Secrets and Lies

There was no sense of time as I continued to fall deeper and deeper into that darkness.

It could have been minutes, or it might have been hours. The only thing keeping me from panic was the overwhelming weariness. I was literally too tired to be scared, too tired to even think. I just kept falling for what seemed like days, until suddenly I hit the bottom.

My whole body jolted as my eyes snapped open, and I found myself sitting in a windowless interrogation room. That first look at my surroundings resulted in an initial wave of fear, but I closed my eyes and took a couple deep breaths to try and force myself to stay calm. Then I opened my eyes again, to take stock of my current situation.

The first thing I noticed was I'd been bound to a chair. It was solid, all-metal construction, and not terribly comfortable. My wrists were zip-tied to the chair's arms, and my ankles were secured to the legs. The chair itself was bolted to the floor, so I wasn't going anywhere on my own.

Next I realized my shoes and socks were missing, as were my jacket and hoodie. That left me in my leggings and t-shirt, and I had no doubt I'd been thoroughly searched while I was unconscious.

Before me was a sturdy-looking metal table, and on the other side of that was another chair. Although that one looked more comfortable. Behind that was the only door, which appeared to be fairly solid. The walls were a typical off-white industrial look, the floor was light grey linoleum, and the ceiling consisted of drop-tiles, with a fluorescent setting in the middle. That provided the room with harsh but even lighting.

I twisted as best I could in my seat to look back over my shoulder, half-expecting to find a two-way mirror behind me. The wall was blank though, so whoever set this up was monitoring me some other way. I hadn't noted any indication of cameras or other monitoring devices, but that just meant they were concealed.

Finally I turned my attention back to the one other detail, something I'd been ignoring since that first wave of panic. Avoiding it wasn't going to help me though, so I forced myself to take a closer look.

At the end of the table to my left sat a metal tray, the sort of thing you'd see in a TV medical drama. On the tray was a folded blue cloth, and ontop of that rested an eclectic array of items.

The first few were obviously unpleasant. There was a scalpel, what looked like a hunter's skinning knife, a pair of surgical forceps, and a small all-metal hammer. The rest of the tray's contents were a lot stranger, but just as worrisome.

There were three collars, one velvet, one leather, and one metal. The velvet one seemed more like a choker one might pair with a little black dress, while the leather one almost looked like something you'd find at the local pet store. The metal one appeared to be a polished steel ring, with a hinge on one side and a latch on the other.

Next were a trio of what looked like fantasy magic wands. One made of turned wood, one glass, and one metal. Beside them were an array of crystals, like various colours of quartz. And finally there were two rings, one appeared to be a plain gold band while the other looked almost like an engagement ring, with a big sparkly diamond setting.

I ended up forcing down another little wave of panic as I considered the implications. Despite most of the items looking like cosplay accessories, it seemed obvious they were meant to be implements for 'extracting information' as Phoebe put it.

Even the seemingly innocuous objects worried me. Knowing that magic and the supernatural were real, and that there was more out there than the two safe spells released to the public, I had to fight to keep my imagination from getting carried away. Especially considering the way they'd knocked me out. The more I thought about that the more certain I was that they'd used magic somehow. Perhaps with one of those wands on the tray.

At least a few minutes passed while I sat there contemplating those unpleasant thoughts, before something finally happened. At first it was just some very faint beeping noises, from the direction of that door across from me. Then it unlocked, and I realized the beeps were probably from an electronic keypad.

The door swung open, and in walked a tall smartly-dressed gentleman in his mid-forties. And as soon as I saw him I knew why I was there. It was the Silent Man I'd encountered in Chief Superintendent Williams' office back at the Met, the guy who'd tried to recruit me to join his mysterious team.

"Hello again Sharpe," he stated in a cool voice as he closed the door behind him. He settled into the chair opposite me, then finally looked me over with the same sort of expression one might have when discovering gum stuck to the sole of their shoe.

"I can't say I'm surprised you decided to turn down my offer," he stated, "But I am disappointed. You've chosen poorly Sharpe, you've thrown in with the wrong side."

I did my best to stay calm and put on a brave face. I was almost positive he worked with the Security Service, which meant this was a government operation. And that in turn meant there was a slim chance this was all just scare tactics.

"Actually I'm pretty sure I picked the right side," I responded with as much confidence as I could muster. "Especially considering my coworkers don't hurt or threaten innocent people. And they certainly don't whisk people away for secret illegal interrogations."

Silent Man looked almost amused as he asked, "Are you so sure about that? Do you even know who you're working for? Your boss is at the top of almost every most-wanted list on Earth."

