Leviathan (Fist of Light Series) (12 page)

“You'll be surprised how quickly you bounce back and return to your usual state of idiocy.” Jeeves patted me reassuringly on the back, an awkward movement. “The memories are a part of you, a portion of your essence. Don't wall them away.”

I closed my eyes and rubbed at my temples, conflicted. “How much longer could I continue without changing anything?”

“As you've likely deduced by this point, a turning point has been reached. Do you not hear the tolling of The Call filtering up from the depths of your psyche? Another Dark entity has entered this Realm, and you have been notified of the breach.”

“Why can't life just be smooth sailing? What's with all these apocalyptic events that seem to follow me around like a lost puppy? Is every doomsday prophecy latching onto my coattails?”

“The Call is merely an informant, closely resembling one of those hurricane warning contraptions. A dangerous being has entered in this dimension. It cannot be ruled out the Fist of Darkness' past actions played a part in this appearance.”

“Won't that guy’s black specter stop hovering over me? So what, he poked some hornet’s nest before he died, attracted a baddy to our tiny corner of the universe, and now I have to deal with the repercussions?”

“That seems the most obvious conclusion to be made. Opening a gate to another dimension and consuming the soul of an extra-dimensional being has far-reaching, unpredictable effects. It is possible irrevocable damage was done in the process.”

“I have the feeling we have more on our plate than that. Jas won't rest until we track Noah down, that's for sure. Anything else is secondary right now.”

Jeeves tapped his thigh nervously. “Events seem to be unfolding at a rapid rate. I am unsure of the direction they will take. This uncertainty is surely human in nature,” he mused aloud. “But what must be, will be. Do what you have to. We shall confront these challenges as they come at us.”

“That's how it works amongst mortals. Get used to it,” I snorted, then moved to leave the Dreamscape.

Jeeves latched onto my arm, tethering my metaphysical body to this plane, stopping me from leaving. “The barriers. Take them down.”

Narrowing my eyes, I met his stare unflinchingly. “Fine,” I finally relented when it was clear he wasn't budging. “But if I become a gibbering mess, the blame falls at your feet.”

“You will become something far less appealing than a gibbering mess if the walls are not removed. As I must share space in your psyche, a suitable environment must be maintained.”

Gritting my teeth, I prepared to instigate the process, working mainly by feel. “Like tearing off a Band-Aid of mental duct tape.”

The pain was so excruciating that it dissolved the senses entirely, my being no more than a pinprick of light amid a black sea of nothing. Sight returned first, which informed me that I was back in the dingy little room given to me at the unnamed government facility. My ringing ears finally settled down soon after, replaced by a hyperaware sense of my body. Touch followed, a buzzing, static-like feeling that traversed the length of me. A slew of memories laid siege to my mind, gluing themselves back into place next to their brethren. I didn't doubt that extracting them from their position again would be a fatal venture.

“
Ouch.”
I rubbed cautiously at my noggin then poked cautiously.
“Everything seems to be in working order.”

“
The memories successfully reestablished themselves. You are fortunate they did so without many ill effects.”

“
I should've guessed there was more risk involved than you let on,”
I scoffed in mock anger.

“
Ah. I begin to have second doubts about this operation. You were far more agreeable in your stoic state.”

“
Was that an attempt at humor? Jeeves, we're making progress!”
I clenched a fist in triumph.

“
Do you not have articles of dire importance to investigate?”

I got up from bed and flipped on the lights and gazed around the little room.
“That I do. I'll get on that, then. Enjoy your beauty sleep while you've got it. I've got a feeling it’s not going to last.”

Jas and Kathryne had brought some spare sets of clothes with them, including my jacket, which I was very grateful for. Slipping into the clothes and shrugging my shoulders into the jacket, I paused momentarily for thought, but then decided against it. Sometimes, you just have to go with the flow and see where it takes you. Opening the door a crack and peeking out the side, I found it was safe. The florescent lights were buzzing cheerfully at the start of a new day, so the compound was online. Checking against internal responses from Jas' end of the phone line, I crept up to his door and stepped through.

“Are you awake?” the question might have been asked at a higher level than polite chatter, but then some concessions had to be made for my newly refurbished mind.

A groan was my only response, until I shook Jas' curled up form vigorously. “Fine,
fine
! I'm awake.” He rubbed the sleep from his eyes as I enjoyed the return to normalcy.

You don't know you're missing a part of yourself until it unexpectedly makes a reemergence. I'd allowed myself to become so rundown that I hadn't even noticed the progression into a lifeless existence. Then again, focusing solely on honing my abilities and fostering new skills had its own advantages.

“You seem mighty cheerful,” Jas slurred sleepily. “What has you all riled up?”

“I think my near brush with death,
again,
coupled with the pervasive lighting has affected my brain chemistry.” The slight misdirection was close enough to the truth to sneak past his radar.

Jas swung his legs over the bed and stared down at his naked feet. “Lucky me. Well then, you just going to sit there and watch a man dress? Wait for me outside, I'll be there in a minute.”

“So, Hercules. Do you have a name that isn't going to have every person who passes us think we're crazies on a mission to save the world from evil kittens?”

“Hector.” His brows furrowed.

“Hector...?” Jas threw his arms out questioningly.

“Just Hector.” His eyes narrowed at the question.

“All right, sure. Herk it is, then,” Jas draped his arm comradely over his shoulder and suppressed a chuckle masterfully. “What say we go and figure out what these guys know about my dad's whereabouts. That is, if you're still planning on tagging along...” He drew out the statement long enough that it turned into a query.

Hector focused his attention on me. “Achieving my desires and acquiring glory should be easy if I follow you.”

