She

Deceit In Her Eyes

Bashakin opened his eyes to find his boss had left the chamber. He touched his face where he had received the kick and felt the dried blood. The time spent in the unconscious varied from actual reality, but the effects transferred over. Thus, he had to be careful because he knew firsthand what reckless subconscious diving could lead to as he felt where he once did not have a hand. He put his head in his hands and then ran it through his locs. “Niecheva” He whispered as he took a steadying breath. One day he would get that ungrateful pig he thought to himself vehemently. Rubbing his neck, he stood up as a million thoughts racked his brain.

Achilles walked into the room just then and bowed deeply. He was one of his most trusted advisors and captain of the West Side guards. “Sire, the master requests you in the East room.” He told him. “Thank you.” He replied and the gruffness of his voice betrayed his nonchalant demeanor. This unfortunate twist dug at a part of him he had sacrificed and deeply buried away at some point. That could end up being problematic or even dangerous for him if he was not more careful. Achilles turned and with a smirk on his face walked out of the room.

Bashakin bowed his head, took a deep breath, and went into the bathroom to clean himself up. He cleared his mind as he proceeded to wash his face and hands. Looking in the mirror, he saw the blood drops on his shirt. “Damn it all” he muttered to his reflection. Reaching into the left draw beneath the sink he pulled out a fresh shirt, tie, and matching handkerchief. He put on his shirt and tie, meticulously making sure every detail was correct in the mirror. As he walked out of the bathroom, he grabbed his jacket from earlier off the chair, put it on, and neatly tucked the handkerchief into his pocket. He went back to take one last look in the mirror and brushed back a loc from his face. Bashakin the great and nothing less he thought to himself before walking out the bathroom.

#

Her eyes flicked open and she gasped as instantly the pain registered. Clutching her chest, Sharon rolled over to her side and made it to her hands and knees. Nausea and sweat rolled over her as the pain began to subside and turn into a distant throbbing. Shakily she got to her feet and sat on the side of the bed to try and get her thoughts together. “Okay, okay what is the last thing that I remember?” she said to herself her voice as shaky as she felt. “First a piercing feeling, then falling to the ground and a shock, like intense static electricity” she whispered. Then it hit her, Galiech had shot her and in her favorite damn shirt too. “Oooh, he was definitely going to pay for this, and not to mention he now had her little girl.” She seethed. As she looked down at her bloodied shirt and put her finger in the hole, only to find the bullet still in place and wires hanging out the end. She tried for a little while to piece together the bits of information floating around but, things were very foggy for her. The more she tried, the worse it got. Suddenly she heard the distant talking of two men and a memory and connection formed in her mind. The two men that attacked her in the car were working with Galiech. That meant that they would be back soon for her to clean up his mess and she was not going to just sit there until they found her. Thus, she decided to focus on what she knew and her present situation. She glanced at the clock because if there was one thing she could not forget, it was time. She had been unconscious or dead for about a half-hour and figured that she would have less than twenty minutes before anyone made it back to the room. Also, it would take Galiech two days to get to the tower so she would have to cut him off somewhere because there was no way they were going to make it to the Tower. With all that in mind, she would need tools and a ride, and she knew just how to get it.

