Disclaimer: You guys know the drill, so not mine.
Chapter 13-A Temporary Problem
- dedicated to Kelley-
A knock at the door made Anaya glance up, her eyes widening in fear. She had been curled up on the bed, hugging the pillow as though it were a lifeline. Her head was swirling with a million different thoughts, all of which were making her more paranoid than she already was. Ever since she had been spotted at the mall by Jessie Anaya had been holed up in her hotel room, refusing any and all phone calls sent her way. Trouble was coming; she knew it.
The knock at the door became louder, making Anaya sit up in bed, still clutching the pillow to her chest. Her eyes studied the door, watching it shake with every pound. After several long minutes Anaya got to her feet, dropping the pillow onto the bed, and walked over to the door. Her hand hovered above the chain lock before reluctantly pulling it open. Her hand then went down to the main lock, turning it. Silence came from the other side at the sound of the click.
Wetting her lips, Anaya took a deep breath and pulled the door open. Standing on the other side stood Melana. They gazed at one another, knowing they were no longer like two peas in a pod. Everything had changed.
Anaya opened her mouth to speak, to try and explain what was going on with her, but the words were never allowed to leave her lips. Melana moved aside, making room for Jade to suddenly appear, her fist flying through the air and into Anaya's face. Rocking back on her heels, Anaya's hands flew up to her face, crying out in pain. Jade stepped into the room, Melana right behind her. As Jade bent down, another fist pummeling downwards into the fallen Asian girl, the door to the hotel room was shut and locked.
Somewhere Else
"She looks just like my daughter." Rage's face seemed softer as he gazed down at the photo in his hand. It was a snapshot, one taken from a far distance, but to Rage it didn't matter. It was still a photo to be cherished, for in that photo was the girl who would become his daughter. He would dote on her, care for her, love her. He would raise her just as his late wife would have wanted.
From his seat behind his desk Zin nodded, a sly smile on his lips. To see the great Ezekial Rage become so enamored by a simple picture was more than enough for the evil doctor to know that his ultimate plan was going accordingly.
"I know you will raise her well," stated Dr. Zin, his words sounding almost truthful.
Rage looked up from the picture of Jessie, his eyes bright with insanity. "When will I be able to take her home?"
"Soon enough, I assure you. We still have the Quests to deal with, as well as Race Bannon."
"I thought you said Jade would be taking care of all that."
"As we speak Jade and Melana are taking care of a temporary problem."
"Problem?" Rage narrowed his eyes, growing suspicious.
"It seems my other daughter, Anaya, has lost her way. It should be rectified shortly."
"You mean to kill her?" demanded another voice as it entered the room. Both Zin and Rage turned to see Surd being wheeled into the room by Julia.
"There is no other way at the moment. Anaya has become a threat to us. Allowing her to live would be a terrible blow were she to go to the Quests with the information she has," replied Zin, his voice cold.
Julia frowned. "But she is your own daughter. You have no qualms about killing her?"
"A traitor cannot be a daughter."
Rockford, Maine
Quest Compound
Jonny stared at his computer screen, his hands behind his head; his face devoid of emotion. He had been sitting in that same position for over two hours, and yet the blonde teen seemed not to notice the blood in his arms slowing or the cramped feeling in his legs. His mind wasn't on the here and now—it was elsewhere.
A soft whimper shook Jonny from his reverie. Glancing at the floor beside his bed Jonny couldn't help but smile. Bandit was dreaming again. Sighing, Jonny lowered his arms, allowing the blood to return, and then he stretched his legs. A quick look at the clock told him he had wasted yet another evening lost in thought rather than writing the English essay that was due in two days.
"Wish I was you, old pal. You've got an easy life…me, I don't know what I'm doing any more," murmured Jonny as his gaze returned to his faithful companion now slumbering peacefully.
With a groan Jonny pushed back his chair to stand up. He knew he wouldn't be writing his paper tonight. Not when his mind was obviously elsewhere. He opened the door of his room and stepped out into the hallway. Almost immediately he found his gaze drawn to the closed door of Jessie's room. His jaw clenched and the blonde teen forced himself to walk down the hall without another glance at Jessie's room.