“That's pretty much guaranteed,” Jas said. “Darkness follows this one relentlessly.” He pointed a thumb towards me.

“Hey! That can't be proved. It could just as easily be following you,” I said.

“Not likely.” Kathryne glanced down at my hand, where the sigil of the Aevum was burned into it.

She then proceeded to look me up and down, observing the array of slashes, gashes and bruises that had been accumulated in the arena. I turned away from that piercing stare and took the loss at face value. There's no argument with a woman that you'll ever truly win. We continued down the hall in silence from there, putting on more serious airs. Guards were stationed periodically at doors, their threatening expressions displayed prominently. They were so uniform that I began to wonder if they practiced it in the mirror together.

“You know where we're going? I'll admit that I didn't absorb much of my surroundings last night.”

“That's because you were half asleep and we had to carry you to your room.” Kathryne rolled her eyes.

“The design of this place is meant to throw off invaders, confusing and splitting their forces,” Hector said, coming in for the save. “It makes defending against superior numbers more doable, otherwise an inferior force would be wiped out.”

“Exactly, what he said.” I pointed to Hector. “It's only natural to be confused, especially when confronted with an extreme level of fatigue from my exertions. Give me a break here.”

“Herk here managed to figure all that out, and he was just as dead tired as you,” Jas said.

“You're not helping.” I glared daggers at him.

“And here we are.” Jas clapped his hands together as we approached a set of guards, who were stationed outside an ominous looking door.

A high-tech security panel blinked rhythmically beside one of the guards, who punched in a code at our appearance, allowing us entry without challenge. Obviously, we didn't need identification, our reputation preceded us. Strolling confidently through the doors, I couldn't help but salute the guards as we walked by. Not one of them moved as we walked in and beheld an interesting sight. The entire room was a buzzing den, jam-packed with touch displays and TV screens. There was a glass operations table in the middle that would sit at least twenty. I kept looking around expecting some holograms to pop up and start talking. Mr. Sanders was currently bent over some paperwork sprawled across the indicated table, so absorbed that he only looked up when we were within feet of him.

“What is that?” I asked, curious, craning my neck to get a better look.

“Highly classified information that is expected to be kept that way,” he said before exhaling. “But you will need to be briefed. We are shorthanded as it is, with last night’s assault. You four are the most effective assets at my disposal.”

I held up my hands up to halt the conversation, backing up a step. “Woah, slow down there buddy. Who do you think we are, your lapdogs, just because we brushed by in the halls back in the day?”

“I provided Jas with help in this fool’s errand of his and compiled this information on your behalf. Now you are merely working in the direction of your choosing, which happens to coincide with this facility’s desires.”

“There you go again, twisting words to suit your needs. I pegged you for a straightforward man once, Mr. Sanders. Is that even your real name? Taking down those games has been on the top of your to-do list for ages, hasn't it? And now, what, you're pointing us in the direction of the next operation you'd like toppled?” The questions flowed out of me without pause, and I found myself in the need of a seat.

“He always did have a vocabulary far exceeding your average P.E. teacher,” Jas occupied a chair next to mine, making a show of looking over the blueprints but looking tired, pale. “But Caleb is right. Before you fill us in, you have some explaining of your own to do. What is this place?”

“California P.D., of course,” Sanders stated with a straight face, avoiding the question neatly.

“Seriously, what the hell is it?” I ran out of patience.

“He just told you.” Kathryne hid a smile. “This is the California Paranormal Division?”

“Bravo. Spot on.” He inclined his head to the lady. “This is a secret government division known simply as California P.D. to anyone not knowledgeable of its inner workings. Quite a good use of an acronym, which keeps a lid on our operations to vanilla mortals.”

“Aren't you all human?” Jas wiped some sweat off his forehead and I frowned. It wasn't like the walk over here would have been considered strenuous exercise.

“Not all of us,” he shrugged. “But most. Some here possess magical ability, but our firepower makes up for our humanity. Most of the supernatural bleed the same as us humans. Many of our informants and connections are affiliated with the supernatural community and we receive support from them every so often.”

“Take it by force is more like it.” My mood had soured towards the man who had first stepped in and congratulated me on beating a portion of Adams High’s student body to a bloody pulp.

He spread his hands, appealing to our better nature. “We do what must be done, where others would ignore a persistent problem. I help keep the balance, a mere righting of the scales so that this world remains removed from the supernatural. We would have only chaos if the masses became aware of the less than natural world living alongside them.”

I leaned back in the chair. “Where were you on the Day of Darkness when everything went to hell? Could've used your help then, but your little task force was nowhere to be found.”

Sanders pushed papers restlessly across the table, rearranging them unnecessarily. “Yes, well, we were otherwise occupied at the time. Regardless, we haven't the numbers or the funds to take on such a force head on. Many times, our job is to clean up the aftermath, rather than prevent disaster from striking. We get involved directly in only the most dire circumstances.”

“Great. So the government gets proxies to do the dirty work, so it doesn't have to sully its pristine image. What do you have for us, then? A suicide run of your choosing, so that you can get rid of two problems in one fell swoop?”

“We eliminate threats to the safety of the nation, not allies of value,” Sanders replied while drawing our attention to the blueprints on the glass.

“That's comforting,” I scoffed.

“Are these blueprints to an underground tunnel system?” Kathryne leaned over my chair to get a better look, and I gulped.

Mr. Sanders assumed the mantle of Headmaster. “More like an underground city. What we have here is only the tip of the iceberg, provided by the corporation in question. We have reason to believe that P.A.N. Universal Holding Co. is a front for an extensive supernatural community.”