Ch 85
Simon was announced by the guards bracketing the door and went in to see Horton at his desk.
Looking at his notebook, Horton asked, "What happened?"
"We, had problem," Simon admitted. "The woman saw us and screamed, we killed her but we had to leave. But then, this cop found out car, we shot him, but he's an immortal, he got up and shot back!"
"Where are your men, Simon?" Horton asked flatly.
"Dead, Sir. That immortal killed them."
Horton looked up at him in a glare. "So you kill a lousy three aliens, get your own men killed and now there is an immortal who knows about us! VERY poor performance, Simon!"
"Sir ... I'll do better next time," Simon said nervously.
The doors to the room opened. "Hi!" Aliana called and waved as she came in.
Simon turned to her. "The guards let you in?"
Horton sat back and watched her.
"Yeah, they did," she said meekly. She looked at Horton. "So, you're James Horton?"
"I am," he said evenly. "The guards let you in, did they?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. "Any of them still alive?"
Aliana shrugged. "Sorry, they all fell down."
"And what kind of mutant are you?" he asked.
Aliana frowned at him. sliding her hands in a sexy motion down her sides, she said, "I don't think I look mutated."
Horton looked at Simon. "You brought HER back here?"
"She drove me, she's nice, she wants to join," Simon said.
Horton cast him a fake smile. "Then, let me give her an initiation." He pulled up with a pistol. He pulled the trigger. A bullet didn't come out. Water did. He hit Aliana in the face. She recoiled and screamed and spun to turn. He squirted her again. The water hit her back, boiled and hissed, she fled screaming.
Simon stood in shock.
Horton jumped up and went out into the hallway. "Simon, come here!" he barked.
Simon went out to see the guards by the door were dead on the floor, their blood pooled under them.
"I bet the other guards are dead as well," Horton growled. "Where did you find that THING?"
Simon suddenly realized that woman was extremely dangerous. He'd been riding with her. Close to her. "Oh god,,," he breathed.
"God has nothing to do with that thing! That was a demon." He held his water gun up to Simon's face. "If I hadn't had this holy water, she would have butchered us, as well as the guards! YOU are an imbecile!"
"But, I didn't know!" Simon cried.
"You do now," Horton said in a heavy tone. He looked around and added, "It fled. Holy water is like acid to it. Where did you find it?"
"I was walking, she was driving an old truck, she gave me a ride," he explained meekly.
"Where did that immortal come from?"
"He came from the direction of the town ... small place, the name is Driftwood."
Eyeing angrily, Horton nodded. "Then we will collect men and go to Driftwood. First, I want you to look the bodies of our men. Keep in mind they are dead because of you. You were foolish and they paid for that with their lives. Their blood is on your hands. The next time you do a job, keep the sight if these dead men in mind, and make sure it does not happen again."
Horton went back into his office. He yelled out, "See who else is alive, we need to move!"
.
A whispery voice that faded in and out called, "Master?"
the Sheriff looked around. At least he was alone in his office.
The voice spoke a gain, sounding scared. "Master, I can't find you!"
"Aliana, come!" he said firmly. That drew her near. She appeared standing near him, covering her face. "Horton had holy water, Master! I'm blind!"
He got up and gently pried her hands away from her face. It looked like deep pock marks and trenches were cut out of her face. He winced, the mass that was left was flay gray. No on could see her like this. He guided her into the back. "You found Horton?"
"I did, Master, but he had holy water. That really burned bad!" she said in a sob.
He took her into the night room, the small bedroom designed for deputies staying overnight. He got her laid down on the bed.
"I need you," she whined.
He knew what she needed to heal. Energy, sexual energy. At the moment though, she looked real ugly. That man Simon, is he still alive?" he asked.
She nodded. "Yes, I used him to get to Horton. He got me inside, but Horton had holy water..."
"I know," he told her. One man from that gang was still alive and free, and knew he was in this town. Seeing how ruthless these men were, he didn't doubt they would kidnap someone to draw him out. They were fanatics. It wasn't matter if if they came, but when.
