Wednesday, June 1st, 2016
West Moors, Dorset
The nine-year-old girl before her was no longer the little girl that she had last known, eighteen months or so before.
Oh, she looked about the same, only she was older and maybe a little bit taller, but something about her manner was different. Her dark brown eyes were no longer sparkling, instead, they were cold and dark. They were not the usual eyes of a girl her age; eyes which should have been full of joy and happiness.
To be blunt, despite her tender age, she was scary.
Two weeks previously
Royal Navy Type 23 Frigate
HMS SUTHERLAND
Somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea
Lieutenant Keira Sharp grimaced as her name was announced over the ship-wide tannoy.
She was not overly happy with her ordered destination either. However, she hurried out of the wardroom on 01 deck into the corridor. She turned right in the direction of the bow and strode up a broad ladder. She turned immediately to her right and then knocked on the doorframe of the first cabin.
"Come!"
Keira pushed aside the curtain and she entered her commanding officer's at sea cabin. Commander Jacobs was seated at his desk, as was customary, and he looked up as one of his junior officers entered.
"Lieutenant Sharp reporting as ordered, Sir!"
"At ease, Lieutenant. Take a pew."
"Thank you, Sir."
Keira sat down in a chair to the left of the desk. As a rule, she tried to avoid direct contact with her commanding officer, and she wondered what she might have done to have been summoned out of the blue. Commander Jacobs smiled to put her at ease.
"A signal arrived today. One part – eyes only for yourself, plus another for me. I am directed to place you on indefinite compassionate leave. As of this minute, you are relieved of your duties. You will be flown ashore to the nearest airport this afternoon."
"Sir?"
"I have no idea why – you'll have to read your own part of the signal in the privacy of your cabin."
Commander Jacobs rose to his feet and Lieutenant Sharp followed suit. The Commander handed over a brown envelope, plus a small sheet of paper which the Lieutenant signed to acknowledge her receipt of the signal.
"Your time aboard has been exemplary, Lieutenant. You will be missed, but you are welcome back aboard anytime. Good luck, Keira."
"Thank you, Sir."
Keira braced up and she nodded to her, now former, commanding officer. She left the cabin, and, in a daze, she dropped down a deck and headed aft a short way before she found herself in her small cabin on the port side of the frigate.
..._...
On entering the cabin, a voice piped up.
"Hi, Keira. All good?"
Kiera turned to her cabin mate who lay in her bunk reading one of her usual Tom Clancy novels.
"I don't know, Sarah."
Sarah looked on as Keira sat down in her chair and she ripped open the brown envelope. She withdrew a folded piece of A4 paper and began to read. Sarah was curious as to what had caused her friend to be summoned to the Captain's lair. Her curiosity turned to worry as her friend put a hand to her mouth and she began to sob. After a minute, Keira looked up at Sarah, a smile on her face amidst the tears.
"She's alive..."
Sarah knew that Keira had lost both of her parents, and her younger sister, about eighteen months previously. They had gone missing and nobody knew what had happened to them. They had been declared dead just a month since.
"Who?"
"Harper – my sister . . . she's alive!"
Thursday, June 2nd
Leeds, West Yorkshire
Vengeance was on a field trip.
Well, some of them were. Eric and Cameron had taken the Overfinch down to Yorkshire at the bequest of MI5. The girls were staying in Scotland to hold down the fort, so to speak. Their directions led them down a street of terraced houses that looked in need of some general care. Some were boarded up with steel shutters and had obviously been empty for a while. Eventually, they pulled up beside a Ford Mondeo which had two men leaning on the bonnet. As the pair emerged from the Overfinch, the men approached them and they each exchanged IDs. They were both 'five'.
"So, what is this about?" Eric asked.
"We seem to have a CIA safehouse that has been compromised," one of the two men explained as we walked towards a building with a smashed – actually, demolished – window on the first floor. "About a week ago, the fire brigade responded to a call of explosions at this address. They found this."
Several photos were passed over. Eric grimaced at the full-colour glossy images of death.
"That guy – one, maybe two bullets in the head. The next guy...," the man pointed up the staircase to where there was a ragged hole and the adjacent walls were covered in a gooey substance that had since dried. "Claymore, in the step. Needless to say, he didn't fill the body bag."
"Both men were CIA agents on the Diplomatic List. Grosvenor Square has not been able to explain the presence of either the safehouse or the dead men," the other man went on.
