groovygamers.com

Sylvia leaves the Crow residence with a sick and unsettled feeling in the pit of her stomach.  She walks alone down the sidewalk, eyes cast to the cracks in the concrete under the dreary winter light, and thinks about her dismay.  Could Logan have had something to do with Rory's death?  Could he have planned it?  Could he have masterminded all their woes?

He could have.  He's smart enough.  He seems to have observed everything he'd need to know about the Usual Suspects to undermine and attack them.  With his cool and ineffable savvy he could have manipulated the impulsive teens around him into acting to further their selfish aims.  He could have flattered and reasoned.  He could have presented himself as a friend while quietly playing them against each other like chess pieces.  He could have, and the thought troubles Sylvia to a degree she doesn't completely understand.

She heads toward the Voggelson residence.  She remembers walking past it a few times, scouting out the place for the raid she'd hoped Kel would do.  Now she's shy of even knocking on the door.  Logan's no longer some suspect but has become, for reasons she can't quite define, important.  To her.  Important like Donnie and Colin, Sarah and Sammy.  Important because he's like none of them.  Important because he shares the comfort of detachment.  Important because he doesn't radiate emotion until her head aches with it.

When she reaches his door, she pauses, unhappy with her obligations, and knocks.

It is a long moment before the door opens.  Logan is standing there, his look goes from neutral to one of concern in a moment.  "You're here, which has a limited number of reasons.  Is this something that would permit me to invite you in, or would you feel better outside where others might be able to keep an eye on you?"

"I'm alone," she tells him, and there's something in her eyes and in the set of her jaw that betokens her future self, a woman so despairing of human nature that it sickens her.  "We need to talk.  Inside is fine."

Two blocks away, Donnie stands in a small park, staring down at a stone bird bath. The surface of the water glimmers slightly, and he stares in concentration, watching through Pip's eyes as the dragon watches over Sylvia as she stalks down the road, obviously intent on something.

He had waited for her outside the Crow residence, intending to jump her and get a shriek of fright, but something about the set of her shoulders made him hesitate from his intended action. They usually walked home together or rode Althea, but she seemed unaware or unconcerned that Donnie was not outside when se left.

Plus she walked a different route than her usual walk home.

Donnie knew he shouldn't spy, that he should trust, but he couldn't help but enjoy the mischeviousness of being able to track her by dragon. He saw her stop in front of a house he hadn't ever visited before, and his humor evaporated as he watched Logan Darklighter answer the door.

Pip, hidden in a tree across the street, cooed at Donnie mentally, reassuring, but Donnie frowned when he saw Sylvia walk inside.

He waved his hand over the birdbath, and once again it was simply water and leaves. He turned away and walked home, deep in thought.

Logan let Sylvia inside and led her towards the den.  As they passed the living room he spoke to his parents, "Mom, dad, this is Sylvia.  She's a friend from school.  We're going to be in the den."  Dad waved and mom gave Sylvia a smile and a nod.  Logan led the rest of the way to the den and offered Sylvia a seat.  "Under normal circumstances I'd offer you a beverage, but there really are no normal circumstances between us, so what brings you here?"

She didn't sit.  It would have seemed too intimate to sit, and as much as she resented Logan's potential for villainy, she resented herself even more for turning what had become a kind of friendship into what felt like a betrayal.  She looked him in the eye, disappointment deep, and said, "I need to know how you came by the card you gave Rory and what you had to do with his death."  She couldn't do him the disservice of lying to him, of trying to cajole information from him.  "Tell me everything."

There is a moment of silence.  For a fraction of that time she saw his pupils narrow, then return to normal.  "Based on what you just said, those two things are connected.  In the interest of full disclosure, which has always been and I hope always will be how things are between us, I'll happily explain how I came by the card.  eBay.  At a tournament down at the game store over the summer Rory mentioned to me that it was the last card he needed to complete that set.  I thought it would be a nice gift, since I could tell he and I would not be seeing much of each other this year.  The difference in our grade level was going to be a problem, and Rory had always been very frank with me, and always fair handed especially after I got less geeky.  He always treated me the same, and I thought the card would be a nice gift, as a token of friendship.  I asked around, made a few inquieries and as fortune would have it about a week before school started one became available on eBay.  There was some interest, but in the end I was able to aquire the card.  It came in the mail about three days after the auction closed, I intended to give it to Rory in person, but met someone by chance that I realized would be an ideal aquaintance for Rory.  I helped him out of a jam and thought if I could introduce Rory and Matt through the card they might hit it off."  Logan sits down.  "Now, in the interest of full disclosure how is it that a collectable card from a game had something to do with Rory's death?"

