Love Struck Eternal
Chapter 42 - New blood.
Sam's POV, An hour later.
"They're here." Ace informed me as he heard a knock on my front door. I readied myself by just beginning to sit back up straight where I was at the kitchen table. Ace however went right for the door and a moment later he had unlocked and opened it for his two brothers.
My eyes were immediately on Dusk who entered first with a duffel bag over his shoulder and another smaller backpack in his right hand. His first reaction to entering my home was to first look at my wall and its very detailed layout of the city. Before he even laid eyes on me he questioned.
"What the fuck is all this?"
His voice was deep, yet crisp. Even though he was older he sounded like he was in his twenties. With Ace looking outside the door for Gwent it was the first time Dusk and I had decided to lock eyes on one another and I knew the look I was giving him could have a lot of meanings behind it, but the one I was after was tranquility and relaxation. I wasn't intimidated and he needed to see and understand that. Remaining at the door with Ace, Dusk proceeded to ask me directly.
"Who the fuck are you?"
I didn't say a word back, but Ace did and informed the terrier at his side who was clearly curious.
"That's who the upper is looking for. Her name is Sam. Come on Gwent, get in here." He then shifted his focus onto a hedgehog who proceeded to pass him and instantly shouted in a very curious yet happy voice.
"Holy shit man! Look at that!" Gwent looked younger. Unlike Dusk he had to be in his early twenties and immediately after Ace had shut the door he asked.
"How was it getting here?"
"Fine." Dusk replied back as he was now refocused on Ace who calmly walked his way back over to where I was sitting.
My eyes left Dusk again when Gwent proceeded to notice me after still staring at my wall. His eyes however and his personality switched up because it was clear he found me immediately attractive. He slowed his pace as he approached the table and in a much more collected tone he decided to ask me.
"Did you put that all together?"
Ace took that question as his queue to inform them of my vocals.
"She speaks Russian Gwent."
"Well, so do you. By the way man, what the fuck happened to you?"
"Yeah Ace. What's happening?" Dusk asked from the center of my living room as the rabbit slowly sat back down to reply.
"That mess with Jent? Well he took it upon himself to track me down. He fucked me up good. Even after I warned him to just walk away."
"When was this?" Gwent wondered as he took a seat down beside me to listen as the rabbit went on to state.
"Yesterday. Funny enough he caught up to me a few minutes after I met Sam here."
"So what did you do?" Gwent then asked his friend as Dusk and I had made eye contact once again.
Before Ace gave a response I used my foot to push out the last remaining seat at the table. He picked up on what I was offering him and very slowly made his way over to take a seat. That's when Ace started to explain the situation we went through. When we arrived at the part where I saved his life, I got looks from Dusk and Gwent. Dusk however was the one to ask the question.
"Why help this runt? You had no reason to take such a stupid risk. Especially for a guy you just met."
"I offered her work, Dusk. That's why. She's a contractor and she's damn good at it too. She's killed Roman Petal and Violet as some evidence for ya."
No way. You killed them? No offense, but you look like a teenager. You're how old?" Gwent asked me as Ace replied.
"Nineteen."
Widening his eyes, Gwent went on to question.
"What? Jesus Christ. I was only a year into service for G.U.N when I was nineteen and I was so fucking lost. Your nineteen and you're conducting assassinations? For who? The network?"
Ace nodded as Dusk finally decided to put both his bags down and question.
"Who else would she be working for genius? The real question is why? What was the point in doing all that work for no pay at the end of the day? You're a contractor right? That means you work for yourself and a fucking paycheck."
"Chill dude." Gwent urged his friend.
"She's not an ordinary contractor, Dusk." Ace informed him as the dog looked me up and down to reply.
"No, she's the same as all the others. Selfish gun is all you are. Working for yourself instead of for something better. Something more than just yourself."
"Even if that's the case Dusk you have my word she's trustworthy. She saved my life." Ace added in confidence as Dusk then looked back at him to question.
"Is she? You just met her yesterday and you're this attached? Your weak Ace."
"I'm self aware. Not weak. You on the other hand Dusk are dull and resemble a brick wall at times."
Gwent started to laugh as Dusk then asked back.
"Am I dull? Why is that? I'm the bad guy because I have a sense of duty to withhold. How much does she know about us? You know you weren't supposed to make contact till we had a plan from the upper to guide us. What the fuck are you gonna do when they find out you've been talking?"
"They'll do nothing and even you know that." Ace stated back with some anger as he then proceeded to inform the dog bluntly.
