~~
Dietrich
~~
[Beginning of the interrogation, before Trinity unbinds them]
The man that was sitting across from me was named Christian. There had been two guards in here, but I sent them out. I didn't need them to be in here with me while I interrogated this man. He was a killer. He was guilty of killing members of the shadow world, and I didn't plan on going easy on him. Not only that, but there were things about my past that I might need to reveal to this man, and I didn't want those guards to spread those rumors around. No, having them out of here was the best option for me at the moment.
The man was not talking though. Even with me trying to win him over with words. Not even intimidating him was working. Then again, I imagine that being tied up wasn't helping him at all.
“What will get you to talk to me?” I asked him, but the man wasn't saying a thing. I guess he was going to be one tough nut to crack. I just stared at the man with his stony disposition. “You are not getting out of here until you talk to me. You have a lot to answer for.” I glared at him, but still there was nothing that he was willing to tell me at the moment.
.....
“Fine. If you don't want to talk, then you can listen for the time being.” He looked shocked that I was taking another approach, but he still didn't make a sound. “Do you know who Alaric Jaegan was? You don't need to speak, a simple nod or shake of the head will do.” I wasn't hiding my German accent at the moment. It was the same as the one he would have as well. Well, mostly. We came from the same region, but that didn't mean that dialects hadn't changed over the centuries.
The man finally gave me a semblance of a response to my question. He nodded his head. Of course, he and all the others would know who Alaric was.
“That is good. You see, I knew Alaric. I was a good friend of his. We were teammates in the party that hunted those that did wrong around the world.” He still hadn't made a sound, but his eyes had gone even wider than before. He obviously didn't believe me.
“I know what you are thinking, Christian. That it is impossible for me to have known him since he died so long ago. Well, I am a vampire. I have lived for over five hundred and fifty years. Alaric and I were close. I would say that he was one of the best friends that I ever had. So close, in fact, that my castle is just a short walk from the mansion that he had built. The one that your family still uses. I was there, you know. In the mansion. My mate and I took down the trees with the runes on them and entered the house. Nice touch by the way, leaving a note just for me.”
I could tell that this man was still not willing to accept that what I was saying was true. I needed to push him just a little more. I needed to make sure that he was understanding that this was all true, and that they were all stupid for believing the words of those nannies. If it weren't for them, Alaric's family wouldn't have turned out like this. Also, I needed to find out what those nannies were, and how they lived for so long.
“I have been to the orphanage as well. That is where you grew up, right? I saw your file there. Yours and so many others. I have them here with us now. We needed them for references. None of the files had pictures of you as you got older. Just when you were about six or so.” I was giving just enough information that I could break the ice with him. And I felt like it was working. At least this was better than just staring at him in silence for several more minutes like I had done in the beginning. This might get me somewhere.
At that moment, I got a message from Trinity. She was telling us how to make it easier for these people to talk to us. And it would result in them not being tied with the vines anymore.
'Change the runes, they have them on their arms and the back of their necks. Claud here had one for hiding, silence, luck, strength, and another that I don't know the meaning of. Change them all to open and truth runes. After that, I will unbind them. It will be a little difficult, but you can manage to pull their sleeves up past the bindings.' Her voice was clear and loud. And it was accompanied by the appearance of one of the magic pens that Gabriel had used earlier. I saw the shock on Christian's face when he saw it materialize. Seriously, they knew that she had magic, was it that big of a shock for him?
Several of the people replied to her words, myself included.
'Thank you, Trinity.' I took the magic pen and walked over to the man that had not been speaking to me. He was scared, trembling in fear when I pushed his head forward, but he still didn't say anything.
“This here is the rune you would have used to kill yourself, right?” I touched it with the pen and the man jerked in fear, but he didn't make a sound. “I am changing the rune. It won't let you kill yourself anymore. And the others that you have on your arms, they will be changed as well.”
I didn't wait for the man to speak, I knew that he didn't want to. I just went to where Trinity said the runes would be and started to take care of them. I changed them all to what she told me they needed to be. Though I did comment on one of the runes that I saw.
