CH 4

In the normally empty office space, Chas Obsidian watched the monitors his crew had set up near the Zeita parking lot. Both sides were covered, as was a deep view into the parking garage. To Chas, this was just another contract. Find the target, take the target out, collect the cash. He had a picture of Catherine Weaver, he had the make, model and license to her car, and her home address.

A known acquaintance of his, Vic 'The Butcher' had gotten the first contract and failed. Him and his boys tried a home invasion and were now in the morgue. Chas wasn't that dumb to go breaking into someplace after another team got wiped out. His client wanted Weaver dead and was paying handsomely for it. Knowing this was a high profile target, he spent time watching and studying Weaver's routines. To make sure he didn't miss, he had three of the best snipers positioned. All three had long silencers on their weapons.

Watching the center monitor, he saw movement. He zoomed in. He then keyed his mike.

"Jack, carrot top is going to her car. You take the shot. Pete, if the guard moves, nail him. Let's get this done."

Watching for the payday hole in the windshield and the blast of blood spatter within, Chas tracked the car to the security gate. Jake was on the ball. The driver's side windshield spider webbed with a small hole in the center of the cracks. Beyond that was a circle of silver.

What?

The guard came to the entrance of his shack and was thrown back to crumple in place. Chas watched the car door open and Mrs. Weaver, unharmed, stepped out to look around.

"Kill that bitch!" Chas barked.

Another silver crater appeared on Weaver's forehead then shrunk back down to nothing. She looked up and strode across the street.

Chas got a bad feeling creep up his spine. He didn't know what Weaver was, but knew he didn't want to be seen by her. "Vacate," he ordered.

With that command, he and his snipers quickly packed up and left. Chas pulled out the camera wires and left them, folded up his laptop, stuffed it in his briefcase and walked out. The others would be doing the same, disassembling their rifles into the cases and walking away.

Walking calmly through the corridor to the elevator, Chas looked as calm as could be. Just another cubicle worker heading out. On the bottom floor, he strolled through the lobby, ensuring the scary red head wasn't here. There were a few people around, but no Weaver in her white dress. Stepping outside, he looked up and down the street like he was searching for a taxi. No red hair and white dress. He walked off down the sidewalk. Wherever she went, he managed to slip away from her.

.

In the stairway, Weaver held the shooter up against the wall by his neck with the metal collar she'd formed from her arm. The man's eyes were wide and he'd relieved himself.

"Who do you work for?" she asked calmly.

"I... Ack!"

Catherine squeezed, cutting off his air for 50 seconds, making his face redden and his eyes bulge. He grabbed her arm in a vain attempt to pull her off as he kicked his feet.

Tipping her head slightly, Weaver let him breathe and again asked, "Who do you work for?

He sucked in a pained breath. "Please let me down," he croaked.

"You've been a bad boy. You tried to shoot me. You will tell me who you work for," Catherine said evenly.

"I don't know..."

In the middle of his denial, she crunched down on his neck, cutting off his air. She then punched his right arm, breaking it. A squeak of a scream passed his lips.

Again she let him have enough air to moan. "Who do you work for?" she asked.

"Lady, I …."

Close off his windpipe, smash his left arm. His face turned deep crimson. She then smashed one of his flailing knees.

"Who do you work for?"

Weaver loosened her hold again. He gasped out a sob of, "Please stop!"

Tighten her hold, smash his other knee. "We can do this all day," Weaver told him. Seeing his left ankle close to the wall, she formed her other hand into a hammer and cracked it hard, breaking it. She loosened her hold again.

"OK! OK!" he gasped. "Obsidian! I work for Obsidian!"

"And who is that?" Catherine asked with a raised eyebrow.

His face twisted in pain, he gasped out, "Chas Obsidian … works out of the Chinese place on Tenth."

"Where does he live?" she asked smoothly.

"Don't know."

