The Saggy Old Cloth Cat
Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2013 1:16 pm
A gentle rap on the solid oak door announced the presence of the expected visitor.
Billy tensed. Whilst he knew the junior editor was coming to interview him, for an 'exposé' in the Templar Chronicles, he did not relish the pending experience. Despite his protests, his psyche councillor had 'volunteered' him for next month's edition, and now his time had come to "spill the beans" on his life.
Sighing audibly, Billy approached the door and opened it to find an attractive girl, no older than 20, with straight black hair tied into a ponytail. She smiled nervously, her fingers tightly clasping her bad, and asked "Billy?"
"Yes, come in" he replied, feeling a little better that she appeared as nervous as he was. "Coffee?"
---
After a few minutes of conversation about the Chronicles, and about how happy they were having a ranking member allowing themselves to be interviewed, the young reporter sets a digital tape recorder and starts it recording.
"So tell me where it all started" she ventured.
"Well, everything I remember really is focussed around the Templars. They took me in about 20 years ago now. Apparently I was just aimlessly wandering the streets of London in a daze, suffering amnesia, before I was picked up by the police and taken to a local hospital for my own safety. I don't remember much of that time though - so long ago now. I presume that I had a home and family somewhere, but it was never found, and I was never linked to any missing persons report either. And I've never had any childhood memories return either, which is strange. Anyway, the Templars were nice to me, took me in, gave me a home and support, so I stayed. I guess I didn't have much choice to be honest!"
"Why did the Templars take you in? And why did you stay?"
"Well, not long after I joined, I realised two things. One, the Templars were fun - they had access to all sorts of resources to play with, and they encouraged me to play! And two, I wasn't 'normal' when compared to the rest of the general population. I had 'visions'. To start with I just put them down to waking nightmares, but with the help of the Templar physicians, I found out it was more than that - I was able to see real life events in my mind; events that had happened in the past that I wasn't aware of; events going on elsewhere at the same time; and more surprisingly, I had visions of events that hadn't happened yet. Anyway, the Templars found this ability quite useful, and had me file a report each and every time I had a vision so they could follow it up. I still do that to this day - hell, more often than not these days I end up being assigned the task of doing the follow-up investigation! Sometimes I can go weeks without a vision, but they are often every few days, and rarely when it is convenient!"
"How did you get the codename 'Bagpus'?"
"During my time at Cambridge, when I was studying for my degree, I dated a girl named Emily, whose family ran an antique shop in Kensington. The other students used to joke that I was one of her "lost toys" as I had no real home, and that quickly created the nickname 'Bagpus' from the old TV series. She even bought me a replica of the cat from the series as a Christmas present - I still have it. Well, it wasn't long before the Templar's got wind of the nickname, and it just stuck."
"Emily and I went out for about 14 months, and everything was looking just about perfect - and then one day she just vanished without trace. That was in October '98. Her family did everything they could to find her, as did the police, as did I. I called in extensive Templar resources too, but found no leads. None at all. It was like she just ceased to exist. After seven years, she was declared "dead in absentia", but there was no evidence of that - no evidence of anything really - and I've spent the last 8 years hoping to find something so I can un-declare her death."
"How do you find Templar life now?"
"For the most part, I still find it as I did when I was 15: fun. I get to go all over the world, investigate unusual behaviour, study supernatural occurrences, and with complete impunity. Well, if you ignore those Venice boys. It also allows me to keep investigating Emily's disappearance - the resources the Templars have these days are beyond imagination; although still not enough to find her it seems."
"I must admit though, things seem to be a little more... tense these days. I'm not sure what it is; maybe just everything being taken a little more seriously. It feels ominous, like someone's discovered a grave portent. But if they have, I haven't heard about it yet. Perhaps I'm just getting cranky as I get older!"
"Is there anyone else in your life these days?"
"No-one close. I've no family that I'm aware of, and, since Emily, I've had no romantic ties - I haven't felt able to. There has been a few that appeared to show interest in me, but I haven't let go of the past yet. Work-wise, I was recently transferred into a new cabal so I could investigate different occurrences. Seems like a good bunch of people; friendly, welcoming, so perhaps a chance to socialise a bit more. Apart from that, I kind of keep myself to myself - either immersed in online activities, or investigating all kinds of supernatural claims around the world."
"So, what's next for you? Any plans?"
"There are always plans. Obviously some of those I cannot divulge here, but for the most part, my immediate plans are very similar to my past ones. More travel. More investigation. More digging into secrets. More dealing with strange occurrences."
"Thank you Billy. I think that's more than enough for me to be getting on with, so I won't take up any more of your time. I'll sent you a proof of the write up for you to peruse before it is published, just in case you want to edit anything in it, or you're not happy with it. I'll leave you to your work now, and wish you luck in finding Emily."
