A/N: Hey thanks ppl for the great Reviews. Expect more postings since I
have been recently grounded.(
Do you think this story deserves a Genre? Or just leave it at General?
Disclaimer: Mine! All mine..Maybe for a birthday present.
Following chapter takes place a year ago, and Clarissa is still in Manticore.
~ ~ ~ ~
Clarissa looked at her maids uniform in disgust. She hated aprons, but the mission called for it. Her cover? A laundry maid. Her mission? Surveillance on one of the richest guys in Seattle, also Manticore's main line of funding. To make sure that he didn't stick his nose where it didn't belong.
"Were here." The taxi driver announced, stopping just in front of the large gates that announced the front of the Coronale Estate.
"Thank you," Clarissa said, smiling. She paid the driver and got out. The large gate swung open automatically, and Clarissa noticed the large amount of cameras placed here and there. She stepped onto the brick path that led to the front door, and walked slowly towards it, her eyes darting around, admiring the rose bushes, apple trees, and lush green grass.
The door opened as she reached it. In the doorway stood a girl about eighteen, which was Clarissa's age. The girl had long flowing blond hair, and sky-blue eyes that shone brightly as the light reflected off them. She would have been very beautiful if the girl didn't wear the frown that showed she sucked on lemons twenty-four seven.
"Hurry up!" The girl snapped. Clarissa looked at her for a moment, and slowed down. She hated orders, but was forced to obey them at Manticore. Here, on a mission, she was free to defy everything. A minute later, Clarissa reached the front door. The girl slammed it shut again, before whirling around to confront Clarissa. "Now, if you think that was funny, you've got another thing coming, girl! Because I'm the head maid in the place, and I can fire you when I want. One wrong turn, and," The girl clapped her hands, "Your out.'
Clarissa didn't want to take any of this crap. Her mission, however was for her to stay on everybody's good side. So she merely smiled. "yes ma'am, and what shall you be addressed as?"
"Ma'am will do just fine. Now follow me to your room,"
Clarissa tried not to snigger as she followed her up the marble staircase, down the hall, and into a small but beautifully furnished room. There was a small water bed, a wardrobe, lamp, and nightstand. It was a change from the dormitories, which Clarissa had grown up in. She loved it.
"Your work starts immediately. Leave your things on the bed, you can unpack in your own time. Start with my laundry."
Clarissa nodded. She was officially confident she had sunk to an all time low. Reduced to wrinkling her nose at old laundry! Ugh.
The day went by slowly, Clarissa stopping at every bathroom, and collecting the laundry from every hamper. As she collected one particularly smelly pile of clothes, she considered her unit back at Manticore. Was Billy doing okay without her? Was Noah still having her seizures? All her questions remained unanswered. She ignored the person coming up behind her, until that person tapped her lightly on the shoulder. She grabbed him and flipped him onto his back.
"Ah!" The man cried, as he landed hard on the marble floor. Clarissa stepped backwards.
"Um.sorry." She mumbled. "Caught me by surprise. Are.are you okay?"
The man nodded. He looked a few years older than her, twenty, maybe twenty- one. He had dark blonde hair gelled up in small, short spikes, and green eyes that were forever laughing. He got up slowly to his feet, wincing as his back protested.
"Hey.where'd you learn to fight like that?" He groaned.
Clarissa's brain racked up an answer. "My mom, got mugged out on the street once. Decided that I would learn how to protect myself." She lied, "She taught me everything I know today."
The man nodded. "Oh, I'm Blake, by the way. Blake Coronale? Eric is my father."
Clarissa smiled. Eric.the guy she was supposed to be supervising or whatever. She never knew that he had a son.
"I wish I could fight," Blake added, "My dad doesn't agree with the martial arts. Are you that new laundress?"
"Yeah. First day. Just got here. And I absolutely love your head maid."
Blake laughed. "Yeah, Fiona is a little hard to get along with. Just, smile and stand up to her every once and a while. Believe or not, she loves that kind of thing."
Clarissa stared down at the pile of dirty laundry. "Well, I gotta go. See you later."
