Drifter On The Horizon

by Travis Pasch

CHAPTER TWELVE

  His First Mission

  Jade has been waiting in her barely lit room, gazing out of her window, looking for that car for hours. She hustles down the stairs, she needs to reach him before he gets out of his car. She hasn't been this excited in a long time for a "mission", and tonight's may prove to be quite the doozy, five men, all rich, who take whatever they want from anyone. She reaches Zale just before he gets out of the car, his face betrays only large sums of excitement. He should be ecstatic to not only be spared by her but also chosen by her; he has no idea what's in store for him.

  "Hey," he says while getting out of his large wagon.

  "Hey, let's go," she says and pulls him to her car.

  "Whoa, you're ready to go, what are we doing tonight?" he asks. She just smiles at him and starts the car, before he's even situated in the passenger seat. She's going to tell him, just not yet. If she's driving he can't go anywhere when she reveals to him what she does nearly every night, unless he wants to risk his life jumping out of a moving car to get away from her, and if he protests too much she has her weapon ready. As she pulls her car aggressively out of the parking lot she does a quick check to see if they are being followed, she thinks they aren't. She takes the leap and throws him the folder with the men's crimes in it.

  "Read it, and tell me what you think," she commands. He opens it and carefully reads over the first man's file, his face snarls in disgust. He looks up with a bewildered look.

  "Go on," she says. He obeys and looks back down at the next man's file and once again his face curls in disgust bordering on hatred, which is good. "So?"

  "They seem really sick, why are you showing me this?" Zale asks.

  "Wouldn't you feel better if you knew you could help all the people these men have harmed?" she asks, her manic smile throws him off a bit.

  "Uh... yeah, who wouldn't?" he responds looking back over the files.

  "Well... that's what we're going to do."

  "What do you mean?"

  "You'll see, just follow my lead tonight and do what I say. Got that?" she asks, suddenly stern.

  "Yeah... I, why?

  "If you don't, you might die."

  "What?"

  "You will listen to me, got it?" she asks, exerting her full force over him.

  "I got it," he says, sinking into his seat.

  "Hopefully you can pull your weight tonight," she says, his seat envelopes him even more.

  __________

  Zale can't remember being this nervous in a ages, perhaps ever. He keeps trying to push the budding thought that they are going to kill these men out of his head. But the more he thinks on it the less crazy the idea becomes, he huddles low in his seat. Jade is so happy and excited it almost seems impossible for them to be going to kill five men. More and more this starts to feel like one of his dreams, and what if it is, how could he tell the difference? He looks back over the files, if nothing more than to occupy him as they drive ever more furiously to their destination. Her mind somehow buffers his thoughts, dulling his worry and forcing him into her bidding. He feels utterly powerless against her. Her sudden change from a seemingly normal person to serial killer should be forcing him into evasive action but he is glued to the chair, he can't move a finger in defiance.

  "Are we going to kill these men?" he asks sheepishly, after working up the courage to ask the budding question.

  "What if we are?" she responds, never taking her eyes from the road she is currently tearing up with her aggressive driving.

  "I have violent dreams, but... but I, I don't know if I could in real life, so you should probably just take me back," he whispers, refusing to look at her.

  "There's only two options now, you or them, either you can help me and do the world some good or you can back out and I'll be forced to kill you," she snaps, her eyes still glued to the road.

  "I guess them," he says and huddles further into his chair. As a defense mechanism he starts to play this out in his head as one of his dreams, imagining himself as the hero. Killing these men would do society good and he's just like the cowboy of his story, killing all the outlaws. Unfortunately, he doesn't think he can bring himself to say no to her in any way, shape, or form. He can do this, he has been dreaming of the situations, why can't he go through with it in real life? She reaches over and touches his leg, he jumps at first, but he's bolstered by her touch even though her hand feels like a drift of wind against his leg. He can't quite put his finger on the sensation, a touch of grass would be more substantial. Grace pervades her every move.

  "It'll be alright, something in you is different than most people, don't you want to do good for everyone else?" she asks like a mother urging her child. The road falls beneath them without intrusion or obstacle.

