A Falling World:Chapter 9 Part 1 Kidnapping

The building was brightly lit much to the aggravation of Hastur. He was a creature that felt most comfortable in the darkness that accompanied shadowed forests cast in moonlight or traversing the darkened alleys that lined the human streets. Here though, his pale skin gleamed in the light bringing attention to his poor relationship with the Sun. The Sun was a beast he knew but whose nature was one he found entirely foul. It didn’t matter how often it came to welcome him and his brethren Hastur had always hated the light since his first day. He wasn’t gifted wings to shield his eyes so when the creator spoke to him he was forced to look at him unobscured and the light hurt.

Like all his siblings, he was told that one day he would return and stand where he is now and when he did Hastur was to answer why. Then all he understood was the feeling of being cast out and the burning fires of hell as he learned the nuances of every layer through experience. Hastur didn’t understand at first what the lord meant but in time the question was apparent. Why was I put here when there were so many others to chose from? Why didn’t you make me the strongest? Why won’t you speak with me? But then the mortals appeared and the question took on new obvious meanings. Why do you give them a choice but not us? Why do we need to collect their souls? Why are they enough for you but we aren’t?

In response Hastur only heard silence. It took a long time for him to understand that silence was a response as well and one that deserves as much respect as a reply made with sincerity. It was his creator shouting at him that he didn’t want to be bothered – not by him. How many times, Hastur wondered, was he told by his creator that he wanted to be left alone through that silence? He tried his best. For longer than even the oldest mortals had been crawling and running across the worlds he tried his best to make amends with his creator for whatever fault he had or mistake he made. He was ready to accept responsibility for whatever the reason was if only given the chance. A chance he knew he would never be given. In the end though Hastur decided that if he was going to be answered through a void he had to interpret for himself then the lord had no right to be upset if he interpreted his answers in ways unintended. Hastur hated the light. He hated it ever so much.

He half listened to the bickering of Alphonse and Holly. He heard them complain about him, but that didn’t matter. He sized the two of them up. Alphonse was able to use magic, but he wasn’t recruited like the rest which meant he wasn’t very strong and he didn’t have a background that made up for that fact. Most likely he went through the trials and quit when he got scared. Anything above thirty completed trials and they would have recruited him as a guard or something else useless he thought. Holly was a different matter. Hastur had watched the quality of Grimm diminish over time and Holly seemed about average for her kind. Still though having Grimm pair up was a taboo that the fae zealously stuck too. Either Briar had become suicidally progressive or things were falling apart on the policing front. I guess that explains why I’m here, he thought with a limp smile.

Richard entered the room. His blue jacket was disheveled from carrying David “All right, he’s unconscious and tied up. Alphonse when we’re ready we will be relying on you to get the information we want. He was barely conscious when we nabbed him so it shouldn’t be too hard.”

“Nabbing makes it sound like we’re the bad guys. We extracted him as a possible informant.” Holly objected.

“Nabbed, extracted. Look he’s unconscious in the next room.” How many times had he done this Richard thought as he looked around the room seeing if there were any other questions. Whenever someone died and were replaced it always took a few ticks to adjust to their manners. It turns out that for Holly she carried with her a few citizen quirks. Richard took a mental note for later. “Alphonse, once we’re ready wake him up and get to work. I’ll ask the first question then let you take over after you make the connection. Holly you stay out of sight. We might need you later.”

“Why’s that?” Holly asked “We should all be present when he’s being interrogated.”

“There are a few things you learn to pick up on after a while. I don’t like how he and his friends were talking about prophecies earlier. On top of that we have one wizard breaking laws to teach these runts magic. Then we also have one of them popping up in the middle of our assignments. I don’t like any of that. Depending on how he answers we might need to be unconventional tonight.”

“Is that why we have him?” Holly asked pointing at Hastur. “You do know what he is right? Why is he here?”

“I’m here because the sooner you all close this case the sooner I will get that spear.” Hastur replied. He watched Holly’s face twist in shock and turn on the other Grimm.

“Richard what does he mean by that? What spear is he going to get?” Holly asked indignantly. He was there when Richard offered to overlook this demons presence in this realm. That alone would have been enough to toss him out of the force if his level had any standards. This was entirely different though, actively trading items in exchange for work from a demon couldn’t possibly be good. What the hell did Richard have?

“When Torrance died this girl chucked a spear she got from the first trial at us. I want this whole situation closed so I made a deal with Hastur.”

Before he finished answering Holly was in his face “You kept the weapon? That’s force property you stole! I can’t believe I’m working with criminals.”

