“Jonis, you will find that you are headed towards an early grave.”
The white haired Demos gave the word for them to move on and explore some more.
“You will not regret this.” Jonis said with a smile as he headed out.
Their small group watched as the Demos moved out exploring the space in front of them, going in the wrong direction. At least moving away from the sub city of The Hill.
“What now?” One of the totally silent protectors said.
Tara nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard that deep bass voice. She had begun to think of them as mute, but obviously at least one of them could speak.
Ariel Laughed. “They both speak quite elegantly. They simply prefer to wait until we are alone before they voice their concerns. The fact that they have chosen to speak in front of you means they approve of you. That is a high honor coming from them.”
Tara smiled at both the protectors noting how handsome they were. Then she waited for Ariel to answer the question.
“We have to go after them. They are in no danger of finding us, but they will find others who may not be prepared for them.” With a sigh she took off after them.
They followed them staying far enough behind not to be noticed, but see them. It soon became obvious that they were going to have to engage in battle. They were not giving up and soon they would find a sub city.
“Stop.”
This had come from the silver haired leader. His command to stop had not only halted his army of five Demos and two other aliens. It had also halted their party. They stood still blending in with the shadows and barely breathing.
“Someone is following us.” They all moved out and looked around finding no one.
“I don’t see anyone.” Jonis came up talking in a hushed tone of voice. He sounded like a character in an old movie humoring the Demos in front of him. He stood with one hand on his hip, daring the leader of the Demos army to prove him wrong.
“It surprises me many times over that you’re still alive.” The leader stated in a calm voice.
“That’s because I do not stop and look for things that are not really there.” Jonis’s voice had risen louder with each word.
Ariel nodded. It was now or never. They attacked with weapons that Ariel had been able to provide. Tara was sure she had opened a doorway and simply grabbed them.
The Demos immediately met the threat head on. The clanging of weapons could be heard as the fight raged on. Jonis and his brother had not drawn weapons. They had turned tail and started to run. The more Tara watched them trying to slither their way out, the more she became convinced that the real threat was in those two. Breaking off she followed them.
She didn’t know why, but after all these years her senses were sharp and she knew enough to follow her hunches. Silently she stalked them through the tunnel they were now running down. Definitely a subway station she thought. They stopped waiting for her to come into sight.
“Stop or we kill you. Better yet, give up. You are alone and we are deadly enemies to have.” Janis said with a cocky grin.
“I saw how deadly you were when you turned tail and ran.” Tara taunted with a small laugh.
“A deadly enemy is one that lives to fight again.” Jonis replied with that same grin that said I am in charge now.
“Then your time of deadliness has come to an end.”
“Listen brother, an Earthling threatens us.” The other brother spoke. “Do you know who we are? We are the brother’s Dacian. Apart we are dangerous. Together we are unstoppable.”
“Do you know who I am?” She came out of the shadows and heard them gasp as they finally saw her. “I am Taraja. The very name means hope. I am more than just hope. I am the hope of multiple timelines. I am the thing that makes the Demos shake. Within me lays not only the future of my world, but the future of the galaxy. Boys, you do not scare me.” She would examine all that had just poured out her mouth later. But right now she had a battle to fight.
The short one ran to her with a battle cry, blocking her sword thrust and knocking her down with a jab to the stomach.
“You are the mighty hope of multiple timelines? They should shake in fear.” Jonis mocked her as he got in a blow, once again toppling her after she had just risen.
“Brother, do we bring her in dead or alive?” This had come from the smaller one.
Taking one last look at the sword she dropped it. It wasn’t helping her at all. She sure could use that Saturday surprise right about now.
“Ready to give up?” Jonis looked pointedly at her dropped sword and then back at her.
“Sure boys. Why don’t you come and collect little ole me?” She gave them her most innocent smiled and sent out a mental ‘help me’ plea, followed by a prayer because you never knew who was listening.
They approached her cautiously. As they got closer, she could almost feel the confidence radiating off of them. They had her now and they knew it. Jonis raised his sword in case she tried to give them trouble. His brother reached for her.
She raised her hand knocking the brother’s hands away at the same time sending a searing heat down the sword Jonis held. He cried out in a high pitched voice and dropped the melting sword.
“That’s better. Now what were you saying Jonis?”
They stood watching her, wondering what to do. Finally Jonis reached in a pocket for his communication device. It promptly melted.
“Now that’s not fair. Two against one seems rather one sided to me, so we wouldn’t want to add company.”
She watched as their eyes met. They were communicating and planning.
“Boys, I really don’t want anyone to get hurt.”
“I do.” This came from Jonis. “I was going to take you in alive, but not now. Now I want you dead. Why don’t you be a good little human and die.”
They rushed her with a deadly look in their eyes. The way they moved showed they were in sync with each other. They had obviously spent their lives together. She didn’t give herself a chance to think. She simply acted. Her body knew the moves. She had been doing them for years, defending herself against Raimel. The fights with him had been child’s play compared to what she was up against now. She ducked down, swung a leg out for a kick and set herself up for another move.
