Dark Hearted Moon
Chapter 3
Anna, driving adroitly down a crowded Thai road with her knees while applying a twentieth layer of lipstick on her full lips, was embarking on her mission to the embassy. Despite an unusual sense of foreboding, she remained cool - no need to panic, right? If she failed...no skin off her nose.
Why am I so irritated today? It's kind of odd...I was in a pretty good mood yesterday...
Anna's stream of consciousness was quickly snapped as she found herself veering out of the lane. An irritable man in a Camry honked at her, and she quickly overcompensated into the other lane. Oncoming traffic clipped off her passenger-side rear view mirror, and she blushed. Her driving skills needed a little work.
"Crap..." she murmured, looking at the gnarled hunk of steel where her mirror had been. People on both sides of the road were yelling at her, and she yelled "Sorry!" out the window as loudly as possible. The honking became louder and Anna sheepishly took the left exit. Touga Corporation was hardly a stone's throw away from Anna's apartment, but even then driving there only took about 10 minutes.
The rain started hitting harder. Anna turned on her windshield wipers to the highest setting and watched as they permeated the curtain of rain collecting on her car. As odd as it sounded, turning on the windshield wipers dredged up bittersweet memories of her past. She and Nina had a red little Volkswagen in Ireland with the water pipes for the windshield wipers jutting slightly out. Anna would twist the pipes a bit so that they pointed directly in front of the car, then while driving, would turn on the wipers. The pipes, filled with water or even cleaning fluid, would squirt the car in front of them. They would laugh nonstop about that.
But now she doesn't remember anymore...stupid sister. Now she just bullies me.
Another car interrupted Anna's bitter nostalgia with a blaring horn. She cursed the atrocious Thailand traffic and angrily made a right turn into some industrial district. Anna couldn't read Thai, so she was for the most part without written landmarks, but she managed to navigate to Touga Corp. without trouble.
Anna pulled into a parking space suitable for her little compact car and stopped the automobile. There were two guard-receptionists standing at the door - one, with a hard, Roman nose and an irritable scowl plastered on his face, and the other, looking like he hadn't slept in two weeks. Anna strode over to the receptionists, nearly tripping over her problematic high heels again, and was halted at the door by the two receptionists again.
"Name, please?" the tired guard sighed in Thai, looking down at a pad of paper.
Anna started to speak her own name, faltered, and blurted "Rhea Johnson." She had almost forgotten her alias and rather disgracefully nodded to the guard, trying to compensate for her awkwardness.
The guard, eyelids half-closed, looked up at her, smiled feebly, and muttered "Have a good time." Anna smiled gracefully and walked into the lobby. Strewn across the ceiling, tied to the elegant chandeliers, were streamers of gaudy reds and blues, the colors of Thailand's rather mundane flag. The white walls were adorned with expensive and rather gauche paintings, some of them quite out-of-sync with the Thai culture. An elegant new fountain, the focal point of many of the partygoers, twisted in the likeness of a swan, caught Anna's eye. The assistant CEO of Touga Corp. was standing by with a grin and explaining some trivial facts about it, so quite obviously it was purchased for the occasion. When she wasn't so harried to get the hell out of the building, Anna really managed to appreciate the airy beauty of the complex.
Anna first saw that the elevators were closed off. Getting the plans wasn't going to be so easy - she would have to use the stairs, and that would cost her time she may not be able to afford. She talked to a couple of the eager dilettantes, taking some compliments for her Gucci dress and her oh-so-graceful high-heels, and eventually managed to muck her way through the people and get to the stairwell. She took off her heels - climbing stairs would be a bitch with them on - and began to ascend.
"1...2..."
"3238...3239...3240..." With every count of a step, she gasped for air. This was more cardio than she got in three weeks of spying. She turned exhaustedly to the door, and read the plaque above the doorway. "63rd floor...yes!" Anna tromped into the room, discovering that it was really a maze of hallways.
"Oh...my...God..." she muttered. She shook her head and power-walked down the left passage. Almost immediately, as she reached the end of the hall, a guard turned the corner and looked right in her eye.
"Hey! You shouldn't be here! Come with me!" He grabbed her gloved arm; she immediately countered this aggression by twisting her wrist around and snapping his. He howled in pain. Anna took his mangled wrist and tossed him lithely over her shoulder, where he found the wall with ease. He slid down the wall, leaving a rather conspicuous trail of blood, and slumped to the ground. Before Anna could react any further, he immediately sprung back up. His face was mutilated, and Anna's stomach retched just looking upon it. Taking advantage of Anna's weak stomach, the guard punched her across the face. Anna hit the wall behind her, but sprung off of it, wrapped her legs around the guard's neck in midair, and twisted. He slumped to the floor once again, but this time did not arise.
Anna took his mangled body and slipped into the men's bathroom, positioning him on the toilet so as to look like he was using it. She took a tissue and put some soap and water on it, wiping up the bloodstain on the wall...and realizing just how hard this mission would be.