Blake nodded. Clarissa turned and left to do the rest of her rounds. Who knew there was that much clothing in the world?
**
If it had not been for her hopped up DNA giving her plenty of endurance, Clarissa would have been exhausted to breaking point. She still, however had energy to unpack and rearrange the furniture to her taste.
A knock on the door diverted her attention. "Come in," she called out.
The door swung open and Blake stepped inside. He looked great in the tight T-shirt and baggy jeans he was wearing. He smiled at Clarissa as she straightened up to meet his height.
"Hey," she said, "what's up?"
Blake walked to her window and stared out of it for a few seconds. "I've been thinking. Do you think you could teach me what you know of those moves?"
Clarissa decided to play dumb. "What moves?"
Blake said nothing, only pointed to a bruise on his left shoulder, which indicated how hard he had landed as she had flipped him over.
"Your dad.he doesn't want you to." "That's why you have to teach me! He won't know, I promise."
Clarissa looked unconvinced. She didn't really want to teach him or anything, and especially didn't want to get to close to anybody. Blake tried again.
"What if.what if.um.I got mugged on the street or attacked! Or maybe someone wanted to assassinate me. I would have to protect myself."
The guy was obviously desperate. Still, Clarissa couldn't possibly say yes. It was just plain wrong, and the mission would have to end sooner or later. The she would leave, and be heartbroken.
"Fine, fine." She replied.
Blake's face lost the desperate and pleading puppy dog look and took on a full smile. "Meet me in the garden tomorrow night at nine."
**
A dark figure crept through the bushes, stepping lightly and quietly as not to be noticed. It leaped over the water fountain and landed softly over the other side. Movement. A man stepped out from the path to walk quietly over to the waterfall. The figure smiled, and stepped out from the shadows.
"Hey," Blake said, catching sight of Clarissa, as she stepped out from behind a rose bush. "I didn't see you there."
She grinned. "So where are these lessons taking place?"
Blake grabbed her arm and led her to a small courtyard, surrounded by tall apple trees and more flowers.
"This is my little private place. Me and my dad have an understanding. He can't come here, and has none of his cameras set up. No interruptions."
Clarissa nodded, and began to teach. She started off with how to block punches, kicks, and other assault weapons. Then she moved on to attacking...
The minutes turned to hours as they continued their training.
**
Clarissa threw him over her shoulder once again. He went down with an 'oof' but there was no bruising. Which wasn't bad for a just a week and a half of training. They had agreed to meet for the lessons once every two days. It was strange, because now Clarissa longed to see his face, his smile, and used any excuse to bump into him while working. She skipped to the lessons, and hated when they finished. She also knew her final diagnosis for all this. She was in love.
"That's it for today," Clarissa grumbled, unhappy about leaving, but it had to be done or else his dad would start worrying.
"Kay." Blake replied in the same tone of voice. They walked out of the place together, enjoying each others company. As they neared the topiary water fountain, Blake stepped in front of her.
"Thanks, for all this. It means a lot to me." He smiled, and then.ever so slowly, his hand reached out to brush a strand of light brown hair from Clarissa's face. Her heart stopped for a moment, then started up again, loud and fast. Blake lowered his voice to a whisper. "Just like you," He leaned over, and their lips touched.
** A knock on the door woke Clarissa from her light dreaming. She knew who it was. Blake had been sneaking over into her room almost every night, and spent the night in each others arms. She opened the door for him, and stepped back. Blake stepped into the room, closed the door, and wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her hello, A kiss which she returned fully.
"My dads gone mad." Blake said after a moment of silence.
Clarissa laughed. She figured he was kidding. "Why?"
"He keeps going on about some odd clue he found, about a Manticore or something like that. Said they created superhumans."
Clarissa looked up at him. "Really? How odd.and how did he obtain this peculiar piece of information?"
"Dunno. He's really mad though. It seems as if we've been funding them. Huh."
Clarissa forced a laugh. "Oh, yeah. He's gone mad all right."
