“I did what I was told.”
“You were told to prepare for eviction and to hand the device to Dr. Cross.”
“Yes, I did both. Humans are space faring, so once that was established I found Dr. Cross.”
The figure remained silent for a moment allowing for the voices and cries of people in the hall to be heard. Graven’s initial scream seemed to have the entire dormitory awake and in a panic.
“Eviction goes forward.”
Graven’s eyes snapped up to the figure. “What? No! We can’t…”
“The emissary will arrive in approximately forty Earth years as planned. Eviction is scheduled for the Earth year 2018 as per Cooper’s orders.”
“Cooper gave a date?” Graven asked and then cocked his head hearing his own words. “Cooper?” He thought about the sketch drawings of the hijacker as pieces clicked in his head.
“Eviction happens whether or not you are prepared.” The assassin’s head glanced towards the body. “You shouldn’t have told her.” The assassin flashed.
“FUCK!!!” Graven screamed.
The door burst open with the first kick from a security guard. Three other guards followed the first into the room.
“Freeze!” one of the pretend Rambos yelled at Graven.
Graven, still on his knees, turned to the guard. His eyes burned orange, causing the guard to back away in fright. “Maybe Doyle was right,” he hissed at the guards.
“Who the fuck is Doyle?” a female voice from the hall asked.
“Everybody just calm down. We’re going to take you in, sir.” The brave guard stepped forward, pulling out his handcuffs.
Graven grinned at him and, with one swipe, ripped his throat out.
VI
Garbage Scow – The Captain’s Mess
February 15, 2018
“I killed six guards and the fourteen young women that lived in the dormitory that night.” Graven’s eyes were fixated on his ale and showed signs of pending tears.
Nigel felt the cold pale of his facial skin as the blood continued to drain from it. “I think you may have overreacted a bit.”
Lifting his eyes to meet Nigel’s, Graven allowed a smirk. “Yes, I did. I have what you would term as anger issues.”
“Who was Mandy?” Sheila asked with a quiet voice. She sat back from the table, as though fearful of Graven.
“Mandy was the reason I didn’t want to evict Earth.”
“Like Gerald for Savannah,” Nigel said to Sheila.
Graven’s mouth opened but he said nothing for a moment.
Nigel turned to him. “You weren’t designed to take emotional loss, were you.”
“For a bloody disc jockey, you’re a smart man.” Graven lifted his ale.
“Did you kill Savannah and Gerald?” Sheila asked.
Graven shook his head. “No. Our sensors have tracked their progress and they are following us.”
“Why did you take us?”
Graven took a deep breath before answering. “I have a plan.”
Nigel looked around the room. “Care to share?”
“I can’t yet. But you will be part of it.”
“Good of a story teller as you might be, I’m not sure we would help you with much.”
Graven sniffed and the tears flowed down his cheeks and he sniffed as his mask fell. “I’m a selfish bastard. I just want Mandy back.”
Chapter Four
Mandy
I
Calgary, Alberta
May 1, 1970
“How many would you kill for me?”
Graven could not stop smiling, much as he tried. The young redhead sitting beside him on the bench had ignited something.
They sat on a path that went along the west side of St. Mary’s Cathedral, between it and the priest residence. The red brick of the church rose up to a massive steeple and bell tower that began to ring for the noon mass. People passed them hurriedly, now late to get inside.
“We sit on sacred ground, and you ask how many I would kill for you? You are such a nasty girl.”
“You want me to be nice?”
He turned away. “Do not change.” He looked back out of the corner of his left eye.
She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. “Just be thankful I don’t ask you to fuck me here.”
He laughed. “You think I’d say no? It’s not like we haven’t done it before.”
“Not in broad daylight, pardner.” She laughed back. “You are a vampire, aren’t you?”
His smile vanished. “I am not, I swear.”
She laughed harder. “You can’t take a fuckin’ joke even.”
He felt relief return the blood to his face. “My old buddy Bram says I just look like one.”
“I keep forgetting you knew those guys. You’re just so powerful and…”
“I’d kill them all for you,” he growled.
“I know you would.” Her eyes smiled up at him. “Please don’t.”
II
Calgary, Alberta – The Stampede Grounds
July 5, 1969
“Nice hat,” the short redhead said to him. “Wanna dance, pardner?”
“Pardner?” Graven asked and reached up to check his head. “I’m not wearing a hat?”
“You’re not from around here, are you?” She wore a white ten-gallon hat, white pants, white cowboy boots with heels, and a red western shirt.
He shook his head.
“I’m Mandy. I’m part of the Stampede welcome volunteer brigade.”
“I’m Graven.” He felt underdressed in his navy T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers.
“That’s a different name. Can’t say I’ve heard it before.”
“My parents were weird.”
She laughed.
He was surprised that he liked her laugh. Human laughs usually annoyed him as condescending, but petite Mandy was different.
“So what brings you to Calgary?”
