Trial of identity, p.21
Trial of Identity, page 21
I helped my Dad to get over to a safer area where he wouldn’t get hit from the chaotic fight occurring almost everywhere.
“I am so sorry this is all my fault.” I said, after finding a place where no was fighting.
“Are you kidding me? It’s because of you, I am still alive.” said Dad giving me a small smile.
“If it weren’t for me, then you wouldn’t be here in the first place.” I teased to lighten the atmosphere like my dad did for all those years whenever darkness loomed to consume us.
“No, you are wrong…if it weren’t you I wouldn’t be here alive. So technically you are right…I wouldn’t be on earth alive and breathing if it weren’t for you.” said Dad.
“How could you feel so relieved at a time like this?” I asked, surprised at the positiveness of my father at times like this.
“Because you are fine and that’s all that matters to me. Facing these shrewd people bravely on your own….do you think I really need any more reasons to not feel relieved?” asked Dad.
“I wouldn’t have been able to do this all by myself. He risked everything to help me.” I said as my dad realised, I was referring to James.
“Yeah, I know he is not that bad.” smiled Dad.
“Pretty lady... sorry to disturb your family time but we could use your help.” said Timmy appearing out of nowhere.
“Who is he?” asked Dad, with disdain evident in his tone.
“Good Guy.” I assured shortly to indicate that he was on our side.
“She isn’t going out there.” said Dad firmly to Tommy.
“Don’t fear Pretty lady’s father…your daughter has got some legendary aiming skills in fact she can be more violent than them, from what I have heard.” said Tommy handing me the familiar fingerless gloves.
“I need to help them.” I said to Dad, calmly. “Think about it, this way...we can go back home sooner. The sooner this ends, the better.”
“Are your men that incapable?” asked Dad to Tommy, still unconvinced.
“Ummm...ummm..they are little preoccupied and it would really help us to use a pair of eyes with good vision.” said Tommy, as if he was already uncomfortable around our presence and would be anywhere else if he had an alternative choice.
“If anything happens to her, I am going to find you and behead you.” said Dad, coldly.
“Dad!”
“Hush…I am speaking here,” said Dad ignoring my protest. “So, what do you say? Can you guarantee me this?” he asked Tommy
“That won’t be necessary, Sir. She will be back in time, safe and sound.” said Tommy, gulping unsure of his boastful assurance.
“Come back within 15 minutes.” said Dad, “Not a second later than that”
“Deal.” I said, hugging him tightly before following Tommy.
“Let’s just hope for my sake that James wasn’t overestimating your skills.” said Tommy more to himself. I chuckled when I heard him murmur “I don’t want to lose my head.”
I shot a dart at the cult member running towards Tommy from his right as he dodged a punch from the cult member lunging him from the front. “He wasn’t overestimating.” said Tommy before head butting the Cult member who tried to punch him and turning on his heels to grab the back of his arm as he swiftly shoved his elbow against the shoulder joint of the wailing man, who fell on his knees clutching his dislocated shoulder in pain. Under normal circumstances, my feet would have remained frozen due to the actions unfolding in front of me, but I could barely my animalistic side at bay from taking over my human side. Two of the men removed their jackets and rushed towards as both separated and attempted to each of us one-on-one, I quickly grabbed him by his arm, manoeuvred myself behind him and snapped his arm backwards. The fallen Cult member yelled out in pain, as Tommy repeatedly kept kicking across the side of his partner’s torso. If it weren’t for the Trial’s distinct grey urban gear standing out against the white grounds, it would have been really difficult to differentiate between the Cult and the Trial, especially with people fighting around every corner.
Before either of us could get a chance to take a breath, another Cult member who must have picked up the dagger he was gripping, from one of the dropped gears by one of the Trial members, started brandishing the silver dagger at me as Tommy was busy circling around two cult members single handedly, toying with their psychological warfare and fending them off easily whenever they attacked her. He took several swipes at me but missed each time as I dodged each of his attacks to avoid due to his sloppy movements possibly cause of his exhaustion which made it easier to throw a roundhouse kick against his chin, he glared at me as he fell on his knee, clearly irritated.
But I was way past temper at this point, to think about the level of his irrational anger and immediately shoot his shoulder before turning around on my heels and shooting the both the guys being tackled by Tommy, with neuromuscular tranquillisers. He looked up at with his eyes shot open as wide as saucers.
I shrugged my shoulders not knowing how to react to that. We ran towards the main arena where most of the cult members were either knocked down unconscious or being captured by the Trial members who were holding them in captive by putting the inhibitor anklet around their ankles.
I shot another dart at the cult member approaching James from back while he was giving an electric shock to three of the cult members in front of him “I will admit it now, he was right.” said Tommy.
I shot as many darts as I could, at the cult members attacking us.
I heard the scream of a woman behind me, I turned around to see her fall down unconsciously at bright jolts of electricity sparkled at her fingertips.
“Now, we are even.” said James winking, retracting the wire wrapped around the back of the woman fallen, back to his glove. He walked towards me as I looked around to see that the fight had ended. “Are you alright?” He asked looking at the torn fabric of my jeans below my right knee, from earlier.
