《The Pursuit of Truth》


 Chapter 1

    "10-80 Detective Callum in pursuit. Suspicious male, about six feet tall, two hundred pounds. Suspect has slicked back dark hair with a goatee. Currently wearing a grey suit.


    I called it in, but it hardly mattered. They don''t understand why I''m tailing this guy. For years, strange occurrences have been going on in my damned city and there hasn''t been a single finger lifted by the police services. Media largely ignored the monster sightings and bizarre events. Usually written off as a hoax. I''m almost certain the right people are being paid off.


    This slimy bastard in the grey suit seemed to be connected to it all.


    ~10-4 Detective. You are clear to pursue.~


    "Not like I need your permission." I grumbled. The greaseball in the grey suit turned down an alley and I pulled the collar on my trench coat up around my neck and headed in after him. He didn''t seem to notice me following. HIs attention was intent on something else. As he neared the end of the alley, he pulled back quickly and leaned against the wall, trying not to be seen, but he wasn''t hiding from me. I quickly ducked behind a large dumpster.


    I''d been following this guy for ages now. I first noticed him coming and going out of one of the abandoned churches in the downtown area. One of those places they keep boarded up tight, but doesn''t get sold to be turned into more condos. God, I hate all the condos.


    I thought he was breaking and entering, but from what I''ve seen, it looks like he''s the owner. I confronted him once, knocking on the front doors, waiting forever. When he finally answered, he told me he was a youth pastor, running some sort of self-help club. I''ve got the feeling in my gut that he''s full of shit. But I don''t have anything on the guy. I''ve seen the youths he mentioned coming and going out of the back door, but I can''t get any of them to talk to me either. Might be some kind of cult.


    I had brought it to my Sergeant''s attention, but he seemed disinterested. He told me to drop it, and focus my efforts on something more important. Maybe he was right, or maybe, I was gonna catch this guy in the act.


    There was a loud clamor and then a growl. I wondered if I was gonna have to call in an animal case. The man in the grey suit tucked in tightly against the wall, disappearing from my view. I dared to get closer, sneaking around from behind the garbage can, to inch closer.


    At the end of the alley, amongst the darkness and debris, is some kind of large hairy monstrosity. The guy in the grey suit just stared it down, hands at his sides as the beast snarled, its maw dripping globs of saliva. I ducked back down and tried to calm my shit. This was exactly what I was talking about, weird shit like this was happening all over the city and even across the world, if the articles could be believed. Everyone had started to think I was some kind of conspiracy nut. Back in my prime, I was regarded as a loose cannon, but I always got my guy. I had put more sick fucks behind bars than most of the slumps in my division combined. I had turned down promotions that would put me at a desk, so I could stay in the field. There was nothing like the rush of catching something you''d put all that time and effort into.


    The guy in the alley didn''t flinch as the monster roared at him. I heard the ring of steel and a flash of light, and suddenly the guy was armed to the teeth. The monstrosity in front of him growled deeply, gnashing its teeth and staring him down. Covered in armor and armed with a sword and a spear, the guy flew at the thing. He jumped up off another dumpster, backflipped off a fire escape and got up in that things big ugly maw.


    I couldn''t believe my eyes. I held down the button on my radio to call dispatch, but I second guessed myself. No one would believe me. They probably wouldn''t even send back up and I''d have to take another psych evaluation. They think ol'' John has lost his marbles. But I''m as sharp as ever, and right here in front of me, I have proof that something fucky is going on in my city.


    The creature let out a howl as the knight-in-a-suit stabbed and slashed it repeatedly. The monster swung one of its great clawed hands and knocked the guy aside like a discarded children''s toy, sending him flying. Whatever this thing is, it''s powerful. If it got out of this alley and started to hurt civilians...


    "Freeze, whatever the fuck you are!" I blew my cover and pulled my sidearm against the fifteen foot tall monster. My cop instincts picked a bad time to kick in.


    The creature bellowed, opening its mouth wide enough to swallow me whole. It had grey matted fur, caked in scraps of flesh and blood. Its large vacant eyes were like milky orbs, atop its wolf-like head. Crooked antlers jutted out from the top of its head, adorned with torn clothing, pieces of metal and what looked like a size four child''s Nike runner. It screeched at me again, and the things mouth unhinged wildly.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    The man in the grey suit stood up from the pile of garbage he had been flung into and cleaned himself off, a distasteful look on his face.


    "Detective I would advise you not to fire your weapon." He groaned as he got to his feet, fixing his tie under his armor.


    "What the hell is that thing?" I screamed back. I kept my gun aimed at the things head, but I was tempted to put it on this guy. I needed answers.


    "You wouldn''t believe me if I told you. Turn around and forget what you saw here Detective Callum. This is not your fight." He told me, squaring up with the beast and ignoring me.


    "How do you know who I am?" I called back, my hands shaking. My finger inched closer to the trigger. He darted in at the monster again, stabbing it with the tip of his spear with impossible speed.


    "With all due respect Detective, I''m a little busy." He shouted back at me, all nonchalant. Fuck this guy.


    I fired my gun and bullets pinged harmlessly off his armor. The creature, however, got hit in the eye by a ricochet. It screeched and unfurled large membranous wings, breaking the fire escape on the nearby building and parts of the brick. It took off so fast, I blinked and it was gone. I looked around at the scene, and there was no indication that a monster had been here. Just another worn down Toronto alleyway.


    "Gods damn it!" The guy in the suit screamed. He wheeled around to face me.


    "I don''t expect you to understand the huge grievance you''ve just caused, but know that you''ve endangered many lives by being reckless here." He scolded me like I was some kind of child. I scoffed at him. His armor and spear disappeared in a shimmer of light, except for his sword. He moved toward me, so I raised my gun.


    "Who are you? What was that thing? How do you know who I am?" I barked. I wasn''t letting this guy get away again. Not after all that.


    "I''m fairly experienced at investigative work myself, Detective. If you know what''s good for you, you''ll let this go. Nothing good will come of your obsession with me and the Cathedral." He said with a cocky smile. He reminded me of a used car salesman. I snarled at him.


    "I''m placing you under arrest, until I get my answers." I moved one hand from my sidearm to reach for my cuffs.


    "Not likely." He scoffed.


    "Drop your weapon! Get on the ground and put your hands behind your head!" I shouted, startling the man. I was weary of the fact that he still had his sword drawn.


    ~Detective Callum, what''s your 20? Do you need backup?~


    My eyes shifted toward my radio and then snapped back to the guy in the suit. He was shaking his head with his hand on his hip, leaning on his sword like a cane. He didn''t seem intimidated at all.


    "I wouldn''t answer that." He said, smirking.


    "Are you threatening an officer, Greaseball?" I growled back. My finger settled on the trigger. I was convinced I was gonna have to plug this guy.


    "Grease..." He looked genuinely hurt. "Listen here, you underpaid hack. Your higher ups already think you are one bad case from the looney bin. If you call for backup and neither I, nor the monster you saw are here when they arrive, they''ll put you on another psych leave." He shouted back.


    My eye started to twitch. I could feel blood vessels breaking in my forehead. He wasn''t wrong, but how could he possibly know any of that. It only confirmed my suspicion that this guy had an insider with the police department. I was one misguided judgement call from a forced leave. I couldn''t afford another blunder.


    "Just...tell me what''s going on?" I shouted.


    "Like I said, you won''t believe me even if I tell you." He suddenly straightened and looked passed me.


    "There you are Anders!" I heard from behind me. I spun around and my trigger finger slipped. I realized too late that the person on the receiving end was a young girl. Everything seemed slow and surreal. I heard the guy in the suit shout. I watched as the girl''s eyes went wide at the sound of my gun going off. The echo of the shot went on forever.


    In the blink of an eye, a man-sized shadow appeared in front of the girl.


    Suddenly it became a man. He was tall with long blonde hair and sunken eyes. The bullet lodged in his shoulder and he didn''t flinch. The guy in the grey suit behind me took a sharp, deep breath. I could hear him clap his hand to his face.


    The blonde guy approached slowly. The girl tried to grab his hand, but he violently pulled away. I''m not easily intimidated, but this guy scared the shit out of me. The gunshot wound in his shoulder oozed blood over his black dress shirt. When he got too close, I fired again. Both the girl and the guy in the suit shouted out. But not for him.


    For me.


    I could have sworn the blonde guy''s eyes flickered red. He shook his head, increasing his speed toward me with an expression of pure rage painted across his face. I went to fire my gun again, but he was suddenly in front of me. He grabbed the muzzle of my gun, steam raising off his hand as his flesh burned on the hot barrel. He pried the gun from my hands with absurd strength. In front of me, up close, he was terrifying, put I couldn''t put my finger on why. I was like there was something else behind those icy blue eyes of his. Something sinister.


    "Chase, don''t." The guy in the suit warned. I heard my gun go off and I flinched. I felt the burn and the warmth of blood trickling down my leg as it buckled beneath me.


    I screamed in horror, grasping at my shattered kneecap.


    The blonde man stared down at me, my own pistol still in his hands. He was so close to me and I still missed it. His movements were too fast. The three of them gathered around me and the guy in the suit stared down at me sympathetically.


    "I did warn you Detective Callum." He said before I blacked out.

 Chapter 2

    Nothing hurts more than being alone at Christmas time.


    Damn holidays have it out for people like me. We just sit in our homes, staring at the television, or looking at our phones, waiting, hoping and praying someone calls to say ¡®Hey, come out with us!¡¯.


    I reached across the couch for my cane and strained to stand. My knee, or what was left of the damned thing, threatened to buckle. The metal pieces inside ached with the cold coming in from my shitty apartment windows. Years on the force, years in the military and I was stuck in a shitty apartment, on the crappy side of the city, eating left over take-out two weeks before Christmas.


    Captain Harrison told me I shouldn¡¯t have been poking my nose around in that alley. Said they were gonna ¡®look¡¯ for the guy that shot me. It was all horse shit. The higher ups knew something they weren''t telling me; trying to keep me away from whatever this was. Something was going on in that damn church and I was gonna find out what.


    I still couldn''t shake the look on that creep''s face when he shot me with my own gun. His damned eyes, red and bloodshot. Came out of the damn shadows. But he stopped me from shooting that girl. Took a bullet to the shoulder for her and didn¡¯t even flinch. That shit wasn''t normal.


    I looked over at my desk and ran my hands through all the files and papers I had collected; news articles about strange happenings, police reports never looked into, sightings of strange and dangerous creatures, like that huge antlered thing from the alley. It was all like those Mothman conspiracies.


    The man in the grey suit had warned me to stay away too and it only made me want the answers more. Years of hard work, and nothing to show for it but articles and clippings and a damned hole in my leg.


    I pounded the desk and knocked everything off and onto the floor. Glass shattered, and it brought me from my rage and I noticed the tiny picture frame on the floor.


    ¡°Shit. I¡¯m sorry.¡± I apologized to my most treasured possession.


    When I picked it up, my heart sank into the pit of my stomach. The glass was everywhere and the frame had cracked. Even the picture was a little torn up.


    I ran my fingers along the faces of my wife and kids and I felt the sadness settle in. It was all I had left of them now, and it was ruined.


    I stumbled my way across the small apartment to my bedroom. I grasped the wall with one hand, while guiding myself with my cripple stick, into my room. Hanging on the wall were pictures of my war-time buddies. The ones I lost to, whatever the hell was going on, on Partridge Island.


    I reached for one of the picture frames, the one containing a picture of my platoon, and unscrewed the back. I removed the photo from the frame, and replaced it with the one in my hand, reverently.


    After putting my family back up on the wall, I stared at my platoon. I was the only man left on my squad; only man to come home. My hands started to shake and the lights flickered.


    Damn it, I called it to me, I thought.


    Rushing to my bedside drawer, I could feel my knee start to ache from the pressure. I threw myself across the bed and tore open the bed side drawer. Scrambling, I reached around the drawer for the old dagger wrapped in wolf skin. The shaman had said it would keep The Guilt away.


    Damn Doctor told me it was PTSD. But PTSD doesn¡¯t kill your family.


    My head throbbed and my vision blurred; I could tell it was close. The world around me shook violently like someone was clearing an Etch-a-Sketch. I scrambled against the wall behind my bed, dragging my useless leg. I stared at the door in horror, waiting for The Guilt to come torment me again.


    It entered the apartment through the walls which shook with vibrations. The horrid, high pitched screeches followed, making my head throb even worse.


    I started to get flashbacks from Partridge Island when it came near. It injected these memories, trying to wear me down; to make me feel like their deaths were my fault. It showed me my family and what it had done to them.


    It rounded the corner to the bedroom, in a jerking motion. It looked like an emaciated grey person, void of gender or features. Nothing on its bulbous head except for that damn slit where its mouth was, no eyes or nose. Frail and trembling, it took jerking steps towards the bed.


    ¡°Get away! Get back!¡± I shouted at it, brandishing the bone dagger in front of me like a tactical knife. My vision got worse as it moved closer. It crawled up onto the bed, so I threw myself off.


    When I hit the floor of my bedroom, I was suddenly back on the Island, dragging myself across the ground of the laboratory, the walls pulsing with pockets of grotesque flesh. Membranes and muscles reached out connecting shelves and birthing pods. The pentagram drawn in blood on the floor, was covered in bodies. That¡¯s where The Guilt came from. It tore apart my squad, one at a time, hunting us down; playing on our fears.


    I struggled to crawl, pain radiating through my body, blood trailing behind me like a slug. I could hear the screams of my platoon mates as The Guilt tore through them viciously. The fleshy ground had a heartbeat, that thumped away in my ears. I couldn''t breathe. It killed till it was just me left alive.


    I was suddenly back in my room, and The Guilt looked over the edge of the bed, cocking its head. A thin tongue flicked out from its slit of a mouth and licked non-existent lips.


    ¡°Damn you, you¡¯ve ruined my life!¡± I shouted, swiping at its face with the bone dagger, but it jerked back. It rocked its head back and forth like a snake, watching me without eyes.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    I dragged myself back against the wall, and used the lip of the window ledge to help me stand. The Guilt scrambled off the bed, bending like a contortionist. It hummed and hissed in strange frequencies, like a radio that couldn''t catch a station, until its head opened back like it was on a hinge and revealed its horrible mouth. Rows of endless teeth spiralling down into the abyss of whatever was inside. The screech it let out was deafening. My senses went numb.


    I could see it killing my wife again; grey tentacles probing at her body, its huge maw wrapped over her face. Draining her fear, her pain, and her life. I had shot at the thing so many damn times, I had wasted at least three clips. It would just face me and bob its grotesque head.


    And then it took the kids. It had mutilated my son. Unlike my wife, my kids could see the damn thing and they screamed as it came near them. My wife had just stood there, calm, almost expectant. But it cornered my kids in the playroom and my son stood in front of my little girl, arms out, not letting the thing passed.


    The Guilt had ripped his arms off and stuffed them down its throat, tentacles bending and breaking my poor boy in inhuman ways.


    I tried to grapple the thing, but it had strength unlike anything I¡¯d ever seen. It flung me around the room with its god awful tentacles coming from its back, while it used its thin, bony fingers to poke and prod my daughter. When it was satisfied, it grabbed her by the leg and disappeared through the walls. That had been ten years ago.


    ¡°You¡¯ve taken everything already, why are you here?¡± I screamed at it. I cocked my arm back and whipped the bone knife at it. The Guilt screeched, but in confusion. It didn''t seem fazed.


    Damn shaman and his stupid knife.


    The tentacles shoot from its back and it took jerking steps towards me, slowly. Like it was taunting me.


    ¡°So you¡¯re here to take me this time? Just be on with it then!¡± I screamed as it got closer.


    And closer.


    Closer.


    My vision and hearing was gone and everything was fading to black. There was nothing but me and The Guilt. I imagined that this was what death felt like.


    The infinite nothing.


    I heard The Guilt screech once more, like it was inches from my face. So close, I could feel its breath.


    ¡°Are you alright?¡± The voice was feminine, but gruff. I looked up to see a my old partner, Nadia Sanchez, standing in front of me, armed with her pistol.


    ¡°Did you see it? It was here again. It came back to get me." I groaned, the pain in my leg finally kicking in.


    "Jesus John, all I heard was screaming. See what?" Sanchez asked.


    "The thing that killed me wife...my kids..." I looked around the room, stunned. I realized I was shaking.


    "John, we''ve been through this. It was a break in. A robber killed your family. Are you taking your meds?" She asked, reaching to help me stand all the way up. I sat on the edge of the bed and rummage through the top drawer where the knife had been. I grabbed a pill bottle, opened it and took a few. Sanchez holstered her sidearm.


    "Fuck John, I thought someone was killing you in here." She said, sitting on the bed beside me.


    "I''m fine. Must have been a nightmare." I told her, glancing quickly, before turning back to my window. The rest of the force had written me off, but Nadia had stayed by my side, even when everyone thought I was crazy.


    She had initially helped me collect all the information on the Cathedral and the guy in the grey suit, but when I started looking up cryptid sightings, she left me to my own devices.


    ¡°You wanna tell me what''s actually going on Callum?" Sanchez said, patting my shoulder. I shook my head.


    "You wouldn''t believe me if I did." I chuckled, remembering what the man in the grey suit had told me.


    "You realize everyone thinks you''re fucking nuts right?" She said, gripping my shoulder this time.


    "Yea, I know. But I know what I saw." I told her. She knelt down and picked up my cane, handing it to me.


