Chapter 6
"That's a vague and ostentatious way to phrase that," said Ianto.
"You're saying that Victor Ames is your brother?" Jack said, raising his eyebrows. "Everyone in this town's so generous with details."
"Redwood Valley has a way of forgetting the dead," said Clare. Jack thought back to how quickly the Crickets had lost interest in him after the frontliners had been downed. Forgetting might not be the word for it.
"Listen, I'm not discrediting your death, I've known a few very nice dead people, but. I'm going to need you to be straight with me. If the Ericius cannibalize their dead, why is Victor keeping his sister in the attic?"
"It's more of a mutual agreement than a conspiracy," said Clare. "I don't like the townsfolk, and they don't like me. So I stay away, and they pretend I don't exist. I'd leave, but… people don't leave Redwood."
"Ominous," said Ianto.
"Back to Victor," said Jack, "How would you describe your relationship? You live in his house, and… release his captives?"
"We haven't been getting along lately," Clare said, sighing. "People are being murdered. You can imagine how that might cause some tension."
"How did your relationships with the victims end? My coffee told me Victor was the killer. You could very well be a motivating factor."
"My relationships ended," Clare said, matter-of-factly, "Because they died. If Victor's the murderer, it means he's betrayed me. It means I've lost everyone now, all at once, and it means that I really am dead. Victor's provided for me for so long now, even a fresh Seedling could hunt me down."
"There were no…" Jack hesitated. "Tensions, was the word you used. Nothing between yourself and the victims? Could he have been trying to protect you?"
"From Nim?" Clare said, her already eerie eyes going even wider. "She would never… I don't know about Blaire, but Nim and I were… You should understand, Jack."
Jack chose not to comment on that. "What about Blaire?"
"Blaire…" Clare bit her lip gently. "Was closer to the fanatical side. It's survival of the fittest, especially for the younger of our kind, and I am, well. I am not the fittest." Nim turned away from him, looking out into the rain. "I don't want to believe that Victor's the killer. I don't want to die."
Jack, for a moment, let the rain fill the silence.
"It's a nice story," Ianto said. "Beautiful and tragic, but there's something missing."
"What aren't you telling me, Clare Ames?" Jack said, putting a firm hand on her shoulder. She shuddered, and Jack felt the odd sensation of her skin sliding just a little, under her dress.
"There might be another reason," Clare said quietly. "He could have been jealous of them. Ericius don't usually pursue non-physical relationships. I was his only friend, and if he thought I was getting distant… I think you're right about Nim being murdered as a statement. I think she was murdered because of me. Jack, I think I'm the killer, because it was a warning for me."
Clare's composure had dissolved and she'd sunk in on herself, huddled behind her knees. Jack stroked her hair gently, and her eyes fell closed.
Clare's breathing calmed and gradually, the rain calmed too. Lazily, it dripped from the edge of Clare's umbrella.
"I think we're safe to go inside now," she said, standing and balancing gingerly on the shingles. She pulled open the latch, and dropped down the rope.
Jack jumped down without it, quickly scouring the room with his eyes. As Clare had assumed, the room was free of vines. Now there was nothing left but clean, white, empty walls. No- there was something else. There was a loose panel in one of the corners.
"Ah-"
Jack looked away, back toward Clare just in the to see her slip, one hand on the rope, but the other still holding the ledge of the hatch. He rushed forward and scooped her up in his arms before she hit the ground.
"Careful," he said, smiling at her. Clare winced, and nodded. She wriggled to get down, but stopped suddenly, gasping.
There was blood seeping through her polkadot dress, just under the ribcage.
"Oh shit," she said, pressing both hands over it, but the blood seeped through and stained her palms. "Shit, fuck, ow."
"What happened?" said Jack, setting her down gently.
"Just an old wound, it must have reopened." She tried to smile reassuringly, but it came out as a grimace. "It's fine. It's fine. I'll take care of it. You should go, before Victor gets back."
"Let me see it, maybe I can help."
She blinked up at him slowly.
"Well," she said. "I suppose it's only fair, I've already seen you naked."
Then, very unceremoniously, she reached down and pulled up her dress, all the way off over her head. She was wearing nothing but panties underneath.
The wound on Clare's stomach was a bullet hole.
"Ianto- do you see that?" Jack said, tapping his ear.
"I'm sure you've seen thousands of them by now, Jack," said Ianto.
"You know what I meant," said Jack. "It looks like the Ames' have more in common than just their name. They like to watch me sleep."
"It wasn't anything weird-" Clare said quickly. Jack raised an eyebrow. A confession was the last thing he'd expected. "It's just easier to do it from the same room."
"You were doing it in my room?" Jack said, smirking.
"I did it from outside your window the first time," Clare said sheepishly. "But once the window was open, it just seemed silly."
"But what were you doing?" said Jack. He fished through his pockets, and pulled out a length of surgical thread, and a needle. He wasn't a doctor, but he'd dealt with his fair share of bullet wounds. "Innuendo aside."
"You never put the innuendo aside," mumbled Ianto.
"You really don't want to know," Clare said, pursing her lips as he started stitching. "You really, really don't want to know."
"I'm glad you're here to protect my fragile state of mind," Jack said with a crooked smile, "But I think it'll be okay."