Billy tensed. Whilst he knew the junior editor was coming to interview him, for an 'exposé' in the Templar Chronicles, he did not relish the pending experience. Despite his protests, his psyche councillor had 'volunteered' him for next month's edition, and now his time had come to "spill the beans" on his life.
Sighing audibly, Billy approached the door and opened it to find an attractive girl, no older than 20, with straight black hair tied into a ponytail. She smiled nervously, her fingers tightly clasping her bad, and asked "Billy?"
"Yes, come in" he replied, feeling a little better that she appeared as nervous as he was. "Coffee?"
---
After a few minutes of conversation about the Chronicles, and about how happy they were having a ranking member allowing themselves to be interviewed, the young reporter sets a digital tape recorder and starts it recording.
"So tell me where it all started" she ventured.
"Well, everything I remember really is focussed around the Templars. They took me in about 20 years ago now. Apparently I was just aimlessly wandering the streets of London in a daze, suffering amnesia, before I was picked up by the police and taken to a local hospital for my own safety. I don't remember much of that time though - so long ago now. I presume that I had a home and family somewhere, but it was never found, and I was never linked to any missing persons report either. And I've never had any childhood memories return either, which is strange. Anyway, the Templars were nice to me, took me in, gave me a home and support, so I stayed. I guess I didn't have much choice to be honest!"
"Why did the Templars take you in? And why did you stay?"
"Well, not long after I joined, I realised two things. One, the Templars were fun - they had access to all sorts of resources to play with, and they encouraged me to play! And two, I wasn't 'normal' when compared to the rest of the general population. I had 'visions'. To start with I just put them down to waking nightmares, but with the help of the Templar physicians, I found out it was more than that - I was able to see real life events in my mind; events that had happened in the past that I wasn't aware of; events going on elsewhere at the same time; and more surprisingly, I had visions of events that hadn't happened yet. Anyway, the Templars found this ability quite useful, and had me file a report each and every time I had a vision so they could follow it up. I still do that to this day - hell, more often than not these days I end up being assigned the task of doing the follow-up investigation! Sometimes I can go weeks without a vision, but they are often every few days, and rarely when it is convenient!"
"How did you get the codename 'Bagpus'?"
"During my time at Cambridge, when I was studying for my degree, I dated a girl named Emily, whose family ran an antique shop in Kensington. The other students used to joke that I was one of her "lost toys" as I had no real home, and that quickly created the nickname 'Bagpus' from the old TV series. She even bought me a replica of the cat from the series as a Christmas present - I still have it. Well, it wasn't long before the Templar's got wind of the nickname, and it just stuck."
"Emily and I went out for about 14 months, and everything was looking just about perfect - and then one day she just vanished without trace. That was in October '98. Her family did everything they could to find her, as did the police, as did I. I called in extensive Templar resources too, but found no leads. None at all. It was like she just ceased to exist. After seven years, she was declared "dead in absentia", but there was no evidence of that - no evidence of anything really - and I've spent the last 8 years hoping to find something so I can un-declare her death."
"How do you find Templar life now?"
"For the most part, I still find it as I did when I was 15: fun. I get to go all over the world, investigate unusual behaviour, study supernatural occurrences, and with complete impunity. Well, if you ignore those Venice boys. It also allows me to keep investigating Emily's disappearance - the resources the Templars have these days are beyond imagination; although still not enough to find her it seems."
"I must admit though, things seem to be a little more... tense these days. I'm not sure what it is; maybe just everything being taken a little more seriously. It feels ominous, like someone's discovered a grave portent. But if they have, I haven't heard about it yet. Perhaps I'm just getting cranky as I get older!"
"Is there anyone else in your life these days?"
"No-one close. I've no family that I'm aware of, and, since Emily, I've had no romantic ties - I haven't felt able to. There has been a few that appeared to show interest in me, but I haven't let go of the past yet. Work-wise, I was recently transferred into a new cabal so I could investigate different occurrences. Seems like a good bunch of people; friendly, welcoming, so perhaps a chance to socialise a bit more. Apart from that, I kind of keep myself to myself - either immersed in online activities, or investigating all kinds of supernatural claims around the world."
"So, what's next for you? Any plans?"
"There are always plans. Obviously some of those I cannot divulge here, but for the most part, my immediate plans are very similar to my past ones. More travel. More investigation. More digging into secrets. More dealing with strange occurrences."
"Thank you Billy. I think that's more than enough for me to be getting on with, so I won't take up any more of your time. I'll sent you a proof of the write up for you to peruse before it is published, just in case you want to edit anything in it, or you're not happy with it. I'll leave you to your work now, and wish you luck in finding Emily."