The sheriff patted her hands and said, "I have to go out. Stay here, I'll come back for you later."
"You won't throw me away now, will you, Master?"
"I don't throw people away," he said firmly. "Stay here, rest. I have to go see someone."
A short time later, the sheriff stood on the Connor's porch. The alligator in the yard was looking at him.
John opened the door. "Hey, sheriff, what can I do for you?"
"I need your help."
.
Allison went up to Dallas to talk with Joan and Bob about getting a house. They agreed that they should get someplace between Austin and Dallas. They also agreed they wanted waterfront property, not just a pool.
Going through the listings, they found some pretty impressive houses, and some pretty expensive ones. Joan thought having a million dollar to spend was a lot. The more they looked, they more they saw to have a lake, let alone a private lake for their use, cost a minimum of 4 million.
"We won't have that much money all put together," Bob noted.
"Maybe our Mom's and Dad will help," Joan said in a musing tone.
"I think a house right on the lake at home would be best," Allison said.
"Building is cheaper," Bob agreed. "Plus, we can have it exactly like we want it."
"True. The drive isn't that bad," Joan said. "We'll also get to see our families a little more."
"The drawback being you won't be home very much," Allison told Joan.
Joan shrugged. "I want us to be comfortable. We won't be playing football forever."
Bob nodded. "We do like your parents and invest and be smart with our money, we could do well and not have to worry about doing anything we really don't want to do."
"After the game this weekend, we'll have a couple weeks off. We should go home and talk to Moms and Dad about it then," Joan said.
.
The sheriff sat across the lounge table from John, Cameron and Delilah. Hands folded in front of him on the table, he said, 'My name is Connor McLeod. I was born in 1513 in the town of Glen Finnen, and I am immortal."
Cameron tipped her head slightly. "He's telling the truth."
"Instead of making up new names for myself every thirty, forty years, I just have everyone call me the sheriff," he said with a shrug. "Driftwood is a good place to hide and keep questions from being asked, as I'm sure you have found out. I discovered from my cousin, Duncan, that there is a man, a James Horton, who has this twisted idea us Immortals are out to rule the world. He's had a few run ins with him. The Littleton's were attacked a few days ago, the older ones were killed. I got three of the four men who did it, but one got away. I found out it is Horton who sent them. That means Horton knows I'm here. He will be coming."
"Do you know where this Horton is?" John asked.
"He was in Clover, New Mexico. Being found, I'm sure he's moved. That's his MO, if he even thinks someone is on his trail, he will disappear," Connor said. "From a new location, he will gather information and plan his attacks. He will then send in his criminals to take our heads, That's the only way we can be killed. Horton will do anything, even threaten innocents to kill those he deems unholy. He even killed Father Darius right in his church."
"This guy is smart and dangerous," Cameron said.
"Yes, assume nothing except he is ready to do whatever it takes to kill 'non' humans."
"So we fall under his 'unholy' targets also," Delilah said.
"If he finds out about you, yes," Connor agreed.
"Then we must assume he's coming after us," John said. "Connor, thank you for telling us. I think running is the worse thing any of us can do. We stay here, stay close to each other and guard the hell out of our perimeters."
"John, those ten terminators we have to guard. We should send two with the sheriff to guard him," Cameron said. "Sonya and Mark may also be targets, as well as the younger Littletons, and all our kids."
Connor grew a grin. "If the truth be told, nearly half the town is at risk from the likes of Horton. Not to mention the population of your lake."
John was staring off at nothing.
"John?" Cameron asked.
"I was just thinking about Joan, Allison and Bob. They could be in danger."
.
The team was in an away game, so workers were in the Dallas stadium doing repairs. A crew of lighting repairmen went up on the catwalk above the seating to put in the newest lighting control module. The four foot long module was hooked up to the framing, wiring went into wiring runs but didn't attach to anything. The supervisor watched the workmen set it up and add the antenna wire.
"The range on his remote?" the supervisor asked.
"Four miles. If you can see the stadium, it will work."
