Chapter 15: Interrogation

The tough part wasn't Maximus in my cage (locking someone up is so easy when you have a tranquillizer), it was making him talk once he was in there. For the first hour he just sat there without even looking at Luke or me. I started to wonder if he was even conscious. He had his eyes wide open but barely moved. He blinked and breathed, that was it. He probably knew that we knew. Why else would he be in a cage? I still couldn't remember much. A few flashes had popped up in my head but there wasn't much to go on. Maximus knew what happened though. He could fill in the gaps and tell us what Phthonos was planning. He had to know, if anyone did it was him.
"What's Phthonos planning Max?" Luke asked again. Maximus didn't answer. "What happened between him and Colt yesterday...answer me for fuck sake!" We had been at this for a while and got nothing. I understood why Luke was getting annoyed. He wasn't the only one. Of course getting mad wasn't going to help much.
"Luke...I want to talk to him alone for a bit." I said. I wasn't sure if it was going to work...but it was worth a shot. Luke didn't like it. I wasn't sure if he didn't trust me or if he wanted to be the first to know what Maximus said not the second. Eventually though he nodded in agreement. I knew why, he knew why, Max didn't. Luke and I were the only ones that knew about the little bit of extra security. Luke had built in a camera and a microphone pointed directly at the cage. Originally I asked Luke to install them in case Colt came out again. Last time Luke got surprised, next time I wanted to be sure he wouldn't be. If Maximus wanted to talk without Luke there, fine. But Luke would still see and hear. Luke left the room and I took a seat in the chair that was set up in front of the cage.
"So what happened Max?" I asked him. He pulled his eyes away from the floor and straight towards me.
"You know that just as well as I do." He said. His eyes moved back, he stared at the exact same spot on the floor. There was nothing there. No crack or piece of rock or anything. Just the same grey concrete as there was in the rest of the armoury basement.
"I don't remember a thing. I can't remember what Colt does."
"And half of the time Phthonos won't let me remember what I do. We have more in common than you thought."
"Are you seriously trying to tell me that you don't remember anything of it?"
"Yup."
"Bullshit."
"Believe what you will Angel, either way you won't get anything out of me."
"I can get it out of you. I'm not Colt...but I have his knowledge." I knew I couldn't torture him. I didn't have the heart for it.
"Come on Angel, we both know you couldn't hurt a fly unless it hurts one of your friends."
"You don't know anything about me."
"I know that someone burned down the building your girlfriend was in, I know what you did to the people that did it. I know a friend of yours got killed in a shoot out in an LA convenience store. That you blew up five people in a warehouse and started a fire in a San Francisco church. Killing seven priests and a small boy...okay just the seven priests." Max said with a grin. He had a sense of humour I'd give him that. I didn't understand how Maximus could know so much about me. There were very few people I told about my past and he wasn't one of them. Luke didn't even know this much.
"Who told you these things?"
"Let's just say that the big players in town have been keeping their eyes on you for a while Angel. I don't know how but you're important in some way. I don't know how much Phthonos knows about your destiny, that's the sort of stuff he won't let me remember or doesn't tell me at all. Of course there is someone who's memory hasn't been erased." Of course I wondered what he meant, but that wasn't the problem at hand. I needed to know about Phthonos and Colt. Whatever Maximus babbled about didn't matter.
"There was someone else there? Other than Phthonos and Colt?" Of course I should have known who Maximus was talking about. But I guess I didn't even want to consider that option.
"No idiot...I'm talking about Colt. He remembers everything. Phthonos has some sort of man crush on your bad boy side."
"You talk like that about your master?" I asked. I always thought that the minion was afraid of the master more than he respected him. It was the main difference between a tyrant and a leader. A leader was followed by people that respected him, a tyrant was followed by people that feared him.
"It doesn't matter what I say about him. Once he has no more use of me he'll kill me anyway. Whether I follow him blindly like a good little minion or if I call him names, I'll die by his hands eventually." I wonder if this was what he believed or if it was what he knew. With him I always asked myself that question. He had some sort of cool serenity about him that made it impossible to predict him or know what was going around in his head. I had never seen him smile either (not a 'I'm happy' smile anyway)...I wondered if he remembered how to.
"Am I...his son?"
"I don't know."
"You're lying. You said...you said to him that you weren't sure if he should bring his son in. You know who it is...am I his son!" He looked at me again, he hadn't moved his head and view from the concrete since the beginning of the conversation. I don't know why he stopped lying, why he decided to stop messing with me. I just know that his determination broke, and mine didn't.
"No...you're not. But you know him. Does the name Samael ring a bell?"
"Samael...is his son." Now it made sense. Samael...he couldn't come to camp acting normally like Maximus could. I could uncover him easily. But one thing bothered me. "You said that Samael had been at camp, even though he's never been here before." Again he looked at me, and again I was sure that he wasn't lying.
"I can't remember. Phthonos let's me know things and then erases them when it becomes dangerous. He doesn't want anything leaked."
"So you have no memory of what he exactly wants with Samael and me?"
"Nothing at all." The look in his eyes spoke his thoughts.
"But you know how to find out."
"Well...sort of. I know who knows, I just highly doubt that he'll tell us."
"You seriously want to have a friendly chat with Colt about Phthonos' plans?"
"Like I said it's a long shot."
"It's barely a shot at all." I guess I knew Maximus was right. If I wanted to find out what happened Colt was the only person to talk to. But it was dangerous. A: I didn't want Colt to be out at all and B: It meant we would have to put Maximus somewhere else. Neither of them I liked. "I'll think about it." I started to walk away, up the stairs towards Luke. He would know what to do.
"You know, I don't know what Phthonos wants. But he hasn't found it yet. He's been growing impatient lately. He´s looking for something and he needs it soon." I stopped. Why was Phthonos so on edge? He wouldn't become sloppy unless there was someone or something that could threaten him. Which meant that either something worse was coming and Phthonos wanted to be preprepared. Or there was a flaw in his plan that he couldn't get around. One weak point that we could exploit. I had to hope for the latter, which meant there was no time to lose.
"I'll do it."

