"He's here. On this property." Laurence was so close to finding him and yet so far away. "I need to access those cameras...now."
The house shuddered briefly. Laurence headed for the stairs as he was informed that the first safe room had been breached. "Are the monitors in there?" He asked into his bluetooth.
"Yes, sir. We're pulling them up right now."
"Finally!" Laurence exclaimed. This place had turned out to be more of a fortress than they had imagined. Most of the home's designs were not on record and he suspected a lot of bribes greased a lot of officials to keep the documentation of the buildings there suppressed. They were finding secret passages under the property and the last of the guard were holed up in one. But Steven wasn't in there with them so Laurence just sealed the passage.
Laurence arrived at the safe room. It was in a basement library, built behind a wall of bookshelves. The books were scattered everywhere and piled up out of the way. The shelves had been smashed to get them out of the way. The ragged hole in the wall was big enough for a man to get through. Laurence ducked in and walked into a luxurious room stocked with all the comforts a rich person may desire as he hid from his enemy. Large screen television, fully stocked pantry and refrigerator, a kitchenette, large bathroom and a huge bedroom made this a ridiculously over the top safe room. Laurence looked at a pair of panties on the floor and suspected it was a room that was regularly used.
"Over here, sir." One of his agents waved him over. Laurence stepped over the half dressed body of one of the staff members. It would appear that he was interrupted in the middle of extra curricular activities and was trying to get dressed when the door was blown. Laurence idly wondered where the other party was as he walked toward the monitors. A trail of blood and a petite leg sticking out the half-closed door of the bathroom answered that question as he walked up to the wall that the agents had opened to reveal the camera monitors. There was a bank of twelve large screen monitors attached to the wall, each one displaying the output of a different camera, plus a control monitor at the desk. One of his agents was in the seat pulling up the cameras and all of them looked at different monitors trying to see something that would lead them to their quarry.
"Back up to just before we started the assault," Laurence instructed the agent. He looked at the time stamp and selected one that most closely approximated the time before their arrival. There was little but the usual activity of the staff in the mansion, including a couple sneaking off. Presumably the unfortunate couple that now lay on the floor in the safe room currently. Laurence shook his head. They were missing something.
"Okay, lets pull up the gate cameras and go back to when Steven arrived here."
The monitors switched to those cameras and Laurence watched as the recording reset to the time they guessed Steven arrived based on their scanners.
"There!" Laurence pointed at a video of Steven carrying a couple of pizza boxes. "Smug little brat," Laurence said under his breath. "Which cameras were covering the entrance from the inside?" Laurence looked at the control software. "That one, I think."
The agent selected it and Laurence watched as Steven walked in then entered the guard shack. A few minutes later a golf cart arrived and a young man entered the shack and very shortly after that emerged with Steven. "Follow that cart."
The agents rooted around for the cameras that were aimed at them and found a few candidates that they put up on the wall. "There he goes. Which building is that?"
"Looks like a garage, sir."
"That's an apartment," another agent said. He had come from there as they were clearing the buildings.
"Yeah, I see furniture in there. Do we have a camera on the inside?" Laurence looked at the camera list.
"No, sir. That looks like a recent rebuild."
"Fast forward," Laurence instructed.
They watched as Brandon and the woman left the building, then returned running, and could see them going upstairs and then back down stairs through the huge windows. The camera went white briefly and then when the image came back, all three were on the floor. The woman crawled to Steven, then got shot and slid to the floor. One of the security guards ran in from the back and also got shot. Steven and Brandon ran to the back of the apartment out of range of the cameras. It was a morbid scene watched in double-speed fast forward.
Laurence was about to instruct his men to search that building when he saw something strange. The woman sat back up, looked around then got up and walked out of camera range. "Wait, back that up and replay that in real time." She had crawled to Steven and got shot in the back. Then for some reason, she pushed up so her head was in the way and took a head shot. The quality of the video clearly indicated the wounds when she was shot. Laurence rubbed his temples, wondering how a dead person can get up and walk away. Was she an alien too? And did she get shot on purpose? He couldn't help wondering if that's what happened with the boy that helped Steven back at the restaurant.
"Download the video then destroy it and any offsite backup they may have," Laurence instructed. "I want boots over in that building. Search it again." Laurence walked out quickly and the agent at the monitor bent over to dig computer gear out of his bag, not seeing one of the monitors displaying several agents being ripped up by the plants of the garden.
Tor’eng waited impatiently on the ledge outside of his daughter's cave for the physician to finish with his daughter. They had been worried when she did not wake up when expected, but nothing they did seemed to make a difference. He spent the better part of the day at her side trying to wake her but nothing worked. He was exhausted and feeling very guilty for administering the sedative to her.
Asherah finally did wake up on her own. But she didn't fully come out of her dreams. Now the physician was sitting with her on her sleeping pad in the dusty cave, tending to her as she struggled to wake fully. But she kept drifting off, and when she was awake she seemed to be somewhere else. She would look at them but not see them. Her face was matted with a nonstop stream of tears and she seemed to be in excruciating pain. Tor'eng bit his lip, hoping the physician would be able to help her. The results of the medication were surely having lingering effects and he felt intense shame for having applied them.
