Round 11
Word did get out around my healing abilities. Not to the point where people were approaching me at random intervals to fix medical related issues, it was more like a few soldiers saying "Nice job new guy" and stuff like that. Cassie of course had been over the fucking moon about the fact that the man she loved saved her from death. It had been a few days since that attack at Orazio's and I found myself being called into the briefing room with Takeda. Recently, I've been starting to call him "Tee" , a nickname he seemed to be fine with. I was in the middle of committing a potential Caged Maniac riff to memory as I walked into the room. Sonya was already there as I expected. She looked up at my footsteps and gave me a welcoming smile. You can probably guess why. First I save her twice and then I essentially revive her daughter. Takeda had found out about my exploits through Jacqui and I've seen him try to replicate my heroics from time to time. He had been successful in saving Jacqui from some person named…oh fuck…has something to do with ice…Elsa? No, that's the one from that movie. Frost? Yeah…that sounded right. Shared the same codename as Castellano's wife. Apparently, Sub-Zero's been busy trying to track her down too. Like the ice version, not Castellano's wife. Met her a few days ago, nice lady. Speaking of ladies, where was Cassie at this moment? Spa day with Jacqui. Yeah. I figured she needed a break from me (much to her chagrin) and suggested that she go do that. In reality, I wanted some Vic Time. Now yes, I had a lot of that over the past 8 years but you date Cassie Cage for the past few months and tell me you don't need a break.
"Cassie says hi Vic," Sonya said as I sat down. "Jacqui too Takeda."
"Oh, are they having a good time then?" Takeda asked. I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. Took it out to see a selfie of Cassie in sunglasses with her favorite cocktail, a cosmo, in one of her hands. The caption read "Missing you babe" alongside a few heart emojis. I glanced at Takeda to see that he too had gotten a message.
"I'm gonna take that as a yes," Sonya said after I had finished typing my reply of "Have fun Cass. Love you too."
"What's the situation ma'am," Takeda asked. Sonya responded by pulling up a few pictures. They looked like the same woman…or at least 2 of them did. There were 4 photos. All female and wearing different colors. Takeda had frowned when the pictures were shown.
"Hold on…" he began. "Aren't at least three of those people dead? I can confirm two of them are."
"These look recent though," I interjected. Somehow, the female in the blue clothes was…familiar. As in, I feel like I knew her name. I gave it a shot by saying it out loud.
"Kitana," I muttered. Sonya nodded.
"Yes," she said. "Kitana. Former Princess of Edenia and now co-ruler of the Netherrealm."
"Forgive me ma'am, but she looks…more alive then when last I saw her at the Sky Temple," Takeda said. I must have still looked confused because Takeda grinned. He helped me out by pointing to the woman dressed in pink and said "Mileena. Kitana's clone with nasty teeth." then to the woman in green. "Jade. Kitana's best friend" and finally the one in yellow "Tanya. Straight up pain in the ass." I nodded in thanks.
"And you said three of them are supposedly dead? Kitana, Mileena and?" I asked. Sonya pointed at Jade.
"Kitana and Jade were killed during Shao Kahn's invasion before either of you were born by Sindel, Kitana's mother," Sonya explained.
"Right, I remember seeing her. I recall hearing a strange rumor that she had betrayed her Edenian husband for Shao Kahn," Takeda said. "Is that true? I don't exactly intend to ask Sindel herself if I can help it."
"No, I don't think so. From what I've been told, she committed suicide after Shao Kahn invaded her realm and forced her into marriage," Sonya said. Jeez, that's fucked up either way. I'm inclined to believe what Sonya said though rather than just a rumor. That rumor sounds a little far-fetched to me.
"Still though," I said. "These photos look recent. Am I right about that?" Sonya nodded.
"Local authorities sent them to us after 'Mileena' knocked one of them out with a teleport kick," Sonya explained.
"That…that doesn't sound like Mileena," Takeda said. I scoffed.
"What, was this Mileena person going to like eat someone's face or something?" I said.