"Too bad for you, and here I thought you might want to live," Catherine said. She squeezed his neck hard and threw him. At the end of her throw, she broke his neck and let go. The body hit the stairs and tumbled partway down into the basement. Catherine picked up the rifle case and walked out the side emergency exit.

.

Chas got to his car and got into traffic. His phone rang.

"Speak," he said gruffly.

A flat male voice asked, "Is the job done?"

Chas gripped the steering wheel hard. "What the FUCK was that! We hit Weaver twice, chest and head shot! I don't even think she felt it. What the FUCK is she?" he ranted.

"You failed," the voice stated.

"No, no, WE didn't fail. YOU failed to tell me that bitch is bullet proof!" Chas snapped.

"An underestimation on our part. Return to our meeting place. You will get suitable materials to finish the job." The man hung up.

Chas glared at the phone. If he wasn't a professional, he'd go shoot that bastard.

.

Before Chas went to meet with his 'contact', he went to the restaurant and got his private booth in a small room behind the diner. He ordered a drink and sat to wait for his crew to arrive. If the guy who hired him didn't have any good answers, then he'd become Chas' next target.

A tall oriental waitress came in and set his drink down. He grabbed it and took a gulp.

"Are you waiting for someone, Sir?" she asked.

Chas glanced at her. "Thanks for the drink. Now leave," he told her. He turned to look out the window. So far, no one else had come back yet.

"Who hired you?" the waitress asked.

The voice was different. Scottish, not Asian. Chas turned to see Mrs. Weaver standing there glaring at him. With a yelp, he went for his pistol. Weaver sent out a silver arm to clamp around his neck. The other speared his hand to his side. His air cut off, his eyes bugged out. Weaver settled down across from him as he struggled.

"Now, you will tell me who hired you, and where I can find them," she said smoothly.

The instant she loosened her hold on his neck he gasped out in pain, "What the fuck are you?"

"Language," she cautioned. "Who and where, now."

"Chop shop on second, A big fucker named Ed," Chas said. "He's expecting me and knows what I look like."

Weaver grinned. "Very good. Thank you," she said. She then took on Chas' form, broke his neck and stuffed him under the table against the wall.

Ed turned out to be a terminator. After she ripped out his power supply, she chopped his head off. She wanted the chip within, but knew if she pulled it, it would self-destruct. Since it wasn't an immediate need, and she didn't want her staff to see it, Catherine found a box to put the head in. She decided to call Mr. Ellison and have him see if John Connor could get the chip out intact.

.

Cameron walked her evening patrol. Her route was walk up the gentle hill one half mile, into the woods then downhill near the stream a mile to ensure their escape route was clear, the back up to the road and home.

Walking by the stream down past the house, she stopped upon hearing a muffled whine and the sound of clothes tearing.

"Shut up if you wanna live!" a low voice growled.

Stepping towards the noise, Cameron saw a man with a knife over a frightened dark haired young woman below a thick clump of bushes. He had her hands tied behind her back and sliced down the front of her shirt. The woman broke into a sob.

"Shut up!" he warned and put the knife to her throat.

The man was going to hurt or kill this woman, and by statistics, he'd leave the body. That was a threat, for it would attract police. Cameron stepped closer up behind him. The man turned, seeing Cameron, he pointed his knife at her.

"On your knees!" he growled.

In a swift move, Cameron grabbed his wrist with the knife. Stepping close, she grabbed his shoulder and drove the knife still in his hand, up under his ribs. The man gaped at her in shock. She ripped the knife to the side and threw him to the ground. He no more than had time to let out a pained groan and Cameron grabbed his head and twisted, breaking his neck.

As least the woman was quiet. She lay staring at Cameron wide-eyed. Cameron noted the young woman was around 17 or 18 years old. Cameron retrieved the knife. "Sit up." she said.

The woman did. Cameron cut her hands free and pulled off the gag. "Run away, tell no one," Cameron said flatly. She then picked the corpse up by the belt to go hide the body.

