America
Another chapter refering to Karl's past. Thanks for the reviews Psycho Llama, and FlyingFish15! Emjoy.
Isn't paranoia fun...
Karl paced up and down in his room, thinking desperately. It was all very well saying that he and Laura would leave Schloss Unterholz, but actually doing it was another matter. He couldn't ask any of the others to help him obviously; they would betray him to his father. And he couldn't leave the country by any conventional means either; Laura's alterations would set off the metal detectors, and the security measures that had been put in after 9/11 and 9/9 would be a major threat. All visitors to America had heir eyes scanned and their fingerprints taken. Apart from the fact that he'd rather not let the government have that information on the two of them, if the Americans knew where they were and who they where, his father could find out too. He couldn't think of any way out.
At that moment came a knock at the door. Karl looked up sharply and stopped his pacing. Absentmindedly he reached out with his mind and felt to see who it was, recognising at once the presence of Franz. Then he realised what he was doing and all at once his probe collapsed.
I didn't' know I could do that, he thought, amazed. This was something else to think about.
"Karl," Franz said from outside, "Karl, Kroenen wants to talk to you."
"What about?" he called back.
"I don't know. Come on, you don't want to keep your Vater waiting."
Karl frowned in annoyance. He knew that his father was somewhat psychic, and he hoped that he wouldn't try to read his mind. If he did, he wasn't sure he could conceal what he was planning to do. Perhaps the thing he had done with Franz would be useful, but how could he know? If only Kroenen had waited a little longer for whatever it was he wanted then they could have been away. Well, they might have. He still hadn't thought of anything.
"I'm coming," he told Franz, pulling the door open and stepping out. "Are you sure he didn't say what he wanted?"
"It could be about that business with the guy you killed," his friend suggested. "Perhaps he wants to know how you managed to go psycho with a huge hole in your side and blood pouring out of you. I know I'd like to find out." He gave Karl a curious look.
Karl shrugged. "I don't know. I don't really remember much." This was not entirely true. He was starting to remember certain things about the event, and was wishing he hadn't. I don't believe I used to like that! He thought to himself as they walked through the corridors.
Franz looked slightly sceptical, but said nothing.
Kroenen was waiting for them when they entered the laboratory, his back turned. He was working on something, but they couldn't see what it was.
"Finally you arrive," he said quietly without turning around.
"Jawohl, Vater," Karl replied nervously.
Kroenen kept working. After a long pause he said, "What did it feel like? Having that sort of power?" He paused. "I have the feeling…that I've seen something like it before…"
"I don't really…remember much of it at all." What if he reads my mind? Karl thought He'll know I'm lying, and he'll know about everything else too!
"It is a gift, you know, from the Ogdru Jahad. It surpasses anything I could do with the tools I have here."
Karl thought he could feel a slight pressure on his mind, as though his father was gently trying to slip in without him realising it. He forced it out almost instinctively and imagined a wall around his mind. He felt barriers crash into place, gleaming shields of red light. Why red? He wondered.
"Interesting," Kroenen said softly. "It seems you have been changed in more ways than one."
And then Karl heard other thoughts, thoughts that were not his own, almost silent, which sent shivers down his spine.
What has he got to hide I wonder? Does he fear what the unfettered magick has done to him? Or is it something else? Why can't I look inside him? Whatever power he gained from the spell should not have been enough to block me out completely. Perhaps I have overlooked something. Or perhaps he was even stronger than I had anticipated before this happened. That would at least explain how he managed to escape from that white magician. Speaking of which…
"I think I have a job for you both. You remember of course the white mage George Jarratt? He has fled to America in the vain hope that we will not follow him there. We will. Or at least, you will. I have a special something with which to deal with him, and maybe this would be a good opportunity for you to try out what ever powers you have been given, hmm Karl."
"A...America, Vater?" Karl stammered, amazed. Kroenen was giving him a chance to go to that very place he most wanted to get to. Was this a coincidence? Surely if he knew about the plans he and Laura had made, he wouldn't have told him to go? Or perhaps his father was even more cunning than he had dreamed, and wanted to test him to see if he was really going to go through with this? If he did try to escape and Kroenen had anticipated it, he wouldn't get very far…
"Yes. America. Nasty place, but I'm sure you can cope. Take Laura with you. She can be the bait for Jarrett. He will think she is trying to get away from us, and he will offer her shelter. Then you will be able to get close enough to him to kill him. Afterwards, dispose of the Jew. She has begun to bore me."
Oh, come on! Karl thought this is getting ridiculous! There's no way this can be a coincidence. He's practically handing this to me on a plate! He must know, and he wants to trap me too. He must have seen into my mind, and then sent me his own thoughts to fool me. What can I do? Is it a test? I've only got one hope; that it's just a test he's sure I'll pass. He only wants to know if I've been changed so much I'll want to get away from him, but he doesn't really expect me to run. If that's true, then he hasn't read my mind, and doesn't know I've heard his thoughts, and if I'm very clever and careful, I might just get away with it.
"Well."
"What is the weapon?" Franz asked.
Kroenen turned around and stepped away from the slab of marble. "This," he said.
Karl blinked. The thing on the slab looked like something out of a nightmare. It was covered with masses of blackish fur matted with blood, and in several places he could see dull metal and exposed muscle. The head of the thing was shaped a bit like a lion, with a mane of lighter fur, pointed ears and a short muzzle from which rows of razor sharp teeth jutted. It was roughly humanoid, but it had a tail, and what looked like bat wings were crumpled beneath it. Its paws and feet had four digits, tipped by claws with a metallic sheen. At the moment it was unconscious, but Karl was willing to bet it hadn't been that way all through whatever Kroenen had done to it.
"What is it?" he asked.
"It is based on a creature from mythology called a manticore. I managed to…obtain one, and made a few alterations of my own. I have had it conditioned so that it will be completely obedient to any of us. Since it is naturally magical, any spells the magician tries to use against it will be completely useless. I think it will be a great help to you."
And of course, Karl mused, I'm sure you will have also given it orders to kill me if I try to escape. I doubt I could tackle something like that.
Franz smirked. "I think this is going to be fun."
"Indeed," Kroenen replied, a hint of amusement in his voice. "Now go and prepare. Karl, tell Laura about this. But not the bit about killing her, obviously."
He turned back to the manticore, and Karl and Franz began to leave. As they did so however, Karl spotted something on a table near the door. It was a small cylinder filled with green goo, and in the centre of it floated a little egg. A Sammael egg. It seemed that not all of them had been destroyed in Russia then. Moving quickly, Karl scooped it up and stuffed it into the pocket of his trench coat. He had a plan that would find it very useful.
Psycho Llama: Oops, sorry about wrong spellings. Yeah, the time traveling confused me too, and I'm the one that wrote it!
FlyingFish15: He's not going to kill her. Not even by accident. more coming very soon!