by ID Johnson
Tears were starting to make their way out of the corners of her eyes. “I just can’t imagine losing Jack,” she whispered. “I’m just tired of losing people. I don’t want to do it any more.”
“I know,” he agreed. “I really do know.”
She wiped her tears on the sleeve of her sweatshirt. “You mentioned that before,” she replied. “What do you mean by that? Do you mind that I ask?”
“No, I don’t mind that you ask,” he responded. In the past, it had been difficult for him to talk about it. But he was willing to talk to Cadence about it. There never really was an easy way to start this story, so over the decades, he just started telling it how it was. Taking a deep breath, he calmly stated, “My wife died.” He wasn’t able to look directly at her and instead found himself staring down at his folded hands.
Cadence gasped, “Oh, my God, Aaron, I’m so sorry! I had no idea.”
“I know. It’s okay. I mean, it was a very, very long time ago. But, even when this much time has passed, it really doesn’t make it any easier, unfortunately.”
She had no idea he had ever married before, though it would make sense that someone who had lived as long as he had would have been married at some point. “Do you ever talk about her, to anyone?” she asked.
“No, not really. Not anymore. There are some incredible rumors about what happened, and most of the team knows about her, but there’s really no one left that ever even met Aislyn. And, she was a human so, even if she hadn’t gotten sick, she wouldn’t be alive now.”
“You fell in love with a human?” she asked, intrigued.
“Mm hmm,” he replied softly.
“And you married her, knowing that, someday you’d have to go on without her?”
He nodded his head slowly.
“That’s incredible,” Cadence said. ”And pretty damn romantic,” she added.
He smiled shyly, “I guess so. I don’t know. I loved her. There was no question in my mind that I loved her, and I didn’t care what she was. I was going to marry her. And so, I did, and we were together for three years before she got sick, and even though I personally had the gift of eternal life, not to mention all of the contemporary advancements in medicine and technology at my fingertips, I could do nothing to save her.”
“I’m so sorry,” she said, holding back tears again.
“Thanks,” he replied, nodding. Then he added, “So, I know. I really do know how you feel.”
She paused for a moment, considering all that he had said, being ever so careful to control her emotions. There was so much that she wished to say. Though she had admired him before, learning of his ability to love someone so unconditionally just intensified her feelings. After a few moments she finally said simply, “Thank you for telling me.”
It had been a long time since Aaron had mentioned Aislyn to anyone, but he felt Cadence deserved to know, and he was glad to have had the opportunity to share his story with her. “You’re welcome. Thank you for listening.”
“And thank you for giving me another chance,” she added.
Her abrupt change of topic caught him slightly off-guard “What?” he asked. “You mean on the team?”
She nodded, slowly, briefly glancing up to meet his eyes.
“Oh, you don’t have to thank me for that, Cadence. I should have never . . .” he paused, not even knowing what to say without bringing up the other conversation they had had that same night. And with Jack sick, he certainly didn’t want her to think he was making advances towards her. Finally, he just stated, “Cadence, I was mad at the wrong person, and I don’t know if it was just my complete inability to see situations in any shades other than black or white or if I allowed someone else’s judgment to cloud my own, but I realized after you left yesterday, you never would have broken the rules if they weren’t stupid rules to begin with.”
“You mean the observation protocol? I don’t think it’s stupid . . .” she started.
“Sure it is. A rule that says every single Hunter has to follow the same protocol even when they don’t need to and it hurts the team? Yeah, that’s pretty stupid. So, I couldn’t hold you back anymore, even though it scares the hell out of me to see the risks you take. You know what you’re doing. You said you trust me, and I need to trust you, too.” Then he added, “And I do. I do trust you.” He was looking directly into her eyes now, and he hoped she could see the sincerity in his words.
Unable to continue to hold his gaze, she looked away. After a moment she said, “Good. Thank you.”
“Sure,” he said, nodding. Suddenly, he realized he needed to exit the situation or else become a complete hypocrite. “Okay, I’m sorry. You’re exhausted and I have work to do, so I promise I will let you sleep.”
“You look pretty tired, yourself,” she pointed out, not looking directly at him when she said it, hoping she wouldn’t think she was suggesting anything.
“Thanks,” he said sarcastically as he stood to walk back to his computer.
“I’m just saying, you really are allowed to sleep, too, you know,” she said as she pulled the blankets over her shoulder and turned her back to him.
“I know, “ he admitted, sitting back down at the table, turning the screen so that the light from his laptop wouldn’t shine into her eyes. “And I did sleep. Once. A few years ago.”
She couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s a big bed so you won’t bother me, just sayin’”
“Okay,” I’ll keep that in mind. Good night, Cadence,”
“Good night, Aaron,” she said.
***
When Cadence woke up the next morning, she was surprised not to see Aaron still sitting on the sofa working. She rolled over and realized he actually had gotten in bed with her. And he was asleep. Although, technically, he was on the bed, not under the blankets as she was, which she found a bit humorous. Clearly, he was concerned with violating her privacy. He had changed clothes into something slightly more comfortable than what had been wearing the night before, and he looked more peaceful than she had ever seen him.
