Part 12 (1/2)

”As you say the truth of something can't be undone, no matter how much you wish it to be.” Mir's voice bespoke of regret and pain for having to burden me with this particular memory. ”I am truly sorry my liege, I wish there was another way to convey this information to you.”

Pus.h.i.+ng the whiskey bottle to the side I stretched. It was my turn to pace around the fire. ”Thank you for understanding.” Trying to wrap my mind around the situation I needed to understand what was happening. ”Let's start at the beginning shall we?” Mir leaned back as he nodded for me to continue. ”You mentioned something about catching up on the last few millennia, how does that work?”

Mir looked away quickly as if he were slightly ashamed before looking back in my general direction even if it were at my feet. ”All those crystals throughout your body are not only hubs for the nanites but they are also more akin to what you call a black box.” Holding up a hand as he stood to keep me silent for a moment longer. ”Within each of them are millions of terabits of information about everything you have ever encountered throughout your life.”

”Everything?” I felt both terrified and excited by the prospect, not to mention highly embarra.s.sed. ”Feel free to skip over some of the more seedy parts if you wouldn't mind.”

Mir's face turned several shades of crimson as he paced opposite of me. ”While some have been self repairing, many more were damaged or have been dormant since your accident.” Turning his head away from me he wrung his hands, trying to choose his words carefully. ”It is good to know that the Starborn has such a healthy labido but would it kill you to tone it down a bit?”

It was my turn for my face to burn as blood flooded my cheeks. ”Wasn't exactly planning on having anyone sifting through my memories.”

”Point taken.” He stopped suddenly as if something weighed on his shoulders. ”It will take time my lord but I will have the answers you seek.” He kneeled down and casually stuck his hand in the fire as if he were desperate for some type of sensation, even if it were pain. ”We will find out who you are, how far you've come, and where and whence you came!”

I felt homesick for the first time in my life as something called out to me, pulling me back to the place of my birth. ”I miss them and I don't even know who they are!” A wide array of emotions washed over me, confusing me as they mixed together, leaving me stunned and hurt with their arrival. ”It's stupid, I know! How can you miss people or places you don't even remember?”

”Not to worry sire all will be revealed in time.” He intoned trying to inspire my confidence. It worked believer it or not. I needed to believe in something and right now a promise, even one as vague as Mir's, was all I had. The world serpent would have to be dealt with sometime later for now Gullveig was my main concern. Short of having her head on a stick I would have to settle for Creepy George. Mir and I sat silent long into the evening, broken only occasionally to remind ourselves that we still had the power of speech.

Chapter 16.

December 1st Mir stood and gave me a slight bowas I got to my feet. ”Thank you for sitting with me tonight.” His voice was hollow as the loneliness stirred deep within him. ”Be well sire.”

It was a feeling I knew all too well. The world around me had changed and only I remained the same. Mortals had such a limited amount of time allotted to them yet they were able to make such an impact upon the world. Over the centuries I'd fallen in love only to have them taken away by the relentless march of time which had never shown me the slightest of mercies. People I'd called friends fell victim to the same fate as my lovers and yet only I remained. It was my own personal h.e.l.l in which I had no possible hope of escape.

For the first time since I woke up on that mountainside I felt as if I finally had a friend or at the very least a cellmate. ”Not to worry, I'll return shortly.”

Mir bowed once more as I headed to the bedroom for a fresh set of clothes before leaving for the office. Trying to find anything resembling sleep at this hour would be more harmful than helpful. Freshly showered and wearing crisp clean clothes I was out the door and heading to the office by three thirty a.m.

Walking through the bra.s.s doors I took notice of Justine who simply nodded and smiled at me as I pa.s.sed. Rounding the desk and up the stairs I could see that the office door was standing open. Scanning the area the two guards I had a.s.signed to keep watch over Katharine were nowhere to be seen. Which could only mean that she had sent them on there way. Before I got halfway to my office I could hear Kira and her mother speaking in hurried whispered tones. Entering I found them sitting there smiling and having much too good of a time about something to do with me. From their devious expressions I was sure to be in for a very long day or perhaps year depending upon how long they decided to punish me for.

