The power within
#5 of A letter to live by
The Power Within
From here on in, when ever Mira is talking her dialog will be in italics, if Eagle is talking to Mira in his head, his dialog will also be in italics.
Out side of the military base, I was lying in wait. It was dark, very dark. 2:00 in the morning, cloudy skies and on a new moon night. I was wearing my specialty suit, I was going to sneak in again, but this time I was here to save a life; not take it.
Before leaving the room where the lynx tortured me I left a few bugs. One of them picked up a date and time where she and one of her friends would be going after Sefan. Unfortunately, they also said they would cut down anyone in their way, and Andy stuck to Sefan like glue. That meant I had to either capture Andy or save them both, and the latter would be easier. Not that it was going to be easy.
I was joined by a fox, with that same suit as me, but he had nine tails. Jesse.
"So, why am I helping you with this again?"
"Because you owe me for that time I covered your exit when that deal went bad."
"Ya, I forgot about that. I guess you did save my skins there."
"Your damn right I did. That's why we use the client screening process now."
"Ya; I heard you the first time. *sigh* Alright lets just get this over with. Pass me some darts."
I passed him a metal cigar case, filled with darts similar to the needle I gave Kara. We were both carrying .308 rifles, modified to shoot the darts I had purchased. We laid in wait, rifles loaded, and ready to fire. The standard scopes had been replaced with night vision, though the magnification was only two times.
Soon enough who we were waiting for came, Andy and Sefan. On a night shift, patrolling the edge of the compound. Security got tighter after I got all the way in to the base, undetected. Even though they knew I was coming, they didn't know I was there till I was leaving, and that venerability scared Andy and Sefan. They beefed up security after they took over things.
We took aim, before hand we decided I would shoot Andy; and Jesse would shoot Sefan. I gave the signal to fire. A flick of my tail. With an almost silent gush off air, both darts went flying. They both hit their targets dead on, practice made us both deadly accurate. They dropped like flies.
We jumped out of the trees we were in, and with lightning speed we rushed over to them. In under 20 seconds we had them in canvas bags, then we removed the suits and but them in the bags with Andy and Sefan. Underneath we both wore the standard camouflage uniforms that the personal at the military base wore. We zipped up the bags and dragged them out to a PT Cruiser I had waiting. It was all black and had been covered in dead shrubs. We made sure that no one was watching and we opened the bags, then we shoved Andy and Sefan in the back seat of the cruiser. Then we put the suits and bags in the trunk. We got inside the cruiser and simultaneously looked back. Sefan and Andy were out cold, literally, it was quite funny to watch. We laughed lightly and started the cruiser. I was just about to take it out of park when I heard an all too familiar voice.
"Where are you taking him?"
"Ah, shit."
"Miss me?"
It was the lynx, tom's daughter.
"Like a knife in the arm, oh wait..."
"Hi."
Jesse knew about her, and he was quite confident that we had no problems here. I have to admit, I wasn't all that concerned either, but then again; it wasn't the first time I had under estimated her, and it wouldn't be the last.
"I believe you have something of mine in that car."
I couldn't give her Sefan, as much as I hated him; he was Andy's friend, and I couldn't stand the thought of taking another friend from Andy, if I can include faking my death as taking a friend away.
"Sorry, you must be mistaken. May I ask what you're looking for?"
"Damn it, give me him or I swear; he won't be the only one I kill this night!"
"Oh really now, and what makes you thi-"
I didn't have time to finish my sentence and Jesse had shot her with a tranquillizer dart from an emergency pistol, we both took one, but they were loud. She went to pull out the dart, but she was losing consciousness fast. She made an attempt to draw an M9, funny that she used the same gun as me, but she was on the ground before she could pull the gun out of the holster.
"Jesus, that was easier then I thought it would be."
It wasn't even one second after he said it that a loud bang could be heard through out the area, and he had caught a bullet in the shoulder.
"Fuck! Drive!"
I wasted no time flooring the gas, we were driving for miles and miles, Jesse was checking behind us the whole time, but no one ever pursued us.
"You need medical attention."
"No, I'm fine."
"That wasn't a question."
"I don't care; I got a friend who can help me. I don't need any hospital."
"Alright, I need to watch the road, check on Andy and Sefan."
"Ah fuck."
"Jesse, I don't like the sound of that."
