I looked up at Haley’s tired, worried expression and I tried to force a smile as I shook my head. “I’m not hungry. Let me get some more work done and then I’ll take a break.”
She sighed and sat down next to me, gently resting a hand on my forearm as I went back to looking at the computer screen. I had to be close. There had to be some kind of pattern, no matter how smart or careful the Reaper was. So far, my best idea had been to try and identify the time and location of every killing of an Ascendant or House member that could reasonably be attributed to the Reaper. That should give me a minimum age and hopefully a smaller search area if the majority of the murders were clumped together. Unfortunately, the pattern of death was spread pretty wide. Most of it was confined to the continental U.S., but there were some “Reaper deaths” in Europe and Asia over the years as well.
Then it hit me. Start with the first one in recent times, as it was likely closer to where the Reaper lived. While I couldn’t say for sure that any particular death was caused by the Reaper, I had seen enough through my research to suspect the majority of the unsolved deaths we had suffered in the last forty years were the work of one group, or if Haley’s fears were right, just one person. Looking back through it all, it seemed obvious that the Reaper had likely gotten his start with the killing of our group’s own Ascendant, Dr. Marcus Salk.
But that was where I ran into a dead end. Marcus never shared many details of his life with us, and I didn’t know much about his associates or his “victims”. I could guess at some of it, but it was just that—a guess. If it was someone Marcus had known personally, someone who had somehow figured out his true nature, their motivation for killing him could be anything from ignorant moral outrage to revenge. Revenge seemed more likely to me, but there were so many unknowns. People he worked with as a doctor were also an option, but I had no real way of getting staff information that was over thirty years old from anywhere, much less a doctor’s office or hospital. If only I could…
“Honey, you need to take a break now. Eat and rest. We’ve got the trip coming up tomorrow, and I don’t want you to be exhausted.” Haley was still sitting with me, and now she gave my arm a squeeze. “Please, for me.”
I glared at her, hating the harsh tone in my voice when I spoke. “I’m doing this for you. For both of us, and our little girl.” I pulled my arm away. “As for the meeting, Margaret Templeton can go fuck herself. She’s not our boss and I don’t have the time to waste going up there for whatever bureaucratic bullshit they have planned.”
I saw Haley frowning out of the corner of my eye. “It’s not just bullshit. Something bad happened out in California a few weeks ago. Something big. Tattersall, the old man Tattersall…he’s dead. And the word I’m hearing is that Margaret is planning on taking things over now that he’s out of the way. Not just Tattersall Global. The House too.”
This got my attention. Turning back to her, I raised an eyebrow. “Is she insane? That’s not how the House works. Just because Tattersall has a large following and shit-tons of money doesn’t mean that the true believers like us will listen to shit from them. Much less the psycho crowd.”
Haley nodded, her expression growing more concerned. “I know that. But she doesn’t. She’s already a megalomanic, but she’s also about to control the part of the House that has most of the money and resources and political power. How long do you think it’ll take for her to make the House over in her image?”
I wanted to argue, but I knew she was right. It was hard for me to care about anything anymore beyond retribution for Madeline being taken from us, but some part of me knew that was short-sighted. Besides, Haley was right about something else. Tattersall did have tons of resources. Maybe they had buried their head in the sand up to now, trying to pretend that the Reaper wasn’t real or couldn’t touch them, but Margaret knew first-hand that wasn’t the case. Maybe reminding her of her sister’s death and her own wounds at the Reaper’s hands would be enough to get her to see reason and give me the help I need to stop this once and for all.
The smile made it to my lips this time. “I was wrong, Haley. We need to be at that meeting.”
It felt strange being in a room with so many members of the House. Looking around, I saw there were at least thirty people there, and out of those, I only recognized a handful. That was by design. This mass meeting of higher-ups and influential group leaders was against protocol and stupid. Before my girl died, I’d have been unable to sit there without saying something. But now…now all I cared about was getting what I needed from these people.