Cameron and Eric stepped over the large hole which had been bridged with a temporary aluminium framework. At the top of the stairs, they walked into the room with the demolished window frame. Cameron saw the obvious child's accoutrements and he looked at Eric who nodded in response.
"Urban Predator."
"That's what we thought, Mr King."
"Maybe they came to terminate a kid and the kid fought back?" Eric mused.
"Sure looks that way."
That same time
Edinburgh Airport
During her last phone call with her Mum, her mother had been rather vague concerning who might be picking her up from the airport.
She was more than a little surprised to see her father, but not only father, but her younger sister too. As a rule, she never came to pick Sarah up from the airport! Cassie – or Cass to her big sister – came bounding up and she grabbed her big sister in a surprisingly strong bear hug. Cassie was grinning fit to burst – she had a secret, that was blatantly obvious, and seemingly she was desperate to tell Sarah that secret. Sarah knew her sister's expressions and mannerisms only too well.
"What are you being so loving for, Cass?"
"Is it a crime to love your big sister?" Cassie pouted.
Sarah laughed.
"No. Good to see you, Daddy."
Sarah gave her father a big hug and then she followed that up with a questioning look as she saw his expression turn serious.
"We need to talk; all three of us, before we get home. There is a house, a little way from here, where we can talk in private."
Talk about cloak and dagger, Sarah thought.
A short while later
Vengeance Command Centre
As the car stopped, Richard Perrin turned to his eldest daughter in the seat beside him.
"Sorry, Sarah, the traffic was heavier than I thought," he apologised.
"Should I be worried, Dad?" Sarah Perrin enquired as she climbed out of her father's Audi and looked up at the stone building. "What is this place?"
"Worried? No, you are perfectly safe, believe me," her father replied with a sly grin at his youngest daughter.
"You didn't answer my question."
"It's the command centre."
"Command centre? For what?"
"Come in and sit down."
Sarah followed her father and sister into the property.
..._...
Ten minutes later, the three Perrins were seated in the comfortable living room.
Richard sat in a chair while his two daughters sat together on a large couch. Sarah still wore an expression of confusion while Cassie smiled at her sister, and she tried extremely hard to control her excitement. Richard spoke first as he began to explain to his daughter what was going on.
"Sarah. A lot has happened over the past six months or so. For your own safety, you have been kept in the dark. December 29th, last year, it was. On the flight deck of my own command. We were alongside in Antigua and we had a party on the go. A good friend in the United States Navy introduced me to a young woman, her husband, and two of her friends. You see, I had been read in on an organisation that operated out of the American city of Chicago, only the month before."
"Chicago? You mean those vigilantes?"
"Yes, I do. That woman at my cocktail party . . . well, she was Hit Girl. She was there with Kick-Ass and her two lieutenants, Shadow and Jackal. The following day was normal, and we went back to sea. Then, later that evening, we received a ship-to-ship from the USS Churchill requesting some information concerning traffic out of Guadeloupe. Later on, I found out that some dickhead had kidnapped a little seven-year-old girl off the streets. Only, he made a slight miscalculation – well, he took the daughter of Hit Girl."
"Not an act that could be seen as conducive to a long and healthy life," Sarah mused as she struggled to wrap her head around what her father was saying.
Cassie grimaced.
"Funny you should say that," Commander Perrin chuckled. "New Year's Eve it was. I received a directive from their Lordships and with that directive under my belt, I put my Royal's ashore by boat drop and closed the coast. In the early hours, we launched our Wildcats to escort a pair of Oceanhawks from the Churchill. A battle was raging on an island in the BVI. We covered the extraction as best we could. One of our Wildcats even achieved an air-to-air kill against another helicopter."
"I heard rumours about that, but I saw them as bullshit," Sarah commented as her father continued.
"Hit Girl rescued her daughter and they all escaped. The island was a scene of carnage – nobody survived."
"I should think not," Sarah replied coldly, and her father chuckled. He was pleased with his daughter's comment.
"We thought that was that, but a few hours later I was on the bridge..."
"Dozing?"
"Dozing. Then a Mayday came in. I recognised the voice directly and ordered an immediate change of course and an increase to twenty-eight knots. I also scrambled the ready Wildcat. Somebody was not happy with events and they had sent some go-fasts after Hit Girl's yacht – the Atlantic Storm, by the way. The idiots opened fire on the Wildcat and the pilot went defensive. We closed to four-five range and opened fire. I understand that poor Cassie – she was aboard since Antigua and she was at her action station in the wardroom – I understand that she jumped a mile when the four-five went off!"
