Beauty, The Invisible, Episode 1

by Janean Worth

  Chapter Two

  Draven Latimer, the leader of the Quisling cell in Houston, had big plans for the city. But before his plans could be put into play, the Houston cell needed to stop all of the do‑gooders in the city from mitigating the misery that he and his men tried so hard to create each and every day.

  The biggest block to his success in chasing good from the city and replacing it with evil was, of course, those who constantly donated to the causes most in need. He needed to put a stop to the charitable donations for the soup kitchens, homeless shelters, domestic‑violence centers, and free medical‑care centers. If he could interrupt the flow of money to those types of organizations, he knew that it would be only too easy to stop their volunteers, too. And after that, they’d soon be forced to close their doors. This would create much misery in the city, making it a lot easier for his cell to put the rest of their plans in motion. A miserable city was a vulnerable city. And everyone knew that misery loved company. If his cell could instigate enough misery in the city, it would soon become a self‑perpetuating circle.

  One corporation in particular was responsible for a huge part of the charitable donations for those types of do‑gooder organizations, and he’d already implanted men within the company ranks and had them start to decrease financial revenues. Mostly, they had come up with clever ways to siphon off the profits of Green International and funnel that money into the bank accounts of various Quisling enterprises. But, they’d had a little help from their various supernatural abilities, too. With those powers working in their favor, his cell had the upper hand and easily manipulated others within the company to do their bidding.

  So far, it was working splendidly. Without their huge profits, Green International’s donations had already begun to decrease dramatically. It was working so well, in fact, that the company had hired a financial consultant. The meeting would be today, and Draven intended to be there. One of his abilities allowed him to remain unseen to the undiscerning eye—very similar to the abilities of those filthy Invisibles who tried so hard to undermine his organization’s works—so he had no reason to believe that he wouldn’t be allowed to attend the meeting. They wouldn’t even know he was there.

  He was quite looking forward to it. The consultant that they’d hired had recently come up on the Quisling’s radar, anyway. It seemed that the man, Leo Vance, had begun to display a certain ability, one that would prove very, very useful to Draven’s cell.

  Draven was feeling very eager to meet the man. If fate was on his side, by the end of the day, Mr. Vance would be a member of their organization, whether he was willing to be or not.