Model Beast
By Thomas Mc

Chapter 7 : The Fashion Show

Emily gazed out at the underground lake and the beautiful thirty foot water falls on the far side of the great cavern. She sighed deeply and looked over at Devin. "This place is so beautiful." There was a sparkle in her eyes as she smiled mischievously at him. "I keep expecting to see a swarm of fairies flying past us at any minute." She looked down at the sandy beach they stood on then sat down and pulled off her shoes. It turned out that this chamber was much warmer that most of this underground world, almost summery by comparison. She then removed and folded her cloak then laid it on top of the shoes and, closing her eyes, she dug her toes into the sand with a contented sigh.

Devin stood beside her enjoying the pleasant play of emotions that were passing through her as she took in the beauty of this chamber. Emily heard a sigh from Devin that seemed to echo her own and looked up at him in surprise. He felt a moment of surprise pass through her and noticed that she was looking up at him, her eyes wide.

After a moment the surprise wore off and was replaced by a sense of wonder as things fell into place. "You're feeling my emotions right now aren't you." It was more statement that question.

He smiled back. "Anytime I'm near you I can feel your emotions." He replied. "It's all part of being what I am."

She shook her head. "Elizabeth told me that you and the others like you were empaths. I know what the definition of empath is but it just now hit me exactly what that really means." She cocked her head and smiled. "So . . . what do you think of my emotions?"

He thought a moment. "I enjoyed the feel of the way they played through you as you experienced this place." He paused a moment. "I can block my sense of you if it bothers you."

"You can do that, block it?"

"Yes, it takes a bit of effort and the block is imperfect, but it is possible."

She hadn't considered the possibility that it was something that he would have to actively block. Emily thought about it for a minute before responding. "I guess I don't mind." She considered the situation a bit more. "It can be a bit disconcerting to have someone privy to your inner most feelings but I believe there is no harm or malice from you so it doesn't really bother me." She smiled up at him. "So you like what you were sensing?"

"Yes I do. There is a great deal of warmth and good humor in you and I like the feel of it." He smiled down at her.

She stood up and regarded him for a moment, hands on hips, then gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Thanks." She said. Then she gazed up at the vaulted ceiling that seemed to glow with every color of the rainbow. She stepped back, stuck out her arms and twirled letting the colors swirl together as she laughed with delight. Devin chuckled as he let her emotions wash over him. There was something so bold and unselfconscious about her that he found irresistible.

Emily spent the rest of the day with Devin exploring her new friend's fascinating underground world while, at the same time, she learned more about him with each passing moment. She decided that making New York her home base was the smartest move she had made in a while, especially with friends like Devin to come back to.

Late in the afternoon Emily and Devin returned to the dining chamber and wheedled a late meal out of the community cooks. Meanwhile, word went around that all six of the deadly canisters had been recovered and the impending disaster had been averted. After they ate Devin took Emily to the painted tunnels and the whispering gallery.

That evening Emily returned to her apartment to finish getting it organized. Immediately after dark Devin showed up on her balcony and spent a while helping her get the place organized.

~ x x x x x ~

Emily woke up in her new apartment. It was a good feeling knowing that she was in her own place rather than another random hotel room. After a few lazy moments she dragged herself out of bed. It was going to be a very busy day for her.

Just as Emily was ready to go, Elizabeth and John showed up to escort her to the big fashion show. On the way to Times Square, they told her that there were still two of the men she had identified at large. John said that he had six agents watching the area and the FBI also had agents in the area. They figured there was a reasonable chance that the terrorists knew who she was and would try to come after her. The FBI and his agency were determined to catch them.

There were four top fashion designers involved in this show and it would be a major event in the fashion industry. Several of the largest buyers would also be at this show as well as several members of the media. There was some consternation when the producers became aware of Emily's injuries since she was one of the primary centerpieces of the show. There were four other supermodels in the show but Emily was the one with the highest public profile. Much of the show had been build around Emily's persona even to the point of using the dark hooded cloak she had become famous for to add a bit of drama to the event.

There was a flurry of discussions among the producers and the designers over the situation. With a few minor adjustments they were able to work around the bandages and one of the designers came up with a way to work her cane into the overall theme of the show. One of the perks of her exalted position in the modeling industry was that, as long as she didn't over indulge it, they would usually do whatever it took to keep her happy. The fact that she was widely considered to be someone that was very easy to work with, also helped the few times when she needed some special considerations.

