Ratter Ch. 03

"Fuck! Fuck! FUCK!" Seere beeped the horn at the traffic congested down the highway. He wouldn't have even needed to drive if April hadn't been there. A quick warp through dimensions wasn't beyond him. Sure it would make him tired and nauseous but he wouldn't be stuck behind an SUV with three kids in the back. They'd been staring at him for the last half hour. Not that he could blame them. He flicked off the radio and ran a hand through his hair. April. She was a big problem. Rane had been right when he said it was too easy to fall into old habits. The girl had only been there less than a day, and already he was slipping.

Weak. His hands tightened around the steering wheel. That word. It was how the other beings that frequented the human world had branded him. His inability to walk through dimensions blamed on his weakness for humanity. But they were wrong. Even after he'd shed his emotions and learned to kill without guilt he still couldn't leave the world for more than a few minutes.

The traffic started moving and Seere saw the opportunity to leave. He took the next turn off and parked the car in front of an abandoned building. Reaching back he pulled the hood of the jacket over his head; it was harder to hide in daylight. He closed his eyes and focused allowing his awareness to haze. It slipped away, leaving his mind looking out into Netherspace, the halfway between worlds. He could smell blood and fear...and the sweet exhilaration of retribution. Beings who bothered with humans were usually called. Most didn't like being called.

He moved away from the screaming and searched for the target, a dull ache forming in the back of his skull as he strained to stay grounded. His only chance was to finish the job and hope his employers didn't mind he was a couple of hours late. The consequences of failure were never pleasant.

He found the face in a hotel with the same woman from the night before. She was naked and unconscious on the bed with one hand dropping to an empty wine bottle on the floor. To his credit, the target wasn't sticking around long enough to regret the evening, he had already managed to get out of bed and stumble towards the bathroom.

Seere took in the guards. Only three. A surprisingly small number. But then, such a prominent man wouldn't allow just anyone to guard him through his endeavors. There were few, but they would be the best and most trusted of his staff. He would have to take them out first.

He focused on an alleyway around the corner from the hotel and released his hold. The only witness to his arrival was a woman stoned to the point she was barely breathing. Seere moved past her holding on to the wall as his body calmed from the trip. He felt worse than he usually did. There was a nagging hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach he didn't recognize, it made him feel...wrong. He forced it back and drew his hood further down. This was not the time for emotion. With a quick glance at the camera, he entered the building.

The elevator was at the back of the room and he walked towards it noting the high security. The receptionist watched him curiously but with the hood hiding his face, wouldn't identify him. He pressed the button for the top floor and waited, the hollow feeling rose with every level and still he couldn't think of why. The doors opened and he lifted his head. Two men stepped in front of him almost filling the gap with their bulk. The nagging feeling left.

"This floor is reserved, head back down"

He grinned. They were armed. It was so much easier when they were armed. Like lighting he grabbed the gun fitting the clip in place. The fear that filled the air tasted like honey to the senses.

"Now easy there, no need to..."

He pulled the trigger and a body fell to the floor. The other man reached for his gun and Seere fired into his head. Blood started pooling on the floor and Seere stepped back. A shot rang out from behind him, clipping his left shoulder. Pain pulsed through him but he didn't flinch. Instead he tugged on the hood bringing it lower on his face, and turned to the last guard.

The gun was pointed at his chest and held with expert precision. There was no doubt of the guards skill and intent. He was going to shoot him. Without warning, Seere fired a shot through the guards hand. The gun fell as he clutched the bloody mess to him. Seere moved forward almost casually, gesturing towards the door with the gun.

"Open it"

The man, unable to speak through the pain shook his head in response. Seere glared at him.

"Now you can open it or I can take it from your corpse. Your choice" the guard seemed to fight himself for a moment before reaching for the key. He pulled it out with his good hand and tossed it to him.

Seere gripped the guard by the shirt and shoved him through the elevator doors. Dropping the gun, he picked up the key from the floor and slid it gently into its slot. Through the open doorway Seere could hear the shower running an off-key voice singing 'La Marseillaise'.