Once they had power hooked up, the supervisor rested it. He turned it on and the end of the module opened up. On the screen of the remote, he could see the field below. He panned the remote from one end of the field to the other The whole module moved. He zoomed and the little red dot stayed clear in the center. He smiled.
"So, Mr. Horton, satisfied?"
"Absolutely," he replied.
They cleaned up the area. Upon turning the remote off, the module went shut on the end and returned to a neutral position, looking like the lighting control box it was suppose to be.
James Horton had to thank his man who loved football. He talked so much about how the Dallas quarterback was such a great player, and even had a centerfold picture of her in a skimpy uniform. James himself looked into her. Computing her size to what she was accomplishing on the field, he determined she could not be human. Whatever she was, she was non human. When the high speed .40 caliber fragmentation rifle round hit her with the entire crowd watching, the world would find out what she was.
It was a good project while he was waiting to collect more men for his Driftwood attack. He had to meet with his Chinese embassy contact to be sure he would have his funds to hire more men.
.
The sheriff thought about Cameron's proposal for a Driftwood air force of drones to maintain a scan of the area on the way back to his office. He did have his two new deputies in the car. That was an advantage of having the Connors here. While he was a loner and dealt with problems one on one, they were warriors who though in more complete terms of whole area defense. Although it didn't look like it, The Connor house was a fortress with sensors spreading out to track anyone who came close. They had guards, they even had tanks. No one was getting close to them without them knowing it. It seemed like a good idea for the whole town.
Pulling up to his office, he went in and stiffened himself to what he had to do. If they were going to be attacked again by Horton, he needed Aliana functioning. That meant he had to give her the energy she needed to heal herself. He out one deputy outside to watch the street, and the other in
He stopped in the bathroom to grab a small towel on his way back. Going in the over night room, she was still there on the bed, but now had put a pillow over her face.
"Master, am I not as ugly now?" she asked in a muffled vice.
He sat down by her and said, "How about if we to something a little less extreme."
He slid the towel under and took the pillow off her head. He adjusted the towel so her lips were showing, and gave her a kiss. "Now then, tell me exactly what happened when you found Horton."
As he listened, he unbuttoned her shirt and gently rubbed her chest and petted her breasts. She told him of the entire encounter and started wiggling. He also noted her nips were pruning up. He undid the rest of her buttons and pulled her shirt to the sides by the time she was done.
"Do you know what you did wrong?" he asked as he petted her stomach.
"I didn't know he had holy water," she said.
"No, you underestimated him," he said firmly. "Horton is dangerous. Don't play games with him. You see him, go invisible and attack, and don''t stop until you are certain he is dead."
"Yes, Master, next time, I will do that."
"Be sure you do," he told her then kissed her belly and slowly worked his way up her torso.
"I will not fail you again, Master," she said in a higher pitched voice and cupped the back of his head to guide him to her breast.
With only a dim light on, the towel on her face and not thinking about it. Making love to her when her face was destroyed, really wasn't that bad.
.
Leaving Denver after trouncing the Broncos, the Cowboys did some sight seeing on the way home. They stopped in Las Vegas for a day, the flew to the Grand canyon for tours. Getting back to Dallas, they got back on the field for practice against the New England Patriots.
Joan thought they were coming along good. The whole team was blocking better now and putting more breaks in the opposing line. Dennis had gotten an adjustable height hurdle and was up to a four foot hurdle and spreading his legs out properly. He was also running faster. His throws still needed improvement, but he was getting better. Bob was turning out to be a very good lineman. He was still on he secondary string, but he was on the team. Their overall chance against the Patriots was looking good.
Allison brought back the news of the funeral forth Littletons that had been killed. With no will, the Judge took their only living heir, Peggy, and gave her their part of the farm. JJ and Peggy were now officially farmers. They talked to Peggy's parents about uniting the entire farm again.
.
