2022
Throwing on a thick jacket and zipping it up, Bianca turned quickly as a shadow passed through the window into the motel room she had hired out for the week. Again the thought passed fleetingly that it was Michael, or one of the Phoenix. She was always on-guard now, always on the move, but no matter if she had succeeded in evading their physical presence they still haunted her memory and her mind. There was no true escape. Her eyes scanning the wall for a few minutes, ensuring there would be no threat if she left, she turned back and shimmered out.
Her task today was simple, she just had to find a certain witch the Sorcerer was looking for and she would get paid. Knowing she was living on the last of her previous payment which would surely run out by the end of the week, she was thankful that she had been given an easy job such as tracking to see her through. This was an assured payment, one she was confidant she could obtain and therefore knew she wouldn't end up out on the street for weeks at a time as had often happened to her before. It was less difficult to hide out in the open, and she barely slept for fear of being found or running into another Phoenix who would drag her back to where she didn't want to be.
Shimmering into a small alcove along the outside brick wall of one of the buildings in town, she stepped out into the misty morning, the fog just starting to lift as the sun began to rise higher into the sky. Spying someone fitting the young witch's description, she saw him leaving his apartment building, racing over to catch the tram before it sped past him. Quickly she made her way over to the queue, climbing on after him and slipping between a crowd of people until she reached a spare seat up the back. Keeping a close eye on him, her eyes periodically flicked to the window as she surveyed the many buildings they were travelling past. As the tram came to a stop, she suddenly saw him disembarking, pushing herself up and rushing past the other people to follow him off. Groans and grunts from annoyed people were aired behind her as she left, leaping off the stairs of the tram seconds before it took off again. Watching him cross the street, she hastily made her way to the nearby coffee stall, quickly paying for a cup and raising it to warm her lips as she tried to act preoccupied so no-one would notice her stalker-like actions.
Waiting a while and seeing that he wasn't coming back out of the building, she determined he must be working. She now knew where his home and workplace were, what route he caught to get to work, surely it was enough for the Sorcerer. Discarding her cup and looking around for a good place to disappear from, she slipped behind the large dumpster in the nearby alley and shimmered down to the Underworld.
The Sorcerer was working on a potion of some means, throwing various ingredients into the large pot before him until it started billowing smoke into his face. His attention diverted to Bianca as he heard her shimmer in. Leaving the task before him, he made his way over to her.
"Did you find him? Tell me what you found out," he said quickly.
"Uh uh," she said, shaking her head. "First the bounty."
The Sorcerer waved his hand absently in the air. "Later. You'll get your money. I'm not paying on lack of information."
"I did find him," Bianca said.
"And?" he pressed.
"I know where he's living, where he's working, what route and mode of transportation he takes to get there." She paused, looking him over. "He doesn't seem to be as threatening as you make him out to be. In fact he appears to be living a normal life."
"Well in that case he doesn't need to be mixed up in the world of magic. I want his powers," the Sorcerer said. Bianca frowned, her eyes narrowing as she looked at him. This was meant to be easy. He was supposed to pay her today and then she could go on her merry way, but now he was making more demands of her. "I'll double the bounty."
"Triple it," she returned, bargaining with him. She knew double was good enough to get by for a while without any problems, but if he agreed on tripling it she could live without worry for months, without having to do another job, she could maybe even venture to another state for a while and completely drop off the radar.
"Triple?" he shrieked. Seeing she was being obstinate in both stance and attitude, he conceded. "Okay, fine, triple, but you get those powers and give them to me the second you do."
"And then you'll pay me?" she questioned. He nodded. "No down payment?"
"You're asking a bit much, aren't you? I agreed to your price; now go do your job."
Looking at him darkly, she shimmered out, back to where she had left earlier - behind the dumpster in the alley. Frequenting the many stores across from the witch's workplace, she kept an eye on it to see when he would leave. For days she repeated the routine until she had every factor down, knew exactly what time he would leave down to the second, when he left for lunch, when he ventured home again. It was only on the very last day of the week she knew she had to do something, things were getting critical - she needed the money, she had to go after him now.
