Superbullet

Part Three: The Art of the Deal

"etective? Detective Dobbs?"

Marilyn opened her eyes. The room tilted and swam around her like an amusement park ride. The only way to make it stop was to close her eyes and think really hard about absolutely nothing.

But that was rather hard to do with people shaking her and waving ammonia-salts under her nose.

Coughing, she opened her eyes again and winced at the blurry face in front of her.

Above her.

She was on the floor.

Floor... right...

"uhhhhhgh...." she moaned. Strangely enough, that made her feel better. She did it again. "Uhhnnn... what happened?"

"We were hoping you could tell us," said blurry-face #2, who was hovering behind and beside blurry-face #1.

Dobbs tried to remember what happened...

...and found that she could remember everything perfectly.

"Gimme a minute," she moaned.

"What hit you?" said... somebody. The faces weren't blurry any more, she just didn't recognize them. Cops from another precinct, most likely.

"A sword," she said. She sat up.

"A-" Cop #1 began.

"-Sword?" Cop #2 finished.

"Yeah. There... there was this invisible bullet. It came through the wall, but she stopped it with her hand. Then she said I was the one that did it, and her friend threw a sword at me."

"MEDIC!" said one of the cops. "She's delirious! Get her to the-"

"I'm not delirious!" Dobbs scrambled to her feet... but the only reason she remained there was because one of the officers was holding her up. She had no idea where her crutch was. While she looked around for it, she spotted something else.

"-Just ask HIM!" She pointed at Buddy Hurst, who was sitting on a bench, sucking oxygen through a face-mask. He didn't look hurt, other than maybe a mild case of shock. "HE saw it!"

"I didn't see nuthin!" Buddy took the face mask away just long enough to talk. "I... I passed out!"

Smart. He'd been awake the whole time, but he wasn't going to say anything that might earn him a trip to the special ward at the hospital. The ward with the soft walls and leather straps on the beds. Dobbs wished SHE had been that smart, but it was too late now.

Paramedics were all around her now. She felt hands on her... gently lowering her onto the gurney. Someone put an oxygen mask on her face. It made her feel... sleepy...

"You'll be all right," someone said as they rolled her out of the room. "Just a concussion. You just relax."

"...bullet..." she muttered as the scene around her started to fade away. "...through the wall... Brooks.... Brooks..."

"...'m not big on the idea of an army of psychic assassins killing people with their minds, Ashley. That's not something that'll make me sleep any better at night."

"Jason, nobody said anything about an ARMY-"

"Well, first there was just you. Now there's another one... Who's to say there aren't a hundred? Or a thousand?"

"Because there aren't!"

"How do you know? I mean... you didn't know about THIS one... who's to say-"

"I say," said Ashley. She shot Jason a deep, almost angry look, which he caught clearly from the corner of his eye.

"What's that look for?" he said.

"I don't like being talked about like I'm a monster, that's what. People thinking I'm a freak is one thing... but I'm not an EVIL freak-"

"Nobody's talking about YOU, Ashley! I'm just saying... if there's more out there besides you-"

"Besides me why? Why exclude me?"

"Because I KNOW you-"

"And what if I said all black people are thieves and rapists... except for you because I know you... what about THAT?"

"Whooooaaaa, hold on there now-"

"See! You don't like that, do you! But for the past twenty minutes you've been going on about how scared you are-"

"I didn't say scared!"

"-that there could be people like ME out there somewhere."

"I didn't say scared! Sebastian, help me out here... did I say scared?!"

"Drive faster," Sebastian growled from the back seat.

"-and its starting to piss me off!"

"I said 'Uncomfortable'... I did NOT say scared!"

"Uncomfortable IS scared. Its the 'scared' for people too chickenshit to say they ARE scared."

"Okay, maybe we should just back up and start the conversation over-"

"Too late. Jason, just drive, okay..."

Jason took his eyes off the road for an instant to glance at Ashley. She looked upset... but she clearly wasn't upset for the same reason HE was...

"Ashley, this guy's BRAIN ran through my bullets like... like... like a bullet! I pulled every trick I knew... which I admit isn't much, but so far its done pretty good! Until today, that is! With all this power Donovan gave me, I was standing on the sidelines like a cheerleader! But if it wasn't for YOU, we'd have lost a lot more than a damned football game!"

"I'm sorry if you feel inadequate, Jason, but there's more involved here than your pride-"

"Damn RIGHT there is! Like how are we gonna take this guy down when we get there! He seems to have a hell of a lot more control over his mojo than you-"

"He won't be there," said Ashley. "I looked through his eyes and saw where he was... but he knows I did it. I can't do that kind of thing without him knowing... He'll be long gone by the time we get there."

"Or setting up a nice little trap-"

"He doesn't need to set a trap. You saw what he can do."

"Yeah, I saw it," said Jason. "Problem is, I don't know what it is I saw! I mean... can YOU do that!? Make bullets with your mind!?"

"I... I don't know. I've never tried. And like you said, he's got more control than me."

Ashley wiped her finger under her nose.

"You okay?" Jason said, more calmly.

"I think its killing him," said Ashley. She was looking down at her finger. No blood. The nosebleed had stopped.

"Killing him how?"

"I don't know for sure... but he was in a whole lot of pain."

"Good," said Jason.

"No, that's not good."

"The super-sniper's mojo is killing him... how is that NOT good?"

"Because....!" Ashley began. Then she sighed. "Never mind. I wouldn't expect you to understand."

"Wouldn't understand what?" said Donovan.... who had appeared in the Expedition's back seat next to Sebastian.

Sebastian didn't even aknowledge him, but Jason and Ashley were a bit too busy to notice the sharp iciness between Donovan and his son.

"Nothing," Jason and Ashley said together. Then Jason added: "Anything?"

"I found a place like the one you described," he said to Ashley. "But there's no sign of our sniper."

"See, I told you," said Ashley. "He cleared out."

"No," said Donovan. "There was no sign that he had ever BEEN there. Not recently. There were a few..." Donovan paused and looked uncomfortably at Ashley. "...apparently teenagers use that place in the woods for... private encounters. There was evidence of THAT, but not of your telekinetic sniper."

"And what evidence were you looking for?" Ashley snapped. "Brain-condoms in the grass?"

"Excuse me?" Donovan said, confused.

"Never mind her," said Jason. "I insulted the Brotherhood of Evil Psychics and now she's all off-center about it."

"SEE!" Ashley shrieked. "SEE!?! THERE you go again!!"

"What? I'm just joking!"

"People have been treating me like a monster since the day I was born, Jason... and if you came across somebody else like me, you'd treat THEM like a monster... like a DEMON... because you don't know them! It makes me wonder what you really think of ME."

"If somebody's making people's heads explode from halfway across the city, then I think I'm in my rights to treat him like a bad guy. Right, Donovan?"

"I would say so."

"It IS our job, after all. We find demons and kill them."

"But I'm not a demon," said Ashley.

