by Robert C Ray
“I’m coming for you,” she said with a smile as she began to casually walk down the sidewalk.
She had his scent, and she knew that even if they would find a way to trick her again, they couldn’t do it forever. Frustration was not an emotion that she was about to allow the witch to force upon her.
“I hope you can forgive me, sister.”
* * *
Mirage and Ryan had walked quite a way to get back to the hotel. They did so in haste and she made certain that no one ever knew that they had done so. She made them unseen to everyone, but as they entered the hotel, she had to take a different approach.
“Hello,” she said to the young man at the door, appearing to be the old, rich woman to him.
“Hi,” was his reply, as he held out his hand, and Mirage made him believe that he had received a very nice tip.
She had everything under control, and she led them both upstairs without incident.
“I love you,” Ryan told her as they ascended in the elevator.
She knew that he did, but the moment caught her by surprise, so she turned, and cupped his face in her hands.
“I love you, too,” she said before the elevator doors opened. “But I need you to think right now.”
The mood was quite somber, for the situation created it so. Everything that he had known had never been anything like this, yet here he was. She was almost surreal, but in a beautiful sort of way, while Viper was the same in the opposite direction. She was a monster, with the appearance of an innocent young woman.
“She’ll find us, you know,” he stated as they stepped to the door of their room. “They gave her a nose better than a bloodhound’s.”
Mirage opened the door, and entered without ever looking back at him.
“I am counting on it,” she replied, as she made her way into the bathroom, and closed the door behind her.
He didn’t understand how she could seem so confident, but the fact that she did made him feel a little more at ease. She was, after all, far more capable of dealing with this than he was, even despite his own training. She had gotten him this far, and the close calls that they had experienced were saved only by her unique mind.
Lifting the remote from the coffee table, he turned on the television, and he should have known what he would find there, though it caught him by surprise nonetheless. It was the news, and it was all about the Marine training accident that had involved the three choppers. He had been a part of the cover-ups before, and cared little about what they had to say, so he quickly found a more neutral channel.
It was a cooking show, and though he knew only a little about the subject, it was something that was easy to watch, and easy to drift into, which did well for his current state of mind. A simple moment to relax is all that he needed. A moment to forget what was actually going on in his life, to allow his body to release the tensions that he had been feeling.
“What if I told you that I was not wearing any panties?” she stated in a sultry tone, as she reentered from the bathroom, and certainly this caught his attention.
“I’d say that you are messing with my mind,” he replied, “in a way that I can’t say I dislike.”
The dress was a deep shade of red, and it fit her form perfectly. Strapless, it displayed her shoulders wonderfully, and its length was about six inches above her knees. Angelic might be the term used for how she moved within it, if not for the fact that there was a bit of seductiveness to go along with it.
He tossed the remote to the side, as she approached with a grin that left him both confused and hoping. She was a goddess descending upon him, and like any mortal man, he froze, with no idea how to respond.
She sat upon him, with her legs embracing his hips.
“What if I told you that I was wearing nothing at all?”
Upon saying such words, he noticed that she wasn’t. She was very much naked upon him, and he wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her lips to his own.
* * *
The scent was clean. She knew exactly which direction that they had traveled, and she followed it contently. The witch was much smarter than to make it so easy, so there most certainly would be some sort of trap at the end, and this only excited her. The hunt was something that Viper was learning to enjoy.
The streets were alive with those who would wander about. Some were college students having a bit of fun on the weekend, while others were working the streets as they did. It was like this in any college town. Surely, it wasn’t like Tallahassee, though the students acted very much the same, and she could see them instantly. She envied them, in fact. They were alive, and without a care, because they knew that their troubles of life were yet to come.
Those working the streets were also interesting, as she could not only feel the tensions from the women, but could hear their every whisper as well. They said all sorts of bad things about her, but she was learning. They hated that she was beautiful, and she could feel it in every aspect of them, which included their breathing, their heart rate, and their perspiration that she could smell.
She knew that they found her attractive, and despite their reasons for disliking her for such a thing, she smiled at them as she passed them by.
Certainly, these would be fun things to explore, but she was focused. The scent was fresh, and she was hardly about to let the witch and her target slip away yet again, especially since she had already figured that they were returning to more familiar grounds. Even if they were not there when she arrived, they would have to have left something behind. Something that would lead her to them.
“Hey, baby,” a young man boisterously let out, as she passed by three of them, “whatcha in such a hurry for?”
She had seen them a long way back, and understood that there would be a need to confront them. Her effect over men, after all, was an involuntary one, and if her looks did not cause it, her brainwaves would certainly do so.
There were several options, of course, and the first one would have been her hypnotic voice. She could have simply soothed them into submission, and though they would have likely continued their ranting, they would have surely kept their distance.