"Andy's got it bad."
"I really don't like the sounds of that."
"He's got a round in his side, it's on a downward angle, looks like it's somewhere in his intestines. If I need medical attention; he needs a miracle."
"Well then, guess it's time to meet this friend of yours."
"ugh...fine, we're going to Rebecca's. She's a surgeon, and she keeps spare tools at her place."
"Why?"
"So she can help the people who are in our type of situation."
"In dire need of medical aid and unable to go to a hospital?"
"Ya, that's about the size of it."
"Alright, where am I going?"
"To her place, it's near Saul's, drive there and I'll guide you the rest of the way."
One of the most important rules about being an assassin is that when things go wrong; stay calm. If you're in a panic, flustered and running around in circles, you die. So when me and Jesse ever team up; and things went down hill, we stayed calm.
***
"Jesse, are you sure this is the place?"
"I've been here enough to know Rebecca lives here."
"Alright, well, you get Sefan, I'll get Andy."
I dragged Andy up the walkway to a two story house. It was white with charcoal trim. The door was mostly glass. It was a large house, a 25 meter perfect Cube at the very least. Jesse was right behind me with Sefan, he rang the door bell. The person who answered was not Rebecca, oh no, the person who answered was someone I knew, someone who didn't know me, but I knew a LOT about them.
"Sarah?"
"Jesse, who is this, and how does he know my name?"
Sarah stood in the door, about a foot shorter then me. Her white fur glistening in the light.
"Uh...this is Eagle, as for how he knows your name...I have no fucking clue."
I had let myself slip again. It seemed the longer I stayed in this line of work, the sloppier I got.
"I'm a good friend of Saul. I saw a picture of you and he told me your name, never thought I would meet you though."
BOLD FACED LIE.
"Ok, well I'll have to tell Saul to take the pictures of me down; so I can avoid this again in the future." The sarcasm rolled of her tongue in a similar way to that of a lazy 14 year old boy getting out of bed at 3 in the afternoon. "So what have you guys been up to? By the looks of you; Saul, I'd say nothing good. This one doesn't look like he's in very good shape at all." She pointed at Andy, still unconscious and bleeding. "HEY REBECCA, JESSE'S HERE! HE BROUGHT FRIENDS, BUT I THINK HE NEEDS-"
"I was just down the hall, did you really need to yell like tha- OH my god! Jesse, what the hell have you gotten yourself into you're a mess. And who are these...oh shit!"
"Ya, we ran into a little trouble."
We stepped inside and Rebecca leapt into action, she grabbed a stretcher that was disguised as a futon. We put Andy on the...I guess I should call it a stretcher, but that doesn't do the description justice, it was black cushioned; and the legs were long, but made of dark stained rosewood. We wheeled Andy of into a large room that looked like an operating room at any normal hospital, full of large equipment. Only, the walls were black. The overhead light was no more powerful then any ordinary operating room, but the color of the room made it seem much brighter then it actually was. The contrast was intense.
"Jesse; you stay, everyone else out! Out, shoo!"
I wasted no time leaving. But I wish I had, because once I left that room I saw the back door, the same back door I left through after Tom's daughter tried to torture me.
"Sarah, do you guys have another roommate?"
"Ya, two others. Why?"
"What are there names?"
"Niles and Sasha, Niles is much older though."
"Is Sasha a lynx?"
"Ya, how did you know that? Does Saul have pictures of her too?" she said the last sentence with a little sarcasm.
"No, but Sefan isn't safe here. I need to move him, now!"
"What? How is he not safe here?"
I felt a knife on the back of my neck. A deep voice spoke.
"Because he doesn't want anything to de with Sasha or me."
"I'm guessing from what I know so far, you're Niles. From what I know about Sasha's father and mother, you're also probably the one who trained her to use a bow.
"Correct, I've known her for a long time, but she only recently met me a few years ago, when she was 16. Her mother's ex-husband's best friend tried to kill her."
"Ignoring how ridicules 'mother's ex-husband's best friend' sounds, why did he try to kill her, and further more why were you there?"
"That's for me to know and you to never find out."
"Why's that, you plan to kill me?"
"You're damn right I-"
"STOP THIS! I will have no more violence in MY house, you hear me!"
I don't know if she was directing that at me or Niles, but I wasn't planning on trying anything just in case.