  "Yes, of course I do," he says, the strength in his own voice surprises him, and also Jade. With her hand still on his leg he feels so a part of her that he feels her every move, he must go along with her, everything she says, he feels he can't help but comply. Oddly enough, he realizes his attraction to her is anything but sexual. It's a different kind of bond, one he's never felt before, and it's filling the emptiness he normally feels all around him.

  "Almost there, you ready," she says and squeezes his leg, again her touch makes him obey completely, his mind turns to mush at her calling.

  "Let's do it," he says with mysterious conviction, the car comes to a soft stop in front of an immaculate Victorian style house.

  "We're here, just follow my lead," she says and swings open her car door. The second her hand comes off his leg he immediately loses a large degree of his conviction. A giant of a man stands stoically at the enormous front door, he wonders how they are even going to get in, let alone finish the job. Zale stands slowly from his seat, he hasn't even gotten out of the car and she's already halfway up the expansive lawn. She turns to say something to him before she realizes he hasn't moved an inch. She walks back to him hurriedly, and yanks his arm as an impatient mother would.

  "What did you not understand about following my lead?" she questions him.

  "What are we going to do? I mean how are we going to do this? You haven't told me anything," he stumbles.

  "Just come with me and you'll see," she says. He starts to follow her reluctantly. He feels reassured being close to her, he can't comprehend the effect she has on him, first her intrusion into his dreams and now reality, but what is reality but a state of mind, is this more real than his imagined world? Every step brings him closer to doom. His legs quiver uncontrollably, his entire body is instantly covered in sweat. He wishes for the comfort of his car, to lie his head in peace, but he knows there's only one way out of this, and that's to forge onward to certain death.

  "I think you have the wrong house," the immense doorman says, his bald head contrasts starkly with his black suit, bulging muscles break nearly every seam. Zale and Jade stand only inches from the beautiful door of the house and the giant guarding it.

  "Yeah, we probably do," she says but doesn't move a muscle. Zale feels every muscle in his body tell him to run, but being this close to Jade makes it impossible to flee. She starts glowing brighter than ever before, he averts his wanting gaze, he can't bear to look at her.

  "Why are you still here then Sir?" the doorman says, unclasping his hands and flexing his fingers. Why did he direct the comment to him? He must think that he's the ring leader, but how wrong he is. After ages of posturing Jade finally turns to leave, the man relaxes slightly. Just as Zale believes they are going to leave without any action she spins suddenly and stabs the large man in the throat with a knife she pulls from her belt. The man gurgles blood, a sobbing warning tries to escape his useless throat with his last breath. It's a useless and wasted way to spend his last moments on this planet, the blood rushes so fast from the gaping hole in his neck that any type of noise other than his high pitched whine would be impossible.

  "Not that hard is it?" she says, stuffing the knife back into her belt with a smile on h
er face, he hadn't even been able to see the knife before the killing blow.

  "Are you sure these men deserve this?" he asks as she walks over the man's dying body and opens the door.

  "Are you okay with raping and trafficking women?" she says with a glare, making him follow.

  "No," he whispers, and jumps as he walks over the dead man. He imagines the man's soul coming up to grab his ankle on his way to hell. The lights from inside mix with the woman's glow, attacking his eyes; he wishes he had his sunglasses. The large chandelier hanging in the giant atrium is but one of the many distinguishing features of the room, every nook and cranny is designed and festooned with Victorian beauty and large portraits hang everywhere, a giant spiral staircase looms directly ahead of them. He just stands there taking in the room, awed by the grandeur of it all; she doesn't notice any of it.

  "Come on," she urges. A scream comes from above in the massive abyss of the upper levels, she dashes to the stairs, he follows, if she gets too far from him he knows his nerve will fail. She takes the stairs two at a time then three at a time; she is practically jumping up them. The sound of a woman crying is becoming ever more evident the further they go up the staircase. The next floor is more of the same Victorian style, but unlike the haughty entrance there is a truly dark feel about this area. A long hallway with a multitude of doors on either side greets them. The loudest shrieks sound like they are coming from the closest room to their right.

  "We must be quiet, they won't be in the same room, but we must take care of all of them tonight. Ready?" she asks as she pulls out a gun.