Both women gave me sly looks as they greeted me. ”Good morning, Mr. Warden.” Katharine looked tired yet in good spirits as she gave me a wry smile.

Something about that smile made me highly self conscious. You know the dream you have where you show up somewhere and you're half naked... yeah that feeling. Part of me wanted to run. It was probably the wiser course of action just to take my medicine and be done with it. ”I can come back.” That's right, I still tried to chicken out!

Kira smiled as she stood to give me a kiss on the cheek as I walked around to my chair. ”Don't be silly.” She said as she gave her mother a knowing wink. ”It would appear that we have much to talk about.” She curtsied. ”My lord.”

c.r.a.p! I really should've ran when I had the chance. Part of me wished that Katherine had waited for me to at least be present before breaking the news about my alter ego to our daughter. Cla.s.sic move on her behalf. She was always looking for an advantage even if it was at someone else's expense and especially when it was at mine. ”I see you've been brought up to speed.”

Katharine gave me one of those that's right I did it what the h.e.l.l are you going to do about it looks. ”I couldn't help myself.”

She really couldn't! Katharine chewed her lip in her excitement. Kira however, was thoroughly curious, and h.e.l.l I couldn't blame her. There was a lot to know and unfortunately I wasn't sure I had all of the answers.

”I have so many questions!” Her voice was high pitched with excitement as she squirmed in her seat. ”I can't believe you're Comus! Is there anything else I should know?”

I took a deep breath as I focused my thoughts and closed the office door. ”There is much to discuss.” Kira and Katharine jumped as the door closed much harder than I'd intended. ”First things first however. Were you able to find Creepy George's villainous lair?” Even to me I sounded more annoyed than usual. I did my best to try and hide it but it still bled through.

Katharine leaned forward giving me a nasty little wink as she slid a piece of paper across the desk. ”I believe you can find your creepy little friend at that address.”

She could have waited for me but as usual she went that extra mile to try and embarra.s.s me with our daughter. After everything is said and done and all the cards on the table, I had to wonder just how smug she'll feel. It was a very s.h.i.+tty thing we'd done to our daughter by hiding all of our secrets for so long but I suppose every parent makes mistakes along the way. Ours were just a little more monumental than most.

”Would you mind if we picked up this discussion after I wrap up this mess?” Eyeing Katharine I noticed that she lost a little of her smugness as she thought through the ramifications of such a conversation. ”I just don't think we could do it justice in the next few minutes, or even hours.” Unfortunately Katharine and I were nearly out of time and all of our secrets would soon be laid bare. I honestly didn't know who I felt worse for us or our daughter. ”We will need some time to go over everything. In the meantime however I'd really like to keep the entire Comus incident under wraps.”

Kira smirked as she spread her arms wide. ”You do realize that New Orleans is the biggest small town to ever exist.” She straightened up in her chair as she tried to keep a her excitement at bay. ”No one has secrets in this city for very long. Someone always makes it their business to b.u.t.t in.”

”Be that as it may, I would still prefer if we at least pretended like we were going to keep a lid on it.”

”Good luck with that.” Katherine snipped as she was going to try and press the issue for as long as she thought she had the upperhand. ”While I am sure that most of the shock will wear thin soon enough, I doubt people will simply forget who you are.”

Unfolding the piece of paper with the address and trying to ignore her comment, I found that I still had a few hours drive ahead of me before I could get to Creepy George in Folsom. ”You're probably right but who knows maybe over time it will become one of those urban myths.”

Katharine slowly got to her feet as she resigned herself to the fact Kira wasn't going to hold the whole Comus debacle against me just yet. She gave Kira a nudge encouraging her to follow. Reluctantly she too got to her feet even though I could tell that she had a thousand questions begging to be asked. ”We will leave you to your errand.” They walked to the edge of the office before Katharine turned back and smiled. ”We'll be around when things settle down.”

”Thank you both.”

