Welcome to the pulse pounding chapter 8 of the story! I'm going to try to keep this as less confusing as possible...while not giving away too much about what really is going on. And thank you to all of the newer reviewers I have been getting lately, your input I'm very thankful for! And as usual a bit of a slow start. I've shrotened my useless drabble this time...so on to the story!
-Days had past since Keira had seen Jak. Her mind was still in a mental panic, though a few days had gone by. Jak had come to her to ask her about Catwoman, there was no doubt about it that somewhere in Jak's mind he knew. And Keira couldn't live knowing that Jak even had the thought of catwoman being her. but what Keira wasn't sure of was if Jak would embrace her gift or push it away.
But at the current moment Keira had too much to worry about. Between Jak and that strange dream that she couldn't make heads or tales of, she was far too confused to even think straight. Her thoughts shifted gears as fast as people had mood swings. Today, Keira chose to just stay at the race garage and clean up. She needed a moment to clear her mind and bring her focus back and sort this issues out. She shuffeled through assorted junk and placed it in their respective spots.
As Keira loaded some magazines onto a shelf she could hear heavy footsteps in the distance. Thanks to being 'Catwoman' she could hear people coming from very far away. The footsteps grew closer and Keira pretended not to hear them. The figure entered the garage and stood there, Keira pretended not to notice.
"Well, Keira how have you been."
Keira's head spun around and she acted surprised. "Oh, umm, Erol. I've been...good. What have you been up to?"
"Doing what I usually do and I've also been wondering where you have been. You haven't been around lately, it's almost like you died or..." A slight chuckle. "something along those lines."
"Oh, no I've been very busy lately. And, uh, you know doing what I have to..." Keira forced up a smile.
Erol came closer to Keira and Keira tried to find and excuse to move farther back. She picked up some tools and busied herself with reorganizing them in her box. Erol came even closer and said to her in a low tone, "You know Kana said she ran into Catwoman."
She looked up, "Yeah, she told me."
"Have you ever met her?"
'Is the entire planet fuckin' on to me?' She tried to look calm. "No, I haven't. I've only heard of her."
"Oh...I see." He sounded a bit dissapointed. He sat beside Keira as she fumbled with her tools. Keira swallowed hard and slowly moved away. He just moved closer to her.
'Does he get the hint?'
Keira jumped up. "Ah, ummm, oh my look at the time. I'm late." Keira grabbed her coat and keys.
"Where are you going?" Erol sounded annoyed.
"I promised I'd...ah...help a friend with their broken down zoomer. Could you close my door for me after I leave, thanks, bye!" Keira dashed out the door as fast as her legs could go.
Erol didn't believe Keira on the 'I've only heard of her' quote. Erol looked around and decided to go through her things. She had a lot of mechanics stuff downstairs, but she might have a few hidden things upstairs. Erol walked up the stairs and entered Keira's bedroom. Which, much to his surprise was a huge mess.
He saw a pile of black clothes laying in a corner. He walked up to them and went to reach down, when he did, he was staring down the business end of a pair of claws. Which were conveniently heading towards his face. The pair of claws latched onto his face, leaving the animal hanging from his face, holding on to his skin.
Erol screamed and stumbled out the room. He grabbed, what ever it was, and pulled it painfully from his face. Blood dripped from the tears in his face and he held his face in his hands. The animal walked over to his feet, and sent a slashing claw through his left leg. Another scream, but this time Erol lost his balence and fell backwards...down the stairs. He tumbled down the stairs and rolled out the door. The cat ran down the stairs in pursuit and closed the door as her rolled out. Midnight appeared to smile and walked back up the stairs.
-As Keira drove, she released a reliaved breath. Keira took the moment to gather her thoughts to make her final decision. She had been mulling it over for a while (I hadn't told what she was really thinking before...) But she came to a final choice, she had to tell Jak the truth. In short, they both had a gift/curse. They were the only ones that truly understand each other and their problems. and Keira was also the only one who could save Jak from the darkness that threatened to consume him.
Keira made a bee line for the hideout. As she made her way there, Jak passed quickly with a vengence. Daxter was holding on for dear life to Jak's shoulder pad and Jak was zooming through traffic like wild fire. Keira jack-knifed the zoomer around and discreetly followed him.
Jak came to a halting stop in front of the Baron's prison fortress.
'What is he doing here?'
Jak pulled out his blaster and stormed through the entrance. (If your lost, this is the mission where Jak had to free Tess, Samos, etc. from the fortress). Keira hesitated to follow, but after a quick mental debate, she followed. For some strange reason she felt compelled to follow.
During the entire breech of the fortress, Keira remained on ceiling beams as she watched him fight through, keeping herself safely removed from the dangerous parts. He moved faster and faster and she maneuvered quicker to keep up with him. He fought elegantly, yet deadly. To Keira it was an amazing sight to behold.
They finally reached their destination. They were in the cell blocks of the fortress. Keira made a huge leap to hang onto some cables over head. Jak opened the cells and she watched. 'I've been here before...I know I have...' She gave it some more thought. "No...this is it...this is the place. the last place I was before I died...'
-flashback-
She was running through the piping system. She was making haste, knowing what she had to do. Thankfully for Kana and her connection to the prison fortress she described a particular prisoner, who fit Jak's description perfectly. They were at the coffee shop talking when she mentioned it. She was talking about work, which she didn't usually do at all, and how bad she felt for this boy. Keira had to ask, "Is his name Jak?"
Kana said, "Yeah how did you know?"
They talked more about him and it was no mistake it was him. "Oh my God! I have to save him!" Kana told her of an unused piping system that lead directly to where he was and Keira fell for it she went to save him, and it was a set up. She died. As the saying goes, "Curisoity killed the cat, but satsifaction brought it back."
"No..." Keira whispered to herself. "I tried to save him, and I failed him. It's all my fault he's this way, with this monster inside of him. I could of stopped it, I could have rescued him." Tears fell down her cheeks. "No...now he can't know who I really am. He could never forgive me and I'll never forgive myself."
Quite the shocker, right? but don't think this story is coming to a close. This is only the beginning and more is bound to happen. As Jak gets pulled further into the darkness, Keira must find a way to slow this process down, at the highest cost. And a plot to finish off Keira for good? But is Kana really the mastermind behind all of this? All to come in the coming chapters...
Thanks for reading and please R and R!
