wRHG links:
Doctor David MacBeth
Zoey Thanatos
Stories:
Spoiler (Click to Show)
The quietude of his life ceased, however, when one of his Serpents – sworn servants of Nehushtan who worked for a common goal in varying capacities – gave him a call. The screen on his satellite linked smartphone showed that the call was sourced through the specialized network that all of his Serpents used to contact him. He scanned the perimeter of his roof top patio to make sure that no one was nearby, and then answered the phone.
“Speak.”
A voice on the other end spoke in a meticulous English with a think Indian accent. “I am a leading advisor for a disaster relief organization. We recently responded to what appeared to be a terrorist attack. It was, though, the work of a certain Zoe Thanatos, female, age 18.”
Dr. MacBeth picked up one of an assortment of canapes from a golden table beside his mahogany lounge chair and muched it languidly before responding. “Did you contact other pertinent Serpents to get relating information about this young lady?”
“Yes sir. Her track record is easily categorized as disobedient to Nehushtan, and quite possibly totally rebellious. She is driven by vengeance on a supernatural level, and possesses immense powers she cannot well control.”
David’s roaming eyes fell upon the faint traces of blood splatters from the assassin he had so recently dispatched upon this roof. “Why have I, The Head, been specifically contacted?”
“We attempted normal methods, but this is a difficult situation. Most of our contacts – governments, military groups, the drug cartel, terrorists, and the like – are too mainstream to be manipulated into fighting a being that is in the first place supernatural, and in the second seems to be only a young woman. Out of the organizations we could use for a target like this, two are already disobedient in their own right, and are not complying to our will. We did attempt to use the RHG, by orchestrating matters so that a powerful paladin sought her out, but he was annihilated. Since The Fixer has been only sporadically available at best as of late, you are now Nehushtan’s greatest manifestation of power.”
A slow grin crept across David’s face. “Give me all the information Nehushtan has obtained…”
The level of misery in Zoe’s heart was steadily rising. She was ashamed of her nature, yet at the same time proud. Her deeds were horrendous, but they were either justified, or entirely out of her control. Why did she do what she did not want to do?! Why?!
As she under the graceful stone bridge, the babbling stream that danced over the rocks in front of her counterpoised an irritating joy to her own inner conflict. A car rumbled overhead, but she paid it little mind. Just upstream, the splash of a kingfisher broke her reverie, cutting her eyes over to its perch on a bare limb, she considered the regal bird. Its striking colors were lent a royal hue by the rich gold of the late evening sun streaking through the slender branches of willows and maples. Farther in the distance, the pristine white upper branches of might sycamores glistened in the radiant light, attesting to a purity which she felt – at this moment – she could never obtain.
She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Despite the approaching summer, there was a chill in the air, at least where she sat on a little patch of dry sand with her back against old, cold stones. She spoke aloud to the lengthening shadows around her, frustration and pain laced through her voice.
“If only I could control these parts of myself, then I would be able to accomplish something…anything.”
“Perhaps you can.”
The sudden voice from behind her made her give a little cry of alarm and jump to her feet. She failed to get a grip on the sand, however, and instead tumbled into the stream. The shock of its frigid water made her whole body tense, and she fought to keep herself from crying. The fragile bubble of all the hurt and confusion and fear she was feeling had suddenly been burst by the intrusion of this man. She did not really care if he was good or evil – right now she merely wanted to vent her turmoil upon him.
As she slipped and skidded up to her feet, however, a hand slowly extended toward her. It was slender and smooth, yet there was something reliable and strong about it. A finely engraved gold ring glinted in a lone ray of sun. Despite what she had just been feeling, she took it, and with a calm power it pulled her onto her feet back to the stream bank. Wiping her sodden hair out of her eyes, she looked up into the face of this strange man.
The sight that welcomed her was startling. He was not particularly bulky, but was taller than most men. The sun partially silhouetted his form, casting his flawless hair into a ruddy glimmering halo. His entire body was clothed in a suit of white, save for the occasional highlights of another color, and the glimmer or jewels and gold sent shining beams of light through the shadows that surrounded her. A part of her wondered if this was an angel sent by the Council to kill her.