As quickly as she could Sharon searched the room for useful items and managed to find a backpack, hardware tools, alcohol, first aid kit, and some rope. She set that aside when a dent in the nightstand caught her eye and she decided to take a closer look. Galiech always had hidden caches at all his locations and usually, the problem is finding one without dying. Sharon ran her hand along the inside of the top drawer until she felt a slight indent above the hotel bible. Gently she pushed up on the indent and felt a sharp prick. “Ow! Really Galiech we are using blood now!” She muttered as she nursed her finger in her mouth. The drawer made a low whirring sound, followed by a beep and the bottom drawer opened. In it contained another hidden compartment with a flashlight, two guns, a variety of specially designed bullets, normal bullets, three vials of different colored liquid, and three syringes. Sharon placed everything except the bullets and the g*n in the backpack. She loaded one of the guns with the lab-engineered bullets and the other with normal bullets. She grabbed a pillow for a makeshift silencer and tucked the guns into her specially made b*a holster. Now she was ready and hopefully, she hadn’t taken too long. Just as she laid down on the floor with her feet to the door, she heard heavy footsteps coming from down the hall. She would have to do this quickly, concentrating solely on her breathing and heartbeat she slowed it down using a technique she had been taught many years ago. Just as the door opened, she had regulated her breathing and heartbeat to where they were nearly undetectable. “He really got her good, but itsa waste of good flesh cuz she was sexy as hell too.” She heard the first man through the door say. “Come on, let’s get going this bag is heavy!” Sharon heard a second voice say. “Stop the whining and just put the stuff on the bed. Damn, how did I even get stuck with you again!” Barked the first guy. “Well if you had the ability to cloak your own presence maybe I wouldn’t have to tag along and be your babysitter” the second guy retorted as he trudged to the bed and dropped the bag. Perfect she thought to herself and took a deep breath. Pushing herself up she flew into a low spinning kick, knocking them both down. The slimmer one grunted and jumped up with dazed eyes. He threw two punches that she blocked effortlessly. Sharon caught him in his side with two quick jabs and a right uppercut to his chin. He stumbled back a few steps and tripped into the wall. At some point, the heftier guy had rolled to his stomach and was attempting to push himself up. When the slimmer one didn’t move, she turned around to see the hefty guy launching himself at her. She jumped to the side barely missing the impact and followed up with a roundhouse kick that landed square in his face. He fell to the side, knocking his head on the side of the bed. She took a moment to breathe and released one of the guns from the holster. She grabbed the pillow she had chosen earlier. Tucking the nozzle of the g*n into the pillow, Sharon shot them both in the neck. Their bodies shook for 15 seconds and it looked like they had stopped breathing. That would hopefully keep them knocked out for the next two or three days she hoped. “Just in case” she mumbled to herself as she tied up their bodies and dragged them to the bathroom. “That should do” she declared and locked the bathroom door from the outside. Sharon grabbed the duffle bag, keys, and her backpack she prepared earlier and left with the ‘do not disturb’ sign hanging on the door. Sharon got into their car and drove off with fire in her veins. It was time to get her back.

#

Bashakin walked out of the Boss’ office and closed the door sternly behind him. Anger wafted off him in boisterous waves and could be felt by those unlucky enough to be in the corridor. With a glare, the hallway emptied and stayed that way as he painfully and angrily made his way back to his corridor. Bashakin barked a few orders into what looked like an empty hallway for preparation for the events that would transpire later. He knew that he too would need to prepare as well. Especially after a day like today, the first thing he needed was some rest. “Achilles, I am not to be disturbed for the evening, is that understood!” He snapped to the wall. Bashakin limped slightly to his room. That meeting with the Boss had been tougher than he wanted to admit. Nevertheless, he needed some rest in both the physical and mental sense. After which he would work on his end of ‘The Mission’. He made his way to a hidden wall panel beside his bed. Placing his hand on the slightly discolored rose, he leaned into the wall and whispered. Suddenly the wall opened as quietly as his whisper. He stepped into the small stone room that held only a bed, chair, and a lamp. It was the only room sealed and layered to block out other abilities and conceal the energy of whoever was within its walls. The wall closed behind him just as silently. Bashakin removed his outer clothing in a very meticulous fashion and draped it carefully over the chair. He pulled back the sheets, getting into the bed, and let himself breathe. His joints cried as the pressure from a long week seeped from his body. “What is this life that I have chosen?” was his last thought before he sunk into a fitful whirl of dreams.

Bashakin woke up shaking, his face covered in sweat, and his palms red from being balled into fists for so long. He tried to recall the dream that had made his body react this way, but it was no use. It was lost to his subconscious mind and he didn’t have the energy to try and dredge it up. Taking a deep breath, Bashakin decided to try and go back to sleep, hoping he would find some rest. Closing his eyes once more, he quickly fell asleep. This time only one dream came to him. The same one he had for many years now that was increasingly less likely to become a reality with every recurrence.

