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Chapter 7 - Demons

It was a good night with my friends. We drank beers on the roof of our building and talked about random things until we all got tired and went to bed. Honestly, I can't remember a time when I was more relaxed and more myself. As crazy as these twins were, they were good people when you got right down to it.

When I woke up the next morning, I found that Rut had made breakfast, more than the usual oatmeal, this time it was eggs, bacon, and orange juice. Expensive, but I think Rut knew a good meal would do me well. Fiz came out of his room last, as usual, but always looking sharp in his crisp white shirt and slacks, holding a knife in his hand that he flipped with a skill most did not expect before catching it and sliding it into a small sheath on his belt.

After we ate the meal, I volunteered to do the dishes and wagged my tail a little. When was the last time I had felt so good? I didn't linger on it, never to look a gift horse in the mouth as they said over here in America, and dried my hands on a rag once the dishes were clean and drying in the small rack next to the sink.

The day was bright and crisp, the kind of day that didn't know if it wanted to be cold or warm, where you could see your breath as you walked but if you lingered in the sun you would feel almost too warm for a coat. It was one of my favorite kinds of days, things that shouldn't be happening working together in sync, it was amazing to me. I smiled as we left our tenement and walked to Central Park.

"Either of you been to Central Park before?" I asked, looking over at the twins, Rut bundled up in a thicker coat and Fiz absent of one and not bothered by the crispness in the air. Did anything bother him?

"A few times," Rut said with the collar turned up on his coat, "but not in a while. We don't generally have much of a reason to go there."

"Too open," Fiz added. Whatever that meant.

"So why'd you suggest we go this morning?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.

"Because," Rut said with a glance over at me, "you seem to like green things, and it's a nice way to spend the day. We won't hate it. There's supposed to be a lot of good food in the area."

"Simon buys," Fiz added, smirking.

"Simon buys," I repeated, acknowledging the 'request' from my friend. "Simon also picks," I quickly added.

"But--" Fiz said but Rut held up his hand to silence him.

"He got you there, Fiz." Rut said with a grin. "You know you should have been expecting that. He's sharp like me."

"Like end of baseball bat," Fiz said under his breath, trying to look upset but breaking into a grin. "Fine. Simon buys, Simon picks. Simon better pick well."

"Did he just threaten me?" I asked Rut.

"Best not dwell on what Fiz means; it's safer. Just know he likes you. You're safer than most people in the city."

"You make him out to be this killer, but I've never seen him hurt a fly. He does do strange things with a knife though."

Both brothers got quiet. I swallowed and felt the tension in the air. Was Fiz a murderer? Like an actual killer like Mordecai? He didn't act anything like that insane caracal, but then... from what I had read about Mordecai Crossbell, neither did he. Not until he let the mask slip and he decided someone needed to die.

"Right," I said with a chuckle. "Best not dwell. Fiz, what do you want for a treat?"

At that the other black furred fox lit up and he grinned ear to ear. "Churro!"

---

It had taken more than a little effort on all our parts to find the specific snack for Fiz. I'd never had one before, but when I saw it was fried bread with cinnamon and sugar I figured it couldn't be bad. I munched into it and my eyes widened. Yes, it was an assault of sweetness, but it was so good! Even Rut was eating his with more enthusiasm than one would have expected. I grinned a little bit and dusted my hands off on my pants once my treat was gone, missing it already.

I can see why Fiz bought three (though he did only make me pay for one). I don't know how that man was as thin as he was. More evidence that he wasn't of this world.

"So what's England like?" Rut asked me casually as we were walking along the path toward nowhere in particular.

"It's hard to explain," I said as I put my hands in my pockets, trying to not think about the things that made me miss home. Of course, the moment I thought of Avery was the moment he showed up. He was sitting up in a tree, looking down at us, and waved.

I did not wave back.

"Simon?" Rut asked, bringing my attention back around.

I cleared my throat and looked around. "It's not much different from New York City, honestly. It's older, of course, everything is a lot tighter packed as you get more toward the middle. Things feel less... planned out. That's London though. I rarely left the city. "

"You don't talk about it much," Rut commented, giving me one of those looks. What was he playing at? We never talked about our pasts, but now, all of a sudden...

"It's not pleasant," I quipped back, trying to get off this line of questioning quickly. "It's not someplace I wanted to leave but I had to."

"Had to?" Now Fiz was involved.

I rubbed my eyes with my thumb and index finger. "Ugh. Yes. I had to. No, I don't want to talk about why. Yes, I'm okay."

"Forgive me," Rut said, stopping and looking right at me, "but I doubt that."

I felt anger welling up inside me, but like my usual defenses it quickly became nothing but apathy. Was this my reaction to everything now? Nothing? I didn't even know if I wanted to argue with him about it.

"Simon not okay," Fiz said, looking at me with those damned eyes of his. Did he look concerned?

I was about to open my mouth to say something when I heard cheering in the distance. I saw this as my way out of this conversation and hopefully distract the twins long enough that I could even slip away. I liked them just fine but I didn't like the questions.