    "They''re still looking for the guy who shot you. No luck though." She said, changing the subject. I took my cane and stood, my knee throbbing.


    ¡°I¡¯m having a beer, want one?¡± I said, moving out of the bedroom, back towards the living room. She smirked and followed me out. In the living room, I looked at the mess I had made, throwing years of research on the floor. Nadia ran her hand through her hair, and tightened her ponytail.


    "I didn''t notice all that when I burst in here. You still on about your Mothman shit?" She asked.


    "It has nothing to do with Mothman and you know it." I said, moving to the fridge and grabbing two beers. I came around the other side and stared at my front door, as I handed her the beer.


    "You''re gonna fix that right?" I said, motioning to my kicked-in front door. Nadia almost choked on her beer as she laughed. The door had come off the top hinge, and the chain lock had ripped free of the wall. My door knob sat on the couch.


    "Yea, I''ll take care of it." She said, patting my back.


    "Good, last thing I need is the landlord on my ass." I told her.


    We sat on the couch and drank beer for a bit, engaging in idle small talk, making jokes at the expense of others at the presinct. I had missed working with Nadia and I knew by now she would have been assigned a new partner. The Captain was likely going to try and keep me away from the force with this injury or worse, put me at a desk.


    "It just occurred to me you said you were having a nightmare. Its a little earlier in the evening for that, don''tcha think?" She said, turning to look at me. She was all attitude now that she had made sure I was okay. Her brown eyes stared at me, searching for some way to make sense of the mess I was becoming.


    "I was taking a nap. The pain gets to me a lot, and I take loads of pain killers that make me drowsy. I guess they give me bad nightmares too." I said, turning away from her judging eyes.


    "Mhmm, I see you John." She said, kissing her teeth. "I know you''re not doing well, but you won''t tell anyone what''s going on. You should have taken a leave when Diane died." She placed her beer on my coffee table and fully turned her body to face me, making it hard to not look at her. I caved, and turned to face her.


    "Nadia, I''m okay. I''m just wrapped up in a lot of stuff that I wanna see through, okay?" I told her, patting her hand.


    "Like that guy in the suit and that old church?" She said, raising an eyebrow.


    I looked over to the pile of my research and back to Nadia, my eyes narrowing.


    "Okay, so I snooped." She said with a grin. "Listen, I know you think something is up with this guy, but as far as we can tell, that guy is some youth pastor to homeless kids, and the church is owned by some shell corporation that''s owned by an even bigger entity. They''re probably just letting him use the space until they tear it down for condos. Is that what it''s gonna take for you to drop it?" She asked.


    "Maybe." I said, sipping my beer slowly. I looked back over to the mess of folders and papers on the floor and desk. "I just can''t shake the feeling that he''s tied up in something more. That day in the alley..." I stopped myself. Nadia eyed me, carefully picking apart what I had said, and what I hadn''t.


    "It really left me rattled. Maybe I''m just not thinking right." I said, hoping that was what she wanted to hear. She stared at me for a while and then decided to drop it.


    "I''m gonna get going, please take care of yourself John." She said quietly. I nodded at her and she left, pulling my broken door as closed as she could into the frame. I sighed.


    I finished my beer and moved to the pile of papers on the floor. As I gingerly bent over, bracing my cane for support, I began to scoop up what equated to my life''s work. How pathetic.


    Discharged from the military, on leave from the police force, no family, one friend. And all I had to show for it was a pile of paper.


    Part of me wanted to blame the man in the grey suit. Had he just answered my questions, I wouldn''t have ended up in this mess. But I know that I saw a monster that day, same as when I saw my own monster. There was something out there, some darkness in my city and I was gonna figure it out.


    Or die trying.

 Chapter 3

    I opened my laptop on the newly organized desk. I had tried to sort out all my notes and newspaper clippings, making piles on my desk and putting things away in file folders.


    I had come to so many dead ends, when all I needed were answers; just a confirmation that I wasn''t losing my damned mind and that these things were real. They had to be.


    I decided I was going to try and look for help. Doing this on my own wasn''t turning up the outcomes I wanted, and it was clear I wasn''t going to be able to ask Nadia or anyone on the force to help. Which led me back to where I had started; online communities of conspiracy theorist.


    It took a few hours of sifting through UFO sightings, Occult ritualist and something about Mothman performing sex acts on a man outside of a Denny''s. Whatever the fuck that was about...


    Finally I found what I was looking for.


    The Truth is Out There


    All the Legends are True


    Monsters Exist Among Us


    I clicked the link, which took me to another web browser. But this one opened up like it was from an old version of Windows 97 or something.


    The webpage was like Wikipedia. It was a database filled with information on many different kinds of monsters, their various types and sub-species and where in the real world they were from. It was called, simply, The Bestiary.


    I spent more time than I would like to admit, scrolling through and looking up different fictional creatures. I was baffled by the detailed accounts of interactions with these creatures, even if I was taking it with a grain of salt; there were whole communities on the internet that played into shared make-belief.


    I tried searching for the thing that had been stalking me; The Guilt. It didn''t come up by name, so I started searching its characteristics. It brought forth a bunch of things like tentacle faced people from roleplaying games, to giant lamprey eels. One search led to The Slender Man. First, it listed a forum post about the monster''s creation. Then video games and othet media that portrayed the thing. It kind of looked like what I was seeing, but not anywhere near as menacing.


    The section that allowed other people on the site to add their own experiences, had many widely varying tales about the supposedly fictional creature. Even an odd one, that stood out:


    "I can''t speak for the victims of these creatures, but in my experience, they are quite gentlemanly. They make excellent butlers." - TheFirstWoman


    I couldn''t begin to wrap my head around how something so horrifying could be described as ''gentlemanly''. I resigned to the fact that I likely wouldn''t find anything on The Guilt.


    The shaman who had found me on Partridge Island had called it Netaga?sit, which means ''ashamed'' in Mi''kmaq. The First Nations people had been very welcoming and helpful after the failed mission in Saint John, Newbrunswick. The shaman, a man named George Augustine, had pulled me from the shoreline of Partridge Island when he saw my body.


    Technically, it''s illegal to enter the island or the waters around it, but George had been nearby on his boat and collected me, bringing me back to town. If it hadn''t been for him, I''d likely be dead. In confidence, I told him what I had seen, and what was truly underneath Partridge Island. His solemn nods seemed to confirm that he already knew what I was talking about. He said The Guilt was likely something manifested from my own psyche and pain.


    I had been convinced it was a product of the hidden laboratory underneath the island, where my squad had discovered horrific displays of human experimentation. But when it had followed me home and killed my family, I was more inclined to believe George. He had given me the bone dagger, telling me it would help in warding off evil. But it had not stopped The Guilt.


    When my search proved fruitless, I turned my attention to looking for the creator of the website. Whoever this person was, who had brought a collective of Truthseekers together to share information that others laughed at, they probably had more information than they let on. I began scouring the page for any sign of who they might be. There was no name attached to the site, but looking through some of the original posts, there was one user who kept popping up on all earlier entries: Ch0z3n1


    I signed up for an account, verified my email and tried to directly message Ch0z3n1.


    "Hey, I''m really interested about your work on this site. Could I ask you a few questions?" - JC1979


    I didn''t expect anyone to get back to me right away, so I stood, stretched out my aching leg and hobbled to the kitchen for a beer. When I came back and sat down again, I noticed I had a message waiting.


    "If you have questions, you''ve come to the right place my friend. I''ll need you to download a VPN first and then click this link..." Ch0z3n1


    The link he sent me was strange. It wasn''t a typical worldwideweb address and it just looked like a jumble of numbers and letters. I suddenly got the feeling like I was being scammed. If I clicked on this link, I could end up having everything wiped, or worse, give someone access to all my information. I sat for a long while, hesitant, but my desire for knowledge trumped my common sense. I was already on a VPN, so I clicked the link.


    My screen went black and I sighed heavily.


    Suddenly, white text began popping up on my screen. My mouse didn''t work, so I moved my hands to my keyboard, trying to remember how to use keyboard commands.


    -Welcome Seeker of Truth. My name is Ch0z3n1. In this space we can talk without being monitored. There are eyes and ears everywhere, trying to make sure that the full truth doesn''t get out.


    -How can I be of service?


    I stared at the screen, dumbfounded. This was some Matrix level shit that I had not been prepared for. Part of me was still concerned this was all a hoax, and I was worried that some or all of my information had been leaked to this entity. My fingers hovered nervously over my keyboard.


    -Thank you for taking the time to speak with me. Your work on the Bestiary is quite impressive. May I ask how you came across all this information? I asked.


    -Some of it is experience. Some of it is collected knowledge. There is a whole world outside of what we see everyday. Things we see in media entertainment and we take it for fiction. They make that stuff available so we think about it as some story, but it is all actually out there.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    I felt like this guy was saying a lot without actually telling me anything. He probably was only scratching the surface to test me. To see if I was those eyes and ears he said were watching him.


    -I''ve been doing a lot of my own research. I was looking for collaborative minds. I feel like I know things I shouldn''t and everyone thinks I''m crazy. I told him. I sat staring at the screen, waiting for a reply. The cursor flashed, waiting for someone to start typing again.


    -You''re not crazy.


    There was another long pause and I took a deep swig of my beer, hunched over my laptop.


    -So what is a Detective doing on this side of the internet? You see something you weren''t supposed to and now it''s all being covered up around you?


    There it was. I had been expecting some kind of invasion of my privacy. This guy already knew who I was. But it seemed like he believed me.


    -I''ve seen all kinds of shit you wouldn''t believe. I just need help making sense of it. I need answers. I told him.


    -Ask your questions, Detective Callum. I''ll do my best to make sense of it for you.


    -We can assume that I''m over the whole "monsters are real" thing. The problem I''m stuck on is how? And is there a shadow organization who is in charge of hunting them? I asked.


    -You''re already asking the right questions Detective. Very good. The answer to how is simple: they have always existed. There have always been tales of ancient creatures, gods and demi-gods. There have always been things in the depths of the ocean and the void of space. Some things have always existed. Some things are created.


    -To answer your second question: yes, there is a shadow organization. They call themselves the Order of Vigilance. Think of them like the Men in Black. They don''t technically exist, they hide among us, and they control things far beyond the normal understanding of the sheeple. The real question, is who controls them? Do the governments know?


    -Everything they do is covered up, and when it is not, they make it all look like a conspiracy hoax. And the funny part is, they''ve only had to hide themselves for the last few centuries. In ancient times, they would have been the heroes from folklore and myth that we read about: Heracles, Robin Hood, King Arthur, Ragnar, Siegfried, etc.


    I stared at the screen. There was no way any of this was real. The monsters exisiting had been a stretch already. There was a whole shadow operation being run by folklore heroes.


    -Okay, say I believe any of this. Where would these heroes hold their base of operations? Where would I find them if I was looking? I asked. I needed to know if the man in the grey suit and the abandoned Cathedral here in Toronto was some kind of sanctum for these people. Could those people from the alleyway been part of this Order of Vigilance?


    -They could be anywhere. Everywhere. They hide among us, agents and influencers inside power structures that already exist. They have bases all over the globe. I can''t pinpoint exactly where, because I''ve been struggling to crack their encrypted network, but they are closer than you''d expect.


    Again, my suspicions had been correct. I knew that someone had been pulling the strings in the background, trying to steer me away from this. Someone had told the Captain to keep me away.


    The big question now was how deep did this run? Did they control the government? Did they know about the monsters? Before I could start typing out my other questions, I received another message.


    -I don''t have anymore time. Be careful Detective. Now that you know, it is likely that they will know that you know.


    The window closed on its own, and I was brought back to the Bestiary webpage. I rubbed my eyes and sat back in my chair.


    The implications about everything Ch0z3n1 had said ran deep into everything. If what he said was true, I had already felt those implications of the Order''s influence at the presinct. I instinctually reached down and grasped at my knee, which throbbed constantly.


    They couldn''t keep me on medical leave forever, and eventually I would go back to work. But for now, I was going to use this time to work on my own investigation. I stood from my desk, and moved toward the door, slowly moving across the room with my cane. I grabbed my trenchcoat and keys and headed for the parking garage.


    ~*~


    I staked out across the street from the abandoned church. I leaned back in the seat of my old Crown Victoria with all the lights off. The retired police vehicle wasn''t as inconspicuous as I would have liked it to be, but it would have to do.


    The old Cathedral had been in disrepair for as long as I could remember. Once it shut its doors for regular service, it was years before some corp bought it up for development. But then it sat there again, for years, unchanged. Contractors came and went, I assumed to repair the insides after squatters and vagrants tore up the place.


    And now the guy in the grey suit was running a group for homeless youths here. Which made for a likely cover story if Ch0z3n1''s words were to be believed.


    I pulled out my old hunting binoculars and waited for something, anything, to happen. The old stain glass was starting to get crusted over. The doors had been sealed, all except the back door behind the chainlink fence. The rusted bell sat silent in the old tower. The night was completely still, with threat of snow hanging fresh in the air.


    Around ten o''clock, that stillness was broken. I saw a kid in a black hoodie leave from the back door and head around front to the street. He appeared to be in his late teens, or early twenties. He appeared to have a small build but it was hard to tell with the baggy sweater and pants. Chains and belts hung around his pants, assumedly for style. I watched as he began walking down the street, so I started my car and made my way into traffic, following behind him.


    He made his way into a 241 Pizza, so I pulled into a parking spot and got out of the car. I slowly hobbled to the light, crossed the street and slipped inside.


    "No Orion tonight?" The worker behind the counter said, as he took money from the guy in the hoodie.


    "Naw, I drew the short straw to come pick it up. He feels bad getting delivery when you guys are so close." He told the worker. Suddenly, the guy behind the counter was looking at me.


    "Hey man, what can I get ya?" He asked, with all the casualness of today''s youth.


    "Just a slice please. Pepperoni." I mumbled out, startled by the attention. The guy in the hoodie turned to look at me over his shoulder and then turned back.


    "Right away." The worker said, grabbing the slice and moving to the oven to heat it up. I moved up to the register.


    "You come here a lot? You seem real familiar with the staff." I said absently to the hoodie guy. He looked at me with disgust.


    "Umm, stranger danger?" He said, his tone condescending.


    "It was just a question." I said, shrugging.


    The worker came back with a few boxes and handed them to the hoodie guy and then handed me the slice.


    "$5.50" He said. I paid quickly and watched as the guy in the hoodie put large headphones over his ears and headed out the door, pulling his hood over his poorly dyed black hair.


    I took my slice, and went out the door, following behind the hoodie guy at a distance. More of a distance than I wanted though, as my cane slowed me down. As we got closer to the abandoned church, I pushed my leg as hard as I could to get closer to him.


    He didn''t even bother to look behind him. Hell, he didn''t even bother to look when crossing the street. It was like he was unfased by his own mortality. It wasn''t hard to stay out of his peripherals because of the hood. His headphones were so loud, I could hear his music from behind him.


    We walked across the lawn of the church, and I followed him into the chainlink fence gate. When he got to the back door, I saw him open a passcode pad and input a series of numbers. That was when he noticed me.


    "Ummm, what the fuck?" He exclaimed, as the door beeped that it was unlocked, and I shoved him inside.

 Chapter 4

    We both stumbled forward with the force of my shove, sending the hoodie guy and his stack of pizzas to the ground. I braced the wall on the inside and used my cane for support. My knee throbbed angrily, beckoning me to sit down. But I had come so far; I was finally inside.


    "Dude, what the fuck?" The hoodie guy looked up from the ground at me, the upper most pizza smeared to his chest. I ignored him and looked around. It looked just as unassuming as it did from the outside. We stood in a vestibule with old cubbies that used to be for boots and coats before services. Just inside, I could see a hallway that led to the main area where pray was observed.


    The door swung close on it''s own and latched closed with a loud mechanical click, that was unusual for the architecture.


    "Hi, sorry, am I interrupting?" The guy in the hoodie said, getting to his feet and pushing the remaining pizza boxes protectively to the side. My eyes connected with his. He glared at me, his stance wide, like he was ready to fight. Looking at him now, he was definitely on the younger looking side.


    "Get out of my way kid." I said, trying to shuffle passed him. He cut me off, with his arms outstretched.


    "This is private property man. You can''t be in here." He said firmly. I flashed him my badge and tried to push passed again, but he shoved me back.


    "Kid, I''m a cop, get out of my way." I told him. He shook his head.


    "Even more reason for you not to be in here. You got a warrant?" He smirked.


    "This is an abandoned building. I don''t need a warrant. But I could arrest you for trespassing. Are you living here or something?" I pressed passed his arms and into the hallway. He sighed heavily. He tried to step in front of me again, so I put my cane out and tripped him. He wiped out hard.


    "Seriously?" He shouted, holding his elbow.


    I ignored him and walked into the large open space. I ran my hand along dusty, unused pews and looked at the linens draped over other furniture. The statue of Jesus on the cross had been long since broken, it appeared. There were a few candles sitting about, flicking dim light. A single fluorescent light lit the back of the room, casting long shadows to the length down to the sealed front doors. The hoodie guy got up and approached again.


    "Alright Grandpa, enough sight seeing. You have to go now." He said, coming near me. This time I didn''t hesitate; I pulled my sidearm and pointed it at his face. The safety was still on, but he didn''t know that.


