Committed Chapter 18

Ariadne no longer hesitated on the threshold and stepped boldly into her father’s office.  The sound of his voice had filled her with a strange calm.  It was the same tone of voice he often adopted when he was about to pass on some kernel of knowledge.  Normally, Ariadne found this tone of voice a little patronizing.  But now, despite their foray to the library, Ariadne felt herself in an information vacuum.  She needed to know more information, and somehow she knew that her father was about to impart that info.

            But, she also realized, that meant that there was going to be no help to find here.

            She glanced at the digital clock on her father’s desk.  12:36.  Twenty minutes.

            “I assume this is Paris?” her father asked.

            “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Paris said.  He offered his hand.  Arthur Helen grasped it without hesitation.

            “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Paris,” Arthur smiled.  “Do not worry, I hold no ill-will towards you for what you and my daughter have been up to all day today, even though it has caused a considerable amount of trouble.”

            “How much do you know about what is going on, Dad?” Ariadne asked.  She felt like she should be more hurt by the knowledge that her father was working with Janus, just like her mother.  But the truth was, she’d been wondering ever since her mother had turned on her whether or not her father was in the same game.  It wasn’t a surprise.  The way they’d both acted at dinner when she’d mentioned meeting Janus.  No, she felt that eerie calm and nothing else.  She just needed to understand.

            “I know everything that happened at the field today,” Arthur explained.  “I also know about how you escaped from Janus at our house this…this morning.”
            Arthur turned away and walked into section of his office separated by a door-less archway.  This room had a conference table and a large touch-screen monitor against the far wall.  Ariadne followed him in with Paris in tow.  She didn’t say anything.

            At last, Arthur spoke again.  “Ariadne, I know you don’t understand what is happening, which is why I understand your reaction.  Maybe, if you understand what the stakes are, you’ll be more willing to comply with Janus’ request.”

            “She’s not complying with any-“ Paris cried, taking a step forward.  Ariadne put a hand out to stop him.  The moment Paris touched her arm he seemed to deflate and he took a step backwards.

            “What are the stakes, Dad?” Ariadne asked.

            “Take a seat.”

            Ariadne pulled out the swivel chair directly in front of her and sat down at the glass conference table.  Paris sat down next to her but didn’t say anything.  Arthur Helen double-tapped an icon on the touch screen and what looked like a gigantic family tree, dozens of stalks running horizontally across the screen, appeared.  Examining it more closely she saw that it was actually two different family trees with a timeline running between them.

            “I’ve no doubt that you’ve been confused by some of Janus’ references to knowing you before and being with you before,” Arthur Helen explained.  “But that is because he has memories that you don’t have.”

            “Memories?” Ariadne asked.

            “Yes,” Arthur nodded gravely.  “Of your past lives.”

            Arthur tapped the screen again and Ariadne saw the two names at the start of each tree turn bold.  Slowly, the lines connecting names began to turn bold, highlighting a name every three generations or so, progressing across the screen.  Ariadne watched with a strange sense of detachment as the names continued all the way to the end of the tree.

            The top family tree ended with Janus’ name turning bold.  The bottom one ended with her name.

            “Call it reincarnation, genetic memory, or whatever you want,” Arthur said, “But every three generations you and Janus are reborn in new bodies.  Our two families always know when you have been born because it occurs on the same day every time.  October 30^th for Janus and December 13^th for you.  Each time, when Janus reaches the age of seventeen, he is given a ring by his father.  This ring gives him access to his memories of his past lives.  And then he comes after you.”

            Arthur stepped over to the left side of the screen, to the first names on each tree.  “Of course, he isn’t always called Janus.  Many cultures have mythological stories that are references to you and him.  The story of Apollo and Daphne, Eros and Psyche, and Dido and Aeneas.  But Janus first name was Cain.”

            “Cain?” Ariadne asked.  She was starring wide-eyed at her father.  She could tell he believed what he was saying but it couldn’t possibly be true.  But it was.  She wanted not to believe it but she found she did.  Somehow, as though a part of her was already prepared for what she was hearing, she knew everything her father was telling her was true.

            “Yes, Cain,” Arthur nodded.  “As in the Cain of Cain and Abel.  In his first life, Janus, as Cain, was madly in love with a woman.  So madly in love that he killed his brother over it.  After that, the Bible tells us that God punished Cain and gave him a Mark.  The Mark of Cain, or the Curse of Cain, is how it is looked at in Christianity thousands of years later.  In actuality, there was a Curse but God did not inflict it on Cain.  Instead, Cain cast the Curse on himself and on the woman he loved so that they would be together for out eternity, continuously reunited in future bodies.  You were that woman, Ariadne.”

            Ariadne looked down at the second family tree.  There was no first name at the beginning of her tree.  Just three question marks.

            “What was my name?” Ariadne asked.  Of all the questions she could have asked, it might have been the least important.  But it didn’t feel that way.