The elevator moved behind him taking the guard downstairs. He estimated a maximum of twelve minutes before the police came to arrest him. By that time he'd be long gone. Dropping the gun he walked over to the woman on the bed. Her breathing was deep. She wouldn't be awake for hours. He avoided her hand and picked up the empty wine bottle smashing it against side table. The guards were just pawns. But a target in itself, was something special. Their blood somehow richer. Through all the assignments he'd taken, and all the people he'd killed. Seere never left a scene without feeling their blood on his hands.

Gripping a large shard he slinked around the bed and through the bathroom door with barely a sound. Not that he would be easily heard over the inhuman wailing his target was making. He pulled back the screen door and waited as his target opened his eyes. Until he could taste the fear on the air, and the mouth fell open to scream. His hand flew forward lodging the piece of glass in his throat. Blood streamed out of the wound and through Seere's fingers as his target gave one last choke before collapsing against the tiles.

A deep serenity filled him as he let the blood wash from his hands. It was done. Almost. There was one more stop to make. He turned off the shower and pulled back against the wall. Then, closing his eyes, located hotel security.

***

It had taken Rane a while to register what happened. One second she was there, the next she was flying across the room at top speed. When she hit her head on the wall and sunk unconscious to the floor, he couldn't help but wonder if the girl was a child of chaos. It seemed to follow her everywhere.

He surveyed the area noting the shades of light and dark more than the objects themselves. If it was working unseen on this plane it had to be reaching out from the Netherspace. It would cast a shadow but not an image. There was only one race he knew of who could affect dimensions through the midway pull. He stiffened. It was standing by April's body. Its projection only a flicker, but enough.

The Hije were notoriously vicious bastards. Unable to think for themselves they were popular slaves among some of the more wealthy titles. For a human, they were impossible to catch. But Rane was Jinn.

Keeping his eyes on April's form he touched the Netherspace with his mind and located the creature. It was tall and wiry, with grey skin hanging loose around its body. Its ears molded against the skull to pointed tips at the bald peak. Pink veins ran like cracks through the white of its eyes and they gleamed at April over a long nose.

"Who sent you?" Rane released his hold into the Netherspace and moved towards the creature binding it with a stare. It struggled against him, hissing its protest and he brought it to its knees.

"I asked who sent you"

Bending down he pulled a seal from its neck. His fingers circled the branded image as he muttered the words and it fell away revealing a ruby centre. The highest rank for a soldier of its class. A soldier would never get a target wrong.

Rane walked towards the woman he shouldn't have been able to see in the space between worlds. His mind filling with questions he knew she wouldn't be able to answer. "Who are you?" he whispered.

High pitched laughter snapped Rane's attention back to the Hije. It looked at him smugly, the veins dancing in its eyes "hedoesn't know?"

Drawing a sword from the energy Rane sped forward and sliced through its head, the pieces dissipating in the air. He stared at April for a moment, wondering what to do. The Hije had already begun dragging her through dimensions leaving a transparent figure in the Netherspace. He could bring her back easily enough, but without knowing her breed, it wasn't safe. Shaking his head, he walked forward and scooped her into his arms. Until he knew more, she was still in his care. He only hoped Seere would be able to control himself when he found out how far her secrets really went.

***

"She'swhat?" Seere's voice jolted April awake. She grimaced against the glaring light and tried to sit up. The back of her head was on fire. The rest of her body wasn't feeling too good either.

"I thought you were supposed to be able to detect these things" Seere continued his tirade. She looked at him. He looked pissed. She wondered if he was born that way.

"I usually can but even my powers have limits Seere, you saw how fast I left her mind the first time" he paused "I'm sure she's not Jinn. Or a demon." He rolled his shoulders uncomfortably as Seere continued to glare.

"Then what is she?"

Rane opened his mouth to answer and stopped when he sensed her presence. They both turned to her.

"What are you saying?" panic filled her throat and her voice was higher than normal.

"April..."

"Are you saying I'm not human?" Rane diverted his eyes, silence filling the room.

"Come on, you can tell me, I can take it."

Rane started to answer but April wasn't listening. The thoughts were coming too fast and they all added up to one thing.

