The Danger Saga

The Circle

It was musty wherever he was, and the slow drip from a faucet was deafening in the otherwise silent room. He couldn't see anything, a dark hood was over his head and his hands were bound. The floor was cold, hard, and Kenny thought to himself how he must be in a bathroom somewhere. A small one. He tried to stretch his legs fully out in front of him but the room wasn't wide enough to accommodate it. Kenny rolled to the left and felt the side of a bathroom sink. He began to twist and shift around to try to get to his feet. Suddenly, he slipped and fell hard to the floor, slipping to the side and smacking the side of his head against what he deduced was the toilet. "f**k!" He yelled angrily at nobody. He was drugged. Weak.

Out of the silence he could hear footsteps approaching and the doorknob shift to open the door. Kenny stood silently waiting for a voice, or something that would help him out of this. The door closed, but Kenny could not sense if he was left alone, or if the person had decided to stay with him in the tiny room. He reminded himself to stay patient, and used his other senses to try to gain some information about his situation. He listened, and finally could hear someone breathing quietly in the room with him. Only one other person. It had to be her. The woman who was following him had somehow been able to get the best of him. He couldn't remember the last time anyone was able to out-maneuver him. He wouldn't be letting that happen again. He maintained his stubborn silence and waited for her to speak.

"You are surprisingly patient." The voice was low and sultry for a woman. The voice was muffled and distorted by the mask she must have still been wearing while she held him there. Kenny gave her more silence in response. "Now, don't be shy, I know you must have many questions." Again, he did not reply to her verbal nudging. "Okay tough guy, I will be back in a few more days to see how chatty you are feeling then." She pulled the door closed and he heard her leave, closing and locking the door from the outside.

Locked from the outside meant if he tried hard enough he could break it down if he could get up and get decent footing. He knew that he was known by the criminal element. Was this mystery woman trying to get him out of the way ahead of his tracking her down? A vigilante like him typically becomes a known target after dealing with the "bad guys" long enough. He always tried to be cautious, knowing he had become a concern for the criminals in the city over the years. He wondered whether this woman was responsible for the missing people J.B. had mentioned to him at the bar last night. Maybe more time had passed than he assumed? She said 'a few more days,' but, then again, his captor could have just been playing games with him. There was something about her. He just couldn't put his finger on it. Finally, he had an idea. He might be blindfolded, slightly drugged, and generally a pessimist, but he had to get out of here. He had to talk to the mystery captor.

"Hey!" he shouted. Silence. "Hey!" He shouted again. Silence. He waited. Nothing. "Damn it," he yelled, "If you want something from me, you better come and get it, because I am burning this place down if you don't respond, and something tells me you know I can!" He waited some more in silence. Not even a footstep approached. He tried to move his hands, which were still bound. He managed to open a palm and used his mind to will the green flame he controlled with his mind. Nothing happened. The drugs were inhibiting him. He cursed himself. Then he heard her. A laugh that he could never, ever, forget. He swallowed hard, and felt a paralyzing dread. Talia. Talia, the daughter of The Circle's leader. A daughter of forces he wanted no part of despite their previous dealings and proposed interest in bringing him into their enclave.

Of course, he had his run-ins with The Circle. They watched him. They knew him. They had even extended an invitation to him to be part of their world. It was because of his ability to call flames forth with his mind. He turned them down. He knew their dealings were not in his general interest. So, they let him sort out the lower level trash in the city without bother as long as he stayed out of their business. Talia was their business. He stayed clear of her, but wasn't always successful in the past. He blocked out his memories of times when he had let her into his apartment and his life here and there. It had been a long time since he had encountered her. He wanted no part in whatever game she was placing him in. Not again.

"TALIA!" He roared this time.

"Finally, he catches on." Her voice came from the doorway, opened again. "You are careless these days."

"What do you want?" He sounded disgusted. He was. She pulled the hood off of his head and he took a good long look at her. Tall, with a fair complexion, blond curls and blue-eyed like the angel she was not. But a beautiful, dark-minded woman she was.

"You, firstly," she chimed sweetly, "then, after that is out of the way, we really need to talk about people disappearing from Sangtonville." She spoke matter-of-factly. She had the information he was looking for. "What do you think, Kenny? Keep your hands tied like the good ol' times?" She laughed at his cringe.

