Katarina owned a very popular deli. It got business from people of every walk of life. There was no disputing how well she should have been doing. But there was a problem. Somebody was stealing money from her, and the nameless lenders who had killed her father for not paying them off, were starting to get impatient.
Mr. Xanalestro, or rather "Mr. X" as he was more commonly known, was the founder of the SBC's, a sort of privatized police group. Through his connections, he heard about Katarina's little problem. He had reasons to help out with the financial problem, and tried to set up a meeting. The problem with that was, the phone line to the deli had been cut. So, he arrived in person after hours when Katarina was going over the books, and had begun suffering from one of her frequent migraines as a result.
Mr. X's overly kind offer was quickly seen through when Marcus, Katarinas younger brother, arrived at the deli. He was also a successful businessman, and had just returned from an overseas trip to open a martial arts academy as one of the subsidiaries of the sports equipment company he worked for. The lenders his sister owed money to had left their own unique signature on his property, so he paid them her next payment. After having lost his mother to cancer, and his father to these same people, he wasn't about to lose his big sister, too.
Marcus managed to get Xanalestro to leave, after one of his soldiers discoverd the cut phone line and it was repaired. Now it was time to talk family business, and how the involvement of this "Mr. X" would affect things.
Tifferzzz
Katarina watched as the door shut behind Mr X. as he left, assisted by hre brother who had seemed to show up at the right time...as always. The slight throbbing had increased to such a constant sound of explosion within her mind that it caused her vision to blur. Jumbled thoughts ran like torrents without any solution evident.
She turned from the door, and moreoverly from Marcus who had always looked over her as if she needed it. She did didn't she? Her father had raised her to be strong. He'd taught her how to fend for herself. But in times such as these, and especially with Marcus present, all that she felt was small and insignificant.
Previous to Mr. X's sudden appearance, she'd spent the past four hours goig through the numbers only to find the same answer time and time again: the money was gone. It wasn't her fault, nor her deli's. In fact she knew someone was hording money from her but she hadn't a clue as to whom it was nor the reasoning for it. Wads of the discarded mathematics lay scattered on the floor and she kneeled to pick them up. Granted, slowly, but it needed to be cleaned after all. Her voice emerged in a weak state, strained with the toil that this sudden situation was bringing forward.
"Why are you here Marcus?"
She didn't know whether to pelt him with the paper or to laugh and jump for joy at his presence. She'd been devestated when he left. Truly she had felt as if a piece of her had been torn within and lacked any ability to stop the anguish of his departure. But he had been gone and she had survived. But now he'd returned to bring all kinds of memories flooding back.
Cradling the paper to her stomach she stood and walked over to the trash can. She managed to eventually drop every piece of the wadded paper into the bin before placing a hand on the counter for stability. She then looked to him in the silence of the room and the confusion of her mind for an answer to his return.
Ullery
"So what do you think sir?" Mitch Larson, the second in command asked.
Xan gazed out the corporate window. "What I think Mitch, is that someone, is scamming this delightful deli owner."
"Shall we investigate sir?"
"Just wait on that one Mitch, I need to get the owner's permission to do an investigation into the strange going's on around there. Plus Mitch, someone down that way's also been taking out a couple of my informants. I'm not a pleasant man to be around when I'm angry Mitch.
Get the reports on the latest Erialis network's."
Rhysis
He watched as she started to pick up the paper. Instead of answering her question immediately, he went into the back and fished around for a minute. Then he came back out with a glass of water and three pain pills. He smiled as he handed them to her, and finally responded to her inquiry with a bit of a joking tone. "To watch my big sister's back."
He chuckled a little bit, remembering their childhood, when she would scare off the bullies who tried to pick on him. He then silenced his mild laughter, and took a breath. "They came to my house while I was gone. They made sure I knew you owed them money. That's why I made your next payment for you."
He looked around the deli quickly, trying to spot anything that may have been a sign that something was wrong. He'd left before she ever even took out the loan with the loan sharks.
Nothing seemed to be wrong when he left. Now, less than a year later, this was happening. "So why does our family owe them money, again, Katie?"
Tifferzzz
The horse-sized pills weren't something that she enjoyed injesting. However, in approximately thirty minutes from taking them, the migraine would cease. As such...she choked them down. Once the papers were in the trash, she took a seat at the booth and pulled her knees to her chest, inevitably cramming herself between the table and the back of the booth's seat. Curling both arms around her knees she sighed softly resting her head on her knees.
"I hadn't a choice. When papa....died....he left everything gravely in debt. Even with the..." She paused for a moment knowing that he wouldn't like what she was about to say. Taking a drink of water, she continued. "...tuition money from mom, it barely paid off all the debt....Marcus..." She spoke softly looking to the back of the booth in opposition of where she sat. "...I couldn't let them take papa's deli...I just couldn't..." Her eyes began to swim with tears at the thought of her father as well as the distinct memory of how she had found him.
...she had been the one to find him...
and even now the memories haunted her in her sleep.
"The banks wouldn't loan to me without employment. You were un-reachable, at least by your assistant's standards. I didn't have any other choice...I tried everything."
She had tried every avenue. Every person she could think of to help her invest...even to become a part of the company, but none would have it. According to...well everyone...their family carries a curse of un-luckiness. While the curse wasn't true, the kids had still fallen into their own share of horrid bad luck.
She couldn't turn her eyes to face Marcus, for to do so would bring contempt upon her and bring her to the very thing that she'd tried so hard all these years to bury: herself. She knew that she'd fall to tears and a weakness that she'd fought so hard to surpress would emerge once again.
She couldn't have it. She just couldn't. Staring at the back of the booth, she waited to be berated by her younger brother...just as if he were the older one that would scold her for her stupid mistakes in life.
Ullery
"Sir?" Xanalestro had been bothered for the past two hours now. Something was terribly wrong near the deli. His three informant's that had just been set out there. had gone mysteriously Missing. They were supposed to have been checking in every fifteen minutes. and their com's stopped working about two hours ago.
"Blast it. I gotta check this out Mitch! Have at least two team's pull near the deli's area. I want to find out what the hell is happening to my men!"
"Yes sir!"
Ten minute's later, two pitch black vehicle's pulled up on Walden Street.
And two more Pulled up on Jone's avenue.
And one more pulled up behind an alleyway in Between two building's marked "K" and "J" cleaner's. That place was closed for the day.
Xan's car pulled up in front of the deli once more.
This time he frowned as he looked around.
"Mitch? Any reading's besides the two inside?"
"Negative sir, no one on ground level!"
"What the hell is going on around here, I send out informant's and they just start vanishing?"
Xan can be seen from the front window's but from the looks of him, He's busy looking for something or someone else.
"Sir?"
"What is it Sgt?"
"Sir, explosive's found just around the side in a trash can. We dis-armed them. Someone want's this place to go boom, sir."
"Okay, now I'm starting to get annoyed, what sick maniac would want to blow up ayenee capital's finest Deli?"
Xanalestro frowns and looks around on ground level some more.
What the hell is going on around here?
Rhysis
Marcus could tell something was going on outside, but he didn't care. He was more concerned with his sister than with whatever may have been happening out there. After all, how was he suppose to know someone was trying to blow up the building. As far as he knew, the only people who would have been out to do harm to the deli were the people Katarina owed money to, which would have easily explained the phone line. And, since he had just payed them an hour ago, they didn't have anything to worry about from them. Plus, it was late...very late. What could possibly be going on that was all that important at this hour? Xanalestro and his sergeant didn't even cross his mind.
Marcus pulled something out of his back pocket. Since she was forcing herself to not look at him, she wouldn't see what he was doing. But, after a short time, he sat down and scooted into the booth next to his sister. He slid his hand along the table and moved it away. In front of her were two checks, each for $10,000.00. One was written out to the deli. The other was written out to her and had, in the memo section 'Tuition.'
Then, sitting there next to her, he put his arm around his sister's shoulder and hugged her. "I don't want to say everything's gonna be okay, but I'm definatly not going to let it fall apart."
Tifferzzz
Katarina had a multitude of thoughts cascading through her mind, and then the money was placed before her. While most people would have been happy, Katarina was stubborn and very prideful.
Her arms remained around her knees as she stared at the checks. "I'm not a charity case Marcus." She knew how wealthy he was, and how much it would benefit him to 'donate' money to the deli...for tax purposes.
That infuriated her. She didn't want to give him more attention than she had to, and as such shoved her knees under the table, slid beneath the table and came out the open end. She may have just acted as if she were a two-year old, but she had her pride...and in her eyes he'd just stomped all over it.
She wasn't a failure. In fact she'd been so successful, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was that someone was stealing from her. Marcus...business man that he was figured that money would fix it. She looked at the clock as it neared ten in the eve. Still had a half hour until the headache medicine kicked in.
She needed air.
Turning from Marcus she didn't bother to grab a coat, or anything for that matter. Her voice just as she neared the door emerged in a flat tone of disappointment and eerie quieteness, "Money can't fix everything Marcus...I wish that papa could have taught you that..." And with that she stepped from the deli and out into the chilled cold air.
Cold...sweet...with the stench of rain to come. It was there that she ran into Mr. X once more standing outside as if he were looking for something...or perhaps someone.
Lord, this was too much. Curling her arms around her she moved quietly away from him without him seeing her and disappeared down the street and into the sweet grasp of shadowy darkness.
Ullery
He turned his head when he heard the deli door close.
"What the hey?"
He looked around and spotted the owner walking into shadowy darkness.
"Shall we follow sir?"
"You men keep looking around here for my informant's."
"I'll escort her, myself."
He walked into the alleyway and stopped gazing into it.
He frowned deeply at the darkness and spotted a slight silloutte in the darkness.
He ran up to catch up with the owner and stopped close enough to call out to her. "Ma'am. I think you already know who I am. I came back due to some........circumstances....."
"My men found a device that had been set to make the deli go boom."
*He walks alongside her.* "After finding that little hardware, I felt that I should escort you to whatever destination your headed.
Just consider me a friend who wishes to just walk and talk the breeze with you."
Rhysis
"Katie..." That was about all he managed to get out before his sister ran out. He hadn't intended on his checks being viewed as a charity donation. He wasn't even planning on reporting it to the IRS. And, he certainly hadn't expected it to fix everything. He just knew the money was an issue, and that he could help with it.
"Come back." He made sure to grab her coat, checking to ensure her key was in the pocket before he ran out to catch up with her. By the time he did, the man from earlier..."Mr. X" had already caught up to her. Marcus heard what was said about the explosives. He followed a step behind until he was done talking, then he spoke up, as if the other hadn't said a word. "You might want your coat, Katarina." He made sure to use his sister's full name, so Xanalestro didn't have the chance to get too personal with her. "It's chilly."
Tifferzzz
The silence of the night was tinged lightly with the small whispers of wind that spoke quietly to her. It was as if a lullaby was sung to her from the heavens above to ease her mind. Ah, but to have ease of mind was something that she would have loved to experience, but since her mother's passing...it just wasn't meant to be.
The perfection of quiet was blaintently broken by the sudden intrusive voice of Mr. X. She remained at a calm steady walk as if it were nothing more than a peaceful stroll. She captured the tones, the words, and especially the phrase:
"My men found a device that had been set to make the deli go boom."
...Go boom. So then he viewed her as a toddler that hadn't any comprehension of what the word explosion meant? The idea that she was beneath him due to lack of college education didn't just irritate her, it internally infuriated her. However her silence would remain. Her father knew of her 'genius' ratings when she was younger, and the fact that college int ruth wouldn't do anything but have bored her. But as her father stated, "If it's that easy...then just go through and get the degree!"
She almost did just that. Until he died. She barely heard Marcus until he uttered her full first name which paused her step and forced her to turn towards him. Her eyes swam with a mixture of emotions ranging from physical pain to emotional torment and deep within...an exhaustion. To everyone but Marcus...she would appear as nothing other than normal.
She spoke nothing to either of them. However she did appreciate the fact that he hadn't belittled her and called her 'Kaity' in front of this man that spoke to her as if she were three. That would have been just humiliating. It was chilly out, but the leather jacket soon fixed that problem. Regardless of them speaking to her, or for that matter to each other, she merely remained in perfect silence, taking each second to perfectly position the jacket over her shoulders, zip it up, fix the cuffs, and place her hands in the pockets. Her voice emerged firm...flat...and though it was a statement, there was a warning held quietly in it that they'd do best to listen to. It was all she could say for being near these men...this situation...was going to give her a nervous breakdown.
She had much to think over, much to ponder over, questions and answers that only she could reach a conclusion to.
"Excuse me gentleman..."
They would be wise at that moment to leave her be. With that she turned from them, her head in a cloud of never-ending thoughts and re-emerged into the darkness by herself...for that's how she's always existed...by herself.
Ullery
Xanalestro frowned as he realized she might assume his modern low-range talk to "not" alarm her, may just have been a mistake. Granted she was smart and he had seen picture's of her father and his brilliant deductions into science and the art's of philosophy and pysche.
He also stopped when the brother and her both stopped.
This marcus person was begining to become slightly, annoying.
When she walked away from them both he turned fully to Marcus and his eyes narrowed slightly from the Fedora hat he wore.
"Just what in the hellsbane's is your problem Mr.Marcus? I'm trying to be a friend, an ally, a person in this god forsaken gosh darned city that care's about a particular deli and it's Occupants including yourself, and you keep getting in my way like I'm some kind of threat to your family."
"Let me spell it out for you Mr.Marcus." "Two of your parents have died tragically terrible deaths. I do know the stories about your father. And I do know what a remarkable and intuitive mind your father had. He was smart, Mr.Marcus. He was damned smart and he was a damned good citizen to this city."
"He was also at the university a handful of time's where I arrived and sat, just to listen to his lecture's on the human psyche and the science that he believed in."
"Get it straight Mr.Marcus. Someone planted a bomb near your family's deli. Someone cut the phone line to the place. Someone is trying to make sure the both of you are dead. And whoever it is Mr.Marcus has become a personal problem for myself. Whoever it is, their killing off my contacts and informant's on the streets. Good people with decent jobs Mr.Marcus. I don't know how they play ball in your stadiums. But when my informant's start going missing when they should be checking in, and there's been a count of two teams that have disappeared.
Then I become involved personally to find out what the hell is going on!"
He breathes in and gazes deeply at the brother.
"I know pain Mr.Marcus. Just last week on this street, a little girl named Chassidy Cormere, got killed from a bullet to the head.
The local apd couldn't do squat cause they couldn't find any evidence."
"So excuse me if I feel it as an obligation to over-see the safety of whatever is Left LIVING of your family Mr.Marcus."
"Don't you ever stop to ponder why your sister is getting headaches? Or why her depression for her father, haunt's her so much? Or who, the heck is truly stealing from her? I certainly do. And I don't want to see it continue Mr.Marcus."
He gazes deeply at the brother.
"I'm not trying to be anything more then a friend Mr.Marcus."
"And I can be quite a powerful friend."
"Or didn't your father ever bother to tell you the one time we sat down to dinner for a talk about the psyche of the mind?"
Rhysis
Marcus watched as his sister walked away. He then turned his head to Xanalestro and glared as him harshly. His fists were clenched tightly at his sides. The other continually mentioned his father. He did not like to remember the pain of losing his parents any more than his sister did. However, he had a drastically different reaction to it being brought up by a stranger thsn his sister did. When the other man finally stopped talking, Marcus spoke slowly, with a low, wavering tone, that carried a full amount of threat with it. "So help me if you mention my father one more time, you will wake up in the hospital."
He took a deep breath and continued. "As for this little occurance, I wasn't trying to stop you. My sister needed time alone, as she often does. It's cold, and I wasn't about to let her walk around without a coat."
He looked back to his sister's deli, and back at Xanalestro. "Yes, I'm concerned with why a bomb was planted. But how was I suppose to know your men went missing? What chance did I have to find out about your dealings? I'm not a snoop like you. Don't assume that just because I'm here means I'm trying to stop you. My sister is all I've got. If you want to help purely out of the goodness of your heart, go for it. But I'm not gonna let you put more stress on her shoulders in the process." He handed Xanalestro one of his business cards. "If you want to talk to her, call me to make sure she's up to it, first. Otherwise I will forever be a thorn in your side. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've never let her go on these walks completely alone, and I'm sure you've got more poking around to do."
Marcus turned from him and started walking after his sister in the same way he always had when she went on these walks to clear her head. He stayed far enough behind, and moved carefully enough, that she wouldn't know he was there, but he always kept her in sight. The streets weren't safe for someone in her condition. She looked like the perfect target for a mugger...or worse. He wasn't about to let that happen.
Tifferzzz
They had done well in accepting her 'hint' during her retreat from confrontation. Indeed, when her eyes scanned back, there were the infamous Mr. X as well as her brother arguing. Her eyes diverted back to her destination.
It was time to pay someone a visit.
A few blocks from when Marcus had started following her, down the alley, to the street of Tamer was a bar that typically only drunks, druggies, and the like hung out..."Breaker's Bar"...had a title that was appropriately named for the type of things that happened when a moronic fool would waltz in there like Rambo and try to be the Bounty Hunter of the century. She'd seen more than one man killed by being slung onto the bar and viciously snapped in half.
It didn't bother her a bit. It served him right for being in the wrong place and trying to act as a hero. Do that somewhere else. Breaker's Bar had it's own agenda. Leave it be.
Taking a quick glance behind her to ensure she wasn't followed, she slid into the bar. Smoke, alcohol, and a faint stench of old urine rose to meet her. She passed by the whistles, the cat calls of a few of the 'husky' types and slid into a booth where her back was against another booth...and within that booth...a single man who drank his scotch with delicacy and smoked his cigarette with care. He had a unique way of tending to his addictions. He respected his addictions and treated them as such.
Kaity's eyes stared straight ahead of her, yet her voice remained low.
"You owe me." There wasn't a tone of sweetness nor a hint of anything that remotely resembled the Kaity that everyone knew.
"Savannah..." He whispered as dark as the night.
"You are to find out who is trying to destroy the deli, and for that matter who is hunting me. Is there a bounty on my head?"
"You wish to know who's after you?"
"Did I not just state that?"
"Drummond."
"Like hell."
"He knows."
Her voice carried an illusive whisper of a cuss. "You won't?"
"Can't"
"Then you still..."
"Yes"
"We will meet again later then."
When she stated later, she meant at a time that would suit her. Emerald rich orbs narrowed at the thought of whom she was about to visit.
Stepping from the booth she rose without even facing the man. Brushing herself off and straightening her jacket she began to exit the bar. In the process a violent slap was offered to her backside. He gave lude comments.
Poor bastard.
In the blink of an eye, she had turned and with a full-fisted punch laid the guy out on the floor.
She barely felt it.
The room held an air of silence. It wasn't the surprise that she'd punched a man so hard in the face that it knocked him unconscious, but that the idiot had even attempted to touch her. The tender spoke while wiping out a glass, not even looking up to her...in a nonchalant manner. "Ice?"
"I'm good."
And with that she stepped from the smoke inhabited bar and back into the cold night air. She had two sides to her...that was for certain, but it wasn't in the aspect of multiple personality disorder. There were just certain things that had to remain concealed...and re-emerge when necessary. Her father had been wise enough to enhance her pain capacity in his testings which left her with a unique situation of being able to break the jaw of a guy twice her size and barely flinch.
The new cut on her hand did bleed though, and she'd have to tend to that.
She needed to visit Drummond...and Lord did her stomach churn in distaste at that thought. Tomorrow. Yes she would 'visit' the bastard tomorrow. For now she needed to sleep.
It was time for her to return home...to rest...to plan...and to figure out just who the hell was coming after her. For what her brother didn't realize was that she was a dangerous person who dangerous people came after...primarily due to her father's actions and her own...
Hidden secrets...
Ullery
Xanalestro gazed down at the business card and the brother walking away.
Something was definitly terribly going on around here.
And Xan didn't like it one bit.
He walked to the limo. "Sir?"
He gazed at the sgt in charge "Keep searching, find something."
He get's into the limo and sits there contemplating.
"Where to boss?"
"The owner's home, Jameson. Or rather, a block from her home."
"Yes sir."
Information from sbc direct link up sent the coordinates.
Xan arrived before either of them did.
"Turn off the light's Jameson, We don't want Mr.Marcus or his sister to spot us."
"Okay but what about the limo look?"
"Change it, bring me a sbc sedan."
"yes sir."
Within a minute that the limo drove off without Xanalestro, the sedan had been waiting and drove up.
Once inside, Xan changed from his normal buisness suit to the special operation's black suit.
Then he attached a special device-mic to his ear and whispered to Jordan. "Go, I'll radio when I want to go home."
"yes sir."
The sedan drove off.
But Xan wasn't alone, Not less then half a block from where he was, was the blackmarked van with a team of commando's waiting inside.
Mr.Marcus might understand something about stress. But what Mr.Marcus didn't know, was that Xanalestro had mind psyche powers, power's that at one time he had needed some special help from a scientist to control.
That scientist was their father, though xanalestro didn't dare bring it up.
He blended in with the camoflauge of the darkness and activated a simple bending light wrist device that made him turn invisable to the naked eye. Then he quietly sat down on a bench watching their house.
Almost at once he felt a slight vibration telling him, someone was coming.
But Xanalestro had a hunch that something bad was about to go down. First money being stolen, then a bomb at the deli. Xanalestro wasn't pleased.
He took out a pair of special binoculars and gazed through them.
They could scan infra-red, night vision and thermal-radiation modes.
He gazed intently through them at some object in the bedroom.
"What the hell is that?" He whispered softly gazing through the binoculars.
He couldn't tell if that was a snake or if it was some kind of trigger explosive.
One thing was for sure. It was inside the house.
"Crap, I gotta warn her!"
Fortunateley for him, The owner hadn't arrived yet.
He waited right next to the door, still invisable. He knew Mr.Marcus would show up. But this was serious. The owner's life might be in terrible danger. Better to be safe then sorry.
He slid on a black glove and touched the handle. He frowned when he heard a low humming sound.
"What the frick?" He whispered gazing intently at the handle.
The handle was humming.
He gave the handle a light tap with a wooden stick and saw spark's fly off it.
"Good lord, the door handle's been booby-trapped!"
He whispers to himself.
He stands there right in front of the door, waiting for the owner. Not only to inform her of the danger, but to also warn her about the possible snake and or explosive in her bedroom and god knew how many other hazard's were tripped.
Rhysis
He thought that might be where his sister ended up. This was not the first time he'd followed her in to Breakers Bar. He slipped in quietly after her and took his usual spot, behind one of the more calm groups of guys, to make sure nothing all that risky happened.
He watched as she talked with the man in the booth behind her, and also as she was...addressed...by the overly confident patron. When she laid him out, Marcus smiled and whispered to himself. "Good girl." He may have been the more combat capable of the two, but she was no slouch.
As she left, he got up and started to exit, himself. He was then confronted by one of the larger men who thought himself the 'lookout' of the group. Marcus had made sure he watch out for her when he couldn't be there himself. This was a product of the first time they'd met. When he came in right after her, and left right after her, the large man tried to stop him to question him. When Marcus made a similar showing of him that his sister just did with the drunkard, followed by an explaination of why he was following her, the big man agreed to look out for her when Marcus couldn't be there. "This ain't the first time she's been in here since you left."
Marcus nodded at him as he looked through the dirty window to make sure Katarina was far enough down the street for him to follow her out, again. All he said to the big man as he made his way to the door was. "Thanks."
As they neared his sister's house, Marcus' ears started to ring, and not just the simple ringing tone someone gets after a day of stress. No, Marcus, as well as most other business executives, had a special device in his ear, that was specifically designed to detect the radio signals emmitted by light bending technology. When one was being used closeby, it set off a loud ringing tone. Marcus looked around and saw just how close they were to his sister's place...close enough to where he could be waiting for her and not seem suspicious. He started to jog after her. "Wait up, sis!"
Tifferzzz
The quiet of the night echoed with the cry of a cat who had just lost it's balance on one of those old aluminum garbage cans, which inevitably resulted in an explosion of a sound that broke through the quiet like a gun fired in the night. Someone immediately cried out in alarm along with a cuss and rant of "stupid cat." With a half smirk of amusement she continued on her way without even a slight pause in her step. Sometimes this place could feel like the set of a movie. And with that thought she looked forward to the sidewalk that stretched from her feet into the endless night.
Faint white light shone from the lampposts lining the street, spaced far enough from each other that it did nothing more than to project a triangular shaped glow reaching from the bulb to the sidewalk. Through the darkness into the light she strolled...then back into the darkness and once more into the light...continuing this same pattern for quite some time. The cold air had helped with the headache and lessened it to a dull throb. Helped in the fact that it might have been the medication that had ceased more than the cold. Or perhaps it was the cold that had done the job and the perscription had helped slightly...who deserved more credit, she couldn't say.
The most interesting aspect of the resounding pain in her head that never seemed to end, was that during an explosive bout of emotional energy (trauma, or just simply anger)...it was then that the pain would subside, and that her mind would no longer feel on fire. And though the idea of grinding a jawbone against her fist wasn't at the top of her to-do list...in some way she had satisfied some internal savage need.
Mocha soft crests parted into a most devious grin at the remembrance of the sound, and the exclamation of the cry as the man floundered to the floor as if he were a giant whale harpooned. Did he have a chance to cry out? Perhaps it was the tender, or maybe the pool-player. Either way someone had shouted with surprise.
At barely five-and-a-half feet, Kat wasn't tall...none in the least. Weighing in at a hundred and forty-five pounds didn't give her the right to a championship belt and title in a boxing match. What she lacked in weight she made up for in speed, quick intellectual thinking, and a small piece of her that had been manipulated to hinder the effects of pain only gave her the capacity to push harder and further than anyone her father had ever encountered...whether in books or hand-to-hand combat. She was undoubtedly thankful for that.
What threw her askew were the migraines. An obvious side effect of the testings that had occurred well after her mother's 'passing.' Each year they had become slightly worse until she had been in a bookstore one moment and in the hospital the next. That actual episode happened as of late, which was well after her father's untimely death. Perhaps that would be the straw that broke the camels back. Perhaps that would be the one thing to destroy her...
...her own mind.
What an ironic battle that would be. One's own genius doing nothing more than bringing them harm to the effect of completely shutting one down.
~sis...~ echoed on the air like a faint whisper. Looking up she realized that she was nearly home. Bah. Daydreaming while walking again. As her papa said, "That will either get you lost...or very very far." Shaking her head of her thoughts she turned and saw the light break over Marcus as his pace increased to catch up with her.
It was well enough. Her annoyance levels had ceased considerably until leaving her at the point where now she just wished to rest. Tucking a long strand of hair behind her ear she faced him halfway. Sliding her hand back into her pocket, dark emerald scanned the being from top to bottom as if creating an analysis. Danger wasn't an apparent thing...no this was her younger brother so it seemed he'd just rather annoy her to death. The clouds that had appeared in her mind before Breaker's Bar would have lifted, and her face taking on the sweet angelic appearance that she was forced to hold in public. She never knew of her brother ever knowing of her presence in Breakers, nor did she allow him he opportunity to know the other side of her. That was hers...all hers. Perhaps it was a split personality. The only difference was that she was aware of both sides at each time.
Somehow her voice managed to emerge with the kindness that she always spoke to him...out of respect. It was natural, not edged with anything other than curiosity.
"I thought you went home?"
Ullery
Xanalestro was standing in front of the door. He saw the brother coming from behind her too. Damn, he thought. Both member's of the family were here. That meant bad new's for the both of them.
Xan switched off the wrist-bending device and appeared from the shadows by the door. "He decided to tag after you, after our discussion."
He held a stick in his hand.
"After our little discussion, I started to get mighty suspicious about things recently."
He was hard to make out but his voice was clear.
"So while your brother played chase down my sister, I decided to head on over here to see if anything was out of the ordinary."
He holds the stick to the doorknob and it catches fire in a series of sparks.
"The doorknob's been booby-trapped. I'm guessing there's some kind of electrical device on the other side of the knob."
"But that's not all I discovered. Without even entering your home, ma'am. I was able to detect what could either be an explosive device in the bedroom, or a poisonous snake."
"I'm not quite sure which of the two it is."
"but I'm also sure those aren't the only two booby-trap's in the place."
"With you and your brother's consent, I would like to enter the home to make sure there are no other booby traps. And if there are, to disable them personally."
He puts his gloved hand to the knob, there's a slight spark but nothing more.
"We might be some things the media says, but we do come prepared."
"Now, without you needing to touch the key to the lock or any of that. Allow me."
He steps in front of the door and stares at the lock. His hands move forward slowly as he glare's at the door. Once he does, the door unlocks and move's inward.
He steps to the frame and take's out a little flashlight, turning it on, he gazes around and then down at the door frame.
He kneels to find some kind of taunt cord and follow's it to a small opening in a vent.
He stands and turns his flashlight to the right hand side of the door for the light switch and frown's when he see's black wire's attached to the light switch.
"What the hell?" he whispers gazing at the black wires.
He traces them all along the ceiling to the light-bulbs and frown's as he shines his light on the bulbs. one is black.
He stands there and traces his flashlight across the floor finding more obvious tripwire's and several other traps in the first room alone.
"Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you and Mr.Marcus to wait here at the door's edge, you may watch if you desire."
He looks back to them both. "Mr. Marcus, If you'd be so kind as to be careful where you step."
He looks back into the house and looks up at the ceiling.
"And ma'am, I promise, not to break anything."
Xan carefully kneel's and pull's on the taunt tripwire, causing the vent to suddenly open as he stand's up. The vent send's several sharp razor blade's toward's the front door. His hand dashes to two pair's of nunchuk's at his side's and they swing loose, knocking each razor to the ground without damage.
When the razor's stop coming. He carefully picks each of them up and deposit's them into a plastic ziplock bag.
Xan steps into the house carefully and turns his flashlight on again trailing at the ceiling to the black light bulb.
Xan Carefully gazes up at the bulb and then leap's into a corkscrew spin grabbing the bulb and spinning around in the air unscrewing it before landing back on the ground an inch from where he left.
He holds the bulb and then place's it into another bag and cut's the tripwire to the ceiling and the light switch. with a pair of cutters.
He peeks around the back of the door and frown's looking at some kind of white-device over the door.
He steps behind the door and reaches up carefully removing the device.