For the first time ever in her life she felt deadly. That feeling of being deadly might not have bothered her, if it had ended there. She found that she could see the moves they telegraphed just before they swung or kicked and she was able to counter them. She had let several openings pass even though she could have ended the fight. She finally admitted the truth. While she was fighting for her life she was also playing with the brothers. Allowing them to think they would win. Maybe she wasn’t the nice little girl she pretended to be.
Tiring, she brought the fight to an end. She jumped up on Jonis and with someone else’s strength, she broke his neck. Then she turned to face his brother who was looking at Jonis in disbelief.
“You killed him.” The incredible look on his face was like he was waiting for it to be a joke.
“I’m sorry. We can stop this right now.”
“Sorry? You’re sorry? You killed my little brother and all you can say is sorry?” A look of absolute rage came over his face and he attacked.
He was good, Tara admitted in fact he was much better than her. He moved with cold precision, but his rage was boiling over. He was having a hard time containing it. It was the only thing that might allow her to win the fight. She waited until his rage broke through. Then she planted her foot against his windpipe just like Raimel had done with her one day, almost killing her.
Tara stopped and looked at the two dead brothers. How could she be hope? Did hope kill? She dropped to her knees and silently let her tears of regret flow. She no longer felt deadly or even in charge. The guilt of taking a life, even a life that would have taken hers, weighed her down. The knowledge that this battle had only just begun sunk into her, making her shoulders shake har
der and her tears flow faster.
That was how Paul found her, on her knees weeping silently. He pulled her up and just held her.
She wanted him to love her. The thought was so fleeting and so far away she just let it go. Forget him loving her. Could he just be her friend? Could he understand why she had to kill them? Was he capable of seeing her as a woman and not a killer? A taker of a life, two lives actually. She buried her face deeper in his, just in case this was the last time he held her.
“Hey, I see these two clumsy oafs fell and broke their necks.” She came up ready to argue before she saw the smile on his face.
“I told them to be careful, but they must not have heard me.”
“Well you can tell me all about it after we get home. Deal?”
“Deal.”
Paul took her hand and started the walk back. The residents of this planet would have to clean up the bodies. They walked in silence. It was nice. The walking hand in hand just like friends.
“Where are the other two?”
“Back there. You will need a cleanup crew.” He pointed behind them. “What happened with the Demos here?”
“Seems some of them wanted to live and others had a death wish.” Ariel’s glasses were nowhere in sight and her green eyes were practically glowing.
“You let some get away?” Tara spoke not liking the sound of that.
“Maybe.”
Both of Ariel’s protectors glared at her. Tara had never seen anything like this. Maybe they were more than protectors. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she looked back at Ariel waiting for an answer.
“We absorbed them.”
“Excuse me?”
“Not all Demos are bad and on occasion we absorb a few into our society. Sometimes they go back and work for us like a mole or a spy. Sometimes we send them off to live elsewhere.”
Tara nodded as if she agreed with that decision. All Demos were bad, but they would learn that on their own. “We need to leave. That came out harsh, but we need to get back to our own timeline.”
“I know. We are not far away from the portal.” Ariel turned facing the direction of the portal.
“I can feel it. Shall we go?” Once again they followed Ariel as she moved off in the direction of the portal.
There was something about her eyes was all she kept thinking. Tara knew she had better figure it out now, because they were running out of time. She remembered her. In her world she was different looking, but the eyes were a dead ringer. They had captivated her the first time she had seem them. They spoke to her. Made her want to take action. She had wanted to do something with those eyes, but the overwhelming sense of not yet had stopped her younger impulsive self. Now was the time. She was sure.
She could feel the gateway pulling on her. It was almost as if it was a living, breathing thing. The need to get home weighed heavily on her, yet those eyes continued to pull at her.
“Stop.” This time the order had come from Tara and it too was obeyed immediately.
“Ariel, we don’t need that portal do we? You can send us home.”
“Yes.”
“But you haven’t.”
“I was waiting.”
“Waiting for a gift that could be a gift or a curse. Are you sure you want it?” Tara knew what she needed to do now. She just wasn’t sure it was fair to do it to one so young.
“I am sure my world is dead without it. They died for me you know. My cousins. They could have lived. All they needed to do is let one overly curious child die. Me. I was some place I shouldn’t have been. They saved me, telling me that they would gladly die so I could live. I want it. I want to atone for what I did.”
“Atonement is not all it’s cracked up to be and children make mistakes. You cannot let your mistakes, your past, keep you away from your future.”
“Your right, but what future will I have if my planet is destroyed?”
“None. Come here.”
Tara stared deep into Ariel’s eyes searching for something. It was the same thing she had seen in another pair of bright green eyes.
“You are strength and determination all rolled up into one small package. Your cousins knew this. My doppelganger knew this. They swore to protect you even with their lives, but you are more. At your core there lives a thread of hope. When I touch it, it will spread like the plague you claim me to be, until it owns your body. Then it will infect your planet once again. I will not do it without your consent.”
