The Start of Pain

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Dan put on his best confused face which he prided on considering he has Amy for a sister. She tends to always confuse him. "Whoa! So, Satan's spawn really isn't Cobra's brother? What is going on here?" he asked, severely perplexed at Ian and Victoria's banter.

"And who is this uncle you're talking about?"Sinead chimed in, although it looked like she couldn't care less. She was too busy munching on the Tangy Cheese Doritos. "I'm confused."

Hamilton stared at her. "Go easy on the chips! They're not gonna run away," he said sarcastically.

Sinead made a face at him. "Yeah, sure. 'Cause that's what happened to the last one before they all went in your stomach," she replied. Hamilton stuck his tongue out at her and she did the same.

Ian looked at Amy. "Is this going to be permanent? Because I refuse to live through that for months on end," he told her. Amy just smiled amusedly.

Jonah threw a shoe at him. "Just deal with it. It's better than all the yelling and the rambling and the walk-outs and the drama and the Tomas-versus-Ekats arguments and the -"

Ian shot him a deadly look, gripping Jonah's shoe. "I get it," he snapped, throwing it as hard as he could on Jonah's chest. Jonah grunted, looking at Amy with a wounded expression. Sinead and Hamilton glared at all of them.

"Ian, Jonah does have a point," Amy pointed out.

"Who cares?" Ian exclaimed, outraged that Amy sided with Jonah. "I have a point, too."

"I have to live through this every single day," Dan told Natalie. "Can you believe it?"

"It sounds fun," Natalie said wistfully.

Dan frowned. "No. It sounds insane and that's what it really is. It's fun when you see people hitting other people on the head, but after awhile it gets old." Dan handed her some nuts. "Want some?" Natalie nodded gratefully.

"Sinead, dear?" Alistair called from the other side.

"Yeah?" Sinead called back.

"I could use some medical help," Alistair continued.

Sinead made a face at her half-finished bag of chips. She sighed longingly. "Coming," she said, standing up as though the effort was painful. She dropped the bag on Hamilton's lap and handed him the dip. "Don't finish it," she warned, giving him a pointed look. Hamilton raised his arms defensively. Sinead nodded approvingly before disappearing behind the curtain.

"Anyway," Ian said, steering the conversation back to the original matter at hand. "My uncle - our uncle," he rephrased, looking at Natalie who pursed her lips. "He's called Adhiraj. He was with Alistair in that Vesper hospital and they escaped together with that Ekat doctor. He told me that our father, Vikram -"

Natalie tilted her head. "That sounds familiar," she whispered.

"Yes, well, he wanted me to think clearly of my childhood," Ian said. He looked at Amy. "Remember the blue bird?" Amy nodded. "It really was a young boy, but it wasn't a memory at all. It was a bedtime story Isabel used to tell me every night. She used to tell me the story of twins where one is kind and the other was evil." Ian wrung his hands. "I don't know why that story came to mind all of a sudden. Probably because Isabel has her aura all over what's happening."

"Is Isabel a bad person?" Natalie asked Dan, but the question was heard by everybody.

"Well, uh... She's, you know," Dan hesitated, looking at his sister for support. Amy had nothing. They can't just tell her that, yeah, she's Supreme Evil. She killed our parents and pretty much tried to kill everybody else just to gain all the power the world has to offer. Yep, that would severely scar her.

"What do you think, Natalie?" Ian asked calmly, unperturbed by her arresting question.

Natalie looked up at him fearfully, but as their eyes locked together, the feeling melted down to her shoes. He was just looking at her very kindly, like he knows every bit of her life and has accepted her shortcomings. "Um... She's my mom. She can't be bad," she said finally. She looked at Dan. "Right?"

"Stop lying to her," Victoria said, a cloth slung over shoulder protecting her arm from any unnecessary movement. "It won't make things better. Trust me." She looked at Natalie. The little girl cowered behind Dan. "Do you remember me?"

Natalie nodded mutely.

Victoria looked at her square in the eyes. "Isabel is a bad, manipulative person. She toys with lives until nobody could live them the way they wanted. Do you understand?" she said seriously.

Tears flooded Natalie's eyes. She buried her head on Dan's shoulder and gripped his arm tighter. Her sobs echoed in the silent jet.

"What the freak is your problem?!"

Ian stared at Dan who had just exclaimed, his mouth still open to exclaim the same words the kid just did. Probably not the exact same words, but definitely in that context. Ian could see an indignant glint in those jade green eyes.

"If you're trying to help, no thank you," Dan continued angrily. "You're making things worse! I may not be a therapist, but I know better than to drop that kinda bomb. I mean, duh. No brainer much?"

Victoria was taken aback, yet she managed to recover fast enough to snarl at the kid. "You think everything's going to be fine just by saying it will? Isabel doesn't work that way. She attacks regardless of her enemies' preparedness. The more unprepared and innocent they are, the faster she acts."

Dan snorted. "Yeah. And acting like her would make things so much better," he retorted. He looked behind him at the snivelling Natalie. "Stop crying, Nat. It's cool. She didn't mean it."