"Don't go assuming the motives of the people above. If they wanted her dealt with in another fashion then we wouldn't be talking like this and you know that as well." Now switching his language, Ace looked right at me to say in Russian.
"I'm sorry for his tone. I told you he could be hard to have a conversation with at first glance."
"I understand his concerns though. I'm not offended by his assumptions. After all, he is right to some degree."
Ace smiled and nodded his head as Gwent was drooling over my voice. However Dusk was a tad angry so he proceeded to ask Ace who just looked back at him.
"What did you say to her?"
"I was apologizing on your behalf. You don't make good first impressions."
"Fuck impressions. I'm being real here man. What the hell is going on? Are you seriously going to try recruiting this bitch? She doesn't even speak english!" He shouted back at the rabbit.
"I don't care what she fucking speaks! She's just what we need right now! You know we're looking for more muscle and she's proven to me that she can handle the type of work we need done."
"She killed two untrained and underdeveloped civilians with lackluster security to back them." Dusk was trying his hardest to talk me down to his friends, but Ace was thankfully on top of his position and proceeded to follow up by correcting him almost instantly.
"She killed two politicians, Dusk. Both of which were high up there with Esteban and the military. What's more is that she got away clean on both the hits and that's what we are looking for above all else. Someone who can pull off these types of attacks and draw little to no personal attention. Someone who can be a ghost and make us money and make the uppers happy."
Dusk gave me one more look before looking back at Ace. Gwent however took his chance to speak and proceeded to ask me personally.
"What's with all the gear? Jesus. You expecting an attack?"
Ace gave me a certain look. One that was wondering if he was to drop the bomb on them. I'm sure they would piece it together shortly, so I just nodded my head back at him and listened as he decided to state to his two comrades.
"She just got finished with Esteban. That's why she's dressed to impress Gwent."
Gwent's jaw dropped nearly to the table and Dusk just widened his eyes and took a look back at me in awe. Yet after a moment he looked over at Ace to question.
"What? Are you serious?"
Ace just nodded and that got Dusk to continue his soon to be rant.
"Are you fucking crazy Ace? What the fuck are we gonna do if we bring this on board? Half the world will be hunting this bitch down if she really did get to that greaseball."
"She got out clean according to what I know." Ace stated back to his more then stressed friend.
"How?" Dusk then asked me directly which now gave Ace some concern for what to say next since I didn't really tell him shit about the assassination. Eventually Dusk did look back at the rabbit in the hope that he would get something back. After a moment more Ace replied.
"I don't know yet. She hasn't gone into the details with me."
"So you just expect us to take her word that she didn't get made by anything while doing it? No cameras? No visual sightings at all? No DNA left behind? No nothing? You expect me to believe that she just killed the president and no one knows anything? What about the network?"
Now looking back at me, Ace asked me in Russian.
"What about the network Sam?"
Seeing this as my time to strike, I replied to him in Russian.
"I have a handler within the network who I share some of my business with. I cut him five percent of my earnings per contract and in return he gets me whatever I need to get the job done and he sees to it that my existence on the site towards other groups remains hidden. I'm blacklisted, but I don't see any harm in having an inside source among the people I work for. In fact, I have a feeling that the network itself is corrupt in such positions and I sleep well knowing that my back is covered if anyone ever did link me to a crime such as this and wanted to snoop around for answers and or a confirmation linking me directly to the problem."
"So you have complete control over who can see your profile on the site?" Ace asked back as I nodded and replied.
"Complete."
The rabbit nodded and proceeded to inform his friends of what I said back in english for them to understand. After he repeated what I had said, Ace went back to me to ask a follow up question.
"You're absolutely sure that you got away clean from this last hit?"
Nodding my head, I replied back.
"One hundred percent. I swear."
Ace gave me a strong yet faithful stare back in silence as he registered my response. After a few seconds, he turned to look back at Gwent and Dusk to state.
"We need to put a plan together now that this has happened. Our resources need to be checked up on and controlled to ensure we still have some profit coming in. If the government and this assassination cut our chains in half, then we'll have to think about pulling out and giving the city time to cool down. After that we can always come back and get shit back up and running again."
Gwent nodded as Dusk proceeded to wonder.
"How do you propose we do that?"
Sensing that his friends would listen, Ace replied.
"Slowly for starters. We need to let things play out for a few days just so we can get an idea for how bad things are. I'll take the lead and see what's gonna become of our military shipments from here on out. You can go see what's happening with Malik and his guys at the airport and Gwent can check with Ruffus."
Dusk nodded as Gwent then asked.
"No one is gonna be buying right now man. What am I gonna do about that?"
