By: Addie Logan
from the driver's seat of the car Victor had had him drive to Dr.
Masters's apartment. When Creed had found that the woman actually
lived in Seattle, he informed Larry they were leaving immediately.
What was the point of waiting if the woman lived in the same city he
did?
"I'm going to go in and talk to her. See if she'll let me set up an
appointment with her. It'll only take a minute."
"It's going to be as simple as that?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"No offense, sir, but I'm sick of doing your dirty work."
Victor cocked an eyebrow. "Larry, I hired you to clean up dead
bodies for me."
"That was over thirty years ago, sir."
"Just wait in the damn car." Victor made his way up to Sylvia's
apartment and knocked on the door. A small woman in sweats answered,
and he recognized her as the woman from television.
"Who are you and what do you want?" she asked.
"Victor Creed," he replied. "I saw you on Oprah."
Sylvia looked at the tall, blond man in front of her. He did not
look like one to watch Oprah. "Look, it's late. If you need
something, call my office tomorrow, and my secretary will take care
of you."
"I don't want to talk to a secretary," Victor replied. "I want to
talk to you�now."
Something about the man scared Sylvia. She wished she hadn't
answered the door. "I want you to leave."
"Look, lady, I need help, and you're my last resort."
"I'm sorry, I can't help you now. Call tomorrow and make an
appointment�at my office, not my home." She started to close the
door, and Victor stopped it with his body.
"Just talk to me."
"No!"
Victor grabbed her, pulling her with him into the hallway. "Look,
lady, my daughter won't talk to me because I'm a sick fuck. I need
someone to cure me, and I'm desperate. You said on the television
you could do something like that."
Sylvia struggled to release herself from his tight grip. "Please,
let me go. I'll help you in the morning if you'll just let me go."
Victor's nostrils flared at the lie. "No you won't." He grabbed her.
"If you won't help willingly�"
Sylvia went to scream, but his hand went over her mouth. She pushed
back with her telekinetic powers, sending Victor flying into the
wall behind him. He lunged at her then, and he moved too fast for
Sylvia to even think of stopping him. He hit her hard on the face,
knocking her out cold.
Victor looked down at the unconscious body of the psychiatrist on
the floor. "Aw, fuck," he muttered, hoisting her over his shoulder.
Well, it wasn't what he'd planned, but at least he had an
appointment. Sort of.
He carried her back down stairs and threw her in the backseat of the
car. "Drive," he ordered Larry as soon as he was in and the door was
closed behind him.
"Is that Dr. Masters?"
"Yeah."
"Why is she unconscious?"
"I guess she was tired," Victor replied sarcastically. "Would you
just fucking drive?"
"Mr. Creed�"
"DRIVE!"
Larry knew better than to mess with Victor when he was in this
state. He put his foot to the gas and sped off.
*** *** ***
Sylvia's head was pounding when she finally came to. Everything
seemed fuzzy, as if she was unable to sense anything clearly, and
something vice like was gripping her neck. She reached up to feel
metal.
"It's called an inhibiter collar, girlie. It keeps ya from usin'
your powers. Got it off eBay."
Sylvia sat up, and the pounding in her head told her she did that a
little too fast. "Why�why did you take me?" she asked.
Victor shrugged. "Because you wouldn't help me otherwise. Agree to
help me and I'll let ya go."
Sylvia shook her head the best she could wearing the collar. "No.
I'm not helping you."
"Fine, girlie. You can stay here until you change your mind."
Sylvia felt hopeless to the point of tears, but she refused to cry.
"What do you want me to do?"
"Read my mind and tell me why I'm so messed up, so I can fix it and
my little girl won't hate me."
"Can I go then?"
Victor shrugged. "If you cure me, yeah."
Sylvia steadied herself. "All right."
He released her inhibitor collar, and immediately Sylvia sprung into
action. She used her telekinesis to hit Creed as hard as she could,
sending him flying into a full-length mirror on one of the room's
doors. Victor roared in anger, ignoring the shards of glass sticking
into him. He came at her again, this time only to hit a telekinetic
shield. He kept swiping at her, until finally, Sylvia couldn't hold
the shield any longer. Victor grabbed her by her neck, ready to snap
it in two.
Suddenly, Sylvia felt a large amount of water hit her, and saw a
short man standing in the doorway with a bucket. "Drop her, Mr.
Creed." Victor blinked then released his grip, letting Sylvia fall
to the floor. She held her throat, choking as the air began to flow
again. "Let me handle the doctor, sir."
Victor nodded and walked out of the room, picking glass from his
shoulder. Larry helped Sylvia back on the bed. "Are you all right?"
