Duplicity
By Divamercury
Well, "rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated," as Mark Twain once said. I am fully aware that I haven't posted since December, but lately I've had a lot of problems. School got crazy, I was involved in the school production of Les Miserables in March which ate all of my time, and my parents are getting divorced, which in essence killed my muse untilnow. This post was originally supposed to be a teaser but I realized it's long enough to be a chapter in its own right, soyay! Hope it's halfway decent; give me a break because of my screwed-up life. ;) Well, enough with the blabbing and on with the story! REVIEW or I can't guarantee your safety from a vindictive muse! Love you all! ;)
~DM
Chapter 20
After my conversation with Ian and my departure from Sara's apartment, I slipped over to the Vorschlag Industries building to do a little investigatingor snooping. I got in without any trouble. Gina Ramirez the receptionist was gone, there was no one else around in the lobby area, and I knew from my years spent with dear old Kenny that Adair was probably still mired in multiple meetings that she inherited along with the company, allowing me some time to look around. I slid into her office undetected, since most of the staff was gone even past the receptionist's desk, and, closing the door behind me, headed straight for her desk. The thought crossed my mind of this all being a setup or something, but I quickly shook it off. Adair seemed pretty smart, but she had never laid eyes on me and the information on me in the files was vague to say the least. Therefore she could have no idea that I was even a threat.
With all these files, there's got to be something here that has to do with what she's planning.' I rooted around in the papers scattered across the desk, finally coming up with a file labeled in Dr. Immo's typical physician scrawl. Opening it, I found the records of one Damien Malvado, as well as a photo of a rather familiar face.
So that's what she's named the sleeper,' I thought, reading on. Well, you know what Kenny used to say: "To name is to know, to know is to control." Wonder where this new freak show is now.'
I perused the file at a leisurely pace, sitting at Adair's desk in an extraordinarily comfortable chair, legs crossed and propped up on the fine–what was it? Cherry?–desk and I continued to muse. Aha, footnotesShe apparently created this guy for her own personal pleasures as well as to cause problems between Sara and Ian from what this suggests–ewwwwwww–and the last part already worked. So, what to doSnake Lady has a crush on Ian so she made a duplicate, she wants Sara dead and seems to be in league with Bill Crane, that serial killer that Sara was talking about at work–who, by the way, is the one who killed JacksonDamn it! This bitch is going to pay.'
As I was exacting horrible methods of revenge in my head, most of which involved my katana and lots of blood and pain, I heard Snake Lady's footsteps coming down the hall and had to suppress a sound of glee.
Time to be bad-ass, Birdie,' I told myself as the door opened and I didn't take my eyes off the file. Wait, since when do I ever stop?"
Her footsteps stopped short and I glanced up.
"How did you get in here? And who the hell are you?" Adair wanted to know, obviously rattled. She must have thought that this, of all places, was safe.
"Oh, I was wondering when you'd show up," I remarked offhandedly, still flipping through the file. "I'm here on behalf of a good friend of mine. Ian Nottingham." I fixed her with one of my patented glares. "I'm sure you two have met."
She smirked. "Indeed. So you're here to try to get me to call off my little schemewhich by the way is working perfectly."
"Yeah, well, lady, I really wouldn't mess around with these people if I were you. Just a bit of friendly advice from someone who's been in the trenches."
"Oh? Why is my plan so dangerous, exactly?"
"Because all of us are quite capable of kicking your scrawny, almost nonexistent ass into next month," I said, concentrating on the front of her blouse and pulling her to the desk by the collar mentally. "Case in pointalmost. And we aren't necessarily restricted to the physical realm, as has been clearly demonstrated," I said, grinning evilly.
"What kind of freak are you?" she asked, eyes wide. I could practically smell her fear. The tough veneer she put up didn't mean a damn thing.
"One of a group of "freaks," all of which you have wronged in one way or another." I paused for a second, thinking about the implications. "You know, I'd really hate to be you right now. You've got a seriously pissed Wielder and Guardian on your hands, not to mention their entourage, of which I am a member. And, again unluckily for you, I'm pissed off for my own reasons."
"A seriously pissed but, sadly, separated Wielder and Guardian," she said emphatically. "It's documented that they only have a fraction of their effectiveness when apart. I don't fear them."