"If it's that bad then you're gonna tell Ruffus to put together everything we have in stock and prepare it for transport out of the county. Tika can handle it from there. What's important is not losing the product. Worst case scenario? We dump it and hope Tika won't be too upset."
Who was Tika? I had to wonder as they spoke among themselves. From what I could piece together I could assume Tika, Ruffus and Malik were a few of the people working with this cell. However Tika sounded more important than the others. Ace was more concerned with that one person more than the others. An upper maybe? I wondered as Dusk then asked his furry friend.
"What about the girl?" Ace didn't falter for one moment. He had the answer ready and the moment someone asked he replied.
"For now she's going to lay low. We all need to do that for the time being, but I don't want to stay here for that time. It's not fair to her if we're all breathing down her neck from within her own home. So I'm gonna give her my number and we'll keep in contact as things progress. I'll talk everything out with the upper and we'll have a plan in time. One that hopefully brings her onto the winning team."
Dusk was clearly unsure with how to feel about me and I couldn't blame him. However his friend Gwent had a different tune playing as he jumped in to say with some confidence.
"Hopefully? There isn't a shot in hell that we'll pass a gunner like this up."
"You're probably right, but the upper is harder to deal with then Dusk here is. They'll want to watch this play out for the next few days to make sure she actually got out clean. I'd love to fully have faith, but I'm hard pressed to believe everything I'm told. However if she did pull it off then I'd be willing to guarantee we'll have ourselves a much needed member for the family."
I wanted to keep myself in a certain area where Ace felt like they had to rush if they wanted me at all. So once Ace was done talking, I looked right at his eyes to state in Russian so his friends couldn't understand my motives.
"I'm confident I got away, but regardless of who knows what; I'll be leaving the city in a week. I don't want to stay here now that you and your friends know where I live. It's not that I don't trust you Ace. I just like it when my contacts are in the dark on my exact location."
"I understand." He replied as I proceeded to finish my statement by adding onto the subject.
"You want me? You have seven days to make something appealing appear before me. Wait any longer than that and you'll have to track me down again. Fair?"
"Fair." He replied as he looked back at Dusk and Gwent to state.
"She's leaving the city in a week. I'll handle her admission and beat the deadline, but you two need to handle your tasks before then. We want an actionable report for Tika as soon as possible."
"What about you though? You need to get yourself looked at Ace." Gwent stated back as I nodded and listened as the rabbit replied.
"I'll be fine. Give me a few days and some bedrest and I'll be okay. Let's focus on our jobs and get the ball rolling before it runs us down. Sounds like a plan to everyone?"
Everyone seemed on point. Even Dusk who was still giving me a sideways stare from where he sat. After a few moments, Ace slipped me his number and said to me in Russian.
"I'll text you once I hear something from my people, but have solace when I tell you that I believe you'll be fine. So long as you really did get away clean. If that happened then you have my word that joining our cause will be the best decision you've ever made. You're young and you're smart. You're smart and you're dangerous. You're dangerous and we want that. Help us and you'll be making this world a better place. I promise you. You won't just be helping yourself by doing what you love and I can see it in your eyes that you're not completely selfish. You have heart."
The rabbit was saying this with confidence and emotion. He was convincing and I could sense that he was being completely truthful. He believed every word he said. Giving him a single nod, I urged him back with a small smile.
"Don't get ahead of yourself with that evaluation. I have a heart, sure, but I'm crazy at the end of the day. I like killing. I like advancing my reputation. I'm doing what I love for myself. That's what matters in this world the most. Looking out for number one."
"That's what you've been raised to believe? So be it Sam, but just consider what I said. You'll be helping a better cause. If you have to ignore that fact and make it all seem like it's all for you? Then so be it. If that's what you have to do, but I know you're not that cold. This will work out so long as I get back to you within the week."
"One week." I informed him again as he nodded and looked back at Dusk and Gwent to urge them both.
"Let's get a move on. Gwent, do you mind helping me to the car?"
The hedgehog nodded and helped the rabbit get his bearings. Dusk stood up but kept his eyes on me until Ace called out from the front door.
"Let's go Dusk. Leave her be. Trust me man. I need that faith."
Dusk gathered his bags back up from the ground and once he was standing back up straight facing me; he groaned and whispered to me before turning back around.
"Doesn't even speak fucking english."
I smiled as he began to hike his way back to my front door. Once he was out and he had shut the door, I let out a small relieved sigh and proceeded to look at Ace's number which he had scribbled on a napkin. I went right into my main phone and clocked it into my contacts before taking the first step to calming down my senses; which in this case was sweeping my hair all back behind my head so it was out of my eyes.
