Sphere of Influence: Exodus by JayVitolo
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters except the "Word of Blake" members. I don't even own the rights to that term "Word of Blake," that belongs to the guys that used to be FASA.
Author Notes: Thank you for the positive feedback to Omega Web, it feels great to see that your work is appreciated by so many people. I just hope "Sphere of Influence" can give you all a somewhat decent ending to the Pretender realm. Even though I doubt I'll ever finish writing Pretender stories.the characters allow you to do so much. If you don't like fics involving the Jarod/Miss Parker love story (freak) then don't continue.
Enough babbling.on to the story!
(Just kidding about the "freak" reference, please don't yell at me.)
---***---
A dark room lit by scattered candles, two sitting on a wooden table and one on a small desk by a bookcase. Three coins can be heard striking the table; the hollow ping of the coins is followed by a quick shuffling noise. This exchange continues five more times, but stops as a shadowy figures stands from a chair. This unknown man walks across the room and slowly comes to the barely lit bookcase. A book is pulled out and quietly opened as the man walks back to the table. He sits down and slowly, and cautiously reads a passage. He can be heard mumbling the words on the page.
Another man walks into the room, disturbing the one who is studying. "Viktor, your presence is required."
The man identified as Viktor slowly exhales but doesn't remove his eyes from the book. He quietly closes it as he looks up. "Take a message. I'm busy." His eyes slowly move back to the written pages of his book.
"It's important Viktor."
Viktor sighs again before closing the book and setting it on the large table. "Alright Wilhelm. Who is it?"
"The Triumvirate."
Viktor picks his book back up and rereads the passage he just finished. "Tell them I'll be right there." The grin on his face is barely visible due to the book covering his face. "I'm sure they don't mind waiting another three minutes."
Wilhelm steps forward and uses his cane to push the book away from Viktor's face. "You know, I never understood why you found that coin crap so fascinating."
Viktor gets to his feet, but does not drop the book from his hands. "How many times must I tell you Wilhelm? It's called 'I Ching' and it answers any questions you ask it." The book closes around Viktor's left hand as his right hand grabs Wilhelm's shirt collar. "And if you don't mind your place, the coins may not hold you in favor."
Wilhelm slowly backs away as Viktor releases his shirt collar. "Regardless of what three coins may tell you about the future, the Triumvirate liaison grows impatient in the present."
Viktor closes the book and carefully places it on the table in between the two candles. He picks the coins up and places then in his pocket before leaving the room. Wilhelm follows him out as he pushes the book off the table; the rush of air blows the left candle flame out.
---***---
Jarod and Marie Parker are quietly sitting in front of a fireplace at Marie's house; a lit Christmas tree is visible over their shoulders. Marie rests her head on Jarod's shoulder as she lets out a quiet sigh, a sign that she is about to fall asleep. They are both startled by the sudden ringing cellphone in her pocket.
She quickly pulls it out and opens it. "What?"
"Miss Parker?"
"Broots? What are you calling me for?"
The technician quickly clears his throat before answering Parker's question. "Well, um, ah. I was looking through hospital admittance sheets today."
"Wait, what?" Marie looks at Jarod beside her and brushes her hair back. "It's your Christmas vacation Broots."
On the other end of the phone, the technician blushes. He grins as he continues. "I know. But you know how much I just love doing work."
"Yeah. So, what's the reason you called?"
"Right. Well, you know how your fa."
Marie quickly interrupts him before he digs a deep hole. "You mean Mr. Parker, Broots."
"Um, yeah. That's him." He clears his throat before trying again. "Well, you know how his body was never found."
"Yeah, and?"
"Well, it just ah." He closes his eyes, already imagining the amount of Tylenol he'll have to take after this phone call. "His body was just admitted to the St. Catherine's Hospital."
Marie has a shocked expression on her face, as Jarod grows visibly concerned. She looks away from Jarod before continuing the conversation. "When was this?"
"Roughly 1:36 am. This morning."
She looks at her watch. "And you just NOW call me?"
"I just got the information fifteen minutes ago."