    "Seriously?" He whined. I was surprised that he didn''t flinch away or scream. There wasn''t any sort of reaction.


    "You''re a shitty cop man. Or really, like any typical cop. Fuckin'' pigs." He mumbled.


    "Watch your mouth kid." I looked around the room. There had to be something here; a secret tunnel or break-away wall.


    "What are you even looking for? It''s an abandoned church. If you''re looking for Jesus, he isn''t here man." He said, with all the snark of a teenage girl.


    "I said watch it!" I shouted, and finally he flinched, as I motioned with my gun.


    I moved behind the podium, taking my time on the small stair up. I touched everything I could think of, looking for some kind of button or lever. I made sure to keep my gun pointed in the general direction of hoodie guy, who was now sitting in a pew with his arms crossed, occasionally picking pizza off himself.


    "What exactly are you looking for, Detective Callum?" Another voice said, coming from behind the broken statue. I hadn''t even thought to look for a back wall. I rolled my eyes at the guy in the grey suit. Except this time he was wearing only a white dress shirt, tucked into his grey slacks and the sleeves rolled up his forearms. His suspenders were crooked.


    "I know what you''re hiding here!" I shouted, turning my gun on him, waving it in the air. Just like the hoodie guy, he didn''t flinch and it was irritating. I was beginning to feel powerless.


    "If you mean the group of youths waiting on their pizza, then you''ve caught me." He said casually, leaning against the wall.


    "I know about the secret organizations! I know about the monsters! I know what I saw that day." I shouted, not moving towards him.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    I watched as he looked passed me at the hoodie guy and motioned for him to move. Hoodie guy stood and and walked around behind me, grabbing the pizzas, to stand beside suit guy.


    "Detective, I''m certain I don''t know what you''re talking about. But I''m going to have to ask you to lower your weapon." He told me.


    "Cut the crap!" I told him, not backing down.


    He looked at hoodie guy again and nodded behind him. He took the pizzas and disappeared. I stepped forward, moving closer to suit guy. He moved away from the wall and strolled up to stand in front of me. Right in front of my gun. I instinctually clicked the safety off.


    "Remember what happened last time you threatened one of kids, Detective Callum?" He said, pointing down at my cane. "I suggest you lower your weapon, before something worse happens to you."


    I stared at him hard, trying to call his bluff. When he didn''t budge, except to slick his hair back, I clicked the safety back on and holstered my gun.


    "I want answers." I growled. He looked at me like I was a disappointing pet, who had just peed on the carpet. He crossed his arms.


    "How about this, ask your questions as I walk you out." He said, grabbing me under the arm and trying to walk me to the door. I pulled away.


    "I''m broken, not old." I snapped. He moved away and bowed his head a bit. I shuffled over to the nearest pew and sat down, pulling my cane up beside me.


    "Or you could start talking now." I said, smirking. Suit guy rubbed his temple and slicked back his hair.


    "Fine. And then you''ll get out of my church?" He asked, coming to stand before me. I shrugged and he sighed dramatically.


    "Yes, the monsters are real. All the legends, myth, folklore and even some modern tales of literature are based in reality. Magic exists, the Gods are real. The Order of Vigilance is the thing standing between them and the mortal world you know. Yes, we are everywhere. Now please?" He rambled off, motioning for the side door. I stared at him for a long while, watching the frustration grow in his face.


    "I know all that already." I said, nonchalantly. I watched as his eyebrow twitched. Ch0z3n1 had given me most of that info already. It occurred to me that I technically had the answers. But I wanted cold hard proof. I wanted to see it with my own eyes. I wanted someone to tell me...that I wasn''t crazy.


    "I''m confused Detective. What, exactly, do you want from me?" He asked. I looked him over, trying to gauge just want kind of man this guy was. He came off like a sleazy car salesman, but he was clearly protective of these kids living here. Could I trust him?


    "I''m having a monster problem." I told him, which seemed to catch him off guard. He moved to sit on the pew, and I moved my cane. His entire demeanor changed.


    "What kind of monster problem, Detective?" He asked, almost gently.


    "It''s called The Guilt. I don''t know exactly what it is, but it comes to me, tormenting me. I watched it kill my entire platoon, it killed my family and took my daughter." I tried not to get to emotional as I told him just the basics. He looked at me with concern and sympathy. Even going so far as to put his hand on my shoulder.


    "I have no idea what kind of creature that even is. But I''m sorry it has ruined your life. I can understand how something like that would cause someone to spiral." He told me. I pulled away from his arm.


    "I''m not crazy!" I shouted at him, trying to stand. He patted his arms in the air, trying to calm me.


    "Of course not. If there is anyone who understands, it would be the Order. I know that this can all be confusing. Honestly, it was a lot to take in for me too, all those years ago." He told me. It hadn''t occurred to me that at one point, this guy might have just been a regular dude, recruited into a shadow organization, and force to do someone else''s bidding.


    "I don''t know what to do." I told him, throwing my arms in the air in defeat. He stood from the pew and offered me a hand up. I took it and stood, putting my cane down in front of me.


    "Luckily, I might have some ideas. But I''m going to need something from you first, Detective Callum." He said, dusting his hands off on his pants, and adjusting his clothes.


    "Yea, and what''s that?" I asked.


    "I need you to forget about this place. I have people here I need to protect and I can''t have you telling everyone you''ve found some kind of secret base. I don''t want you coming in and out of here looking for me and harassing the others that live here." He said, his eyes and tone sharp. I nodded.


    "I get it. You gotta protect your own." I told him. He stared at me hard. "I won''t tell anyone."


    "I don''t like threatening people Detective, but if you do come back here uninvited, or if you are followed here and it leads to more issues for us, I will find you." He said, with all the seriousness of a heart attack. "Give me your phone."


    I handed him my phone, almost instinctually. I watched him open a new contact page, type in a phone number and hand it back to me.


    "You are only to call me in emergencies. I will send someone to you to try and help with your monster problem." He told me, motioning for the side door again. I nodded, knowing that I had well overstayed my welcome. Then I froze.


    "How do you know where I live?" I asked. Suit guy turned and walked back to the wall behind the broken statue. He flicked a hand in the air, flamboyantly.


    "You aren''t the only person capable of investigating threats, Detective. Godspeed." He said, before disappearing from view. My gut told me to follow him. I wanted to know more about this place, and how the organization worked, but he was offering to help, so I let it go. As I walked toward the door, I looked down at my phone.


    "A. Pendragon." I said, reading the name he put in my phone. It had to be some kind of code. It would make sense for a secret organization who killed monsters to use code names from Arthurian lore. When I got to the door, it beeped to unlock and I pushed my way back out into the cold night air.


    I would just have to wait for whatever help this Pendragon guy was going to send, to show up.


    And hope that The Guilt did not return.

 Chapter 5

    All I could do was sit and wait.


    But I was beginning to grow impatient. Pendragon had said he would send someone out to meet me about my monster problem, but he didn''t give me a time frame. And I knew texting him for an update was out of the question.


    In the weeks that had passed, Nadia had come by a few times to check on me. She managed to fix my door before there was too much complaining from my landlord.


    I had tucked all my research away into my desk and kept my mouth closed about what I had recently learned. She had called me out about it.


    "Where''s all your Mothman notes?" She chuckled, looking around the room. I sipped my beer and made like I didn''t hear her. When she stared at me, I shurgged.


    "You were right. It was all bullshit that I was getting obesessed with. Wasn''t healthy." I told her. She eyed me curiously, still looking around the apartment.


    "Just like that?" She said, her hands on her hips.


    "Just like that." I said, turning my attention back to the hockey game on the television. I watched as she slowly made her way back to the couch, but her expert eyes surveyed around still. When she sat down next to me, her demeanor changed. She crossed her legs under her and grabbed her beer.


    "So, I heard they''re gonna bring you back in soon. Desk work to start, of course." She told me, cheerfully. I raised an eyebrow at her.


    "I haven''t heard anything yet. I was expecting more time off." I told her.


    "To do what? You''re just getting stir crazy sitting in this musty apartment. It''s starting to smell like a frat house in here." She said, giving me a sarcastic look.


    "Its not that bad. I use Febreeze." I said, with a guilty look. Nadia shook her head and turned to the hockey game. We both booed as Boston scored on Toronto.


    "You sure everything is okay, John?" She asked, after moments of long silence.


    "Yea, never better actually. Why?" I replied, shocked. She seemed to be looking for something, digging. I thought it had been passing interest in my strange research project, but it seemed she was saying and asking things, just to gauge my response.


    "You seem off. Like you''re in too much of a good mood. Did something happen?" She asked, resting a hand on my shoulder as she usually did.


    "Nothing out of the usual. I''m taking my pills regularly." I told her, hoping she would back off. Her brown eyes stared into mine for a long moment, unblinking. But her smile returned quickly.


    "Well that''s good news." She said, her tone lifting as she shifted herself fully to watch the tv.


    We spent the rest of the hockey game only making small talk, but I would watch her as she sat there, almost vacantly staring at the screen, only casually responding to my questions. When the game was over, she popped up from the couch.


    "Well, guess I''ll be off. Take care of yourself Callum." She said, almost bounding for the door.


    "You too Sanchez." I mumbled, feeling the effects of all the alcohol. Normally when Nadia came over, we only drank a bit, but if there was a hockey game on, we''d usually get plastered. I stared at the multitude of empty bottles on my table as the door closed behind her.


    I looked down at my watch and sighed at how late it was. I used my cane to prop myself up off the couch and hobbled my way to the bedroom. I ran my other hand along the wall to keep my balance. As I made my way to the bedroom, I thought I saw something, blurry, shifting around in the darkness of the room. Like something was jumping just out of sight. I slapped the wall, looking for the light switch, but couldn''t find it. The longer I stared into the darkness of my bedroom before me, the more my vision seemed to blur.


    I lifted my cane and swung it against the wall, hoping the light switch was just out of arms reach, but I couldn''t find it. I looked back down the hall to the living room, but it was also shroud in darkness, shades of grey dancing just out of view.


    Panic set in as I put my back against the wall. It wasn''t safe to go either way. The light switch had vanished from the hall. I slowly crept closer to the bedroom, holding my breath. The closer I got, the more blurry my vision became. I hadn''t even noticed the ringing in my ears, until I tried to listen for it. The Guilt had come back for me.


    I slowly poked my head around the corner of the door frame, not daring to fully enter the room. I could see vague grey shapes writhing in the darkness, like it was standing there, just waiting for me. It made a chittering sound, like its millions of teeth were chattering from the cold.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    I leaned heavily against the door way and the hall. I found it hard to stand. My breath was catching as I tried to exhale quietly. I sank to the floor, my knee throbbing with the movement. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on if I could hear it moving; only the chattering teeth.


    I peeked around again and it was gone. My vision was still blurry, and I could still here the ringing in my ears, but the figure standing in the darkness was gone. I reached up for the light switch in my bedroom, sliding my hand slowly up the wall. When my hand found it, I desperately slapped at it.


    The lights flicked on and I fell forward into the room.


    "Hello John." I heard a voice say. It was deep, but surprisingly feminine. I looked up from the floor to see a woman sitting in my chair, across the room.


    "Who are you? How did you get in here? What are you doing in my house?" I said, trying to get to my feet. She sat there watching me. As my eyes adjusted to the light, I could begin to make out her features. She was tall, even seated. Her bare arms were muscular, like a training athlete. She wore an assortment of new age tactical clothing, with harnesses and pouches, but they all seemed to be filled with medieval weaponary and accessories. She held a medium sized, gothic looking crossbow in her lap, lazily tapping it across her legs.


    She had icy blue eyes that stood out against her pale skin and silver hair. They stared at me, disinterested and unamused.


    "My name is Kas, I got in through the window behind me, and I''m here because unfortunately, I owe Anders Pendragon a favor." She said coldly.


    "Did you kill it? It was in here with you." I asked, still rattled. I heard her clutch her crossbow a little tighter.


    "Kill what?" She asked, looking around and behind me.


    "The Guilt. It was in here. I saw it." I whispered, more to myself.


    "Ah, your monster." Kas half-nodded. "Anders told me you were experiencing some kind of sensory scrambling eldritch horror. You saw it in this room before you entered?" She asked.


    "You didn''t?" I shot back. She raised an eyebrow at me.


    "I only heard you talking to yourself and stumbling through the halls, apparently drunk." She said, eyeing me up and down as I used the dresser to pull myself fully upright.


    "How long have you been sitting in here?" I asked, looking around, suddenly alarmed that something might have gone missing.


    "Long enough. Maybe too long." She stood, and that was when I noticed her knee high boots made of black leather, covered in belts, with a massive heel. A long, black, sleeveless duster unfolded from behind her as she stood. She looked like something out of one of those Underworld movies with Kate Beckinsale. As she moved toward me, her eyes changed from disgust, to something different. Maybe pity?


    "When does your monster usually strike? Has it ever hurt you?" She asked, slinging her crossbow over her shoulder.


    "It...comes when I''m alone now. But it killed my squad at Partridge Island. It killed my wife and son, and took my daughter." I told her. "It hasn''t hurt me yet, but it gets close. My vision goes blurry and my ears ring. It makes awful noises."


    Kas walked around me a few times, looking me over. I felt like some kind of specimen.


    "What was on Partridge Island that the military wanted?" She asked.


    "Human experimentation. There was some kind of post-war Nazi base hidden there. They were making abominations. Horrid things that looked like animals mixed with people." I told her, shivering as I remembered. Her eyes widened for a brief moment before her stoicisim returned.


    "Was that the first time you encountered this Guilt of yours?" Her voice was almost accusatory.


    "Netaga?sit." I said. "That''s what the shaman I met called it. It means ''ashamed''."


    "Did your shaman see this thing?" Kas said staring at me, leaning against the dresser, inches from my face. I suddenly felt very small. I felt vulnerable and weak in front of this woman and I didn''t like it.


    "No. No one else has seen it." I said quietly. She smiled, and it felt condescending.


    "I''m not crazy." I added. She chuckled to herself and turned away from me, sitting on the edge of my bed, crossing her legs.


    "I''ve seen and killed a lot of weird shit John. I''ve never heard of anything like that before. And I''ve murdered cultists trying to summon Elder Gods." She said, like it was all some joke.


    But it wasn''t a joke. This thing, whatever the fuck it was, had ruined my life. It had taken everything from.


    "God damn it! Why does no one believe me?" I shouted suddenly. Kas didn''t flinch, but I did see her hand on her crossbow twitch slightly.


    "It''s not that I don''t believe you John. I just don''t know what you''re dealing with. You said it was in the room here, but I was sitting here the whole time, waiting for you." She said, flipping her hand out, motioning around the room.


    I shook my head, clutching my temple. I grabbed the pill bottle from my pocket and popped one of them. I swallowed it dry, cringing. Kas followed my movements carefully.


    "I think what you need, is a change of scenery. And I''m gonna need more information on your beastie before I can help you get rid of it." She said, laying back across my bed.


    "A change in scenery? Nadia said I was supposed to go back to the precinct soon. I can''t just get up and go." I told her.


    "You can do whatever you like, but I don''t have a lot of resources here in Toronto. The Cathedral doesn''t have the personnel or the knowledge for me to diagnose your issue. I need to go back to London, to the Citadel, and so do you, if you want your answers." She was firm, but not quite as cold as before.


    I was unsure if the change in how she was treating me was based on the fact that she now thought I was a lunatic, or if she actually did believe that this mysterious creature was plaguing my life. I frowned at her.


    "London? Like London, England?" I asked. She nodded and I swallowed hard. I hadn''t left the city in ages, never mind Canada. I looked around the room, at the memories from this place. The pictures of my family, the pictures of my platoon, the pictures of Nadia and I and some of the other guys on the force.


    Aside from Nadia, all of these things were lost to me. Gone. Nothing but tiny memories crammed into glass tiles and strewn across the room of an old man, losing his mind. Maybe Kas was right; a change of scenery could do me some good.


    "Okay, I''ll go." I said, determined. She nodded.


    "Pack light." She said, standing and moving out the doorway of my bedroom.


    I grabbed a duffel from my closet and packed up some clothes, my meds, some other toiletries and essentials and then moved to the night stand. I slipped the bone dagger in the bag and then moved for my sidearm. I hesitated, wondering how I was going to get through airport security, and then I remembered how armed and armored Kas had been. We likely weren''t taking an airplane.

 Chapter 6

    I had not expected to be catching late night public transit. We had waited outside my apartment for almost thirty minutes for a TTC bus to take us to the subway station.


    The entire time, people stared at Kas. Done up like she was, with her black leather and her many accessories, people likely thought she was some kind of nut case. Luckily, there were enough nerd conventions in downtown Toronto, that some whackjob wielding a crossbow and dressed in leather wasn''t unheard of. Still, the unnecessary attention made me anxious. Kas, however, was unfazed.


    We hit Union Station and got off the subway. Kas wandered around for a bit, like she was looking for something she just couldn''t find.


    "Lost?" I asked, slinging my duffel over my shoulder and leaning on my cane. Kas ignored me as she ran her hand along the dirty wall of the subway platform.


    "Not this one." She mumbled.


    Kas turned quickly and strode away with purpose, her long legs carrying her much quicker than I could keep up. Luckily, she stood out among the crowd, so it was easy for me to follow her, even though it took me longer.


    I watched as she descended some stairs and turned a corner, disappearing from view. I eyed the elevator next to me, with the little blue wheelchair sticker and sighed as I hit the button, calling the elevator up.


