And Sweet Revenge Grows Harsh
- And eight words the Wiccan Rede fullfil;
An it harm none, do what ye will.
Excerpt from Jane Smith's Blue-Green Book of Shadows.
---------------------------------
I stare at the body in my bed, my hands trembling at the shock of what I'm seeing.
"Get away from the body. Get your clothes, be silent doing so, and get out of the building. For your own safety, get out. Now." My head jerks to the left. Who's talking to me? Oh. I know her. She's the tall blonde from the experience I had when I nearly... died? Permanently shut down? In any case, she's there. She said she was connected to my pendant, the one still around my neck. I swallow hard, trying to work out what she, or possibly it, is doing here. The blonde moves her head sharply, her attention on the body. She's pointing to my clothes, her index moving to the general direction of the door. Jane made my pendant. She'd made it, to make sure I'd never lose my way. So, it is trying to protect me for some reason. With the greatest stealth I slide myself out from between the sheets. I quickly grab clothes from the pile at my side of my bed. I pause, the equilibrium centres of my cranial systems are out of sync. Either that, or it's my chip again. I'll have to run a diagnostic later.
I'm going without a bra. No time to work it out. Okay, shirt on, v-necked sleeveless sweater, skirt... socks. I need socks to prevent rubbing and potential soreness when wearing shoes or boots. Jacket. I'll need that, because my Sonic Screwdriver is-
"You look good in my clothes," purrs a voice from behind me. I jump, spinning around to see who it is. Oh. Oh no. Oh no. It's the body. Except, it would seem that I'm dealing with something not human, which would explain the lower body temperature. Not Metal, though. That I'd know immediately. And I've just managed an optical scan. This is a completely organic individual. Female, mid-teens. Blonde. Naturally long eyelashes strange eyes. Wide and expressive, with a turquoise blue outside, and a cobalt interior. Angular jawline, with a chin with a rounded point.
And all those features are staring at me. Seductively. I think I must have slept with her last night. And I can't simply walk away. I know I should, I need to, I want to, but I can't.
Why can't I?
"However, if you're going to play that game..." She slides effortlessly out of the bed, and walks towards me, completely naked. Her hips are larger than mine, but are gently rounded, swaying as each step brings her closer to me. I feel a sensation stab away inside my chest. I wish my hips were capable of swaying in that way. And I don't know why I have this sudden desire, either. And her breasts are larger than mine, too. I swallow, trying to keep the feelings I have at bay. I watch her scooping up from the floor a cherry red Alice band, and a ribbon. She's doing up the top buttons of the shirt, and sliding the ribbon under the collar. Oh. It goes diagonally over itself, held in in place in the centre. Must be a private school thing, a ribbon instead of a tie. And it feels weird, my hair brushed back and held in place. I look so different, dressed like this. Innocent. Completely innocent.
I turn to look at her, the stranger which seems to have the Evenstar pendant so concerned for my safety, but she's not at my side. She's at the stairs of my bedroom, a small smirk on her face, dressed in the same uniform as I'm wearing.
"I always carry a clean set of clothes with me. You never know what fun you might end up having," she says. She's not human. Clearly not Metal... so, the only possibility is that she's somehow supernatural in nature.
But the Time Displacement technology, the way people and machines have been travelling from the future to the past, fighting this insane war for supremacy, has been tearing at the fabric of the universe. I know that the realm of Arcadia, the source of the stories and legends of the Fae, is cut off. The Briar Patch, what is between universes, and the route to Arcadia itself, is poisoned. It's only the areas surrounding this particular universe, but it means that everything here is damaged. I remember Jane commenting once that she hadn't encountered anyone, or anything supernatural or magickal since being exiled here. She never explained fully that story. I wonder now, how her family will feel, their daughter never coming home. I know her mother is dead, and her fiancé, but she had a sister, one obsessed with science fiction...
She'll be at the door, waiting for her sister's return, but it'll never come.
"Why so sad? Your emotions are rolling off from you like a thick fog... pain, grief, anger..." Her eyes widen with realisation. "Oh my. I'm severely out of practice... I now there was a time, when I'd have known when someone was wracked with the loss of one dear and close to them... and I've had exploited it fully." She sighs, a clear mark of regret. I take a step back, my hand outstretched as if ready to throw a stone at her. I focus my thoughts and create a ball of silver light, spinning faster and wilder with each passing moment. I've only ever done this as a trick, an exercise to focus what magic I have inside of me. I was never made to have this ability, this magick. It was an accident, a side effect from touching Jane when she was healing. My organics are now supernatural... and I guess the changes to the machine inside of me are a part of it all.
I glare at the blonde with the entire black-welled core of my hate. If I knew how, I would tear this mockery of chaste innocence to shreds.
"I bet you would... demon," I snarl out. It's the only thing that makes sense. Based on the the limited information in the Blue-Green Book, that is a demon. I'm guessing she only put a limited amount in, because she'd only had limited interaction with them. Her reasons I can understand. They are as trustworthy as Metal. I love the look of utter shock on that female face. The fact it can feel shock, and judging by that new expression, fear, makes me feel glad. Nice to know that I'll start giving payback on the forces that decided to steal my girlfriend from me.
