Demigods (21 page)

This gave the colonel just enough time to get up, and look out the window at her, while regretting having ever made her as the entire building gave way to the concussive force of well placed C4.

The blast would have greatly harmed any man who sat at a distance as close as she had been, but she was far more than any man. Her body was stronger in every respect, and she wondered how they thought that they might convince her that she was anything like them.

The force had blown the bandana right off of her head, and had even released her ponytail, as her hair was thrown forward, yet she sat there with a blank expression, knowing that they would never be able to do again, what they had done to her.

*            *            *

As Charlie pulled into the motel parking lot, and stepping from his Intrepid, he approached the door, and turned the handle. She had not given him a key, though he was still certain that she had left it open for him.

Closing the door behind him, he glanced around, and found that she had left a note on the pillow, which he considered quite romantic.

Charlie, my love,

I cannot sit around, and wait for them to kill me. I have gone out, and I promise you that the triplets will never see me, for I will keep my eyes closed all along the way.

I need to do something, and I hope that you will wait for me here until I return.

Love always,

Your little Kitten

This lightened his heart, and he began to realize that everything was going to be alright. All this time he had thought that he was the one who had to figure out the answers, but he was beginning to understand that Viper was far better at it than he was.

Looking back at the Jacuzzi, he determined that it was welcomed. It had been a very stressful day, and he needed a way to get his mind off the turmoil, and back to her, for he was certain that she would still be coming back to him.

He turned the device on and stripped down to his underwear, before the thought occurred to him that she might not be coming. It was not a thought that he wanted to entertain, but it still stabbed at him. What if she wasn't? What if they had killed her?

Slowly he lowered himself into the water, and relaxed, hoping that his “little Kitten” was soon to join him. What he had not expected, however, was that he would fall fast asleep, yet his body demanded it.

*            *            *

"Charlie?" he heard softly, as he slowly regained his senses with the dizziness of sleep lingering, "You are a perfect hero."

He felt her knees pull down what remained of the clothing that he had on, as she positioned herself on top of him within the hot tub, and he quickly wrapped his arms around her.

"You are a perfect woman," he managed to say while still not fully conscience.

Softly he began to feel her rub herself upon his most private of places as she reached down, and began to kiss him passionately.

"And you are the perfect man," she stated, interrupting the kiss, but it did not bother him, due to the nature of the words.

"I hope that your friend Ryan is okay," she told him in an empathic tone, and he was quick to answer her statement.

"The colonel sent him to Seattle, so he will be getting the rest he deserves," he told her, yet was stunned speechless by what would happen next.

Slowly Viper began to consume him, and she felt for the first time, what it was like to make love to someone that she actually loved.

Charlie sat there as she moved upon him, while the expression upon his face made it clear that she was the most beautiful woman on the entire planet.

Suddenly he felt a slight prick in the back of his neck, and his lack of animation began to worry him. He wanted to ask her what she had done to him, but he found himself unable to move at all.

"That was a cocktail that I designed specifically for you, Charlie," she told him as he lay there, and continued to make love to him, "because you are the most perfect man that I have found."

"You may not be able to move, but you can still feel everything," she continued with a smile, "and the second drug is a sedative that will kill you softly, without any pain."

He found this to be slightly disconcerting.

"It was a strange, yet beautiful sensation that I felt when I thrust my finger into Madam Jasmine’s heart," she told him as she continued her motion. "I could actually feel it beating, and her blood pumping through it for almost three seconds."

Leaning over, she kissed him softly, but he was unable to kiss her back, despite the fact that he still wanted to.

"I found that killing someone who deserved it for a change," she told him with a playful smile, "felt much better than killing innocent victims, as they had made me do in my own mind."

"It did puzzle me however," she said with a slightly confused expression, "that she tried to kill me. I thought that I would have had her fooled."

"Oh, well," she expressed with a smile again. "Must have been women's intuition."

For a short while, she stared lovingly at him, as she continued to please him before speaking again.

"Doctor Mire deserved what he got," she said with a satisfied grin, "and I never would have actually made his granddaughter go through the very things that I had. I just wanted him to believe that I would."

Passionately she reached down, and kissed his forehead as she ran her fingers through his curly, red hair.

"I'm also sorry that I deceived you last night," she began to explain. "Removing the device never could have killed me. I just wanted to be closer to you."

For a short while longer, she gyrated her hips upon him until she felt that he was satisfied, and he decided that there were far worse ways die.