"Am I all right?" Sylvia asked. She coughed. "That�that�maniac
almost killed me!"
Larry nodded. "I know. He does that. You shouldn't make him mad. He
can't control it."
Sylvia rubbed her throat again. She flinched when she looked at her
hand and saw blood. "What did he cut me with?"
"Mr. Creed has claws," Larry said. "And fangs." He went into the
small bathroom adjacent to the room and came back with a first aid
kit. "Here. Let me fix that."
Sylvia wasn't sure why she trusted the man. He looked like he should
be the assistant of a mad scientist. Maybe it was his demeanor. He
was the calmest person she'd ever met. She bared her neck to him,
and he cleaned and dressed the wound. "Thank you," she said.
"Victor doesn't really want to hurt you," Larry said, trying to
explain his boss as best as he could. "He just needs help."
Sylvia rolled her eyes. "That's obvious."
Larry smirked. "He has a daughter�Victoria. She's a great kid, and
the light of Mr. Creed's life, but she won't talk to him anymore.
See, he's an assassin, and well, she thought he gave it up, but he
didn't. When she found out, she cut him out of her life completely.
He wants to take care of his blood lust so he'll have the chance at
earning her forgiveness."
"Why would a man like that even attempt to be a decent father?"
"Because his father locked him up in the basement and pulled his
teeth out with pliers."
Sylvia raised her eyebrows. "Oh."
"So will you help him?"
Sylvia sighed. "Only if he lets me go. I'm not doing anything for
him as long as he insists on keeping me here under duress."
"Mr. Creed isn't going to like that," Larry said.
"Well then Mr. Creed can continue living with a daughter that hates
him."
Larry could tell this one was about as stubborn as his boss. "I'll
talk to him," he said, even though he had a feeling it wasn't going
to do any good.
"Thank you."
Larry nodded then went to find Victor. Once again he found himself
asking why he bothered to keep this job.
"She wants what!"
Larry has long since learned to withstand the full force of Victor's
yells without shaking. "She wants to go home, sir. I don't think
it's an unreasonable request."
"No! She's my one chance at getting Vicky back. I'm not lettin' her
go."
"Um, sir, if you don't mind me saying so, I think you're being a
little unreasonable here."
"I don't pay you for your opinion!"
"I know, sir, but I just don't think she's going to be too willing
to help you if you keep her locked up like that."
"Well, I'm not�" Victor stopped short when alarms began to sound.
"What the hell�" He ran to the large bay window in time to see
Sylvia running across the lawn in an attempt to escape. "FUCK!"
Victor screamed, running for the front door. Larry tried to call out
a protest, but it fell on deaf ears.
Sylvia ran as fast as she could, but Victor Creed was a predator,
and she was his prey. He caught her, struggling against her weak
attempts to stop him with her telekinesis. Finally, she slumped
against him, the fight too much for her. He carried her limp body
back into the house.
"Sir�"
"Can it, Larry."
Victor brought Sylvia back up to her room.
*** *** ***
When Sylvia woke up again, she found herself not only wearing an
inhibitor collar, but she was chained to the bed. She screamed at
the top of her lungs, any rational thought long since exiting her
mind. She just wanted out of this man's house, and she wanted her
life back.
A blonde woman who Sylvia thought looked like she must be trying to
smuggle balloons in her shirt came in with a tray of food. "Larry
said you might like to eat."
Sylvia wondered if this woman was Victor Creed's girlfriend. She
looked like she would probably be his type. "Who are you?" Sylvia
asked.
"Heidi," the woman replied. "I live with Larry. Do me a favor and
don't tell Creed I speak English, okay?"
So this was Larry's girlfriend. Sylvia was surprised by that. She
couldn't help by smirk a little at the last part of the woman's
statement. "All right."
"I can't unchain you. Larry's afraid you'll run again and Creed with
really snap then. So can I feed you?"
Sylvia has a sudden fear that whatever Heidi was offering her was
less than safe to eat, but she was starving. She had no idea how
long it had been since she last ate. "I�I guess."
Heidi smiled. "Good. You like turkey sandwiches?"
"Yeah."
Heidi proceeded to feed Sylvia, who decided this had to be just
about the weirdest experience of her life. "You know, you should
help Creed," Heidi said as she put a chip in Sylvia's mouth. "You'd
be doing the world a favor."
Sylvia chewed and swallowed. "Why?"
"He's a homicidal maniac," Heidi stated, as simply as if she'd been
discussing the weather. "He kills for fun. He has an insane blood
lust. You should see the Trophy Room. He has human heads mounted the
way some people do antlers."