"Why should I let this retch go? He's an assassin! For all we know he could be here to kill Sasha!"
Sefan was waking up; he was stirring on the floor. For the first time today, I was happy to see him somewhat conscious.
"So just because I'm an assassin, I have to kill people?"
"Do you think I'm an idiot, or do you even know what an assassin is?"
"I know that an assassin kills people for money, I know that a body guard - I'm assuming that's what you are - is hired to protect someone by any means necessary, including killing anyone who threatens their safety. So in a way, a bodyguard is an assassin, and right now I'm protecting my friend. Guess that makes me a bodyguard too. Besides, just because I'm an assassin doesn't mean I don't have morals"
I must have struck a note in his good books, because I could hear him relax the grip on his blade. He made a low hum, like he was thinking
"No, it doesn't..."
Why the hell was everyone so god damn dramatic, everyone had this horrible past. You could hear it in his voice, see it Sasha's face. They all had dirty secrets they regretted, I mean, I had them too, but these guys were all so depressing. Ok, maybe I was depressing too but come on, these people were miles worse. Well getting back to what I was doing at this point in time, Niles hadn't noticed that I was removing my one shot tranquillizer pistol. I had it pointed at his leg when Sarah finally noticed it.
"Nice try. Niles let him go and step back. Eagle put that thing away before Niles kills you."
"Well I'll be damned; you were going to shot me with this?"
"Well to be fair, you were putting me in a very uncomfortable position."
"No, no that's not it. This is a tranquillizer gun, not exactly the most lethal of guns, which means either you, kill with poisons, or you didn't plan to kill anyone at all today."
"So?"
"Means you weren't lying about having morals. I taught Sasha Years ago how important morals were, I don't know who taught you; but I respect them."
"Yet you still hold a knife to my neck."
"Niles! Step away from him!"
"Alright, but-"
"No! No buts! And go find Sasha and tell her that she can't hurt anyone in this house that I let in!"
"You heard the lady. Let go of me and-"
"I'm not finished yet!"
After that last loud yell her voice went frighteningly calm
"If I ever see or hear you shoot someone, with anything, lethal or not. I will show you a hell like no other. I will strike fear into you that Satan himself could not replicate. Am I making myself very clear to you yet?"
I couldn't get my voice above a whisper.
"Yes, very."
"Good, Niles that was you queue to let go of Eagle, and back away."
He didn't waste time with speech, he just let go of me as fast as he could. Sasha may have been scary in the sense that she was intimidating. But Sarah was terrifying, she was such a nice person. But when you got on her bad side, she wasted no time in scaring the fuck out of you.
"Where the hell am I?"
"Oh shit. Forgot about him waking up."
I turned, completely forgetting everything Sarah had just said, and shot him in the leg with the dart pistol. In seconds Sefan was out like a light, again.
"What did I just tell you?"
"Oh shit, if you know what's good for you, you better run."
"What?"
I turned and saw Sarah's face, then I remembered what she said.
"Hey, I have to keep him under control. When he fully woke up he might have tried to kill us all!"
She slowly moved closer to me, until she had to look up to meet me eye to eye.
"Give me that gun. Now."
I had that gun go from my hand to hers, faster then I could see.
"I'm going to call Saul, he's going to come pick you up. If I see you here again, and you're not within 5 feet of either Jesse, Rebecca or Saul. I will use this gun on you, then I'll pass you over to Niles and Sasha and they can have their way with you."
"Hey, don't drag me into this."
"I SAID, I will be passing him over to you and Sasha. If you guys don't want to do anything horribly wrong to him, by all means, leave him in a chair or on a couch till he wakes up. But I will be shooting him with this, and you will take him."
That gun only shoots once, and she wasn't going to buy another one. I had no worries about her tranquillizing me, but I was still worried about her knocking me out, and after what Jesse and me did, passing me over to Sasha was most certainly a threat.
"I'm going to take this guy somewhere safe, then I'll be back for Jesse and my other friend. If all goes well, the next time you see me, I'll already be out cold."
"How is that good?"
"Because the alternative is that the next time you see me, I'll be in a casket. But here, take this."
I tossed her a CD, it had a list of locations of where I leave my letters, and the name of the file was 'pick one'. I have 3 locations, that means you currently have one of three copies. Sarah has one. I don't know who has the third one, I would assume it's just another average Joe like you.