He must have felt her staring at him because his eyes began to flutter, and then he was awake and looking back at her. “Good morning,” he said softly.
“Hi. You slept! I’m so proud of you!” she exclaimed, propping her head up on one arm.
“I know. Me, too. How did you sleep?” he asked, stretching.
She was momentarily distracted, staring at the muscles in his arms as he flexed them in his attempt to fully wake. She shook her head, gathering her thoughts. “I slept well, thanks. And you?”
“Better than I have in a long time,” he admitted turning on his side to face her.
“You were tired,” she reminded him. “See, sleep isn’t such an awful thing.”
“No, sleep’s great. It’s the making up for all of the work that I missed that’s so terrible,” he explained, realizing he had a ton to do and that he needed to find a way out of the bed quickly before the situation took a turn. He brought himself promptly to his feed, still standing across the bed from her.
“Well, that’s because you’re doing the job of two people,” she reminded him, doing a bit of stretching herself. “And two extremely difficult jobs at that. “
“You’re right, that’s exactly why. But until the Hunters elect someone else as Leader, I’m just going to have to do it myself,” he reminded her, walking around the end of the bed towards his computer.
“Well, I may not be my grandmother, but if there’s anything that you think I can help you with, please let me know,” she offered as he opened his laptop.
“Okay, thanks,” he said, beginning to scroll through the information on his computer as he simultaneously checked the messages on his IAC.
Cadence could see that he was very busy, and she didn’t want to bother him. But at the same time, she wasn’t quite ready to leave. “I guess I’m going shopping with Eliza today,” she mentioned, sitting up and attempting to detangle her hair with her fingers.
; He looked up at her, smirking. “Oh? Have fun,” he said, wondering if it was even possible to enjoy shopping with Eliza.
“I know, right? And the meeting with Sebastian is at 8:00?” she inquired, working on a rather obstinate tangle.
“That's right, 8:00. And he’s coming over here. I guess we’ll just bring him in here.” Then he added, “He doesn’t want you there, you know? He’s afraid you’ll lose your temper and kill him. Same for Stormy.”
“I don‘t blame him,” she admitted. ‘I just figured you wanted us all in the building, just in case something happens.”
“That is probably a wise idea,” he agreed.
“Well, I will go check on my lovely roommate and see if I am allowed to take a shower.” She momentarily considered using his hospitality as an excuse to cross the room and hug him, but she was keenly aware of the fact that her mouth tasted like an old shoe, so she climbed out of bed and headed straight for the door. She continued to run her hand absently through her hair and, pulling the heavy oak door open, she turned and catching his eyes said, “Thanks again.”
She had his full attention, standing there in her crumpled sweatshirt, hair a mess, just as beautiful as ever. He couldn’t really think of anything to say at the moment so he said the first thing that came to mind. “Have a great day!”
“I feel like I’m leaving Wal-Mart,” she giggled. “You, too!” She bounded down the hall, determined that she was getting back into her hotel room, one way or another.
***
It was 8:37 and Sebastian had not yet shown up. Aaron had been in contact with a messenger off and on all day, receiving updates on Holland and making sure the Turncoat knew where to be and when to be there. They were supposed to meet early so that, by the time the nightlife (or afterlife, as the case may be) started their nightly corruption of the City of Lights, his team was well informed and ready to bring Holland down.
Cadence was holed-up in her room with Stormy who was polishing one of her guns. She had several, more than Cadence could easily account for, and this one was a custom number Stormy relied on heavily. “Is that thing loaded?” she asked, watching Stormy flip it around nonchalantly.
“Always,” the Amazonian woman replied.
“Nice,” Cadence muttered. She had asked Aaron about weapons yesterday, and he assured her they had quite an arsenal and that she would be fully armed. As exciting as that she seemed, she’d never even been in a simulator with more than one Glock at a time and the idea of trolling around Paris with a couple of Beretta’s or a handgun strapped to every portion of her body was sounding more and more like the backstory for an episode of “World’s Dumbest Criminals.”
“I think we’ve got a no-show,” Aaron finally admitted at 8:45.
“The firs step towards healing is admitting you’ve got a problem,” she replied.
“Sarcasm, very helpful. We’re going to head over to Le Doll, which opens at 9:00 and see if Sabin and the girls know anything more. You want to come?"
“Strip club? You know it!"
Cadence was certain she had to be breaking at least a few weapons ordinances. Before he let her out the door, Aaron had strapped two Beretta’s into her long black coat. She had two Glock’s in holsters at her side and a third strapped to the back of her leg. They were all armed to the teeth and dressed like they were going to a cosplay for The Matrix movies. Nevertheless, she felt like a badass and she was more than ready to find Holland and finish this once and for all.
The French team was also tired of waiting, and they were descending on Le Doll as well. Aaron had made sure everyone had each other in IAC, and now Cadence was slightly distracted by the French-to-English translations she was getting zapped through her brain every few seconds. She heard the original message and then the translation and it was just a bit much. She had new resolve to learn all foreign languages so as to avoid this situation in the future.
There was a long line of patrons waiting to get in and Cadence assumed those who were not armed would have a better chance of success. However, Aaron didn’t take them to the front entrance; he took them around the side where Sabin was waiting and let them in.