"You're not human are you?"

She stumbled to her feet and Seere reached out to steady her. She pushed him away her eyes darting between the two. They landed on Seere, "areyou?" she whispered.

He looked away "am I what?"

"Human" she spat. The hysteria was rising in her throat. Everything in her mind screamed against the idea, until she thought she would go crazy just standing there. She wanted to run. She wanted some outlet other than the shaking than was taking hold of her body.

Rane stepped forward "now calm down April...it's not ..."

"ARE YOU?" she screamed.

Seere met her eyes. Violet irises, two beautiful flames in a winter scene.Why didn't I notice before how different he looks from everyone else?No human could be so pale and have eyes so intense.

"What are you?" she whispered.

He flinched and she wondered if it was because of the question or the horror she could feel flooding her face.

"I don't know."

A stab of guilt shot through her, she shook it off. She needed answers.

She turned to Rane, he looked nervous. "And you?"

"Jinn"

"You were telling Seere that I'm not human"

"Yes"

"And what exactly do you think I am?"

"I can't say"

"You're Jinn and he's an unknown. I think it's okay to talk about me now"

"No I mean I really can't say" he folded his arms and studied her face for a moment before continuing. "There are many dimensions and many kinds of creatures that inhabit them, it's impossible to know them all. The creature you met today is illusionary, or if you prefer the elemental measure 'air'. It's a category reserved for forces without substance. Hije, Specters, Doppelgangers...to name a few."

"And which one attacked me?"

"Hije"

She laughed "and you think I'm one of these..."

"No. You're not. You're most likely a hybrid which would explain why I couldn't sense it. Whatever powers you have a latent."

"I see"

Rane exchanged looks with Seere. "Is there anything else you want to ask me, April?" She shook her head. The only question going through her was along the lines of directions to the nearest psych ward. If she wasn't there already. He held her gaze for little longer before turning to Seere "I should go. Charity is calling me and she can be extremely uncharitable when I'm late" he had already started to disappear when he gave a nod in April's direction, and a 'good luck' to Seere.

***

April collapsed on the couch, her head too full to think. Seere stood off to the side with his hands in his pockets. The silence grew uncomfortably long before she turned to him.

"It wasn't an accident your finding me, was it?"

"No"

"Well at least you're being honest" she whispered. "So why did you save me, what's in it for you?"

He sighed and sat on the arm beside her "there wasn't anything in it for me. I don't know what I am, but I'm not human. Never have been. I washed up on the same beach you did a long time ago wearing nothing but this wrapped around my wrist." He pulled a black stone with strange gold markings out of his shirt. "It's not that my memory is completely gone. When I woke up I knew my name, and a lot about the human plane of existence. But everything about my past, where I'm from and what I am is gone.

I stood up on the shore and looked around for any clues to who I was; that's when the whispers started. The first time they came all at once, flooding my mind. They were so intense, I couldn't move. When they stopped, my eyes and mouth were bleeding. The same thing happened every time they came for a week. As the symptoms got better, the whispers became more coherent. I started noticing images, then voices." He tucked the stone back in his shirt "when I met Rane he taught me how to train my mind. Eventually I learned to block them. That is, until you washed up on shore."

"And they told you to help me?"

"Yes"

"So, the voices made you do it?"

He laughed "guess so"

She nodded and picked herself up. His story left her feeling calmer. But her brain didn't know how to process what he was saying. She walked towards the fridge, pausing at the door and turning to him.

"You don't have blood or anything in here, do you?"

He rolled his eyes and came up beside her "just because I'm not human doesn't mean I drink blood"

Her head was a mess. She couldn't even see the fridge. In 24 hours she'd almost drowned, been attacked, and found out she wasn't human. Her body shivered and Seere slipped an arm around her waist. She leaned instinctively into his warmth.

"It's going to be okay"

She looked up at him, there was sincerity in his eyes but something told her he was wrong. Biting back her doubts she pulled herself out of his arms and opened the fridge.

"So what's for dinner" she chirped.

