Authors: Thomas McDermott
“Oh I’ll take care of the guards.” Frankie winked at Claire who was busy staring out the window.. “How do we get inside though?”
Marcus coughed and then spoke up.
“There’s an electric keyboard at the front door. Frankie, I think that will be your task. I think Sasha will take out the guards while you bust the lock.”
“Me? I’m going to take out the guards?” Sasha was shaking now.
“Of course you are! As soon as you see them you’ll know what to do. Remember the three men in the tunnel, you are our best bet as far as the guards are concerned.” Marcus held her hand and gave it a squeeze. Claire stirred in her seat.
“What am I doing here? You seem to have all this covered.” She still wouldn’t look at them.
“You are in charge of the monsters my dear. According to the data, they are half human and half beast. You are going to have to work your charms on the animal part of their brains and hope it works.” Marcus looked at her very seriously. He was worried that she was going to be the one in the most danger.
“Hope it works” It doesn’t sound like much of a plan to me Marcus. Maybe we need to rethink this.” She looked at the three of them as if they were insane.
“We don’t have time to rethink this Claire and you know it. These creatures are only half human, I know you can reach the animal inside of them. I know you can.” Claire smiled at Marcus’ flattery and smiled sarcastically at him.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence. And what are you going to be doing while the three of us are busy?” Claire watched as the other two turned to look at Marcus. As far as Sasha knew, Marcus had no special abilities like the rest of them. He had never shown any signs and he certainly never spoke of such a thing.
“I’m going to keep Celine from killing us all. I’m the only one who can keep her from losing her temper which is vital to our survival. The three of you have got to get into the lab and get Taylor out while I deal with Celine.” Claire knew she would rather face monsters than have to deal with the monster that everyone knew as Celine D’Aumont. She was suddenly fearful for Marcus. He would be in the most danger. If Celine did lose control, he would be the one to pay for it with his life. The car pulled into the little town of Orleans and Marcus made the driver drop them off half a mile from the lab. He leaned into the window.
“Wait for my call and then meet us out front as soon as you can, and for no reason are you to turn off that motor. Got that?” He was all business now.
“Yes sir.” The man spouted back military style. He was used to taking orders from Mr. D’Alessandro. The car crept along quietly while the four of them walked quickly and quietly into the forest. Sasha’s adrenaline was beginning to flow and she actually felt excited at the idea of saving Taylor. She found herself plotting to kill Celine herself but agreed to stick to the plan, or what little plan they had. The first part of it was up to her and all of a sudden she realized she was no longer afraid and was looking forward to a fight. This was a side of her that she did not know. It was all so new and so different from the person she had always been. Sure, she was used to getting what she wanted but not by physically fighting for it. She had fought on so many other levels to make her way in the world. She had never had to use physical violence and now she found her pulse racing at the idea of taking out the two guards. Last week she was a girlie girl and now she was some sort of assassin. The world made no sense at all and Sasha knew that her life would never be the same no matter what. She didn’t have too long to consider the implications for out of the woods a horrific cry rose up into the night. They all froze. Another cry seemed to answer the first one and they all looked to Claire who was listening intently.
“They know we’re here. They are communicating.” She looked afraid for the first time and Sasha saw just how fragile and lovely she really was. Claire urged them on and had Sasha bring up the rear just in case. They continued scrambling through the hilly terrain trying hard not to make noise, but it was impossible to keep from snapping twigs as they walked and every sound they made caused them to be more jumpy than they already were.
“Quiet!” Frankie hissed.
“Watch where you’re going!” Claire whispered back vehemently. Only Marcus remained calm. He was looking all about for any signs of the creatures. A low growling noise came from the right and Sasha almost screamed.
“It’s just a wildcat.” Claire said. She closed her eyes and concentrated and a large lynx came strutting out of the darkness to stand by her side. “We could use someone like him right about now.” Claire patted his head and the creature began to purr. She walked on slowly and the lynx walked by her side as if they belonged together. After a few minutes they could see the chateau ahead through a clearing. Without warning the lynx began to growl loudly and the hair on it’s back stood straight up.
