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Post by Isadora Is a Door on Aug 5, 2017 13:30:25 GMT -5
I'm glad to hear that. The first six or so chapters were mostly setting up to get the point where we are at now, and the story is about to get fully underway. There are only a few more characters to introduce, two of whom will turn up in chapter seven.
I've settled into a fairly easy forynightly release schedule, one which i hope to keep. I have a lot of story planned, however, so even with keeping to this schedule the story won't finish this year....
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Post by trip on Aug 5, 2017 15:59:48 GMT -5
now that im caught up i have one big question and its why tf am i peddling drugs to sophie
also u already know this but my fave part of this whole thing is how everyone is connected in unexpected ways like a big juicy depressing 667 soap opera
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Post by Isadora Is a Door on Aug 19, 2017 14:01:17 GMT -5
Chapter Seven On a dark and gloomy morning, as the streets began to fill with traffic and noise, one woman was late for work. It was a very important day, and she was a very important woman. She had had a terrible morning. The power had cut out, and her alarm hadn't gone off. There was no hot water, no time, and no excuse. She had dashed half dressed to the car, and drove as fast as she dared, hoping nobody would be too angry with her. She had, of course, crashed. It was nothing to serious, of course – the car she collided with had been stationary, and nobody was hurt. Nevertheless, Violet found herself sat on the pavement, waiting for a recovery vehicle, on today of all days. She was left with no other option. She pulled out her phone and her courage, and called him. 'Hey Bun. Where the heck are you?' 'I'm sorry Mayor Bandit, I was, er, well I was held up.' 'Aw, well we can't have that can we. Whats the problem?' Violet sighed 'I kinda crashed my car.' 'Oh no. Are you okay? Do you need anything?' 'Yeah. I'm fine, I just... I don't know how to get into work today.' 'Hey, hey. Don't you worry about it. I'll send a friend of mine to come pick you up. We couldn't do without you, especially not on a day like today.' Violet smiled 'Thank you, Mayor Bandit' 'Hey, I've told you, just call me Bandy.' 'Sorry, bandy. Thank you,' Yes, today was an important day. Her job was tough, but this were her chance. Pen was arriving today, and when he did, everything had to go well. Everyone had to believe that something good was happening. Everyone had to believe the lie. 'Hello, my name is Linda Rhaldeen, and I am here with your latest breaking news this lunchtime.' 'Today is a big day for the city. As I am speaking Mayor Bandit is currently hosting his first major Press Conference since he assumed office earlier this year. We can now you take there live where our reporter Comet has the very latest for you.' 'Thanks Linda. Well, so far, I think tis fair to say that not a large amount of interesting things have happened so far. Many have been hoping or at least expecting some official response to the latest demonstrations against mayor bandit that have been happening across the city of late, but there has been barely an acknowledgement that these events have even occurred. Instead, there have mostly been reassurances that Bandit will continue to go ahead with his plans to tighten our security and productivity in the future.' When M returned to the house, he was pleased to see that they weren't too suspicious of the amount of time that he had been at the hospital. After all, why would they be? What would they have to lose if he didn't come back? And, of course, he could hardly have gone to the police. Hermes was sat in the kitchen, looking over the newspaper and sipping from a large mug of coffee, as if he was anyone. But Hermes wasn't just anyone. For more than 50 years, you didn't have to look far through the criminal records to find Hermes name everywhere. His list of crimes only surpassed by his reputation. There were people looking for him everywhere, yet here he was, sat right in front of Mister M, drinking cofee. 'Good morning Luke' said hermes 'What are you reading?' M asked. 'It's a newspaper. It's a summary of the days events from around the globe.' M tried his best to not look amused 'Why are you reading it?' 'Because it interests me. I like to know whats going on, and I like to know what people think. I want to know what lies people are being told, and it amuses me. It amuses me to see what they make of it all, to see how wrong everybody is about this world, how lost and how clueless and how alone they are. Plus I like the crosswords.' A door behind Hermes opened, and in stepped the unidentified man with the long black hair. He had yet to introduce himself, but there was something that seemed so familiar about him that troubled M. 'Where is Zort?' asked the man. 'He's busy.' replied Hermes, who hadn't even looked up from his newspaper. 'Busy? Why?' 'Why do you think? He's going to the press conference this afternoon, he said he'll back later this evening.' 'Fine.' The man, sighed, and walked over to a cupboard and began to search for something to eat. 'Who are you?' M asked 'What?' the man turned and looked him with an expression like M had just punched him in the face. 'Who are you?' M asked again. 'That's on a need to know basis.' 'Well I need to know.' the man snorted. 'I do need to know.' M protested. 'If i'm going to be working with you people then I need to know who it is i'm working with.' 'Maybe you shouldn't be working with us then.' 'Okay children' said Hermes, as he rose from the table whilst folding his newspaper. 'That's enough of this, we need to get going.' 'Going?' asked the man 'Where?' 'We've got work to do, and don't I know it.' 'What work?' asked M Hermes smiled 'This is your lucky day, Luke. It's time for you to see what we do here.' Everything was going to plan, so why was she so nervous? This was wrong, this was weird. She shouldn't be this nervous. She was a professional. She was good at her job, and she was the best. But this was her big day. Every moment of today, ever speech, every line, had been dutifully prepared. And now there was the unknown. Pen was different to how she had imagined him, but in some ways he was exactly as she had expected. He was tall and gaunt, with long brown hair and dark hollowing eyes. He was wearing a suit that was loose and baggy, and he looked almost his skeletal, his long fingers holding onto a piece of paper which he was reading. His face was drawn into a deep frown, extending all the lines and features of his face. Mostly, he was old. She had kept him company since he had arrived in the city a few hours ago. Despite his age and almost total lack of english, she was aware that he had a great deal of awareness of everything that was going on. 'Its almost time' she said to him.He looked at her and gave a small nod, his expression remaining unchanged. The short speech had been well prepared and rehearsed. Everything was in place. Then something unexpected happened. A Man appeared who Violet had not expected to see, here of all places. His presence was clearly also unexpected to Pen, who was initalliy taken aback, but then embraced his son with open arms, and a smile crossed upon his face. 'You must be Zortegus?' Violet said to the new arrival. 'Yes, it seems I must be.' Zortegus smiled at violet, and took the piece of paper out his fathers hand and begin to read it. 'And what are you doing here?' 'Im here for moral support. My father is most anxious about today. I want to be here to help him.' Violet looked at Pen. She wasn't sure what word she would use to describe him, but anxious was definitely not one of them. 'Do you have permission to be here?' 'Who needs permission? ' Zortegus said and turned and said something to his father in a language Violet didn't understand. 'Its almost time.' violet told them both. 'And we are almost ready.' replied Zortegus, and Pen nodded stiffly in agreement. 'I saw him' said Bee 'Where?' 'He was at the hospital.' 'The Hospital? Why were you at the hospital?' 'My daughter had a... a cut that needed stitching.' 'Is she okay?' 'Yes, she's fine, she... wait, why aren't you more concerned about Mister M?' 'Oh, that doesn't matter.' Lemona leaned back in her chair and smiled 'I spoke to him this morning. Everything's fine, the plan is back on track and in full swing.' 'So why am I here?' Lemona's smile suddenly disappeared, and was replaced by a much more serious expression. There were a few moments silence before Lemona spoke again. 'You've worked for me for many years, Bee, and for all that time I have trusted you completely and honestly.' 'Of course' said bee. 'But I need to have my confidence that what I am about to say to you will never leave this room.' 'You can trust me.' 'Good.' Lemona stood up from her desk and walked around to the other side where Bee was standing. She stopped so she was standing directly in front of Bee, and then she spoke to her in a low, whispering voice. 'I heard a word recently, in an important conversation, a word I'd never heard before. This is something that I'm not used to. And that worried me. And what I want to know is if you have the word too.' 'What word?' bee whispered in reply, 'Cadmus.' Bee thought for a moment, as Lemona waited desperately for her reply. 'I.. I don't immediately recall hearing it.' 'That's not a good enough answer.' 'I'm pretty sure I've never heard it, and even if I have I don't know what it means. If anything comes to mind then I'll-' Suddenly the door to Lemona's office burst open, and Quisby came rushing in shouting 'Ma'am, something's happened.' 'Quisby!' Lemona shouted, in a voice that sounded even louder than it normally would have, due to the whispering that had been occurring previously. 'How dare you interrupt me in my office.' 'I'm sorry, I really am it's just that, well... we thought you might want to see this.' 'See what?' '… I think you should come and see.' Lemona and Bee headed out of the office and followed Quisby over to Anka's desk. She was looking at her computer screen, which was relaying live footage of a press conference being held by Mayor Bandit. That wasn't the interesting thing, however. What was interesting was who else was there with him. 'These have been difficult times' said Mayor Bandit, addressing the crowd 'But these times will soon be over. These last few months have had there ups and downs, but the time has come for a new high, one that will never be beaten. I have plans, yes, great plans, and I can't wait to tell you more about them. But the most interesting thing that I think I have to tell you right you now is this man to my left.' The man was, of course, someone who was known to Lemona, and someone who was most unexpected. 'This man, Mister Fredrick Pen, will be joining me and my team to help try and build a peace for our great city. I look forward to the promise of a better tomorrow.'
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Post by Isadora Is a Door on Sept 14, 2017 17:26:46 GMT -5
Oops, I finished this over a week ago but forgot to post. Here it is!
