Infinity and Beyond

-Chapter 24-

Echoes and Covenants, Part One

Vision / Dream

"So, what's your plan?" Mommy asked Wendy as her hands were cuffed to a pair of chains that are on a high ceiling. "Trade me for Infinity and then what?"

I want to cry... I don't want Wendy to be mean to mommy, I don't like that. I wish mommy and Wendy can be friends...

"I'll take her and leave." Wendy shrugged.

Mommy's eyes grew very tearful before she spoke up again, her voice cracking. "And how are you going to explain to her why you took her away from her mom?"

Tears started falling out of mommy's eyes. She sounded as if her tummy had just been cut open by a knife. I start crying too, mommy sounded like she was really very hurt...

"I'll just tell her the truth." Wendy said. "That you're irresponsible and incapable of taking care of her, and that I'll take her to a safe place and I'll let her grow up with the warmth and security of a home. Something you won't be able to give her."

Mommy shook her head as her tears fell harder. "But that's not really it, is it?" She cried sadly. "You want to make me suffer. You want to torment me, that's why you're doing this."

"You're damn right about that..." Wendy gave her a cold, crooked smile before three men I've never seen before stands around mommy. "Go ahead, boys. The sexy punching bag is all your's." Wendy said before the three men started punching and kicking mommy all over.

I hear myself gasp loudly before my eyes are so wet, that I can barely see anymore. Mommy's head and body swung each time the men hit her.

Mommy groaned quietly, but she sounded like she was in a lot of pain and she looked as if she was trying really hard to not make any loud sounds. She had cuts and bruises all over her and her face was bleeding.

I don't realize how hard I'm crying until the men backed up as a low buzzing sounded before mommy let out a very, very, very loud and scary scream as her body shook weirdly.

The buzzing sound didn't stop until after mommy looked as if she had fallen asleep. "Alright boys, take her down and prepare her for the trade." Wendy's voice sounded again...

End vision / Dream

"Infinity, wake up!" I wake up to Ari's loud voice and my own scream. My almond-shaped dark brown eyes open as more tears fall hard down my cheeks. I can't stop crying, something inside of me is hurting, because mommy's hurting...

"What's wrong?" Ari asks with a frown. "Did you have a bad dream?"

I'm crying so hard and my throat feels as if there's something stuck inside it. "It... It hurts!" I try really hard to talk, but it only makes me cough badly as my eyes grow even more wet than before. "Make... Make it stop!"

The thing that's stuck in my throat feels like it's getting bigger and bigger and something under it feels as if it's going to blow up. "Whoa... Where does it hurt?" Ari sounds as if he's trying to shout over something.

But what's there to shout over? And then, I hear it. I'm screaming much louder than I've ever heard myself. I didn't know I can scream this loud, and I can't stop as my tears just continues falling.

But I know something inside me is hurting very much, and I can't make it stop...

I don't how long it takes but when I feel a small cool breeze coming into my mouth and nose, my screams quiet down to loud whimpers, but I still can't stop crying.

"Take deep breaths." Ari tells me as one of his hands is rubbing my back gently while the other is holding a big, papery cup-like thing to my mouth and nose. "Now tell me, where does it hurt?"

I hiccup loudly as I cry a little harder again. "They..."

"Remember to breathe." Ari interrupts me worriedly. "In and out."

"They are hurting my mommy! They're making her scream!" I cry loudly as more tears falls out of my eyes. My hands grab onto Ari's shirt tightly as I continue crying.

"I'll... I'll be a good girl, so... Please! Please make them stop!" I beg him as I cry even harder. "Mommy's in pain! I... I don't want them to touch my mommy! I... I love mommy more than anything, so..."

That thing is getting stuck in my throat as I start coughing really hard again. "Remember, take deep breathes." He reminds me softly. "In... out..."

I gasp and hiccup tearfully as I try to do what he says. "Shh..." He continues on quietly. "Everything will be alright..."

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Vision

Mommy looked really tired, but she also looked really happy as she was holding a tiny little baby who was making quiet whinny and whimpering sounds. 'That's you when you were a newborn baby.'

I tilt my head and bite down on my red lips. I still can't remember being that small. Mommy was smiling widely as baby me was grabbing onto her finger really tightly. Mommy clicked her tongue softly before baby me made a cooing sound.

"You look like you've completely forgotten that you've just suffered through over twelve hours of labor." Michael sounded like he might laugh a little as he walked into the room.

"Was it really that long?" Mommy asked, but she sounded as if she wasn't really paying attention as she kept playing with baby me's tiny hands.

Michael rolled his eyes with a smile before looking between mommy and baby me sadly. "It's time for her to go, Nikita." Michael said quietly.

Mommy wasn't smiling anymore as she quickly hugged baby me even closer to her. "Just a little longer, Michael." She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "Please... Just five more minutes." She sounded as if she was begging him.

"Nikita..." Michael said as if he wasn't sure about something.

"Michael, please!" Mommy whimpered as a few tears are starting to fall. "I don't even know if I'll ever be able to see her again. Five minutes won't hurt..."