“It’s them! Hurry!” Claire was urging them on and Sasha felt as if she were deserting her. “We’ll take care of whatever’s out there” As if she could read Sasha’s thoughts Claire pushed the American girl out into the open field forcing her to run from the woods. She looked back once to see Claire and the lovely cat poised for battle. She prayed that she would be there when she got back. Now it was her turn. She and Frankie crawled along the sides of the house until they were at the front corner. Once they turned that corner there would be no turning back. The night was cool and Sasha could see her breath from all the exertion. She decided there was no time to think and walked out into the open as if she were just out for a casual stroll.
“Hello boys.” She waved and smiled as she walked toward to two big men in a sultry manner. “Chilly night, wouldn’t you say?” Now two more men joined the original pair and it occurred to Sasha for the first time that Celine was expecting them all along. The two men in front pulled out their guns.
“Miss, you are on private property. Please put your hands up in the air and remain where you are.” The front men moved toward her warily. They were definitely big men, about two hundred and thirty pounds each from the looks of them and the two men behind them looked even larger. Her mind went into overdrive. This was actually going to be fun.
“You mean like this?” She giggled in the most ridiculous manner she could muster. She could see Frankie out of the corner of her eye already cracking the combination. “Oh come on boys! You’re not just going to tease a girl are you?” She winked at the tallest one.
“Knock that off lady. You are in serious trouble. We are going to have to take you into custody.” He was standing right in front of her now, holding his pistol at waist height.
“Is that a promise?” She smiled and kicked him right between the legs while grabbing a gun from his hand. She spun him around as he was reaching for his groin area and moaning wildly, using his body as a shield. She pointed the gun she grabbed from him at the other three men.
“So what’s in these things? Real bullets?” Without waiting for an answer she shot one of the guards in his hand and he dropped his gun screaming in pain. The other two were trying to figure out what the hell just happened and were trying to get a good shot at her but the man she held in front of her was too big. She walked him forward until they were extremely close to the remaining two guards. One of the men tried to aim at her head but she shot him in the left foot easily and he dropped to the ground as well.
“You stupid bitch!” He collapsed into a groaning mess. She realized that she was enjoying this and was only slightly bothered that she was actually hurting people. Still, it had to be done if she were to save Taylor’s life. She was taking no chances. She pushed her hostage right into the man still standing, knocking them both to the ground. As the tall one tried to stand up she kicked him in the temple and knocked him out cold. As the other two tried to regain their footing she jumped up and spun around hitting the one in the head with her pistol and kicking the other one with her cute, black, steel toed boot. They both fell at the same time and she jumped onto the last conscious one and smiled down at him.
“Time for bed.” She whispered into his ear before grabbing his head and cracking it against the pavement. She quickly took their shoelaces and belts and began tying them up. She used their socks as gags and stuffed them into their complaining, moaning mouths. She was enjoying this way too much. She would think about all this later. She dragged the men one by one up against the house so that no one would see them. She ran to Frankie who had just gotten the lock figured out. She heard a loud click and Frankie opened the door for her as if they were going to the opera.
“Please come in.” He was still smiling. She knew that he too was enjoying himself only he had seemingly no qualms about it. Marcus came running up to them out of nowhere and pushed his was past them.
“Go to the lab. I’ll handle Celine….go!” He barked his orders and Frankie and Sasha ran down the hall to the spiral staircase like two scolded children.
Claire stood at the edge of the wood listening. By the behavior of her new friend she knew that the creatures were close. From the howls they heard earlier she knew there were at least two of them. She was hoping that was all! The lynx jumped up into a tree without a sound. They were coming.
“Thanks honey, you are a true friend.” Claire said in her soft voice to the frightened cat above in the tree limbs. She heard movement and could see a shadow ahead of her. It was tall, whatever it was. Tall and slender, and in the dark looked like a man but as it moved closer her perception of the creature quickly changed. It had a lean face like a panther or something and the ears were all wrong. Claire gasped when she saw the hands. They were the most unnatural thing of all and she could see the outline of sharp and tenuous claws. It turned to look at her and she closed her eyes quickly and began speaking to it with her mind. She was calming the beast and making peace with him. She was shocked cold when it answered her.