Joan made the mistake of stopping by the lunchroom to grab some bottles of water when the cheer leaders were in there. There was talking and laughing until she went in. The room fell dead silent. Joan felt eyes on her as she went over and put her card in to get a couple bottles of water. She got the water, and instead of just leaving like she knew she should do, on her way out she said in a sarcastic tone, "Wow I am really happy all of you are soooo damn friendly!" When she hit the door to go out, it banged open louder than normal and the glass popped out.
The day before the game was watching Patriot's games to pick up on players to watch out for and little mistakes they did here and there they could capitalize on. After the videos. Coach Emerson stressed no sex the night before the games. Sex weakened legs and they needed to be on top form tomorrow. Neither Bob nor Joan liked that rule, but they complied, and had sex in the afternoon.
Bob went off with the men to their locker room. Joan went of to the women's locker room, and into the aisle she alone used while the cheer leaders all gathered in another isle. She had her shit and pants on and was tying her shoes when a meek voice said, "We don't know how to relate to you."
Joan looked up to see a ponytailed blonde at the end of the isle. Her immediate thought was to reply with something harsh. She held her tongue and instead asked, "What do you mean?"
"Well, you never wear any makeup ... You are scary. You're like a guy with boobs! You're more of a guy, than guys are!"
"What?" Joan asked.
"In practice we've seen you take down just about every guy, but no one can take you down, and with that alligator pal you have, you're more like a ... crocodile dudettte!"
Joan almost laughed. She could see this girl was serious though. "My family is a little rougher than most. That's true. We all have had to do extreme things just to survive. When most girls were playing with dolls, I was learning how to shoot, and practicing swordsmanship. I had my first battle before you had your first date. Yeah, I don't know shit about makeup, For my prom, Gramma had to do it for me. That was also when I had to wear my first set of high heels. I was so clumsy in them, I fell down the stairs. If it wasn't for holding onto Bob for support, I wouldn't have lasted the night without kissing the floor a couple times." She paused then added, "You're right. I can move fast, hit hard and well do what I have to to survive. I don't know how to be a normal girl."
"I can help you, if you want." the girl offered.
"You'd do that for me and Allie?"
"Who's Allie?"
"My best friend, she hangs out with me and Bob. Actually, she's more like my sister. We grew up together."
"So you played together growing up?" the blonde asked brightly.
"We did! One of our favorite games was being Wesley and Indingo in the cliff scene of the Princess bride. Jackie, my little sister, liked that a lot also. In fact, this summer she won the fencing match up in New England. She beat the silver medalist from the Olympics."
"The Princess Bride is a movie?"
Joan laughed. "Yeah, it's a movie. My moms love that movie too. Ahhh I'm Joan, and you are?"
"Oh! Sorry, Frieda. Frieda Hollingsworth."
"Nice to meet you, Frieda."
Another girl peeked around the corner. Frieda saw her and motioned to Joan. "See? She's not that scary. Joan's just had a rough life."
"We should get out there, It's getting time," the new girl said, and ducked back around the corner.
Joan put her shoulder pads on and grabbed her helmet. "Let's go."
She had always though the cheer leaders were just a snooty bunch. It never occurred to her that they were afraid of her. Since Frieda had taken the initiative to talk to her, she felt she should respond.
.
"Here we are with another day of NFL football" the announcer said cheerfully. "Today, the Dallas Cowboys face off at home against the New England Patriots! Each team has had a no loss season so far. I have to say, it's tough calling a favorite for today. New England has a very good offense and a defense. On the other hand, the Dallas defense is also very good and on their offense, Joan Connor has yet to take more that one hike to get the ball to the end zone. If New England can even slow her down, that will be a big accomplishment. This is sure to be one big battle! And here comes the home team out on the field, the Dallas Cowboys!"
.
James Horton had been sitting in the restaurant watching the never ending commercials before the game. Commercials, some interviews, but nothing live on the field yet. A shot of the field came on, and it was another interview with the New England coach.
It was a good thing he was a patient man.
He had waited days to shoot and behead an immortal, or wait for the perfect opportunity to pounce. This wasn't a question if he prey would show up. She would. He just had to wait for the opportunity to act. After what seemed forever, the announcer called the Dallas team was coming out onto the field.
