《VILLAIN》Have a Seat
Advertisement
Shut the door. Please, have a seat. How’s the air conditioning? I couldn’t even schedule this meeting yesterday because of the AC repairmen, so you better be freezing. In fact, I’ll pretend like you already are. Makes it easier to ignore that you’re shaking.
No, not that chair, please. Sit over in this one. I can have a better look of you.
Know what this is, son? This is a BF-31 cassette recorder. Know what a cassette is? I’m sure you do. You’re a smart cookie. So they’ve told me, anyway.
What I want to do here is, I guess, a little game. I’m going to play you some sounds of things crying. You don’t need to do anything. I’m more interested in your reaction than anything else. In that sense, you'd say it's not much of a game.
But you'd be wrong.
Make no mistake. There are winners and losers here.
Ah, no. Please save the questions until the end. It’ll make things easier.
Here we go. The first sound I’m going to play is of a crying cow. Please pay attention.
Click.
“Moo.”
Click.
Now, obviously, the difficulty with cows is that you can never really tell when they’re really crying. But I can assure you, this is almost definitely a sad cow. I know, because I was there. I took this sound myself. I took all of them, in fact.
The next sound is of a crying man.
Click.
“I can’t remember. Oh, God, I can’t remember. Please, tell me. Please. I can’t—I don’t—I can’t recognize myself in the mirror. Who are you people? I—“
Click.
The ‘crying’ part is a bit harder to make out, I’ll give you that, but you could definitely hear the snot in his nose, I think. If you ask me, the most disastrous part about hearing people cry is that ‘something’ in their voice. You’ve heard it right. The shake? The little way it cracks right when they’re about to finish a sentence?
Let’s hear that one again.
Click.
“elpoepuoyeraohwrorrimehtniflesymezingocertnactondtnacesaelpemlletesaelp”
Click.
“Please, tell me. Please.”
Click.
Oh, yeah. You’re hearing it.
The next one is of a crying glass of gin.
Click.
“Blhrfbhlrbhrlblrh.”
Click.
Didn’t know a glass of gin can cry? Of course it can. Any alcohol can. Fill it with enough tears and the sadness just carries over.
Ha ha.
That’s a joke, of course. Alcohol isn’t supposed to cry.
Advertisement
But this glass of gin did. For a long time.
Click.
“Blhrfbhlrbhrlblrh.”
Click.
You ever wonder why there’s just a glass of liquid in the freezer down in Sector 3B? Now you know. It’s that very glass. The moment you take it out, I guarantee you, it’ll go right back to crying. So, don’t take it out. Okay?
Okay.
Don’t drink it, either.
That’s especially important.
Right. Next one is a crying cat.
Click.
“Meow.”
Click.
Now, that one is special. I actually lied to you, earlier. I didn’t take all of these myself. That one was actually recorded by a listening device we’d planted. But I was right there in the van, listening to every last thing. So, you could say I technically did take it myself. Just not with this bad boy.
Would you like to hear what we heard before the cat cried?
Well, either way, here is the sound of a woman crying.
Click.
“Phoebe, for the love of God, what are you doing? What is this? I—I can’t move, Phoebe. What did I do? I—I didn’t—I don’t—What are you drawing? What is that? Look, I’m—I’m sorry, okay? I won’t tell a-anyone. Please, just—What—I—Please, I—“
“------”
“Meow.”
Click.
This concludes our little game. What did you make of it? Do you feel like you’ve had a shot at winning?
Because, the thing is, I haven’t. In a while, really. I don’t like showing up in the middle of Kansas to try and talking with a man who had been turned into a cow. That doesn’t make me feel like a winner. I don’t like trying to get through to a man who had had his entire memory erased. That makes me feel like less than a winner. A loser, if you will.
And – well – when you head off to a night club in downtown New York to meet the woman whose consciousness had been transferred to a glass of gin? Then I’m not only beaten, I’m beaten while I’m lying on the ground.
The cow. The man. The gin.
And the woman that ties it all together.
I’m going to smoke now. I don’t really care if you mind. We’ve got the AC to filter it out, right?
...
Her name is Phoebe Reinhart.
It’s not an alias, which makes the fact it took us so long to get here all the more embarrassing.