He steps back out the front door and turns the device to off.
"Whoever did all this, isn't an amature."
He places the white device down at the edge of the side of the house and goes back inside.
He searches and finds a few more tripwire's easily unhooked and the booby traps removed, one which was quite deadly seem's to be some kind of nail gun.
He gazes around with his flashlight and nods and turns on the regular light switch.
"Okay." He says poking his head out the door.
"It's safe to enter the first room now."
He walks towards the kitchen and frowns at the fridge.
"Don't tell me."
He mutters as he taps his hand on the fridge door.
He react's instantly when a knife from the other side of the room fly's at his head catching it in the reflection of the mirror's surface he spins around and grasps the knife's handle just before it touches his throat.
"Woah. That was close."
His eyes narrow and search. but everything else in the kitchen is normal. No booby traps.
He walks out into the first room and gazes at Mr.Marcus. "I believe that the knife was intended for you Mr.Marcus.
Because the fridge's door say's "goodbye Marcus. on it."
He places the knife down and walks to the bedroom.
Once inside he looks over at what he had seen.
"Holy Crap."
He gazes at the size of the bomb.
He walks over to the casing of the bomb and stare's at it heavily.
"Oh frick. It's an Alpha-33-00-60."
"Six switches, two safety mechanisim's and four alternate routers."
He gazes at it and kneel's down beside it reaching into the velcro pocket for a screwdriver.
"Mr. Marcus!" He calls out in a loud tone of voice. "I require Assistance idmeadiatly with this next Booby trap. It's a bomb. An alpha 33-00-60 to be accurate. And the timer is already starting down from a countdown of twelve Minutes. If I don't get this thing disarmed in less then twelve minute's we go boom!"
Rhysis
Marcus had always been the protective younger brother, even if he was too timid to actually fight anyone, which was why he got picked on. Still, it was no coincidence he was the vp of his company's martial arts subsidiary. He stopped formal combat schooling at twelve after a suitable instructor could no longer be found without flying one in from out of the country.
Their father was not only an amazing scientist. He was an extraordinary fighter. Many of the people he use to spar down at the gym in his spare time, would say that his ability were purely inhuman. While both of the siblings seemed to have gotten a touch of both sides of their father's amazing talents, Katarina inherited more of their father's brains than his combat capability. Marcus was just the opposite.
He had been in the process of explaining himself to his sister after she mentioned her thought of him returning to his own home. "Well. I was going to. But then I realized my place is still trashed..." That's when the loud ringing in his hear stopped, and Xanalestro decided to step out of the shadows.
The man was speaking, as well as moving, very quickly. He just seemed to keep going so, with little more than several changes in his _expression for various reasons, he let the other continue. However, he kept a close eye on what was going on. When the razor blades came flying for the doorway, he instinctfully grabbed Katarina's shoulders and turned her with him, so the blades would hit his thick leather duster instead of her. He'd kept his face toward the door, though, in case something else decided to surprise them. It was his instinct, after all.
When Xanalestro started looking around inside the house, Marcus looked at his sister. He figured, if all this was going on, it was about time she knew how much he knew about her. "Don't be mad. I'm just trying to make sure nothing happens to you when you have your headaches, but I follow you on your walks a lot. I know how often you go in to Breaker's Bar, and I saw what you did to that perv in there earlier." He offered a smile at that last comment. "Dad would've been proud."
He waited for her reaction before looking back to the house to see what was going on and moved in when it was mentioned that the first room was safe.
He smirked at the knife, as well as the note on the refrigerator. Whoever these people were, apparently, didn't know him very well if they thought a knife would have stopped him. He still watched as Xanalestro continued to work.
Something crossed his mind to as Katarina. But, before he could ask, Xanalestro called him back at the mention of the bomb. He ran back...protective nature. At the time, though, he was still thinking to himself, sarcastically -Great. To talk about financial problems he brings a full squad, but to clear boobytraps he's alone...genius.
Ullery
"I'm going to need some help." He mutters as he reaches into his side pocket. "Unit two, This is X. Operation ally, is in full effect. I need assistance. Now!"
"On the way sir."
It took less then three minute's for the squad to get there.
"Scuse us ma'am, sir!"
The squad marched inside.
Three checked the upstair's as well as the bathroom and quickly began disarming booby traps.
The other two headed to the bedroom where their leader was.
"We need to diffuse this and fast gentlemen!"
"Standard operating procedure's then sir?"
"You know it."
"Roger."
The two men assisted with the dismantling of the bomb.
Radio-voice's popped into X's ears.
"All clear upstairs sir."
"All traps disabled and ready for transport sir."
The counter finally stopped at six minutes and X breathed a sigh of relief.
"Geeze, that was close."
"All right men, take all the booby traps to the van, we'll examine them closer at hq."
"yes sir."
"Would you like a lift sir?"
"Negative, I'm walking back."
"All right. We'll see you back at base sir."
Xan stood and walked back to the doorway watching each of his men leave, getting into the sedan with the booby traps and leaving.
He walks to the doorway and steps outside.
"Okay ma'am, the house is secure now, all and any threat's to you and your family have been fully thwarted."
He nods to Marcus.
"Ma'am, Mr.Marcus, Take care of yourselves. I'll be in touch if I find out who's behind this."
"Good eve to you both."
He turns from the house and walks down the street and heads down the pathway of the second street, making a sudden turn to disappear onto that street.
Tifferzzz
Just after questioning her brother, suddenly the next five minutes of her life exploded in a whirlwind. X was back...at her home...and had she been a canine then her hackles would have risen to this intrusion.
But then there were bombs and 'booby-traps' and she was slammed into some horrid Hollywood movie where the last thing you would expect would be the thing to kill you. Bombs? Really? Apparently so. Even so weren't boobie-traps in haunted houses? The entire amount of chaos that exploded only sought to further the descending migraine and have her wish that she could force people's heads to explode simply by 'glancing' at them.
What a benefit that would be.
Pupils elongated in the dark, as she hadn't had time to turn on the lights...minus the ones that were switched on by X's men. Thrown aside in the arms of her brother...sharp objects thrown...
Lord. What an awful movie.
She watched the stranger leave. he disappeared and suddenly she was in her home with her brother, and felt more than invaded...she felt violated.
It wasn't because of the bombs...but because they had traipsed through her house without her consent. They had torn through her home as if it were nothing more than a game of hide-and-seek. or perhaps, more appropriately would be the game of 'find-the-bomb.'
She glanced around her home and wrapped her arms around herself, completely oblivious to Marcus' presence. In fact she suddenly felt like a small lost child in a huge foreign home. Her heart ached for something long gone, and quietly she whispered into the silence of the dark home, "...papa..." Though her and Marcus were both close to their parents, Kat was her father's daughter...they were bonded beyond just simple blood, and the separation of him from her life left her flailing in the wind.
Especially now.
Kat had gotten lost before, but in a much more awful way. Her and her father had been camping and she'd fallen behind. Within a blink of a second she was suddenly nowhere near him and lost.
In the dark.
Nighttime was horrid in the forest. She had curled up on the ground and stayed there until her father had found her.
She was scared to death.
And now...she'd gone from standing next to Marcus to falling into this realm of loneliness...wishing for the only thing she couldn't have. She sat on the floor without realizing it and curled her arms around her legs.
Something was beyond wrong.
Kat was someone of control. She was forced to have it when her parents passed, but now...with the stranger and his men running through her home without any permission...she'd lost control. She was nothing to them. She wasn't important...and it was as if she weren't there.
The very feeling passed through her like fire.
She didn't want to be here.
"....papa...." She whispered as soft as the wind.
Just after questioning her brother, suddenly the next five minutes of her life exploded in a whirlwind. X was back...at her home...and had she been a canine then her hackles would have risen to this intrusion.
But then there were bombs and 'booby-traps' and she was slammed into some horrid Hollywood movie where the last thing you would expect would be the thing to kill you. Bombs? Really? Apparently so. Even so weren't boobie-traps in haunted houses? The entire amount of chaos that exploded only sought to further the descending migraine and have her wish that she could force people's heads to explode simply by 'glancing' at them.
What a benefit that would be.
Pupils elongated in the dark, as she hadn't had time to turn on the lights...minus the ones that were switched on by X's men. Thrown aside in the arms of her brother...sharp objects thrown...
Lord. What an awful movie.
She watched the stranger leave. he disappeared and suddenly she was in her home with her brother, and felt more than invaded...she felt violated.
It wasn't because of the bombs...but because they had traipsed through her house without her consent. They had torn through her home as if it were nothing more than a game of hide-and-seek. or perhaps, more appropriately would be the game of 'find-the-bomb.'
She glanced around her home and wrapped her arms around herself, completely oblivious to Marcus' presence. In fact she suddenly felt like a small lost child in a huge foreign home. Her heart ached for something long gone, and quietly she whispered into the silence of the dark home, "...papa..." Though her and Marcus were both close to their parents, Kat was her father's daughter...they were bonded beyond just simple blood, and the separation of him from her life left her flailing in the wind.
Especially now.
Kat had gotten lost before, but in a much more awful way. Her and her father had been camping and she'd fallen behind. Within a blink of a second she was suddenly nowhere near him and lost.
In the dark.
(Bah...character limitations...continued in next post.)
Nighttime was horrid in the forest. She had curled up on the ground and stayed there until her father had found her. She was scared to death. And now...she'd gone from standing next to Marcus to falling into this realm of loneliness...wishing for the only thing she couldn't have. She sat on the floor without realizing it and curled her arms around her legs.
Something was beyond wrong.
Kat was someone of control. She was forced to have it when her parents passed, but now...with the stranger and his men running through her home without any permission...she'd lost control. She was nothing to them. She wasn't important...and it was as if she weren't there.
The very feeling passed through her like fire.
She didn't want to be here.
"....papa...." She whispered as soft as the wind.
Rhysis
Marcus hadn't had time to think about the strangers in his sister's home. He was, for lack of a better word, the guardian. Her safety had become the issue, and that, in his mind, blotted out all other concerns at the time.
Now, X and his squad of men were gone, and he looked about the once beautiful home her place had been. That's when it hit him. There were dirty footprints where they walked, busted up walls where they ripped out a wire, even a few broken trinkets from the mantle. Nothing all that valuable, or important, was destroyed, but that wasn't the problem.
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He was about to say something to Kat, but then she spoke, in that soft, frightened voice..."...papa..." It was enough to floor her little brother. He hit his knees, supporting his upper body with a fist pressed hard to the floor. The image of their father's body, or rather what was left of it, ran through his mind. That sparked the memory of his mother...before the funeral. He'd never told anyone, but he had been wandering around the hospital and literally stumbled in to the morgue while the autopsy was being performed. There he saw the most horrifying image that would forever be burned into his mind. It took him a month to speak so much as a sound to anyone after that. People thought he'd simply stopped talking because of her death.
There was no denying it. Their parents were gone. And now, in the front room of her own home, his sister was begging for the presence of her father.
He stood just as she whispered for him, again. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. He may not have been their father, but they had always been close. She was the first person he'd talked to after that month of silence. Maybe he could bring her back around.
With a heavy waver in his voice, he spoke while he hugged her. "Come on, Katie, let's go sit outside."
Tifferzzz
For a while, even after Marcus had spoken...her arms remained curled around her knees as if she were hiding from someone, perhaps from something. It was then that the embrace struck her with a force of strength that she wasn't used to. Looking up to Marcus she nodded and did as he said...just as she had when they were kids. Though she was older it seemed that everyone else in her life had taken command and she followed like a shadow in their footsteps.
Leaning against Marcus as if he were a crutch and she had a broken leg, they didn't have far to go before they made it outside. Oh, but how sweet the icy air was. It held a bite as frigid as ice but quickly gave clarity as if a bucket of nearly frozen water was tossed on her body. Was the air truly that cold or was it just due to the questionable emotions suddenly rampaging through her body?
She thought of much within that moment. She thought of her parents and their death. She thought of Marcus. She remembered that one time...that one time where she had to be stronger than everyone else.
That time where Marcus had skittered off and gotten lost in the hospital. That night her insides felt hollow as if it were all but a dream that she were floating through. She remembered it as clearly as day even though she'd been quite young. Could she just awaken? Was it that easy? Unfortunately, no. It wasn't a dream but a horrid nightmare. She had been listening to the doctor talk about her mother's passing to their father. She overheard everything that the doctor had said to the nurse. Every medical term...every abbreviated word...and held it firmly in her mind.
When she turned around, Marcus was gone. She looked to her father who was so greatly saddened as if his world had ended. Instead of informing him of Marcus' disappearance (for kidnapping wasn't a big thing twenty-some years ago) she went off to find him.
Nurses directed her down various halls with machines and sick people, and other natural horrors of a child's mind until she'd reached the basement. Kat had been bred with too much intelligence to have a fear of the dark. Two steps out of the elevator and a meek "hello...Marcus?" Would end up without a response. Her steps were quiet on the linoleum floor under the florescent light.
When she found him, he was so frightened that he didn't move. In fact she remembered the 'look' that he gave her...as if he didn't see her. When she grabbed his arm to bring him back with her...he walked beside her but acted as if he were somewhere else.
That wasn't what scared her. The idea that something had tormented him into such a mindless state that he peed his pants left her quiet. She didn't want to make the trauma worse. Indeed she knew much at a young age including when not to press a 'patient.'
On their way back she found some kid's scrubs (after asking a nice nurse) and re-dressed Marcus in them.
Her father never knew of the accident, and she never asked her brother of the incident. If he wished to speak of it then he would.
The days were about the same, but he interacted with her above all others. Granted he didn't speak or communicate in that manner, but they were close enough that he didn't need to. Kat understood him completely. Her annoyance at everybody attempting to 'force' him to talk only caused her to errupt in fury in defense of him. The occurance of this specific vocal arguement occured the day after she'd read through the medical journal to find out exactly what had happened to their mother.
Nobody bothered him after that. Kat saw to that.
He still hadn't told her what happened...twenty years later. She never told him the truth of their mother's death. But it didn't matter.
In the midst of thought she'd sat down on the porch step and stared into the blackness before her. The sadness of her father's passing should have brought tears...bouts of them, but Kat never cried...not even when her mother died. Perhaps being a labeled 'genius' as a child only sought to distort emotional attachment in such a manner that she would never be able to shed a tear to relieve this internal torment.
"Marcus..." her voice whispered in flat tones that kept any emotion from touching them. "I have to go visit Drummond."
She knew the fatality of expressing such a thing to Marcus. Drummond was the head of the...well un-named associates that had killed her father. She didn't glance up to him, nor leave the statement with any opening for an arguement or a question. She told him. She would do it, for her mind was hard as granite and she couldn't be swayed in anything...especially this.
Rhysis
After they managed to get outside and settled down on the front porch, Marcus just sat there, next to his sister, letting her reflect on whatever it was she was thinking back to.
He lost track of time just as easily as she did. He was doing a bit of his own reflecting. Not surprisingly, it was to the same series of incidents that she was thinking back to.
As much as he tried to forget it, every single detail of that two-month period ran just as fresh in his mind as it had the moment it occurred.
He'd made a vow to himself to never to speak of it to anyone. The problem was, he couldn't think of anything else to speak of for two full months. That's why he hadn't talked. People, mostly those just trying to get a word out of him, would ask him his name, and his reaction was to start describing the horror of what he'd seen on that cold metal table.
He didn't even go to her funeral. He couldn't bring himself to see her, again. Not after that.
He was brought back from the terrible memory, once again, by his sister.
He knew Drummond all too well. He'd just paid the man a few hours ago. He never enjoyed dealing with the thug boss. But, it was the best way to ensure he got the money. Marcus wasn't about to just hand the money over to one of the lackeys and hope it got to where it was suppose to go without having something shaved off the top.
He took a deep breath, and looked over at his sister. "I figured as much." He paused. "I'm going with you."
Ullery
"What the freak is going on in this city? That was the one question that kept popping up into Xan's mind.
He was not pleased. Someone was trying to wipe out this particular family.
Their father, was brilliant, absolouteley the top of the class.
And he had been tragically murdered.
That alone, had not pleased xanalestro when he found out in the paper's about it.
About four day's before the incident where the father was murdered.
An informant had mentioned running into the esteemed scientist and that he had seemed, slightly nervous in body language only.
"So help me, if this delightful deli owner dies. there's going to be hell to pay."
Tifferzzz
As much as Kat would have liked to have her brother there with his martial-arts expertese, she knew that it wouldn't hold a candle to a semi-automatic. Secondly, she couldn't put him in that danger.
"No." She replied firmly. "This is between Drummond and I. It has nothing to do with you."
What she failed to disclose to Marcus over the years of his distance was that she had been in a relationship with the man. All questions, blames, and fights aside...ignorance was the best medicine. Unfortunately for her, it never took her long to figure anything out.
Since then all hell had slowly broken loose.
"Don't let them take papa's building down Marcus....swear to me of it...that you'll keep it safe while I'm gone..." She couldn't look him in the eyes at that moment, for the finality of her statement was to much to bear.
****************
The quiet steps of Xan echoed down the alley with as much silence as if he were of bare feet.
Within the emptiness of the shadows, two dark emerald orbs remained fixated on this being that would trespass onto its territory. The watcher remained quiet until the person had passed, before stalking from the darkness as if it was a piece of the shadow stretching out then finally detatching. Triangular shaped sonars remained peaked while within the depths of the chest came a gutteral rumble that emerged forth with a deep warning that would undoubtedly catch Xan's ears.
Ullery
Xan stopped all of a sudden. The noise touching his ears.
And while a gun might be more appropiate, Xanalestro turned slowly around gazing into the darkness. His mind told him "Something" was there, but not "What" it actually was.
He carefully unbuttoned a side pocket and lifted out his Night vision goggles. He slid them very slowly over his face and adjusted the strap to his size and turned the nv's on.
He frowned when his goggle's showed only shadows.
He carefully slid his right hand to a sheathe at his side and waited.
He didn't move, and he barely breathed, using his sense of hearing to focus on sounds.
Rhysis
He looked over at his sister, shocked at her commanding tone. She was serious. There was no way she would let him go with her.
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and let it out in a long, slow sigh. "Okay. I get it. I'll look after the deli."
He was relatively sure Drummond wouldn't kill her. After all, he'd been paid. Plus, Drummond wasn't stupid. He knew Marcus had the means to avoid paying anything and get away with it. Besides, if Kat died, what reason would Marcus have to go on? Their's had always been a uniquely closeknit family, despite the many hidden truths they kept from one another. Those were mostly to avoid hurting one another. So, if Kat died, he had no other family. There was no love interest in his life. Thus, even if Marcus couldn't avoid Drummond's lackeys, he still would have no real reason to pay. Worst case scenerio, they hold him for ransom then either torture or kill him anyway.
He tried to think of something that would make that worse than losing his entire family. He couldn't.
There was a short awkward pause. Then he spoke, again. "As with most execs, I have connections with people in high places, and low places." His tone took on an even more serious demeanor, if that was possible. "If something happens to you, he's toast."
Marcus thought for a second, about the things he'd been hiding from her, as well as what possible things she could have been hiding from him. Then he stood up, moved in front of her, and looked directly at her. "I love you, Katie. You know you can trust me with anything. So, when you get back, the two of us need to sit down and have a serious talk. With everthing that's been going on lately, I don't think we should be keeping secrets from each other."
He knew he was sounding like a husband, but he didn't care. She was all he had left. Things were getting way too hectic to just let them keep going the way they had been.
"I don't want to lose you, too. That's just not something I'm willing to do." Subconsciously, he brushed a hair out of her face, the way their father use to. "Okay?"
Tifferzzz
The shadows extended as the massive paw folded to the ground. The black shoulder emerged from it's hiding spot, soon bringing with it the rest of the giant black beast. With head low, ears pinned back and a low throaty growl tearing from within, he watched the man who would tread here. He watched with glowing emerald orbs that seemed to hold a candle from within.
He didn't speak, but remained with his side facing the adversary, his head directed at him...waiting for something. Perhaps a movement that would deem him worthy of death?
__________________
Kat's eyes closed to the touch. The missed warmth of a family embrace left her heart aching for something that was no more. After Marcus up and vanished, well she was left to her own devices...essentially a human-sized teddy bear that kept her protected from the evils of the world. At least for the period of time that she slept.
She merely nodded to Marcus' words. Her eyes closed slowly as she gathered strength from within, and exhaustion folded her mind into a ball. She rose to her feet and reached within her pocket for the keys. Before stepping forward from the porch and going to get in her car and face the man that she loathed...potentially the greatest...she spoke once more to Marcus, "Don't let Papa's deli go under Marcus. You protect it."
Ullery
Xanalestro couldn't believe his eyes.
He slowly removed the nv goggles and placed them back into the pocket, one hand still resting on the hilt of the sword.
His eyes glowed a soft light green color.
"A black panther." he whispered. For as long as xanalestro could remember, black panther's were not only extremely and terribly rare in capital city and the surrounding districts, but never in his life did he see one so healthy.
Xanalestro moved his one hand away from the sword. Should it come down to it, he knew how to protect himself without needing to use a weapon against this creature. He'd studied their pattern's and movement's carefully over the last three and a half years.
Xan approached the creature and kneeled down before it.
He gazed deeply at it's eyes and spoke in it's own mental language.
"friend?" Xanalestro inquired letting out a sound that imitated the panther's soft welcoming friendship purr to a T.
Xanalestro slid one hand into his pocket and pulled out a piece of beef jerky and extended his hand out with it.
"food, for you, friend."
Rhysis
Marcus watched as his sister walked away. When she turned back, he simply nodded. He was unable to actually speak any words. He may have always been the more forward of the two, but she was still his big sister. He still looked up to her. And now here she was, relying on him.
He didn't know what to do, but he knew one thing for sure. He stood and moved over to her, and gave her one more hug. "Be careful." Was all the speaking he could manage.
He looked at the license plate on her car and made a mental note. He may not be able to go with her, but he could use the number on the plate to track her GPS system. He would, at the very least, know where she was going.
Tifferzzz
(Tag: Ullery. Separates posts for character length issues)
The black animal stood majestically before that which would dare approach him. Watching him as a King would stare upon a potential traitor, the eyes didn't offer welcome nor any hint of warmth. The tip of the tail flicked lightly at the thought that one bite, one snap would take off this man's face, and then he'd be left quiet once more. Lids narrowed, but the hint of scent tainted his nostrils. Instantly his mouth watered, but perhaps it was nothing more than a mere trap?
His voice would still remain silent and he would watch this stranger before him. Standing for minutes, or perhaps it was days, he wouldn't bulge a muscle, simply listening for any betrayal of sound that would signal a trap.
A small rowl extended forth echoing down the dark alley. He wouldn't cower before the man, for he had nothing to cower for. He figured himself to the level of Lords, or even to the royal of his breed. With a nose tilted high, not in scent smelling, but in cockishness, he watched the man....stared at him. Not a muscle moved for quite some time, but then a paw swiped at the meat, claws retracted...in order to drive the substance from his hand to the ground, where he could inspect it more thoroughly.
(Tag: Rhysis)
She had climbed into the car with mere dread flowing over her mind. Her last encounter with Drummond had landed her in the hospital. The man was a brutal beast...a wolf in sheep's clothing. From her home to the city would take at most fourty-five minutes, with traffic. She knew him to be at the city, for he nearly lived there...his office was the 'second' home. A busy man with a huge agenda: to rule Ayenee.
She didn't want any part of Ayenee, she just wanted her parents back.
Thoughts of their life passed in a daydream before her until her mind brought her back to the present, and to the building that rose as tall as the sky. It was a pretty building of bright blue lights, but the color was droned out in the clouds and dark grey of the sky.
With a deep breath, she stepped from her car after shutting it off. She didn't bother to 'pack heat,' for she would quickly be patted down just after entering the building. Her eyes lifted to the top of the building as if she could see it from where she was. With a deep breath, perhaps a goodbye of her life, she pulled open the heavy doors and stepped inside.
Ullery
Xan stayed quiet and still. He knew what the panther was doing.
He didn't move a single muscle himself, But he also knew that if he had to sub-due the panther, he'd do it with his bare hands and nothing more. Give the panther a fair fight rather then something involving his blade.
Rhysis
Marcus watched as his sister drove away. When she was out of sight, he hit his knees and leaned over, feeling like he was going to puke. His relative assuradeness that she wouldn't be harmed had totally faded.
He had just let her go off, quite possibly, to her death. And all he thought to do was memorize her license plate? So he could do what? Get revenge on Drummond when she died? Wasn't he suppose to prevent that from happening, at all?
He may have had connections, but he wasn't Xanalestro. He couldn't just call a few people and have a squad of guys with sniper cover ready to go at the drop of a hat. Now that he'd let her go, there was very little he could do.
But, he could, at the very least, make sure she was okay. He might not have been able to stop anything from happening, but he could figure out if it did, indeed, happen.
He went inside and got on her computer. After a few minutes of looking around, he managed to find the site he was looking for. It was sort of a safety feature. Most cars came standard with a GPS system so parents could see where their kids were going. All you had to do was log on to the right website. Well, Marcus didn't know her password, so he had to use one of the alternative sites. The feedback wasn't immediate, but he could deal with a few seconds of delay.
He watched where she went, saw her stop, and was waiting for her to move. When that happened, he would not only watch to see which direction she was going, but, would probably call her to make sure she was okay. Drummond may have been a cruel, sadistic, son of a rat carcas, but he would understand that she was a business owner, and, sometimes, needed to take phone calls if he wanted to keep getting his money.
Tifferzzz
(Tag: Rhysis)(Part 1 of....2)
For anyone who would have stepped inside the building, it revealed a different exterior than what truly lay beneath. The coat of beauty lay over a bushel of thorns. Was bushel the right word? Perhaps not. Perhaps a forest filled with thorns, needles, and every gross creature known to man…fit the personality of what Drummond’s business was. Once someone stepped inside they’d be within a quite large reception area that appeared as more of a professional Real Estate office than a murderer’s business.
(Copied over from .org by Rhysis)
Immediately across from the person that entered would be a long, tall mahogany receptionist’s desk. To the left on the opposing wall was two elevators, then behind that a couple doors. Those couple doors both led to her version of the devil. There wouldn’t be a receptionist behind the desk, for it was well after hours, and even if there was…Kat wouldn’t know that person. Drummond changed receptionists faster than he changed his underwear.
Before the door were the spawns of Satan. Now when someone talks about a ‘large’ person, one generally gets a mental picture. However ‘large’ wouldn’t even crest the surface of what these two men were. Giant would barely start. Basically the phrase, “Holy Lord that man is Huge!†would be a closer idea. At over six feet and well over three-hundred pounds of muscle…times two…they were basically Drummond’s Dobermans, on steroids, and with loaded weapons holstered to their chest. Both wore sunglasses as if it were the midst of day. The one to the left stood staring through those glasses with such intensity that she felt as if she were inconveniencing him in some manner…all while chewing on a toothpick.
She approached without a word, like a lamb to the slaughterhouse.
“He’s expecting you.†The voice rumbled as if a God had spoken.
“I expected as much.†She replied without thought. Unfortunately that was what landed her in the hospital in the first place. A broken collarbone, fractured forearm, two busted ribs, a broken nose (thank you plastic surgery) and a black eye later…she still couldn’t hold her tongue.
He grunted and she had the ill effect that if he could have crushed her into the ground, he would have without a second thought.
The one with the toothpick would lead, then she, then the other would follow. This was to ensure that she wouldn’t escape. Escape…what a delightful thought, but unrealistic action.
The hallway reminded her of a hospital with florescent lighting that was too bright. Even with the coloring of the walls – a soft _mocha – it still didn’t help. It was like mixing oil with water.
Then they reached their destination. The door was opened and the musky smell of cologne and cigars captured her with such a familiarity that it made her want to vomit. Hands immediately caressed her as they searched from top to bottom for guns or anything else they could deem as a weapon. Then the voice of the devil came forward with sweet silk.
“No need for that. Kat would know better than to bring anything here…â€
She didn’t bring anything with her, not even a phone. That…was in the car. Her hands remained in the pockets of her jacket defensively as the door was closed and she stood there, facing probably the worst adversary she could imagine.
“You look….fabulous Kat….â€
The shortened name made her stomach churn. “Yeah, it’s amazing what happens when your face stops meeting a fist…†Her brain said shut up, but she couldn’t. She loathed the man.
“tsk tsk Kitty…†he replied rising from his chair, walking around his desk and half leaning against it. “Still don’t’ know when to hold that vile tongue of yours.â€
“The truth is the only thing vile.â€
“Come now Kitty…†He faked a wounded appearance on his face.
Drummond, or Max Drummond, was a man that one could understand where she came from when she fell for him. Thick auburn hair, a large build that could be guessed at being a past-time weightlifter, the idea of handsome was exactly that. However the eyes echoed anger, violence, and a lack of tolerance that had been the downfall of nearly every enemy he’d come across. It was the eyes that kept her hating him.
He motioned for her to sit. “I’d rather not.â€
He motioned again. “Please sit Kat.â€
She stood fast. That’s when he frowned. “Sit DOWN Katarina.†Fear pushed her to the opposing chair to sit. She didn’t want to walk out of here with another incident that was graciously ‘donated’ by him.
“I know why you’re here. You miss me and want to come back, well you’re more than.â€
“Go to hell…†she interrupted. It was then that the sound of the backhand surprised her more than the actual fire that emerged across her face.
“You’re here for my help Katarina. DON’T disrespect me.†She had to bite her tongue to keep herself quiet.
“Why are you here? Your brother paid everything off…at least enough to catch you up…â€
“Someone’s stealing from the deli.â€
(Tag: Rhy, Part 2 of 2)
He genuinely seemed shocked. “Stealing from a deli? That hardly makes a profit? Must be a complete idiot.â€
“My deli makes a profit. But it has a hard time doing it when someone’s hand is in the till.â€
“Who is it?â€
“How the hell…†His hand rose again and she paused taking a breath heeding the warning. “I don’t know. It could be a worker, a familiar…honestly I don’t know. But what I would like to know is why explosives were wired to my building, my home…are you trying to kill me?â€
“Trying Kitty? You know as well as I do, if I wanted you dead, you would be.â€
He was right in that aspect.
