Chapter 44

As these events unfolded in the small baptist church, a slightly different scenario played out elsewhere in the vicinity of the Florida-Georgia line. Deep in the woods, an aggressive stream carved its way through several rock formations, it's rapids crashing over the stones with an aggressive roar. The terrain adjacent of the stream was quite steep, forming a large hill of sorts, around thirty feet high, it's summit forming the source of the waterfall. The hill was peppered with several slippery rocks, as well as old, rotting wood planks and steel tracks; tools used in the past to shuttle mine carts up and down the steep embankment.

Despite the treacherous and physically exhausting nature of the terrain, the hike seemed to be no issue for the athletic and nimble Mingxia. The tall, slim, and beautiful woman jumped from rock to rock, as she made her way up the waterfall, the toe of her black boot touching each rock for only a millisecond at a time. The woman seemed to exude little to no effort, keeping her left arm behind her back and cradling her ornate staff in her right hand as she used her long, thin legs to propel herself forward, a sly smile adorning her face as the glistening sun reflected off of her emerald green shamrock hair stick.

With one final leap, Mingxia had finally reached the top of the hill. As she gazed upon the beautiful view of the forest on the other side of the hill, the black haired woman took a deep, relaxing breath, sighing in a relaxed manner upon completion.

"Ahh, I just love this fresh mountain air!" said Mingxia in a bubbly manner. After admiring the view for a few more seconds, Mingxia placed her right toe behind her left heel and proceeded to perform an about face towards the bottom of the hill. As she gazed downward, she twice tapped her staff on the rocks, projecting her voice downward as she did so.

"Time is of the essence my lady," said Mingxia in a cheerful manner, "At the rate you are going, the sun is going to disappear before you have a chance to admire this view."

Mingxia giggled as she laid eyes on her her petite comrade, located below her on the mountain side. Edyta had changed out of her typical, dressy ensemble, trading in her black knee length dress for a pair of blue, form fitting, yoga capris, and her silver high heeled shoes for a pair of pink sneakers. Her upper body was covered in a tank top, colored in a lighter shade of blue. The back of her auburn hair, which had grown longer in the weeks since Christmas, was tied up in a tight ponytail, with the front being allowed to hang loose over her ears. On her back was a somewhat overstuffed grey back pack which, while light enough to carry, appeared much larger due to Edyta's 4'11, 92 lb frame.

In contrast to her counterparts calm demeanor, Edyta seemed to be in a state of distress. Her lack of athleticism and hiking experience was quite apparent; while able to scale the rough and slippery terrain, Edyta required both the use of her hands and knees in order to make any progress. Her eyes were wide with fear as she slowly made her way up the steep grade, panting heavily as she did so.

Upon reaching the halfway point, Edyta briefly ceased climbing, gazing up towards Mingxia as she replied between breaths.

"Easy for you to say," yelled Edyta, "Not all of us can be Kung fu borderline super human and perform crazy tricks!"

At that moment, Mingxia drove her staff into the soft soil gracing the hill, ensuring that it would stand solidly on end. Without hesitation, the thin woman took hold of its top with her right hand and leapt into the air, performing a forward somersault as she did so. Miraculously, she landed on the tip of the staff, balancing on the tip of her right toe as she crossed her left foot behind her knee.

"Edyta, I am shocked at you," said Mingxia as she began performing various martial arts poses, maintaining perfect balance on the staff as she did so, "After all of this time, you should know better than to suspect any foul play or trickery from me. My skills come from years of dedication, hard work, and the amazing power of body and mind unification. It's simply amazing what people can accomplish if they simply think like the little blue engine."

"I do not know why I let you talk me into doing this," said Edyta as she continued climbing, "Climbing is bad enough, but mosquito bites and thorns have caused stress on my poor skin.

I am person, not pincushion!"

"Hmm, as I recall you were the one who suggested that we use this opportunity to do some adventuring," said Mingxia, changing poses as she did so, "You wanted a challenge, so I provided you one of the best challenges this area as to offer."

Mingxia jumped upward, dismounting the staff and landing on the balls of her feet. She retrieved the staff from the soil, spun it around a few times, and slid it it into its decorative case, currently mounted on her back with an ornate sash. After flicking her hair behind her shoulders using her neck, she decided to continue with a smile.

"I must admit, it is also nice to revisit the old proverbial stomping grounds," said Mingxia, "I have used this route countless times as a conditioning exercise for my "students", and it did in fact prove quite challenging. Then again, they were forced to carry forty pounds as they did so, and deal with the less than stellar personality I was forced to convey back then...oh how un lady-like."

