Stronger Together chapter 162

Swinging home to pick up the gun made to kill Chastel was pretty  quick, but extracting myself from the throng of agitated women that  really didn't want me to go meet a serial killer in the middle of a dark  Chicago park was a much more long term project. I got their concern,  really I did. I honestly would have preferred to carpet bomb the place  with soulfire and laugh maniacally from a distance as the bastard  burned, but sadly this particular fuck stick was not really  accommodating my normal combat style.

Because  I couldn't just leave Andi to die. Not just because she was innocent  and because I liked her, though those were enough on their own, but  because Kirby was my friend and I already failed him once. I hadn't  managed to make the world better for one of the few people I cared about  with my presence, but it would be a cold day in hell before I would  make it worse. Andi had survived in the books, and I was not going to be  the sole reason she died horribly, and I definitely wasn't going to let  some people eating psycho make me the reason. Andi didn't deserve that,  I didn't deserve that, and Jean Chastel sure as hell didn't deserve it.

Still,  as I walked into a pool of light beneath the very isolated light post  in the middle of the very dark and isolated corner of the very out of  the way park I began to very quickly rethink the choices that led me to  this point. Once again I managed to prevent myself from almost jumping  out of my skin when the phone rang only by virtue of my godsteel nervous  system. Still my heart was thumping like a scared rabbit, which was not  a particularly comforting comparison in my current situation. I  answered the phone with a roll of my eyes "First of all, I can't believe  you actually took the time to load a ringtone onto a burner phone.  Second of all isn't 'Bark at the moon' a little on the nose?"

The  laugh that came over the line was oddly cheerful for the situation,  which also really didn't make me feel better. "Oui, mon ami, but what is  a game if we do not have fun, non?" It was strange, I could hear  genuine mirth and enjoyment in his voice, but somehow I was almost  certain that those emotions weren't associated with any of the things  that people usually associated them with. If The Beast was happy and  amused, someone was suffering, which heralded bad things for either  myself or Andi tonight. Strangely I really hoped it was for me.

I  slipped a hand under my jacket and ran my fingers over the stock of  that old flintlock. I was really going to enjoy using it. I guess  tonight The Beast and I had something in common. I took a deep breath,  knowing that despite having to distract him while the girls looked for  Andi what I was about to do was incredibly stupid "You keep talking  about this game, but I haven't seen any evidence of any players. Just me  sitting in the cold in a dark park waiting to see if you're anywhere  near as creative as people say." Challenging his reputation was probably  going to bite me in the ass, but the more engaged I got him the longer  they would have.

His  humor and good cheer when he responded told me he was confident in  whatever he had planned, which honestly didn't bode well for anyone.  "But of course, mon ami. We shall begin the game now. The first round  tests not only speed, but decision making." He snapped his fingers over  the phone and suddenly I could see three more pools of light, hidden  from me by some magic he'd been using. As the glamour or whatever it was  dropped, it was followed by the pit dropping out of my stomach. There  were people tied to the light posts. Three of them. A man around thirty,  a girl around my age and an older woman in her fifties.

Jean  Chastel's voice was excited as he explained "One of these people has a  bomb strapped to their chest. You can see a vest on each of them. I  enjoy explosives, I learned to use them within the last decade or so and  the spectacle is always such fun. Nothing gets the blood pumping  through the veins of your prey like knowing they could explode at any  moment. Now, when I say go, you must pick one of the victims. If you  pick the one without the real bomb, I'll detonate the explosives with  the remote I have. If you look for me I will do the same. Choose wisely  mon ami, I cannot wait to see what you do." The phone clicked off as he  hung up.

Great.  He wanted me to say some kind of exploding shell game with the lives of  three strangers. I finally noticed the loophole in my earlier demand. I  told him I wouldn't kill any innocents in his game. I hadn't specified  that he couldn't do so. I grit my teeth and looked around at the three  pools of light. Being able to hide all of them with whatever magic he  used proved he had tricks I hadn't seen yet, but his basic nature was  the same. Chastel thought of himself as an artist. A showman. He wanted  drama and excitement. I decisively started heading for the girl my age.

Chastel  wanted the best show, so he would definitely put a bomb on the girl.  She was the same age as my girlfriends and I so her dying would be more  dramatic for me. I arrived in front of the girl, who was terrified and  gagged and untied the gag around her mouth. She'd been crying but it  looked like it had dried up until I took off the gag, then a fresh wave  of tears came "Oh thank god, you have to help me. There was this guy, he  was really handsome, had this gorgeous accent. He asked me out at the  coffee shop where I work but when I showed up he grabbed me and brought  me here." She wailed louder "Please god help me get away!"

