Out of the Frying Pan - Part Twelve

Or is that a fire I see before me?

Previously On - Laurent tried to convince Helen about her background. Failing that, he decided to take her prisoner and escape confinement.

The shock of the punch traveled up my arm. The attack was cruder than the ones I usually employed, but it worked just the same. She went flying out of her chair. The fae are often a frail looking bunch, but pound for pound we're stronger than mortals.

I was around the table and had her up in my arms in the blink of an eye. I opened the door into the drab little room where the police watched people sweat, had watched me sweat. Thankfully it was as empty as she claimed. Throwing her over one shoulder, I turned and closed the door. As I did, power flowed through my fingers and the mechanism fused.

I shifted her back around into a more comfortable situation and went out the second door, shouting. "That maniac has gone insane. He attacked Helen and then locked himself in the room." A couple of uniformed police ran past me and into the interrogation chamber.

A portly man, a few months away from death by coronary if my eyes were any judge, ran up. "Get her to the couch in the break room. We'll pull that slime out." He ran past me.

I walked a while and then took a few twists and turns, eventually coming to the front door. A female police officer stopped me. "What's wrong?"

"Helen passed out. I'm taking her to the physician's office."

She nodded and opened the door to me.

As I passed by I nodded and made eye contact. "You did not see us pass this way." The door swung shut behind me. Parked nearby on the street I saw the car that brought us to the station. I carried her to it and put her down, leaning up against the metal. She groaned.

"Sleep, my dear, sleep." I pushed hard with her mind and felt her momentarily resist. If I tried this too often with her or if she were completely hale I would have had no chance. I opened the door and stuffed her in. Soon I was around the other side. I sat behind the wheel and recognized that I had no key with which to start it and little information on how to drive.

With a moment's concentration I pulled the knowledge from the youth I killed the night before. My fingers danced under the steering wheel and soon we were merging into traffic. I hadn't been moving long when Helen again stirred. I let her awaken this time.

She did with a violent start, "What the fuck?"

I looked at her. "I'm taking you to the doctor. Smythe clocked you a good one and we want to make sure that you're okay."

She stared at me and rubbed her eyes. Then she looked at me again and squinted. "Bullshit. You're Smythe. You punched me. I'd return the favor but not when we're moving at highway speeds. I owe you one." She rubbed her jaw. "Maybe two." Her hand dipped into her jacket and produced the small revolver I knew was there. “I’ve got five in here and you’ve got two minutes to pull over before I pay you back with interest.”

The bullets wouldn’t hurt me, but I wanted to keep that bit of knowledge to myself. My astonishment at her so quickly recognizing me for who I was made feigning surprise at the quick draw skills on display easy. “Put that thing away. I’ll pull over. There’s no need for violence.”

She didn’t put it away, but she did point it away from my ribs. I checked the mirrors and took the next available exit. “You’re right. I am Laurence. Ask yourself this, though. If you see me for who I am, tell me how I was able to punch out a detective and waltz out of the police station in one piece. Add to that the fact that I had you slung over on my shoulder at the time.” The side road that we traversed was free of any onlookers. The only thing I saw for a mile in any direction were cracked concrete, sparse trees, and monoliths stretching up to the highway above.

Once I had it in park I locked eyes with her. “You see me for who I am. That’s a gift that no mortals have. I’ve been fooling them for centuries. I can’t fool you. Look at me and tell me that I’m lying.”

Small creases formed in the dark skin around her eyes. The lines stretched up to her forehead. She shook her head. “You’re telling the truth so far as I can see. You were right earlier. No one has ever been able to lie to me.” She winced. “Except Willy. I’ve always been able to see through the David Blaine crap.” She gestured at my ribs with the gun. “You could just be crazy though.”

“Let’s say that I am. Let’s say for the sake of argument that I’m nuts. That doesn’t change what I know. Someone is out to get you and your brother. The same responsible party played a role in my presence here. Something tragic is going to happen to me in three days if I don’t find him.” I didn’t know that finding the person would do any good, but I would at least mete out some pain before I had to go back. That was what Willy had summoned me for and I wouldn’t let it go to waste.

Helen put away her gun. “I try and take you back and you’re going to find a way out again aren’t you?”

I nodded. “I will. I want to help you. Let me do that.”

We heard the screech of tires at the same time. I looked back and saw a large black car - a sports utility vehicle according to my budding knowledge of this world - had braked hard behind us. There was nothing utilitarian about it. The tinted windows rolled down and several muzzles popped into view.

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