Syndicate (SnowBaz)

Chapter 2

Penelope

"Wait, Simon slow down." Simon suddenly came crashing into my room, talking so fast that I have no idea what he's saying. "Start again."

"Penny, the Mage gave me a mission today." So, this is what he was upset about. Simon's been ranting about being babied for the last two years, now he has finally got a mission and he's upset with it?

"What is the mission?"

He tells me.

"Simon, this is...wow." Honestly, I have no idea how to describe it. "Are you OK?"

Simon laughs. "I have no idea how I feel right now, Penny." His eyes are shinning and he looks like he might cry. "That isn't all of it...Baz came to see me afterwards."

I gasp, shocked. Basil really was alive, then. "What did he want? Did he try to hurt you?" Was he hurt? He didn't look hurt. Was he upset because Baz attempted to hurt him?

Simon shook his head. "No. He...he wanted to know if I was going to kill him."

"And what did you tell him?"

"That I have no idea." He says and runs a hand through his curls, clearly frustrated by this whole situation.

"Do you?" I ask. "Have any idea?"

"I was telling him the truth. Penny, I don't think I can kill him."

"Why not?" If anyone can take Baz down, it's Simon. Baz may be powerful and a vampire, but he's no match for Simon. He is the most powerful mage there is.

"I don't know why not. I just have this feeling that I shouldn't kill him, that theres more to why Baz has to die than him being a vampire."

"Did the Mage say you had to kill him because he's a vampire?"

Simon ran another hand through his hair. "Not exactly. He said he thought Baz was part of a vampire group that are working against him."

"Then what is the problem?" I ask. "Do you think the Mage is lying?"

Simon hesitates before anwering. "It feels like he is. I mean, Baz wouldn't work with the vamires Penny. They killed his mum."

I try to think of an answer to this that won't upset Simon or sound like I'm doubting the Mage. Sure, my family don't necasserily like him, but he's still the Mage. "Maybe the real reason that you need to kill Baz is too upsetting for you to hear and he thought making it...lighter would be easier for you."

Simon shakes his head vigourosly. "That's not it." His voice is adamant; like he knows something I don't.

"Simon..."

"Yeah?"

"What else did you and Baz talk about today?"

Simon stays silent for a moment, looking at the ground. "Nothing else."

I know he's lying to me. Simon and I don't keep secrets from each other, we made a pact not to years ago. That's how I know that he's lying, he isn't looking at me and paused before he spoke. Whatever he talked about with Baz, he can't share with me. And that hurts. "OK, then maybe-"

Suddenly, Simon stood up. "Actually Penny, I think I should go. I want to talk to the Mage about the mission again."

He doesn't say goodbye or wait for me to reply, he just goes. I feel the urge to go after him and demand that he tells me the truth, so I can help him or protect him or both. Basilton Grimm-Pitch is dangerous, that I'm certain of. He has spent so much time messing up Simon's life and I don't want him to get dragged into him again. The two years without Baz had been strangely perfect. I no longer had to listen to Simon go on about what Baz had done that day or follow Baz everywhere to calm Simon's paranoia. It may sound selfish, but I don't want Simon in that stage again: completely absorbed by Basilton Grimm-Pitch.