No. He won’t need more bandages. Why waste ‘em? I’m just gonna kill him.

I can’t believe he wants me to apologize to my murderer just because I punched him in the face. One time. He did way worse to me, and I have the stitches to prove it.

So what if I call him Clifford? So what if I’m rude to him? So what if I hit him?

He killed me.

They should be all be bowing down to me out of sheer gratitude that I chose to forgive those two dolts for what they did. Out loud anyways. But they made a mistake in not getting that in writing.

Anyways, instead of being grateful to me, they’re trying to humiliate me? Is this some kind of sick power trip?

I look down at the floor as my whole body begins to shake. If I could sense that Seed of Anger right now, it would be growing multiple sizes. Maybe it would even explode.

No. NO, calm down Kara, not now. Not here. It’s not the place. It’s not the time. You can’t even use your powers here. You can’t do anything. And you’re surrounded. Breathe. Good. Stop shaking. Don’t let them know. Don’t let them realize how badly they’ve fucked up.

Makes it easier to catch them by surprise later.

Play along. Toe the line until you and that worthless sack of rotten moldy shit are alone. Let him think he’s won. Or at least not lost.

And then, at the right moment, you add to his bandages. Turn him into a walking mummy. Go for the heart if you can.

These people are not your friends. These people killed you. And they’ll kill you again. Don’t forget. You can’t forget that.

I take another deep breath, and a finally regain a sense of peace. That’s right. This is just a circus; this meeting is just a masquerade. So, give them a good show. Make them forget. Let down their guards. Think I’m just a silly little girl.

And then, at the right moment, you make them all regret. Everything.

It’s too bad. Without Michael’s little stunt I may have given them a chance. A slim one, and I’d never truly trust them, but at least I’d make an effort. We could have developed some sort of working relationship of some kind, maybe. Like frenemies. Who knows?

I’m not saying I’d let any water pass under the bridge, but if they really wanted to work something out between us, maybe there could still be a bridge. But not anymore. That hypothetical bridge is now burned. By their own hands, not mine. I don’t touch fire anymore.

Because now they’re trying to embarrass and demean me. After I was so generous. What was that saying? No good deed goes unpunished?

These ungrateful bastards. You know, I like to think I’m a pretty good person. I try to do the right thing, most of the time. I don’t usually go out of my way to do bad things. And this is what I get for it?

I was right before. They spoke some sweet words earlier, but there is no reconciling this.

So be it. When the dust clears, they’d better remember that they chose this. Not me. I was willing to compromise. Bend, just a little. But I won’t bow to that boy. No. I will never bow to anyone. I don’t care what kinda titles they’ve given themselves.

I might not be able to do anything right now, but I will never, ever, forget this moment.

This. This is who they are. Monsters masquerading as human.

When I lift my head back up, my eyes are clear, like a still lake. I can give that fake homeless man a run for his money, I’d bet. There’s no evidence of my thoughts. My damning decision.

Hm, but Spencer is staring at me intently with scrunched eyebrows and pursed lips. What does he know? He can’t be actively reading my mind if they were being honest about the no powers thing and based on logical proof, I’m inclined they weren’t lying about that. Then how does he still seem to be able to tell what I’m thinking? How does that work? Is he cheating the system somehow?

Spencer stands abruptly. “Perhaps this is not the best time for such things.”

Sorry, bloodsucker, but it’s too late. Even if he backs down now, it matters that he even asked. We’re already long past forgiveness.

But I suppose I shouldn’t be judging everyone here as a set. I mean, the blow-up fight from earlier already proved that there seems to be some inner faction bullshit going on, with not everyone agreeing on everything. That’s pretty normal for governments now that I think about it.

Fine. I’ll be generous yet again and declare that all Shifters will be judged individually. Oh, but they will be judged.

Now Mr. Long has stood. “I- I agree with Lord Spencer.”

Oh?

Despite not ever interacting with the man, Rodney’s father also stands. “I don’t believe this is appropriate.”

Now this is interesting.