"Anything else you're keeping from me Broots?"
"Yeah." Broots pulls the phone away from his ear before continuing. "He's still alive."
Marie drops her phone as she looks at Jarod. She tries to speak, but no words are able to escape her lips. All she can do is keep trying, the words eventually work their way out. "Jarod, they found Mr. Parker." She quickly hooks her arms around him as she begins to cry. Jarod silently pulls her close.
---***---
Metal doors swing open as Viktor strides into the room. A round table rests in the middle of this room and a portrait sits behind a large chair. Viktor makes his way to this chair and takes a seat as Wilhelm stands beside him. A second man walks into the room but stands in the doorway, waiting to be acknowledged. Viktor glances at other man and motions for this him to take a seat directly in front of him.
"How can the 'Word of Blake' help you?" Viktor folds his hands on the table before leaning forward.
The other man laughs at this statement before responding. "I believe you mean 'how will the Word of Blake' help us?"
A smile crosses Viktor's lips as he ponders the phrase. The smile disappears as he stands from the chair. "I assure you, I meant what I said." Viktor walks towards the other man with his hands folded behind his back. "Now, explain yourself."
"Do you have the faintest clue of who I am?" The unknown man leans back in his chair and crosses his arms as Viktor stops next to him.
Viktor leans close to the man's head and inhales deeply before responding. "You have no idea the things I know about you." Viktor then walks behind the chair and leans against the back of it. "I know your history, your family, your accounts. Even the woman you lusted after in the third grade." Viktor walks to the other side of the chair as its occupant starts to look worried. "You see, I know all about you Mr. Lyle; even the nasty incident that cost you your thumb. And the one that cost you the vision of your right eye."
Viktor grabs the back of the chair and spins it around so he is looking Lyle in the face. "Now tell me what the Triumvirate wants."
Lyle stares at Viktor; his face is twisted with anger. "I am here to make sure you don't screw up. The Centre is very valuable to the right people, and those people are your employers. They want you to get it, and that damn pretender, back at any cost." Lyle gets to his feet and adjusts the red glove covering his left hand. "I want to know if you have a plan yet."
Viktor smiles at the anger in Lyle's voice. "No wonder they chose your eye instead of your tongue." Viktor turns to the table, picking up a remote and presses a button in the center as Lyle returns his smile. A large screen rolls down from the ceiling as a video starts to play. Lyle turns his attention to it as Viktor starts to speak. "We have received word that one Mr. Johan Parker was admitted to a Holy Mercy Hospital."
"So you found my dad. What's this have to do with Jarod and the Centre?" Lyle crosses his arms and taps his foot impatiently.
"So the pretender has a name? That could make things a lot easier." Viktor sighs under his breath before continuing. "The relevance is simple. Miss Marie Parker will have heard of this news by now and be on route to see him."
"And? Could you get to the point?"
"Patience is a virtue waste on the elderly." Viktor sighs as he stares at the screen.
"Carry on." Lyle runs his tongue over his teeth as the video continues to play.
"We have agents there kidnapping him as we speak. By the time Miss Parker gets there, he will be in our custody." Viktor shuts the video off as the screen retracts into the ceiling.
Lyle turns to Viktor as the screen becomes hidden. "How can you be so certain?"
Viktor smiles at him as he sets the remote on the table. He then turns and walks towards the doors of the room, pulling them open. "The coins tell me so."
Lyle watches him leave, but poses one last question before the doors completely close. "Coins? What coins?"
---***---
Mr. Parker is resting peacefully in his hospital bed, happy to be back with population. His story of how he got back to land, and eventually back to the United States, has been told to every nurse and doctor of this place; nearly five times over. No matter how many times he says it, he never gets tired of listening to it. He hears the door open, but he can't stop staring out the window of his room. The snow makes everything so peaceful this time of year. He begins to wonder about the last time he shared one of these evenings with his daughter. Come to think of it, he can't remember the last time he actually spent more than two hours with her. He has to do that next time they meet.