Chapter Eight
The man was thin, and stank. He smelt like fear, and he looked like he was used to it. The clothes he wore were rugged and torn, and looked older than the streets in which they had found him. 'I have what you asked for,' said the man, in a high pitched squeak of a voice. 'I know you do. But there's something else I need to know as well,' M's accomplice was still unknown to him. The man with the long black hair was holding the thin man against the side of the wall, and M was stood there, watching. 'Two nights ago a girl came to visit you. Did you sell her anything?' 'That's not part of the deal. I don't tell you anything about my customers, and I don't ask you any questions.' The man will the black hair grabbed hold of the other man's shirt collar and yanked hard, strangling him slightly. 'Listen to me Ryan, the terms have changed. Did a girl come to visit you by the name of Trip?' Ryan smiled, revealing a mouth largely bereft of teeth. 'You want to know, don't you? Well maybe I shouldn't tell you... or maybe I will. Maybe if I do you can give me back some of my merchandise.' M wasn't sure where the blade came from, but a knife was suddenly being held against Ryan's throat. 'You either tell me now, or we end the agreement altogether.' Ryan suddenly stopped smiling and let out a small groan. 'Okay, okay. Yes. I know who you're talking about, and yes she visited me like you said.' 'Did you sell her anything?' 'No, I'm not stupid. You've got it all, I promise.' The man handed a small package to ryan, who fell to the ground. 'Come on Luke, we're done here.' Luke followed the man back down the alleyway and onto the streets of the city. 'What was all that about?' he asked. 'You'll understand in time.' M looked around him, and made sure that other than a figure standing a couple of meteres behind them, the street was mostly empty. 'It was drugs, wasn't it, that you took from him.' 'Luke, shut up.' M checked his surroundings once more, but there was nobody else around except for the figure in the distance. He was was dressed in a large black coat and wearing a black hat, and was looking into a shop window. 'Nobody can hear us.' 'You should never be too sure,' said the long haired man, as he and M rounded a corner, and entered into the back of Hermes' car. 'How did it go?' Hermes asked the two of them. The man handed Charlie the brown bag that Ryan had given him. 'Good. Did you ask about the girl?' 'Yes. She'd been there.' 'I see.' M spoke up. 'Who is this 'Trip' person, and why are you asking about her?' 'That,' sighed Hermes, 'is none of your buisness.' 'It is. I'm involved with you know, I want to know what you're doing.' 'You'll find out what you need to know when you need to know it, and right now you need to know nothing. And as for Trip...' Hermes turned around in his seat to face M. 'We are under direct orders from Pepper himself to find out what has happened to her. If you mention her name again, he will find out, and he will kill you.'
'The thing that bothers me,' said Lemona, 'is not so much the fact that he's working with Pen, I'm not surprised that Bandit could stoop so low. The thing that bothers me is that it's so public.' 'He's either ignorant or clever,' said Quisby. 'Or both,' Lemona replied. 'What happens next?' Anka asked. 'Next... We do what we always do. We try our best.' 'Did you know about this?' Quisby asked. 'About Bandit working with Pen. I mean.' 'No, I didn't, I thought perhaps there was some connection, but a far more distant one than this. I knew that Zortegus was involved however...' Lemona glanced at Bee, who was sat sullenly looking at the TV screen. 'Bee,' said Lemona, in her sternest voice. 'Yes?' 'I asked you to look into Zortegus. How did you not find out about this?' 'I... I had no idea.' 'What did you find.' 'I.....I couldn't find much. All I know is that Zortegus has been in the city since the death of Jacob Willis. Does this confirm anything, that Bandit was behind it?' 'I actually wanted to talk to you all about that, as it happens.' Lemona began to pace the length of the room, while Anka, Bee, and Quisby sat at the desk, listening intently. 'I believe that whatever partnership Bandit and Willis had begun to break down, and when that happened Willis knew that he would be killed, and so he engineered his death in such a way that we would become aware of what was happening. The principal thing to this is the package we found in Willis' hotel room. It contains a drug which we've scarcely seen before, and Dante is working his best to uncover its potential, but what we do know is that the only time we've encountered it before is in relation to Pepper's activities. Pepper and Bandit are planning something, something that I hope Mister M will soon be able to tell us, but where Pen fits in the picture is as much a mystery as anything. Willis wanted Bandit and Pepper to fail, and he wanted it bad enough that he died for it. And he was killed by Pen's son. I should have seen this. I should have been prepared.' 'We can't be prepared for everything,' said Quisby. 'I know.' Lemona sighed. 'And it's not enough. Anka, I need to talk to you in my office. I need you to do something for me.' As Lemona turned to go back into her office, Quisby suddenly stood up, as if remembering something. 'I've just remembered something,' he said. 'Something that I should have told you before.' He headed over to his desk and began to rummage through some pages. 'It was when you mentioned Jacob Willis, it jogged something in my memory.' 'What was it?' 'Before her unfortunate death, I did some digging on the background of Elizabeth Miller. Just the normal stuff, y'know, basic background checks. It was mostly routine, nothing of interest, but there was one thing.' 'What was it?' Quisby finally found what he was looking for and headed back over to Lemona. 'A few weeks before Willis' death there was a break in. A window was smashed, but there was no other damage. Elizabeth called the police but she told them that nothing had been taken. I thought I had better look into, so I did. I checked over all the CCTV from the area and I found... well this.' Quisby handed over a low quality grainy camera image of a darkened street, with a man heading in the direction of Elizabeth's department. 'I have enough evidence, I believe, to prove that this was the man who broke in on that night.' 'Who is he?' 'Well, this is where it gets interesting. I don't know.' 'What do you mean you don't know? Every person who has ever set foot in this city is on our records. Come back to me when you find out who he is.' 'But that's the problem, he isn't on our records... at least, not really. I ran the footage through the computer, it's him, Lemona. It's the great unknown.'
The sun was low in the sky, casting a bright red glow over the street. The clouds were like daggers reaching up into the heavens. There was silence, except for a small car which pulled up outside the house. Inside the car, Mister M had come to a realisation. 'I've just realised something,' M told the man with the long black hair. 'What?' 'I've seen your face before, in a photograph, in Elizabeth's apartment. Did you know her?' 'That's none of your business.' 'I knew her, and I know you, that makes it my buisness.' 'Didn't your mother ever teach you to keep your nose out of other people's buisness?'. The man laughed at that, as if he'd made some joke. 'Quiet, children,' said Hermes. 'This is hardly the time for jokes. We have more important issues at hand.' Hermes indicated at the direction of the house, and M noticed that a light was shining out of a window. 'What do you think it is?' the man asked. 'Trouble.' 'You said Zortegus would be back this evening. Is it not him?' 'Look at the door?' The front door of the house had been knocked open, the lock smashed. 'Maybe he forgot his keys.' M suggested. Hermes opened the door to the car and whispered. 'I go in first, you follow.' Hermes stepped out of the car, leaving M alone in the front of the car for a moment, and the moment was all it took. He reached over to Hermes' seat and took it, before stepping out of the car. It was a dance they had clearly done before, as they effortlessly made their way across the stage. Hermes pushed past the front door whilst the man stayed behind him, sticking to the shadows. M went to the window of the front room, where the light was coming from, and crouched down in front of it and waited. A few moments passed, and there was talking. A few moments more and M turned and headed into the house as well. In the entrance hall, still stood in the dying of the light, were two men. One was Zortegus, as had been suggested, but the other was a man Mister M had never met before. He was quite possibly the most ordinary looking man that he had ever set eyes upon. He was neither tall nor short, but not quite average height. He had brown hair of sensible length, and his clothes were entirely unremarkable. His face had an element of agelessness about it, so much so that M was unsure wether to call the man young, or old, or middle aged, or anything. In fact, there was something about the man's basic normality that was almost unsettling, as if he wasn't even real. But then he spoke. 'Good evening, Luke,' said Pepper 'I've been expecting you.'
The Pandora was the most expensive hotel in all of the city. Standing at 101 storeys high, with over 1000 luxury rooms, it was the shining jewel of luxury. To hire a room for one night was expensive, for a week was worth a fortune. Bandit was pulling out all of the stops. Pen and his retinue had the entire building to themselves, and Fredrick himself was staying in the Penthouse apartment. It had been Violet's job for the afternoon to escort Pen to the building and to ensure that he was settled in, and to then help organise... well pretty much everyone and everything. Pen was an important person, and although The Pandora was used to dealing with important people, Pen was something else. This was the future, the new world, and she needed to ensure that everything went smoothly. After speaking with Pen and ensuring that he understood the plans for tomorrow, it was finally time to head back home. It had been a a long day, and she needed her sleep. However, as the elevator pinged and she stepped out into the lobby of the hotel, she was confronted by something she had not expected. 'Hello Violet,' said Anka. Violet grabbed Anka by the arm and quickly pulled them both into the elevator as the doors closed. 'What are you doing?' said Anka, flustered. 'What am I doing? I think you mean what are you doing? What the hell are you doing here?' 'Visiting you of course.' Anka looked over at the control panel. 'What floor are we going to?' 'You're not supposed to visit me, that's the whole point.' 'Well actually I am, I'm here by special request.' Violet was confused 'Request? Requested by who?' Anka smiled. 'By your boss, of course. Who else?' 'What do you want?' 'To catch up and have a sisterly chat, eat chocolate, and moan about men, of course.' 'I don't have time for your stupid little games, I have a job to do.' 'Entertaining mass murderers? I forogt that that was part of your job description.' 'It's not like that, things are different now. Pen has changed.' 'Ah, I see,' said Anka in a deeply sarcastic voice. 'Has he seen the error of his ways?' 'Look, I have better things to do with my time then discuss my morality with you. Do you actually have any reason for being here or not?' 'I do.' Anka smiled. 'I have a message to deliver.' 'Go on then.' It was almost as if Violet had flicked a switch, and suddenly all of the humour and spark disappeared from Anka's eyes. She took a deep breath and brushed her hair out of her eyes, before she spoke again. 'I know what you did, and I know why you did it, but that doesn't matter. The time has come, a time I never thought would happen. A time when I need you more than ever. I am asking you for your help, and I'm sorry, I really am, but if you don't give it to me, then you know what will happen.'
