Chapter Thirteen

Threats On All Fronts

Owing to the early hour of the morning, Fareview Police Station was almost entirely unmanned. The night shift guards that were on duty proved to be fatigued and complacent; as a result, a figure dressed all in black clothing and a hooded leather jacket slipped undetected into the building like a wraith. The figure could have laughed - this was far too easy. Humans.

Once inside the reception area, the figure noted a single officer at the desk and no others in the near vicinity. This officer was broad and stocky and had dozed off with his bald head in a magazine. The figure moved through the reception area and along the corridor, rows of offices on either side. At one with the shadows (and destroying every CCTV camera they came across as they went), the figure swept through the station unobstructed, and reached the holding cells with unparalleled ease.

Upon reaching the cell with whose inmate they had come to commune, the figure unlocked the door with a splash of magic and a click before stepping inside.

Lying on a thin mattress was the chubby, unkempt, stinking shell of a man that was ‘Jeremy’.

The figure lashed out a kick into his kneecap to wake him.

Jeremy went to cry out a stream of foul language. The figure, quicker than light, slipped a gloved hand across Jeremy’s mouth. He turned with pleading eyes. ‘You are only to talk to me. You are not to cry out for help, you understand? You breathe a word of this to anyone, and I will leave you choking on your own blood,’ they hissed.

Jeremy nodded, each up-down movement frantic. The figure released him and backed away. ‘’Oo are you?’

‘I’m not from this world. That’s all you need to know.’

‘Ah. Who sent you?’

‘My, my,’ they spoke with a cold detachment, disregarding Jeremy’s question. ‘What a mess you’ve come into.’

Jeremy snarled in response. He seemed stronger, despite being at their mercy. ‘These fucking mortals won’t put me down for this, I assure you. I did nothing wrong.’

The figure’s laughter contained no mirth. ‘Oh, my darling, but they will. I’m not convinced that you’ve done nothing wrong, or you wouldn’t have been arrested and put in this… compromising position, would you? What’s the charge? You murdered an old lady?’

The muscles in Jeremy’s face slackened. ‘How did you know?’

‘Well, darling… you hear things. I’m on a… diplomatic mission, I guess you could call it. So… yes, during the short time I’ve been here, I have indeed heard tell of your little misdemeanour.’

Jeremy fixed the figure with a scathing glower. ‘Have you, indeed?’

The figure's mouth, the only visible part, twisted into a grin. ‘Yes, I have. In fact, I bore witness to your little attack on your daughter. I’m not entirely surprised, in all honesty, to now learn you’ve upgraded from assault to murder. It’s a slippery slope, isn’t it?’

Jeremy scoffed. ‘I’ve made many… drunken mistakes, but… I didn’t kill Katerina. For all I know, that was you,’ he finished with a snarl.

‘My dear, I’m not stupid enough to commit such an offence. I have more functioning brain cells than one who would. Why did you do it?’

‘I didn’t KILL HER!’

The figure smiled again and held their hands aloft in mock surrender. ‘Alright, if you say so. Someone did, though. Any ideas?’

‘Obviously not,’ he spat. He leaned back against the wall and stared at the figure. ‘If I had any clue, do you not think I’d have told the detectives?’

The figure regarded him with a tilted head. ‘I suppose. Nevertheless... you do realise you’ve put us in quite a predicament. My… superiors are most displeased at your ineptitude and violence. Especially harming Savannah. That, my dear, has to amount to one of the largest mistakes you’ve ever made.’

‘I know, but-’

‘Do you? Because I don’t think you do. You’ve spent such a long time with the mortals it seems to me that you’ve forgotten that you’re not one, and you’ve subsequently forgotten the overall goal you were set. Now you’ve gone and put us all in an incredibly unpleasant position. You’re a loose end at this point- a link between humans and our world. You could spill everything to them, and throw everything that me and mine have worked tirelessly to engineer.’

‘What do you intend to do about that?’ he said, his gaze determined, displaying a level of strength and insolence that had abandoned him for years.

The figure smiled. ‘No, you can relax. Don’t worry, I’m not going to kill you. Yet.’

‘Yet?’

‘Exactly. I want you to suffer, first. You attacked Savannah. What were you thinking?!’

