The Old Team

I do not doubt that these cultists, which I am now referring to because of their feverous appetite for their belief, would have information relating to other churches of theirs somewhere around this place. I do not doubt that they would keep in touch and share information concerning hunting me. If I'm honest, I'm surprised the turnout wasn't higher. Now, I can't go and start getting a big head.

Anne and I started looking through the papers that were stored away. We managed to find a big filing cabinet that housed some rather sensitive documents. I may have been pretty dead-on by referring to them as a cult. They are sapping their members of everything they can to keep themselves afloat. They're not dodging taxes either, which is weird but whatever. I am not shocked that they think of themselves as a non-profit.

Taxes and money aside, there is a lot of information here. They've been operating for quite a while at this location. They have when they were founded and which other location gave them their charter and the names of the folks who swore in their new members. They are weirdly organized for such a chaotic bunch. With this though, they have all their official communications logged. That's a starting point for trying to find out where they would have moved Madam Odette. I just need to figure out who they've been most friendly with.

"If I were a part of these groups, where would I move someone who is considered this important?" I mumble to myself as I look over the papers. They all just seem blank. Nothing sticks out until I reach a letter that was received over two years ago. The writer refers to the one in charge of this place as "brother" while the others refer to them by a title. Either they are family or they are very familiar with them. I look away at some of the others but my attention keeps being pulled back to this letter.

They have a proper header on it with a name and address. It's… Ick, it's something like 80 miles from here. I'm broke, I don't have access to my funds, That is going to take some time to get there. My concern must have shown. Anne pulled me away from my train of thought by poking me on the shoulder, "Are you OK, Red? You seem rather serious." I have to blink. I've been so focused on these papers that my eyes are starting to dry out. "I think I am. I may have found something but it's a distance away. I don't have access to my funds."

She pulled a black card from her pocket, "Madam Odette gave me access to her account in case something happened. Where do we need to go?" That woman just knows how to prepare for the unseen. I hate to use this limitless power but I have a feeling that Madam Odette will excuse it. I don't want to jump the gun and get rolling without making sure that this is the path to follow. No matter how much I try to ensure that I've covered everything, I keep coming back to this letter. As though something is pulling me towards it trying to answer my question. I doubt myself too much. I need to start trusting this gut feeling because it may have saved me some trouble a long while ago.

"Fuck it!" I slam the desk grabbing the letter. "Anne! We're heading out! Call us a ride!" She popped up with a grin, "Yes! Sir Red!" She's on that again. Referring to me as "Sir Red" even though it makes me feel uncomfortable. I'll have to address it later. Other things require our more immediate attention. The recovery and rescue of Madam Odette.

Anne uses their phone to call for a ride. Back on the street, it's obvious why this place doesn't attract much attention. It looks like a church that you would find in this area. They have high metal fencing but a large metal gate that opens to allow entry. The center of the compound was well hidden from the eyes of those on the street. That may explain why I was able to torch the entire center and no one batted an eye. It will probably be a long while before someone notices that they are missing. I'll have to deal with that when it comes around.

Our ride comes around the corner coming to a stop in front of us. The old, tattered raccoon rolls down the window to let us know, "This is a long ride! You'd better make sure you can pay up!" Anne takes charge of the conversation while I get the back door opened up, "We'll be fine. We just need to get to this address." She commandeered the letter to show him the heading. He scowled as he figured out the distance. "If you're serious, I'll get you there."

We piled into the back, got ourselves settled, and he started his meter. The entire ride was quiet. Anne and I kept to ourselves. I sure didn't want to find out whether this guy was going to try and kill us or not because we said the wrong thing. I did catch him looking back at me in his mirror a few times only to shake his head. I've grown so accustomed to just letting my tails go that I forget that normal folks don't see it as normal. It's not worth the trouble to hide them. I'll deal with the stares and answer questions if asked. To a degree. I'm learning to not let too much out into the ether.

