Before Perfection
by The Great Red Dragon


Chapter 23
The next morning, while Rebecca was still asleep, I showed Riley my whole cache' of stolen weapons, that I had hidden in a closet the night before. He was impressed, to say the least.

"Daaamn...", he said in awe as he held one of the Uzis in his hand, and turned it over carefully.

I smile at his amusement and continued scrubbing the barrel of the revolver with a pipe-cleaner. Some of the stuff was kinda old, and it needed a bit of maintenance.
However, I was confident that it would work, if I gave it enough attention…

"We're gonna have to hide all of this before Rebecca gets up", I reminded Riley.

Riley put down the Uzi and picked up one of the 9mms. He looked a bit concerned as he turned it over in his hand…as if it were a sinful object of some kind.

"You're sure nobody followed you?", he asked me.
"'Cause I could get in serious trouble if the military found these in my house…"

"Nobody followed me", I assured him, then added with a smile;
"I'm a master of espionage."

Riley nodded.

"This is some pretty impressive stuff", he commented, obviously wanting to change the subject.
"You could do a lot of damage with this..."

"The only damage that I'm going to inflict will be on Mr. Mysterious", I told him, meaning the robed creature.

Riley nodded again, but I knew that worry was still running through him.
Slowly, I reached over and put my hand over his, that lay on the table. I ran my thumb over the back of his palm gently.

"Hey", I said.
"We're gonna be alright. I promise."

Riley nodded appreciatively and smiled…I was glad to see that the smile was true.
…Just then, we heard Rebecca's quiet little footsteps on the stairs.

"Quick! The bag!", I hissed urgently.

Riley passed it to me quickly, and I began stuffing everything into it as fast as I could. Just as Rebecca entered the kitchen, I dropped the bag out of eyesight and appeared casual.
She looked so cute, in her way-too-big nightshirt, and her black hair tied back into a ponytail. Throw on a pair of wings, and you'd think a little angel had just walked into the room.

"'Morning, Rebecca!", Riley greeted her.

She yawned so widely that it was impossible for her to consider it with her little hand.

"Good morning…", she said sleepily in return.

She came up to us, and Riley scooped her into his lap. He put his arms around her, somewhat protectively.

"Did you dream of anything, honey?", he asked her kindly.

She nodded.

"I dreamed that Auron could talk, and he rode on top of a car...and he brought home some stuff in a big bag..."

Riley and I looked at each other, and we cringed simultaneously.
…Was this kid psychic or something? What was with this prophetic-dream thing?
…I held my breath, expecting more news that I already knew.
She continued;

"...And then I also dreamed that Lara was walking down the street, and then it suddenly got dark, and then Lara was gone."

...I didn't want to believe anything; it's just a dream, it's just a dream, it's just a dream

"It was just a dream, Rebecca", Riley told her in a too-sure voice.
"I mean, Auron talking? Riding on top of a car? C'mon, how silly is that?"

"Oh Riley...", I said to myself, under clenched teeth, as I folded my hands nervously.
"You horrible liar..."

Rebecca looked up at him seriously.

"But where's Lara?", she asked, as in interrogation.
"Hasn't she come home yet?"

Riley looked back at her for second, but his eyes left hers before he replied.

"I'm sure Lara's at a friend's house or something. I'll bet she's watching her soap operas right now...right, Auron?"

He looked at me for support, and I faked a smile and nodded.
I really hoped that was it; I didn't like Lara myself, but I didn't want this little family to suffer another loss.
Lara would probably turn up before dinner, I began telling myself.
Yeah, that was the case.
I assured myself that; she'll be here soon.
But she wasn't.
Lara didn't return before dinner. Nor was she there for the next day's breakfast. Lunch went without her, as well as dinner. The days began to pass, and any sign of her was invisible.
Needlessly said, Riley began to get even more worried then before. He started asking around all over town for clues to his sister's whereabouts, but he was getting no results. Any calls made to her cell phone went unanswered: there was no trace of her anywhere.
Rebecca was worried and anxious as well. Riley tried to cover it up by telling her that Lara was participating in an extended sleepover, and it would be some time before she returned...but I don't think the kid really bought it. She could feel Riley's tension, and even though I did my best to keep her distracted, I noticed some discomfort in her emotions as well.