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that question?” I asked, as I watched him sigh and softly smile in response.
“Hey, we won the day. That’s all that matters.” said James. “You did it” he looked at me smiling genuinely.
I found myself smiling back at him happily without the trace of any other thought in my head.
“No, we did it.” I said, “I couldn’t have done this if you hadn’t believed in me, when I didn’t.”
Wow! His pupils are really round and alluringly blue, have they always been that blue? “That’s because I know you, so I had no second thoughts on what answer you would find to this dilemma.” said James
“Hey! You two! Stop staring at each other creepily and come and help me.” said Tommy, yelling at the top of his voice to break our trance.
“One of these days, I swear, I am going to beat up that bastard.” said James to himself before running over towards Tommy.
“This guy just won’t shut up about he is going to change the world... how he is the change the world doesn’t know that it deserves.” said Tommy tying up a bleeding Maxon Samuels, who was still unfazed by the turn of events. Well played, Miss Parker,” said Maxon Samuels turning his head back to address me
“Yeah, yeah…let’s going, Uncle.” said Tommy forcing Maxon Samuels head to face the front.
“I hope you will my little token of appreciation in acknowledgement of your intelligence.” He smiled cynically with blood oozing out from his torn gums. “Have a lovely time with your Dad.” He sneered, I could still hear Maxon Samuels saying, “I hope that during our next encounter, you will join my rank, Miss Parker to ignite the change of evolution this world needs. The Cult may have been defeated but our purpose will be fulfilled.”
“They have been established with that mindset since generations. The one who started all of this must have done this because he believed in that. I think this where our real battle begins. The cult isn’t a just a huge group of people who accept defeat just because their leader had been captured. They were just dethroned from the throne but like Maxon Samuels said, their purpose is the main source of threat. The other groups around the world associated with the cult are soon going to start a rampant rebellion.” said James, as a matter of fact.
“Rebellion?” I asked.
“At first, they will be confused on what to do without orders from the main base. But eventually they are going to rebel in anger over the capture of their leader and in determination to fulfil their agenda, but we should be ready for them since we know the technology they use to camouflage most of their bases.” said James, “Leaving all of that aside, I am extremely happy that my resignation will be approved.”
His mission…Oh yes!…his entire mission was to protect me from falling into the hands of the cult and now that it was accomplished...
“Have a lovely time with your Dad.” He said before Tommy dragged him away.
“Hey! You should see your father before he pops out of nowhere with a sword to behead me.” said Tommy, screaming.
James gave me a ‘What is he talking about?’ look, confused.
“Ignore him, he is scared over my Dad’s threat.” I said, with a small smile relieved that all of this over.
“Oh! I often ignore him…but he is right, you should meet your father now.” said James, chuckling freely for the first time.
“You aren’t coming along?”
“Not this time, I think both of you need some time alone besides I might get the courage to see him again after wrapping this up.” said James, with a warm lingering smile, as he swung his arms back and forth, at a glacial pace.
I nodded in agreement before walking over to the area where I asked Dad to stay. I didn’t believe the sight in front of me as I looked at my father’s lifeless body lying in a pool of blood against the bright white snowy ground, as his unmoving eyes remained frozen in horror.
IV
“Frustration is the harsh rainstorm in your complicated world, without an exit.”
21st December, 2154
“Miss Parker, is it true that the cult murdered your father?” asked one of them, as another flash snapped in front of my eyes.
“Miss Parker, why were you kidnapped by the cult?” asked another.
“Miss Parker, why did the cult kill your father?” asked another.
“Miss Parker, what’s the cult’s agenda behind killing a Hollywood star like your father?” asked another. I could practically predict the insensitive direct questions ringing through my ears from years of experience, even after their deaths, there was more concern about how their lives might be ruined instead of acknowledging their lives as individuals.
“Miss Parker, were you secretly working for the cult?”
“Miss Parker, did they kill your father because you betrayed them by exposing their identity to the world?” asked another one before I managed to walk into home followed by the Allyson family and James and his mother, after my father’s funeral.
“I will be in my room. Please feel free to go ahead have dinner and not wait for me, today.” I said, with a smile that I could barely manage, to everyone but mostly to Mr. and Mrs. Allyson and James’ mother. As I shut the door of my room, I could still hear the rest of the room arguing in the living room.
“Pearl, leave her alone…give her some time.” said Mrs. Allyson.
“But Mom, she has barely eaten anything for the past four days. At this rate she is going to continue starving if we don’t intervene.” said Pearl.
“I am with Pearl here, giving her space isn’t gonna work. We don’t know what might happen if we leave her like the last time, if she repeats it …this time?” said Edward, clearly in a state of frustration and concern.
“Then, we are going to do the same thing for her like her Dad did, the last time.” said Mrs. Allyson.
“Your mother is right, Edward. I understand that you are concerned about her, but we can’t imagine to comprehend the amount of pain she is in, right now.” said Mrs. Taylor, pacifying the situation along with the other mother figure in the room.