No one else stands, but there are some conflicted looking expressions on a few other faces. Hypocrites. This is one of those moments where you either stand up or fail. There’s no grey area here. The Lockwoods and René, as well as Martha’s family and the old geezers from the Creep Clan have all lost an opportunity to win some brownie points with me.

It wouldn’t have fixed anything, but it wouldn’t have hurt either.

“Stand down, this is not up for debate.”

“My Lord, this method might not be-”

Spencer tries to plead his case, but alas, the giant is intent on drowning himself.

“Sit. Down.” Michael’s stern voices causes the three who stood to return to their seats. To be fair to them, they all look a bit put out by that.

So much for democracy.

“Ah, yes. I heard there was a scuffle before our meeting.” Morana gives a dainty little cough, to brush over the awkwardness, and then puts on a serious look, and is nodding her head. “We do not condone unnecessary violence.”

I laugh. Loudly. I can’t hold it in. And I can’t stop. “Are you for real?”

Without missing a beat. “Yes.”

“Two children were murdered in your city in one day, but you don’t condone violence, got it.” More laughing. “We need a judge from the Guinness World Records here because I think you just broke the record for hypocrisy.”

Whoa, loud, very angry murmurs from the crowd. But I can’t stop laughing at their audacity.

They were given an easy out of this mess and they just dug their heels into the shit deeper.

He really is an idiot. They both are. There’s no question they’re related. The dense fucks.

Seriously. Still laughing. Sides hurt. “Alright, I'll apologise for hitting him in the face. But he's got to apologise to me for existing.” I take a deep breath and clutch my side.

I can’t believe Michael would pull this kind of stunt. He’s been trying to play the whole protector ally gig card so hard and then does this? He’s bonkers. Bi-polar or something. His stupid sister too. Must run in the family.

And he had to know what the outcome would be? Does he really think he can win against me, a master manipulator, just because he’s got a few years on me?

Okay, game on.

“This is serious, Kara. If we are to continue-”

“Okay Detective, how about this?”

I see a few eyebrows raise when I use Detective instead of Lord. They should be lucky I didn’t call him Prince Detective since they’re so stuffy about their shitty titles.

“What if we, just for a moment here, consider how seeing him again would have made me feel. In case none of you are humane enough to know, the answer is scared and pissed off. Seeing as he slashed my throat open, I think one punch to the face could be forgiven, don’t you? How about we just call it even. Because you will never get an apology out of me. You can try water-boarding me or whatever you guys’ torture go-to is, but I’m telling you, it’s not gonna happen.”

I’m watching the Flanagans while I talk. His dad is rubbing his nose and looks annoyed at the whole situation. Clifford looks angry at me until I mention the whole throat slashing thing. Then his face goes expressionless. Instantly. It’s weird.

Huh, that might be a good method to shut the little wolfie up in the future, though. I’ll take note of that reaction.

“That is acceptable.”

Oh? I’m honestly a little surprised. Seeing as he brought it up and was willing to destroy the last dregs of our relationship over this, I thought he would have pursued it more. Thought I’d get a little more push back. This is suspicious.

“This one outburst can be dismissed seeing as it was your first meeting, and everyone’s emotions were running high.”

Uh huh. Sounds good to me.

“However, further outbursts will not be considered so innocent.”

Wait what. Ah, I’ve got a bad feeling.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“If my brother believes this was a fair play, then I will not object. We can consider this matter closed.” The mayor looks happy to put this all behind us.

I am not happy. I just got played. They’re overlooking it this time, but they won’t in the future. Michael is telling me I can’t attack Clifford again. Or I’ll be punished for it.

That’s so unfair. After what he did to me? I have to just let it go?

Hahaha… ha… No chance in hell. You really think you won here? I’m gonna make you go in a circle. I think this idiot detective needs a lesson in Dealing with Kara 101. Short summary: you can’t deal with Kara. Not at your level, bro. Fuckin’ noob.

I raise my hand like we’re in a classroom.

“Yes, Kara?” The Queen addresses me like a teacher.

“Can I just add something to that?”