The other hand reached up and gently caressed her face. Not in a sensual manner, which would not have ended well for this visitor, but the same way she remembered her father doing when she had performed well in her training. The flood of emotion broke her restraint, and silent tears trickled down from her eyes as she searched his face. Her voice, despite the obvious emotion, did not break when she spoke.
“Who are you?”
“To some I am The Head. To others, their Healer. I have been called a Miracle, and a gift from God. As for myself, it would be prideful of me to speak of the truth of these things. I am a man. Dr. David MacBeth.”
Zoe suddenly realized that as he spoke, he had been tenderly wiping her tears – and she had stopped crying. Now, he stood with one hand at his side, and the other reassuringly on her shoulder. His voice, though, was what struck her. It seemed as if every last part of his being was focused into pure compassion, even, perhaps, love.
“If you’re just a man, Doctor, then why didn’t I hear you walk up behind me? The woods are a tangle of brush, dry leaves, and dead limbs. And besides – why did you walk up behind me?”
A smile such as graced the face of stained-glass-window saints blossomed onto his immaculate countenance, and his light green eyes seemed to glow with an inner light more vivid than the many-hued slanting rays of the sun as it crept beneath the horizon.
“Ah. First, you did not hear me because much evil has taught me the value – and the secret – of silence, and it has since become a habit. Also, I never said I was ‘just’ a man. Secondly, I can because I know of your turmoil. Your sorrows.”
Despite the kindness he was showing, Zoe could not help but give a pessimistic laugh. “Ha. Really? If you actually know something about me, you’ll be the first.”
Her sarcasm did not appear to face him as he stepped one step closer, putting his face directly into the sunlight, and forcing her to look up to him.
“I know of your father, the kind soul. Talented too, and so proud of his daughter. I know of your mother, so loving and protective. I know of the cruel hand of that prideful Council, and how they ruined your happy home. I know of the slaver who promised you rescue and then betrayed you. And yes, sweet Zoe Thanatos, I know of your light…and your darkness. Nothing, my girl, nothing has escaped me.”
A shiver ran through her as her jaw dropped. Perhaps it was the fact that she was still soaking wet, or perhaps it was how much this Dr. MacBeth seemed to know. Most of the people who knew this much had died as the result of her losses of control. At the sight of her shivering, he spread his arms wide and wrapped them around her, pressing her against himself, seemingly heedless of the cold water that now soaked his clothes as well. Within the warmth and shelter of this embrace, and eyes that did not shy away from the secrets she had kept hidden from the world, she let herself sob out the pain she had borne along for so long.
He stroked the back of her head soothingly. “Shh…it’s alright, Zoe. Everything is going to be alright. Just trust in me.”
After several minutes, she let out a ragged sigh and stepped back slightly. She wanted to say something, but nothing seemed right at that moment. He did not push matters, but merely kept one arm around her shoulders and walked her around to the edge of the bridge.
“I’m going to give you a boost up to the top, and help you up to my car. You have suffered wounds and harm in your fights, recent and old. A stay in my clinic will give those time to heal – as well as your heart.”
She nodded her assent to his wishes and turned around, waiting for him to lifter her up. His hands gently grasped her waist, and slowly lifted her up. After stretcher her own arms for a moment, frowning, she called back to him.
“I can’t reach the edge of the bridge.”
His face appeared over the edge of the bridge, and he caught her extended hand. “I know. I have it all handled. Like I said, just trust in me.”
As he used one hand to raise her over the guard rail and onto the pavement, she cast a glance back down to the stream bank. There was nothing there. If he had lifted her up, how had he also been able to catch her hand from above?
“How did you…do…that?”
He seemed genuinely surprised by the question. “How did I do what?”
“Lift me up and catch my hand at the same time.”
She was met with nothing but a shrug and a smile. Her eyes narrowed. “I think you are up to something. All this being nice…there is some ulterior motive, isn’t there?”
“Trust in me. Just trust in me. I can show you purpose, and peace, and save you from yourself.”