I was right where I wanted to be. Everything was paying off and despite everyone's doubts, I knew I was safe from the military. No one was gonna figure it out and in a few days Ace and his people would realize that as well and I'd be officially accepted among their ranks. One question I had in my mind however at this very moment was this. How does my dad maintain his posture and emotions so well when he engages in conversations like the ones I just had? I'm good at playing a role, but once the curtain was down I had moments like this where it felt like I just needed to catch my breath.
"Your dad doesn't do anything." I heard Roslin state to me as I caught his voice over my shoulder. Then I felt both his hands rest on my shoulders to begin massaging at my neck. I let out a heavy groan as he went on to say.
"Your dad has been doing these kinds of things ever since he was a kid. He's had a lot of time to adapt to the pressures that come with life altering conversations. You barely have any time put in and to be honest I think you're handling it pretty well despite that."
I remained silent as he proceeded to add on to his statements.
"You're also weak right now, so relying on my powers to calm your nerves isn't much of an option when you're in the middle of something like that."
"I'm tired, Roslin." I groaned back softly which got him to urge me.
"Then go lay down. You did what you had to do for today. Take that fact to your bed and sleep easy for once. I'm not going anywhere; so I'll keep an eye out for you in case something happens. Gather your strength then do whatever you have to do next."
Nodding my head and looking at my phone, I slowly replied.
"I need to…?" Stumbling slightly, the echidna grabbed me by my arm to order me.
"You need to rest. Go to bed. You earned it."
I smiled because of his words and for the simple fact that he was using his gifts to ease the pain in my neck. However before I could say anything else he whispered into my ears.
"Once you're all rested I want to talk to you. It's important."
"What is it?" I tried to ask him back as he again urged me.
"Don't worry about that right now. Go. Go get some sleep and then we'll talk. Okay?"
I wanted to know what he wanted to talk about, but I knew I wasn't in the mood to argue with him about it. So after a few seconds, I nodded my head and proceeded to stand up. Once I had turned around to see his face I ran my hand down his left arm and felt our fingers make brief contact as I slid off his hand halfway through the first step I took towards my room.
Once I was there, I got off my gear and was left in the jeans and a black hoodie I had under the armor. Taking off my hoodie and kicking off my boots, I laid back and proceeded to beg my master who stood at my doorway.
"Wake me…if you need me."
"I will." He replied as I threw myself face first onto a pillow and shut my eyes.
Yoga's POV, Iraq.
The situation was rough. Raptor was under control emotionally, but he and Zeta were struggling to talk things out. From what I could cobble together it seemed like a misunderstanding that got this started on the wrong foot.
Zeta didn't mean for her question about Char's death to sound the way it did. She knows Raptor wouldn't ever dream about setting up Char in the way that the fucks who shot up his house described it to be. She was just trying to…..?
My thoughts were interrupted when all the sudden Zandro came walking up behind me with a few of Raptor's guards. Stopping at my side, Zandro asked me.
"How are things?"
Shrugging my shoulders a little I replied.
"They aren't yelling, but it's just….it's just hard right now man. How's Maggie?"
"She woke up a few minutes ago. Marx has her on bedrest for now."
Somewhat relieved, I informed my boss happily.
"That's great news. I'm sure they'll both be relieved to know she's awake. Go on in and tell them."
Zandro nodded and proceeded to walk by me and into the office where Raptor stood idly by at his desk with Zeta sitting no more than a foot off to his right on top of the counter. Both looked over at the man as he smiled and announced.
"Maggie woke up. She's okay. Marx has her on bedrest till her leg has a chance to heal up on its own."
I saw the looks on their faces emerge as both of them let out relieved gasps and proceeded to thank Zandro for the update. After that though Zeta asked Zandro.
"When can he see her?"
I knew as much as her that Raptor wouldn't want to do anything official until he's seen that girl. Zandro had to know that as well, but he had a job to think about at the end of the day and had to force himself to inform Zeta of the current situation.
"We can't leave the capital until everything outside of our doors is secure. We have regulations in place and we need to follow them. For all we know there could be more people waiting for Raptor to show his face after going through such an attack and I don't want to take any more chances with his or your safety. So we're abiding with the lockdown. In the event the M.E.A.F. president is attacked, we're ordered to get them to safety and keep him or her under a level four lockdown until we're certain all threats have been neutralized. My people are already hard at work in doing so. With any luck we already got all the people who were gunning for him, but we're being cautious now."