Blake chuckled, and then wrapped his arms around her yet again in a tight embrace. "At least I can talk to you." Clarissa's arm clutched him tightly. "I love you." She said.
"I love you too."
Clarissa's thoughts raced almost as fast as her heart that night. So his dad was up to something. Not now, not after... She checked her calendar which hung from the wall. Tomorrow was her first full day off, and also when Renfro had told her to report anything interesting. What could she say? Could she lie? Say it never happened? Or would they figure that out and kill the Coronale line?
**
"Report, 423" Renfro said.
Clarissa's heart was torn two ways. Manticore.Blake.Manticore.Blake.Loyalty.Mission.Blake.
Blake had won. She was never going to tell Renfro. EVER.
"Eric has acquired some information about us. He told his son, who in turn told me. He has learnt the name of Manticore, its work, and his funding, but there seems to be no way he might have found out. He seems to me to have been alerted by someone inside of Manticore." Clarissa said. The shock of what she had done took a few seconds before it took over. What had she done? Why?
"Very good, 423" Renfro said. "However, this does take some thinking.McDale, have you found a solution to those problems?"
The younger man that had listened in as Clarissa confessed everything nodded. "We shall have to take them both out. The son too, being that he knows this stuff and is blurting it all to just a common housemaid.
Common housemaid? Clarissa was much more than a common housemaid. She spent nights with Blake, talking to him, sharing all her made-up secrets with him, lying to him..and. .loving him.
"They will both be terminated. Poison seems to be a good choice. She can slip in the food, Director Renfro? A private word please." Director Renfro and McDale moved away into a corner, but not far enough that Clarissa couldn't hear every word. "I believe that Manticore security is not as efficient as it once was," McDale began.
"How so?" Renfro replied, slightly annoyed.
"Just last week, we had to send another X5 on a mission to terminate yet another one of Manticore sub-contractors. The Berrisfords, if I remember correctly."
"That mission went well?"
"X5 494 is planting a bomb as we speak." McDale replied, sounding proud of himself.
"This mission shall be no different," Renfro replied. McDale nodded and handed her a small vial of clear liquid. "The poison," he explained.
Renfro nodded and walked back to Clarissa, and handed her the vial. "Put this in their dinner tomorrow night." She ordered.
Clarissa felt a lump in her throat "yes ma'am" she barely managed to croak. With another deep nod, Clarissa excused herself to start her bus ride back to the Estate.
**
When Blake came in that night, Clarissa rushed over to him and kissed him long, deep and passionately. He would never know this was his last night with her. She planted himself on his lap and just sat in his arms, savoring his warmth, his scent, the feel of his arm..Stop that! Stop that! It will only make you feel worse. You are a soldier. You hear that? Clarissa? 423? You are a soldier. Love is not an emotion. It is a tool. 423. 423. Soldier. Clarissa knew it was no good. She could never let go of him. But she had to. This was his last night. They spent it in each others arms.
**
It was dinner. The kitchens were busy, so they didn't notice the laundry maid as she slipped into the kitchen. They didn't notice when a small glass vial emptied into two plates either..
**
"Thank you," Blake said as he received his plate. He took a big bite of the vegetables and meat. His father did the same. "Blake!" Clarissa rushed into the dining table. Blake stood up and walked over to her. She was frantic. "Blake! Did you eat anything?"
Blake laughed. "Of-course. What's wrong? Clar - ?" Blake never got to finish his sentence, as everything stopped moving. Blake never felt anything. He just fell over. His father on the table did the same thing, but Clarissa only cared about him. "Blake! Blake? Stay with me! NO!"
Blake smiled. "It..wasn't your..fault. I..Love..You."
Clarissa nodded through her sobs. "I love you too," Clarissa bent over and they shared one last kiss. Blake's body went limp.
Clarissa held his lifeless body as she sobbed. Her mission was complete.
A/N; YAHOO!!!!! I finished my story. You like? You no like? You tell me! Thankyou! Do you think this story deserves a Genre other than General? Let me know! P.S = I have no idea how Max is going to get her friends out of TC. The sewers make them sick, there are guards. HELP! I can't post a chapter unless I write, and I can't write unless I have an idea. Thanx ppl.
