Vintage

Kira tapped her fingertips impatiently against her steering wheel. She knew Charles would deliver a blistering rebuke for not following orders. At least she could mute out his screeching for a while. Her brown sunglasses rested on her dark curly head.  Her ears twitched as she caught the sound of a faint ticking. Her teeth clenched; pain erupted deep in her eardrums. She sighed impatiently as she heard the first loud boom. Her teeth chattered slightly as the force of hot air blew forcefully across her silver Mini convertible. Her brown fingers flicked the key fob in the ignition, purring the engine to life. The car moved forward as she nervously shifted the gears. Butterflies floated in her stomach as the engine hummed in her ears.  Kira attempted to ignore the painful throbbing in her ears; she needed to follow up with Barry. Lately, the pain was unbearable in her inner ears and upper neck. It was never easy completing assignments with Jade. She lived for the kill. Kira tagged along to watch Jade’s back. Her research project could wait another day. She blamed her grandparents for this mess. Why did they agree to the Area 51 project? Had they been completely aware of what it entailed when they agreed to become Enhancers? Her mouth dropped open when she spotted Jade running full throttle from a burning factory. Her vibrant red hair whipped around her beautiful face. A dark glint echoed in her blue eyes as her lungs struggled to gather oxygen.  Jade stopped and pivoted on a thin heel like a ballerina. Her ivory hands threw one last firebomb at the main window of the factory. Kira flinched when the sound of shattering glass reached her ears. Jade grinned mischievously as she dashed towards Kira’s car. Kira shook her head as she watched Jade jump over the broken metal fence. Kira’s dark eyebrow arched when Jade landed on the soft leather passenger seat. Jade enjoyed the rush of adrenaline, a smile covering her face. Jade waved her fingers over her damp chest. “A fire bomb from your fingertips, the back flip, the Lara Croft moves, just a bit of overkill, Jade,” Kira cautioned. “Where did you acquire hand sized fire bombs?” Jade had lost her faux leather jacket during the fight. Hell, faux leather is hot; at least the real stuff lets you breathe. Not that she would ever wear animal.  She needed something cool under her jacket. What was she supposed wear -- a long sleeve white blouse like a Gibson girl? Jade was fully aware that Kira was nitpicking because Donovan and Myron had a job obtaining information from a beautiful English socialite. She knew her brother was into Kira. Jade swirled the small silver device in her hand. “Do you mean this?”  Jade’s inherited gift wasn’t weaponry. Either she stole it from Bart or she rifled around in Kai’s weapon shop to find her new toy.  Her sticky fingers would be her downfall. Why could she not like shiny things like diamonds? No, she wanted to wrap her hands around anything that could inflict pain or lethal wounds. Jade wriggled her eyebrows, “A celebration to our success. Bad guys down. It was on the counter of Bart’s shop. Besides, I slowed down the bad people and gave us time to get away. That’s what I do.” Pointing a slender finger at Kira she continued, “You could have opened your mouth and destroyed their fleet of vehicles and weapons with a few words, Babble.” Jade glanced at her best chum. Life was easy for Kira. She was short with a seriously curvy trim figure. She had huge brown eyes, dark wavy hair, and brown sugar skin- she could wear any color. People wanted to protect her. Kira frowned at the use of her code name. She hated being called Babble. Jade felt it was an enduring moniker and fit Kira like a glove. Kira had the uncanny ability to hear anything within a 10 mile radius. Her voice could change frequency, shattering any form of matter into little pebbles. Jade could only slow down time.  Jade knew that Kira didn’t like the code name because she did babble or attempt to over-explain her actions. “I want a cool name like Sonar.” “That’s Myron.” “You have a cool name,” Kira mumbled. “Vintage is a cool name?” Jade inquired incredulity, “It’s just a fancy word for old and previously used.” “Yeah? Try living with Babble.” “Stop fretting, Pet.”  