"Nobody said you were-"

"Which means HE'S not a demon either."

"That remains to be seen," said Donovan.


"Sebastian?" Ashley turned around in her seat. "What do YOU think?"

"I think it odd that you'd ask me out loud when you could just read my mind."

"Because I don't DO that!" Ashley snapped.

"You do it all the time," Jason corrected. "That's why people don't like the idea of telepathy. Thoughts are, by definition, private."

"Hey, it's no picnic for ME, either! You have no idea of the garbage going through people's minds when they step out for coffee-"

"But its THEIR garbage. And why are we even talking about this?!"

"Yeah, because you're obviously never going to see my point."

"Ya know, you're probably right about that. So lets forget about armies of assassins and think about the ONE guy that we KNOW is hiding out here in the woods somewhere. Maybe. Deal?"

"This is the place." Ashley pointed.

They were still on the highway, driving through a wooded section of road on the outskirts of town. Ashley pointed to a dirt road pulling off to the right. An ancient metal gate lay strewn across the entrance... secured with a rusty chain and an even more rusty lock.

At least, it APPEARED to be secured. The chain was merely looped over the fence-post, helping to hold the fence upright but doing nothing to keep someone from simply removing the chain, kicking the gate over, and driving on through. This had, in fact, happened so often that the tire-tracks had carved deep ruts in the dirt. A relatively new sign hung from the gate. One it were the words 'PRIVATE PROPERTY - KEEP AWAY' printed in large block letters.

Jason pulled off of the road and drove up to the path... blocking it. He shut off the engine.

"Deal?" he said to Ashley.

Ashley folded her arms across her scrawny chest and found something interesting on the windshield to stare at. Behind her, Donovan faded away and Sebastian slipped out of the SUV... both without making the slightest sound, and neither saying a word to one another.

Jason opened the driver's side door, but didn't get out.

"Still friends?" he said to Ashley.

"Mmmhmmm," Ashley said with complete insincerity.

"Look, if there's something I said about... you know... I didn't mean YOU, okay?"

"Sure, Jason." Ashley scowled. "Whatever."

"Ashley, I don't really understand what all this is about, but I PROMISE we'll talk about it when this is over."

"Go kill your demon, Jason."

"You're coming with us. Right?"

"Am I? Am I invited to your little normal-people party?"

"Oh yeah... a demon-magnet... a ghost... and a guy with half a soul. Yeah, we're all normal here. C'mon, time's wasting..."

Ashley unfastened her seat belt and opened her door. Jason slid out of the driver's seat, but instead of getting out on the passenger's side, Ashley leaned over, grabbed Jason's door and slammed it shut.

"HEY!" Jason exclaimed when the door was snatched out of his hand.

Ashley grabbed the spare key from the glove compartment and shoved herself sideways into the drivers seat. She jammed the key into the ignition and started the car. The engine revved loudly-

-almost covering the sound of Sebastian's sword sliding free of its scabbard. Jason grabbed Sebastian's arm-

"WHAT are you d-"

The SUV's tires threw up a storm of dirt and rocks as it sprang back onto the road. Driving backward, Ashley made a sharp turn that nearly flipped the vehicle onto its side, and then roared down the highway heading back toward town.

shley's foot eased off of the accelerator just enough to bring the dashboard tachometer out of the yellow warning zone. But no more than that. She figured she was out of Sebastian's sword-throwing range but there was no telling whether or not Jason would shoot out her tires or not. Or if Sebastian would take Jason's gun and put a bullet in the back of her head. There was a low hill ahead. The Expedition roared up the slight incline with hardly any loss of speed... and then shot down the other side.

Now she was safe.

Well, almost-


"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!?" Donovan Wilde shouted into her right ear... his voice appearing an instant before his transparent form became visible in the passenger's seat. The ghost was angry. His British accent... barely detectible under normal circumstances... was thick and crisp.

Ashley ignored him.

He WAS just a ghost, after all.

"ASHLEY!" he shouted again. "Ms. Ricks, Please Explain To Me What The Bloody HELL Is Going On! Why Are You- ASHLEY!"

Donovan studied her for a moment.

"Have you been... taken over? If you can answer-"

"I'm NOT possessed, Donovan," Ashley said, finally acknowledging the ghost's presence. "I just have to do this, okay?"

"Do WHAT!?!"

"I have to see him," she replied. "I have to talk to him... Don't you get it, Donovan, he's like ME! He could be the only other one... or maybe he knows where there are others-"

"He's a BLOODY MURDERER!"

"I know that! I'm not some silly little girl, Donovan, I KNOW what he is! But he isn't going to hurt me! I saw it in his mind... he didn't know I was like HIM until after I touched him! Now he wants to talk-"

"ABOUT WHAT!?!?"

"Donovan, aren't you even LISTENING!?"

"Yes, I am listening to someone who has CLEARLY lost her mind! Turn this vehicle around NOW and-"

"I'm not just doing this for ME, Donovan! I know you and Jason and Sebastian think I'm dangerous... I don't have to be psychic to know that. I see it in your eyes every time I so much as pick a secret out of somebody's head. If I meet this guy, maybe I can find out for SURE just what I am and how many more there are like me. Wouldn't you like to know that? Don't lie... I know you do. I know its KILLING you that I can do all this stuff and you have no idea why... or how. This way-"

"Don't turn this around, Ashley. You're doing this by yourself... FOR yourself. Our mission is the furthest thing from your mind! And I don't have to be psychic to see THAT!"

"Our mission? Donovan... there is no 'OUR mission'... this is YOUR deal... you and Sebastian and Jason, and Jason wants to be a part of it even less than I do! I'm not hanging out with you guys so I can save the world once a week and one day retire to a horrible death at the hands of some demon! If you want to talk mission, then I suggest you talk about it to Sebastian because Jason and me are here for our OWN reasons, and right now, MY reasons involve me meeting this guy and finding out what he knows!"

"Well, I'm glad I finally know where your loyalties are-"

"Oh STOP with the dramatics, Donovan; its not LIKE that!"

"He will kill you," Donovan stated flatly.

"No he WON'T! This is partly HIS idea! And even if he wanted to... he's weak right now-"

"Which means you are wasting a golden opportunity to take him out safely. You are endangering not only Jason and my son, but everyone else on this man's list! Everyone this man kills after this moment is on YOUR head, Ashley-"

"You're not going to talk me out of it, Donovan. And you're NOT gonna ride shotgun all the way there, either. Get out."

"I'm not going-"

Ashley repeated her order... this time shouting it out of her mind:

<<<<GET OUT!!>>>>>>

Donovan's outline wavered out of focus and then recoiled as if stricken.

"WHAA-AAGH!" The gasp of shock and pain was still on Donovan's lips when he vanished, blinking out as neatly and suddenly as an image on a television set that had been switched off.

Alone again, Ashley gripped the steering wheel with both hands and pushed the accelerator down a bit more. The Expedition sped up... but it still wasn't fast enough.