"Are you sure about this Angel?" Luke asked me as I entered the cage. He hadn't closed the door yet, giving me one last chance to change my mind. He didn't like the plan from the start. One because he was afraid if I couldn't retake control after giving it to Colt, and because he didn't really want to meet Colt again. I knew that much. Their last two meetings hadn't been much fun. This time Colt was behind bars but that made little to no difference. He was just as dangerous if he couldn't physically get to you.
"You can't change my mind Luke. Just make sure that he doesn't get to you. You know what he's like."
"Yeah...yeah I do. I wish I didn't though. How can you expect that he'll talk?"
"I don't. But if he tells us anything at all...then it won't be for nothing."
"I guess." Luke doubted. I guess he was afraid he couldn't do it. Stand there and take Colt's insults while trying to fish for information. "Let's do this...how does it work?"
"I actually have no idea...usually I just fall asleep and when I wake up he's been out. But I think I can let him in."
"Go for it." Luke said. I don't think he was as sure about this as he looked. I was more determined than ever...this would have to work. I closed my eyes and tried to think of Colt. It wasn't easy to have nothing but him on my mind. It nearly made me sick. Other than that it felt like I was trying to make a telepathic phone call to my second personality. And at first the connection was bad. I wondered how he could speak to me while it was me that was conscious. I didn't even know when he was out. Now I had to make him conscious. So I put nothing on my mind but him...the things he did. I was calling him out so to speak. And eventually I felt myself slipping away...until it was Colt that was in the cage.
"Hello Luke." Colt said. For Luke the change had taken barely a second. Another reminder of how dangerous I was. One moment he could be talking to me the next Colt would be trying to kill him. It didn't make a good case for my freedom.
"Colt." Luke answered shortly.
"It's trying to civil, cute. How's the hand?" In a way it was impressive to see Colt go. His mind worked so much faster than mine. He had to have one talk with a person to know exactly how to hit them where it hurt. Of course Luke and Colt had more than one dealings in the past and Colt had been beaten by Luke in a way. So my guess was that Colt hated Luke as much as Luke hated Colt.
"It healed nicely." Luke didn't want to make small talk. But he knew that Colt wouldn't say a thing before insulting Luke anyway he could. And I think Luke knew what Colt would use next.
"Did Maria heal nicely? I think you told Angel she did. I bet that emotionally she's a lot worse. I mean her sister disappeared, she got attacked by a maniac and now you."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You really haven't noticed? All this...it's pulling you away from her. How much time have you spent with her lately? When you weren't busy with Angel, me or Maxi. And now that Phthonos is involved. Now you're on fire. After what he did to poor Eric. He told me that he remembered the look in your eyes when you saw his lifeless body. Or what was left of it anyway." Luke looked less focused than before. I didn't know what they knew, but it hurt Luke more than anything.
"What else did Phthonos tell you?"
"Wouldn't you love to know? I'll let you in on one thing. That wound I gave Maria didn't heal as nicely as you said. It's left a nasty scar hasn't it? Must hurt her self esteem." Colt had easily found Luke's weak spot. It wasn't all that hard to figure out.
"She's not as shallow as you think." And he was back. Strong and focused. He knew he couldn't let Colt get to him. But all of us knew that the things Colt was saying were pretty much like kicks straight to the private part.
"Isn't she? I mean she's with you...and she probably cares about you. But oh she enjoyed the stares. The boys talking about how fit she is. She loves it. I wonder how you deal with that. I mean come on. We're all teenagers here. Demigod or not every guy here has the same thing on their mind. And she is lovely isn't she. Pretty face and a nice body. But all of that doesn't matter to her any more. The stares aren't so sweet and even though you look past it the scar bothers her. And you know what? You haven't even noticed that it does. You've been too busy being camps personal hero to notice your own girlfriend. I wouldn't be surprised if she's walked up to one of the guys that was looking."
"She wouldn't..." Colt didn't let him finish.
"Or more than one."
"She's not some kind of slut!"
"She's a daughter of Aphrodite though? And well I think we all know that she's the skank of Olympus. There are more kids of Aphrodite than any other god. And only one or two are 100% related. Is Maria much like her mother?"
"SHUT UP!" Luke had completely lost it. Luke's weak spot was easy to exploit for Colt. And given she was a daughter of Aphrodite there were many things he could say without really knowing Maria. The situation was just too perfect and easy.
"Luke." Grace had come out of the door at the top of the stairs. She knew Colt was getting to him. She knew that she had to get Luke out of there or he would kill Colt right there and then. And killing Colt meant killing me. And for some reason I will never understand she couldn't let that happen.
"Grace." Colt smiled sadistically. "I haven't seen you in a while. I hope your head is not too sore. Are you coming in for a nice chat later? I would love to catch up." Grace looked at Colt with a destructive look.
"You're sick you know that? Do you seriously enjoy this?"
"I have to do something for entertainment. Which is why I'd like to have you here. I think we would have a smashing time." Colt looked at her with piercing eyes and his infamous grin. He kept the same look until both of them were out the door. Round one went to Colt.