One of his subcommanders stepped up to him. "Ra'el's defense force has arrived at the clearing," she said. Tor'eng looked at her and nodded, and she left the chamber that had been hewn into the solid rock of a cliff. Ever since they received the recent message from Lohet they have been building up forces at the primary fracture. Their most powerful gatekeepers were there now attempting to open it. But their hopes rested on a little boy born against their laws who will soon have catastrophic powers. How they got to that, Tor'eng was most curious to find out. But the threat to the Cooperative by their ancient enemy superseded the risk posed by the boy for the moment and the boy was slated for termination at the completion of the mission by one of the best deviant hunters around - Lohet.
But he was there to check on his daughter. She had been very disobedient and in this case that disobedience threatened to bring all of their plans and preparations to complete futility. If the boy developed his capabilities before Lohet was ready, there would be precious little time, if any, to open the gate, neutralize the enemy, and terminate the deviant. If they took too long they would be helpless against the deviant and their plans for the enemy would be futile. He felt terrible at having to keep her away from the forests and up there in this dead cave. When even that didn't work, he sedated her. But something went wrong.
She sat there with her eyes closed while the physician checked her vitals. It was like she wasn't even there, like she was off in her own world. But she was crying, he could tell that. Had he crossed the line in sedating her? But the mission was in peril and she simply refused to understand the consequences. The deviant must be left to Lohet and she must stop tampering with him. He still had problems comprehending how the deviant was able to find her in the first place. The best and most powerful gatekeepers have
so far been unable to access the fracture and yet his daughter has been communicating with the deviant boy all this time? But soon the deviant will be ready and the fracture will be reopened. He was sure of that. So long as his daughter did not mess things up.
She gasped, and opened her eyes. They were full of sadness and pain. Asherah looked over at him, but didn't seem to see him. The sedatives had been much too strong and it looked like she was still trying to wake up. The physician handed her a drink and she took it and drank as if on automatic pilot. It was all too much for Tor’eng and he left, angry at the deviant for corrupting his daughter. He departed the cave that they had secluded her in and jumped down the cliff to the grass field below. They had isolated her there as punishment for her activities. But was the punishment too extreme, too much for her to handle? And yet, the fate of the Cooperative hinged on the success of Lohet's mission.
Asherah looked around. She was in her cave, but she was seeing through her bond. Steven had just witnessed the death of the agents and she was tormented at having to show him that. She knew it might happen, but hoped to be able to restrain the vines and plants enough so the agents didn't get killed. He was so innocent and so kind and had already seen so much death. Asherah cried for him and her failure. But what else could she do? He needed to learn the truth about himself and her. It was imperative to his survival. Those chasing him had no idea of just how powerful he really was, and neither did he.
She could feel his terror trying to consume him along with his exhaustion dragging him down and Asherah tried her best to take it in to herself, to lessen his load. But it was wearing her out. Her calf burned and she winced, wondering how Steven had tolerated it without crying out. The pain of all his cuts, scrapes and bruises washed over her as she owned them, freeing Steven from their burden. She cried from the pain, and from the horror Steven was having to endure while she was unconscious and tried so hard to pull it from him until she couldn't bear it any more. And even then she persisted.
The sedative had set her back significantly. She was completely useless for the worst of Steven's experience and she was furious with her father for doing that. But he didn't understand. He doesn't know the depth of their bond. He was unaware that they had become life-mates much like he and her mother had become. Nor was she going to tell him. At least not now. To him, Steven was just a deviant. Like all the other deviants. A threat to be destroyed. But Steven was so much more, so very special, and Asherah cried for the unwarranted hate being directed toward him.
She rolled over, wracked by guilt. Informing her father about Steven in the first place had turned out to be a colossal mistake. Asherah's father seemed to know stuff she was completely ignorant of in her childish naivety and he became so angry with her and Steven. She was banned from the clearing that she had spent so many years playing in. It was the clearing from which her mother embarked through the fracture. It was a special place to her. And now it was beyond her reach.
And yet the bond was not beyond Asherah and even in her cave she still experienced Steven. The fracture was strong in the cave as well. And it was strong in a spot of the forest she liked to go meditate in. But she still tried to remain subdued, to stay behind the scenes. She was often watched by a chaperone. However, they often retreated back to the forest during the day, unable to bear the cave anymore. Living in the cave where there was no life around her to connect with had been a torment of its own, but Asherah weathered it, focusing on Steven and his challenges instead. She had planted one of Steven's favorite plants in a little spot of the cave entrance that had soil. It was now gone, potted up in Steven's greenhouse. Asherah wished it was her he had taken up and away from this place.