Sinead appeared from the curtains, her hands way too streaked with blood to eat chips. She was scrubbing them vigorously with the curtain when the cloth didn't work. "Gotta admire your nerve, Ms. Attitude. One minute after you get back in the scene, you start getting on everybody's nerve," she said. She glared at her hands. "Ugh. Why doesn't this come off?!" Hamilton made a disgusted face. "I saw that," she accused him.

"That's not very hygienic, my dear," Alistair said, pulling his gloves off his hands. "Hamilton, could you get the alcohol from one of the bags, please?"

Hamilton placed the chips and the dip on the floor. "Careful with that! That's my food!" Sinead complained. Hamilton glared at her as he dug around for the bottle. Sinead held out her hands as he poured alcohol all over them.

"Okay," Hamilton said, crinkling his nose at the red stuff. The strong smell of the antiseptic made his head ache. "That is just gross."

"So, can somebody please explain what's going on? In full detail, if you don't mind," Amy added, glancing at Ian expectantly.

Ian nodded and started with his narration before he could get distracted... from a lot of things. "That Alex person is not my brother and I think Ms ex-Vesper should continue from there on," he said pointedly.

Victoria growled, looking terribly martyred. "Ugh. I hate explaining," she grumbled. Her eyes darkened and glinted dangerously as if this topic touched every nerve in her body and she's ready to crack some necks. "Let's just say that your witch of a mother is terrific storyteller. So terrific in fact that she made a bestselling novel out of our lives."

They were all silent as they waited for her to expand further. The only sound was the choreographic snoring of one Rosenbloom and Tolliver.

"What we did to Natalie wasn't the first time Vespers has done something like that," she explained, gazing at something outside the window. "Erasing memories is just one of their many specialties. Altering everything else is just the next step."

"And by everything else..." Amy prodded.

"Are Cahills really this stupid?" she asked the ceiling. Veronica sighed. "My twin brother and I... we're orphans. That's all I know. The memories of being in the orphanage are kind of blurry, but nowadays, when I try to conjure them up in my head, they're there. And very, very real."

There was suddenly a Halloween kind of music playing, the type that makes any scene in the movies as scary as anything and then you realize afterwards that it was the stupidest horror scene you have ever seen. Everybody, except for Victoria who just looked surprised, glared at Dan. Dan shrugged sheepishly, holding his iPod as if it was the missing crime weapon. "Thought we could use some background music," he said defensively.

"Like every other time," Ian said slowly, making clear that he wanted to have Dan unconscious, "you thought wrong."

Dan made a face at him without making any move to stop the music. They all stared at him expectantly without registering recognition from the boy. Natalie reached forward and stopped the music for the love of everybody's sanity.

"Thank you, Natalie," Hamilton said pointedly. Natalie smiled proudly albeit shyly.

"Should I continue now?" Victoria said unenthusiastically. Amy smiled apologetically and nodded for her to continue. Victoria sighed. "Okay. So, I remember being in the orphanage and there are lots of events in there that seem out-of-context."

"Such as?" Jonah said, trying to keep his mind on this conversation but there is just too much talking to pay attention. He has to ask questions or else there will be a snoring Jonah Wizard in the building... jet, whichever.

"That woman who always orders me to tell Alex something," Victoria rummaged in her pocket. Thankfully the necklace is still intact. She held it up for all of them to see. "This is what she left me."

There was a thump as the alcohol fell from Alistair Oh's hands. His eyes sparked as they focused on the antiquated object. "She left that with you, you say?" he whispered, his tone so serious that even Sinead had to stare at her uncle as did everybody else. Nobody has ever heard him talk like that. Alistair always had a knack for putting a little amusement in his tone even during the Hunt. That's pretty much how there's a little - very little - connection between him and Dan. A connection that saved Alistair from getting strangled.

Victoria nodded, seeing nothing unusual about it. Her eyes are as transfixed as Alistair's on the necklace. "She shoved it in my hands when I was little and asked me to tell Alex... And that's where I blank out. I don't know what information she wanted me to pass on which is why I went to Russia. Hopefully to find her," she said, sadness tinting her voice.

Alistair shook his head. "She's dead. It's not possible you could -" He stopped himself, his wise eyes widening.

Ian looked at him intently. "You know who she is talking about?" he asked.

A bead of sweat trickled down Alistair's face. "I just... She's... She's a friend," he said hesitantly.

Jonah felt the burst of adrenalin. "Oh good gangsta! It's Alistair's first love!" he exclaimed, grinning like a madman at all of them.

Dan wrinkled his nose. "Ew."

Hamilton frowned. "First love? In what century?" Sinead pinched his arm, although she was trying to hide a smile. Hamilton grinned and wagged his eyebrows at her.

Alistair made a face at them. "As amusing to you as it may, no, the woman I'm talking about is not my first - or succeeding - love whatsoever," he said, shooting them all a firm look.

Sinead, Hamilton and Jonah bit their lips as silent giggles shook their bodies.

