by Bri Clark
Then it hit me. It was all about me. He wanted me. He would use them as leverage. They’d also performed the song especially for us at the ball. It was revenge. In his mind, they had disrespected him and he would make them pay, all because of me. I dropped the knife, guilt consuming me, incapacitating me. Henry’s wide concerned eyes met mine. He sensed the thick shade of guilt encompassing me. He picked my now empty hand up and kissed it softly. He winked and forced a smile on his face, but I could sense his mirrored unease. His efforts took the edge off my angst.
Hagar set the silver dinner tray down in front of us. I met her eyes briefly. I could sense her edginess. I would have to get through dinner for her, at least. I swore to myself I would find my friends. I would fix the awful consequence that I had forced upon them, with or without Henry. I knew he would never leave me, though. I found a great deal of comfort in that truth.
We ate quickly, leaving right after Abbass and his wife excused themselves. We all but sprinted to our room, Henry locking the door behind us.
I tore my clothes off as I walked to the closet, leaving a trail of tattered cloth behind me. I jerked the garment bag that hid my black clothing off the hook, walking over to the bed and throwing it down. I pulled the zipper down revealing an elegant evening gown. I threw the gown to the side. I was on a mission. I had one thing on my mind. I activated the trigger on the secret compartment hiding my clothing. The back of the garment bag opened filling with air, exposing my vacuumed sealed uniform. I dressed quickly, enjoying the reassuring material. It reminded me of whom and what I was. The things I could do. The countless other missions already completed in the same outfit. I felt empowered, fueling my duty to find my friends who were so much more to me than they would ever know.
I made my way back to the closet, finding Henry in his dark clothing. Unsurprisingly, he knew what I was planning. I found the suitcase hiding my precious blades and stars. I sat it on the bed, opening it up, and put my fingerprint on the top rim, inside back corner. The scanner read my fingerprint quietly. Exposing the numbered keypad that kept me separated from my blades. I punched in the code. Two small doors opened revealing my blades and stars in their traveling cases, my harnesses, my wig and beret. I attached my harnesses and blades into their respective places on my limbs. I grabbed the wig and beret and headed to the bathroom. I twisted up my auburn locks into place to cover them with the platinum wig.
The gold hair clip Hagar had given me sat on the vanity. I clasped it into my tresses hiding it in the mess of hair. I positioned the wig and added the beret. Then I walked back to the bed where the last part of my uniform lay, my long black leather coat that hid my blades and my sword.
Henry was on the opposite side. He carried his own set of blades as well as some electronic equipment. “So where do you want to start?” I asked, knowing where I would start.
“Well I know what I would do, but I am sure you have made up your mind so where are we going to start?’ he asked.
“Shae and Collin’s room,” I stated matter of fact.
“Then that’s where we shall start.” He moved at his normal fast rate of speed, no inhibition, and stood in front of me. I looked up into his silvery pools.
He cupped my face in his hands. “This is not your fault, and you know that, right? I know you blame yourself. I need you to recognize it’s not your fault. If you go into this in that frame of mind, you could become careless and get hurt or worse. I can’t lose you,” he whispered pulling me to him.
I wrapped my arms under his, pulling him as close to me as possible, inhaling his unique, perfect scent. I could sense his fear, his turmoil. I knew this was dangerous. Our training and experience was extensive, however this was different from anything we knew from before.
“I'll be careful. I promise,” I proclaimed, angling my head back to find his eyes. He met me with his lips, brutal and desperate against mine. I withdrew my arms from under his only to interlock them around his neck. We kissed passionately but were interrupted by a gentle tap on the door. We pulled back, both looking at the door and back to each other. I moved from his arms and carefully out the French doors, listening. Henry went to the door, hesitated sensing the person on the other side.
“It’s fine, Love. Its Hagar, but stay put,” he insisted.
He opened the door and Hagar stumbled in; she was severely on edge, panicked and afraid. I heard Henry reassure her. She spoke to him in her lovely ancient language, handing him something Shae had given her before she supposedly left.
Henry praised her for her courage, and she denied I could picture the smile on his face. I heard him speaking softly, whispering to her, but I couldn’t make it out. She simply responded with a yes, and left quickly. Henry appeared on the balcony in the shadows beside me. It was dark but the light from the house formed dim light everywhere.
“What did she give you?” He handed me a small white envelope. It had my name written on it in Shae’s elegant writing.
“Hagar said Shae gave it to her shortly before they disappeared and made her promise to give it to you if something should ever happen to them. If they should leave suddenly,” he repeated Hagar’s words.
I opened the envelope with care, scared to find what her words would reveal.
Doll,
If you are reading this then Collin and I are not with you. We would never leave without telling you goodbye, so I can only assume Abbass has tried to convince everyone, including you, otherwise. I need you to take what I am fixing to tell you very seriously. You and Henry must leave immediately; sneak away, as fast as you can. Leave everything behind. Very importantly, do not tell Abbass. He will stop you, he is capable of so much malevolence, more than you could ever know. Do not try to find me; you will not be able to. I know you Marie, do not let that Tarzan husband of yours try to find us either. This is so much more than you could ever imagine. Collin and I are not what we seem. I will not endanger you by telling you what is going on. Marie, my sweet Doll, please take no heed for anyone but yourself. Get to safety; grant me this request. I will most likely never see your angel face again, I am sorry for leaving you. I am so blessed to have known you, no matter how brief. You are a truly rare treasure. Remember my words.