Arriving early enough to catch him before he left for work, Bianca crossed the street and inspected the front of the apartment complex. The door was locked, and it was one of those high security buildings where someone inside would have to let you in. Being inconspicuous, she shimmered just inside the doorway, depressing the handle and pushing her way into the internal stairway by the elevator. Taking the stairs two at a time, she raced up to his floor, stopping outside his doorway. Knowing she didn't have time for pretentious idle chit-chat, she shimmered straight into his apartment – a break and enter without any evidence.
"What the hell? How did you…?" the witch stammered as he walked in and found her. His gaze drifting down to her hand, he watched as she lifted it to generate an energy ball, the jacket sleeve riding up her arm to reveal the birthmark. Practically spitting out the word, he declared: "Phoenix."
"Sit down," she demanded. His sturdy stance showing he wasn't willing to obey, she gave him a stern look then drew her arm back. "Sit!"
Backing him into the kitchen, he took a seat in one of the dining table chairs, watching as she put the ball out and circled to the back of him. Placing a hand on his shoulder, she leant down close to his ear.
"Now we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. If you let me take them freely I can assure you it will hurt a lot less."
"I'm not letting you take anything!" the witch protested, attempting to rise from the chair. Applying more pressure to her hand, she forced him back down again.
"Hard way it is."
Slipping the heal of her hand down to the back of his shoulder blades she pushed him forward, gripping his shoulder tightly so he couldn't escape. Thrusting her hand into his back, she kept him still as he tried to get away from the excruciating pain that now racked his body. Bianca could feel his power coursing up through her arm and into her body.
As a last ditch attempt to set himself free from her grasp, the witch used his feet to push both himself and the chair backwards, the top smashing into Bianca's stomach. She gasped, temporarily winded, before she quickly collected her thoughts, re-firing up the energy ball and placing it harshly against the side of his face. Delighting in the sounds of his screams as it scorched him she quickly finished the job and pulled back away from him, kicking the chair for added effect so that both it and he tumbled to the floor.
"I could do more, but I won't," she said to him. "So long as you don't piss someone else off, we'll never have to cross paths again."
Walking away from him, she shimmered out and straight down to the Sorcerer's lair, seeing him instantly jump from his chair upon her arrival.
"Finally!" he cried as she materialised. "I should report you for bad service."
"Do you want the powers or not?" she snapped. He nodded eagerly. "These things take time. If you didn't want it done with accuracy you could have done it yourself."
"Well I thank you for your quintessential skills," he said sarcastically. "But if you don't mind, I did request you pass them onto me."
Stepping in towards him, she raised her hands cupping them together and then joining the heels of her palms, holding them flat out towards him as she repeated the spell to hand the powers over.
All that was gathered
Absorbed in whole
Leave my possession
Into this soul
Watching as a warm yellow light circled around her hands from her fingertips in a clockwise direction, she felt the tingling in her palms as something white sparked there, the power finally pushing itself from her hands in a steady stream into the Sorcerer's chest. An ecstatic expression on his face, he did nothing to look as if he was in pain, in fact he looked more confidant as he straightened his body to absorb all the power.
The tingling feelings stopped as the power petered out, the last of it sinking into him and the light disappearing from around her fingers. Closing them up and lowering her hands, she watched as he strode about believing he was the most important person in the world.
"Now, the bounty," Bianca said. "Triple. No part payments. All of it."
"You fool!" he bellowed with a hearty laugh. "There is no bounty. I never had enough to pay you in the first place."