“What is it?” Michael sounds apprehensive. Smart guy. But it’s too late.

“I will accept punishment for any attacks going forward. I would just like to point out that my punch was, technically, a counter-attack.” The groups mutter in surprise. I nod at them innocently and look around briefly. “Yeah, I know right? Murdering me once wasn’t enough for that guy. Can you believe it? So, perhaps we can add a provision, Your Highness Ma’am Mayor, for both sides of course, that allows for self-defence?”

The Queen Mayor Lady person is looking at me intently. Come on, bitch. You have’ta keep pretending like you wanna make me happy and feel safe and snuggly and shit, right? You have no choice but to agree.

Well, I’ll pour a little more gasoline just to make certain she won’t light a match on my plan.

“That is, unless I’m expected to continue being victimized? If you’re hoping I can become the community punching bag, then in that case by all means just forget the whole thing.”

I shrug casually and look over at Clifford. He’s squinting at me in confusion. His face says, ‘what are you planning?’

Oh, if you only knew, buddy.

“Self defence is, of course, a basic human right.”

“You’re including Mutants in that, hopefully. You’re not one of those bigots, right?” I smile. There’s no way she’d be bigoted against her own kind, after all.

She inclines her head. “A right for all.” Then frowns. “Within reasonable bounds.”

“Yes, certainly. Far be it from me to do something unreasonable.”

Michael is glaring at me again. It makes my skin crawl, but the fear is dimmed by my delight at winning. This round, anyway. I might not be able to attack Clifford, but if he attacks me first, I can fight back. And that boy is easily provoked. Basically, not much has changed. And he knows this. He knows I won. Haha, fuck you.

He tried to add reigns to this wild soul, and I just cut them. I win.

The detective turns to his sister. “Perhaps we should move on.”

That’s right, accept your loss like a champ. But this ain’t finished. I’m still going to add to your bandages. Somehow. I’ll wait for the perfect moment. Then I’ll put everything you just said here into a knuckle sandwich and serve it to you. You’ll eat these words. You’ll regret them. And I hope they cut your throat open on the way down.

“Yes, very well. We can conclude our Session of Apologies.” She glances at me. “Unless there are any others we have forgotten?”

I, very slowly and deliberately, look over at Mr. Long, the fake homeless man, Jordan and his grandmother, the sketchy psychiatrist, René, and then over at Martha’s family and the old geezers from the Creep’s family. I can feel everyone’s eyes following where I’m looking. None of them can hold my gaze.

“No.” I look back at the mayor. “There’s nothing else to say, on that front.”

The mayor had watched me too. “I know there are some things that may be unclear at this point, but-”

“Oh no, it’s all pretty clear to me.”

Not just on this issue, either. You and your brother’s earlier failed gamble has made everything crystal clear to me. That was an attempt to control me. To make me subservient, even towards the people that ended my life. It was never about Clifford. They were worried that when, not if, when, I finally find the mastermind behind who killed me, I’d go after them too. And they wanted to put a leash on me here, to prevent me from going after their friend.

Because it’s gotta be their friend. Why would they protect them otherwise? It’s all connected. It always was.

Aw, the little ice fairy appears a little distressed. Poor thing.

“I think everyone should just move on.”

“If… that’s what you want.”

“I think that would be best. No need to complicate something obvious, right?”

She looks like she still wants to say something, so I quickly change the subject. “Why don’t you tell me what answers you think I have for you? You said you wanted answers from me as well, right? Little ol’ me who didn’t even know she was a Shifter until she was murdered by some a couple days ago, that me. I’m very interested in what those questions you have for me, are.”

The whole council goes dead quiet. Like, if someone dropped a pencil it would sound like a grenade, level quiet.

Hoo boy, looks like I somehow stepped on another land mine. I wonder who will blow up this time? Will I get another fun diorama for my memories?

“We do have some questions, but those can wait for another session. Why don’t we focus on you first? I’m sure you have many for us.”

