We get to the room where Carmen has holed herself up and push the door open quickly, sliding inside. She’s sat typing away like a maniac, a furrowed brow and determined expression as she chews on her lower lip and nods to signal, she knows we walked in. Her whole aura screams of intense concentration and mild agitation, And I can tell how furiously she has been working to get the frequencies separated already.
“If you want an update then don’t get your hopes up. The file was recorded at one time with both sounds, so I cannot pull them apart. I need to try and find the original deterrent file and replace what I have but Juan has the system so locked up I can’t get into anything. I need more time.” She snorts as if disgusted, rams a few more keys with heavy prods and keeps on tap, tap, tapping, like a maniac as she squints at the only illumination here. The monitor: and I wonder how the backup power is still connected to tech but not to anything else in the house. I wonder if he re-routed all remaining dregs to the security room to make sure his weapons stayed in place.
“It’s not why I’m here. The sound system outside for the frequency…. does it also work as a PA system?” I push up beside her, pulling out a swivel stool and drop down to her level, pulling her attention for a second.
“Of course, it’s what’s used to send this sound over the valley. All the speakers outside are connected and playing this on a loop at all hours.” She doesn’t seem to understand why I’m asking, not clicking on what I would want a PA system for, so I cover her hand with mine to get her to focus for a second.
“Is there a mic in here for me to make an announcement?” I press on. My plan is simple…. Call my father out in a way he’s sure to hear if he is here. Bring him to me instead of running around like an idiot trying to find someone I have never seen. A loudspeaker shoutout that says, come see me. Carmen’s expression straightens as she thinks for a second and then nods towards the desk to the right side of my tilted body.
“Ummmmm… announcement? Are you going to politely ask the vampires to stop doing what they are doing?” A sardonic tilt of the brow and she squints at me as though I have lost my mind. I flick her in the forehead with an utter sigh of frustration and sometimes wonder if Carmen pretends she’s dumb, or if she sometimes really is.
“Carmen, honey… I say this with utter adoration, but Meadow’s right…you are not the sharpest tool in the box….. I am trying to call my vampire father out and find a way to end this. I want him to come to me!”? I say it slowly and precisely while widening my eyes as though she’s having to translate a foreign language she doesn’t know.
“Ahhhhhh. Yeah, huh. I see.” Carmen scratches her head, throws me a little sarcastic smile of embarrassment and being dense, and then her face drops immediately to a blank expression.
“Does that mean…..that maybe Jasper….?” She falters on her own words, her voice husky, swallowing hard and then pulls her hands away from mine to go back to furious typing on the keyboard. Her whole posture stiff and defensive in the blink of an eye as she reverts to that inner cave inside her head where no one can hurt her. I can feel the change in her mood and the slight tremble to her lip as she tries to push away the obvious pain that has struck her heart.
“I don’t know. Maybe.” I avoid her eye and turn to pull a small standing mic from the shadows of the desk towards me and wave my hand airily toward her. “Show me how to turn it on so it can be heard across the valley.” I try a subject change and press the importance of this. I feel for her, I do, but right now this is more important.
“Here. It’s already set to sound out on every available speaker from here to the other side of the mountain. Hit that button and hold it down while you talk. I’ll add the mic to overlay the frequency, so I don’t have to turn it off.” She taps some keys, pulls up some new screens and then nods at me to say I am all set. Her whole demeanor on the defensive and I know her brain is once again transfixed on my idiot brother but she’s trying to ignore it.
I clear my throat, inhale with a nervous tremble, and pull the mic so it barely grazes my lip as I lean into it. I press the button with my thumb and close my eyes before I start. No time to doubt or hesitate, I just need to do it and be firm.
“I’m Alora Santo… umm, Dennison. Daughter of Marina and Lord Varro. I know you can hear me, and I know that you’re aware that I’m your biological daughter. I am asking you to come to me and put an end to this stupid fight and mindless violence. These are my people and you harming them, harms me in ways you can never comprehend. Put down your hatred and come to the manor on the south side of the valley where I will be waiting out front for you. Please. If there is any kind of love for me as your child. We need to end this, and I have the wolf you are looking for with me. I will not stop you from taking him, but I have a condition we need to discuss. I’m waiting.” I let go of the button when the last of my words fade out, fully shivering with the sudden high level of anxiety and nerves I invoked, yet strangely calm too. Contradictory, but somehow a part of me feels like this may actually work. If he did all of this because of what I am, maybe he can stop it when he finally sees me.
“Do you though? Have Juan, I mean. Judging by the fact there are only three of you here…” Carmen tilts her head to me and nods at my scarce guard number. A flicker of serious doubt in that questioning look.
“Radar’s out there with Sierra and more of the Luna’s guard. If they haven’t subdued him then at least he’s in the open where Varro can pick him up himself. They’re all exposed to the frequency now so it shouldn’t be hard.” I snort a sudden flash of worry about Radar’s condition and Sierra’s safety, knowing that the longer they are out there, the weaker they get. My stomach in instant knots and I push it away, trying to focus on the here and now. I need to get out there to make sure Sierra stays alive.
“I recorded your message. Do you want me to repeat it every few minutes until they show up?” Carmen cuts in pulling me out of my own head. I guess she can sense the sudden doubt in me, and her suggestion is smart for once.
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