'What were you doing?' Hermes asked him, irritably. 'We thought you were someone dangerous.' 'Perhaps you were right.' Pepper replied. 'But I was checking that you hadn't become lapse in your old age.' 'I'm not old,' replied the dark haired man. 'No, Charlie, you're not. But you're older than me, and that's enough to make me doubt you.' Charlie, thought Mister M. The name meant nothing to him, but it was good to finally put a name to the face. 'Why are you here, then?' asked Hermes. 'This isn't like you, you don't do house visits. You could be seen.' 'I could be, but I'm always careful. Plus I had my good friend Zortegus keeping me safe. But I needed to come here in person.' Pepper turned and looked at Mister M. 'I need to see you.' They were still standing in the hallway of the house and the front door was still open, but even so, there was something almost unnatural about the cold that swept over Mister M's body when Pepper looked at him. His eyes seemed to pierce right into M's very soul, and it made him uncomfortable. Pepper walked over to M like a lion stalking its prey. He stretched out a hand and gently touched the side of M's face, feeling the fresh scars there. For a few moments there was silence in the room, as Pepper examined M like he was nothing but a piece of meat. 'Curious,' Pepper muttered to himself, 'You're a curious thing, Luke. Everything about you just seems to fit, doesn't it?' Pepper smiled, and then took a step back. 'Yes, I like you a lot. Very promising.' 'I don't trust him,' said Charlie. 'Good,' replied Pepper. 'I don't trust you either. And I don't need to. Trust is precious, something that should be earned, not given away freely like a packet of sweet. But I believe. I believe that you will all do what I wish, at least to a satisfactory level. And thats all I need.' As he spoke Pepper never once took his eyes off of Mister M. He was watching him judging him, deciding. 'I believe he can help us,' said Hermes. 'And I trust your judgement,' said Pepper. 'But I didn't just come here to discuss you, Luke.' 'Then why did you come here?' asked Charlie, scornfully. 'I need you to do something for you.' 'Like always?' replied Hermes. 'No, not like always. There is a special package coming tomorrow morning for Mr. Fredrick Pen. It's your job to deliver it to him.'
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Post by Cafe SalMONAlla on Sept 24, 2017 2:30:37 GMT -5
on more
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Post by Cafe SalMONAlla on Sept 24, 2017 2:44:09 GMT -5
ok ok so i like me being a badass and the use of the great unknown
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Post by Cafe SalMONAlla on Sept 24, 2017 2:45:12 GMT -5
and this made me feel ill
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Post by Cafe SalMONAlla on Sept 24, 2017 2:45:51 GMT -5
happy?
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Post by Isadora Is a Door on Sept 24, 2017 10:11:47 GMT -5
Very.
New chapter should be up in a few days
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Post by Isadora Is a Door on Sept 27, 2017 16:16:54 GMT -5
Chapter Nine
The Night had passed long ago, but sleep was yet to come. It was sat on the desk in his room. It was a small thing, only a few crumpled sheets of paper, folded up and placed in an envelope, but it had changed everything. M sat on the edge of the bed, and looked across the envelope. It sat there looking back at him, its mouth beckoning him forward to indulge in its secrets. He had already read enough, though, enough to know what was going on. The rest wasn't his to know. 'My darling Beatrice', the letter had began, and so had M's interest been rapidly caught. He had seen Hermes looking at the letter before, reading through it, hardly ever being separated from it. Each time he had seen it, Mister M have thought the letter one meant for Hermes, most likely orders or instructions of some sort – that was, after all why M had taken it when he'd had the chance. But it turned out the letter was, seemingly, from Hermes himself. M didn't know who Beatrice was, and whether or not the letter would ever reach her. But now he knew much about her. He could not be sure what had happened completely, but the letter spoke of events from long ago, and events which were now aged further by the volatile quality of the letter itself. Hermes had not seen her in a long time. But this was nothing of importance. It was... gossip. What mattered what was Hermes had told her about what he was doing. What mattered was what Hermes and the others had done and what they were going to do. What mattered was why, and what it all meant. M was close, he had thought so, but now he new the truth, there was nothing to stop him. He had all the evidence he needed. M stood from the edge of the bed, and felt a throb of pain in his forehead. The wounds were still fresh, and he knew in his bones they would never heal. In some ways it felt like a lifetime had passed since he had been attacked, even though it was barely a week. It seemed like even longer since he had found himself in deep trouble since he had failed in his investigations to find Pepper, but now he had actually come face to face with him. He was suddenly consumed by a strong sense of drowning, as though he were being pulled underwater by some great monster and struggling for air. The responsibility of everything was weighing on him, and he was being crushed. But now he had the letter. M picked it up from the table, folded it in half, and placed it into his pocket. Not much longer, he thought to himself, and then this wall be over. Not today, though, not yet. He knew the plan, but he did not yet know how far they were, he didn't know how successful they were, and he didn't know how much time he had left. And besides, he had a package to collect.
'You've got a leaf in your hair.' 'It's windy. It's autumn. It happens.' Trip reached up and pulled the leaf out of Sophie's hair, before crumpling it in her hand. 'Thank you,' said Sophie, as she sat down on the bench next to Trip. The Park was modest for one in the centre of the city, and it truth it was simply a few trees and patches of grass. The shadow of the Mayor's office loomed over the treetops, which were beginning to redden. It was mostly empty. It was a windy day, and the first leaves of autumn were beginning to fall from the trees. It was the perfect location for a discrete meet up. 'Why are we here?' Trip asked. 'It's the perfect location for a discrete meet up,' replied Sophie, 'and I need to ask you something.' 'And you needed to ask me in person?' 'No, I just... I thought you'd want to meet me.' Trip smiled. 'Of course I want to meet you. You're just normally so... paranoid.' 'I'm not paranoid.' 'You are.' 'No, really, I'm not. My mum is... difficult at the best of times, and especially with something like this...' 'She's not your boss.' 'Except she is. But listen, that's why I asked you here, it's to do with my mum.' Trip sighed 'Again?' 'I don't mean like that.' 'I feel like every time we see each other all we do is end up talking about your mum, it's getting ridiculous.' 'That's not fair.' 'It is. At least you have a parent who actually cares about you. She might not be the nicest person ever but so what? Why are you so scared about her meeting me?' 'I'm not scared.' Trip laughed. 'You are.' 'No, I'm not scared of her meeting you, I'm scared of you meeting her.' Trip looked confused. 'Why? What do you think I'm going to do?' 'I just... I don't know if you'd... dislike me more.' 'Oh Sophie, don't be silly. If I disliked everyone because of how annoying then their parents were, I'd dislike everyone.' 'Well you do dislike a lot of people.' 'Good Point. But still, Sophie, I like you. I like you a lot. And if even if your mum is half as terrible as you described her to be, that won't make any difference.' 'That's good to know, because she's invited you for dinner this evening. Can you be at my house by 8?'
'Ryan Trimble is dead.' In the dark of the room was difficult to tell, but Lemona noted no change of expression on Lorelai's face. She already knew. 'Do you know who did it?' Lemona asked 'No.' 'Do you know how he died?' 'He was stabbed, you know that. It says so in the report Quisby gave you.' Lemona sighed and sat on the floor directly in front of Lorelai. 'I would appreciate it if you could give me your full attention for a least a moment?' Lorelai stopped typing, and turned to face her mother. 'What is this? Ryan was nothing but a common lowlife, what makes you so interested in his death?' 'He was of interest to us as possibly having connections with some of Pepper's men. His death is suspicious.' 'His death tells us nothing. People die, there isn't always a reason that matters.' 'But there is always a reason, however small.' 'And when I find it I will tell you.' 'I know I will, I'm just... well, I'm impatient.' 'Interesting.' 'Interesting?' 'You seem ruffled.' Lorelai smiled. 'I am. There's too much going on here. I don't know where to turn.' Lemona stood up again and began to pace around the room, just like she always did when she was thinking. 'There was something else I wanted to ask you about.' Lemona picked up a file from an old wooden desk and tossed it on the floor next to Lorelai. 'This has come to my attention in the last few days.' Lorelai barely opened the file before emitting a tsk of annoyance. 'You don't approve?' 'I don't have time for these distractions.' 'It isn't one. This is important.' 'Perhaps, when I've finished investigating the deaths of drug dealers I may turn my attention to it.' 'Lorelai,' Lemona said, in a voice stricter than before. 'This isn't a game. You don't get to make your own choices. You will investigate, and you will give me results, or there will be trouble.' Lorelai stopped typing for the first time in their entire conversation, and lowered her head sullenly. Lemona turned to leave, before remembering something. 'Oh, and one more thing. Do you know what CADMUS is?' Lorelai remained silent for a moment before drawing a deep breath and replying 'I've never heard of it.' Lemona turned and left the penthouse. When she returned to her office she was pleased to find Dante waiting for her there. He was sat on the chair in front of her desk, though one could be forgiven for thinking a large bear had seated itself there instead. He was a tall, large mass of dark thick hair. Any semblance of the person beneath was deeply buried. 'Where have you been?' he asked her. 'I was dealing with something. Have you been waiting long?' 'Not massively. I'm just uncomfortable being here.' 'I'm sorry to have to ask you to come into the office,' Lemona sat herself down opposite Dante. 'I just don't have the time to take the trip across town under the current circumstances. I hope you'll forgive me.' 'I'll forgive you if it turns out it was worth it.' Lemona tried to look Dante in the eyes, but it was far too difficult to tell where they were, so in the end she settled for staring at a point just below the top of his head. 'I wanted to ask you about Pen.' 'Well of course. What do you want to know?' 'I want to know how this happened.' 'What do you mean?' 'You know full well what I mean. For the past 10 years you've spent every second of your potato ing life in hiding because of that man. You assured me that you were watching his every move, that you were making sure we were safe. Clearly you were wrong.' Dante didn't seem as ruffled by this confrontation as Lemona had been anticipating. 'I will admit that this was not something that I had foreseen, yes.' 'Pen and Bandit are working together, our two biggest problems, and you had absolutely no idea?' 'No. Clearly whatever communication they have had together was very well hidden.' 'Is that your only defence?' 'I didn't do my job as well as I could have, I admit, but I'm trying my hardest. Communication is becoming more and more difficult to trace of late.' Lemona groaned. 'Okay, fine. What about now that he's here? We can't investigate Bandit, but there's nothing to stop us tracking Pen as much as we can whilst we've still got the chance.' 'I'm looking it at as quickly as possible. The thing that might help most was if I could get back to my office instead of being called out here.' 'Fine, I'll try and keep this quick. Just two more things.' 'Fire away.' 'First of all, I thought it might interest you to learn that Sherry Ann is still alive.' 'Really? Are you sure?' 'Of course I'm sure. I met her myself.' 'Okay, right. That's good to know. And the second thing?' 'I wanted to check – do you know what CADMUS is?' 'Of course I know what CADMUS is.' Lemona was taken aback. 'Then what is it?'