It wasn’t that I didn’t believe any more, because I did. If anything could have ever cemented my faith and certainty in the House’s beliefs and primary cause, it was watching what my daughter Madeline could accomplish. It was just that I was coming to realize how warped that central framework of belief had become over time. We were letting in sociopaths, or as other House members called them, “the psychos”, who were only there to give intricacy and dim meaning to their inherent, abominable drive to torture and slaughter people. We were handing over the reins slowly but surely to money men and soulless corporate types like Tattersall in general and Margaret Templeton in particular—people that cared more about the bottom line and gaining personal power than they did helping the human race ascend. The House has lost its way, I thought, and the first step towards finding it again needed to happen today at that meeting.
That’s when Margaret stepped into the room, a man and a woman in business suits following her like well-heeled hounds. Her cold gaze swept the large space, and even from a distance I could see the scar slashed across her face like a brand. The brand I planned to use to get her on board with hunting down the Reaper once and for all. But first, there was the meeting and the speechifying. Clasping my hands impatiently, I tried to look attentive as she began to speak.
“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us today. I know such a meeting is highly irregular, but these are highly irregular times. Some of you may be aware that Wilson Tattersall, our company’s founder, as well as a vital member of the House of the Claw, is dead. Brutally betrayed and murdered several weeks ago while working on one of his long-term side projects.” She paused as hushed whispers passed through the room before continuing with a solemn nod. “Yes, it’s terrible news. Wilson was like a father to me in many ways, and we are all less without him. But it just underlines the dangerous times that we live in and that it is more important now than ever that we are united.”
An uneasy rumble began to spread through the room, but it quieted when she raised her hand. “I know, I know. This also breaks with tradition. Change is a frightening thing. But if we are going to accomplish our goal of helping this world, we need organization and resources. We will work together to attain organization, and I’m making Tattersall’s resources fully available to insure we succeed.”
“How’d that work out for your hotels, Marge?” It was a voice I didn’t recognize on the other side of the room, and it drew a combination of gasps and laughs from the crowd. Everyone knew about Margaret’s failed experiments trying to create a deadly super-virus, but I didn’t know so many people thought it was as funny as I did. Maybe Margaret wasn’t as well-liked or in control as I had thought.
Margaret’s smile was cold as she went to respond. Before she could, I blurted out, “What about the Reaper?”
There was no laughter this time. You could have heard a pin drop. I saw a mixture of anger and fear pass across Margaret’s face before she regained control. She did better than the rest. Most of the faces I could see were clearly terrified.
“This isn’t a pep rally or a Q and A session. Just an introduction to what I hope will be a fruitful meeting of the minds. We will be talking throughout the day privately, and this afternoon we’ll see what kind of agreement we have reached.” She looked at me, her eyes glittering dangerously. “Let’s start with you.” As though on command, two people came up to “escort” me.
I think the intention was to frighten me or intimidate the others if they thought about speaking up, but it didn’t have the desired effect. I wasn’t afraid of Margaret or her stupid company, and as I walked out of the room behind her, I saw more looks of anger and defiance than fear. I didn’t think this coup was going as well as Margaret had hoped it would.
We followed her to a nearby conference room dominated by a long wood table flanked on all sides by high-backed black leather chairs. Margaret sat at one end of the table and gestured for me to sit as well. I ignored her and stood back, my arms folded.
Smirking, she gave a light shrug. “Jimmy, are we going to have a problem?”
I glanced at the two goons in the room with us. “I don’t know. You’re the one with enforcers following you around like we’re in a mob movie. Planning on breaking my legs?”
Another smirk and she waved her hand. I heard the door open and close behind me as the others left. “Look, Jimmy, let me be frank with you. I don’t care for you much. Though I don’t think you’re directly responsible for Barbara’s death, I’ve always felt that the incompetence of you and your group was a contributing factor. That…”
I felt my face growing hot. “Your sister died because of the fucking Reaper. And while we’re being frank, you were with her at the time.” I touched my face where the scar lay on her own. “I didn’t see you stopping him either.”