  "I hope so," he says, still drawn on by some unnatural power she has over him. He can't analyze the connection yet, his brain is barely keeping his feet moving. She attempts to open the doorknob but it's locked. She pulls a credit card out of her pocket, wedges it between the hinges, and slowly uses it to pop the door open. Fear is the first thing either of them can sense coming from inside the room. A young naked woman is tied to a bed with a large, fat old man towering over her laughing with an expensive drink in his hand; he's almost fully clothed. The scene is so horrid Zale can't remotely take in the rest of the room, his eyes are fixed on the sick pair; Jade puts the gun away and grabs her bloody knife.

  The woman spots them and Jade gives her a sign to be quiet with her pointer finger. The girl doesn't make a sound but keeps her eyes locked on them. Jade makes an incredible leap all the way across the room to the man and slams the already dripping knife into the man's ear, he drops before she can even pull the knife from the man's face. The girl begins to scream but Jade covers her mouth and cuts the ropes holding her. The comfortable king-size bed's white sheets are covered in a mixture of alcohol, blood, and other bodily fluids.

  "Get out of here as fast as you can and be quiet about it," Jade says. She hands the girl some clothes that are lying in a pile in the corner, the girl hastily puts the clothes on and starts running out of the room.

  "Let's keep moving," Jade says. Zale nods and looks around the room. It's beautiful, with a large dresser and so many paintings hanging crookedly from the walls, each are probably worth more than a year's salary to him. All the beauty in the room betrays its true use. For once tonight he feels the urge to help.

  "What are we going to do with the bodies? What if someone finds them?" he asks as he follows her out into the hallway.

  "Well, either they're all in separate rooms doing this and will be way too occupied to realize what's going until it's too late, or, even better, they'll all be in one room drinking, and smoking making it much easier for us, and again, they'll be too busy to find the bodies," she rattles off quickly.

  "No, I mean what if someone else finds the bodies?" he asks. She turns and gives him a sly smile then stops at the next door and puts her ear to it, she shakes her head and starts down the hallway before turning to another door. She pushes this door open much more slowly than the last. They enter the room cautiously, the darkness of the room hides its supposed allure, leaving the only visible distinction a prostrate figure in the middle of the floor. That figure is an unlucky woman lying in a giant pool of her own blood. Zale thinks he recognizes the girl, bile hits the back of his throat at the sight, he chokes it down before it mixes with her blood. She looks similar to Azelia's friend from the coffee shop at this distance and level of darkness. Before he can inspect the body further Jade pulls him away.

  "There's nothing we can do for her now but get revenge," Jade chimes in his ear as she rips him from the scene. He reluctantly follows her lead and walks out the room back into the great hall, his stomach can't settle and bubbles dangerously, he does his best to ignore the discomfort. Noise emits from the far end of the hall, all other chambers sound devoid of life.

  Stinging pain detonates in the back of his head, he falls to his knees, gripping his head and wheels around to the source of his injury. A large man in a black suit virtually identical to the door guard stands over him swinging his large fist again in Zale's direction. This time Zale ducks and rolls towards Jade. She hands him the knife with an outstretched hand. He takes it, a wildfire burns in his eyes, now he really feels like someone from his books. The man rushes towards him again and draws a night stick from his belt for this second assault. A large cry of rage erupts from the man's throat. Zale jumps quickly from his knees and lunges forward with the knife. He stabs the man square in the stomach and rips his insides skyward.

  The man staggers backwards and holds the knife in his stomach, dropping his night stick. Zale is dumbfounded, he stares into the dying man's eyes, he tries to hold the man's last second alive in his mind, but the picture fades instantly. The previous fire from Zale's eyes has burnt out, leaving only regret. The man topples forward, landing on the knife and audibly drives it further into himself. Jade rolls him over and grabs the knife coated with yet another man's blood; Zale wonders just how many people she's killed.

  "We have to move fast now, and leave no evidence," she says. She pulls Zale off his knees and forces him further down the hallway, away from his fresh kill, he can't process what he has done. Tears burn his reddened face, he half falls half faints to the ground. He can't hold back the vomit this time, it comes pouring forth, onto the million dollar carpet.