'You killed him?' 'I had no option.' Trusting Terry was never a good idea, thought Charlie, he's too inexperienced, too much of an unkown. 'You did have options, one of which was not killing him,' Zortegus replied. 'He refused to give me the money. I didn't know what else to do.' Terry was sat in the backseat of the car, Charlie and Zortegus were in the front. This was not an ideal situation to be in, and not just because the air conditioning was broken. 'What did you do with the body?' Charlie asked. 'I left it. I took all of his possessions, I tried to make it look like a robbery.' Terry said. 'Fine, Fine.' replied Zortegus, before turning to Charlie 'So what do we do now?' 'I think that we end this.' 'What does that mean?' asked Terry. 'It means we kill you,' replied Zortegus. 'What, seriously?' Terry squeaked. 'No,' laughed Zortegus, 'of course not.' 'It means you get out of this car and then you never speak to any of us again. You forget that you ever met me or my friend here, or the old guy, or anyone. You go back to your normal ordinary life and you pretend that this never happened. You're just an ordinary person again now, and you forget all about this If you don't, if you tell anyone even the slightest thing about this? Well, officer Craig, then we kill you.' Terry was silent before a moment,before he turned to open the car door. 'Ah-ah,' said Zortegus. 'Aren't we forgetting something?' Terry sighed, reached into his pocket, and handed Zortegus a large was of cash. 'Goodbye Mr. Craig' Said Zortegus. Charlie remained silent. Willis would never have stood for this, Charlie thought to himself, Willis was a professional. But now Willis is gone, and this is what remains. His grand scheme, his final act, and here I am to see it through. With nothing but a bunch of amateurs. 'We must get a move on,' said Zortegus. 'We've got a package to collect.'
They had been at the docks for the most of the afternoon, and Mister M was beginning to grow more and more uncertain with every second. What were they waiting for? The Last light of the day was already beginning to fade, and Mister M was growing impatient. It was hard work pretending to be someone else, and even harder to work with Hermes. He had been stood by the edge of the water for last few minutes, staring out into the ocean. M was leaning against the back of a container, his legs tired from... well, from doing nothing. From the moment they had arrived they had done nothing, nor said anything to one another. All M knew was that they were waiting. He had never been to the docks before, not even once. It was a dark and dismal place, and the salt air burned against the scars on his face. There was a chill in the air that he kenw wasn't just from the sea. Winter was coming. M shifted uncomfortably, moving his weight from one leg to the other. He could taste smoke in his mouth, and he turned. Despite the fact that he was an old, overweight, middle aged man, there was something inexplicably cool about Hermes, as he stood there, smoking, in the dying of the light. M knew the truth, though, about Hermes. And he knew what they were planning. He just had to be patient. A noise distracted Mister M, and he turned to see a car arriving out of the growing darkness. Charlie and Zortegus were inside, and they didn't look happy. 'Luke,' said Hermes 'It's here.' 'Yeah,' said M, but as he looked over at Hermes, he realised he wasn't referring to the car. Emerging out of the darkness was a ship, a boat, a something. M wasn't completely sure. What he could see, however, was a light searching for the lang, shining directly in their direction. Just one single light. 'Hermes,' said Zortegus, as he and Charlie exited the car, 'we need to talk.' 'Not now, I'm busy.' 'I never said you have any option,' replied Zortegus. Hermes sighed and thre his cigarette into the water. 'Fine. What do we need to talk about?' 'We need to talk in private.' 'Will the car do?' 'The car will do nicely.' Hermes walked past Mister M, and he and Zortegus entered, shut the doors, and talked. Charlie and M were alone, watching the boat draw near. Charlie didn't seem to like M (or, more specifically, Luke), and he wasn't really sure why. What had he done that had caused that. 'Why are we waiting?' M asked. 'Wait and see.' 'You could just tell me.' 'Well, patience is a virtue.' M laughed, as if preempting an awkward silence. He doesn't actually know, does he? He's just following orders. The less he knows, the less danger everyone's in. Just like me. M went and stood next to Charlie as the ship begin to stop not to far away from where he was standing. Something splashed into the water, and M asked 'What's going on.' 'I think... someones just jumped overboard.' 'Should we do something? 'Not unless we're told to, no.' M thought for a moment, and he walked over to the edge of the platform. He leaned over the rusted metal handrail and looked down at the waves the below. In the growing darkness he could just about make out a figure heading toward the shore. 'Someone's coming,' he told charlie, he couldn't have seemed less interested if he'd tried. The figure moved closer to the edge of the water, found a ladder, and began to climb up towards them. As they moved nearer, M began to work out some features of who the person was. They were short, and young, dressed all in black clothes to hug the night. They looked to be quite young, younger than him, perhaps not much older than a child. When they finally reach the top and stood level with them, she removed a mask covering her face to reveal her identity. She was young, just as M had thought, but he hadn't thought she was that young. He hadn't seen her in a long time, and he hadn't expected to find her here. She frowned in confusion at M, and spoke before he could do anything to stop her. 'Mister M.' said Tryina, 'What on earth are you doing here?'
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Post by Teleram on Oct 1, 2017 14:08:20 GMT -5
Do you write this story as you go along, or did you have every plot point mapped out before you began?
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Post by Isadora Is a Door on Oct 2, 2017 0:18:58 GMT -5
mostly its all plotted out but i leave room for expansion of characters or plot elements that work (or don't)/
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Post by Isadora Is a Door on Oct 17, 2017 15:13:00 GMT -5
Chapter Ten
'What did she just call you?' M was taken aback. Could it really be her, after all these years? Tryina turned to face Charlie. 'Who are you?' 'That doesn't matter,' replied Charlie. 'What matters is who are you,' he pointed at Tryina, 'and who are you,' he pointed at Mister M. 'My name is Tryina Denouement, and this - ' 'I'm Luke' said Mister M, 'just like I told you.' 'That's not what she said, she said Mister M. Who are you?' 'I was mistaken,' said Tryina. 'I thought you were someone else, but it turns out I was wrong. I've never seen this man before in my life. Nice to meet you Luke.' Tryina held out her hand in M's direction, waiting to be shook. M reached out and shook it, and he looked directly into where Tryina's eyes would be, but she was looking elsewhere. 'Nice to meet you, Tryina.' Charlie remained unconvinced. 'If you think i'm some kind of -' 'Charlie!' Shouted Hermes, as he and Zortegus exited the car. 'What's the hold up?' Charlie stared first at Tryina and then Mister M, and he scowled. 'Nothing,' he shouted. 'Then let's get out of here.' Tryina walked over to the car. 'You must be Hermes. I'm dying to meet a professional out here.' 'And you are?' 'Tryina,' said Zortegus, as he climbed out of the car. 'This is Tryina Denoument.' 'Zortegus.' Tryina smiled. 'It's good to see you again.' Again? Thought Mister M. What has she been up to? 'How was the journey?' 'Middling. There's only so many encounters with snakes that I can deal with in one month. But enough about me, what's the plan?' 'My father wants to talk with you, I'm sure he'll explain everything to you.' 'Where is he?' 'He's at the Pandora, and he's waiting.' 'Well he'll have to wait a while. I need food, I need to shower, and I need to sleep.' 'My father isn't a patient man.' 'I never said he had to be. Is there somewhere I can stay this evening?' Zortegus sighed. 'Fine. Hermes, take Tryina back to the house with you. I have somewhere I need to be anyway.'