A man in a dark coat walks beside Mr. Parker's bed and stops, staring at the older man before him. Mr. Parker begins to recite his voyage from the ocean to the shores of America from heart, as if he's been practicing it all day. Mr. Parker gets to the part where he was picked up by a fishing boat and turns his head to look at the room's other occupant. He immediately stops the story when he notices the gun pointed at him.
"What the hell?" Mr. Parker growls at the man holding the handgun at his head.
The man doesn't respond, he only pulls the top of the gun backwards to chamber a shot.
"Do you have any idea who you're messing with?" Mr. Parker remains defiant.
The unknown person continues to look at Mr. Parker from behind his tinted sunglasses. His hand tightens around the handle of the gun.
"You don't have the guts." Mr. Parker stares through the man's sunglasses and locks onto his eyes.
A smile crosses the other man's face as he pulls the trigger. A dart flies out of the barrel and imbeds itself into the side of Mr. Parker's neck. The shock, combined with the tranquilizer, is enough to render him unconscious. The other man begins to remove his coat and sunglasses to reveal he is wearing a sanitation uniform. He unplugs Mr. Parker from the various machines and places him in a laundry hamper. The hamper is wheeled from the room and down the hallway; it is then pushed through an emergency door. The hamper and its contents are then placed in the back of a utility van before it slowly drives out of the hospital's parking garage.
---***---
Marie quickly swerves to her right to avoid a van taking up both lanes of traffic. She curses under her breath as she slams her hands onto the horn. The car quickly straightens as she screeches to a halt in the first parking spot she sees. Her car door quickly flies open as she sprints to the garage doors, looking for the receptionist. She begins to show off a picture of Mr. Parker as she reaches the desk, asking if they know where he could be. The woman behind the counter motions to a room on her left as Marie quickly thanks her. Marie pulls the room's door open, but sees there is nobody there. With a puzzled look, she looks on the outside of the door and grabs the medical chart sitting there. She grabs it, but stops as she notices a note sitting on the bed.
Marie walks over to the bed with the chart in her hands, leaning forward to reach the note. She picks it up with her free hand and carefully reads it over. After ripping the note in half, she reaches for her cellphone and dials Jarod's phone number.
"Hello?" The pretender quickly answers.
"Jarod? Something bad happened." Panic is evident in Marie's voice as she tries to remain calm.
"What? What happened?" Jarod pulls the phone closer to his ear, confused at what could've gone wrong.
"My father." Marie turns to look out the window at the snow covering the ground.
"Marie, what about your dad?"
"Somebody kidnapped him." Tears begin to form in Marie's eyes as she starts thinking about where her father could be. He just came back in her life, and now he's been kidnapped. What sick bastard would do something like this?
---***---
Mr. Parker slowly begins to wake up as a darkened room invades his sight. For some reason, the room seems to be spinning; he just wants it to stop long enough for him to get off. A spot light, positioned above the chair he is strapped to, flashes to life. The sudden light reveals two feet of the room from where the chair is placed, not really improving Mr. Parker's sense of where he is.
A voice suddenly calls to him. "Hello Johan."
"What? Who's there?" Mr. Parker strains to see who is speaking to him.
"You don't remember me?" The man responds in a taunting voice. "You should."
"Show yourself." Mr. Parker squints his eyes, trying to make out shadows of people.
"Fine then." The man steps forward, revealing himself. "How about now?"
Mr. Parker looks over the man before him, going from head to toe. "Nope, sorry. Completely unfamiliar."
A second man steps from the shadows, flexing his leather glove. "How about me?"
The second man startles Mr. Parker; he thought there was only one of them. The initial shock wares off as he begins to recognize the face. "Lyle. What happened to your face?"
"The triumvirate was less than happy on my last attempt to capture Jarod." Lyle smiles as he runs his hand over the scar on his right cheek.
Its an improvement." Mr. Parker smiles as he trails off.
Viktor smiles, letting out a sigh as Lyle begins to get angry. He begins to speak, trying to calm the both of them down. "We are veering off track." He turns to wink at Lyle but spins back to Mr. Parker, striking him across the face. "You have no privilege to speak."