"No, Jack," Clare said, reaching down to touch his face. "I'm sorry, but it's really not."
"Jack," whispered Ianto's voice. Jack shivered. Suddenly he really needed a snarky comment.
Jack let it drop, for the time being.
Clare bit her lip pensively.
"It's going to be very sad when Victor kills you," she said.
"Yeah?" said Jack.
"Get out, Jack Harkness. I don't want to be there when he does."
The leaves were still moist, and rain still dripped slowly down his red raincoat as Victor crouched among the foliage deep in Redwood's forest. Blood trickled down his chin, staining his face and his neck, smeared on his sleeves and gloves. The air was drying swiftly, and soon it would be safe to leave the forest, but Bulldog attacks were the least of his problems now.
Captain Harkness was hunting him down, and there was nowhere to hide that Jack wouldn't be able to find him.
"There's no choice now but to kill him first," Victor said, glancing up at his companion.
Stiff stood stiffly next to him, rain dripping from his hair and down from his fingertips.
"We should have killed him the moment he got here," Stiff said gruffly. "He was alone, and nobody knew he was here."
"Well, he's very nice to look at," Victor said with a shrug. "You wouldn't understand."
"So, Ianto, where do we go next?" Jack said, leaning nonchalantly against the Mustang.
Since staying at Victor's house was now out of the question, they were now out of leads. They still didn't know where the murder took place, or where to start looking. They didn't know who else might have information. All they had was a couple of corpses and a sweetass car.
"Sheriff's office?" Ianto offered. "It's improbable that they'll put out a warrant, but Victor could be there, trying to do the same to us."
"Oh that's right, the Sheriff," Jack said, snapping his fingers. "He's so close to Victor, though. I'm not sure how much we could get out of him."
"Apparently he's a hardass, but I believe you could chisel through it," said Ianto.
Jack smirked. "That sounds like a challenge. Alright then, to the station."
They arrived at the station with a pleased purr of the engine.
"Hands behind your back," said a voice from behind him, the very moment Jack had stepped out of the car.
"Sheriff Stiff! Just the man I was looking for," Jack said, putting his hands up and turning slowly to face him.
Stiff furrowed his bushy eyebrows at him, and fired. Jack dodged with a flourish of his coat.
"Hey now," Jack said, "That's no way to treat a friend."
"Your novelty is wearing thin, Agent Harkness," Stiff said, aiming at his head. "You've already stirred up the commotion we were trying to avoid. One more body won't make a difference."
"Hang on, what did you just say about my novelty?" Jack said, going for his own gun. "Them's fightin' words!"
Stiff's bullet grazed his shoulder, but only barely. It was little more than a brief flash of pain. Jack's shot, on the other hand, hit squarely in its mark- right above the knee. But strangely, Stiff didn't so much as stagger back. Jack shot him again, in the chest. He didn't flinch.
Instead, he sparked.
"Well that's different," said Jack. He unloaded his gun into him, and ducked behind a car.
Stiff was emitting a crackling, sizzling noise. He was jerking and twitching as he walked, his face locked in a snarling grimace.
Jack reloaded and aimed for the head, unloading into him with no reservations.
After the third shot, Stiff's head blew up. Bits of electrical stuff rained down on them in a clatter. Jack looked away, to make sure the Mustang wasn't getting scratched.
"There goes that lead," said Ianto.
"It's a good thing we're not really FBI, or this would be embarrassing," said Jack. "Now where do we go?"
"You don't need to go anywhere," said a scratchy but feminine voice. "All your questions shall be answered. You need only to ask."
If he hadn't lived in Cardiff for so long, Jack might have thought what he saw to be strange. The woman he was looking at appeared to be far older than the rest of the townsfolk. She was dressed plainly, though her shoes didn't match. Her eyes had an odd sort of depth to them, enchantingly beautiful.
Also, she was holding a very large dildo.
"The dildo knows all secrets of both the living and the dead," the woman said, eyes wide. "Speak, and I shall whisper its word."
"Okay," said Jack, "Oh phallus of wisdom, where did the murder of the lovely miss Nim Sudo take place?"
"Oh dear," said the dildo lady, "There's no need to be so formal, Jack Harkness. The wizened cock of ages is learned in the dialogue of man."
"Fine," said Jack, "Where was she killed, and who did it?"
The woman stroked the dildo lovingly, pressing it to her face like a telephone. "It says… that it wishes you would take it on a date first, before being so frank."
"The sex toy wants to take you to dinner?" said Ianto.
Jack smiled. "That's nothing new."
"But…" said the lady, "The dildo does know the answer. It is a place deep within the woods. A dark, forbidden place. It is the home of birth and death. A place bathed in blood."
"Does this place have a name?" Jack said patiently.
"It is the mill of souls…" the woman whispered.
"Got it," said Jack. "The root of the problem's in the lumber mill. Any idea how to get there?"
"There is no path," dildo lady said, stroking her artificial boner. "But there is one of clairvoyance who knows the way."
"Clairvoyant," said Ianto. "Cute."
"Well," said Jack, as he walked back to his car. "She was an odd Ood."
Chapter 6: CLEARED
TOTAL Number of Days: 3
TOTAL Enemies Defeated: 20
TOTAL Number of Headshots: 3
TOTAL Number of Continues: 1