    When I reached the bottom level, I saw her standing next to a service door, painted grey that stood out among the white and yellow tiles. As I apporached, I noticed it had no doorknob. There was a little yellow plate on the door that had a lightning bolt; it said ''DANGER! HIGH VOLTAGE''.


    I watched as Kas ran her hand along the door frame, her fingers tracing the edge gently. Suddenly, her finger found a button that blended seamlessly with the frame and the door clicked open. She turned to me and smiled.


    "Not as lost as you''d think. Follow me, and try to keep up. You don''t want to wander off down here." She told me.


    I rolled my eyes and followed behind her into the door. I turned to close it behind me, and when I turned back around, I walked straight into her back with an "oof". She looked over her shoulder and glared.


    We were in a tiny boiler room looking space, with some kind of electrical server on my left and hundreds of little bronze pipes running in and out of the wall on my right. In front of me, or more accurately, in front of Kas, was another door. This one blended in to the room and was non-descript. There was a tiny slot, barred from the other side, like an old prison holding cell. She knocked on the door rhythmically, almost to the tune of ''Shave and a Haircut''. Then she grunted and made some horrible sound from the back of her throat. The little slit slid open.


    Staring back were a pair of yellow, bloodshot eyes, on a puke green face. Whatever it was had a white, fuzzy unibrow.


    "Whatchu say about my mudda?" A voice croaked from behind the door. It almost sounded like a Brooklyn accent.


    "Oh good, you speak English." Kas said back. "I''m seeking passage for two." She told the yellow eyes, which darted between her and myself.


    "We don''t do humans. We really don''t do normies, and we most certainly don''t do youse folk." The voice said, the eyes moving back so they could poke a spindly green finger at Kas. She deftly grabbed the finger and the thing behind the door squeaked. I was so baffled at this point, with no idea what was happening, that I almost stumbled back into the entrance door. The sounded made Kas turn to face me, and she saw me going for my sidearm, but she motioned for me to stop.


    "I hope you don''t like this finger, because if you don''t let us in, I''m going to remove it from your ugly little body." She snarled, still holding the creatures appendage through the slit in the door. The creature made a gurgling noise, which I was understanding to be another language.


    "I will pay you double your fee, and you get to keep your finger." She told the thing.


    "Chill lady! Why didn''t youse just say that to begin with?" The creature said, still destressed, but with a calmer approach. I could hear a large latch lifting from behind the door and Kas let go of the thing''s finger. The slit closed and several more locks, bolts and chains made sounds as they opened the door ahead of us.


    "Gremlins." Kas said, turning to me and shaking her head, like that was a perfectly acceptable explanation.


    "Like the movie?" I asked, frowning. She shrugged and made a ''so-so'' motion with her hand.


    "Kinda. But also, not really?" She told me, before banging on the door. "Hurry the fuck up!"


    The door swung open and I froze. I was staring at a whole other subway station that was just casually hiding under Union Station. The narrow hall out was filled with more bronze piping and several generators pumped away, rattling loudly. The Gremlin, as Kas had called it, was standing next to the door, holding it open. He looked miserable, but bowed a little as we entered.


    He was about three feet tall, with a little suit jacket covering his lumpy green skin. Aside from the jacket, he wore an old TTC conductor''s hat between two massive ears on either side of his head and a loincloth. He had tuffs of frizzy white hair under his hat, but was otherwise hairless except for his unibrow. He had a rusty old name tag that said ''Gene''.


    "Umm...thanks." I said, stepping passed the little monster. He smiled up at me with an impossibly wide grin, hundreds of razor-like fangs glinting in the dim light.


    "Watch yer step." He sneered back. I jumped back, startled. He snickered, but snapped to attention when Kas handed him a little velvet pouch. He opened it, and poured the contents into his hand. Thin, almost ancient coins spilled out. They looked to be from various time periods. I noticed Roman denari and Grecian drachma among them.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    "That''ll do." He chuckled, putting the coins back in the pouch and then stuffing it into his loincloth. Kas started walking down the narrow hall, so I followed. As we moved out into a large concourse area filled with haphazardly displayed neon signs and dangling christmas lights. Many different monsters wandered about between stores, or rushing about as train schedules displayed on large screens. There had to be at least a hundred species of creatures here. Some of them very closely resembled humans, but upon closer inspection, there were telltale signs that they weren''t.


    "Wait up." I called to Kas as she disappeared into the crowds again. I hobbled about, trying not to make eye contact with anything, but it was hard not to gawk. This time it wasn''t as easy to spot her. I panicked and kept a hand on my sidearm, tucked away under my trench coat. I had no idea if regular bullets would work on half the things down here.


    Ch0z3n1 had told me that all the monsters were real. Pendragon had told me that everything else was real too; Gods, magic, all of it.


    I started to recognize some of the monsters down here: I could pick out a group of cyclops hanging around, by posters for movies I had never heard of. There was a minotaur in a suit buying a newspaper from something that looked like a giant Jell-O wearing an apron. There was a mermaid sitting in a kiddy pool, playing a harp, with the instrument''s case on the ground, collecting old coins as she played.


    They all just went about their business down here like we did, above.


    I was able to find Kas again once the monsters realized she was among them. They gave her a wide berth, hissing and cursing at her. They were all staring at her, and soon, I noticed, at me as well. I forced myself to move a little faster to catch up to her. When I did, she was staring up at one of the screens, looking at train times.


    "It looks like the one going to London isn''t for a bit. We could probably get something to eat if your hungry?" She offered as I came up beside her.


    "I didn''t bring any buttons and bobbypins. Do they even take real money down here?" I asked. She barely turned to look at me.


    "The coins I used are real money. The Old World functions off a lot of forgotten currencies made out of precious metals. And barter systems still exist. You could use your Canadian dollars, but you''ll find the exchange rate is quite ridiculous." She informed me.


    "What would I even eat down here?" I said, still in awe of the whole thing. Kas pointed absently and I stared off across the concourse. There, nestled amongst the shops with signs in languages I couldn''t read, was the familiar golden arches of a McDonalds. It was a small one, with no place to sit, but it was an honest to goodness McDonalds down in the pits of whatever the hell I was in.


    "They really are everywhere." I said, eyes wide. Kas made a non-commital grunting sound.


    "Wait, did you say we were taking a train to London, England?" I asked, realizing what she had said. She nodded and then did a double take, like she had forgotten I was here.


    "Oh right, this whole thing is new to you I guess." She said, laughing to herself. Or at least I hope she wasn''t laughing at me, like I was just supposed to know this was all hiding beneath the city.


    "So, the goblin engineers have used human technology and mixed it with a bit of magic. The Old World has trains that go all over the world, branching out and spanning thousands of stations, with hundreds of trains running all at once. For chaotic little shits, they sure know how to run a transit system. It''s free to use for monsters, but the Chosen who come down here have to pay. They make me pay more cause I''m a monster hunter." She explained.


    "Goblins...built super trains that span the world?" I asked, incredulously.


    "Well not just goblins. There were a lot of collaborators on the project, I''m sure." She shrugged. I looked around the concourse still unsure what to think.


    None of them had moved to attack us, which surprised me the most. There were plenty of vicious looking creatures moving about down here, but most of them went about their business. Sure, we were being stared at, but that was because we were the outsiders here. And apparently because Kas killed these guys as a profession. I followed her deeper into the concourse, over to the McDonalds and stood in line, trying to ignore my constant state of anxiety at everything that walked by us. I didn''t like feeling helpless in a world that was new to me. I was used to being the top of the food chain.


    "Could you explain to me exactly what a Chosen is? I keep hearing the term used." I asked Kas, as we waited.


    "So, they''re kinda like secret agents. The Order of Vigilance is made up of lots of Chosen. They are usually recruited in, for one reason or another and trained to go on expeditions to recover Artifacts. That''s the main goal at least. They are trained to deal with any..." She looked around, choosing her next words carefully. "...disturbances, they encounter too. So, lots of combat training."


    "If you ask me though, they start recruiting too young. A lot of Chosen are hormonal teenagers. Can you imagine running an entire barracks full of whiny, horny, brats and trying to teach them to be soldiers? What a fucking mess." She added.


    "So they''re child soldiers, working for a shadow organization." I said, grimly. Kas stared at me for a moment, before turning back to the menu. I didn''t recognize all of the food options and the writing wasn''t in English.


    "It''s not like that." She said, shaking her head.


    "Sure sounds like it. I''ve seen child soldiers before. Get them indoctrinated as early as you can, offer them whatever they want, stick a weapon in their hand and send them off to die for a cause they could never know the true nature of." I told her, my voice almost a growl.


    "I see where you''re coming from John, but I promise you, that''s just not the case. Every member is asked to join, they are compensated very well, and all Chosen get a chance to bond to an Artifact or two to take with them in the field..." She stopped when I stared at her, eyebrows raised.


    "Not helping my case, I know." She said, defeated. "The Order takes care of it''s members, was the point I was trying to make."


    "Are you a Chosen?" I asked. Kas gave a half-hearted shrug with one shoulder.


    "No. I mean, I was. But I''m not anymore." She said, most the of the wind gone from her sails. I expected her to elaborate, but she left it there. I didn''t feel like pressing her on it either.


    I told her what I wanted when we got up to the counter and she ordered and paid for me. We found a bench not to far away and sat down to eat.


    I felt a sudden tug on my sleeve and I looked down. Standing beside me was a child, probably about eight or nine. He had messy brown hair and very plain clothes with no features to them; No pockets, branding, accessories. Like someone had drawn him and then made him 3-D. He looked up at me, pouting, with jet black eyes. I felt compelled to give him my food as he stared up at me with his big inky eyes.


    "Oi! Fuck off!" I heard Kas shout, as she threw some fries at the child''s face. It hissed at her, grabbing the fries off the floor before running off. The minute the child was out of sight, I began to feel nauseous.


    "What was that?" I asked, trying not to vomit.


    "Little black-eyed buggers. They beg for food and shelter, and try to force you to do it. If you don''t, they make you sick and just take what they want anyway. Weird little psionic creeps. Kinda like pidgeons or sewer rats." She explained.


    I looked back over my shoulder and watched as the kid ran back and forth from other people, as they handed him things, mostly food. One monster handed the kid his watch.


    "What the fuck?" I mumbled.


    "You''ll get used to it." Kas said, nonchalantly.

 Chapter 7

    To say the train station below the concourse was baffling, was an understatement. The sheer size of the many train lines running in and out at one time put Union Station to shame. Probably even Grand Central.


    Kas led me to a train that looked like some weird mix of an old school coal engine locomotive and some cyberpunk fever dream from Japan. It was a massive, two story passenger train, with a dark metallic finish, and neon lights running throughout.


    "That seems a bit much." I said, looking over the thing. Kas laughed.


    "That''s what happens when goblins can''t decide on a design. They just add everything." She told me.


    The large doors slid open like a subway car, with a little chime going off.


    "Now boarding, Blue Line Express, to England, Spain, Moscow, Vancouver, Then returning to Toronto. Please enter and exit through designated doors. Please leave accomodative seating for those with four or more legs, no legs, or those carrying broodlings. The top level seating on cars three, six, nine and twelve are windowless, and should be saved for those with sunlight sensitivities. Washrooms are located at the back of each car. Thank you for choosing Old World Rail." A voice from a speak said as we boarded the train.


    We waited for a centaur to get in and seated before we pushed into the aisle. I was surprised at how spacious the train was. It felt like being on some kind of luxury vehicle. The centaur bowed his head at us, thanking us for letting him in first. I tipped my hat on instinct before realizing what I was doing. These were monsters, like the things that went bump in the night. The creatures that had plagued humans since the age of mythology; which apparently wasn''t as mythological as I had thought.


    It was weird seeing them all acting much like we would. I watched as a family of small bipedal lizard people got on board. They sat a few seats away, the mother carrying an egg in a harness on her chest, while holding the hand of another child. The father carried a smaller child on his shoulders. They found a window seat and chattered quietly.


    "Are they all like this?" I asked Kas, shifting uncomfortably in my seat, using my cane to reposition myself.


    "Huh?" She blurted, turning to look at me instead of out the window. She turned all the way around to see where I was staring.


    "Oh, no. Some monsters are just vicious killers. But there are quite a lot that are just like humans. They live, work, play, and die much the same. These aren''t the ones I hunt." She said, almost absently.


    "You seem distracted." I stated, eyeing her.


    "I feel like we''re being followed, but I can''t put my finger on what. It''s like whatever it is, is always just out of view." She told me, her face suddenly very serious. "I don''t like being hunted by something I can''t see."


    I audibly gulped. Had The Guilt followed me, even here? Just out of view and untrackable? I shifted nervously, looking about.


    "Please fasten your seatbelts and safety harnesses. The train is about to depart. Next stop, London, England." The voice from the loud speaker said.


    ''Seatbelts?'' I thought. When I looked down, sure enough, there was a seatbelt. I watched as the centaur man strapped himself into a wall harness. Around me, all the others put on seatbelts, including Kas.


    "This is a train, why do we need..."


    My question was answered for me as the train took off at, what I could only assume, was Mach 1. I slammed backward into the seat hard, clutching the arm rests for dear life, like I was on the world''s scariest rollercoaster.


    "Holy fucking shit!" I yelled, but the sound the train was making was louder. It rumbled on like a coal engine, with all the technical whining of a subway. Kas stared at me, a grin of amusement on her face. I turned to look at the lizard family and saw the younger ones with their arms in the air squealing happily.


    "What the fucking fuck?" I shouted again, to no avail. I reached down and clicked my seatbelt in, not wanting to be catapulted forward when we stopped.


    Everything was dark outside for a long time, until we came out into water. It was like we were in a tube, far below the surface, with little glowing fish flashing by so fast, they looked like the neon stripes on the side of the train. Which answer my next question about how we were about to get to England via train.


    According to Kas, the goblins had enlisted the help of dwarves to dig deep tunnels far below the surface, and run rails all over the world. I had asked if the dwarves were of the Disney variety, but was informed that those kind no longer existed. Dwarves had been bred in servitude for centuries, deep underground, until they lost the use of their eyes. Instead, they could pick out rocks and minerals by smell and spoke in a clicking dialect that would echo through tunnels. Apparently, they were grotesque to behold.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    It had probably only been about an hour or two before we pulled into the England station. I was happy to have put on the seatbelt when the train screeched to a sudden stop. A pair of Gremlins shot from the back of the train, down the length, cackling as soared passed me. I heard them crash, much further down, to the dismay of other passengers.


    Kas led me off the train, onto a platform that was only a little smaller than the one in Toronto. When we went back upstairs, the concourse here was a little different. The store fronts looked like they were suited for outside. Brick and mortar stores lines the concourse, with small apartments, or I guess, flats, above them. There were alleyways, sewage drains and other things that made it looked like a city street had sunk into the ground. The large roof only went as high as the tallest building, only about thirty feet up, and was lined with little round bulb lights on strings.


    This time, I didn''t really recognize any of the storefronts. They were all little Ma & Pa shops with writing in different, monster languages. There were, at least from what I could tell, significantly more humans, or human presenting creatures, down here.


    I hobbled along behind Kas as she strode with much less purpose this time, appearing to be more comfortable. Perhaps whatever had been following us had been left behind by the high speed travel of the train. Had I really escaped The Guilt by simply travelling to another continent?


    When we exited, we pushed through a door that wasn''t as heavily locked or guarded as the one before. It led right out into an alleyway, next to a busy street. The smell of exhaust and garbage hit me hard and I crinkled my face in disgust. The alley was tight, and could probably only fit one person standing with their shoulders almost touching the buildings on either side. I turned behind me and saw there was no door. Just a plain, red brick wall. Up above the wall, in red spray paint, was a symbol I hadn''t seen before. It was like a pentagram with too many sides. It was a circle, within a square, within a circle, with some lines crossing over each part, and others only connecting to either the inner most part of the outside. I reach back to touch the wall, and it was solid.


    "That''s some Harry Potter shit." I said, running my hand along the wall. A raspy laugh caught me off guard and I looked down to regard a homeless man covered in a massive pile of clothes, blankets and a sleep bag. Covered as he was, he looked to only be a pair of large, dark eyes, sick with jaundice and a bulbous nose.


    Kas tossed him a coin from one of her pouches and he caught it quickly, pulling it into the mass of cloth that engulfed him. I followed her out of the alley before asking about it.


    "Always tip the Doorman. They guard the openings to the Old World here. Not an enemy you want to make." She warned. I looked back at the vagrant in his pile of clothes and bedding and frowned. It all just seemed so ridiculous, but yet, I had witnessed enough with my own eyes now to believe that this was all very much part of the world.


    When we hit the sidewalk and made our way around the corner of tall buildings, I saw Big Ben, the clock tower and the bridge leading to Westminster Abbey.


    "Wow, never seen any of this up close." I said to Kas, trying to make small talk. She gave me a grunt, her eyes darting around again as if I wasn''t there. She was efficient at her job, but at this point I felt like I was just being dragged around. I stopped on the sidewalk and planted my cane. It took a few moments before Kas turned and realized I wasn''t behind her anymore. She turned back, irritated.


    "What are you doing?" She asked, hands on her hips.


    "I''m taking a break until you tell me what exactly we are doing, where we are going and what is to be done about my problem. I''ve followed you this far, but now I want answers." I told her, defiantly. She rolled her eyes at me.


