Women And the Demons Who Love Them

Imperium-4

Nero- Into The Night

    A large table in a half-circle shape rounded around the grand room. That hadn't been there the last time I was here. The high ceilings, the beautiful wooden craft, and the design of the room brought back pleasant memories I didn't want to remember right now. Eight women sit at the curving table. I recognize them all as the female Leaders of Earth. Wives of the men who run this planet. I was seated in an armchair in the center of the room. 

    "Ms. Finley," I could hear the woman of the country I had originally been born in address me but the overwhelming feeling I'm getting as the memory of being here with my dad wouldn't let me say anything back to her.

    "Lady Kennedy. Ms. Finley is adjusting to her emotional state of being. Memories of her time sometimes are overwhelming," Ridge said giving me a nudge.

    "This is news to us," she addressed. 

    "I'm fine," I said shaking it off before she could turn this into a reason to make me stay. "I've been here before. It just caught me off guard,"

    "We understand your situation. It must be hard for you to wake up to find you're now a lifetime away from your hopes and dreams," I scoffed at the statement. "You must be very upset to find you have no purpose," 

    "Excuse me?" I asked standing up. "No purpose?" 

    "You are from a different time. You have much to learn about this era and the new findings of the worlds. You need to be institutionalized and be reprogrammed to learn the ways of this time," 

    "We have an institution. Imperium," Barrington said coming over. 

    "Ms. Finley is a native of Earth. Imperium has no jurisdiction here," she brushed him off. 

    "Being a native of Earth gives no government any right to hold me here. I've committed no crime. You have no law that can keep me here," 

    "You are no longer considered a citizen..." 

    "Even better. I'm essentially not of this world or any other. My best option would be to go to Imperium. It's neutral territory for all species," I cut her off.

    "You are an asset," she finished.

    "I am not an asset. You can't just claim me like property. I am a person. A human being," she shook her head. 

    "You are not a human being anymore, Ms. Finley," 

    "Then there is no reason for me to be here," 

    "You have been nothing more than a science experiment from the moment you were brought back to Earth. You need to be contained in order for us to get a better understanding of what you are before we let you run around endangering other life forms," 

    "No. You are not going to turn me into some kind of lab rat. I have rights," 

    "Here on Earth, the only ones who have rights are humans and our guests. Or aren't either," 

    "You're going to strip me of my rights?" I asked trying really hard not to let my emotions get the better of me so I don't spark. "You think you can decide that without so much as asking me if I'd want to stay here? If this is about what you did to me while I was in a coma, which I'm going to add the sixteen different civil violations performed to get what you wanted, then I want to be here much less," 

    "You don't get to make that call," 

    "Why?" I asked. "I'm a person. I was born and raised in the Bronx just like you, Katerina Kennedy. We may not be from the same Era but that doesn't make me any less human than you. You have three daughters. How would you like it if this happened to them? If they go out chasing their dreams and accidentally end up in some freak accident and never wake up while you're just sitting there. Growing old, wishing you hadn't let them go. How would you like it if one of them woke up to find you dead to find that everything they ever believed in is dead? Would you like her to be locked in a lab so they continue to experiment on? I can't stay here. I refuse to be your lab rat," 

    "You have saved countless lives," she said looking at me. Her expression had softened. 

    "I didn't do anything. My dad was a Cybernet encoding engineer. How long did you think it was going to take me to find out how many people died before a man named Calvin Montgomery invented a needle that would be able to pierce my skin without electrocuting anyone. 

    "What about all the people that died when my blood reacted to the EMPs? It was a nuclear reaction. This government did a lot more bad than you did good. If you didn't know. I'd be happy to show you. If you keep me here, I'd be happy to show the entire galaxy," she sat up. They all did. 

    "I don't know what it is you think you have found," she said softly. 

    "Over the past three weeks. I learned a few things about myself. I guess you can call them tricks," I pulled a tablet out of my satchel. I walked over to the wall and placed my hand on it. Feeling the energy in me I collected a small amount and pushed it out.

    The wall shimmered as I projected the images I had found on the wall. It was easy to access the speakers around the room. I didn't have to watch to know why there was screaming or the sound of electricity and screams. Everyone began to talk about what they were seeing. I let the energy come back inside. I turned to face everyone who stared back at me in horror. 

    "How did you do that?" one of the other women asked. 

    "Where did you find this?" Lady Kennedy asked ignoring her. "You can get into a top-secret organization by simply touching a computer?" 

    "I can do a lot more than that and I'm just learning how to work with this. I don't want to be here. I don't want you to use me for anything because things like this can happen," 

    "You are awake now. You can prevent things like this from happening," 

    "You're not listening to me. I don't want to help you!" I shouted. The blue sparked over all my skin. I lost it for an instant. I felt everyone's eyes on me again. "I don't want to help any of you. I want to be left alone. You've done enough. You've taken enough while I was asleep. I tried to consider all of this. I really wanted to help but after finding this I don't want any of you people near me. You don't care about saving anyone. You didn't do this to me because you want to help anyone you wanted to use this as a weapon," 

    "What do you want in exchange to keep you quiet?" she asked. The other women glanced at her without saying a word. They didn't like that she was giving up so easily.