"What the hell is this?"
"Go find out."
After those final words I grabbed Sefan's leg and dragged him back to the Cruiser. I didn't overly care for Sefan, my only concern was getting him back to safety so Andy couldn't put any blame for his death on me.
I was driving down the road, it was still quite dark. I can drive fine in the dark, well could, I don't like driving anymore. Well, driving down the road I saw someone in the middle of the road, the closer the got the more I was in denial. It looked like Mira, more and more. The pitch black fur, the long tail. The silk smoothness visible in the gleams of light coming off it. She was facing away from me, then when she turned she disappeared. I blinked and when I opened my eyes I was heading for a head on collision with a big rig. I swerved and went off the road, drove into the woods, and crashed into a large tree. A large branch went through the window and found its way into my right shoulder; I've been left handed ever since.
I couldn't turn to look at Sefan, but the large chunk of grey matter; and a large black piece of flesh that looked somewhat like an otter's nose; on the ceiling of my car, told me he wasn't doing very well.
I was disoriented so I didn't really feel the branch in my arm. I just sat there waiting for someone or something to come. Luckily for me, someone did. Again, I was disoriented so I couldn't make out many details, all I could clearly see was black and white tail, and the black and white went in rings. I could hear a voice, it was a man's, he had to be in his late thirties early forties.
"That worked out ok, not as planned, but ok."
All I could muster was a moan.
"Too bad about your friend here. Oh well, not my problem."
I tried to open my eyes more, but I just used up the last of my energy. I fell unconscious.
***
I woke up, lying down on a bed with white sheets. The bed frame was made of some kind of metal and was polished to a mirror shim. The room had green walls and a white ceiling. I tried to get up, but a quick reminder of my shoulder forced me back to the bed. I dared to look at it, to my relief, it wasn't that bad. From my point of view it was definitively usable, probably in good enough condition to be shooting with it again in about 2 months.
A door on the far side of the room opened, it was the same color as the walls and almost blended in. A Ring tailed lemur walked in, he looked like we was about 30 years old. From the looks of him he couldn't have been older then that.
"Awake are we now?"
"You, you were at the...tree."
He sounded much older then he looked, it masked his age well.
"Ah, that. You must be worried about your friend?"
"Is he ok?"
"Oh he's not that bad."
"Really?"
"Oh ya, he's like one of those big screen TVs, only he's like on the got dropped during delivery."
"Thought you said he was ok?"
"Well, he's not dead. He's more or less a vegetable."
I brought my left hand to my face and groaned. Andy was not going to be happy with me. I heard a beeping coming from the lemurs direction.
"Wait hold on a second...Ah, as it turns out your friend actually did die."
"Was that a pager?"
"No that was the 'low battery' alert on my cell phone, your friend died before I got there. I just wanted to give you a little hope before reality came crashing down; so brutally."
"Oh, so you're just a prick."
"I'm not here to socialize with you, I went through a lot of trouble to arrange this meeting."
"What the hell do you want to meet with me for?"
"Not you. You're just a mindless puppet; I brought you here to meet the puppeteer."
"And who would that be?"
"Take a good guess"
I could hear Mira's voice in my head again, this time a clear as day. She could have been right in front of me.
"Eagle this is Wyatt, he's my old teacher."
"What did he teach you?"
"Well, among other things, how to get inside your head in the event that she is faced with the possibility of an early death."
"Did I ask you?"
"Well, I assumed you did when you said that, out loud."
"Wyatt, back off of him! He's not ready for this. Now leave him alone!"
"Like I give a rats ass whether he is ready or not."
"How can you...oh wait? Never mind I know why, your one of those mind reading guys."
"Oh, this is going to be LOTS of fun."
A great big smirk crept across his face.
"Alright, here comes lesson one of your new regiment."
"My new what?"
"Not you, me. He's got to teach me first, but you're not anywhere near ready for this. Teaching me is pointless right now."
"Teaching you what?"
"Well, before I start teaching her anything, I'm going to teach you how to shut your fucking mouth when you talk to her. This is painful to watch."
"Oh really, well then. How am I supposed to speak to someone without making a sound?"
"Use your head for once."
"Think the words Eagle, think them."
"Like this?"
"Yes, very good."
"Don't start the congratulations to early."