“Your business is a profit to me, and a good ‘deal’ in the eyes of the community. Thus I will place people there to ‘ensure’ that nothing is taken. I don’t like people stealing from me. It’s bad manners. Plus blowing up my establishments, well that’s also very bad manners.â€
She bit her tongue so hard it bled.
“Is that all?†He curtly replied.
She nodded like a child who had just been told that she couldn’t have anymore cookies. She stood and started to turn when he latched out quickly and grasped her by the neck. Not painfully, but just firmly enough that she couldn’t move.
“Katarina….†He leaned forward and took a deep breath. “If I find out that you’re leading me to a trap.†His thumb caressed her neck like a cobra licking its prey before biting. “Well let’s just say that you better…â€
She kicked out. It was a reflex, or was it. Eitherway the foot hit the shin and he only frowned before throwing her like a rag doll to the floor. “Katarina, I’m treating you as a host should, but you’re just showing me bad manners. Do I need to TEACH you good manners?†She nearly stood, but remembered her ‘teachings’ from the relationship. As such she shook her head, face down on the floor and remained perfectly still – until he gave her permission to rise.
“Now that’s a good girl. Stand up.†And she did. “Now go. I have things to do. Especially figure out why someone is attacking my establishments.â€
“It’s my papa’s…†Her voice echoed softly. He nearly attacked her again but paused. “Not any longer. It’s mine until your capable of handling such a thing yourself.†She would have to buy it off of him. How the hell did she get in that situation?
Crimson filled her mouth in droplets, probably from the bite of the tongue. She stood there until he told her to leave.
“We’ll talk soon Kitty…†He waved her off just as he got on the phone and suddenly she went from the devil to his spawns.
When the firm hands grasped her and she was shoved from the building, she stumbled slightly but caught her balance. It was now raining. The water drenched her in full force, and she stood outside her car, gazing up to the sky, and the overwhelming relief of still being alive and still having the capacity to walk stunned her to the point where she struggled to get in the car. Finally settled inside, she closed her eyes and just took a moment to…breathe.
Ullery
(Tag: Ullery)
The fresh meat, or dried fresh meat. Could dried meat be fresh? To the intricate sensory pattern of a panther any type of meat was fresh. The muzzle captured the meat, and chewed on it greedily, pleased with the taste, and turned to the offeree. Eyeing him, pacing before him, he suddenly shoved his head into the man in an attempt to knock him over.
There was one thing that the panther knew at that moment: He wanted more.
Ullery
Xanalestro let's out a soft laugh and places a hand on the panther's head. The bump is strong, but Xan keeps his balance.
"Want more you do?" He asks in the panther's own mindspeech.
"sure friend."
Xan reaches into his side pocket and pulls out three more strips of jerky.
He places them down in front of the panther
Tifferzzz
The panther had stated his request in such a point-blank manner that it was impossible to miss the meaning of it. Greedily he took the offering and ate as if he hadn't in a while - which wasn't true. In fact, last night he'd eaten...well lets just leave children out of this, for now.
The animal was smart in the sense that it never let its guard down long enough to be taken by surprise. In fact, one emerald eye remained fixed on the man while his mouth had an entirely different agenda.
Three more done. The thick head rose and slammed into the man once more.
It was like a candy addiction. he loved it and wanted an endless bounty of this jerky substance.
Ullery
Now Xan fell backwards and landed with a thud. He picked himself up off the ground and kneeled before the panther again staring it straight in it's eyes.
He felt a kinship with it. A very deep understanding to it's plight.
He turned out the pocket to show the panther had eaten all he had brought.
Xan placed his hand out to the panther and gazed into it's eyes.
With mindspeech he asked for the first time.
"Friend? companion, for me? Give jerky's and steak's."
Tifferzzz
(Tag:Ullery)
The mindspeak was, well unnecessary. In truth the animal had capability of communication but spoke only when the moment seemed necessary - and there was never a moment when words weren't wasted.
So this man who would provide this succulent morsels of food wishe dto be his friend? The haunches lowered to the earth and he stared int he other while weighing his options. Raising a massive paw, the tongue then extended and began to clean the pads, seeming that for the moment this act of cleaning was far more important than the pressing question at hand. The ears would remain soft, and the eyes closed in this moment of sheer splendor before the foot lowered to the earth, as heavy and hard as the hand of God. The animal's attention would refocus on this being before him inquisitively once more, as if at first wondering....'what does this man wish of me?' But then instantly remembering and standing once more. Accepting the proposition-for the time being- he moved towards the man, and didn't break his pace. Shoulderblades would rock beneath the pelt at an even pace while attempting to walk through the man. However he obviously wouldn't go through him, but more or less 'bump' into him as if he were giving a handshake. This animal didn't do anything that didn't benefit him more than the other. Thus having 'associations' with this man would have to provide substantial food for him to stick around.
At least...that's how he saw it.
Tifferzzz
Trembling hands managed to start the car. How she managed to drive, she didn't know. In reality she wouldn't have been surprised if a bomb were placed beneath her car and the minute that she started it...well...kaboom. Fortunately the stall of the car was just that - a stall. Though her insides felt of jello, she wondered how she might look on the exterior. Turning the rear-view mirror in the dark, the shadows and lights of Ayenee bathed her face in haunting shades. Her fingertips daintly touched her eye and winced. That would definately reveal tomorrow.
Well at least she stood up to him - and survived. Inr eality having Drummond 'on her side' so to speak was like having the Mafia as your best friends. It was a benefit. But with every positive there were a thousand consequences. She didn't think that far ahead though. She didn't want to.
Turning down Promontory Drive would lead her home. Oh, and how she wanted to be home - in her bed - and sound asleep. The looming house felt cold as she approached it. It felt distant, as if it were no longer hers.
"Kitty, stop it..." She whispered quietly in the small car. Approaching the front of the estate, and shutting the car off she stepped from it. Looking to the broken front door, she advanced. Much like a kitten would into a doberman's home...she moved towards the front door with fear shadowing her eyes and an empty soul filling her chest.
Rhysis
Marcus stared at the computer screen as the red light on the computer turned green, signaling that the engine had been started, again. Well, that was good. Someone was driving it and not just towing it somewhere.
He watched with baited breath as the car turned down the main road that would lead to his sister's house. When it came close enough that he was fairly sure it would stop in front of her home, he logged out of the site, turned off the computer, and moved to the front room.
He looked through the window as the car pulled up, and was turned off. She started walking up to the house. That's when he appeared in the doorway with as kind of a voice as he could muster. "Hey. You okay?"
Ullery
Xanalestro let out a soft laugh and took the bump.
And Xanalestro once again fell backwards with a chuckle.
"Okay buddy I get the message."
"And my name, is Xanalestro."
"And I'm able to read your mind quite easily."
"To answer your question." He rubs behind the panther's ear lightly.
"I figure that this alley isn't a safe place for you. You see in ayenee, we have these terrible hunters that pop up time to time, shoot and kill animals and take their fur and bodies and mutilate em.
I am the opposite of that, I strive to hunt down the hunters who are directly responsible for killing innocent animals."
He smiles and stands up again.
"Come my friend, and allow me to introduce you to a place where you will feel safe."
Xanalestro turns and heads towards the darkness blending into the alleyway before making a turn to the right.
Once there, Xan stopped at the street and waited.
A limo pulled up and Xan gestured to it and then to the panther with grace.
"After you, my friend."
Tifferzzz
(Tag: Ullery)
Shoulders rolled in an over-emphasis of not caring. Would it be though, that curiousity in the end did kill the cat? He allowed the stranger to walk before him. Quite a ways in fact before the annoyance of being alone and not knowing what these man's plans were...caused a single paw to tread forward...as as such his entire body would continue in unison until he came up to the stranger and watched the car pull forth like a demon snake from the darkness.
Would it be the end of him to enter such a vehicle? He'd nearly been struck by a wayward one quite a while back, and hadn't appreciated the viper-like bite that they had when getting 'nicked' by one. He hesistated, but not because of fear...merely from a lack of knowing.
The teeter on the scale of human vs vehicle then occured in his mind. The encounter with the hunter...as he had previously had the gracious chance of meeting one...had left quite a scar across his right shoulder. Luck kept him alive...the hunter, though, wasn't as fortunate.
Eyeing this Xan person he then looked to the interior of the car. Pupils elongated as they drank in the sweet darkness as if it were a cave. The comfort of being surrounded by such a thing overwhelmed him and he moved forth - thought not easily. The narrow door opening forced his shoulders to be shoved...then wiggled through. Finally though, the long couch within...he saw...would suit nicely to lay upon. And as such (though with a tail and half a body hanging over)he crawled upon the leather furniture and lay there...in comfort.
Emerald orbs drank in the blackness and somehow refracted a glow that no light had given. The massive head turned to Xan and with a tilt of the head he waited for the man to enter.
Ullery
Xan smiled and entered the vehicle.
"Where to sir?" The driver asked, Xan closed the door and replied.
"Headquarter's John." Xan then reached into a side compartment and pulled out several stick's of jerky, reaching over he placed them all gently on the large cat's front paws. Xan notices the scar within the darkness of the interior and frowns. "I see you've already had the unfortunate occurance of meeting one of those, hunters."
Xan reaches out and gently touches the scar.
"I'm very sorry that I wasn't able to get you to safety sooner, friend."
Tifferzzz
(Tag:Ullery)
The delicious tantalyzing scent of meat filled the nostrils, and a soft rowl emerged in pleasure before he devoured each - one by one. However in the midst of the third, a touch brushed his pelt and the animal froze as if it had been shocked. He loathed being touched, for anything that had come into contact with him had created some sort of havoc. The muscle twitched beneatht he momentary touch and it was then that the tongue curled over the muzzle in thoughtful speech. A voice low as distant thunder on the horizon emerged forth.
"Be sorry that you didn't get him to safety sooner." And with that he took in the last strip of meat before his head lowered to his paws in silence.
Tifferzzz
Jun 26th, 2006 at 10:22 pm, Rhysiswrote:
He looked through the window as the car pulled up, and was turned off. She started walking up to the house. That's when he appeared in the doorway with as kind of a voice as he could muster. "Hey. You okay?"
Soaked to the bone she felt alright, however the soul within her felt torn apart. She'd retreated to the shell of herself in order to protect everything she was from....him.Now she just felt exhausted. She merely nodded and turned for the kitchen, starving but not wanting to eat. Perhaps a hot drink would be suitable. She just needed something to remove the taste of blood in her mouth. It was making her nauseous. She had a lot to think about, especially in the fact that first of all Drummond wouldn't let her establishment go to her. Secondly (and most importantly) it wasn't him that was trying to destroy her.
She had a problem.
Rhysis
He was tempted to accuse her light head nod as being a lie. He knew it was. Her face, movements, and general silence, were more than enough to give away the fact that she didn't feel "okay." But, he thought better of it, and followed her to the kitchen, though not too closely. He leaned against the doorframe, hands in his pockets, and let the silence fill the room for a minute.
After a short while, he spoke again. "I don't need to be back at the office until next week. I can stay here for a while, if you want. You might feel better. I promise I won't press the issue, if you don't feel like talking about it."
Ullery
Xanalestro had noticed the big cat's hesitant reaction toward the touch.
Xanalestro was more then a match for the big cat, unarmed. He'd once faced a tiger full on and met it pawstroke for pawstroke in blocking techniques.
The limo pulls past set's of tree's and scores of private property until it stops at the mysterious orange-looking gates.
After punching in five set's of codes, the limo pulls past the gates and makes a sudden turn to the right.
A hole in the ground opens up and swallow's the vehicle and from there it heads past darkness until there have been four or five turns more.
The limo stops and Xanalestro get's out of the vehicle.
"It's okay my friend." Xan whispers softly to the panther's ear.
"We're in a safe place now. No more harm shall come to you."
Tifferzzz
The kitchen was in the east side of the home, broken off from the living room. The decorations were the same as when their parents had lived there: a decor' not unlike the interior of a cabin. The exterior of the building was quite a 'mansion' appearance which was definately different from the interior.
Her papa did like to hunt though,and the remenants of the hanging heads of bucks, the bodies of fish and ducks were silent reminders to his own personal power - especially over the elements. Unfortunately two elements had taken him down - his wife's cancer, and Drummond.
The Kitchen had it's own bar that was separated from the rest of the kitchen and set in the middle. The top of the counters weren't corian, nor granite...but tile. The kind of tile that reminded her of her mother.
Seated on a stool at the bar with her back facing Marcus and a cup of something warm in her hands, her eyes remained fixed on a specific dot on a certain tile before her. Her voice came out soft and weak. She was tired. her body hurt. most of all her face hurt, but not as much as it would in the morning. "I'd like that, Marcus..." The only thing that Kat had changed in the time that she'd owned the home was moving her room to her parents. It kept her close to them and gave her a comfort that she couldn't allow to leave. The unfortunate issue at hand was by having people rampage through her home...
Lord. She hoped that they hadn't gone into her parent's room.
Two hands brought the cup to her lips but she couldn't bring herself to drink. Placing the cup down once more she took an elated sigh of remorse.
There were two things that she knew she wouldn't ever tell her brother. One was that her and Drummond used to be engaged.The other was of the miscarriage that she'd had - one of the primary reasons (aside from her fgather's death) that she'd ran screaming into the night. She'd spent a year at the mental hospital before they'd released her on the basis of "emotional exhaustion and not a mental defect." Thankfully the home had been paid off and as such nobody tried to repo it. She did have to pay back-taxes though, and reopen the deli to attempt to stay on top of things.
Now it was falling apart.
Her hands started to burn from the ever-warming glass, but she didn't care. It felt good just to feel...something.
Tifferzzz
Comfort was never something that the panther felt. In fact staying alive was the only real issue in his mind that forced every action that he did. Was he exhausted then from his attempted survival each and every day...that he would then get into a stranger's vehicle?
Naturally a wave of uneasiness would coarse through his veins. The door was opened, and the pupils retracted with the sudden burst of brightness. His problem was that he was hardly ever in the light. Even the light of day would do nothing more than make him some hunter's target, so night had become his biggest ally. As such lights posed a sudden problem. His eyes throbbed with the intensity. Closing the lids he waited for one moment..then another...and yet another...before finally rising and wedging himself from the interior of the car once more.
Ullery
Xanalestro frowned at the sudden hesistation in his panther friend.
"A bit too bright for you my friend? Perhaps this little object will help you. To you and only to you specifically, it will dim the interior's or exterior's of Sbc's areas. I still recommend avoiding direct sunlight, as it isn't good for your health anyway, but particularily, it doesn't do too kindly with this device.
Xan holds out what appears to be some kind of small chip.
"just swallow if you want a dimmer or rather a dampner on these litrogen bulbs."
Rhysis
He smiled when she agreed to have him stay. He never liked the idea of her being alone in this house, but particularly now. "Okay then. I could stay in my old room, or I could toss an air mattress on the floor in yours, if you want."
He pushed off the doorframe with his shoulder and walked over to his sister. He placed one hand on her shoulder, and his hand over the hot cup she was holding. He could see the steam rising off the top of it, and knew it would be getting rather hot. They'd had a bad enough day as it was. He didn't need to be treating minor burns on her hands now, too.
He took the cup from her and moved over to the bar. There, the former bartender poured a mixture of Kahlua, nutmeg, milk and powdered sugar into a different mug for a nightcap and set the cool drink between her hands.
He sat beside her, and put one arm around her shoulders to try and give her some sort of comfort. He didn't know what happened there. There was a chance he never would. But one thing was for sure. His sister needed someone, and that someone had to be him. If it weren't, who else could there possibly be?
Tifferzzz
The animal could attest to one thing - putting something in his stomach that would dim lights....well there wasn't enough of a trust built for him to even conceive of such a thing. He'd deal with the pain of his retinas screaming in anguish. Shoulders rolled without a word or thought as he passed the people standing there. One thing was evident - there was fear here. Indeed, if he were a man carrying a loaded weapon, well the odds would be well against him for everyone here was trained on how to handle a man. But a panther?
Let the games begin.
He moved through the people like a serpent through rocks until he came to the strongest scent of fear that he'd ever smelt. He stopped. The dark eyes turned to the man...this stranger...and he stared until the man started to visibly shake. A low throaty rumble to add to the effect, and then the intoxicating flavor of air became so sweet....that he had to restrain from...
Well. No he didn't.
The dark lips pulled back over the jagged weapons as the intermixture of a rumble and a hiss emerged forth - not more than three inches from this cowering feeble of a man. Suddenly the smell of fear was intermixed with the stench of urine.
He had succeeded. If a panther could smirk - well he did.
His head fell nearly to the shoulder of the man that he'd just abused to the point of causing his bowels to lose their function. Ahhh the joy of it. Through the small crowd the eyes searched for Xan, and in a half-hearted caring attempt at a joke, thought to Xan. ~I hope everyone here is this...fun...~ A dark voice in a dark mind. Weaving once more through the retreating crowd he ehaded for the interior of the building.
Tifferzzz
The intense heat was taken from her hands bringing an instant relief that she didn't know that she needed - until now. Once more a cup was placed before them, but she no longer wished to drink. She needed something that she couldn't have, and it was something that she couldn't tell her brother about. Doing so at this time would bring his temper flaring, not just at Drummond, but at her as well. She was to tired for that.
The sweet scent of Nutmeg captured her senses and she brought the glass to her lips automatically. The taste was erotically exotic. A substance that hadn't touched her tastebuds in years. She had missed the flavor, and unfortunately Marcus was the only one who could produce such a drink...one to still her mind and calm her nerves, all without making her sick.
"Your room..." Her voice emerged weaker than she'd thought. "Is ready for you. It always has been." She wanted to hug him, to hold a piece of her family that still existed, but was so afraid that in doing so...well he'd disappear into the wind once more.
Standing from the barstool with the glass cradled in both hands she took a few steps and almost existed the kitchen before repeating once more, "It's good to see you again Marcus." And with that she continued to her room to attempt some sort of sleep among all of this night's ruckus.
Rhysis
He smiled at her as she repeated what was said earlier. "You too, Katie." He watched as she made her way to their parents' old bedroom. Once the door was closed, he set to making sure all the doors and windows were locked, and the lights were turned off.
Once he was sure everything was locked up tight, he went to his old room. There he stood in the doorway for a while. She was right. It was exactly the same way their parents had left it, which was the exact same way he'd left it. It was only a few years ago when he moved out of here, but it seemed like an eternity. Especially now.
He let his mind wander back to the past, when things were easier. He opened up desk drawers to find papers from high school. His closet still held the letterman jacket, his practice and tournament gi and old tournament trophies.
Then he thought about something. He opened the drawer to his old nightstand, and smiled as he found exactly what he was looking for. Part of the test for black belt included intricate knowledge of meditation. He figured, the easiest way to learn about meditation, was to practice it. So, he'd stocked up on candles and incense. Pretty much all that was left of the various types he used was the lavender, which he never used all that often, as he found himself falling asleep halfway through the meditation because of the relaxation effects of the plant oil. But, it would work wonders to help calm his sister's nerves.
He grabbed one of the incense holders and a couple of the slow burning sticks, and made his way to Kat's room, where he knocked on the door, fully expecting to have caught her crying. "Hey, Katie. I've got something that'll help you sleep. Mind if I come in?"
Ullery
The man in question also had a bit of a heart problem.
Most of the more dedicated members and soldier's of sceptered black claw however were not so easily frightened by beasts.
about 90 percent of those in Sbc knew how to carry themselves on a regular basis around animals.
Considering that part of the reason sbc was started was to help protect animals.
In this case, the panther had met Stenton Torren. One of the lesser introduced to animals.
"Clean up private." "y, yes sir."
Xanalestro responded in a soft voice. "I will make a caution friend, don't try that stunt on my second in command. He isn't easily intimidated, nor is he easily scared by predators."
Xanalestro walked to the main console and spoke into a device. "Attention all Personnel. Attention all personnel. We have a new ally in the hq. You can't miss im. Big looking Panther. I assure you to issue no harm towards it. That is all."
Xanalestro headed after the big headed cat and walked alongside it.
Xanalestro opened a door and motioned the panther into the darker interior. Once it was inside, the door would automatically close.
Xanalestro was near the opposite side of the room opening a fridge and pulling out a ham and a bottle of natural spring water.
He poured the water into a plastic cup and sliced the ham in three quarter increments, Leaving two parts on a paper plate for the panther and putting a part into a sandwhich.
He sat down in the chair and gazed across at the panther in a relaxed posture.
Xan ate at the sandwhich and placed the cup down next to him.
He looked at the panther. "If your thirsty friend, I have water here." he motioned to the cup with his hand on it's side to hold it steady.
"And if your hungry, which I know you tend to be quite a bit, then there is food for you on that plate."
Tifferzzz
(Sorry for the delay, gentleman, my business has grown to havoc levels. Bear with me)
(Tag: Rhysis)/ (Tag:Ullery)
*******************
Time had passed since last she departed from the kitchen. How much, wasn’t really important, but the notion that at least thirty minutes flitted away was only important in the aspect of time needed for her to sleep.
Kat’s room could only be described as empty. There weren’t trinkets, photos, or any other memorabilia within the bedroom beyond the necessities of the dresser, bed, and the nightstand with one lamp. The floor was cherry wood, the bed draped in the most simple of linen. If there were one part of the home that showed where her lack of money reflected, it was definitely here. The fascinating part of the room was the bay window that allowed a wonderful view of the woods that lay beyond the Iron Gate.
All in all the room seemed a lonely sense of haunting.
However none of it mattered since she lay atop the four-poster bed, still within the clothes that she’d seen Drummond in, and still drenched to the bone – though her hair had begun to dry. Her eyes had fallen shut and darkness swirled her into an oblivion that could only be described as confusing and vortex-like. From beyond she heard the soft raps against the door, but she didn’t wish to answer it – regardless of who it was. She was almost to a place of either perfect peace or of horrid nightmares. The chance to sleep without dreams was such a wondrous notion that she was willing to risk the nightmares to get there.
Perfect peace…what a notion.
********************
(Tag: Ullery)
It didn’t take long for the thick tongue to gorge itself upon the small feast before him. Perhaps in the sight of Kings and royalty, it wasn’t such a banquet as to be termed a ‘feast’ however to him (and compared to his usual routine) it was indeed welcomed.
Lapping at the liquid until the bowl was dry he then sat back on his haunches and gazed to the human before him. His head tilted slightly before his maw parted in a rowl of a yawn and he fell to the floor, licking the pads clean of his right paw. “So tell me of your purpose. There must be logical reason for you to bring me here…is there not? It will serve you in some way, though I’m unsure of how.†His statement was to the point, direct, and not intended for shock but just for what he asked for, 'a reason.'
Ullery
Xanalestro gazed co-operativeley at his friend and smiled.
"Directly to the point eh? all right."
Xanalestro folded his hands and gazed at the panther with respect. And without any hints of fear within him.
"Your here for three specific reasons."
"The first of which, is that I needed a pet, but have you ever heard of pure black wolves? No. Wolves though their my main, proctection enforcement, they aren't pets. They can't be classified as such simply because they don't have the pure black fur."
"You do. And you represent both strength and wisdom."
"Secondly, you are here because your the near last of your species both in the city and in the surrounding territorys for as far as up to 900 metrons. Which is about 40,000 miles."
"Lastly you are here because I became......very interested in the stories I heard about you. Two hunter's told me you nearly took their arm right off. And I do know about the children who wandered too close into your territory and vanished without a trace. I also can guess, where those children went. Don't worry, I'm about as secretive as they come."
"If you decide to stay on with me my friend, you can expect to be treated with the utmost respect. And here, there are no hunter's who would dare try to harm you. Well at least in the business section they wouldn't try it. Not with me sitting in a chair or walking with you nearby. No no. That would be a very large mistake they'd make."
"In the military facility, or headquarters, as is where we are currently, the chances of finding this base and it's conducting challanges. Are extremely low. So far no one has ever found my base. And if they had, I have a rather, unique set of individual's whom I've had the pleasure of working with before, who would be able to wipe out, my little problem."
Rhysis
No answer. Perhaps, in the seemingly short time he'd been going through the house, and the things in his old room, she actually managed to fall asleep. He decided it best to just leave her be.
To get somewhat of the desired effect, however, Marcus went back to his room and collected as many of the lavender scented candles as he could find, five in all. They were eac in a jar, so wax spilling all over wouldn't be a problem. He set them up around the house, with a flat saucer underneath each one, just in case they did fall over, so it wouldn't make a mess, or start a fire. He made sure to place one of the candles close to an air intake vent, so the scent would travel all through the house. He also placed one in the kitchen, one in the main room, one on a table in the hallway, and the last one he put just outside her room, on the nightstand he'd moved from his room.
He then went back to his room, leaving the door open in case Kat had a bad nightmare that she may want to be woken up from, and sat at the edge of his old bed, thinking about the irony of their current situation. He had quite a few of his own problems. He had just as much sentimental attachment to the house and the deli as Kat did. His house and the property it was on had been "signed" by Drummond's goons, and his own company, though he hadn't told anyone yet, was threatening to get rid of his division, and thus, him. Still, the only thing he was concerned with was making sure his sister's problems were dealt with. She was more important to him right now than anyone else. He'd even been engaged, once, but it was broken off because he was constantly worrying about Kat, instead of anything else. Healthy or not, that was how he'd grown up, and that was just how things were going to have to work.
Tifferzzz
The night had passed briefly enough that the next morning came to soon. A dull grey windy morning that promised rain every few hours rose to greet them.
Kat groaned outwardly as if detesting the fact that she'd even managed to wake. She'd have rather stayed in the vortex of black nothingness of where dreams didn't exist and nightmares didn't live. It was a place of solace, of quiet, of where time passed quickly but nothing happened.
It was a place of perfection.
Perhaps this place was what you saw after you died? Katarina pondered on that as she stared out the window to the cold bleak world that would greet her.
It was another day.
A day she wasn't excited about. Perhaps she'd just do as she did when she was a child.
Taking that into account, she grabbed the thick comforter and curled back into the large bed pulling the covers over her head.
The darkness blocked out the light, and once more she was in peace.
Tifferzzz
Thus far, the panther hadn't a reason to suspect nor really trust anyone. He had accepted this situation enough to be in the confines of a building that was loitered with what he considered to be walking food.
Sleep hadn't taken him, at least not that night, and he'd roamed each hall and stuck his nose into every available room that he could get into. He wouldn't touch nor break anything, as that was not his intention. He didn't wish destruction, but to merely investigate. It was a new world that they'd welcomed him into, he better know what he was dealing with.
Shoulders coiled and rolled and silent steps carried him down the hall. He wouldn't touch anyone, nor would they approach him, as it wasn't wise to do so...especially with the growl in his stomach.
Ullery
Xanalestro sat behind the chair, having slept perhaps no more then four hours that night. He opened his eyes to find his, friend gone.
He gazed across at a computer console and tapped a couple of button's to bring up infra-red and security camera's.
An access corridor on East wing Delta caught Xan's attention.
"Hmm. odd, that sector's supposed to be for higher management."
He tapped a button to bring up the security camera near that sector and his eyebrow raised when in zoom mode, he located the source for the oddness. It seemed his friend was doing a little investigating.
He placed a hand to his communicator.
"all units, our friend is permitted to enter level three areas.
However level four and nuclear level five's are on lockdown, you'll need your keycards to enter those sectors."
A response came from one of the teams. "yes sir, understood."
Rhysis
He hadn't been able to sleep all that much better than anyone involved with this, apparently. He'd go to sleep for an hour, wake up for half, sleep for another hour, and wake up again. After three or four times of that, he'd decided it best to just stay up.
So what had he been doing aside from making sure none of the candles fell over? Helping his family, of course.
The last two hours had been spent with a combination of the computer, phone, and notepad, trying to figure things out with his sister's problem. She never liked taking handouts, but that hadn't stopped him from just transferring the money over to her personal and corporate accounts.
He'd made a list of all the employees of the diner and called a few different companies to come to the diner to give a quote on how much it would cost to have security cameras installed. He would have just automatically hired the one with the best reputation, but it wasn't actually his restaurant, and he wanted to make sure Kat didn't have a problem with it, first.
He also had a rather lengthy conversation with his assistant, having her take care of some of the work she'd been holding for him, as he wasn't fully positive he would be back to work when he origionally planned.
Now, he was in the kitchen, finishing up Katarina's favorite breakfast, or at least what he could remember as being her favorite breakfast. He placed the finishing touch of a single flower on the tray, and headed up to her room. With a firm but calm rap on the door, he spoke. "Hey Katie, I've got something for you. Mind if I come in?"
Tifferzzz
It wasn't until the moment that her brother's voice entered through the door that she became tragically aware that last night wasn't a dream. The tenderness of her cheek was another hateful reminder of what had occured and with whom the previous eve's interaction was with.
She hadn't remembered changing her clothes between the time she had hit her bed and now, but the soaked attire was on the floor and she was dressed in a simple white tank with flannel striped pajama bottoms.
She responded as she had always done when they had been beneath the same roof, "door's open munchkin..."
The term munchkin had originated when Kat had been trivialized due to her shorter than family height. Being teased for being normal stature for a woman didn't lessen the impact when nearly everyone in your family was almost six feet.
The munchkin phrase was to pin the insult elsewhere to lessen the blow of truth. After time, it just stuck.
She didn't bother to pull out her buried head when he entered for the light wouldn't do her eyes, or anything else for that matter...justice.
Tifferzzz
With silent footsteps that kept him moving like a shadow through light, the unexpectedness of when he came around certain corners gave some occupants a startled realization of what this mammoth beast could potentially do. None came near him, nor spoke to him, and he appreciated it as such.
Passing by the slit of a door, he thought little of the conversation that filled his ears until the term "Barraka" gave him reason for pause. Every muscle stilled in its position. Triangular sonars pivoted with an almost desperate attempt to overhear the words.
As faint as they were some distinctions were amazingly clear. One of them included skinning, death, and other various assortments of punishments that he had yet to experience. The other was money.
What the obsession was with the paper fabrication that human's had embolized into a god-like symbol, he could not understand.
A rustling informed him that it was time to move forward, and as such he did, curling around the next corner just in time to hear the door click closed.
He was going to have to be more careful than he had originally thought. It seemed that there were things to occur in the future that he would be part of - and whether it was good or bad he needed to be prepared.