'I should be going.' said Trip, as she stood from the table 'Are you sure?' Bee asked. 'Yeah, I have to work early tomorrow morning.' 'Oh, really? Where do you work?' 'I work in Squalor's, the department store across town.' Bee thought for a moment. 'Sophie hadn't mentioned that to me before.' 'You should come in sometime. I can't really give you a discount or anything but I can show you some cool stuff.' 'I will definitely do that.' 'Great, I'll look forward to it.' Trip headed towards the door and Sophie went with her to say goodbye, leaving Bee alone in the dining room. Trip had not been what she was expecting. She was tall, with shoulder length brown hair, and with a serious face on the edge of breaking out into laughter. She was dressed in a mish mash of clothes, as if she had received an invitation stating 'smart casual', and it had been taken to the extreme. And she was... normal. The evening had gone well. There was awkwardness, of course, as there was expected to be, but Bee was eventually coming to the conclusion that she had, perhaps, been worrying about this more than had been necessary. She was a nice, polite, young woman. Okay, perhaps she had a recklessness about her, but Sophie had always been like that, It was almost a comfort to know that the person with whom Sophie was spending most of her time was not as terrible as she had imagined. Sophie had remained tense, however, seeming unable to unwind at any point during the evening. It was only now that Sophie finally seemed able to relax. 'So that went well.' 'Yeah,' said Sophie, sighing, 'yeah I guess it did.' 'Was I embarrassing?' 'No you were... you were fine.' 'To be honest, I'm pleasantly surprised.' Sophie looked confused. 'How?' 'What I'd heard about her, your behaviour lately, you getting arrested... it didn't add up very well. I'm still not pleased with how things are, but... she's nice. I can see why you were scared of her meeting me, though.' 'You can?' 'She's older than you, isn't she?' Sophie nodded. 'How much older?' 'About 5 years.' 'Hmm, okay.' 'Is that a problem?' 'No, you're 18, you're a grown woman. I just... I want to make sure nothing bad happens to you.' Sophie smiled 'What do you think is going to happen?' There was a sudden rapid knocking on the front door, which made them both jump. Sophie looked around and noticed that trip had left her phone on the table. 'It's probably her,' she said, and went back out into the hallway. A few moments later she came back, with an unexpected guest. 'Good Evening,' said Zortegus. 'I hope not late. I was told there was going to be a dinner.'
He could hear the noise of the water, and he waited. The letter laid on the bed before him, the weight of it too much for his pocket. His heart was thumping in his chest. He had never been good at waiting. Tryina Denouement was an enigma wrapped up in a mystery. She was remarkable for her age, and doubtless one of the greatest agents that the company had ever known. Her skills were much missed, and many believed she was dead... but now she was here. Was she really working with Pen, or was she undercover? If so, why didn't Lemona tell her? Or was she working for Pepper? Or both? The last time Tryina had been seen was during the Squalor incident. The connection had not gone unnoticed to M. Lemona had told him that Zortegus Pen was believed to have been involved in the Squalor incident, and Tryina disappeared there... and now she's back, working for his father. Too unlikely to be a coincidence, surely... The water stopped, and so did M. He could hear noises from the corridor outside and a few moments later he heard a knock at the door 'Come in,' said M. 'Good evening, Mister... Luke, was it?' said Tryina, and she entered and closed the door behind her. 'How was your shower?' 'Much needed. It's strange, really. I've spent the last two weeks of my life sick of the sight of water, but it's the first thing I requested upon arrival. But that's not the right question, Mister Luke.' 'What is the right question?' 'Is it safe to talk?' There were three things you need to know about Tryina. The first was that she was clever, the second was that she was young, younger than you'd think, and the third was that she used both of those things to her advantage. She was barely older than a child, but her years of experience meant that she was always cautious, always prepared. She wouldn't have wanted to talk in this situation, but that didn't matter. They needed to. 'It's as safe as it can be.' 'Then that will have to do. Is this letter for me?' she ran over to the bed and snatched up the envelope before M had a chance to intervene. 'No.' M tried in vain to grab the letter back from her. 'It's not for you to read.' She looked at the name written on the envelope ''Beatrice'. Who's Beatrice?' 'I don't know. It doesn't matter, what matter is what's inside.' 'Can I look at it?' 'No.' 'Tell me what it says.' '...No.' 'Why not?' 'I don't know if I can trust you.' Tryina threw the letter down on the bed, and sat down on the chair next to the desk. 'You're one to talk, Mister Luke. What on earth do you think you're doing, running around all gangster like you know what's good for you.' 'I'm undercover.' There was no harm in telling her that, at least, it should be obvious. 'Not for much longer, I fear. Charlie heard your true name, and he'll soon put two and two together.' 'I'm not so sure. He doesn't know who Mister M even is.' 'He will. He hates you.' 'Why?' 'You killed someone very close to him?' 'You mean... Elizabeth?' Tryina smiled. 'They used to be married, or so I believe. You killed her just to, what, get their attention.' 'I didn't kill anyone. It just... looks that way.' 'I see. The things we do for the good of the people?' she laughed. 'So what's your aim here? End crime?' 'I'm trying to find out what Pepper and his men are planning, or at least I was?' 'You've given up?' M eyed the envelope on the bed. Tryina raised an eyebrow of surprise. 'You've found out? Interesting. Well then, tell me.' M sighed, a sigh of deep regret and sorrow. 'I don't think I can trust you.' The words hand in the air like a bad smell, and Tryina stood and began to pace the room. 'Do you think it was me?' 'I... I'd never thought it could have been, no.' 'But now you aren't so sure.' 'The facts aren't stacked in your favour. Emma and Tiago died that day, and you... we were never sure, maybe there was a chance you'd survived, but... what happened?' 'Someone killed my parents, I fled.' 'Where?' 'After the killer.' 'Is it Zortegus?' 'I have no doubt in my mind.' Thoughts ran through M's head. 'So why are you working with his father?' 'I'm undercover. We both want the same thing, M.' 'And what's that? I don't want Revenge.' 'Not revenge. Justice.' It had been so long ago that M had almost forgotten how much the deaths of the Squalors had affected everything. It was plausible, but could he trust her? 'I understand your hesitance. But really, Mister Luke, you need to be honest with yourself. What other choice do you have other than to trust me?' M picked up the envelope from the bed. 'I'm sorry about your parents.' 'Don't be sorry, be useful. Tell me what you know.' Tryina held out her hand. 'You can't read the letter.' 'Why?' 'It's... private.' 'You wrote it?' 'No I just... It doesn't concern you, that's all.' 'Then tell me what it says.' M put the envelope back into his pocket, and opened its secrets. 'Pepper has been planning something. He and Willis came up with a plan to create a new drug called Pepper – not to be egotisitcal or anything. They've made... god only knows how much of it, and they're are starting to distribute around he city whilst buying up all other drugs that they can find. Pepper will soon be the only drug, and Pepper will have full control. Any dealer who refuses to co-operate is killed. I don't know how they are doing it, and I don't know why. I know that Willis wanted out of the plan at some point, and he tried to warn us, but it was too late. They have control of everyone now. They've already won.'
'So how long have you two known each other?' 'Oh, I don't remember how long exactly,' said Zortegus. 'The last time I saw you, you were just a newborn baby.' 'That's interesting,' said Sophie. 'She's never mentioned you.' Zortegus and Sophie were sat at the table eating bowls of ice cream that had been rescued from the depths of the freezer. Bee's ice cream sat there, melting away, and she listened intently to their conversation. 'She's really never mentioned me before?' said Zortegus, in an exaggerated tone of shock. 'Not even once?' 'I really don't think so, unless I've forgotten something.' 'Well I doubt that. I'm extremely memorable.' Sophie laughed, with her mouth still full of ice cream. 'So Zortegus,' Bee said. 'What are you still doing in the city?' 'I told you, I'm here on a business trip.' 'I thought you were only here for a few days?' 'My stay has been extended. Hopefully indefinitely.' 'Do you work for the same company as my mum?' interrupted Sophie. 'Not exactly. We... liaise with each other, from time to time.' 'But not for a while,' said Bee 'No. Though I hear that might be about to change very soon.' 'Oh really?' 'Yes.' Zortegus smiled and stared deep into Bee's eyes. 'Really.'
The packet contained two small circular tablets, a deep red colour. M had seen them before, in Lemonas office, but now that he new what it meant, it seemed as though the packet itself was dangerous to touch. 'Where did you get it from?' 'Pen gave it to me before he left to come to the city.' 'What did he tell you?' 'He said that he was coming to the city to make a new business deal and when I asked what that meant, he gave me this. He's not the talkative type.' 'So.. Is Pepper selling Pepper to Pen?' 'Quite possibly. But there's something else I wanted to show you.' They were in the guest room of Hermes' house, and they were speaking in quiet voices. Tryina's things, small as they were laid out on a bed, but that's not where Tryina was looking. She reached inside the pillowcase, rummaged around, and pulled out a bundle of money. 'Where is this from?' 'It used to belong to Ryan Trimble before his untimely death. I Took it off of Zortegus before he left.' 'I didn't see you do that.' 'Oh. Mister Luke, aren't you forgetting? I'm extremely good.' She handed M the money, and he flicked through the notes. 'What's so interesting about this?' 'Nothing. Or at least, that's what I thought I first. Then I double checked, and then I triple checked, and then I noticed.' She pulled the bundle from M's hands and threw it onto the bed, and then she produced a small light from her pocket, and shone it at the money. For a few seconds M noticed nothing, but then it was obvious. A small serial number had appeared on the topmost note, revealed by the ultraviolet light. 'What is this?' 'Its a code. A Police code. This money, this is police money.' 'So....what? The police are helping Pepper with his grand scheme? That's hardly surprising, people are people, some are good, some are bad.' 'It's not as simple as that. This code is put on the money that is seized by police for whatever reason, and then is stored indefinitely. This money was taken by the police and stored, and now its being used to help bribe criminals.' 'So how the money getting from A to B?' 'Exactly' Tryina sighed. 'I don't know, but I can try to find out. I need to talk to Pen.' 'Pen?' This didn't seem like a good idea. 'Why?' 'Because he's my boss.' 'He's a bad man.' 'Yes, but he can help us – get to the bottom of this. He's been of great use to me over the last few years.' 'Use to you?' 'Through him i've been able to find out lots of interesting information, Mister Luke, very interesting. And I believe he can help me with this.' 'Okay, okay fine. You're supposed to be going to him tomorrow?' Tryina smiled 'Oh, no, tomorrow won't do. I need to talk to him tonight.' 'Tonight? He's staying at the Pandora, under the care of Mayor Bandit.' 'Exactly, it'll be a breeze. If we leave now we should be in and out before dawn breaks.' 'We?' 'Well of course, Mister M. You're coming with me.'
