Chapter 1
It had been two weeks since Ian's letter had arrived; what he had written about the other Dragons had upset her very much. For the past two weeks, she had been trying to determine the true cause of the delusions the others suffered. To no avail, there had been too many variables to determine. Ian and she were perfectly fine, but why was that. What had been different about them two? She had always thought Christian Blair was mentally unstable; he was antagonistic, aggressive and more bloodthirsty than the rest. It had always scared her, but Hector, Jean and the others, it didn't make any sense.
'I really need to stop thinking about this, it only adds to the stress I've had since I read it. Too many questions without answers, and when I find an answer, it only begets more questions. I'll probably drive myself nuts trying to figure it all out.'
She pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind when she heard the footsteps approaching out in the hallway. A smile crosses her face at the thought that she knew the rhythm of his stride that well. The thought of opening the door before he reached it crossed her mind, before being dismissed. He hadn't asked again about the incident and she suspected Ian had a hand in that; but he had asked about her split second disappearance in a hotel hallway. She had outright refused to answer, because she didn't want to lie to him and anything she had said would've been a lie. The last thing she needed to do was give him reason to ask another question that she couldn't answer truthfully. The knocking at her door silenced her thoughts. She walked over and opened the door.
"Hey," she greeted, smiling at Snake Eyes, "what's going on?"
*Hawk wants everyone together, something big has happened.* he signed.
She simply nodded and followed him out the door.
Silence reigned for a few minutes while they walked. Snake Eyes observed his companion for that time. He noted that she was pensive and distant, which wasn't usual, something had been bothering her for the past two weeks. She tried to hide it and for the most part succeeded; however, she tended to let her guard down in his presence. In those unguarded moments; he could see it, in the way she acted, in her eyes, in her silence.
*What's wrong?*
"Nothing," she answered, her tone said differently.
*Shana.*
"Ian wrote to me two weeks ago, he asked if I would come see him while his employer was away."
*Kenneth Irons*
He noticed her involuntary shudder at the mention of the man, it was yet another mystery that had appeared since the White Bull situation...
"He told me that Jake is instructing at Quantico and Sara is in line for a promotion even if she won't take it. They tend to ask after me."
*That doesn't sound bad.*
"He also wrote some troubling things about some old friends of ours. I haven't been able to get it out of my mind since."
*Bad?*
"Like you wouldn't believe, it's like a complicated puzzle. I'm trying to solve it but the pieces don't fit and every new answer brings even more complicated questions. It never seems to make sense, for some reason."
*Does it have to make perfect sense? Tell me about it maybe I can see something you might have missed.*
"Eight
people lived in the exact same living conditions for three years. In that time
only one seemed slightly unstable. Now, six of the eight have been
institutionalized; the other two live seemingly normal lives and are in good
health. I've thought of a hundred different scenarios; both logical and
illogical, and nothing seems to fit right. It just doesn't make sense and it
probably never will." She sighed and glanced at the door.
"Let's find out what this is
all about."
A few minutes later, Hawk addressed everyone in the room.
"Approximately half an hour ago, this," he held up a video tape, "was broadcast across the country. We don't know where from, and we're not sure who they are."
He inserted the tape and all watched as it came on the screen. As the picture became clear Scarlett wasn't sure if she should run from the room, screaming in panic; or be terrified to silence.
She knew that face and that voice; she had to know. She'd seen it for just about 356 days a year for 3 years. Knowing who was on the screen didn't ease her fear, it only made it worse.
Ever since she left the Dragons she had suspected that this could happen, she had always suspected that if it did; he would be the one to do it. Knowing that she had been right didn't help at all, because she had always feared him. He had been antagonistic, aggressive, bloodthirsty, and mercilessly cruel. Everything she despised and feared.
The face on the screen belonged to Christian Blair.