Mr. Parker grunts as he shakes his head, allowing Viktor to continue. "Now, Johan. You should remember me for a rather obvious reason."
"And that would be?" Mr. Parker spits some blood on the floor after finishing talking.
"I was the one that put the scrolls in the Centre. I helped you found that place." Viktor kneels before Mr. Parker, looking him in the eyes. "And you exiled me."
Mr. Parker sighs before responding. "The proper term is 'fired'. I fired you, and you're lucky I didn't have you killed."
Viktor grins and nods before looking into Mr. Parker's face again. "You know what the funny thing is? I've been watching your Centre fail repeatedly. You never can catch that Jarod fellow." Viktor straightens again before walking behind Mr. Parker's chair. "And so has the Triumvirate, but you knew that. You think the two you met before were bad, the new Triumvirate regime is ruthless. They don't accept failure, and you've been deemed expendable." He stops in front of Mr. Parker and looks down at him. "You are glorified bait, and your purpose is to reeling in Jarod and little Miss Parker. After that, you are killed."
Upon hearing those words, Mr. Parker's head falls forward. Viktor smiles at this sight as he and Lyle turn to leave. Lyle looks at the man next to him before speaking. "That was good. A little vague on the terms, but good none-the-less."
Viktor smiles as he turns to look back at Mr. Parker. "This is only the beginning of step one."
"Really? What's the rest?" Lyle adjusts his glove as he looks at the former head of The Centre.
"Jarod's family and Ben Miller. And then he and Miss Marie Parker will be like putty in our hands." An evil grin washes over Viktor's face as Lyle begins to smile.
"That's good. I like that." Lyle pushes his hands into the pockets of his pants as the doors quietly shut, separating them from the room's only occupant.
Mr. Parker stares at the floor of his 'cell', cursing himself for coming back. A teardrop hits the floor as he sighs, he quietly thinks about his past. "Forgive me angel. I never meant for this to happen."
---***---
TBC. Read and Rate.please.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters except the "Word of Blake" members. I don't even own the rights to that term "Word of Blake," that belongs to the guys that used to be FASA.
Author Notes: Thank you for the positive feedback to Omega Web, it feels great to see that your work is appreciated by so many people. I just hope "Sphere of Influence" can give you all a somewhat decent ending to the Pretender realm. Even though I doubt I'll ever finish writing Pretender stories.the characters allow you to do so much. If you don't like fics involving the Jarod/Miss Parker love story (freak) then don't continue.
Enough babbling.on to the story!
(Just kidding about the "freak" reference, please don't yell at me.)
---***---
A dark room lit by scattered candles, two sitting on a wooden table and one on a small desk by a bookcase. Three coins can be heard striking the table; the hollow ping of the coins is followed by a quick shuffling noise. This exchange continues five more times, but stops as a shadowy figures stands from a chair. This unknown man walks across the room and slowly comes to the barely lit bookcase. A book is pulled out and quietly opened as the man walks back to the table. He sits down and slowly, and cautiously reads a passage. He can be heard mumbling the words on the page.
Another man walks into the room, disturbing the one who is studying. "Viktor, your presence is required."
The man identified as Viktor slowly exhales but doesn't remove his eyes from the book. He quietly closes it as he looks up. "Take a message. I'm busy." His eyes slowly move back to the written pages of his book.
"It's important Viktor."
Viktor sighs again before closing the book and setting it on the large table. "Alright Wilhelm. Who is it?"
"The Triumvirate."
Viktor picks his book back up and rereads the passage he just finished. "Tell them I'll be right there." The grin on his face is barely visible due to the book covering his face. "I'm sure they don't mind waiting another three minutes."
Wilhelm steps forward and uses his cane to push the book away from Viktor's face. "You know, I never understood why you found that coin crap so fascinating."
Viktor gets to his feet, but does not drop the book from his hands. "How many times must I tell you Wilhelm? It's called 'I Ching' and it answers any questions you ask it." The book closes around Viktor's left hand as his right hand grabs Wilhelm's shirt collar. "And if you don't mind your place, the coins may not hold you in favor."