    "I told you already, we''re going to the Citadel for resources." She pointed at the large clock tower. "I can''t hunt your monster if I don''t know what I''m trying to kill. Which is frustrating because I''ve never had that problem before."


    People had begun to stare again. She stood out even more, here in the streets of London, then she did in Toronto. And now, she was yelling at a crippled guy standing on the sidewalk in the middle of the night.


    "So the Citadel is another Order base, located in the clock?" I clarified. She huffed, moving closer.


    "We probably shouldn''t be having this conversation in public." She mumbled.


    We spent the rest of the walk in silence, Kas keeping pace ahead of me, but not too far. Her head was on a swivel and she reminded me of a younger Nadia, when she was just a beat cop. I smiled at the memory. Even back then, I knew she had the potiential to be a great detective.


    When we got to Big Ben, we skirted a large iron fence around the clock tower and turned a corner behind a white stone building. Kas took a keycard from a pocket in her sleeveless duster and held it to a scuffed brick. The cobblestones moved aside, as if guided by both machine and magic. A large staircase opened up and she motioned for me to move quickly. I shuffled down the stairs as fast as I could, and when we were both clear, the stones knit back together above my head. It was like something out of a spy movie, but I guess that was to be expected. Part way down the stairs, she stopped, turning and pressing a hand to my chest to stop my descent.


    "So, before we go in any further, it goes without saying, that anything you see or hear in here is confidential and if at any point the Order thinks you are a liablity, you will probably be killed." She told me. My eyes went wide.


    "Probably should have started with that before we left, but I understand." I told her, frowning. I tried to continue moving, but she didn''t move out of the way.


    "Also, you may or may not have to join the Order to utilize the resources aforementioned." She said, biting her lip, as if to hold back laughter.


    "What? Are you crazy?" I asked, dumbfounded. She shrugged dramatically.


    "You knew way too much already. Those people usually join the Order or end up dead. Your mystery monster has peaked my interest and I''d rather not see you dead till I can at least figure that out. Besides, we can probably get your leg fixed while you''re here." She told me, as if she hadn''t just made a life altering decision for me. I had a job and friends back in Toronto. I couldn''t just disappear. My whole life was back there.


    Or was it?


    With the exception of Nadia, I didn''t have any friends. My job was actively trying to get rid of me. My family was gone. What exactly was I clinging to back there? I just stared at Kas, bewildered.


    "I told them I was bringing back a recruit, so uhh... welcome to the Order of Vigilance, John Callum." She said.

 Chapter 8

    Never in my life would I had assumed there was so much to this ''Order of Vigilance''. After many locks and scanners, opening countless iron security doors, finally we got to a huge open space. It was like a bullpen at the precinct, but a thousand times bigger.


    Hundreds of people were running around with tablets, sitting over state-of-the-art computers and tactical maps that would put even the best damn police forces to shame. Possibly even intelligence agencies. It was beyond military grade, and from a cursory glance, running smoothly.


    "Wow." I gasped, following behind Kas as she led me into the big room.


    "Impressive, right? The Citadel is probably the most secure and best supplied base of operations the Order has to offer. It also benefits from having a Progenitor on site, managing everything. And of course, a great team of Guardians to work along side them." She boasted.


    "What''s a Guardian? Is that like a Chosen?" I asked. I could see uncomfortable emotions play across her face, until she was able to resume her smile.


    "Not really. Kind of though." She said vaguely.


    Kas continued to lead me down a wide hallway, all the walls blinding white, with flourescent lights. It reminded me of a hospital. People came and went, hardly giving me even a second glance. To my surprise, some of the people working here weren''t even human. Much the the train stations used by the Old World, there were monsters walking about, but much, much fewer. It was the odd one here or there.


    "How do you tell which monsters are good and which ones are evil?" I asked again. Kas turned, realizing she''d walked too fast ahead of me, and moved back to my side as I hobbled along.


    "That''s still tricky question, I know. See, when the Order was first formed, they were originally a group of Demi-Gods and powerful humans who hunted monsters. It wasn''t until much later that they realized not all of them were inheritantly evil. It really depended on the creature, much like humans, as I told you. It wasn''t until the Progenitors welcomed in non-human Immortals to their circle that they even really considered it." She told me.


    "Some races, like vampires for example, have learned to blend in with humanity even to the point of not drinking human blood anymore. Some of them even assist the Order. But there are still lots of blood suckers out there that kill humans and drain them empty. We still hunt those." She continued. I nodded thoughtfully, taking in all the new information.


    Had I suggested vampires back in 2000, when we found all those kids drained of blood in that nightclub in downtown Toronto, they would have taken my badge. It was a damn good feeling to know I was not crazy. So many things, especially cases that had unexplainable circumstances, were making sense now. And they had pulled me off those cases and left the cold, because they knew I would keep hunting, which would have exposed the Order. I wondered just how much influence they had. And why the organization didn''t just work with local enforcement.


    Kas brought me out onto a glass balcony overlooking a gigantic gymnasium. Down below, at least a dozen squads of ten to fifteen people were being trained, in almost perfect unison. All of them were wearing black tactical clothes, with kevlar armor, just like a SWAT team, but in their hands were archaic weapons, which I''d heard, were far more effective against monsters.


    "This is where we train the new guys," Kas chuckled, a deep husky noise from the back of her throat. "A lot of them don''t pass the training and even fewer become Chosen. I''ve seen prodigy kids, generations of their bloodline in the Order, get deligated to desk jobs despite their ancestor''s great martial prowess. Sad, really." She said, staring out at the multitudes.


    "Ah, Detective Callum." A voice said from behind me.


    Kas jumped and bowed reverantly, taking a knee, which looked painful in her long leather boots. I turned to face a well built man in a three piece black suit. His jet black hair was tied back in a neat, low ponytail, and their wasn''t a trace of hair on his chin. Piercing eyes, the color of emeralds, peered into my soul, unblinking. The guy gave me the damn creeps.


    "I''m afraid I can''t really kneel, but I''m sure you''re probably really important if she fell over that fast." I chuckled and offered my hand to shake.


    The man gave me a thin, lipless smile and shook my hand. His grip was brutally strong, but he made a visible effort not to crush my fingers.


    "I am Lancelot, Knight of the Round, and a Progenitor of the Order. And you, Detective John Callum, are far too curious for your own good. You gave poor Anders over in Ontario quite the run for his money." He chuckled, but it was a mirthless, sarcastic sound.


    "Yea, my commanding officers thought the same thing. But I was right. I knew you guys were here. Just didn''t know the extent of it." I wriggled my hand free of his. My detective eyes caught him casually wiping his hand on his pant leg, before returning it to his pocket.


    "These are our elites, usually trained from a young age, knowing nothing but the ways of the Order. They know what we teach. They see the world as we see it. They serve as they must." Lancelot said, moving to the railing of the balcony, looking out at the groups of trainees.


    "Much like the ancient Spartans or Knights of the Round, Order members are expected to uphold a certain standard of both combat skill and knowledge. Some of them become great warriors, legends of their time. Others, skilled mages trained in arts all but forgotten. Most of them aren''t cut out for much more than desk work. But I suppose someone needs to sweep the floors." He waved his hand dismissively, as he spoke.Stolen story; please report.


    "Now, my question for you, Detective. Where will you fall into line? Guardian Kassius has selected you for a good reason, I presume, but whether or not you will be a legend or a caretaker is yet to be seen. At least your detective work is par." He looked over me, like I was a displeasing art display.


    "Well, back in my day, I was quite the skilled field cop. Hell, I was a damn good detective up until some psychopath blew out my knee." I told him. He seemed unimpressed, looking at his fingernails.


    "Mhm. I read the report about your encounter with Mr. Morgan. I do believe that had Anders not been present, you and I would not be having this conversation." He told me, still looking down.


    "Some kind of renegade dropout?" I scoffed.


    Lancelot''s eyes darted over my shoulder to Kas and then once again, back to me, ripping into my damn soul. His glare was telling.


    "Quite the opposite. Chase Morgan was the best of his class. He excelled at everything and dedicated his life to the Order. Not only is he a trained assassin, he is also one of the strongest mages I''ve ever met. If I didn''t know otherwise, I''d say he was a Demi-god." He said to me, with a look of disdain.


    There was an uneasiness when he spoke of this Chase guy. His thin lips quivered slightly. Couldn''t tell if it was distain or fear.


    "Had he never gone to Canada, he would likely have become the Master of this branch." He said, his lipless smile growing thinner.


    "The guy blew out my knee and ruined my career. Forgive me if I have a hard time with him." I said, shrugging.


    Lancelot looked me up and down like he was inspecting a piece of meat and sighed.


    "Yes, how unfortunate for you. So tell me, John Callum, where do you see yourself in the Order? How much will you dedicate yourself to the cause?" He asked.


    "Kas said you guys can fix my leg. Do that, and I''ll do whatever you ask." I said, eager to prove to this pompous jackass that I was still worth something.


    His eyes darted to Kas again, who lowered her head further. Lancelot rolled his eyes.


    "Very well. Guardian Kassius will take you to the infirmary where our healers will fix your leg. Then you will be shown to your quarters. Feel free to wander, as anywhere you are not supposed to be will be inaccessable. Your training starts in the morning." And with that, he walked away.


    I turned to face Kas, who remained kneeling until Lancelot was far from view. She stood, giving me a weak smile, almost apologetically. Before I could say anything she said, "Yea, he''s an ass."


    "Understatement of the century." I grumbled.


    ~*~


    My room was just as bright and flourescent as the halls. But it came better equip then most hotels I''ve stayed in. I stretched out on the comfortable matress and massaged my knee. Soon, I hoped, the ache would be gone and I could walk without the cane.


    My suite had a full washroom that included a jacuzzi sized tub. The cabinets were stocked with every imaginable medical supply and toiletry I could think of. I decided to take a warm bath and contemplate my current situation.


    Guys my age didn''t usually go back into training. I was an old police dog. I had my tricks. But there was a whole other world out there now. And I would be damned if I didn''t have the equipment and skills to handle it.


    Most of all, I could use the Order''s resources to find my daughter and confront The Guilt. Maybe even find a way to destroy it.


    I settled into the warm water and let it soothe my aching muscles. It was hard to let my guard down, but I assured myself I was safe here. Tomorrow would begin the first day of my new life, and I was looking forward to the change.


    I had told Kas that I wanted some time to get settled before we headed off to the Infirmary to have my leg fixed. As eager as I was, I wanted some time alone to go over everything that had happened to me recently. It seemed like since the day I met Pendragon in that alley, my whole life was rushing by. Even the trip from Canada to the UK had been too fast, thanks to goblin technology, apparently.


    The lights went out, and the jets in my jacuzzi bath stopped. I sat up from the warm water and looked around the dark bathroom. I waved my hands, hoping for sensor lights. To my surprise, and relief, they flicked back on. The jacuzzi jets, however, did not.


    I leaned over the side of the tub as the lights blinked back on and tried to figure out the buttons to get them going again. I fiddled, like an old man, and eventually the popped back on. I sighed in relief and dropped back into the warm bath.


    I couldn''t shake the feeling that something else was up. I expected The Guilt to pop out of the mirror or something. I was on edge.


    A heavy knock at the door made me jump. I sighed heavily and pulled the plug on the drain. I grabbed one of the fresh towels from a rack beside the nig tub and dried off, carefully using the tub and the wall to balance myself until I could grab my cane. Another heavy knock came.


    "One second!" I shouted back.


    I looked to my duffel on the bed and dreaded getting dressed, with the insistant knocking continuing. To my delight, there was a large plush bath robe hanging on the door to the bathroom as I exited. I wrapped it around me and hobbled to the door.


    "What?" I said, looking up at the tall woman. Kas pushed passed me and sat down on my bed, which was in the middle of my living space.


    "Come on in." I said, rolling my eyes and closing the door.


    "You ready to go get your leg healed?" She asked. There was a nervous timbre to her voice. I noticed she was picking at the skin around her painted nails. I shuffled toward her and also sat on the bed.


    "When I said I wanted time to myself, I meant more than forty minutes." I told her. She snapped away from her fingers and looked up at me.


    "Oh. Sorry John." She said quietly, which was out of character from what I''d seen from her.


    "Something bothering you?" I asked, pulling on a pair of black crew socks from my duffel.


    "No, nothing." She said, going back to picking. I whacked her hand and she looked at me, moving from anger, to a more puzzled look.


    "Sorry, my wife, Diane..." I froze. Saying her name out loud was still rattling for me. "She used to pick and bite the skin around her fingers until she would bleed. Force of habit."


    Kas nodded slowly, looking at me like she was seeing me for the first time. I pulled a pair of boxers from my duffel and motioned for her to turn away, which she obliged. While she was turned away, I pulled on my track pants and slipped on an old training academy tee shirt, the logo long faded.


    "You gonna tell me what''s wrong?" I pressed. Kas grunted as if I was annoying her.


    "Just Lancelot. He gets under my skin." She mumbled.


    "Yea he seems like a real asshat, as the kids say." I chuckled. She shook her head.


    "You have to be careful saying stuff like that. Especially around here. The walls have eyes and ears and you don''t have any friends here yet." She warned.


    "Are you saying you''re not my friend?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. Kas gave me a small smile, but it was genuine.


    "We''ll see how bad you are at everything tomorrow before I make my decision." She joked. I rolled my eyes at her.


    There was an obvious question hanging in the air, but I didn''t know how to bring up the subject. Kas didn''t strike me as a ''Guardian Kassius''. But looking at the woman''s sad, disheartened face, I couldn''t bring myself to bother.

 Chapter 9

    The trip down to the Infirmary was surprisingly simple. We only passed through two keycard doors, that Kas had to take me through cause I hadn''t been issued one yet. The Infirmary was attached to the large gymnasium and down a very small flight of stairs. It was a small door that had a red light above the door, which was off.


    Inside, I saw a bunch of people in their black tactical gear laying on hospital style beds, waiting to be seen or treated. There was a cacophany of moans and groans as typical every day first aid was applied. It wasn''t until one of the nurse''s hands lit up with a soft green light, and I watched an open cut close, that I realized this was not a typical nurse''s office. Kas walked me passed all of that and knocked on a closed office door.


    "Doctor, I have a new patient that needs some healing. Progenitor Lancelot sent us." She said, knocking again obnoxiously, like she had at my door. The door swung open and a thin pale man with a grotesque series of visible scars appeared. He looked between Kas and I with uncaring eyes.


    "Lancelot sent you?" His voice was as neutral and uncaring as his eyes.


    "Yes, John needs his leg fixed." Kas explained. The Doctor''s eyes moved lazily to my cane.


    "He starts training in the morning." Kas added.


    The Doctor sighed and motioned for us to follow him, as we made our way back through the triage area to a set of double doors. He had to bring out a keycard to unlock them, and let us to a dark hallway. He didn''t wait for us, moving forward, the flourescent lights flickering on as he passed.


    I found it hard to place his accent, something like a mix between Swiss and Italian. He was fast, and only turned back once to open a door at the end of the hallway.


    "I don''t have a lot of time, please hurry." He called back to us. Kas picked up the pace, but I couldn''t move any faster than what I was going. Soon, hopefully, that would come to an end.


    When we finally caught up, he held the door for us. It felt like walking inside a sauna. The room was uncomfortably warm and I felt the sweat building on my forehead. I looked at Kas who was clad in leather and could see she was visibly uncomfortable.


    The Doctor pointed to an empty pool in the middle of the room. There were several, shallow pools, that looked like graves.


    "Get in." He said, before moving to a series of valves on the far wall. I looked at Kas, hesitantly. She smiled, trying to be disarming, but it came across as clumsy, like she wasn''t sure if I was about to throw myself into a shallow grave in the basement of an underground secret organization.


    The Doctor huffed and made a clicking sound, forcefully gesturing to the nearest pool. Reluctantly, I crouched and put my legs over the edge. It was only a little deeper than the jacuzzi tub in my room.


    "Take off your clothes." He snapped at me. I turned around quickly, glaring at him. He snapped his fingers at me like I was a dog, and dramatically checked his watch. I looked at Kas with pleading eyes, but she didn''t intervene.


    "I feel like I''m missing something." I said, but the Doctor shouted over me, "Get in the pool!"


    So, I did what he said. I took off my clothes, folded them into a neat pile, and got into the empty pool, painfully moving to lay on my back. I heard him turn the valves and a loud rushing sound rattled along the pipes towards my pool. Kas peeked over the edge and I covered my manly bits.


    "You''re gonna be okay. Just remember not to hold your breath." She told me.


    "Wait, don''t hold my breath?" I asked as liquid began to rush into the pool. It was an opalescent, viscous fluid, that reminded me of the consistency of blood. It began to fill up the pool as it surged around me. To my surprise, I wasn''t floating as it closed in around me; it was quite the opposite. My heart began to race as I felt like I was sinking in quick sand.


    "Hey wait!" I yelled as the fluid threatened to engulf me entirely. I tried to sit up, but could only go part way. It was like trying to push through thick mud.


    As it came up around my neck, I could feel my heart pounding in my head. Panic over took my sense and I began to gulp in air to hold my breath. I looked at Kas, feeling betrayed. She looked like she pitied me, trying to motion for me to relax. To give in. To surrender.


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    I tried to flail, to claw my way out of the fluid, but I couldn''t bring my hands above the surface. I tilted my head as far back as I could to avoid the inevitable. I felt the fluid clog my ears and I was deaf. I saw Kas trying to motion to me not to hold my breath, then she moved out of my view, presumably to stand by the Doctor.