"You … you killed him," the woman said in a weak voice.

Cameron cast her a blank stare. "He was a threat. Are you a threat?"

"No!" she said quickly. "Thank you for saving me," she offered. Seeing Cameron was holding him up one handed, she said, "You're really strong."

"You are wasting time," Cameron stated.

"But … how..."

One thing Cameron discovered was that she liked letting her emotions run free. If she was happy, she danced. If she was proud of John, or just wanted to feel him with her, she coaxed him into sex. At the moment, she was becoming irritated. She dropped the man and stared at this doe-eyed girl with her terminator gaze. Her eyes flashed red as she barked, "RUN!"

Yes, it was satisfying to see the girl turn and crash through the brush as fast as she could go, blubbering out her fear.

.

John looked at the terminator head Ellison had brought over. Weaver had killed it, but she didn't remove the chip, knowing it might self destruct. He too had seen chips flare up when pulled out of the skull. The object here was to get the chip intact.

Chip ports were tight, but not enough to cause friction, so that didn't cause the reaction. Air? Oxygen maybe was the cause. That meant either the chip was in a vacuum, or more likely the skull was filled with nitrogen. Water. Possibly if he held it under water, that might do it. It was a good, simple theory and the best shot at working without getting complicated.

John picked up the box to take it into the kitchen. Someone banged on the door.

"Help, help me! Please!" a female voice cried out.

John saw the girl bang on the door again.

"Please, let me in!"

John put the box back down. Sarah came out, gun at her side to see who was at the door. John went over to make sure his mother didn't shoot her. Sarah opened the door, the girl burst in and hugged John.

Clutching him tight, the dark haired girl cried, "Help, there's a vampire after me!"

"WHAT?" John asked.

Pulling back, the teary eyed girl went on in one long breath. "This guy grabbed me and dragged me off in the bushes he was going to rape me I think but this girl came from … nowhere and killed him she picked him up she was really strong and told me to run her eyes glowed red so I ran she was really frightening!"

John looked at Sarah. "A vampire?" he asked.

"Haven't you ever seen Twilight?" the girl asked.

Sarah came over. Putting her arm around the girl, she asked, "What's your name?"

Meekly, the girl said, "Cindy."

"Cindy, I'll take you home. You shouldn't mention any of this to anyone else." Sarah said. Seeing Cindy's ripped clothes, Sarah added, "Right after we get something decent put on you."

John watched his mother lead the frightened girl down to her room. "A vampire?" he asked. He figured it was Cameron, but how did Cindy get the idea she was a vampire? That just didn't make sense.

Since his mother was taking care of Cindy, John took the box into the kitchen. Not knowing for sure what was going to happen, he put a bucket in the sink, then put the head in the bucket and filled it with water.

Hearing the front door open, John looked out to see Cameron come in. "Hey, Cam, in here," he called.

Cameron walked up to him, slipping an arm around him as she looked in the bucket.

"Mr. Ellison brought over a terminator head Mrs. Weaver got. I'm going to try to remove the chip without it self destructing," John explained.

"Thermite or phosphorous is most likely causing the chips to burn when they are pulled out," she agreed.

"Right. I figure if I soak the head in water, that should dilute it and stop the chip from exploding," John said, taking in his girlfriend's pretty face and those kissable lips.

"That will work unless it is magnesium."

"Let's hope not," John said with a wince. If that was the case, water would make the reaction worse. He turned the head upside down to expose the bare wires and get the water deep into the skull. Once the bubbles stopped coming out, he moved the neck wires around to make a couple more tiny bubbles appear.

Leaning into him, Cameron softly said, "I saved a girl from a human predator. Do I get a reward?"

John noted her impish grin. He returned it. "Anything you want, sweetie."

"Then let me pull the chip, just in case," she said, and produced her knife.

John turned the head upright and stepped aside. "Careful," he cautioned.