Zeta knew Zandro was speaking from his heart so she didn't put up much more of a fight. However, after a moment she asked Zandro.
"What about the house? Our belongings? There is a lot in the house Zandro. Everything we own is there. What are we doing about that?"
Looking at Raptor for a moment, Zandro soon replied to the wolf.
"The house is under lockdown. Raptor's guard is currently going to take over the location and make sure no one steps a foot into your home. By no means is anyone allowed inside. Not even those men who are tasked with keeping it safe in the first place. Have no fear. I've also set up two checkpoints on each end of the main road where your house is. No one is gonna get through them apart from your neighbors. Raptor, you'll also be getting two more guards for this lockdown. Both from your unit, so you can count on their skills to keep you safe."
"I'm not good enough?" I asked as a joke which got Zeta to smile and Zandro to reply.
"I'm not trying to say you can't do your job Yoga. By no means do I mean that by making this decision. I just want Raptor's security to be stacked. At the very least consider this a blessing in disguise. You can maybe try to bother one of them instead of Raptor with your awful sense of humor among serious business."
I chuckled as Zandro soon looked at Zeta to state.
"Maggie will be watched as well for any issues revolving around her recovery. Her leg is fine by the way. She just won't be walking on it without crutches for a few weeks. She should make a full recovery in time for your wedding."
We were expecting the wolf to say something back, but we were all kinda caught off guard when Raptor asked in a damn near whisper tone of voice.
"Did anyone call Sam?"
Zandro nodded instantly while stating back at the hedgehog.
"I did. It was among the first few things I did when I heard about the shooting. She's concerned of course. Asked about her mother's and Maggie's conditions after I told her that you and Yoga were unharmed of course."
"She say anything else?" Raptor then asked his friend who promptly replied.
"Not much other than the obvious. She isn't coming down to see you just yet. She's apparently got a lot going on right now in her life and can't abandon that."
"I figured as much." Zeta informed us back as Zandro nodded again before adding onto his conversation of the matter.
"She did, however, agree with my plan for your safety. She's asked me to keep you both safe and I intend to keep my word to her. I know it's not going to be easy to just leave your home behind Raptor, but if there was ever a time to face reality, it would be now. You're people need you alive and unharmed. The world needs you that way as well. So I'm begging you now to please follow along with my security measures. Maybe once things die down and we have a better grasp over the city and these terrorists, we can reconsider your living arrangements. Okay?"
Raptor nodded his head only once, but that didn't give us much confidence considering the fact that he wasn't even looking up at anyone at this point. He was so shook from the events that it was clear he would need a lot of time to recover mentally. I prayed it would be easy for him. God knows he needs faith.
As a few moments passed we all stopped to look at Zandro as his phone went off from behind his back. Somewhat surprised, the man pulled it out from his back pocket and answered.
"What is it?" He asked the caller who then took about twenty seconds to relay the message back. After he did you saw Zandro widen his eyes slightly before hanging up and looking back at me. In confusion I questioned.
"What is it?"
Tapping his phone onto the base of his palm, Zandro soon sighed and replied while looking back at Raptor.
"Esteban was killed."
At first I was shocked, but once my eyes had found Raptor again, I noticed a lack of it coming from him. In fact he only looked up to see our faces. Once his eyes came into contact with Zandro, he let out a sigh and whispered out loud in a disappointed tone of voice.
"God damn it."
I was certain that Zandro and the others in this room had no clue what Raptor had to do for this to become reality and I had a feeling it would remain that way until he decided to speak up. Not wanting to cause any suspicion, I went back to looking normal and waited as Raptor seemed intent on keeping silent.
Roslin's POV, The next morning.
Sam woke up about an hour ago from her slumber and the first thing she said upon doing so, was asking about what I wanted last night. I told her to get a shower and brush her teeth before I'd say anything about it. She was a little ticked off by the delay, but I promised her it would be worth it and if everything went well it would be without a doubt.
"Roslin?" I heard the wolf's voice call out to me and when I honed onto it I looked back at her bedroom door to find her walking out in pretty much the same clothes she had on last night. Guess she wasn't worried about them being dirty.
Coming to sit down right next to me on the couch, I took notice of my branding just behind her ear. After that she asked me back nicely.
"Can you talk now?"
Nodding my head I took a moment to take a breath. The wolf stared at me with deep intent. Seeing that she couldn't wait any longer, I stated to her in confidence.
"I need to be honest with you about our powers. You are by far the most gifted demi I could ask for. It might sound funny to you, but your ability to push your limits and master your craft is a bar above even Marcus's. In short, you're incredible."