    As the fluid filled up around my face, I tried to hold my breath. I could feel it creeping up my the sides of my face, tickling at my lips; inching toward my eyes. My senses began to fail me and an all too familiar sensation took over.


    I stared at the ceiling helplessly, as the featureless face of The Guilt peered over the edge of the pool, its freakishly long fingers drumming the edge. It tilted its jittering head as if to regard my predicament, even though it had no eyes.


    I tried to scream, and the fluid crept into my mouth, filling my throat and lungs. It burned, and the sensation of drowning caused my heart to feel like it was going to rupture. As it covered over my eyes, the last thing I saw was the pale face of The Guilt looking back at me, its thousands of lamprey teeth gleaming, as it smiled at me.


    ~*~


    I remembered the feeling of being consumed, of drowning. But after everything went dark, it was consumed by a comforting, wet feeling. Like being cradled in a womb; like I was supposed to be there. I could breathe, albeit slowly. It was like the whole world had slowed. I had peace for what felt like only moments, but would be told later that I had been in the Rejuvenation Pool for hours.


    I came back to the world with a start, gasping and thrashing. I was laying in a hospital bed, in a small curtained off section of the Infirmary. Kas was sitting at the bed side, reading a large dusty looking book.


    "Finally!" She exclaimed, putting the book down. "How are you feel..."


    "You could have warned me!" I croaked out, finding my throat very dry. Kas gave me a sly smile and shook her head.


    "Naw, everyone''s first time in the Pool is like that. No amount of warning would have readied you for that." She said, clapping me on the shoulder.


    "Why am I in the Infirmary?" I asked.


    "Well, normally, there is a chemical that is added to the Pool after you''ve been in their a while. It makes it turn back into a liquid and slowly dissolves it out of your system. You puke the rest up, and your body is healed. Take a couple hours, but it is the most effective way to keep agents in the field." She explained. I looked down and found that I was dressed, which means someone had taken care to move me.


    "You tried to reject the healing fluid, so you had a bit of a rough time. Technically you drowned. The Doctor was able to get you in the recovery position and purge what was left inside of you. We brought you here as a precaution." She finished.


    "What is that stuff?" I said, coughing on instinct. The thought of having that liquid still inside me made me want to gag. The curtain pulled back and the grim looking Doctor, with all his facial scars stared at me.


    "It is a combination of liquid concentrated ambrosia, mixed with the chemicals I use to reanimate the dead. The ambrosia fruit is not as effective in its berry form. However, liquified, it is easier to pour into a person''s throat when they are dying on the battlefield. Mixed with the fluids necessary to replace blood in corpses for reanimation, it can be an effective combination for fully rejuvenating those with severe or fatal injuries." He told me. It was the first time I had seen him be expressive since meeting him; he seemed proud.


    "Wait, corpse reanimation?" I stuttered. The man chuckled and extended his hand to shake, before moving to check my vitals.


    "Doctor Victor Frankenstein, at your service." He said. I stared at the man for a moment before looking to Kas.


    "You''re kidding right? That''s a joke. Frankenstein was a story written by Mary Shelley." I looked between the two of them, my eyes pleading for someone to make it make sense.


    "Ms. Shelley was a wonderful woman and a brilliant novelist. She was deeply obesessed with the macabre and the occult. We became very good friends." Victor said cheerfully. There was a twinkle in his eye, like an old man thinking back on his youth. It occured to me that he must be just that.


    "So does that make you..." I started.


    "Several hundred years old, yes. Don''t ask me exactly, because I don''t remember." He continued going over me to make sure there were no residual issues from the Rejuvenation Pool. When he was satisfied, he nodded at Kas and I, and left the curtained space.


    I threw my legs over the side of the bed and reached for my cane. That was when I noticed that my knee no longer hurt. Wide eyed, I looked down at my leg. Without thinking, I pulled my track pants down and stared at the scars around my kneecap.


    "Hey! Warn a girl before you just rip your pants off!" Kas shouted, laughing. I hopped off the bed and onto my feet. Nothing hurt.


    And it wasn''t just my knee that was healed; decades of wear and tear on my old body was suddenly gone. I had no back ache, no joint pain, no nothing. I felt thirty years younger.


    "This is incredible!" I shouted. Kas waved her arms at me to calm down, but I kept hopping around, kicking my legs out. I had never felt this good before, phyiscally.


    "You''re welcome." I heard Victor call out from somewhere in the Infirmary. I looked to Kas, my eyes filled with determination and excitement.


    "I''m ready to start my training." I told her. She smirked at me, and pointed downward, to where my pants still sat around my ankles.


    "Not like that you''re not." She said, laughing. I quickly pulled up my old track pants and shook my head. Tomorrow they would mix me in with the others; people who had trained their whole lives to be here. I only hoped that my time in the military and police services would be enough here.


    This whole world was something different, something new, and I felt revitalized and prepared to take it on.

 Chapter 10

    I was not prepared.


    A lot of the stuff we did, I remembered from basic training. The running, climbing, obstacle courses were all easy with my rejuvenated health. But the combat training was something else. These people didn''t use sidearms and practise in a range. They trained for sword and shield combat with monsters and magic. I was woefully unprepared for any of that stuff, and it pissed me off.


    "Try to keep up old man." A younger guy, my training partner, said to me. He was being playful, a grin spread across his face as we batted each other with foam covered swords, holding wooden shields with our off hands.


    I growled in frustration as I swung in hard. It was an obvious overhead swing that he brought his shield up into with an easy block. The padding around my sword made a hollow thud that echoed in the gymnasium. It was quickly drowned out by the sounds of clashing steel around me.


    All the others trained with real weapons, dancing around each other with expert precision. And here I was whacking a foam covered blade against a wooden plank.


    "Come on old man, you''ll have to do better than that." My partner, Vance Winston, said.


    "Stop calling me old man." I growled back, swinging in from the side. Vance swung his shield out to meet my sword and it glanced off harmlessly.


    "I feel like you aren''t really trying." He said, more seriously. I wanted to throw my sword at him.


    "I am trying. I just never thought with all the weapon training I''ve had, that I''d be fumbling my way around a sword." I told him.


    "Are you trying to tell me old dogs can''t learn new tricks?" Vance laughed. I cracked a smile, as I came in again, trying for an upward strike, but Vance parried with his own sword and slammed his shield into me, knocking me off guard.


    "I don''t know if I''m gonna get the hang of this." I told him, feeling more than a bit sore and defeated. He put his arms down and cocked his head to the side.


    "It''s your first day. Don''t quit so easily or they''ll put you at a desk." Vance said seriously. I shuttered at the thought of being desk-bound. That was my fear about returning to the force back in Toronto. I knew I was getting old, but I wasn''t ready to be taken out of the field, or worse, forced to retire.


    A buzzer like a hockey goal went off, signalling the end of the training shift. The trainees rushed to rack their weapons, and wheeled the mobile carts back into a room with a garage-like door. Vance motioned for me to follow him. I chucked my foam sword and wooden shield into the storage room.


    "I feel like I''m back in high school." I commented, after most of the others had cleared out. Vance nodded.


    "For some of us, it is. If you have parents that were part of the Order, you end up being a legacy. You have big shoes to fill, in some cases, impossibly big. A lot of those kids end up living here, like a boarding school. They spend every waking moment in these walls, deep underground, with barely any free time to go and be normal teenagers. This place becomes their whole life." He said, his eyes suddenly distant.


    "Wow, that''s kind of intense." I muttered. Vance continued like he hadn''t heard me.


    "The worst part is, not all of us get to become Chosen. You have to be top of your class. You have to excel at something, or some times, everything. You''d think we''d all be close, but when you''re down here, you''re all fighting for the same prize. You don''t even make friends until you make it to Chosen and meet the others." He said sadly. His eyes suddenly looked at me and he snapped his fingers.


    "Meet the others. You should meet my team. Come on, lets hit the showers." He said quickly, ushering me away.


    ~*~


    "Hangin'' in there, old man?" I felt a pat on my back and the cop in me wanted to put the kid on his ass. I knew Vance meant well, but I couldn''t stand the ''old man'' bit.


    "Yup, my leg feels good as new. Feels great to be getting all this exercise and training, even if the combat training is throwing me off." I said, stretching after my warm shower. I looked over my shoulder, as Vance slammed his locker closed, wrapping a towel around his waist. He was tall and wiry, with a defined form. His short brown hair was cut in typical military style. He reminded me of myself, in my younger days.


    "I''m hittin'' the sauna, you in?" He clapped my shoulder again, so I grabbed his wrist and pulled him down to the bench between us. He looked shocked, but when he saw I was smiling, he laughed.


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    "Haha, nice one Detective. Still got the moves I see." He chuckled. When I let go, he rubbed his wrist and moved out of arms range. I put my hands in the air, showing him I meant no harm.


    "I''ll meet ya in there, so I don''t get my ass kicked." Vance called over his shoulder as he headed away.


    "Yea, good call." I mumbled to myself. Even if I couldn''t beat him in swords and shields, I knew I could probably kick his ass in hand to hand. I chuckled to myself.


    I removed my towel and rubbed the scar on my knee. I couldn''t believe that I was walking, never-mind all the rigorous training that they had these kids go through. I questioned the nature of it all, but Kas had assured me it was all very necessary. I guessed Lancelot had a quota of child soldiers he needed to meet, or something. The thought sent a shiver up my spine. I had seen war. I had seen what it did to people. What exactly was the Order building an army for, when small teams of agents were just as capable, or so it had seemed. Guardians, Chosen, Progenitors...there had to be a reason.


    I made my way across the slippery locker room floor and over to the wooden door between all the tiles. The sauna was more full than I expected, and there were young women in there.


    "Oh, excuse me." I said, putting my hand in front of my eyes, but I heard Vance''s chuckle.


    "This some kinda joke, boy?" I called from behind my hand.


    "It''s co-ed, ya geezer." He chuckled. I felt him grab hold of my upper arm, and I was tempted to judo flip him, but there wasn''t enough space. He guided me over and up to a seat and plopped down beside me.


    "You can take your hand from in front of your face. None of us are shy." One of the ladies said matter-of-factly, as if me being embarrassed was unheard of. I moved my hand and looked over the five new faces, and then turned to Vance, glaring at him.


    "This is my team, the Chosen of the Citadel." He started. Vance punched the guy beside him in the shoulder. He was a big guy, all muscle and protein shakes. His hair was short in the back, long and spikey in the front and his skin was obviously spray tanned; he was practically orange. His strong jaw clenched as he visibly resisted the urge to put Vance back, likely through the wall.


    "This is Landon Huxley. His dad''s one of Her Majesty''s Elites. He has a large shadow to live under, and makes an even bigger one himself."


    Landon gave me one of those ''bro-head nods'' of approval. I nodded back, still trying not to look at the ladies in the room. Call me old school, but co-ed sauna just didn''t rub me right.


    "That''s Ashlee Kingsley," Vance continued, pointing to a chubby blonde girl in the corner. She was probably the only female out of the group who looked embarrassed. She was also the only one wearing two towels; one to cover her...umm, ample breasts, the other to cover below the waist. She waved at me, but quickly returned her hands to her towels, clutching them before they fell.


    "Ashlee is our ''girl in the chair'', so to speak. She''s got all the newest tech and a brain like a super computer. Even in the field, under pressure, she''s amazing. Essentially, we''d all be dead if it wasn''t for her." Vance explained, winking at her. Ashlee turned a deeper red than she was already.


    "The douchebag sitting too close to the steam rocks is Clinton Drake." Vance motioned to a guy sitting on the floor, surrounded in steam and covered in sweat. Big black wings were tattooed on his back. He had a menagerie of other tattoos on his body that I couldn''t make out through the steam. His long dark hair hung low and wet, covering his face. He raised his hand and motioned with a flick of his wrist, to acknowledge me.


    "Clint is our team badass." Vance explained, nudging me with a chuckle.


    "Excuse your privilege." One of the girls piped up. A skinny, pale girl with her short hair two separate colors; electric blue in the front and raven black in the back, snapped at Vance. He rolled his eyes.


    "That''s Sky Ridley. Emo-feminist-vegan-soul sucking..."


    "Hey! I''m not actually that bad!" She shouted, flailing her arms dramatically. Sky turned to me and offered a sincere smile and a peace sign. "I promise I''m not as annoying as he makes me sound."


    "And last, but certainly not least, the girl glaring at you from the other corner of the room is Liliana Maxwell." He pointed to the brunette with her hair in a librarian bun. Her arms were crossed and she was in fact, glaring daggers at me.


    "What is he doing here?" Liliana growled. She looked like she was the oldest in the room, so I guessed the miserable older sister trope made sense.


    "Be nice!" the other five said in unison, as if it were practised. I suddenly didn''t feel so bad, realizing this was probably a usual thing with her.


    "Everyone, this is Detective John Callum, from Canada. He''s going to be training with us for a while." Vance explained. There were mixed reactions across the room, from Sky''s excited clapping and ''yays'' and Clinton''s silent thumb''s up, to Liliana''s glares.


    "Hey everyone. Happy to be here. Great opportunity." I chuckled nervously and Vance nudged my rib with his elbow.


    "Hey, it''s not so bad. John has lots of experience in the field and can probably share lots of cool stories with us. Right John?" He smiled widely.


    "Uh, yea sure." I decided that the floor was more interesting. Never in my life had I been so nervous, and I''d been shot before. This room, full of angst and tension, was going to be the death of me. My eyes darted for the exit and I contemplated leaving.


    "I heard Chase Morgan crippled you." Liliana snapped from across the room, a smug look on her bitchy face.


    "Oh yea, blew a whole clean through my kneecap. I got better." I laughed nervously. There are a few strained chuckles across the small steamy room, and then awkward silence.


    "What''s he like up close?" Liliana''s demeanor completely changed and she leaning forward with her head cradled in her hands, elbows on her knees. There is a joint groan from the rest of the crew.


    "Here we go." Vance mumbled to me.


    "He''s, err.... terrifying. Vacant eyes in deep sockets, tall and imposing. He''s remarkably fast and reminds me of a serial killer." I said blatantly, without thinking. Liliana quivered and sighed blissfully.


    "I bet you he smells great too." She murmured to herself. Sky made a retching sound.


    "You probably have pictures of the guy all over your room." Landon piped up, his voice a deep baritone, which was suiting for a guy his size.


    Liliana rolled her eyes, and eventually the chatter picked up and I was suddenly sitting in a room full of ranting young adults.


    Part of me missed my couch back in Toronto.

 Chapter 11

    The next few weeks flew by faster than anticipated. I forgot all about being alone at Christmas. Instead, I spent time with Kas, and with Vance and his team. Despite the age difference, Vance had taken on a very mentor-like position in my life at the Citadel.


    Kas and I spent a lot of time in the Library together. She had been scouring tomes to find some kind of creature that shared similarities with The Guilt. Like my search on the Bestiary website, she had also thought Slender Man, for a bit, before disproving herself. She had finally settled on the fact that it might be something occult that the Order hadn''t seen before.


    Or that I was crazy.


    "Okay," Kas said, long and drawn out. "But when was the last time you''ve seen your Guilt thing?"


    "Right before I fell unconcious in the Rejuvenation Pool." I told her, for probably the twelveth time. I rolled my eyes and shook my head.


    "And you''ve had no indication of it since? No flickering lights, blurred vision, ears ringing?" She asked again.


    "No Kas. Come on, I know you''re trying to lead to the easy solution that this is all in my head. But I watched this thing slaughter my squad at Partridge and I saw it kill..." I froze, having a hard time with saying it out loud. "I watched it kill my wife and son. And it took my daugther."


    I put my head in my hand as I rested my elbow and on the big white oak study desk. I stared at Kas, frustrated at my own lack of understanding of the situations when they happened, and at her inability to conceive anything beyond the fact that I was suffering delusions.


    "Is there a triggering factor? Or does this thing just appear randomly?" She asked. I noticed she had a lined paper notepad out, and was writing quite detailed notes. Regardless of what this was, she was at least taking it seriously.


    "Stress, fear, shame. Any kind of negative emotion spike usually." I told her. She nodded her head as she scribbled it down.


    "How much can you tell me about the first time you encountered it?" She asked, suddenly serious. I sat forward, and rubbed the bridge of my nose.


    "Honestly, it gets harder to remember. Looking back at my military days, it all seems like a blur now. I remember getting to Partridge Island. We came at night, on a silent black boat. We had stealth gear to navigate the outside, but I remember it being empty, like there was nothing guarding the secret entrance under the monument." I recalled.


    "Someone else from the squad had the keycard to get inside. I don''t remember who my unit leader was..." I froze. In my memory, all the faces were covered with black masks. Everyone wore black tactical gear that had no emblems or ensignia.


    "I just remember following orders. Going down the secret stairs under the monument. The walls were cold steel. We went deeper, into a labratory. It felt like it was far underground, behind a bunch of other doors that required the same keycard." I looked at Kas, who stared at me.


    "Where did you guys get the keycard?" She asked. I shook my head.


    "My commanding officer had it. Must have been recovered prior to the mission. That was the only way we were able to traverse the place." I told her.


    "Do you remember anything standing out? About the place or the keycard?" She asked. I tried to recall any detail about the way the labratory looked, or if the keycard had any names or features on it.