Ullery
(might want to make a note of whom the play is aimed for so we won't get confused in the future)
Mitch Larson had a multitude of tasks on his shoulders.
And as such a new "ally" had entered their domain.
Mitch found the triangular security coordinate's and went off after the great wild cat with calmth.
Mitch stepped around a corner to find himself facing the large cat.
"Greetings and salutation's comrade, My name is Mitch Larson, I am the second in command of daily operations, and as such, I am constantly on the move. Order's were recieved for you comrade. Your allowed access to up to level three areas, level four and five and level nuclear were decided off limits to you. If you have complaints with that, take it up with Xanalestro. Now, For most of us there's a feeding time and schedule, however, you are exempt from that particular schedule, but Xan did mention you'd be hungry so I brought you a plate of steaks with which to satisfy your hunger."
Mitch placed the warm cooked meat steaks in front of the panther and gave it a full confident stare. "If you have need of me, I'm always around. Just don't be surprised if it takes more then a moment for me to notice you, I'm a very busy individual and as such I'm kept on my toes constantly. Enjoy your new home, comrade."
Mitch then turned and walked around the panther and headed in the direction the panther had just come. More then once he stopped to answer a communication from somewhere else.
Rhysis
He moved into the room, smirking a bit at the response he hadn't expected from her. As he sat down on the edge of the bed and placed the tray of food next to her, he paraphrased the playful words their mother had always used with her when the two of them argued as small children, as all siblings did, from time to time. "Ya know...one of these days I'm gonna be bigger than you. You'd better be nice to me."
He offered her a smile as he watched for a reaction. He hadn't expected her to feel on top of the world. But he could tell she was making an attempt at hiding something and, were it not for the history between her and the scum she'd met with the previous night, he would have already gone to the source and figured it out for himself.
He was quiet for a few seconds, long enough that he was positive she would be able to smell the food. Then he started up. "I went ahead and transfered the money to your accounts so you won't have to close down or go hungry, and I wanna try and help you figure out who's been stealing from you. You okay with that?"
Tifferzzz
(Tag: Ullery)
An appetite that would never be satisfied greedily took in the steaks without word. It hadn't occured to him the thought of potential danger that might have been included in the food. Nevertheless, instinct overwrought thought and the red meat was soon sitting in his stomach.
With a rather loud rowl, he took it upon himself to stretch, greedily enjoying the feeling of having a full stomach. A shake of the head, a turn of the ears, and he listened, but found nothing interesting enough to move.
Haunches folded beneath him and his rear plopped down onto the floor.With a lazy wag of the tip of his tail he began to clean his right paw.
A twinkle of laughter, a light hearted sound that sounded foreign in an establishment such as this had his attention quickly captured. The paw lowered and he rose, his steps silent as he moved down the corridor and towards the office where the pleasant sound emerged.
The pleasure of such a sound had him seated outside her door, as a guard dog would...just simply listening as if it were a musical album being played.
With each person that came near the door, a small growl, a raise of the lips would keep them at bay. Not for the reason of fear...persay...but perhaps the unknowing of what the feline would do if they stepped beyond and created a confrontation...that undoubtedly would have their boss greatly displeased.
Whomever the woman was speaking to that kept her with joy in her voice must have ended when a click filled the air. He rose and turned, nudging open the door and padded to the stranger.
Without a second thought, he sat beside her and placed the massive skull on the woman's lap.
Tifferzzz
(Tag: Rhysis)
She had to laugh at his response, for she hadn't even realized that she'd called him the nickname until his words hit her ears. Rising to a sit and turning to face him, her hair was all tusseled as it use dto be when she was a child. She brushed it from her face as carlessly as a toddler and smiled softly, though relieved at his words.
One thing Kat hated was handouts, however she'd fought hard enough to this point to not take something from somebody. She needed help. "What would I do without you?" She questioned as she leaned back against the headboard. "I'm sorry if your room was dusty. I had to fire the maids a long time ago...after papa...well you know. I haven't really cleaned beyond just the natural picking up." She shrugged lightly, "But just as you know, I wasn't one to clean anyway." She then sat in silence for a while before adding, "Are you glad to be back?" A partial question but more of a sarcastic statement than anything.
Rhysis
He laughed mildly as she reacted a bit more positively than he thought she would have. He tussled her hair in an attempt to mess it up more as he answered the rhetorical question. "Well you probably would have had a lot more dates in school without all the senior classmen being afraid what of your little brother would do."
He moved the food in front of her and shrugged as she apologized for the condition of his room. "I wouldn't worry about it. I spent the last month sleeping in a two-dollar a night hotel with no running water and lights that took ten seconds to turn on after you flipped the switch; in a country I’ve never even heard of. So, yeah…†He smirked. “I’m glad to be back.â€
He knew that wasn’t what she’d meant by her question. But, he couldn’t resist. “And, since I am back, I’ve also got some good news. I found somebody who might be able to help you out with those headaches. He’s a bit unorthodox, but I think it might be worth looking in to.â€
Tifferzzz
The very notion that there was a capable, potential, 'cure' for her ailment sent her mind reeling. He had her focus now. Unorthodox or not, years of having her head throb with a million hammers and experiencing what it might have felt like to have one's eyes torn from their skull...would leave anybody wishing for an answer. Any answer.
"Tell me of it." She knew that the headaches had grown worse with each passing year and she hadn't any idea of how long she'd continue to hold out.
The excitement had her eating without even realizing she was doing so. She'd...within that moment of splendor...had moved to her knees and grabbed a piece of bread munching nervously on it.
Rhysis
"Well I haven't been able to get too much information on him, yet. He doesn't like to share the details of his procedures with anybody he's not actually treating. But, when I described what you'd been going through, and that it had been diagnosed as anything from cluster headaches to repressed asthma issues, he gave me enough to peak my interest, meaning it's probably more than enough to peak yours." He smiled
"The first visit with him is usually just a question and answer session. He said he looks for signs of different causes in the way you react as well as the way you answer. The next couple are some light stimulation treatments, followed by some concentration exercises. He said he doesn't have success with everybody, but more than half of the people who come and see him that have been suffering their whole lives, like you have, don't have any headaches by the time they're done. I thought it might be worth trying out." He didn't mention the cost. The problem with a privately funded doctor was that they never had much money, so when they got customers, if they wanted to stay in business, they had little choice but to charge them an arm and a leg. It was that, or s promise of returned services. Marcus would take care of the cost.
"So whattya think?"
Tifferzzz
Short of selling her soul to the devil, she was willing to do anything. She nodded enthusiastically. "Yes please..." But then she stopped with a furrowed brow. "How much is it going to cost...as you know I don't..." her voice trailed off as her eyes diverted, more than ashamed of her current financial situation regardless if it was her doing or not. She still felt responsible, and as such being as broke as she was, was very demeaning.
Rhysis
He shook his head and answered with a determined tone. "I'm not about to sit back and watch a chance for my sister to stop suffering pass by just out of reach simply because of money. I'm taking care of the bill. All you've got to do is show up. Your first appointment is tomorrow at three o' clock. I'll take you there, myself."
He didn't leave any room for argument. Not that it had stopped her from presenting one, before. She was good that way. Still, the appointment had been made, as had a deposit. "So you just go to your appointment. Don't worry about the cost. I'm more worried about keeping those headaches away from you than I am about the money."
Tifferzzz
(Tag: Rhysis)
She would do as he said, though he was younger than she was, it felt good to have someone else take control of everything - if for just a moment.
The days time would roll by aggrivatingly slow until it was nearly time to leave, in which she merely changed her clothes and pulled her hair back into a french braid. As if her very appearance would influence the doctor that she wasn't a nobody who didn't deserve to be seen.
Descending the stairs in her home, she asked him almost pleadingly, for she wished not to go alone, "Will you come with me?"
Rhysis
He smiled and nodded. "Of course I'll go with you." His hand moved from behind his back and he tossed his keys in the air before catching them with the opposite hand. Obviously, he'd been expecting her to ask him to accompany.
"As a matter of fact, Doctor Roe suggested that I go with you, at least for the first session, anyway." He smiled and moved to the door, holding it open for her. "And just think. Pretty soon, you'll have no headaches to speak of any more, and you can finally go on that float trip with me and the group.
He was speaking of a small group of friends they managed to keep from the combination of high school and college. It may have only been three additional friends, but they were pretty close. Each one of them had played a vital role in the planning of their parents' funerals. Though they were somewhat closer to Marcus than they were Katarina, they still looked forward to seeing them both, as rare as it may have been.
Tifferzzz
Katarina had perhaps become 'brilliant' due to her father's aspiritions. He had volunteered his only daughter as an experimental 'rat' but make it appear as nothing more than a simple game.
"Here my little kitten, put on this hat. It's a special hat."
"For princesses?"
"yes my dear, for princesses..."
The excruciating pain didn't occur until years later which had both surprised and dumbfounded her father. As sweet as he was, he was still a brilliant scientist that longed for greatness.
Her brother had never known. Her father saw to that.
Kat rubbed her eyes while stepping through the door as if she were being whisked into that one dream that she'd longed for. The one without the burning sensation that poured fire down her spine, through her toes, into her fingers, and out of her eyes. The one that left the pounding, the aching, the pain behind.
Now she was within that dream.
With a smile of longing she slid into the car beside her brother and waited anxiously - perhaps a little 'too' anxiously, to get to the doctor's office. Figiting in her seat she stared out the window, biting her lip softly as her mind thought of all the things she could do with a clear head.
Like figure out who was theiving from her.
In truth it was easy to see the chance. But the hurt came in knowing that it had to be someone close to her, someone she trusted.
And she hoped to God that it was because of a good reason. She could forgive that.
Treacherous acts without remorse or any other purpose other than selfish tendencies....that....she couldn't forgive.
Rhysis
"You take good care of your sister."
"I will, Papa."
"You know she depends on you, even though she's older."
"I know, Mama."
He'd been hearing it all his life. From the earliest time he could remember, all the way up until their passing, his parents made sure Marcus would be the strong one. No, he didn't know why. He never really thought to ask. To him, that's just the way it was. Other siblings didn't work that way. Or at least, not in their younger years. The older one, regardless of gender, was the one to watch out for the younger one. Not with them. Their parents wanted to make sure Kat had someone to lean on when they couldn't be around. Good thing, too, because now they weren't.
Marcus thought about their past a lot, as he drove to Dr. Roe's office. Of course, he'd been thinking about their past a lot, anyway, ever since it was just the two of them. One thing he'd figured out was that, despite how closely knit their family had been, there were a lot of secrets. He hoped the good doctor could uncover some of them. These headaches may have been common, but they were anything but normal. He'd heard of sympathy pain before, but when he could tell that Kat was getting a headache without him even knowing she had one, because of the awkward pain in his own head, something was amiss. He'd mentioned that to the doctor, which is what got him so interested in her condition.
As they pulled into the parking lot outside a typical looking office building, he looked over to his sister and sighed. "Well, we're here. You ready?"
Tifferzzz
Each road seemed to weave into the next until it all fell into a blur. For some reason thoughts of her father pressed through her mind, but not of the experiments (to which she didn't remember) but of the times that they used to play, and laugh, and the times where he'd take her riding in the woods.
Or play scrabble. To which she always beat him.
Her hands, though entwined began to shake slowly at first, then more violently as they drew closer to the building. When they stopped she felt overwhelmingly nauseous. Perhaps it was just anxiety. Her heart fluttered in heavier palpitations until her chest felt as if it were to explode. The only time she felt anything remarkably as disorienting and unusual as this was when her father took her skydiving.
At six.
Kat hadn't a fear of heights, she had a fear of falling. Yet determined to please her father in his quest to be the king to overcome obstacles, she'd allowed him to throw her from the plane.
She felt just as she did at this very moment, before she vomited and passed out in the air. Had Marcus not been right beside her and pulled the cord for her, she would have died.
And now, this feeling overwhelmed her again. Though her stomach fluttered, her heart slammed, her shoulders shook down to her arms, she nodded staring at the building and muttered a voice weaker than she meant to, "I'm ready." Her voice sounded remarkably like what a mouse's might if it were to walk into a house full of cats.
Being the ever-resilient one, and so damned hard-headed to never let anyone down, she nodded in defiance to her feelings. Her brother was paying for her to become well, and she wouldn't let him down.
Come hell or high water she'd fight to the end before disappointing Marcus.
Ullery
"Hmm." Xanalestro had fallen asleep at his computer, not the first time in hq.
"Sir the "car" will be arriving at our location four hours from now."
Xan nodded at Mitch and rubbed his eyes. "How long was I out?"
Mitch gazed at his watch. "Five hours sir."
"Geeze. What's the stock market like right now?"
"Well, it's holding steady at six and nine sir."
"Good."
Xanalestro frowned. "Where's our, guest Mitch?"
"Don't know sir. Last I heard, he was in corridor six beta."
Xan tapped a few keys on a security system tel-link to his left and images popped up.
Xanalestro was either seeing double or the cat had either managed to find his wife or possibly Captain Jane O Cordell.
"Hmm. Mitch is my wife down in six beta?"
"Don't know sir."
Xanalestro stood up and headed towards six beta.
Frowning quietly.
Tifferzzz
(Tag: Ullery)
The sudden startle of surprise didn’t raise his head from her lap, instead the melodic tones of “what the?†as well as a few other choice curses could only be brought forth by a Captain that had been more than ‘in the field.’ If she had expected him to take a bite out of her thigh, she would have been incorrect. Instead, the heavy head would remain on the lap, simply waiting for her to speak more and sooth him with the pitches and falls of the melodic tones. He felt a short pat atop his head, as if she were testing him to see if he would snap, but in response she’d only feel the vibration of a purr coarse through him and into her.
But then the door opened and his head turned on the scent. It wasn’t a familiar; in fact it was another worker that was bringing some sort of files to the captain.
His quiet time had been interrupted and he was most displeased. HE claimed this woman as HIS. Not in mating, not in sexual nature, but in a complete possession of his own.
He stared at the man, who in turned stared back at him without a waiver of fear. The triangular ears pivoted then lay back against the skull as the soft purr that had been there previously suddenly shifted into a dark rumble of a threatening growl. He stood between the man and the angel-voiced female and there was a hint of recognition that coarsed through Barraka’s mind. This had been one of the men that he’d spotted in the other rooms that had spoken his name. Few knew of his actual identity, and for this stranger to know of it only raised his awareness and anger. He didn’t trust this man, and he didn’t want him near this woman. Jane had become that of the panther's and didn’t even know it.
Barraka, on the other hand, was about to break all hell loose.
Ullery
Xanalestro stopped at the begining of corridor six.
He listened and for a brief second thought he sensed a shadow nearby.
He frowned and gazed toward where the shadow supposedly had been and frowned again. "that was odd."
He reaches to his wrist and speaks into his watch.
"B ops here." replied a voice to a button press.
"ops, am I being tagged and followed?"
"Negative sir, no signs of tag and bag."
"Hmm. List all operatives in corridor six please."
"Lance meroit, Private third class, H-hunter, Special operative J sillan. And Captain Cordell."
"What is Cordell's current location?"
"Cordell is in office z slash gamma sir."
"Thank you ops."
Xan headed towards the section that would take him to office gamma.
Tifferzzz
Tag: Ullery
Deep emerald latched onto the stranger that stood opposite of him. Barraka's head was nearly to the shoulder of the stranger...in height...and thus was a rather intimidating creature of itself. The man didn't seem phased, but insinuated a look that in itself resembled a human saying of "bring it." The low rumble was quickly cut off when the man spoke. "Better keep your 'pet' on a leash there Captain...you never know whatcould happen." When he spoke, his gaze never shifted from the panther, nor did the panther waiver from the man. He merely tossed the file to the Captain and turned from Barraka with little regard, and even littler respect. The panther would have attacked him if the hand of his 'angel' hadn't touched his head. "Ignore him.." She replied, still a bit on the cautious side of the newly acquired panther. "He's just a jackass."
Ullery
Xanalestro stopped when he saw a recruit walking out of the captain's office.
Xan made a mental note to remember to find out who that was.
Xan knocked on the door to the captain's office and entered.
"Good afternoon Captain cor-" Xanalestro stopped short when he noticed his furry companion near her feet.
Xan walked up without fear and kneeled before the panther, gently placing a hand along the chin and gazing at the panther's eyes.
"Hello friend, I see you've already met the Captain."
Xanalestro stands and gazes at Captain cordell. "who was that recruit that just left anyhow? i don't..quite recall his name."
Tifferzzz
The Captain's eyes lifted to Xan as he entered, and quickly notated the supposed trust between him and the animal. She knew that she needn't worry of it tearing at Xan...at least not yet.
"Hmmm? Oh him. That's Andrew Jorgenson. David Jorgenson's son. He just recently transfered here."
Her eyes drifted to the animal, watching it's reactions, and the moment she began to speak of Andrew, the more aggitated the panther became.
"It seems our friend here, doesn't like him."
If a panther could smirk, he would have. Like...was a complete understatement of what he felt for Andrew. Loathe was a closer comparison, perhaps hate...perhaps a whole plethora of unfriendly words could describe exactly what he felt, but it all wrapped up into one word - mistrust.
His thoughts disappeared though when the lady's hand patted his head and began to idly scratch it as she searched her files. Turning, she handed the employee file of Andrew over to Xan. "You can check him out, but I trust his dad, so I thought it would be a good thing to have him here." She shrugged idly. "He's a bit of a hard-ass, but he's loyal."
Ullery
Xanalestro took the file from the captain and nodded quietly.
"I'll look the file over at the buisness office at the first fleeting moment that I get."
He gazes down noticing the animals reaction to the man.
Interesting. Xanalestro himself had a more...subtle approach with animals and he could tell on watching it's body language that it didn't take heed in the mentioning of the name.
Xan kneeled back down before his friend and leaned close to his face.
He gazed deep into the eyes, xan's own showing sympathy and calmth.
He gave the panther a gentle scratch under the chin and spoke in a soft calm tone to it.
"friend?" he asked slowly. "Would you care to accompany me to the buisness office? I should like you to know the other side of sbc."
Tifferzzz
He didn't really 'like' the touch from Xan. In fact he would prefer that only the womanw ith the angel's voice ever touched him. He wasn't a 'pet me' type of animal. He resisted the urge to swap out at Xanalestro's hand when Xan spoke of something that he wished to show him. As feline's go...they're always curious. The soft muzzle pressed into the woman's hand for some more attention, and finally, when he'd received enough, he rose and existed the room ahead of Xan, but would wait for him to walk beside him.
Ullery
Xanalestro smiled at the captain calmly.
"As charming as he is, do remember that I brought him here."
Xanalestro gave a soft sigh and followed the panther out speaking into it's mind directly with calmth.
"From your attitude and sudden intensity when I merely rubbed your chin, I take it, that you still do not trust me fully friend."
Xan walked down the darkened hallway calmly and pulled a piece of jerky out of his black pitch leather cloak and placed it near the muzzle of the panther calmly. "A pity really, seeing that I trust you to the fullest extent of my life."
Xan stops for a second and kneels before the panther staring into it's face. "Don't forget my friendly feline. I like you, was once a loner on the darkness. Although my homeworld....found us my team and I, too..dangerous to keep alive. A regiment under my command.."
Xan stopped at the remenense. "well maybe I'll tell you the story later. Right now, we have places to go and people to see."
Xan stood up still holding the jerky but lightly so the panther could grasp it as they walked. Xan walked into an elevator and waited patiently. "The safest elevator in these parts, created entirely by myself and my two most trusted commanders. my second in command, and well a college."
Tifferzzz
As he walked beside Xan he spoke as if he were of human capacity, without the mental connection. "A person of such tones...of such beautiful sound cannot be anything else other than trusted. Such a gift is only bestowed on those who are worthy, and she...everytime her mouth opens, it's merely beauty of notes." His head bobbed softly as he walked. "Trust is something that I bestow upon nobody. A partnership, and acquaintanceship, a friendship...but never trust. Because to trust is to accept your own fate of death." He snorted lightly. "Had I trust in my brother, I would have been dead at this moment. Take no offense to it, but know that if I did extend trust, that you...would have it." With a soft rowl, he lunged quickly forward and captured the jerky, then fell back into pace, slightly behind Xan.
Ullery
"well spoken my friend." xan said as he pressed the button for the elevator to take them up to the top floor. Which led to the outside world and the awaiting vehicle.
Once the elevator opened at the top, Xan walked casually towards the entrance to the outside his eyes on their current destination, but his mind lightly spoken with his comrade in fur. "So what was your brother like, if you don't mind me asking, if you do mind, I shall inquire of it no further."
At that point Xan holds his hand against a plate on the wall that reads his hand and the codes therein.
A briefcase fall's from above which xan catches with a slight movement of his hand.
The door opens and he walks out headed for the car. Once there, xan opens the door and slips inside, leaving it open in wait of his comrade.
Tifferzzz
Dark ears flopped about as his head shook side to side for a mere moment, but didn't cease his flow of footing as he followed Xan. "My brother..." He began with the deepest rumble in his chest. "Is only considered such a thing due tot he blood within our veins. If you wish to know of him...then very well." He stepped to the elevator. "Deceitful and cunning, selfish, arrogant, and hateful. He had never grown to the fullest of his potential and loathed me that I had. His embarassment came in a simple fight between himself and one of the canine breed. His surity of success was ultimately his downfall." The panther stilled watching in patience as Xan entered the vehicle, before he soon joined behind him. "In truth, I wish it had been myself that had caused him to meet his unfortunate end." There wasn't any sorrow or regret to his voice, and in the silence, he rose onto the leather covered upholstry and attempt to keep as much of his large body on it as he potentially could.
Ullery
"perhaps that can be arranged."
Xan closes the door and their driven to a single destination, Sbc business hq downtown ayenee.
Xan gazes calmly at his feline companion and closes his eyes for a moment.
"it's indeed possible for me to reconstruct the mind and body of your brother. I'd have to look into the databases on stores of animal dna for the exact match that resembles your own, granted without any harm coming to you through a simple radio scan. But it's something that you might want to try in the future."
Xan opens his eyes. "But I'm getting quite ahead of myself indeed.
Perhaps your brother, never realized just how intelligent and overall charismatic you are. I on the other hand, do."
He places another jerky down in between the front paws of the panther and smiles. Xan's smile disappears when he looks onto a mini display and read's a notice. "hmm. Seems some new company is causing fluctations with business finances. I'll have to look into that."
He looks back to the panther calmly. "Believe me my friend, getting to where I am today, took a lot of hard work."
He gently scratches under the panther's chin for a second.
"At one point today, I'll most likely have a buisness meeting, after it's done, I'll take us to lunch."
Rhysis
Marcus simply looked at his sister for a long few moments. If he couldn't see that she was nervous about what was to come, he may as well have been blind to a dayglo-orange elephant standing in the middle of an empty, black ballroom. He decided to give her a little bit of time before they went in. Otherwise, with their luck, she'd pass out as soon as her foot hit the first step.
"I've got your other tank, Katie." It was an _expression he'd used since they'd gone scuba-diving as children. Kat was worried that she didn't have her spare tank with her. Marcus had managed to grab it before the left shore. Good thing, too. She ended up needing it. It was his way of saying, "I'm looking out for you." Ever the watchful sibling.
He stepped out of the car and moved around to open her door, and help her out. He was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to make the trip up the three short steps and through the doorway alone. Determined as she may have been, when someone was on the verge of realizing a near-lifelong dream, it was rarely easy to simply step up to
Tifferzzz
Tag: Rhysis
The very thought of finally having one hinderance in her life come to an end nearly brought tears to her eyes. Would would it be like to experience a night without excricuating pain? Torment so severe that at times she had literally tried to claw her eyes out to rid the pain behind them. What would it be to travel? To actually enjoy a night out in the district without worrying over another 'occurance?' In his hand Marcus had held open a palm of opportunity, of magic, and of such hope that she couldn't turn it away. She felt like a child that had been shown what the taste of candy was...for the very first time. he was going to show her how to jump, how to leap, how to wish and hope and pray and dream...without fear. It was such a wonderous thing that her hands trembled as if she were frightened.
"I've got your other tank Katie"
As close as he was to her, the voice still sounded foreign as she stared out the windshield to the monstrous sized building before her. An intermixture of fear, nausea, and wonder swept through her as she looked to the front doors. What lay within would be her savior. It would be an ease to her ache, and answer to her questions. It would be.....
Before she could conclude in her mind exactly what it would be, she placed her hand in his and stood on shaky knees. She felt as if she were moving to a great end, perhaps even coming before a God, and that feeling both excited her and frightened her beyond words. Her bright eyes were filled with torrents of varying emotions, but not deciding on exactly how she wanted to feel, she looped her arm through her brothers needing more than a simple hand to steady her approach. She knew that she needn't say anything to Marcus, for he knew her as close as if they were twins. Her grasp merely held tightly onto him, but she wouldn't have an outward appearance of needing his stability. She seemed to walk with confidence though her insides felt the complete opposite of that.
Two more steps were taken before the building swallowed them up.
Ullery
Xan gazed out the window and then turned his eyes back on his comrade.
"All right then."
Xan brought out three jerky sticks as a snack for his friend as he exited the car. He smiled and held the door open for his four legged friend.
"Last stop. Welcome to Scepetered Black Claw's corporate office."
Xanalestro looked at the entrance and frowned. "Odd Joan should be behind the courtesy desk within eyeshot. Maybe she's in the back making some coffee."
Tifferzzz
Tag: Ullery
The overwhelming stench of unease and uncertainty filled his nostrils like a smell unlike anything he’d ever known. Had he put it into literal terms, he’d have stated that it was as if rotten eggs had been exploded around him and left out in the sun for days melting against the concrete to produce an odor so acrid that one couldn’t breathe. Yes, this was a good portrayal of what he felt. One paw would exit the vehicle and still in ascent as the silence around them was as explosive as a gunshot in the night. Instantaneously the hairs along his back began to rise in protest of the sudden feeling of…
~Not…right…~ He thought softly, and whether or not Xan would be able to pick up on the sudden apprehension of his companion was yet to be seen
Ullery
Xanalestro turned back to his feline comrade noticing the body language of the panther rather then anything.
"My thoughts exactly comrade, it does seem..unusual that joan isn't at her spot."
Xanalestro stepped towards the front door and opened it.
Peeking inside he instantly dropped to the ground as a bullet whizzed over his head.
"Crap!" Xan cursed dropping his briefcase and pulling a concealed dagger from a slit in his jacket.
Xan pushed the door with the automatic open button and rushed inside diving headfirst over the counter-top area as a series of bullet's landed where he ought to have been.
Xan yelled from over the countertop. "You'd better drop it bud, or I'm gonna have to re-" Xan didn't get a chance to finish as he dived back over the countertop when a medium level grenade landed inside it.
"CRAP!" Xanalestro got up and raced to the door throwing himself outside and pressing his hands over his head as an explosion tore the counter-desk to shreds.
Xan stood up, brushed dirt off his jacket and raced inside. He sent one of the dagger's flying straight off with a quick snap of his wrist.
He followed that up with racing forward and as soon as the distraction knife had passed, he had enough time to intercept the next attack of the gun. He brought his hand down in a swift thick chop to the assailant's wrist and knocked the gun from the assailant's hand.
He blocked an incoming blow to the gut with his other fist and brought himself up into a roundhouse kick, which was blocked in turn.
Then the assailant grasped him by the throat and attempted to choke him to death.
Xanalestro's radio fell out of his pocket as he was forced backwards.
Once he was near enough to one of the front windows, Xanalestro brought both hands up into a cupped form in between the assailant's choking grasp and quickly shoved them sideways to break the hold.
Xanalestro followed this up with a quick movement to get to the doorway, but was stopped from behind as the assailant grasped at him from behind.
"Oh no you don't!" Xan gasped out sending an elbow into the side of the attacker's head. When the attacker let go, Xan followed this up with a quick grab on the man's wrist and went into an instant throw defense that sent the attacker right through the window.
Xanalestro fell backwards breathing in deep breath's as he struggled back to his feet to release joan from her bonds.
Xan was hoping his comrade outside would keep the intruder pinned.
"Joan, call the cops." Xan rubbed his throat. "Damn." He gazed over at the destroyed desk area.
"Joan, head upstairs and call the cops."
Xanalestro walked towards the front door still rubbing his throat.
"God damned nutjobs with their thoughts for conquering the leader of the sbc!"
Tifferzzz
(Tags: Ullery)
The very moment that Barraka had uttered that mere thought about things feeling out of the ordinary, was approximately the time that all hell broke loose. The animal had the sense not to enter the building at the same time as Xan...call it a hunch. Four paws stood against the earth waiting for the slightest hint of exterior conflict, and once the explosion of gunfire was heard within the building, to the exterior of it occured something of a completely different nature.
Triangular sonars pivoted in time to hear the quickened hiss of an approaching weapon, but regardless of his attempt, he was still doomed to feel the brilliant sting that pinned itself beneath the junction of his left front leg to his body. It didn't feel as a bullet would - for he knew of that experience, but isntead a rising torrent of fire that burned through his veins, fogged his mind, and forced him to stumble in the haze of dizziness that surrounded him. He felt the ground rising to find him, and the sudden rise of black clouds that began to curl over his mind.
When Xanalestro would come to the front of the building and look out once more to the car - he would find nothing there.
Ullery
"Well my friend, looks like the meetings been delay-."
Xanalestro stopped speaking when he didn't see his furry comrade where it ought to have been.
"What the hell?"
Xan walked over to his driver and leaned into the window.
"Where in the bloody blue blazes is my friend private?"
"Something, hit, and he..vanished sir."
Now Xanalestro was really pissed off.
"Okay, now I'm just completely and utterly mad as all hellsbanes!"
He turns and swings his fist into the door making a dent and keeping his fist tightly closed.
He gazes deeply with concentration at the spot where the panther was.
He kneels before the spot and puts his other hand to his communicator.
"All employees this is a code 10 black, I repeat, this is a code ten black, We have a furry friend missing in action. I repeat, the black cat, is mia!"
He pulled off his gloves and waved his hands over the spot. Warm. It was really, really warm here. But why?
Xan put his gloves back on and waited for the apd.
Planning to inform them that the attack on him might have been a distraction in order to divert his attention from his newly aquired friend.