"Aw, shut up." She laughed back as I quickly interjected a second after.
"I'm not kidding. I'm being honest with you."
"If that's true then how about we just get to the point? I love compliments, but it doesn't suit you. Say what you had me waiting to hear." She chuckled back as I just couldn't believe she was blowing off my kindness so wholeheartedly. After a few seconds I just decided to agree with her for once and come out clean with my intentions. She listened very closely as I said back to her softly.
"There is a limit to what you can do despite your talents. Look at it like it's a ceiling. You can't go above it and you surely can't brute force your way through it. You're gonna hit it though. You could already be there if we're being honest with one another."
"How much more can I inherit though?" She asked me as I took a second to sit up before replying.
"A very fair bit. I've been telling you that you only have but a fragment of my power."
"You're making this sound like I can't learn anything else now. What's preventing me from going further?" She asked me as she gently scratched at the side of her head.
"Your body. That's what."
In some confusion she then asked me.
"What do you mean?"
"You're still part mortal. It's as simple as that. Your father is a perfect example for what I'm trying to say. He's good at controlling his powers. Much like your dad though he had to learn from the ground up and he wasn't able to get to the level he's at now if it wasn't thanks to Marcus. When we find a demi that has the potential to take over the mantle we slowly mold them till they can perform to the standards a god needs to be successful. Advanced power, stamina, reading thoughts and understanding true emotions are just a few. There are however some things that they need to know that they can't physically perform or acquire for that matter; without undergoing the second phase. That phase is simply halting all the things that make you mortal. In simpler terms, it could be described as giving the demi near immortality."
Sam's eyes widened as she heard that last word. I knew I had her full attention so I decided to explain further.
"Your father went through the same process, but Marcus didn't warn him or let him know what was going on. Not until it was too late of course."
"So what happens exactly?" The wolf asked me as I calmly replied.
"What happens is that as your master I'm in charge of your soul. The mark under your ear ensures that. So long as it is there it means I have control over your body. I can't take you over by any means. I just mean when it comes to your life I have the option to advance you forward if I think it is time to do so. To make you a real demigod in the eyes of mortals who witness your abilities. The things you could do with such power are fantasy in the eyes of man. Your father suffers from that kind of power. You have to take it seriously."
Sam was holding back her words as I finished my rant by informing her of the actual process she'd have to go through.
"I think you're ready and I think you can keep it together and away from the public eye. Yet even with that being the case, I want you to make the choice for yourself. You by no means have to accept this power. It does come with drawbacks depending on how you look at it. Your body and all its processes stop. Your heart stops beating, your cells quit dividing, and your current figure and look will remain the same for the rest of your time on this planet. Twenty years could pass and you'd still look like this. You don't age. That's immortality kicking in for you."
Taking a moment to clear my throat as she stared a hole through my head, I went on to the state.
"You won't have a need to eat or drink ever again. Your body won't ever need it to survive, much like me. You're also going to generate that cold aura I have. That ghostly presence will follow you forever. You could use your powers to alter it or hide it to mortals, but it will never go away. It's the first giveaway that you're officially a god."
"But my dad was never cold like you are. Not while I was living with him anyhow." Sam said back as I nodded and replied.
"That's because your father is doing everything he can to hide what he is to you and the world. He's always been in control and the concern is always on his mind. Especially when it came to his daughter. You were never going to experience that embrace from him if you remained by his side. He'd hide it from you till the very end and even then he would take it to his grave."
"Is the process painful?" She then asked me as I chuckled and replied with a nod of my head.
"Very. It's like dying all over again. It's a slow process and you'll suffer until your heart stops beating. It will also take a massive toll on me. I'm not technically allowed to do this kind of thing and since my passing; my powers have seen a small reduction. It's made that way to protect the successor. To prevent an impasse if the previous owner dislikes his choice in the future. Yet regardless I do believe with enough effort I could grant you that power, but I could very well fail and kill both of us in the process."
"Jesus. The risk is that big? You could die from doing this?"
"Exerting my powers to their fullest potential pushes my very limits to the brink. When I gave you the sight for example, I nearly had a chance to pass away from the said exertion. The sight was also pushing it and you. It's typically not a power granted until this comes to be reality for the demi."
Giving me a sweet little look Sam decided to then ask me.
"You don't look too confident in yourself. You can claim I'm ready for this, but are you?"
I wanted to avoid this question with all my might, but I knew thanks to my efforts it wouldn't help to hide it. She'd figure out or just assume, so for this moment I'd seem vulnerable. Not a thing I enjoy coming off as, but what could I do? I asked myself as I gave her back a concerned face to reply.
