Tales of Aradia The Last Witch Volume 5 (28 page)

"The view is better from
here," Kaiser said as he stared down her shirt.,

At first his words didn't
register with her but after a while she finally understood the
meaning. As a reflex, she clutched the vanilla folders to cover
herself.

Kaiser didn't seem a bit
fazed.

"You're a pervert," she spat
venomously.

He smiled. "Is that a bad
thing?"

"Yes."

Kaiser's smile grew wider as
he leaned his forehead against hers. "I thought you would have
guessed by now Rai that I am very, very bad boy."

He kept smiling in spite of
Aradia's scowling. Until she slapped him in the face with the
vanilla folders.

"Ow!" he cried out. "What
was that for?"

"You have to ask?" Aradia
retorted sarcastically.

She then finally opened the
folder.

For the next two hours,
Aradia and Kaiser went through all the files.

"Dear God! These people were
making Rage out like Apple churns out freaking iPod's!" Kaiser said
as he put down the inventory sheet.

"What I find interesting is
that the larger quantity seems to go to specific areas," Aradia
remarked. "It's as if this areas are being targeted."

"What's this?" Kaiser asked
as he picked up a piece of paper.

Aradia shrugged. "I don't
know. All I saw when I read it is one letter and then some weird
word after it."

Kaiser's eyes searched the
documents. "Hey!" he announced suddenly, "these aren't words, they
are names!"

"Wait what?" Aradia said as
she snatched the paper from his hands.

Kaiser pointed and said,
"the words are last names. See? Berkoff, Patrov, Churner,
Alarcon...

"Morales," Aradia gasped.
"A. Morales!"

She couldn't believe she had
missed it. On the list was indeed the name Morales with an A in
front of it. A date was also marked right next to it. A date that
seemed oddly familiar. Aradia peered at it until she finally
recognized it.

Thats the date Adrian died!
Holy crap! But then what do the other names mean?

Aradia made a mental note
that once Shayde woke up she would ask to use her
computer.

"Hey what's this?" Kaiser
said as he plucked out another piece of paper.

"Hmm?" Aradia peered over
Kaiser's shoulders.

" A month's supply: 110
grams of V, 110 grams of WW, 110 grams of F, 110 grams of S, and
last but not least 220 grams of W." It's what Kaiser read off the
list, which prompted him to say "What's that suppose to
mean?"

Aradia shrugged and took the
piece of paper from him. She then began reading off the list, "boil
at 100 degrees temperature, crystallize, and then chip into pills.
Have no one ingest fumes, or even taste one portion. Any
consumption before crystallization may cause the consumer to erupt
into fits of rage."

"Rage," Aradia
repeated.

"Holy crap!" She gasped
after a few moments, "this is the recipe for Rage!"

Kaiser's eyes widened as he
yanked the paper out of her hand. "But what the hell does V, W, F
and shit stand for?"

"You have never watched True
Blood have you?" Aradia asked and sounding extremely
sarcastic.

Kaiser didn't seem to
notice. "No, why?"

Aradia rolled her eyes but
then she paused. "Wait a minute! If V means what I think it means
than W might mean..."

"Might mean what?" Kaiser
raised an eyebrow.

Aradia didn't want to make
any assumptions at least not without proof.
And God I hope I am wrong!

Instinctively, she flipped
the paper over. She was amazed to see more writing on it. Her
amazement however soon turned to horror.

"Oh my God!" Aradia
shrieked.

She immediately jumped out
of her seat, sending papers flying everywhere.

"What?" Kaiser
asked.

Aradia looked hesitantly
back at the piece of paper. The way she stared at it made it seem
more like a bloody dagger from a crime scene. She picked it up with
and held it between two fingers, handling it as if it were a dirty
handkerchief. Kaiser raised his eyebrows and looked at her in
sarcasm.

"What's your problem?" He
asked once he took the paper in his hands.

Aradia didn't answer him.
She just walked right in front of him as if she were in a
daze.

As Kaiser's eyes widened
Aradia began to talk, "the back of that paper not only clarifies
but proves what the symbols mean. 110 grams of vampire means a 110
grams of vampire DNA. In order to get that much they have kill a
vampire and drain him dry. The same goes for the chemical WW. It's
werewolf DNA made from the blood of a freshly slaughtered werewolf.
The same goes for the fae, and shape-shifters."

"Maybe that's why all the
faes disappeared," Kaiser said, "they didn't leave for another
realm, they were all captured."

"The same goes for the
shapeshifters," Aradia said. A wave of nausea swept through her and
she put her hand on her stomach to calm it.

"But what if all this says
is true," Kaiser began, his voice now quivering and sounding like
he was about to throw up. "Then that would mean..."

"That consuming the drug
Rage is basically a form of cannibalism," Aradia said softly,
"yeah."

Kaiser looked like he was
about to puke all over the carpet. He stopped however once he said,
"but what does W stand for? I mean I know what WW stands for
(werewolf duh!) but what does W stand for?"

Aradia whipped around. "What
do you think?"

They locked gazes and
awareness began to dawn in Kaiser's eyes. He leapt up from the
couch, covered his mouth with his hand, and rushed to the
bathroom.

Aradia then heard the sound
of him retching like a hungover drunk. It was enough to make Aradia
start throwing up too.