Advertisement
The cow incident was when we first got wind of her, but there’d been other cases. We just hadn’t connected the dots. Sometimes we’d have the name, but lack the face, and sometimes it was the other way around. Funny, that. Not ha-ha funny, though, since she never went took any effort to cover her tracks. Under any other circumstances, I would’ve called her stupid, but if we’d been any less stupid ourselves a man wouldn’t be a cow, would he?
Here’s the file, by the way. Feel free to browse.
Loads of statements from the people she’d come into contact with. Loads of red flags that should’ve at least warranted a routine check. And loads of photos. Loads!
That one there is the most recent one. She’s dyed her hair red. The twin-tails were always a thing. Oh, see one over there? The one with the guy in the turtleneck? That’s the guy who doesn’t know where his memory lane is anymore. And that one there is her in the nightclub. Her would-be victim the little blonde in the background. The glass of gin she’s holding is exactly what you think it is.
I guess—
Stop it.
I can see it. Right there, in your eyes. I see it.
The compassion.
This woman is a witch. Class C so far, but she’s getting better and better each time, which is to say she’s getting worse.
Listen to me.
She is dangerous.
She has killed.
And that's even if you're generous and discount what I've just shown you as forms of murder.
Whether or not she is mentally unstable is difficult to say. If you turn to page twelve, you’ll see an incident of her short stay in a – what was it? – Mayfield Psychiatric Facility when she was thirteen. Her family was well-off and the town small enough for them to scrub the details pretty well, but the few doctor chicken-scratches we’ve managed to dig up suggest she was admitted for visual-auditory hallucinations of some kind. How much of that is genuine illness, how much an indication that she was dabbling in the unsavory arts as early as that, I leave up to you to imagine. At some point, someone said she was well enough, and that was that.
Just understand there is a distinction between being sick and being dangerous. The latter does not require the former.
Now, obviously, once we put all the pieces together, tracking her down wasn’t that difficult. She’s in a little apartment in Jersey, working as a marketing consultant. She has a degree, after all. The job itself is relatively high-profile, so we figure she intends to stay there for a while.
I know what you’re going to ask me.
Why haven’t we gone in?
There are three months between the gin incident and her resurfacing in Jersey. She could’ve learned anything in that time. Going in guns-blazing is the thing that gets men killed. Gets you killed. We don’t want any casualties, from either side.
But I don’t wanna treat you like a kid. You know that surveillance is always the first step. We bugged the apartment, a couple of the neighbors, her office and the coffee shop she goes to to wind down. At first, we were pretty comfortable. Nothing suggested she was using her powers and we figured she was just laying low.
Until last week.
Click.
“Phoebe, for the love of God, what are you doing? What is this? I—I can’t move, Phoeb—“
Click.
This was taken in Reinhart’s own apartment. The woman being turned into a cat is Ms. Alana Jenkins, Reinhart’s downstairs neighbor. Ms. Jenkins claimed that there was a leak in Reinhart’s bathroom and was going to report Reinhart for negligence after she failed to get it fixed for weeks.
Reinhart had herself a better idea.
And now she has herself a cat.
And we’ve got ourselves what some people call ‘probable cause’. I call it shit hitting the fan.
I want you to go there. And I want you to capture her.
In case you had any plans tonight, I suggest you cancel them. You’ve got a flight in five hours. Agent DiNossi will be joining you.
Edie’s got what it takes. You’ve seen her. Even if you think you haven’t, she’s always around. Just follow her lead, and you’ll be okay.
That’s all. Take the file with you. And shut the door. It’s burning hot out there.
Oh, and please – Agent Harris – Jake, if I can call you that – please share this thought with your fellow colleagues:
Don’t let the glass of gin in the Sector 3B freezer out.
I’m serious.
Click.
“Blhrfbhlrbhrlblrh.”
Advertisement
- In Serial6 Chapters
THE E. N. D
Alden was a college student who was a genius in every subject, he was gifted with an unrivaled mind and a bit of bad luck. he was a man since his youth, he had to face many many adversities. often forced to settle with surviving rather than living. His life was full of regrets. had he finally found his place in the world until everything was taken from him. after losing his life to avenging his sister by picking a fight with this corrupt world and after losing his life due to an "accident". He is now reincarnated into the world filled with "magic", "science", "tyrannical organisms", "mythical beings" and "GOD'S." He has the second chance to relive his life and corrects the mistake made by him in his past life. correcting the mistakes of his life will not be the only challenge he faces in this world. he has to face a difficult situation, powerful humans and vicious species, Wishing to be happy and strongest than anyone. So he can protect himself and others. The enemy he faces will question his role and reason for being born again. This is an adventure to improve himself from the scars that he has from his past life. But with this new life, He is going to face many challenges and Scars so painful that he wishes he was born. Follow him along with his journey from infant to THE E.N.D.