Katharine nearly had to pull Kira along forcefully as she was positively br.i.m.m.i.n.g with curiosity. Pulling my cell out I hesitated a moment before dialing Gregory's number for fear of waking him at such an early hour, but then I remembered that turnabout is fair play and sort of fun some days. Luckily for both of us he was already awake and after he heard what I had to say quickly agreed to meet me here at the office shortly. The plan was simple really. Terminate Creepy George and have the SOG team waiting nearby for cleanup.

We were about halfway across the Causeway as the sun slowly rose out on the horizon in the east, as if it were birthed from the primal waters of the lake. The purpling sky gave way to several shades of fire reds and oranges until crystal blue blazed across the horizon dotted with cotton ball clouds that were gently pushed through the crisp morning air by zephyrs whipping across the calm surface of the lake. Little would anyone suspect we were about to face down a serial killer only a few miles away.

Pa.s.sing through the furthest edge of Folsom we made a right at the one and only light in the small village. Our destination lay a mere five miles away. As we made our way down the rural road we got our first glimpse of the old horse farm. It had been a beautiful place not so long ago, where champions.h.i.+p thoroughbreds were bred and trained by masters of the trade. The once lush green immaculately kept pastures were now choked with weeds that had grown unchallenged over the last several years. An uprooted ancient oak tree lay sprawled across the fence line and the old fence timbers had shattered under the weight of the tree leaving a gaping hole in its wake. It was one of many breaks in the fence either due to disrepair or neglect. It was hard to believe that this farm had once been home to a loving couple with three children who had cared deeply about this place.

Few understand the symbiotic relations.h.i.+p man has with the land, especially land he owns. What was once a vibrant farm full of life was now a distant echo of what it once was. Darkness enveloped the grounds as it tried to fight off the light of the sun. No supernatural boogie man claimed this land as their own, but instead it was man's neglect and negativity that tainted the place with a wrongness that pervaded the area. The earth itself is a living organism which can become ill, and like anything else this place was definitely feeling the cancerous effects.

Turning onto a side road we were finally able to get a view of the rotting main house along with its two dilapidated barns. The nearest of the two barns had collapsed in on itself while the other looked to be barely standing. The main quarters was a two story farm house. Whatever paint that had once graced the aged wooden walls had long since been stripped away by wind and rain. Several windows on both floors were broken giving the place a wounded animal vibe. We continued down the road another half mile before finding a safe place to pull off.

”I take it that is the place?” Gregory s.h.i.+vered as he spoke. ”There's something wrong about the it.”

”Tell me about it.” The whole place made me feel uneasy. Something more than sickness infected the land and we were about to march headlong into it. ”The SOG is standing by?”

”Yeah. They can be here in thirty minutes or less.” His voice grew strength from the thought of the calvary right around the corner. ”Are you sure we shouldn't have them closer, maybe with us?” His voice faltered as a sense of foreboding overtook us.

”If Creepy George is here I don't want to worry about others getting hurt or killed while I'm subduing him.” The very air around us seemed tainted as something noxious hung in it. I was starting to think that a few extra hands could come in handy but it was far too dangerous even for the SOG. ”Besides we'll be fine.”

”That almost sounds convincing.” He said as he nervously checked his weapons. ”So you still want me to scout around the outer edge of the property while you...”

”Walk right up to the front door and knock.”

He made a face that clearly told me he clearly thought that I was crazy. ”That just sounds like a bad plan.” He placed his pistols back in their respective holsters. ”But I suppose it's all we got.”

”Remember I will need at least thirty minutes to secure the area.” My definition of securing the area meant either disabling Creepy George or preferably killing him.

”Your definition of the word *securing' and mine I think are very different.”

Gregory was a perceptive guy after all, so I wasn't exactly surprised by the comment. We parted ways as he headed for the treeline and I approached the house via the driveway. Before my foot ever hit the gravel driveway I focused my will, allowing my s.h.i.+elds to wrap themselves around me tightly. Keeping an eye on the windows as I approached the house I couldn't discern any movement. Something nagged at the back of my mind that I was being watched, but no matter which direction I looked I saw nothing out of the ordinary. Reaching the front door I checked my watch. I had twenty minutes left to clear the area.