The figure withdrew their hood. Jeremy’s inhalation sharpened.

‘You?! You’re here?!’

‘Obviously.’

‘But… why? Surely you have countless lackeys who would be better suited to this endeavour.’

‘Well, these violent altercations have raised many an eyebrow. My darling, I’m here to keep you in check. Lay another finger on her… remember, she’s important to our cause. Her life is worth more than you could even begin to imagine.’ The figure tilted its head and grinned before moving to leave the cell.

The figure turned its back to him and made to walk back through the cell doorway. ‘Needless to say… keep this meeting quiet. I will be visiting you again, but when that happens… you’d better hope you catch me on a good day.’

‘My mother will destroy you if you hurt me.’

The figure smirked. ‘She can certainly try. Besides, how do you plan on telling her? You’re stuck in this cell, with no forms of communication nor the magical prowess to escape. I rather think it’s time your festering lineage is cleansed from this universe. The new order is rising, Jeremy… continue like this, and you won’t get to be part of it.’

It turned away and strode from the room. As it did so, it threw another comment at him.

‘Oh, and one last thing. You really should have cleaned the knife you attacked Savannah with.’

*

Meetings between Kyla and The Queen were growing in regularity, and however unhappy Kyla was at this present reality, their situation necessitated it. These meetings were significantly superior to meetings with Jasper, at any rate. Every cloud, Kyla thought.

For a change, the Queen was not in the throne room. This time, she stood on the balcony at the tip of her fortress’s tallest tower, overlooking the vast, barren lands beneath. The smell of sulphur hung in the air. The crimson sun glared in the sky before them while the golden planet Mhaidas - another planet in the Kólasi system - glinted in the sky behind the fortress. It was a breathtaking spectacle to behold; even from the surface of their planet, a sea of lava gradually eating into Mhaidas’s aureate, ashen land, was visible. Kyla didn’t feel pity often, but she felt an undeniable sense of sorrow when she contemplated the souls who were condemned to eternity on Mhaidas, helpless as they watched the safety of their land eroding, knowing that, one day, they’d be sucked into the molten core.

Putting these unpleasant ruminations to the back of her mind, she stood beside the Queen, and focused on more pressing issues.

‘Where’s Titus?’ Kyla asked, noticing the rare absence of his hulking, brutish presence.

‘He’s… doing something for me. Never mind that…’

The Queen gripped the railing and wore a satisfied smile. She gestured to the land below them.

When she looked over the railing at the wasteland below, Kyla’s breath caught.

Spread out for hundreds of miles was nothing but an endless sea of black specks, akin to a great sea of ants, moving about their business. She saw flames erupt in various places, war machines being fired in a training exercise in others, skeletal cavalry braying in another, fighting pits where the Piriks would contest their creatures of war against one another in a sick sport emitted great roars and growls right at the forefront of the land. Scuffles broke out here and there among the soldiers, but this was not limited to them - from the colourful glows and cracks of lightning in a deep ravine far beyond, it was evident the magic wielders were having a disagreement. The Piriks, it seemed, were getting restless in peacetime, and their swelling numbers did not bring them harmony.

Kyla placed a hand on her stomach and released a shallow breath. ‘Your army…’

‘Indeed. At last count, it was over a million troops. More than sufficient to overwhelm any force The Seven can throw at us, I assure you. And, look at them, bless them, they’re desperate to get out and… sate their bloodlust. It does not do to have them fighting one another, but again, I assure you, when war comes… you will be grateful we have them in our service.’

Kyla laughed. ‘It’s not me you need to assure. This universe will be ours before long.’

The Queen smirked. ‘It certainly shall.’

‘It’s somewhat... sorrowful, do you not think? All these souls… you’re depriving them of the right to experience the eternity of death, instead sentencing them to… well, nothingness.’

‘Not quite, darling. You don’t thoroughly understand the process of expanding the Pirikan number, do you?’ the Queen replied, a note of condescension in her voice.

Kyla shook her head, quelling a snarl.