To feed, he thought. “Just work and have the weekend off to play.”
Her eyes lit up at the last word. “Where are you from?”
“Originally, Ireland. Right now I work at a university lab in Oregon.”
“Well traveled and smart, too. Can I take you home?” She winked at him.
“Yes.” The answer escaped his mouth quite by accident. They shared the laugh together that followed.
“Seems I may have to ride your horse tonight,” she said with a giggle.
He didn’t want to kill her. It was an odd sensation as it slipped through him. In almost one hundred years on the planet, it was the first time he had felt it. Could he control it, even? His eyes lifted and looked past her at the Stampede Midway.
In the distance was the grandstand where rodeo and horse race events would occur before an evening show and fireworks. The buildings around the grounds all advertised livestock and farming presentations.
“Dude, I just offered you my pussy tonight. Don’t bail on me now.”
“I’m not bailing.” The smile returned to his face. “Why wait until tonight?”
III
A barn was not really where he had anticipated their first coupling to be, and yet here they were.
Mandy’s red hair swayed beneath the white ten-gallon hat she insisted on keeping on. Although she had also kept the boots on, Graven was quite happy that all the rest of her clothes were gone. She rocked backward, pushing her ample breasts skyward.
His rigid cock resisted her movement, not wanting to go back any further. His right hand held her waist to keep her on him while his left reached for the pink nipples of her breasts, caressing and squeezing each in turn.
Pulling back upright, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pushed his face between her breasts.
He laughed.
“I like it when you laugh,” she said, not losing a beat of her thrusts down on top of him.
He turned his head up and kissed her hard. Both hands now on her hips, he helped her thrust harder.
Yelps signaled her first orgasm, which blew right by like a cool summer breeze off the Rockies. It wasn’t a strong orgasm, but her body shivered for a moment with it.
Graven felt the seeping of her energy as it happened, but did not feed. He just allowed it to caress against him as he pushed it back to her. The joy of his success turned him more aggressive with her. He lifted her off of him, bent her over a hay bale, and pushed back in from behind. His hand rose in preparations to spank her.
“No bruises, cowboy!” she yelled with a giggle.
“Sorry,” he said mid-thrust and dropped his hand.
“I like being spanked, but not until bathing suit season is over.”
He laughed and thrust harder.
IV
“How does a scientist afford this room?” Mandy snuggled against his shoulder as they looked out the floor-to-ceiling window at the Calgary skyline.
“Oh, I do alright.” Graven felt that telling her that the dead bodies of the actual hotel room occupants were in the front closet would not win her heart.
They had fucked seven times that day. The first time was in the barn on the Stampede Grounds. After it was dark and Mandy’s shift was done, they had crossed McLeod Trail and found a path running between St. Mary’s Cathedral and the priest residence where they copulated again. Then a dark alley off 4th Avenue SW when they realized the walk to Graven’s hotel was too long to keep their hands off each other.
It was at this point Graven was looking for a way to get them into a room. Much as he wanted her to stay with him, he had no room as of yet. They walked into the lobby of The Morton Hotel, and he was still uncertain.
“Baby, much as I don’t want you out of my sight, I need the washroom,” Mandy said. She pointed to the sign past the reception desk. “I’ll be a second.”
He kissed her and watched her go. A quick glance around and he stepped into the men’s room before he flashed. On the fifteenth floor, he found two people walking down the hall to their room.
Obsessed with each other, neither noticed he was following them into their room. With both necks snapped before they could cry out, Graven found the room key and stuffed both bodies in the closet. He considered putting the bodies in the next room but was concerned what would happen if the occupants of that room found them. At least here, he could control it.
Next, he did a quick once-over.
The couple had only one suitcase and, being it was still zipped up, it looked as though they had just arrived. There was no suggestion of a female presence in the room as of yet.
He flashed back to a stall in the men’s room. Stepping out, he checked his hair in the mirror and washed his hands.
“Oh, there you are,” Mandy’s voice greeted him as he returned to the lobby.
“Here I am,” he agreed.
Taking her up to the room, they had fucked four more times after arriving.
Looking out at the city lights, Graven sensed the fifth time would happen soon.
“Why are you here?” Mandy asked.
“Vacation, I told you.”
“Nah, I don’t believe you. You have a bigger purpose.”
He glanced down at her.
“Your secret is safe if you tell me.”
His eyes studied her face. “I know it is, but...”
“But what?” Reaching between his legs, she began stroking his cock again. “Holy shit, this thing never gets soft, does it?”
He laughed. “I’m not from around these parts, as you said.”
“Yeah, you told me. Ireland via Oregon.”
“Kettelgian was first,” he whispered.
“Where’s that?”
V
Mandy sat cross-legged on top of the bed covers. “This is a lot to swallow.”
“I know how unbelievable it must sound.” Graven pushed his hair back from his face. He remained under the covers up to his hip.
“Do you need to feed on people?”
