Tuesday 27th April 2010
09:06
Walter is arrogant enough to think that he knows everything about the world, something that he will never tell his son. Despite this (or perhaps because of this) he studies his son's face at the end of the long spiel he has just been through.
"You're not joking?" He asks, although the tone of his voice indicates that it is less of a question and more of a statement.
Gary does not seem to catch his tone, though, and lets out a sigh. "I knew you wouldn't believe me."
Walter relaxes slightly. The whole conversation up until this point has made him more than a little tense. "Well you have to admit that it is a little too much to take in but it would explain a lot!"
"So the concept that, assuming your son hasn't gone mad, that we're living in a world that is inhabited by supernatural beings – demons and monsters – doesn't freak you out that much?"
Walter has to smile at this as he shakes his head. "Not as much as you would think, son!"
But there is no way that he is ready yet to go too much into that with his son. He knows that the time will come when he will have to explain himself but not now.
"So now Isabelle has been possessed by this group of demons called the Brethren. David wants me to keep out of it!"
"Well, to be honest, I think that it would be for the best. It might be the most sensible thing I have heard all day."
"It's really difficult, knowing that she's out there right now and in a lot of trouble."
Gary can actually see his father become instantly serious. He knows this is never a good sign. "I really think that you should leave that company. This seems to be becoming a very dangerous situation."
Despite this, Gary has to laugh. "You don't understand, dad. It's always been dangerous. It's just never affected my personal life before. This is the first time Isabelle has ever been a part of this…"
"And do you have faith that this guy David can save her?"
Gary nods before he even has the chance to think about this and knows his automatic respect for his boss has kicked in, as it always does when he is asked a question about him. "It's really hard not to believe in him."
"I just want you to be very carefully. From what I've just heard, I'm not so sure that I would be able to trust him."
"You really should meet him before you make a decision like that!"
Gary notices that his dad has stopped to consider this for a moment. He has not really expected him to continue down that line, has hoped that he wouldn't. He instantly curses himself for saying it. He doesn't want to be in a position where he stands between his father's wishes and David's.
"Yes, you're right. I probably should meet him first!"
Fuck.
2.
Tuesday 27th April 2010
09:38
The door opens, and Kevin comes back into the room where Alice is being kept. The first thing he notices is that Alice appears to have become used to her surroundings. He has a glass of water and he sits down in the chair that has been placed in front of her. He has the smile on his face that Alice has come to associate with his entrances in the short time that they have known one another.
"Hello Alice."
He moves forward and places the glass to her lips. She clamps her mouth shut as tightly as she can and refuses to drink from it.
"I'm not trying to poison you, if that's what you're worried about. You're no use to me dead."
Alice wants to tell him that her motto is to never trust someone who would kidnap her and tie her to a chair but to do so she would have to open her mouth and it would never come out as well saying it, as it would do when she thought it so she manages to resist the temptation.
Instead she tries to resist the temptation that the water presents, but feels the cold liquid spill against her clamped shut lips. She has not realised how thirsty she was and it does not take long for her to give into his demands. She starts to sip from it and feels the chill of the water as it runs down her throat and to her stomach.
When he is sure that she has drunk enough, Kevin takes the glass away from her lips and beams yet another smile. "I was just wondering what else David has neglected to tell you about himself."
"Well I can't really answer that if he hasn't told me!" Alice replies. Try to keep your sense of humour, she tells herself. If you lose it then he'll start to think he's going to win.
Kevin is amused by her answer, though. "Did he tell you, just for example, how old he is?"
Alice can't hide the look of bewilderment on her face. That is a really strange question to be asking. "We haven't really talked about it. He knows my age. I can guess that he's maybe ten years older than me, at most."
"So you think that David is thirty one?" Kevin has to enquire.
Alice laughs. "You are the most charming kidnapper that I've ever met!" But you're still a fucking kidnapper, she adds inwardly. "But I just bet that you know I'm twenty five."
The smile on Kevin's lips is almost overwhelming. "Oh yes, how silly of me."
There are a few moments of silence, which Alice comes to think of as a lot longer when she thinks of this scene later on. This is probably because the moment marks a drastic change in her life. It is almost impossible to think of something like this happening so quickly.
"But you are wrong about his age."
She shrugs as well as she could in the circumstances. "Oh well, you can't win them all."
For once, Kevin's face remains completely straight when he tells her, "David's actually the same age as I am. We're both…" He seems to be making a mental calculation. "Seventy three years old… if you count it in your terms."