A little anger slipped into my voice as I added, "If you're any good at your job you'll know we're trying to keep people safe. As opposed to whatever the hell you think you're doing."

"As for my boss I assume he's already in your custody," I added. "That's why he and Martin disappeared, right? You picked them up yesterday."

"I'm not talking about Owen Powell," my captor responded smoothly. He ignored my other comments and continued, "I'm referring to your 'Miss Talbot'. That was an interesting ebook we found on your phone, by the way. That and the rather fetching necklace you were wearing will both be put to good use."

I couldn't help glancing down at myself as I realized the amulet was gone. Meanwhile Mr. Silent Man continued his smug monologue, although by that point I realized he no longer fit the 'silent man' name I'd given him.

"You're familiar with the Brotherhood of Diomedes, yes?" he asked. His question was clearly rhetorical though as he continued, "We'd been aware of them for some time. In fact there was something of a gentleman's agreement in place, between their leaders and certain representatives within my organization."

He gestured towards that tray of items on the side of the table as he added, "From time to time the Brotherhood would even loan us some of their...more esoteric tools. For a fee, of course. Even magical secret societies need a positive cash flow. It was fortunate these items happened to be in our possession when the Brotherhood fell last year."

Hearing that set my heart racing again. I didn't even know that much about the brotherhood, but based on what little I'd gleaned from Owen and Phoebe I could only assume the things on that tray were especially nasty.

"Back on the subject of your boss," Silent Man stated as he focused on me again. His voice took on a colder tone as he continued, "I know you've corresponded with Miss Talbot, I've seen the evidence on your phone. Now you're going to help me catch her."

I tried to act brave again as I scoffed, "First off I don't know anything about her. I didn't even know what to call her until two days ago, and I still I don't know her full name, just that she's 'Miss Talbot'. I've yet to even meet the woman."

"And second off, you're dreaming if you think I'd lift a finger to help you," I added firmly.

My captor had a sort of smug, self-assured smile on his face as he responded calmly, "Oh I'm not asking for your cooperation Sharpe. That time is long past. You had the chance to join my team, you could have been one of us. Now you're going to do what I say, whether you want to or not."

"Although," he added after a lingering glance at some of the items on that tray, "The question of what you want is rather more malleable than you might like to believe. With the tools I have at hand it'll be easy enough to change your mind. About a great many things."

Then he locked eyes with me and stated coldly, "In fact I'm fairly confident I can convince you to use that spell again at the next full moon. Seeing as you'll be working for me from now on, we may as well correct some of your past mistakes."

Hearing that sent another wave of panic through me, and this time it was a lot harder to keep the fear under control. I was definitely sweating, and I felt a cold weight in my gut as I started pulling harder at the zip-ties holding me to the chair. All that did though was leave my wrists and ankles sore.

"I see you're beginning to appreciate just how desperate your situation really is," he commented with another smug little smile. "Now let's get started, shall we?"

He'd just reached over to that tray of magical implements when the door suddenly opened behind him. His expression hardened and without looking he stated firmly, "I left clear instructions that I was not to be disturbed."

Unlike my captor I had a clear view of the doorway, and despite my desperate hope for a friendly face like Phoebe or Owen, it was another stranger standing there. Not another man in a dark suit though. Instead I found myself staring at a young teenaged girl.

She couldn't have been more than about sixteen, with sunny blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and fair skin. She was dressed casual like me, in a long dark tunic-style top and a pair of black leggings. Despite her rather harmless appearance she had a dark frown on her face, and her ire appeared to be directed at the man seated across from me.

"From what I've seen Benjamin you're plenty disturbed already," the girl stated in a North-American accent, as she pulled the door closed behind her.

My captor twisted in his chair, then sprang to his feet and he demanded, "Who the hell are you?! How did you get in here?!"

The girl ignored him as she looked over at me and apologized, "Sorry I'm late. And sorry we had to meet under these circumstances."

"Phoebe saw these guys grab you," she added. "She called Grace, and Grace contacted me."

Hearing that, my captor swore under his breath as he grabbed one of the wands from that tray. At the same time there was a flare of pastel purple light in the teen's eyes, and Silent Man stopped. As in he became completely motionless, like a video on pause. There were no little involuntary muscle movements, even his eyes seemed frozen. As near as I could tell he wasn't even breathing anymore.

"What..." I gasped. "What did you do to him? Is he dead?"

"And who are you? How did you find me?" I added.

The girl grimaced, "Right. Introductions. Hi there, I'm Cindy."