“I don’t know how it works up top but in our division Grimm keep the weapons they come across. If anyone has a problem with that they can try and take it from me. That’s all there is to it.”

Holly leaned against the wall staring directly at Richard. “I think you have an interrogation to perform. Don’t let me hold you.”

The room David was held in was darker than the one Hastur came from. David was locked to a chair in the middle of the room with handcuffs. When he awoke he found he was not alone.

Richard introduced himself and explained that he needed some information from David about a girl with red hair. When David didn’t respond Richard looked over to Alphonse questioningly. “He isn’t paying attention.”

Richard grabbed his face. “Look at me. Do you understand?”

Alphonse interrupted “Give me a second. Let me see what I can do.”

He pierced into David’s mind. The state was one of disarray where jumbled tatters of thought spread outward without tethers connecting them. David was awake but not truly conscious. Reaching in further Alphonse found the source. With a momentary surge of concentration Alphonse focused his energy and the construct constricted in response. David’s thoughts were no longer meandering arbitrarily through the weave.

  Richard started again “Do you understand me? What can you tell me about where you’re staying?”

“Yeah, I understand and I guess it depends on what you want to know.”

Richard stepped aside and let Alphonse take over. Question after question Alphonse asked and each time David’s answer was vague. Then after he answered he would ask a question himself. This went on for a few minutes while Alphonse navigated David’s peripheral thoughts. Eventually Alphonse could here them. Once again you prove to be an excellent judge of character. Oh wow what an ugly guy. Don’t be mean that’s an awful thing to think. Haha you’re going to die like a loser and no one is going to miss you. Put his dick in your mouth. Fuck off, stop thinking like that, stop it.

Alphonse sighed and resigned himself to the fact David was one of those types. Most people lingered on the questions asked. Their minds latching onto adjacent information whether it be pure facts or memories. Even the best liars relied on their memories to construct something believable, but then there were people like this. Their thoughts only lingered on what was required to answer a question and then diverged in ways they couldn’t control. At least you can make it so someone misses you. Or at least try. Stop it! Their thoughts invaded themselves and twisted itself into knots in ways that perpetually distracted the owner.

Alphonse punched David but this didn’t clear his head. If anything it diverged his thoughts even more. He now had three different tracks with one insulting everyone in the room, another focusing on the pain, and a third trying to silence the other two. This was all separate from how David was responding where he just vaguely answered the questions posed to him.

Alphonse gave a look to Richard that told him he wasn’t going to be getting anywhere. With a nod Richard gave his okay and Alphonse focused on the construct he found and tightened his influence. As it was he wouldn’t be able to see any connecting memories but he could restrict David from uttering any lies.

Richard took control of the conversation again and explained what Alphonse had done to him.

David said “Okay, let’s test that out. I am a boy. I am a ... I am a… not girl.”

Good, Richard thought. At least that was working. “Now, I’m going to ask you one very specific question. Why were you speaking about prophecies earlier in the night?”

“Because that’s the reason why Mr. Brickenden collected us.”

“What prophecy are you a part of?”

“I’m not part of a prophecy.”

“You said the wizard collected you because of a prophecy. What prophecy called for him to collect you all?”

“He didn’t collect us because a prophecy.”

Incredulous Richard looked at Alphonse for an explanation. “It’s working. He isn’t lying or at least he doesn’t think he is.”

His patience thin Richard tried again “Are you part of a prophecy?”

“Yes.” David answered curtly.

“What prophecy are you a part of?”

“I’m not part of a prophecy.” David answered.

A long silence followed as Richard stared at David. Every answer he gave along these lines stretched his mind to an angle that was on the cusp of pain. This was a dangerous circumstance filled with people he greatly misjudged. He didn’t know what they wanted and so as challenging as it was he tried to maintain whatever leverage he had. David couldn’t lie, he understood that but language was like the moral landscape in it’s simplistic convolutions and unusual complexities. David wasn’t lying, nor was he shifting his beliefs in fractions of a second. Rather he was making two declarations with the same words. He and his peers were recruited because Henry believed in a prophecy but they were not part of prophecy for  by definition they could not be part of a prophecy. Likewise David was part of a prophecy due to the will of Henry but that prophecy he clung to was not a prophecy at all. I’m not lying I’m not, David told himself, I’m just having a conversation on two different levels.

Richard’s words were soft and slow when he spoke again “Tell me how to get into the mansion and we’ll let you go. You won’t see us again.”

“I won’t tell you how to get into the mansion but I will show you.”