James got up and paid his check and left. Out in the parking lot, his car was facing the stadium in the distance. He got in and opened up the controller that was two joysticks and a button. He turned it on to see the screen showed the field. Panning slowly, he found the Dallas team on this side of the field. Looking at the end of the line, he wasn't able to pick Joan Connor out. A mistake in his part. If he had the rifle put on the other side of the stadium, he's have a clear shot as she stood perfectly still.
Again, he'd just have to wait for the perfect time.
.
New England got the coin toss, so Dallas defense was kicking off. Joan stood by Bob as the ball sailed high and far, their defense racing behind it. They did OK, The Patriots only made nine yards on their initial push. On the first play they went for a run. He did make six yards. The second play was another run for five."
"They're going to pass," Joan said. Coach Emerson nodded and told his lead defense man.
"How do you know?" Bob asked.
"I read their coach's lips."
Sure enough, it was a pass play, the safeties were on the receivers, The left side safety jumped up to catch it. He only bounced the ball farther on so the receiver didn't catch it either. Incomplete pass, second down.
"Didn't see it" Joan said and watched the huddle. "Run for yardage," she said.
The quarterback did a double shielded pass to his runners, then turned and ran for the left side. a lineman got through and tackled him. He had the ball, back two yards. The next play they did make four yards, then went for another pass. the receiver caught this one. They made 19 yards on the play before he was taken down.
The Patriots did a stop and start drive down to the Dallas 24. The Dallas safety did intercept the ball and ran back to the 32 before he was taken down. It was Joan's turn.
.
James Horton was looking at the Dallas players. He wasn't seeing any females. Wasn't she playing today? With the uniforms and helmets, they all looked the same. Panning his view around he noticed the team left and new teams came on the field. Studying the new players, he saw one that was shorter. There was a ponytail hanging out the back of he helmet too.
There she was!
He shifted his view to keep her in sight. She was moving all over the place. H tried to zoom in for a shot, an she moved out of his huddled up and she was in the middle, completely shielded by other players. finger just above the bottom to fire, he watched them make their lines. Sh was finally holding still, and he was looking down on the top of her head as she bent over. Like this, she was a small target. He had one chance to make a good shot. As he pondered if he should take it, the lines erupted in motion and she disappeared.
Pulling his view back, he found her breaking through the line and running. He quickly tracked her and she was running faster than he could track. He had to keep pulling the view back farther just to keep her in sight. After she left the end zone, he was able to draw the view in closer so she was more than a tiny spot on the screen. He was able to get her half filling the screen, but every time he moved the red dot, where the bullet would hit, she moved to the side, sped up a little or stopped briefly so the dot moved off her.
Horton was beginning to sweat, with anticipation of the kill, and frustration of not being able to take he shot. Yes, it was cute seeing her pump her fist at the crowd, but stop moving! His hands were getting shaky.
James paused for a moment, sitting back and taking his eyes off the screen and hands of the controller. He took a moment to calm down and breathe in a few deep breaths. He had thought this would be just like aiming a rifle directly. It wasn't. The unit only moved at a constant speed. When she was running, it didn't move fast enough to keep up. He plan to plan his moves on where she was going to be. Not knowing where that was, made this difficult.
Settling down, he returned to looking at the screen. The teams on the field were playing and crashing into each other. She wasn't on the field. He searched the benches where she has to be. He didn't see her there, either. Being smaller, she was effectively hidden in the crowd of players.
Was that all she did? Come out for one play, then returned to the benches? He'd heard all about these quarterbacks making millions of dollars. What a racket that was. Let the other players do all the work and only go one once in a while. It was a dirty businesses. He should shoot her just for that!
Watching and waiting, the teams struggled down the field. He watched a long pass and saw the players scurrying. The two who tried to grab it banged together and the ball bounced away. The teams moved up some and they set up to try again, but no Connor. She was still hiding on the side lines.