I took that
drug
, she thought to herself,
I took it. Over and over again. I almost got
hooked on it and the entire time I was basically consuming people.
According to the paper there are no other chemicals used to make
rage. They use nothing but other hidden DNA. In other words,
people! The only ingredient in the drug is people! So the entire
time I have been using it I have been basically consuming people. I
have been eating people! I have gotten high off murdered people's
DNA!

All this was enough to make
Aradia scream and throw up but the last realization made her want
to crawl under the sofa and die!

It's me! It's my DNA that
is the secret ingredient that makes the drug work.

At first, she wanted to deny
it. After all, her blood had not been taken so how on earth could
they use her DNA? She brightened a bit until another realization
hit her.
Saul knew about the cave so others
probably knew as well. My people hadn't been buried for over three
hundred years. Witches's bodies decay much slower than others
so...

My people
, Aradia realized as she sank to the floor. She soon lay
curled up in a fetal position.
The other
witches. My coven and god only knows who else that's how they got
the DNA. Thats how they got the blood, and probably why they didn't
bother to bury them. They didn't bury their bodies because they
still needed them. So the entire time I have been using the drug I
have been basically eating the remains of my own people!

Aradia's will to hold back
her pain finally broke and she burst into long and agonizing
sobs.

Shayde and Whisper almost
had the same reaction once Aradia told them the truth but theirs
were actually much worse. Shayde screamed while Whisper started
clawing at her own arms. Shayde threw up in the kitchen sink at
least three times while Whisper puked in a bucket still making long
bloody streaks on her skin with her fingernails.

Aradia wanted to stop them
but she could barely move. She still wasn't over the shock of what
the drug really was, the fact that it had been used to kill so many
people, and the horrible fact that Aradia hadn't been able to
realize it.

How could I have been so
stupid?
Aradia scolded herself,
how could I have noticed this? How could I have
not realized what was going on.

From deep inside her, a
nasty voice began to argue with her conscience.
Yes you did. You did notice the drug doing weird stuff. Bane
told you about what was going on. Melina told you about Roy's
alpha. There were over a dozen warning signs but you chose to
ignore them.

Because you didn't
care
, a solemn voice now spoke inside
her,
you could have investigated. You could
have helped but you didn't care. You were too busy partying and
freaking out about your love life to care about anything
else.

Another hour later, Shayde
and Whisper looking more pale than ever. But well enough to help
Aradia look up the other names. All of them leading up to
obituaries where they had all died of a mysterious illness. There
had been murder investigations but there had been no proof of foul
play.

"It's cause the hidden DNA
cancels each other out." Kaiser explained, "If a vampire drinks
vampire blood it will disappear in like hours. Although werewolf
DNA is different in addition to fae and shape-shifter give it
enough time and traces of them will disappear as well."

"Plus it's the hidden
world," Aradia added solemnly, "and death is no strange thing to
them. If someone dies they don't suspect foul play and move
on."

Shayde shrugged. "It's cause
we vampires are practically invincible. It takes a lot to kill
us."

"The same goes for
werewolves," Kaiser argued.

"In the end," Whisper stated
firmly, "the other hiddens don't do anything because they assume
almost nothing can kill us."

"Especially not a mysterious
illness," Aradia muttered. She threaded her fingers together,
making a fist. She then leaned her forehead against it, sighing
heavily.

"What I don't understand is
why?" Shayde asked as she pointed to the list, "why assassinate
these particular people?"

Whisper nodded. "Yeah and
why spare the other leaders? What made them so worthy of
killing?"

"It doesn't make any sense
whatsoever," Kaiser said as he flicked open his lighter. After he
lit his cigarette, he blew out a few rings.

Aradia was still at the
computer and with her head bowed. Although it didn't seem like it
she was listening to every word the others said.

"Okay," Shayde said as she
clasped two hands together, "what do we know so far?"

Kaiser and Whisper didn't
say anything so Shayde started to tick off the things they knew on
her fingers. "One, we know the people poisoned were leaders of
werewolf packs, fae courts, and shape-shifters. Two, we know the
poison used was the drug Rage. Three, we know specific areas were
targeted hence the large amounts of Rage being hauled there. Four,
we know some areas were spared for an unknown reason. Five, we know
there are suppliers in every city. Six..."

"It's part of a plan,"
Aradia suddenly murmured.

They all turned to look at
her but Aradia didn't return the favor.

She still kept her head
bowed and went on. "The people being poisoned, and the drugs being
made. All of this is too well coordinated and well thought out that
it can't be a mere coincidence. It's all part of a plan. One big
bloody puppet show!"

"Well then who in the hell
is pulling the strings?" Kaiser demanded.

Aradia opened her eyes
slowly before muttering, "I don't know."

The others looked extremely
crestfallen at least until Aradia added, "but I do know how to find
out."

"Well?" Morgan demanded.
"Have you convinced the witch to join us?"

Saul hung his head heavily
and few tense moments passed before he lifted it.

"Morgan," he began, "there's
something I need to tell you..."

"She's escaped hasn't
she?"

Saul sat stunned and then
nodded softly.

Suddenly his head jerked up.
"Wait a minute, how do you know that?"

Morgan shrugged. "I am
familiar with your methods Saul. When the Sovereign staged the
coup, I personally researched all of the soldiers he had taken
under his wing."

"But it matters not," she
quickly added, "because the Sovereign has reconsidered the whole
situation with the witch."

Saul's expression
brightened.

"He has considered that
having the witch at our disposal is essential to winning the war.
Push come to shove, Aradia is the ultimate weapon and we rather
have the ultimate weapon at our disposal than working against
us."