For a moment, Michael just stared at her silently before finally nodding. "I'll hold them off for a little longer." He tells her quietly before turning to leave, but he stopped just as he reached the door and turned back around to mommy. "And you'll see her again, Nikita, I promise." He says before leaving.

Mommy swallowed silently before looking back down at baby me. "I'm sorry, but I don't have a choice." She cried a little. "And I love you, I'll always be the person who loves you the most in this world, so... Please don't hate me..."

End Vision

"Where are we?" I look around as Ari's brought me to a place where there are lots and lots of seats and a big stage where there are funnily-dressed grown-ups dancing on it.

"We're going to see your mom very soon." Ari smiles.

"You found her?" My almond-shaped dark brown eyes widen hopefully.

"Yes, I did." He nods.

"And Wendy?" I look down at my shoes quietly.

"She's a slippery one." He smiles crookedly. "She disappeared as soon as she realized that I don't plan on negotiating."

"So, where is mommy?" My oval-shaped face frowns worriedly. I know mommy and Ari don't like each other either. I don't know why grown-ups often times don't like each other...

I like everyone who's nice and who plays with me, but I love, love, LOVE mommy very, VERY MUCH! Just then, mommy's quiet voice sounds from behind me. "Infinity?"

I quickly turn around to see mommy standing there with two other big men behind her and her hands are cuffed together. She's still covered in cuts and bruises and she looks really, REALLY tired.

"Mommy?" I sniffle as I cry a little. Something inside me is starting to hurt again. "You're hurt..."

"Bring her closer, boys." Ari says to the two men, making them nod silently before they bring mommy down from the row of seats above us till she's standing beside me. I cry a little more when I see mommy limping.

"Mommy..." I whimper tearfully as I grab onto the bottom of her coat. "I don't want to leave mommy!" I cry louder.

"Shh... Don't cry, sweetie." Mommy says gently as her hands are on my head, making me lean closer to her. "Everything'll be okay. We'll be together again." She tells me before looking up at Ari as he speaks up.

"Do you know what I'm thinking?" He says as his eyes are on the people who are on stage. "I'm thinking about that time you approached me outside that bar in DC. I was tailing you, and you spotted me. And you walked right over to me, fearless, are you fearless now?"

"I'm here for my daughter." Mommy says calmly. "Not to fight you. So why don't you tell me why you didn't trade Infinity for me?"

"Why choose one when I can have both?" Ari's turning scary again...

"Yes, if I recall correctly, you offered me unlimited weapons and cash if I join you." Mommy nods.

"So, are you considering my offer?" Ari raises an eyebrow.

"Oh, hell no." Mommy answers.

"That is a fact I won't hesitate to believe." He nods.

"I've a one-time business proposal for you." Mommy says. "It'll be truly beneficial for you."

"I'm all ears." Ari says, making me frown.

"Nuh-uh." I shake my head. "No, you're not. You've eyes, and hair, and nose..."

"Shush, sweetie." Mommy tells me quietly. "That's not what he means."

I bite down on my red lips and scratch my straight nose silently. I don't understand...

"You've a relationship with Alkaida." Mommy continues to Ari. "When they smuggle heroin through your territories, you look the other way with a price, of course. You're not exactly partners in crime though, and I think you want to be. What would happen if one of their truck's were attacked?"

"You want me to rob Alkaida?" Ari sounds as if he doesn't really believe what he's hearing.

"No." Mommy tells him. "I'm going to. Posing as a third party, and hijack one of their shipments and deliver it to you. They'll never know you were connected."

"And when they call to complain?" He asks.

"You tell them that you were aware of the situation." Mommy says. "And that you're looking into it. And in the meantime, you're offering personal convoyed protection to those who pay for it. Maybe you can even rent them some transport."

"Those drugs belong to Kasim Tariq, Alkaida's CFO." Ari scoffs coldly. He's mean to mommy too...

"I don't care." Mommy says.

"You'll if he kills you." Ari says. His words makes me scared as goosebumps pop up my olive skin. "Mommy..." I whimper.

"Shh... It's alright, sweetie." Mommy comforts me. "Nothing bad is going to happen." She says before looking back to Ari coldly. "You wouldn't whether I live or die."

"But... But I do!" I start crying again. I'm scared... "I don't want mommy to be dead! I want to stay with mommy forever!"

"Oy, oy, oy..." Ari rubs his forehead with a groan. "You're scaring your pitiful child."

"Shut up!" Mommy growls at him before crouching down in front of me with a gentle smile. "I know you do, sweetie." She says as she wipes at my tears with her hands softly. I grab her hands just as she's about to drop them.

"I don't want you to leave me, mommy..." I cry with a whine.

"I would never leave you, sweetie." Mommy tells me gently as she pulls me into a hug. "You're too precious for that. So, no more crying, okay?"

"Okay." I sniffle and hug her back as I try to stop crying. Mommy doesn't stop hugging me and rubs my back while looking back up at Ari. "All I need are the truck routes and coordinates."

"What's in this for you?" Ari asks her quietly with a sigh.

"I'm getting Infinity her father back." Mommy tells him. Mommy's never said anything about my daddy before, I wonder who he is...

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Author's note: alright guys, here's another chapter. Remember to review please!