‘Well, not each Pirik is raised into a sorry state of undead. While we do deprive some souls of eternity and instead sentence them to a limited period of service in undeath - need I remind you, for that matter, that this is hell and they were each sent here for a reason. Ironically, it’s The Seven who judge what crimes amount to an eternal sentence here, and yet… the atrocities they’ve committed… ah, but I’m getting sidetracked.

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

A small proportion of Piriks, about 200,000, have been raised from their eternal suffering to a mortal undeath. However… even in that form, they’re capable of breeding. Their reproductive systems, seemingly, get revitalised along with their bodies.’

‘Oh,’ Kyla exhaled. ‘I didn’t know that.’

‘That was evident. Before King Bruzha, not many did know and he only passed the knowledge down to his Lozzha Nakh, who passed it onto Bruzha’s successor, and so on. The vast majority of Piriks are bred, and while it is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a pleasant process…’ Her voice quietened and her features took on a maternal pride. ‘I’m not like Jasper - I’m not as cruel as to send countless millions to the Void if I can help it. Most treat these depraved beings as vermin… they hold a special place in my heart and I do not desire to subject them to more pain than they’ve already experienced.

Nevertheless, the Piriks I breed live their undead lives and, upon their deaths, return here and experience eternity in peace. Before my predecessor, Krykadh, seized overall influence over Pirikan production… Jasper dictated how we increased the size of our people. The majority were raised from the dead, and those that we did successfully breed… well, when they died, Jasper raised them to fight for him once more, taking away their right to eternal ‘peace’. My troops that were raised, not bred, have been part of the army since before I took over. I make it a rule of mine not to raise more.’

‘And Jasper accepts this?’

‘I am certain he would not… if he was aware. Our numbers have swelled so significantly that there is no need for him to expect that I am doing anything outside of our agreement. For all he knows, I’m still raising those newblood Piriks that have died back to undeath. In fact, their souls are… far away, hidden from Jasper, out of his reach… I’m determined to make sure they can have their peace, rather than nothingness. So, rather, I have merely accelerated the breeding of Piriks tenfold, to provide a cover for those I send to their peace on the other side of this world. Jasper, in his narrow-mindedness, has never thought to question it.’

‘Intriguing,’ Kyla regarded the Queen with admiration, something she’d never anticipated doing. ‘I did not picture you as a just ruler.’

The Queen smiled again. ‘I’m their first Queen, and their first non-Pirikan ruler. They accepted me regardless, so you could call it a repayment of that debt. It makes me feel good to believe I have changed our society for the better. Now,’ she sighed and smiled at her troops below. ‘That brings us to the conclusion of our little lesson. I have news for you.’

‘Regarding The Summoner?’

‘Yes. This is a momentous occasion. My informant has made me aware that The Summoner has displayed powers, at long last. Luckily for us, they arose in a very public area and as such, my informant was personally able to bear witness to the event. Therefore, before you ask if I am certain, I am.’

Kyla allowed the excitement of their future prospects to fill her with a warm, golden glow.

*

There was a sharp knock on the front door. Savannah, Lauren, Alexis, and Aaron had put Theo to bed and curled up in their pyjamas on the sofas in the living room to watch a film with the fire crackling.

Savannah made a face at the others and went to answer the door. Upon opening it, she let out an irritated sigh. ‘What do you want now?’

It was Bradshaw. ‘Hello, Savannah. Can I come in?’

She didn’t answer, but stood aside and allowed the detective to wander into the home.

‘I’m sorry to disturb you,’ he said, looking left and right, wringing his hands. ‘Is your mother around?’

‘No,’ Savannah snapped. She knew it wasn’t fair to be sharp with Bradshaw. He hadn’t done anything wrong, yet part of her blamed him for Lyra’s condition. It was unreasonable to expect him to have kept the news of Katerina’s death from her, but she couldn’t help feeling aggrieved that he’d unintentionally robbed Lyra of her short-term uplift in liveliness.

‘No, she’s - well, she is, but she’s not in any state to engage with you. Or anyone, for that matter.’

‘Ah,’ Bradshaw said. ‘May I speak to you, then?’

She examined him, pulling at her ear. ‘Er- yes, I suppose you can. Here,’ she walked beyond him and pointed into the living room. ‘Why don’t you come through?’

