XXVII. | 'O, implacable father...!'

Colt opened his eyes. Dark waters greeted him. As did a shark, its teeth already digging into his chest.

'Oh yeah,' said Bohwanox, touching Colt's shoulder. 'The current carried you into shark-infested waters, by the way.'

Colt would have yelled at the reaper if he could. Burning aches shot through his body, regrowing muscle, restoring flesh faster than the shark could tear it away. He punched the fish in the nose. It released him but didn't flee, and after a moment, it lunged for him again. He kicked the beast with all the strength he could muster, and it torpedoed into the murky blackness.

Colt swam up to the water's surface, where things were no calmer. Waves kicked him up and tossed him around like a pool toy.

'If you want to talk to me, then just think the words inside your head,' said Bohwanox.

'Gah! Fuck you!'

'Good job. Also, there's another shark behind you.'

Colt could barely turn in time to see the dorsal fin disappear. He couldn't feel the jaws clamp down on his leg, but getting dragged back under was informative enough.

He sent the shark flying out of the water. 'I don't have time for this shit!'

'Are your children still safe?'

'Hopefully, yeah. They should be with Hector, unless something went wrong.'

'Ah! Hector, huh? That's good, then. I had to keep my distance while Geoffrey was chasing you, but Hector is the reason I was keeping tabs on you in the first place.'

'Hey, which way's the shore?'

Bohwanox pointed.

The reaper was clear as day to him, even in the nightly waters. Light seemed to make no difference, despite the fact that Bohwanox was an already dark figure. To Colt's eyes, the reaper seemed not to have a face, being entirely obscured by a pitch black cloak. Even the hands and feet were hidden.

Colt started swimming, staying under the waves. The current fought him, but he plowed through. 'So Hector is your servant, too, is that it?'

'No, no. Reapers can only have one servant. Hector's reaper is named Garovel.'

'Hmm. I guess now I know where the kid's inhuman power comes from.'

'Indeed. And you're quite fortunate, by the way. If Geoffrey had consumed your soul, I wouldn't have been able to resurrect you. I was just going to leave and tell Hector what happened until I saw that your soul was still intact.'

Yet another shark drew close, and Colt punched it back into the darkness. 'Well. I am grateful to you, just so it's clear.'

'Don't be,' said Bohwanox. 'That's not why I revived you.'

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

'Nice place you got here,' said Ozmere. Moss followed close behind as usual, marveling silently at the mansion's spacious corridors and ornate woodwork.

"Thank you." Geoffrey had kept Colt's heart and coat both. Even if the whole affair had proved a disappointment, he could at least expand his collection of souvenirs.

He was a bit surprised to see the mansion's halls full of people again. He hadn't even been gone a week, but apparently, his grandfather had been busy. Most of the people were obviously new hires, as they did not scurry out of his way whenever they saw him coming. One of the lackeys even bumped into him. The guy made a face, as if about to say something quite rude, but when he saw Moss's hulking form stop behind Geoffrey, the mook seemed to think better of it and apologized instead.

The three of them found Damian and Feromas in the main study.

"Hello, Grandpa!"

"Hello, Grandson!" Damian returned a smile, which waned as he saw Geoffrey's guests. "And who are they?"

"My friends! Ozmere and Moss. They're from Abolish! Neat, huh? I am going to go with them so that they can help me get stronger. There are a lot more members in Sescoria, too! Ozmere said they would feed an entire town to me. Can you imagine that? An entire town!"

Abruptly, Geoffrey noticed the tension in the room. Damian's face held none of its earlier mirth, and Ozmere's expression was one of confusion. Even Moss had become attentive, and for a time, no one said anything.

Feromas broke the silence. 'Dozer or Morgunov?'

Ozmere hesitated. 'Morgunov.'

More silence.

Geoffrey looked between everyone again. "Why did you all go quiet?"

'Because your friend Ozmere recognizes me,' said Feromas. 'Isn't that right?'

'You are Feromas...'

'I am.'

'And is this...?'

'His name is Damian Rofal, now. But he is the same servant, yes.'

Ozmere floated back toward the door, and Moss stepped in front of him. 'L-look,' the reaper said, 'I have nothing but the greatest respect for someone of your caliber. We have no quarrel with you.'

"That's too bad," said Damian.

'No, please! St--!'

Damian raised a hand. There came a sudden flash and a great crunch as Ozmere and Moss were both obliterated.

Wide-eyed, Geoffrey could see the air visibly distorted in the spaces where their bodies used to be. A shockwave passed over Geoffrey as the air refilled the vacuum, and all that remained was a thin vapor. After a moment, that too disappeared.

It took Geoffrey a second to even begin understanding what had happened. "Grandpa, what the hell?!"

"I'm sorry, Geoffrey. I know they were your friends. I should have told you before not to bring any members of Abolish here."

"Why did you kill them?!"

'Because no one can know that Damian and I are still alive,' said Feromas.

Geoffrey eyed the empty space again. "But! What did you even do to them?!"