I looked her straight in the eye again. This character was certifiable, or extremely ignorantor both. "Then you're a fool. Or you're lying. Either way, they won't be separate forever. Not if I have anything to do with it."
"Oh, really?" she asked.
"Yes. Really. The tide will turn, whether you want to believe it or not, and it will do so especially rapidly after adding my information on a new friend of yours into the mix. Who I could already sense, by the way."
"Well, well. Finally a worthy adversary," she said. "You've done your homework, it seems. But can't I know the name of my newfound nemesis?"
"You probably already doyou're just too thick to realize it, in which case I'm not going to make figuring it out any easier for you."
I turned away from Adair and approached the window, preparing to leave and wondering if she was going to take that opportunity to pull something. A tickle in the back of my brain signaled that she had. The image of a heavy bronze bookend appeared in my mind. She must have thought it would actually do something. After she released it I made it come to a screeching halt and float in midair three inches from my head. I then turned around and faced her with my most menacing face in place.
"You really have no idea of the magnitude of the forces you're screwing around with, do you?" I asked rhetorically, heading closer to her and sending the bookend on its merry way through the pane glass window behind me with a flick of my wrist. "Well, you will soon." I whirled and ran straight for the broken pane of glass, smashing through with my shoulder and breaking the rest mentally, and leapt from the room, arms spread, preparing for a swan dive. I hovered three stories down, waiting for a head to peer over the edge. Sure enough, Adair rushed to the window and was shocked to see me floating there.
"Surprise!" I shouted, waving.
"What the–" her face paled.
"Don't even think about asking me about the mechanics of this, Avilla. There simply is no way I could break it down into words small enough for you to comprehend. Just let me part by saying that the shit is about to hit the fan and you are in for one long, costly war. You will pay for your wrongsand they're going to be more expensive than that window." That being said, I flew away, leaving a slack-jawed Adair staring after me.
* * *
"Argh!" I exclaimed. I had thought that I would be safe from the annoying rays of sunlight while at Mac's place, but I was wrong; they were as vigilant as ever in their pursuit of my eyes. Sighing at the interruption of my slumber, I pulled a dark blue sleeveless ribbed crop-top and a pair of jeans out of my duffel bag. I got dressed as I tried to ignore and stifle feelings of nausea that were no doubt caused by the grotesque battle dream reminiscent of an intensified Braveheart that the sunlight brought me out of. Somehow heads and limbs flying off and blood staining everything wasn't the best thing for my stomach.
Once I finished, I left my room and descended the stairs in my normal fashion until I heard lowered voices downstairs. I halted on the staircase and strained to hear what was going on.
"Do you think it was a good idea to call him?" Acacia was asking.
"Sure. The more the merrier. We needed an archer anyway," Mac remarked.
An archer? What the hell?
"Yeah, well, how many armies can say they have medieval snipers?" She grinned. "So you don't think I was wrong to get him involved? I mean, he is family and I don't want anyone, especially him, to get hurt because of all this"
"It's fine," Mac assured her.
"Are you sure that Sara won't be mad? Maybe I shouldn't have called him after all."
I moved to a position in which I could see them finally and arrived in time to see Acacia stand up and start pacing around the room anxiously, wringing her hands as she went.
"Relax, Caci," Mac said gently. "She'll be up soon and he'll be here in a couple of minutes, so don't worry about it. They'll meet up soon enough."
Who are they talking about?' I asked myself. Family? Archer?' Confused as hell, I went the rest of the way down the steps and entered the living room, making both Mac and Acacia jump involuntarily. Pretending that I hadn't heard anything, I walked in and said, "Good morning."
"Oh, hey Sara," Acacia said, calming down.
"Morning," Mac replied. They both seemed pretty rattled.
"Whoa, you guys okay? Did I startle you or something?" I asked.
"Yeah. Just a little," Acacia said
"Come with us to the kitchen," Mac said. "I'll get you some coffee and something to eat."
Food? Definitely no. My stomach lurched. "Actually, I'd just like some coffee. I'm not really all that hungry. My stomach was bothering me some this morning. I had a pretty gruesome dream last night and it made me feel sick."
"Then you need tea, not coffee. I think I've got some peppermint tea left; that should help settle it." I grimaced. "And don't worry, there is caffeine in tea, so you'll still be getting your fix," Mac said with a wink. "Yeah, I know how you are."