Alistair shook his head at them. "She's a friend of... a very good friend of mine," he explained, looking uncomfortable.

"So, a friend of your first love?" Dan clarified. Sinead, Hamilton and Jonah burst out laughing.

"No..." Alistair said slowly, seeing no humour in the matter. His eyes looked terribly saddened that only one person could come to mind whenever that particular expression comes on.

Ian recognized it immediately. "That expression... Does this have something to do with Irina?"

"Huh. So this really has something to do with Alistair's first love," Dan grumbled, getting awfully bored.

"Irina? Who's she?" Victoria said, leaning forward.

Alistair looked slightly taken aback, not even bothering to make a comment about Dan's statement. "A Vesper who doesn't know Irina Spasky?" he mumbled to himself. "That's odd... and a clear indication that my blooming hypothesis might be right. But before I share it," he said louder, catching the bubbling complaint Ian is going to have. He gestured at Victoria. "Let us have Victoria's full story first."

Victoria blinked, vaguely realizing that Alistair just gave her the microphone and the whole stage back. "Well. As I've said, I didn't find that crazed woman. All of her files mysteriously disappeared. I mean, not that I'm surprised," she grumbled, her eyes burning with annoyed hatred. "This is Isabel we're talking about after all. My last resort was the hospital. Since all of you know anyway, I guess it's safe to say that the hospital doubles as the Vespers' vault of private information."

Dan raised a hand. "Actually... we didn't know that," he offered. Every Cahill in the room glared daggers at him. He quickly changed tracks. "Or did we? Maybe we did."

Victoria hadn't even noticed. "No such luck in there, too," she said dejectedly. "And then, those stupid guards had to shoot me." She said that last part so casually as if getting shot was one of her hobbies. "That's pretty much it."

Alistair nodded thoughtfully. "This Alex person... Could you tell me what he likes?" he asked Victoria.

"That's easy," Ian scoffed, his amber eyes blazing violently. "He likes killing people."

"He didn't ask you," Victoria snapped, taking offense even though she wasn't who Ian was insulting. It was just reflex that made her protect Alex. "Alex... well, he likes... having things done his way and he likes it when his plan works flawlessly," she said tentatively. "Is that what you wanted to know?"

Alistair shook his head slowly. "Not exactly... Say, did he have a special preference for... monkeys?" he inquired, his tone similar to a doctor who is asking for a year-old symptom.

Victoria looked shocked. Blood drained from her face, faster than when her wound was bleeding profusely. She remembered that day in the orphanage when they all went for a field trip because the local theatre was holding one special day for the children. A free show on a fable about monkeys... and Alex was the most excited of them all... and he wanted to get the stuffed toy which - "I... Yes, he does - I mean, did," she said quickly, looking confused. "He probably does, but I wouldn't know. But how did you..."

Alistair's hands started to shake. They moved automatically to grip his diamond-tipped cane, only to realize that he wasn't holding it. "How about theatre?" he whispered breathily. He looked as pale as Victoria. This was the moment of truth. One single 'yes' from her would seal everything. "Does he love the theatre?"

The two of them shared a staggering look. Hamilton, Sinead, Jonah, Dan, Ian, Amy and even poor, disoriented Natalie found themselves holding their breaths for the answer without knowing why exactly. Victoria swallowed the huge lump in her throat. "Yes," she said with a nod, blanching even more.

"But you said you knew he was a Cahill," Hamilton pointed out, staring at Victoria. "How come you're so surprised with everything Alistair's saying?"

Victoria looked at him vaguely. "I was... I took a wild guess. Russia has always been one of the Cahills' headquarters, of course. Anything out of Vesper's reach has to be Cahill property," she said.

Hamilton looked like he didn't believe her for one second.

"It's true," she insisted, getting rather annoyed. "It's called bluffing, Tomas. Try it sometime. I was trying to pull information out of you all before anything else."

Alistair was silent for a long minute. Sinead glanced at Hamilton helplessly which he returned with a shrug. Jonah tried to rack his brain for any connections between monkeys and theatre. All he could think of was the movie Rise of the Planet of the Apes where his homie Tom Felton starred. Amy and Ian waited for Alistair to continue.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Alistair breathed a long breath out as if he was trying to calm his nerves. He dug around for the worn wallet back from that fateful night of the Clue Hunt. "Children," he said gravely like somebody has died as he looked at all of them in the eye. He opened the wallet, revealing a picture of a beaming blonde toddler holding a ball with a temple behind him. Amy recognized that wallet almost immediately and was about to ask Alistair about it when he continued speaking.

"We might be looking at Nikolai Spaskaya, the supposed deceased son of the late Irina Nikolaievna Spaskaya."

xxxOOOxxx

Hands up if you love Hamilton and Sinead's budding relationship!! *waves hand in the air*

To be honest, even though they aren't really officially made canon, they are tied with AmIan for my OTP...

'Cause Ian's being such a dingaling and one more stupid move from him, I swear I'll send him over to Buffy.

2/5

Fan, comment and/or vote??

XO,
AngelicSpring