The soft strands of Daria’s hair were easy to wind together. Any knots or physical remnants of combat caught within the braid were removed with a simple thought. My head bobbed with the hypnotic motions as I gazed down on Daria’s perfect face. She rested, eyes closed but not asleep.
I tied off the end of the braid and scratched behind her ear. She leaned into it, smiling softly.
“You’re lucky I wasn’t at the command tent,” I said, poking her cheek. “I heard it got ugly once people started catching on to the traitors taking control of operations. Plenty of non-combatants got caught up in the middle of it.”
Daria nestled deeper into my lap, pressing her nose against my thigh. Her exhale tickled my leg. “I would’ve come to save you.”
The hills were littered with strange remains: spines, organic weapons, patches of brightly coloured fluids that weren’t blood. It was a potentially biologically hazardous scar on the Quebec countryside.
A few people had returned to see if their friends or loved ones were among the gathered dead. One soldier kneeled next to a body, his helmet on the ground beside him. He was doing his best to clean the face of his fallen friend with a water bottle and a rag.
There was a muffled thud in the grass next to me and Daria raised her head. Nick was picking himself up from a less than smooth landing. His eyes looked sunken and his movements carried a tired weight.
“You need rest, Nick,” I said. “Whatever you and Nell did, it worked perfectly. You can relax now.”
Nick gestured over his shoulder at the tallest hill, where an old man was on his knees, clutching his injured hand.
“Not until I figure out what to do about him,” Nick said without inflection. “He’s the reason Jason —my friend— is dead.”
“I’m sorry, Nick.”
He lowered his head. “Kay is too. Gone. Along with the rest of my squad.”
Hearing that made my heart lurch. I found Daria’s hand and squeezed it tightly.
“Haven’t… we done enough?” I asked, the words catching in my throat. “Haven’t we been hurt enough trying to fight this? Sure there might be some vestiges of Organ left but… let someone else handle that. I’m sure they’ll be fine without us. We’ve done our part and now we need time to grieve.”
Nick nodded, his long hair masking his expression.
“Do what you need to do, Nick,” Daria said while standing up. “Neve and I can watch the old man. Or we can kill him if that’s what you’d prefer.”
Nick was silent, hands clenched at his sides. Bones started to emerge from his calves, coiling around his lower legs with a quiet creaking. “I don’t care that much about what happens to him,” he said quietly. “I just don’t want him to hurt anyone else. Just be sure not to touch him under any circumstances. His touch is lethal. I’m going to go talk to Nell.”
With that, the Shape triggered and Nick shot high into the air.
Daria whistled in appreciation. “That will never not look fun.”
I took her hand and pulled her along. “He’s not okay, Daria. Whatever happened really messed him up.”
Daria’s expression turned sober. “You’re right. Fuck. Kay was so awesome.”
I sniffed back tears. “Yeah…”
Daria wrapped an arm around my shoulder. Her skin was warm from sitting in the sun. Daria’s emotions pulsed along our connection like a gentle massage on my worried thoughts.
I decided to address my fears for once, “What I said back there to Nick. That was meant for you too.”
“Yeah, yeah. We’ll lay low for a while.”
“Just a while?”
“You know me. I live for trouble.”
I sighed. “There are times where I hope that one day you’ll grow tired of the danger.”
“Retirement from trouble? Nahhh.”
I poked her in the ribs and she laughed.
We climbed the hill and found the pathetic looking man at the top. He had gotten to his feet and was limping away.
I called out to him, “Stay still please.”
He ignored me.
So I Shaped the already weak muscles in his legs, making them go numb. He collapsed into a wheezing heap.
“How long have you been in the game, old man?” Daria asked him.
The man rolled onto his side and his eyes sent a chill through me. I could feel something in the air, a force emanating off of him that could only be perceived by my sixth sense. His Shape was far more powerful than anything I’d encountered.
“Since before Organ had its name,” he answered. “I’ve lived many lives and worn many hats: snotty-nosed kid, entrepreneur, scholar, CEO, thrill-seeker, widower… But the one that stuck is this: I’m the man who made the hard decisions that no one else could stomach.”
I glared at him. “So you had a hand in Kirkbride Asylum?”
He stared back with dead eyes. “Organ was my hand. If you’re waiting for your turn at the satisfaction of retributive justice, you’ll find it wanting. I won’t repent. I don’t have enough years left in me to regret anything now.”
“Not even now that your plans have all come to ruin?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Kirkbride… Ah yes. Mediocre results, but with a few standout cases. I don’t agree with his sloppy methods, but if the torch must be passed to him, so be it. Organ won’t die out. It will carry on in solitary actors like him.”
“Are you talking about Chase?” I asked with a shiver.
“Perhaps I can make an amendment,” he said, almost talking to himself. “I do have a regret. I was too dismissive of these meddling rogue actors. Their refusal to cooperate made me blind to their evident passion for uncovering the depths of Shaping. Yes. Nick and Chase will play out the next act with excellency. It doesn’t matter what they want. They can hear the organ playing even clearer than I and it will guide them to the end.”