The ride is rather quiet. Our driver does his job of getting us there. When we reach the next city he begins relying on his GPS to get us there. When we're around the corner from where we need to be, I let him know that he can let us out here. He pulls over, Anne pays the man, and he leaves. This place looks almost identical to the last one. I release a ping to see that there are quite a few people here. I dig deeper and begin looking room by room with fine detail looking for someone. I keep finding more rats in robes that are chatting and having a good time.

I have to keep my cool and search. Another room, more nothing. I hit what looks like a side room from their main cathedral where there is a door behind a bookcase. I focus on that to find stairs that lead down. Sure enough, like the last place, there is a room underground with a makeshift jail cell. And there's someone inside of it. They look tattered and worn out. I'm hoping this is Madam Odette and this is a quick search. How do I want to go about this?

I can't let my anger dictate what I do but I can use it to get to where I need to be. "Anne, you need to stay outside. I suggest going across the street and finding a place you can sit down. I'll come to get you when it's safe."

"Sir Red, I'm not going to let you go in alone."

"I can better operate if I don't have to worry about protecting you simultaneously. Please, just let me handle this."

She paused as she relented, "Please, take care of yourself."

I give her a nod to reassure her that I will. Without her there, I can let loose a bit more. If I don't have to defend her then I can be a little more… violent with them. I just have to keep a lid on it so people from the street don't alert the authorities. The last thing I need to deal with is a standoff with police because they just think I'm assaulting a local church.

I hide my tails as I approach the main gate. It's open so anyone could walk in. No one else seems to be around either. The main door is unlocked. I can get out of view of the street and begin working my magic. I ping the area where the door was. There are two standing in the room. They appear to be talking to one another. No one else seems to be paying attention or have noticed that I am in yet. I make a straight line for the door. It's not locked but how do I want to do this? I crack the door to see one sitting at the desk while the other is across from him.

Speed is key. I need to get Madam Odette or whoever is in the basement out. That harsh week of training is coming back. I open the door stepping inside. I don't slam it, but I let it shut behind me with a click. Both of the rats look at me with a look of confusion. I step forward releasing the illusion on my tails. All five of them fan out giving me quite an impressive impression. The one standing up nearly falls as he stumbles back to the desk. I guess I can try talking to them first. "Who do you have locked in the basement? And you will release them to me." The one standing goes to move but only gets to lift their leg. I wave my open palm releasing a heavy pulse. They try to speak but nothing is there before they collapse to the ground. His compatriot behind the desk seems much more willing now.

He stands up backing up toward the bookshelf. He taps on the side releasing the lock and allowing it to open. I motion for him to lead me. He flinches as my paw moves. Oh good, he knows where he stands.

I keep him in front of me as he leads me down into the room where this jail cell sits. Inside is a woman wearing a familiar, if only dirty, shade of red that I recognize. She was doing her best to keep herself shielded as she heard the footsteps. "Unlock it." At my order, the rat fumbles for the keys. The latch gives and the door swings open. There is a trade that happens. I help the woman out of the cell. Taking her place is the rat who helped get us down here. "I'm sure your mates will notice eventually."

I take her arm and start to move her out. "Come on, we have to go." She fights at first but realizes that I'm not here to hurt her. I know she saw the body I left in the office as we make our way out. I heard her gasp with a pause. "We have to go!" The cathedral is still empty giving us a clear exit. I get her outside of the main gate and across the street. Anne was sitting on a bench nervously waiting. Once she saw me moving with purpose across the street she stood up.

Her paws grabbed the face of this woman and immediately checked on her. With tears in her eyes, she squealed, "Madam Odette! You're OK!" This brought her back from the defensive state she was into something much more sociable. "Anne? Is that you? I was so worried!" The two hugged it out while I kept an eye on the church across the street. This reunion is touching but we need to get going. "Come on you two, we need to get away from here." I usher them down the street until we can get around a corner. No alarms were raised. No one followed us. I think we managed to get out without an issue.

Those two get the all-clear from me and continue hugging it out. There are tears, and there's whining, but I think they're both going to be OK. I still keep an eye out for when they start noticing that something is wrong. I'm sure that the person sitting at the desk who is now locked up in the basement was either their leader or someone rather important. Unless it was two peons just hanging around the boss's office.