Furious, Bianca could feel her blood beginning to boil. He'd just robbed her completely. She was going to kill him. Charging forward she was thrown back as he lifted his hand and sent her sailing into a nearby metal shelf, her head rebounding forward as it slammed the hard surface, her body crashing to the ground. Instinctively she reached back behind her head to check there was no damage, her eyes closing briefly as she grimaced at the tenderness of the bump. She was to later regret letting her guard down for those few brief seconds once the Sorcerer took advantage of the opportunity and brought his fist down into her face. The contact made her feel as if her nose had exploded, her other hand rising to cover it as he pulled back for a second go. Slightly turning onto her side, she kicked at his shin full force, his balance already off-centre causing him to tumble forward at her feet. Lifting herself up quickly she could feel the copper taste of blood running over her lips and into her mouth. Trying to push himself back to a standing position, he fired up an energy ball into his hand. Feeling behind her, her hand fell on a fallen volume of spells. Gripping the spine tightly she lobbed it at him, the energy ball going astray as it hit another shelf, leaving her pinned with nowhere to go. Seeing him come towards her again, she looked about anxiously for something she could use, her gaze locking on a lead bar hiding between the shelf and the wall. The space to reach it was narrow and unmoveable but she had to try.
Holding onto one edge of the shelf, she pushed her hand behind it, stretching for the bar but finding it just out of reach. Turning her head, she pushed herself further, feeling blindly for the solid object. The Sorcerer finally in range again as his hands burned with fire, she made one last desperate grasp for the cold metal, her fingers brushing against it before a second try encased it in her grip. Yanking her arm back quickly, the Sorcerer only inches away, she struck him hard across the side of the head, hearing a loud crack upon impact. The Sorcerer dropped to the floor. His eyes still wide open but unmoving, she could see the whites slowly giving away to a painful red colour. She knew she had killed him. His eyes would not have turned red unless she had caused something to haemorrhage.
Letting out a few deep breaths as she stared at him, she began to settle enough to think what to do next. Wiping her hand across her face, she climbed back to her feet and stepped over his body, He had to have been lying, a greedy man like him. He must be storing the bounty somewhere. She needed the money desperately, and if he did not have that surely there was something of value she could take. Pulling out the drawers, tossing objects from the shelf onto the ground, she paid no mind to carefulness. She was set on finding something for her survival; recklessness was just an easier way to it.
Cursing upon seeing droplets of blood falling and staining shelves, tables and ornaments where she was searching, she lifted her hand to her face again to try to stop the rush of blood from her nose. This was no good, she was leaving evidence of her being here everywhere, and still she had found nothing that could help her.
Quickly giving up, she shimmered back to her motel room, rushing into the bathroom and grabbing a flannel, thrusting it under the faucet as she ran it as fast as it would go. Lifting the wet cloth to her face, she found the cold soothing despite the winter chill in the air. Keeping her head tilted forward over the basin, she checked every few minutes to see if it had stopped or at least eased. Her eyes finally lifting to the mirror, seeing her face turning to shades of red, purple and black, she inspected her nose to make sure it wasn't broken. Although tender, it still felt intact. Finally washing her entire face as the bleeding stopped, she heard rapping on the door.
"C'mon, open up!" the man shouted from the other side. "I know you're in there, I heard the water running."
"Give me a minute!" Bianca snapped, tossing bloody materials aside before throwing open the door. On the other side stood the motel manager.
"Oh shit, what happened to you?" he asked, looking her over. His concern suddenly turned to suspicion. "Listen, if you're conducting some kind of funny business in here…"
"No, I went out for this," Bianca said, pointing at her face.
"You're past check-out time you know," he said.
"I didn't get paid," Bianca explained. "Can I owe you?"
The motel manager looked back to the parking lot. "I've got other customers waiting for rooms - paying customers. I can't hold off one because you're having financial trouble."
"I will get it. Trust me. Give me 'til tomorrow."
"Tonight. I'll give you three hours. If you can't come up with the goods by then, I'm sorry but you'll have to leave."
Setting her jaw, she nodded, closing the door as he turned to leave. Where was she going to find the money that quickly? She needed time to find sources, time to assess the kill. Three hours was not enough time. Turning and looking back at the bed, she spotted the phone on the bedside table. Running over previous employers, thinking who she could call, she dialled in the number to one that she remembered – Whitaker Rhodes. He was a highly regarded lawyer who had no problems taking out clients and witnesses for the defence, and because he didn't like to get his hands dirty he used assassins to do the job for him.