"What it gets harder?"
"What, you thought it was going to be that easy? Mira wouldn't have begged me to delay this if it was going to be simple."
"Ok then, what's next?"
"You and Mira are going to work as a team too put her in another part of your body, put simply, you're going to move her from your head to your hand."
"How is that supposed to help me?"
"It becomes useful later."
"Well, get ready, this is going to be a bumpy ride."
"Bumpy ride?"
"Oh ya, forgot about that. Whenever I say it's going to be a bumpy ride, I mean that you're going to kill yourself."
"Oh ya, that's normal, 'cause I do that kind of thing every day."
"Actually, according to Mira, you do it every night. You sarcastic ungrateful prick."
"Please enlighten me."
"You know that thing where you put your hands over your heart and come here to see me? Well, I neglected to tell you that during the time when you purposefully put yourself here, you are clinically dead."
I grabbed my chest after I heard that.
"Eagle, are you ok?"
"Ya, my heart just skipped two beats."
I wasn't kidding; it stopped for a solid second.
"Well, I'm on a time constraint here, so let's get things moving. Stop your heart and I'll give you further instructions."
"Ya, fuck this. I'm just going to leave and forget this ever happened to me."
I stood up and walked toward the door.
"You walk out that door, and you will never get this chance again. I can make you one of the two most powerful people in this world. Mira and my daughter being the two most powerful people in the next."
"Let me guess, you're the other one."
"No, my daughter's ex-boyfriend is. You may know him. I believe that otter in the back of your car was his father?"
"Bull fucking shit!"
"He works at a diner."
Every part of me wanted to kill this prick, but whenever I ran a scenario through my head, it always ended badly.
"Sit down and listen to my instructions, or life will become very difficult for you."
"Oh really now, and how's that?"
"Because you don't know how to fully control all of the abilities Mira has given you, and accidently using one during the wrong time could cost you your life."
"Mira said I wasn't ready for this, you're saying I can't do with out it. I trust Mira a hell of a lot more then I trust you, so I think I'm going to follow her advice."
"Mira, I'm not going to train him unless it's now. Tell him whether you think it's more dangerous for him to learn this now, or not at all."
"As much as I hate to say it, you're better of learning it now."
"ugh...fine, what do I do."
"I just told you. Lie down on the bed and die."
I was reluctant - who wouldn't be - but I still did what he told me to. I laid down on the bed and put my hands on my heart, and I felt it slow and stop, I finally understood why I felt my heart stop every time I did this.
I felt the cold slime cover me again, but this time I heard Wyatt's voice in the distance.
"Don't let the slime cover you, build up a heat inside you, fight it off."
"How?"
"Think of all the things that make you angry, happening at the same time. Imagine that the loudest, angriest music is playing in the distance while all of it is happening. Feel that anger build, let it gather inside."
I did it before, the first time I voluntarily sent myself to visit Mira I used that Fire. I didn't need to use Wyatt's advice, I just remembered that feeling and it roared to life inside me.
"Good, now force that fire to move, change it's focal point to your hand. Feel it move."
I could feel the epicenter of the heat moving through my body, it went from the center of my chest to my throat, then to my shoulder and down my arm into my hand. The waves of heat were intense.
"Now, wake up!"
"How?"
"Mira."
Mira's voice came from behind me.
"On it."
I felt a sharp pain in my spine and I was jolted awake.
"Eagle, look at your hand."
Wyatt had a large smirk on his face, his face was surrounded by a faint glow. I looked down at my right hand. It was on- wait no, it was fire. It was still in the shape of my hand, but it was all fire, there was no more substance left.
"What the fuck happened to my hand?!"
"Calm down or you'll lose it!"
"Jesus Christ my hand's on fire!"
Just as fast as it came, it left.
"What the fuck was that?!"
"That would be the first, basic power you can control. The only one you will be able to manifest by yourself."
I wasn't able to control my breathing, I started to hyperventilate. The room was spinning faster then a tilt-a-whirl. I could feel my stomach churning, and then I tossed my cookies like an angry 4 year old. The strong smell and acidic taste lingered in my mouth.
"Eagle? I told you he wasn't ready! I fucking told you, you selfish; power hungry idiot!"
"He's going to be fine, just wait."
