Sui Generis – 8

 

Seconds later, Mag was standing in front of Brand. "Talk."

"About what? How damned pissed I am that he seems to be eluding me? That's a given, I think. It's been two months. I should have found him by now. I almost did, last week, but I blew it. And why isn't he coming after me? That's what I can't figure out. He wants me back. He has to. I'm dangerous to him. If he did that…" Brand pointed to the sink full of vegetables. "If he did, then he knows where to find me for sure. I should leave before he comes after you as a way to… to punish me for running."

"Fuck no!" Mag said adamantly. "First off, where would you go? Secondly, even if you did disappear, that doesn't mean he wouldn't do something to me and then somehow let you know that he had. He kills me or… whatever, and it'll end up on the five o'clock news. You know he'd be sure it did, just to get the message out to you that no one you know is safe."

"That still doesn't explain why he hasn't tried to catch me yet."

"Games, Brand. Games. Despite the fact you've been very close-mouthed about what happened, I get the feeling he might be the kind of man who would get a great deal of pleasure in tormenting you with 'what ifs' until you're wrapped tight as a spring. He lets you think you got away scot free and then does something like tear up the garden. Then he pounces. He allows you come after him, guns blazing, so to speak, and he swats you down like a lion would a baby gazelle. Once he has you, he puts you back in the fold but with no hope of ever escaping again, making his triumph over you even sweeter."

Despite Mag's rather picturesque descriptions, Brand has the feeling he'd hit the nail on the head. Fedor loved bloodshed and torture, both physical and mental. He lived to impose his will on others in the worst ways possible. That's why he'd chosen Brand in the first place. Well, one of the reasons. I need to go on the offensive, more than I have. If I can. If… it's not all gone now.

Brand shivered.

"What?" Mag asked, sitting beside him but not too close.

"Just… thinking. Wondering if getting to him is even possible."

"It is if you give him a real reason to come after you. He may want you back, and he may like the games, but he needs to be drawn out so you can repay him for what he did to you."

"Don't you think I've been doing that already? I'm out on the streets every night, damn it. I can't believe the only time our paths crossed was on the Fourth. He has to know I'm somewhere, looking for him."

Mag nodded slowly. "Perhaps it's a catch-twenty-two for him as well. He stays in one place and waits, so do you. You move, so does he in opposite directions."

Brand would have liked to believe that was the case, but he knew better. Not that he'd tell Mag. So he just nodded. "Perhaps."

It is a game for him. The only question is, is he afraid I'll find him before he decides he's terrorized me enough that I'll be weak from fear when he finally tries to grab me? When does he think I'll reach that point? How will he know? I wish to hell I knew if the vandalism was by him or just random. There was nothing, no… message in it saying he did it. Besides, as I told Mag, he'd have done something more dramatic. A dead cat, a tortured dog, spilled blood, would be much more his style. But… maybe that's what he wants me to think.

"Damn it," Brand growled, getting to his feet. He looked hard at Mag. "If I leave you here, and it was him, you're not safe. If I take you with me again, and that's what he wants me to do…" He shook his head.

"Hobson's choice," Mag agreed wryly. "Still…" He took out his phone.