Chapter 3
Anna, driving adroitly down a crowded Thai road with her knees while applying a twentieth layer of lipstick on her full lips, was embarking on her mission to the embassy. Despite an unusual sense of foreboding, she remained cool - no need to panic, right? If she failed...no skin off her nose.
Why am I so irritated today? It's kind of odd...I was in a pretty good mood yesterday...
Anna's stream of consciousness was quickly snapped as she found herself veering out of the lane. An irritable man in a Camry honked at her, and she quickly overcompensated into the other lane. Oncoming traffic clipped off her passenger-side rear view mirror, and she blushed. Her driving skills needed a little work.
"Crap..." she murmured, looking at the gnarled hunk of steel where her mirror had been. People on both sides of the road were yelling at her, and she yelled "Sorry!" out the window as loudly as possible. The honking became louder and Anna sheepishly took the left exit. Touga Corporation was hardly a stone's throw away from Anna's apartment, but even then driving there only took about 10 minutes.
The rain started hitting harder. Anna turned on her windshield wipers to the highest setting and watched as they permeated the curtain of rain collecting on her car. As odd as it sounded, turning on the windshield wipers dredged up bittersweet memories of her past. She and Nina had a red little Volkswagen in Ireland with the water pipes for the windshield wipers jutting slightly out. Anna would twist the pipes a bit so that they pointed directly in front of the car, then while driving, would turn on the wipers. The pipes, filled with water or even cleaning fluid, would squirt the car in front of them. They would laugh nonstop about that.
But now she doesn't remember anymore...stupid sister. Now she just bullies me.
Another car interrupted Anna's bitter nostalgia with a blaring horn. She cursed the atrocious Thailand traffic and angrily made a right turn into some industrial district. Anna couldn't read Thai, so she was for the most part without written landmarks, but she managed to navigate to Touga Corp. without trouble.
Anna pulled into a parking space suitable for her little compact car and stopped the automobile. There were two guard-receptionists standing at the door - one, with a hard, Roman nose and an irritable scowl plastered on his face, and the other, looking like he hadn't slept in two weeks. Anna strode over to the receptionists, nearly tripping over her problematic high heels again, and was halted at the door by the two receptionists again.
"Name, please?" the tired guard sighed in Thai, looking down at a pad of paper.
Anna started to speak her own name, faltered, and blurted "Rhea Johnson." She had almost forgotten her alias and rather disgracefully nodded to the guard, trying to compensate for her awkwardness.
The guard, eyelids half-closed, looked up at her, smiled feebly, and muttered "Have a good time." Anna smiled gracefully and walked into the lobby. Strewn across the ceiling, tied to the elegant chandeliers, were streamers of gaudy reds and blues, the colors of Thailand's rather mundane flag. The white walls were adorned with expensive and rather gauche paintings, some of them quite out-of-sync with the Thai culture. An elegant new fountain, the focal point of many of the partygoers, twisted in the likeness of a swan, caught Anna's eye. The assistant CEO of Touga Corp. was standing by with a grin and explaining some trivial facts about it, so quite obviously it was purchased for the occasion. When she wasn't so harried to get the hell out of the building, Anna really managed to appreciate the airy beauty of the complex.
Anna first saw that the elevators were closed off. Getting the plans wasn't going to be so easy - she would have to use the stairs, and that would cost her time she may not be able to afford. She talked to a couple of the eager dilettantes, taking some compliments for her Gucci dress and her oh-so-graceful high-heels, and eventually managed to muck her way through the people and get to the stairwell. She took off her heels - climbing stairs would be a bitch with them on - and began to ascend.
"1...2..."
"3238...3239...3240..." With every count of a step, she gasped for air. This was more cardio than she got in three weeks of spying. She turned exhaustedly to the door, and read the plaque above the doorway. "63rd floor...yes!" Anna tromped into the room, discovering that it was really a maze of hallways.
"Oh...my...God..." she muttered. She shook her head and power-walked down the left passage. Almost immediately, as she reached the end of the hall, a guard turned the corner and looked right in her eye.
"Hey! You shouldn't be here! Come with me!" He grabbed her gloved arm; she immediately countered this aggression by twisting her wrist around and snapping his. He howled in pain. Anna took his mangled wrist and tossed him lithely over her shoulder, where he found the wall with ease. He slid down the wall, leaving a rather conspicuous trail of blood, and slumped to the ground. Before Anna could react any further, he immediately sprung back up. His face was mutilated, and Anna's stomach retched just looking upon it. Taking advantage of Anna's weak stomach, the guard punched her across the face. Anna hit the wall behind her, but sprung off of it, wrapped her legs around the guard's neck in midair, and twisted. He slumped to the floor once again, but this time did not arise.
Anna took his mangled body and slipped into the men's bathroom, positioning him on the toilet so as to look like he was using it. She took a tissue and put some soap and water on it, wiping up the bloodstain on the wall...and realizing just how hard this mission would be.