Her jaw drops slightly. She isn't sure if this is because he has surprised her with this statement, or if she finds herself believing what he has told her.
Kevin is very good at this sort of thing, and waits a few moments for it to sink in. Alice looks at him and it seems like she has stopped blinking. He is secretly happy with the reaction. He decides not to say another word until she does. There is more silence, a lot longer than the last interval, before she finally speaks to him.
She sounds a lot less confident in her humour than she did before. "Just what do you mean, count it in our terms? You trying to tell me that David's an alien as well as being past retirement age?"
He shakes his head at this point, but the smile is back, as disarming as ever. "He's not an alien… Well maybe in a way he is… we are. But not the way that you're thinking! I meant in our terms, as in, the last time that he came down was seventy three years ago."
"You're a crazy bastard, do you know that? Is there something wrong with you?" She feels the need to ask. "You're not making any sense."
Kevin's laugh is nowhere near as dazzling as his smile. Maybe that is why he hasn't really made this horrible sound in her presence until now. "None of this makes any kind of sense to you?"
"You're fucking right about that!"
Kevin seems to wince in the same way as David does when he hears her swearing. She realises at that point just how alike the two men are. Except David would never kidnap her, she has to tell herself.
Kevin moves his chair a little bit closer to her and his face is close enough to her that she wonders for a second if he is going to kiss her. She is wondering if she could bite his nose off or something, but something stops her.
"Alice, have you ever read the bible?"
Her head shakes a little. "No more than I ever had to. My parents used to make me go to Church."
She wonders if her real parents would have made her go. She never knew them so this isn't something she even has the slightest clue about.
"They used to make you go to Church? How terrible?"
She has no idea if he is patronizing her or not.
She nods, in spite of her doubts. "They said that it was important that I knew about God. Once day it would become important. They never made much sense in that respect, although they're so cool in different ways. Mum once told me that there was a decision to be made at some point in my life. It was a choice that we all had to make at one point or another, although to some it was more important than others. She said that I had to choose whether or not to be on the side of the angels."
Kevin puts his hands together in a very slow clap that makes Alice want to break free and launch herself at him – if only she could.
"Bravo to mommy!"
"I figured it was a really shitty way to make kids go to Church. When I was younger, they scared me into it."
The smile clouds over a little and Alice has to admit that she feels a little victory over him at this point.
"So they made you resent it?"
"Yeah, I guess that's exactly what they did. I just don't believe in God and it pissed me off having it rammed down my throat in Church every week."
An unpleasant smirk crosses Kevin's face. "You don't believe in God?"
Alice doesn't say anything to this. She just shakes her head. For some reason, she has started to feel pretty foolish.
"So you're telling me that, despite the fact that since you've started to work with David, you've seen Demons rising from the pits of hell and you don't believe in God? You don't believe that there is a balance?"
She shrugs again. "I'm like most people. I've only ever really seen evil on this world. David is maybe the only person in the whole world who would be able to make me believe in God."
She stops for a moment.
"And let me tell you that there is not a fucking chance in hell that he's seventy three years old."
Kevin seems to find her whole spiel hilarious. The laugh comes back and she wants to smash his face in just to shut him up. It takes him a couple of moments to get his act together and stop himself from laughing. "David is the only person in the whole world who would be able to make you believe in God? Gee whiz, that's ironic in more ways than I'd be able to mention."
Alice is pretty sure that she knows the way that Kevin Reilly works now. She beams a smile that has broken men's hearts in the past. "So what are you trying to tell me, Kevin? Is David Oswald God?"
She is shocked by the sudden change in Kevin's features – how the anger seems to burst onto his cheeks, reddening them so quickly. She thinks for a second that the crazy bastard is going to hit her. But he doesn't.
Instead he screams, "Don't you dare blaspheme in my presence!"
Alice has no idea how to take this. But she doesn't have to worry because, almost as suddenly as it has begun, the anger disperses, and he is back to the way he had been moments before.
"I have to admit that David is arrogant enough to think that he's God sometimes!" He concedes.
Alice isn't sure whether she should agree or not considering what has happened when she had brought the subject up.
"But he isn't." Kevin continues.
She is glad that his mood has returned to the way it was. It does her well to remember that this man has kidnapped her and it is possible that she could be hurt really badly or even be killed before David appears to rescue her.
"He's just a lowly angel like the other members of the Society and Nemesis!"
She hopes that he will come soon and rescue…
"What?" She suddenly feels the need to ask.