A Raven in the Hand

CHAPTER 10

It was a warm night, she left the balcony doors open in her hotel room. She was five floors up, a nice little room with a good view of the city lights. She kept the lights off, the only light was from the other building outside. Kayla was glad that the night had gone off without further altercations. She was also happy of the private accommodations that head office supplied. She didn't mind sharing a room with Dave, but she did need her privacy right now.

Kayla had just come out of the shower, happy to be rid of the worm mush that collected on her, the smell was hard enough. She had at least cast a spell that made everyone think she looked fine, but in fact she was covered in the goo all night.

She dressed in a simple long black nightgown, held on her shoulders with spaghetti straps. She pulled the towel off her head, her dark hair, still wet, fell loosely just past her shoulders.

Her thoughts wondered again, as she pulled out her hair brush from her suitcase and began to brush her hair. It seemed that the Deadman had left his mark on her. The words of her brother still played over and over in her mind. She didn't like to think that her knight in shining armour was actually a tyrant.

Dave had never lied to her before, the truth was the one thing they had never compromised in their relationship. Yes, there had been many times that they wouldn't reveal certain things, but here was never any lies between them.

But then again, the Undertaker had never done anything to her that would have suggested that he was a danger, in fact he had saved her from the Voodoo Priest, the Boogieman. Could he had just saved her to use her for his own dark plans? She didn't know anything about Reapers, she didn't know what they were capable of, after seeing one that had no resemblance of what she had been taught.

He could be, but would he? There were more questions than answers, even the next new addition to her investigation. What a Voodoo Priest was doing in the WWE, and why had he attacked her?

She felt a cool breeze from the window and turned to look, there was no one there. She peered back at the TV, they were showcasing the party after the match on the news. She felt the chill again and looked back at the door, she heart seem to lift as she saw his form standing out on the balcony. The lights behind him gave him the appearance to be a complete shadow, as he moved to knock on the window, she could see his gentle face starring at her by the light.

"Hi…" She smiled as he walked into the room, his eyes never left hers.

"I came to see if you were really alright…" His eyes were so tender.

"I'm glad you came, I didn't get a chance to thank you back there…" was she a giddy nervous around him all of a sudden?

"I am relieved that you're not hurt, but you shouldn't be picking fights with Voodoo Priests." He grinned.

"I was unprepared, I didn't notice he was there. I did feel him at first, but I couldn't get a point on him, moving too fast for me to catch him. I've never felt one so powerful before."

He was still keeping his distance, she didn't know weather it was a good thing, or a bad thing. She liked the way he looked at her, the way he touched her. He wasn't like any other men she had dated, but then again none of them were a Reaper.

"Do you know why he attacked you?" He moved a little closer, she hid her smile.

"No, but them and us had never been on the same page. We Witches had been dealing with them for a long time."

"That's what happens when you have two powerful magical people who believe their way is right. Your people have been dealing with this for a long time. It's just the Vodu people had a shit kicking into them when the whites kidnapped them and put them into slavery. I bet that if that never happened, they would be the big shots now, not you witches."

"But that's the thing! The Vodues don't just attack us! They travel over here to us and battle with words! If one of us had done something unjustly them, the guilty is brought up to a panel of five judges, two witches, two Voodoo Priests, and an outside source in case of a tie. And we do the same with them. We even work once in a while for each other. The Voodoo Priestess that I first encounter was actually a rogue one, she was able to turn the power to the dark and take advantage of a lot of people. She had the backings of a dark power for sure. But it's not their nature to just come out and attack me, unless I was a threat, it had to be one hell of a threat."

"What ever reason that the Boogieman has on attacking you, I can tell it's not good. You should really keep an eye out for him. He'll come back after you." He was still, his voice had a hint of concern, as well as his eyes.

Kay still found it hard to believe the things Dave had said, well…right now would be as good as any.

"Mark? Can I ask you something, I heard some things and I need clarification on it."

He sat on the bed right in front of her, he was now only a few inches away from her, "Ask me anything you wish."

"Stephanie McMahon."

His expression hadn't changed, "You want to know why I kidnapped her, or what I did to her in my home?"

"Yes, what I heard was not good."

"But Kayla, I am between good and evil. I simply do what I do. Stephanie was just used as a pawn in a game with her father. It proved to him that I could get at what he loved most."

"You know, that is fighting to hear…"

"On the contrary, what know one knows is that she simply slept the entire week, waking in brief moments when she was given food and drink. She didn't require much because all she did was sleep in my bedchamber. Nothing more, nothing less. And no, I did not torture or rape the woman. Whatever illusions she dreamed when she slept was entirely her own doing. She was in the same condition as when I took her to when my men carried her out on my cross…"

"You actually did that?" It seemed that a little of what Dave had said was true.

"I have no interest in harming women, but I have used them in my time to get to my means."

Kayla crossed her arms, the stern look on her face told him that she didn't like what she heard.

"Are you going to use me?"

Now he looked puzzled, "For what?"

"To use against Dave for the belt!"

The Deadman stood up and looked down at her, he could feel her warm breath on his almost bare chest, the angry eyes starring back at him, her lips soft…she was striking.

"No, I had not thought to use you against Batista. But remember this, you came after me, not the way around. But I gather that David doesn't know about that. You want to know more? I also understand how important it is to keep the secret. That's why I disbanded the Ministry, they were asking too many questions. Then I disappeared and reinvented myself, came back a new man…"

"What the fans thought was your true self, they had no idea that the American Bad ass was the Character, the Undertaker was the real thing." She finished, "no more questions."

"Exactly." He grinned, that smile was back on those sweet lips, "I think you're starting to get your own opinion of me."

"I just don't want to be used like this. It's bad enough that Dave will have a heart attack if he knew you were here right now alone with me."

"Don't worry, I think you're safe with me…" He touched her face, stroking her cheek with his thumb again, "I should go…"

"...yeah…" she didn't want him to go just yet…

It seemed that his face was getting closer to hers, "Good night…"

She closed her eyes…then felt nothing. When she opened them, he was gone, back into the night where he had come from. Kayla looked around in a daze, it was going to be hard to keep those feelings bottled down deep inside. She couldn't let her personal feelings get in the way of her job, determining why the reapers are here and if they pose a threat, and now why a Voodoo priest attacked her.

To be continued