I  nodded "Hey, you're going to be fine. I'm here to help. Hold still I'll  get these ropes off yo-" My reassurance was interrupted by an ear  splitting explosion. Or more accurately TWO ear splitting explosions. I  spun around to see both the man in his thirties and woman in her fifties  gone. Both of them had been replaced by smoking wreckage and clouds of  blood. The phone rang, and I picked it up angrily, holding it against my  shoulder as I pulled at the vest on the girl just in case "What the  fuck Chastel? You said that one of them had a real bomb! You were  supposed to let the other one go even if I got it wrong!"

His  laugh was carefree and easygoing "I said one of them had a bomb, I did  not say the other didn't. Shame you did not pick one of the ones with  the explosive. All three could have survived. I even gave you two out of  three odds, am I not generous? Those poor people, if only you had been  more intelligent, or perhaps faster, maybe you could have gotten the  bomb off one of them before they exploded. Oh well, C'est la vie. The  explosions most likely alerted the mortal authorities. This is the speed  part of the game. If they catch you all the people in the next few  rounds will die with no chance for you to save them. You'd better get  away." He hung up again.

I  was in a daze, my head was spinning, my ears were pounding and I had  zero idea what the hell I should do. This was the worst kind of  situation for me, my brain was spinning up and I was frozen with an  overabundance of options. I forced myself to stop, close my eyes, and  drown out all the noise. I focused and then opened them getting the girl  loose. I told her the cops were on the way and I had to go. She begged  me to stay, and I realized Jean Chastel could be waiting for me to go so  he could make it three for three and I couldn't leave her. I waited  until I saw the cop flash lights coming toward me before I triggered my  wind and lightning aspects and took off.

Passing  through solid objects and moving at bullet speeds made escaping pretty  much childs play. Once I stopped the phone rang again, Chastel's casual  voice saying "Cutting it a bit close there mon ami. But I suppose it's  up to you how to play the game. Now, it is time for round two. Get to  the corner of Mauler and Dupree within the next ten minutes or two  people will die." He hung up again, leaving me seething impotently and  holding the phone. I wanted to quit, to just throw the damn thing in a  river, but if I did that not only would a bunch of innocents die, so  would Andi.

This  had been a mistake. Playing his game had been a horrible idea. I hated  this, I had so much power and I couldn't use a single bit of it. I was  completely helpless for the first time since I got my Aura activated and  I fucking hated every second of it. I ran a search on the address and  bolted, using my lightning and wind aspects to the fullest. Dupree and  Mauler was about fifty miles away, even at top speed I barely managed to  make it. By the time I arrived I was panting and covered in sweat.  Three hundred miles an hour for ten minutes straight was rough even with  my powers.

The  phone rang again "Well done mon ami, I was not sure you had it in you.  Because I am a generous host I will give you a few minutes to catch your  breath." The phone clicked dead again and I glared at it, panting and  trying to calm my racing heart. It took the better part of five minutes  for my heart rate to slow and for me to start breathing easily again. I  made a mental note to work on my endurance, I was fast as hell but my  staying power clearly left a lot to be desired. When I finally calmed my  pulse the phone rang again, that damn song playing for the fifth time  tonight.

I  answered immediately, not wanting to hear it again and not wanting to  think about the fact that the lyics were actually starting to get to me.  "Ok, how the fuck did you get here as fast as I did. No way you're even  close to that quick. What's the trick?" Chastel had done more than a  few disturbing things tonight, but if he could run at my top speed I was  fucked. I looked around for him trying to see where he could be. I  couldn't see him anywhere just empty streets, lights...cameras. I cursed  "You weren't even fucking at the park. You have me on camera. You're  watching all the locations you set up for your little game."

It  was the only thing that made sense. Apparently I got it right because  he burst into laughter again "Well done mon ami, we may make a hunter of  you yet. At least if you survive the night. Now, enough talking, the  second round of the game is about to begin. Across from you is a hotel.  On the top floor and the bottom floor are two people, one on each. These  people are hidden under the bed in one of the rooms."

He sounded excited as he explained his game. "The person on the  top floor has a key around their neck to release the explosive collar on  the person on the bottom floor, or you can try to work out the  combination on the collar itself. Both collars are on a timer. So do you  save the one on the bottom floor, or take the risk of losing them both  and head for the top floor. Enjoy." And with that the line went dead  again.