Colt was calm, he remained in his cage with a dedicated mind. He was just waiting for the second person to enter. His second toy so to speak. He sat there on the bed not worrying about anything, someone would have to come and when that person did Colt would take any chance he could get. He was resourceful and if there was a way to escape he would take it. He had escaped last time, he didn't see a problem in doing it again. He waited for a few hours before Grace came down the stairs with a plate filled with food.

"Hello Grace." Colt said. He stood up straight with a confident smile on his face. He had a powerful look about him. If he wasn't mental he would probably be a great leader. He had the genius for it and no one would question his authority. Colt was someone to be impressed with but knowing the things he did for entertainment all that remained of that awe was disgust.

"I'm not here to talk Colt." Grace snapped. In bad situations she was tougher than Colt (and I) expected. She was tough but sweet. Only Colt was convinced she wouldn't stay tough very long. He figured it was a shield she put up for this situation. He could break through a shield with ease.

"Not? Is there nothing you want to know?" Colt asked her. He didn't know how to get to her, not yet. He just had to talk to her and think it through. Grace didn't seem like the toughest person to figure out. "You know...it wasn't me who knocked you out last time. It was Angel. He wanted out so badly, hurting you seemed the only way to do it." Colt said. Grace hadn't met Colt before, not really. When she did see him he acted like Angel the entire time. She couldn't tell the difference between them like Luke could.

"You're lying, that's all you ever do." Grace still kept her shield up but Colt wasn't giving up on this subject just yet. He knew this would get him somewhere. And if it didn't get him anywhere now it would break the trust Grace had for me. For Colt that was a worthy goal.

"Come on, there's an obvious difference between me and Angel. And he told you he was sick of that cage. He wanted out. He saw an opening and he took it. He didn't even care that he had to hurt you. Trust me I can know, I'm in his head most of the time." Colt was using me to hurt Grace. I wondered how he did it with such ease. Grace had been kind to me, so she had been kind to him. But now he just wanted to hurt her in any way he could.

"You're pathetic Colt. You're just an animal in a cage trying to manipulate us into fearing you." Grace stepped closer and closer to the cage. Colt couldn't believe she made the same mistake again. But Grace was watching her step she stopped when she was just far enough. Maybe if Colt moved his entire arm between the bars his fingertips would just touch her. "Well I'm not afraid of you." Grace said. "And given you're so fond of grabbing things on the other side of the bars." Grace put the plate on the ground and pushed it towards the bars with her foot. "bon appetit." Grace walked away proudly. Colt nor me had expected her to be this tough. In one way Colt liked it, on the other he decided that he would make her death very slow.

Colt played the waiting game once again. He didn't mind, someone would come eventually. The food Grace had left still stood in front of the cage. Colt would starve before lowering himself like that. He was very strong willed like that. He felt his stomach begging for food but he stared at the plate and denied himself the food that was there. I wondered if I could do that. I doubted it. Back in the day I could go without food for a while but the time I had spend at camp had spoiled me. I doubted I could still live like I did back then. Functioning without a decent meal for days, that wasn't for me any more. Of course Colt was proven right, someone came down. Someone new, someone unexpected.