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Post by Isadora Is a Door on Nov 9, 2017 17:04:37 GMT -5
Chapter Eleven
She could hear the knocking in her dreams, and it took her a while to realise it was real. Wearily, she opened her eyes and muttered to herself, before tumbling out of her bed and walking over to the door, and opening. 'What do you want?' she asked. 'Room Service!' said the woman who was standing behind the door. Her voice was far too cheerful and excitable for any time of the day, let alone at three o'clock in the morning. 'I didn't order any room service,' said Violet. 'I'm sorry? Yes you did.' The woman pushed past Violet, and placed a large tray filled with food onto a table in Violet's room. 'Excuse me,' said Violet, 'what the hell are you doing? I didn't order any room service because I'm trying to sleep.' 'There's no time for sleeping,' said the woman. 'There's too much important stuff going on in the world for that.' 'I'm sorry?' said Violet, confused. 'I mean, would you like some waffles?' 'Can you please just leave?' The woman smiled, and walked over to the door. For a moment Violet thought she was going to walk off it, but instead the woman closed the door, and turned around to face her. 'Oh Violet, I'm disappointed in you. I thought you'd have seen right through me, although I did learn from the best.' Violet looked at the woman, confused, and then suddenly she realised. She was wearing heavy make up and a wig, but it was definitely her. But what was she doing here? 'Bee? What are you doing here?' 'I need to ask you something.' 'In the middle of the night?' 'The best time for asking questions, yes. I need to have a meeting with your boss, immediately.' 'Which one?'
'We should park here and walk the rest of the way,' said Tryina. 'Maybe,' said M. 'Or maybe I should stay here and you go by yourself.' 'Nice try. You need to come with me.' 'But why? Surely this is just reckless. I'm supposed to be undercover, I shouldn't be taking unnecessary risks like this.' Tyrina turned fiercely towards M. 'It doesn't matter why. What matters is what I say, and what I say is that you come with me now, otherwise I will tell everyone exactly who you are, Mister Luke. Do you understand me?' 'No, I don't.' M sighed, and pulled over. 'But I'll come with you.' The walk to The Pandora was only a few minutes long, but to M it seemed to last a lifetime. He was unsure about everything, and with every step he took he wanted to run in the opposite direction. Tryina was determined that they talk to Pen together, but it seemed like a foolish, stupid thing to do. As they walked onwards in silence, M began to get a uneasy sensation that they were followed. In the dark and gloom of the night it was impossible to tell for certain, but he kept looking behind to check if there was anyone there, and he could see nothing. When they arrived outside the hotel, they reached their first obstacle of the night. A police officer was standing outside the entrance to the hotel, and when Tryina and M approached him, he asked them for identification. Tryina reached into a pocket, pulled out a knife and slit his throat. 'That was... drastic,' said M, in hushed anger. 'It was necessary. Here, take this.' Tryina handed the knife to him. 'You'll need it. Come, we shouldn't waste any more time.' Tryina pushed through the doors and went into the lobby and M followed, careful to not step in any of the blood. When they entered the luxurious hotel, the warmth made M feel colder than he had before. The brightness of the lights meant that his eyes took a few moments to adjust, but when they did, he saw a spacious room with several fancy looking chairs dotted around, and an old looking desk. There was a man sat behind it, writing down some information on a piece of paper. The man was talking to a woman, and it was only when M realised who the woman was, that he turned to look at Tryina. She had an expression on her face like that of a school teacher, one that told M to remain quiet and not do anything, elsewise there would be trouble. The man and Anka finished talking, and she headed over to a nearby elevator, and dissappeared. 'Do you think she...?' began M. 'Quiet,' replied Tryina. 'Later.' And she walked over to the receptionist and said 'Good Evening.' 'I think you'll find it's actually morning. We were told to not expect you until the morning, however.' Tryina smiled. 'A very dear friend once told that me it's always sensible to arrive at least several hours early for an appointment; advice which I have decided to follow. May we go upstairs.' 'It depends what you mean by we.' The receptionist stood, and put on a pair of extremely thick glasses, and peered at Mister M. 'Hmm', he hmmed. 'He doesn't seem like the trustworthy sort.' 'I trust Him' Tryina took hold of Mister M 'His name is Luke, and he has been ordered to escort me to Mr. Fredrick Pen.' 'Hmm', hmmed the receptionist once more. 'Well, okay. I trust your judgement, Tryina, you can go through. He's in the penthouse.' He took of the large glasses, and reached under the desk to bring out a key, which he gave to Tryina. 'Thank you.' she said, and she pulled Mister M in the direction of the elevator. Once they were inside the elevator, Mister M finally spoke. 'Do you think she saw us?' 'Of course she did, but it doesn't matter. We stick to the plan.' 'The plan?' M wasn't exactly sure what Tryina meant. 'What do you think Pen will do when we tell him what we know?' 'I'm sorry, Mister M,' said Tryina, in a much more serious tone than she had been using before. 'But I'm afraid I may not have been entirely honest with you about my intentions this evening.' 'Well of course' said M, trying to act as though he was less confused than he really he was. 'So what is the plan?' 'I am going to talk to Pen, like I told you, and I'm not going to give him any time to find out what he will do. I'm going to kill him.' 'Kill him? Why? I mean, yes, there are obvious reasons, but why now?' 'Because it's him. It's all him. Everything that's happening here is his fault. Pepper is just a pawn, and Bandit knows nothing that's going on. He has masterminded this whole scheme and he needs to be stopped... and he killed my parents. I've wanted to do this for a long time, I've just never had the ideal opportunity... until now.' M gulped. 'What's changed?' Tryina sighed. 'You, Mister 'Luke'. You were in the perfect place at the perfect time. That's why I brought you along. I'm not going to kill Pen myself, no. You're going to do it for me.' A silence fell upon the both of them as the elevator ground to a halt, and the doors pinged open onto an darkened corridor. 'You expect to murder someone?' 'You've done it before. Need I remind you who Elizabeth Willis was?' That wasn't me, thought M, but that argument was redundant now. 'I can't.' 'You will. And I'll need you to shoot me as well, although I'd prefer it if it wasn't fatal.' 'I won't.' Tryina smiled at M. 'I never said you had a choice. You saw Anka in the lobby earlier. A few hours ago an email was sent to her from the account of one Lemona Boddy, ordering her to meet with her sister in the Pandora this evening. It was an e-mail that I sent, and the reason that I sent it was to use her as bait. If you don't kill Pen for me, then I will kill Anka for you.' M thought for a moment. This was an impossible situation. Tryina was dangerous, and she was determined, and she was desperate, but that wasn't enough. 'I'm sorry about what's happened to you, but I don't believe you. You won't kill Anka, and you won't make me kill Pen either.' 'Then I will blow your cover. I'll tell Hermes who you really are.' 'The chances are he already knows by now.' M reached for the ground floor button of the elevator, and pressed it. 'I'm leaving. You can come with me if you so wish. I'm not going to stop you from killing Pen, if you so wish.' Tryina looked at Mister M with panic in her eyes, and for a brief moment M could see the young girl inside her reaching out. But the moment passed, and Tryina scowled and stepped out of the elevator. 'You'll regret this decision, Mister M.' The doors closed, and the lift began its descent once more. M's head was begin to ache again, but he forced himself to stay focused. He pressed another of the elevator's buttons. There was someone else he needed to talk to.
Tryina knocked three times, and the door opened. The security guards checked her over, and as she stood there waiting, she thought. A man who thought himself to be important spoke to her, and she argued with him, and eventually she was allowed to see him. When she entered the huge room, Pen was still asleep. He was a thin, frail old man. From where she was standing, he looked like barely more than a stick insect. She walked over to the bed, and looked down his old wrinkled face. She could kill him now, and nobody could stop her. But Pen was just the first. They needed to die, all of them. So she would have to patient. She had waited years for this moment. She could hang on for just a bit longer. She headed to the bathroom, locked the door, and checked everywhere for eyes and ears. When she knew it was safe, she phoned. 'I was hoping to hear from you sooner' said Linda. 'I was waylaid. There have been developments.' 'How so?' 'Mister M has learned more than we thought, but he knows nothing of the truth.' 'I don't care about M. What about Charlie?' 'I haven't had any time to -' 'We are running out of time, Tryina. Bsam has been taken, and Elizabeth has gone missing. If we loose Charlie now than our mission will become impossible. Me and Pandora are counting on you.'
