The Underbelly (First Draft)

The Tour

My memories of my father had not distorted him beyond recognition, there were some differences of course. He does not seem as tall as I used to remember nor as immensely powerful as I recall and his hair was far greyer than I ever seen it. I guess what they say about the world being different to when you are younger is actually true. Even though I am a totally different person today to who I used to be and I knew that he was not as all authoritative as I used to think he was, he nevertheless still terrified me.

He smiled, it looked unnatural as a snake smiling and I felt my mental defences stiffen and my body tightened in anticipation. His voice slithered across the room like the snake that I always saw him as, "so my prodigal daughter finally returns to me. To what do I owe this pleasure?" My mouth felt as dry as the Red Canyon during high summer but I made my sandpaper tongue do its job laboriously, "mom is dead."

I saw a shadow of something flicker across his face, I wasn't sure what it could be, fear, shame, anger or triumph? It was too fleeting for me be sure but before I could press him he spoke, with his slithering voice slightly faltering, "how did it happen?" I felt a flash of rage and my voice came out snapping, "you know exactly how she died, the same way all of your women die, because of you." Jeffery raised his hands to strike me, for insulting his master, but I was too quick for him. With lightning speed my fingers jabbed all of his focal points on his raised arm. It swung loosely at his side and he gaped at me and croaked, "you're the same as him!" I backhanded him and he was flung across the room and crumpled against the wall.

My father showed no sign of alarm, in fact he was the opposite, his face was alight with excitement. He motioned for me to come closer but I was wary and his voice no longer seemed as cold, rather it was warm with anticipation, "come, sit. We have much to talk about! Oh the possibilities are endless!" I guess I was going to get the conversation that I wanted and after I had gotten the answers I wanted, I was going to kill him.

My father was silent for a moment as he tried to calm his racing thoughts, this was a trait I was very familiar with and if interrupted he can become violent. Soon he was ready and his questions were soon there, "how long have you been aware of your physical state?" I shrugged, "about six years or so. It came out of nowhere, I woke up one morning and suddenly it was a struggle to close the door without smashing it to pieces." That got a laugh out of him and I felt myself relax ever so slightly. I continued on with my answer, "the strength came first, then the agility and lastly the mental strength." My father was watching me with fascinated eyes and was almost whispering with excitement, "you are by far the most advanced out of all of my children." That caught me off guard and a question popped out of my mouth before I could stop it, "I have brothers and sisters?" My father's eyes gleamed when he saw that he caught my interest, "oh yes, you have dozens. Would you like to meet them?"

Jeffery began to stir and began to moan slightly but then he suddenly snapped to full consciousness and bolted upright and drew his gun and began to fire rapidly. I reacted instinctively by throwing myself backwards and rolled behind my chair. My father was up roaring at Jeffery to stop but he did not hear him over the roaring of the gunfire. I tensed my stomach and sprung towards Jeffery, twisting in the air to avoid the bullets. My heel of my palms connected with his forehead and for the second time in five minutes Jeffery fell unconscious.

Father was looking at him furiously and was stalking over to him and I could see the murderous intent in his eyes. I will not let this man kill any more people. I drew myself to my full six foot height and squared my shoulders. My father drew himself up short and I thought for a second that he considered pushing me aside but then he looked at Jeffery and seemed to remember the he was no longer the undisputed strongest person in the room. He chuckled and said, "ok darlin' how about we give you the grand tour of the kingdom that your daddy has made?" I arched my eyebrows, "why on earth would I want that?" My father looked genuinely surprised, "because some day you and your siblings are going to own the world and you need to learn the skills somewhere to rule. It's harder than it looks you know."

Before I really had a say in what happened, my father pressed a button on his watch and I was suddenly surrounded by people dressed in smart uniforms and I was whisked out of the room and my father was leading the way, strutting like a king. "The Underbelly is divided into three basic areas, the lower, middle and upper ring. The lower being the residential area, the middle being the market and the upper being the administration area." He paused for a moment, "obviously there are far more layers than that but you'll get used to it after a few months."

I stopped there, a few months? Just what was my old man playing at? The smartly dressed staff pulled me along however, I could have resisted but I'd rather not put people in hospital if I can help it. So I'll play his game for a little while longer. I could feel my nerves falling way to my inner tiger as I began to get more confident. It would not be long now.

Father rattled on and on about the different places but I was not really listening, I was more focused on taking note of how to get out of here when I needed to. Other than the way I got in, there seems to be no way out of here but if I knew my old man the way I thought I did, there was almost certainly a few secret passages out of here.

The tour got interesting when Father stopped in front of a large steel door that was three times as thick as the entrance gate. The smartly dressed staff diffused into the crowd that was thronging around us and I suddenly felt very alone, despite the crowd. My father was looking at me intently, "this is the Academy, where people like you and I learn to master all that we can. A place for you to reach your full potential." I shook my head in exasperation, "I don't need to do that, I trained for years with coaches and martial arts experts and not to mention the various professors in their areas of interests. I am the best I can be at this moment in time. I just want to focus on me." I was coming up to the point and I think he could sense it too because he dropped his voice, "I know you want closure but if you let me show you this place, I will let you choose your own path. Only a fool would rush into a situation without looking at all options, and you my daughter are no fool." With that he led me up the stone steps towards the ginormous gates and to whatever was waiting inside.

My first impression of the Academy was that it was warm, and it was only then I realised that how cold it was out in the Underbelly. The second was comfort, whoever designed this place had a lot of comfort in mind. It contrasted to the few details that had managed to seep into my brain as I was being given the tour. Everything outside was plain and practical, aside from the goods in the market that I saw when I had first arrived. It was obvious that whoever lived here was used to living in style. There were plush couches everywhere and the floor was covered in carpet and I could feel the feathery softness through my worn boots.

I could see my father looking at me through the corner of my eye and I knew that he was evaluating my every move, it gave me confidence to think that someone who used to terrify me gives me this much wary respect, though it also unnerved me and meant that I had to think everything through otherwise a rash move could invoke his rage and retribution.

He led me down the straight corridor, there were no doors leading off of the corridor however there was a hole at the end the hallway that gaped open wide like an ominous predator. Of course my father was leading me to it.

We reached the gaping maw and I peered down and I saw that it was set of stairs leading down. It was dark, but not totally. There were glowing points in the handrails and I could feel my keen eyesight kicking in and I could almost see as though it were a sunny afternoon. My father grinned and I could see the gleam in his eyes that was reflected in my own and I repressed a shiver, I hated to be reminded that I was not entirely human. My father turned and walked down the stairs with me following suit. Though I could see through the gloom I could not help but feel I was descending into a different kind of darkness.

*******************************************************************************

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this part! I really do appreciate it! I would be forever grateful if you would vote on this and if you liked it enough even add it to your reading list, it would mean the world to me!

Also feel free to give any and all feedback so long as it is constructive. I don't mind negative feedback so long as it is constructive.