"Yes," both Takeda and Sonya said in unison. Sonya pulled up an older picture of this Mileena person and what I saw nearly made me shit my pants. Where there should have been a human mouth, instead there was a demonic smile. Complete with large razor sharp teeth.
"Holy fuck," I said after staring at the older photo for a few moments. "You said she's dead Tee?" Takeda nodded.
"I still have nightmares about it sometimes. She was killed by someone named D'Vorah," he explained. "I'll spare you the details."
"If you two are done playing exposition dump, I do have a job for you," Sonya said calmly.
"Right, sorry," Takeda said. "I'll fill him in on route."
"What exactly are we doing?" I said before realizing the stupidity of that question. Sonya wanted the guy who can sense beings not of this realm to work alongside the telepath to figure out what said being is doing. Sonya smiled at my sudden realization.
"Cassie's right, you do look like a dog when you're confused Vic," she said. Takeda stifled a laugh.
"Laugh it up Tee," I muttered. Note to self, talk to Jacqui and find something embarrassing to throw in Takeda's face.
"Where are we going ma'am," Takeda asked Sonya. Meanwhile I was sending Cassie a message that read "Thanks for telling your mom that I'm a dog apparently" to which I got back a smiley face emoji followed by the kissing one followed by multiple hearts. Yep, those cosmos were hitting her alright. In the words of my loving girlfriend "Day drinking starts WHEN WE WAKE UP!" She also loves to think she can drink me under the table. Uh huh, keep in mind folks, this is the same girl that would get tipsy after about half a Mike's Hard in high school. Meanwhile, I'm over there drinking rum like a pirate and still being smart enough not to drive home. But I digress.
"Downtown. That's where 'Mileena' was last spotted. I want you to confirm that it's actually Mileena. Don't kill her. Contact me directly when you get a positive ID. You know how dangerous Mileena is, Takeda," Sonya explained. Takeda and I got up from our chairs. Takeda put a hand on my shoulder.
"Don't worry ma'am, I'll get him home safe," he said. "I've heard he's such a good boy." I frowned again while Sonya chuckled.
"It's not me you have to worry about if he comes back injured, you know that," Sonya said as she dismissed us. Oh just you wait Tee, I'm going to get you back so fucking good for this…
Later. Downtown.
Right so, I did get the rundown of all 4 of those people on the way over. Kitana was the princess of the world called Edenia right? I knew of all of the other realms thanks to Fujin so I have at least heard of that one. It was invaded by Outworld and subsequently merged. Outworld's ruler, some guy named Shao Kahn, adopted Kitana as his daughter. And by adopted I mean forced. Eventually a clone of Kitana was made which is where Mileena comes into play. She had been spliced with DNA from some Outworld creature called a "Tarkatan" which explains the teeth. Jade was Kitana's best friend while growing up and subsequently worked alongside and rebelled against Shao Kahn with her. Both Kitana and Jade were killed by a resurrected Sindel during Shao Kahn's invasion of Earthrealm over 25 years ago. Mileena had been executed on orders of Outworld's new ruler, a guy named Kotal Kahn, by some bug lady named D'Vorah. You with me so far? Tanya was also from Edenia but had a rich history of betraying everyone she seemed to work with. Like it was ridiculous honestly. How all 4 of these women (3 of them are supposed to be dead no less) got into Earthrealm is something I will never quite understand but hey, here we are. Standing on a rooftop in the middle of the day scanning the city for Mileena. I was standing on the edge with one of my boots on the raised lip looking out over the area. I couldn't help but suppress a grin. I used to do this all the time when I was Thrash.
"General," Takeda's voice said from behind me. "I've got a visual on the vigilante known as 'Trash'. Should I engage?" Man this fuckin guy thinks he's a comedian huh? Where the hell did this sense of humor come from? There was absolutely no way it was from Hanzo.
"Do you want Sergeant Cage to make you wear your ass as a hat?" Sonya's voice answered after I heard her chuckle again. Fuckin got him.
