Before Perfection
by The Great Red Dragon
Chapter 24
For a second, I froze, like a deer who is suddenly blinded by the headlights of an oncoming car.
…But I wasn't a deer, and those eyes that glowed like Hell's embers weren't headlights.
Then, as soon as I had recovered from my insta-shock, I jumped at him, it seeming the only thing I could do.
He moved sideways not a moment too soon, and I landed with a skid in the hallway. With a roar I went at him again, this time for his legs.
I thought that I would tackle him for sure, but I only caught air as he jumped up and out of harm, his cloak whipping my face.
Now I was frustrated, but I had also expected this.
Upon my landing, I made a back flip, and turned myself around in midair - I made to kick him in his face (inside the hood); he wouldn't be able to escape this...
But before I could even so much as touch him, I saw a muscled, leather-like arm emerge from the inside of the cape. He caught me in the chest with so much force that I was thrown straight back against the bedroom wall.
Of course, this didn't faze me for long. Without blinking, I was back on my feet, ready for round two...but I was met only with the narrow barrel of a gun, pointing right at my head.
…There was another moment of silence. I lost my balance and unceremoniously fell back on my butt.
In one half of my mind, I was saying my goodbyes to the world; this was it.
But in another part of my brain, I was thinking of ducking beneath the weapon and going at him again.
But then the creature spoke, and I made up my mind to stay put.
"Don't move."
"Yes, sir", I couldn't help but thinking.
His voice was both a rasp and an ongoing snarl, as if two people were talking at once. He spoke in the native Turian language, so for a second, I had to cram my memory to remember the language and what the words meant.
His red eyes wouldn't let me go, as if they were paralyzing me themselves.
…I couldn't really have done much if I wanted, so I settled for staying on the floor.
The creature lowered his weapon only slightly and straightened back up; from a rough estimate, I'd say he was about seven feet tall. The cloak made him look huge anyway, but I knew that there was a powerful body hiding inside of it.
We eyed eachother for what seemed like an eternity. I can't remember what I was thinking about, and I wouldn't know what he was thinking about…I couldn't know. How could I?
Whatever it was, he felt confident enough to tuck away his weapon into the depths of his cloak. For a moment, I thought of going at him again...then I remembered his stunning agility, and decided it was best to stay put: I may be fast, but he would've had a better chance of countering me in his position.
He continued to look down at me, and I made myself stare back into those hellish red eyes defiantly – I wouldn't be a scaredy-cat.
Finally, after what seemed like another half-eternity, he shook his hooded head.
"Experiment...number 541", he said slowly, in that rasping growl of his.
"Thank you", I thought sarcastically.
"At least he knows my zip-code."
He breathed in once, so loudly that I could hear it. It sounded almost like he had trouble breathing…
"I heard that the professor was supposedly breeding things in his lab", he said coldly.
"But I never really believed it."
"What the Hell do you want?!", I spat at him aggressively…although my talk was much braver than my spirit.
The creature looked down at me, and the red embers that were his eyes narrowed.
He reached a hand out of his cloak, and finally pulled back his hood in one tug.
I knew at once that he was Pred (short for 'Predator'): a large, blunt forehead lay over the pair of eyes that seemed to have sunken deep into his head. He had a face like a piranha, with a large mouth that didn't conceal his many pointed teeth, and his lower jaw stuck out further than the first. Along his brow was a frill of spikes, some of them noticeably chipped. He was almost orange in complexion.
…I had no idea what to make of this. I had studied Predators briefly in Jumba's lab, but had never ever seen one, like this…they were supposed to be the best fighters and soldiers in the universe, as folklore said…but was this guy really a bounty hunter?
The Pred kneeled down to my height. He brought his face in close to mine, and I could feel his breath across my face...but it wasn't hot at all! His breath was like a draft of cold winter snow!
How can somebody's breath be ice-cold?!
"What do I want?", he repeated quietly, and I assumed that I wouldn't be getting a straight answer.
"We all want something out of life, don't we?", he continued.
"Dr. Jookiba wanted to profit from his structuring of life. You wanted to make something out of your existence before it was taken from you. And I want to make benefit from my own existence as well...coincidently, it involves ending yours."
"You wanna kill me?!", I snapped at him.
"Well let's just see you try!"
The Pred blinked his eyes, unperturbed.
"I don't have to be the one to end your life", he said simply.
"If you were to come quietly, I would take you back to Jookiba...where he would do it."
"You work for him, you bastard!", I shouted, blasting off obscenity just for the Hell of it.
"You let me up, and I'll kill you both!"
The Pred stood up and looked down at me…his glance was nearly arrogant.
"Don't be so over-confident about your abilities", he said coolly.
"I've only let you live this because you managed to survive my poison."
"...What?!", I asked (shouted at) him angrily
"When I saw that you managed to completely rid yourself of it...with the help of the humans, of course, I knew that there was still something competitive left in you", the Pred said.
I was starting to get angry here; angry at him for his damn confidence.
"What do you mean, you 'let me live'?!", I asked loudly.
"You haven't done shit for me!"
The confidence of the Pred left for arrogance for a second, and he snorted.
"Did you really think", he began.
"That you have been evading me for all this time? Did you think I actually lost sight of you? No, you are wrong: I have watched you ever since I arrived here. I have been watching you every second of the day, even before be both caught eachother's eyes in the night. You are foolish to have even thought you could've avoided me...but then again, how would you even know?"
"How would I even know what?!", I shouted at him.
"I don't believe that you are Jookiba's greatest creation...", he continued.
"A flaw in the mind structure, perhaps...but it was so obvious that I was there, and you still don't fully grasp everything that is going on around you."
"I think I grasp everything", I said furiously.
"When 'everything' is standing right there in front of me, I think I'm grasping it pretty damn good."
The Pred took a breath through his mouth, and hesitated only for a second before he spoke again.
"No, you don't", he insisted.
"I think I do!", I said, trying to feel mighty.
"What part of it don't I grasp yet, huh?"
"What did you think was keeping your friend's sister from returning home?"
......
"What...did...you...do...to...her?", I whispered slowly.
Instead of giving me an answer, the Pred turned his back to me, and started to make for the door.
I turned livid.
"WHAT DID YOU DO, YOU SON OF A BITCH!?!"
In rage, I leapt at him again. I was so burning with hate that I didn't even think straight when I attacked.
…Perhaps that was my downfall.
I couldn't even track his next movement with my eyes; he was too fast...all I know is that his arms stayed where they were, so I'm presuming that he kicked me. I didn't even feel the pain until I smashed into the wall again, this time much harder than the last.
I hadn't the time to get up before I felt the Pred's hand close around my neck. He cut off my breath completely, and I mean completely: when I tried to breathe in, my windpipe closed like a defective straw.
Of course I panicked. I began kicking and flailing with my arms, and pretty much went crazy. I tried to pry away those cold, iron-like fingers, but he held onto me and held me down pretty easily.
After a while, I started to go faint and weak, like a drowning scene in the movies. I felt like dying, and thought it was my time.
He wasn't going to let go, and I was going to die.
But just when I was about to give in and let go, he did first. I felt the hand loosen, and the wonderful oxygen was allowed access through my lungs once more.
But I was also overcome with a horrible coughing and gagging fit, as well as extremely runny eyes.
And as I sat there, coughing and wiping away at my eyes, I felt his face come close to mine - I felt those eyes boring into me once more.
And through all the noise I was making, I heard him speak to me.
"In the jungle, two miles east of your landing place. I will wait no longer than two days. Come, and bring your weapons if you wish. Any way, it will make no difference."
When I was able to see clearly again, he was longer there, and the door to the porch was open again: marking his exit.