"Yeah, it was really funny, Dad!" Cassie growled good-naturedly.
"Poor, Cass – you always scared easily," Sarah laughed with a nudge in her sister's side.
"She did," Commander Perrin said without further elaboration. "Well, after seeing off the go-fasts, we escorted Atlantic Storm to a secret island and while she received hull checks and some minor repairs, we all sat down to dinner. I introduced your sister to the world of the vigilante . . . and to Hit Girl."
"You've seen Hit Girl?" Sarah gasped in surprise as she turned to her sister. "Without her mask?"
"I have – most of the rest of her team, too."
"Holy Mother of God!"
"There's more," Sarah's father continued. "A whole lot more..."
"I think it might be easier just to show her," Cassie suggested to her father who nodded.
Sarah followed her sister as she headed out of the living room and down to the lower ground floor. She turned right at the base of the staircase and then left towards a wall with three doorways. One, to the left, was marked 'WC' while the next was covered in steel and there was a code lock located to the left of it. The third door was not covered in steel, but still had a code lock located to the left of it.
Cassie headed for the third door and she punched in an eight-digit code which released the door. She then waved her elder sister through. Sarah was amazed to see a very well-equipped gym, but she was then stunned to see what was arranged along one wall. Three glass-fronted lockers were arranged side-by-side. In each was a set of battle armour. Cassie stopped in front of the locker, third from the left. Above each locker was a name: 'Crimson', 'Drift', and 'Nemesis'.
"Sarah, I am Nemesis. I am a vigilante. I was trained by Hit Girl and I fight with an organisation called Vengeance."
Sarah was stunned by her sister's revelation.
That night
Blairhoyle
Cassie was awoken by an incessant buzzing.
As her eyes came open, they locked onto the clock beside her bed. It was a little after one in the morning – Cassie groaned as she reached for her buzzing mobile.
"Hello?"
"This is Sergeant Barlow from Police Scotland. Is this Miss Perrin?"
"It is..."
"I have a young lady with me who says that she belongs to you – Kaitlin, she says her name is."
Cassie bolted out of bed and she ran the few yards down to the girl's bedroom. She pushed the door open and then turned on the overhead light. Other than a bleary eyed and annoyed-looking Naomi, the room was empty.
"Where is she?" Cassie asked the police officer.
"A couple of miles east of you, Miss."
Cassie bolted from the room.
..._...
Fifteen minutes later, Cassie pulled up alongside a BMW police car which was parked up a 'couple of miles' along the A873.
The BMW saloon appeared to have suffered some damage. Two police officers in fluorescent jackets stood beside their motor and one had hold of Kaitlin. The little girl's hands were by her sides and she was crying. Cassie climbed out of her VW and she gave the eight-year-old a withering look. Kaitlin flinched slightly at Cassie's expression. As Cassie came close to the BMW, she noticed that every single piece of glazing had been smashed and that each of the four tyres were very flat.
"Could I have a word in private, sergeant?" Cassie asked and he nodded as Cassie headed back over to the VW and she pulled out her MI5 identification. "We need to keep this low key, sergeant."
"I see. I suppose I could release the girl into your custody, but there will be fallout from this."
"I understand. You know where to find us."
With that, Cassie returned to Kaitlin and without a word she pointed to the VW. The young girl hung her head in shame, and she pulled open the rear door before she climbed into the backseat.
Neither of them spoke a word on the short drive back to the house.
..._...
Everybody was awake and in the kitchen.
Kaitlin looked very embarrassed as she saw all the eyes staring at her. Naomi glared at her younger cousin and then headed upstairs back to bed without a word.
"I'm sorry," Kaitlin offered weakly.
"Bed, young lady," Richard Perrin ordered. "Oh, and Kaitlin, please stay in bed until you are called in the morning."
"Yes, sir."
The following morning...
Wednesday, June 3rd
Beaconhurst School
Naomi was not amused.
"You are such an idiot!"
"Leave me alone."
"You keep this up and they aren't going to want to keep us any longer."
Kaitlin grabbed her cousin's arm and pulled her over to one side of the corridor.
"I'm sorry. Everything is just too normal; I needed a release."
"I know it's difficult, Kaitlin, I really do. We are really lucky to have found people who love us for who we are. They know what we were, but that is all in the past and we need to try and get on with our lives. Look, Kaitlin – talk to me next time you feel an urge to destroy something, okay?"