"Let's go check that out," I said and headed in the direction of the noise. Maybe it was some performer, or someone giving something away. Anything was better than what we were doing. At least I hoped.

I was wrong.

We came to the edge of the park where a grandstand had been built, colorful tapestries of red, white, and blue had been decorated all over it in an admittedly garish display of patriotism. A podium stood on the stage and several people were standing or sitting on it, all dressed in clothing more expensive than anything I had ever bought in my life. In front of it was a crowd of common folk, listening to someone speak.

I came to the edge of the group and listened.

"...are gracious for the wonderful donations that have entered our fair city. New York City stands as a testament that anyone, from anywhere, is welcome and has the ability to make their dreams flourish."

Cheers went up around us. I was trying to figure out what this little event was about, but then I saw it. Across the street a new building had just broken ground by the looks of things. The sign on the front made my blood run cold.

"Crossbell Industries proudly announce the beginning of a new extension of the..."

I felt the world spin around me. This was the closest I had ever come to Crossbell since that fateful day in London. I knew they had been here in New York City, but never imagined that they would be here. Never where I lived, either. I braced myself against the tree only to feel someone grab me, hold me up.

Rut was there and looking at me with concerned eyes. "Simon, are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah..." I looked around the field. I was trying to step back, get further from the crowd, but when I saw them it was like my whole world had stopped.

Standing on the stage was Mordecai Crossbell himself. That _damned_caracal who had hunted people in London, who had worn that costume, who had killed Bensley and Avery in cold blood... and all for what? To get to me? I hated his green suit and top hat, that stupid cane he carried, and for the first time in a long time I felt rage boil in me, but it was quickly squashed by fear. I knew what this man was capable of. I knew he was a murderer and insanely rich, and he was here in New York because of me. I knew it in my bones. I was starting to back up when I saw who he was standing next to.

On the stage, next to Mordecai, was a brown wolf with red eyes and a scar on his face. I had nearly forgotten how tall and broad he was -- the picture I had in my room didn't do his height justice. He was older, more a man than ever with broad shoulders and what looked to be a muscular upper body.

Tears streamed down my face as I saw the man who had saved me more than once. A man who, up until this moment, I had assumed died to protect me. The man who had helped me create this dream of fleeing London and coming to America. A man who I had shared my first kiss with and had figured myself out about liking men. This wolf, this person, taught me that you can be strong and kind.

Gideon. _My_Gideon. He was standing in a nice three piece suit and handing things to Mordecai. I watched the two of them... was that a smile? A laugh? Oh god... what had Mordecai done to him?

I took a step forward, my legs felt shaky and unstable. I wasn't breathing. I barely even registered that Avery was standing next to Gideon on the stage, simply nodding his head slowly at me, confirming the horrible reality I wanted to reject. The reality that Gideon was alive and he was with Mordecai.

I croaked out a cry that got hidden by the crowd cheering, and I swear, for a brief moment, he saw me. His eyes had widened and he stepped closer to the edge of the stage, but when he was summoned by Mordecai he paused, then turned... and I saw neither of them rush toward me.

How was this possible? How was he alive? I knew that Mordecai was a doctor and a scientist -- I found that out when I did some research on the bastard when I had a chance to. He did say he kept Avery for a while, if I remember right...

Yes. He must have done something to Gideon. Something horrible, which had broken him in some way. As hard as that was to believe, the other truth was harder, that Gideon had been working with Mordecai all this time.

I got up to my feet, shaking. I registered Fiz and Rut near me, and before either of them had a chance to touch me, I turned and ran. I heard my name shouted as I beat the pavement, my feet carrying me with the speed of a courier and the agility of someone who still, to this day, climbed up and down buildings just because he could. I dodged and weaved between people, and soon I found myself on the sidewalk. I almost skidded into a carriage, and when adjusting myself I hit a cart and sent apples flying. I tripped on one, fell, rolled, and was back up. I honestly just kept moving. I had to. I had to get away from that.

I don't remember much about the trip after the apples. It's a blur. I remember waking up sometimes and finding myself in a new part of the city. Once it was dark I somehow was back in our tenement, up in our third floor little shack of a home, in my room, back pushed against the wall with my knees up and my face buried into them. I made myself as small as I could and felt my eyes and cheek fur dampen with tears. When I lifted my head, I was greeted with a pair of eyes -- round and golden like two full moons -- mere inches from my own.

I screamed. Fiz was there, staring at me, concerned. He was also holding one of his knives. Normally I would have joked, but not now.

"You going to use that on me?" I asked him, sniffling and wiping my nose with the back of my hand.

Fiz looked down at the knife and turned it in his hand like he hadn't even registered he was holding it. He slipped it back into his belt. "You had us worried," the black fox said in a very calm, very _normal_voice. He was also speaking differently. My own eyes widened. Rut had once told me that Fiz didn't like to talk a lot so he kept his sentences short, but when he was using full sentences, it was a moment you'd better pay attention to him.

"Fiz... I..."

"Quiet," he said, a hint of anger under his voice. "You made a scene and nearly got us arrested. Rut was able to talk the coppers out of it, but we almost lost you because of it. You almost ran into carriages twice. You nearly died, Simon."