"I'm sorry..." she said aloud. Her voice was weak and unsure... the voice of a woman who hadn't decided whether she wanted to cry now... or later. She had betrayed them. But it wasn't a BAD kind of betrayal, was it?

Was it?

Maybe not THIS time.

Blinking back tears, Ashley checked her mirrors... searching not for cars, but for...

"Donovan, come back," she said. She had decided to cry now. "I'm sorry. Donovan? Donovan, please... I just HAVE to do this, okay? Please understand... please come back... Donovan, I DIDN'T MEAN TO HIT YOU THAT HARD! I was just MAD, okay... I didn't mean... Donovan? Please? ...come back..."

Donovan did not come back.

"Oh, God..."

he stranger... who's name was not 'Smith' or 'Jones' or any of the other lies he told on a regular basis... woke up suddenly, realizing only now that he had been asleep.

No, not asleep. Unconscious. There was a big difference between the two, and he had definitely been unconscious. Almost comatose.

He quickly checked his watch. Five minutes. He was missing five minutes.

Too long.

He sat up and saw that when he had passed out and hit the ground, he'd nearly bashed his head open on a rock. The fist-sized stone was covered with blood... but not because he had hit it.

He imagined himself laying there... unconscious... with blood shooting out of both ears and both nostrils with enough force to paint a wet halo in the grass around his head. His face was coated with blood, and he could still feel it leaking from his ears and nose... each heartbeat launching another spurt, but each spurt a little less powerful than the one before.

His clothes were ruined.

And so was the clearing.

The stranger smiled when he saw his handiwork. He hadn't been in the center of the clearing when he started... but he was now. And he hadn't moved an inch. The clearing had expanded around in like the blast-zone of an explosion... which was exactly what it was. Trees that had been at the edge of the original clearing now lay flat... their mighty trunks broken, snapped, and in some cases TWISTED off at the base. The taller patches of grass were gone, and the smaller ones pressed flat by the telekinetic hurricane that had sprung from the stranger's bleeding head. There were even a few patches of bare earth where rocks or smaller trees had been snatched up and blown away. If someone stumbled across this place in the near future, they'd probably swear that a flying saucer had landed right here on the outskirts of Rock Springs.

But oddly enough, the grass immediately around the stranger was untouched... except for the blood. The stranger's oblong case still rested at his feet.

"Unnnmmm..." The stranger pulled a fresh handkerchief from his pocket. From his other pocket, he took a small flask of fresh water. He wet the cloth and wiped the blood from his face. He wouldn't be able to clean it all... with fresh blood still bubbling from his nostrils, his mouth and chin were a lost cause for the moment. But that was no reason to stand around looking like a complete savage.

Especially when he was expecting company.

Ohhhh, yes... company.

The stranger smiled. She was coming. She... SHE... was on her way right now. She'd be here soon-

Well... not exactly HERE...

The clearing was probably not the best place for a chat. She'd want to know how he did what he did, and maybe he'd show it to her THEN... but not right away. Not the first thing. They had a bit to talk about before show and tell started.

The stranger picked up his case and started walking. He had towels, water, and clean clothes in the car. And painkillers... couldn't forget about those. He'd lost five minutes... too much time, she must have really put one on him.... but he could still be ready by the time she got here.

Ready for her, and ready for her friends if she was stupid enough to bring them.

"Knight..." he chuckled as he stepped out of the clearing. "...pfff! What a joke..."

ason and Sebastian watched the SUV's rear vanish into the distance. Jason still had his hand on Sebastian's arm. He had no idea what Sebastian had been about to DO with that sword, but he'd seen the kid stop moving cars before and had no desire to see a repeat of it with Ashley behind the wheel.

"What the hell just happened?"

"She took the car," Sebastian snapped. He yanked his arm out of Jason's grasp and sheathed his sword with a quick, angry motion. "It never occurred to you to shoot out the tires did it."

No. It hadn't.

"OR to not keep the spare key in the glove compartment."

"Don't blame ME for that! YOU-"

"-certainly didn't put it there. She must have hidden it there herself. Must have been planning this for a while-"

"No she wasn't," Jason said defensively. "I would have seen it. We both would have seen it. This is something she just.... I dunno. Where do you think she's going?"

"To him," said Sebastian. "She led us out here to get rid of us... now she's going to find the assassin herself."

"Why would she do that? To protect us?"

"Maybe. Or maybe to protect him FROM us. Or maybe she did more than just touch his mind.... maybe she let him in."

"I don't like the sound of that," said Jason. "I don't like the sound of either ONE of those."

"Neither do I." Sebastian pulled something out of his pocket. It was a small electronic device with a tiny screen... on which a green arrow blinked silently. "She's still headed back to town..."

"What is that? Is that a tracking device? Are you putting TRACKING DEVICES on my cars!?"

"Yes," Sebastian said coldly. He turned to Jason. "You don't have a problem with that, do you?"

"I-"

"-didn't think so."

Sebastian stared down the highway as if waiting for something. Jason stepped in front of him, blocking his view. Sebastian leaned to one side-

Jason moved in front of him again.

"You know..." Jason said, frowning. "Ashley isn't the only one acting strange around here. You've been quieter and creepier than usual, and NOW you're trying to catch an attitude with me? No.. no, that's not gonna happen."

"Get out of the way-"

"Normally I let your bullshit slide... but seeing as how the LAST time I let something slide it got us stranded out here, I figure we need to get something straight right NOW while daddy is away. YOU are not running this show. DONOVAN is not running this show. Ashley is sure as HELL not running this show. I am running the show. I make the decisions. I decide what tracking devices get put where. I decide what you do, when you do it, and who you do it TO. And as for your little remark about me not having a problem? Come at me like that again and I'll-"

Jason stopped.

What just happened? Was he about to threaten to pistol-whip Sebastian into a bloody coma? Were THOSE the words about to come out of his mouth?

What was THAT about?

"Are you listening to yourself?" said Sebastian.

Jason blinked and stepped back...

Sebastian was giving him that deeply suspicious look that was his version of curiosity. On Sebastian, curiosity took on a very malicious taint.

"Sorry," said Jason. "I don't know what that was... but-"

"We appear to have a problem," Donovan said suddenly. The ghost appeared between them, and he did not look happy. Not happy at all. "A very serious one."

"We need a vehicle," Sebastian said, still glaring at Jason... but now doing so by looking THROUGH Donovan. "Or do I need permission for that?"

"What are you gonna do?" said Jason. "Hijack the first car that comes along?"

"Something like that." Sebastian drew one of his swords and walked out in the middle of the street. Jason heard the distinct sound of an engine in the distance. It was getting closer. Fast.

"HEY! See, that's EXACTLY what I'm talking about!" Jason started out onto the highway-

"Not a safe place to be," Sebastian warned as he began to twirl his sword. The long blade swept in a series of rapid, spiraling arcs. Jason could already see it leaving Sebastian's grasp... flying like an arrow through someone's expensive windshield and impaling them through the torso... pinning them to the driver's seat like a bug.