***

He was in front of the TV with a beautiful woman. He should have been happy. Only one problem...she had the remote. Five minutes in Seere was ready to shoot something. Contrary to the genre it was neither romantic nor funny. He made a go for the remote only to have April slap his hand away.

"I'm the guest, I control the remote

"But..."

"You can have it back after the movie"

"I might not last that long" he muttered

She was sitting in the opposite corner of the couch, smiling with her knees drawn up and her arms wrapped around them. Her long hair draped silkily around the navy shirt she'd found in his drawers. He wanted to touch her. Something about the way she fit against him left a mark that burned when she left.

This was not good.

She yawned, her eyes already half closed. He stood and pulled her into his arms, lifting her off the ground.

She screeched, "What are you doing?"

"Putting you to bed, you're tired" he started walking towards his bedroom.

"The stairs are that way" she pointed.

"I know but now that we have people chasing you I think you should sleep in the downstairs guest room"

"There's a downstairs guest room and you carried my limp, wet body up the stairs when I was injured.Afteryou carried me from the beach?"

He shrugged. "I like my privacy. And, I was hoping you wouldn't be here very long" he admitted. She gave him a look and he talked quickly "it took a long time and a lot of training to learn to block the voices. After I found you I thought maybe they were coming back. I've learned to think of people more like animals. If you forget how people feel, you can block any urges to care about them. That stops the whispers. But living with one changes that" he walked through a door and dropped her on the bed. "My room is just opposite this one so if you need me, just call." He paused at the doorway turning back to see her walking towards the mirror.

"I don't really look like myself anymore. I wonder if I ever will again" she whispered

He came up behind her and pulled the hair off her face letting the strands slip through his fingers "you've taken the news well. I guess it's only natural to be a little lost about what you are"

"You seem to manage okay"

He laughed softly, "I've had years to deal with what I am. With my memory gone, I had to create myself. But you don't have to create yourself, you're still there. Your memories, friends and family, your achievements are all still there. I'm not saying this won't change you, but you're not losing who you are. Humanity is just a title"

She nodded slowly and studied their reflections in the glass. "Well at least I know I'm not a vampire"

"What?" he looked in the mirror

"Reflection"

"Oh" he grinned and tugged on her hair "you know all those myths aren't true right?"

"So there aren't vampires?"

"There are, but they have a reflection. Doppelgangers are the one that don't"

"Why wouldn't a doppelganger have a reflection?"

"Because they are the reflection"

She turned her face towards him "you're going to have to explain that to me"

He hesitated before pulling back "not tonight, you've got a lot of time to learn everything there is to know, and Rane knows more than I do. We should probably talk about it when he's around"

***

April could have slapped him when he pulled away from her. She needed him. He made her feel safe. She walked back to the bed and slipped under the covers. He was almost out the door when she called to him.

"You healed me didn't you? Just looking at the scars, if you found me yesterday I couldn't have healed this much on my own"

He moved forward looking guiltily at her legs. "I tried to. I couldn't fix everything at the time there was too much damage"

"Can you fix it now?"

He shrugged and sat on the bed "I can try"

She opened her mouth to ask if it would hurt and shut it as he reached for her. His hands gently gripped her arms and he eased her back against the pillows.

"It doesn't hurt. Just a quick cut here and nothing after that" she shivered as he ran a finger along the small scar just peaking out of her shirt. She nodded her consent. She would have agreed to run away and join the circus if he'd asked.

"Close your eyes and try to relax" he whispered. She did as he said trying to crush the butterflies in her stomach.He's not humanshe reminded herself and shrieked as he sliced open her skin. She opened her eyes and glared.

"Sorry." He gave her a apologetic smile and pulled the knife away.

She watched with interest as he sliced through his own hand. "Why do you have to be cut?"

"The healing is in the blood. I need to pair mine with yours so I can focus the energy on your wounds"

"Oh." He moved closer and pressed his hand against her breast. The effect was instant.

Fire filled her body. She could feel every organ, every scar, and every injury that had healed in her life. She writhed against the sensation vaguely aware of Seere holding her down. Colors danced in front of her eyes until her head spun.