"Real funny chief," I said and turned to face Takeda. "You got anything?" Takeda put his fingers against one of his temples and closed his eyes while using his other hand as a sort of dowsing instrument. My man almost looked like a DJ spinning some jams at the club. Eventually, he stopped and shook his head. Damn. Nothing in this area- wait. What the hell was that feeling? It felt…strange…not from this world. And it was emanating from nearby.
"How about you?" Takeda asked before I silenced him with a raised hand. The feeling was coming closer. Getting stronger. But then it started to fade. Not on my watch.
"Try and keep up ninja," I said and took off at the speed of the wind in the direction of the strange feeling. I jumped, flipped, rolled and sprinted my way towards the being all while Takeda remained hot on my heels. A quick glance at him revealed that he was having simply the best time. The feeling intensified to a peak when I crossed between two buildings over an alleyway. It's always an alleyway huh? I stopped Takeda and we both peered over the ledge. What we saw was a slim female figure dressed in magenta kunoichi clothing with steel gauntlets and shin guards. Her hair looked like it was styled short at least from what I could tell. Probably a bob. What perplexed me was the lack of her supposed sais. Huh, she must summon them out of nowhere too much like me and my weapons. What was also odd was that she was currently digging in the nearby dumpster. The smell that was coming from it was rather rancid. Smelled a lot like old meat. I looked at Takeda who was doing his telepathy thing again, except this time he was wearing quite the frown.
"Her thoughts…they are not what I would think Mileena's would be," he said in a lower voice. "All I'm getting is that she's frantically searching for…someone…brother?"
"Oh great, next you're gonna tell me Sindel had a secret male clone of Kitana, dressed him in purple and called him Rain because he was technically a prince," I joked. Takeda looked at me for a few moments and smirked. Then tapped his nose like we were playing fucking cherades.
"No way. That was a joke. I was joking," I said.
"You actually got most of that right, except the male clone part. Hold on, we gotta call this in," Takeda. I watched as Mileena retrieved something from the dumpster, smelled it and ripped off a piece with her teeth.
"Yeah, we found her," Takeda was saying. "Her thoughts…trouble me though." A stray cat was making its way towards Mileena, no doubt smelling the food. Mileena turned at the cat's mewing…and then fucking changed her face…like I am not shitting you. Those demonic teeth were replaced by the smile of a beautiful princess. Edenian princess to be exact.
"And…she just changed her form…" Takeda said.
"What?" Sonya's voice answered. "Vic. Confirm that."
"Yes," I said, still stunned, watching "Mileena" feed the cat some non spoiled meat. "I can confirm that."
"There's no way it's Shang Tsung right?" Takeda asked me. I think that was the guy Liu Kang beat in Mortal Kombat forever ago (Thanks Fujin).
"The sorcerer from Outworld that can steal souls," I asked. Takeda nodded.
"I thought he was also dead. I would assume he's in the Netherrealm," he said. That was all I fucking needed. Ok dad. Test number 2 huh? Would I kill a beautiful woman even if they were secretly an evil sorcerer from another dimension? LET'S FIND OUT! Without another word, I jumped off the building and used the winds to slow my descent. I landed right behind "Mileena" with a small thud. I saw her back stiffen. The cat meanwhile was thanking her for its small snack.
"Special Forces," she said in a rather odd accent. It sounded as if Medusa was a vampire. Elongated s sounds and everything. Yo this is weird. I had heard old voice snippets of Mileena too. This sounded nothing like them.
"I am," I said and raised my hands. Takeda was slowly making his way down to ground level via fire escape. Dude. You can teleport. Dumbass.
"Have you come to attack me," the strange woman said.
"Considering you look like an enemy of Earthrealm, I will do what I must," I answered, still trying to get a bead on this person. The strange woman turned to face me finally and her appearance changed again. She no longer looked like Mileena, she now looked like a female with almost completely transparent skin and hair. She was wearing a turquoise colored armored leotard made of leather with added greaves, boots and gauntlets. She also sported a mask which covered the bottom half of her face. Her eyes looked reptilian but at the same time, they weren't the eyes of a predator. The woman held up her hands in surrender while the cat gave her one last rub of affection before darting off into the shadows.