Taking the steps two at a time Jonny found himself in the dimly lit kitchen. He yawned as he made his way over to the fridge, pulling it open wide enough for the light to flood out and brighten the room. Jonny was home alone, a rare occurrence at the compound. His dad was out with Grace again, much to Jonny's dismay. He had thought they were working on some project until Jessie had bluntly informed him, despite the fact that he and Jessie still weren't talking, that his dad and Grace were out on a date,. That was when Jonny had bailed out on going out with Race and Hadji to hole himself up in his room. Jessie, in turn, had gone out with Estella for some more mother-daughter time.
"What is this? Mrs. Evans is slacking off with the leftovers," grumbled the blonde letting the fridge door slam shut. He hadn't found anything to eat, not that he was really hungry. Jonny was too stressed to eat these days, what with his dad dating Grace and his own complicated set of problems with a certain red head.
A soft sound coming from outside jerked Jonny out of his brooding. He frowned and stood still to see if the sound would repeat itself. Half a minute later it did. The sound was one that couldn't be heard by the average person, it was soft enough to be mistaken as the wind playing tricks on the mind, but Jonny had been trained to recognize unfamiliar sounds when out and about—or even home alone.
It was the distinct sound of a footstep moving about in the grass directly outside the kitchen window. Moving over to the window Jonny peered out into the night, his eyes adjusting to the blackness of the yard. His eyes widened and he ducked down onto his knees, his heart starting to race. Outside were a couple of men in fatigues prowling through Jonny's backyard.
His immediate thought was that the men had come on behalf of Surd, Rage, and the Zins, his next was relief that Jessie wasn't home in case the men had come on behalf of Jade.
Counting to ten under his breath, Jonny, in a low crouch, made his way back to the stairwell, just as the first sound of tread fall on the porch reached his ears. Taking three steps up, Jonny reached up onto the wall to lift a painting off the wall, revealing the gleam of a silver button. Jonny reached up to press it, triggering a silent alarm to the local police and coast guard. Until they arrived however Jonny would be on his own.
Flattening himself against the wall Jonny waited for the prowlers to enter the house. He hadn't realized anyone had been on the grounds, which meant that the security system connected to the house had been turned off. Jonny prayed that it wouldn't affect the silent alarm.
A minute later came the sound of the sliding glass doors opening, the familiar squeak of rubber on metal echoing across the kitchen. Silence reigned afterwards as though the prowlers were waiting to be sure no one had heard the noise. Jonny smirked. He might actually have the advantage this time around. He didn't have to wait long. The two men eased along the hardwood floor, passing by Jonny without even seeing him.
"I don't think anyone's home," hissed one man.
The other snorted. "No, they gotta be. Jade said they would be here and she's never wrong."
"Just like she wasn't wrong in Bangkok when she told us the house wasn't being watched by police?"
"Aw, shaddup. We told her we'd do this one favor and she'd give us the money she owes us."
"Right, right, we grab the kid and kill the other one."
"Exactly."
That one word had Jonny moving before he could think things through. He knew exactly which kid they wanted to kill. Jessie.
Jonny launched himself at the man standing closest to him, knocking him to the ground with a loud thud. The man gave a strangled cry in surprise as his companion turned around, his flashlight clicking on. He took two long strides to his struggling partner on the ground, reaching down to grab Jonny's shirt and yank the blonde teen off the downed man, but Jonny was already hurtling himself at the second man, also catching him by surprise.
The man fell onto his back with Jonny slamming a fist into his jaw. A loud crack could be heard as bone broke, but Jonny kept his fists moving. The first man scrambled to his knees, grabbing Jonny in a headlock and dragging him off the other guy. All three rose to their feet, and the second man moved his fist in the direction of Jonny's gut. The blonde could sense the punch coming and jerked up his legs to deflect the impending blow. The man let out a cry of pain, cursing loudly as the man holding onto Jonny tried to keep his grip on the teen solid.
Jonny bent over in a forward position, lifting the man behind him off his feet and over his head. The man tumbled onto his companion, knocking both of them to the ground. Breathing heavily Jonny watched and waited for the next blow—which came in the sound of a gun clicking. His head, and that of his two attackers turned in the direction of the stairwell where Jessie stood with a gun in her hands.
"Jessie?" Jonny shook his head. "What are you doing here—you're supposed to be out with your mom!"
"What, and miss all this?" Jessie slowly came to stand beside Jonny, her gun never leaving its pointed direction at the two men on the ground. "Mom dropped me off an hour ago—she had to meet a colleague at the museum for something. I've been in my room the entire time."