But he could ALSO hear the sound of the engine changing as it got closer. Instead of becoming the steady rev of a car or truck, it transformed into a deep, mechanical growl.

"Donovan-"

"I'll take care of it," said the ghost.


Jason assumed Donovan meant he would take care of SEBASTIAN... but no, the ghost meant something else entirely.

"Describe the driver's aura when you see it."

"What?"

The motorcycle topped the hill at a speed that was not quite insane... but still clearly too fast. He spotted Sebastian immediately... the kid was hard NOT to spot. The driver still had plenty of time to stop-

-but he didn't. Instead, he eased down on the accelerator and veered-

"Aura?" Donovan said curtly.

"Dark gray-"

Donovan vanished.

t appeared directly in front of him.... some kind of illusion, or maybe a hologram like on Star Trek... or maybe it was exactly what he THOUGHT it was when it shot up before his front tire and howled-

"A GHOST!"

"GET OFF OF THE MOTORCYCLE! NOW!"

"YAAAAA-"

What began as a slight adjustment to clear the guy standing in the street became a sudden yank on the handlebars. The bike skidded. The driver knew better than to hit the brakes... he steered into the skid but still lost control. The bike's rear tire was swinging around-

The world spun, and then exploded in a bright blossom of pain radiating from his leg. There was a loud CRACK from somewhere... somewhere that was NOT his leg...

-and then he was looking up at the sky. Looking at white clouds crawling across a blue field, but seeing only pain.

Jason still stood on the side of the highway. The crash of the motorcycle seemed to have lasted forever, but it had only been a fraction of a second. At some time during that brief fraction, he had drawn his gun. He had no idea WHY he had done it, or WHAT he intended to shoot... but there it was, dangling uselessly from his hand.

Perhaps he had intended to shoot Sebastian to keep him from beheading the motorcycle driver... but as it turned, out, Sebastian hadn't done anything at all. The boy had just been the distraction. Focus all of your attention on the man with the swords and when the ghost flies up in your face you're GUARANTEED to make a mess... especially if you're on a speeding motorcycle.

"DONOVAN!" Jason barked. Furious, he stormed out into the street, where Donovan hovered near the downed motorcycle. The bike had landed on top of the driver's leg... breaking it. The driver's head had hit the pavement hard... fortunately the man's helmut had cracked instead of his skull. The driver was still alive and probably in a great deal of pain.

Sebastian lifted the bike... a brand new Harley Davidson... off of the man...

...then got on and started the engine.

"Get on," said Sebastian. He revved the engine, then looked down to inspect the damage. The Harley wasn't going to be winning any prizes, but it would get them where they wanted to go. Fast.

"YOU COULD HAVE KILLED HIM!" Jason pointed to the driver.

Both Donovan and Sebastian gave him identical expressions of 'so what'. Jason got the distinct impression that it wouldn't have mattered if the driver's aura had been lily white.

"...somebody help me..." the driver moaned. Jason knelt beside the man and reached for his leg. He knew only rudimentary first-aid, but-

-the driver's aura swelled up to engulf his hand.

Suddenly, Jason was somewhere else-

-and then he was back.

His hand flew back as if the air around the man's leg and burned him.

"This is a busy road," said Jason. "Somebody will come along sooner or later. When they do, tell 'em that the ghost of the man you killed in Texas stole your bike. You remember that guy, don't you? His name was Ray. I think you get what I'm saying here... right, Eddie?"

The tinted plastic of the helmet shielded the man's eyes... but Jason could tell that they were wild with shock. And not from the accident.

"Who-"

"Am I? I'm the reason you're still alive. So far." Jason smiled at him, and then joined Sebastian on the Harley. "Next time we see Dobbs, remind me to tell her I've got something for her. Can you drive this thing?"

In response, Sebastian revved the engine and sent the Harley screaming down the highway toward town.

he place she'd described to Jason and the others... a spot one of her 'boyfriends' had taken her once for a 'romantic interlude'... was one of a dozen such spots scattered around the perimeter of the Rock Springs. It just so happened that the one she'd taken them to was on the OPPOSITE side of that perimeter from this one. They looked remarkably similar, though.

Ashley pulled the black Expedition off the road and stopped in front of an old, tattered oldsmobile that was parked under some trees to the right.

That was his car. No spookiness or guesswork involved in that one... he had SHOWN it to her in his mind so she would know what to look for. This was it.

She killed the engine and got out.

Ashley expanded her awareness outward around her like a giant bubble, searching for any minds... human, demon, or ghost... that may be nearby. Her psychic radar picked up a few animals, but nothing human.

Either he wasn't there, or he was hiding himself from her.

She sharpened her already expanded senses... similar to a man squinting his eyes to see something far away.

Nothing.

He was either very good... or very gone.

Ashley walked over to the car and looked inside. There was a bundle of bloody rags on the back seat. Ashley recognized them as clothes, then jerked away from the dirty window, gasping.

There was a LOT of blood on those clothes.

"He's dying..." she whispered.

<<Sympathy for the Devil, Ashley?>> The thoughts intruded into her mind like a shouted conversation in a quiet movie theater. <<I'm touched. Really.>>

Ashley spun and scanned the trees with her eyes AND her mind.

<<You're hiding,>> She thought loudly, broadcasting the words to whatever was out there.

<<Yes,>> He replied.

This was eerie. Not the telepathy... but the fact that the stranger could talk into her mind and remain hidden at the time... THAT was unsettling. Why would he be hiding?

Ashley formed a picture in her mind... a cloaked man, hiding in the shadows, pointing a gun at her. She sent the image.

<<I didn't invite you here to kill you,>> came the reply. The stranger had misunderstood her.

"Show yourself, dumbass," she said aloud. "You wanna talk... I don't talk to trees."

"Nor do I." A tall man with dirty-blonde hair and dark black sunglasses stepped out into the open. He'd been in the trees just beside the car... about three yards away from her. "Most trees are terrible bores."

For a moment, Ashley could only look at him. The important part of his face... his eyes... were hidden behind his shades, but even dark glasses couldn't hide the weakness that hung from his body like a cloak. His drooping shoulders and slightly curved back gave him the appearance of a man about to pass out. As Ashley watched, he reached out and grabbed the small tree beside him. It wasn't a dramatic pose for her benefit... he was holding himself up.

A droplet of blood descended from his left nostril, drawing a line across his lip before falling into the grass.

"You're dying," she repeated.

"Aren't we all?" he replied. Then added, telepathically. <<But wouldn't you rather converse this way?>>

"No," Ashley said with both words and thoughts. "Not yet. I don't... I don't know you..."

The stranger nodded as if he understood. And perhaps he did understand. Ashley probed gently at the man's thoughts, but she didn't find any. No thoughts. No mind at all. He was still hiding.

"How do you do that?" she asked.

"Practice," he replied.

Ashley's eyes narrowed.

