LEGACY

CH:6- The Jackal

What happened next was a blur for Marie and she kept falling until when she finally awoke was lying on some kind of a table, her legs tied at their ankles and her hands tied at their wrist with the rough uncomfortable kind of rope. She struggled to break free but could not for the rope did deeper into the delicate flesh of her wrists and the door opened and someone came slowly toward her his face remained in the shadows as he spoke:

"Good evening, my dear."

"Who are you? Marie spoke trying to see through the darkness to find who it was,

"Look into my eyes," the tall black haired man intoned in a soothing voice.

His high cheekbones gave an Asiatic cast to his features. The man who called himself the Jackal hovered over the young woman, who was lying on a Jackson table, a large translucent platform that supported her chest and thighs while permitting her abdomen to hung free. It was standard equipment in spinal surgery, for it shifted blood away from the spinal area and minimized bleeding.

Intravenous fluids dripped into her left arm. The table was adjusted so that Marie's head and shoulders were propped upward, and she and the man who called himself the Jackal could commune face-to-face.

In the background, a twelfth century plainsong could be heard. Slow, high voices in unison, they were words of ecstasy, yet to Marie Bourne is sounded like a dirge.

O ignis spiritus paracliti

vita vila omnis creature,

sancus es vivificando formas

"Look into my eyes, Marie," the man repeated.

Marie Bourne looked, could not help looking, but the man's eyes were nearly black, and there was no pity in them whatsoever. They seemed scarcely human. They seemed like a well of pain.

The black haired man had dropped the cultivated Spanish accent, his voice was uninflected but distinctly American.

"What exactly Jason Bourne wanted to see you?" he demanded once more as the young woman shivered with terror." Look into my eyes, Marie. Look into my eyes. And now you must confide in me utterly. You will serve me to bring Bourne here do you understand? If you want to stay alive you better accept my offer."