    "I remember the lab had a lot of glass windows. They told us they were doing human experimentation down there. Claimed it was some post-war Nazi scientists. I don''t recall there being an SS logos. Nothing was in German. I remember looking in the windows and seeing the mangled, mutated bodies. Like someone was trying to force humans and animals together." I told her.


    Suddenly, I was hit with memories of the Old World train stations. I had seen half human, half animal people. Centaurs, satyrs, crocodile headed creatures. Even the gremlins kind of resembled humans. It occured to me that they hadn''t been working on human animal hybrids.


    "John, what is it?" Kas asked, noticing the vacancy in my eyes. I could feel the blood drain from my face.


    "They weren''t making human animal hybrids. They were experimenting on monsters." I said as the realization filled my head.


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    "What?" Kas looked perplexed.


    "I had always thought they were doing some kind of experiment where they were fusing animal parts to humans. But I had never met any monsters before. Now that I know they exist, I think I understand what I was seeing in that lab. They were performing experiments on monsters." I told her. I was filled with the grim realization that whoever was running those labs also knew about this world; the one underneath and behind it all.


    "What do you remember after seeing the monsters in glass cells?" Kas pressed. I tried to think back, but there were holes in my memory; like someone had burned holes into a roll of film.


    "The next thing I remember was The Guilt tearing my squad apart. I took the keycard off my commander''s body and got out. I collapsed outside and was found by a local." I recalled. Kas frowned as she jotted down notes.


    "What do you remember from the incident with your family?" She asked slowly. She knew it was a sensitive topic, but if we were going to make any progress, I was going to have to tell her everything.


    Or at least, what I remembered.


    "That moment was more of a blur than Partridge Island. I remember my wife, Diane, and I were arguing about something. My son came out of his room and got involved when he shouldn''t have. There was some kind of flash, like the sensory issues The Guilt creates. Kinda like a flashbang going off. I remember being on the floor, watching it kill my wife, unable to get up and protect her. I remember feeling helpless. I couldn''t move or focus. And then it went for my son, after he ran to protect my daughter." I swallowed hard. Remembering was phyiscally painful.


    "That must have been hard. I''m sorry John." Kas said as she jotted down more notes. She sat back in her chair and looked over the notes, pulling them in closer to her body when I leaned over to sneak a peek.


    "Are you doing a psych eval?" I asked, alarmed.


    "No. I''m trying to see what parts are missing and why. It seems like either you''ve created a mental block, or certain parts of your memory have been removed." She told me, holding up her notes to show me her timeline and ideas.


    "Removed?" I asked. "Is that something that you guys can do?"


    I wondered if perhaps there was some kind of magic that could be used to poke holes in my mind. I looked around the Library, suddenly paranoid.


    "It is not out of the realm of possiblity for magic or tech." She thought for a moment before asking, "Do you have any gaps in your memory when you''ve seen The Guilt recently? Like in the Pool or at your apartment?"


    Thinking about it now, I hadn''t lost any memories those times. Those encounters with The Guilt had all ended the moment someone else interacted with me, like when Nadia kicked my door down, or when Kas had been sitting in my bedroom. Otherwise, it had ended when I fell unconcious. I told Kas that, and she nodded slowly.


    "I think someone or something intentionally left holes in your mind. Whatever happened the first and second time, you weren''t supposed to see. All the times afterward were just torment." She said as she began to write more notes.


    "Or it was collusion. Maybe I only saw it those times after, so that whoever used it the first two times could keep me convinced." My detective brain clicked to life, and the cogs began to turn. I instinctively brought my hand to my pocket and grabbed the pill bottle. I put it down on the table and stared at it.


    "Have you still been taking those? Aren''t they for pain?" Kas asked. I shooked my head before she even finished.


    "They gave them to me for psychotic episodes. But that was only after my boss told me I needed a psych evaluation from the police service approved psychiatrist. And now that I know they were being controlled and paid off by the Order..." I turned to look at Kas who held her hands up defensively.


    "If there was some kind of conspiracy, I had nothing to do with it. I came because Anders asked me too." She told me, keeping her eyes locked on mine. I stared at her for a long time. I wanted to believe she was telling me the truth. I wanted to believe she was on my side. But my instincts told me I needed to get out of here.


    Ch0z3n1 had been right. The Order of Vigilance had its hands in everything. And they were covered in blood. Possibly even the blood of my family.


    "John, before you do anything crazy, please walk me through what you are thinking." Kas begged. She lowered her hands and reached out to touch mine, but I flinched away.


    "If the Order is behind the death of my family, the death of my squad, I''ll burn this whole place to ground." I growled.


    "John, you need to calm down. Tell me what is going on?" She whispered at me, her eyes darting around. Where we were sitting was mostly empty, but our voices carried in the big Library.


    "Whatever happened at Partridge Island was not something I was supposed to see, so someone took pieces of those memories. The next time it showed up, it took my family, and I lost pieces of that too. When I claimed a monster had killed my family, the police force told me that it had been a robbery gone wrong. That I had frozen out of fear. But I''ve been a cop for years, and never froze. They had me go to a psychiatrist who was in league with the police force, who is controlled by the Order. They put me on these pills. And I''ve been taking the pills to stop seeing the monster, but the continued use of the pills was causing me to see the monster." I explained, standing up from the table.


    Kas stood with me, like an excited puppy, but her face was filled with fear.


    "This is an awfully deep conspiracy John. And you don''t have any proof." She told me.


    "I just need to know how and why. I need to know why the Order didn''t want me remembering what I saw on Partridge Island. And why my family was killed for it. The Guilt creature was slotted in as a scapgoat. No wonder there was no information on the thing. It never existed. My mind fabricated it to fill the holes they put in my mind. It''s hiding something. They are hiding something." I whispered harshly. "But first, we need to get out of here."

 Chapter 12

    I could feel my heartbeat in my ears. Suddenly everything I knew was tossed into the air again, just like when my eyes had been opened to this world of myth and magic. But now there was subterfuge. Some dark machinations specifically planned against me.


    But why me?


    As I moved quickly back to my dorm room, with Kas close on my heels, I wondered, at what point, had I crossed the Order of Vigilance for them to take such an interest in my life. And why they had so throughly destroyed it.


    I kept trying to think back, to recall some memory about having pissed someone from this organization off. Had it been Pendragon? Had this been some elaborate set up for me hounding the Cathedral for years? Doubtful, I thought. He had seemed genuine in his desire to help me, and to defend his own. And unlike the Citadel here in London, the Cathedral in Toronto didn''t appear to be anywhere near as well funded or protected.


    "John, you have to tell me what the plan is." Kas whispered loudly, stomping along behind me in her big leather boots.


    "Right now, I just need to pack my stuff, and you''re going to use your keycard to get us out of here. We''ll go back to the Old World train station, and go back to Toronto. Then, I''m gonna start asking some questions of the people in my life." I grunted, moving briskly. I eyed every since Order member I passed in the hallways, but most of them had their heads down, looking at tablets.


    "We can''t just leave. Someone will notice the keycard swipes." She said, but I ignored her. We rounded a corner and she grabbed my shoulder, and with surprising strength, pinned me to the wall.


    "John, stop." Kas whispered, closer to my ear now. I tried to struggle against her, but he held me there.


    "If what you say is true, and what you think is happening is actually happening, then you are already being watched. They know what you are doing." She continued. My eyes widened, but I had known it somewhere deep down.


    "What do you suggest?" I hissed, frustrated, but not with her. I stared up at the tall woman and her ice-colored eyes; they pleaded with me to stop.


    "Continue going on about your business here as usual. Act like you didn''t just discover something deep and disturbing. Pretend like this place and these people didn''t take everything from you." She said sadly.


    There it was again, something she carried deep within. Something that this place did to her. I could see the pain she carried, every time her past was brought up. Everytime Lancelot walked by.


    "Assume that everyone you''ve ever know has lied to you. The Order has its hands in everything, and if you are truly tangled up in all this, then your best bet is to pretend it doesn''t get to you until you have the power to change your situation." Kas continued.


    "Even Nadia?" I asked, suddenly thinking to the only familiar friend I had through the last few years. Kas frowned.


    "Sure, probably even her too." She responded. It was silly of me to expect her to know who I was talking about, but the revelation had shaken me, and the words escaped my mouth.


    "Even people you trusted the most, like family, could turn on you if the Order pushed the right buttons." She said, her voice distant now. I realized she was looking passed me. In that moment, I wondered why, above all else, I continued to trust her.


    It had to have been the look in her eyes. A look that I saw too often in the mirror. A tortured soldier.


    Part of me wanted to hug her. To let her know that everything was going to be okay. It was like I had forgotten it was my world that was falling apart. I felt bad for whatever it was that the Order of Vigilance had put this woman through.


    Someone came down the hallway and Kas let go of me, putting her arm against the wall instead of my chest. She let out a very fake, very dry laugh. I nodded and played along as another Order drone walked passed, head down, tablet in hand.


    "Are they all like that?" I asked.


    "Unless they are the ones trained to kill, pretty much." She chuckled.


    It was like the very emotional moment we just shared had vanished into thin air. She was back to her normal self.


    "Okay, so if we aren''t leaving, what do we do?" I asked.


    "We go do what we''d normally be doing. We don''t want to draw attention." She said, looking around the corner again.


    ~*~


    Vance swung much harder now, his sword smashing into my shield as I brought it up quickly. He had gone with a two-handed broadsword today, and handed me a sword and shield. I hadn''t really become proficient with any particular melee weapon yet, but I had a well rounded knowledge of quite a few different types now.


    I found that the Citadel did, in fact, have a shooting range, and I had taken to venting my frustrations there, so I could focus more here, training with Vance.


    His next swing came really low and I leap over it. He tried to bring it up after the sweep, but I parried down and away. When I landed, he had already brought the broadsword back around to rest on his shoulder. Vance smiled at me.


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    "You''re doing much better, old man." He taunted. He was trying to get me angry so I would slip up. I had noticed the pattern in our training sessions; any time I would improve, he would press me with taunts and insults. It was an effective way to help me train both phyiscally and mentally.


    I didn''t yet know what an Order agent would experience in the field, but I assumed psychological warfare was just as important as knowing how to kill someone with a magic sword.


    When I didn''t respond to his taunt, he nodded and charged in with the heavy blade. I knelt down and brought my shield up and over my head, guiding his broadsword over me, and making him over extend. I drove the point of my sword into his exposed abdomen, and stopped as I knicked him.


    "Well done." He said, looking down. He appeared to be shocked, but I looked up at him triumphantly as we held out pose.


    "Not so bad for an old man." I told him. We shared a brief laugh, before moving to put our training weapons away. We racked our swords and I turned to Vance.


    "I know I''m not part of any of the teams that are training to be Chosen, so do you have any idea what the Order wants with me?" I asked casually. Vance leaned against the door frame of the garage-like opening.


    "I know you''re a special assignment from the Progenitor. They asked me to specifically train you one on one and report back daily, which is almost unheard of as assessments go." He said shrugging. I moved to lean on the wall next to him.


    "What have you been telling them about me?" I asked, half joking.


    "Same thing I tell you. You''ve taken to this very quickly. Quicker than Legacies who have been training in the Order their whole lives. Must come from your background as military and police." He chuckled, before slapping me on the back and moving away.


    "I''m gonna meet the team in the sauna, you wanna come?" He offered. I shook my head.


    "I''ve got some other things I wanna take care of." I said, vaguely. Vance left it at that, nodded, and walked away.


    My eyes wandered back to the training weapons. I needed to find where they stashed the real things. Kas had told me something about a Vault, but I was unsure where to find it, or how I was going to even get in. The keycard they had given me only gave me very basic access. Something called ''The Vault'' had to be under heavier lock and key than I had access to.


    Back in my dorm, I had my hand gun, but if I had to fight my way out of the Citadel, filled with trained killers who had magic Artifacts, I felt I might be at a disadvantage. Kas had made it clear that I could trust no one, not even Vance. But I inexplicably trusted her; she had become like my partner, how Nadia had been back on the force.


    As I thought about Nadia, my heart sank. She had been my best, and in some cases, only friend. If she had been in on whatever scheme the Order of Vigilance had hatched around me, it would break my heart. I regretted not leaving. I wanted to run back to Toronto and confront every single person that I had suspected of betraying me. But in the end, it mattered more that I find out what had happened to me.


    I knew the police and other agencies were being paid off to turn a blind eye or mislead the public, and even their own officers. But something had been done to me. They had manufactured this monster inside me with pills and stress. They had constantly watched me spiral, telling me I was crazy, that my narrative was wrong. But I knew something happened to me on Partridge Island, and it had happened again when I saw The Guilt murdered my wife and son and took my daughter.


    I stopped in the middle of the large, empty gymnasium. I was suddenly aware of how alone I was, and a shiver jumped up my spine. But as I mulled over my circumstances, a horrifying realization came to me. I didn''t know me children''s names. Had I forgotten such a simple thing in my grief? Had my mind pushed out the memory aside from.the photograph back in my bedroom?


    Had the Order taken that from me? Had The Guilt? I knew my wife''s name was Diane, because I had heard Nadia say it out loud. I said it out loud in that moment, over and over, desperately clinging to each letter in her name.


    "Diane, Diane, Diane..." I muttered into the emptiness.The gymnasium grew colder. Almost cold enough that I thought I saw my breath. I couldn''t tell if the lights in the gym were dimming, or if my vision was darkening. I looked around, expecting something to be after me. Something to pop out and hurt me. I strained my ears to listen for the chittering sound of The Guilt''s teeth.


    But nothing. Just cold and dark. When I moved again, the lights in the gym brightened, and I sighed heavily. When I felt the heater kick on again, I felt foolish.


    "What have they done to me?" I wondered.


    I walked out of the gymnasium and looked around the halls. I was going to need to get my hands on one of those tablets, but I had no idea how I was gonna seperate it from one of those tech-heads. I leaned against a wall in a hallway with many doors, and watched people go in and out for a while. It remimded me of an ant colony. Every drone had a purpose, each performing a job, but in the grand scheme, they all meant nothing to those who ruled them.


    As I watched, I noticed one guy with a tablet enter the men''s room. I rolled my eyes.


    "Of course." I whispered as I followed him in.


    I rounded the corner and luckily the guy was standing at the urinal, his tablet resting on the edge of the long row of sinks. He didn''t turn when I entered behind him, and as I walked passed, I pretended to open and close a stall door, to not raise suspicion. When he finished his business, I walked up behind him and got my arm around his neck.


    "I''m really sorry about this." I whispered as he struggled. He tried to scream out, but I flexed my bicep as I dragged him to the ground. After a minute, he was out. I let go and looked around, trying to figure out what to do next.


    I grabbed the tablet off the sink, stuck it in the back of my pants, and began dragging the unconcious man into the last stall. I propped him up on the seat of the toilet, and leaned his head gently against the wall. I grimaced at him as I left.


    I quickly made my way out and back down the halls to the dormitory. I flicked through the tablet, opening and closing apps, trying to find something that looked familiar.


    It had been explained to me much earlier that the Order used its own closed network, and apparently, their own apps as well. Someone had been designing duplicate apps to run like the one the public has, but for the Order''s network. There was even a dating app on the thing.


    I found a introductory program for initiates that contained a map of the Citadel. I typed in ''The Vault'' and found where it was. By the time I got to my room, I had found a bunch of new and interesting locations, and a database much like The Bestiary. I was beginning to understand why so many of these guys had their heads stuck in these things; it was an endless source of knowledge.


    Another thing I had discovered early on, was that phones were disabled down here unless they were attached to the Order''s network. My cell had become a useless brick when I came down here weeks ago, and I hadn''t bothered to go back to it since. I wondered how many missed calls I had. How many people actually cared that I had just left in the night and disappeared? Had Nadia kicked my door in again to look for me?


    With the tablet in hand, I had access to information without making people suspicious of my questions. The next step was getting to The Vault and finding myself a weapon. Kas had warned me it wouldn''t be that simple, so I was going to need her help.


    I threw the tablet on my bed, and changed out of my sweats. I moved to the bathroom and turned on the shower. After I got ready, I was gonna start putting things in motion, and I was going to get the truth.


    A rattling sound made me turn around quickly, and suddenly, I had a searing pain in my skull.


    "Hello Detective." I heard Lancelot say before I hit the ground and blacked out.

 Chapter 13

    The only thing consistent was the burning pain in my skull. I remembered flashes of light rolling across the ceiling, as I looked up. Faces looked back down at me, blurry and distorted. I could hear talking, but it sounded like ringing in my ears. I went to lift my arms, but they wouldn''t budge. Every time the panic set in, the darkness followed.


    The next time I gained conciousness, the world was still blurred. I was on my back, looking up. Turning my head from side to side was difficult, but I strained to get a better grasp of my surroundings. I could make out the shapes of glass canisters, stainless steel objects and computer screens. It reminded me of the processing areas in an MRI room, mixed with an operating theatre where surgeries could be observed. Much to my dismay, my vision didn''t correct well enough for me to make out details. Trying to move my arms and legs revealed that I was bound to whatever I was laying on.


    I tried to recall what had happened to get me here. I remembered stealing the tablet and heading to my room. I remembered searching for The Vault. I went to take a shower and then...


    Lancelot had hit me with something, knocking me unconcious. They had found out about me, or at least had been suspicious enough to guess I was on the right track. Which meant I wasn''t crazy, I hoped.


