Witch of the Web

 

Chapter 21

Rose

BITCH!

Ugh, my fucking head. It feels like I put an angle grinder in my skull and just let it rip. Like everything’s been shaken up and beaten with a hammer for good measure. What the fuck happened? 

Let me think.

Right, I was running a distraction for the goody two-shoe brigade. Decided to try a whole two pronged assault thing. Then I - 

Fuck me. 

Opening my eyes and yep, I’m in a cell. Probably in the back of the same precinct I attacked.

Good going Rose. How the fuck did I think that was a good idea? I’m not a hero! What could’ve possibly possessed me to act like tha - 

The fucking movie. 

I shake my head and immediately regret it. The room spins a little bit more, but I manage to calm down before I go off on a rant. Because, if I’m being honest, it wasn’t the stupid movie, it was me wanting to impress my girls. 

Well, a fat lot of good that did. Now they’re going to have to come and rescue me. 

Actually, no. Fuck that. I’m no damsel. I can get out of this mess myself. Let’s take stock.

First order of business: try to stand.

Nope. Tied up in a chair. I’d say it’s overkill to restrain me when I’m already in a cell, but it’s not going to help them. 

Step two: Where the fuck is Willow?

I haven’t really felt her since I woke up, and I’m starting to get worried. Did that stun baton fry her? Fuck! I hope not.

Maybe she’s just resting. I won’t blame her if she is. I just woke up and I could already use a nap. Still, there’s a way to test things.

I focus on her powers and what I’m able to access of them myself. It’s harder without Willow’s assistance, but stretching out my senses, I can feel the layers of Lanadel just beneath that of meatspace. I can feel the connections between the two realities and I can feel how one affects the other. 

With intense focus, I narrow my attention to the ropes binding me.

Why ropes though? There are so many different ways to tie someone up that are way more effective than ropes. Chains for example, witches love chains. It’s a known fact. 

While debating alternatives for rope with myself is fun, I’m rather rudely interrupted when the speaker above me clicks on.

So much for intense focus.

I look up and see a weedy looking man on the other side of the transparent wall before me. With him is a woman who looks vaguely familiar, though I can’t quite place where I know her from. Both of them are wearing LOG uniforms, though the woman’s getup definitely looks more prestigious.

It seems I’ve warranted the attention of someone important. 

“Viktor Shadewind?” the weedy man asks. My involuntary wince at my original name really makes me wonder how I ever thought I was a man. Like, honestly, come on me. 

“It’s Rose, actually. Seems you have the wrong girl,” I tease them.

“Your file states your name is Viktor Shadewind,” the man states as he double checks it. “That is a clever disguise, but you cannot hide from us, Mr. Shadewind.”

Wow. What an asshole.

“Let me stop you right there sphincter face,” I taunt as my eyes narrow. “Since it seems I need to catch you up on some basic fucking manners.” I smirk a bit at his reaction to my name calling; fuck these guys are too easy to rile up. “First of all, there’s this thing called,” I pause to clear my throat. “Being a fucking trans woman you draconian shit burger!” I give him a saccharine smile. “Look it up.”

Ooooh, I’ve gotten him good. He’s sputtering and starting to turn red. 

“Now you listen here, you deviant filth! I will not be disrespe-” a flick to his ear from his lady companion cuts him off. He turns and glares at her, but the cold look on her face puts a lid on his anger. 

The woman turns to look at me and smiles. It’s one of those hollow smiles that make your neck hairs stand on end if you catch their malice filled eyes. 

I won’t lie, it’s kind of hot in a ‘she’s probably going to unspeakably awful things to me, but be really attractive while she does it’ sort of way. 

Don’t kink shame me. 

She still looks really fucking familiar though. Where the hell have I seen her? You’d think a woman like her would stand out. She’s tall, very fucking tall, like, nearly seven feet tall. She’s also got that fitness model physique that’s all tight muscles and prominent curves. Her hair is a pale blonde that’s almost white cut into a chin length bob. 

I study the sharp lines of her face to try as I try so very hard to place her. It’s not till I hear her voice that it clicks. 

“It’s so very good to see you again,” my aunt Delilah says in that oh so familiar voice. She was my mom’s best friend, they were like sisters. She’d come over all the time until she stopped for some reason. I’d tried asking why, but my mom would just look sad and say they needed some time apart. 

Things have clearly changed for her though. She used to be kind of pudgy with a kind smile and a soft voice. The smile is gone now, and the voice hides a razor sharp edge like a teddy bear full of knives. There’s also the matter of her being a FUCKING JACK!