“Get out of my mind!” the creature hissed. She continued to concentrate and this time another voice from behind her spoke quietly but firmly.
“He said, get out of his mind!” It was a woman’s voice but she spoke haltingly like a little child. This haunted Claire more than anything else. There was something really horrific about a female monster. Claire thought of Celine and how deadly and dangerous she had become over the centuries. What were these creatures capable of?
“We are not monsters.” The female said. She was reading Claire’s mind. Claire managed to speak somehow.
“Then what are you?” She spoke out of respect for she had learned many ages ago to respect all life forms, even her enemies.
“We are newborn. We grow fast. We are Isis and Osiris.” The sing song quality of her voice sounded more and more like a human child. “Who are you?” The creature sounded genuinely interested in Claire but Claire knew that cats liked to play with their prey before feasting. If she could only keep them from reading her mind! This had never happened before, but then again, she had never seen a science experiment go so wrong either. She had to keep them out of her mind and she thought if she could keep them talking, she might just succeed. She just had to stall the inevitable for a little while longer.
“Osiris and Isis. Weren’t they Egyptian gods?” Claire suddenly felt sorry for them. They too were Celine’s victims and had no idea. She created them out of a malevolent desire to destroy her enemies and create a new world that would worship her as the goddess of youth and beauty. Claire thought that Celine would enjoy changing her name to Aphrodite or some such nonsense.
“We are gods.” The male spoke this time. His statement contained no ego. Claire was convinced he was just repeating what Celine had told him. They were circling her slowly and curiously. They were enchanted with her. “We are the new gods.” He spoke again and this time Claire could hear the hunger in his voice.
“Is that what she told you?” Claire bit her lip to keep it from trembling.
“That is what our mother told us. Our mother tells us many things.” The female hissed quietly. Claire could feel the hot breath on her neck and her terror rose to her chest. She tried once again to concentrate; to calm them down.
“I told you to stay out of my mind!” The male shouted as if he were in pain. Claire felt sharp claws wipe across her middle and felt her sweater tearing silently. She tried another tactic.
“What is a god?” She played on their obvious naivety.
“We are gods. You are just mortal. We are immortal.” The female spoke in those simple little girl sentences and began to sniff Claire‘s clothing. If the situation wasn’t so precarious, Claire would have loved to get to know these two. She felt more connected to them than she did to anyone in over five hundred years. She was always more at home in nature with the animals anyway. She imagined them in the jungles of Africa together.
“Ah. But you are wrong. I am an immortal. I live forever just like you and your mother. We drink from the same waters.” This created obvious excitement in the creatures.
“We want more water! The yummy water! Give it to us!” One of them gave her a little shove. Claire started to panic when she sensed the presence of someone else out there. She reached into her mind and found the source. She closed her eyes and focused all of her energy on one thought. Within a few seconds came a large growl from nearby. Both of the animal human hybrids stopped in their movements of circling Claire.
“No fair! No fair!” They both started screaming. They truly were children. Innocent children caught up in an ancient war. They ran off as a large bear came chasing after them. It followed them into the darkness of the woods and Claire allowed the shaking to take over her body. That was too close for comfort and she ran now to the house knowing that the two creature would be busy for a while. She saw the guards in a heap and laughed. Sasha was absolutely back to her old ways. She ran through the open door and headed down the laboratory. She saw Sasha and Frankie crouched at the bottom of the stairs. Through a glass window they could see Celine. She was standing over Taylor with a needle in her hands. She was about to stick it into the I.V. tube when she stopped and looked around. She could sense their presence. Sasha scanned the room and saw her old battle sword propped up against one of the steel cabinets on the wall closest to the bed. There was no time left. She ran with all her might and threw herself through the glass windows knocking a shocked Celine to the ground. She grabbed her sword with one hand and Celine’s auburn locks with the other.