Wilhelm slowly backs away as Viktor releases his shirt collar. "Regardless of what three coins may tell you about the future, the Triumvirate liaison grows impatient in the present."
Viktor closes the book and carefully places it on the table in between the two candles. He picks the coins up and places then in his pocket before leaving the room. Wilhelm follows him out as he pushes the book off the table; the rush of air blows the left candle flame out.
---***---
Jarod and Marie Parker are quietly sitting in front of a fireplace at Marie's house; a lit Christmas tree is visible over their shoulders. Marie rests her head on Jarod's shoulder as she lets out a quiet sigh, a sign that she is about to fall asleep. They are both startled by the sudden ringing cellphone in her pocket.
She quickly pulls it out and opens it. "What?"
"Miss Parker?"
"Broots? What are you calling me for?"
The technician quickly clears his throat before answering Parker's question. "Well, um, ah. I was looking through hospital admittance sheets today."
"Wait, what?" Marie looks at Jarod beside her and brushes her hair back. "It's your Christmas vacation Broots."
On the other end of the phone, the technician blushes. He grins as he continues. "I know. But you know how much I just love doing work."
"Yeah. So, what's the reason you called?"
"Right. Well, you know how your fa."
Marie quickly interrupts him before he digs a deep hole. "You mean Mr. Parker, Broots."
"Um, yeah. That's him." He clears his throat before trying again. "Well, you know how his body was never found."
"Yeah, and?"
"Well, it just ah." He closes his eyes, already imagining the amount of Tylenol he'll have to take after this phone call. "His body was just admitted to the St. Catherine's Hospital."
Marie has a shocked expression on her face, as Jarod grows visibly concerned. She looks away from Jarod before continuing the conversation. "When was this?"
"Roughly 1:36 am. This morning."
She looks at her watch. "And you just NOW call me?"
"I just got the information fifteen minutes ago."
"Anything else you're keeping from me Broots?"
"Yeah." Broots pulls the phone away from his ear before continuing. "He's still alive."
Marie drops her phone as she looks at Jarod. She tries to speak, but no words are able to escape her lips. All she can do is keep trying, the words eventually work their way out. "Jarod, they found Mr. Parker." She quickly hooks her arms around him as she begins to cry. Jarod silently pulls her close.
---***---
Metal doors swing open as Viktor strides into the room. A round table rests in the middle of this room and a portrait sits behind a large chair. Viktor makes his way to this chair and takes a seat as Wilhelm stands beside him. A second man walks into the room but stands in the doorway, waiting to be acknowledged. Viktor glances at other man and motions for this him to take a seat directly in front of him.
"How can the 'Word of Blake' help you?" Viktor folds his hands on the table before leaning forward.
The other man laughs at this statement before responding. "I believe you mean 'how will the Word of Blake' help us?"
A smile crosses Viktor's lips as he ponders the phrase. The smile disappears as he stands from the chair. "I assure you, I meant what I said." Viktor walks towards the other man with his hands folded behind his back. "Now, explain yourself."
"Do you have the faintest clue of who I am?" The unknown man leans back in his chair and crosses his arms as Viktor stops next to him.
Viktor leans close to the man's head and inhales deeply before responding. "You have no idea the things I know about you." Viktor then walks behind the chair and leans against the back of it. "I know your history, your family, your accounts. Even the woman you lusted after in the third grade." Viktor walks to the other side of the chair as its occupant starts to look worried. "You see, I know all about you Mr. Lyle; even the nasty incident that cost you your thumb. And the one that cost you the vision of your right eye."
Viktor grabs the back of the chair and spins it around so he is looking Lyle in the face. "Now tell me what the Triumvirate wants."
Lyle stares at Viktor; his face is twisted with anger. "I am here to make sure you don't screw up. The Centre is very valuable to the right people, and those people are your employers. They want you to get it, and that damn pretender, back at any cost." Lyle gets to his feet and adjusts the red glove covering his left hand. "I want to know if you have a plan yet."