“I see you're still using Alaric's Jaegan mark. It isn't a rune that offers powers to the user, but it marks you as one of his. I had it once too. It was the mark that indicated that we were part of his team. It faded on me after Alaric died though. That was how I knew that he was truly gone from this world.” With all of the runes gone now, I went back to sit in the chair across from him and sent word to Trinity that I was done. It took a minute or so until the others were done, but soon enough, the bindings disappeared and the man's face paled. He was not expecting this.
“Sit properly.” I told him as I got up again. He didn't move into the chair to settle himself, but he didn't try to get up either. “Fine.” I shrugged and started to chain him to the chair and table. He wasn't moving yet, but I wasn't going to chance it.
Once he was secured in place, I returned to my seat and looked at him once again.
“Now, are you willing to talk to me?” To my surprise, the man started to speak for the first time.
“What you have said is all lies.” His accent was just what I thought that it would be.
“I do not lie.” I crossed my arms and lounged back in the chair as I faced him. “What you have been taught is the lie. I know that Alaric would be ashamed of his family if he could see them now.”
I needed to make him see the truth here, I needed him to know what was going on. That was why I started to tell him about the journals that I had found. I told him about the three wives and the children that were born from them. I told him about the nannies that Alaric didn't care much about. That got a rise out of him, which I didn't expect.
“DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT THEM LIKE THAT!” He screamed when I told him that the nannies were initially fired, but that Alaric had no other options than them so he hired them back. He didn't like me telling him the truth right now.
“Struck a nerve, did I?” I glared at him. “You know that it is all true. I can get Alaric's journals for you all to read and see for yourself.” He wasn't listening though. He was breathing heavily through his nose. “What you need to understand, Christian, is that Alaric was a good man. He loved all the people of the world. He was an orphan that never knew where he came from. He was raised by the village, being passed from house to house with no stability or real love. When he was older, he wanted to make a family of his own, but he also wanted to make the world a safer place. He found out about the shadow world at a young age and was never frightened by it. He accepted it and embraced it. He loved all the people that he met through that extra world.”
“You're lying!” Christian snapped at me, and I could tell that he was straining to cover his ears.
“I am not.” I spoke calmly but firmly as I explained facts to this man. “I met Alaric when he was sixteen. He and I got along right away and from that day on, he would come to see me and ask questions. He learned all he could about the nonhumans of the world and when he learned that there were humans that hunted them, he was appalled. He also knew that it was wrong for the nonhumans to hunt the humans. He wanted a world that was filled with peace. So, we took care of those people. The humans that needlessly hunted the supernaturals, and the supernaturals that hunted the humans. It was a good life for a while, but he wanted to settle down. We also lost a friend on a mission, and he knew that his own life was the most fragile of them all. So, we disbanded and went our separate ways. After that, he married the women from his village and started his family. He was happy. Though he wouldn't be, if he could see where that family was at now.”
“Alaric was a hunter, but he wasn't the kind that protected the monsters in the world. He tried to eradicate them all. He tried to rid the world of the monsters, but he was limited to how far he could travel. He wasn't able to do his job or complete his mission.” Christian sounded like he was preaching to me. “We were all taught the truth by the grannies. They were the ones that knew Alaric. They were the ones that passed down his legacy to us all.”
“No, Christian, they didn't. They manipulated you all and lied to you. You're just too na?ve and narrow minded to notice that. I truly am sorry about that. You have all been led astray, and because of that you murdered innocent people.”
“IT WASN'T MURDER!” He screamed at me. “WE WERE TAKING OUT THE TRASH! WE WERE RIDDING THIS WORLD OF A PLAGUE THAT HAD BEEN SPREADING FOR FAR TOO LONG! AND, SOON ENOUGH, WE WILL ELIMINATE THE SOURCE OF THAT PLAGUE! WE WILL KILL THE QUEEN AND THAT WILL KILL ALL OF THE OTHERS! THEY WILL FALL WITH THEIR LEADER NO LONGER GIVING THEM HER ESSENCE TO LIVE!”
My mind was blown. What was he saying? Did they think that killing Trinity would make all the rest of us die? Seriously?
“You're wrong, Christian, none of us will die just because Trinity is dead.”
“YOU WILL!” He screamed at me. “YOU WILL!”
I tried to talk to the man more as the time passed, but every time I did he would just scream the same things over and over.
“LIES ALL LIES! YOU ARE ALL GOING TO DIE!” It was hopeless. Maybe someone else would get something else useful out of him, I was done with him for now though.