“Well, I already asked one and your Council room turned into boxing arena, so…”

I lean back in my chair again. It’s not as comfortable anymore. My throat is getting sore. My hands and feet hurt to a point it’s hardly bearable. And there’s a pit in my stomach, err- a new one, that won’t go away. A sense of… wrongness. It’s strange. But I usually get a feeling just like this when I’ve missed something.

Well, whatever it is, it’ll come to me eventually. Right now, what I want most is to be back in my hospital bed. Asleep. I’m so tired of everything.

But I can’t leave, I’m so close to finally getting some answers.

“We will agree to answer one, and then why don’t we stop for today.” Without moving much, I look at her. She looks concerned. About me, or someone else? “It has been a long and stressful day for everyone.”

Okay yeah, it’s me. Her worry pisses me off a bit, even though she’s good at making it seem real.

I shake my head. “No. You’ll answer three of my questions. Because you made me accept three crappy apologies.”

“Alright, you are correct. We should do at least that much today. But are you sure?”

“I never say words I don’t plan to stand behind.”

I give a pointed look in Spencer’s direction. He gives me a creepy smile.

Damn bloodsucker.

“Alright. You may begin.”

“What is Ashvale, really? I was told it’s the Shifter Capitol of Canada, but that can’t be right because the publicly acknowledged Shifter Capital is in Ontario. East Piccolac.”

“That place is a Sanctuary. There are a few of them in Canada. East Piccolac is the largest. While many cities are considered safe zones, few offer the protection an Approved Sanctuary Site provides.”

I can’t figure out who’s speaking at first.

“Ashvale is within the oldest and largest natural Shifter bubble and is the official Capitol. I know you like your laws, so if you reread the Mutant Independence Act, you’ll find a cool loophole. Sanctuaries and Capitols can remain hidden, but their names must be known. But nowhere does it say we have to declare which is which, or where they are. Canadian Sapiens Society simply got it wrong, and we have never corrected the error. It’s safer for us. It’s how we survived the wars.”

I finally place it near the end of the speech. The Blackfoot man who daylights as a fake beggar is the one talking. His voice was always a little stilted and shaky when he was begging but it’s clear now. So even that was fake. Such good acting. His talents are wasted here. He should move to Hollywood. They’re on a diversity kick lately.

So this place was never illegal. Well, that doesn’t make what they’ve done to me legal.

“If this is just a normal Capitol then why don’t the ash trees let anyone leave?”

My curiosity allows me to ignore my dislike for him. Tired as I am, I have so many questions.

“You noticed the trees?” Spencer is talking now. I’d know that annoying voice anywhere.

“Since we first got here, yeah.”

“Interesting.” He says nothing more. Doesn’t explain why that would be so fascinating.

“It’s not that interesting. There’s a police report I’m sure you’ve all read that should explain how I would know about those trees, seeing as they stole hours of my life and entrapped me illegally.”

“No, most people wouldn’t be able to link it to the trees.” Spencer shakes his head.

Oh. I thought that was kinda obvious, though?

“Ash trees are capable of holding the strongest enchantments. And have strong healing magic. They were planted at the founding of this town to protect it from outside forces and keep safe the people inside. Those same enchantments are also meant to protect the trees themselves, by shielding them and their magic from detection.”

I see, I see. Guess my Sensitivity to the paranormal is higher than, uh, normal.

Wait. “You didn’t really answer my question. If they’re supposed to protect it from stuff outside, then why can’t I leave?”

“That is my doing.” The beggar confesses.

“At my order.” The odd Queen adds.

Great. So they trapped me on purpose. “You do realize that’s unlawful confinement, right? Like, super illegal, war-crimey, unlawfulness?”

“We didn’t know if it was safe for you to leave. And we didn’t yet know why you’d come back.” The mayor explains. Except that doesn’t explain anything.

It’s bullshit. I roll my eyes and do not hide the fact I don’t buy that at all.

“That’s not an answer. I’m asking why you held me here against my will, illegally.”

“The answer to that is connected to the questions we wish to ask you, so we won’t be getting into that today.” Michael states.