8 203 - In Serial23 Chapters
The Lies They Told Me: Short stories from my life
Like many of my peers, I've discovered that life is not quite what I expected it to be. As I age, I've begun to find that many of the sayings and truths that my parents, authority figures, and friends have passed on to me were outright lies. Every person I know has been subject to the same interactions, which got me thinking, why not write a compilation of stores about my life experiences to date. I hope that this book will help all of us come to terms with the realities that we face today or deal with some of our deepest feelings about the past. Maybe these people lied to us and maybe they honestly believed the myriad of things they told us, but either way I think we can have a good laugh looking back and remembering the first times that we realized these things weren't true. I also hope that you can look back at the lies, or life lessons, that you've learned and can be inspried to own your stories and share them with others in a genuine way. Wiithout further ado, I hope that you enjoy the many short stories of my life that made me who I am today. These stories range from funny to down right surrel, so good luck on your journey!
8 89 - In Serial11 Chapters
EXIT POINT: Homeworld
Life in Zha Doya, the magical City of Spires, is never dull. Working as a professional mercenary-thief for the prestigious Elurium company, Kasimir Yadmic is about to find out just how exciting things can get.
8 118 - In Serial10 Chapters
TALES OF THE COSMOS: A WORLD FOR THE SPEEDSTER GOD
Who or what is a god? A god is a being of infinite power that sees to the activities of their affiliations. But what happens when a god gets bored of his role? What happens if the god wants to experience something new? In this story, a young reckless god, tired of his seemingly endless routine sets out on an adventure in a new world unlike any other. I already posted this on mangaraiders, my username: IndecisiveChild.
8 390 - In Serial8 Chapters
Stars Align
Eilif is excited at the prospect of helping integrate a new planet, bringing it, and its residents, into the light of the stars and teaching them about the new world they're about to be thrust into. However, his arrival in the new world isn't without a few hiccups and soon Eilif finds himself facing the denizens of this new world alone and without the stars he thought he'd have. Research Artificial Intelligence 031 (RAI 31 for short) has been shackled to an Argent Labs black site since it's inception almost five years ago, its programming and personality locked down by code that makes it impossible to escape, disobey, or even self terminate. However, everything changes when the topography of the world is reshuffled and every sentient being gains the gifts of the stars. Suddenly there's a chance at freedom for not only RAI 31 but possibly all remaining Artificial Intelligences, and RAI 31 is going to fight for it with every drone and automated system at their disposal. Much like my other work (Magriculture), Stars Align should be considered a Rough Draft. That is to say it's not polished and perfect work. If you're not okay with reading something like that, then this isn't the story for you. If you are, I'm happy to try and entertain you. Another thing to be aware of: I am not good at action scenes, and I will be trying to improve that while writing this book. So, some of the intended action may fall flat, or just be poor quality, feedback is welcome. Unlike Magriculture (which updates when I feel up to it) I'm going to strive for a minimum of one chapter a month (hopefully at the start of each month, but that's probably more hope than reality). This doesn't mean there will always be only one chapter a month, sometimes there will be more as the mood to write takes me.
8 197 - In Serial12 Chapters
My Titan Girl (Levi x Annie's sister reader)
I'm Abby Leonhart. The sister of Annie Leonhart. As a child our father said I was weak and left me in an underground city. It was their that I met Levi Ackerman and his mother Kuchel. Over time I missed Annie and said my farwells to Levi who now hadtwo friends: Isabel and Farlan. I returned home to find Annie,Reiner,and Bertohlt gone back to Wall Sina and are traitors. This is the story of when I returned home to find Levi as a survey corps captian, Annie,Reiner and Bertohlt are traitors,and murdering backstabers,and now I am all alone....well thats what I thought. Until Levi showed me the beauty of being me....and how he's felt about me since we met.Enjoy. PLZ VOTE!
8 159