"Also known as Miss Talbot?" she added when she saw my blank stare. "I'm the one who started LIES, I hired Owen and Grace and got them to set the rest of it up."

My eyes widened in shock, as I looked her up and down again. And that's when I realized I'd been freed from the chair, at some point those zip-ties simply vanished without a trace.

I quickly got to my feet and took a couple nervous steps to my right, to put a little more space between myself and that tray of magical implements. I tried not to sound too uneasy as I responded, "Uh, hello Miss Talbot. Thank you very much for the timely rescue."

"Perhaps you could maybe fill me in on a few things?" I added as I glanced at the still-frozen Silent Man. "Like maybe some 'how?' and a bit of 'why?'. I'd also appreciate a little more 'who?' and a lot more 'what?' while we're at it."

A wry grin settled on the teen's face and she nodded, "Yeah of course! We'll go somewhere more comfy though, so we can talk in peace. I just gotta deal with this bozo first."

Before I could react her eyes flared with that lilac-coloured light again, and that tray of items all vanished without a trace. As did the wand Silent Man managed to grab before he'd frozen in place.

"What are you going to do with him?" I asked warily.

"Good question," my young boss responded with a frown. She gave the guy another dark look as she added, "You've been a very naughty boy, Benjamin. I'm a fan of ironic punishments, but you might be beyond redemption."

Her expression shifted to a scowl as she added, "Nothing makes me more unhappy than someone who tries to take away my gifts, or tries to use my spells to hurt people!"

Hearing that my eyes widened as I made the connection, "/Your/ spells? You're /that/ Cindy?! You created the spell that gave me my miracle transition?!"

"Sure," the girl replied with a shrug. "I'm glad you're happy. That's why I created that spell in the first place, to help trans people."

Her scowl returned as she looked to the still-frozen Silent Man and added angrily, "Except this asshole wanted to take it away from you. My gifts are not yours to take, Benjamin!"

She half-shouted that last part, and I couldn't help cringing slightly. Which felt odd in a way, there was nothing overtly threatening about this girl who looked young enough that she ought to have been in school. Yet I knew both Owen and Phoebe were intimidated by her. And according to my partner, Cindy was responsible for killing over sixty people in London last year.

With that in mind I nervously asked my boss, "You're not going to kill him, are you?"

Cindy glanced at me then sighed, "You know what he was going to do to you, right? He's done that before, you're not his first victim."

"He made it pretty clear what he had planned for me," I replied uneasily, "And I'm eternally grateful to you for stopping him. But that doesn't mean I want to see him killed for it. I may not be with the Met anymore, but I can't stand by and let you commit murder."

The teen watched me for a second or two then nodded, "Alright Trillium. I won't kill him, or his accomplices. I am going to make sure they'll never do this again though. So just gimme a minute."

"Ok Benjamin," she added as she glared at the frozen man. "You're a fan of this 'extraordinary rendition' crap, it's time you got a taste of your own medicine."

There was another flare of that pastel purple light in her eyes, then both she and my would-be captor simply vanished into thin air.

I blinked in surprise, but finding myself all alone I made my way around the table then tried the door. Fortunately it was still unlocked, and it opened to reveal the darkened interior of what appeared to be a typical barn. The floor was rough-hewn wood boards, with a thin layer of straw scattered overtop. The only lighting was what spilled out from the door I'd just emerged through, but that was enough to see the large exterior doors were all closed up tight. There was an open window high up along one wall though, and through that I could see the night sky, which told me I'd been out for some time.

Finally I noted that panel van I'd seen at the entrance to the carpark in Canterbury, it was now parked here in the barn alongside the small interrogation room. And looking back at that, from this side it was all exposed wooden studs and plywood sheets, with some wiring leading up to the overhead lighting. And like I figured there was an electronic keypad lock next to the door.

Unfortunately there was no sign of my shoes and socks, my hoodie, or my phone and that protective amulet. Or the keys to Phoebe's Grandland, and I knew she was going to be unhappy about that. On the other hand there was no sign of the other guys who'd grabbed me, which was a relief.

I made my way over to that panel van with the idea of getting myself out of there and back to Canterbury. The doors were all locked though, and there was no sign of any keys around, inside or outside the vehicle. Finally I headed to the nearest barn door. I quietly unlatched that, then carefully swung it open and got my first look at what lay outside.

The dark moonless sky made it hard to see much, but I was just able to make out a small farmhouse about a hundred meters away. And as my eyes adjusted to the darkness I noted the low rolling fields and hedgerows surrounding the barn.

Before I could decide what to do next everything suddenly seemed to spin, and the whole world faded away around me.