Disclaimer: Mine! All mine..Maybe for a birthday present.
Following chapter takes place a year ago, and Clarissa is still in Manticore.
~ ~ ~ ~
Clarissa looked at her maids uniform in disgust. She hated aprons, but the mission called for it. Her cover? A laundry maid. Her mission? Surveillance on one of the richest guys in Seattle, also Manticore's main line of funding. To make sure that he didn't stick his nose where it didn't belong.
"Were here." The taxi driver announced, stopping just in front of the large gates that announced the front of the Coronale Estate.
"Thank you," Clarissa said, smiling. She paid the driver and got out. The large gate swung open automatically, and Clarissa noticed the large amount of cameras placed here and there. She stepped onto the brick path that led to the front door, and walked slowly towards it, her eyes darting around, admiring the rose bushes, apple trees, and lush green grass.
The door opened as she reached it. In the doorway stood a girl about eighteen, which was Clarissa's age. The girl had long flowing blond hair, and sky-blue eyes that shone brightly as the light reflected off them. She would have been very beautiful if the girl didn't wear the frown that showed she sucked on lemons twenty-four seven.
"Hurry up!" The girl snapped. Clarissa looked at her for a moment, and slowed down. She hated orders, but was forced to obey them at Manticore. Here, on a mission, she was free to defy everything. A minute later, Clarissa reached the front door. The girl slammed it shut again, before whirling around to confront Clarissa. "Now, if you think that was funny, you've got another thing coming, girl! Because I'm the head maid in the place, and I can fire you when I want. One wrong turn, and," The girl clapped her hands, "Your out.'
Clarissa didn't want to take any of this crap. Her mission, however was for her to stay on everybody's good side. So she merely smiled. "yes ma'am, and what shall you be addressed as?"
"Ma'am will do just fine. Now follow me to your room,"
Clarissa tried not to snigger as she followed her up the marble staircase, down the hall, and into a small but beautifully furnished room. There was a small water bed, a wardrobe, lamp, and nightstand. It was a change from the dormitories, which Clarissa had grown up in. She loved it.
"Your work starts immediately. Leave your things on the bed, you can unpack in your own time. Start with my laundry."
Clarissa nodded. She was officially confident she had sunk to an all time low. Reduced to wrinkling her nose at old laundry! Ugh.
The day went by slowly, Clarissa stopping at every bathroom, and collecting the laundry from every hamper. As she collected one particularly smelly pile of clothes, she considered her unit back at Manticore. Was Billy doing okay without her? Was Noah still having her seizures? All her questions remained unanswered. She ignored the person coming up behind her, until that person tapped her lightly on the shoulder. She grabbed him and flipped him onto his back.
"Ah!" The man cried, as he landed hard on the marble floor. Clarissa stepped backwards.
"Um.sorry." She mumbled. "Caught me by surprise. Are.are you okay?"
The man nodded. He looked a few years older than her, twenty, maybe twenty- one. He had dark blonde hair gelled up in small, short spikes, and green eyes that were forever laughing. He got up slowly to his feet, wincing as his back protested.
"Hey.where'd you learn to fight like that?" He groaned.
Clarissa's brain racked up an answer. "My mom, got mugged out on the street once. Decided that I would learn how to protect myself." She lied, "She taught me everything I know today."
The man nodded. "Oh, I'm Blake, by the way. Blake Coronale? Eric is my father."
Clarissa smiled. Eric.the guy she was supposed to be supervising or whatever. She never knew that he had a son.
"I wish I could fight," Blake added, "My dad doesn't agree with the martial arts. Are you that new laundress?"
"Yeah. First day. Just got here. And I absolutely love your head maid."
Blake laughed. "Yeah, Fiona is a little hard to get along with. Just, smile and stand up to her every once and a while. Believe or not, she loves that kind of thing."
Clarissa stared down at the pile of dirty laundry. "Well, I gotta go. See you later."
Blake nodded. Clarissa turned and left to do the rest of her rounds. Who knew there was that much clothing in the world?
