Second Target

A week had past since that night. The woman was preparing for the next target. After the first night of discovering it would only be reconnaissance. Pitch grew bored and left her to the work. He only requested that she tell him when the actual revenge would take place. Lida rolled her eyes, but promised 'on her dead heart' she would.

Pitch spent his time doing what he did best, lurking under children's beds and closets, waiting. After some time his true target drifted through the window and settled over the young ones' heads, Dreamsand. The Nightmare King would carefully pluck the sand, turning it into a Night Mare and disappeared as the children woke up from their 'bad dream'. A little bit each night and eventually his power would return. He would be believed in again.

On this night Pitch crept from a closet of a nine year old girl as she was enjoying a dream with dolphins. "Let's see…." He watched the dream pod jump up from a sand ocean as he decided which little creature would join his ranks. "How about you?" His pale finger touched the dolphin that jumped the highest and it contorted into black.

There was a tap at the window.

Pitch withdrew in surprise and snapped his head up. He growled. Lida waved and motioned to open the window. Pitch opened the window with a hand on his hip. "Can I help you with something?"

"No." She gave a demure smile. The vampire thought to give a little 'payback' for all his tagging along and interrupting.

Pitch imitated her, propping his elbows on the windowsill with a fake smile. "Then would you kindly leave? I'm kind of busy." A groan from the little girl turned both their heads. They thought she was waking up, but it was a reaction to her dream that now had dolphins racing on bicycles, the wheels were made of bananas.

Lida released a gasp of laughter that she covered up. "T-t-this is what you're…busy with? Making nightmares." Her forehead occupied the windowsill as she continued to shake, trying to contain her humor. "Oh, poor Phobetor, I think you're doing it wrong."

"You're too loud." Pitch tried to push her out and close the window, but something caught his eye from behind her. Whatever it was the Shadow rushed out the opening, in the process, head butting Lida. The two wound up crashing into the shrubbery below them.

"Syn suka!" She cursed before a hand clamped over her mouth.

"Be quiet!" He hissed in a harsh whisper and Pitch pulled the two of them further into the shadows when the golden light radiated above them. From this view Lida could only see a cloud made of sand hovering by the window. Then a little man appeared from the edge to rest his hands on the sill. A second later he floated into the room, no doubt to correct the erratic dream.

They both held their breaths in anticipation, well Lida didn't need air, but she could feel the big, scary Boogeyman's heart thumping like a drum against her chest. He was more focused on the sand cloud while the vampire was more concerned with how close the man was on top of her. The pale hand still clenched over her mouth ready to rip it off if she so much as said a peep.

Finally the miniature man returned to his cloud and floated away. They still didn't move for several minutes, but at last he removed his hand. "Coast clear?"

"Yes, I-ow, ow, ow, OW!" That woman! That horrible woman grabbed the flesh on his chest and twisted it! Pitch kicked himself away and fell from the shrubbery, using his arms to shield the assaulted area.

"Oh, you do have nipples," Lida observed with a wicked little grin. He looked so flustered with large eyes with his one leg still caught in the bushes. A bruise was forming on his brow. "That's for head-butting me, Phobetor." She freed his stuck foot then removed herself from their cover. "Who was that?"

"…The Sandman," Pitch considered imitating her attack, but he already knew the repercussions. It definitely was not worth it, "brings pleasant dreams to children. I'm sure you've heard of him." The conversation was moved from the front yard to a shop rooftop. Lida could still see the golden mass a little ways off. Streams of Dreamsand floated from him into certain homes. It was whimsical and brought a soft smile to her lips, her smile grew bigger upon seeing the look of distaste made by Pitch.

"The antithesis of what you stand for." The man responded to her with a slight nod. He continued to watch Sandman work a little longer then the spirit disappeared, to move on to another place in the world.

So he did notice if Dreamsand was tampered with if he was close enough. Pitch needed to be more cautious, things were moving along, but he was not ready to face the Guardian if he was caught red-handed. "I'm guessing he wouldn't appreciate you tampering with his dreams."