"Stop your games. You are just trying to get me killed by your mother." He dismissed her advances. "Tell me why you of all people are worried about disappearing humans?"

"Now, my love, I wish you wouldn't just turn my affections away like you didn't enjoy what we did every single time you didn't turn them away."

"Enough Talia, just tell me what this is all about!" Kenny shouted, tired of sparring. He tried to keep his thoughts chaste, but she was intoxicatingly beautiful and her power wasn't something he thought he would have to contend with. She could do something similar to his ability to summon fire. She could summon air.

"Look, I know you think I am not-so-nice because I am involved with The Circle. By the way, just a reminder, it's not my choice since my mother is the leader of it. But, even if she weren't, I would still choose it because they are my kind. Unlike some people I know." She stared at him with a level gaze. "Here's the thing, Kenny, I don't know who else to turn to. You have flames, and you know they are afraid of what you are."

"...And what exactly am I?" He pressed her for the information The Circle refused to share with him unless he joined them. Sure, they left him alone, but if he didn't accept that he was also an Elemental, they wouldn't help him with his questions about his abilities. "Now would be a good time to start with that." He gestured to his hands, still bound behind him. "You could also unbind me."

"Kenny, listen, there is a faction within The Circle that want things to be different. They want to run things in the open and think that we should be open about our existence." She reached behind him and unbound his hands." This faction, they are up to something bad that is not going to help our kind the way they want it to. I don't know who to trust, I just know it isn't right and it needs to be stopped." She leaned back against the doorway, watching Kenny get to his feet. Even now, the drugs she injected him with had not completely worn off. He couldn't bring forth his flame and he was still a little wobbly.

"Sorry for your trouble but I haven't heard anything that would make me get involved with something to do with The Circle business." He rubbed his neck where the injection was made as he tried to make the room stop spinning.

"Okay, okay fine! The Circle was formed, literally, forever ago as the leaders of the Elementals. Those of us who embrace who we are, are under the protection of The Circle for the sake of preserving our kind. The Elementals. My kind are Sylphs. We control air. The water kind is called Undines. Earth kind are called Gnomes. You are a Salamander with control of fire."

Kenny just sat for a moment waiting for more. He was a Salamander? "Go on..." He urged her.

"I cannot tell you everything. I am already risking my neck coming to you. I am pretty certain I am already being looked for. I am hoping they don't put together that I was coming to you." Talia continued. "I can tell you a little bit more." He nodded for her to continue. "It is important to know that we are not supposed to be in this realm with humans. We have our own realm. So this faction that wants to be here more permanently, if they succeed, will screw up the balance that we are supposed to keep in check."

Kenny could tell by her distinct lack of sarcasm and innuendo that she was serious about what she was saying. He wasn't getting a whole lot more information because, clearly, Talia was worried about the consequences. He already knew those consequences would be inevitable and he was about to be swept up into it. "Why are they taking people?" He asked her.

"Because they want to mate with the humans who are willing, create half Elemental and half humans. It has to do with them receiving a soul, so they can stay in this realm." Talia kept trying to keep things short and to the point. She had no idea who would be her judge at The Circle for what she was doing once they caught up to her. She just knew she hoped it wasn't going to be one of the Elementals she was trying to disrupt from their plans.

"What has given you a sudden attack of conscience then?" He asked. He was still getting the half truth, he knew she would continue withholding more.

"It's just that we don't belong here in that way." She answered calmly and coolly.

"If you want my help at all, I need something good. Tell me something important that puts your life at just as much risk as my own will be if I agree to work with you." He shrugged. "Otherwise, I will give you a warning that the drugs are finally wearing off and you won't be able to hold me here."

"We are immortal." She blurted.

"We are... immortal." He stated back. "...And..."

"We 'die' here, we re-form, or reincarnate back in our realm. The Other World. We can only re-enter the human realm during a short window of time every ten years. The faction I am concerned about doesn't want that delay to return." She admitted.

"What else?" He would push as much as he could for more.

"Please help me, Kenny." She drew closer to him now in the tiny bathroom. She reached for his warm hand with hers. Her skin felt cool against his and he began to feel alight by touching her hand. He had not felt anything close to this with anyone since Sarah. Never with anyone else. "This is important," she said. Where their hands touched, surges of energy traveled through them, intermingling and exchanging.