"I'm no expert," Sylvia says grimly, "but it was cursed somehow.  It was because of the card that Rory lost his temper and his life.  Later on, someone tried to cover things up by hypnotizing his sister into sending it off, but Colin intercepted it and took it to the PCD.  They investigated it and then destroyed it."

"You're saying that I was used as the mechanism for delivering this cursed card to Rory, and that's what caused Rory's death.  Why Rory though?"

She gives him a sidelong look, wondering if his question is rhetorical or just an elaborate ruse.  "Maybe it wasn't meant for him.  Maybe it was meant for the guy who was asking for it."  She knows she'll have to answer questions later.  Colin will want to know if Logan was telling the truth, and she no longer has any excuse for not searching Logan's brain for answers.  Human decency is enough of an excuse, perhaps, but not for the first time she wonders if, in matters of life and death, survival and justice, there can be any allowance for the decent treatment of their enemies.

"That changes everything Sylvia."  Logan says flatly.  "It's one thing if I'm the target of something, and I accidentally impose that hardship on someone else.  It's an entirely different matter if Rory was the target.  Anyone who knew I was looking also knew it was as a gift for Rory.  So, I need to know the truth.  Do you know anything else that might help me learn the truth?"

She searches memory and reason for answers.  Logan advertised his interest in the card.  One showed up.  He purchased it and passed it through Matt to Rory.  Rory raged and died.  "Vandross.  Emille Vandross.  Have you ever heard that name?"

"It's been around.  It's connected to Rory's death.  How exactly?"

"You'd have to ask Colin.  He thinks everything goes back to Vandross."  She shakes her head.  "I'll know more about it soon."

Then her gaze goes to Logan's face again.  "They're going to ask me what you said and whether you were telling the truth.  I could get it out of you," she says, "the absolute truth."  There's a long pause, and she looks away, feeling ashamed.  "But I don't want to.  So if you've lied to me tonight, don't ever let me know."

Logan gets up and walks towards her.  With a gentleness that seems almost intimate he touches her chin and makes her look at him.  "For good or ill, we're always going to be honest with one another.  You will be the one person I will always be completely truthful with.  Talk to Colin.  I need to know if Rory was the target, or if I was.  I made it a point to not get involved in the power plays at school.  If someone decided to make me become involved, then I'll make sure they receive my full attention.  If I can do anything else for you, don't hesitate to call."

Sylvia looks at him for another long moment and then ducks her head, grateful, and trusting him in spite of herself.  "Be careful.  Vandross has access to magic, to hypnosis, to manpower, and to drugs, and if you're a target, he won't engage you man-to-man like a school-yard bully.  He'll attack sideways.  He won't hold back just because you're not paranormal."

"I appreciate your concern for my well being."  Logan shifts his head slightly, like he's trying to hear a distant sound.  "Of course, nothing you've said so far suggests he is either.  The sheer amount of time since Rory's death would suggest that I'm not the target.  Without compelling evidence I would have to assume that Rory was."  He shifts his gaze back to Sylvia, "Since you have not mentioned Matt or I will also assume that he had no ill effects from handling the card, I have had no ill effects that I'm aware of and I had it for a couple of days.  So this was a deliberate attack against Rory, that is assuming that my inquieries were what spawned the actions.  If that's the case, then I was used as the agent for the delivery of this curse by Vandross."  He goes to sit down.  "I would very much like to talk to Colin, to see how he thinks all this ties together.  Do you suppose he'd agree to explain it to me?"

"He might."  Her brow furrows.  With the question of Logan's involvement resolved, at least to her satisfaction, other questions come to light.  "Why Rory?  Why such a targeted attack?  Who would resent him?  Who were his enemies?"

"This curse, how certain are we it was to kill?  He might have just been a good test subject.  Do you think Colin would have that answer?"

[Okay, okay.  Stop hitting me with the clue bat.  I'll go get Colin.]

"Colin has all the answers," Sylvia says, "except when he's dead wrong.  I'll arrange a meeting."

"I'll wait to hear from you."  Logan makes sure she has his number.  "You should go see your boyfriend.  Reassure him that your visit here was strictly business.  He strikes me as the jealous type."

Sylvia merely nods over the inevitabiliy of Donnie's insecurity and walks out into the night, silent and thoughtful.

[Will wait until the Shelia scene seems concluded to start Colin-Logan.]