"I'm worried, yeah. I'm not worried about you or your abilities to handle the pain and adapt, but I'm thinking about my own. No one I know of has ever attempted this and for good reason. And if I fuck up and get myself killed; I'll be taking you with me."
"Are you scared of dying?"
"Yeah." I replied as she gave me a small smile to question.
"A lord of death and ex-ruler to the underworld; scared of death? Irony at its best." Nodding my head back I proceeded to ask her.
"I know you're loyal, but do you trust me enough to put your life in my hands? Your story ends if I mess up."
"My story is written by you. If we die here together? Well I'd still see that as a good way to close out a book. She said back to me which got me to question how serious she put that for no good reason other than to show me her confidence. Reaching out to put a hand on her right leg, I proceeded to ask her again.
"Aren't you concerned with G.U.N? Aren't you wanting to continue this fight? What about being a feared contractor? Doesn't that give you any reason to want to not trust me?"
"It's all pleasure at the end of the day Roslin." She stated back calmly as I proceeded to listen as she went on.
"I'm doing that stuff for myself. I don't feel controlled by anyone and thus I don't feel attached to much."
"What about Dusk? Don't you want to kill him for what he did to your uncle?" I asked her curiously which surprisingly got me this back from the wolf.
"If I was that same girl before I ran away from home I would have killed him yesterday while I had the chance without any thought. But I'm not that girl. Not anymore. Because of you. I said this once to you I think. I'm yours to wield. I'm only here because of you and what you've done to save my life. Any personal matters that arise for myself will be halted if you have something else on your mind. Any order you give; I'll follow. Nothing else in this world means more to me than you and I'm being honest about it. You're my master. I trust you and your abilities to guide me. I trust you know what you're doing and I'll gladly die for your mistakes if need be."
Very gently she put her hand over mine and began to squeeze. I took a moment to comprehend everything she just said. I got a lot from that and one of those was a small bit of curiosity. So with her holding my hand against her leg I mumbled under my breath.
"Any order?"
Chuckling, she replied with her own whisper.
"Any."
Looking into her eyes, I then ordered her softly.
"Come here then."
Turning my body fully to face her, I used my other hand to reach for her hips. It took nothing more than that for us to embrace with a big kiss. I loved the way she tasted. She had the softest lips and still to my surprise she knew how to kiss very well for her experience.
Pulling an inch off her lips, I whispered to her.
"I think I can do this. I just….I need some more time. I have to put myself in a better mindstate."
The wolf didn't respond. Instead she just wanted to keep kissing me. She pulled me back in for another kiss and this time she whispered back to me after we had done it.
"I know you can do it. I'm ready when you are."
"Are you sure?" I asked her back as I had the sudden urge to jump the gun and ready my soul for the exchange. Looking me right in my eyes the wolf replied.
"Yes."
With both my hands on her hips, I shut my eyes and reached as deep as I could go. For the first time in over three decades at that; I put my life on the line for someone I believed would exceed me. Someone who wouldn't just exceed, but would ultimately change this realm forever.
When my eyes reopened I felt that familiar feeling return. My heart began to beat and it was the start of my suffering to come. Sam however was brought to complete silence and utter shock as her own body began to slowly shut down. All I could do was maintain my focus and stare into her soul as she began to shake and lean over at one side. With her tongue unable to form words, I pushed through my pain and felt a tear form in my right eye as I cried out to her.
"I won't let you down. I promise."
I had faith in myself, but at the same time half of me was regretting this. I should have listened to what I just fucking said and waited till I was ready. However, here we are now, pushing the limits for one final time. If I pulled through and got her through this, she would ultimately become my heir. I just hoped her personality wouldn't be altered. If she turned out to be as emotionless as Marcus was when he was first handed his true power; things would be harder going forward. Her open mindedness is what got her here. She was willing to listen to anything I had to say and her ability to go forward and take what she wants is what makes her scary. Don't lose who you are Sam. I love you just the way you are. I thought to myself as I watched her physically die in my arms.
At first she was struggling to maintain her balance, but by now she was fully falling back. I guided her down onto the base of the couch and using what I had in terms of movement I managed to drag her in so she could fully lay down. I managed to slip a pillow under her head before I had to go back to breaking her mind.
That's what this process was. Breaking down a mortal's limits and physics. It was a lot harder than it sounded to do and that itself was hard enough to imagine. What made this worse though was the simple fact that I can physically remember how much pain I was in when I did this to Marcus. This was ten times more painful.