"Please," she said. "I mean you no harm. My name is," she let out a series of hissing noises.
"Right…" I began in a confused tone.
"In your Earthrealm tongue it would translate to …Ykceb'Oveunona but even then that is a mouthful," she said, still with her hands raised in surrender. "My code name might be easier to say." Again, she made a short hissing noise.
"Khameleon. With a…K," she said and inclined her head. Takeda had finally arrived and was doing his telepathy thing again.
"She seems…desperate…like in need of assistance," he said.
"Please," Khameleon said. "I am from a realm called Zaterra. You might know of Syzoth young telepath." Takeda frowned then snapped his fingers.
"Reptile!" he said. "That dude smells awful." Khameleon nodded.
"He gives us Zaterrans a bad rap. Not all of us align with beings like Shao Kahn. He destroyed my home…and…and corrupted my brother," she said. I heard a touch of rage and sadness in her voice.
"Tell us about him, we will not harm you," I said calmly. I had the channel open for the past few minutes as we talked so Sonya could hear.
"His name in your tongue is J'krut and his code name would be…Chameleon with a C," Khameleon said. "My brother was once a great warrior. My best friend. My teacher. All of that changed when Shao Kahn destroyed my home and everyone else I loved. Syzoth persuaded J'krut to serve Shao Kahn after Zaterra was lost. Filling him with false promises that Zaterra would be restored by doing Shao Kahn's bidding. I myself refused and Syzoth attacked. I managed to escape but my brother was not so fortunate. Over the decades, I watched my big brother slaughter innocents because of Shao Kahn. What I saw was not my brother, it was a being corrupted by pure evil. Those are not his eyes." I could hear it in her voice that she was struggling to tell us this.
"I want to find a way to save him now that Shao Kahn is gone but…but I haven't been able to find him for years," she continued. I now heard the utter sadness and desperation in her voice. It almost sounded like she had been alone for a long time.
"Don't worry," I said. "We'll help you."
Back at the Base
Takeda and I escorted Khameleon back to the base to be looked after. She didn't mind honestly. The promise of a bed to sleep in and food to eat seemed to warm her up to the idea. Which was a feat in itself as she looked reptilian. BOOM! Zinger! Khameleon had even found the strength to take off her mask in front of me after getting a decent meal. Her face looked like that of a young woman's but with a few snake-like features. She had pointed teeth as well.
"How are you able to imitate others?" I asked her as she surveyed her new home.
"It is an ability my brother and I were born with. I was able to study various Edenian females over the years. Specifically Kitana, Mileena, Jade and Tanya. Syzoth has the ability to turn invisible," Khameleon explained. Takeda, who was nearby, heard and nodded. Then I heard him add "still doesn't hide the smell." Both Khameleon and I chuckled.
"I like it here…your allies are not trying to kill me," she said in a somewhat small voice.
"We've taken in refugees from Outworld before. Like Li Mei," Takeda explained. Khameleon perked up.
"I know her!" she said excitedly and transformed into what I assumed was a copy of her. This Li Mei person looked like a woman of Asian descent wearing purple attire. A sort of sleeveless top alongside black pants and shoes. At this distance, I was able to see that the eyes were still Khameleon's.
"She was incredibly nice to me," Khameleon said, in her regular voice. "As you are. Thank you, one called Vic." Then she wrapped me in a small embrace. I thought it was rather nice…for about 5 seconds. Because then I heard something else. Rage. I knew that rage.
"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!" the voice of my girlfriend echoed across the room. Oh fuck me running, not again! Sure enough, I spotted Cassie standing in the doorway, dressed in summer attire complete with sunglasses, looking at me with that look I never wanted to see again. Khameleon sensed the hostility and let go of me at once and changed back into her original form. Cassie marched over and nearly bowled Khameleon over. Takeda caught her before she fell on the ground.