"I reduced them to little more than dust particles," said Damian. "Though, I suppose in the reaper's case, there is genuinely no trace left, as there was no body mass in the first place."

Geoffrey just stared at him.

"If you like, I don't mind you going to Sescoria to play with the other members of Abolish," the old man said, "but they can never know of what happened here. In fact, don't even tell them that you have a grandfather."

'But it may be difficult to explain why those two never returned,' said Feromas. 'Perhaps it would be better if Geoffrey simply stayed in Brighton with us.'

Damian gave a shrug. "Eh. Geoffrey can do what he likes. He's old enough to make his own decisions now."

"Grandpa, who are you, exactly? Why were they so afraid of you?"

Feromas answered before Damian could. 'No offense, Geoffrey, but you don't seem very good at keeping secrets. I think you already know more than enough.'

"And besides," Damian added, "the porcupines would be upset if I told you their baking recipes. Very stingy creatures, they are."

Geoffrey blinked dully.

'Well, at least he's lucid when it matters.'

Sour-faced, Geoffrey left them alone. He returned to his room and tossed his keepsakes of Colt on a bedside table. When the coat hit wood, however, it made a hard sound, harder than mere cloth should have made. He rifled through its deep pockets and soon found a variety of objects. A few coins, some spare bullets, bubblegum, a handkerchief, a granola bar, a flick knife.

And a cellphone.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

Hector ended up getting pulled over by a highway trooper on the way back to Brighton. After taking a moment to absorb the sight of the motorcycle and helmeted person with two babies wrapped in metal, the uniformed officer seemed to have difficulty explaining precisely how illegal and stupid the whole thing was.

Hector, of course, was even worse at explaining his circumstances--not that there was any way he could have talked his way out of it. At length, he made the officer's gun an iron paperweight, broke through his handcuffs, and apologetically destroyed the radio in the trooper's car.

Garovel suggested he slash the vehicle's tires as well and then call a tow truck for the guy, but Hector thought that would be overkill. Disarmed and without backup, the trooper did not seem particularly interested in pursuing him any farther, so Hector let him be and rode off toward Brighton again.

As he neared his house, Hector kept trying to think of how he would explain the children to his parents. He considered trying to sneak them in, but that didn't strike him as very practical, considering the kids could simply cry and alert his parents at any time.

He left the motorcycle in the cemetery again and carried the children to the house in his arms.

When he entered, he found his parents in the den. His mother was sleeping against his father's shoulder. The man saw him and the children, and Hector could see the thought process taking place on his father's face.

The man gently woke his wife. They stood and approached him together. "Hector," his father said, "why do you have two babies in your arms?"

'You got this under control?' Garovel asked.

'We'll see,' thought Hector. "A friend of mine is having, uh... kind of a... a family emergency. He needed someone to look after his kids. And, um. I'm sorta the only person he could rely on..."

His mother cocked an eyebrow. "Who is this friend?"

"He's a cop..."

"A cop?" she said. "How did you become friends with a cop?"

"Ah... a school program thing. He and some others were doing... like a... seminar type thing..."

His father folded his arms. "And that was enough for him to entrust you with his children, was it?"

"I, uh... well, I sorta got more involved than the other kids did. Visited the police station and... yeah."

"Uh-huh," she said. "And what sort of family emergency are we talking about here?"

"I'm not completely sure about that, myself... but he needed my help, so..."

"How long does he want you to look after them?" his father asked.

"Uh... a few days, maybe? That's sorta unclear, too..."

Samuel and Vanessa Goffe exchanged looks. Then they both eyed the children another time.

His mother frowned. "Are you sure this friend of yours didn't just abandon these children?"

"...He'd die before doing that."

She raised a doubtful eyebrow. She put her hand up to the baby girl, who grabbed it. Smirking, she looked at Hector again. "Where are the supplies?"

"What?"

"The baby supplies. Surely, your friend gave you a bag. Bottles? Powder? Diapers, at least?"

"Uh... um..."

"Ugh, wow. Okay. Looks like I'm making a trip to the store tonight."

Hector blinked. "Ah--I-I'll take care of it... It's my responsibility."

"Pfft," said Vanessa. "What does a sixteen-year-old know about taking care of a baby?" She grabbed her coat by the door. "I'll go get the essentials. Back in a jiffy." She kissed her husband and was out the door.

"I'll make some little beds for them," his father said. "Won't exactly be a crib, but it should suffice for the time being."

"Uh, but--you don't have to do that--"

"Oh, they're still sleeping in your room. Don't you worry about that. You can handle the midnight crying and feeding, thanks."

Hector followed him to a hallway closet, where the man retrieved a set of fresh blankets. And with a pair of large laundry baskets, the beds were complete.

"This cop friend of yours must trust you a lot."

"Y-yeah."

"There's really no one else, huh?"

"No..."

In his room, they found a nice spot by the foot of the bed. And as they placed the children in their new beds, Hector saw a gentler expression on his father's face than he could ever recall.

"...Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Um... w-what was I like? As a baby, I mean."