After what seemed forever, the Patriots team got someone into the end zone as he was tackled. The ref raised his arms. They then reformed to kick the ball up between the goal posts. Then Connor came back out on the field with her team.
Down at the other end of the field, he could barely see her helmet as they lined up. By the time he zoomed in, they crashed together and his view of her was lost. He pulled his view back to see her clearly, briefly to one side of the red dot as she hurdled over the line. He moved his view down field, but she ran faster. He almost had her but she dodged to the side to avoid a player jumping at her. He almost hit the button to kill the player who was after her.
His remote rifle needed some changes. faster servos so he could keep up with Connor's movements. This would be fine for a static or walking target. He'd wanted the most accurate movements put on his remote rifle. They were accurate, but too slow for this application.
He had to anticipate more. Yes she was going to race to the other end of the field, and he wouldn't be able to keep up. He settled on a wide view of the the team bench area, and wait for her to come into view. He waited, and the teams were again changing players. He saw her come into view and get hugged by another member, blocking her from his sight. A group patting her on her helmet were next. He had to settle down and wait until she came out for her one play again.
.
Joan had an idea for a new twist on the long bomb. Standing beside Coach Emerson, she said, "Not in the play itself, but using hand motions to indicate to the New England defense that I'm going to jump the line. I don't but run back for the long bomb. Think they will fall for it?"
He winced. "Maybe. Send Bob out, he's fast enough to get to the end zone ahead of the safeties and have time to catch. If he's covered, you're going to have a lot of turf to make up for with the defense all over you."
"Yeah, but I'll figure it out." she assured him. She went back over to sat by Bob. Danny was a couple seats down. "Danny, I''m having Bob take left receiver this time. Center for me, we're doing a long bomb."
Bob chucked. "So I got to run my ass off?"
"Yup!" she beamed. "I'll be aiming for the goal post. Be there."
"OK, you gonna rub my bruises after you give them to me?"
Grinning, she quietly said, "Lick gently."
"Ohh, can't wait."
On the field, the Patriots were down to the Dallas 40. The hand off was fumbled and a Dallas defender dove on it the same time as a Patriot did. Refs came over to untangle the pile and gave the ball to Dallas. Turnover.
The teamed changed over. as the did, the cheer leaders did their dance. Frieda yelled, "Go get-em Joan!" They did the TNT chant as Joan and their offense ran out on the field.
The Patriot defense was wary If she wasn't breaking through the line by surprise, she was jumping over it. They had to figure out way to stop that Connor girl! Watching the Dallas team huddle, he defense leader noticed she hooked her arm over in a jumping motion. When they formed up, it was a shotgun pattern like she did the last time she jumped the line. He put the safeties in and closer to watch for her line jump.
.
Horton was watching Joan on his view screen. she was in the clear! Hands out to accept the ball. He put the red dot right on her head and moved to hit the button. Then she had the ball and ran back towards her own goal. Finger over the button, he followed her fast run back. She's stopped and turned. The instant the red dot was over her chest, he pushed the button. He saw her fall. she was still moving. He reenter the dot just below her rib cage and hit the button again to destroy her guts.
Nothing happened. He punched the button a couple more times. nothing.
Damn it! Well that one shot should kill her. He turned the remote off and drove away.
.
Joan ran back 30 yards then stopped and turned. Bob was well on his way and in the clear. A single Patriot was running at her. She cocked back to throw and something hit her in the chest. h felt something skidded across the right side of her chest, grabbing muscle to throw her backwards. By the time she realized what happened, she was on the ground. Her right arm was numb, he football was beyond hr outstretched arm. Hr ar nd t football had blood on it.
The Patriot that ran up to her didn't jump on her. He threw his helmet off, his face bore shock. He knelt down and yanked the small towel from her waistband and slapped it down over the stinging of her upper right chest. He turned his head to yell.
The announcer watching the play saw Joan fall backwards as blood and meat blasted out from her right side, just under her arm. He stared as the gore hit the ground just before she did. His mind nub from what he just say, he cried out, "MY GOD! JOAN CONNER"S BEEN SHOT!"