Upon entering, he said, ‘you’re sure they,’ he motioned to the twins. ‘Aren’t too young?’

‘No, they’re… they can handle whatever you have to say. Come, sit down.’

Bradshaw took the seat next to Lauren and Savannah stood in front of the fire. ‘Out with it, then.’

Bradshaw glanced at each of them in turn. The twins sat bolt upright, their voracious eyes on Bradshaw. Lauren was alert, but still reclined.

‘We’ve made an arrest… for your grandmother’s murder,’ Bradshaw said to Savannah’s shoulder.

‘What? That’s great! Which sick fuck did it?’ Alexis exclaimed.

Savannah raised a hand to silence her without removing her gaze from Bradshaw. ‘Hold on, Alex, it mightn’t be. Who is it?’

‘Your father,’ Bradshaw mumbled.

Alexis gaped. ‘Excuse me?! You’ve got the wrong man, surely?! He didn’t do this… the prick hasn’t got the spine…’

Savannah let her hand drop. ‘Please tell me you’ve arrested him because you have evidence against him, not just because he’s your sole suspect.’

‘We found the murder weapon. It… it was a kitchen knife and… your father’s fingerprints were on the handle.’

They fell silent, sharing shocked looks.

‘I appreciate this is a shock, but I assure you we would not have arrested him without reason. Is-do you have any questions?’ He squirmed in his seat; Savannah sensed this was a physical manifestation of his desire to leave and took pity on him.

‘No, we’ve got nothing to ask, unless there’s anything else, detective?’

He shook his head.

‘Right, well… thank you for telling us, I guess.’ She nodded at the door and without hesitation, Bradshaw rose and left the house.

Savannah walked over to his vacated space on the sofa and collapsed next to Lauren.

‘I was right, then,’ Savannah mumbled to Lauren, staring into the embers of the fire. ‘With what I was saying yesterday. Jeremy was capable of this.’

Lauren was pale. Every other word she spoke was followed with a deep breath, as though the revelation had stripped her lungs of oxygen. ‘I… guess so. I didn’t think he was capable of it, but… this is pretty damning…’

‘You can’t seriously think he did this,’ Alexis said.

‘I mean…’ Savannah weighed her words. ‘I can see why they think it. He’s the only one that ever had any bad blood with her, Lex.’

‘Just because he didn’t like her doesn’t mean he’d kill her! I don’t bloody like Aaron half the time, but I wouldn’t kill him.’

‘Cheers, sis,’ he said in an undertone. ‘But, I agree with you. He didn’t have a reason…’

‘I think he might have,’ Savannah said with a sharp, worried glance at Lauren.

‘Explain,’ Alexis said.

‘Well… look at it this way - and don’t repeat this to her because she won’t take it well - I think Mum gave him all the motive he needed.’

Aaron’s head flinched back. ‘What do you mean? Are you saying it’s Mum’s fault Grandma was murdered?!’

‘No, of course not, you bloody idiot! I just mean… mum told him she was going to file for divorce against him the same night Grandma was murdered. That’s not a coincidence. Mum hurt Dad, so Dad decided to hurt her. He couldn’t get in here to hurt us because Mum took his keys, so he paid Grandma a visit and…’ She didn’t need to finish the sentence.

Aaron blanched and Alexis relented. ‘I mean… yes, fair enough, I could see that… but… I still don’t think he did it.’

‘This… I hate to think of Dad as a murderer, but… this makes sense and I don’t think we’ve got any other choice. And his fingerprints have been found on the weapon,’ Aaron finished with a tone of finality. ‘Let’s not forget he attacked Savannah - that’s… definitely a point against his case.’

‘That’s something, actually,’ Lauren piped up, addressing Savannah. ‘Do you think we should tell the detectives what happened between you two?’

It was Savannah’s turn to lose the colour in her face. ‘No. I… it’s not… it’s not really evidence in itself. I doubt they’d even be interested.’

Alexis jumped on this. ‘Don’t be daft, you have to tell them. It can be used as evidence and, as you’re so sure he did it, I fail to see why you’d have any problems helping them send Dad down for this.’