Anka was waiting in the darkness. She walked up and down the corridor impatiently, hoping that he had seen. She was supposed to be meeting with Violet, she wasn't supposed to be doing... this. But she needed to talk to Mister M, and she needed to know what Tryina was doing here, and both of those things currently weren't happening. When she had seen the both in the lobby of the hotel she had made sure to give no indication of her recognition. It was much more likely that one of them would come to see here if they thought that the other one hadn't noticed that she was there. She just hoped it would be him, and not her. She was just about to give up waiting when the elevator doors opened, and Mister M was there. The first thing she thought was the first thing that she said, although she didn't mean to. 'Your face...' 'If it's any consolation, it feels much worse than it looks.' 'What are you doing here?' she asked, lowering her voice to barely more than a whisper. 'I needed to speak to you.' 'I don't mean here in this corridor, I mean here in this building. And what is Tryina doing with you?' 'We're here to talk to Pen, or at least we were, but that doesn't matter now anyway. This is all just a trick. It wasn't Lemona who sent you orders, it was Tryina.' 'Why would she do that?' 'She wanted to use you as a bait. She said she's going to try and kill Pen or something, but we need to get out of here now, in case anything bad happens.' Anka was confused. Mister M held out his hand for Anka to take, and for a moment she wasn't sure wether or not to go with him or not. She looked at Mister M, and the scars surrounding the side of his face, and for the first time in a long time she felt helpless. Should she stay or should she go? 'I can't come with you' she said. 'You have too.' 'No I don't. And I can't, Aren't you supposed to be undercover?' M sighed. 'I don't know any more. I need to talk to Lemona and tell her what I know. If you come with me then we can go straight to her office.' He gestured towards her once more. Anka could hear talking coming from inside Violet's room, and it was growing louder; someone was coming out. If M didn't leave know then he would be seen, and then there would be trouble. 'Okay, I'll come with you.' she said, but she didn't take his hand. She walked passed him into the elevator and pressed the button for the ground floor. 'But only if you tell me everything.' She didn't know if she was making the right decision, but at least she had made one.
When they arrived in the lobby of the Pandora, M was expecting the bright lights and the receptionist that had been there only a few moments ago, but neither were there. Instead, the room was empty and the lights were off. 'Where is everyone?' Anka asked. 'Not everyone... where is anyone?' Mister M headed over the desk where the receptionist had been. There was a piece of paper on the desk, with the word 'Hijack' written on it. He picked it up and folded it in two, when suddenly he was blown off of his feet. Charlie was on top of M, landing punch after punch on him, M was prepared, however, and he reached into his pocket and pulled out the knife Tryina had given to him, and lashed out at Charlie. Charlie stood up, but Anka immediately kicked him in the stomach, and he fell back onto the ground. 'Do you know who this is?' she asked. 'Sadly I do. His name is charlie.' Charlie sat up and clenched his stomach, from which a steady of blood was beginning to emerge 'And what's your name, huh? Is it Luke? Or Mister M?' Mister M looked at Charlie, and he could feel his heart thumping in his chest. He knew. He definitley knew the truth about who M was.What was he supposed to do now? 'What do we do?' Anka asked, as she turned to face him. 'I was just thinking the same thing. I need to speak to Lemona.' 'There's no time, we have to deal with him first.' 'Deal with him? How? What am I supposed to do with him?' A gunshot answered Mister M, and he and Anka turned to see Bee standing in the doorway of the elevator, and Charlie collapsed into himself. 'It's done,' said Bee. 'You killed him?' asked M, aghast. 'It's done,' said Bee. Anka looked shocked 'But what if someone-' 'It's done,' said Bee. 'And you need to leave, now. Both of you. Questions will be asked, and its better for all of us if neither of you two are here.' 'Why are you even here?' M asked her. 'We... we don't have time for that.' M remembered the voices he heard upstairs. 'You were talking to Violet, weren't you. Why?' 'I wasn't - It doesn't matter.' Bee walked over to the large glass doors at the entrance and pushed one open. 'Both of you, go. Now.' Suddenly, a phone started to ring. The loud metallic sound echoed around the room, and made M's bones rattle. The terrifying noise reverbated, making it difficult at first to see where it was coming from. M looked around, and saw a frightened look on Anka's face. He saw a red light coming from the receptionist's desk, so he walked over to it. There was a black telephone sat there, with a red light flashing in time with the phone's wailing. For some reason, one which he would never undestand, M picked up the phone and answered it. 'Hello?' he said. For a moment, M thought he could hear the wind blowing in through the open door, but he couldn't. What could hear was a raspy, wheezing sound coming from the other end of the telephone. The sound went on for what felt like minutes, before finally there was a sigh, and the man spoke. 'Hey Luke. My name is Bandit, but you can call me Bandy. I think it's time we had a long, long talk.'
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Post by Isadora Is a Door on Dec 9, 2017 16:10:51 GMT -5
Extremely delayed, Extremely long, extremely anticipated (I wish)... Buckle up for a big one. It's only just beginning Chapter Twelve 'Good Morning. I'm Linda Rhaldeen, and these are you news headlines for this morning.' 'A body has been discovered in the lounge of the 5 star hotel The Pandora, Police received an anonymous tip in the early hours of this morning, and the hotel and the surrounding area have been shut down whilst investigations are underway. Our star reportor Comet has raced to the scene to give you the latest updates.' 'Thanks Linda. I arrived here a few hours ago, and since then more and more police have been arriving to investigate the scene. Very little information is known about who has been killed, how it happened, and who was responsible. Of interest, however, is that current political flavour of the month Mister Fredrick Pen was also resident at the hotel last night. I understand that he has since been moved to a more secure location, however questions have been asked about whether this was a politically motivated attack, either for or against Mr Pen. We have contacted the Mayor's office, but are yet to receive any response.' I... hang on, I'm just getting some information through... it seems as though there may have been some identification of the deceased. Out sources seem to have confirmed that his name is-' 'I'm sorry, but we seem to have lost our reporter there. I'm not sure whether – hang on.......I see...... Apologies about this, but I think it might be better if we dropped this story. Let us now turn our attention to news elsewhere. Shaving was the hardest part. The scars on his face had prevented any hair growth, so there wasn't any difficulty. But every time he shaved it reminded him of what had happened, and the feeling of the flames pressed agaisnt his face. It was morning, and M had slept far better than he had expected to. It had only been a few hours since he had returned home from the Pandora, and he had expected to spend those few hours being too nervous to do everything except sleeping, but that had not been the case. He supposed he was tired, and there was simply no way to even prepare for what was to come. He glanced over to the clock on the wall, and saw that it was now past eight, and threw the razor into the sink. This was futile. He walked back into the bedroom and smelled his old clothes. Days worth of sweat and intrigue clung to them, and he knew that they wouldn't do. He pulled the piece of paper on which he written down the address from his pocket, and moved to the wardrobe. During his short stay he had never once opened the wardrobe before, as it looked to be old and abandoned. He was not disappointed with the results. A few measley garments hand folornly from their hangers; two moth-eaten shirts and a pair of grey trousers. But there was something of interest tacked to the inside of one of the wardrobe's doors. M tugged at it, and it peeled away. The picture was of a group of people standing next to one another in front of a large statue. M didn't recognize the statue, but he recognised most of the people. Hermes was standing at the far left, and he was holding hands with a beautiful woman who M didn't know, but whose identity he could guess. Standing next to them was Jacob Willis, and Elizabeth. Next to those two stood Linda Rhaldeen, the news reporter, and then Pandora. Bee and Zortegus stood next to one another, laughing, and then there was a man who at first M was sure he'd never seen before, but after closer inspection it became apparent that it was Charlie – younger, and clean shaven. Emma and Tiago stood next to them, and then there was a tall, thin man who M had never seen before. Sherry Ann stood next to him, looking uncomfortable at the prospect of being photographed. And then there was Lemona, and just at the edge of the image, almost as an afterthought, was M's father. A thousand thoughts rushed through his head, but he didn't have time for any of those, not once he studied the picture once more. Sat on the ground in front of the large group were two children, not much older than 7 or 8. The children weren't paying attention to the camera, and both had their heads turned to one another in coversation. One was M himself, and although at first he thought he didn't recognise the child, it only took a few moments for it to click, and for M to remember the two times in his life that he had met this person before. It was Pepper. 'I am extremely disappointed.' 'You need to learn to lighten up.' Pen glared at Zortegus from across the table. 'This is a serious matter.' 'It doesn't need to be.' Zortegus poked his waffle lazily with a fork. 'An attempt was made on my life.' Zortegus smiled. 'Oh, was it? I barely noticed. You're fine, I'm fine. Everyone's fine.' Pen glared. 'Or at least I believe everyone is fine.' Zortegus turned to Violet, who was sat on a chair in the corner, busily rifling through some papers. 'Violet, are you fine?' 'I'm... yes, I'm okay.' 'There we go. Everyone is fine, except for Violet who is merely okay. Lighten up.' 'You are a fool,' Pen replied. 'We are not safe here.' 'Safe?' Zortegus snorted. 'Where are we ever safe?' 'Home.' 'Perhaps,' he shrugged. 'But home is no fun.' 'I do not like it here. I do not like this city or its people. It's too clean. It's too nice. Everywhere I go people look at me, I do not like being looked at.' Zortegus sighed. 'I don't know why I take you anywhere. All you ever do is complain.' Pen thumped his fist down onto the table in frustration. 'This is not a game.' 'Of course it isn't. I'm sorry. But at least I have the ability to laugh away troubles. Your anger, it ages you terribly father.' Pen grunted. ' I do not worry about my age, not when this city is likely to kill me quicker.' Zortegus laughed. 'I doubt it. The best years of my life have been spent here.' 'You mean with her?' Zortegus raised an eyebrow. 'Are we playing the pronoun game?' Pen scowled. 