"Whoever's done this." He hisses out in a venomous low overtone.
"You just made yourself a very powerful enemy unless I get my friend back in the next two hours."
Mr. Xanalestro, or rather "Mr. X" as he was more commonly known, was the founder of the SBC's, a sort of privatized police group. Through his connections, he heard about Katarina's little problem. He had reasons to help out with the financial problem, and tried to set up a meeting. The problem with that was, the phone line to the deli had been cut. So, he arrived in person after hours when Katarina was going over the books, and had begun suffering from one of her frequent migraines as a result.
Mr. X's overly kind offer was quickly seen through when Marcus, Katarinas younger brother, arrived at the deli. He was also a successful businessman, and had just returned from an overseas trip to open a martial arts academy as one of the subsidiaries of the sports equipment company he worked for. The lenders his sister owed money to had left their own unique signature on his property, so he paid them her next payment. After having lost his mother to cancer, and his father to these same people, he wasn't about to lose his big sister, too.
Marcus managed to get Xanalestro to leave, after one of his soldiers discoverd the cut phone line and it was repaired. Now it was time to talk family business, and how the involvement of this "Mr. X" would affect things.
Tifferzzz
Katarina watched as the door shut behind Mr X. as he left, assisted by hre brother who had seemed to show up at the right time...as always. The slight throbbing had increased to such a constant sound of explosion within her mind that it caused her vision to blur. Jumbled thoughts ran like torrents without any solution evident.
She turned from the door, and moreoverly from Marcus who had always looked over her as if she needed it. She did didn't she? Her father had raised her to be strong. He'd taught her how to fend for herself. But in times such as these, and especially with Marcus present, all that she felt was small and insignificant.
Previous to Mr. X's sudden appearance, she'd spent the past four hours goig through the numbers only to find the same answer time and time again: the money was gone. It wasn't her fault, nor her deli's. In fact she knew someone was hording money from her but she hadn't a clue as to whom it was nor the reasoning for it. Wads of the discarded mathematics lay scattered on the floor and she kneeled to pick them up. Granted, slowly, but it needed to be cleaned after all. Her voice emerged in a weak state, strained with the toil that this sudden situation was bringing forward.
"Why are you here Marcus?"
She didn't know whether to pelt him with the paper or to laugh and jump for joy at his presence. She'd been devestated when he left. Truly she had felt as if a piece of her had been torn within and lacked any ability to stop the anguish of his departure. But he had been gone and she had survived. But now he'd returned to bring all kinds of memories flooding back.
Cradling the paper to her stomach she stood and walked over to the trash can. She managed to eventually drop every piece of the wadded paper into the bin before placing a hand on the counter for stability. She then looked to him in the silence of the room and the confusion of her mind for an answer to his return.
Ullery
"So what do you think sir?" Mitch Larson, the second in command asked.
Xan gazed out the corporate window. "What I think Mitch, is that someone, is scamming this delightful deli owner."
"Shall we investigate sir?"
"Just wait on that one Mitch, I need to get the owner's permission to do an investigation into the strange going's on around there. Plus Mitch, someone down that way's also been taking out a couple of my informants. I'm not a pleasant man to be around when I'm angry Mitch.
Get the reports on the latest Erialis network's."
Rhysis
He watched as she started to pick up the paper. Instead of answering her question immediately, he went into the back and fished around for a minute. Then he came back out with a glass of water and three pain pills. He smiled as he handed them to her, and finally responded to her inquiry with a bit of a joking tone. "To watch my big sister's back."
He chuckled a little bit, remembering their childhood, when she would scare off the bullies who tried to pick on him. He then silenced his mild laughter, and took a breath. "They came to my house while I was gone. They made sure I knew you owed them money. That's why I made your next payment for you."
He looked around the deli quickly, trying to spot anything that may have been a sign that something was wrong. He'd left before she ever even took out the loan with the loan sharks.
Nothing seemed to be wrong when he left. Now, less than a year later, this was happening. "So why does our family owe them money, again, Katie?"
Tifferzzz
The horse-sized pills weren't something that she enjoyed injesting. However, in approximately thirty minutes from taking them, the migraine would cease. As such...she choked them down. Once the papers were in the trash, she took a seat at the booth and pulled her knees to her chest, inevitably cramming herself between the table and the back of the booth's seat. Curling both arms around her knees she sighed softly resting her head on her knees.
"I hadn't a choice. When papa....died....he left everything gravely in debt. Even with the..." She paused for a moment knowing that he wouldn't like what she was about to say. Taking a drink of water, she continued. "...tuition money from mom, it barely paid off all the debt....Marcus..." She spoke softly looking to the back of the booth in opposition of where she sat. "...I couldn't let them take papa's deli...I just couldn't..." Her eyes began to swim with tears at the thought of her father as well as the distinct memory of how she had found him.
...she had been the one to find him...
and even now the memories haunted her in her sleep.
"The banks wouldn't loan to me without employment. You were un-reachable, at least by your assistant's standards. I didn't have any other choice...I tried everything."
She had tried every avenue. Every person she could think of to help her invest...even to become a part of the company, but none would have it. According to...well everyone...their family carries a curse of un-luckiness. While the curse wasn't true, the kids had still fallen into their own share of horrid bad luck.
She couldn't turn her eyes to face Marcus, for to do so would bring contempt upon her and bring her to the very thing that she'd tried so hard all these years to bury: herself. She knew that she'd fall to tears and a weakness that she'd fought so hard to surpress would emerge once again.
She couldn't have it. She just couldn't. Staring at the back of the booth, she waited to be berated by her younger brother...just as if he were the older one that would scold her for her stupid mistakes in life.
Ullery
"Sir?" Xanalestro had been bothered for the past two hours now. Something was terribly wrong near the deli. His three informant's that had just been set out there. had gone mysteriously Missing. They were supposed to have been checking in every fifteen minutes. and their com's stopped working about two hours ago.
"Blast it. I gotta check this out Mitch! Have at least two team's pull near the deli's area. I want to find out what the hell is happening to my men!"
"Yes sir!"
Ten minute's later, two pitch black vehicle's pulled up on Walden Street.
And two more Pulled up on Jone's avenue.
And one more pulled up behind an alleyway in Between two building's marked "K" and "J" cleaner's. That place was closed for the day.
Xan's car pulled up in front of the deli once more.
This time he frowned as he looked around.
"Mitch? Any reading's besides the two inside?"
"Negative sir, no one on ground level!"
"What the hell is going on around here, I send out informant's and they just start vanishing?"
Xan can be seen from the front window's but from the looks of him, He's busy looking for something or someone else.
"Sir?"
"What is it Sgt?"
"Sir, explosive's found just around the side in a trash can. We dis-armed them. Someone want's this place to go boom, sir."
"Okay, now I'm starting to get annoyed, what sick maniac would want to blow up ayenee capital's finest Deli?"
Xanalestro frowns and looks around on ground level some more.
What the hell is going on around here?
Rhysis
Marcus could tell something was going on outside, but he didn't care. He was more concerned with his sister than with whatever may have been happening out there. After all, how was he suppose to know someone was trying to blow up the building. As far as he knew, the only people who would have been out to do harm to the deli were the people Katarina owed money to, which would have easily explained the phone line. And, since he had just payed them an hour ago, they didn't have anything to worry about from them. Plus, it was late...very late. What could possibly be going on that was all that important at this hour? Xanalestro and his sergeant didn't even cross his mind.
Marcus pulled something out of his back pocket. Since she was forcing herself to not look at him, she wouldn't see what he was doing. But, after a short time, he sat down and scooted into the booth next to his sister. He slid his hand along the table and moved it away. In front of her were two checks, each for $10,000.00. One was written out to the deli. The other was written out to her and had, in the memo section 'Tuition.'
Then, sitting there next to her, he put his arm around his sister's shoulder and hugged her. "I don't want to say everything's gonna be okay, but I'm definatly not going to let it fall apart."
Tifferzzz
Katarina had a multitude of thoughts cascading through her mind, and then the money was placed before her. While most people would have been happy, Katarina was stubborn and very prideful.
Her arms remained around her knees as she stared at the checks. "I'm not a charity case Marcus." She knew how wealthy he was, and how much it would benefit him to 'donate' money to the deli...for tax purposes.
That infuriated her. She didn't want to give him more attention than she had to, and as such shoved her knees under the table, slid beneath the table and came out the open end. She may have just acted as if she were a two-year old, but she had her pride...and in her eyes he'd just stomped all over it.
She wasn't a failure. In fact she'd been so successful, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was that someone was stealing from her. Marcus...business man that he was figured that money would fix it. She looked at the clock as it neared ten in the eve. Still had a half hour until the headache medicine kicked in.
She needed air.
Turning from Marcus she didn't bother to grab a coat, or anything for that matter. Her voice just as she neared the door emerged in a flat tone of disappointment and eerie quieteness, "Money can't fix everything Marcus...I wish that papa could have taught you that..." And with that she stepped from the deli and out into the chilled cold air.
Cold...sweet...with the stench of rain to come. It was there that she ran into Mr. X once more standing outside as if he were looking for something...or perhaps someone.
Lord, this was too much. Curling her arms around her she moved quietly away from him without him seeing her and disappeared down the street and into the sweet grasp of shadowy darkness.
Ullery
He turned his head when he heard the deli door close.
"What the hey?"
He looked around and spotted the owner walking into shadowy darkness.
"Shall we follow sir?"
"You men keep looking around here for my informant's."
"I'll escort her, myself."
He walked into the alleyway and stopped gazing into it.
He frowned deeply at the darkness and spotted a slight silloutte in the darkness.
He ran up to catch up with the owner and stopped close enough to call out to her. "Ma'am. I think you already know who I am. I came back due to some........circumstances....."
"My men found a device that had been set to make the deli go boom."
*He walks alongside her.* "After finding that little hardware, I felt that I should escort you to whatever destination your headed.
Just consider me a friend who wishes to just walk and talk the breeze with you."
Rhysis
"Katie..." That was about all he managed to get out before his sister ran out. He hadn't intended on his checks being viewed as a charity donation. He wasn't even planning on reporting it to the IRS. And, he certainly hadn't expected it to fix everything. He just knew the money was an issue, and that he could help with it.
"Come back." He made sure to grab her coat, checking to ensure her key was in the pocket before he ran out to catch up with her. By the time he did, the man from earlier..."Mr. X" had already caught up to her. Marcus heard what was said about the explosives. He followed a step behind until he was done talking, then he spoke up, as if the other hadn't said a word. "You might want your coat, Katarina." He made sure to use his sister's full name, so Xanalestro didn't have the chance to get too personal with her. "It's chilly."
Tifferzzz
The silence of the night was tinged lightly with the small whispers of wind that spoke quietly to her. It was as if a lullaby was sung to her from the heavens above to ease her mind. Ah, but to have ease of mind was something that she would have loved to experience, but since her mother's passing...it just wasn't meant to be.
The perfection of quiet was blaintently broken by the sudden intrusive voice of Mr. X. She remained at a calm steady walk as if it were nothing more than a peaceful stroll. She captured the tones, the words, and especially the phrase:
"My men found a device that had been set to make the deli go boom."
...Go boom. So then he viewed her as a toddler that hadn't any comprehension of what the word explosion meant? The idea that she was beneath him due to lack of college education didn't just irritate her, it internally infuriated her. However her silence would remain. Her father knew of her 'genius' ratings when she was younger, and the fact that college int ruth wouldn't do anything but have bored her. But as her father stated, "If it's that easy...then just go through and get the degree!"
She almost did just that. Until he died. She barely heard Marcus until he uttered her full first name which paused her step and forced her to turn towards him. Her eyes swam with a mixture of emotions ranging from physical pain to emotional torment and deep within...an exhaustion. To everyone but Marcus...she would appear as nothing other than normal.
She spoke nothing to either of them. However she did appreciate the fact that he hadn't belittled her and called her 'Kaity' in front of this man that spoke to her as if she were three. That would have been just humiliating. It was chilly out, but the leather jacket soon fixed that problem. Regardless of them speaking to her, or for that matter to each other, she merely remained in perfect silence, taking each second to perfectly position the jacket over her shoulders, zip it up, fix the cuffs, and place her hands in the pockets. Her voice emerged firm...flat...and though it was a statement, there was a warning held quietly in it that they'd do best to listen to. It was all she could say for being near these men...this situation...was going to give her a nervous breakdown.
She had much to think over, much to ponder over, questions and answers that only she could reach a conclusion to.
"Excuse me gentleman..."
They would be wise at that moment to leave her be. With that she turned from them, her head in a cloud of never-ending thoughts and re-emerged into the darkness by herself...for that's how she's always existed...by herself.
Ullery
Xanalestro frowned as he realized she might assume his modern low-range talk to "not" alarm her, may just have been a mistake. Granted she was smart and he had seen picture's of her father and his brilliant deductions into science and the art's of philosophy and pysche.
He also stopped when the brother and her both stopped.
This marcus person was begining to become slightly, annoying.
When she walked away from them both he turned fully to Marcus and his eyes narrowed slightly from the Fedora hat he wore.
"Just what in the hellsbane's is your problem Mr.Marcus? I'm trying to be a friend, an ally, a person in this god forsaken gosh darned city that care's about a particular deli and it's Occupants including yourself, and you keep getting in my way like I'm some kind of threat to your family."
"Let me spell it out for you Mr.Marcus." "Two of your parents have died tragically terrible deaths. I do know the stories about your father. And I do know what a remarkable and intuitive mind your father had. He was smart, Mr.Marcus. He was damned smart and he was a damned good citizen to this city."
"He was also at the university a handful of time's where I arrived and sat, just to listen to his lecture's on the human psyche and the science that he believed in."
"Get it straight Mr.Marcus. Someone planted a bomb near your family's deli. Someone cut the phone line to the place. Someone is trying to make sure the both of you are dead. And whoever it is Mr.Marcus has become a personal problem for myself. Whoever it is, their killing off my contacts and informant's on the streets. Good people with decent jobs Mr.Marcus. I don't know how they play ball in your stadiums. But when my informant's start going missing when they should be checking in, and there's been a count of two teams that have disappeared.
Then I become involved personally to find out what the hell is going on!"
He breathes in and gazes deeply at the brother.
"I know pain Mr.Marcus. Just last week on this street, a little girl named Chassidy Cormere, got killed from a bullet to the head.
The local apd couldn't do squat cause they couldn't find any evidence."
"So excuse me if I feel it as an obligation to over-see the safety of whatever is Left LIVING of your family Mr.Marcus."
"Don't you ever stop to ponder why your sister is getting headaches? Or why her depression for her father, haunt's her so much? Or who, the heck is truly stealing from her? I certainly do. And I don't want to see it continue Mr.Marcus."
He gazes deeply at the brother.
"I'm not trying to be anything more then a friend Mr.Marcus."
"And I can be quite a powerful friend."
"Or didn't your father ever bother to tell you the one time we sat down to dinner for a talk about the psyche of the mind?"
Rhysis
Marcus watched as his sister walked away. He then turned his head to Xanalestro and glared as him harshly. His fists were clenched tightly at his sides. The other continually mentioned his father. He did not like to remember the pain of losing his parents any more than his sister did. However, he had a drastically different reaction to it being brought up by a stranger thsn his sister did. When the other man finally stopped talking, Marcus spoke slowly, with a low, wavering tone, that carried a full amount of threat with it. "So help me if you mention my father one more time, you will wake up in the hospital."
He took a deep breath and continued. "As for this little occurance, I wasn't trying to stop you. My sister needed time alone, as she often does. It's cold, and I wasn't about to let her walk around without a coat."
He looked back to his sister's deli, and back at Xanalestro. "Yes, I'm concerned with why a bomb was planted. But how was I suppose to know your men went missing? What chance did I have to find out about your dealings? I'm not a snoop like you. Don't assume that just because I'm here means I'm trying to stop you. My sister is all I've got. If you want to help purely out of the goodness of your heart, go for it. But I'm not gonna let you put more stress on her shoulders in the process." He handed Xanalestro one of his business cards. "If you want to talk to her, call me to make sure she's up to it, first. Otherwise I will forever be a thorn in your side. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've never let her go on these walks completely alone, and I'm sure you've got more poking around to do."
Marcus turned from him and started walking after his sister in the same way he always had when she went on these walks to clear her head. He stayed far enough behind, and moved carefully enough, that she wouldn't know he was there, but he always kept her in sight. The streets weren't safe for someone in her condition. She looked like the perfect target for a mugger...or worse. He wasn't about to let that happen.
Tifferzzz
They had done well in accepting her 'hint' during her retreat from confrontation. Indeed, when her eyes scanned back, there were the infamous Mr. X as well as her brother arguing. Her eyes diverted back to her destination.
It was time to pay someone a visit.
A few blocks from when Marcus had started following her, down the alley, to the street of Tamer was a bar that typically only drunks, druggies, and the like hung out..."Breaker's Bar"...had a title that was appropriately named for the type of things that happened when a moronic fool would waltz in there like Rambo and try to be the Bounty Hunter of the century. She'd seen more than one man killed by being slung onto the bar and viciously snapped in half.
It didn't bother her a bit. It served him right for being in the wrong place and trying to act as a hero. Do that somewhere else. Breaker's Bar had it's own agenda. Leave it be.
Taking a quick glance behind her to ensure she wasn't followed, she slid into the bar. Smoke, alcohol, and a faint stench of old urine rose to meet her. She passed by the whistles, the cat calls of a few of the 'husky' types and slid into a booth where her back was against another booth...and within that booth...a single man who drank his scotch with delicacy and smoked his cigarette with care. He had a unique way of tending to his addictions. He respected his addictions and treated them as such.
Kaity's eyes stared straight ahead of her, yet her voice remained low.
"You owe me." There wasn't a tone of sweetness nor a hint of anything that remotely resembled the Kaity that everyone knew.
"Savannah..." He whispered as dark as the night.
"You are to find out who is trying to destroy the deli, and for that matter who is hunting me. Is there a bounty on my head?"
"You wish to know who's after you?"
"Did I not just state that?"
"Drummond."
"Like hell."
"He knows."
Her voice carried an illusive whisper of a cuss. "You won't?"
"Can't"
"Then you still..."
"Yes"
"We will meet again later then."
When she stated later, she meant at a time that would suit her. Emerald rich orbs narrowed at the thought of whom she was about to visit.
Stepping from the booth she rose without even facing the man. Brushing herself off and straightening her jacket she began to exit the bar. In the process a violent slap was offered to her backside. He gave lude comments.
Poor bastard.
In the blink of an eye, she had turned and with a full-fisted punch laid the guy out on the floor.
She barely felt it.
The room held an air of silence. It wasn't the surprise that she'd punched a man so hard in the face that it knocked him unconscious, but that the idiot had even attempted to touch her. The tender spoke while wiping out a glass, not even looking up to her...in a nonchalant manner. "Ice?"
"I'm good."
And with that she stepped from the smoke inhabited bar and back into the cold night air. She had two sides to her...that was for certain, but it wasn't in the aspect of multiple personality disorder. There were just certain things that had to remain concealed...and re-emerge when necessary. Her father had been wise enough to enhance her pain capacity in his testings which left her with a unique situation of being able to break the jaw of a guy twice her size and barely flinch.
The new cut on her hand did bleed though, and she'd have to tend to that.
She needed to visit Drummond...and Lord did her stomach churn in distaste at that thought. Tomorrow. Yes she would 'visit' the bastard tomorrow. For now she needed to sleep.
It was time for her to return home...to rest...to plan...and to figure out just who the hell was coming after her. For what her brother didn't realize was that she was a dangerous person who dangerous people came after...primarily due to her father's actions and her own...
Hidden secrets...
Ullery
Xanalestro gazed down at the business card and the brother walking away.
Something was definitly terribly going on around here.
And Xan didn't like it one bit.
He walked to the limo. "Sir?"
He gazed at the sgt in charge "Keep searching, find something."
He get's into the limo and sits there contemplating.
"Where to boss?"
"The owner's home, Jameson. Or rather, a block from her home."
"Yes sir."
Information from sbc direct link up sent the coordinates.
Xan arrived before either of them did.
"Turn off the light's Jameson, We don't want Mr.Marcus or his sister to spot us."
"Okay but what about the limo look?"
"Change it, bring me a sbc sedan."
"yes sir."
Within a minute that the limo drove off without Xanalestro, the sedan had been waiting and drove up.
Once inside, Xan changed from his normal buisness suit to the special operation's black suit.
Then he attached a special device-mic to his ear and whispered to Jordan. "Go, I'll radio when I want to go home."
"yes sir."
The sedan drove off.
But Xan wasn't alone, Not less then half a block from where he was, was the blackmarked van with a team of commando's waiting inside.
Mr.Marcus might understand something about stress. But what Mr.Marcus didn't know, was that Xanalestro had mind psyche powers, power's that at one time he had needed some special help from a scientist to control.
That scientist was their father, though xanalestro didn't dare bring it up.
He blended in with the camoflauge of the darkness and activated a simple bending light wrist device that made him turn invisable to the naked eye. Then he quietly sat down on a bench watching their house.
Almost at once he felt a slight vibration telling him, someone was coming.
But Xanalestro had a hunch that something bad was about to go down. First money being stolen, then a bomb at the deli. Xanalestro wasn't pleased.
He took out a pair of special binoculars and gazed through them.
They could scan infra-red, night vision and thermal-radiation modes.
He gazed intently through them at some object in the bedroom.
"What the hell is that?" He whispered softly gazing through the binoculars.
He couldn't tell if that was a snake or if it was some kind of trigger explosive.
One thing was for sure. It was inside the house.
"Crap, I gotta warn her!"
Fortunateley for him, The owner hadn't arrived yet.
He waited right next to the door, still invisable. He knew Mr.Marcus would show up. But this was serious. The owner's life might be in terrible danger. Better to be safe then sorry.
He slid on a black glove and touched the handle. He frowned when he heard a low humming sound.
"What the frick?" He whispered gazing intently at the handle.
The handle was humming.
He gave the handle a light tap with a wooden stick and saw spark's fly off it.
"Good lord, the door handle's been booby-trapped!"
He whispers to himself.
He stands there right in front of the door, waiting for the owner. Not only to inform her of the danger, but to also warn her about the possible snake and or explosive in her bedroom and god knew how many other hazard's were tripped.
Rhysis
He thought that might be where his sister ended up. This was not the first time he'd followed her in to Breakers Bar. He slipped in quietly after her and took his usual spot, behind one of the more calm groups of guys, to make sure nothing all that risky happened.
He watched as she talked with the man in the booth behind her, and also as she was...addressed...by the overly confident patron. When she laid him out, Marcus smiled and whispered to himself. "Good girl." He may have been the more combat capable of the two, but she was no slouch.
As she left, he got up and started to exit, himself. He was then confronted by one of the larger men who thought himself the 'lookout' of the group. Marcus had made sure he watch out for her when he couldn't be there himself. This was a product of the first time they'd met. When he came in right after her, and left right after her, the large man tried to stop him to question him. When Marcus made a similar showing of him that his sister just did with the drunkard, followed by an explaination of why he was following her, the big man agreed to look out for her when Marcus couldn't be there. "This ain't the first time she's been in here since you left."
Marcus nodded at him as he looked through the dirty window to make sure Katarina was far enough down the street for him to follow her out, again. All he said to the big man as he made his way to the door was. "Thanks."
As they neared his sister's house, Marcus' ears started to ring, and not just the simple ringing tone someone gets after a day of stress. No, Marcus, as well as most other business executives, had a special device in his ear, that was specifically designed to detect the radio signals emmitted by light bending technology. When one was being used closeby, it set off a loud ringing tone. Marcus looked around and saw just how close they were to his sister's place...close enough to where he could be waiting for her and not seem suspicious. He started to jog after her. "Wait up, sis!"
Tifferzzz
The quiet of the night echoed with the cry of a cat who had just lost it's balance on one of those old aluminum garbage cans, which inevitably resulted in an explosion of a sound that broke through the quiet like a gun fired in the night. Someone immediately cried out in alarm along with a cuss and rant of "stupid cat." With a half smirk of amusement she continued on her way without even a slight pause in her step. Sometimes this place could feel like the set of a movie. And with that thought she looked forward to the sidewalk that stretched from her feet into the endless night.
Faint white light shone from the lampposts lining the street, spaced far enough from each other that it did nothing more than to project a triangular shaped glow reaching from the bulb to the sidewalk. Through the darkness into the light she strolled...then back into the darkness and once more into the light...continuing this same pattern for quite some time. The cold air had helped with the headache and lessened it to a dull throb. Helped in the fact that it might have been the medication that had ceased more than the cold. Or perhaps it was the cold that had done the job and the perscription had helped slightly...who deserved more credit, she couldn't say.
The most interesting aspect of the resounding pain in her head that never seemed to end, was that during an explosive bout of emotional energy (trauma, or just simply anger)...it was then that the pain would subside, and that her mind would no longer feel on fire. And though the idea of grinding a jawbone against her fist wasn't at the top of her to-do list...in some way she had satisfied some internal savage need.
Mocha soft crests parted into a most devious grin at the remembrance of the sound, and the exclamation of the cry as the man floundered to the floor as if he were a giant whale harpooned. Did he have a chance to cry out? Perhaps it was the tender, or maybe the pool-player. Either way someone had shouted with surprise.
At barely five-and-a-half feet, Kat wasn't tall...none in the least. Weighing in at a hundred and forty-five pounds didn't give her the right to a championship belt and title in a boxing match. What she lacked in weight she made up for in speed, quick intellectual thinking, and a small piece of her that had been manipulated to hinder the effects of pain only gave her the capacity to push harder and further than anyone her father had ever encountered...whether in books or hand-to-hand combat. She was undoubtedly thankful for that.
What threw her askew were the migraines. An obvious side effect of the testings that had occurred well after her mother's 'passing.' Each year they had become slightly worse until she had been in a bookstore one moment and in the hospital the next. That actual episode happened as of late, which was well after her father's untimely death. Perhaps that would be the straw that broke the camels back. Perhaps that would be the one thing to destroy her...
...her own mind.
What an ironic battle that would be. One's own genius doing nothing more than bringing them harm to the effect of completely shutting one down.
~sis...~ echoed on the air like a faint whisper. Looking up she realized that she was nearly home. Bah. Daydreaming while walking again. As her papa said, "That will either get you lost...or very very far." Shaking her head of her thoughts she turned and saw the light break over Marcus as his pace increased to catch up with her.
It was well enough. Her annoyance levels had ceased considerably until leaving her at the point where now she just wished to rest. Tucking a long strand of hair behind her ear she faced him halfway. Sliding her hand back into her pocket, dark emerald scanned the being from top to bottom as if creating an analysis. Danger wasn't an apparent thing...no this was her younger brother so it seemed he'd just rather annoy her to death. The clouds that had appeared in her mind before Breaker's Bar would have lifted, and her face taking on the sweet angelic appearance that she was forced to hold in public. She never knew of her brother ever knowing of her presence in Breakers, nor did she allow him he opportunity to know the other side of her. That was hers...all hers. Perhaps it was a split personality. The only difference was that she was aware of both sides at each time.
Somehow her voice managed to emerge with the kindness that she always spoke to him...out of respect. It was natural, not edged with anything other than curiosity.
"I thought you went home?"
Ullery
Xanalestro was standing in front of the door. He saw the brother coming from behind her too. Damn, he thought. Both member's of the family were here. That meant bad new's for the both of them.
Xan switched off the wrist-bending device and appeared from the shadows by the door. "He decided to tag after you, after our discussion."
He held a stick in his hand.
"After our little discussion, I started to get mighty suspicious about things recently."
He was hard to make out but his voice was clear.
"So while your brother played chase down my sister, I decided to head on over here to see if anything was out of the ordinary."
He holds the stick to the doorknob and it catches fire in a series of sparks.
"The doorknob's been booby-trapped. I'm guessing there's some kind of electrical device on the other side of the knob."
"But that's not all I discovered. Without even entering your home, ma'am. I was able to detect what could either be an explosive device in the bedroom, or a poisonous snake."
"I'm not quite sure which of the two it is."
"but I'm also sure those aren't the only two booby-trap's in the place."
"With you and your brother's consent, I would like to enter the home to make sure there are no other booby traps. And if there are, to disable them personally."
He puts his gloved hand to the knob, there's a slight spark but nothing more.
"We might be some things the media says, but we do come prepared."
"Now, without you needing to touch the key to the lock or any of that. Allow me."
He steps in front of the door and stares at the lock. His hands move forward slowly as he glare's at the door. Once he does, the door unlocks and move's inward.
He steps to the frame and take's out a little flashlight, turning it on, he gazes around and then down at the door frame.
He kneels to find some kind of taunt cord and follow's it to a small opening in a vent.
He stands and turns his flashlight to the right hand side of the door for the light switch and frown's when he see's black wire's attached to the light switch.
"What the hell?" he whispers gazing at the black wires.
He traces them all along the ceiling to the light-bulbs and frown's as he shines his light on the bulbs. one is black.
He stands there and traces his flashlight across the floor finding more obvious tripwire's and several other traps in the first room alone.
"Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you and Mr.Marcus to wait here at the door's edge, you may watch if you desire."
He looks back to them both. "Mr. Marcus, If you'd be so kind as to be careful where you step."
He looks back into the house and looks up at the ceiling.
"And ma'am, I promise, not to break anything."
Xan carefully kneel's and pull's on the taunt tripwire, causing the vent to suddenly open as he stand's up. The vent send's several sharp razor blade's toward's the front door. His hand dashes to two pair's of nunchuk's at his side's and they swing loose, knocking each razor to the ground without damage.
When the razor's stop coming. He carefully picks each of them up and deposit's them into a plastic ziplock bag.
Xan steps into the house carefully and turns his flashlight on again trailing at the ceiling to the black light bulb.
Xan Carefully gazes up at the bulb and then leap's into a corkscrew spin grabbing the bulb and spinning around in the air unscrewing it before landing back on the ground an inch from where he left.
He holds the bulb and then place's it into another bag and cut's the tripwire to the ceiling and the light switch. with a pair of cutters.
He peeks around the back of the door and frown's looking at some kind of white-device over the door.
He steps behind the door and reaches up carefully removing the device.
He steps back out the front door and turns the device to off.
"Whoever did all this, isn't an amature."