All our love
Shae and Collin
Every letter burned into my memory in her delicate script. Her rose and honey perfume drifted off the paper to curl around the memory. Henry read the note over my shoulder. I yielded to my guilt. She suspected this. She prepared for it. She took enough care to protect me. I would find her and Collin. I would see her again. She feared for her life and for mine. I looked at Henry. No words were necessary. I folded the letter back into its envelope and tucked it into a pouch on my thigh with the greatest of care.
Scaling the walls to the roof for better access, our movements were silent and deadly. We encountered no guards as we made our way to the balcony of Shae and Collins room on the other side of the vast house. This was a blessing since I had yet to kill a man. But at that moment, I didn’t care anymore. We crept down some unnatural ivy. Henry and I sensed the perimeter, and listened for any movement. Nothing. The door to their room was locked. Henry’s solution was to twist the knob until it broke, releasing the jamb…efficient and quiet.
He entered first. The space was dark except for a small lamp in the corner. Their room wasn’t as big or as nice as ours. It had a small bed, a reading chair, and a table that held the lamp lighting the room. The bed was plain and simple, still made, positioned against the wall where the closet door was just as in our room. There was a door on the adjacent wall, probably the bathroom. Henry motioned me in. Thanks to our speed, we checked all the drawers, the bed, the closet, and the bathroom in minutes. I pulled my compact/scanner and scanned the room. I got a red light when I faced the closet. Henry and I moved inside and did a scan again, for weapons, surveillance equipment, anything. The red light blinked hastily when it passed by their suitcases.
We each grabbed a case opening it revealin
g nothing just empty space. A flicker of metal reflecting light captured my attention on the inside rim of the case. I moved the case around to inspect it further, only to find a fingerprint scanner. Our eyes met, unsure. I handed the case to Henry. He pulled out a black kit. He blew a white powder on the scanner pad. He held up a compact black light illuminating a small fingerprint that must have been Shae’s. I offered my index finger for him to use. His would be too big. He pulled a thin piece of fabric tightly around my finger and positioned it carefully in line with Shae’s print on the pad. The scanner accepted the mock print and opened. We both gasped in shock.
An array of small guns and accessories awaited us. Electronic equipment. Spy equipment. Our eyes met again and returned to the case. I motioned to the other suitcase. We repeated the same process only Henry used his pinky. The scanner opened the top of Collin’s case as well revealing what we expected. It contained one gun, much larger than Shae’s, a shoulder holster and a small flask. Henry picked the gun up admiring it; he put the holster on putting the gun in place then put the flask in a pouch on his hip. I eyed him, wondering why he was carrying it.
“I am sure he will want this when we find them. I know I would. Shae may want her stuff,” he pointed out.
I stated the obvious. “They’re spies, too.”
“Yes I’m sure they are spies. But not like us, Love. That’s what they were hiding, what she was talking about in her letter. That’s why Collin felt so guilty, why they were so protective.
“It was so obvious. It explains everything,” I replied.
“But why were they here?” I wondered. “Were they here for what we came for? How did he find out they were spies?’
“I don’t know. But we know for sure Abbass has them now. Their clothes are still hanging in the closet with their suitcases on the floor. They didn’t leave on an emergency.” Henry’s malice for Abbass grew by the minute.
“Did you see Shae’s ball gown or Collin’s tux?” I asked.
“No, Love. They aren’t in there. Why do you ask?”
I processed all the information we had before us, a clearer picture developing.
“That would explain the bed still being made. Why would it be messed up if they never even made it back from the ball?” I said, speaking my thoughts aloud.
“If they never came back to the room, Abbass must have captured them after they left,” he proclaimed, booking a ticket on my train of thought. We both looked at each other and simultaneously spoke.
“The shack.”
“I’m sure that’s where he is keeping them. But how would he get them to there without the other guests noticing?”
“He couldn’t. It’s too far. The ballroom isn’t near any exits to the outside and from there are open fields before you reach the safety of the forest. I should know, I had a ruddy hard time getting there undetected.”
I paced back and forth, thinking, picking apart Abbass, using every bit of intelligence I possessed to crack this enigma. The distortion grew clearer and clearer as I ran possibility after possibility in my mind. I stopped, facing a frustrated Henry. He hated when I did this. He said I was too quiet.
“What if he didn’t even leave the house? What if he has access to his underground base from the estate?” I could see the confusion on Henry’s face.
“Remember Hagar said there were rumors that Abbass built his house on top of hidden underground tunnels, you know where pharaohs would hide their treasures and store their food when the kingdom was invaded. What if those rumors are true and Abbass uses them to come and go to his base. It would make sense. He has to be able to move quickly. He had to be present here for all the meals and activities. He wouldn’t be able to travel all the way to the shed and back undetected all this time.” Henry picked me up and spun me around crushing my lips with a heart-stopping kiss.