"What makes you think that?" He demanded as he turned his head to face her. The bruises Pitch gave her were already vanishing. His own forehead ached when it furrowed in his frustration.

Lida moved closer to whisper in a teasing manner. "Actions speak louder than words, Phobetor." She added. "And I found the vault of sand you've been hoarding." She replied to the anger in his face.

That would explain the sandcastles. "I told you to stay out of there. It's not safe…well more unsafe than my lair."

"You are avoiding the question."

He let out a grumbling sigh. "I believe the saying goes, 'isn't that the pot calling the kettle black'." She folded her arms, staring. "Yes, I am stealing it. What of it?" He could just picture the vampire's little sneer as she held the collateral over his head.

"Nothing, simply an observation," now Lida reached up and touched a finger to the man's bruise, "the gunshot wound healed, why not this?"

"Because it's not life-threatening?" Pitch spat and swatted her hand away. Another little chide by the woman as he was walking away that had the Shade roll his eyes. She used that name again. "Please don't call me that."

"Why not?" Again she surprised him by floating next to him. "For all I know, it was a title you used in your younger days."

"I never called myself Phobetor, it's a false name and I don't wish to have a feud with a God."

"Why?"

"Names are very sacred to Gods. If you take a name, you are taking away their identity. Then they come and challenge you and I'd rather not be destroyed for such a foolish reason."

"Is that way you have such lame names?"

"The Nightmare King is not 'lame'." He pinched the woman's cheek. Pitch released a sigh. "Well my work has stolen away into the night." The Shade took the opportunity to grab the heel of his floating companion and dragged her along. "Any progress with your little spy game?"

She kicked out of his grasp and touched ground before answering. "Tomorrow."

"Oh?" He smiled when the vampire motioned with her head towards the darkness. Her change to shadow form was interesting to Pitch. It had been so long since meeting another with the same abilities. It was refreshing to see a variation. While he melded perfectly into any shadow, her form was wisps of black as her mass was lithe and deadly like vines. "Something interesting to watch?" He asked when they returned to the lair.

Lida had turned a small section of his Kingdom into a wall of hits. The pictures of the men and notes were written below them. When she slept Pitch would investigate. Her first target had a large 'x' on his picture. His name was Demetrius Kasyanov, an active KGB member and was acting as an assistant to the USSR Ambassador. Her current objective was Mikhail, he was a retired political figure. He owned a large estate in the Ukraine where he was living out his retirement; wife passed away and has one full grown son at University. Meaning, he lived alone, but his home also had tight security.

"Paranoid man, Mikhail," the woman unrolled old blueprints of the house and she pointed, "he keeps a secret passage in his bedroom which leads to underground bunker, bullet proof, door locks from the inside, high security."

Pitch propped himself on his elbows looking over the map. "Does he sleep there?"

"No."

"Then why is it important?"

"Lots of cameras on his property and the one place that is most secure he has no camera there." The two lapsed into silence. Lida looked up and Pitch looked up as well, he motioned for her to continue. An indication earlier could have avoided the awkward pause. "I plan to attack him in a place he locks himself in with no evidence of my presence."

"Ah…" His long finger traced the path from the bedroom to the bunker, bumping into her finger as he went. "Now you just have to lead the rat to his trap."

"Easy."

…

A graying haired man sat in his bed reading. He adjusted his frames that were sliding towards the edge of his bulbous nose. A pale hand reached over to a bowl of small chocolate sweets. The man popped one of the chocolates into his mouth. A quiet evening.

Then blue eyes glanced up as a bell started to buzz near his bedside. His calm demeanor changed in a heartbeat, he jumped out of his bed sheets, ran across the room, pushed in a piece of wall and snuck into a passage. The staircase was dark, but the man knew every step, every crack and made quick time through this darkness. At the end a light illuminated the doorway to the bunker. As soon as he entered the heavy metal door slammed shut. It was probably another false alarm, but for a man with a dark past he couldn't be too careful. Regardless he would spend the time with his book.

