New Age of Heroes 1: The League of Protectors - Dawn of a New Age (37 page)

“
Who's
this?” she asked, frown creasing her forehead. She never gave
out her number to people she didn't know well.

“
It's
Max,” the voice replied. “You don't remember me, do you?
I come to your coffee
shop
every now and then. We've chatted a bit.”
Shaking her head tiredly, Charisma decided it was better to just go
with the flow. Maybe she had given out her number, maybe work was
wearing on her. She took a deep breath, and then answered “Uh,
alright, what's up?”

There
was a slight pause on the other end. It had been a long day for
Charisma, and she really wasn’t in the mood for any games;
especially from another city guy trying to get in good with her.

“
Hello,
Max are you still there?” She could hear him breathing on the
other end, so she knew he was.

“
Yes,
yes, sorry love had to make sure no one else was around.”
“Around for what?” Charisma asked. She was growing
increasingly impatient.

“
See
here’s the thing Charisma, I’ve been watching you, and I
know what it is that you do.”

Charisma
felt a lump in her throat. Beating down her fear viciously, Charisma
snapped into the phone “Oh really, and what, pray tell, is
that?”

“
It's
a secret.” Max said.

The
bus lurched to a stop on the corner about a block away from her roomy
townhouse. She hurried out of the door, keys in hand. “I don't
deal well with stupidity, so I suggest you try creeping on someone
else!” She said curtly, ending the call.

Unable
to shake the uncomfortable tingling shooting up and down her spine.
She hastily unlatched the brass door, flicking on the lights before
she even had time to shut it behind her. Nervously, she locked the
door securely behind her and darted to the kitchen, easing into a
chair and staring at the tile floor for a few seconds.

“
You
know, didn’t your mom ever tell you it’s rude to hang up
on someone?”

Charisma
fell out of her chair, completely startled by the slightly familiar
voice. A thousand thoughts raced through her head as she quickly got
herself off the ground. On the table was a kitchen knife, Charisma
grabbed the knife and warned the intruder not to come any closer.

“
Relax
Charisma, it’s me, Max. Now be a good girl and put that knife
away!”

Charisma's
temper flared. She didn't know who this guy was, but if he didn't get
out of her presence immediately she was going to, well, she didn't
know what exactly, but it would hurt!

“
Get
out of my house before I call the police on you!” she didn't
sound nearly as confident as she had hoped. She walked towards the
stairs, knife held out in front of her. The blade looked pathetic,
but it was sharp.

“
Boo,
did I scare ya?” Max asked sarcastically as he glided over to
her and quickly grabbed the knife from Charisma and pinned her to the
ground. “Now, I have no intentions on hurting you, but if I let
you go, you have to promise you won’t scream, okay?”

Anger
rushed through every fiber of Charisma’s body, how dare some
idiot break into her home and place hands on her? Realizing she was
over matched, she agreed not to scream. Slowly, Max got off of
Charisma and helped her to her feet. In one smooth stride, and
without any hesitation, Charisma cocked her hand back and punched Max
square in the face. A satisfied smile appeared on her face as the
surprised intruder fell back.

“
You
didn’t say anything about hitting you,” Charisma wittily
said. Charisma darted back into the kitchen, grabbing frantically for
her cell, only to find it missing. She kicked the table into the
doorway hoping to delay her attacker for long enough til she found
it. Eyes flaming, she whirled back around to face him, not
recognizing the dark eyed man in front of her. Heart pounding, she
backed towards the bathroom door behind her and scanned desperately
for her cell. It was no where to be seen.

Max
hopped easily up on the table, moving like a cat across the room
towards her. “Now that wasn't very
nice,” he said offering a hand towards her.
In the other, he revealed her phone.

“
Who
are you?” Charisma asked as she quickly snatched the phone from
Max.

The
big beefy looking intruder looked at her and smiled. He rubbed his
whitish blonde hair and laughed, “I told you already, I’m
Max from the coffee shop.”

He
extended his hand but he knew full well that she wouldn't accept it.
Charisma desperately searched her memories trying to recall just who
this Max guy was. She searched and searched, but came up empty. A
mischievous smile appeared across Max’s face. Charisma readied
herself, fearing an attack was near.

“
I’m
slightly insulted you don’t remember me. Fine, let me help you
out there, if you don’t remember me from the coffee shop, then
certainly you remember me from the downtown district.”

Charisma
eyed Max suspiciously, not quite sure what to make of him. She
thought hard, thinking back to the last time she had been out. It had
been months. Fight slowly draining from her, she responded.

“
No
offense, but I can't remember you at all. Why are you in my house?”
Her eyes narrowed as she grabbed her phone, ready to type in the
number for the police station. She continued to back up until she was
pressed against the bathroom door.

“
What
did you mean, you know what I'm about?” she continued.

Max
smirked again, seeing her finger on the send button.

“
I
wouldn't do that if I were you. You're still alive, I gave you your
phone, so why call the police?”

“
Because
you broke into my house and you’re stalking me!”

Max
laughed profusely, “I didn’t break into your house, you
invited me in, and I’m not stalking you either!” Max
thought for a second and then added, “Well yeah, I am stalking
you, but not in any perverted way, unless that’s something you
would like?”

Charisma
warned Max to stay back. A slight smile came across his face as he
took a step back. “Out!”Charisma ordered him, fed up with
the cryptic answers and exhausted from working all day,“Leave.
Now.”

She
leaned against the door, shutting the phone before she could send the
call. “Look, I'm tired, you're being creepy, and that's not a
good combination tonight of all nights.”

Max's
smiled broadened, but he stayed put. “Nope. You invited me in,
and I'm going to sit here and relax til I see it fit to leave!”

He
pulled up a chair, sitting on it gracefully, as he folded his hands
in front of him politely.