Zoe’s stance changed slightly. “You’ve been too nice too quickly. You are trying to use me, somehow. Trying to get me into that car of yours for god-knows what reason. Well, I’m not falling for that!”
As one eye turned white, David realized that the time had come for what he called forceful conditioning. Bringing the trainee to the end of themselves was always part of the process for spirited individuals. Before he reviewed her information, he had expected merely to perform a purely military tactical operation to knock the offender down to size, or kill her, if necessary. After reading about her, however, he had spotted the elements of a potentially useful ally for Nehushtan, perhaps a Serpent, or maybe even something more, like The Fixer.
Fortunately, there was nothing she was going to do that he could not anticipate, more or less. Precise information on her abilities was haphazard. Her angelic state was well documented by those she had rescued from the slaver, but the demonic form’s information was sourced purely from two survivors from two different rampages. He had long since learned not to take chances.
As her angelic-eye’s power accelerated her speed, he responded by relaxing his muscles. He did not move when she moved, nor did he show signs of pain when she landed a trio of punches. Though she was clearly used to battle, he had felt worse. Apparently expecting him to counter attack, she rushed a short distance away, out of sticking distance. Instead of responding, he merely rolled to one side behind the car, and as soon as he vanished from her sight, generated a duplicate – or Reflection – of himself. He hissed out a quick command. “Fight her, but do not kill her unless I give the word.”
The Reflection nodded, just as Zoe landed a kick that flung it to one side. It staggered to its feet, again, and grasped arm as she attempted to land a punch. It was only a poor grip, but it was enough for the Reflection to land a blow of his own. During the distraction, David slipped into the backseat of his armored Bentley. The tinted bullet-proof windows would provide enough concealment for the time being.
Zoe was infuriated. This doctor did not seem to be a particularly good fighter, yet she did not seem to be able to harm him. She was easily out-maneuvering him, hitting him scores of times to every hit he managed, yet nothing was being accomplished. As her ire rose, and also her frustration, she snatched a piece of flint from the roadside and slashed at her arm. As the demon within her was unleashed, she growled and blasted the man in white with lasers. He merely stepped towards her, slowly. She tried again. Nothing.
With a charge, she clenched her clawed hands around his shoulders, crushing down with all of her inhuman power. The man did not even flinch, but had the nerve to draw a pair of knives of slash at her. She hurled him as far into the air as she could, then soared up to catch him, swinging him and slashing him furiously, before smashing him back into the earth. The impact hurled dust and debris through the air, leaving a crater in the road. Leaping back to the rim, she waited for the air to clear. As it did, she saw the man rise and fix her with his gaze. There was not even a frayed sting on his suit, not a frizzed hair on his head.
Dr. MacBeth depressed the button on his earpiece. “Inside the left side of your jacket, you have an assortment of medical supplies. Take out the vial from the fourth row, third from the right. Tell me when you have it in your hand.”
As he looked out of his rear window, he could tell his Reflection was dutifully doing as he was told, though he was being beaten and tossed like a ragdoll by the demonic Zoe. Her rising confusion and anger were tangible in the air. In his perspective, it was humorous watching such a powerful being waste its time on his own wonderful abilities. That reminded him of the rare-vintage Malbec he had in the wine cooler built into the rear of the console.
The Reflection touched his ear. “Done, Master.”
He rolled a sip of wine around in his mouth casually, the swallowed and cleared his throat. “Grab half of the pills, and with the next opportunity, shove them down her throat.”
As her foe’s body smashed through two trees and a boulder, Zoe growled, her hellish voice echoing in the twilight. “How are you still unharmed? You may be a man, but what man can survive this! Let me see your blood, and DIE!”
She lunged forward, fanged jaws stretched wide. The man shot his first forward, and down her esophagus. She gagged as he let go of something he had been holding, but was forced to swallow. Snapping shut on his arm, she attempted to bite it off, but, as with all of her other attacks, this too failed. Unable to spit out either his arm or vomit up whatever he had given her, she struggled against the effects of the pills, but slowly the world around her grew blurry, and she relax