"But who do you practice that WITH..." she asked.

The stranger chuckled. His concentration lapsed for a moment, and Ashley got a brief flash of genuine humor from his otherwise hidden thoughts.

"Straight to the point, aren't we?"

Ashley started to say something... but changed her mind. She closed her own thoughts in around her. The stranger hadn't been probing her, but that was no reason to leave the front door open.

"We'd better get off the road," he said. "Unless you think your friends will mind."

"They aren't here," she said. "But you already know that."

The stranger only smiled.

Odd... maybe he DIDN'T know that... until she told him. Maybe he couldn't probe for minds... or, if he could, maybe his range was smaller than hers...

Ashley felt uneasy. Not frightened... just uneasy.

"I don't go places with strangers," she said.

"And strangers is all we'll ever be if we stand out here in the open."

"What's your name?"

<<Kline>>

The stranger opened his mind just enough for Ashley to see that either he wasn't lying or he was doing an EXCELLENT job of deceiving her.

"No first name?" Ashley asked... not falling into Kline's attempt to drag her into telepathic communication.

"That's all you get for now, Ashley," he said.

Kline stepped back, slipping between the trees and into the shadows. Ashley could still see him. He walked a short distance, then stopped. Waiting.

<<Coming?>> he sent.

Ashley glanced back at the road. She knew where they were... at the edge of the springs, the ACTUAL 'rock springs' that gave the town its name. It was a massive park and nature preserve centered around some river she couldn't remember the name of. The river dipped underground just north of here, and then sprang up again like a fountain in a large outcropping of stone a few miles from where they were. Rock Springs. They weren't officially in the park yet, but Ashley knew that, other than the cars on the highway, there wasn't a human soul around for at least three miles.

Ashley had spent the entire drive here trying to convince herself that she was doing the right thing... and she had almost done it. But now, all her justifications were beginning to dissolve.

She wanted Donovan back. And Jason.

And Sebastian. She especially wanted Sebastian.

<<Frightened??>> Kline sent. <<I would be, too... but if I wanted to hurt you, I would have done it already.>>

<<Right by the highway where a witness could come along at any moment? I don't think so.>>

<<Why did you come here, Ashley? Why did you ditch your friends and come here?>>

"Get out of my mind," she said aloud.

<<Then get out of the street,>> he replied. <<I don't have the energy for shouting.>>

Ashley took a deep breath... summoning not courage, but concentration. She may not be able to make bullets with her mind, but if Kline decided to play games then he'd spend the rest of his days wearing diapers and watching cartoons as the youngest Alzheimer patient in history. She was getting it ready right now...

But all Kline saw was the forced sigh of a woman trying to gather her strength.

"Okay," she said. "Let's talk."

She walked behind the car and followed the shadow that was Kline. He became less of a shadow as she got closer... but his mind was still an invisible whisper.

"Why are you killing people?" she asked.

<<It's what I get paid to do->>

"Out loud."

"Because its my job."

"That's bullshit. You don't just wake up one day and decide to-"

Kline stopped and turned.

"Because I OWE people... some of whom aren't actually people, if you know what I mean. They helped me, now I help them. I clean up messes for their 'friends', and sometimes those 'friends' are gracious enough to pay me for it. That's how it works."

"Wh-what did they do for you?" said Ashley. "Did demons make you... like me?"

"No, I was born that way," said Kline. "Just like you."

Kline started walking again, weaving his way through the trees. Eventually they came to a dirt path. He followed the path deeper into the woods, and Ashley followed him.

They were headed toward the park. It was still a looooooong walk away... most of it taking them further away from civilization. And witnesses.

"What..." Ashley began. She wasn't quite sure how to phrase it without sounding ridiculous. "Umm..."

Kline stopped again. Not to look at her this time. This time he stopped to rest. He leaned heavily against a large oak tree.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked. It wasn't her original question, but it was almost as important. Kline looked bad. He was wiping his face with a handkerchief now... but before she had come, there had been so much blood that he had to change his clothes entirely. If his power was doing that to HIM...

"It isn't free," he said, tucking the handkerchief back into his pocket. Ashley saw blood drooling from his left ear now, but he hadn't noticed it yet. "What we do... it has a price."

He looked at her.

"-but some pay it more than others," he finished.

"Others," she said. "Are there... I... I have so many questions I don't know what order to ask them! ARE there others? Are they sick, like you? Will I get sick-"

"Yes. No. Maybe," Kline answered. "In that order. I..."

Kline took a deep breath and stood up straight. He started walking again.

"I didn't learn the hard way," he continued. "I took shortcuts. Those shortcuts accelerated the... the cost. It didn't CAUSE it... it just sped it up. Will it happen to you? Eventually, yes. Will it be this bad? Depends on how powerful you are... and how powerful you want to become."

"I'm pretty-" Ashley was going to say that she was pretty damned powerful already, but if he didn't know that already then he didn't NEED to know it.

"Yes, you are," Kline said. "Pretty, that is."

Ashley started to smile, then stopped. Was he trying to charm her?

"You wish someone else would say that to you," he said. "The guy with the guns....? No, not him. The other one. The one with the swords... "

"Are you in my mind-"

"No, no. I just caught a glimpse of it back at the road. I'm sorry."

"No more glimpses, okay? And this is about me and you. I didn't bring my friends into this... so you don't bring them in either."

"Agreed."

"How is... how is..."

"How am I going to die?"

"No, that's not what I meant. Not exactly. I just-"

"If you think about a spot on the back of your hand... think about it real hard, trying to make that spot hot... then you can actually measure an increase in temperature on your hand. The mind affects the body. Even a normal person's mind can make his body sick, maybe even kill it, just with thought alone. My mind... our minds... are much more than normal. When we use our... gifts... they're like your friend's guns. There's recoil. Action and reaction. But I've got one hell of a gun, and I love using it."

"You like killing people?"

"Why would I NOT like being God?"

"You're not God, Kline-"

"I am to my clients. To them, I'm the Angel of Death."

"You mean to your victims."

"You pick your word, I pick mine."

Ashley tried a little harder to find the assassin's mind. This wasn't a matter of forcing her way past his defenses... she couldn't even FIND his defenses. Whoever this guy was, he was good. This was a trick even SHE didn't know.

But she had to get past it. She had to find out just how much of what Kline was saying was real. And find out just how crazy he was.

"Sociopath, is what they call it," said Kline. "Or maybe 'psychopath'... I never could get those two straight."

"You think you're better than everyone else."

"Yep."

"And the people you kill... they aren't really people to you, are they?"

"Nope."

"But how could you THINK that?"

"Because its true."

"No it isn't! We're-"

"Just like everyone else? You and I both know that's not true, Ashley. Or maybe... maybe you're still walking around pretending that you're human. You are, aren't you. Pretending?"

"You're crazy," Ashley snapped.

"I already admitted that I was. Crazy, yes. A liar? No, I'm afraid not. You can't dismiss me that easily. And even if you could... you certainly didn't come out here just to ignore everything I say."