"What if my dream was real?", she whispered to Riley one day.
"What if Lara really is gone?"

"Don't worry", Riley tried to assure her.
"Lara'll be back soon. I know she will."

On the third morning of Lara's absence, Riley and I sat in the kitchen. He was on his fifth mug of coffee, and I had barely finished my sandwich.

"Where could she be?", he kept asking me, as if I would suddenly have the answers.
"Do you think she actually left...after we had our argument?"

I shook my head honestly.

"No", I said.
"I don't think so. I mean, she left all her belongings here, didn't she?"

Riley nodded and rested his head on the table's edge.

"GodDAMN...", he breathed loudly.

We heard the sound of small footsteps coming our way, and Rebecca appeared in the doorway. She looked very troubled as Riley raised his head quickly.

"Where's Lara?", she asked for the trillionth time.
"Isn't she here yet?"

"Not yet", Riley said.
"Not yet, Rebecca."

Rebecca continued to look pitiful.

"I'm worried", she said quietly.
"I think something happened to her..."

Riley stood up and walked over to her. He knelt down in front of her and put his hands on her shoulders, almost sternly.

"Nothing happened to Lara", he told her.
"I told you: if something was wrong, I'd know."

Rebecca looked down and sniffed once.

"Yeah...", she whispered sadly.

Riley shook her gently.

"Hey", he said, his face brightening in a sudden idea.
"Why don't you and I go out for some ice cream, huh?"

Rebecca didn't seem too thrilled about the idea; her face didn't change.

"C'mon!", Riley urged heartily.
"Just you and me. It'll be fun!"

Rebecca looked past Riley and to me.

"What about Auron?", she asked.
"Can he come?"

"Auron's got to rest", Riley told her,a nd answered for me.
"Remember how much yoghurt he had last night? He almost threw up."

...It was true. I did have a lot of yoghurt, but it was already safely digested. However, to be convincing, I put on a sick face for the kid. She didn't look at all convinced, but did agree to go.
I don't know what Riley wanted to accomplish by this. He only told me that they would be back soon, and that I should contact him if Lara came back.
Who knows? Maybe he just wanted to spend some time with his little sister. Maybe he just wanted to get out of the house. Any-which-way, I was content to stay back; I would be able to check back over my gear.
I had hidden all of my weapons in the already-hidden basement under a rug in Riley's living-room, but I hadn't had a second chance to inspect it. I liked to keep my array in good condition, and I didn't want them to needlessly collect dust.
Once I had opened the panel hidden under the carpet in the living room, I sat in the dimly lit cellar and wiped at my guns with a white cloth. There really was nothing to do about them; I had set them in perfect order.

I had just climbed out of the hole and pulled the carpet back straight, when I heard something moving upstairs.
At once, I went into alert-mode.
What in the world would be running around upstairs in Riley's house when I was supposed to be alone? I quietly moved towards the stairs, remembering my cat-training.
I thought I was being paranoid for a second, and tried to tell myself that it was just a bird or something that had gotten into the house.

THUMP.

But a bird doesn't make that kind of noise...
For a moment, I just stood there, not sure what to do.

"What the Hell was that?!", I repeatedly asked myself.

In the end, I decided to be stupid and go investigate. I should've known better when the noise proceeded to get louder, but all I did was move towards the source of the sound, while crawling on the ceiling.

I found the door to Riley's room ajar.
Slowly, I peeked inside, half-expecting to see a burglar knocking all about the place...but there was nobody, and the sound had vanished as well.
However, the door that connected Riley's room to his balcony was way open (the balcony where the swing-seat stood). Carefully, I crawled over there and dropped from the ceiling before putting out an arm to push it closed.
...And as I did...as the auto-lock of the door clicked...I saw in the reflection of the mirror...and thought to myself;

"No, it can't be...".

Quick as a flash, I spun around, and saw him.
There stood the figure wrapped in the dark cloak, its garment still settling from the recent brush of wind.
And this time, in the light, I could see a pair of evil red eyes glowing from deep within the hood.