**
If it had not been for her hopped up DNA giving her plenty of endurance, Clarissa would have been exhausted to breaking point. She still, however had energy to unpack and rearrange the furniture to her taste.
A knock on the door diverted her attention. "Come in," she called out.
The door swung open and Blake stepped inside. He looked great in the tight T-shirt and baggy jeans he was wearing. He smiled at Clarissa as she straightened up to meet his height.
"Hey," she said, "what's up?"
Blake walked to her window and stared out of it for a few seconds. "I've been thinking. Do you think you could teach me what you know of those moves?"
Clarissa decided to play dumb. "What moves?"
Blake said nothing, only pointed to a bruise on his left shoulder, which indicated how hard he had landed as she had flipped him over.
"Your dad.he doesn't want you to." "That's why you have to teach me! He won't know, I promise."
Clarissa looked unconvinced. She didn't really want to teach him or anything, and especially didn't want to get to close to anybody. Blake tried again.
"What if.what if.um.I got mugged on the street or attacked! Or maybe someone wanted to assassinate me. I would have to protect myself."
The guy was obviously desperate. Still, Clarissa couldn't possibly say yes. It was just plain wrong, and the mission would have to end sooner or later. The she would leave, and be heartbroken.
"Fine, fine." She replied.
Blake's face lost the desperate and pleading puppy dog look and took on a full smile. "Meet me in the garden tomorrow night at nine."
**
A dark figure crept through the bushes, stepping lightly and quietly as not to be noticed. It leaped over the water fountain and landed softly over the other side. Movement. A man stepped out from the path to walk quietly over to the waterfall. The figure smiled, and stepped out from the shadows.
"Hey," Blake said, catching sight of Clarissa, as she stepped out from behind a rose bush. "I didn't see you there."
She grinned. "So where are these lessons taking place?"
Blake grabbed her arm and led her to a small courtyard, surrounded by tall apple trees and more flowers.
"This is my little private place. Me and my dad have an understanding. He can't come here, and has none of his cameras set up. No interruptions."
Clarissa nodded, and began to teach. She started off with how to block punches, kicks, and other assault weapons. Then she moved on to attacking...
The minutes turned to hours as they continued their training.
**
Clarissa threw him over her shoulder once again. He went down with an 'oof' but there was no bruising. Which wasn't bad for a just a week and a half of training. They had agreed to meet for the lessons once every two days. It was strange, because now Clarissa longed to see his face, his smile, and used any excuse to bump into him while working. She skipped to the lessons, and hated when they finished. She also knew her final diagnosis for all this. She was in love.
"That's it for today," Clarissa grumbled, unhappy about leaving, but it had to be done or else his dad would start worrying.
"Kay." Blake replied in the same tone of voice. They walked out of the place together, enjoying each others company. As they neared the topiary water fountain, Blake stepped in front of her.
"Thanks, for all this. It means a lot to me." He smiled, and then.ever so slowly, his hand reached out to brush a strand of light brown hair from Clarissa's face. Her heart stopped for a moment, then started up again, loud and fast. Blake lowered his voice to a whisper. "Just like you," He leaned over, and their lips touched.
** A knock on the door woke Clarissa from her light dreaming. She knew who it was. Blake had been sneaking over into her room almost every night, and spent the night in each others arms. She opened the door for him, and stepped back. Blake stepped into the room, closed the door, and wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her hello, A kiss which she returned fully.
"My dads gone mad." Blake said after a moment of silence.
Clarissa laughed. She figured he was kidding. "Why?"
"He keeps going on about some odd clue he found, about a Manticore or something like that. Said they created superhumans."
Clarissa looked up at him. "Really? How odd.and how did he obtain this peculiar piece of information?"
"Dunno. He's really mad though. It seems as if we've been funding them. Huh."
Clarissa forced a laugh. "Oh, yeah. He's gone mad all right."
Blake chuckled, and then wrapped his arms around her yet again in a tight embrace. "At least I can talk to you." Clarissa's arm clutched him tightly. "I love you." She said.