He places the white device down at the edge of the side of the house and goes back inside.
He searches and finds a few more tripwire's easily unhooked and the booby traps removed, one which was quite deadly seem's to be some kind of nail gun.
He gazes around with his flashlight and nods and turns on the regular light switch.
"Okay." He says poking his head out the door.
"It's safe to enter the first room now."
He walks towards the kitchen and frowns at the fridge.
"Don't tell me."
He mutters as he taps his hand on the fridge door.
He react's instantly when a knife from the other side of the room fly's at his head catching it in the reflection of the mirror's surface he spins around and grasps the knife's handle just before it touches his throat.
"Woah. That was close."
His eyes narrow and search. but everything else in the kitchen is normal. No booby traps.
He walks out into the first room and gazes at Mr.Marcus. "I believe that the knife was intended for you Mr.Marcus.
Because the fridge's door say's "goodbye Marcus. on it."
He places the knife down and walks to the bedroom.
Once inside he looks over at what he had seen.
"Holy Crap."
He gazes at the size of the bomb.
He walks over to the casing of the bomb and stare's at it heavily.
"Oh frick. It's an Alpha-33-00-60."
"Six switches, two safety mechanisim's and four alternate routers."
He gazes at it and kneel's down beside it reaching into the velcro pocket for a screwdriver.
"Mr. Marcus!" He calls out in a loud tone of voice. "I require Assistance idmeadiatly with this next Booby trap. It's a bomb. An alpha 33-00-60 to be accurate. And the timer is already starting down from a countdown of twelve Minutes. If I don't get this thing disarmed in less then twelve minute's we go boom!"
Rhysis
Marcus had always been the protective younger brother, even if he was too timid to actually fight anyone, which was why he got picked on. Still, it was no coincidence he was the vp of his company's martial arts subsidiary. He stopped formal combat schooling at twelve after a suitable instructor could no longer be found without flying one in from out of the country.
Their father was not only an amazing scientist. He was an extraordinary fighter. Many of the people he use to spar down at the gym in his spare time, would say that his ability were purely inhuman. While both of the siblings seemed to have gotten a touch of both sides of their father's amazing talents, Katarina inherited more of their father's brains than his combat capability. Marcus was just the opposite.
He had been in the process of explaining himself to his sister after she mentioned her thought of him returning to his own home. "Well. I was going to. But then I realized my place is still trashed..." That's when the loud ringing in his hear stopped, and Xanalestro decided to step out of the shadows.
The man was speaking, as well as moving, very quickly. He just seemed to keep going so, with little more than several changes in his _expression for various reasons, he let the other continue. However, he kept a close eye on what was going on. When the razor blades came flying for the doorway, he instinctfully grabbed Katarina's shoulders and turned her with him, so the blades would hit his thick leather duster instead of her. He'd kept his face toward the door, though, in case something else decided to surprise them. It was his instinct, after all.
When Xanalestro started looking around inside the house, Marcus looked at his sister. He figured, if all this was going on, it was about time she knew how much he knew about her. "Don't be mad. I'm just trying to make sure nothing happens to you when you have your headaches, but I follow you on your walks a lot. I know how often you go in to Breaker's Bar, and I saw what you did to that perv in there earlier." He offered a smile at that last comment. "Dad would've been proud."
He waited for her reaction before looking back to the house to see what was going on and moved in when it was mentioned that the first room was safe.
He smirked at the knife, as well as the note on the refrigerator. Whoever these people were, apparently, didn't know him very well if they thought a knife would have stopped him. He still watched as Xanalestro continued to work.
Something crossed his mind to as Katarina. But, before he could ask, Xanalestro called him back at the mention of the bomb. He ran back...protective nature. At the time, though, he was still thinking to himself, sarcastically -Great. To talk about financial problems he brings a full squad, but to clear boobytraps he's alone...genius.
Ullery
"I'm going to need some help." He mutters as he reaches into his side pocket. "Unit two, This is X. Operation ally, is in full effect. I need assistance. Now!"
"On the way sir."
It took less then three minute's for the squad to get there.
"Scuse us ma'am, sir!"
The squad marched inside.
Three checked the upstair's as well as the bathroom and quickly began disarming booby traps.
The other two headed to the bedroom where their leader was.
"We need to diffuse this and fast gentlemen!"
"Standard operating procedure's then sir?"
"You know it."
"Roger."
The two men assisted with the dismantling of the bomb.
Radio-voice's popped into X's ears.
"All clear upstairs sir."
"All traps disabled and ready for transport sir."
The counter finally stopped at six minutes and X breathed a sigh of relief.
"Geeze, that was close."
"All right men, take all the booby traps to the van, we'll examine them closer at hq."
"yes sir."
"Would you like a lift sir?"
"Negative, I'm walking back."
"All right. We'll see you back at base sir."
Xan stood and walked back to the doorway watching each of his men leave, getting into the sedan with the booby traps and leaving.
He walks to the doorway and steps outside.
"Okay ma'am, the house is secure now, all and any threat's to you and your family have been fully thwarted."
He nods to Marcus.
"Ma'am, Mr.Marcus, Take care of yourselves. I'll be in touch if I find out who's behind this."
"Good eve to you both."
He turns from the house and walks down the street and heads down the pathway of the second street, making a sudden turn to disappear onto that street.
Tifferzzz
Just after questioning her brother, suddenly the next five minutes of her life exploded in a whirlwind. X was back...at her home...and had she been a canine then her hackles would have risen to this intrusion.
But then there were bombs and 'booby-traps' and she was slammed into some horrid Hollywood movie where the last thing you would expect would be the thing to kill you. Bombs? Really? Apparently so. Even so weren't boobie-traps in haunted houses? The entire amount of chaos that exploded only sought to further the descending migraine and have her wish that she could force people's heads to explode simply by 'glancing' at them.
What a benefit that would be.
Pupils elongated in the dark, as she hadn't had time to turn on the lights...minus the ones that were switched on by X's men. Thrown aside in the arms of her brother...sharp objects thrown...
Lord. What an awful movie.
She watched the stranger leave. he disappeared and suddenly she was in her home with her brother, and felt more than invaded...she felt violated.
It wasn't because of the bombs...but because they had traipsed through her house without her consent. They had torn through her home as if it were nothing more than a game of hide-and-seek. or perhaps, more appropriately would be the game of 'find-the-bomb.'
She glanced around her home and wrapped her arms around herself, completely oblivious to Marcus' presence. In fact she suddenly felt like a small lost child in a huge foreign home. Her heart ached for something long gone, and quietly she whispered into the silence of the dark home, "...papa..." Though her and Marcus were both close to their parents, Kat was her father's daughter...they were bonded beyond just simple blood, and the separation of him from her life left her flailing in the wind.
Especially now.
Kat had gotten lost before, but in a much more awful way. Her and her father had been camping and she'd fallen behind. Within a blink of a second she was suddenly nowhere near him and lost.
In the dark.
Nighttime was horrid in the forest. She had curled up on the ground and stayed there until her father had found her.
She was scared to death.
And now...she'd gone from standing next to Marcus to falling into this realm of loneliness...wishing for the only thing she couldn't have. She sat on the floor without realizing it and curled her arms around her legs.
Something was beyond wrong.
Kat was someone of control. She was forced to have it when her parents passed, but now...with the stranger and his men running through her home without any permission...she'd lost control. She was nothing to them. She wasn't important...and it was as if she weren't there.
The very feeling passed through her like fire.
She didn't want to be here.
"....papa...." She whispered as soft as the wind.
Just after questioning her brother, suddenly the next five minutes of her life exploded in a whirlwind. X was back...at her home...and had she been a canine then her hackles would have risen to this intrusion.
But then there were bombs and 'booby-traps' and she was slammed into some horrid Hollywood movie where the last thing you would expect would be the thing to kill you. Bombs? Really? Apparently so. Even so weren't boobie-traps in haunted houses? The entire amount of chaos that exploded only sought to further the descending migraine and have her wish that she could force people's heads to explode simply by 'glancing' at them.
What a benefit that would be.
Pupils elongated in the dark, as she hadn't had time to turn on the lights...minus the ones that were switched on by X's men. Thrown aside in the arms of her brother...sharp objects thrown...
Lord. What an awful movie.
She watched the stranger leave. he disappeared and suddenly she was in her home with her brother, and felt more than invaded...she felt violated.
It wasn't because of the bombs...but because they had traipsed through her house without her consent. They had torn through her home as if it were nothing more than a game of hide-and-seek. or perhaps, more appropriately would be the game of 'find-the-bomb.'
She glanced around her home and wrapped her arms around herself, completely oblivious to Marcus' presence. In fact she suddenly felt like a small lost child in a huge foreign home. Her heart ached for something long gone, and quietly she whispered into the silence of the dark home, "...papa..." Though her and Marcus were both close to their parents, Kat was her father's daughter...they were bonded beyond just simple blood, and the separation of him from her life left her flailing in the wind.
Especially now.
Kat had gotten lost before, but in a much more awful way. Her and her father had been camping and she'd fallen behind. Within a blink of a second she was suddenly nowhere near him and lost.
In the dark.
(Bah...character limitations...continued in next post.)
Nighttime was horrid in the forest. She had curled up on the ground and stayed there until her father had found her. She was scared to death. And now...she'd gone from standing next to Marcus to falling into this realm of loneliness...wishing for the only thing she couldn't have. She sat on the floor without realizing it and curled her arms around her legs.
Something was beyond wrong.
Kat was someone of control. She was forced to have it when her parents passed, but now...with the stranger and his men running through her home without any permission...she'd lost control. She was nothing to them. She wasn't important...and it was as if she weren't there.
The very feeling passed through her like fire.
She didn't want to be here.
"....papa...." She whispered as soft as the wind.
Rhysis
Marcus hadn't had time to think about the strangers in his sister's home. He was, for lack of a better word, the guardian. Her safety had become the issue, and that, in his mind, blotted out all other concerns at the time.
Now, X and his squad of men were gone, and he looked about the once beautiful home her place had been. That's when it hit him. There were dirty footprints where they walked, busted up walls where they ripped out a wire, even a few broken trinkets from the mantle. Nothing all that valuable, or important, was destroyed, but that wasn't the problem.
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He was about to say something to Kat, but then she spoke, in that soft, frightened voice..."...papa..." It was enough to floor her little brother. He hit his knees, supporting his upper body with a fist pressed hard to the floor. The image of their father's body, or rather what was left of it, ran through his mind. That sparked the memory of his mother...before the funeral. He'd never told anyone, but he had been wandering around the hospital and literally stumbled in to the morgue while the autopsy was being performed. There he saw the most horrifying image that would forever be burned into his mind. It took him a month to speak so much as a sound to anyone after that. People thought he'd simply stopped talking because of her death.
There was no denying it. Their parents were gone. And now, in the front room of her own home, his sister was begging for the presence of her father.
He stood just as she whispered for him, again. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. He may not have been their father, but they had always been close. She was the first person he'd talked to after that month of silence. Maybe he could bring her back around.
With a heavy waver in his voice, he spoke while he hugged her. "Come on, Katie, let's go sit outside."
Tifferzzz
For a while, even after Marcus had spoken...her arms remained curled around her knees as if she were hiding from someone, perhaps from something. It was then that the embrace struck her with a force of strength that she wasn't used to. Looking up to Marcus she nodded and did as he said...just as she had when they were kids. Though she was older it seemed that everyone else in her life had taken command and she followed like a shadow in their footsteps.
Leaning against Marcus as if he were a crutch and she had a broken leg, they didn't have far to go before they made it outside. Oh, but how sweet the icy air was. It held a bite as frigid as ice but quickly gave clarity as if a bucket of nearly frozen water was tossed on her body. Was the air truly that cold or was it just due to the questionable emotions suddenly rampaging through her body?
She thought of much within that moment. She thought of her parents and their death. She thought of Marcus. She remembered that one time...that one time where she had to be stronger than everyone else.
That time where Marcus had skittered off and gotten lost in the hospital. That night her insides felt hollow as if it were all but a dream that she were floating through. She remembered it as clearly as day even though she'd been quite young. Could she just awaken? Was it that easy? Unfortunately, no. It wasn't a dream but a horrid nightmare. She had been listening to the doctor talk about her mother's passing to their father. She overheard everything that the doctor had said to the nurse. Every medical term...every abbreviated word...and held it firmly in her mind.
When she turned around, Marcus was gone. She looked to her father who was so greatly saddened as if his world had ended. Instead of informing him of Marcus' disappearance (for kidnapping wasn't a big thing twenty-some years ago) she went off to find him.
Nurses directed her down various halls with machines and sick people, and other natural horrors of a child's mind until she'd reached the basement. Kat had been bred with too much intelligence to have a fear of the dark. Two steps out of the elevator and a meek "hello...Marcus?" Would end up without a response. Her steps were quiet on the linoleum floor under the florescent light.
When she found him, he was so frightened that he didn't move. In fact she remembered the 'look' that he gave her...as if he didn't see her. When she grabbed his arm to bring him back with her...he walked beside her but acted as if he were somewhere else.
That wasn't what scared her. The idea that something had tormented him into such a mindless state that he peed his pants left her quiet. She didn't want to make the trauma worse. Indeed she knew much at a young age including when not to press a 'patient.'
On their way back she found some kid's scrubs (after asking a nice nurse) and re-dressed Marcus in them.
Her father never knew of the accident, and she never asked her brother of the incident. If he wished to speak of it then he would.
The days were about the same, but he interacted with her above all others. Granted he didn't speak or communicate in that manner, but they were close enough that he didn't need to. Kat understood him completely. Her annoyance at everybody attempting to 'force' him to talk only caused her to errupt in fury in defense of him. The occurance of this specific vocal arguement occured the day after she'd read through the medical journal to find out exactly what had happened to their mother.
Nobody bothered him after that. Kat saw to that.
He still hadn't told her what happened...twenty years later. She never told him the truth of their mother's death. But it didn't matter.
In the midst of thought she'd sat down on the porch step and stared into the blackness before her. The sadness of her father's passing should have brought tears...bouts of them, but Kat never cried...not even when her mother died. Perhaps being a labeled 'genius' as a child only sought to distort emotional attachment in such a manner that she would never be able to shed a tear to relieve this internal torment.
"Marcus..." her voice whispered in flat tones that kept any emotion from touching them. "I have to go visit Drummond."
She knew the fatality of expressing such a thing to Marcus. Drummond was the head of the...well un-named associates that had killed her father. She didn't glance up to him, nor leave the statement with any opening for an arguement or a question. She told him. She would do it, for her mind was hard as granite and she couldn't be swayed in anything...especially this.
Rhysis
After they managed to get outside and settled down on the front porch, Marcus just sat there, next to his sister, letting her reflect on whatever it was she was thinking back to.
He lost track of time just as easily as she did. He was doing a bit of his own reflecting. Not surprisingly, it was to the same series of incidents that she was thinking back to.
As much as he tried to forget it, every single detail of that two-month period ran just as fresh in his mind as it had the moment it occurred.
He'd made a vow to himself to never to speak of it to anyone. The problem was, he couldn't think of anything else to speak of for two full months. That's why he hadn't talked. People, mostly those just trying to get a word out of him, would ask him his name, and his reaction was to start describing the horror of what he'd seen on that cold metal table.
He didn't even go to her funeral. He couldn't bring himself to see her, again. Not after that.
He was brought back from the terrible memory, once again, by his sister.
He knew Drummond all too well. He'd just paid the man a few hours ago. He never enjoyed dealing with the thug boss. But, it was the best way to ensure he got the money. Marcus wasn't about to just hand the money over to one of the lackeys and hope it got to where it was suppose to go without having something shaved off the top.
He took a deep breath, and looked over at his sister. "I figured as much." He paused. "I'm going with you."
Ullery
"What the freak is going on in this city? That was the one question that kept popping up into Xan's mind.
He was not pleased. Someone was trying to wipe out this particular family.
Their father, was brilliant, absolouteley the top of the class.
And he had been tragically murdered.
That alone, had not pleased xanalestro when he found out in the paper's about it.
About four day's before the incident where the father was murdered.
An informant had mentioned running into the esteemed scientist and that he had seemed, slightly nervous in body language only.
"So help me, if this delightful deli owner dies. there's going to be hell to pay."
Tifferzzz
As much as Kat would have liked to have her brother there with his martial-arts expertese, she knew that it wouldn't hold a candle to a semi-automatic. Secondly, she couldn't put him in that danger.
"No." She replied firmly. "This is between Drummond and I. It has nothing to do with you."
What she failed to disclose to Marcus over the years of his distance was that she had been in a relationship with the man. All questions, blames, and fights aside...ignorance was the best medicine. Unfortunately for her, it never took her long to figure anything out.
Since then all hell had slowly broken loose.
"Don't let them take papa's building down Marcus....swear to me of it...that you'll keep it safe while I'm gone..." She couldn't look him in the eyes at that moment, for the finality of her statement was to much to bear.
****************
The quiet steps of Xan echoed down the alley with as much silence as if he were of bare feet.
Within the emptiness of the shadows, two dark emerald orbs remained fixated on this being that would trespass onto its territory. The watcher remained quiet until the person had passed, before stalking from the darkness as if it was a piece of the shadow stretching out then finally detatching. Triangular shaped sonars remained peaked while within the depths of the chest came a gutteral rumble that emerged forth with a deep warning that would undoubtedly catch Xan's ears.
Ullery
Xan stopped all of a sudden. The noise touching his ears.
And while a gun might be more appropiate, Xanalestro turned slowly around gazing into the darkness. His mind told him "Something" was there, but not "What" it actually was.
He carefully unbuttoned a side pocket and lifted out his Night vision goggles. He slid them very slowly over his face and adjusted the strap to his size and turned the nv's on.
He frowned when his goggle's showed only shadows.
He carefully slid his right hand to a sheathe at his side and waited.
He didn't move, and he barely breathed, using his sense of hearing to focus on sounds.
Rhysis
He looked over at his sister, shocked at her commanding tone. She was serious. There was no way she would let him go with her.
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and let it out in a long, slow sigh. "Okay. I get it. I'll look after the deli."
He was relatively sure Drummond wouldn't kill her. After all, he'd been paid. Plus, Drummond wasn't stupid. He knew Marcus had the means to avoid paying anything and get away with it. Besides, if Kat died, what reason would Marcus have to go on? Their's had always been a uniquely closeknit family, despite the many hidden truths they kept from one another. Those were mostly to avoid hurting one another. So, if Kat died, he had no other family. There was no love interest in his life. Thus, even if Marcus couldn't avoid Drummond's lackeys, he still would have no real reason to pay. Worst case scenerio, they hold him for ransom then either torture or kill him anyway.
He tried to think of something that would make that worse than losing his entire family. He couldn't.
There was a short awkward pause. Then he spoke, again. "As with most execs, I have connections with people in high places, and low places." His tone took on an even more serious demeanor, if that was possible. "If something happens to you, he's toast."
Marcus thought for a second, about the things he'd been hiding from her, as well as what possible things she could have been hiding from him. Then he stood up, moved in front of her, and looked directly at her. "I love you, Katie. You know you can trust me with anything. So, when you get back, the two of us need to sit down and have a serious talk. With everthing that's been going on lately, I don't think we should be keeping secrets from each other."
He knew he was sounding like a husband, but he didn't care. She was all he had left. Things were getting way too hectic to just let them keep going the way they had been.
"I don't want to lose you, too. That's just not something I'm willing to do." Subconsciously, he brushed a hair out of her face, the way their father use to. "Okay?"
Tifferzzz
The shadows extended as the massive paw folded to the ground. The black shoulder emerged from it's hiding spot, soon bringing with it the rest of the giant black beast. With head low, ears pinned back and a low throaty growl tearing from within, he watched the man who would tread here. He watched with glowing emerald orbs that seemed to hold a candle from within.
He didn't speak, but remained with his side facing the adversary, his head directed at him...waiting for something. Perhaps a movement that would deem him worthy of death?
__________________
Kat's eyes closed to the touch. The missed warmth of a family embrace left her heart aching for something that was no more. After Marcus up and vanished, well she was left to her own devices...essentially a human-sized teddy bear that kept her protected from the evils of the world. At least for the period of time that she slept.
She merely nodded to Marcus' words. Her eyes closed slowly as she gathered strength from within, and exhaustion folded her mind into a ball. She rose to her feet and reached within her pocket for the keys. Before stepping forward from the porch and going to get in her car and face the man that she loathed...potentially the greatest...she spoke once more to Marcus, "Don't let Papa's deli go under Marcus. You protect it."
Ullery
Xanalestro couldn't believe his eyes.
He slowly removed the nv goggles and placed them back into the pocket, one hand still resting on the hilt of the sword.
His eyes glowed a soft light green color.
"A black panther." he whispered. For as long as xanalestro could remember, black panther's were not only extremely and terribly rare in capital city and the surrounding districts, but never in his life did he see one so healthy.
Xanalestro moved his one hand away from the sword. Should it come down to it, he knew how to protect himself without needing to use a weapon against this creature. He'd studied their pattern's and movement's carefully over the last three and a half years.
Xan approached the creature and kneeled down before it.
He gazed deeply at it's eyes and spoke in it's own mental language.
"friend?" Xanalestro inquired letting out a sound that imitated the panther's soft welcoming friendship purr to a T.
Xanalestro slid one hand into his pocket and pulled out a piece of beef jerky and extended his hand out with it.
"food, for you, friend."
Rhysis
Marcus watched as his sister walked away. When she turned back, he simply nodded. He was unable to actually speak any words. He may have always been the more forward of the two, but she was still his big sister. He still looked up to her. And now here she was, relying on him.
He didn't know what to do, but he knew one thing for sure. He stood and moved over to her, and gave her one more hug. "Be careful." Was all the speaking he could manage.
He looked at the license plate on her car and made a mental note. He may not be able to go with her, but he could use the number on the plate to track her GPS system. He would, at the very least, know where she was going.
Tifferzzz
(Tag: Ullery. Separates posts for character length issues)
The black animal stood majestically before that which would dare approach him. Watching him as a King would stare upon a potential traitor, the eyes didn't offer welcome nor any hint of warmth. The tip of the tail flicked lightly at the thought that one bite, one snap would take off this man's face, and then he'd be left quiet once more. Lids narrowed, but the hint of scent tainted his nostrils. Instantly his mouth watered, but perhaps it was nothing more than a mere trap?
His voice would still remain silent and he would watch this stranger before him. Standing for minutes, or perhaps it was days, he wouldn't bulge a muscle, simply listening for any betrayal of sound that would signal a trap.
A small rowl extended forth echoing down the dark alley. He wouldn't cower before the man, for he had nothing to cower for. He figured himself to the level of Lords, or even to the royal of his breed. With a nose tilted high, not in scent smelling, but in cockishness, he watched the man....stared at him. Not a muscle moved for quite some time, but then a paw swiped at the meat, claws retracted...in order to drive the substance from his hand to the ground, where he could inspect it more thoroughly.
(Tag: Rhysis)
She had climbed into the car with mere dread flowing over her mind. Her last encounter with Drummond had landed her in the hospital. The man was a brutal beast...a wolf in sheep's clothing. From her home to the city would take at most fourty-five minutes, with traffic. She knew him to be at the city, for he nearly lived there...his office was the 'second' home. A busy man with a huge agenda: to rule Ayenee.
She didn't want any part of Ayenee, she just wanted her parents back.
Thoughts of their life passed in a daydream before her until her mind brought her back to the present, and to the building that rose as tall as the sky. It was a pretty building of bright blue lights, but the color was droned out in the clouds and dark grey of the sky.
With a deep breath, she stepped from her car after shutting it off. She didn't bother to 'pack heat,' for she would quickly be patted down just after entering the building. Her eyes lifted to the top of the building as if she could see it from where she was. With a deep breath, perhaps a goodbye of her life, she pulled open the heavy doors and stepped inside.
Ullery
Xan stayed quiet and still. He knew what the panther was doing.
He didn't move a single muscle himself, But he also knew that if he had to sub-due the panther, he'd do it with his bare hands and nothing more. Give the panther a fair fight rather then something involving his blade.
Rhysis
Marcus watched as his sister drove away. When she was out of sight, he hit his knees and leaned over, feeling like he was going to puke. His relative assuradeness that she wouldn't be harmed had totally faded.
He had just let her go off, quite possibly, to her death. And all he thought to do was memorize her license plate? So he could do what? Get revenge on Drummond when she died? Wasn't he suppose to prevent that from happening, at all?
He may have had connections, but he wasn't Xanalestro. He couldn't just call a few people and have a squad of guys with sniper cover ready to go at the drop of a hat. Now that he'd let her go, there was very little he could do.
But, he could, at the very least, make sure she was okay. He might not have been able to stop anything from happening, but he could figure out if it did, indeed, happen.
He went inside and got on her computer. After a few minutes of looking around, he managed to find the site he was looking for. It was sort of a safety feature. Most cars came standard with a GPS system so parents could see where their kids were going. All you had to do was log on to the right website. Well, Marcus didn't know her password, so he had to use one of the alternative sites. The feedback wasn't immediate, but he could deal with a few seconds of delay.
He watched where she went, saw her stop, and was waiting for her to move. When that happened, he would not only watch to see which direction she was going, but, would probably call her to make sure she was okay. Drummond may have been a cruel, sadistic, son of a rat carcas, but he would understand that she was a business owner, and, sometimes, needed to take phone calls if he wanted to keep getting his money.
Tifferzzz
(Tag: Rhysis)(Part 1 of....2)
For anyone who would have stepped inside the building, it revealed a different exterior than what truly lay beneath. The coat of beauty lay over a bushel of thorns. Was bushel the right word? Perhaps not. Perhaps a forest filled with thorns, needles, and every gross creature known to man…fit the personality of what Drummond’s business was. Once someone stepped inside they’d be within a quite large reception area that appeared as more of a professional Real Estate office than a murderer’s business.
(Copied over from .org by Rhysis)
Immediately across from the person that entered would be a long, tall mahogany receptionist’s desk. To the left on the opposing wall was two elevators, then behind that a couple doors. Those couple doors both led to her version of the devil. There wouldn’t be a receptionist behind the desk, for it was well after hours, and even if there was…Kat wouldn’t know that person. Drummond changed receptionists faster than he changed his underwear.
Before the door were the spawns of Satan. Now when someone talks about a ‘large’ person, one generally gets a mental picture. However ‘large’ wouldn’t even crest the surface of what these two men were. Giant would barely start. Basically the phrase, “Holy Lord that man is Huge!†would be a closer idea. At over six feet and well over three-hundred pounds of muscle…times two…they were basically Drummond’s Dobermans, on steroids, and with loaded weapons holstered to their chest. Both wore sunglasses as if it were the midst of day. The one to the left stood staring through those glasses with such intensity that she felt as if she were inconveniencing him in some manner…all while chewing on a toothpick.
She approached without a word, like a lamb to the slaughterhouse.
“He’s expecting you.†The voice rumbled as if a God had spoken.
“I expected as much.†She replied without thought. Unfortunately that was what landed her in the hospital in the first place. A broken collarbone, fractured forearm, two busted ribs, a broken nose (thank you plastic surgery) and a black eye later…she still couldn’t hold her tongue.
He grunted and she had the ill effect that if he could have crushed her into the ground, he would have without a second thought.
The one with the toothpick would lead, then she, then the other would follow. This was to ensure that she wouldn’t escape. Escape…what a delightful thought, but unrealistic action.
The hallway reminded her of a hospital with florescent lighting that was too bright. Even with the coloring of the walls – a soft _mocha – it still didn’t help. It was like mixing oil with water.
Then they reached their destination. The door was opened and the musky smell of cologne and cigars captured her with such a familiarity that it made her want to vomit. Hands immediately caressed her as they searched from top to bottom for guns or anything else they could deem as a weapon. Then the voice of the devil came forward with sweet silk.
“No need for that. Kat would know better than to bring anything here…â€
She didn’t bring anything with her, not even a phone. That…was in the car. Her hands remained in the pockets of her jacket defensively as the door was closed and she stood there, facing probably the worst adversary she could imagine.
“You look….fabulous Kat….â€
The shortened name made her stomach churn. “Yeah, it’s amazing what happens when your face stops meeting a fist…†Her brain said shut up, but she couldn’t. She loathed the man.
“tsk tsk Kitty…†he replied rising from his chair, walking around his desk and half leaning against it. “Still don’t’ know when to hold that vile tongue of yours.â€
“The truth is the only thing vile.â€
“Come now Kitty…†He faked a wounded appearance on his face.
Drummond, or Max Drummond, was a man that one could understand where she came from when she fell for him. Thick auburn hair, a large build that could be guessed at being a past-time weightlifter, the idea of handsome was exactly that. However the eyes echoed anger, violence, and a lack of tolerance that had been the downfall of nearly every enemy he’d come across. It was the eyes that kept her hating him.
He motioned for her to sit. “I’d rather not.â€
He motioned again. “Please sit Kat.â€
She stood fast. That’s when he frowned. “Sit DOWN Katarina.†Fear pushed her to the opposing chair to sit. She didn’t want to walk out of here with another incident that was graciously ‘donated’ by him.
“I know why you’re here. You miss me and want to come back, well you’re more than.â€
“Go to hell…†she interrupted. It was then that the sound of the backhand surprised her more than the actual fire that emerged across her face.
“You’re here for my help Katarina. DON’T disrespect me.†She had to bite her tongue to keep herself quiet.
“Why are you here? Your brother paid everything off…at least enough to catch you up…â€
“Someone’s stealing from the deli.â€
(Tag: Rhy, Part 2 of 2)
He genuinely seemed shocked. “Stealing from a deli? That hardly makes a profit? Must be a complete idiot.â€
“My deli makes a profit. But it has a hard time doing it when someone’s hand is in the till.â€
“Who is it?â€
“How the hell…†His hand rose again and she paused taking a breath heeding the warning. “I don’t know. It could be a worker, a familiar…honestly I don’t know. But what I would like to know is why explosives were wired to my building, my home…are you trying to kill me?â€
“Trying Kitty? You know as well as I do, if I wanted you dead, you would be.â€
He was right in that aspect.
“Your business is a profit to me, and a good ‘deal’ in the eyes of the community. Thus I will place people there to ‘ensure’ that nothing is taken. I don’t like people stealing from me. It’s bad manners. Plus blowing up my establishments, well that’s also very bad manners.â€
She bit her tongue so hard it bled.
