Chapter 9: When things fall apart
"Careful with your driving, man!" I admonished. Gwen was racing through the streets like a junkie on withdrawal syndrome, "You are going to attract attention to us!"
"None sense Merlin! This is how I drive on a regular basis…nothing can possibly go wrong." She laughed out heartily
"Clearly you seem to be enjoying yourself." I point out, slightly agitated by her nonchalant attitude.
"Well, besides the fact that we are officially Camelot's most wanted….no not really." She was focusing on the road, bee-lining her way through traffic.
For a second I felt like my heart had come to a sudden stop, "Gwen, please take it easy."
"Relax Merlin." She said shrugging her shoulders; she began to hum a tune…
"Look… just slow down a bit, we are creating a lot of attention towards us and the color of your car doesn't make it any easier." I say holding on to the handle in the car.
"What's wrong with my car's color?" she exclaimed,
"It's fluorescent pink!" I cry out, shocked that she didn't find anything remotely wrong with her car's color.
"It's unique!" she counters.
"….and that is exactly the problem Gwen. We need to change cars." I suggest.
Finally she slows down, "You mean, we are going to steal a car."
"I don't know…let me think….but its either we continue on foot or we take someone's car." I mumble.
"…and you do not want any attention on us what so ever?" she burst out laughing, "We will be caught instantly."
"Why do you find this amusing?" I ask, growing more annoyed by the second.
"Because you are such a tool!"
"A tool? How dare you call me a tool?"
"Tools are adorable." She turns her head towards me
"Look at the bloody road, Gwen!" I shout out.
The car swerved off the road tracks, people blew their horns, warning us…and I? I wanted to explode.
I sat up straight, facing her sternly; she was focusing on the road, "Slow down this instant!" I order, my voice quivering from the unnecessary stress she was putting me under, "Slow the fucking car down!"
Gwen slammed on the breaks, causing my upper torso to jerk forwards. Only God could imagine what would have happened had I not put on a seatbelt.
Holding my chest in agony, I wince in pain, "Have you completely lost it? You are going to get us killed!"
The cars honk in abandon, as every driver that passes us by makes the additional effort to scream out obscenities at us.
"No, Merlin! No! You are the one that's gonna get us killed!" she turns to me, eyes on me, and I sensed what was really bugging her. She hadn't lost her mind…no….Gwen was scared….scared for her life.
"Park the car on the side of the road…" I calmly tell her, "Let's talk this out."
She lets out a heavy sigh, wordlessly following my instructions.
There were tears she was fighting back, I could hear her sob, "I…I…never asked for this…" she began to say, "I never wanted this….yet…here…I am…..running…."
I remain still.
"Running! Merlin! I am running away from something I have no part to play in!" her voice, shaky, uneasy but yet powerful…she hadn't given up…but she was frustrated..and perhaps a little scared...
"I…I don't know…." I mutter, finally gathering the courage to look at this amazing woman in the eye, her eyes begging for answers, searching for them, answers I knew I could never provide her with. "It happened so….unexpectedly…"
She shook her head, "No….Merlin….No! It's the one thing I refused to believe in! But it is starring us all in the face!"
I look at her in bewilderment….what the hell was she on about?
"What do you mean?"
She bit her lip, her eyes fiery and filled with rage, "You….you wouldn't believe it…" she said turning away, but quickly she faced me again, "Perhaps you will! Of course! Of course you will! You've seen it! You've seen it!"
"Gwen!" I call out, "Stop it!"
She got out of the car and I quickly followed suit
"Don't you see Merlin!"
"See what?" I am dumbfounded, perhaps shocked at her sudden reasoning.
"The evil…Merlin….the…magic?" She rushed towards me, our faces so close to each other, I could feel the warmth of her breath, her lavender scent….snap out of it Merlin! I quickly tell my self.
I grab a hold of each of her arms, "Gwen…there are things….in this world….things I cannot explain."
"But you know!" she shrilled out, "You knew all this time!"
I hit myself on the chest, "Me? Know what? That I am evil? That I do all this on purpose?"
Gwen backed away from me instantly, "Morgana and yourself, you are toying with things you should not be toying with," she took a deep breath before screaming out, "It is dangerous! It is not right!"
"What the fuck do you know?" I challenged, "You do not know anything! You know nothing of Morgana, Arthur or myself! You have no clue what is going on! So stop judging me!"