“Oh, hey Aunt Deli,” I reply, rage barely restrained behind false affection. “Long time no see. I’d offer you a hug but, oh, would you look at this, I’m a little tied up at the moment.” 

“We could correct that,” Delilah points out with a grin. “We just need a little cooperation from you.” Yeah, fuck that noise.

“And what would you like me to do?” I know full well what she wants, and she’s not getting it.

“Hand over the DCS-1 and we’ll let you go. Hell, I’ll even wipe your record for old time’s sake,” she says it like it’s just a casual favor and not her asking for the keys to the fucking kingdom.

“Let me think about that,” I muse, making a big show of seeming to think it over. “After careful deliberation, go fuck yourself!” I spit at the glass-like wall separating us for good measure.

Oh how I wish I could spit on her directly. Fucking bitch. 

“Now, is that any way to treat an old family friend?” she coos, sending a shiver up my spine. It’s crazy how a voice I remember as being so comforting is now anything but. “But, I can imagine you’re fond of the thing. So perhaps an alternative offer.” Oh this is going to be good. “Ply your craft for us and you will want for nothing. You can live in luxury with the traitor and cook. How about that?”

“That is certainly a tempting offer, but I’m going to have to ask you to shove it back up your ass where it came from. What do you fucking take me for?” I laugh at her. “Like fuck, sure I’m a freelance Webweaver but loggers fucking shot me in the spine! They killed me fucking parents!” I snort derisively. “Speaking of, how could you work for the same shitbags that killed your best friend?” I have a sneaking suspicion that I know the answer, but I want to hear her try and spin it. It’ll be funny.

“Best friend?” she scoffs. “Sure, perhaps Fiona was once my best friend, but that clearly meant nothing when it came to her little project!” A sneer mars her face as she states to pace back and forth. Looks like I’ve triggered a monologue. “I tried to explain to her that the tech she was working on could make us rich! We’d be out of the slums and living the good life! But, no, she wanted to make the world a better place!” She snorts and turns to face me. “She acted like it was a mutually exclusive thing! We could have done both! So, I went to LOG and told them everything.” Well, that was obvious, though I’m feeling a little called out. “It’s so fucking ironic that her own child turned out to be an opportunistic bottom feeder. What did you plan to use your parent’s life work for, hm?”

Now I’m really feeling called out. I hate that she has a point, but fucking hell. I look down at my feet, letting her think she’s cowed me. 

“I thought as much,” she chuckles dryly. “You see, we’re not that different, Rose. Nice name by the way. Though, I wonder what ol’ Roger thinks of it.” If this bitch knows Roger, how has LOG not swept through the resistance base yet? “But I’m getting off topic. My point is, we both understand the value of wealth and what we can do with it. But more than that, we understand power. With DCS-1, and LOGs resources we can throw away the shackles placed on us by the corporate scum and pave the way for a new world, a better world.” Huh. She almost sounds reasonab- “And we will rule it as queens!” Ah, there it is. 

Shaking my head, I focus my efforts on my bindings once more. I’ve had enough of this shit show. “You know, you almost had me there, Deli,” I drawl while I slowly sever the rope behind me. “You had the whole good thug bad thug thing going for a bit, though you really suck at keeping your character, just an fyi.” I giggle a bit as only a few measly threads hold the knot together. “But,” I pause, just to watch the rage that begins to boil up from within the jackbooted thugs. “I gotta ask, if you were so involved with my parents, how do you not know everything you need to take down your opposition?” She snorts and looks away. That little tell reveals everything. “Oooooh! They didn’t trust you, did they? You revealed your true colors too soon. Womp womp.”

The tall woman lunges forward and slams her fists into the clear wall. “You insolent little brat! I had a soft spot for you, it’s why I wanted you to work with us! But this is how you repay me?” 

Ah, music to my ears. 

I feel a familiar (heh) presence in my mind once more.

Oh, hey Willow. 

She pops out of my body onto the ground, quickly taking stock of the situation. She hisses at Delilah, which is yet more justification for what I’m planning to do next. 

At the speed of thought, I catch Willow up on recent events and encourage her to weaken the connection between the edges of the clear wall and the rest of the cell. 

Delilah is still ranting, but I’ve stopped paying attention to her as I pull together a little surprise for her and her transphobic toady. 

“Well, it’s been about as fun as a shot to the spine, but I’m going to have to say goodbye,” I announce as I stand up, breaking away the ropes. “I’m not sure how you planned to keep me here for any length of time, and I don’t really fucking care.” 