“You’re not in any position to negotiate. You can work with us or you won’t be leaving this room.”

“Masks do two a few things. First, they protect aggressors by maintaining their anonymity. They also protect people in my position because then I can’t identify them later. Guess what you aren’t wearing? You messed up and I don’t buy for a second you plan on letting me go alive so I won’t tell you anything, but I will show you. And yeah, I will try and escape and get out of the way as soon as I can. Maybe I’ll make it maybe I won’t but at least then I’ll have a fighting chance.”

“Why would we ever bring you with us when you’re even admitting you’ll cause us trouble you dumbass? What makes you think we didn’t also grab your friends and we’ll just use them to get what we want?”

“Would you prefer I lie and pretend I’m not going to do what everyone knows I’m going to try and do? I’m not giving you any bullshit here. I will bring you into the mansion but after that I will do what I can to keep myself safe. If you did nab any of the others though and this is some perverse version of game theory then make your deal to them not me. If you didn’t though, well you put a lot of resources into grabbing me and with one of us missing kidnapping a second person is only going to get harder.”

Richard pulled out a pair of clippers and approached David. With the questions at an end Alphonse transitioned back to reading David’s mind and he felt a flush of pain before the stray thoughts went silent.

David looked down and saw his left pinky removed just under where the second knuckle should have been. He should have felt scared. Consciously he knew this but something was wrong. What he felt was something he almost didn’t recognize. It should have been an echo, a feeling that could barely be registered as an emotion at all. But this emerged in full force and it wasn’t the right one.

Alphonse, for the first time, was able to pick up the adjacent thoughts and facts from David. What he felt was an emotion of spite emerge which submerged every aspect of David’s character. Alphonse knew without doubt that David wasn’t going to help them with anything until he had his finger back or he took Richards.

Richard pulled Alphonse and Hastur out of the room but before the door was closed David spoke “You should be proud. Working together we have successfully defied destiny.” With that David stuck out his tongue in a way Richard almost considered childish before he cut through it with his teeth. The alcohol made his blood thin and it gushed from his mouth as well as his hand.

Richard stood in the doorway until David passed out. He called Alphonse back into the room and pulled out a crystalline diamond. He twisted the end and waited until he heard the soothing voice of someone on the other end ask what was required. Richard explained that he might have identified someone who is part of a prophecy and needed guidance on whether to save them or not. He clarified that this person is not confirmed but they are bleeding out.

When David awoke again he saw his clothes covered in blood but his tongue didn’t hurt and his finger was where it should be. Whatever emotion he was feeling before was gone but before he could drift back into the void of sleep he heard a thump from a shadowed figure in the corner.

“Ballsy move trying to bite off your tongue. The others brought you back because I asked them to. You look like someone who is fun to play with. You were so desperate to betray those who look after you and those who want to give you power just to save yourself. Then you try and kill yourself moments later. I do love my games and you are just a curiosity waiting to be dissected aren’t you?” Hastur walked around the room and embraced David from the back so he could whisper in his ear “The Grimm have a tendency of making even the strongest fae tremor. You see no one likes the reflection they see in their eyes. Everyone likes to imagine they are good and honest and trying their best but when they see an honest reflection of their soul it hurts understanding how wrong they are. I’ll give you this, for someone who can’t use magic you held your own well enough. Or maybe you can use magic. Maybe you saw exactly who you are in Richard’s eyes and instead of fear or repulsion you found that your soul is as empty as they come. Your life so meaningless that betrayal and suicide were both options too tempting to pass up.” Hastur released his grasp and walked back in front of David.

“I can’t betray someone I don’t owe anything to. I don’t owe Brickenden or anyone anything.”

“Oh? Maybe your right. Maybe.” Hastur snapped his fingers and the handcuffs unlatched. “It doesn’t matter now anyway. You said you wanted a fighting chance. Well here it is. The game we’ll play is tag. The way it works is that we’re both it. We can tag each other as often as we want but the game won’t end until the other person is dead. Oh, and the way I’ll be tagging you is with magic, or punches, or gouging out your eyes, or maybe breaking your legs. As for you, to make things fair, you have a gun on your right with 12 shots. You can use that to tag me until I die.”

“That’s not tag.” David said with a small voice.

“It’s not?” Hastur asked confused “That doesn’t sound right. It is a children’s game with very simple rules. Run around and hit each other. It’s one of my favorite games honestly. Though I can understand why you, with a mortals condition, might not like it. Oh well, it doesn’t really matter what you want now does it? I’ll count to thirty and then try to find you. One. Two.”