'You spend too much time with that woman.' Zortegus smiled. 'You don't spend enough time with any. Speaking of which, will our guest be joining us for dinner?' 'No,' said Pen, plainly. 'She has had a long journey, we should let her rest.' Not long enough to avoid her sneaking off in the night, Zortegus thought. He disliked Tryina greatly, and every second his father spent with her was another second his distrust grew. 'Don't you find it interesting, though?' 'Find what interesting?' 'That she arrived only a few minutes before your... 'special visitor', as it were.' Pen ground his teeth. 'What are you implying?' 'Nothing, Nothing. I Just wonder wether you think it could be true, what she told. Charlie never expressed any hint of dislike against you, not in all the years I have known him. Suddenly, a woman with great reason to be be angry with you is placed in her custody. Doesn't that seem -' 'Enough.' Pen said sternly. 'I will not hear this.' Zortegus laughed. 'Well of course not. We were in danger of coming close to a truth for a moment.' 'You think you know people. That has always been your weakness.' 'I do know people. Some better than others, I admit, but I know them.' 'You place trust in these fools.' 'They are not fools.' 'You have too many roots here. You stayed here too long.' 'I feel safe here, father, and in time you will too.' 'I will not stay here.' Zortegus let out a stifled yawn. 'No... no I believe you will not.' He stood from the table. 'Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some planting to do.' The building they had been taken to was in the heart of the city. It was modest, in a cluster in tall grey sentinels. It paled in comaprison to the luxury fot he Pandora, but Pen had been moved here for his own security. There were armed guards at every turn, so there was nowhere that Zortegus could go to be alone. Instead he walked the corridors, making sure not to double back and avoid being overheard. After a few moments, his phone rang, and answered. 'My dearest darling.' 'Zort,' said Bee, in a serious tone. 'We have a problem.' 'This seems to be a recurring theme. What is it? 'It's Hermes. I think he might be on to us.' He placed his hands around the outside of the cup and was thankful for the warmth that enveloped his fingers. It was a cold morning, and he was alone. Hermes had woken to find the house empty for the first time in far too long. Charlie, Luke, Zortegus, and Tryina had all deperated overnight, and he had no idea where they had gone. He should have cared. He should have been worried. But he wasn't. Today his mind was elsewhere. He was sat in the kitchen, waiting for the coffee to cool to a temperature that was drinkable, and waiting for the hands on the clock to move forward. He had only been awake for half an hour and yet he felt exhausted. He was too old for this life, and he was hopeful that all of that was about to change. He picked up the coffee and took a sip. It was hot, but not too hot. His hands were shaking, he realised. He was nervous, perhaps more so than he had expected to be. But then again, he had never expected this to happen.They had not spoken for so long, and he had done nothing to change that, so why did she want to meet him now? The last time that that Hermes had spoken to his daughter had been shortly after her mother had died, and the conversation, though brief, had been full of anguish. Time heals many wounds, but Hermes feared that it had not healed these. He was beginning to get impatient, so he stood from the table and began to pace around the kitchen. He was never good at waiting. Suddenly, there was a knocking at the door, and she was there. 'Hello dad.' said Trip. 'Hi. You look..... old.' 'So do you.' They stood for a moment in silence, neither person quite sure what to say to the other. Then Hermes remembered the coffee. 'I made coffee. Would you like some?' 'No thanks, I won't be staying long. I.... Well, I guess I just wanted to check you were okay.' 'Why?' 'No reason, I just -' 'No.' said Hermes, sharply. 'There has to be a reason. I have heard nothing from you for the last few years and then suddenly you're here. There has to be a reason.' Trip sat down at the table and stole Hermes' coffee. 'I was talking to a friend about our parents, and afterwards I couldn't get you out of my head, okay? I was worried about what might have happened to you. It's good that you haven't changed your phone number.' 'I didn't want us to fall out of contact.' 'That's sweet,' said Trip, and she smiled, which was not something Hermes had seen for a very long time. 'I wasn't sure If I would ever have the chance to talk to you again, so I knew that If that chance ever did arise I would have to be prepared. I've written you a letter, with everything that I've wanted to tell you.' Hermes reached into his pocket. 'Seriously? A letter? What is it that you have to say that -' 'Wait. I must have... I must have left it upstairs.' Hermes walked out of the kitchen, and moved up the stairs as quickly as he could. 'I said I can't stay long,' shouted Trip. 'I'll be just one second.' Where had that letter gone? He hardly ever went anywhere without it. Surely he couldn't have left it anywehre? He reached the landing of the top floor of the house, and was about to enter his room when he saw that the door to Luke's room was wide open when it had not been before. For some reason, he found himself drawn towards the room, and he went inside. The bed was neatly made, and there was glass water sat on the desk. Next to the glass of water was the envelope that had contained Hermes' letter. But it didn't take more than a glance for Hermes to know that the letter itself was gone. He picked up the envelope and crushed it in his hand, and then turned around to head back downstairs. There was someone else in the room, standing right in front of him. He was sure that there had been nobody else in there before, but now there was. The figure was tall, and moved toward Hermes with lightening speed. No matter much he tried to focus, he couldn't quite make out any details of the man; there was nothing there except blurred shapes. He tried to move out of the way, but suddenly an arm lashed out and pinned Hermes to the wall, hands clasped around his neck. 'You should have given up a long time ago.' said the giure, with voice like metal drawn against stone. 'I tried to warn you.' Hermes tried to speak but no sound came out. The hands around his throat squeezed tightly, with an almost inhumane strength. The fingers were long and sharp as knives, and they dug deeply into the skin around his neck. Desperately, Hermes tried to prise the strangers hands away with his own, but it felt like he was clawing at stone. 'I am sorry that it must end like this, old friend.' The hands tightened, and then slipped away, and Hermes fell to the ground, the blood gushing from his neck like a waterfall. The last thing he heard was the sound of his daughters screams. 'Thanks for the lift.' said Sophie, as she moved to open the car door. 'Can you wait a moment?' Sophie raised an eyebrow. 'Why?' 'I'd like to talk with you about something,' replied Bee. Sophie hesitated, and then released her grip on the handle and sunk back into her seat. 'Okay, what is it?' 'I know things have been difficult between us lately -' 'They haven't... At least not for the last few days.' 'Well that's good to hear. But I know that we don't have the best of relationships sometimes, and like you said, things have been a bit better between us recently, so I hope that things can say that way.' 'Where is this going?' Bee sighed. 'I think it might be a good idea if you stayed away from Trip, at least for the time being.' Sophie opened her mouth and closed it again when she realised she didn't know what she wanted to say. 'I know that this might seem a bit surprising -' 'Surprising?' said Sophie 'Surprising? Of course this is surprising. Why are you doing this?' 'I only have your best interests in mind.' 'You had no problem with her yesterday. Where has this come from?' 'I don't need to explain my reasons to you. I'm your mother.' 'Don't be stupid, of course you do. You can't just tell me to stop seeing someone for no good reason.' 'I think its important that you focus more on your career at the moment.' Sophie laughed. 'Are you serious? Is that your excuse? You really expect me to believe that.' Bee could feel her face turning red as she could hear her heart beginning to beat faster. 'Please Sophie, just listen to me. Sometimes there are things that I can't explain, but that I need you to believe. You have to stay away from this girl.' 'Why?' 'Because she's dangerous.' 'Dangerous?' Sophie sounded more confused than she had before. 'Why would you..... This is him isn't it.' 'Who?' 'Zortegus. He told you this.' Bee was confused. 'Why would you think that?' Sophie looked away from her mother and said nothing, but after a moment she spoke again in a small, quiet voice. 'Because he's my father, isn't he.' For a moment, Bee wasn't sure how to react to this. Not only was it an unexpected claim, but it was such an incorrect one that she couldn't help herself but laugh. 'No, Sophie. He isn't.' Sophie looked embarrassed and irritated. 'You're lying to me?' Bee tried to stop herself laughing. 'No I'm not. Zortegus is... a friend. An old friend who is definitly not anyone's father, or at least as far as I'm aware.' 'Then why are you doing this?' Bee managed to control herself. 'I'm doing this to protect you.' 'I don't need protecting.' 'Everybody needs protecting.' 'I don't need protecting from her. What do you think she's going to do?' 'Sometimes you think know somebody, and it turns out that you don't. I need – and you need – to make sure you really know the truth about someone before you trust them.' 'I know Trip. I know she's not dangerous.' 'I'm not talking about trip, I'm talking about you, Sophie.' Sophie looked confused. 'What, are you saying I don't know who I am?' 'Perhaps you don't. Look, you need to be at work now and I have... places that I need to be. We talk about this later, agreed?' 'Maybe,' said Sophie as she opened the car door. 'Or maybe not.' She rose from the car and left without another word. Bee closed her eyes for a second, but only a second. She did have places to go, and she had to go there now – she could think about this later. The drive did not take long, but to bee it seemed like hours passed. It had been years since last they had spoken, but now she knew that the time had come to break the silence. It was only a short drive to reach the Mayor's office. The building was in the middle of a large rural area that had been cultivated in the heart of the city, so Bee had to park her car a small walk away. As she walked through the park she tried to gather her thoughts but somehow... she couldn't think, she couldn't focus, she was just nervous, nervous, nervous. She arrived in front of the tall, dark building, its shadow cast down upon her. She checked her watch, and before she could turn to look behind her he was there. 'Hello Mister M' said Bee. 'Hello Bee.' He said. 'How are we -' 'Not here, wait until we are inside.' 'You're coming too?' 'Yes. Me and Bandit have important matters to discuss.' 'Such as what, exactly?' 'Our common problem. Sophie.' M looked confused, but then he always was. 'Why is she problem?', he asked. 'She always has been.' 'But why would Bandit care?' 'Caring isn't something I expect him to do, but as her father I expect him to undertake a certain level of responsibility.'
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