The show itself seemed to be coming off smoothly when another crisis cropped up. One of the models twisted her ankle on the stairs as she was leaving the stage. It was quickly established that she would not be able to walk on that twisted ankle. As the producers and designers were clustered around the injured model they were discussing what to do about the crisis when one of the producers glanced over where Emily, Elizabeth and John were quietly talking about this development.

"You!" The producer called out.

Emily looked up. "Me?" She responded.

The producer shook his head. "No, not you." He waved his hand in their direction. "You . . . in the blue top."

"Me?" Elizabeth was perplexed and disconcerted to suddenly find herself the center of attention.

"Yes you. What size do you wear?" He demanded.

"I wear size three." She replied. She glanced at Emily to find her grinning back with a hint of humor glinting in her eyes.

"You'll do." He called out "get her into Cynthia's next outfit."

"Wait! I'm a lawyer. I don't know how to be a model." Elizabeth protested as the crew closed in on her.

"What's to know?" The man remarked. "You put on pretty clothes, walk out to the end of the runway, turn around twice and walk back."

Elizabeth turned pleadingly to Emily. "I can't," She almost squeaked in entreaty, only to face that amused sparkle in Emily's eyes as she smiled back.

"There is one simple trick that often helps new models. When you walk out there, hold your head up and strut like you are better than the others and imagine you are showing off for Charles." Emily leaned in close and lowered her voice, an almost wicked gleam in her eye. "Imagine you are trying to entice Charles to follow you into the bedroom."

Then Elizabeth was surrounded and being hustled over to the changing room, a look of resigned despair on her face. Then it was Emily's turn on the runway. As she returned, Emily stepped off the stage and was rushed into the changing room. She spotted Elizabeth surrounded by a swarm of workers getting her ready then Emily was surrounded by her own swarm.

A few minutes later Elizabeth, dressed and looking flustered, passed by and Emily called out. "Remember, Elizabeth, you're the hottest woman out there and you want to entice Charles to chase after you." She saw a blush rise in Elizabeth's cheeks as they hustled her out of the changing room.

Emily approached the stage just as Elizabeth mounted the steps to the runway. After a moment's hesitation, Elizabeth squared her shoulders and stepped out onto the runway. Emily thought Elizabeth looked very good in the outfit they had put her in and she handled herself very well out on the runway. When she stepped down off the stage Elizabeth had a deer in the headlights look in her eyes as they hustled her back toward the changing room. As they passed each other, Emily gave her the 'thumbs-up' and remarked to her. "You did very good out there." Then it was again her turn.

As the event continued Elizabeth gained confidence. Emily told her that she was getting pretty good at it. John was watching the whole thing with amusement from back stage. On her fifth trip down the runway Elizabeth spotted the face of one of the two missing terrorists in the audience making his way toward the stage. She informed John and Emily as she stepped off the stage. John was immediately on his radio as Emily stepped nervously up onto the stage.

Emily spotted the man almost immediately and saw two agents working their way through the crowd towards him. The look of grim determination on his face changed to a look of surprised frustration. After a second the look of determination returned and he pulled a gun from his waistband. Emily dropped to the runway floor as a shot rang out. Almost instantly the agents were on him and pulled him down. After a moment Emily raised her head and glanced around. She spotted the other remaining terrorist at the edge of the crowd and called out as she pointing towards him, "There's the other one."

John and two of the FBI agents took off after the other man but they were hampered by the panicked crowd. By the time they reached the crowd's edge they saw the fugitive heading into the nearby subway entrance. They raced across the street and down into the subway station. At the bottom of the stairs John's gaze swept the platform looking for the fleeing terrorist. One of the agents called out as he pointed to the far end of the platform where John saw their quarry jump off the platform and follow the tracks into the dark subway tunnel.

~ o ~

From her vantage point on the runway Emily could clearly see the knot of struggling men. Her heart jumped to her throat when she spotted the rectangular blocks and wires strapped to the struggling terrorist's chest. She didn't know why the man had not set off his bomb, she was just thankful for their good fortune. She heard Elizabeth and three of the FBI agents trying to calm the panicked crowd and, after forcing down her own impending panic, added her voice to theirs. It helped.

Slowly they got the crowd calmed down as the agents subdued the man and removed the explosives from his body. One agent quickly exited the building with the explosives. Two other agents and a couple of police hauled the struggling terrorist from the building. The remainder of the agents and police helped to restore order.