Kira’s simple outlook on life was refreshing to Jade. She wished her code name was the only source of annoyance. She had a long listed of annoyances, starting with Donovan, Charles, and Claire, her family. Jade acknowledged her own recklessness in life, and the absolute boredom in Kira’s. She constantly fretted that people would discover their gifts. Kira was a spring baby, a Pisces, constantly moving in two directions. She never got anywhere. She spent the last four years mooning over her brother, Donovan. Jade would have seduced Donovan a long time ago. Then, again, the thought gave her stomach pains. Spring people were calm, soft, and reassuring. Jade wished for the day when Kira would blow into her life like a freak, late-winter blizzard. Jade was a Leo, the leader of the pack; she wanted to take charge of the team to stop Bart and his cronies. Charles, her father, controlled Watson Industries with an iron fist along with her brother, Donovan. Two birds of the same feathers, they believed in patience and tactical methods to strike an opponent. Jade believed in shoot them up, pretty fire, and booms like a lion’s roar. Jade flashed a smile a bright as the sun, “Kira, we are peanut butter and jelly, we go well together.” “Peanut butter can kill you, and jelly is nothing but colored sugar goo.” “Yes, it looks innocent, but it’s lethal and sweet. That’s you and me.” Jade knew she was forgiven when Kira’s lips twitched as she fought a smile. Kira watched orange-red flames engulfing the factory as they rapidly sped away. The sound of sirens filled the air. She swallowed a cough from the heavy black smoke. She hoped the cloud of smoke caused the flickers of pain in her throat. “Did you get it?” “Am I Jade Lewis Watson?” Kira knew that Jade would never acknowledge that cockiness was an inheritable trait in Watsons. Never in her life had she encountered such confidant, ambitious people. Luckily for the world, they had good hearts. The Watsons were as lethal as Team Bad or whatever Bart called his people.  Kira gave her a raspberry, “One day, we will be the former Jade Lewis Watson and Kira Alexander.” “Maybe, but what a way to go!” Jade brushed her heavy hair from her face. She noticed Kira’s hand quivering on the steering wheel. Her fingers opening and closing as she maneuvered through heavy traffic. “Are you okay?” “Jade, I hate when my hair reeks of smoke,” Kira lied. “Use a better conditioner.” Kira slammed on the Mini’s brakes; fiery wavy hair flew around Jade’s face.  Jade leaned back in her seat, and tossed a smirk at Kira. “You need to work on your passive aggressive traits; they are going to be the death of us.” Kira chuckled,” You’ll never see it coming.” Refocusing on the road, Kira turned a corner. Carefully she approached the ramp, waiting for a tractor trailer to switch lanes. Jade gently touch the car’s dashboard. “So do you like the Mini?” “I loved my Mustang, Jade.” Jade shrugged. She was terribly sorry that Kira’s car was destroyed on their last mission. Goodness sake, Charles replaced the car with a top of the line Mini. What else could a girl ask for? Jade, realizing that she was over-analyzing, hopped from the car the second Kira parked pulling the hand break. Jade waited a moment to hear her father’s voice. She exhaled when she realized Charles was not in the trailer. A shiver raced along her spine when she caught of glimpse of dark hair. “Kira in here,” a deep voice crooned from the office. Kira slammed her car door. Frowning, she arched an eyebrow in Jade’s direction. “This is your fault.” “Take your punishment.” She shooed Kira away. Kira smirked as she stood in the doorway. “As I waited for you, Charles sent a text requesting his press releases. Take your punishment.” Jade shrugged as Kira departed the room. To the end of her life, Jade would never understand why she became Charles’ press secretary. She couldn’t complete anything on time. She’d complete those press releases when she completed them. A black ashy hand brushed auburn locks from her wet brow. Her eyes scanned the perimeter of the trailer. She could feel his presence in the room, sneaky bastard. She swallowed as his eyes bore into her back; her skin felt tingly. Her tongue darted along her lips when she felt his breath on her neck. “You’re a bad girl, Jade,” he whispered hotly. Flames of desire flicked along her arms as his arms slid along her waist. His body felt hard as she melted into him. “Did I worry you?” “No, my girl can handle a few bad guys… burned down a neighborhood?” “It was just one factory.” Her eyes closed when he kissed her earlobe causing tingles to rise along her body. “Do you like burning hot things?” “No, I like flames.” “Flames of desire,” he crooned as his hands squeezed her bum. “Maybe,” she teased, her eyes closing tightly. His lips moved along her neck, causing her blood to boil. His long fingers pulled Jade’s zipper down revealing her firm breasts. Jade jumped from Myron when bright lights flooded the back trailer. Myron attempted to look like he was in the middle of polishing Kira’s car. She could hear her father through the visual barriers asking: “Really? “ She shook her head in disbelief at Myron when he wriggled his eyebrows. “Jade, when you arrive back at headquarters, Father wants to see you.” ********************************************************************************* Jade slumped in her chair as her  eyes blazed with fury at her father, Charles. His steely grey eyes offered her censure and disappointment. Jade bent her arms across her chest, placing her black leather bootie on Charles’s gleaming table. