Ticking Clock
Aliana walked slowly down the Thompson's basement steps. She could hear the rhythmical pounding of fists slamming into leather and guessed that the blows that seemed to shake the whole huge house were from the kicks Tye was throwing.
He was an awesome sight to see as he circled and attacked the hanging punching bag. Lean, powerful muscles rippled under his skin and his dark, sweat-drenched locks fell forward into his eyes. Aliana stood at the bottom of the stairs watching, not wanting to break the trance Tye seemed to be in as he attacked and re-attacked the bag. 'I've never seen a human move so fast.' Aliana thought with amazement.
Tye finally slowed, then stopped. He picked up a towel and wiped off his sweaty face before throwing a white T-shirt on over his glistening upper body. "You don't have to stand all the way over there ya know. I won't bite." Tye said to Aliana without looking up. Aliana started a bit; she hadn't realized he had known she was there.
"Sorry," Aliana mumbled as she walked closer. "You're training awfully hard these days, mind telling me why?"
"I got my ass kicked, that's why." Tye replied shortly as he walked over to a bar and started doing pull-ups. He had been done with his workout, but it was easier to be doing something around Aliana. That girl was his biggest distraction, and he didn't really want her to know that.
"When?" Aliana asked, not believing him in the slightest. No one who moved like she had just seen could be beaten by anyone.
"That night I met with the strange little brunette. You remember, the day Intrepid won his first stakes race." Aliana nodded. She remembered going to get ice cream to celebrate. Tye had to leave early.
"Even with 7 years of excelling in karate I couldn't beat her, didn't even get one shot off. It was pathetic." Tye vented. It had been bugging him ever since and this was the first chance he'd had to really talk to Aliana about it.
"So, what happened after the fight?" Aliana asked, sensing the story wasn't done.
"She helped me up, told me she was a friend, and said she'd be in touch." Aliana could tell there was more than that.
"And what else did she say?" She asked, becoming slightly alarmed. Tye finally directly made eye contact with her. Ignoring the tiny shiver in her stomach at that, Aliana could see confusion in his eyes, which did not help to settle her own tenseness much. Finally, with a small sigh, Tye broke his eyes away, looked at the floor and answered.
"She said, "You're Manticore. Fighting is the best way to remind you of that." Then she shook my hand and said "From one chimera to another. I'll be in touch." And then she disappeared." Tye glanced up again to meet Aliana's eyes. His gaze was so intense that, after a moment, Aliana had to look away; the whole situation was becoming a bit unnerving. With some hesitation she replied,
"From mythology? Manticore and chimera?" She asked, trying to find something logical.
"I don't know exactly what it means, but I'm starting to get an idea."
****
Max set her pen down and closed the leather-bound book. Logan came up behind her and started rubbing her shoulders. Max let her head fall back against him as she relaxed into the cushions of the couch.
"You did the right thing sending them after those kids, Max. You gave them 11 years of a normal life, but if they're to survive they have to know who and what they are." Max sighed and nodded. His words comforted her, but didn't change the fact that she felt awful for having to pull the two 16-year-olds out of their normal lives.
"I just wish I could've given them more time." She said.
"I know, but their clock is about to run out of time." Logan gently reminded.
****
Teli had gone four days without sleeping. But on that fourth night, she was just too exhausted to do anything but drop into bed.
Teli was back in the box. Her infrared vision swept quickly over the surfaces. A second later she was flying out of the box, through layers of dirt. She scrambled to her feet. She was now on the surface, deep in a forest.
Gunfire and grenade explosions went off 100 yards away. Teli crawled on her belly into the underbrush. A grenade blew up not 20 feet from her. The ground vibrated, and Teli was showered with dirt and branches. She used the noise to cover her movements as she ran quickly across the forest floor.
Teli caught the eye of another young soldier from across a clearing. Hand signals. 'Stay low. Move southwest. Unfriendlies to the north.' She nodded and scurried off. A branch was blown off its trunk right in front of Teli. Another bullet whizzed past her ear. She dropped and rolled. Another grenade landed in the spot she'd be standing only a moment earlier. More bullets. More mini-explosions. Teli ran, zigzagging to get away.
Teli sat straight up in bed, breathing hard. Her heart was racing and her eyes were wide. It took a minute for her to still her breathing and racing heart. 'I need my journal!' Teli thought urgently, needing to write the dream down. She started to reach for it, and that was when it dawned on her that she hadn't had her journal since that strange night up on the rock. Teli's heart rate picked up again, worried that her journal was gone for good.
But it was still in its usual place, under her bed where she always left it, along with her little pocketknife. 'That's odd, I would swear I didn't have it when I came home'. It then dawned on her who had picked it up and returned it. 'How did he know where I kept it?'
Teli opened the book, noticing the jagged line that crossed the page where she'd last been writing when the book had been knocked away. Teli turned the page. But the space she'd been planning to write in was already taken up by another message.
Dear Teli,
I'm sorry for the confusion in your life, and I promise, the answers are coming. I wish I could give you more time to live a normal life, but the time is quickly coming when you'll have to face your past. Trust Zane, I sent him; he's there to help. We will meet again, soon. Until then, good luck.