"You... I came because you're like me."

"And I am not human. I'm BETTER than human... Therefore-"

"So what are we, then? Demons?"

Kline stopped again, and turned. He flashed a sly smile.

"Better than demons."

Ashley had no idea what Kline was talking about, but the phrase "I know something you don't know" was written all over his face... no mind-reading necessary.

And THAT was why she was here. That was why she had stranded Jason and Sebastian... why she'd hurt Donovan... why she was still listening to this admitted lunatic murderer.

"Tell me what you know?" she said slowly, her voice becoming more serious.

"I know a lot," he replied. "Not all. Not even most. But a lot more than you."

"Then start talking. Tell me..."

"Tell you what?"

"Tell me... I... want to know."

-And here it was-

"...What Am I?"

"e have to stop meeting like this?" Royce's sinister seemed to flow into the room ahead of the man wearing it. Marilyn Dobbs knew he was there even before he spoke.

She looked up. She wasn't in a hospital room... yet. The concussion didn't seem to serious, but the doctors decided to keep her around in an examination room until the X-Rays came back. They hadn't bothered to give her any crutches, since they expected her to keep her butt on the table where she lay. That was smart. If she'd had her crutches she'd be long gone.

"Hey," she said. Then she winced and lay her head back down on the pillow. "...ouch."

"I would ask what happened," said Royce. "But I got the story on the way in."

"Oh yeah? What story is that?"

"Conducting your own investigation, are ya? Ya know... MOST of us stop working when they stop paying us. But you..."

"Can't help it," she said.

"The details were a little sketchy, but uhhh.... I heard Jason Brooks' name a couple of times. You hangin' with terrorists now, Dobbs?"

"Terrorist. Yeah. You and I both know-"

"He's involved with something. Might not be what we THINK he's involved in... but its still something."

"You come in here to grill me about Brooks?"

"No, I just came to see how you were doing. It's not like I got anything else to do..." Royce held up the stump of his severed right arm.

"You gonna do something about that?" said Marilyn.

"What? Like grow a new one?"

"One of those artificial ones. You know..."

"Yeah, with a big hook on the end. That'll be nice. I'll be a big hit at Halloween."

"Looks like you're taking it well."

"Got no choice, Dobbs. I can take it or... take it. Unlike you."

"What's that supposed to mean."

"It means... how're you doing, Marilyn?"

"Marilyn? Since when do you call me Marilyn?"

"Since we ain't partners no more."

Royce had been standing in the doorway, but now he approached the examination table where Dobbs lay. He stood beside her.

"Look," he said in a lowered voice. "Maybe this ain't the best time, but-"

"If your about to ask me out-"

"No, Dobbs, just listen to me..."

Marilyn listened. Royce's voice had taken on an air of concern that she'd never heard before.

"To say that things ain't goin' so good for you right now would be... well... they just ain't goin' so good. Bein' a cop is in your blood, and it runs a whole lot deeper than it does in most cops. But you're about to loose that... that, AND that sweet little girl of yours-"

"You're not making me feel better here, Royce."

"But, uhhh... remember when you asked me if I knew any good lawyers? For that custody thing?"

"Yeah...?"

"Well... I don't. But I DO have some friends that might could help you out a little."

"What kind of friends are we talking about here, Royce?"

"Friend friends."

"The kind of friends that cops shouldn't have?"

"No, I wouldn't say that."

"What WOULD you say?"

"It's kinda like the Masons, ya know? It's a brotherhood kinda deal... sometimes we do things for each other. Favors. You know."

"And you're telling me this because...?"

"Because I like you, Dobbs. My career as a cop is pretty much shot." Royce held up his half-arm again. "That's a done deal. Maybe they'll let me shuffle papers or fetch coffee... maybe not. But that doesn't matter because I'm gonna be fine."

"Your friends?"

"Yeah. Maybe. But you... all this crap in your life... that's NOT a done deal. There's still some things that can be done."

"Things like..."

"You tell me, Dobbs. You tell me what you want."

"I don't like the sound of this conversation, Royce. We're partners... I like you as a friend, yes, but I don't know what OTHER friends you have. Or how they can help me-

"Never mind who or how. Just tell me what. What do you want? You want your daughter back? You want your badge back? You want that ex-husband of yours to leave you alone? All of the above?"

"None of the above," said Dobbs. "Asking for things without knowing who-"

"You're asking ME, Dobbs. Me. You know me. You know I'm a stand-up kinda guy. A little rough around the edges, but you know I don't go for the kinda stuff you've got floating around in your head right now. You know me. You know I like you... maybe a little more than I should. So just let me help you."

Dobbs swallowed. This little talk with her old partner had taken a turn down a very dark road.

"So what is this?" said Dobbs. "They help me and I owe them... like the mob?"

"No... yeah, its like a favor kinda thing, but not like the mob. These are just everyday people who've got some connections."

"No, Royce."

"Dobbs, C'mon-"

"No, no, no! No favors, no connections, no nothing! I know you're trying to help me, but... I can't!"

"Why not?" said Royce. "You don't trust me? You trust me to watch your kid sometimes, but not enough to let me help you? When you get yourself in deep... all of a sudden you're afraid of the hand that's held your little girl?"

"Royce, don't... "

"Don't what? Don't help my partner?"

"We're not partners."

"We're friends. Why are you afraid to let me help you?"

"I'm afraid of what you don't know. I'm afraid of what these 'friends' of yours aren't telling you. You come to me with this, and it sounds like something I should be investigating... not something I should be buying into. And if they DO help me... what's the cost? What's the payback? Am I gonna have to look the other way while some punk slices a woman's throat because he's some Senator's kid?"

"No. Nothing like that."

"So what IS it like? Who will I owe, and what will I owe them?"

Royce thought for a moment. Dobbs didn't like the way he looked when he was thinking.

"You won't owe anybody, Dobbs," he said finally. "You won't owe anybody anything. My friends'll do this for me. Not you... me."

"So what will YOU owe?"

"Nothing I haven't already paid," said Royce. "So what do you say... I'm betting I can get you your job back before you're well enough to take it."

"What do I say? I say no. I'm sorry, Royce; I can't."

"So what are you gonna do? Private security?.... gonna wear one of those uniforms with the pants too tight so your ass looks like a pair of cinnamon rolls? Or maybe a private investigator. That's something I was thinking of doing myself... because I LIKE peeking in hotel rooms at cheating husbands. Yeah, I can see you doin' that."

"Stop, Royce-"

"Or-hey! You can pal around with Brooks and his crew! I'm sure they'd love to have you around... oh, and how exactly did you get that concussion again? Or maybe-"

"I don't know!" Dobbs sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the table. She looked like she was about to get up, but that was as far as she was going without crutches. "Okay? You happy? I don't have a job OR a daughter, and I have NO idea what I'm going to do!"

"I won't be happy unless you let me help you," said Royce. "Just let me get you your job back!"