"I do love you," she told him with true passion in her eyes as she stood up off of him, and gracefully stepped from the tub, "and I really hope that god forgives you, because I already have."

She wished that she could have spared him, but justice is blind. He had a part in her creation, and must therefore deal with the same consequences.

"By the way," she told him as she turned to grace him with her eyes, and playful smile, one last time. "You're going to be a daddy."

He could not help but to love her, but there was much confusion in his mind as everything slowly faded away.

*            *            *

Anthony was a middle-aged man with a medium build, and he possessed a rather unique talent. He was a remote viewer who worked for the US government, and there were two others just like him in the large house. He, however, was the one that they would contact, and he had just received an unusual call.

His orders used to come from Colonel McClure, but he had just heard of the terrible accident that had occurred at the facility only yesterday. Now he would be answering to General Grath, but the task was very much the same.

After debriefing those who worked there who did not die in the blast, they had learned about the existence of Viper, and they knew that they had to eliminate her in order to keep this embarrassment from going public.

"Angie," Anthony called out as he lightly knocked upon her bedroom door. "We have a job to do."

She, like the others, had been sleeping, since it was three o-clock in the morning, so it took her a moment to respond.

"I'll be right down," she finally answered.

Going to the next door, he knocked a bit harder for Albert was an eighty-year old man who required a stronger nudge.

"We have urgent work to do, Albert," he told him in a much louder tone, and when he heard him in there cussing up a storm, he knew that he was awake.

Angie, who was well fit at the age of twenty-three, was up, and on her way down the stairs even before Anthony was, but within five minutes, they were all at the small round table that sat in their dining room.

After explaining what had happened to the colonel, he told the other two that they still needed to find Viper. This time, however, they were to report her whereabouts every hour on the hour, until further notice, so it would likely be a very long night.

Albert cursed and grumbled some more, while Angie was not too thrilled with the idea either, yet they all knew that they would do as they were told, for the money was very good.

Reaching out, they grabbed each other's hands, and closed their eyes as they began to relax their minds. They all had there own little way of doing this, but would always find the same common ground in the end.

Albert's way was to remember his first honeymoon with his late wife, Jessica, who had died at the age of twenty-nine in a car accident. He loved her so much that he was never with another woman after her, which could explain much of his bitterness.

Angie's technique was music, and no one did it better for her than Jewel did. With such soothing lyrics and tunes, how could it not help her to relax?

Anthony's method was mantras, for he was a devout Buddhist, and he would always find that peaceful place before the other two would.

When they were all there, however, their minds began to merge, and they each began to see images begin to form in their heads. At first, it was always a blur, but it would eventually become as clear as normal sight.

As they began to see through Viper's eyes, they were a bit confused, and astounded, as they seemed to be looking at themselves, and terror began to run through their veins.

Suddenly they heard a soft, playful voice off in the shadows utter the last words that any of them would ever hear.

"No peeking." ;)

They said that Ryan’s recovery would be a quick one, and sure enough, it was. He caught a flight home, only hours after he had awaken from his coma, though he was put on mandatory leave, just as soon as he had arrived back in the states.

Now he was trying to find a way not to forget, and to heal the part that they had not been tending to, and this “vacation” was his only hope.

The scent of bacon was the dominant aroma, and the eggs and hash browns looked rather appealing upon his plate. Certainly, it was not Eggs Benedict, but simplicity had its place upon the pallet. Mirage had taught him so, and he knew that he would never again taste the likes of her fruit and nuts.

She had taught him many things while she nestled him within her mind, and he swore that he would never forget her, though he found the search for the happiness to be an impossible task without her. She was the happiness that he was looking for, and now she was gone forever.

He broke the yokes on his over easy eggs, and a tear welled up in his eye. If it was not enough to mimic his bleeding heart as he shook off the thought, it mimicked the blood that he had seen spill from her. Just as he had feared before he had watched the footage, the image of it was crippling, and unending.

Taking a deep breath, he pushed everything from his mind, if only to eat his meal for the sake of survival. It was not easy, and he wondered if survival was even worth it. What could life possibly be without her, now that he had tasted the truth of life he had felt within her?

Biting into the bacon he determined that the salty, smokiness was lacking something. There was no sweetness to compliment the flavor, as her kindness had complimented his rough nature, so he began to glance around.

The table behind him was uncleared, and there sat a jar of syrup upon it. This would do nicely, Ryan thought as he reached over, and brought it to his own. Pouring some of it onto his plate before dipping the bacon into it only seemed natural, despite the fact that he had never tried such a thing.