Not having the energy to argue, I let them take me into the kitchen and make some tea for the three of us.
The kettle was whistling and I was sitting at the counter watching Mac make the tea when a vision suddenly struck me. It was Ian, standing alone in an empty room, and then as I watched he suddenly split in two. The second Ian looked completely evil and had a tattoo of three 6's on his right forearm, visible because both Ians had their sleeves rolled up. There could have been more, but I was thrown back to reality and I gasped.
"Sara?" Acacia asked. "You okay?"
"Vision," I gasped.
"What did you see?" Mac asked, bringing the tea over.
I grabbed my mug. "Mmm, this stuff is pretty good," I remarked when I took a sip.
"Don't change the subject," Mac chastised. "What's up?'
"I'll tell you in a little bit. Let my eyes focus first," I joked.
"Are you feeling any better?" Acacia wanted to know.
"Surprisingly, yeah," I replied.
"Sure you don't want anything to eat?" Mac asked.
"No. I'm fine, but thanks."
The three of us were finishing up our tea and I was preparing to tell my hostesses about my vision when there was a knock at the front door. I froze while Acacia ran to see who was there.
"Oh, it's just you."
"Well, I certainly feel loved now," an unfamiliar male voice said.
"Ha ha, you're so funny. I was just afraid it was someone else, that's all," we heard her say from the kitchen. "Come on in. It's so good to see you. I really missed you."
"Missed you too, sis. So where is your mysterious houseguest?" the man asked, and we heard footsteps approaching the kitchen. The Witchblade flared and I hid it behind my back as Acacia entered the room with a man taller than her, about 6'3". He was quite handsome, with long, straight blonde hair pulled back at the top of his head, allowing the rest to fall down past his shoulders. His eyes seemed to have a healthy amount of both blue and green in them, his jaw was square and he was grinning like a fool. The mystery man had a tan leather backpack slung over one shoulder and was also carrying two packages: a long, thin one under one arm and a shorter one sticking out of the surprisingly deep backpack.
"Mac, Sara, this is my brother Leo," Acacia said. "Leo, this is my roommate Andreanna McPherson, known only as Mac to anyone who wishes to live, and my good friend Sara Pezzini, our, as you called her, "mysterious houseguest."
"Leo Laine," Mac said. "Cool name. Dig the alliteration."
"I'm rather fond of it myself," he said, smirking again as he set his packages down, the long one by the door and the backpack in one of the bar chairs.
"Nice to meet you, Leo," I said, holding out a hand, which he shook. He didn't release it immediately, though, and since I had extended my right hand unknowingly, I was thrown into my second vision of the morning.
Leo running through a forest as a child, rapidly shooting arrows.
An older Leo standing on a stone wall, acting as a sniper.
Leo practicing with crossbows over the years.
Perfectly aimed arrows flying into chests.
"So, you're an archer, huh?" I asked.
"Damn. You catch on fast."
"Well, I have some help," I shrugged.
He looked down at my arm. "Whoa! That'sthat's really it, then?" he asked, raising my hand up to his eye level. "That's the famous Witchblade." He looked over at his sister. "You didn't do it justice, sis. It's incredible. As is its Wielder." He kissed my hand.
"Your brother is charming, Acacia," I said, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, well, only to you. Apparently he esteems you highly. He treats the rest of us like slime."
"I do hold you in high esteem, Sara. From what I've gathered from my sister about Witchblade lore, it takes a woman of great physical and emotional stamina to successfully master the secrets and benefits of the Blade. And I don't treat everyone like slime, Caci. Just you."
"Oh, thanks," she groaned.
"Does everyone I ever come in contact with automatically know about the Witchblade?" I asked.
"Well, I'd never heard of it until Caci started having weird dreams and I heard tell of Mac, whom I've never had the pleasure of meeting until now," he said, shaking her hand and then turning back to me. "So, I believe that you are in some trouble?"
"You could say that," I said. "Where should I start?"
"At the beginning is preferable."
I unfurled the whole story of the serial killer, my friends and their trials and tribulations, and now the whole situation with Ian and his strange behavior.
"Whoa," was all he could say. "Yeah, I'd have to admit that you're in a bit of a spot."
"That's why she's here. She'll be safe here, so no one knows about this place."
Suddenly there was a knock on the door. All eyes fell on Acacia.
"You were saying, sis?" Leo inquired.