"Why do you keep pushing this, Royce-"

"Because I don't want to read in the paper that my old partner put a revolver in her mouth and blew her brains out the back of her skull! I mean... Jesus Christ, Dobbs, what ELSE could you possibly be BUT a cop? Without that... you'll self-destruct! YOU know this as well as I do! It's your LIFE! This is your LIFE we're talking about! You've been out not for months... or weeks... but DAYS... DAYS, and you're already in the hospital from doing something that you and I both know you shouldn't have been doing. What happens next week? Next month? Will you even last that long? And then what happens when they take your girl away, eh? What happens if you hang on just long enough... juuuuust long enough to see them carrying her and her toys out your front door like a friggin repossessed television? What'll you do to yourself THEN? Maybe a revolver in the mouth won't be your method of choice, but I guarantee you'll do it somehow. You're not the suicide type, Dobbs... not yet, anyway... but when the last of your life is in a car on her way back to New York, you'll find a way to GET yourself killed! Who knows, maybe you've already found it... in Brooks."

"Brooks is..."

Dobbs didn't finish. Royce didn't interrupt her. She sat there staring at her partner's shoes.

He was right. Suicide? No, never... but it had only been a few days and she was already risking her life with a man who, as far as she knew... was insane. HAD to be insane. How much worse could it get?

A lot.

"If you won't let me help you," said Royce. "Then get help from SOMEBODY, okay?"

"You mean a shrink?"

"In some places they call 'em psychiatrists. But not around here, though."

"I'm not crazy, Royce."

"Not yet."

Dobbs raised her face and met Royce's glance. Then she lay back down on the table.

"I'm gonna lay here and wait for my X-Rays," she announced. Then, softly. "And I'll think about what you said."

"About the shrink? Or about the other thing?"

"Both," she said.

"Think about it then," said Royce. He turned to leave, but Dobbs's voice stopped him at the door.

"Do you really think you can do it?" she asked. "Get me back on the force?"

"Technically, you haven't even been kicked off yet," Royce spoke over his shoulder. "So how hard can it be?"

There was a pause, and then he started walking.

His foot halted in the air as the sound reached him from the examination room.

Two words, spoken in a soft, almost ashamed whisper.

"Do it."

"here's a spot up ahead where we can rest."

"I don't want to rest! I want an answer to my question!"

"Well I can't answer it if I'm unconscious now, can I?" said Kline.

Kline and Ashley exchanged long, non-telepathic stares, then Kline turned around and continued walking.

"Kline!" Ashley shouted as she trotted after him.

"I'd appreciate you not shouting my name out loud," said Kline. "Might be bad for business."

"Answer my question! Do you know or not!?"

"It works kind of like genetics," said Kline. He slowed down, and it was only then that Ashley realized just how fast he was had been walking. Pretty fast for a man on his death bed. "-But it isn't. It isn't in the blood... its somewhere else. Like maybe the soul has its own DNA; I don't know. You do know what I'm talking about, don't you? Genetics?"

"Yeah," Ashley lied. The only thing she knew of genetics was the little bit she tried NOT to learn in high school biology. And what she'd seen in movies.

"You wanted to know how many more there were? A lot. Thousands. Tens of thousands. In a city this size... you'd have maybe a dozen."

"That's not true," said Ashley. "If there were that many-"

"You'd know it? Did you know about me?"

"No, but-"

"Most of us don't even know about OURSELVES. They've just got a spark of it. Maybe they know who's on the phone before they pick it up. Or they know what somebody's thinking or feeling... only they pass it off as reading body language. Or maybe they're the ONE person out of a group who can tell a house is haunted just by walking past it. They don't know what they have... mostly because they don't have enough of it TO know. Their gifts are mostly useless party tricks, and most aren't even THAT strong."

"But I'm not like those people," said Ashley. "I can... do things."

"That's where genetics comes in. Suppose two of those people I'm talking about... two sparks... get together and have a child. That child has potential to be BETTER than his parents. His spark could be anywhere from nothing to the level of his parent's power squared. Now what if HE...the kid... grows up and finds another one like himself. Not like his parents, but like HIM: a child of two people with the gift. Then THEY have a child... then that child finds another... and another... After a few generations, you get.... Me. And this..."

The dirt path they'd been on came to an abrupt end. Kline kept walking, but Ashley paused at the edge of the massive, circular clearing. The scent of fresh sap and moist earth hung heavy in the air. Some of the trees... a LOT of the trees... looked like they'd been demolished over by a giant fist. Some had been pushed over... some twisted off... some simply shattered. The grass was trampled flat, with numerous patches of dirt where something had been yanked up and tossed away. In the center of the clearing was one of the numerous outcroppings of rock that were common in the area. Several cracks crisscrossed the stone... and Ashley wasn't sure HOW she knew, but somehow she did know that those cracks were recent. They had happened when the clearing was flattened. It was like there had been a giant explosion, but with no fire or heat. Just force.

"You did this," she said.

"Yes," Kline replied. He walked over to the rock and sat down... then leaned backward, laying his back on the inclined face of the stone. He relaxed... exhaling deeply. His whole body seemed to deflate a little. For a moment it looked like he had passed out, but then he spoke:

"I wanted to show it to you. So you can get a feel for what we can really do. Do you know how a gun works, Ashley?"

Ashley wanted to nod, but she shook her head. She really had no idea.

"A tiny chemical explosion," said Kline. "Launches a tiny projectile. But the point of the explosion isn't the flash and the loud noise... its the force. You and I don't need chemicals for that, and there's nothing tiny about what we can do. But I'm getting ahead of myself..."

Kline sat up and turned toward her.

"YOU wanted to know what we are? We're guns."

Ashley hit him with the most confused and suspicious look she could muster.

"Or crossbows," said Kline. "Harpoons. Cannons. Hell, maybe even a good old fashioned slingshot. Or, in my case... thermonuclear warhead."

"What are you saying?"

"Not good on metaphors, eh? We're weapons, Ashley. We exist... to destroy."

"That's not true! Who told you that!"

"No one had to tell me; it's true. But I get the feeling you don't believe me?"

Ashley didn't believe him.

"So, it's fine for your friend Jason to be some kind of supernatural... whatever. Fancy powers. On a mission to save the world from the forces of darkness, blah, blah, blah. But when I say the same thing about YOU... then I'm a liar."

"Jason is a..." Ashley paused. Was it okay so say it? Probably, since Kline already seemed to know it. "...a Knight."

"Riiight," said Kline. "Now think about it, Ashley... think hard. Do you really think a bunch of guys with a SWORDS and CROSSBOWS can ever be any serious threat to an evil that's been around before the dawn of man? I mean... really. Does that make any sense at all?"

"We do okay," said Ashley.

"The Knights do their job... barely... but they're second string. They're only on the field NOW because somebody ELSE already ran up the score. All they have to do is hold the line until the clock runs out. Your friend Jason? And the poor loser that came before him? And the line of losers who came before THAT guy...? They're nobodies. They're nothing. They're a cosmic after-thought..."