  "Get it together," she urges, a slap from her pushes some semblance of usefulness back into him and he rises on shaky legs. A clatter comes from the last large ornate double door in the hallway followed by a cry; it is quite clearly the yell of a man, but possesses all the same fear the young girl was crying with earlier. She pulls the gun from the back of her belt, drags him to the door and kicks it open. She throws Zale's useless form to the ground in front of her. Four elderly rich men sitting in oversized chairs drinking and smoking cigars move their eyes to them in an instant. She starts shooting before most of the men have even seen her, the last man on the left tries to pull his gun from its holster, he isn't nearly fast enough, and a bullet pushes itself through his brain in an instant.

  All the men lay slumped in their chairs, drinks and cigars scatter the ground. A butler huddles in the corner; he is even older than the men in the chairs. Even in his near hysterical state Zale finds it funny that an older man is waiting on younger men, all this seems too much like a movie to be real. He pushes the idea that this is a movie to to forefront, that idea is helping him not totally break down, again. Jade walks over to the cowering butler.

  "I'm sorry but you did nothing to stop it, you are just as guilty," she says and puts the gun to his head.

  "Please I have kids and I won't..." he starts to say but is cut off by the projectile now leaving his head.

  "We need to get out of here!" she yells to Zale. Instead of waiting for him to get up she walks to him and pulls him along with her, after a few steps he begins to walk on his own and follows her obediently. They leave the building without incident. Once they get to her car Zale starts to open his door.

  "We're not done yet, we need to destroy the evidence," she says while pulling a gas
can out of her trunk. Zale doesn't say anything but follows her again like a dog heeling to its owner. She pours the entire can of gasoline in the large beautiful atrium. Zale wishes they didn't have to burn the most magnificent house he has ever seen, but not going to jail holds precedent. After she drenches much of the floor and walls with gasoline she lights a match off of her black shoes.

  "Now, it's time to leave," she says with a smile, the gasoline ignites into a torrent in seconds.

  "This is what you get," she says almost giggling with glee yelling at the now burning building. Zale shakes his head and runs out the front door. Jade follows with him, they both get in the car and she starts to speed away.

  "Are you going to try and turn me in?" she asks giving him a deadly glare. He sighs.

  "Even if I wanted to... I was a part of it and I don't wanna spend my life in jail. Plus, I don't know it's like... like you have some strange power over me," he stumbles again like he does so much in her presence.

  "Good," she says, they don't say anything for the rest of the ride. She drops him at his car and smiles to him for the first time tonight in a not so deadly way. "Thanks for helping, and you can stay here tonight."

  "With you?" he asks, hoping she could repair what she just broke in him.

  "Not yet," she says and adds. "I'll see you tomorrow."

  "All right," he says as he leaves her car and thinks back on the night, still trying to decipher the reality of the situation. After no real contemplation he lands somewhere in between truth and fiction, and accepts that perception as his reality. His mind can't force itself into believing the foray was completely real, but it was. He lies down in his car and tries to close his eyes, but his mind is racing much too fast to keep them closed for any length of time.

  __________

  Clint smiles to himself in satisfaction, he left right when Zale got there, but this should be more than enough. The electric glow from the digital camera's playback screen bounces over his venomous smile. He knew there was something weird about him, and now he has proof. It's hard to make out his face, but it should be enough. He might wait a couple of weeks though to let things cool slightly between him and Azelia before giving her this amazing news. It also couldn't hurt to give his work some notice of his leave.

  Clint has more than enough proof for Azelia after tonight, and even if she doesn't accept his truths he's resigned himself to leaving, one way or the other. He rumbles into his apartment, tired yet satisfied. His heart still yearns to see her again, but one last meeting is all they'll get. He turns on the TV out of habit. Clint knows there is no way he is going to be able to sleep tonight, not with two triumphs in one week. He flips through the channels and when he gets to the news he sees a giant flaming house, a very nice familiar looking Victorian house. He sits up with a start and realizes that's the house where Zale went. He sits back in hopefulness that all his problems will be resolved without any other effort on his part. The news quickly switches to a story about some new type of prison opening. He tunes out the unimportant news amid all the excitement. He decides to give the police a few weeks to bust Zale before he goes to Azelia, it would be so much more embarrassing that way. For the first time in months he sleeps peacefully and deeply.

  __________

  Jade knows she must show Zale some tenderness after tonight, if she doesn't she may lose him forever. Maybe tomorrow she'll take him to the desert again, and begin re-manipulating him into obedience.