She was not dead. That was what had surprised her most, when she opened her eyes. She was not dead. Her entire body hurt, that was true, but she was alive. It had not helped her sleep patterns, though. She seemed unable to sleep with clothes on. Still she tossed and turned. She had been taking no small amount of pills to try and help, and help they did, but not fully. Not enough.
And now, here she was, knocking on the door of a nondescript house, hoping that the woman she wanted to find wasn't at home. Because it would have meant she could leave. Just go. Someone else, one of the regulars, would keep watching the house, and she could go back to her normal life. But the distance from Van consumed everything for her. Her desk was strewn with pictures, newspaper clippings, video recordings. All to find Him. And she knew that Van was better than her. He was stronger, faster, a better shot. And crazier. He was much crazier. And that meant he couldn't be outthought. Sure, he'd walk into a trap, but he'd just as easily bulldoze his way through it. She'd once thought of Van as the sort of man who won bar fights because he got up once more than his opponent (and then been proven dreadfully and tragically wrong when, in the two bar fights she'd witnessed Van in, it had emerged Van was the sort of man who won bar fights because he was packing three or four pistols and his opponent wasn't). But this…this woman she was going to see now, she'd beaten Van. Beaten him and a roomful of other people, and killed them all twice over. And scared off the Vampire himself. So what a policewoman was going to do against her if she attacked was anyone's guess. But still, she knocked. And for a brief moment, it seemed to be as she had hoped above hope, that there was no reply, that the house was empty. The policewoman breathed out. And then the lock inside was snapped open. The door opened a crack. Half a face, perhaps not even that, peered out.
'Hello' called out Sophia. 'Is that, err, Miss Svetlana? I think you know me. We worked for the same group, albeit briefly in your case.' There was no response. Then the door swung open suddenly, and there was a moment, a brief moment, where the two women stared at each other, and both noticed the other was grasping for a weapon. Upon the suddenness of the door, Sophia had grabbed at the butt of her pistol, a Beretta 92FS, which she had shoved down the back of her trousers. And Svetlana, clad in some kind of flowing dressing gown, was reaching round the side of the door, exactly where an ordinary person might keep a baseball bat to deal with unwelcome intruders. But this was no ordinary person. Even as Sophia continued her gun draw, flicking back her brown jacket with her forearm to make the movement smoother, Svetlana drew a curved sword from beside the door. Sophia knew Svetlana was faster. The policewoman pushed herself backwards bending her legs in a frantic effort to simply get out of the way of the sword. Svetlana continued her draw, swinging the sword across horizontally. If Sophia had remained standing, she would have lost half her neck. As it was, the sword passed over her head, and Sophia fell onto her back on the gravel path, Beretta in hand. She opened fire as soon as she hit the ground. Sophia's nerves meant she fired perhaps seven or eight shots, half the magazine. All missed. Svetlana made to stab down. Sophia rolled desperately aside. The sword grazed down the side. Sophia continued her roll so she ended up on hands and knees. She scurried away from the door and her adversary, frantically aiming her pistol at her adversary, and then got up. Svetlana pulled her sword up from the ground and swung it into a position of rest. The two women looked at each other.
Sophia had been called immaculate, even by Van. Especially by Van. Once upon a time. But this woman…she was something else. She was perfection. Her balance, her grace…she couldn't be faulted. She wasn't even breathing heavily. But she wasn't just graceful. Looking at the hole in the ground where Svetlana's sword had impacted the gravel, Sophia thought she was outmatched in strength too.
'Please…look…I don't' she panted. Svetlana smiled, coldly.
'I know what you want. I quit. Now you're back to finish the job. Well, I can tell you, you'll not get it today," said Svetlana, more commandingly than Sophia would have thought likely from such a woman. Sophia breathed heavily.
'Look ,I only want to talk…'
'You never will. Take one step, and lose your leg.' Sophia thought Svetlana was probably exaggerating, but didn't want to push her luck.
'Why are you so…angry?' she asked. Svetlana scowled.
'I quit. Of my own volition. You people seem to think that I need to be silenced, because of what I've seen. It's pathetic. Let me live my own life. ALONE!' Svetlana stepped inside, and slammed the door. There was a pause. Sophia tried to work out what to do next. As she stood, awkwardly, on the path leading up to the cottage, something Svetlana had said hit her. 'Back to finish the job'. Sophia moved closer to the shut door.
"We didn't try and kill you," she shouted. There was a pause.
"And I'm supposed to believe that," came the reply. Sophia moved closer again.
"Yes. Look, I'm looking for Van Helsinki. He's…he's gone missing. We don't know where. After he beat Geoff Vampire. I know we debriefed you after the Geoff Case, but I really need your help. Do you…do you know where he went." There was silence again. Sophia pressed her ear to the door, listening for a response. She was running out of options.
Suddenly, the door swung open again, and as Sophia, leaning on it, fell inwards, she felt Svetlana's arm wrap around her neck, and the scimitar she had pulled up from behind the door pressed against her throat.
"You swear. You swear it wasn't you," said Svetlana, face right against Sophia's ear. Sophia nodded, very slightly. She didn't dare say anything that might upset the sword-wielding woman again, not with a sword at her neck. Svetlana considered. "Drop the gun. Then you can come in." Sophia released her grip on the Beretta, letting it clatter to the ground beside her. Svetlana waited a moment, and then yanked on Sophia's hair, swinging her through the door and into the hall. Sophia scrabbled to her feet, but Svetlana was already replacing the scimitar beside the door. She gestured to a nearby room.
"Take a seat, Sophia." Sophia, a little stunned, simply walked through into the living room without comment.