Biting into it, the sweetness was pleasant, yet the saltiness remained, and this reminded him of Viper. Mirage feared her, and they thought that Mirage was the one that needed to die, but what would Viper be capable of, if the smartest one amongst them saw reason to flee because of her?

Pushing his plate away, he stood to his feet, and casually made his way to the register.

"Check please," he said with a smile directed to the middle-aged waitress that had been serving him, and for a brief moment, he found some happiness. He had always wanted to say that.

Without waiting for the check, he pulled a hundred-dollar bill from his pocket, and draped it across the register before walking out the door. He was not trying to be impolite, but he was thinking fast, and she would get over it when she saw the tip that she had just received.

Viper was to be birthed in three days, and that was just long enough for him to drive back to Florida in his 2009 customized, silver Corvette Zr1 convertible. He would need this time to think about how he would have her shut down, because the brass would certainly want to use the evil that was inside of her, but he was beginning to understand just how much of a mistake that could be.

Pulling away from the greasy spoon, Ryan headed back east, putting his mandatory, two-week vacation on hold. He now understood that the entire Demigods project was something that should have never happened, and he was determined to bring it to an end, even if it meant going public.

"You should stop," Mirage spoke up from the passenger seat, finally revealing herself. "It is too late to go back."

The car came to a screeching halt, and Ryan gazed over at her, ready to jump into the other seat, and consume her, yet she placed a hand upon him, and kept him where he was for a moment.

She thought that he would have wanted to know how she was still alive, but he really did not care at this moment. The fact that she was, and the instant healing of his heart, was all that mattered right now.

Insistently he reached for her, and pulled her to his lips. Even Mirage, with all her wisdom, could not expect the emotions that came from his being. It was the finality to his soul, and he consumed her as though it was his last breath.

Finding herself overwhelmed by his passion, she withdrew slightly, and placed her hands softly upon his cheeks.

"I love you, Ryan," she told him, "but she is already coming for you."

*            *            *

Viper sat silently next to the phone, painting her nails a shade of blood red, and she smiled at her own progress, which had nothing to do with her fingers.

When she had been on the computer at the advanced weapons research facility, in the same room that she had been born, she made certain to visit the government’s social security database. This was where she acquired a number, and they would never even know that she had been there, for that is what they had taught her to do. Hacking was one of many skills they had taught her well.

On that same night, as the man that she had fallen in love with laid sleeping, she used the laptop that he brought, to change the records for her new number, which allowed her to acquire the birth certificate that she needed. Two days later, she would have a driver's license that would never be questioned.

If that was not enough, she repeated the steps five times, and had four others to match the first, but Kitty Hall was her first choice, for she had read Charlie's file, and anticipated his responses. He made her so proud when he chose the name "Kitten" for her, but she had done well to present that image.

Softly she blew on her nails, preparing herself for the next task, and his name was Robert Winston. A simple phone call would begin the events that would lead her to the next one that had to die, and that would be her archaic arts mentor.

She hated him almost as much as she did Doctor Mire, who had been the architect of her torment, because Shin Tzu was the one that they had designed her captor’s physical attributes after. He was the one that she would always picture as the man that had kidnapped her as a child, and had done so many unspeakable things to her. It was his voice and eyes that she would always have to remember, and it pleased her that he was one of the last two that remained. She would certainly savor the moment.

Finally, she dialed the number on the disposable cell phone that had been so conveniently given to her, and she enjoyed the music while she waited.

"Your dime," Robert Winston finally said, and she found that quite quaint for a man only in his late twenties. She knew where it came from, for she had already studied him far more effectively than he had studied her. It was his grandfather, and he was the one that gave Robert the company that he now ran.

"Ah spose Ah owe ya somethin'," she spoke charmingly into the phone with a deep, southern accent, as she lay back on the bed, and stared up at the ceiling, "if ya still rumemba me."

"Only every other memory," he replied, having found such a convenient line in a country song, and thought that it might impress her. He had no idea that her accent was a ruse, and that she had never even heard the song, yet still she was impressed.

"You are too kind, su," she responded in a way that made him believe that she might be blushing, "but a line is jest a line."

"It was far more than a line," Robert assured her, having meant it quite literally, for the moment that he had met her, he had feelings like those that no other woman had ever produced, and they were honest feelings. He simply never understood that they had come from an unnatural source.