"Jesus Christ—why didn't you say anything? These fuckers were here to kill you!"
Jessie made a face. "Oh please, Quest. I'm not that popular. If Jade wanted me dead we both know she'd do the honors herself. It's you they want dead. Ah, ah, ah." Jessie's finger moved ever so slowly against the trigger as one of the men moved. He quickly stopped moving and gulped with fear.
Jonny gritted his teeth together but decided not to push the issue further in front of their attackers. All they needed was a break to re-launch their mission to nab one and kill the other, and Jonny wasn't going to give them that chance. He would deal with Jessie later.
"I'll call the cops," he stated warily, glancing down at the men and then back up at the red head. He didn't necessarily want to leave her alone with them and was saved the chance of having to do so as the front door opened, the lights flickered on, and Race entered the hallway.
"What the hell is going on here?" growled the man as he surveyed the scene before him.
Somewhere Else Again
"Immortality." Surd was thoughtful as he stared out the large glass panes of the room. His eyes barely saw the skyscrapers or the sunlight reflecting off of them. His mind was busy mulling over the word on his lips. "You are certain?"
"Of course," murmured Jade with a sly grin as she came to stand beside his wheelchair. "It can be all yours—what need to I have to be immortal? I only want certain others to get what they deserve—starting with the Quests, and ending with the Zins."
"If we do this there is no turning back."
"That's the whole idea."
"You think we can pull it off?"
"I've been planning something like this for many years now. Trust me; we can pull it off as long as we trust each other and no one else."
Surd was silent for several minutes. He clasped his hands together and brought them beneath his chin. "I'll do whatever it takes then."
"I had a feeling you would say that. First things first, Julia must go…"
Standing unobserved in the doorway Julia took a silent step away to retreat to the safe confines of the hallway. She had never liked Jade, and now she hated the other woman. Jade was planning the coup of a century and dragging Surd along with her…and Julia would not be a part of it.
She gritted her teeth together and turned to walk away. She would show Jade what it was like to double cross her and live to tell the tale. No one stole away her lover and got away with it. Not if Julia had something to do about it. She flipped open her phone and dialed a number.
"I'm looking for a girl."
Quest Compound
Rockford, Maine
"Well the security system has been completely disabled," sighed Race as he plopped down in a chair at the kitchen table. "And our little rats aren't talking. All we know is they came on behalf of Jade and came to kill either Jessie or Jonny and take the other."
"They won't say which one was which?" questioned Benton with a sigh.
"No, and Jonny and Jessie are upstairs arguing about it as we spea—" A loud crash from above made everyone at the table wince. There was the stomping of feet on the floorboards above and then the slamming of a door, and then another. "I think they just finished yelling at each other."
Grace shook her head. "Things only seem to be getting worse. We must get that stone back from the enemy."
"But how do we go about it?" murmured Estella. "They could be anywhere with it by now."
"We need to find the tomb it belongs in," stated Hadji. "Then we destroy it. Without the tomb the stone will not work anywhere else."
Benton groaned. "No archaeologist in their right mind is going to allow us to destroy something from the past—not with that much history and controversy surrounding it. We'll have to get the stone back and destroy it. No one wants it around anyway, so I'm fairly sure no one is going to miss it."
Race chuckled. "That gets my vote. We'll tackle Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum in the morning after they've had a nice night in prison. This time tomorrow they should be more than willing to talk about Jade and her plans."
The small group assembled at the table looked up at the sound of the doorbell in surprise. It was late in the evening by now and none could readily think up a single soul coming to bother them.
"I will get it," said Hadji getting to his feet before anyone else could move. He made his way through the entrance hall and pulled open the door. He frowned upon seeing nothing, but then his eyes traveled to the ground. A strangled cry arose from his throat as he caught sight of Anaya lying on the doorstep. She was unconscious and bleeding everywhere, her body practically lifeless. Hadji dropped to his knees, pulling off his jacket to wrap around her battered body. Behind him came footsteps.
"Jesus Christ!" Race vanished again, presumably back to find the phone as Grace and Estella joined Hadji on the doorstep to care for the beaten Asian woman. Benton stepped out onto the porch, his eyes barely able to tear themselves away from Anaya to search the grounds. Not even a breeze was stirring and that troubled him. How on earth did Anaya wind up on their doorstep?
A/N—Oh ye of little faith…