"Again?! Fucking again?!" Cassie shouted at me. Oh so IT'S MY FAULT?! AGAIN!? Nuh huh crazy lady, I'm winning this argument.
"If by again you mean you freaking out over something that you don't know the full backstory of, then yes," I said calmly. Oh that didn't stop Cassie. In fact…I might have made it worse.
"Backstory?! What, the fact that you were getting all touchy feely with another woman again?!" Cassie shouted back. People were starting to stare but thankfully Takeda was a real homie and started to usher them away along with Khameleon. Cassie rounded on her though.
"YOU! What the hell were you doing with my boyfriend?!" she shouted. That time I heard the slurring. Ahh, that explains things. Take note kids, booze makes you act like a clown.
"I am Khameleon. From Zaterra," she answered. "Vic and his friend Ta-kee-dah agreed to assist me in tracking down my brother. I am not attracted to him in that way." Cassie still narrowed her eyes at her.
"Why were you hugging him?" Cassie asked. I took the chance to roll my eyes…which was a big mistake.
"I SAW THAT ASSHOLE!" she shouted at me. Something deep down inside me started to bubble.
"Oh you can see that but you can't fucking see that you are so jealous that you go into hysterics when another woman even looks at me," I said angrily. "I used to see the jealous look on your face when my mother kissed me on the cheek." The rage wasn't going away either. I wanted to get madder. I wanted to smash things. I wanted to smash some sense into her.
"At least my mother is still alive!" Cassie shouted in my face. That did it. Pure rage enveloped my entire being. Cassie realized her mistake a little too late. I cocked my fist back but I immediately felt 2 other pairs of hands on it. A glance at my side revealed that at least one pair belonged to Takeda and the other Khameleon. Takeda was wearing a terrified expression while Khameleon was pleading with her eyes for me to calm down. The pair of them struggled to hold my arm back, but they had forgotten about my other one. I shoved it forward in Cassie's direction which caused a strong gust of wind to slam into her and sent her flying back a few feet. The small shout she made snapped me out of my rage induced state. I noticed that everyone still in the room was staring at me. Specifically Cassie and Takeda. Cassie no longer looked angry at me. Instead she looked devastated about what she had just said. I too just realized what I had done. I looked down at my hands in utter astonishment. I had attacked Cassie. With intent to harm her. Why? Why? My entire consciousness was telling me to do that. Cassie walked forward with her hands over her mouth and I heard sounds of crying. I backed away and looked off to the side. I saw my reflection. Or at least what I thought was my reflection. What I saw was not the reflection of Vic Harris. Instead I saw a man with a devilish smirk on his face, with no shirt on and a Z carved into his skin on his right shoulder. I blinked and the man in the reflection was gone. Replaced by my astonished appearance. Cassie again reached out for me and I saw her mouth form the words "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean that!" but again I backed away in fear. I was a monster. A complete monster. Just like the man once known as Zayne Jacobs had been.
At Fujin's Temple
I had to run. I simply had to. I ran around the city aimlessly for about an hour avoiding everyone. It was easy. I pretty much knew it like the back of my hand by now. Soon enough, I went to the first place I thought of. Fujin's. It was where I could get my mind off things. The first thing I did was run to the carving of my mother. I looked up at her as a tear rolled down my face.
"I'm…I'm not like you mom…" I began shakily, still unable to comprehend what I had done. "I attacked her. Just like Zayne did to you. I'm no better than him."
"Yes. You are," Fujin's voice said from behind me. I jumped. I really hated it when he did that. I turned to see him standing there wearing a concerned look on his face rather than his usual smirk. Then I watched him pull something out of his vest and tap it. I saw a small image form of Johnny Cage made of air.
"Johnny, I have found him," Fujin said calmly to the figure of Johnny.
"Thank the Elder Gods," Johnny's voice answered.