"I... I don't--"

"Quiet!" Fiz growled, his hand slamming onto the floor hard enough I swore I heard the wood crack. "You can be... this, I don't care. But Rut is special. You get Rut in trouble and you'll answer to me. I like you so I'm warning you now. He doesn't need another crazy black fox in his life."

I swallowed and slowly nodded... and then Fiz's expression slowly softened to his normal one. The kinder, more innocent look of someone who used it to disarm people. He touched my hand on my knee and gave it a squeeze. "Friend. We worry. Talk to us. Help." And he was tugging me up onto my feet.

I didn't have the energy to fight him. I was tired from the run and the emotional impact of what happened had worn me down. I sniffled a little as Fiz led me into the communal room. Rut was sitting with a tea set in front of him and sipping a cup. He gave me a look that told me nothing about what he was thinking, but he motioned for me to sit down.

I did.

I heard him take a long breath before the white fox put his tea cup down on a saucer, looking at me. "You are going to answer all my questions. Something is going on that could put Fiz and I in trouble and I need to know everything. You lie or hide things and I find out..." He just motioned with his head to Fiz, who had sat down and smiled at me when I looked at him.

"I will," I said with a soft voice, looking more at the table now than at his face. "I guess I should start at the beginning."

I started by telling them the story of my life. How I had grown up in an orphanage with Avery, and how when we were still very young a kind old fox had "adopted" us and had us work as chimney sweeps. I told them about that life, how I could squeeze into tiny places and scurry up. How often some of us died, but I had good friends and a Master Sweep with a good heart. I was content and innocent.

But then I told them about the murder of that tiger in the courtyard area between various old buildings. About how Mordecai, wearing a demonic mask, had charged out and slain a bleeding tiger for reasons I still didn't understand. I told them how scared I was, about how odd it was to see a naked caracal running around with an erection and a clawed glove... but I also told them about the sound I had made and how he had seen me... and how our fates became tangled together.

I told them about Alister, Duncan, Bensley, and Billy. I told them about the people who hurt me and the people who made me feel loved. I told them about how I used to hide the white mark on my face with soot from chimneys because I didn't like how I looked back then.

I told them about Bensley's plan to figure out who Spring Heeled Jack was, and how, through twists of fate, he ended up with the murderer in his own home, quickly killed like nothing. I explained how Gideon had put himself between Mordecai and myself, and how I heard an explosion when I left, and then got on a ship that same afternoon.

I ended it with how much I loved Gideon. How he and I met on the streets, and he taught me how to throw a punch, then how to kiss. How he held me when I needed it and how wonderful he could make me just by being around me. I told him that we had always planned to come here when we had money, and that, if he had been alive, he would meet me here. I told them how he was my first love and that I missed him and Avery every day. I told them about seeing Avery's ghost and I broke down crying several times at that table.

"I miss them so much," I said through quiet sobs, hiding my face in my hands. "They were my family, my brothers, I thought we would be close forever. But Mordecai killed Avery... tortured him and then discarded him. He ripped my friend to pieces because he could... and he did something to GIdeon. He took him away from me, too. I don't know why he's chasing me, I don't know what he wants from me, but he wants me."

The twins were quiet for the most part, asking only a few clarifying questions here and there. When I cried, they let me, when I laughed and went off on a small tangent about my wild escapades, they listened. When I told them Avery was the one I was seeing, this ghost of mine, they didn't bat an eye. I think Fiz looked sad.

"Simon hurt," the black fox said when I stopped talking.

A morose chuckle left my mouth. "I've thought about jumping off a bridge so many times since I got here. Nothing feels the same. I don't feel alive anyway, so what's the point of pretending to live? But of course I don't do it. I'm actually afraid to die, I think."

"Is this why you..." Rut began, then clearing his throat and looking to the side, as if he was embarrassed to bring it up. "You... sleep with..."

"You mean why I jump into anyone's bed? Yes." I remembered all the men I made feel good so that I could feel alive. In the Arc, in the back alleys, wherever was available at that moment. "I feel like my old self when I'm having sex. I don't know why, but when I'm having it I don't feel so empty inside. Of course it always comes back."

"What plan?" Fiz asked, clearly not interested in discussing my sex life.

"Plan?" I returned with a dry chuckle. "There's no plan. I avoid him like I always have. He hasn't found me yet. And I want things to remain that way."

"Murders in the city have gone up recently," Rut said, tapping a finger on the wooden table. "He could be out hunting again, like you said... as Spring Heeled Jack?"

"If he is, I haven't seen him," I said honestly. I was tired. It was growing harder to focus but I willed myself to pay attention. "If he is, innocent people are going to die."

"So, what plan?" Fiz repeated.

"I don't have a plan, Fiz. I barely have a life. How do I stop something like Mordecai Crossbell? The man has more money than I have strands of fur."

I watched the twins give each other a long look. When Fiz nodded, Rut looked at me with a serious face. "We may know someone who can help."

"Who?" I asked, not sure what to make of any of this.

"The fox gang in this city, the Black Sock Gang. Fiz and I are members."

And so, more disbelief entered my life.