"You need money?" he asked.
"Yes," she replied, ashamed to admit it. She could almost hear him musing on the other end.
"There is one witch on my list. Ryden Hales. I believe you've crossed paths with him before."
"At the Northern Hotel? Yeah."
"When he finishes work, then you can write him off for me."
Bianca fell silent as she thought it over. She'd visited the bar a few times, knew he was one of the bartenders there. She'd seen him perform a few tricks as if he was Tom Cruise in Cocktail, but they were less impressive to her than other patrons for she knew he was only using his powers to do them. He was a young, fairly attractive man, and she knew it would be a waste to end his life, but it was the only way she could buy some time for herself. The only negative factor to this deed at the moment was that she couldn't wait for Ryden to finish work; he wouldn't finish until the early hours of tomorrow morning.
"I can't wait that long. This room needs to be paid off in the next three hours, or I'm out of here," she said.
"Okay then tell me how much the balance is, I'll courier a cheque over to the manager, and then I'll pay you the rest after you've completed the job. If you fail to do this, then I'll cancel that cheque before it has a chance to be cashed, and I'll send the Phoenix after you."
Although annoyed with his threat, she provided him with the details he needed, hanging up the phone and staring at the bedspread. She needed a weapon. Sweeping her hand over the emptiness, a series of knives appeared laying next to each other. All kinds from long to short, straight-edged to rounded, fixed blade to folding ones. Picking up the small hunters knife, she saw it was portable enough for her to carry around with her. Not that she needed to, she could just reconjure it again, but it was always fun and dangerous feeling if she could carry it around without getting caught. Turning it in her hand, she inspected the curved blade, lifting a finger to it to make sure it was sharp enough. She loved the shape of it, how the handle curved into her fingers, how the blade curved away. It was a terrific tool for slashing – quick and efficient. Placing it back on the bedspread, she waved her hand over the assortment and made it disappear again. Raising her hand to her head, feeling it still pounding from the earlier fight, and knowing she had very little time in this room, possibly the last time she'd have a bed for awhile, and craving the rest she needed to reenergise for tonight, she lay herself down onto the pillows and ever so slowly drifted off to sleep.
She was waiting for him out in the alley when he came out to empty discarded glass bottles into the dumpster. Moving quickly out of the shadows, she saw him glance up, scanning the empty area, sighing with relief as a cat jumped from the fire escape of the nearby apartments and raced its way out into the street. His attention diverting back to the dumpster, Bianca took her opportunity to strike, grabbing the back of his collar and bunching it tightly in her fist as she brought the knife around to his throat.
"Ease back, that's it," she cooed.
"What do you want? My wallet or something?" he asked, fumbling around his back pockets as he backed up with her. Although it was tempting, Bianca knew what was in his wallet was probably a whole lot less than what she would get paid for executing him.
"I want a little more than that," she said.
"As inviting as that sounds…" he began.
Catching her by surprise, Ryden blinked out, disappearing from her grasp, reappearing a little further up the alley as he ran for the road. Sighing with frustration, she shimmered out so that she reappeared in front of him, holding her hand out with her palm flat and planting it against his chest as his momentum carried him straight into her.
"I don't understand why you'd run when you know how persistent we can be," she said. Raising her right hand, she lifted it over to her other shoulder as she conjured the hunting knife into her hand, slashing it violently across his neck, not even flinching as the blood spurted from the open gash as he gasped for air that would not come, blood spilling from his mouth instead. "And deadly," she added, letting him drop to the ground.
Behind her she heard slow clapping, footsteps following as someone came closer. Turning quickly she saw a tall man emerging from the shadows of the doorway, a pleased smile on his rugged face.
"Bravo!" he called, clapping one last time before lowering his hands to his sides. "You have some remarkable skills there."