"Ladies, we need to get out of here." Madam Odette finally realized who I was. Her face lit up as she reached out to touch my face. The tears formed first as her lip quivered. Her mouth opened as she tried to say something but the only things that came out were squeaks. I let her grab at me as she investigates. I cannot accurately describe the whine from her mouth before she grabbed me with all her strength. My arms were pinned to my side as she buried her face into my chest.

I struggle to get a deep breath of air from her grip. "I've missed you too, Madam Odette." I would hug her back but again, she has me pinned. She's like a snake. She just keeps getting tighter and tighter. "Anne… Help…" I had to enlist her to get her to release me. I'm pretty durable but she is a lot stronger than she lets on.

The first thing we did was get a ride to another town where we could find an out-of-the-way hotel where we could get ourselves set up. I grabbed my room to give them their privacy. I did ensure that the room was right next to them. All they had to do was shout once and I could break down the wall if needed.

The knock on my door snapped me back from the almost asleep state I had fallen into. Today had taken it out of me. Both mentally and physically. I open the door to find the two ladies waiting. They make their way inside. Madam Odette takes a seat on the edge of the bed. Anne takes a seat on the chair in the corner facing toward us.

I lean against the wall looking at both of them. They look a lot more cleaned up than when we first came here. With no spare change of clothes, they're stuck with the hotel robe. "I have to ask how you two ended up in that situation. This seems rather… unusual for the two of you." Both nodded in agreement. Madam Odette sat upright, "We were looking for you. Following a lead, we fell into that rather unsavory group. They split us up because they wanted to try and find you."

"You let slip that you knew me and they tried to find out where I was?"

She pursed her lips, "Not slipped as much as volunteered."

I'm not the only one learning that keeping information to yourself is a good idea. Madam Odette continued, "After I last saw you I was worried sick. Quite literally, I woke up in a panic and vomited for days as I tried to track you down. You just disappeared."

"Well, I'm sure I'm not supposed to tell you but after being burned, I don't think I owe the government anything. I was sent on an unlisted mission to I have no idea where. We never got there because the shipping barge was attacked by pirates. Most of my team was killed in front of me, the ship was sunk, and I was stranded in Havana for a month."

Listening to myself recount this, it sounds like a fever dream. I would not be surprised if they don't believe any of this. It sounds like nonsense on the surface. It's one of those stories that you would have to be there or experience to believe.

"I jumped on a boat from Cuba back to the states where I found out that I was sold to a group of exotic hunters. I destroyed their lodge and was picked up by the person who helped me get from Cuba to the United States who let me know that the person he introduced me to was 'dealt with' for his actions. He had some information about the nine-tailed fox. The most interesting portion of it was he had a collection of journals from the previous nine-tailed foxes that I could understand."

I had to take a deep breath before I continued, "Then! I decided to go home! My parents are missing! The house looks abandoned! And these freaks picked me up, drugged me, and took me to where they were holding Anne." And here we are! In a hotel in some town in the middle of somewhere trying to hide out from a cult of murderous freaks who are dead set that I am the worst thing to walk on this Earth. Ask me if I thought this was possible at any other point in my life and I would have thought they were crazy.

Both of them seem to be in a state of disbelief. It's too extreme to make up. Madam Oddete rubs her muzzle as she tries to process this, "We aren't the only ones having a hard time."

"No, no you are not."

She stands up getting close to me, "Please, just be careful with this individual you are dealing with. It looks like you've learned that not everyone is as they seem."

"I will, Madam Oddete."

"Thank you. Come here."

This was a much more gentle hug than the one she gave me on the street. I could move my arms around her to embrace her. She did what she could to not let go but she jumped as Anne coughed to remind us that she was there. She sat there with a smile on her face trying to act as though nothing was strange.

There is something nice about seeing these two again. It brings up a deep feeling of comfort. These two are an anchor in my life. After everything that's been going on, the literal hell I have been through, this is a nice reprieve. If only for a moment…