"Just tell me what you like to do," he asked, very eager to please the woman that he had met just the other day, and only for a few moments.

"Same as evra gal, Ah spose," she told him as she smiled brightly at the ceiling of her room. "Shoppin' an travel."

He took a brief moment to think about what to say next, for he had googled her, and discovered that Kitty Hall was the heiress of a rather large estate, or so the computer had told him. If he went cheap she would most likely be offended, and he was not about to let this one slip by, but what if she was impressed by simplicity?

"Tell you what," he began as he formulated his strategy. "Why don't I have a limo pick you up at your house tomorrow?"

He was about to continue before she interrupted him.

"Ah can be where we fust met," she told him, "but Ah don't know ya well enough to show ya my home."

She could sense him smiling on the other line, and they both knew that the game was on. Unfortunately for Robert, he did not understand the rules, for they were far different when Viper was one of the players.

"Alright then," he continued with charm in his voice, "I’ll meet you there, and take you shopping, if only you would tell me where you would like to travel to, afterwards."

"Do ya mean that day?"

"For an entire week," he replied, attempting to impress her again, "to anywhere that you would like to go."

For a moment, he heard silence, and did not know what to make of it, but then she spoke up once more.

"Ah can’t decide," she told him, with a hint of confusion in her voice. "Ah always thought about seein' two different places."

Robert found that the answer to this problem was an easy one.

"Then we’ll go to both," he told her, feeling rather good about the way things were going, "and my jet will make it all that much easier."

Once again, he heard silence, and began to feel that he had said the wrong thing, but he could not figure what it might have been, until she spoke up again. When she did, it made him laugh, and desire her even more.

"Ah will not be a part of your mile high club, su," she answered with a slight laughter in her tone. "Fust class will do jest fine."

"Good enough, Kitten," he replied without understanding what it had done to her when he called her that, yet she got over it quickly.

"Ah will bring myself," she replied with her tiny little voice, "An you can spoil me for a week... but you had betta behave."

"I promise," Robert told her, feeling that he was actually making a connection with this very beautiful woman that his mind would not allow him to get over. "Just make sure that you bring nothing but the clothes on your back, because everything else will be on me."

She had consumed his thoughts from the moment he had first met her, and he was elated that she had actually made contact with him. At this very moment, he would have done anything that she would have wanted him to do, and without knowing it, he had.

"Vera well then," she told him. "Ah shall be there at noon."

She never gave him the chance to respond, and this left him longing, which was her intent. She really did not need to say more than that, and he truly did not need to hear any more.

*            *            *

The next day would be an eventful one, as he rode around with Ms. Kitty Hall in his black limousine, stopping at various places to pick up various things. First came the clothes, and he was more than happy to give his opinion on all the ones that she tried on. He was not sure how helpful he was since she had excellent taste, and wore them all beautifully, though it was a delightful event nonetheless.

She also chose a variety of other things, such as make-up, personal grooming supplies, and a couple of small backpacks. He wondered what she intended them for, but was willing to wait to discover the answer.

Then came the luggage, and once that was done, he had them and the clothes delivered to his home where they would be packed by his servant, and ready for when they were to depart.

Finally came the gadgets. A laptop, a tablet, and a smart phone, all top of the line, and from these she insisted upon making all of their reservations, using his credit card of course. She told him that it would be a surprise, and that he would know where they were going when they got there. He of course, was delighted by her playfulness.

It was an afternoon to be remembered, Robert thought, surely to be followed by even more wonderful days.

*            *            *

Waking in the beautiful hotel suite, the haze lifted from Robert’s mind, and he began to remember the events that had recently occurred. He remembered how Kitty had taken care of everything, from the airline tickets to Duluth, to the hotel reservations in a beautiful High-rise, with a view of Lake Superior.

He thought that the twin, red Jeep Wranglers that were waiting for them at the airport was a very nice touch, especially when she had challenged him to race her to the hotel. He was happy enough to find her vehicle parked out in front of it, as she smiled back at him from the sidewalk.

To be honest, Kitty Hall was the most interesting woman that he had ever met. She was so eloquent, yet with such southern charm, though she seemed so down to earth as well. To be true, he wondered if he was dreaming, as he still lay motionless in his bed.

He also remembered last night, and how they had finished a bottle of Southern Comfort together. She had talked endlessly about her mother, and how beautiful she was, seeming to touch on every detail. She told him that she was the greatest woman ever, and as he looked at her, he believed it whole-heartedly.