"Where are we going?" I asked as we headed downtown.

"1Oak."

"Why?" I looked at her.

"Are you questioning me?" She said without looking at me.

"I was just asking. Don't make it science."

"I'm not allowed questions, but you are? As if."

"You know what? Fine. You answer my questions and I'll answer yours. How about that?

She looked at me for a second to make sure I was serious. "Sounds too good to be true."

"It's up to you." I shrugged.

Although I would prefer to sit in silence, this would be fine. If she answers the questions I have, I will have more information about her, which will definitely help me crack her open.

"Fine." She exhaled. "We're going to 1Oak because as we both know, that's where your people hang out. The waitresses and bartenders must have heard something."

"And you're sure it will help us?" I'm not in the mood to waste time here.

"Yeah. Now me. Who was that guy in that photo? I noticed Finn, Theo, and that other brother I met. Who was the fourth one?"

"Why are you asking?" I frowned.

"I thought it was my turn to ask questions."

"Kai." I answered her. "My brother."

"Another brother?" She gave me a surprised look. "Any other siblings I should know about?"

Other siblings? Yes, Val.

Any other siblings she should know about? No.

"No. Why did you want to know who he was?" Because of my curiosity, I wasted the question.

"Just cuz." She shrugged. "No particular reason. I bet people tell you everywhere how much you look alike."

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that she smiled softly. Why? Why was she smiling?

"It's a daily routine."

"It's sweet."

"Do you have any siblings?" I blurted out.

"I think it's my turn." She gripped the steering wheel firmly in her hands.

I found her reaction slightly odd.

"Ask."

"How did you know I was in the white snakes?"

"From a friend." I simply answered. I don't have to tell her everything in detail. She got her answer to the question. Now it's my turn. "Do you have any siblings?"

"No." She swallowed hard, which made me think she was lying to me. "What friend?"

"I won't answer your questions if you lie to me."

"I'm not lying."

"Bullshit." I snorted.

"You do realize I'm a white snake? Do you even know what that means? We don't have a family. So no." She looked at me. "I have no siblings." She looked back at the road.

"Just because you're one of them doesn't mean you don't have a biological family."

As soon as I finished, she turned into the parking lot and stopped abruptly. She turned to me. "What's your problem? Why do you even care? You don't know me or my life, so don't get involved. If you think you're going to get something out of me to blackmail me with, you're wrong. I asked you what kind of friend. Answer me." She said the last sentences between her teeth.

I think I hit a spot.

"Simon. Owner of 1Oak." I answered her.

"Awesome." She faked a smile. "That was the last question. No more. Don't say anything the rest of the way if you don't want to end up on the sidewalk in the middle of town."

I heard the squeal of tires as she started up and flew out of the parking lot.

*****

"Did you find out something?" I asked as I saw Eris walking towards me.

"Yes. The barmaid wanted to call the police on you. She took your constant staring at us as harassment." She sat across from me with a glass of lemon water.

"You know what I mean."

She rolled her eyes before saying something again. "She doesn't know who or why someone has a problem with you..."

"So you found out absolutely nothing in the half hour we've been sitting here. Great job, really." I snorted.

"I'd appreciate it if you'd let me talk." She rested her elbows on the table and I let her talk. "Isobel overheard a bunch of guys talking about some work today. I'd barricade my family in if I were you."

"Why do you think it has anything to do with me?"

"She also heard the name Abraham Wagner mentioned and something about him coming back. Doesn't that name sound familiar? Oh yes it does. You killed him." She smiled.

"I didn't kill him." I drank from the glass. "Yet."

"You're telling me he's alive and we're not with him right now?" She looked at me in surprise. "You could have saved us the drive here." She got up from her chair and started walking away.

I quickly got up and ran after her. I caught up with her in front of the building.

"He won't tell you anything, I've already tried." I stopped at the passenger door.

"Maybe you do, but I don't. Give me five minutes with him and I'll find out what kind of underwear his mother wears." She opened the car door and got in.

I closed my eyes tightly and clenched my jaw. Why did I even give her the keys? It was a bad idea.



The drive back to Killian was mostly quiet. Apart from his frequent allusions to the fact that I was speeding, he didn't say anything to me.

In my defense, I didn't know I was speeding at all. I'm still a little out of sorts from our conversation on the way there.

I snapped at him because he asked about my family. A few months ago, I would not have done such a thing. It was an expression of emotion.

Few months back, I probably wouldn't care If someone said anything about my family. I always had some work or improvement to do, so I couldn't really think about them.

But now? Now I am alone with my thoughts and memories. I can't shake the feeling in my chest when I think about them.

I showed him that I have a weak spot. I shouldn't have. It was a mistake.

We walked past Killian's office and headed for a door I already knew well. We went down the stairs and stopped in front of one of the six doors.

I don't like the atmosphere here.

"You're not going to get anything out of him." He said while we were still standing outside the door.

"We will see." I slipped past him and opened the door myself because I'm not going to wait for him to open it.

My gaze fell on the bound Abraham with a scarf over his mouth and eyes. His black shirt, which he was wearing when I brought him in, was all wet.

Waterboarding, I guess?

I slowly walked over to him and pulled the scarf from his eyes. Fear filled his eyes as he looked at me and immediately tried to scream. He was moving a lot, probably trying to get away from me or something.

