to his surprise, she did.
"You're right." She said, inflicting a huge slap in Stephano's face. "He was never any good to me. I deserve better." She finished, tapping her foot and raising her eyebrows in a mocking manner towards her father. Stephano sat still for a minute, looking as if he were about to piece together the puzzle that Mya and Brady were never able to figure out.
"I'm glad you agree." He said, averting his gaze to the door where one of his servants stood. "Since you're here, I want you to meet a new addition to my force…" Stephano stopped and looked over at the tall red-head. "Her name is…Nancy." He said, putting stress on the name. Everything turned slow motion for Raven. The name brought something up, though she couldn't match it up to a memory. She looked down at her hands, appearing to merely examine her nails, or so she hoped, as she bit her lip madly in an attempt to rid herself of the welling pressure in her head.
It was just as Stephano had suspected. Something had triggered the beginning of a memory recovery for his daughter, and if he didn't stop it now Raven DiMera could cease to exist. It would be harder than ever to convert her back into the well-known mercenary if she was already able to fight it off the first time. He pursed his lips together.
"Chloe." He said gently.
Raven eyes rolled and she fell off her chair to the ground. Stephano stood up immediately and motioned for his male guard to enter the room. His guard lifted Raven off the ground.
"Follow me. We must take her to the labs for temporary treatment. If things get better, then we will leave her to continue to serve in my leagues." He paused. "But if she does not, then I'm afraid that we shall have to rise to more drastic actions."
He led his guard deep into the catacombs of the fortress.
Chapter 17
SLAM!
Raven slouched slightly in her chair as heavy footsteps made a sharp clomping sound on the wooden floors of an underground DiMera base beneath a run-down donut shop as they approached her from behind. The owner of the infernal footsteps sat down silently across from Raven, a Cuban cigar between his ringed fingers. He leaned back against his chair and sucked dramatically on his cigar, releasing a ring of heavy, gray smoke into the air. Raven waved the smoke out of her face and looked at the man with an equal ability to stare people down. The man smiled slightly and tapped his foot against the floor.
"Well then daughter…" Stephano DiMera said in his calm nature, taking another puff of his cigar. Raven watched as his eyes narrowed while he sucked the toxic fumes out of the cigar as if it were a rich piece of chocolate. She grimaced quite noticeably and crossed her arms, keeping her face free of anything that might link her father to what it was she was thinking at that very moment.
"What have you gotten yourself into this time?" Stephano continued, as if it were everyday that he was called out to help his daughter on a mission that she had so badly messed up. She shrugged her shoulders and let her eyes wander around the small office as his father tried to contain his anger at what he thought was complete idiocy in the world of crime. After successfully capping his anger, he chewed thoughtfully on the end of his cigar. It was apparent he was not about to get any reply from Raven so he was quick to answer the question for himself, hoping that it would set Raven off in a frenzy and she would eventually spill the whole story, giving him enough information to finish the job himself.
"Did you know that all my mercenaries sign a code of conduct that states that you mustn't fall in love with the human that is being victimized? It really does no good for the level of stress you're having…" He said sarcastically. Mission accomplished. Stephano was right to believe that his daughter would be highly disturbed by the words that escaped his lips. She stiffened in her seat, two raging fires behind the calm blue of her eyes. She kept her eyes on her father and relaxed a little in her chair, crossing her legs.
"Apparently those who spend their lives wallowing in the very pits of hell don't know the meaning of the word love nor that it even exists. Have you ever had love? Been loved?" Raven paused and let the words sink in before continuing. "Yeah, that's what I thought." She laid her arm on the armrest of her chair and drummed her fingers against the edge of it, knowing that her father would surely fight back. He was always ready for a battle of wits, especially when his ego was so large he thought that he could win the Mr. America pageant by a landslide. Though Raven was careful not to anger him too much, as there could be great consequences. DiMeras were known for wiping their children off the face of the planet if they so much as scratched their car. Raven was in no way willing to go up against her father.
"Well, well, well…" Stephano said, grinning evilly. "It appears as though you feel the need to protect a certain someone with your words. I may not have love now, but I certainly know it when I see it. How could this be happening to my daughter? I thought you were strong, Raven. You were my strongest daughter yet. All of your hard work to waste on a silly man like Brady Black?"