I fell of the bed, to my knees and grabbed my head, leaning back then racking my claws through my scalp. My head was pounding and it wasn't from the piercing pain I was causing my self.
I felt a hand on my shoulder, and then I was forced straight up, then a large fist connected with my nose. I yelled out in pain.
"Snap out of it you wuss."
I was shaking violently. I looked up into Wyatt's eyes.
"Ready for lesson number two?"
"Do you really expect him to be rea-"
"When to we start?"
"What? You're totally fine with this?"
"Of course I am. I just needed to get the shock out of my system. So again, when do we start?"
"Right now. I want you to do everything you did with me just then, here in this room, without dying. To avoid the shock factor, I'm going to tell you what's going to happen. First, you will see a small flame on your hand. Then it turn into the same fiery hand it was just before you heaved you guts onto my floor."
"Like this."
I held up my hand, which look exactly like it did last time. A hand made entirely of fire.
"Let me see what I can do with this."
I slowly let the flame cover my arm, and crawl it's way up to my shoulder.
"Very good. I think you might be ready for your next lesson, but I need to get a sword first. I'll be back in about three minutes."
He left the room and left the door open. Down the hall he entered another room, I heard a muffled voice.
"No, no; I'm not back yet. I'm just here for a sword for my friend."
I remembered the Katana Sefan's son had, I was racking my mind trying to figure out what my next lesson would be.
He returned a handed a curved sword which look very similar to a katana, but the blade looked about 5 inches longer then it would normally be, and the blade was slightly more curved.
"This..."
He held up the sword and a sheath.
"...is a Tachi."
I took both in hand, feeling the smooth black leather that made the sheath, and admiring the black cloth grip on the sword.
"So, what does this sword do that my gun can't?"
"It's not what the sword can do, it's what you can do to the sword. Now you and Mira both need to work on this one, she knows what she has to do, I'm going to explain your role. First take the tachi in hand. Then grasp it in one hand, like you are carrying it ready for battle, but not immediately threatened."
I followed his instructions to the letter; I wanted this power like nothing else.
"Now Mira, everything looks in order. Go ahead."
I vaguely heard Mira's voice, but it sounded like she was in my arm.
"I'm starting to break through the barrier now."
"So what is the end result of this?"
"I means Mira will be inside your tachi, essentially any power you manifest in your hand, she can mimic and put through the sword. An example would be that's fire, when this is done, while you use the fire in your hand; she can put it in the blade. Once she manifests it you no longer need to do it until she stops manifesting it too. I realize this all sounds like a bad fantasy game, but believe me it is wonderfully real."
"I'm in."
"Excellent, now I realize that you both have important things to do, and this training takes a while. So I'm going to let you go, but before you do I will tell you one thing. The ability to read minds, isn't tied to an emotion, and it lets you see a first person perspective of their past, or at least any memory that is present in their mind. It will be in much greater detail then they experience, and you may even feel the things they felt. While reading their thought you may even think you are them, but it won't be for long. No if you'll excuse me, I have a woman half my age tied to my bed, waiting patiently for me."
He jumped up to his feet, and ran back to his room faster then a man in his forties probably should be able to.
"I say we go check up on Carlos"
"Sounds like a plan, but I got one thing I want to try first, I need to get back to my apartment."
I left the room I was in and walked down the hall, turning to look into the room Wyatt had retreated into before I saw a Tabby cat tied down to a queen sized bed, nude and clearly female. She had a ball gag in her mouth.
"Really wish I hadn't looked in that room."
"You're telling me, I'm damn glad I passed up my chance with him."
***
I arrived back at my apartment around three o'clock in the morning, a ran to my laptop and turned it on as fast as I could. I had Jesse plant bugs. I told him, everyone you know, and everywhere you go, plant bugs. We knew the access codes to each others bugs, so I tapped into his. Thankfully he did bug the house. I looked around for Sasha but I couldn't find her, I decided to try something else.
"Mira, how do I read minds?"
"You look at someone, then try to visualize the world from their eyes, if they are asleep just imagine seeing black while looking at them, it will provide a temporary portal to their mind."
I wanted to find Sasha and read her mind, and to do that I needed to know where she was, so I decided to read Niles mind. But that sly bastard knew I was going to do it, because he had a thought prepared, and I learned his whole fucking life story instead. But I guess it let me know a little more about Sasha, I know now how damaged she is.