‘Right, watch your tone, Alex,’ Savannah snapped. ‘Don’t have a go at me. I want Jeremy out of our lives, and I want him to get what he deserves… if he murdered Grandma. And,’ she said with angry confusion. ‘Last time I checked, you couldn’t wait to be rid of him either!’

Alexis shrunk back in her seat. ‘Well, I did… and I do… but I’d rather not know it was because he’s a murderer.’

‘But seeing him as an abusive sociopath, that sits well with you?’ Aaron asked with a glimmer of a smile.

‘Well, yes,’ Alexis returned the smile. ‘That’s what we’ve grown up with, we’re used to that and we know that’s who he is. Him killing people… that’s a new one.’

‘The scorpion stings the swan because it's in his nature,’ Lauren said.

‘Alright, Shakespeare,’ Savannah scoffed.

‘He was always going to do something similar to someone. That’s because it’s in his nature. He hurts people… this is just a different, new outlet he’s found in order to do that. It’s another head to the hydra.’

‘You’re so weird,’ Savannah laughed.

Lauren rolled her eyes. ‘Shut up, you know what I mean.’

‘Yeah. Still weird.’

Lauren hit her on the arm.

‘We may have another problem...’ Aaron said. ‘When and how do we tell Mum? In fact, forget the ‘we’ - Sav, sorry, but I volunteer you as tribute.’

‘Seconded,’ Alexis said.

‘Thirded,’ Lauren grinned.

Savannah stammered, pointing at each of them in turn. Realising she’d already lost, she unleashed a heavy sigh. ‘Fine. I don’t know how I’m gonna tell her, mind… as if she’s not in enough of a state already… do I tell her now, and potentially tip her completely over the edge, or wait until she’s at least regained the ability to leave her bed and send her straight back into a state in which she feels the need to retreat back into it?’

Alexis squirmed, uneasy. ‘Either way, we can’t not tell her. Maybe tell her soon and get it out of the way. She’ll have to get over this feeling sorry for herself shit at some point, may as well get over it all at once. She’ll have to stop being a li’l bitch at some point.’

‘Oh, come on Alex, show some fucking sympathy,’ Savannah scolded. She pressed play and continued the film they’d been watching and snuggled back into the sofa, placing her feet up on Lauren’s lap. ‘Let’s just… enjoy ourselves a little longer. I think we’ve earned the right to relax.’

*

Savannah stood outside Lyra’s room and took a deep, heaving breath. Her hands were shaking, she felt nauseous, and her knees felt as though they were going to fold in on themselves.

She nudged the door open and entered. Lyra lay awake on her back in the centre of the bed, gazing, motionless, at the ceiling. She was now thinner than a stick; her ribs pressed against the fabric of her shirt. The toast Savannah left her the day prior lay on the bedside table.

Lyra didn’t so much as twitch as Savannah moved over to the bed and perched herself on the edge. The smell of stale sweat washed over Savannah in waves that turned her stomach. For Lyra’s sake, she tried to ignore it.

‘Who-who was at the door?’ Lyra croaked, her body as rigid as a statue. Her voice was dry, broken, and coarse, sounding like it was scraping through sandpaper on its journey through her throat.

Savannah grimaced and fought the tears that threatened. It destroyed her to see Lyra like this. It demolished her further to know she had to worsen it. She placed her hands together in her lap and stared at them. ‘It was Bradshaw,’ she whispered, sounding more like a breath than words.

Lyra gulped. It caught in her dry throat and she had to gulp harder to force the first gulp down. ‘What did he want?’

Savannah couldn’t dam the waterworks - she began to cry. The guilt was overwhelming. ‘He… mum… they’ve made an arrest.’

Lyra didn’t move nor speak. Savannah glanced at her. ‘It’s Dad, they found the murder weapon and his fingerprints were on it. I’m so, so sorry.’

Savannah grasped Lyra’s hand and saw that tears were tracking down her cheeks.

There was a moment of silence. Lyra remained stock still and Savannah stared at her, waiting for a response. None came.

Lyra extricated her hand from Savannah’s and turned onto her side. ‘Leave me,’ she breathed. There was no brutality in her tone, but neither was there comfort.

Savannah cried harder, but did as she was told and went to her room, rather than back downstairs. She collapsed against the bedroom door and her heart broke. Again.