VEE

One or two guys usually stand when we hold discussions around the kitchen table, but I've learned that if they all sit, they're focused and serious.

Seth sits opposite Xander and Heath, beside Joss. Ewan and I sit at either end of the table. Before we spoke to Seth, I asked Xander to consider he's talking to a freaked out human and not a supernatural creature. He gruffly agreed to take the fact into account.

Their combined energy fills the room, almost tangible, charged by the suspicion about the sixth person with us. Sporting teams can fill a space with testosterone; this team project a mesmerising power joined by their physical presence. These Four were definitely created to appeal to people, because the effect on me when I'm around all four at once dizzies me every time.

"First up," says Xander as soon as we're assembled in our strange meeting. "What happened the morning we came to look for you? Do you know where Casey is?"

Seth looks Xander directly in the eyes at his "down to business” words. "I didn't know she'd died until I heard you talking to Taron."

Xander flicks a look at me, and I nod. The truth.

He sinks back in his chair. "Fuck. Did you see anything?"

Seth rubs both hands across his face. "I don't remember."

Again the truth.

"You don't remember what happened, or don't remember who did it?" asks Heath. "Who attacked you yesterday morning? The same guy as last night?"

"No. When the men came into the hall, it was still dark," he says in a low voice. "At first I thought one of the guys was him." Seth points at Xander. "He was the same height and build and held the same aggression."

Xander straightens again and places his arms on the table, leaning towards Seth. "I don't kill humans."

"If you say the guy who attacked us was someone else, then I believe you. After all, you saved me last night." He rests a palm on his cheek. "There were two men—they broke into the hall, and as I switched on a light, one of them hit me hard across the face. He knocked me unconscious, and that's all I remember."

Joss shifts in his chair. "What did that guy look like?"

"I don't know. His face was covered by a black hood. All I know is he had bright blue eyes and was strong. I didn't have a chance to look at anything else before he knocked me out."

"Where did they take you?" Xander's eyes narrow.

"They dumped me in a dark room. I don't know where. They took my phone and car keys, and I had no clue where I was. All I could think about was Casey. And Verity. I didn't know what was happening."

"You can call me Vee, I say in a gentle voice. Despite his weak smile, Seth's fear isn't dissipating and chaos fills his mind.

Xander continues his interrogation of the poor guy. "Tell me everything you remember about where they kept you. Any sounds? Smells? What was around you?"

Seth rests his elbows on the table and places his head in his hands. "Nothing. Just darkness. A musty smell I guess, like a basement maybe? I was unconscious a lot of the time, and when I woke, I felt sick—like I'd been drugged." He takes a shuddering breath. "A guy in a black mask came in—maybe the same one—and injected me with something. I passed out again and woke up back in the hall. For a few minutes, I thought maybe I dreamt it all until I realised how much I hurt and saw the blood on the floor."

The guys look at each other as Seth stares down at the table.

Casey’s blood.

"Why didn't you leave the hall then?" I ask. "Go for help?”

"I hadn't been there long when the guy arrived who attacked me, and you stopped him. I spent maybe ten minutes lying on the floor trying to find strength to do something."

"And you're sure he wasn't one of the guys you saw before?" asks Heath.

Seth shakes his head. "No. The person who attacked me yesterday evening, the guy Vee killed, was taller."

Xander chews his lip and we exchange a look. "Vee didn't kill anybody. You must’ve imagined that. Been semi-conscious, maybe. He died of something else."

"But I’m sure I saw Vee..." He trails off and holds his hands across his face. "I don't know what I saw. I don't know if this is the drugs, or what the hell is going on."

I can tell from Heath's silent communication with the others that they're not about to freak Seth out further with tales of vampires and demons. But he has to know. Seth needs to understand exactly who he's in danger from. And we need to figure out why. Since when did demons target human conspiracy theorists in such a public way?

"Do you trust us?" asks Joss.

He gives a soft laugh. "I don't have much choice. I was attacked twice in the same day. You didn't kill Casey; you're the lesser of two evils."

"We're not evil," growls Heath.

"I don't know what you are. But if Verity—Vee—trusts you then I have to accept you're okay."

"He doesn't know anything. He's telling the truth," I say.

Xander's expression shocks me, as if he wishes Seth wasn't. He wants answers about the situation, and Seth doesn't have them.

Seth chews a nail. "Casey... Is she definitely dead?"

"We never saw the body," Joss replies.

"So she could be alive?" Seth's face brightens with false hope, which disappears when Xander pulls an image from a file on the table. Seth looks away. "Okay. Probably not."

Ewan takes the photos Xander tore from the walls at the hall and slides them until they cover the table. Seth picks through them silently, paling back to the colour he was last night as he does.

"What do the words mean, Seth?" Xander taps on the image with the writing on the wall.

"It's a line from a poem," puts in Joss. "I thought I recognised it, so I googled it this morning. Yeats. ‘The Second Coming.’"

Heath snaps his head around to look at Joss. "Second Coming? What the hell?"

My mouth dries. I don't believe in the Biblical, but how can I deny the connection? These guys were mentioned in the Bible. Joss believes in Lucifer, that Hell exists and is where the demons come from. The room lurches along with my heart.

"The poem is allegorical," says Joss.

Xander drops the photo. "Use normal words, Joss."

"It's about the world being fucked."

Ewan laughs at Xander's expression. "Well, that's not exactly news to us."

"Yeah, but why choose words from a poem?" asks Heath. "The other messages were taunts. What the hell does this mean?"

"What does any of this mean?" I ask. "We've no more answers."

"I know the poem too," replies Seth. "It's about what happens when chaos reigns in the world."

"Again, not news to us," replies Ewan. "We spend our lives dealing with chaos."

"More than ever recently." Xander glances at me and away again. Since I arrived.