Another option would have been to simply put spikes into each of them, but where was the fun in that, since they were harmless males, doing simply what she would expect of them?
“Bitch! I’m talking to you,” one said as she walked on by, thinking that he was being cool around his other two friends.
She turned back with a devious smile, knowing that it was coming to this long before their eyes could ever see her approaching. It was fun, and she wanted to see how they would respond.
From about fifteen feet away, she leaped straight into his chest, and cupped her hand behind his head, so that it would not smack the ground as he fell beneath her. Then she pressed her lips firmly to his, before standing, and continuing on her path.
Their response was delightful. One lay on the ground, with his heart beating rapidly, as though it might burst, while the other two had finally gotten over the initial shock, and were gasping in amazement over what had just happened, while laughing at their friend that still lay there on the ground. Delightful indeed.
The scent of her prey, however, was still fresh. The moment of joy was behind her. A reckoning was now once again upon her.
She could take the city streets no longer. They were beginning to be a burden upon her senses, so she slipped into the alley. The fact that there was no fire escape was never a problem, for she was more than capable of ascending the building. They had taught her to do so, and they did it well.
From atop, she could still smell them. The witch’s scent was stronger than most, and she hoped that they had not anticipated this event. Mirage, she had learned, was very adept at deception.
* * *
How could one actually describe the mind of Mirage? To be true, it would be a difficult task, and who could do it better than the one that she had surrendered everything to?
“Why do you lo
ve me?” Ryan asked once again, knowing that there would likely not be an answer so simple. He didn’t care, for it was simply a question his heart needed to ask.
“Because there is honesty inside of you,” she stated within his mind, as she placed a firm kiss upon his lips, in a way that would not allow him to question it again.
Her love for him was true, in a way that people can not normally understand. She could see everything inside of him, and his sense of honesty was paramount. Couple that with his hatred for the things that he had done, in the name of country, and feelings of fear in this certain situation, she found him to be the best man she had seen.
She had seen many, for that is what she did. She could go anywhere, and see into the mind of anyone, and that is what she had done. She needed to know what humans were about, and she found sorrow there.
“Why do you love me?’ she asked.
He traced his hands across her perfect body, and thought that it was such an easy question, before she asked another.
“What if I was normal?”
His answer was as equally simple.
“You’re not.”
* * *
Finally, Viper had found the end of their scent. They where somewhere inside of the hotel in front of her, and she pondered her next move. The front door would be expected, and she knew this, so she chose a different rout.
Slipping into the alley across the street, she quickly ascended the building, and found a more suitable location from which to calculate her next move. It had to be perfect, for she was not about to allow him to slip away once more.
Carefully, she examined the movements of those she could detect in the hotel. Every shifting shadow behind each closed curtain told her a tale, and her eyes where able to see it all. Somewhere in there was the one that ripped at her soul, and she would stop at nothing to bring about the justice that she so deserved. The time of reckoning was at hand.
* * *
The knock at the door interrupted their moment. Room service had arrived with their dinner, and though it was ill timed, it was somewhat welcomed. Ryan was famished after such an eventful day, and he was ready to put it behind him. The passion of Sangmu would have done well for that, yet for now, he would have to settle with burying his thoughts, and his teeth, into a perfectly medium rare New York strip. For now.
When Mirage answered the door, all the young man could see was an elderly couple, seemingly quite comfortable in their surroundings, and moments later, he left to attend to the other tasks of the evening.
She set the plates on the coffee table, and sat down in front of her own. Hers was the king crab legs with tarragon garlic butter, along side of a baked potato sprinkled with rosemary and chives, while the hand cut potato wedges sat golden brown beside his 20oz strip.
As he looked over at her plate, he was reminded of a much simpler time. It was a time when he couldn’t even remember his own name, though it mattered little, as he fell deeply in love with her, on the island that he later understood as her beautiful mind. He longed for such a peaceful time, yet knew that there would be a lifetime filled with them, once they made it past this little obstacle know as Viper.
“I’ll take you back there tonight,” she told him with a smile, as she dipped the flesh of the crab into the sauce, and bit into it. She, too, was more than eager to get back to a more peaceful environment, and her words were reassuring.
The mood, however, was quickly to change, as an expression of fear overcame her beautiful face, and she reached over to firmly grab him by the wrist. With one swift tug, he was out of his seat, and hastily pulled to the other side of her. As he pondered the reasoning behind her action, the answer came in the form of two steel spikes that came through the window, and embedded themselves within the sofa where he had been sitting, only to be followed by Viper, who came crashing through the glass.
Her head felt heavy for a brief moment, as she gazed into the eyes of her prey. There was fear there, and it delighted her. Only the witch now stood between the two, and she was not about to fall for her trickery again. This time, she would employ a little trickery of her own.