She was starting to wake up now. She could feel Steven and as she closed her eyes she could experience him. He was on the run again. He was heading to the forest. Her heart jumped. The other fracture was in that area. If he could just see her again, if she could just touch him, he would believe. She almost had him at the greenhouse, would have if she had just tried. But then she was afraid of disrupting the mission. No longer. She was going to convince him this time. He had to believe her. All it took was a touch. She hoped to pull him to her away from Laurence. But she would have to hide him. Steven would be in danger no matter where he was. Perhaps he could pull her in with him instead. Her mother was there and she was sure she could convince her if just given the chance. The choices raged inside as she pondered the ramifications.
Asherah reached into a bowl of freshly picked mushrooms and nibbled one, concentrating, trying to guide Steven to the spot where the fracture was strongest. Opening her eyes, she looked around. The physician was done and packing her gear to go. She reached out to her arm. "I need to meditate." Her voice was hoarse and she coughed, clearing it.
The physician looked back at her, then she looked at Asherah's chaperone and nodded. He smiled and stood up and to the side, allowing Asherah to exit the cave. She looked down and jumped. It was only about fourty feet down so it was an easy jump. Asherah didn't like climbing the rocks back up, however. She landed lightly on the grassy field below, experiencing an involuntary thrill at the feeling of the live grass and plants on her feet. As she walked, the blades of grass nearest her leaned in as if trying to touch her.
Asherah turned and waved at the chaperone then trotted into the forest, taking a circular route to her meditation spot so they wouldn't see exactly where she was going. It wasn't deep in the forest so she had to be careful to keep the spot undiscovered. And especially now, when she didn't want any interruptions. Not when she would be with Steven. Her heart swelled at the prospect of being in his arms, of holding him tight. She knew he would feel the same, that he felt the same. He was just resisting it, unable to accept it because it didn't make sense to him. But it would make sense when they were together again.
She found the part of the forest where the fracture was strong and sat down. Around there was a mixture of her jungles and his forest. Only she could see it, however, because of her bond with Steven. He was keeping them all active without even knowing it. Where the fracture was weaker, her forest dominated but she was still able to stay out of sight and follow Steven. But at this spot, he'll be able to see her clearly and touch her and she him, and she shuddered in anticipation
She found her rock and sat on it while digging her toes in the humus of the forest floor. The air was warm and tropical and the vibrancy of the forest around her was intoxicating. She was excited to be able to go there to rejuvenate. It was as important to her as breathing. The forest missed her too and tendrils curled up her legs where she sat, putting out leaves and flowers at each node. She smiled wistfully and smelled one of the flowers. It was a cruel punishment to make her spend so much time in that cave and she resented her father because of it. But that didn't matter right now. Right now her focus was on Steven. She could feel his heart racing and concentrated to help bring it under control. He was afraid but she could tell that he was also angry too, and feeling empowered. This time he felt the chase was on his terms and he intended to turn the tables on his pursuers.
Laurence checked his scanner and noticed that the blip that represented Steven had disappeared. He could see all of his other men. Furrowing his eyebrows, he tried to adjust the sensitivity. They had at least another twenty minutes with that satellite. "I think he's gone into a safe room," Laurence said into his bluetooth earpiece. All he heard was static so he tapped it. Frustrated, he remembered that it had been a while since that one had been charged. Stepping out of the garage-turned-apartment, he walked toward the front where his car was parked. He could have sent a man to grab his replacement but preferred to be the only one digging through his tools. "I'll be back. I think he's gone to ground in a safe room so bring in the sonar equipment and start scanning for it," Laurence instructed one of the agents as he walked by.
He jumped onto the golf cart and rode it down to the gate that was now manned by his security forces. They had cracked the security codes and were workin
g to maintain the appearance of normalcy by submitting routine security reports to the remote security company. That would basically ensure that they had unfettered access to the property for as long as they needed. Now that all the personnel had been accounted for and eliminated, there would be no further distractions from the search for Steven. He was down several men, however. It had not been a campaign without casualties. And the snipers on the roof were a mystery that they'd have to figure out. They weren't shot to death by security, but were killed in gruesome ways by something else that was very strong and very fast, and from the amount of shells scattered about, bulletproof. Their helmet mounted cameras had been completely wiped, too.
Scratching his head, Laurence approached the gate and parked the golf cart. There were several SUVs parked inside the gate and his car was parked with them, out of sight from any curious eyes. So far they've done a remarkable job not being noticed by law enforcement or nosy neighbors. One of many things that were actually going right on this operation for a change. Just one last thing to go right and they'd all get to go home. He sat in his car and rooted around for his replacement bluetooth earpiece. Finally he found it and he put his current one on the charger and activated the replacement.
"Com check," he said as he adjusted it. One of his agents confirmed that they were receiving him. Satisfied, he checked the scanner again. It still didn't have an indicator of Steven's location. "Have you found the safe room yet?" He tapped his bluetooth earpiece.
"Yes, sir. We're searching it now. But it wasn't used," one of the agents replied.
"Okay, they must have a basement or wine cellar." He was starting to get frustrated. He had hoped to get the kid before he went to ground, but it appeared that he'd found a hole somewhere to hide in.
"We cleared a wine cellar at the main residence, sir, and we're looking for others."
Crow - The Awakening Page 50