    "You have to let me go," 

    "Everything you were given in your wake will be restored. How do I know you'll keep your promise?" I walked over to her and put the glass tablet on the table in front of her. 

    "This is the only copy I stored anywhere," I said. 

    "If I trace the images of what's in here I won't find this anywhere else?" she asked. 

    "No, but the funny thing about energy is that everything is made up of it. It wouldn't be hard to restore anything you destroy," she glared at me. 

    "You're not as clever as you think you are, Ms. Finley," 

    "You're not even a fraction of how intimidating you think you are, Lady Kennedy," her posture changed as she stood up. Her small petite frame didn't compare to the height or muscle I had gained since I had woken up. She's kind of cute actually.

    It was a dirty play. I know that. Revealing what I did. Showing more than I should have, but there was no way in hell I was going to let them take anything from me. Not when all I have is myself. It made feel a little sick and dirty to have brought up what I had but there was no other way. My father didn't raise a damsel.

    "We thank you for your service," she said. "This meeting has come to an end. Let yourselves out," 

    Ridge, Leenah, and Barrington were at my side in an instant. Neither of us said a word while we were on the transfer pods that took us back down to Romania. I felt both relieved and filthy. Once we got on the train back to the states they all turned to look at me. The look of surprise made me feel so much worse. 

    "Wow," Barrington said. "I didn't know you had that in you," 

    "I know that's the last thing you wanted to say to the queen of earth. There was no other way, Trinity. You saw how you were attacked," Leenah said waving him off.

    "I know. I just..." 

    "This is good," she encouraged placing her hand on my shoulder. "It means you're strong and that you understand what's at stake here. Even if you don't feel it, it's there," 

    I didn't say anything else. I briefly glanced at Ridge. She didn't meet my gaze. What I had done probably set us back. She had been one of the doctors that had worked on me. I had said something I probably never going to be able to take back. I do feel like they had used me and I understand that she had devoted her entire life to me because of what happened to her mother. 

    Once we were home, she went straight to her room after showing Leenah and Barrington to theirs. I sat on the edge of my bed and looked at the closet. My family had left clues for me. My dad had told me the same thing Barrington had. I have to learn to defend myself. I have to learn to fight, to work my way through the worlds, to survive. They're not here anymore. They won't be here to protect me. The knock on the other side of the glass door made me look-up. I took the remote and opened the door to see that Ridge was standing there. 

    "Hey, come in," I said. She walked in still not able to meet stare. 

    "I'm sorry," she sighed once she was sitting on the bed. 

    "You have nothing to be sorry about. I should be the one apologizing," 

    "No, I need to say this. I devoted my entire life to the research of you. To see how you work, to see how to develop something that could help me wake you up so you can start living a normal life as normal as an immortal with superpowers can live," we both laughed. "I never once considered how you may feel about it. I've gone on for hours about everything we've been able to achieve studying you, but it never dawned on me that... that- that you'd ever feel like a tool. 

    "My mom once told me, that what she did wasn't right. That they should have waited. I didn't understand why she would say that to me. You were saving the world. I thought it was the coolest thing ever. You were my superhero and you didn't have to go out in a cape. Which I highly recommend you to not do because those things are dangerous. So I'm sorry. I'm sorry you felt that way and I understand. You have every right to be angry with me with everyone," 

    "I don't know what to say. Part of me thinks it's amazing. Everything that was accomplished but the rest of me wants to lash out. It makes me feel sick. I can't believe it happened. Meeting my family the other day made me feel worse. I don't know them. They don't know me. I'm some freaky ancient relative they just happen to be related to. They're blonde. Not that there is anything wrong with that. I just- I look nothing like them. There's nothing of me there," 

    "They care about you," I shook my head. 

    "No, they don't. The entire time they were here they talked about how great their lives were, how happy they are. Not once did they ask me about myself. Not once did they ask if I was happy," 

    "I never asked you either," she said looking down at her hands.

    "You didn't have to. Since I've woken up you have made sure I'm okay. I know you don't ask because you know I'm not happy," she placed her hand on my forearm. 

    "We're going to change that. Yeah?" for an instant she looked just like Hinge. I pulled her in for a hug. A knock on the door frame made us pull apart. 

    "We came to see if you were okay," Leenah peaked through the side of the doorway.. 

    "I'll be in my room. I have to finish my paperwork," Ridge said getting up. "See you guys in the morning," 

    "She's scared of us," Barrington said watching her walk out. 

    "Mostly, of you," I laughed.