Viktor smiles at the anger in Lyle's voice. "No wonder they chose your eye instead of your tongue." Viktor turns to the table, picking up a remote and presses a button in the center as Lyle returns his smile. A large screen rolls down from the ceiling as a video starts to play. Lyle turns his attention to it as Viktor starts to speak. "We have received word that one Mr. Johan Parker was admitted to a Holy Mercy Hospital."
"So you found my dad. What's this have to do with Jarod and the Centre?" Lyle crosses his arms and taps his foot impatiently.
"So the pretender has a name? That could make things a lot easier." Viktor sighs under his breath before continuing. "The relevance is simple. Miss Marie Parker will have heard of this news by now and be on route to see him."
"And? Could you get to the point?"
"Patience is a virtue waste on the elderly." Viktor sighs as he stares at the screen.
"Carry on." Lyle runs his tongue over his teeth as the video continues to play.
"We have agents there kidnapping him as we speak. By the time Miss Parker gets there, he will be in our custody." Viktor shuts the video off as the screen retracts into the ceiling.
Lyle turns to Viktor as the screen becomes hidden. "How can you be so certain?"
Viktor smiles at him as he sets the remote on the table. He then turns and walks towards the doors of the room, pulling them open. "The coins tell me so."
Lyle watches him leave, but poses one last question before the doors completely close. "Coins? What coins?"
---***---
Mr. Parker is resting peacefully in his hospital bed, happy to be back with population. His story of how he got back to land, and eventually back to the United States, has been told to every nurse and doctor of this place; nearly five times over. No matter how many times he says it, he never gets tired of listening to it. He hears the door open, but he can't stop staring out the window of his room. The snow makes everything so peaceful this time of year. He begins to wonder about the last time he shared one of these evenings with his daughter. Come to think of it, he can't remember the last time he actually spent more than two hours with her. He has to do that next time they meet.
A man in a dark coat walks beside Mr. Parker's bed and stops, staring at the older man before him. Mr. Parker begins to recite his voyage from the ocean to the shores of America from heart, as if he's been practicing it all day. Mr. Parker gets to the part where he was picked up by a fishing boat and turns his head to look at the room's other occupant. He immediately stops the story when he notices the gun pointed at him.
"What the hell?" Mr. Parker growls at the man holding the handgun at his head.
The man doesn't respond, he only pulls the top of the gun backwards to chamber a shot.
"Do you have any idea who you're messing with?" Mr. Parker remains defiant.
The unknown person continues to look at Mr. Parker from behind his tinted sunglasses. His hand tightens around the handle of the gun.
"You don't have the guts." Mr. Parker stares through the man's sunglasses and locks onto his eyes.
A smile crosses the other man's face as he pulls the trigger. A dart flies out of the barrel and imbeds itself into the side of Mr. Parker's neck. The shock, combined with the tranquilizer, is enough to render him unconscious. The other man begins to remove his coat and sunglasses to reveal he is wearing a sanitation uniform. He unplugs Mr. Parker from the various machines and places him in a laundry hamper. The hamper is wheeled from the room and down the hallway; it is then pushed through an emergency door. The hamper and its contents are then placed in the back of a utility van before it slowly drives out of the hospital's parking garage.
---***---
Marie quickly swerves to her right to avoid a van taking up both lanes of traffic. She curses under her breath as she slams her hands onto the horn. The car quickly straightens as she screeches to a halt in the first parking spot she sees. Her car door quickly flies open as she sprints to the garage doors, looking for the receptionist. She begins to show off a picture of Mr. Parker as she reaches the desk, asking if they know where he could be. The woman behind the counter motions to a room on her left as Marie quickly thanks her. Marie pulls the room's door open, but sees there is nobody there. With a puzzled look, she looks on the outside of the door and grabs the medical chart sitting there. She grabs it, but stops as she notices a note sitting on the bed.