"How is Cassandra," Fujin asked. I watched him hold his free hand up in a fighting stance. I knew he would intend to keep me here by any means necessary.
"Not great," Johnny answered. "Glad you found Vic though. I'll go check on her." Fujin nodded and returned the device to the inside of his jacket.
"Explain what happened," Fujin said to me. I shook my head.
"Allow me to guess then," Fujin began. "You and Cassandra were engaged in a lover's quarrel?" I nodded reluctantly. Was nothing sacred anymore?! Granted…we were yelling rather loud.
"You both said some things you did not mean. Cassandra herself is absolutely horrified at the words she told you," Fujin continued. I nodded again and clenched my fists.
"She…insulted her," I said angrily, surprising myself and Fujin for that matter. In a flash, he had assumed his fighting stance.
"Breathe Vic," he said calmly, not lowering his guard just in case. "Remember what I taught you. The wind is your ally. It will only answer if you yourself remain calm and in control of your emotions." I did what he instructed and I felt the rage inside me get blown away like fallen leaves.
"You are Lauren Harris' son," Fujin continued. "As stated by your allies multiple times, you have acted in situations exactly the way your mother would have."
"But…But I attacked Cassie Fujin," I said. "I wanted to harm her."
"Did you," he asked.
"Doesn't matter," I muttered.
"Vic, answer the question," Fujin stated calmly. "Did you harm Cassandra?"
"Well…no," I said a little unenthusiastically. Fujin walked over and placed his hand on my shoulder. I felt the sensation of a cool breeze washing over me. He looked into my face and I knew that the following words he was going to tell me were going to be 100% true. Much like everything else he had told me for my entire life.
"Zayne Jacobs would have."
Later. At Cassie's House
I found myself standing on the porch of Cassie's house a few minutes after Fujin had persuaded me to come here. First thing I saw was that Johnny's car was in the driveway parked behind Cassie's. Oh perfect. I had decided to pick up 2 bags of Cassie's favorite candy, M&M's, as a…peace offering I guess? I don't know, it seemed like a good idea about 20 minutes ago, shut up! I raised my hand and rapped my knuckles on the door 3 times. Within seconds, Johnny answered. He looked me up and down, nodded once and let me inside. I could tell he wasn't mad either, so that was lucky.
"Who was it Daddy?" Cassie's voice asked from the couch. I couldn't see her so she must be lying down on it and her voice sounded like she had been crying. Johnny motioned to me to say something.
"Candy gram," I said almost immediately as it was the first thing that popped into my head. Johnny closed his eyes, smiled and gave me the thumbs up while trying not to laugh. Cassie's head popped up like a whack-a-mole and I swear she must have cricked her neck after turning to face me that fast. She squeaked, jumped off the couch and embraced me just as tight as she had when she found out I had been Thrash.
"I'm so sorry. I have no idea why I said that," Cassie's muffled voice said from my chest area. I tossed the bags of M&M's onto the couch and ran my hands up and down her back. I had just now noticed that she was just wearing a sports bra and yoga pants. As well as a fresh mani pedi.. Don't be a moron though Vic. Focus on what you did wrong rather than the tight pants You got this.
"I shouldn't have attacked you Cass," I whispered. "I don't know why I even did that. That was not me. I'm the bad guy here this time. I'm so sorry." I felt her lips press against my neck.
"I forgive you," she whispered back. Johnny clapped his hands together which caused Cassie to make a sound that sounded like a scared cat.
"Welp" Johnny said. "My work here is done. Have fun you two! I've got a date night with mai waif!" My man did the Borat impression. Like full stop. Both Cassie and I stared at him as he grabbed his keys, walked out the door and followed it up with "GREAT SUCCESS!" I stared at the door in awe for a few moments and watched Johnny's car pull away.
"My man thinks he's Tuxedo Mask huh?" I said before I could stop myself. Cassie giggled. I looked down into her face and saw that there was a stray tear there. I raised my finger and wiped it away. Cassie kissed me tenderly. In the kiss, I now believed that she was truly sorry for how she had acted and that she had forgiven me for what I had done in retaliation. She pulled away after a few minutes and smiled at me lovingly.