“You are so gloriously shocking,” he proclaimed. “But where does he access it from inside the estate?” He set me back on my feet.
“Wherever it is, he would have to be able to access it quickly from the ballroom, so it would have to be close by.”
We returned to the rooftop, the blanket of darkness cloaking the area. A rush pressed upon me. Shae and Collin were spies. They infiltrated Abbass’s intense background and security checks and he caught them. They could die. But what would they have to endure before they did? They had been in his clutches for close to twenty-four hours. Every minute, every second that passed drove me harder, faster. Abbass was beyond a normal arrogant man. He was powerful, fatal, an egotistical tyrant who prided himself on his tight fortress. He would get his revenge, sending a message to any who considered the next attempt. The ballroom was directly below us now. The only windows in there were tall stained glass, the kind that doesn’t open. There were no doors inside. I noticed Henry had moved over several paces to my left, inspecting something. I joined him.
“What are you doing?” I whispered, doing another sweep of the area around us to see if we had any unsuspecting company.
“Look, it’s the top of an elevator shaft.” He pointed to a square piece of metal protruding from the roofline.
“Abbass doesn’t have any elevators; its only two floors,” I stated.
“I know. But if you need to go underground quickly you might want an elevator.”
Henry looked around, checking to make sure we were alone, before rolling the top off. With the twisted metal pulled back we could see two cables hung from a pulley system, confirming Henry’s suspicion. He shined a light down the shaft illuminating the dark space. It was at least four stories deep, two of which being the main house. He handed me the flashlight, while he maneuvered into place to let himself down the shaft.
Luckily, it was wide enough for his burly mass. When he was halfway down, he stopped, resting his feet on two ledges. He motioned for me to join him. I dropped the flashlight to his waiting hands, and he held it for me. I chose to descend a different way. I placed each of my hands and feet on the sides of the shaft and slid down, much faster and more graceful than Henry. I landed on the ledges he was perched on and smiled up at him, happy with myself.
“Show off,” he muttered.
“Well you don’t see me rolling metal back like popping a tuna can,” I muttered back.
He gave me the flashlight again, positioning himself to finish his descent. The light shone on the wall to our left. I noticed it was wood, a deep rich and familiar brown.
“Henry, look,” I whispered.
He looked at the wood paneling.
“This must be how he accesses the elevator to get underground. This wood looks just like the wood panels of the hallway leading to the ballroom.” I said.
He nodded in agreement then slid down the wall, copying my technique. I followed him, holding the flashlight in my mouth. He caught me at the bottom.
“Like I said, show off,” he whispered setting me on my feet. I rolled my eyes. We landed on the top of the elevator. My discomfort grew at the comprehension that if the elevator was down here that meant Abbass was as well. It would be so much easier to be able to find them, take out a few guards and leave. But that wouldn’t happen. I had always felt that this assignment would never end like all our others. There would be confrontation. I had no problem with confrontation, but what it could cost left me apprehensive. I wasn’t willing to pay just any price.
Henry crouched down, hesitating, doing a sense, before he slid the panel back to access the elevator. He made as if to grab my hands and lift me inside, but I rolled my eyes and jumped, landing on the floor. I moved to the side, allowing him to enter. His landing was just as soft, only rocking us slightly. I glared at him. He shrugged.
Henry focused his attention on the panel of buttons illuminated on the wall. He popped open a locked panel underneath, pulling out wires. He cut one of them after his thorough inspection, causing the elevator to go dark, disabling the panel of buttons completely and the chime that would ring when the door opened.
He stabbed hi
s blade into the crease pulling the doors apart with his unnatural power. He did another sweep before poking his head out. A long narrow hallway of ancient looking mud and straw bricks made up the walls and floor. Metal lights hung every few feet from the ceiling lighting the pathway. There was only one choice from here. Henry led the way with his right hand keeping me positioned on his six. Normally I would have complained, but I could feel the trepidation of his need to protect me. So I held my tongue.
The hallway led to a selection of three corridors, two made out of the same ancient bricks the other was made of modern materials, cement blocks, and metal sheeting. I waited for Henry to make a choice. I closed my eyes in concentration and joined him in a scan. I picked up intense fear, sadness, and fatigue. My eyes flew open, finding his. He motioned to one of the ancient corridors. I confirmed my agreement. He led the way.
Our steps were light and controlled as we crept along the corridor, the strength of the emotions becoming more intense. Hopeless despair and sadness were prominent, almost completely canceling out the fear and fatigue. I tried to block it out, focusing my energy on scanning ahead of us. I sensed two more people, one was frustrated, the other conceited; they both seemed to be tired. I felt Henry’s stone hand press hard against my stomach, halting me. The despair attacked, breaking my concentration, almost consuming me. I could feel Glazier moving restless, demanding release. I welcomed her. She covered the expanse of my insides, her icy mist filling my bones, flowing through my warm blood making it cold as ice. She blocked out the despair, enabling me to gain control of the effect it was having on my body. With Glazier awakened, the strength of my special abilities were at their strongest, enabling me to gain better control over them. However that left me with the disadvantage of fighting to stay in control of her.