“You’re wrong,” Daria said, stepping closer than I would have liked. “And delusional to boot. You’re just salty that the world will move on and forget you. It’s just sad, really.”
The man’s eyes grew unfocused. “Isn’t it maddening? That not one of us will get to see the full picture? Eons of time have passed without intelligent lives to view them and, without intervention, eons will pass after humanity is gone. It’s unbearable to think about-”
The man abruptly lurched to his feet and Daria scrambled backwards. But the man looked as shocked as we did. My control over his legs had been wrested away and something else was Shaping him.
“What…” The man turned and began walking, his upper body swaying to the sides as if unprepared for the movement.
“Stop!” I shouted. I tried to Shape him again, but I was rebuffed. The forces that seized him slapped away my influence like a bothersome fly.
“This isn’t me!” the old man cried out. “This is… this…” his eyes widened, staring at nothing. “You? But how?” He continued to stride down the hill towards some unknown force, as if beckoned by the pied piper.
“Should I follow?” Daria asked. “Find some way to trip him up?”
“No,” I said firmly. “We’re not getting into another fight.”
Daria’s muscles tensed for a moment but then she relaxed. “Fine. Not sure how Nick will take it though.”
We watched as the man was carried unwillingly by his own legs over the next hill.
Then my phone started ringing. I glanced at Daria and then answered it.
“Hello?”
“Neve, is this you? This is the Director.” The regularly smooth voice of the Director sounded rough and parched.
“Yes. Are you safe?”
“From imminent physical harm, yes. I plan to surrender myself to the Canadian military.”
“What? Why?”
“Revealing the extent of the infiltration would expose people who would very much like to remain in power. I will likely be used as a scapegoat in order to silence me. What remains of H.E.S.P. will be absorbed into various other government agencies so that things can be swept under the rug. No country wants to admit that they had some part to play in the tragedies committed by Organ. But I expected this outcome. I’m happy to be the focus if it means you and your friends retain your freedom.”
“Is that really the truth?” I asked skeptically. “Surely there was some part of you that wishes we would come save you?”
“I kept myself at arm’s length for a reason. And truly, it is quite satisfying to see that my efforts weren’t in vain. Still, you all aren’t completely free. Organ’s death throes are just beginning. The government will likely come knocking, especially for you Witches which are in such short supply. To give you a small reprieve I’ve prepared a safehouse for you to rest at. Use it as much or as little as you like.”
“So that’s it? You’re just going to disappear?”
The Director’s familiar amused tone crept in, “Of course not. I will keep doing my best to be a brightly coloured stick in the gears of corruption. But most importantly, I enjoyed seeing you all grow close together. It was the greatest satisfaction. That will keep me going for a while.”
“Alright,” I responded softly. “Thank you.”
“Au revoir. Enjoy your time in Quebec.”
The call ended and I went over to Daria and rested my chin on her shoulder. She was watching where the old man had disappeared beyond the hills.
I reluctantly cast out my sixth sense, searching for him. It wasn’t something I enjoyed doing. Nell had once described her sixth sense to me as heat and vibrations. But mine felt more like texture. Invisible layers of reality existed that rubbed against each other when they intersected. That friction could be good or bad. Daria and I had high friction. We often clashed, often had arguments, but rarely did that take away from our relationship. It felt good, the friction acting as a reassurance that we still loved each other.
The man was at the edge of my range. His layer was terribly distant, hanging in limbo with nothing nearby to ground him. Then he stepped outside my range and disappeared.
A few minutes later, Nick landed beside us. “What happened?”
“Someone took him over like a remote control robot,” Daria said, shrugging. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” Nick said. His words sounded hollow. “I’ve talked with Nell. We’ve decided it’s time to stop fighting.”
He looked so exhausted. His shoulders were drawn in like someone was breathing down his neck. I noticed a letter envelope sticking out from his pocket.
He caught me looking.
Nick’s layer was flighty. It wavered at a distance, only to quickly close the distance to others and then pull away again just as quickly. When I observed Nell and Nick, it was often a dance, a chase, where one of them sought to intersect with the other while the other pulled away. Even observing that much made me feel like I was prying.
“Neve,” Nick started slowly, “if you had the chance to kill Chase, would you do it?”
My heart squeezed. Flashes of Kirkbride ran through my head. People looked ugly in desperate times. I often wondered if I’d imagined some of the horrifying Shapes I had seen that night. But the one thing that lingered above all else was Chase’s expression. He had looked relieved. Free from all tethers. And with that freedom, he had chosen to toy with our lives.
“I don’t think I could. Acting in the moment like that, I always freeze. I’d want to. The thought that at any moment he could turn up and ruin everything, that haunts me. If I could just muster up the will to do it, I would. Just to have that peace of mind.”
Nick nodded. “Me too,” he said quietly. He pushed the letter deeper into his pocket.