#

The little girl woke up to see they were still on route 12. She leaned over to look at the clock and saw it was already after 5 pm. Her chest ached and burned as a reminder of Sharon’s demise and her desire to make him feel the exact same pain. However, if she wanted to actually do anything, she would have to be smart, calculated, and patient. Unfortunately, she had fallen too deeply into sleep during parts of the ride, so she didn’t have an exact route on the way back. But she figured that she would be able to put together everything she remembered and make it back. They pulled into the parking lot not long after and her heart sank as she spied the car that belonged to the two guys Galiech had sent away earlier. Galiech spotted it too as they parked on the other side of the lot. “This is not going to go well” he mumbled to himself. He grabbed the rope and tape from his bag and draped it over his shoulder. “Security,” he said to her, giving her a stare of ice-cold death. “Do not forget that not only do I know your skills, but you know nothing of mine,” he warned her. He proceeded to tie up her ankles and hands and duct tape her mouth. After laying her carefully on the back-seat floor, he walked into the hotel to check-in. “Welcome to the Carlton Motel sir, checking in?” She said with an inviting smile. “Yes please,” He replied with as much charm as he could muster. “Alrighty then, your last name?” “Walter” “Okay, the first name?” “Thomas” She typed into the computer while mumbling incoherent phrases as she looked up his information. “Okay Mr. Thomas, room 1010, and here is your room key,” she said as she handed him his room key. “Thank you, ma’am,” he replied and walked back to the car. “Here we are back at the Carlton, who would have ever thought we would be back here so soon” he mumbled to himself as he got the duffel bag, and knives out of the trunk. He took the switchblade out and carefully opened the car door. Suddenly a kick flew out towards his face that he barely dodged. Her second leg came flying and put his arm in a deadlock grip between her legs, just a twitch away from breaking it. He shifted as she moved, and she managed to only pop his shoulder out of place. She kicked him in his injured shoulder, which sent him to his knees in pain. She sat up and was almost halfway out the car when she was snatched back in with a knife at her throat. “One wrong move is all it takes, little girl,” he snarled. She relaxed her body slightly, but the defiance never left her face. “Now, we can walk in there like normal people or I can walk in there and you can be carried in this duffel bag. Now that you messed my shoulder up, I don’t know how gentle I will be. so, think hard about your next move” he said to her. “What’s your move?” He growled and ripped the tape from her mouth. “Okay,” she whispered so he put away the knife and helped her out the car. After he cut her ties, he followed her into the side door of the hotel.

#

Sharon pulled out of the parking lot, turned off the main road, and onto a back road she knew as a shortcut. Her expert driving skills came in handy as she hit ninety on the winding dirt and gravel road. Many turns later she ended up in a parking lot of an inconspicuous looking hotel called the Carlton. She checked the parking lot but didn’t find the car she figured Galiech would be traveling in. Well if they weren’t there now, they would be soon she thought to herself. Sharon booked room 1012 with the attendant, paying in cash plus a little extra so she would forget she was there. After getting the key, she went back to the car to grab her things and brought it to her room.

Sharon sat rigidly on the couch behind the door flipping through the TV channels aimlessly her focus more inward than out. She had already gone through the room twice looking for anything useful or at least suspicious. She sat forward when she heard the footsteps coming closer and closer to the door. A familiar tone grumbled out some weakly veiled and hardly believable threats and then a door opened and shut. Then she heard a shuffle in front of her door, then quiet. Slowly she walked to the door, opened it, and let it swing to a close. At the last moment, a foot caught the door. He walked through the door and his face right into her waiting fist. His teeth knocked together as the door slam shut and he stumbled back into the wall. “Tell me what is going on, so I do not have to kill you” she snarled as she made her way to the couch to sit. “You should know, you came up with this fail-safe” Galiech replied through gritted teeth. She said nothing as she stared him down. It took a minute but then he realized he was only one more minute away from dying and his bullet had malfunctioned. Galiech took a deep breath and said, “What I shot you with didn’t kill you, but it did malfunction and that’s why things are so fuzzy. The only way for you to understand is by injecting this nano concoction”

“Now why should I trust you, the last time I did, I was shot and by you nevertheless”

“Because what I am saying is the only thing that makes sense in combination with what I am sure you found and what you remember.”

“Well if it doesn’t work, then you are going to die one way or another”

“Yeah I know”

“Fear enough but I am injecting myself,” She told him as she took the vial from him and placed it on the table. “I’ll be back” he grunted. She watched him walk out of the room and hoped it would work. Sharon proceeded to get the syringe from the bag and sterilized everything with soap and hot water, including her arm. She tied a piece of cloth to her upper arm after patting it dry. Filling the syringe with the liquid, she took a deep breath and injected it into her arm. Carefully she replaced the syringe with a makeshift band-aid and made her way back to the couch. Suddenly, it hit her, the feeling of tiny explosions in her head, forcing her to close her eyes. Her breaths became shallow and shaky and her grip tightened on the couch cushions. The gunshot wound began to pulse like it was full of energy. Just then a searing pain pierced her wound causing her to immediately blackout.