            “Your name has been lost,” Arthur replied.  “But once you put the ring on that Janus has been trying to give you, you’ll remember.  You’ll remember all your past lives with him.  And you’ll remember how much you love him.”

            At those last three words, Ariadne felt her blood boil.  She was on her feet again.  She was screaming before she knew what she was doing.

            “I will never love him!”

            “Yes, you will,” Arthur said calmly, seemingly unaffected by her outburst.  “Once he puts the ring on you…you won’t be able to help it.  The rings are part of the Curse.  They bring back your memories, they bind you and Janus together.  And part of their effect is that after Janus puts the ring on you you’ll fall back in love with him…and you won’t want to take the ring off or understand why you wanted to be away from him.”
            Ariadne stood their in shock, thinking how close she’d had to having that ring put on her twice now.  “It brainwashes me?”

            “Who can call it brainwashing?” her father asked, taking a placating step towards her.  “Once the ring is on, Ariadne, you love him.  You will believe it and feel it as if it’s as real as any feeling you’ve ever felt.  You won’t understand what it was like to not be in love with Janus.  No matter what he does or says to you, you will always love him once the ring is on.”
            “Then I’ll never put it on,” Ariadne said through gritted teeth.  “This is me, this is the real me, Dad, and I don’t love him.  Putting a ring on me doesn’t change that.  It’s a lie.”

            “Maybe, but it’s a lie that you have to accept, Ariadne,” Arthur explained.  “And since you’ll believe that you love him it will be an easy lie for you to live.  You see, part of the Curse was a connection between our two families.  We are joined in prosperity by the Curse.  You have no doubt heard that Janus’ father is under investigation by the CRA?  For as long as you and Janus have been bound our two families have understood untold prosperity.  Not always as Hellenistic Inc. and Menelaus Industries, but always together.  But, the effect only lasts for three generations.  Think of it like a sort of luck that our two families have, but only so long as you and Janus are brought together every three generations.  If, for whatever reason, you weren’t to come together, our two families would fall into destitution and poverty.”

            Arthur took another placating step towards Ariadne, coming around the table.  “You understand now, don’t you?  This isn’t just about you, this is about everyone.  It’s about Janus’ entire family, it’s about your uncles and aunts and cousins and grandparents.  All of them live the lifestyles they do, in safety and without want, because every three generations Janus finds you and makes you his bride again.  Would you really sacrifice all of us because of the petty feelings you feel now?  Once the ring goes on Ariadne, you’ll thank me.”
            Ariadne looked into her father’s eyes.  He believed what he was saying completely.  She knew everything he was saying was true.  But it was also wrong.

            “See, that’s where you’re wrong, Dad,” Ariadne said, feeling hot tears rolling down her face, though she could see clearly.  “This is entirely about me.”
            “Don’t be selfish, Ariadne.  I have known my entire life that I would be the father of your most recent reincarnation.  I did everything I could to give you a full and happy life.  Now, it is time to return the favour.”

            “I don’t owe you!” Ariadne snapped.  “You don’t own my heart.  You can’t just sell me to Janus like a bit of corporate stock!”

            “But I can, Ariadne,” Arthur said.  “I am thinking about more people than just you.”

            “Paris, we’re leaving,” Ariadne said.  She turned and started out of the office.  “I won’t sit around and listen to any more of this.”
            “Your mother is dead, Ariadne.”

            Ariadne froze in the archway.  She felt like her heart was going to burst in her chest.  More tears leaked from the corners of her eyes, flowing freely down her face.  She blinked, and her lashes became heavy with droplets.  But she could still see clearly.

            “Was it…”

            “Janus shot her.”

            Ariadne whirled on her father.

            “Then how can you stand here telling me I have to go to that man!”

            “Because without him this family has nothing!” Arthur thundered, losing his cool at last.  “This thing is older than you are Ariadne, but I am finding it hard to forgive your ignorance.  But you will be handed over to Janus and this family will continue on strong and secure!”

            “Again, Dad, you’re wrong,” Ariadne wept for her father.  “By the looks of things, this is just as old as I am.”

            Again, Ariadne turned to leave, and again her father called out to stop her.

            “Ariadne, I can’t let you go.”
            “Ariadne!”

            She turned back and saw that her father had pulled a gun from beneath his suit jacket.  Like Janus’ at the school, it had a suppressor.  He was pointing it at Paris now, who had been moving to follow her but now sat frozen with the gun levelled at his temple.

            “I love you, Ariadne.  But if you choose to be ungrateful then you force me to make the right decision for you.”

            Ariadne looked into her father’s eyes.

            “What gives you the right to make this decision for me!?” Ariadne screamed, too angry now to hold back.

            “Everything!” Arthur Helen screamed.

            At that moment, Arthur’s gun-arm shaking, Paris moved, reaching up to bat the gun away.  Ariadne dove forward, but it was too late.  There was a deafening crack and the gun in her father’s hand flashed.