"Well hello beautiful." Colt said to Maria. He was surprised that she would show up here. After all Colt wasn't her favourite person at camp and I think we all knew that he had partially been right about Maria's feelings concerning her confidence. After all if it had all been bull shit Luke wouldn't have gone berserk on Colt after he said something about it.

"I came here for one reason, Colt." She said the name with hate and spite. I was happy enough she didn't say my name like that. "What you said about Sophie...is it true?"

"Every word of it." Colt said sincerely. He was lying, and unlike last time this time Maria saw it.

"Don't bullshit me Colt. I heard the things you said about me. But you left one thing out about the daughters of Aphrodite. We can be total bitches." Maria said. Colt laughed. Two femme fatales right after each other, a good day.

"Okay, I'll play along. I know as much about Sophie as you do." The truth...from Colt? That was rare. "You seriously have to learn the difference between the truth and guys bragging to get you to...you know." Colt raised his eyebrows twice in rapid succession. A vile and disgusting gesture.

"They're right. You really are an animal." Maria said. So many seemed to tell him that, it got dull now.

"That would explain the cage." Colt said. "Although it's quite a wrong term when you think of it. An animal kills for survival...I don't. I think the correct term would be...homicidal socio-path. Not psychopath, not really one for the insanity ward. After all the definition of insanity is repeating the same action over and over and expect a different result. I kill over and over and expect horrible death. It hasn't failed yet." Colt said with a grin.

"See you Colt." Maria said as she walked up the stairs. She knew what she wanted to know, spending any more time with Colt was completely unnecessary.

"Stop by again." The door closed behind Maria. Again Colt was left to wait.

It would be hours before someone else entered the basement. Colt had many surprises that day. Maximus showing up didn't really shock him any more.
"Maxi! How's life? Still being treated as the treacherous bastard you are?" Maximus wasn't in a cage any more but he was still a spy. I doubted Luke would let him out of his sight for longer than a minute.
"They don't particularly trust me."
"Well you are camps latest spy what did you expect?"
"At least a fruit basket or something."
"What did you also think you'd get a cookie when you joined Phthonos?"
"Did you?"
"What makes you think I joined him." Maximus and Colt face to face with bars between them was interesting I suppose. It didn't take them a second to answer each other. Both were pretty much emotionless. Maximus wasn't as sadistic but neither of them showed any emotion.
"You did didn't you?" Colt laughed. I guess that me nor Colt were sure if Maximus was lying or not, Colt had made his conclusion about a second ago.
"You really don't remember?" Colt laughed some more. He thought it was great that Phthonos didn't allow Maximus to know anything about what his master was planning. "Well in that case I'll tell you the highlights. I was going to but than we good a visit from the Easter bunny and I thought given kids eggs was more fun than going around running errands for Phthonos. You know how it is. Kill this guy hunt down that guy it gets so boring."
"I can't remember what he's planning but even I realize that it's bad. You know and have not a single intention to stop it? He's probably planning to kill thousands."
"Not thousands Maxi...hundreds of thousands. And all of the half breed scum of course. They are disgusting truly. Well most of them."
"What with the exception of you?"
"Not at all. There's quite a few interesting demigods out there. But the true top dogs haven't been around in a while. Better to wipe them all out now than to wait till they get weak."
"You're lying."
"What if I am? You wouldn't know the difference would you? Are you disappointed that he doesn't let you in on the big plans? You've been his little bitch for a while now and then me and Samael come along and you aren't even allowed to remember the big plan. You jelly?"
"Hardly. I couldn't care less."
"Do I smell lies? Then again this gives you an opportunity doesn't it? Join the half-blood hill team. If they'll except you is a different story but it's worth a shot. You haven't belonged anywhere have you. Probably have no family, been resentful of your divine parent whoever he is. A definite he though."
"How would you know?"
"Cause obviously the person that has been most of a father figure in your life is Phthonos."
"He's not my father."
"Of course he isn't. If he was you may have actually meant something to him." For some reason Maximus seemed affected by this. Maybe Colt was right even though I could hardly believe that. I could never see Phthonos as a father figure...and the person that was most like a father to me was an orphanage doctor who knew a bit too much about torture.
"You're not going to tell us a thing are you?"
"Nothing that you want to know." Colt said. The first time he didn't lie or try to hurt anyone. He enjoyed torturing Maximus and Luke like this but this wasn't getting any of them anywhere. So he decided he might as well make it clear. "But hey...I'm nice...I'll let Angel come back."
"How will we know it's actually Angel."
"Because he won't remember this." I didn't remember a thing.
"How will you bring him back?" Colt yawned and stretched.
"I'm tired, let me sleep and it will be Angel waking up." Colt lay himself down on the mattress. Maximus walked up the stairs. Colt had been in the cage for barely a day and he had caused so much damage. That night Maximus was alone in the woods thinking about what Colt had said. And Luke didn't sleep a wink while Maria slept like a baby in his arms.