Cameron cut the scalp away and held the head as she popped the chip cover. John involuntarily winced as she pulled the chip. It came out intact. There was also a pale cloud in the water around it. She didn't take it out of the water, but let it settle to the bottom and pulled the head out. "We should dry the head out so we can get this unit's information," she told him.

"John, we're..." Sarah said coming into the kitchen. She stopped short as John and Cameron turned towards her. Behind her, Cindy saw Cameron beside John. She also saw the severed head Cameron was holding.

"Oh, god..." Cindy said in a weak voice and backed into the door frame.

"You had to do that now?" Sarah asked harshly as she frowned at John.

Cindy shifted her gaping stare to Sarah. "You know?" she asked in a squeak.

Cameron's thoughts processed quickly. "Yes, she does," Cameron stated. "This man talked about us. He will talk no more." Her words made Cindy turn pale and stumble.

"Can you possibly scare her any worse?" John asked with a frown, not happy with Cameron's explanation.

"Not without hurting her," Cameron said simply.

"Please don't kill me," Cindy squeaked.

"No one's going to kill anyone," John said quickly. Trying to reason with Cindy, he slowly got closer to her and said, "Cam helped you, didn't she?"

Cindy nodded.

"OK, then I'd like you to help us and not say anything about what you've seen tonight. Can you do that? Please, it's very important," John stressed.

"Yes!" Cindy proclaimed immediately. "I won't ever tell anyone vampires live here, promise!"

Close enough, John thought. "Can Mom take you home?"

Cindy nodded vigorously. When Sarah left, Cindy was close behind her.

John examined the chip in the water. Whatever film was on it was coming off. He swished it around and washed it until he didn't see anything on it, then used the spray nozzle from the sink to wash it off good before he let the chip expose to air.

.

Another irritation reentered John's life. School. It was either a bus ride, or driving. Wanting to keep the location of their house 'secret', Sarah told John and Cameron 'Collins' to drive to school. And after their first day, they would go get another car. John didn't like the idea, he thought driving when others rode the bus would make them stand out.

Cameron wanted to drive. She had ulterior motives. The van windows were tinted and the third seat folded down flat. Sarah wouldn't have to 'see it'.

John was getting tired of school. With all the havoc in their lives, he'd only passed so far by hacking into the school computers and giving himself and Cameron grades. Begrudgingly, John climbed in and let Cameron drive them to the ongoing folly that was school.

The first morning back in school went just as boring as John thought it would. Heading through the main entrance, the guard was surprised when he got alerts from all over Cameron's body with his metal detector, including her head and bare arms.

"I was in a bad accident. Almost all my bones were shattered, I have metal supports all through my body," she explained.

Go to the office to get registered and assigned classes, and get Cameron's 'exempt' status for the metal detectors. Next it was off to homeroom, hand the teacher the paperwork, take a seat. Today was random seating, but tomorrow was going to be alphabetical order. To practice that, Cameron sat in front of John (and between him and the door). If a rouge teacher came in again, he'd have to shoot through her to get John. Good luck with that.

Behind Cameron, John heard a faint, rough breathing sound. To his left was Cindy in a red shirt, jeans and sneakers. Sitting across the isle from Cameron, she was staring down at her books, breathing open mouthed. Even her ponytail quivered.

Great.

John sat tone deaf to the teacher's speech about how good this year was going to be and how she was going to do her best to get to know everyone. Yay, uninvited attention.

The day was all intro classes. At lunch John and Cameron sat by themselves. Cameron had gotten a single slice of pizza to nibble at and a tomato juice she had no intention of drinking.

"We deliver the chip today," Cameron said quietly.

"Yeah, but what do we do with the head? Is there any way we can get useful information out of it?" John asked.

"It will take some wiring for power. Once we get it active, just put me in it for five minutes," Cameron told him.

John winced and said, "I don't like taking your chip out."

"I do not like it either, but if anything useful is there, I have to access the head."