“You need to be patient and give her time, it’s not a joy ride to accept that you are an orphan.” said Mrs. Allyson.
“She hasn’t even shed a tear ever since she found her father in that state...” said James, in a much lower tone than others.
Two months after my mother’s death, I went to my father to tell him something. “I want to go and see her. I said, as he played with his food looking at the empty spot opposite him. He looked at me, surprised at my words.
“I will drive you…-”
“No, I want to go alone.”
“Kate, you don’t have to…”
“I know that she is in much less pain now so I understand Dad,… don’t worry I just want to go and see her and sense that feeling that she is a better place, now.” I said, with a tight lipped smile pursuing my lips, to avoid any leading questions
“Alright.” he smiled, with a confused tone with the sudden notification.
I knew it had been hard for both of us. Unlike my mother, Dad didn’t complete his college before making it big in the entertainment business, he ran away from his home to pursue acting. I think it was one of the main reasons why he always had happy go carefree personality and why my mother could never get angry at him. I remember the times when my mom used to jokingly criticise about how he always like a lost child whenever she yelled at him. He merely stayed by her side and acted as if everything was fine after she showed signs forgetting him. It was always amazing to see how he managed to make her laugh even when she felt scared at their closeness during the times she couldn’t recognise him. It was only after death he showed signs of how truly broken he was. I looked at the memorial, wondering whether to ask if she really is in a better place.
“Are you surprised to see me here?” I asked “Were you expecting me to come here?”
The silence hit me harder telling me that she truly is gone. “I have so much to tell you.” I said, wiping the tears rolling down my chin immediately. Without any more hesitation I started digging at the ground with my bare hands. I don’t care whichever state she was in, I am going to take her with me. “You know I didn’t mean it when I said I don’t think you are my mother when you didn’t recognise me? Huh? I just said that to trigger your memories. Huh? Come home with me.” I said as my fingernails started bleeding.
“Kate! Kate! STOP! What are you doing? STOP!
I ignored the voice and continued digging until the owner of the voice pulled me back by holding my arms from the back.
“LET ME GO!” I yelled trying to break from my Dad’s hold. I pushed him away by pushing him hard against his chest. “She is coming home with us!” I said before falling down on my knees and digging again
“Stop it, Kate.” He pleaded, trying to pull my hand. I flinched it away immediately as I looked at him dead in eye as I said. “I TOLD YOU, SHE IS COMING WITH US!”
Before I knew it I felt a slap across my face which made me stop actions in surprisement for my Dad had never hit me, before.
“Stop it please.” He said, using the advantage of my shocked state to remove my hands from the ground and dust it off.
“She has to come home with us and be with us where she belongs.” I said slowly, as he continued examining my hands.
“Look at what you have done to your hands” he said.
“She is gone. She really is gone.” I said, slowly, as he quietly patted my back without uttering a word.
That was the only time I had let myself loose sanity completely to my bianthromorphic side before my encounter with Maxon Samuels.
17th December, 2154
“Not this time, I think both of you need some time alone besides I might get the courage to see him again after wrapping this up.” said James. I merely gave a nod to signal a yes, before walking over to the place where I last saw him. I froze at the sight unfolding in front of me as I looked at my father’s lifeless body lying in a pool of blood contrasting the white snow covered ground surrounding it, as his unmoving eyes remained frozen in horror.
“No, no. NO!”
“What’s wrong? What happened to…Oh my God”. James stopped talking after running over, the moment he noticed me holding my father’s body on my lap and rechecking this pulse again and again hoping to get a different result than the same the next time. “Tommy sent one of the vans here. We need the members trained in paramedics now.” He said.
“Why? What…-” The moment Tommy looked in shock at Dad’s body, I carefully laid his head back on the ground, as the paramedics came to pick him up. I stormed towards the van where Tommy tied up Maxon Samuels, with my gloves stained completely in blood. I no longer cared about my completely unleashed rage of my bianthromorphic animalistic side. At this point I could care any less about rationality or consequences.
“Kate, wait, where are you going?” asked James, as I flung the doors of the van open.
“Did you like my small token?’ asked Maxon Samuels with a smirk looking at my shirt, half drenching in blood.
“You!” Without any hearing, I flung my fist a him and started punching his face as he continued laughing, “I told you…-”
“SHUT UP!” I yelled at him punching near his mouth to make him stop talking “-…some sacrifices are necessary for the cause of greater good.” he said, before I grabbed his collar.
“Then let me make your death another sacrifice for the sake of your so called greater purpose.” I said. I wanted to kill him. No, I was certainly going to kill him.
My blood boiled in anger, the ends of my nerves almost numb and my mind completely hazed.
“Stop! You can’t attack an anthromorph when he is wearing an inhibitor.” said Tommy.
“Thanks for your help but this doesn’t make me one of you. I don’t care about your rules.” I said, in fury.
“It’s not my rule. You could end up in jail if you continue hitting him. I am so sure you don’t want that to happen to you no matter how much he deserves it.” said Tommy, trying to reason with me.