Mingxia placed her face in her palm in a sarcastic manner at the conclusion of her statement. At the same time, Edyta had come within a few steps of the top of the hill, and had decided to retort.

"Alright, enough of memory lane bullshit," said Edyta as she reached her hand upward, "Help me up out of this nonsense so we can get to gentle part of hiking path."

Mingxia sighed.

"As you wish," said Mingxia as she reached downward, taking hold of Edyta's hand, helping her up to the top of the hill.

Around ten minutes had passed since the two women had reached the summit of the hill. As promised, the trail leading down the opposite side of the hill was much more forgiving. In lieu of loose rocks, the trail consisted of a gentle sloping gravel path, meandering through the trees as if it were the tail of a giant snake.

The two women were currently walking the path side-by-side, smiling as they admired the natural environment around them, with their faces occasionally kissed by the Suns rays as it permeated through the trees.

"So Edyta," said Mingxia, initiating a conversation "I suppose this is much more in line with what you were expecting when you requested a hike in the woods?"

"Yes," said Edyta, "This is what I had in mind. I will not lie, it is fun to challenge oneself every once in a while, but I have never been great climber or one for sports. My..fe...feet feel so funny from all of the work."

Edyta emitted a slight snicker as she continued to eye her surroundings.

"Trail and trees here are very similar to those in the woods back where I grow up," said Edyta, "Reminds me very much of fun memories past, from being scared by crazy friends with bugs to being tricked into thinking hammer wielding ghost was real in the fall."

Edyta paused.

"Do you mind if I share something?" asked Edyta, "It has been on mind for a while, and I am sure you would like to hear."

"Not at all," said Mingxia, "It is why we are here, right?"

Edyta sighed.

"The ext...extens...eh...long losses of time," said Edyta, "It's shame, one day I am twenty-two, next I am thirty-six, and I have no idea what has happened in between with exception of what I call dreams."

"Dreams?" asked Mingxia, "Intriguing!"

"That is best way to describe," said Edyta, "During that time, it was as if I were asleep and could not arise. I have several vivid dreams, dreams that I could not control and were quite strange. I dream that I live in big house...with family. I have daughter..."

Edyta paused slightly, stopping taking a deep breath as she did so. Mingxia, turned towards Edyta, seeming to carefully observe her eyes as she awaited her companions continuation.

"Sorry," said Edyta, "Had to catch breath. I have daughter, but daughter does not look like me. She looks like just friend from the past, Tiffany. But she was not like Tiffany, she was opposite, not into sports at all."

Edyta paused.

"I do not remember all parts of dream, except that it lasted long time," said Edyta, "The dream turned into nightmare on occasion. Myself in dream become tiger mom, and force daughter into becoming cheerleader for some reason. One of last things I remember was driving her to show. When I got there, things become very strange...Cierzina and Jimmy, they were seated in audience for some reason, but Jimmy have blonde hair like Rod, and..."

Edyta ceased moving, adopting a blank stare as she did so. The once talkative woman was now silent, simply staring forward as if she were in a trance. As this occurred, Mingxia ceased movement as well, adopting an expression of concern as she approached Edyta at a rapid pace.

The black haired woman proceeded to swiftly take hold of Edyta's head, gently turning it upward, gazing into her eyes as she did so. After a few moments of examination, she began speaking again.

"Well, at least it's you and and not her," said Mingxia as she lifted her hands to Edyta's eye level.

"Eva!" yelled Mingxia in a stern voice, clapping her hands as she did so, "Eva, it's Melissa...I want to talk to Eva!"

Edyta remained still, refusing to respond to Mingxia's prodding.

"Hmmm," said Mingxia, "Much more stubborn than usual, aren't we?"

At that point, Mingxia reached into Edyta's backpack, removing a modest sized white first aid kit from within. The tall woman placed the kit on the ground, kneeled downward and proceeded to open it, revealing its contents.

While the kit was packed with typical first aid accessories such as bandages and gauze, the kit also contained several more advanced medical supplies; items such as syringes of various sizes, hypodermic needles, plastic hoses, and several viles containing unknown substances.

"As much as I hoped to avoid this, I am left with no choice," said Mingxia as she took hold of one of the syringes, and installed one of the hypodermic needles into its lock, "Carrying you back to the hotel in this state will surely raise suspicion!"

Mingxia took hold of one of the vials, and drew a small amount of fluid into the syringe. She then took hold of an alcohol wipe, dabbing the interior of Edyta's forearm. After lifting Edyta's arm into a safe position, Mingxia carefully positioned the syringe, preparing to inject the unknown substance into one of her comrades forearm veins.