He held her gaze. “Now that eviction will be called off, no. Yes, there are nutrients that feeding can give me, but there are other ways to get that.”
“I don’t think I want to know.”
“You’re still here, though,” he said softly.
“Yeah, so?”
“I’m surprised I haven’t scared you off with this.”
She thought for a moment before responding, “I should be scared. But I’m not.”
“Good,” he whispered.
“I mean, were it not for showing me that flashing act of yours, I’d think you’re batshit crazy.”
He laughed. “Of course.”
She got up and crawled back towards him. “Maybe I’m batshit crazy.” Her lips met his and opened to allow their tongues to dance again.
VI
Portland, Oregon – Grossman Labs at Pacific University
July 5, 1971
Mandy wanted to complain as Graven pulled his cock from her, but she knew the plan. She glanced over and watched as the other scientist moved towards her while opening his pants.
He grasped her thighs as he positioned himself between her legs and pushed in his tiny penis.
She tried not to show her disappointment. It was obvious that, in this case, size did matter.
For Graven, though, this was necessary. The guy lifting her legs up in his poor attempt to get deeper was supposedly a brilliant scientist that would take this flashing technology temporal.
Mandy hoped that her pussy was enough enticement to get Carson onboard with their plan.
Graven put a hand on Carson’s ass and pushed to encourage further depth. “Just remember, she’s mine,” he whispered.
“Yes, sir,” Mandy agreed with him. “Thank you, sir.”
“Good girl. Give Carson a good orgasm.”
She nodded and closed her eyes. Her thoughts muted the men talking as she imagined what it would be like to visit Graven’s home. She wanted to meet Quelver, Shava, and Cooper. She wanted to give her life to this man. Alien or not, to her, he was still a man.
VII
Portland, Oregon – Pacific University Female Dormitory
10:00pm – November 24, 1971
“Who’s there?” Mandy pulled her knees up to her chest. She had seen the flash and, though some excitement wafted through her, Graven had told her he was not coming that night. On the off chance he would arrive, she always slept naked.
No answer was given by the darkness.
Clicking on the side table lamp revealed an Asian woman with the hood of her cloak down. Her brown eyes did not flinch with the sudden light. Her black hair framed her face and fell straight down past her shoulders.
“Who are you?” Mandy asked.
“He’s told you everything, hasn’t he?”
“How would I know if he…?”
“You know about Kettelgian and eviction?”
Mandy nodded. “He never mentioned you, though.”
The woman’s eyes narrowed. “He doesn’t know me.”
Mandy felt her body begin to straighten.
“The woman walked up and attached restraints to both of Mandy’s ankles and then to the bed posts at the foot.
“What are you doing?”
Ignoring Mandy, she continued and did the same with her wrists.
Mandy pulled against the chains to test them. “What is this?” Her voice was more a yell now.
The woman lifted a gun from her pocket.
“Really? All your alien technology and you have to use a handgun?”
The woman laughed. “You’re not that smart, are you? You think I should leave any further clues for people to find this strange?”
Mandy struggled against her restraints harder.
Cocking the gun, the woman aimed. “Oh, and seeing as you asked so nicely, I’m Jasper.”
Chapter Five
The Assassin
I
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
December 22, 1994, 11:34 pm
“This place is fucking cold,” Jasper w
hispered and watched her breath billow out in white from her lips on a crash course for the windshield. She sat in the cab of a semi-truck, similar to the one her target would drive some day. “How do these people live here?” She glanced down at the time on the radio. “Why do they choose to fuckin’ live here?”
That same radio offered Peter Gabriel singing a request for “Steam” in return.
“One more minute.” Turning the key, she started the truck with a rumble and then increased the radio volume.
The truck was parked at the corner of 1st Avenue North and 36th Street East facing south.
Jasper had practiced this with a simulator and had it timed out perfectly, so long as Mother Nature agreed to play ball. Perfectly doing this depended on the truck getting enough traction on the icy road first and no simulator could confirm the exact amount of ice any place.
The timer beeped.
Slamming her foot on the clutch, she threw the truck into gear.
It lurched forward and gave no signs of spinning wheels on the ice.
Listening to the engine rev, she repeated the clutch and pushed the truck into second gear. With no trailer, the cab hurtled forward without protest as she switched it to third gear and passed 34th Street North doing sixty kilometres per hour.
Approaching 33rd Street North, now doing ninety, her eyes caught sight of the headlights approaching from the east on 33rd. “There you are,” she hissed as she pushed the semi to 100.
As the semi t-boned it, the white 1977 Lincoln Continental was no match. It reacted much as a tiny twig snapping over one’s knee would.
Jasper pushed the brakes and skidded completely across 33rd to a halt with the remains of the car in the parking lot ahead of her. Climbing out of the cab, she ran to the car. Looking inside, she saw the bloodied bodies of both Howard and Helen Moss. “Where’s the boy?” she asked the bodies through the smashed windows.
Darwin's Sword: Savannah - Book Two Page 12