Seth chews a finger, and I catch a hint of something I don't understand crossing his mind. The anxiety is the prevalent emotion, but there's a glimpse of relief.

"Now we're together we can look at Seth's info." I gesture at the files. "We can compare what we know and discover who or what's behind the attacks. Can't we, Seth?"

"Uh. I'm still trying to get my head around Joss reading poetry."

Ewan breaks into a laugh. "Oh man, if you think that's the strangest thing we could tell you, you're in for a bloody big shock."

"I suspect so."

"And are you prepared to tell us what you know?" asks Xander. "In return for our protection against whoever wants to kill you."

Seth pulls off his glasses and rubs them on his shirt. He can't deny he's on somebody's hit list. "Yes."

Heath flicks through a singed manila folder. "Unfortunately half your information we salvaged is burnt, or missing."

"Yeah, I need to get hold of a computer hard drive." He places his glasses back on. "The files in the hall were print outs with decoy information. We hoped to fool people that we didn't know as much as we did, or that we were following the wrong leads. The real info is on the drive."

Xander looks down at his evidence. "So this is all bullshit? I almost burned my fingers trying to save this!"

"Most of it." Seth's voice remains monotone and cautious. Each time Xander's tone becomes hostile the guy's anxiety spikes. "There's some information encrypted amongst there, in case something happened to us and another cell managed to retrieve the files. If I'd disappeared, and Vee looked through, she'd find something I'm sure." Seth looks to me again.

"Where's this hard drive?" asks Ewan.

"Somewhere secure. I hid a key card to a storage facility in my locker at work. If anybody steals the card, there's no indication which storage unit they'd need to look in. And if they locate the right premises, they'll have over a thousand units to go through and with no idea know what they're actually looking for. If we can get hold of the hard drive, that will help."

"What's on there?" I ask.

"Research. Downloaded files from Nova. Background on people." He glances at Xander. "On you all."

Heath narrows his eyes. "What kind of information?"

"Vee knows."

"Information about you all killing," I say.

"Did you tell him what we killed?" asks Joss.

"No. How was I supposed to tell him and sound sane?"

"We didn't kill your friends," says Joss. "Believe us. We're also trying to find the people who did."

"I don't have much choice but to believe you."

"Yeah, especially if you're asking for our help. You're not safe, Seth."

"I'm aware of that." He lifts his arm and cringes. "And I'll help you in return but I don't want to stay around once I've shared the information I have. I'll go overseas and join another cell. I'm not safe in this country."

"You won't be any safer over there," says Ewan. "I promise you that."

He straightens his glasses. "Maybe."

"What exactly do you research at Nova Pharm?" asks Joss. "What's so important there?"

He shifts in his seat to face me. "Vee, you know from dealing with us online which organisations are highest on our radar right now. Pharmaceutical companies are growing in control, and there's money being siphoned from them. John infiltrated Nova Pharmaceuticals. Once he suspected something was happening, I took a job there as a cleaner too and started to hack into the systems at night. I've information we haven't shared online, especially since your Horsemen friend seems skilled at hacking into places he shouldn't." Seth flicks a look to Ewan. "Sorry."

"Go on,” says Ewan, voice hard.

"We're not sure where this is going but we've hacked into accounts of people whose names we don't recognise as connected to the company. We were on the verge of joining some dots when the disappearances began. I don’t think it’s coincidence John disappeared shortly after he handed me the information. There are layers and layers of names and organisations. Once I have that hard drive, we can go through what I know. Do you have any names or suspicions?"

Good question. The Horsemen have been walking in circles since the deaths began, with two possible suspects. One was Seth, the other a powerful demon. I've spoken to Ewan about how carefully the demon hides himself, and where they think the guy is linked, but they thought the guy was out of the picture. If one of his many pseudonyms is amongst Seth's records, this could be a solid lead.

"We need to get hold of that hard drive, stat," says Ewan. "Did John have anything at work we might need to find too? Notes?"

Seth nods. "He has a duplicate key card to the same storage unit, but I'm unsure what else might be left at his work. I never went to collect his belongings. Casey was going to, but..." He trails off. "Yeah."

"Cool. We can do that too when we visit Nova Pharm today," replies Xander. "Today. Seth, I want you with us."

"What? Why?"

"Because I think it's a good idea for whoever is watching you to see that you're with us now."

I watch for Seth's protest, but he sinks back in his seat, defeated. I have some idea of the trauma he's going through, but his life holds worse fears than mine. I'm relieved he's decided to stay because, if he left, he'd have Xander pursuing him as hard as those wanting Seth dead.

"And the other issue?" asks Heath. "Taron? We need to get to the bottom of that too."

Ewan taps the table. "Yeah, I'm gonna get into that today. I'll have a dig around while you guys follow up Seth's leads. We know who he works with. We don't have a lot of contact with them. No fixed address, but don't worry, I'll find them."

"Do you think these others are connected with the attempt to kill Seth?" I ask.

A small sound escapes Seth's mouth, and I fold a hand over his, and squeeze.

Ewan snorts. "I doubt it. You said he was paid a shit load for this? Like he'd share that job."

"I bet they watch each other's backs. You're right. We need to track the pair down and talk to them."

Xander touches his shoulder. "And the rune. Joss, can you look for that in your books?"

Joss salutes him. "Yes, sir."

"Give me the afternoon, and I bet you I find where Taron's associates are. You go with DoomMan and find his hard drive." He fixes his eyes on Seth, extends his arms, and cracks his knuckles. "I can't wait to see what he has for us."

I hold the same reservations about Seth as they do, but they have to understand what he's been through. Do they think he beat himself up? Paid someone to attack him? The Horsemen don't understand humans as well as I do, but treating him like this isn't nice or helpful. If he brings them information that helps, life should get easier for all of us.