Raven was about to protest but was able to catch herself before she did. She needed to stay in control here, and protecting Brady Black for whatever crazy reasons were flashing through her mind were certainly not the way to go about it. She sighed and shook her head, buying time to think her words through carefully.
"I have absolutely no interest in Brady Black except as an excuse to clean my knife."
She waited patiently. It was in times like these where Stephano was so eager to take the bait, and for whatever reasons, he managed to do so again. He grinned genuinely and took a satisfied inhalation of more than four hundred chemicals into his body. (lolz, does this sound like an add against smoking?) He leaned in towards Raven and tweaked her cheek. Raven quickly slapped his hand away but Stephano continued to smile and chuckle to himself.
"Well then daughter, it appears as though I have misjudged you." He said, smiling widely as a few ashes fell from his cigar. He took no notice of that as Raven wrinkled her nose in disgust. "You obviously have not lost your touch."
"Was there ever any doubt?" Raven said, raising her eyebrows.
The amused expression on Stephano's face returned once again to the one he so often housed: calm, composed, and obviously scheming in his faraway subconscious which he would eventually relay upon himself in the form of dastardly plots while he slept.
"If there wasn't, I would not have had to fly out here so quickly now would I have? Fortunately for you and the well-being of my entire empire, I was warned of this before it was too late." He gave Raven an odd look and raised his eyebrow. "Unless of course I am too late…" He tried to pry the truth from Raven with what little authority he appeared to have over his daughter.
"You are not too late. I don't know who told you what, but everything was going according to plan."
Stephano's eyes bulged as his face turned a strange red color. He slammed his fist on the arm of the chair that wasn't able to hold his force as it cracked and fell to the ground. Stephano slapped his hands on his knees and spoke with his cigar clenched between his teeth.
"Was killing Hawk part of you plan?" He hissed.
Raven was speechless. She had completely forgotten that pleasant fact for almost a whole day but now there it was again, pulling at her guilty chains.
"That was a minor bend in my plan…" She said slowly. She knew that Stephano had never really liked Hawk, for reasons that were probably way beyond her, and she was greatly distressed to see him so angry over his death. In fact, it was probably the fact that she had killed so many before him that was helping her cope with her guilty conscience, but it was a different story once Stephano was involved.
Stephano huffed at her words and leaned back against his chair, taking the cigar out of his mouth.
"Well, Hawk was never any good to either of us." He said finally, realizing that getting upset over it might push his daughter towards the holy world of goodness and honesty and furthermore, straight into Brady Black's arms. He sat in silence for a few minutes, relishing the site of his daughter beginning to wriggle in his grasp. He was sure that his daughter would not choose to answer him, but to his surprise, she did.
"You're right." She said, inflicting a huge slap in Stephano's face. "He was never any good to me. I deserve better." She finished, tapping her foot and raising her eyebrows in a mocking manner towards her father. Stephano sat still for a minute, looking as if he were about to piece together the puzzle that Mya and Brady were never able to figure out.
"I'm glad you agree." He said, averting his gaze to the door where one of his servants stood. "Since you're here, I want you to meet a new addition to my force…" Stephano stopped and looked over at the tall red-head. "Her name is…Nancy." He said, putting stress on the name. Everything turned slow motion for Raven. The name brought something up, though she couldn't match it up to a memory. She looked down at her hands, appearing to merely examine her nails, or so she hoped, as she bit her lip madly in an attempt to rid herself of the welling pressure in her head.
It was just as Stephano had suspected. Something had triggered the beginning of a memory recovery for his daughter, and if he didn't stop it now Raven DiMera could cease to exist. It would be harder than ever to convert her back into the well-known mercenary if she was already able to fight it off the first time. He pursed his lips together.
"Chloe." He said gently.
Raven eyes rolled and she fell off her chair to the ground. Stephano stood up immediately and motioned for his male guard to enter the room. His guard lifted Raven off the ground.
"Follow me. We must take her to the labs for temporary treatment. If things get better, then we will leave her to continue to serve in my leagues." He paused. "But if she does not, then I'm afraid that we shall have to rise to more drastic actions."
He led his guard deep into the catacombs of the fortress.