“Is that all?†He curtly replied.
She nodded like a child who had just been told that she couldn’t have anymore cookies. She stood and started to turn when he latched out quickly and grasped her by the neck. Not painfully, but just firmly enough that she couldn’t move.
“Katarina….†He leaned forward and took a deep breath. “If I find out that you’re leading me to a trap.†His thumb caressed her neck like a cobra licking its prey before biting. “Well let’s just say that you better…â€
She kicked out. It was a reflex, or was it. Eitherway the foot hit the shin and he only frowned before throwing her like a rag doll to the floor. “Katarina, I’m treating you as a host should, but you’re just showing me bad manners. Do I need to TEACH you good manners?†She nearly stood, but remembered her ‘teachings’ from the relationship. As such she shook her head, face down on the floor and remained perfectly still – until he gave her permission to rise.
“Now that’s a good girl. Stand up.†And she did. “Now go. I have things to do. Especially figure out why someone is attacking my establishments.â€
“It’s my papa’s…†Her voice echoed softly. He nearly attacked her again but paused. “Not any longer. It’s mine until your capable of handling such a thing yourself.†She would have to buy it off of him. How the hell did she get in that situation?
Crimson filled her mouth in droplets, probably from the bite of the tongue. She stood there until he told her to leave.
“We’ll talk soon Kitty…†He waved her off just as he got on the phone and suddenly she went from the devil to his spawns.
When the firm hands grasped her and she was shoved from the building, she stumbled slightly but caught her balance. It was now raining. The water drenched her in full force, and she stood outside her car, gazing up to the sky, and the overwhelming relief of still being alive and still having the capacity to walk stunned her to the point where she struggled to get in the car. Finally settled inside, she closed her eyes and just took a moment to…breathe.
Ullery
(Tag: Ullery)
The fresh meat, or dried fresh meat. Could dried meat be fresh? To the intricate sensory pattern of a panther any type of meat was fresh. The muzzle captured the meat, and chewed on it greedily, pleased with the taste, and turned to the offeree. Eyeing him, pacing before him, he suddenly shoved his head into the man in an attempt to knock him over.
There was one thing that the panther knew at that moment: He wanted more.
Ullery
Xanalestro let's out a soft laugh and places a hand on the panther's head. The bump is strong, but Xan keeps his balance.
"Want more you do?" He asks in the panther's own mindspeech.
"sure friend."
Xan reaches into his side pocket and pulls out three more strips of jerky.
He places them down in front of the panther
Tifferzzz
The panther had stated his request in such a point-blank manner that it was impossible to miss the meaning of it. Greedily he took the offering and ate as if he hadn't in a while - which wasn't true. In fact, last night he'd eaten...well lets just leave children out of this, for now.
The animal was smart in the sense that it never let its guard down long enough to be taken by surprise. In fact, one emerald eye remained fixed on the man while his mouth had an entirely different agenda.
Three more done. The thick head rose and slammed into the man once more.
It was like a candy addiction. he loved it and wanted an endless bounty of this jerky substance.
Ullery
Now Xan fell backwards and landed with a thud. He picked himself up off the ground and kneeled before the panther again staring it straight in it's eyes.
He felt a kinship with it. A very deep understanding to it's plight.
He turned out the pocket to show the panther had eaten all he had brought.
Xan placed his hand out to the panther and gazed into it's eyes.
With mindspeech he asked for the first time.
"Friend? companion, for me? Give jerky's and steak's."
Tifferzzz
(Tag:Ullery)
The mindspeak was, well unnecessary. In truth the animal had capability of communication but spoke only when the moment seemed necessary - and there was never a moment when words weren't wasted.
So this man who would provide this succulent morsels of food wishe dto be his friend? The haunches lowered to the earth and he stared int he other while weighing his options. Raising a massive paw, the tongue then extended and began to clean the pads, seeming that for the moment this act of cleaning was far more important than the pressing question at hand. The ears would remain soft, and the eyes closed in this moment of sheer splendor before the foot lowered to the earth, as heavy and hard as the hand of God. The animal's attention would refocus on this being before him inquisitively once more, as if at first wondering....'what does this man wish of me?' But then instantly remembering and standing once more. Accepting the proposition-for the time being- he moved towards the man, and didn't break his pace. Shoulderblades would rock beneath the pelt at an even pace while attempting to walk through the man. However he obviously wouldn't go through him, but more or less 'bump' into him as if he were giving a handshake. This animal didn't do anything that didn't benefit him more than the other. Thus having 'associations' with this man would have to provide substantial food for him to stick around.
At least...that's how he saw it.
Tifferzzz
Trembling hands managed to start the car. How she managed to drive, she didn't know. In reality she wouldn't have been surprised if a bomb were placed beneath her car and the minute that she started it...well...kaboom. Fortunately the stall of the car was just that - a stall. Though her insides felt of jello, she wondered how she might look on the exterior. Turning the rear-view mirror in the dark, the shadows and lights of Ayenee bathed her face in haunting shades. Her fingertips daintly touched her eye and winced. That would definately reveal tomorrow.
Well at least she stood up to him - and survived. Inr eality having Drummond 'on her side' so to speak was like having the Mafia as your best friends. It was a benefit. But with every positive there were a thousand consequences. She didn't think that far ahead though. She didn't want to.
Turning down Promontory Drive would lead her home. Oh, and how she wanted to be home - in her bed - and sound asleep. The looming house felt cold as she approached it. It felt distant, as if it were no longer hers.
"Kitty, stop it..." She whispered quietly in the small car. Approaching the front of the estate, and shutting the car off she stepped from it. Looking to the broken front door, she advanced. Much like a kitten would into a doberman's home...she moved towards the front door with fear shadowing her eyes and an empty soul filling her chest.
Rhysis
Marcus stared at the computer screen as the red light on the computer turned green, signaling that the engine had been started, again. Well, that was good. Someone was driving it and not just towing it somewhere.
He watched with baited breath as the car turned down the main road that would lead to his sister's house. When it came close enough that he was fairly sure it would stop in front of her home, he logged out of the site, turned off the computer, and moved to the front room.
He looked through the window as the car pulled up, and was turned off. She started walking up to the house. That's when he appeared in the doorway with as kind of a voice as he could muster. "Hey. You okay?"
Ullery
Xanalestro let out a soft laugh and took the bump.
And Xanalestro once again fell backwards with a chuckle.
"Okay buddy I get the message."
"And my name, is Xanalestro."
"And I'm able to read your mind quite easily."
"To answer your question." He rubs behind the panther's ear lightly.
"I figure that this alley isn't a safe place for you. You see in ayenee, we have these terrible hunters that pop up time to time, shoot and kill animals and take their fur and bodies and mutilate em.
I am the opposite of that, I strive to hunt down the hunters who are directly responsible for killing innocent animals."
He smiles and stands up again.
"Come my friend, and allow me to introduce you to a place where you will feel safe."
Xanalestro turns and heads towards the darkness blending into the alleyway before making a turn to the right.
Once there, Xan stopped at the street and waited.
A limo pulled up and Xan gestured to it and then to the panther with grace.
"After you, my friend."
Tifferzzz
(Tag: Ullery)
Shoulders rolled in an over-emphasis of not caring. Would it be though, that curiousity in the end did kill the cat? He allowed the stranger to walk before him. Quite a ways in fact before the annoyance of being alone and not knowing what these man's plans were...caused a single paw to tread forward...as as such his entire body would continue in unison until he came up to the stranger and watched the car pull forth like a demon snake from the darkness.
Would it be the end of him to enter such a vehicle? He'd nearly been struck by a wayward one quite a while back, and hadn't appreciated the viper-like bite that they had when getting 'nicked' by one. He hesistated, but not because of fear...merely from a lack of knowing.
The teeter on the scale of human vs vehicle then occured in his mind. The encounter with the hunter...as he had previously had the gracious chance of meeting one...had left quite a scar across his right shoulder. Luck kept him alive...the hunter, though, wasn't as fortunate.
Eyeing this Xan person he then looked to the interior of the car. Pupils elongated as they drank in the sweet darkness as if it were a cave. The comfort of being surrounded by such a thing overwhelmed him and he moved forth - thought not easily. The narrow door opening forced his shoulders to be shoved...then wiggled through. Finally though, the long couch within...he saw...would suit nicely to lay upon. And as such (though with a tail and half a body hanging over)he crawled upon the leather furniture and lay there...in comfort.
Emerald orbs drank in the blackness and somehow refracted a glow that no light had given. The massive head turned to Xan and with a tilt of the head he waited for the man to enter.
Ullery
Xan smiled and entered the vehicle.
"Where to sir?" The driver asked, Xan closed the door and replied.
"Headquarter's John." Xan then reached into a side compartment and pulled out several stick's of jerky, reaching over he placed them all gently on the large cat's front paws. Xan notices the scar within the darkness of the interior and frowns. "I see you've already had the unfortunate occurance of meeting one of those, hunters."
Xan reaches out and gently touches the scar.
"I'm very sorry that I wasn't able to get you to safety sooner, friend."
Tifferzzz
(Tag:Ullery)
The delicious tantalyzing scent of meat filled the nostrils, and a soft rowl emerged in pleasure before he devoured each - one by one. However in the midst of the third, a touch brushed his pelt and the animal froze as if it had been shocked. He loathed being touched, for anything that had come into contact with him had created some sort of havoc. The muscle twitched beneatht he momentary touch and it was then that the tongue curled over the muzzle in thoughtful speech. A voice low as distant thunder on the horizon emerged forth.
"Be sorry that you didn't get him to safety sooner." And with that he took in the last strip of meat before his head lowered to his paws in silence.
Tifferzzz
Jun 26th, 2006 at 10:22 pm, Rhysiswrote:
He looked through the window as the car pulled up, and was turned off. She started walking up to the house. That's when he appeared in the doorway with as kind of a voice as he could muster. "Hey. You okay?"
Soaked to the bone she felt alright, however the soul within her felt torn apart. She'd retreated to the shell of herself in order to protect everything she was from....him.Now she just felt exhausted. She merely nodded and turned for the kitchen, starving but not wanting to eat. Perhaps a hot drink would be suitable. She just needed something to remove the taste of blood in her mouth. It was making her nauseous. She had a lot to think about, especially in the fact that first of all Drummond wouldn't let her establishment go to her. Secondly (and most importantly) it wasn't him that was trying to destroy her.
She had a problem.
Rhysis
He was tempted to accuse her light head nod as being a lie. He knew it was. Her face, movements, and general silence, were more than enough to give away the fact that she didn't feel "okay." But, he thought better of it, and followed her to the kitchen, though not too closely. He leaned against the doorframe, hands in his pockets, and let the silence fill the room for a minute.
After a short while, he spoke again. "I don't need to be back at the office until next week. I can stay here for a while, if you want. You might feel better. I promise I won't press the issue, if you don't feel like talking about it."
Ullery
Xanalestro had noticed the big cat's hesitant reaction toward the touch.
Xanalestro was more then a match for the big cat, unarmed. He'd once faced a tiger full on and met it pawstroke for pawstroke in blocking techniques.
The limo pulls past set's of tree's and scores of private property until it stops at the mysterious orange-looking gates.
After punching in five set's of codes, the limo pulls past the gates and makes a sudden turn to the right.
A hole in the ground opens up and swallow's the vehicle and from there it heads past darkness until there have been four or five turns more.
The limo stops and Xanalestro get's out of the vehicle.
"It's okay my friend." Xan whispers softly to the panther's ear.
"We're in a safe place now. No more harm shall come to you."
Tifferzzz
The kitchen was in the east side of the home, broken off from the living room. The decorations were the same as when their parents had lived there: a decor' not unlike the interior of a cabin. The exterior of the building was quite a 'mansion' appearance which was definately different from the interior.
Her papa did like to hunt though,and the remenants of the hanging heads of bucks, the bodies of fish and ducks were silent reminders to his own personal power - especially over the elements. Unfortunately two elements had taken him down - his wife's cancer, and Drummond.
The Kitchen had it's own bar that was separated from the rest of the kitchen and set in the middle. The top of the counters weren't corian, nor granite...but tile. The kind of tile that reminded her of her mother.
Seated on a stool at the bar with her back facing Marcus and a cup of something warm in her hands, her eyes remained fixed on a specific dot on a certain tile before her. Her voice came out soft and weak. She was tired. her body hurt. most of all her face hurt, but not as much as it would in the morning. "I'd like that, Marcus..." The only thing that Kat had changed in the time that she'd owned the home was moving her room to her parents. It kept her close to them and gave her a comfort that she couldn't allow to leave. The unfortunate issue at hand was by having people rampage through her home...
Lord. She hoped that they hadn't gone into her parent's room.
Two hands brought the cup to her lips but she couldn't bring herself to drink. Placing the cup down once more she took an elated sigh of remorse.
There were two things that she knew she wouldn't ever tell her brother. One was that her and Drummond used to be engaged.The other was of the miscarriage that she'd had - one of the primary reasons (aside from her fgather's death) that she'd ran screaming into the night. She'd spent a year at the mental hospital before they'd released her on the basis of "emotional exhaustion and not a mental defect." Thankfully the home had been paid off and as such nobody tried to repo it. She did have to pay back-taxes though, and reopen the deli to attempt to stay on top of things.
Now it was falling apart.
Her hands started to burn from the ever-warming glass, but she didn't care. It felt good just to feel...something.
Tifferzzz
Comfort was never something that the panther felt. In fact staying alive was the only real issue in his mind that forced every action that he did. Was he exhausted then from his attempted survival each and every day...that he would then get into a stranger's vehicle?
Naturally a wave of uneasiness would coarse through his veins. The door was opened, and the pupils retracted with the sudden burst of brightness. His problem was that he was hardly ever in the light. Even the light of day would do nothing more than make him some hunter's target, so night had become his biggest ally. As such lights posed a sudden problem. His eyes throbbed with the intensity. Closing the lids he waited for one moment..then another...and yet another...before finally rising and wedging himself from the interior of the car once more.
Ullery
Xanalestro frowned at the sudden hesistation in his panther friend.
"A bit too bright for you my friend? Perhaps this little object will help you. To you and only to you specifically, it will dim the interior's or exterior's of Sbc's areas. I still recommend avoiding direct sunlight, as it isn't good for your health anyway, but particularily, it doesn't do too kindly with this device.
Xan holds out what appears to be some kind of small chip.
"just swallow if you want a dimmer or rather a dampner on these litrogen bulbs."
Rhysis
He smiled when she agreed to have him stay. He never liked the idea of her being alone in this house, but particularly now. "Okay then. I could stay in my old room, or I could toss an air mattress on the floor in yours, if you want."
He pushed off the doorframe with his shoulder and walked over to his sister. He placed one hand on her shoulder, and his hand over the hot cup she was holding. He could see the steam rising off the top of it, and knew it would be getting rather hot. They'd had a bad enough day as it was. He didn't need to be treating minor burns on her hands now, too.
He took the cup from her and moved over to the bar. There, the former bartender poured a mixture of Kahlua, nutmeg, milk and powdered sugar into a different mug for a nightcap and set the cool drink between her hands.
He sat beside her, and put one arm around her shoulders to try and give her some sort of comfort. He didn't know what happened there. There was a chance he never would. But one thing was for sure. His sister needed someone, and that someone had to be him. If it weren't, who else could there possibly be?
Tifferzzz
The animal could attest to one thing - putting something in his stomach that would dim lights....well there wasn't enough of a trust built for him to even conceive of such a thing. He'd deal with the pain of his retinas screaming in anguish. Shoulders rolled without a word or thought as he passed the people standing there. One thing was evident - there was fear here. Indeed, if he were a man carrying a loaded weapon, well the odds would be well against him for everyone here was trained on how to handle a man. But a panther?
Let the games begin.
He moved through the people like a serpent through rocks until he came to the strongest scent of fear that he'd ever smelt. He stopped. The dark eyes turned to the man...this stranger...and he stared until the man started to visibly shake. A low throaty rumble to add to the effect, and then the intoxicating flavor of air became so sweet....that he had to restrain from...
Well. No he didn't.
The dark lips pulled back over the jagged weapons as the intermixture of a rumble and a hiss emerged forth - not more than three inches from this cowering feeble of a man. Suddenly the smell of fear was intermixed with the stench of urine.
He had succeeded. If a panther could smirk - well he did.
His head fell nearly to the shoulder of the man that he'd just abused to the point of causing his bowels to lose their function. Ahhh the joy of it. Through the small crowd the eyes searched for Xan, and in a half-hearted caring attempt at a joke, thought to Xan. ~I hope everyone here is this...fun...~ A dark voice in a dark mind. Weaving once more through the retreating crowd he ehaded for the interior of the building.
Tifferzzz
The intense heat was taken from her hands bringing an instant relief that she didn't know that she needed - until now. Once more a cup was placed before them, but she no longer wished to drink. She needed something that she couldn't have, and it was something that she couldn't tell her brother about. Doing so at this time would bring his temper flaring, not just at Drummond, but at her as well. She was to tired for that.
The sweet scent of Nutmeg captured her senses and she brought the glass to her lips automatically. The taste was erotically exotic. A substance that hadn't touched her tastebuds in years. She had missed the flavor, and unfortunately Marcus was the only one who could produce such a drink...one to still her mind and calm her nerves, all without making her sick.
"Your room..." Her voice emerged weaker than she'd thought. "Is ready for you. It always has been." She wanted to hug him, to hold a piece of her family that still existed, but was so afraid that in doing so...well he'd disappear into the wind once more.
Standing from the barstool with the glass cradled in both hands she took a few steps and almost existed the kitchen before repeating once more, "It's good to see you again Marcus." And with that she continued to her room to attempt some sort of sleep among all of this night's ruckus.
Rhysis
He smiled at her as she repeated what was said earlier. "You too, Katie." He watched as she made her way to their parents' old bedroom. Once the door was closed, he set to making sure all the doors and windows were locked, and the lights were turned off.
Once he was sure everything was locked up tight, he went to his old room. There he stood in the doorway for a while. She was right. It was exactly the same way their parents had left it, which was the exact same way he'd left it. It was only a few years ago when he moved out of here, but it seemed like an eternity. Especially now.
He let his mind wander back to the past, when things were easier. He opened up desk drawers to find papers from high school. His closet still held the letterman jacket, his practice and tournament gi and old tournament trophies.
Then he thought about something. He opened the drawer to his old nightstand, and smiled as he found exactly what he was looking for. Part of the test for black belt included intricate knowledge of meditation. He figured, the easiest way to learn about meditation, was to practice it. So, he'd stocked up on candles and incense. Pretty much all that was left of the various types he used was the lavender, which he never used all that often, as he found himself falling asleep halfway through the meditation because of the relaxation effects of the plant oil. But, it would work wonders to help calm his sister's nerves.
He grabbed one of the incense holders and a couple of the slow burning sticks, and made his way to Kat's room, where he knocked on the door, fully expecting to have caught her crying. "Hey, Katie. I've got something that'll help you sleep. Mind if I come in?"
Ullery
The man in question also had a bit of a heart problem.
Most of the more dedicated members and soldier's of sceptered black claw however were not so easily frightened by beasts.
about 90 percent of those in Sbc knew how to carry themselves on a regular basis around animals.
Considering that part of the reason sbc was started was to help protect animals.
In this case, the panther had met Stenton Torren. One of the lesser introduced to animals.
"Clean up private." "y, yes sir."
Xanalestro responded in a soft voice. "I will make a caution friend, don't try that stunt on my second in command. He isn't easily intimidated, nor is he easily scared by predators."
Xanalestro walked to the main console and spoke into a device. "Attention all Personnel. Attention all personnel. We have a new ally in the hq. You can't miss im. Big looking Panther. I assure you to issue no harm towards it. That is all."
Xanalestro headed after the big headed cat and walked alongside it.
Xanalestro opened a door and motioned the panther into the darker interior. Once it was inside, the door would automatically close.
Xanalestro was near the opposite side of the room opening a fridge and pulling out a ham and a bottle of natural spring water.
He poured the water into a plastic cup and sliced the ham in three quarter increments, Leaving two parts on a paper plate for the panther and putting a part into a sandwhich.
He sat down in the chair and gazed across at the panther in a relaxed posture.
Xan ate at the sandwhich and placed the cup down next to him.
He looked at the panther. "If your thirsty friend, I have water here." he motioned to the cup with his hand on it's side to hold it steady.
"And if your hungry, which I know you tend to be quite a bit, then there is food for you on that plate."
Tifferzzz
(Sorry for the delay, gentleman, my business has grown to havoc levels. Bear with me)
(Tag: Rhysis)/ (Tag:Ullery)
*******************
Time had passed since last she departed from the kitchen. How much, wasn’t really important, but the notion that at least thirty minutes flitted away was only important in the aspect of time needed for her to sleep.
Kat’s room could only be described as empty. There weren’t trinkets, photos, or any other memorabilia within the bedroom beyond the necessities of the dresser, bed, and the nightstand with one lamp. The floor was cherry wood, the bed draped in the most simple of linen. If there were one part of the home that showed where her lack of money reflected, it was definitely here. The fascinating part of the room was the bay window that allowed a wonderful view of the woods that lay beyond the Iron Gate.
All in all the room seemed a lonely sense of haunting.
However none of it mattered since she lay atop the four-poster bed, still within the clothes that she’d seen Drummond in, and still drenched to the bone – though her hair had begun to dry. Her eyes had fallen shut and darkness swirled her into an oblivion that could only be described as confusing and vortex-like. From beyond she heard the soft raps against the door, but she didn’t wish to answer it – regardless of who it was. She was almost to a place of either perfect peace or of horrid nightmares. The chance to sleep without dreams was such a wondrous notion that she was willing to risk the nightmares to get there.
Perfect peace…what a notion.
********************
(Tag: Ullery)
It didn’t take long for the thick tongue to gorge itself upon the small feast before him. Perhaps in the sight of Kings and royalty, it wasn’t such a banquet as to be termed a ‘feast’ however to him (and compared to his usual routine) it was indeed welcomed.
Lapping at the liquid until the bowl was dry he then sat back on his haunches and gazed to the human before him. His head tilted slightly before his maw parted in a rowl of a yawn and he fell to the floor, licking the pads clean of his right paw. “So tell me of your purpose. There must be logical reason for you to bring me here…is there not? It will serve you in some way, though I’m unsure of how.†His statement was to the point, direct, and not intended for shock but just for what he asked for, 'a reason.'
Ullery
Xanalestro gazed co-operativeley at his friend and smiled.
"Directly to the point eh? all right."
Xanalestro folded his hands and gazed at the panther with respect. And without any hints of fear within him.
"Your here for three specific reasons."
"The first of which, is that I needed a pet, but have you ever heard of pure black wolves? No. Wolves though their my main, proctection enforcement, they aren't pets. They can't be classified as such simply because they don't have the pure black fur."
"You do. And you represent both strength and wisdom."
"Secondly, you are here because your the near last of your species both in the city and in the surrounding territorys for as far as up to 900 metrons. Which is about 40,000 miles."
"Lastly you are here because I became......very interested in the stories I heard about you. Two hunter's told me you nearly took their arm right off. And I do know about the children who wandered too close into your territory and vanished without a trace. I also can guess, where those children went. Don't worry, I'm about as secretive as they come."
"If you decide to stay on with me my friend, you can expect to be treated with the utmost respect. And here, there are no hunter's who would dare try to harm you. Well at least in the business section they wouldn't try it. Not with me sitting in a chair or walking with you nearby. No no. That would be a very large mistake they'd make."
"In the military facility, or headquarters, as is where we are currently, the chances of finding this base and it's conducting challanges. Are extremely low. So far no one has ever found my base. And if they had, I have a rather, unique set of individual's whom I've had the pleasure of working with before, who would be able to wipe out, my little problem."
Rhysis
No answer. Perhaps, in the seemingly short time he'd been going through the house, and the things in his old room, she actually managed to fall asleep. He decided it best to just leave her be.
To get somewhat of the desired effect, however, Marcus went back to his room and collected as many of the lavender scented candles as he could find, five in all. They were eac in a jar, so wax spilling all over wouldn't be a problem. He set them up around the house, with a flat saucer underneath each one, just in case they did fall over, so it wouldn't make a mess, or start a fire. He made sure to place one of the candles close to an air intake vent, so the scent would travel all through the house. He also placed one in the kitchen, one in the main room, one on a table in the hallway, and the last one he put just outside her room, on the nightstand he'd moved from his room.
He then went back to his room, leaving the door open in case Kat had a bad nightmare that she may want to be woken up from, and sat at the edge of his old bed, thinking about the irony of their current situation. He had quite a few of his own problems. He had just as much sentimental attachment to the house and the deli as Kat did. His house and the property it was on had been "signed" by Drummond's goons, and his own company, though he hadn't told anyone yet, was threatening to get rid of his division, and thus, him. Still, the only thing he was concerned with was making sure his sister's problems were dealt with. She was more important to him right now than anyone else. He'd even been engaged, once, but it was broken off because he was constantly worrying about Kat, instead of anything else. Healthy or not, that was how he'd grown up, and that was just how things were going to have to work.
Tifferzzz
The night had passed briefly enough that the next morning came to soon. A dull grey windy morning that promised rain every few hours rose to greet them.
Kat groaned outwardly as if detesting the fact that she'd even managed to wake. She'd have rather stayed in the vortex of black nothingness of where dreams didn't exist and nightmares didn't live. It was a place of solace, of quiet, of where time passed quickly but nothing happened.
It was a place of perfection.
Perhaps this place was what you saw after you died? Katarina pondered on that as she stared out the window to the cold bleak world that would greet her.
It was another day.
A day she wasn't excited about. Perhaps she'd just do as she did when she was a child.
Taking that into account, she grabbed the thick comforter and curled back into the large bed pulling the covers over her head.
The darkness blocked out the light, and once more she was in peace.
Tifferzzz
Thus far, the panther hadn't a reason to suspect nor really trust anyone. He had accepted this situation enough to be in the confines of a building that was loitered with what he considered to be walking food.
Sleep hadn't taken him, at least not that night, and he'd roamed each hall and stuck his nose into every available room that he could get into. He wouldn't touch nor break anything, as that was not his intention. He didn't wish destruction, but to merely investigate. It was a new world that they'd welcomed him into, he better know what he was dealing with.
Shoulders coiled and rolled and silent steps carried him down the hall. He wouldn't touch anyone, nor would they approach him, as it wasn't wise to do so...especially with the growl in his stomach.
Ullery
Xanalestro sat behind the chair, having slept perhaps no more then four hours that night. He opened his eyes to find his, friend gone.
He gazed across at a computer console and tapped a couple of button's to bring up infra-red and security camera's.
An access corridor on East wing Delta caught Xan's attention.
"Hmm. odd, that sector's supposed to be for higher management."
He tapped a button to bring up the security camera near that sector and his eyebrow raised when in zoom mode, he located the source for the oddness. It seemed his friend was doing a little investigating.
He placed a hand to his communicator.
"all units, our friend is permitted to enter level three areas.
However level four and nuclear level five's are on lockdown, you'll need your keycards to enter those sectors."
A response came from one of the teams. "yes sir, understood."
Rhysis
He hadn't been able to sleep all that much better than anyone involved with this, apparently. He'd go to sleep for an hour, wake up for half, sleep for another hour, and wake up again. After three or four times of that, he'd decided it best to just stay up.
So what had he been doing aside from making sure none of the candles fell over? Helping his family, of course.
The last two hours had been spent with a combination of the computer, phone, and notepad, trying to figure things out with his sister's problem. She never liked taking handouts, but that hadn't stopped him from just transferring the money over to her personal and corporate accounts.
He'd made a list of all the employees of the diner and called a few different companies to come to the diner to give a quote on how much it would cost to have security cameras installed. He would have just automatically hired the one with the best reputation, but it wasn't actually his restaurant, and he wanted to make sure Kat didn't have a problem with it, first.
He also had a rather lengthy conversation with his assistant, having her take care of some of the work she'd been holding for him, as he wasn't fully positive he would be back to work when he origionally planned.
Now, he was in the kitchen, finishing up Katarina's favorite breakfast, or at least what he could remember as being her favorite breakfast. He placed the finishing touch of a single flower on the tray, and headed up to her room. With a firm but calm rap on the door, he spoke. "Hey Katie, I've got something for you. Mind if I come in?"
Tifferzzz
It wasn't until the moment that her brother's voice entered through the door that she became tragically aware that last night wasn't a dream. The tenderness of her cheek was another hateful reminder of what had occured and with whom the previous eve's interaction was with.
She hadn't remembered changing her clothes between the time she had hit her bed and now, but the soaked attire was on the floor and she was dressed in a simple white tank with flannel striped pajama bottoms.
She responded as she had always done when they had been beneath the same roof, "door's open munchkin..."
The term munchkin had originated when Kat had been trivialized due to her shorter than family height. Being teased for being normal stature for a woman didn't lessen the impact when nearly everyone in your family was almost six feet.
The munchkin phrase was to pin the insult elsewhere to lessen the blow of truth. After time, it just stuck.
She didn't bother to pull out her buried head when he entered for the light wouldn't do her eyes, or anything else for that matter...justice.
Tifferzzz
With silent footsteps that kept him moving like a shadow through light, the unexpectedness of when he came around certain corners gave some occupants a startled realization of what this mammoth beast could potentially do. None came near him, nor spoke to him, and he appreciated it as such.
Passing by the slit of a door, he thought little of the conversation that filled his ears until the term "Barraka" gave him reason for pause. Every muscle stilled in its position. Triangular sonars pivoted with an almost desperate attempt to overhear the words.
As faint as they were some distinctions were amazingly clear. One of them included skinning, death, and other various assortments of punishments that he had yet to experience. The other was money.
What the obsession was with the paper fabrication that human's had embolized into a god-like symbol, he could not understand.
A rustling informed him that it was time to move forward, and as such he did, curling around the next corner just in time to hear the door click closed.
He was going to have to be more careful than he had originally thought. It seemed that there were things to occur in the future that he would be part of - and whether it was good or bad he needed to be prepared.
Ullery
(might want to make a note of whom the play is aimed for so we won't get confused in the future)
Mitch Larson had a multitude of tasks on his shoulders.