Giving me a smile that was closer to a baring of teeth, she went on. “That mark against you aside, you do have a great deal of influence among certain factions within the House. During this period of transition, I would really value it if you were on my side. It would make my job easier, and your own group would benefit greatly as well.”
I wanted to yell again, but I forced myself to stop. This was the crack I was looking for. “Ok. I’m listening. What kind of benefits or resources are we talking about?”
Margaret seemed to be considering something before she spoke. “Well, we have a new Ascendant here. Her name is Emily. She’s very unique and vital to our plan going forward, but she’s also a nine year-old girl. Whatever my misgivings of you and Haley, there’s no denying that you are very skilled at providing for the domestic needs of upcoming Ascendants. Caregiving and the like. Even Barbara was always complementary on that point.” She tapped on the table and a screen behind her came on, showing a picture of a little red-haired girl with freckles and a large gap in her smile. “It goes without saying that this would be a joint effort. You would have to agree to some of my people being involved with security, and any field exercises would be solely under Tattersall Security’s purview.”
Her words were starting to fade into the periphery as I tried to sort out several conflicting thoughts and emotions. After several moments of looking at the girl’s picture, I looked back to Margaret to ask the simplest of my questions. “What is her Ascendant form?”
Margaret smiled widely. “It’s something truly amazing. She’s a gateway. If she knows a place or a person well, or if she has an object that belongs to someone, she can create a doorway to where they are. She can even pull herself along afterward.” She leaned forward, and I could tell her excitement was genuine. “Can you imagine the potential of that? Once she’s well-trained, she can give us access to nearly anywhere on the planet. Anyone. Even better, it’s theorized that she can actually access the other Realms too, though it’s too dangerous to test that yet. We may finally have a direct path to the Nightlands.”
This all sounded so incredible. Unbelievable. Perfect. “I’ll do it.”
It may take time, but once I knew who the Reaper was, I’d have the perfect weapon to find him or them and end this once and for all. I debated bringing up needing resources to find the Reaper after being given a gift like this girl, but I didn’t know when I would have another chance to make demands. Deciding to push my luck, I went to speak, but Margaret was already standing up from the table with a satisfied nod.
“Excellent! I knew you’d see reason. Emily is a sweet girl, and I think you’ll find she’s a good replacement for the Ascendant you lost recently. Once today’s meetings are over, I’ll…”
“What did you fucking say?”
Margaret blinked. “What?”
My vision was turning red, anger blazing so hot in my chest that I felt like I was burning up from the inside out. I had known when she started talking about Emily that part of the reason it was being offered to us was to placate us. To give us a new child to focus on. But to come out and call Madeline replaceable? It was too much. I had been holding my rage in check since entering this temple of corporate greed that morning, been trying to hide my hate for what it and Margaret represented. But that wrath was loose now, ravenous and snapping, and it wouldn’t be satisfied until it had blood between its teeth.
“She wasn’t a fucking puppy.” I stepped forward and Margaret took a step back, her face shifting from confusion to annoyance and fear. “She was my daughter. She can’t be replaced like a goddamned pet.”
Margaret raised her hands. “Look, I get it. Poor choice of words. But let’s be honest and clear. The last Ascendant wasn’t your daughter. Emily won’t be either. They’re assets, valuable members of our organization that have a bigger role to play than just playing house with you and your wife. If you can’t wrap your head around that, then…”
It wasn’t hard to grab Margaret’s skull. Her mind was sharp and relentlessly ready for combat, but her body wasn’t used to fighting. So when I lunged forward and pushed my hands past her own, it was a simple thing, too quick for her to react. I caught a brief glimpse of surprise and dismay in her eyes before my thumbs were on them, pressing them into their sockets as she began to scream.
I expected someone to come in and stop me, especially with the noise she was making. But either she was even less-liked than I thought or the room was well soundproofed. She twisted and flailed against me as I bore her down to the ground, putting my full weight behind my thumbs as they drove down in their quest to crush her imperious eyes and destroy her hateful brain. The eyes gave quickly, their fluid and the accompanying blood providing more than enough lubrication to push on to the back wall of the sockets.