However, just as the needle was about to penetrate the petite woman's fair skin, a high pitched voice echoed through the air from further down the trail

"OH NO!" yelled the voice, which was quickly followed by several sobs.

The sound of the voice not only startled Mingxia, but miraculously broke Edyta out of her trance. The auburn haired woman quickly regained her wits, returning to her usual self as she once again began speaking.

"What was that noise?" asked Edyta as she proceeded to scan her surroundings.

Quickly and methodically, Mingxia pulled the needle away, swiftly tossing it back into the medical kit while doing her best to keep the items out of Edyta's sight. In an instant, Mingxia had closed the kit, and had placed it back into Edyta's back pack. After doing so, Mingxia readopted her typical demeanor, responding to her friends question.

"It appears to be the voice of a child," said Mingxia.

The two women remained silent, listening in an attempt to pinpoint the source of the sound. After a few moments of listening, Edyta suddenly began jogging down the path, following the somber sounds; Mingxia remained momentarily still, her usual bubbly face displaying an expression of seriousness.

"Interesting," said Mingxia in a curious manner, "Is it the timbre of the voice, or the sound itself that brought her back?"

Mingxia continued to observe Edyta making her way down the path for a few more moments, commenting to herself once again as she did so.

"You managed to get away from me again, but it's only a matter of time until I figure out what you are all about." said Mingxia, "Then we can finally put an end to this little game of mental chess and concentrate on destroying the evil one."

Mingxia giggled in a seemingly sarcastic manner as she proceeded to follow Edyta's lead. After a few moments of searching, the two women had found exactly what they were expecting. Sitting behind a small tree stump was a small girl, no more than eight years of age. She had buried her face in her hands, crying uncontrollably as she sat in a fetal position with her back to the leaning on the stump. She wore a bright orange sundress, providing a stark color contrast to the black, wavy hair that hung loose over her shoulders.

"It appears I was correct," said Mingxia, "This is certainly most unusual to find a small child alone in the woods, and in a state of distress at that. I suppose I should remedy the situation."

Mingxia lifted her foot in an attempt to take a step towards the little girl. However, she was quickly brought to a stop by Edyta, who had lifted her arm out to the side, blocking Mingxia's progress as if she were the stop arm of a toll booth on the turnpike.

"No," said Edyta, "I will handle situation."

Edyta turned towards Mingxia, gazing up into her eyes with a sly smile.

"Your skills are, how do you say?...overkill, for situation at hand," said Edyta, "Allow me to show you how normal person handles with 'care instinct.'"

Edyta giggled as she began making her way towards the girls position, leaving Mingxia to observe from afar with an expression of curiosity. Upon reaching the girls position, Edyta gazed down upon her for a few moments, displaying a somewhat blank expression. After a few moments, the petite woman kneeled down on one knee, bringing herself to eye level with the small girl.

"Eh...excuse," said Edyta in a somewhat gentle manner.

The sound of Edyta's voice seemed to startle the small child; she quickly removed her face from her hands, revealing her tear-filled green eyes.

"Wh...who are you?" asked the little girl.

"My name is Eva," said Edyta, "I was on hike with friend, and I hear bad sounds come from within trees, sounds of sadness. Why are you crying child?"

The little girl sniffled slightly, rubbing her eyes slightly as she did so.

"My mom signed me up for the summer camp down the trail," said the girl, "Its my first day, and I already miss her so much. Not only that, but everyone else has already found friends, and now I'm going to be all alone for the rest of the week."

The girl paused.

"Then I came out here to fly my model plane," said the girl, pointing upwards as she did so, "But it got stuck in up there in the tree. It's my favorite one too.

The girl reburied her face in her hands, continuing to cry as she did so.

"Calm down child," said Edyta in a relatively calm voice, "All problems have solution. We will get get plane down for you so you no longer have to cry...sound good?"

The girl sniffled once more, turning to look into Edyta's eyes.

"Are...you one of the camp counselors?" asked the girl.

"No, I am afraid not," said Edyta, "But that doesn't mean I do not have ability to help. What is name?"

"Sophia," said the girl.

"Alright," said Edyta as she turned towards Mingxia, "Melissa, would you be kind as to climb tree and get Sophia's plane from tree branch?"