"Hi guys," a bright, busty blond said as she slid into a seat across from them. Beaming them a smile, she asked, "Is it true you're vampires?"

A few tables away, girls giggled as they watched. Cindy was at that table, trying to hide.

Cameron didn't like blonds anyway, especially well-endowed ones. "Is it true you are the wicked Witch of the West?" Cameron asked, blank faced.

The blond giggled. "I'm not THE wicked witch," she said with a grin.

"That's good, because we burn witches," Cameron stated flatly.

"I'm Kaylee, I take it you're brother and sister?" the blond offered.

"No." Cameron stated.

Kaylee's smile dimmed. "Sorry if I caught you at a bad time. I just heard something funny and I thought I'd share it."

"If you want funny, go look in the mirror," Cameron said flatly as she stared at the girl.

"Cam," John whispered. She ignored him.

Kaylee's face dropped. "Ahh, OK, nice to meet you too," she said, then got up and left.

John whispered, "Did you have to be that rude?"

"I don't want another Reilly," Cameron replied.

"Cam," John said as he clasped her hand. "That is not going to happen."

Cameron offered him a weak smile. She also listened to the table Cindy was at.

Kaylee : "GOD! What a rude bitch!"

"I don't believe you went over there!"

Cindy : "You shouldn't have done that! She might come after me now!"

Kaylee : "I doubt she's a monster, but she is creepy. She was staring holes in me."

"Think that's her boyfriend?"

"I thought it was her brother."

A giggle "Maybe both?"

A chorus of "EWWWWW!"

Cindy : "Just leave them alone, please!"

"Hey, you started it."

"Yeah, watch out for the vampire, everybody!"

"Oooooh!"

"What you gonna do next, Cind? Throw water on her?"

Kaylee: "I think you'd get your ass kicked. That girl doesn't look very big, but I bet she'd bite your face off."

A chair squeaked as it was pushed back. Cindy got up and quickly walked out.

"Was it something we said?"

Laughter.

Kaylee : "Ughhh, I'll go after her."

.

John suffered through a few more classes. Back in homeroom, Kaylee, who was in their homeroom class, marched Cindy in by the elbow and sat her down beside Cameron, taking the seat by John.

Cameron eyed them.

Kaylee slapped Cindy on the shoulder. "Apologize!" she said.

It was obvious by her bloodshot eyes that Cindy had been crying. Turning to face Cameron, Cindy didn't quite look up into her face as she meekly said, "I'm sorry … for calling you names."

"No harm done," Cameron replied flatly.

"Hey guys,look," Kaylee said. "We weren't picking on you. We were picking on brainless here," she said, jerking a thumb at Cindy. "Cindy's into the whole supernatural romance thing. You know, vampires, ghosts and humans all getting cuddly together. I mean really heavy into it. She does get carried away from time to time. Could you give her a break?"

"It's all right," John offered. "Like Cam said, no harm done."

Cracking a lopsided grin, Cameron said, "That is, unless you want to watch."

Kaylee laughed. Seeing the look shocked look on Cindy's face, John had to laugh too. Even Cameron let go with a canned laugh. John knew she was faking the laugh, but it made him happy she was trying.

.

After school, Kaylee slowly walked with Cindy to the line of buses. Cindy glanced at Kaylee and said, "You don't believe me."

Kaylee raised an eyebrow. "About being attacked, yeah. About that Cam girl being a vampire? no. Look Cindy, I have an uncle who is in ... special forces. It's hard to describe but he has this look about him. Kind of extra wary, guarded look. He says it's from being in combat. Those two new kids have that same look. Take it from me, they aren't vampires, but I have no doubt they can be deadly if they want to be. So play nice with them, OK?"

"Her eyes glowed red," Cindy insisted.

Kaylee shrugged. "Trick of light, or some thing she used to throw the fear of God into you, which she obviously has." Tapping elbows with her, Kaylee added, "Come on over to my place for a while. Todd is coming over, and I'm not that comfortable with him yet."