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Donovan dropped his sable head in shock, hiding his sapphire eyes. His lips curled on his handsome face; a faint red flush crossed his high cheek bones. Her brother’s life was full of duty and obligation, no space for personal fulfillment. Charles would deny him everything that he ever wanted, freedom and his heart‘s desire. Charles only cared about expanding Watson Industries, destroying Bart, and pleasing Claire. Donovan was vital to their father’s life plan. Jade on the other hand was expendable and she knew it. “Cat, got your tongue?” Should I be honest and just mess up my meal ticket?  Or tell him what he wants to hear. Choices, choices… Jade clucked her tongue several times. “You said take out the factory. Did I not complete my orders?” Charles placed his palms flat on the cherry table. “I said take out the factory as a team, not an individual effort. You could have gotten Kira killed as well as yourself. We were given these gifts to help the world- not for our own agenda. We were enhanced to help mankind-not for our own personal joy.” Who coined the term the Enhancers? Jade hated being told that she was an enhanced human. In her mind, it made her less of a person, just an alien science experiment. She was a child when strange things began to happen. Jade lived in fear that she was an awful science fair project that went terribly wrong. The big reveal about the gifts attached to her DNA brought tears of fear and loud shouts of denial. Jade didn’t kid herself that Charles could care for her or Kira. He was much too busy to fill their spots in the business and on the team. “Father,” Donovan began,” She was suc-“ “Of course,” Claire interrupted. “She was successful. I congratulate you on her mission, Jade.” Pride shimmered in Claire’s brown eyes. “You have proven yourself to be a confident operative.” Jade’s eyes roamed over her older sister. She realized in life the world has two types of blondes: the one tan, laughing with sun-streaked hair, lively and bubbly. Jade had the misfortunate of dealing with the other type: coolly elegant, flawless, and icy. Claire’s touch could give you a bad frost burn. Her glorious blonde hair fell in rich waves around her shoulders. She had wide brown eyes, but they didn’t remind you of chocolate, just emotionless mud. “Thanks.” Jade didn’t know what to think; Claire rarely gave praise. Her praise sometimes seemed like sarcasm. She noticed the anger fading from her father’s eyes. “Yes, Jade, good job,” Charles responded like a toy puddle trained to cater to Claire’s whims. Jade wondered if her sister had an oversized Gucci dog carrier for their father. “I need a shower.” Jade pulled her legs from the table. Her body slid from the chair. Her fingers rummaged in her back pocket as she walked towards the door. “Oh, I found this.” Jade tossed her hand-sized fire bomb device on the table. Donovan stared at it skeptically. Claire lips set in a tight line, while Charles stared at the silver case with curiosity. “It creates firebombs.” Donovan reached out to touch the silver device. He gasped when Claire slapped his hand forcefully. “Don’t touch it,” she commanded harshly. “Jade... you little fool,” she spat angrily. She grabbed the device from the table and tossed it from the window. “It could be tracking you. Do you ever think about anything? Must you always live for the thrill, sister?” Jade wasn't rattled; she could deal with this Claire. She didn’t like nice Claire. “Just didn’t want to die in hot, burning flames. It would be hard to identify my body. You need dental records for that.” “Jade, watch your tone and words,” Charles reprimanded. “Claire is right.”  Jade did not expect less from the man in front of her, the man also known as her father. His opinion changed like the daily forecast. Of course, he agreed with his golden child. Claire had weathered his storm for the last 27 years. “Father, it was scanned-“ “Donovan, don’t defend her,” Claire cautioned. “I need those scans for security.” Jade winked at her younger brother. Donovan attempted to balance the emptiness of their lives with compassion, the wrong family value for Watsons. Donovan rolled his eyes slightly. But, they both knew the argument was lost. The corners of Jade’s lip curved upward,” Father, am I adopted?” “What?” Charles asked irritated. “No, I made you.” “Just saying that I’m a redhead, Donovan is a brunette and Claire is blonde. What are the odds?” “What are the odds of me cutting off your expense account?” “Can I go?” “Yes,” Charles said emotionlessly, “Out of my sight.” I don’t need a second invitation.