Kaitlin grinned for the first time that day and she nodded.
"Let's get to class before we're late," Naomi suggested
The two girls walked off together.
South Letham
Cameron was genuinely shocked by the revelation of Kaitlin's nocturnal activities.
"She did what!?"
Eric was stunned to say the least. Both had just returned from their sojourn to Yorkshire to the unexpected news.
"The car was wrecked – glass, tyres, the lot," Cassie confirmed.
"Way to go, girl!" Natasha laughed.
"Not funny – there's going to be trouble over this," Cassie warned.
"Cass is right, that was a step too far for the girl," Eric replied. "Obviously, she's having trouble adjusting to a normal life – can't really blame her there."
"No," Natasha conceded.
"What can we do about it?" Cameron asked.
"Bring them into Vengeance?" Eric mused.
"No way!" Cassie said sharply. "They are way too young for that."
"Anne-Marie and Danny cope," Natasha commented. "Stephanie's not all that much older."
"I have an idea," Cassie muttered. "I think I might be able to give them something to do without revealing Vengeance to them."
"Changing the subject slightly," Cameron said. "How did your sister take finding out that her little sister is a cold-blooded killer?"
"Cameron!" Natasha growled.
"She's still struggling to get her head around it. She's gone into Falkirk with Mum and Dad."
"It'll work out, Cass," Eric said soothingly.
"Thanks."
That afternoon
Blairhoyle
Cassie hatched her plan.
"Have you both done your homework?"
"Yes, Cassie," both girls replied.
"Now. About last night."
Kaitlin's smile vanished in a flash and she looked down at her white ankle socks.
"Naomi. You didn't notice anything about your cousin? Anything to show that she was about to go on a violent and destructive rampage?"
"Me?" Naomi responded in surprise. "I'm her cousin, not her keeper. I am not responsible for what she does."
"Yes, you are. You know her a lot better than the rest of us do."
"That isn't fair," Naomi retorted, and Cassie noticed the anger building.
Kaitlin looked up, a little confused as to why her cousin was getting into trouble and not her – after all, it had been her who had slashed four tyres and smashed all the glass on that BMW.
"I am telling you that from this point on, you are responsible for that little girl."
"No way!"
"You will do what you are told, young lady," Cassie replied firmly and she knew that she had hit the proverbial nail on the head, or was that the button on the detonator?
"Uh, oh!" Kaitlin muttered as she took a step back, away from her cousin.
"You do not tell me what to do – you are not my goddamn mother!" Naomi growled.
There was anger in the girl's tone and Cassie knew that the Predator inside was coming out for the very first time since her arrival in Scotland. They had seen Kaitlin's anger manifest in the attack on the police car, but Naomi was something new and they had no idea how she might react when pushed.
Cassie had felt that it might be safer to set her off in a more controlled environment.
..._...
Sarah had no idea what she had just walked into.
The three of them had just returned from Falkirk and on entering the house, they had heard raised voices. On venturing into the morning room, Sarah had found her sister, Cassie, and the two girls. Cassie and Naomi were shouting at one another. Sarah had met the two girls only the night before. They had appeared extremely sweet but then the younger one had got up to something during the night – something about vandalism and her Dad had been angry but he had just sent the young girl to bed. Sarah had recognised the tone of his voice and she knew that he was just biding his time. As Sarah watched, Cassie reached out to touch the girl, but Naomi easily blocked her. By 'blocked', Naomi made use of a professional Martial Arts block – not something which you might expect to see from a nine-year-old girl in Primary 6. Cassie grimaced and Sarah saw her smirk. Then the next thing Naomi knew, she lay on her back, on the floor, and her face was a maze of anger, humiliation, and shock. Sarah was shocked too – she knew what her sister was, but wow!
"Yeah, I can do that shit, too," Cassie said as she glared down at the fallen girl.
"Don't you dare hurt my cousin!" Kaitlin called out as she joined in the fray.
The little girl kicked out in what appeared to be a reflex action and she caught Cassie in her left kidney. So much for a sweet little girl in Primary 5, Sarah thought! Cassie screamed out in pain and she fell to the ground. Sarah recognised her sister's expression – she was faking it! Kaitlin stopped her attack instantly and she sank to the floor beside Cassie.
"Cassie!" Kaitlin almost screamed. "I am so sorry."
Updated: June 2020