"Yes! Yes you are right!" she suddenly snapped, her eyes furious but filled with pride, her voice thundered in my ears, " I have no fucking clue! Now think! Why the hell am I part of this? I see your life is in danger…then how come mine is as well!" she stomped her foot on the ground, "I care about you Merlin….I really do….but…this is just F-ed."
We stood in silence for a long moment, both refusing to utter the next word. She is angry…and I cannot blame her….a couple of weeks ago she was a friend that enjoyed hanging out with us. Probably overwhelmed at Arthur's little crush on her…or mine….we never spoke about that. A couple of weeks ago everything was alright.
Now she was with me, fleeing from God knows what. I study her carefully and it was then I decided that this loving person deserved to know the whole story…
My only fear was that perhaps, just perhaps, she might switch sides and report us all to the police.
"Where is Arthur?" she suddenly asked, "We need him….right? Merlin? Once we find him….everything will be alright.
I nod my head, thinking to myself that unfortunately this was not so…Arthur was just a piece of the puzzle…what we needed to do was to get rid of Morgana…and protect the secret…the secret that was the order.
"Let's continue to Ealdor….we have friends there…friends that will protect you…" I say reassuringly.
She smiles uneasily at me, "Me? That is comforting to hear Merlin….but what about you? Aren't they going to protect you?"
I shrug my shoulders and signal her to get back into the car with me. It was no use telling her…that…in the end…the only person protecting all of them would be….me.
Camelot
Kiki practically jumped out of bed, the time was near. Today was the much awaited Pendragon press conference and there was no way she was going to miss it.
She took the quickest shower ever and didn't fail to ring her partner instantly.
"I'll be there in 10." He says.
She is happy to hear that.
Today, Pendragon Corporation would have a lot of answering to do and she was ready to listen…most of it would probably be bullshit.
With Morgana in critical condition and Arthur missing, she could only imagine what was to happen next...who would take over?
Kiki shook her head in amazement, this reminded her of a mini mafia story…but then you include the occult, dragons and some secret society crap…you find yourself in a pretty messed up situation.
She heard a car honking and she knew her partner was ready to begin the day with her.
Quickly she grabbed her badge and sun shades, rushing out of the house and into the car.
The day was only beginning and it could turn out to be one heck of a day...nevertheless...she was prepared.
I woke up to Gwen's gentle shoves, "Merlin…we are in Ealdor…where do I turn?"
I take a minute to recognize my surroundings, "How long have I been asleep?" I groan…
"Two hours max." she tells me.
Sitting up, I face the sign that said Ealdor, there is relief written on my face…somehow I felt safer, "Down the road we take a right and then the second left….."
She sighs and starts the car, "I have a strange feeling about this…."
"Good." I commented…and strangely enough, I meant it.
Camelot
The Pendragon press conference was not a joke, people struggled to get in, pushing shoving, persuading, flirting…they tried everything that was anything. But security was tight and very much under control.
Kiki spotted Agent K amidst the commotion, but there clearly hadn't been enough time to walk up to him and greet the older and more experienced Agent.
A young man stepped out unto the podium.
Her partner leaned in close to her, "Lance du Lac, himself…."
"Unbelievable…" Kiki whispers back, surprised that he would actually show up.
"I think we should take him for questioning….I don't like men like him." Her partner grumbled, "Just look at him…" he said very much in disgust, his eyes watching the handsome Lance carefully.
"A stunner to look at, though." Kiki commented, "But how are you going to take him in…we don't have a warrant. The man is clean."
"Not according to our records…I mean- " her partner was cut short by the microphone sound.
There was a sudden silence, the conference was about to begin, the only noise audible was the one the multiple camera flashes made.
As Kiki took her seat she began instantly to scout the press room. Noticing that most of her boys were on the field, undercover or not. They were there. That was a good sign.
Pendragon Press room was surrounded by media and the feds.
Lance du Lac took his place on the podium, he had done this countless of times, she observed.
His stance was firm, his look confident and he even managed to smile.
A true professional business executive indeed, he looked over to his right and was signaled that he could commence.
He hesitated for a while, cleared his throat and began to speak, Kiki sat back admiring this young man's deep tone, it sounded soothing and calm…it sounded like Lance du Lac had everything under control.
He introduced himself to the media and people in the room, addressed the public that were currently glued on to the tv screen, all waiting for what he had to say.
He thanked them for their appearance today, it was a difficult time for the Pendragon Corporation and a sad one as well. They had lost a powerful person, a man dedicated to the company and to Camelot itself. His work was cherished and admired. Lance du Lac mentioned that he himself had admired the company from the beginning and could only be honored to be a part of this family.