-- Dark Angel
Aliana walked slowly down the Thompson's basement steps. She could hear the rhythmical pounding of fists slamming into leather and guessed that the blows that seemed to shake the whole huge house were from the kicks Tye was throwing.
He was an awesome sight to see as he circled and attacked the hanging punching bag. Lean, powerful muscles rippled under his skin and his dark, sweat-drenched locks fell forward into his eyes. Aliana stood at the bottom of the stairs watching, not wanting to break the trance Tye seemed to be in as he attacked and re-attacked the bag. 'I've never seen a human move so fast.' Aliana thought with amazement.
Tye finally slowed, then stopped. He picked up a towel and wiped off his sweaty face before throwing a white T-shirt on over his glistening upper body. "You don't have to stand all the way over there ya know. I won't bite." Tye said to Aliana without looking up. Aliana started a bit; she hadn't realized he had known she was there.
"Sorry," Aliana mumbled as she walked closer. "You're training awfully hard these days, mind telling me why?"
"I got my ass kicked, that's why." Tye replied shortly as he walked over to a bar and started doing pull-ups. He had been done with his workout, but it was easier to be doing something around Aliana. That girl was his biggest distraction, and he didn't really want her to know that.
"When?" Aliana asked, not believing him in the slightest. No one who moved like she had just seen could be beaten by anyone.
"That night I met with the strange little brunette. You remember, the day Intrepid won his first stakes race." Aliana nodded. She remembered going to get ice cream to celebrate. Tye had to leave early.
"Even with 7 years of excelling in karate I couldn't beat her, didn't even get one shot off. It was pathetic." Tye vented. It had been bugging him ever since and this was the first chance he'd had to really talk to Aliana about it.
"So, what happened after the fight?" Aliana asked, sensing the story wasn't done.
"She helped me up, told me she was a friend, and said she'd be in touch." Aliana could tell there was more than that.
"And what else did she say?" She asked, becoming slightly alarmed. Tye finally directly made eye contact with her. Ignoring the tiny shiver in her stomach at that, Aliana could see confusion in his eyes, which did not help to settle her own tenseness much. Finally, with a small sigh, Tye broke his eyes away, looked at the floor and answered.
"She said, "You're Manticore. Fighting is the best way to remind you of that." Then she shook my hand and said "From one chimera to another. I'll be in touch." And then she disappeared." Tye glanced up again to meet Aliana's eyes. His gaze was so intense that, after a moment, Aliana had to look away; the whole situation was becoming a bit unnerving. With some hesitation she replied,
"From mythology? Manticore and chimera?" She asked, trying to find something logical.
"I don't know exactly what it means, but I'm starting to get an idea."
****
Max set her pen down and closed the leather-bound book. Logan came up behind her and started rubbing her shoulders. Max let her head fall back against him as she relaxed into the cushions of the couch.
"You did the right thing sending them after those kids, Max. You gave them 11 years of a normal life, but if they're to survive they have to know who and what they are." Max sighed and nodded. His words comforted her, but didn't change the fact that she felt awful for having to pull the two 16-year-olds out of their normal lives.
"I just wish I could've given them more time." She said.
"I know, but their clock is about to run out of time." Logan gently reminded.
****
Teli had gone four days without sleeping. But on that fourth night, she was just too exhausted to do anything but drop into bed.
Teli was back in the box. Her infrared vision swept quickly over the surfaces. A second later she was flying out of the box, through layers of dirt. She scrambled to her feet. She was now on the surface, deep in a forest.
Gunfire and grenade explosions went off 100 yards away. Teli crawled on her belly into the underbrush. A grenade blew up not 20 feet from her. The ground vibrated, and Teli was showered with dirt and branches. She used the noise to cover her movements as she ran quickly across the forest floor.
Teli caught the eye of another young soldier from across a clearing. Hand signals. 'Stay low. Move southwest. Unfriendlies to the north.' She nodded and scurried off. A branch was blown off its trunk right in front of Teli. Another bullet whizzed past her ear. She dropped and rolled. Another grenade landed in the spot she'd be standing only a moment earlier. More bullets. More mini-explosions. Teli ran, zigzagging to get away.
Teli sat straight up in bed, breathing hard. Her heart was racing and her eyes were wide. It took a minute for her to still her breathing and racing heart. 'I need my journal!' Teli thought urgently, needing to write the dream down. She started to reach for it, and that was when it dawned on her that she hadn't had her journal since that strange night up on the rock. Teli's heart rate picked up again, worried that her journal was gone for good.
But it was still in its usual place, under her bed where she always left it, along with her little pocketknife. 'That's odd, I would swear I didn't have it when I came home'. It then dawned on her who had picked it up and returned it. 'How did he know where I kept it?'
Teli opened the book, noticing the jagged line that crossed the page where she'd last been writing when the book had been knocked away. Teli turned the page. But the space she'd been planning to write in was already taken up by another message.
Dear Teli,
I'm sorry for the confusion in your life, and I promise, the answers are coming. I wish I could give you more time to live a normal life, but the time is quickly coming when you'll have to face your past. Trust Zane, I sent him; he's there to help. We will meet again, soon. Until then, good luck.
-- Dark Angel