She had grown still, but I knew she wasn’t dead yet. So I stomped on her head until I was sure she was. When I was done, I sat down next to the body, falling into a kind of stupor as I stared at the bits of Margaret slowly drying on the expensive carpet. After what felt like only a few minutes, I heard the door to the conference room open. Hearing a startled gasp I recognized, I looked up to see Haley standing there.
“Oh God. What have you done, Jimmy?”
I just shook my head. I didn’t have a response. I wasn’t sure why I had done it now, only that it had made me feel much better. Still, the immensity of the act hadn’t fully escaped me. How was I ever going to get to the Reaper after they found out that I had murdered their leader?
Haley was beside me now, holding my face in her hands. “Listen to me. Hey, stay with me. Listen. I was coming to tell you that in the couple of hours you’ve been in here, the rest of us decided. Margaret’s right. We do need a leader to organize us better. But not her.” A brief smile flickered across her face before turning serious again. “Me. I didn’t want it, but they couldn’t agree on anyone else.” She glanced back at Margaret’s feet. “As for that…most people didn’t like her, but she did have her allies. We’ll say that I came in here to tell the two of you about the decision and she attacked us. Gave us no choice.”
I was coming back to myself a bit more now and I looked past Haley at the ruined head of the body laying behind her. “No one is going to believe that was self-defense.”
Haley sighed and nodded. “They won’t, but hopefully they won’t care enough to argue against it. They just need some reason for it, whether it really makes sense or not. Unless you have a better idea?”
I shook my head again. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t help myself. She acted like she was a puppy.” I knew I wasn’t making sense, but Haley just kissed my head and nodded.
“I know, baby. Let’s get you cleaned up some and go sell this thing.”
It was the next day before it was done. There had been arguing and accusations, but in the end, it went surprisingly well. The next person in line for heading up Tattersall was the young woman who had been part of Margaret’s entourage at the earlier meeting. Her name was Polly Brenner, and she actually seemed to hate Margaret as much as I had, in large part because Polly was firmly in the “true believer” camp like us. She had actually been one of the main champions for Haley taking on a leadership role in the House, and she assured us she would have Tattersall under her full control by the end of the next board of directors meeting.
In the meantime, we met Emily. She really was a sweet girl, and while I knew I’d never feel more than a passing affection for her, I did feel a strange kind of immediate love for what she represented. She was the future of the House in many ways, a milestone in our fulfillment of the Grand Plan. But most of all, she was the door I was going to walk through when I went to kill the Reaper.
I’d told Polly and Haley about my plan, and after some discussion they agreed. We were to take Emily home with us. Help her develop her abilities further. And when the time was right, she would take us where we needed to go.
It was late in the afternoon of the third day before we were packing up the car to head home. Polly was out in the parking lot of the corporate housing we had been staying at, talking with Haley and Emily as I loaded the last of Emily’s things into the trunk. I was so wrapped up in my own thoughts that I jumped slightly when I felt a hand on my back. It was Polly.
“I’ve got something else for you too. Not for now, but for when Emily’s ready. When we’re all ready.” She held up a small, clear bag that contained what looked like a black piece of plastic. Seeing my confusion, she smiled and explained.
“This was recovered from a construction site in Atlanta in 1989. I don’t know if you’re familiar with the incident, but it was where the Ascendant Steven Kulchek was murdered by the Reaper.” I knew about it, and I was already feeling a buzz of excitement in my ears. “Based on our analysis and a partial lot number stamped on the inside, this appears to be part of the plastic casing for a stun gun. While the gun itself wasn’t found, it seems likely this broke off in the fight that led to Kulchek’s death.” Her face grew serious. “We could never get prints or DNA from it, but it doesn’t change the fact that whoever this Reaper is, this likely belonged to them. And when the time is right, Emily may be able to use it to find them.”
Polly let out a surprised gasp as I swept her up in a tearful hug. Finally. After all this time, the path had been revealed.
We’re coming for you, Reaper. Your time is almost done.
---
Credits
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