He couldn't resist her, but he tried like hell. She knew how he felt, but Talia just had to have him. He just could never shake feeling like he was betraying Sarah somehow, even with her gone. Then there was also the whole situation in the back of his mind where they both knew he was forbidden to interact with The Circle and all under their protection until he would relent and join them. It just made it that much more electrically charged knowing it was forbidden. It was futile. Damn it. His inner fire was ablaze now. A lot of lonely days, nights and sleeping in empty apartments just got to be too much. He was a man after all. Talia wanted him. He wanted her. He grabbed her around the waist and took a fistful of her long blond curls and crushed her lips into his. She responded with her usual quick excited kisses and touches. He picked her up while walking into what was an adjoining bedroom. In her typical style, the walls were light blue-gray, murals of birds on trees all around them, there was a huge king-size bed, soft, white sheets, blankets and a thick comforter where he tossed her not so gently while he quickly undressed before her. She undressed while watching his clothes come off. Neither of them were patient lovers with each other to take any of it slow until the act itself. Then it would be like a constant hurricane wind-stoked bonfire burning as brightly as possible until they were both totally exhausted.

It was early afternoon when Kenny opened his eyes. He rolled over and realized he was alone. This was her typical style too. Fly away before morning. He wouldn't wait for her to return. He got up and dressed and went to check his place. Kenny knew it wouldn't be long before The Circle actually caught up with him, or Talia. After checking his apartment, he would have to visit J.B. again since he had new information that might get him more help or answers from his old friend.

His apartment looked untouched. It made him uneasy though, knowing Talia was able to get in and out-maneuver him in his own space. Sylph, he thought, realizing her abilities may not just consist of wind, perhaps she could be unseen, become the wind like he had sensed in the park when he knew something followed that he just couldn't get eyes on. He would have to find time to re-assess that. She was a blind-spot for him without being invisible and that also made him uneasy. She loved it, of course. He smirked to himself, thinking about her just then. He liked her. She knew how to feed his fire, but it was all missing something. That something was important. It was why things never went further than this for them. She felt it too, he knew. He just figured it would be a matter of time before he could get more explanation about it from her. It was just complicated. He could navigate complicated situations, he decided. For now, it was worth it. Besides, if he didn't play with fire, he wouldn't really be any kind of respectable Salamander now, would he?

Kenny got a shower and a change of clothes, secured the place and headed out to the street to walk to the Snake Pit. It was just after the sun went down so he knew it was early, but the place opened up at dark. He thought about J.B. now. He was worried about his small town friend. Now that he knew The Circle was involved in all of this, that would make things much more risky for the bar and for J.B.

***

The powers that be in Sangtonville, The Circle, would almost certainly be back at the bar tonight looking for more information. Johnny finished cleaning up after his shower, and got dressed. Before walking out the door, he stood there at it for a moment staring at the door. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. In a swift motion, he turned around and went back to his bedroom where he fiddled in the closet for a moment. He pulled out a cigar box and sat on the bed and opened it. He shifted a few photos, letters and other objects around with his fingers. He stopped a moment and pulled one of the photos out to look at it more closely. It was a picture of the Bennett family. Sheriff and Mrs. Bennett, himself and Sarah. He sighed thinking about Sarah, and then about his parents who he hadn't even visited since Sarah passed away. Johnny set the photo on his night stand and then fished out the item he was looking for, a large round silver amulet. He put it on and tucked it under his shirt.

"If those scum bags came back tonight," he said aloud, thinking the rest of his thoughts that he would solve it himself and remind all of his customers of why they kept things neutral in his bar, or they wouldn't be allowed in. He really was hoping that Kenny would show up again tonight. He had to warn his friend and somehow get more information about The Circle's agenda with Kenny and the mystery woman. As he entered the bar he saw Alec, clearly looking irritated about how long he took to return and also nodding towards the back office room behind the bar. Johnny nodded back to his good friend, his sometimes security, sometimes bartender and sometimes lover, Alec, and went directly to the back room. He hesitated a moment before opening the door, not knowing who he would find there. He took a breath and opened the door.

"J.B., we have to talk." Kenny Danger looked up at his friend from the two-seater couch as he entered the back room. The lighting wasn't great. It was really only an office in name. Nothing was on-the-books in this place.

"Yeah, we do." Johnny agreed, pulling out a stool from beside the door and sitting down.