"We have not seen each other for a long time." I pulled the scarf from his mouth.

"Take that crazy woman away from me." He looked at Killian who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest just staring. He tried to find out what I was planning.

"Crazy woman? Ouch." I said offended. "I thought we were friends."

"Get her away from me." He looked at Killian again but got no response.

I looked around the room, looking for something to pull his nails out or cut him. "You have nothing here at all." I looked at Killian. "I'm not surprised you didn't get anything out of him." I pulled out a small dagger from my belt. "And I won't even get a chair." I muttered under my breath. "So Abraham, do you remember this?" I waved the dagger in front of his face.

"I'm not telling you shit."

"Abraham, tell me." I was playing with a dagger in my hand. "Do you know how many senses you have?" He looked at me confused. "Five. Smell, taste, sight, touch and hearing." He kept looking at me like I had two heads. "Do you have any idea which ones I can take from you?" I raised an eyebrow. When he still didn't answer, I started to get a little frustrated. "It was a question. Answer it." I said between my teeth.

"One?" He said shakily.

"Do you know?" I turned to Killian.

"Two. Sight and hearing." He answered boldly.

"Wrong. Both of you." I smiled at Killian. "Basically all five. And without dying." I grabbed Abraham's shoulder. "You want to know how?" When he didn't answer any longer, I scratched his cheek with the end of the dagger blade. "When I ask you a question, you answer. Do you understand me?" I raised an eyebrow. "It's not that hard."

"Yes." He swallowed hard.

"Good boy. Now since I guess you can't answer my question, let me tell you." I stood behind him and bent down to his ear. "We'll start with the sense of smell." I said loud enough for Killian to hear. "After I break your nose, all I have to do is go into it slightly with this dagger and destroy whatever is left. But if you moved, you would die. I would need you to keep your head steady. Then I would ask Killian for help, who would be happy to do it. There would also be a lot of blood, so we'd have to wait a while so you don't bleed out here, because it won't end there."

I looked up at Killian, who was carefully watching my every move.

"Let's move on to taste." I walked around him and stood in front of him. "As you well know, with your tongue you can taste different tastes. Bitter, sweet and so on. But even if I cut it out, which would leave you speechless, you would still be able to taste things. After that, and when I bring everything I need here, you won't feel anything at all. And from the look of you, you'll probably miss fast food the most." I looked at his stomach. "Should I continue or are you going to tell me who hired you?"

"He...he's going to kill me." His voice broke.

"I'll do something worse, trust me. So where were we?" I glanced over at Killian.

"Taste and smell." He said with a smile.

Does it look like me or does he like it?

"So it's time for sight." I smiled. "You can imagine what I'm going to do, right? If not, let me explain. After I break your nose and cut out your tongue, I'll make sure you won't bleed out first. Once that's taken care of, I'll take the daggers, which you like so much and I'll put it right here."

I put my hand just under his eyes, on a sensitive spot.

"I'll make a gentle cut under each eye to at least prepare you a little for what's going to happen. I'm no eye surgeon, but I know what to do to make it really hurt." I leaned close to his ear. "It involves playing with fire a little bit. Literally." I whispered. "Then we have hearing."

I straightened up and walked around the room.

"You know that feeling when you go too deep into your ear with the stick you use to clean your ears?" I didn't wait for his answer and continued. "That's the worst, isn't it? Really bad. It could be worse tho. With the biggest needle I can find in this house, I'll play with your eardrum before I destroy it for good. At first it will be an unpleasant squeal, which will become unbearable until it finally stops. You won't hear anything. It will be as if the whole world around you has stopped. A normal person would take hours to recover from this, but since it's you, maybe days. Who knows?" I shrugged.

"If I listened correctly, the last one is touch." Killian spoke, gaining my attention.

"At least you'll learn something." I winked at him. "You know Abraham, when I first heard about taking someone's sense of touch away, I thought he was crazy. It must be impossible. We can feel everything that touches our body. It doesn't matter where. But what I learned is that it is possible. And not that difficult actually. Do you know how?" I asked Killian.

"Paralysis?" He replied timidly.

"From the neck down." I smiled. "There are several places on the body that can deprive you of everything that helps you walk and feel touch. They are immediate and if the work is done precisely, you are still alive. There are also experimental substances that will kill every nerve. The whole body. And guess who has access to them."

I pointed at myself.

"So Abraham." I leaned towards him. "You will end up without smell, taste, sight, hearing, and lie paralyzed for the rest of your life, which I will make sure to be extremely long. Tell me, is death worse than what I just told you?"

His head dropped to the floor. "No."

"You came to me to hire me. Someone sent you, so he had to tell you about what I'm capable of. You know I can do what I said." I tried to sound as pleasant as possible. "Who hired you?"

It was strange to threaten someone like that again. I haven't done that in a long time. But it was like riding a bike, you don't forget it.

But there is something that is different from before. But I don't know what yet.

"Simon Jones." He got over it, and before I could say anything. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Killian approaching us at the speed of light. Before I stopped him, Abraham was still tied to the chair unconscious at our feet.

"What the hell are you doing?" I screamed.

"It was a waste of time. He won't tell."

"He told us the name."

"He lied. We're done here."

He turned and left the room even faster than he knocked Abraham unconscious.

So this was an interesting lunch program.

*****

I like pissed Killian, don't you?

Hope you enjoyed. <3