Sylvia suddenly lost any appetite she had. Just what sort of man was
she dealing with here? "Human heads?"
Heidi nodded cheerfully. "The kills he's most proud of."
"Proud?!"
More cheerful nods. "Yep. So are you still hungry?"
"Um, no. Thanks."
"Okay. So are you going to help Creed?"
"I�I don't know."
"You should. Unless you want to be added to the body count, that
is." Heidi smiled as she stood up with the tray of food. "It was
nice meeting you."
"Yeah�you, too."
When she left, Sylvia was seriously considering changing her
position on helping Victor Creed as she realized her very survival
might depend on it.
When Larry came in to check on her later, she told him to tell
Victor she agreed.
*** *** ***
"You try anything when I take this collar off, and I'll rip ya in
half, frail."
Sylvia nodded as much as the bulky device allowed her to. "I know."
She felt a great sense of relief when Victor took it off her neck.
She hated being so cut off from her powers. It was like being
suddenly blind and deaf.
Victor sat in a chair across from her. "All right, doc. What do you
have to do?"
"I'm going to have to go into your mind, find the root of your, um,
blood lust."
"And then I'll be fine?"
"Not immediately. This may take a few sessions, Mr. Creed. Real
psychological damage can take years to repair."
"You're not leavin' until I don't want to kill anymore."
"I know."
Sylvia took a deep breath, steeling herself against what she was
sure wasn't going to be pretty. She placed her hands on either side
of Victor's face and slipped into his mind, tentatively. She was
immediately hit by a wall, full of anger, hate, pain. She heard
screaming and didn't even realize it was her until she felt Creed
shaking her.
"What did you find?" he asked.
Hot tears stung Sylvia's face. "You�you�you have to let down that
wall. You have to let me in."
"I don't let people in," Victor snapped.
"Then I can't help you."
Victor looked at her for a moment. He didn't trust people, least of
all this woman. But he wanted his daughter back. Was it worth it?
"I'll do what I can."
Sylvia put her hands back on his face, his stubble scraping her
palms. "Relax, Mr. Creed."
"Victor."
"What?"
"My name is Victor."
"Then relax, Victor."
The wall was still there, but not as strong. Sylvia was able to slip
past it. Victor's mind was what she'd expected it to be�dark and
bloodstained. She could see she had her work cut out for her. She
looked around, trying to find something, anything that could give
her hope.
There was one thing, manifesting itself as a small ball of light
beside her feet. She picked it up and looked inside, seeing the
image of Victor playing with a small, blonde girl she knew had to be
his daughter. She heard him laughing with her, and the overwhelming
sense of happiness she felt from Victor at the thought of his child
threatened to be too much for her. She knew then why he was so
desperate not to lose her. She was the one thing in his life that
kept him sane.
Sylvia slowly left Victor's mind. "I don't think I can handle
anymore today," she said.
"Why the hell not?" Victor snapped. "I want to get this whole thing
over with.
"Because going into someone's mind takes a lot out of me," Sylvia
said. "I'm tired. I won't be any help to you like this."
"Fine. Go to sleep. But I expect more tomorrow."
"You won't get anymore if you make me sleep in those chains," Sylvia
said. "I didn't get any sleep last night."
"How do I know you won't run?"
"You have my word."
Victor crossed his arms over his chest. "That ain't good enough,
girlie."
"Then you won't get much out of me."
Victor sighed. "Fine, no chains. But you run, and I will hunt you
down and kill you."
After seeing his mind, Sylvia didn't doubt him one bit. She nodded.
Victor took her by the arm, led her back to her room, and locked her
in. Sylvia sat down on the bed and cried.
*** *** ***
"Relax, Victor." Sylvia said at the beginning of their session the
following morning.
"I am relaxed, dammit."
"No, you're tense. If you're going to let me do this, you're going
to have to relax."
"Easy for you to say," Victor snapped. "You're not about to have
someone pokin' around in yer head."
Sylvia sighed. "You're the one who wants me to do this. After some
of the things I saw yesterday, your mind is not exactly a place I
want to go."
Victor tried to relax, although something about Dr. Sylvia Masters
made him constantly tense. He blamed it on the fact she was a
telepath. Aside from Birdy, they'd always made him nervous. Sylvia
slipped back into his mind, trying to find the same place she'd been
the day before. If she could start out from the one place in
Victor's mind that wasn't dripping with blood, maybe she could stand
to be there for an extended period of time.