"Another long night of reading, Mikhail?" The man tensed, but instead of turning to the voice he continued staring at the corner of the room. The heavy book fell to the floor with a loud thump. "Ah, yes Afanasyev's Fairytales, you were quite fond of that book. If I recall," Mikhail looked up and his heart jumped in his throat. He had taken a step back into the past. "Vasilii the Unlucky was your favorite story, it described your life." There she sat at a plain table still young and wearing that feline smile. Then it flashed in Mikhail's vision when he last saw her face. It was lifeless with red spooling out under her left eye.

"This isn't right." Her smile grew and Lida motioned the old man to sit. "Are you a ghost?" Mikhail stumbled as he carefully took the opposite chair, "or something worse?" Lida flashed her long fangs and his warm complexion paled to match her skin color. "Upir."

"Do you know why I'm here?"

A nod.

The woman revealed her gun, "then you accept your guilt?" She smiled when he nodded, always loyal, always dutiful Mikhail. "Good." Lida rounded the table and sat on the edge next to the aged man.

"Are you going to kill me?"

"Remind me," she motioned to her legs, "which one did you shoot?" At first Mikhail said nothing, but slowly he pointed and mumbled it was the right one. "Good." Her gun aimed for his right leg. She expected him to remember. That was Mikhail. He was a true friend and a spineless coward when the time came to stand for principle.

"Lida," for the first time the man's blue eyes looked into her brown ones, "I hope you can forgive this old fool."

The woman scoffed and pulled the trigger. The man cried out and fell to the floor in agonizing pain wishing to grasp his leg tightly, but unable to. "I've forgotten forgiveness after that day." She holstered her weapon and looked into those terrified eyes. "When your bodyguards find you and question who did this, you will forget." The vampire's eyes sparked red for a moment before Mikhail groaned and passed out.

"That's it?" Pitch lurked out of her shadow, but was cut off when the woman turned into darkness and slipped under the door. The Boogeyman glanced back at that poor display of fear. He wrinkled his nose and followed her out. That room stunk of antiseptic. "Not as exciting as the first one…."

"I'm not here for your amusement." She snapped back. To anyone who may have witnessed them it appeared two shadows on the wall were arguing. The woman pointed a finger in his face, "and I do not plan to jeopardize myself because the Boogdyman isn't getting his cheap thrills." The one shadow dashed down the hallway and through an archway to the double staircases in the front of the manor.

"I wouldn't say cheap," his reply was left on deaf ears, so he followed her. "One think I must know is…." They were darting through the metal gates where outside a group of guards were crowded around something. "Where did you even come in contact with that thing?" The thing was a circle with a single black swirl radiating from the center out to the circle's edges. The round object was supported on a stick and podium to keep it upright. Lida revealed it to him as the World's Most Distracting Object then she showed Pitch how it was distracting. To render groups of people immobile in such a way, there must be magic in it. "That is an evil object."

"I'm not getting you one." She finally returned to her physical form when near a village and casually walked the street.

Pitch opted to inhabit her shadow. "That's not what I—there's more than one?"

"Shhh," Lida was walking past people, she wouldn't afford others thinking she was crazy by talking to herself. The way back to the lair was through a garbage pail behind a candy shop. The pail was hollowed out on the bottom revealing a hole. "I don't know how you can handle traveling through here." A mountain of garbage almost blocked the path and it stunk, it stunk horrible. The woman flew through as fast as possible and by the end she was dry heaving.

Pitch stepped out of her shadow with a laugh and pulled a lever. A giant boulder sealed the passage shut. "That's why it's blocked, my dear." To see the vampire perturbed was so satisfying. When they first met he was hoping to shove her out of that tunnel and enjoy laughing at her expense. He neared her with a proud grin placing his slim hand on her shoulder. Lida turned her head and scowled seeing his grin then her attention was directed to his other hand showing two fingers. "Two down."

Lida vomited blood.

"That is very unbecoming."

"Shut up." The vampire lurked away muttering about needing to bathe.

Pitch thought her type had an aversion to water, but shrugged. The night was still young. There was still time to scare some children, steal a little more Dreamsand and maybe re-enact the urban legend of the Hook for some teenagers who were out past curfew. He wouldn't admit it, but Lida's activities made him excited to cause his own scares.