"Anyone ever told you that you're a pretty kitty?" I said to her.
"Mew?" Cassie said and gave me a big eyed look. I leaned into the bit and scratched her on the head.
"Good kitty," I said. Cassie giggled again.
"It was the booze. I wasn't thinking straight. The words just…just came out before I could stop them. I miss your mom too Vic," Cassie told me and released herself from my arms.
"I was still the worse person," I said sadly. "I'm surprised you even let me in here tonight."
"I haven't ruled out making you sleep on the couch yet," Cassie answered after folding her arms.
"Would it help my chances if I told you those bags of candy are for you?" I asked.
"It might," Cassie said and smiled. "Could do with a shoulder or foot rub too." It was my turn to smile. Oh yeah, I was pretty good at giving those.
"Consider it done," I said and held my arms open. Cassie walked into them and did her trademarked "Mmm" sound as she hugged me. She let go after a few moments.
"I was going to show you this before we both acted like children," she said and started digging through her bag. Eventually she pulled out a jewel case. My heart skipped a beat when I saw who was depicted on the case. My mom. This was one of her self produced and released CDs. I thought I would never see one of them again. Let alone a physical copy. This one though. This one was rare. Never released digitally much like her other music. I did have my mom's other CDs on my phone but I couldn't find the strength to listen to them every time I tried. Maybe with Cassie, it would be different. She handed the CD to me and I looked down at the smiling face of my mom. The words read "Lauren Harris. Live Downtown!" I remembered this one. It was extremely special to me. She had recorded this one with Dante and I in attendance when I was about 12. In a trace, I walked over and sat down on the couch while staring at the album's track list. I remembered all of these songs as if the show was last night. A mixture of covers and originals. Cassie sat down next to me and connected her phone to the nearby speaker. She must have already put this on her phone.
"When…where," I asked.
"The spa had it in the gift shop and I had to buy it as a late birthday present for you," she explained. "I put it on my phone before coming to the base. I wanted to listen to it with you. I figured you wanted the physical copy too." Cassie pressed play on the first track and I heard polite applause coming from the speaker followed by someone saying "Ladies and Gentleman, Lauren Harris!" then…she spoke…it was the first time I had heard her speak in over 8 years. I couldn't stop my hand from reaching out to the speaker or the tears falling from my face. I missed my mom so fucking much. She had been murdered in her home by my garbage father and I wasn't there to protect her. Cassie's hands were caressing my shoulder and arm and I could hear that she was also crying as we listened to my mom play an acoustic show. Then after about 4 tracks in, my mom said "I used to sing this next song to my son when he was still a baby. It still remains true even if he is 12 years old now. He's right there by the way. His name is Victor." Cassie gasped as 12 year old Vic's voice came through the speaker "Hi mom!" I had said "You're doing great." I lost it entirely when she started to play the song she used to sing to me when I was really little. I was even transported to a time where I was still a little kid and had a really bad nightmare and my mom had sat with me and sang this song. Little Vic knew that Lauren Harris would protect him from any monster that disturbed his rest. I looked over at Cassie whose face was also wet with tears but she was smiling at something else. I looked in that direction just in time to see an all too familiar face dissipate into the winds again.
"Cass," I said through a sniff. She shook her head for a moment and looked at me after wiping excess tears from her face.
"Hmm?" she said.
"Thank you," I answered.
"You're welcome babe," Cassie said and sniffed.
"I don't…I don't deserve this…after how I acted," I said and bowed my head. Cassie lifted it back up with her finger.
"What happened today wasn't all your fault. I'm to blame too. What matters is that we work through it together. Lay on my lap cutie," she responded. I obeyed her command and she kissed my forehead softly before starting to play with my hair lovingly.
"My puppy," she said. This honestly was the best present anyone had ever given me.
I got to hear my mom sing again.