Cadence had actually never been to any strip club before, so having her first one be a French burlesque was even more of a shock. She was having a very hard time not gasping at every X-rated scene that her innocent eyes were suddenly exposed to, and she felt as if her face must be deep shade of crimson. Though she felt embarrassed at her naiveté, she did happen to notice that their fearless leader looked fairly uncomfortable himself. A few of the other guys, however, were having difficulty concentrating for other reasons all together. She made a point not to make eye contact with Christian at all so as to make sure he did not get any ideas.
They followed Sabin into a dressing area. Some of the other performers were a bit startled to see such a large group dressed in dark colors walk in, clearly packing and unbothered by who may notice. But this was Paris and they had seen stranger things.
Sabin and Aaron were speaking French and, even with her mental translator sprinting along as fast as it’s little legs could carry it, she wasn’t keeping up. Essentially, they weren’t sure if Sebastian had gotten cold feet or if he had been found out. Either way, they suggested a full scope of the club and if they had no luck here, a raid on The Vieux Moullin. If Sebastian had just gotten nervous and was still undetected, Holland may actually show. She had been in a few nights ago. While the idea of raiding a warehouse full of Rogue Vampires and burning it to the ground sounded appealing, the first and most important step was to cut off the head of the snake.
Genevieve and Chantal both addressed Aaron and the rest of the group topless and Cadence found it quite amusing to watch him attempt to speak to them nonchalantly when he was clearly excruciatingly uncomfortable. They were discussing location around the inside perimeter of the club that would work well for optimal vantage points and as much camouflage as possible. The club was open from 9:00-3:00 and, if Holland had not shown up by 2:00, the plan was to disperse and rendezvous at 2:45 at Location 2.
As Aaron was discussing the details with the French Hunters, Christian approached Cadence. “Are you ready for this?” he asked quietly.
She glanced briefly in his direction, trying to prevent distraction at all costs. “I believe so,” she said, nodding her head.
“Good,” he said smiling. “I have a feeling you are going to kick some major Vampire ass tonight. Can’t wait to see the show.”
She couldn’t help but smile at that. “Thanks,” she said grinning.
“Sure. I know I’m not assigned to guard you tonight, but if you need anything, don’t hesitate to let me know, alright?” he said, gently squeezing her arm and stepping away.
Cadence nodded at him as he walked away, fully aware that Eliza was shooting her a questioning stare from the other side of the small circle the team had formed around Aaron and the informants.
Sabin had the night off so she was armed; the other two were not so they would be reliant on some assistance if things started to go down in the club. The rest of the team members were reminded to share their weapons if possible. Once the conversation with the dancers was finished, much to Aaron’s relief, Sabin helped him place his troops as inconspicuously as she could. Cadence had been given fairly strict orders to stay with Aaron at all times, and so she got to walk around with him as he positioned everyone. Sabin was clearly intrigued by the striking foreigner and Cadence noticed how often she put her wispy little hand on him when she spoke.
Once everyone else was in position, Sabin went off to find a vantage point that leant itself well to where she generally saw Holland hang out when she was in the club. Cadence wasn’t particularly saddened to see her go.
The main room of the club was shaped like a large oval with squared off corners. It was three stories high with balconies lining the sides and offering views to the main floor bellow. It was ideal for observing but made deployment a bit trickier, especially when the club
was full of innocent bystanders, as it was this evening. Despite the fact that the strippers were all female, there were plenty of women in the crowd, something Cadence found rather odd. Like most clubs, however, it was dark and smoky. Everyone on the team had night vision through their IACs, which could be useful when it came to tracking in the poor lighting.
Elliott had the best vantage point of anyone, poised in the rafters high above the crowd. Though he had the most experience at mounting the crow’s nest, Aaron had considered putting one of the French team members there so that Elliott would be more accessible should they need his guns. But, in the end, Aaron knew the importance of a good rooster and he left him in a position where a quick descent wasn’t very feasible, essentially leaving them with one less pistol on the ground than he had planned on. Elliott was interested in checking his range from the rafters, however, and he may be of some help after all.
Placing Cadence was also of the utmost importance. She needed to be able to see and to access her target quickly. He had settled on a location on the second story near the stairs. His plan was to stick as closely by her side as possible. Eliza was also assigned solely to Cadence’s protection, so he felt fairly confident that, between the two of them, they could keep her safe, though once her instincts kicked in, it would be nearly impossible to predict what she might do or which direction she might head.
The rest of the team was scattered amongst the different levels, some on the main floor, with Genevieve and Chantal taking advantage of their time on stage to survey the crowd as well.
Once the crowd really poured in, Aaron’s Vampire Tracker started getting hits all across the club. This application in his IAC picked up on the implants of tagged Vampires within a set range and determined if they had any complaints against them. If they had enough substantiated offenses on their record to meet Rogue status, the rest of the team would also receive notification. Of course, this only worked for Vampires who were tagged. It was a bit shocking to know just how many of the patrons below were Compliant Vampires. The incessant beeping was just one more aspect of Aaron’s job that could have easily driven someone of lesser skill beyond the breaking point.