Marie walks over to the bed with the chart in her hands, leaning forward to reach the note. She picks it up with her free hand and carefully reads it over. After ripping the note in half, she reaches for her cellphone and dials Jarod's phone number.
"Hello?" The pretender quickly answers.
"Jarod? Something bad happened." Panic is evident in Marie's voice as she tries to remain calm.
"What? What happened?" Jarod pulls the phone closer to his ear, confused at what could've gone wrong.
"My father." Marie turns to look out the window at the snow covering the ground.
"Marie, what about your dad?"
"Somebody kidnapped him." Tears begin to form in Marie's eyes as she starts thinking about where her father could be. He just came back in her life, and now he's been kidnapped. What sick bastard would do something like this?
---***---
Mr. Parker slowly begins to wake up as a darkened room invades his sight. For some reason, the room seems to be spinning; he just wants it to stop long enough for him to get off. A spot light, positioned above the chair he is strapped to, flashes to life. The sudden light reveals two feet of the room from where the chair is placed, not really improving Mr. Parker's sense of where he is.
A voice suddenly calls to him. "Hello Johan."
"What? Who's there?" Mr. Parker strains to see who is speaking to him.
"You don't remember me?" The man responds in a taunting voice. "You should."
"Show yourself." Mr. Parker squints his eyes, trying to make out shadows of people.
"Fine then." The man steps forward, revealing himself. "How about now?"
Mr. Parker looks over the man before him, going from head to toe. "Nope, sorry. Completely unfamiliar."
A second man steps from the shadows, flexing his leather glove. "How about me?"
The second man startles Mr. Parker; he thought there was only one of them. The initial shock wares off as he begins to recognize the face. "Lyle. What happened to your face?"
"The triumvirate was less than happy on my last attempt to capture Jarod." Lyle smiles as he runs his hand over the scar on his right cheek.
Its an improvement." Mr. Parker smiles as he trails off.
Viktor smiles, letting out a sigh as Lyle begins to get angry. He begins to speak, trying to calm the both of them down. "We are veering off track." He turns to wink at Lyle but spins back to Mr. Parker, striking him across the face. "You have no privilege to speak."
Mr. Parker grunts as he shakes his head, allowing Viktor to continue. "Now, Johan. You should remember me for a rather obvious reason."
"And that would be?" Mr. Parker spits some blood on the floor after finishing talking.
"I was the one that put the scrolls in the Centre. I helped you found that place." Viktor kneels before Mr. Parker, looking him in the eyes. "And you exiled me."
Mr. Parker sighs before responding. "The proper term is 'fired'. I fired you, and you're lucky I didn't have you killed."
Viktor grins and nods before looking into Mr. Parker's face again. "You know what the funny thing is? I've been watching your Centre fail repeatedly. You never can catch that Jarod fellow." Viktor straightens again before walking behind Mr. Parker's chair. "And so has the Triumvirate, but you knew that. You think the two you met before were bad, the new Triumvirate regime is ruthless. They don't accept failure, and you've been deemed expendable." He stops in front of Mr. Parker and looks down at him. "You are glorified bait, and your purpose is to reeling in Jarod and little Miss Parker. After that, you are killed."
Upon hearing those words, Mr. Parker's head falls forward. Viktor smiles at this sight as he and Lyle turn to leave. Lyle looks at the man next to him before speaking. "That was good. A little vague on the terms, but good none-the-less."
Viktor smiles as he turns to look back at Mr. Parker. "This is only the beginning of step one."
"Really? What's the rest?" Lyle adjusts his glove as he looks at the former head of The Centre.
"Jarod's family and Ben Miller. And then he and Miss Marie Parker will be like putty in our hands." An evil grin washes over Viktor's face as Lyle begins to smile.
"That's good. I like that." Lyle pushes his hands into the pockets of his pants as the doors quietly shut, separating them from the room's only occupant.
Mr. Parker stares at the floor of his 'cell', cursing himself for coming back. A teardrop hits the floor as he sighs, he quietly thinks about his past. "Forgive me angel. I never meant for this to happen."
---***---
TBC. Read and Rate.please.