And as such a new "ally" had entered their domain.
Mitch found the triangular security coordinate's and went off after the great wild cat with calmth.
Mitch stepped around a corner to find himself facing the large cat.
"Greetings and salutation's comrade, My name is Mitch Larson, I am the second in command of daily operations, and as such, I am constantly on the move. Order's were recieved for you comrade. Your allowed access to up to level three areas, level four and five and level nuclear were decided off limits to you. If you have complaints with that, take it up with Xanalestro. Now, For most of us there's a feeding time and schedule, however, you are exempt from that particular schedule, but Xan did mention you'd be hungry so I brought you a plate of steaks with which to satisfy your hunger."
Mitch placed the warm cooked meat steaks in front of the panther and gave it a full confident stare. "If you have need of me, I'm always around. Just don't be surprised if it takes more then a moment for me to notice you, I'm a very busy individual and as such I'm kept on my toes constantly. Enjoy your new home, comrade."
Mitch then turned and walked around the panther and headed in the direction the panther had just come. More then once he stopped to answer a communication from somewhere else.
Rhysis
He moved into the room, smirking a bit at the response he hadn't expected from her. As he sat down on the edge of the bed and placed the tray of food next to her, he paraphrased the playful words their mother had always used with her when the two of them argued as small children, as all siblings did, from time to time. "Ya know...one of these days I'm gonna be bigger than you. You'd better be nice to me."
He offered her a smile as he watched for a reaction. He hadn't expected her to feel on top of the world. But he could tell she was making an attempt at hiding something and, were it not for the history between her and the scum she'd met with the previous night, he would have already gone to the source and figured it out for himself.
He was quiet for a few seconds, long enough that he was positive she would be able to smell the food. Then he started up. "I went ahead and transfered the money to your accounts so you won't have to close down or go hungry, and I wanna try and help you figure out who's been stealing from you. You okay with that?"
Tifferzzz
(Tag: Ullery)
An appetite that would never be satisfied greedily took in the steaks without word. It hadn't occured to him the thought of potential danger that might have been included in the food. Nevertheless, instinct overwrought thought and the red meat was soon sitting in his stomach.
With a rather loud rowl, he took it upon himself to stretch, greedily enjoying the feeling of having a full stomach. A shake of the head, a turn of the ears, and he listened, but found nothing interesting enough to move.
Haunches folded beneath him and his rear plopped down onto the floor.With a lazy wag of the tip of his tail he began to clean his right paw.
A twinkle of laughter, a light hearted sound that sounded foreign in an establishment such as this had his attention quickly captured. The paw lowered and he rose, his steps silent as he moved down the corridor and towards the office where the pleasant sound emerged.
The pleasure of such a sound had him seated outside her door, as a guard dog would...just simply listening as if it were a musical album being played.
With each person that came near the door, a small growl, a raise of the lips would keep them at bay. Not for the reason of fear...persay...but perhaps the unknowing of what the feline would do if they stepped beyond and created a confrontation...that undoubtedly would have their boss greatly displeased.
Whomever the woman was speaking to that kept her with joy in her voice must have ended when a click filled the air. He rose and turned, nudging open the door and padded to the stranger.
Without a second thought, he sat beside her and placed the massive skull on the woman's lap.
Tifferzzz
(Tag: Rhysis)
She had to laugh at his response, for she hadn't even realized that she'd called him the nickname until his words hit her ears. Rising to a sit and turning to face him, her hair was all tusseled as it use dto be when she was a child. She brushed it from her face as carlessly as a toddler and smiled softly, though relieved at his words.
One thing Kat hated was handouts, however she'd fought hard enough to this point to not take something from somebody. She needed help. "What would I do without you?" She questioned as she leaned back against the headboard. "I'm sorry if your room was dusty. I had to fire the maids a long time ago...after papa...well you know. I haven't really cleaned beyond just the natural picking up." She shrugged lightly, "But just as you know, I wasn't one to clean anyway." She then sat in silence for a while before adding, "Are you glad to be back?" A partial question but more of a sarcastic statement than anything.
Rhysis
He laughed mildly as she reacted a bit more positively than he thought she would have. He tussled her hair in an attempt to mess it up more as he answered the rhetorical question. "Well you probably would have had a lot more dates in school without all the senior classmen being afraid what of your little brother would do."
He moved the food in front of her and shrugged as she apologized for the condition of his room. "I wouldn't worry about it. I spent the last month sleeping in a two-dollar a night hotel with no running water and lights that took ten seconds to turn on after you flipped the switch; in a country I’ve never even heard of. So, yeah…†He smirked. “I’m glad to be back.â€
He knew that wasn’t what she’d meant by her question. But, he couldn’t resist. “And, since I am back, I’ve also got some good news. I found somebody who might be able to help you out with those headaches. He’s a bit unorthodox, but I think it might be worth looking in to.â€
Tifferzzz
The very notion that there was a capable, potential, 'cure' for her ailment sent her mind reeling. He had her focus now. Unorthodox or not, years of having her head throb with a million hammers and experiencing what it might have felt like to have one's eyes torn from their skull...would leave anybody wishing for an answer. Any answer.
"Tell me of it." She knew that the headaches had grown worse with each passing year and she hadn't any idea of how long she'd continue to hold out.
The excitement had her eating without even realizing she was doing so. She'd...within that moment of splendor...had moved to her knees and grabbed a piece of bread munching nervously on it.
Rhysis
"Well I haven't been able to get too much information on him, yet. He doesn't like to share the details of his procedures with anybody he's not actually treating. But, when I described what you'd been going through, and that it had been diagnosed as anything from cluster headaches to repressed asthma issues, he gave me enough to peak my interest, meaning it's probably more than enough to peak yours." He smiled
"The first visit with him is usually just a question and answer session. He said he looks for signs of different causes in the way you react as well as the way you answer. The next couple are some light stimulation treatments, followed by some concentration exercises. He said he doesn't have success with everybody, but more than half of the people who come and see him that have been suffering their whole lives, like you have, don't have any headaches by the time they're done. I thought it might be worth trying out." He didn't mention the cost. The problem with a privately funded doctor was that they never had much money, so when they got customers, if they wanted to stay in business, they had little choice but to charge them an arm and a leg. It was that, or s promise of returned services. Marcus would take care of the cost.
"So whattya think?"
Tifferzzz
Short of selling her soul to the devil, she was willing to do anything. She nodded enthusiastically. "Yes please..." But then she stopped with a furrowed brow. "How much is it going to cost...as you know I don't..." her voice trailed off as her eyes diverted, more than ashamed of her current financial situation regardless if it was her doing or not. She still felt responsible, and as such being as broke as she was, was very demeaning.
Rhysis
He shook his head and answered with a determined tone. "I'm not about to sit back and watch a chance for my sister to stop suffering pass by just out of reach simply because of money. I'm taking care of the bill. All you've got to do is show up. Your first appointment is tomorrow at three o' clock. I'll take you there, myself."
He didn't leave any room for argument. Not that it had stopped her from presenting one, before. She was good that way. Still, the appointment had been made, as had a deposit. "So you just go to your appointment. Don't worry about the cost. I'm more worried about keeping those headaches away from you than I am about the money."
Tifferzzz
(Tag: Rhysis)
She would do as he said, though he was younger than she was, it felt good to have someone else take control of everything - if for just a moment.
The days time would roll by aggrivatingly slow until it was nearly time to leave, in which she merely changed her clothes and pulled her hair back into a french braid. As if her very appearance would influence the doctor that she wasn't a nobody who didn't deserve to be seen.
Descending the stairs in her home, she asked him almost pleadingly, for she wished not to go alone, "Will you come with me?"
Rhysis
He smiled and nodded. "Of course I'll go with you." His hand moved from behind his back and he tossed his keys in the air before catching them with the opposite hand. Obviously, he'd been expecting her to ask him to accompany.
"As a matter of fact, Doctor Roe suggested that I go with you, at least for the first session, anyway." He smiled and moved to the door, holding it open for her. "And just think. Pretty soon, you'll have no headaches to speak of any more, and you can finally go on that float trip with me and the group.
He was speaking of a small group of friends they managed to keep from the combination of high school and college. It may have only been three additional friends, but they were pretty close. Each one of them had played a vital role in the planning of their parents' funerals. Though they were somewhat closer to Marcus than they were Katarina, they still looked forward to seeing them both, as rare as it may have been.
Tifferzzz
Katarina had perhaps become 'brilliant' due to her father's aspiritions. He had volunteered his only daughter as an experimental 'rat' but make it appear as nothing more than a simple game.
"Here my little kitten, put on this hat. It's a special hat."
"For princesses?"
"yes my dear, for princesses..."
The excruciating pain didn't occur until years later which had both surprised and dumbfounded her father. As sweet as he was, he was still a brilliant scientist that longed for greatness.
Her brother had never known. Her father saw to that.
Kat rubbed her eyes while stepping through the door as if she were being whisked into that one dream that she'd longed for. The one without the burning sensation that poured fire down her spine, through her toes, into her fingers, and out of her eyes. The one that left the pounding, the aching, the pain behind.
Now she was within that dream.
With a smile of longing she slid into the car beside her brother and waited anxiously - perhaps a little 'too' anxiously, to get to the doctor's office. Figiting in her seat she stared out the window, biting her lip softly as her mind thought of all the things she could do with a clear head.
Like figure out who was theiving from her.
In truth it was easy to see the chance. But the hurt came in knowing that it had to be someone close to her, someone she trusted.
And she hoped to God that it was because of a good reason. She could forgive that.
Treacherous acts without remorse or any other purpose other than selfish tendencies....that....she couldn't forgive.
Rhysis
"You take good care of your sister."
"I will, Papa."
"You know she depends on you, even though she's older."
"I know, Mama."
He'd been hearing it all his life. From the earliest time he could remember, all the way up until their passing, his parents made sure Marcus would be the strong one. No, he didn't know why. He never really thought to ask. To him, that's just the way it was. Other siblings didn't work that way. Or at least, not in their younger years. The older one, regardless of gender, was the one to watch out for the younger one. Not with them. Their parents wanted to make sure Kat had someone to lean on when they couldn't be around. Good thing, too, because now they weren't.
Marcus thought about their past a lot, as he drove to Dr. Roe's office. Of course, he'd been thinking about their past a lot, anyway, ever since it was just the two of them. One thing he'd figured out was that, despite how closely knit their family had been, there were a lot of secrets. He hoped the good doctor could uncover some of them. These headaches may have been common, but they were anything but normal. He'd heard of sympathy pain before, but when he could tell that Kat was getting a headache without him even knowing she had one, because of the awkward pain in his own head, something was amiss. He'd mentioned that to the doctor, which is what got him so interested in her condition.
As they pulled into the parking lot outside a typical looking office building, he looked over to his sister and sighed. "Well, we're here. You ready?"
Tifferzzz
Each road seemed to weave into the next until it all fell into a blur. For some reason thoughts of her father pressed through her mind, but not of the experiments (to which she didn't remember) but of the times that they used to play, and laugh, and the times where he'd take her riding in the woods.
Or play scrabble. To which she always beat him.
Her hands, though entwined began to shake slowly at first, then more violently as they drew closer to the building. When they stopped she felt overwhelmingly nauseous. Perhaps it was just anxiety. Her heart fluttered in heavier palpitations until her chest felt as if it were to explode. The only time she felt anything remarkably as disorienting and unusual as this was when her father took her skydiving.
At six.
Kat hadn't a fear of heights, she had a fear of falling. Yet determined to please her father in his quest to be the king to overcome obstacles, she'd allowed him to throw her from the plane.
She felt just as she did at this very moment, before she vomited and passed out in the air. Had Marcus not been right beside her and pulled the cord for her, she would have died.
And now, this feeling overwhelmed her again. Though her stomach fluttered, her heart slammed, her shoulders shook down to her arms, she nodded staring at the building and muttered a voice weaker than she meant to, "I'm ready." Her voice sounded remarkably like what a mouse's might if it were to walk into a house full of cats.
Being the ever-resilient one, and so damned hard-headed to never let anyone down, she nodded in defiance to her feelings. Her brother was paying for her to become well, and she wouldn't let him down.
Come hell or high water she'd fight to the end before disappointing Marcus.
Ullery
"Hmm." Xanalestro had fallen asleep at his computer, not the first time in hq.
"Sir the "car" will be arriving at our location four hours from now."
Xan nodded at Mitch and rubbed his eyes. "How long was I out?"
Mitch gazed at his watch. "Five hours sir."
"Geeze. What's the stock market like right now?"
"Well, it's holding steady at six and nine sir."
"Good."
Xanalestro frowned. "Where's our, guest Mitch?"
"Don't know sir. Last I heard, he was in corridor six beta."
Xan tapped a few keys on a security system tel-link to his left and images popped up.
Xanalestro was either seeing double or the cat had either managed to find his wife or possibly Captain Jane O Cordell.
"Hmm. Mitch is my wife down in six beta?"
"Don't know sir."
Xanalestro stood up and headed towards six beta.
Frowning quietly.
Tifferzzz
(Tag: Ullery)
The sudden startle of surprise didn’t raise his head from her lap, instead the melodic tones of “what the?†as well as a few other choice curses could only be brought forth by a Captain that had been more than ‘in the field.’ If she had expected him to take a bite out of her thigh, she would have been incorrect. Instead, the heavy head would remain on the lap, simply waiting for her to speak more and sooth him with the pitches and falls of the melodic tones. He felt a short pat atop his head, as if she were testing him to see if he would snap, but in response she’d only feel the vibration of a purr coarse through him and into her.
But then the door opened and his head turned on the scent. It wasn’t a familiar; in fact it was another worker that was bringing some sort of files to the captain.
His quiet time had been interrupted and he was most displeased. HE claimed this woman as HIS. Not in mating, not in sexual nature, but in a complete possession of his own.
He stared at the man, who in turned stared back at him without a waiver of fear. The triangular ears pivoted then lay back against the skull as the soft purr that had been there previously suddenly shifted into a dark rumble of a threatening growl. He stood between the man and the angel-voiced female and there was a hint of recognition that coarsed through Barraka’s mind. This had been one of the men that he’d spotted in the other rooms that had spoken his name. Few knew of his actual identity, and for this stranger to know of it only raised his awareness and anger. He didn’t trust this man, and he didn’t want him near this woman. Jane had become that of the panther's and didn’t even know it.
Barraka, on the other hand, was about to break all hell loose.
Ullery
Xanalestro stopped at the begining of corridor six.
He listened and for a brief second thought he sensed a shadow nearby.
He frowned and gazed toward where the shadow supposedly had been and frowned again. "that was odd."
He reaches to his wrist and speaks into his watch.
"B ops here." replied a voice to a button press.
"ops, am I being tagged and followed?"
"Negative sir, no signs of tag and bag."
"Hmm. List all operatives in corridor six please."
"Lance meroit, Private third class, H-hunter, Special operative J sillan. And Captain Cordell."
"What is Cordell's current location?"
"Cordell is in office z slash gamma sir."
"Thank you ops."
Xan headed towards the section that would take him to office gamma.
Tifferzzz
Tag: Ullery
Deep emerald latched onto the stranger that stood opposite of him. Barraka's head was nearly to the shoulder of the stranger...in height...and thus was a rather intimidating creature of itself. The man didn't seem phased, but insinuated a look that in itself resembled a human saying of "bring it." The low rumble was quickly cut off when the man spoke. "Better keep your 'pet' on a leash there Captain...you never know whatcould happen." When he spoke, his gaze never shifted from the panther, nor did the panther waiver from the man. He merely tossed the file to the Captain and turned from Barraka with little regard, and even littler respect. The panther would have attacked him if the hand of his 'angel' hadn't touched his head. "Ignore him.." She replied, still a bit on the cautious side of the newly acquired panther. "He's just a jackass."
Ullery
Xanalestro stopped when he saw a recruit walking out of the captain's office.
Xan made a mental note to remember to find out who that was.
Xan knocked on the door to the captain's office and entered.
"Good afternoon Captain cor-" Xanalestro stopped short when he noticed his furry companion near her feet.
Xan walked up without fear and kneeled before the panther, gently placing a hand along the chin and gazing at the panther's eyes.
"Hello friend, I see you've already met the Captain."
Xanalestro stands and gazes at Captain cordell. "who was that recruit that just left anyhow? i don't..quite recall his name."
Tifferzzz
The Captain's eyes lifted to Xan as he entered, and quickly notated the supposed trust between him and the animal. She knew that she needn't worry of it tearing at Xan...at least not yet.
"Hmmm? Oh him. That's Andrew Jorgenson. David Jorgenson's son. He just recently transfered here."
Her eyes drifted to the animal, watching it's reactions, and the moment she began to speak of Andrew, the more aggitated the panther became.
"It seems our friend here, doesn't like him."
If a panther could smirk, he would have. Like...was a complete understatement of what he felt for Andrew. Loathe was a closer comparison, perhaps hate...perhaps a whole plethora of unfriendly words could describe exactly what he felt, but it all wrapped up into one word - mistrust.
His thoughts disappeared though when the lady's hand patted his head and began to idly scratch it as she searched her files. Turning, she handed the employee file of Andrew over to Xan. "You can check him out, but I trust his dad, so I thought it would be a good thing to have him here." She shrugged idly. "He's a bit of a hard-ass, but he's loyal."
Ullery
Xanalestro took the file from the captain and nodded quietly.
"I'll look the file over at the buisness office at the first fleeting moment that I get."
He gazes down noticing the animals reaction to the man.
Interesting. Xanalestro himself had a more...subtle approach with animals and he could tell on watching it's body language that it didn't take heed in the mentioning of the name.
Xan kneeled back down before his friend and leaned close to his face.
He gazed deep into the eyes, xan's own showing sympathy and calmth.
He gave the panther a gentle scratch under the chin and spoke in a soft calm tone to it.
"friend?" he asked slowly. "Would you care to accompany me to the buisness office? I should like you to know the other side of sbc."
Tifferzzz
He didn't really 'like' the touch from Xan. In fact he would prefer that only the womanw ith the angel's voice ever touched him. He wasn't a 'pet me' type of animal. He resisted the urge to swap out at Xanalestro's hand when Xan spoke of something that he wished to show him. As feline's go...they're always curious. The soft muzzle pressed into the woman's hand for some more attention, and finally, when he'd received enough, he rose and existed the room ahead of Xan, but would wait for him to walk beside him.
Ullery
Xanalestro smiled at the captain calmly.
"As charming as he is, do remember that I brought him here."
Xanalestro gave a soft sigh and followed the panther out speaking into it's mind directly with calmth.
"From your attitude and sudden intensity when I merely rubbed your chin, I take it, that you still do not trust me fully friend."
Xan walked down the darkened hallway calmly and pulled a piece of jerky out of his black pitch leather cloak and placed it near the muzzle of the panther calmly. "A pity really, seeing that I trust you to the fullest extent of my life."
Xan stops for a second and kneels before the panther staring into it's face. "Don't forget my friendly feline. I like you, was once a loner on the darkness. Although my homeworld....found us my team and I, too..dangerous to keep alive. A regiment under my command.."
Xan stopped at the remenense. "well maybe I'll tell you the story later. Right now, we have places to go and people to see."
Xan stood up still holding the jerky but lightly so the panther could grasp it as they walked. Xan walked into an elevator and waited patiently. "The safest elevator in these parts, created entirely by myself and my two most trusted commanders. my second in command, and well a college."
Tifferzzz
As he walked beside Xan he spoke as if he were of human capacity, without the mental connection. "A person of such tones...of such beautiful sound cannot be anything else other than trusted. Such a gift is only bestowed on those who are worthy, and she...everytime her mouth opens, it's merely beauty of notes." His head bobbed softly as he walked. "Trust is something that I bestow upon nobody. A partnership, and acquaintanceship, a friendship...but never trust. Because to trust is to accept your own fate of death." He snorted lightly. "Had I trust in my brother, I would have been dead at this moment. Take no offense to it, but know that if I did extend trust, that you...would have it." With a soft rowl, he lunged quickly forward and captured the jerky, then fell back into pace, slightly behind Xan.
Ullery
"well spoken my friend." xan said as he pressed the button for the elevator to take them up to the top floor. Which led to the outside world and the awaiting vehicle.
Once the elevator opened at the top, Xan walked casually towards the entrance to the outside his eyes on their current destination, but his mind lightly spoken with his comrade in fur. "So what was your brother like, if you don't mind me asking, if you do mind, I shall inquire of it no further."
At that point Xan holds his hand against a plate on the wall that reads his hand and the codes therein.
A briefcase fall's from above which xan catches with a slight movement of his hand.
The door opens and he walks out headed for the car. Once there, xan opens the door and slips inside, leaving it open in wait of his comrade.
Tifferzzz
Dark ears flopped about as his head shook side to side for a mere moment, but didn't cease his flow of footing as he followed Xan. "My brother..." He began with the deepest rumble in his chest. "Is only considered such a thing due tot he blood within our veins. If you wish to know of him...then very well." He stepped to the elevator. "Deceitful and cunning, selfish, arrogant, and hateful. He had never grown to the fullest of his potential and loathed me that I had. His embarassment came in a simple fight between himself and one of the canine breed. His surity of success was ultimately his downfall." The panther stilled watching in patience as Xan entered the vehicle, before he soon joined behind him. "In truth, I wish it had been myself that had caused him to meet his unfortunate end." There wasn't any sorrow or regret to his voice, and in the silence, he rose onto the leather covered upholstry and attempt to keep as much of his large body on it as he potentially could.
Ullery
"perhaps that can be arranged."
Xan closes the door and their driven to a single destination, Sbc business hq downtown ayenee.
Xan gazes calmly at his feline companion and closes his eyes for a moment.
"it's indeed possible for me to reconstruct the mind and body of your brother. I'd have to look into the databases on stores of animal dna for the exact match that resembles your own, granted without any harm coming to you through a simple radio scan. But it's something that you might want to try in the future."
Xan opens his eyes. "But I'm getting quite ahead of myself indeed.
Perhaps your brother, never realized just how intelligent and overall charismatic you are. I on the other hand, do."
He places another jerky down in between the front paws of the panther and smiles. Xan's smile disappears when he looks onto a mini display and read's a notice. "hmm. Seems some new company is causing fluctations with business finances. I'll have to look into that."
He looks back to the panther calmly. "Believe me my friend, getting to where I am today, took a lot of hard work."
He gently scratches under the panther's chin for a second.
"At one point today, I'll most likely have a buisness meeting, after it's done, I'll take us to lunch."
Rhysis
Marcus simply looked at his sister for a long few moments. If he couldn't see that she was nervous about what was to come, he may as well have been blind to a dayglo-orange elephant standing in the middle of an empty, black ballroom. He decided to give her a little bit of time before they went in. Otherwise, with their luck, she'd pass out as soon as her foot hit the first step.
"I've got your other tank, Katie." It was an _expression he'd used since they'd gone scuba-diving as children. Kat was worried that she didn't have her spare tank with her. Marcus had managed to grab it before the left shore. Good thing, too. She ended up needing it. It was his way of saying, "I'm looking out for you." Ever the watchful sibling.
He stepped out of the car and moved around to open her door, and help her out. He was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to make the trip up the three short steps and through the doorway alone. Determined as she may have been, when someone was on the verge of realizing a near-lifelong dream, it was rarely easy to simply step up to
Tifferzzz
Tag: Rhysis
The very thought of finally having one hinderance in her life come to an end nearly brought tears to her eyes. Would would it be like to experience a night without excricuating pain? Torment so severe that at times she had literally tried to claw her eyes out to rid the pain behind them. What would it be to travel? To actually enjoy a night out in the district without worrying over another 'occurance?' In his hand Marcus had held open a palm of opportunity, of magic, and of such hope that she couldn't turn it away. She felt like a child that had been shown what the taste of candy was...for the very first time. he was going to show her how to jump, how to leap, how to wish and hope and pray and dream...without fear. It was such a wonderous thing that her hands trembled as if she were frightened.
"I've got your other tank Katie"
As close as he was to her, the voice still sounded foreign as she stared out the windshield to the monstrous sized building before her. An intermixture of fear, nausea, and wonder swept through her as she looked to the front doors. What lay within would be her savior. It would be an ease to her ache, and answer to her questions. It would be.....
Before she could conclude in her mind exactly what it would be, she placed her hand in his and stood on shaky knees. She felt as if she were moving to a great end, perhaps even coming before a God, and that feeling both excited her and frightened her beyond words. Her bright eyes were filled with torrents of varying emotions, but not deciding on exactly how she wanted to feel, she looped her arm through her brothers needing more than a simple hand to steady her approach. She knew that she needn't say anything to Marcus, for he knew her as close as if they were twins. Her grasp merely held tightly onto him, but she wouldn't have an outward appearance of needing his stability. She seemed to walk with confidence though her insides felt the complete opposite of that.
Two more steps were taken before the building swallowed them up.
Ullery
Xan gazed out the window and then turned his eyes back on his comrade.
"All right then."
Xan brought out three jerky sticks as a snack for his friend as he exited the car. He smiled and held the door open for his four legged friend.
"Last stop. Welcome to Scepetered Black Claw's corporate office."
Xanalestro looked at the entrance and frowned. "Odd Joan should be behind the courtesy desk within eyeshot. Maybe she's in the back making some coffee."
Tifferzzz
Tag: Ullery
The overwhelming stench of unease and uncertainty filled his nostrils like a smell unlike anything he’d ever known. Had he put it into literal terms, he’d have stated that it was as if rotten eggs had been exploded around him and left out in the sun for days melting against the concrete to produce an odor so acrid that one couldn’t breathe. Yes, this was a good portrayal of what he felt. One paw would exit the vehicle and still in ascent as the silence around them was as explosive as a gunshot in the night. Instantaneously the hairs along his back began to rise in protest of the sudden feeling of…
~Not…right…~ He thought softly, and whether or not Xan would be able to pick up on the sudden apprehension of his companion was yet to be seen
Ullery
Xanalestro turned back to his feline comrade noticing the body language of the panther rather then anything.
"My thoughts exactly comrade, it does seem..unusual that joan isn't at her spot."
Xanalestro stepped towards the front door and opened it.
Peeking inside he instantly dropped to the ground as a bullet whizzed over his head.
"Crap!" Xan cursed dropping his briefcase and pulling a concealed dagger from a slit in his jacket.
Xan pushed the door with the automatic open button and rushed inside diving headfirst over the counter-top area as a series of bullet's landed where he ought to have been.
Xan yelled from over the countertop. "You'd better drop it bud, or I'm gonna have to re-" Xan didn't get a chance to finish as he dived back over the countertop when a medium level grenade landed inside it.
"CRAP!" Xanalestro got up and raced to the door throwing himself outside and pressing his hands over his head as an explosion tore the counter-desk to shreds.
Xan stood up, brushed dirt off his jacket and raced inside. He sent one of the dagger's flying straight off with a quick snap of his wrist.
He followed that up with racing forward and as soon as the distraction knife had passed, he had enough time to intercept the next attack of the gun. He brought his hand down in a swift thick chop to the assailant's wrist and knocked the gun from the assailant's hand.
He blocked an incoming blow to the gut with his other fist and brought himself up into a roundhouse kick, which was blocked in turn.
Then the assailant grasped him by the throat and attempted to choke him to death.
Xanalestro's radio fell out of his pocket as he was forced backwards.
Once he was near enough to one of the front windows, Xanalestro brought both hands up into a cupped form in between the assailant's choking grasp and quickly shoved them sideways to break the hold.
Xanalestro followed this up with a quick movement to get to the doorway, but was stopped from behind as the assailant grasped at him from behind.
"Oh no you don't!" Xan gasped out sending an elbow into the side of the attacker's head. When the attacker let go, Xan followed this up with a quick grab on the man's wrist and went into an instant throw defense that sent the attacker right through the window.
Xanalestro fell backwards breathing in deep breath's as he struggled back to his feet to release joan from her bonds.
Xan was hoping his comrade outside would keep the intruder pinned.
"Joan, call the cops." Xan rubbed his throat. "Damn." He gazed over at the destroyed desk area.
"Joan, head upstairs and call the cops."
Xanalestro walked towards the front door still rubbing his throat.
"God damned nutjobs with their thoughts for conquering the leader of the sbc!"
Tifferzzz
(Tags: Ullery)
The very moment that Barraka had uttered that mere thought about things feeling out of the ordinary, was approximately the time that all hell broke loose. The animal had the sense not to enter the building at the same time as Xan...call it a hunch. Four paws stood against the earth waiting for the slightest hint of exterior conflict, and once the explosion of gunfire was heard within the building, to the exterior of it occured something of a completely different nature.
Triangular sonars pivoted in time to hear the quickened hiss of an approaching weapon, but regardless of his attempt, he was still doomed to feel the brilliant sting that pinned itself beneath the junction of his left front leg to his body. It didn't feel as a bullet would - for he knew of that experience, but isntead a rising torrent of fire that burned through his veins, fogged his mind, and forced him to stumble in the haze of dizziness that surrounded him. He felt the ground rising to find him, and the sudden rise of black clouds that began to curl over his mind.
When Xanalestro would come to the front of the building and look out once more to the car - he would find nothing there.
Ullery
"Well my friend, looks like the meetings been delay-."
Xanalestro stopped speaking when he didn't see his furry comrade where it ought to have been.
"What the hell?"
Xan walked over to his driver and leaned into the window.
"Where in the bloody blue blazes is my friend private?"
"Something, hit, and he..vanished sir."
Now Xanalestro was really pissed off.
"Okay, now I'm just completely and utterly mad as all hellsbanes!"
He turns and swings his fist into the door making a dent and keeping his fist tightly closed.
He gazes deeply with concentration at the spot where the panther was.
He kneels before the spot and puts his other hand to his communicator.
"All employees this is a code 10 black, I repeat, this is a code ten black, We have a furry friend missing in action. I repeat, the black cat, is mia!"
He pulled off his gloves and waved his hands over the spot. Warm. It was really, really warm here. But why?
Xan put his gloves back on and waited for the apd.
Planning to inform them that the attack on him might have been a distraction in order to divert his attention from his newly aquired friend.
"Whoever's done this." He hisses out in a venomous low overtone.
"You just made yourself a very powerful enemy unless I get my friend back in the next two hours."
)