“
What
is it that you want? Why do you insist on bothering me?” Max
said nothing. He looked towards the empty chair and then back towards
Charisma. She realized if she wanted Max gone, she would have to play
by his rules, at least for the time being. Charisma slowly walked
over to the chair and sat herself down. “Okay, now what is it
that you want from me?”

“
Oh
nothing much.” Max stretched his arms lazily and crossed his
legs. Charisma couldn’t help but eye up his garb. Dark stained
jeans, an expensive black shirt, polished shoes. A Rolex glittered on
his right wrist. 'This guy must be rolling it in!' she thought
irritably.

“
Nothing
much?” she asked, crossing her arms defiantly. “Then why
are you in my home?”

Max
smiled as he watched the impatient Charisma become increasingly
irritable. “Nope, not much at all my dear.”

Max
reached into his pocket and took out a pack of gum. Slowly, he popped
out a piece and placed it into his mouth. “So how was work
today?” He did not care at all how her day was, he simply felt
the need to annoy her as much as possible.

Charisma
smirked as the confident intruder relaxed, letting his guard down.
With a single fluid motion, Charisma’s hand reached underneath
the swivel rocker she was sitting in and grabbed her handgun. She
pointed it at Max and again asked him “What do you want?”

Max
was a bit taken by her resourcefulness. He had not expected to have
this little woman aim a gun at him. He wasn't sure if he was turned
on or upset, perhaps it was a bit of both!

“
Put
the gun down,” Max said, all playfulness gone from his eyes.
Charisma looked down the sight of the gun, aiming it directly at his
sternum. “No!” Charisma replied, not being able to help
being amused at the change of scenario. Max rose to his feet, arms
held loosely at his sides.

His
dark eyes blazed in anger, lips curling away from his teeth in a
feral grimace. “You REALLY don't want to do that,” he
said, unmoving.

Charisma
clicked the safety off and pulled the hammer back.

“
Watch
me.” Ocher eyes bright, Charisma stood up to confront him,
stance ready. “You know, a girl should never go unarmed in
Chicago.” She motioned with her head towards the door. Max
unwillingly backed towards the doorway, eyes boring into her own.

“
One
chance Charisma, put down the gun, and I'll play nice. I won't hurt
you. If you don't, the Master isn't going to be pleased!”

Enraged
and knowing he could not let any harm come to her or alert the area
of his presence, Max bolted out through the door, the oak frame
shaking as it slams behind him. Charisma latched it shut, then sunk
to her knees in exhaustion.

She laid the gun down on the floor, opening the chamber
and checking the normal brass rounds. 'What had he been rambling
about?' she thought to herself, picking herself off of the floor and
dragging herself upstairs. “I hate Chicago,” she groaned,
flinging herself onto her double bed. The purple sheets were soft and
inviting, a welcome relief from the night. She was certainly calling
off of work tomorrow.

The
next morning Charisma phoned her manager
and
stated quite clearly that she wouldn't be able to make it in the next
day. Her head pounded with a massive headache, her body physically
exhausted as well.

After
popping two Advil, she stripped down and curled up in her bed. The
soft, cashmere blankets did little to calm her racing thoughts and
fired nerves. All alone in her room, she let down her calm, tough
attitude and sobbed silently into her pillow. When she finally fell
asleep, her dreams were full of faceless shadowed men with glistening
fangs, and a pair of eyes as crimson as the blood running through her
veins.

Heart
beating fast as the woman raced through the alley. Blood dripped from
her elbow as she scrapped them from her struggle. Someone was
following her, she didn’t know who or why, but someone was
indeed after her. The woman ran as far as she could, but it appeared
that she had run into a dead end. Falling to the ground the woman
sobbed as she realized she was trapped. Her stalker neared. The fear
and blood did nothing but turn the stalker on even more. “Please,
please don’t hurt me!”the woman screamed. Her stalker
watched as the blood dripped. The feeling was exotic, watching the
blood pour was such ecstasy. The stalker licked the blood as the
woman screamed in fear. Grabbing the woman by the hair, the stalker
yanked her head back revealing the woman’s neck. The stalker
smiled as fangs flashed and buried themselves deep into the woman’s
neck. The stalker looked up, catching its reflection from a nearby
camera.

Shivering
in a pool of sweat, Charisma woke up realizing the stalker was her!
Sitting up, Charisma cradled her head in her hands. Charisma rose to
her feet and hopped in the shower, letting the warm water wash away
the tension from the night before. As she toweled herself dry, she
stood at her meek closet, trying to decide if dressing up would be a
good idea. Settling middle of the road, she pulled on a frame fitting
sundress the color of robin eggs.

No
sooner than she got dressed, her doorbell began ringing. The
continued ringing was quite annoying. Whoever was at the door was
determined to get her to answer. Charisma raced down the stairs to
confront whoever was at her door.

Charisma jerked the door open and shouted “What?”

Two individuals looked at each other and then back to
Charisma. “Hello Charisma, my name is Damian Kaine and this is
my partner Sebastian Kane. We need to speak to you immediately; it’s
a matter of life and death!” Charisma looked at the two
suspiciously.

Sebastian looked at his associate and rolled his eyes.
Damian wasn't one for subtlety. “What my not so subtle friend
here is trying to say is that if you don't mind, we'd like to discuss
a difficult situation with you.”

“
Kaine?”
she said ignoring Damian's dire words. The two individuals looked at
each other and smiled.

“
Yes,
perhaps you have heard of me,” Damian replied proudly.

Sebastian chuckled, “I think she means the fact
that we share the same last name. We're brothers, you can't see the
family resemblance?” Sebastian said to Charisma smirking.

Charisma immediately felt bad for looking at them
strangely upon hearing their last names. The two looked at each other
again and shared a laugh.