As if answering my indirect query, the room is immediately electrified. AI level reactions and a lack of distractions save the day as Willow quickly wraps me in an insulating field.

Nice.

Delilah looks shocked, pardon the pun. Oh! That gives me an idea.

I quickly shift tactics a bit and change my little concussive burst I had planned to also modify the glass-like wall to be electrically conductive. With but a thought, I release the blast, knocking the barrier into my former aunt and her dumbass buddy. It creates a bridge to the room that lets my captors feel the frankly unsafe levels of electricity they had intended for me.

Not wanting to waste my chance to escape, I slip past them and down a narrow hallway that leads to a stairwell. On either side of me are similar cells, some with implements of torture that would make a medieval dungeonmaster swoon with envy. I take a few pictures for posterity. 

The stairs take me up to a door that leads out into the regular jail cells. Though, a quick glance back reveals that the door was hidden. How scandalous. More pictures for my album. 

I practically skip with giddiness at how much dirt I’m digging up when I notice the server room just past the jail cells. Don’t mind if I do. 

While I download the entire contents of their database to a quarantined storage room in my tower, I start composing a message to Felicia and Summer to let them know I’m about to escape. No doubt they’re planning some sort of rescue, and I don’t want them to come looking for me when I’m already gone. 

Just as the transfer completes, I hear some shouting from the front lobby. Curiosity getting the better of me, I saunter over to take a look. 

The guy I nearly had pissing their pants in fear is arguing with another logger while several more seem to be edging closer to the fight. 

Oh! That’s not just any logger. That’s my logger. 

Nope, hate that. 

Point being, it’s Felicia, dressed up in her old uniform and looking like she’s about to throw down with the tool. Well, I do love a dramatic entrance.

I close the door I was peeking around and clear my throat. By connecting to the building’s intercom, I can ensure everyone hears what I have to say as I have a billowing mist creep into the room.

“Tsk tsk tsk.” My voice takes on a slight ethereal warbling effect. It practically gives ME goosebumps. “You all thought you could contain the Witch of the Web?!” I demand. “Fools! No prison can hold me! I am everywhere! All of creation is but my plaything!” 

The door bursts off its hinges with a well placed air blast. “Bow before me and I will spare you! Resist and I shall levy a curse upon your bloodline for all eternity!” 

All eyes dart to me and to my delight, several loggers, including piss boy, drop to their knees. 

Oh! Bonus! He actually pissed himself this time! Hilarious!

The rest of the jacks rush me, but I quickly sink their feet into the ground, allowing me to dance around them like a mercurial fae. “Ah, a shame that you chose poorly,” I sigh dramatically. “For your children and your children’s children shall forever more be cursed!” 

I sidle up to Felicia and lean against her. She looks confused, but also amused at my antics. The rest of the loggers all look absolutely terrified. 

Good.

“And for the crime of harassing one under my protection, you shall all -” I’m interrupted as Delilah bursts into the room. “Ah, time’s up!” I laugh as I cut the power and blacken the windows. “Do not dare cross me again!” I warn them as I hurry out of the building with Felicia.

She leads me into a plain looking vehicle and shoves me into the back before climbing in after me. In the driver’s seat is Lonnie who immediately peels off down the road and away from the precinct. 

As bad as my luck is sometimes, Felicia’s mad scramble into the car put her right up on top of me. I squirm underneath her before locking up entirely. 

The beautiful redhead recognizes my discomfort and quickly dismounts before pulling me up into a tight embrace. “Don’t you ever fucking scare us like that again!” she snaps before kissing me firmly on the lips. “You goddamn dumbass!” She hugs me even tighter.

“I’m getting some mixed signals here,” I try to joke, though with my voice still shaking from being pinned, I kind of miss the mark. 

Felicia narrows her eyes at me before scoffing. “Oh, just you wait till we get back. Summer’s going to have so many words for you!” She winces and adjusts something in her ear. “She’s already giving me an earful right now!” 

“Alright, alright, I know I fucked up. But, on the plus side I got some good intel, so it sort of worked out, yeah?” I know my lackadaisical tone has gone too far as Felicia just goes stiff. 

“We thought we might lose you,” she whispers softly. “Could you take this a little more seriously? You’re too important to be putting yourself at risk like that!” 

“What? For the resistance?” I scoff. I glance up at Lonnie who is pointedly staying out of this before looking back at Felicia. “Because I’ve be-”

“No you dummy! Because we love you!” she shouts.

Oh.

Oh shit.

End Chapter 21