    I heard voices again, and tried to turn my head to the side. They felt familiar, but I couldn''t be sure. Someone came over and placed something on my arm that felt like a blood pressure cuff. I tried to struggle against it, but it was no use.


    "Where am I? What''s happening?" I asked, my voice sounding garbled in my own ears. Someone responded, but I couldn''t understand. Someone else came and pulled out my eye lids, shining a light in my eyes. I growled and struggled against them, trying to turn my head. It was followed by someone snapping their fingers next to my ears. When they were satisfied, they said something and walked away.


    My heart was racing, the stress of it all causing nausea to well up inside me. I tried to hold it down, knowing I couldn''t fully turn my head and vomitting while on my back like this could prove fatal. I took a few steadying breaths instead.


    Slowly, my vision began to return. I could see the glass canisters were actually some kind of pod, each filled with some kind of opaque green fluid. There were several computer monitors displaying biometrics, as well as CCTV feeds. The stainless steel tray beside me was covered in medical instruments. In fact, most of the room was full of medical equipment that made the room look like some kind of secret lab.


    "Maybe you hit him too hard. He has a concussion." I heard Victor Frankenstein say. I watched a Lancelot waved nonchalantly, like it didn''t matter.


    "What are you doing to me?" I asked. The two of them both looked over at me. Victor wore a sympathetic, sad smile on his scarred face. Lancelot looked like I had offended him simply by existing.


    "You''ve become a major pain in the Order''s ass Detective." The word ''detective'' seemed to drip venom when Lancelot spoke it. "We tried to push you away, and you just pushed back harder. Then we took you in and showed you what you wanted, even healed your disability. And you repay us by sticking your nose where it shouldn''t be."


    "Nature of the job." I shot back, struggling against my restraints. Lancelot raised an eyebrow and smirked.


    "I suppose it is. And look where it has gotten you." He gestured to the table I was strapped to.


    "I know you fabricated my memories. I know The Guilt isn''t real. You drugged me and paid everyone to tell me I was crazy." I accused. Victor and Lancelot looked at each other quizzically. Victor shrugged.


    "What are you on about?" Lancelot asked, coming to stand beside the table.


    "I know what you guys did to me." I snarled. Lancelot stared at me like he was trying to see what was going on in my skull.


    "Walk me through what exactly you think was done to you...by me?" He asked.


    "Well, maybe not you, but the Order of Vigilance." I said, realizing suddenly how crazy it all sounded out loud.


    "On Partridge Island, while I was in the military, we went to shut down a secret Nazi base. When we got there, I discovered they were experimenting on monsters. And I don''t think it was Nazis. I think it was you guys. Someone unleashed so weird grey tentacled monster that killed my team. I barely made it out alive. That same creature tracked me down and killed my wife and son, and took my daughter. But I think the monster is a block in my memory for something else. It kept showing up to torment me, until I stopped taking my pills. Pills that I was put on by the police force psychiatrist, who was being paid off by the Order to keep me off the trail of all this." I told him.


    Lancelot blinked at me, stunned. He turned to look at Victor.


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    "That doesn''t sound like it is out of the realm of possibility for the Order." Victor stated. Lancelot turned back to me.


    "You think you''re important enough to be the center of some great conspiracy? Why would the Order pay that kind of money to keep you away and then torment you?" He asked. I opened my mouth to speak and froze.


    "Well, I must have been on to something. I must have seen something at Partridge Island that I wasn''t supposed to." I told him. I felt like I was trying to convince myself and not just him.


    "I don''t know of any operation at Partridge Island. I''m a Progenitor, surely I would have been alerted to something like that. Especially if it involved monster experimentation." Lancelot said thoughtfully.


    "It was a long time ago." I responded. Lancelot chuckled to himself.


    "Do you have any idea how long I''ve been alive?" He asked. I stared at him incredulously.


    "Did you think Lancelot was a code name?" He laughed, and this time it was as genuine as it was condescending.


    "Maybe whoever is in charge of you forgot to tell you." I said back, grimacing. Lancelot walked away from the table and back to Victor''s side.


    "So maybe John is not the mole? Maybe it just lines up conveinently and we just let him go?" Victor asked, his sad eyes looking me over. Lancelot appeared to mull it over for a while.


    "He knows too much." He said coldly.


    "He is technically a member of the Order now. He knows exactly as much as he should." Victor told him, holding up a finger. Looking at the man without his lab coat on, I saw that he wasn''t just scarred on his face; he was covered in scars and stitch marks. It was like he had been the monster all along, put back together with parts from others. He appeared now, hunched and tired and desperate to be done with Lancelot, who had begun pacing, stroking his chin.


    "Fine." Lancelot snapped. "Untie him and let him go." Then he turned to me.


    "Let this be a warning to you, John Callum. If you step out of line, I will know. And stay away from The Vault. You aren''t a Chosen." He sneered, before storming off.


    When he had exited the lab, Victor moved quickly to untie me from the gurney. He kept shaking his head.


    "I apologize. Lancelot has been on edge. There is some sort of leak in our network. Someone is spilling information to the outside world, and the other Progenitors think it is coming from the Citadel. I imagine it is a scary thing to have looming over your head; the threat that someone could strip you of your immortality and hundreds of years would catch up to you all at once." He said quickly. It was like he was rambling anxiously. I didn''t quite understand what he meant by that. Could Lancelot be stripped of his immortality? Where all of these Progenitors immortal?


    I rubbed my wrists amd stretched my neck. Now that I was up, I looked around the room more, eyes wide. It very much looked like a super villains secret lab.


    "Is this where Lancelot does all his dirty work?" I asked, still kinda pissed off.


    "Heavens no." Victor said, moving to stand in front of one of the green opaque tubes. "This is my lab. Quite different from what Ms. Shelley had imagined. She would have loved to see my current works. How I miss her..." He trailed off, his fingers running down the tube in nostalgia. Victor snapped back to me quickly and shook his head again.


    "I would suggest staying off of Lancelot''s radar going forward, but I think that will be most difficult. You and Kas seem to be on the top of his shit list, so to speak." He said with a small chuckle.


    "What is his deal with Kas anyway?" I asked, getting off the gurney and trying to look into the tubes filled with liquid. Something was floating inside, but I couldn''t make out what. I tapped at the glass absently.


    "She hasn''t told you? I thought you two were close." Victor said sitting down at one of the computers and going over something I couldn''t make out.


    "I hadn''t asked. Seems personal." I told him. Every time I thought to bring it up, I could see the pain in her icy blue eyes, the hundred yard stare of someone who had lost something or someone. I felt her pain, and the last thing I wanted was to open old wounds.


    "It is indeed personal. Better for her to tell you than I." Victor said sadly. When he saw me tapping on the glass, he waved me away.


    "What was Lancelot going to do to me down here?" I was curious what fate I had just narrowly avoided by being oblivious to some other conspiracy. Victor shrugged, spinning his chair around and spreading his legs, getting comfortable.


    "Any number of things, honestly. I could have wiped your memory, simply killed you with a scalpel or chemicals. Used your body for science. Oh, you meant him. Lancelot would have probably monologued for thirty minutes before simply beheading you with his swords. He''s not very creative." Victor said, smiling. The seams of his lips seemed to stretch back too far, like they had been torn and stitched back together. It was the first time seeing him smile fully and it was disturbing.


    "I see." I muttered, straining against the unnerving thought of what I had just avoided. Lancelot would have subjected me to inhumane medical practise over a misunderstanding. And I still wasn''t any closer to my answers. I made my way across the room to the door, and then stopped.


    "Victor, you said earlier, it wasn''t outside the realm of possibility that the Order manufactured what''s happening to me. Do you have any idea why they would do that?" I asked, the question burning deep in my mind. I had to find out why. Why me?


    Victor tilted his head back and forth, mulling it over.


    "It could very well be like you said, you have seen and know too much. This lab on Partridge Island, you said they were doing experiments on monsters. Perhaps you need to go back there. It might jog your memory." He replied thoughtfully. He gave me his much-too-wide grin again. "Let me know if you do decide to go. I would like very much to see this lab up close. And I could use a holiday."


    That answer seemed like the obvious one. Just go back. But, by Canadian law, it was prohibited and I had been a man of the law. Or had it been a convenient excuse that I told myself, to avoid reliving the trauma of what happened there. At least if I went back this time, I had friends. I knew Kas would come and Victor had just volunteered. I wondered if Vance and his team would join me.


    I nodded at Victor as I tried to leave the room and slammed head first into the sealed doors.


    "Oh! Sorry, hang on." Victor cried out, jumping from his seat and scanning his keycard to unlock the door. The burning pain in my skull returned.

 Chapter 14

    "Hell yea, we''re in!" Vance said.


    "Fuck no we aren''t." Liliana shot back.


    We stood in the empty gymnasium, next to the pull-out bleachers. Vance had rallied his group of Chosen to my cause, but there was some push back.


    I figured Liliana would oppose. She didn''t like me for some weird reason. I couldn''t tell if it was because I was an older man, or if it was because she was jealous that I had met that Chase Morgan guy.


    The others looked between Vance and Liliana awkwardly as they continued to bicker. I stood there awkwardly while the fight turned from wasting resources and time, to a more personal attack on me.


    "Why don''t you just put it to a vote?" I suggested. Vance and Liliana both spun on me, glaring. I held up my hands defensively.


    "Actually, that''s a better idea." Vance said smuggly. "All in favor of helping John and going on a little field trip?"


    Vance raised his hand. There was some hesitation as the others looked at Liliana who was still glaring at me.


    The big guy, Landon, raised his hand. Liliana shot him a look but he shrugged at her. Eager to please Vance, Ashlee''s hand also raised. Vance smiled at the two of them and nodded at me.


    That just left Clinton, the quiet tattooed guy and Sky, the emo-vegan-femininst or whatever Vance had called her. Clint and Sky looked at each other and then back to Liliana.


    "Sorry Lili." Sky said, giving her a sheepish smile before raising her hand. Liliana rolled her eyes. Clint looked around from under his long hair hanging in front of his face and sighed, also raising his hand.


    "Well I guess that''s settled." Vance said cheerfully. He flashed Liliana a shit-eating grin before turning to me and clasping my shoulder.


    "We gotchu old man. You lead the way and my team has your back." He told me. I smiled at him.


    I had never felt so supported before; so full of community. Which says something after being in the military and the police force.


    "Thank you. I appreciate all of your support." I told them. There was a small combined noise of ''you''re welcomes'' and then we stood there, awkwardly.


    "So what''s the plan?" Sky asked, bouncing up and down. Watching her made me seasick.


    "Aside from getting to Partridge Island, I hadn''t thought about it that far." I told her and she stopped bouncing, mouthing ''oh''.


    "He doesn''t even have a plan!" Liliana exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air and spinning on Vance, who crossed his arms but was still smiling.


    "All good. Could you get Guardian Kas to secure transportation?" He asked me, ignoring Liliana who had wandered further into the gym and was ranting to herself, her voice echoing into the rafters.


    "I could ask her, yea. Couldn''t we just take the Old World trains?" I suggested. Ashlee shook her head.


    "Its one thing for Guardians and non-Order members to venture into Old World territory, but Chosen are generally disliked by monsters. Killing them is kind of our whole thing. That and stealing Artifacts that they''ve likely guarded for centuries." She told me.


    "We could see if the sleigh is available in The Vault?" Landon offered. Sky cocked her head and laughed at him, her multi-colored pigtails flopping around.


    "You know damn well it won''t be. That Orion kid always has it." She chuckled. Landon hung his head and sighed.


    "Yea, you''re right." He said, dejected. Vance smiled at the big guy. Apparently he had always wanted to use Santa''s Sleigh on a mission, but it was never available to use. The concept itself was a bit ridiculous, but wasn''t the most unbelievable thing I''d heard in the last few months.


    "Could we maybe get a magic boat?" Sky asked the group. Vance mulled it over.


    "It would have to be a damn fast boat if we wanted to get from here to Canada in a reasonable amount of time." He told her.


    I watched as the gears began turning amongst the group, as they all started shouting ideas at each other. I snuck out, having achieved my goal in recruiting them. Now I had to go tell Kas.


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    ~*~


    "I''m surprised." Kas said, throwing together a travelling pack on her bed. Her room was mostly black and purple. She had covered the room with all manner of witchy paraphenalia. She definitely had an aesthetic she was going for.


    "Why? Vance has been helpful since I met him. A bit annoying, but helpful enough." I told her. She shook her head and stared at me.


    "Did you forget the conspiracy you were unravelling, so soon? We established we couldn''t trust anyone else, and you plan to bring the Citadel''s Chosen and Victor, who are likely people we can''t trust. In case you forgot." She said, grimacing.


    "I didn''t forget. I''m choosing to utilize the resources I have. Besides, if any of them are in on it, we''ll find out when we get there, won''t we?" I said, hoping that wouldn''t be the case.


    I had grown to like Vance and his team. Victor, although strange, was also a great person. I had hoped that it wouldn''t come down to having to face off against any of them. Especially since I didn''t have any kind of magical weaponary. Yet.


    "Did you figure out about the ''other thing''?" I asked, looking around the room suspiciously. Kas nodded quickly, and finished packing her bag.


    "I don''t know if it will work with you and me, but I think it''ll be worth a shot." She told me. Kas slung her bag over her shoulder and picked her massive crossbow up off bed. She looked much the same now as when I first met her; imposingly tall black boots, her sleeveless duster and massive silver crossbow. She had her long white hair up in a ponytail, and her icy eyes looked at me with determination.


    "What are you staring at?" She chuckled nervously. Any kind of prolonged eye contact or even awkward silence made Kas uncomfortable. She always seemed to be anxious about something, watching people to see if they were watching her.


    "I gotta ask..." I started.


    "Please don''t." She said softly, looking away from me. I was startled by her response. I frowned but she kept looking at the floor.


    "Are you sure? Something is very clearly up between you and the Order. Between you and Lancelot." I said, trying my best to sound fatherly and reassuring.


    "John, I don''t want to do this now." She shifted back and forth on her feet, which suddenly made the tall, muscular woman seem very small.


    "I need to know what''s going on." I told her. I needed to know I could trust her too, which meant no more secrets.


    "It''s a long story..." Kas said, her voice becoming small. She sat on the corner of the bed and the crossbow suddenly looked very heavy in her hands. I sat next to her on the bed and put my hand on her shoulder, giving her a pat.


    "I''ve got time to listen." I said softly. Kas looked at me, and I could tell she was holding back tears. I felt bad pushing.


    "My family is very prestigious. We come from a long line of monster hunters. Everything we have ever had was passed down from father to son for centuries, keeping the family name and the honor that it held." Kas began to explain.


    "My family has always been part of the Order; even though my oldest ancestor and one of the Progenitors were enemies. We were often sought out to hunt and kill monsters and enemies of the Order that were particularly hard to find. I was meant to carry on my family''s name. I was to be the glory of my bloodline, until I had a son of my own to pass it on to." Her voice was low, and filled with pain as she spoke. I could see the single tear that had brimmed over her eyelid and escaped down her cheek.


    "I never felt right growing up. I never felt at home, never felt comfortable. It was like my skin was wrong. Like I was wearing a suit of make-believe, pretending to be what my father wanted me to be. But no one would listen when I cried for help. So, I did what was expected of me; I studied and trained hard, became a Chosen, and carried my father''s name. My mother used to try and play matchmaker; she wanted me to have the perfect partner. I never liked any of them."


    I could feel the emotion roiling in her voice; a desperate mixture of pain and anger. She was crying now, but only tears. She didn''t sob or heave. Just a slow trickle of tears down her soft cheeks.


    "After I had worked enough missions and saved up enough money, I left. I went across the world, looking for someone to help me feel right in my body. I had a bunch surgeries..." She stopped, becoming rigid. She refused to look at me.


    "I had a bunch of surgeries, so I could try and feel like myself; like my body was mine. But they didn''t go so well." Her voice was almost a whisper. She stared straight ahead as the stream of tears became a waterfall.


    "When I returned seeking help, my family disowned me. They said I had disgraced and dishonored our bloodline. That I had ruined the entire future of our clan. They made me drop my last name and cut ties with me entirely. The Order was still accepting of me, but my father pulled enough strings to have Lancelot strip me of my Artifact and my title of Chosen. It was actually Victor who helped me get the body that I wanted." She said, taking a deep breath.


    "He let me tell him exactly what I felt and how I wanted to look and he made me exactly like that. Fixed everything." She finished.


    Kas turned to face me, slowly and hesitantly. She was expecting to see disgust or rejection, but I had actually started crying myself.


    "Jesus Kas, I''m so sorry." I said. Kas shrugged.


    "It''s been this way for a long time now. Lancelot won''t let me live it down, that''s why he still refers to me by my dead name." She told me.


    "Dead name?" I asked, having never heard the term before.


    "The name of the person I used to be." She stated simply. I nodded my understanding.


    I couldn''t help but look over the woman in a new light. I knew she was carrying pain; like myself, she was a veteran of wars big and small. She had seen horrors, lost people. But the emotional and mental battlefield she had been on for so many years was scattered with people who were supposed to love her unconditionally. People who had failed her, not the other way around.


    Before I knew what I was doing, I gathered the woman up in a hug, pulling her head into my shoulder. Kas resisted at first, but when I held her there, she began sobbing heavily into my shoulder. I cried with her.


    We sat like that for a long time.