"I love you too."
Clarissa's thoughts raced almost as fast as her heart that night. So his dad was up to something. Not now, not after... She checked her calendar which hung from the wall. Tomorrow was her first full day off, and also when Renfro had told her to report anything interesting. What could she say? Could she lie? Say it never happened? Or would they figure that out and kill the Coronale line?
**
"Report, 423" Renfro said.
Clarissa's heart was torn two ways. Manticore.Blake.Manticore.Blake.Loyalty.Mission.Blake.
Blake had won. She was never going to tell Renfro. EVER.
"Eric has acquired some information about us. He told his son, who in turn told me. He has learnt the name of Manticore, its work, and his funding, but there seems to be no way he might have found out. He seems to me to have been alerted by someone inside of Manticore." Clarissa said. The shock of what she had done took a few seconds before it took over. What had she done? Why?
"Very good, 423" Renfro said. "However, this does take some thinking.McDale, have you found a solution to those problems?"
The younger man that had listened in as Clarissa confessed everything nodded. "We shall have to take them both out. The son too, being that he knows this stuff and is blurting it all to just a common housemaid.
Common housemaid? Clarissa was much more than a common housemaid. She spent nights with Blake, talking to him, sharing all her made-up secrets with him, lying to him..and. .loving him.
"They will both be terminated. Poison seems to be a good choice. She can slip in the food, Director Renfro? A private word please." Director Renfro and McDale moved away into a corner, but not far enough that Clarissa couldn't hear every word. "I believe that Manticore security is not as efficient as it once was," McDale began.
"How so?" Renfro replied, slightly annoyed.
"Just last week, we had to send another X5 on a mission to terminate yet another one of Manticore sub-contractors. The Berrisfords, if I remember correctly."
"That mission went well?"
"X5 494 is planting a bomb as we speak." McDale replied, sounding proud of himself.
"This mission shall be no different," Renfro replied. McDale nodded and handed her a small vial of clear liquid. "The poison," he explained.
Renfro nodded and walked back to Clarissa, and handed her the vial. "Put this in their dinner tomorrow night." She ordered.
Clarissa felt a lump in her throat "yes ma'am" she barely managed to croak. With another deep nod, Clarissa excused herself to start her bus ride back to the Estate.
**
When Blake came in that night, Clarissa rushed over to him and kissed him long, deep and passionately. He would never know this was his last night with her. She planted himself on his lap and just sat in his arms, savoring his warmth, his scent, the feel of his arm..Stop that! Stop that! It will only make you feel worse. You are a soldier. You hear that? Clarissa? 423? You are a soldier. Love is not an emotion. It is a tool. 423. 423. Soldier. Clarissa knew it was no good. She could never let go of him. But she had to. This was his last night. They spent it in each others arms.
**
It was dinner. The kitchens were busy, so they didn't notice the laundry maid as she slipped into the kitchen. They didn't notice when a small glass vial emptied into two plates either..
**
"Thank you," Blake said as he received his plate. He took a big bite of the vegetables and meat. His father did the same. "Blake!" Clarissa rushed into the dining table. Blake stood up and walked over to her. She was frantic. "Blake! Did you eat anything?"
Blake laughed. "Of-course. What's wrong? Clar - ?" Blake never got to finish his sentence, as everything stopped moving. Blake never felt anything. He just fell over. His father on the table did the same thing, but Clarissa only cared about him. "Blake! Blake? Stay with me! NO!"
Blake smiled. "It..wasn't your..fault. I..Love..You."
Clarissa nodded through her sobs. "I love you too," Clarissa bent over and they shared one last kiss. Blake's body went limp.
Clarissa held his lifeless body as she sobbed. Her mission was complete.
A/N; YAHOO!!!!! I finished my story. You like? You no like? You tell me! Thankyou! Do you think this story deserves a Genre other than General? Let me know! P.S = I have no idea how Max is going to get her friends out of TC. The sewers make them sick, there are guards. HELP! I can't post a chapter unless I write, and I can't write unless I have an idea. Thanx ppl.