"Aukk!" I was completely sent into disarray when my thoughts were all interrupted by a sudden kick to my chest. The pain was indescribably unbearable. The kick I received forced some blood to come up my throat and that got my heart beating at such a high rate I had to use every fiber of my being to maintain my grip on breathing.
Unable to move from the spot I maintained on top of my demi, I lowered my head and shut my eyes as I attempted to push forward. After a second or two I reopened them to see my blood dripping onto her face. That got me to act because I knew what I had to do now that I was alive and bleeding out my heart to her.
Jumping my head downwards, I pressed my lips back to hers and made sure I got as much blood as I could to go down her throat. A tradition passed down since the beginning when the first god took its place in this realm. One of the requirements for this to be successful was to make sure the demi accepting this got a healthy dose of the current god's blood into their body. One way or another it had to happen. The blood she was taking came right from my heart. The blood in my body was halted for so many years; it had a lot of time to cook for this.
Getting as much as I could into her, I slowly disconnected from her bloody lips and pulled back up to refocus on staring at her now shut eyes.
"Aghhhhhh…ahhhhh! Aghh….hhhhhh…?" I was so vulnerable right now and not just to her. My heart beating meant that I was once again alive. My blood was flowing after decades at a standstill. If someone wanted to kill me then now would be that time. Well now and after; assuming I complete this.
With all my effort back on her, I continued the mental bypass of her mind. The part that scared me more than anything. This was where I could change her personality if I fucked up in any shape, way, or form. I had to be careful. If I lost focus for even a moment she could be someone completely different when she wakes up and she would be helpless to change.
Keeping my hands on her sides to maintain the connection we had, I began the process and made damn sure I got through it as best as I could. It took nearly twenty minutes and for her it would seem like nothing, but the pain I had to suffer through was breaking me. Tears had drenched my face as they ran off my chin. I was in so much pain.
The pain I had to go through was all coming from my head and my heart. It felt like my head was being squeezed by a hydraulic press. It borderline convinced me that my skull had cracked completely in half; even though that was clearly not the case from the outside looking in.
My heart on the other hand was beating so fast and so hard that I could physically feel each pulse get sent throughout my body. And due to my blood flowing once more I was attacked by nothing but pins and needles throughout every cell I owned. One millimeter of movement in any direction was making them all spike and thanks to my heart beating as hard as it was; there was no stopping the pain.
"Aghhhhhh! Fuck!" I screamed out. I haven't been in this much pain at any point of my life. I was beaten down as a kid, stabbed as an adult, and broken by a god; but nothing ever made me scream like that. Nothing ever. I thought to myself as I focused back on Sam once again to remember why I was suffering like this in the first place. She had to live. She didn't have to mean anything to anyone else. She just had to live for me. I had to prove I was strong. Stronger than most. Stronger than Marcus. I refuse to be below that man. I fucking refuse. I told myself now as I pushed towards the end.
I felt the exact moment I had passed through to her soul. I could physically and mentally feel her soul lying before me. That's how I knew I had done it. She wasn't going to be bound by natural limitations anymore. No more safeguards. She was one of us. Now I just had to instill the remainder of my powers into her. Her soul and soul's in general were the storehouses for these gifts. The body and the mind were too fragile to be hosts. That's why nearly every time a demi will pass out when receiving their first few gifts. They're receiving something that they have no right getting. Reaching into a part of the body that mortal men haven't even proven real yet. Science can't prove to the world that a soul is a real part of being alive. You can't film it. You can't harness it. You can only assume you have one in you and hope that when you die it will move on to somewhere better; or worse for others.
Sam's soul was so surprising at first interaction. I've only felt it once before and that's back when she was dead in that alley where she lost her dog Mocha. I felt it just before Marcus could. I was expecting her to die back then. He wasn't and when I felt it, I stole it as fast as I could. For if he managed to sense it first; Sam would be lost to me. He probably would have saved her, knowing his connections to Raptor, but he could have very well not have. Who's to say? I wondered as I embraced her with my own spiritual being.
It was so warm. It's like I was cradling a small bundle of fire within my own body now. All I had to do was place it back in her body and god was it the happiest I've ever felt in a long time. The moment I gave her back the gift of life, I felt my own body release all its tension. In shock and with two wide eyes, I said within my own thoughts.
"I did it."
A moment later I felt all my muscles slip away. Every ounce of my power and energy had been snatched from me and I felt almost hollow inside. Along with the feelings, I fell right on top of the wolf and slipped to the floor. The thud my body generated was massive. I felt the pain from the impact briefly before passing out.
mT Shadow.