"Certainly," said Mingxia, at which point she placed her staff onto the ground. She then proceeded to methodically leap onto the narrow remnants of a downed tree branch. Using her momentum, she gain leapt towards the trunk of the tree that had captured Sophie's plane, kicking off of its rough, bark-covered surface, and propelling her upward into its lowest branch. Upon landing in the branch, the slim woman kneeled downward, retrieved the plane from the twigs that had captured it, and descended the tree as quickly as she had climbed it; returning the small white plane to Sophia as she did so.

"Wow," said Sophia, her face now adorned with a smile, "Thanks Miss."

Mingxia nodded while delivering a slight mmhm...mhmm in Sophia's direction. As the small girl admired her toy, Edyta gazed upon its white surface with a somewhat uncharacteristic warm smile.

"Wow," said Edyta, "This is Boeing air plane is it not? I can tell by big tips on wings."

Sophia's eyes widened.

"You know about airplanes?" asked Sophia in an excited manner, "I love airplanes. I want to be a pilot when I grow up, or maybe design my own airplane. Do you build airplanes?"

Edyta sighed.

"No I do not," said Edyta, "I am just very familiar with them..."

Edyta paused slightly, prior to asking another question.

"What is favorite plane?" asked Edyta.

"AIRBUS A320!" yelled Sophia in an excited manner.

"Good choice," said Edyta, "You really know your airplanes! Lots of room on there to move around, though noises plane make when preparing to taxi are scary for first time rider!"

Edyta placed her hand on Sophia's shoulder.

"Have you shown kids at camp cool plane model?" asked Edyta.

"No," said Sophia, "Not yet."

"Why not?" asked Edyta, "Sharing plane with other kids is perfect way to start talking to others, and you may find friend who likes planes just as much."

"Do you really think so?" asked Sophia.

"It is worth shot, no?" asked Edyta as she rose to a standing position, holding her hand downward towards Sophia, "Come now, we walk you back to camp. I am sure people are worried about you."

Sophia delivered a small nod, after which she smiled, took hold of Edyta's hand and returned to the path. The small girl and petite woman made their way down the tree-lined trail, walking hand in hand, with Mingxia trailing slightly behind the two.

Within five minutes, the trio had arrived at their destination; a large grassy clearing that acted as the play area for Sophia's camp ground. Within the grass, a relatively even mix of boys and girls engaged in various forms of play, including tag and multiple trips down a large aluminum slide.

"Okay," said Edyta, "Time to go back to camp. Remember to be yourself, have fun, and don't be afraid to share."

"Thanks," said Sophia, at which point she turned away from Edyta. However, after taking a few steps, the small girl turned back to face the woman.

"Oh by the way," said Sophia, "Your voice is really pretty...bye!"

With that final comment, Sophia dashed towards the camp site, leaving Edyta in a surprised state. Eventually, the foreign woman's face transformed into a smile as she observed Sophia activate her model plane and begin flying it around the area in circles. As expected, this action drew the attention of a few of the boys playing near the slide, prompting them to approach the girl with curiosity. The black haired girl soon found herself teaching her new found friends how to fly the plane, as Edyta observed with happiness.

As these events unfolded, Mingxia joined Edyta's side.

"My goodness Edyta," said Mingxia in a playful manner, "I've never seen that side of you before, I had no idea you could be so compassionate."

Mingxia giggled, prompting Edyta to respond.

"You should know I am full of nothing but compassion, smart ass," said Edyta, "Think of it as practice for the conclusion of master plan."

"Is that all?" asked Mingxia.

Edyta paused.

"No," said Edyta, "She reminded me of her...and gave me a glimpse of what could have been."

There was another pause, at which point Edyta turned towards Mingxia.

"No matter," said Edyta, "The day you have been waiting for is finally here."

"How could I forget!" said Mingxia in a bubbly manner.

"What is latest status?" asked Edyta.

"I can confirm that the family has reunited with Rodeeia as planned," said Mingxia.

"Very good," said Edyta, "I can only imagine what Mama Dae would say about situation. There is no doubt Cierzina was forced to explain."

"I am not quite sure about that," said Mingxia, "But I can confirm that she was forced to explain her past to Annalee and Little Tiffany."

"Little Tiffany," said Edyta, "Yet another little face I have not seen in over 14 years...such shame really."

Edyta paused slightly, emitting a sarcastic giggle prior to continuing.

"You know what to do," said Edyta, "Are you sure you are ready?"

"Absolutely," said Mingxia, "The main goal will be quite easy to achieve, but while I look forward to fulfilling our mission, I would be lying if I said I wasn't also doing this for the fun."

"Whatever," said Edyta, "Just make sure you don't cause too much trouble, or I will some way manage to have your head."

"Don't worry," said Mingxia, "You can trust me...tonight is the night."