Sylvia left a mental touchstone in the part of Victor's mind where
he kept him love for his daughter, ensuring that if things got too
rough for her further on, she could find her way back. Sylvia took a
deep breath, and headed towards the darkest recesses of Victor
Creed's mind, hoping to find answers.
Out of all the minds Sylvia had entered, Victor's was the only one
in which she had to constantly remind herself that she was not in a
real place, simply a manifestation of a man's thoughts and memories.
His acute senses made his memories amazingly crisp and clear, with
horrific sounds and smells bombarding her at every turn. She saw
death everywhere she looked, saw the tortures Victor Creed had
inflicted on his victims. She took a breath, but kept going. The
sooner she could find a way to help him, the sooner she could leave.
And if she couldn't�Sylvia didn't want to think of that possibility.
The intense hurt and pain that was bombarding her grew stronger and
the amount of rage began to diminish. Sylvia knew she was near the
center of his torment. She let out a cry of frustration when she
suddenly ran into a wall. He couldn't keep her out now, not when
she'd walked through a river of blood to get here. She closed her
eyes. *Victor, let me in.* A small door formed in the wall, just
long enough to let her pass, closing as soon as she was through.
Sylvia stared in surprise at what she found at the root of all his
pain. Rabbits. Hundreds of them, hopping through a dark, cold
cellar. "Is this what all Victor's bloodlust stems from?" Sylvia
thought. "An unnatural fear of rabbits?" She tried to move further
but couldn't. The rabbits were everywhere, surrounding her with
pristine white fur. She noticed one in a far corner suddenly begin
to turn red, as if dripping with blood. The blood spread then,
moving over the sea of white, coming towards Sylvia. She threw her
arms over her face in defense, screaming.
When she opened her eyes again, she was sitting across from Victor.
He was breathing heavy, and his pupils had grown to the point that
Sylvia could almost no longer see the green of his eyes. "What�what
did you see?" Victor asked.
"Rabbits," Sylvia replied. "Thousands of rabbits. I need to go back,
Victor. I was making some headway, but�"
Victor looked away from her. "I don't want you in there anymore
today," Victor snapped.
"Victor, I can't help you if you shut me out."
He just looked at her, before getting up and leaving, slamming the
door behind him.
Sylvia remembered all she'd seen and shuttered.
*** *** ***
Sylvia looked up when she head someone knock on her door. She was
relieved to know it wouldn't be Victor on the other side. He never
bothered with simple courtesies such as knocking. "Come in!" she
called out.
Larry came in a second later, carrying some bags. "I bought you some
clothes," he said. "I hope they fit. I had to guess at your sizes. I
figured you were tired of wearing the same outfit all the time. I
would've brought you something earlier, but Heidi doesn't wear
things I thought you'd be comfortable in, and Victoria's clothes
would be way too big. She's tall�like her father."
Sylvia nodded, remembering the image she'd seen of Victoria in
Victor's mind. The girl definitely bore a striking resemblance to
her father. "Thank you," she said, taking the bags from Larry. "That
was very kind of you."
"It was the least I could do, seeing as Mr. Creed has you locked up
in here and all," Larry said. "If you need anything, just ask either
me or Heidi. We'll take care of you the best we can."
"Thank you. Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure."
"What happened between Victor and his daughter?"
Larry sighed. "It's a lot. Mind if I have a seat?"
"No, go right ahead."
Larry sat across from her in the same chair Victor had been in
earlier. "I might as well give you some background. Mr. Creed may
not like me telling you, but I think since you're here to help him
with Vicky, it's best you know. Victoria was the product of a
one-night stand with a woman Victor had known�and been on less than
friendly terms with�for quite some time. She was the ex-fianc�e of
his mortal enemy, and when she came on to him, well, I guess he
couldn't turn her down. About a year later, she showed up at his
doorstep with an infant�Victoria. She hadn't even named the girl,
and it was obvious she didn't want anything to do with her. Victor
and I raised her. He'd had a son before, Graydon, who he'd never
known about, and who ended up being less than sane."
Sylvia started a little at that. The Friends of Humanity had been
before her time, but she'd heard the name Graydon Creed. "That was
his son?"
"Yeah. Apparently Graydon had a less that bright childhood. Victor
remembered his own, and he told me once that as much as he hated
Graydon, the fact that the man had suffered as a child tore him up
inside. When Victoria came along, he saw her as his second chance.
He would've done almost anything for her, giving her all he could to
allow her to have a good life.
"But he couldn't control the blood lusts. He kept killing, until it
reached a point when Victoria was about ten, and a job went bad. He
almost died, and it was all he could do to drag himself into the
house. He collapsed in front of the door in a pool of his own blood.