Once everything was under control Emily finished her walk down the runway then calmly made her way back to the changing room. As soon as she entered the room she looked back out over her shoulder then collapsed at one of the makeup stations and succumbed to a bad case of the shakes. Her self control had completely fled as a few sobs escaped from her. A few minutes later Emily became aware of an arm across her shoulder. She looked up to see Elizabeth standing over her offering her comfort and strength.

"It's over now, Emily." Elizabeth told her. "I just overheard one of the agents out there. John has chased the last terrorist into the subway." She grinned. "Even if that bastard looses John down there, believe me, he won't get away from us."

Emily smiled half-heartedly. "I just can't believe how close we came. I keep wondering why he didn't set off the bomb he had on. He had us and he didn't set it off."

"I don't know and right now I don't care." Elizabeth replied. "I'm just glad they failed." She gave Emily a little shake and a squeeze. "Now let's get into our next outfits." She grinned sheepishly at Emily. "I hate to admit it, but I'm actually enjoying playing supermodel."

~ o ~

John and the two agents quickly made their way to the edge of the subway platform and jumped down onto the tracks. They could just make out the lighter shape of the terrorist in the gloom of the subway tunnel ahead. Soon they too were swallowed up by the dark tunnel. As they ran through the tunnel they could occasionally catch the sounds of their quarry echoing back from further up the tunnel and occasionally catch a fleeting glimpse of movement. John was feeling pleased. It wasn't like there was anywhere for their quarry to go. The next station in that direction was a mile away and there would be police there waiting for him.

John and the two FBI men with him came to a startled halt when they heard a sound that he would swear was the roaring of an enraged lion echoing back from somewhere ahead of them. Then they heard a man scream followed by another roar. John and the other two men looked at each other in perplexed uncertainty. They then heard the sound of running feet and looked ahead to see a figure running up the tunnel straight towards them. Soon they could make out the face of their man twisted in a look of pure terror.

The man was totally panicked and would have run right past them if the two agents hadn't tackled him. As they subdued the man, he kept babbling incoherently about demons from the darkness. John glanced nervously back down the dark tunnel. What could have so terrorized a suicidal terrorist? As they started dragging their prisoner back to the subway platform, John kept glancing nervously back down the dark tunnel. Something back there had scared the hell out of a hard core terrorist and he wasn't sure he wanted to know what it was. Everyone had heard the rumors of all the strange things that were supposed to inhabit the sewers and subway tunnels of New York City. There had even been a fair number of horror movies made about that subject but he had never believed any of that stuff . . . until a few minutes ago.

As they reached the station platform, John forced his mind away from his disquieting speculations and concentrated on his prisoner. With some difficulty they were able to drag their frantic quarry back up to the street where he was loaded into an FBI prisoner transport that was waiting there. The other terrorist was already in the transport and the agents guarding him made their report to John.

That was when John learned that the first terrorist had high explosive strapped to his body but it had failed to go off so he had pulled a gun. It turned out that one of the wires to the battery in the detonator had come loose, probably from the jostling of the crowd. John breathed a sigh of relief. So far this operation had been beset with a string of fortunate occurrences. The most important break being that the terrorists had made the mistake of choosing New York as their target where they had been thwarted by the efforts of Elizabeth and her mysterious network combined with the help of an intelligent and gutsy supermodel.

The FBI took control of the two terrorists and John returned to the resumed fashion show.

~ o ~

Late that evening, Emily went Below to have dinner with Devin and Elizabeth. Emily described the events at the show, emphasizing Elizabeth's part in the proceedings. Elizabeth talked, enthusiastically, about her first experience as a fashion model. Charles teased her a bit about some of the emotions he had sensed in her during that period. Devin's father, Jacob described, in amusing detail, his short encounter with the fleeing terrorist in the subway tunnel. Elizabeth added to the story by describing John's distracted demeanor when he first returned from that subway chase.

~ x x x x x ~

Emily woke up the next morning and quickly got packed. By noon she was on a plane to London where she was scheduled for a photo shoot early the next day. All during the plane trip she kept thinking about Devin and his unique family. She was becoming very fond of Devin. It was such a shame that their lives were so totally incompatible, or their friendship might have developed into something more.

She was a world traveler and she loved her lifestyle. Staying in one city would soon drive her crazy. That was why her career was so perfectly suited to her. Devin's life was defined by and limited to those tunnels below the city. There was just no way that they could be more than good friends.

It was all such a shame because, she had to admit, she did find him very attractive, despite what others might think of his appearance. Well the fantasy had been fun while it lasted.

Continued in Part 8

'Beauty and the Beast' and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.