She presses up against the wall as one of them walks closer. As he passes
her by she holds her breath. All her concentration is on him. He is an
exile, she sees that now, and feels scared for the first time. She doesn't
think about him, doesn't think at all. Fear heightens her perceptions. She
can hear the tide rolling in, tries to focus on that rhythmic sound. She
knows she's too weak to do anything but hide.
"She isn't here." The other one says.
"We smell her."
"We smell something. There are clothes everywhere. They carry the human's scent."
He is still within a few feet of her. Close enough for her to notice that his face appears as smooth as a funerary statue. He nudges the pile of dirty laundry next to her with his toe and the far edge brushes her leg.
"The Merovingian wants them both."
"We have the man. He is the primary target. The woman was to be used as motivation. We can provide him with sufficient motivation without her."
"Of course." He turns on his heel and walks over to his brother. They pause for a second, look at each other with a peculiar intensity, then leave.
She thinks they must have a telepathic link, which makes her wonder why they were talking at all. Who did they think would hear? She decides to wait. She hears the car leave and keeps waiting. She concentrates on the rhythm of the ocean. Tranquility in inaction. She clears her mind and listens.
After a while, she hears the car return. She sees a shape move in front of the side window toward the car, hears the car door open and the car leave.
She doesn't move until morning. In fact, she doesn't move until the maid her and Jay hired comes complaining into the room.
"These people with money expect you to do everything for them. Hell, they can't even pick their nasty drawers up from off the floor."
She watches the maid move about the room and listens to the litany of complaints.
"Nasty-ass rich folk with their nasty-ass ways. Oh nooo, we can't pick up our clothes. Oh, nooo we can't leave no tip. What the hell happened to this place?"
Mara looks around the room and feels mostly relieved that it's just the maid, but a little embarrassed. There are a variety of liquor bottles in a variety of stages of empty all around the room. She didn't want to hear what the maid would say when she got to the bedroom and changed the sheets. Mara was anything but celibate and the guy she'd picked up the day before yesterday had been a randy fellow. There were five, no six condoms who knows where.
And she didn't think the bloodstains, no matter how small and consensually created, were going to make the maid happy.
"AWWW FER THE LOVE OF LITTLE GREEN APPLES!!!! AWWW, HELL NO I AIN'T CLEANING THAT SHIT UP!!!!"
The maid shoots out of the bedroom grabs her stuff and stomps out the door. She doesn't even bother to close it and throws the key on the mat.
"That went well." Mara says to herself. She edges away from the wall and looks outside. She moves slowly so her camouflage has the opportunity to adapt to what she's passing. She was already weak, and after a night of no rest and maintaining her deception her resources are nearly gone. She's about as strong as a coppertop right now.
Outside it is beautiful. It seems surreal. Everything is exactly as it was when she pulled in, except her oldest friend has been kidnapped by exiles working for the Merovingian.
She hasn't heard that name in decades.
"She isn't here." The other one says.
"We smell her."
"We smell something. There are clothes everywhere. They carry the human's scent."
He is still within a few feet of her. Close enough for her to notice that his face appears as smooth as a funerary statue. He nudges the pile of dirty laundry next to her with his toe and the far edge brushes her leg.
"The Merovingian wants them both."
"We have the man. He is the primary target. The woman was to be used as motivation. We can provide him with sufficient motivation without her."
"Of course." He turns on his heel and walks over to his brother. They pause for a second, look at each other with a peculiar intensity, then leave.
She thinks they must have a telepathic link, which makes her wonder why they were talking at all. Who did they think would hear? She decides to wait. She hears the car leave and keeps waiting. She concentrates on the rhythm of the ocean. Tranquility in inaction. She clears her mind and listens.
After a while, she hears the car return. She sees a shape move in front of the side window toward the car, hears the car door open and the car leave.
She doesn't move until morning. In fact, she doesn't move until the maid her and Jay hired comes complaining into the room.
"These people with money expect you to do everything for them. Hell, they can't even pick their nasty drawers up from off the floor."
She watches the maid move about the room and listens to the litany of complaints.
"Nasty-ass rich folk with their nasty-ass ways. Oh nooo, we can't pick up our clothes. Oh, nooo we can't leave no tip. What the hell happened to this place?"
Mara looks around the room and feels mostly relieved that it's just the maid, but a little embarrassed. There are a variety of liquor bottles in a variety of stages of empty all around the room. She didn't want to hear what the maid would say when she got to the bedroom and changed the sheets. Mara was anything but celibate and the guy she'd picked up the day before yesterday had been a randy fellow. There were five, no six condoms who knows where.
And she didn't think the bloodstains, no matter how small and consensually created, were going to make the maid happy.
"AWWW FER THE LOVE OF LITTLE GREEN APPLES!!!! AWWW, HELL NO I AIN'T CLEANING THAT SHIT UP!!!!"
The maid shoots out of the bedroom grabs her stuff and stomps out the door. She doesn't even bother to close it and throws the key on the mat.
"That went well." Mara says to herself. She edges away from the wall and looks outside. She moves slowly so her camouflage has the opportunity to adapt to what she's passing. She was already weak, and after a night of no rest and maintaining her deception her resources are nearly gone. She's about as strong as a coppertop right now.
Outside it is beautiful. It seems surreal. Everything is exactly as it was when she pulled in, except her oldest friend has been kidnapped by exiles working for the Merovingian.
She hasn't heard that name in decades.