He'd been gone for several days, and when Vicky heard him come in, I
couldn't stop her from running downstairs. When I found them, she
was beside him, holding his head in her lap and begging her daddy
not to die. After than, she made him promise to stop going out like
that, to stop putting himself in danger. She was always such a
strong child, but the thought of losing her father tore her up
inside.
"To his credit, Mr. Creed did try to stop. I remember the night he
snapped. It had been only been a month since his last killing, but
it was already too much for him. He came in, the blood still on his
hands, and he looked at me, helplessness reflected in his eyes. He
told me he just couldn't stop it, even when he tried, he just
couldn't stop it. He'd go through periods where he tried to keep the
beast at bay for Victoria, but he never could. And I, well, I lied
to her, too." Larry hung his head in shame. "I didn't want her to
know what her father really was. She worshipped him. I couldn't let
that sweet little girl know the truth.
"It wasn't until recently, though, that Victoria learned from a
friend of hers in New York that her father had never stopped.
Victor's enemy�the man who had almost married Victoria's mother�had
a daughter. A few years ago, when that girl was thirteen, Victor
kidnapped her, and did things to the child I can't even bring myself
to speak of. Victoria found out, and she called me, demanding to
know the truth about her father. I couldn't lie to her anymore, and
I told her that Victor had never stopped killing. She's refused to
talk to him ever since." Larry let out a deep breath as he finished
his story.
Sylvia pushed her hair away from her forehead. "Almost makes you
feel sorry for the guy," she said softly.
"His body count is astronomical," Larry said. "Victor's an old man.
He'd had decades to kill."
"Old?" Sylvia asked. "He didn't look like he could've been any older
than his late thirties�possibly early forties if he's really taken
care of himself."
Larry shook his head. "Mr. Creed's mutant ability is what's known as
a healing factor. Vicky has one, too. He can recover from almost any
injury at an alarming rate, and it's also retarded his aging. He's
most likely over a hundred years old."
Sylvia's eyes grew wide. How many people could this man have killed
in that many years? From what she'd seen in his mind, probably
enough to populate a small country. Several times over. "I'm not
even sure if I can help him," Sylvia said softly. "I'm a
psychiatrist, not a miracle worker. I've never seen so much
psychological damage in one individual. I guess his age has a lot to
do with that. It's had time to accumulate."
"I won't let him hurt you," Larry said, his face the picture of grim
determination. "No matter what happens, I would let him hurt you.
You're a good person. You don't deserve to become another victim of
Sabretooth's rage."
"Sabretooth?"
Larry nodded. "Nickname, codename, whatever you want to call it.
It's what Victor's known as."
"I remember hearing about Sabretooth," Sylvia said. "A couple years
ago, he tried to start a new version of Magneto's old Brotherhood of
Mutants, and caused a lot of destruction in New York City."
"That wasn't really him," Larry said. "We don't know who it was, but
it wasn't Victor. He was here. Besides, that person died, and as you
can clearly see, Mr. Creed is very much alive and kicking."
Sylvia nodded her agreement as she ran her fingers over the bandage
on her neck. She gave thanks for at least the hundredth time that
Victor hadn't insisted on putting that collar back on her. Coupled
with the cuts on her neck that his talons had left, the pain had
been almost unbearable. "Larry, can you answer one more thing for
me?"
"I can try."
"What happened with Victor and rabbits?"
"Rabbits?"
"In his mind, I saw rabbits."
"You're going to have to ask Mr. Creed about that one. He's never
talked about rabbits before."
"I did ask me. He wouldn't tell me."
"Yeah, he's like that," Larry replied. "Mr. Creed has a lot of
things he'd rather keep to himself."
"Then how does he expect me to help him? I'm his psychiatrist�more
or less�he can't keep important things from me. It impedes our
progress. Why can't I make him realize that?"
"Lady, in case you haven't realized, the man's insane. Logic isn't
going to do you a damn bit of good."
Sylvia shrugged. Larry had a point there. "So what am I supposed to
do?"
"You're the doctor."
Sylvia rested her chin in her hands. "I have my work cut out for me,
don't I?"
"Yeah, I'm afraid you do." Larry stood up. "I hate to leave you like
this, but I promised Heidi I'd help her with some things. Are you
going to be okay?"
"I'll be fine," Sylvia replied. "Thanks again for the clothes."
"It was my pleasure. Hang in there, Dr. Masters. Everything will go
back to normal in your life soon enough."
Sylvia just nodded. Despite Larry's optimism, she doubted anything
would be "normal" in her life ever again.