She could not have heard Mirage speak to the mind of Ryan, telling him to meet her down in the lobby, nor was she allowed to see the door opening as he left, but she didn’t have to. She could easily detect the shifting of air as he did, and it was not at all difficult to hear his heartbeat leave the room. What remained was only an illusion of her prey, but now was not the time to pursue him. That time, however, would be coming soon, for she was content with seeing a distance put between the two.
“How long do you think you can protect him, princess?” Viper asked with a devious grin, as Mirage took a defensive posture in front of her. “You know that I am relentless.”
“Not to mention, a bit over confident,” Mirage replied.
“It isn’t too late to join me,” Viper said as she took a seat in the chair nearest her. “Imagine what we could accomplish together.”
Mirage remained where she was, unmoved.
“Our objectives are far too different for that.”
“I’ll give you a moment to think about it,” Viper said as she straightened her long, blonde hair, and for a moment, they simply stared at one another.
Finally, Viper felt that a sufficient amount of time had passed, and she stood to her feet once more.
“Bet I can reach him first,” she said with a smile, before leaping backwards, head first out the window, and the expression of surprise mixed with fear upon the witch’s face was simply priceless.
Landing effortlessly on the sidewalk below, she quickly entered the hotel lobby, and reached the elevator door a split second before it opened.
“Hello, love,” she said as she stared up at him, and before he could so much as flinch, she firmly placed her foot upon his jaw, and rendered him unconscious. Now, the game could truly begin.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
A Reckoning
“Peregrine, this is ground control. Please respond.”
Static ensued, for the weather was not permitting. The storm that seemed to roll in from the Pacific was unexpected, and hindered much, yet an answer came, nonetheless.
“Copy, ground control. Please continue.”
Corporal Jenkins pecked at his keys for a moment, from his secluded base on the ground, before his reply.
“The weather patterns are erratic,” he continued, “and they are really messing with my readings. I don’t know how this is going to react, up in the needle.”
“Just stay your course, corporal,” came the reply.
Stay his course he did, for that was all that he could do, and the corporal hoped that it would be enough. His task was vital, for he was the one with many eyes. There were cameras all around the base of the Space Needle, and plenty in the observatory as well. Add those to the ones in the elevator, the stairs, and the main lobby, and he had eyes everywhere, except for in the restaurant itself. If she was coming, he would likely be the first one to spot her.
Jenkins could see Bulldog and Grapes making their way stealthily around the base of the structure. It wasn’t that they were not well concealed, but the cameras saw everything, even it the darkest of shadows. They were as unaware of what trap had been set in the restaurant, as he was. It was a need to know basis, and it was imperative that they not know, for the target had unnatural ways of extracting information.
“Everything looks quiet,” they heard the Corporal say in their ear pieces, but that hardly let them feel any less on edge. There were ghosts and monsters out there, so to speak, and they needed to proceed with extreme caution.
Meanwhile, two men patrolled the observatory, occasionally scanning the city below, with night vision goggles. Corporal Jenkins had no idea who they were, though each of them carried a high powered, sniper riffle, and he thought it unusual that neither one of them had a spotter. Not a typical thing for a military operation, and he wondered if each of them was pulling double duty.
M
ore unusual than that, however, were the three security guards. One was stationed inside of the elevator, and two were in the main lobby, and they didn’t act like military at all, but it wasn’t his place to question how the operation was to be run.
* * *
They called him Peregrine, for his reputation was as deadly as the falcon it came from. He was Colonel Mallory, and he sat quietly in the dining area of the Space needle, while sipping on bourbon, none too fond of the situation that he had found himself in. It was a moment of convenience, as he looked across the table, at a man he had once done business with, and though he owed him a favor, the circumstances were both bitter and sweet.
The man was Anthony Mastro, the one true Don of Seattle, and he was not the company that he would have normally chosen, but the situation was unavoidable. Not only had he assisted the Colonel in unloading some unsavory cargo, confiscated in Afghanistan, but the favor Anthony requested had to do with a high priority to the U.S. military, as well. A promotion might even be in order.
To the Colonel’s left stood two of his most trusted Captains. They were the finest that the Delta units had to offer, and their gear made them an intimidating presence. With black uniforms, and faces painted for war, they carried a truckload of weaponry. Surely, they knew how to use them quite well.
To his right stood two of Anthony’s men, and though they chose a less conspicuous attire, they were still intimidating. Made more to blend in, their weapons were well hidden behind their suits, but just as deadly, and the look in their eyes made it clear, that there was some military knowledge there, as well.
“You look troubled, old friend,” Anthony stated.
“Friendship is not a part of our relationship,” the Colonel replied, before sipping on his drink once more. “It feels like I’ve made a deal with the devil.”
Anthony took a sip of his scotch, before his next response.
“I don’t claim to be an angel, but I am hardly the devil.”