“So much for any and all questions then, huh? Do you even know how to speak normally or is lying the only setting you people have? I want a different channel.”

“Kara-”

“Your question has been noted, and I assure you we will get to it in our next meeting. We won’t keep you waiting too long.” The circus master intervenes.

“Is the answer to that also connected to the unlawful surveillance you’ve been doing on my mom and I?”

“It is.”

“Is it normal for you to spy on new residents?”

“No.” She admits.

“Will you be ending that surveillance now that the jig is up?”

“No.” She says again. And there’s no guilt there. None at all.

These freaks really think they can do whatever they want just because they have fancy powers. Well, if that’s how this society works and those are the rules then guess what you sick fucks, that means I can do whatever the fuck I want, too. And I will. Err-when I recover a bit more.

I should be really annoyed right now, but I’ve known about the spying since I entered this room. It was painfully obvious that the last two years of my life have been my version of the Truman Show. Nothing has been real. Except maybe Chayla, I guess. I really want to see her, and I don’t want to be here anymore. I’m so happy she isn’t here, actually.

I don’t think I’d have handled that very well.

My feet protest but I push myself up using the table.

“Well, I think this is as awkward as things can possibly get. Let’s meet up another time and try to break that record, too.”

“I understand this must be difficult for you-”

“Ma’am, with all due respect, I don’t wanna hear it.” There are quite a few audible gasps. “I’m tired. I’d like to leave. Unless that beggar is going to trap me in here, too.” Much louder gasps.

I can see the man out of the corner of my eye, but his face is just as set as it’s been this whole time. I guess he can’t really complain after pretending to be homeless. And he did admit to illegally confining me. Hell, they’ve all admitted to a ton of crimes today.

Too bad I didn’t bring a recorder with me. I’ll try and make sure I have one next time.

“We will conclude here for today. I will send word of the time for the next meeting.”

The mayor then bows to each group in turn, and they bow to her. She even bows to me again, but I don’t return it. I feign ignorance. What can they do, kick my knees in?

Then everyone leaves out a door in the back I didn’t notice was there this whole time. It was hidden perfectly by one of those maroon drapes I thought had no purpose.

This door is as hard to open as the ones I entered through. Mr. Flanagan has to really yank it to get it going and he’s ripped.

I’m about to get up myself when I notice Spencer approaching me, along with the Queen of Nitwits. He has a small metal case in his hands.

“Yes?”

“Lord Spencer will be administering your second dosage.”

“You gonna tell me what it is this time?”

“It’s a stimulant.” Spencer answers.

How succinct.

“You people are terrible at answering questions.”

“Hold out your arm.” He’s removed a small needle filled with a pale-yellow liquid.

I almost want to reject the whole thing, but I don’t think I’ll make it very far if I don’t. The first dose wore off a while ago, and I’m really feeling it now.

I barely feel the jab. And this secret drug doesn’t hit as hard as the last dose. I barely feel any better, but I guess standing isn’t quite as difficult as a moment ago.

“This isn’t as high a dose as before, and it’s time released. You can only take this serum sparingly, so don’t overdo it. It should last a couple of hours. Keep yourself calm, and it’ll last longer.”

If you guys didn’t keep pissing me off, I would be calm.

“Excellent. Now Kara, please follow everyone to the break room. There is food provided, and seating should you need. Afterward Michael will bring you to your lodgings.”

“My lodgings?” What does that mean? Is it pretentious speak for hospital? Oh god, I hope so.

“Yes. Come along now.” She beckons me with her small hands.

I’m not your fucking puppy. You’ll learn that soon enough.

I oblige her, on the surface, and walk around the long table and notice something interesting. There are pictures carved into the backs of each of the thrones. They must mean something. Some are animals, and some look like those weird runes that were carved into the elevator in the Ivory Tower, and some are even more abstract.

“We can discuss what those mean another time.”

The mayor is smiling at me again, but it’s a different smile. Strange.

What do these symbols all mean? And what are my ‘lodgings’ going to be?

And what fresh horrors await me in the breakroom?