"Oh, you were horrible," he said. "Cried all the time. Couldn't take you anywhere without making a scene. Really picky eater, too. Annoyed the hell out of your mother."

"Oh... s-sorry."

"Eh, don't be," said Samuel. "Bothersome as you were, it was still kind of fun, in a strange way. And besides, you really mellowed out after you turned two or so. It got a bit boring then, actually."

"Boring?"

"Yeah. Potty training you was a breeze. Same with teaching you to dress yourself and tie your shoes. Never made a fuss about your food anymore."

"Y-you wanted me to be more difficult...?"

"I don't know about that. Boring can be a good thing." He started back for the door.

Hector frowned. He had another question, and he had to struggle to get it out. "Dad, uh... why didn't you and mom have any other kids?"

He turned and tilted his head. "What's with all the sudden questions?"

"I, ah... just... I don't know, uh..."

The man took a moment to scratch his cheek. He eyed Hector again. "No big reason. Neither of us loved the idea of having more kids, and your mother really hated being pregnant."

"But... you both... I mean, just now, with the babies... you both seemed like you were kinda... enjoying yourselves."

"Not sure what gave you that impression."

"I... ah..."

"You shouldn't try to read so much into things, Hector. You'll drive yourself crazy."

And his father left.

Hector gave a quiet sigh. He exchanged glances with Garovel, who looked as if he had something to say but remained silent.

Alone again, he watched the kids sleep for a bit before deciding that he should make use of his downtime. He wasn't about to leave the children unattended, but there was something he had been meaning to practice with his iron.

He sat in the middle of the floor and made an elongated chunk of metal. He gave it a pointed tip, and suddenly it was a dagger, though still very primitive. But that wasn't his goal.

Hector focused his mind, felt his soul there, and pushed it into the iron. "Garovel," he said. "Come here for a second."

The reaper floated over, and Hector poked him with the tip of the blade. Garovel flinched. 'Hey. Careful with that thing.'

"Aha. It really works..."

'Congratulations. Now stop stabbing me.'

"Stay there for a minute. There's something else I need to try." He scooted away and sat on his bed.

'How did I become your guinea pig?'

"Just don't move..."

'I liked it better when you were terrified of hurting me.'

He tossed the dagger. It phased through the reaper with no effect. "Bah..."

'Hmm.'

"So... I can focus the iron with imaginary strength like it's an extension of my body... but only if I'm touching it, apparently..."

'I see. You wanna be able to focus iron at a distance, the same way that you can create it at a distance.'

"Yeah. Then I could throw things that'll hurt reapers. Or trap them in cages, maybe."

'You and I aren't synced enough, but that's definitely possible.'

"Good to know at least... because if I can't do that, then... I don't know how I'll ever manage to catch an enemy reaper. You guys always stay out of reach... and even when you do get close, you're so damn quick..."

'True. That was the whole problem in Sescoria. But it'll be a while before you can pull that off. Projecting your soul will require significantly more control than you currently have.'

"And you said before... there's no way to speed up the syncing process?"

'Correct.'

He practiced with iron a while longer, until he heard his mother return. She showed him how to change a diaper, and he made sure the children were fed before putting them back to bed.

Hector thought about asking his mother the same questions that he'd asked his father, but that seemed wrong, somehow, like subjecting them to some kind of secret test. Then again, it was also frightening, the idea that she might answer differently. He honestly wasn't sure he wanted to know if his father had been lying in some way.

So he stayed quiet. And soon enough, his mother was gone again.

His eyes fell upon the children another time. "Garovel... what do you think I should do with them?"

'Tough to say, really. We don't know if it's even safe to put them into foster care. Presumably, Colt would've done that if he thought it was best for them, but who knows?'

Hector frowned. "We're lacking in information again..."

'Yes, we are. I suppose that means we shouldn't make any hasty decisions, then.'

"But... sooner or later..."

'Yeah. You've bought yourself a few days, as far as your parents are concerned. For now, I think the only thing we can really do is wait. Hopefully, Colt will get back to you soon.'

"I guess so..."

'But it's worth thinking about what we'll do if Colt never comes for them.'

"Hmm..."

'The way I see it, we will essentially have three options. Option one: we put them into foster care. Obviously, that could be dangerous, but even if we can't eliminate the danger, then we could at least mitigate it by placing them in different homes.'

"Wha? Separate them?"

'I know it's not exactly ideal. But twins suddenly showing up in the system is a dead give away to anyone who's looking. It would be far safer for them if we split them up.'

"I don't like that option at all..."

'Fair enough. Option two: we find them a new family on our own.'

Hector gave the reaper a slanted look. "How the hell...? That sounds impossible."

'Maybe it IS impossible,' said Garovel. 'Obviously, a good family wouldn't just take them without asking any questions. Maybe we could explain somehow or find some other way to pull it off, but... at the moment, nothing springs to mind.'

"Ugh, geez... and what's the third option?"

As Garovel was about to answer, however, Hector's phone began beeping. It sat inside the coat on his desk, and they both turned to look at it there.