Bianca kept silent, watching him warily, her eyes following him as he stepped closer, circling around her and finally stopping by Ryden's body on the ground. She turned to watch him completely, wondering what exactly his intentions were. Looking down on the body thoughtfully, his long curls falling in his face, he gave Ryden a slight kick with his foot before glancing up to her.
"You don't have to look at me so dubiously. I was merely an observer."
"Take your observing somewhere else," she said boldly, lifting her head up sharply to show she meant it.
"And settle for something with less grandeur? I think not."
He moved away from the body, but didn't move very far, leaving Bianca to wonder what exactly it was that he wanted.
"You spend all of your time lurking in the shadows watching people?" she asked.
"Well that's an inadequately poor view of me," he remarked.
"I can form my own opinion, being as I don't know who 'me' is."
Lifting an eyebrow, he turned his head slightly and saw she really didn't have any idea who he was. Stepping into the most brightly lit spot available in the alley, watching as she subtly inched her way back out of his path, he lifted his hands in an acquiescent gesture.
"I really should talk to the people at the paper, considering my aunt used to work for them, you would think they would give credit where credit was due."
"Credit for what?" she queried.
Smirking, he clasped his hands behind his back and took a step towards the brick building that housed the bar section of the Northern Hotel.
"For the destruction of our corporate masses," he said. "Although I doubt you've read the paper lately, what with all the running and hiding. I was at least hoping you'd have caught the headlines."
"I don't really partake in local business and stock exchange," Bianca responded.
"Not unless it concerned a target," he pointed out. Looking at her seriously as he saw the confusion begin to break on her face, he continued: "Oh, I know who you are. You're the rogue Phoenix everyone is talking about. I've heard whispers of you down in the Underworld. Did you know they've come up with a nickname for you now? They're calling you the Dark Phoenix because you turned your back on your own kind."
Setting her jaw in aggravation, thinking it a great possibility that she'd finally been caught, she tightened her grip on the handle of the hunters knife.
"Okay, so you know who I am. But you never answered me – who are you?" she questioned.
"My name is Wyatt Halliwell. And I am not here for any avaricious reason other than to invite you to join my team, if you care to do so."
Bianca's confusion deepened as the name Halliwell struck a chord with her, but again she could not remember from where she knew it. It was distinctly familiar to her, but nothing recent came to mind of where she had heard it. She knew it was not from one of this man's supposed 'great' achievements he was shamelessly promoting. But for some odd reason his appealing for assistance seemed earnest, not selfish.
"My interest lies in the finesse of your skills, nothing more," he continued. "I'll provide you with what you need. So long as you work exclusively for me, I'll ensure that you never have another problem."
It was a promise that was almost too good to be true. Bianca knew better than to take his word for it. She knew better than to trust a complete stranger, especially ones that appeared where you were and claimed to know all about you; even if his surname was oddly familiar. There had to be a catch, there was always a secondary condition.
"You want me to work for you?" she asked.
"That's right," he replied.
"Strictly business?"
"Of course," Wyatt responded.
Wetting her lips, she looked away from him for a brief moment, thinking about it before her gaze travelled back to him.
"I'll have to think it over," she said.
"I'm sure you'll come to the right conclusion," he said. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a piece of paper and held it out to her. "Take this. It's my address. You can drop by tomorrow if you want to discuss this further."
Staring at him, she tried to work out why he was offering this, what exactly was in it for him. Her gaze falling to the folded paper, she quickly reached out and snatched it from him as if her speed would keep him oblivious to the fact she had taken it. Before he had a chance to comment any further, she shimmered back to her motel room, seating herself on the bed as she unfolded the paper, smoothing out the wrinkles to read what was on it. Certainly he was right, it was an address. Hearing a knock at the door, she picked it up again quickly, pulling open the drawer and hiding it in the pages of the bible stored in there. Closing the drawer quickly, she headed for the door, presuming it was the manager, and wondering exactly if Whitaker had made good on his payment.