Ariel lowered her head and nodded.
“Look me in the eyes. I want verbal consent.”
Raising her head Ariel squared her shoulders and accepted the challenge of being more than who she was. “I give you Tara the keeper of hope, my consent and my acceptance to do what must be done.”
Tara raised her eyes and stabbed both Ariel’s protectors with her gaze. “She will need you more now than she ever has in the past. Do you both agree to help her?”
“We do.” They said in unison.
She looked back at Ariel. “So be it.” She reached deep into her and touched that sliver of hope and breathed life into it. “Now you will be hope for your planet. You will stand strong, even when those around you fall. Your life will not fade from this planet for many life times to come.” Reaching out she grabbed her protectors, “neither will your protectors as long as they stay true to you.”
She watched as Ariel fell face forward on the ground in pain. Wishing she could help she stepped back and walked to Paul’s side.
“Send us home Ariel.”
Chapter Sixteen
Home. She was home. If you could call an old warehouse on its last legs home, but honestly this was more of a home than anything she could remember. So yeah, she was glad to be here. Paul was standing by her side with a big smile on his face, looking like he was glad to be here also.
“We made it.” She walked over to the couch and just dropped. She was getting the couch dirty and hoped it had some sort of stain repellant on it. If not, Charon would have to give her a new one. Heck, he owed her that much. Right?
“Should we announce that we are back? Shouldn’t there be a welcome home party for us?”
“Well I don’t know about you, but my mom never gave me birthday parties as a kid, so I wouldn’t hold my breath.”
“Sounds to me like you need a party. We will work on it, you know, before the next life threatening crises arises.”
That seemed to strike them both as funny, so they sat on the couch laughing.
“Forget this. I am going to take a shower. Charon with his freaky power should know we are back. I need to get clean.” Tara got up and headed for the stairs.
“Right behind you.”
She stopped halfway up the stairs. She had gotten a look at her hands and simply stopped. The fight she just fought went through her mind in slow motion detailing each deadly move. Looking, she saw her hands shaking. She had killed. It was kill or be killed. Was it really? Maybe she could have found a different way. They weren’t even Demos, her official enemy. How could Hope kill? Wasn’t that against the law? She had to be turned in, judged or…
“Tara!” Paul’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts. “Don’t think, just shower. We will talk later.”
Nodding her head, she continued to the shower. Must get clean was all she was thinking.
She showered, changed and was ready to face the world. Paul had showered and changed also. He looked good in a pair of worn jeans and a blue t-shirt. He was making her glad she was a woman. Maybe he was just making her glad they were friends. That sounded better. Everyone should have a cute male friend, one that they occasionally slept with, platonically of course. Ah what the heck. If he had a girlfriend she would be missing a couple of eyes by now.
“I hear voices downstairs. Are you ready?”
She nodded and followed him out of the room. Charon and Dora sat on the couches with untouched plates of food on both ends of the coffee table in front of the single chairs. That food had better
be for them.
“Take a seat. I made you something to eat. I thought you might be hungry.” Dora spoke gently, as if they were children who would break at any moment.
They attacked the food, eating in silence. Paul broke the silence when he was finished, knowing Tara was not ready to talk yet. “So what were you two doing while we were fighting for our lives?”
“Just watching television.” Charon said, with a no big deal raise of his shoulders.
“Really?” Tara interjected. “Anything good on?”
I will not kill Charon. I. Will. Not. Kill. Charon! She kept repeating to herself. She was a killer now. What was one more body?
“Tara you will not kill me.” The look on Tara’s face made Charon raise his hands. “It was a lucky guess. Breathe.”
“Charon stop it. Stop messing with them.” Dora stood up and glared at him.
Did her mother’s eyes just change color? Tara rubbed her eyes, but the flash had happened so quickly she must have imagined it. Human, she thought. We are human. All of us except Charon. Special humans, but still human.
“Yes Charon,” Paul’s voice was not as friendly this time. “Give us the truth. We deserve that.”
“While you were fighting for your life and saving timelines.” He nodded at Tara and gave her a small smile. “Things have been status quo here. The planet you picked out was perfect Tara. The fight did not last that long.”
“Tayrel said he changed the venue for the fight.”
“Tayrel, is not very trustworthy. He spins his versions of the truth to always favor himself. But he did manage to divert you both to his timeline. It was not very pretty, was it?”
“No it wasn’t. Then we ended up in the timeline we thought you were fighting in.”
“Tara, that was excellent thinking on your part. I am sure he never thought you would end up there. You instinctively went to the next place you needed to go. How is Ariel?”
“She is a young girl carrying way too much on her shoulders and I added to her load.”
“Her road won’t be easy, but I have faith in her.”
Tara wanted to fidget, she was becoming uncomfortable. Charon had fallen silent simply staring at her. Her mother was doing the same. She glanced around and looked at Paul. He was looking back and forth between Charon and Dora also. She felt her stomach drop and her food try to look for an exit. Something was up.
Hope (Other World Protection Agency Book 1) Page 12