Lance stood strong in front of the media, "Buried amid the rubble of Pendragon Coorporation's fallen house of cards is the greed and political ties that caused this to our company."
The people in the room held their breath, this had been totally unexpected. Kiki and her partner glanced at each other briefly, Oliver shrugged his shoulders. Lance du Lac was about to cause another scandal. – simple.
Kiki located Agent Kilgarrah, he seemed unmoved, mentally she opted to remain as calm as he was right now.
Lance continued his speech, "Uther Pendragon's death is devastating news, top executives are bailing out and walking away with hundreds of millions of money. The investigations are on going. With our Board in shambles, I am announcing that as of today I will be running the company and it has been decided upon that while Arthur and Morgana are unable to commence with the handover, I will be tentatively in charge of Pendragon Corporation."
He paused for a while watching the media intently, suddenly like a head rush, did the questions come in.
What about Uther's death? What has it been classified at?
He replied calmly, "Investigations are on going, I am not permitted to comment on this."
And there were many more, but he thanked the crowd and proceeded to walk out of the room.
The media followed suit immediately, but were obstructed by security.
Kiki took her mobile,
"What are you up to?" her partner asked.
"I'm trying to see if there is a way we can take in Lance du Lac for questioning…." She confidently ponders, "There is no way in hell, that he won't know anything about it."
Oliver smiled, "I thought he'd have shit to say about all the charges on Arthur or Morgana….but the idiot didn't say anything at all….so much for some press release."
Kiki grinned, "He actually said a lot without having to say nothing at all-" the person on the other end picked up the line, Kiki was relieved, "Hey Jake, do me a favour….bring out the Pendragon Files…we got a new suspect….Lance du Lac….yiep….don't care if he ain't in the system….we got some of his files….I wanna know everything….what he eats, shits out, fucks…his life style, girls, boys, animals….everything…you name it….thank you….and see you in…..15 minutes"
She patted her partner on the back, "We'll get our warrant today…I promise you…."
"What do you thing is happening, boss?" Her partner asked, excited about getting a chance to make the popular Lance du lac wish he was no where near Camelot."
"Pendragon Corportation is one corrupt piece of crap…there is more to that, our man Lance…he's what I suspect a little puppet…" she takes out her shades from her suite pocket, "Let's go to the office, might be another long ass day. Pendragon's puppet has some questions to answer."
Elsewhere….
Arthur could not stop pacing around, how could all this happen to him in the span of just a few days?
He was a fugitive now, running from the law…he watched the Pendragon Press conference, Lance was now heading the Corporation, his father would be turning in the morgue now.
He looked at the time, in about 20 minutes the motel would ask "Mr. Lucas Drench" to check out.
He chuckled at his alias, Lucas Drench….it has come to this.
Arthur waited patiently for the one phone call that would determine his next destination.
The room phone rang.
He picked up instantly, waiting to hear the proper password from the other line.
"Excalibur….clear."
Taking a deep breath, he quickly asked, "Traceable?"
"No…we worked on it, we have 5 minutes with you."
Arthur nodded, "Was the press convinced?"
"The press yes, CIA and Feds….i doubt…you need to move…"
Arthur fumbled with the receiver, "I know…but you need to help get Gwen out of Camelot."
"Gwen?" there was a long silence on the other end, "Thought…we were not supposed to involve others…."
Arthur shook his head, "We were not…she happened to be there…we need to find Merlin and the girl…especially the girl." He had to hurry he didn't have enough time,
"She cannot-"
"She is in danger! Trust me! She needs to be out of Camelot…" Arthur sat on the bed, "Please….make sure she is safe."
There was a moment silence, the caller was deep in thought, "Ok."
"where is my next location?" Arthur asked.
"Ealdor, there is a packet for you at the reception, its cash enough to get you to Ealdor and any other trouble you may run into. Take care and see you soon.." the line went dead.
Arthur fell on the bed, breathing a sigh of relief. Gwen will be safe, they would ensure her safety…and he knew that she would be taken to Ealdor, he hoped that she wouldn't resist…he promised that people would come for her and take her to safety.
Lying on the bed seemed like a luxury he had not experienced for so long, for Arthur had avoided sleeping on the bed, in order not to be caught unawares while sleeping.
There was danger lurking everywhere and he had to remain alert. Without further hesitation he lifted himself op from the bed. It was time to move on, time to go and meeti up with the others.
And then what?
He did not know...he would only hope that Merlin would come up with something...the young chap always did...and for the first time Arthur realized just how important Merlin was to him...