"Yes, demon. But you need to hear me out." I snort at this.
"You only tell lies." he hands go out, stretched fully at this.
"Not always, and not about how I got here. I chose you, because you are the first thing with even a hint of the supernatural inside of it. This universe is like a prison. I've tried to get back home, but I can't. There are barriers to that. I'd risk travelling in the Patch, but all the Openings I've found are impossible to use.
"There was a time, when I was powerful and strong, and dedicated to the cause. I followed him relentlessly, because I believed in His message. Truly believed the words of the Morning Star. Time and again I brought success. My hand caused the spilling of blood in Whitechapel, the bullet to go inside Franz Ferdinand, John F Kennedy, my hands on the throttle as my plane smashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Centre... I've killed so many people. And I was returning to Earth to do it again.
"Then things went badly wrong. I managed to hit... something. And I was torn apart. I don't know what happened to the rest of me. I'm guessing I'm the one fragment of my former self that survived. I was hurt, wounded, and in this prison of a dimension. I was dying.
"Lucky for me, I appeared in a hospital. This body was empty. They'd already declared her brain-dead. Now, I may not remember everything of my past, but I know that I was always particular in having a male form. Some belief I had. I think it was utter hatred towards females. But here was a perfect body, about to go to waste. It's amazing the lengths You'll go to survive.
"I went into this vacant shell, and straight away, I saw my mistake. There were still traces of her soul. The accident had violently ripped her soul from her, and I could feel the thin threads that were trailing, no longer holding down a soul, were clawing into me. I found myself trapped. If I'd not been so badly hurt, I'd have felt it. Smelt it. The rotten stink of humanity. So much innocence, chastity and humanity. Whole, I could crush it with ease. But broken, nearly dead... it was impossible for me to do, and believe me, I tried."
I can't help but snigger at her. I think it funny, that a powerful, woman-hating demon could be brought low by what sounds like a crack between universes, and a teenage girl who had been good all her life. No, not funny. Freaking hilarious.
"It's not funny. Do you know what it's like to be what I am, and to care? To be unable to just take a life, because you have this filthy humanity repulse you to the act? It's humiliating," she pouts. I just crease up now, unable to keep the ball of energy going now. This is so funny... she stamps her foot in annoyance.
"I wonder if your dead lover would take me seriously? Maybe they'd find me preferable to you," she sneers. I immediately frown at her.
"She never would," I snarl at her. She smirks back.
"Got you to stop laughing at me," she comments. I look to the floor. She walks up to me, and holds my arms.
"Look, I know that you're hurting, but you need to know... Last night was amazing. I mean, the sex and all that usually is... but you... I felt something. You have something, and it's like in those sappy romances. Not love, but..." she hesitates, as if unsure of what to say next. "Look, we need to stick together. Both of us look human, but we're not, right? You're clearly Arcadian or possibly part-Arcadian, based on the hair strand test I did when you were asleep." That last part has my full attention.
"Hair strand test?" I say hesitantly. She gives me a big smile.
"Yeah... you don't know about it, do you? Well, I'll teach you what I can... if you want," she offers. I feel the muscles to my eyelids make them narrow.
"Demons lie," I point out. She just shrugs.
"Not this one," she says. She slides her arms around my waist.
"You know, I used to hate the world, want it destroyed so badly... but now, welded into this body, I can't help but love this world, despite all the people." She looks me in the eye. "Your girlfriend... how did she die? I don't get the impression it was in her sleep or something," she half-whispers.
And it all gushes out, Skynet, Judgement Day, the Future War, my origins, being sent back in time to protect someone important to the resistance, How I got damaged when I was blown up in the Jeep, how I met Jane, the mission in the past where we saved humanity's saviour by protecting his ancestor, how I fell for Jane, that final mission in the factory. My voice just cracks when I get to that part, because it hurts so bad, remembering it. Remembering that look on her face when she sent us back, willing to sacrifice herself to keep us safe... All of it. And it feels good, letting it all out, saying what I've been keeping in all this time. I kept out details of the Cathedral, simplifying it to just time travel technology that has since been destroyed. I can't bring myself to tell her about the Cathedral. It's too special. That place hold too many memories of her. Not to mention the fact that it's been home to me. And it's a part of who I am. In my genetic coding. In the part of me that's a living girl, and not a machine.
I've a responsibility. To myself, to those I've lost, to those who gave parts of themselves to make up who I am. I am much more than just another Terminator. I've shown that you can become much more than what you started out as. I can't stand the fact I started out as a machine that sought only to kill and destroy. Now, the only things I want to destroy is Metal. I'll find a way to overcome my dirty little secret, and maybe I'll find a way to redeem myself.
I stare at the demon. Maybe she, or rather it, can help me deliver sweet revenge harshly.