"Stop talking like that-"

"...and the cosmic thought that they CAME after... the REAL demon-killers... the REAL weapons with the REAL power..."

"I'm leaving-"

"-Is US!"

"Wh... what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that WE were here first! Knights? Knights are just the clean-up crew! There was something before them. Before the Knights crawled out of their holes with sticks and rocks, WE stood on the mountaintops fighting magic with magic... power with power. The armies of what we now call demons were mowed down like wheat... not by men like Jason Brooks with his toys... but by US! In the war against the demons, WE were the infantry... the marines... the heavy-artillery... hell, even the friggin AIR FORCE! All the Knights did was carry our water and stay out of our way!"

"What war?" said Ashley.

"Heh, they probably glossed over that bit in Bible school... call it World War Zero. But ask Jason. I'm sure the spook whispering in his ear knows all about it. Needless to say, we won. But that's when the problems started. See, after the dust settled, everybody was standing around wondering what the hell to do next... but there WAS no next. The war was over. Done. Finished. And you know what they say about power... AND about idle hands. Heh. They didn't trust us. We were too hard to control. I mean, what would happen if one of us went wrong? Who would stop us? A Knight? Yeah... right. They said we were too dangerous.... and you know what? They were right. I mean look at ME; I'm a friggin' PSYCHO! So... somebody upstairs snapped their fingers and we're gone. The Knights replaced us. The Knights were CHOSEN for their powers, instead of being born with them like we were. That made them less prone to go bad... unlike us. That was the theory, anyway. But that wasn't the end of the story... oh no. We had our needs just like everybody else. Over the years before then, we had... interbred with the regular population-"

"I'm not believing a word you're saying," said Ashley.

"Yeah," said Kline. "You've got that glazed-over look in your eyes. You ever read the Bible, Ashley? You ever read that one part in Genesis about horny giants walking the earth and mingling with the human women? Ever wonder EXACTLY what that meant?"

"But you still haven't answered my question!" said Ashley. "WHAT ARE WE!?!"

Kline gave her a sly look of clearly false embarrassment.

"I don't know," he said.

"LIAR! Everything you've said to me out here is a LIE!"

"Everything I've told you is the truth. If I've lied to you, it's because someone else lied to ME... and the people I learned it from aren't in the habit of lying. And THAT... brings me to the point of our little talk. So far, you've got a lot of information from me... up to YOU whether you want to believe it or not... but now it's time for me to get something that I want."

"What makes you think I'll help you."

"I see. Well... there IS the fact that I'm an assassin. A killer. A charming one, yes... but still a killer. And you, little lady, are still on my list. So are all your friends."

"You try something-"

Kline raised his hand in a gesture of dismissal.

"That big ball of pain you've got stashed away is just gonna roll off of me like water... and you know it. You can't even FIND my brain, so how are you going to shut it down? You don't have enough control to do anything else to me... so your only real option is to run. You can run. I'm in no condition to chase you. But if you do that, then you'll know that I'm still out here... and that one day, one of your friends is gonna be walking to the mailbox when- BANG! I'll be looking through the mailman's eyes, watching your boyfriend's head explode like a cheap melon. You? YOU'LL be looking through the window... screaming."

Kline smiled. It was a very evil smile.

Ashley reached out for his mind, but... it wasn't there.

"It's a child's trick," said Kline. "It's the first thing they teach us at the Monastery. The kids love it... it makes hide and seek fun again. There's a real simple way around it, but only the teachers know how. I never could figure it out. I doubt you will."

"Why did you bring me here?"

"An exchange. I help you... you help me. For my part, I'll tell you the rest of what I know... maybe give you a few pointers on how to get that mind of yours under control. You've got a hell of an car there, Ashley... but, frankly, your driving sucks."

"But I don't believe what you're saying, so why-"

"Would you want me to tell you MORE lies? Because deep down, you know they're not lies. And because the REST of what I know is... is a bit more relevant. I know where the others are, for instance. Not the sparks and the nobodies... I mean others like me and you. They're all held up in this big monastery, run by a guy who... who's name I won't mention just yet. I know where it is. I can take you there.

"I'm not going anywhere with you-"

"Ahh, but that's the bargain. What I want... what I NEED... is in that monastery."

"What is it?"

"Help," said Kline. "I'm dying, Ashley... but that's not the bad part. The bad part is... I've been a naughty boy. I made a deal with some folks I shouldn't have dealt with. They've got me on a leash... and from what I've seen, that leash stretches all the way to the other side. You know what other side I'm talking about, don't you?"

"You sold your soul?"

"Something like that."

"For what?"

"Hard to say, really," said Kline. "Hard to say exactly when the deal was made. The first few are always free."

"First few what?"

"Favors. First they do something like... ohhh... take care of your gambling debts. Then, a little later, they deal with the loan shark that's out to bust your kneecaps. Then they have their 'friends' get the Mafia off your back after you take one of their casinos for a half-million. Little things like that. It goes on and on and somewhere along the way they start expecting things in return. You can say no. But after all they've done for you... all they COULD do... what's a little favor among friends, right? Only they're not your friends. They want what you have. They want what you can do for them now, or what you COULD do for them in the future. And then, after they get it, they'll just take your soul and call it even. Only, that doesn't seem like a fair deal for me. I've done what they wanted for years, and all its gotten me was closer and closer to my grave. I want out. I want out... and the only way I can think of is to get back inside. Their leash stretches a long way... but it DOESN'T stretch inside that monastery. I die there... I die in peace."

"I..." Ashley didn't know what to say. She wasn't expecting this.

"...and who knows, maybe I won't have to die at all. There are people in that place that can do some amazing things. Ever seen a healer? A REAL healer?"

"Yes," Ashley cringed, thinking of Braxis. Was HE one of Kline's... whatever he called them? Maybe the demon who gave Braxis his power didn't really GIVE them to him at all. Maybe he just... awakened something...

The thought was sickening.

"Either way... live or die... I'll be happy as long as I'm free. And I can't be free until I'm in the Monastery."

"But what does that have to do with me?"

"Well you don't think they'll just open the doors and let me walk in, do you? No. No, my days of making deals aren't quite over yet. I'll have to bring them something. Something they'll want. Something they'll want bad enough that they'll help somebody like ME to get it."

"Me."

"Smart girl."

"But what if I don't want to go?"

"Oh, you want to go-"

"But what if I DON'T!"

"Well..." Kline shrugged. "...I guess I'll just have to kill your friends."

arver Holt leaned back in his chair and stared up at the freshly painted ceiling. The conference room what was now his permanent office was bedecked in all the wood, leather, and brass he could buy... which was quite a bit. They'd just placed his name on the door outside on a shiny brass plaque. And not one of the cheap ones either.... that hung of metal had cost real money. The carpet on the floor was new and plush. Holt had just put his leather loafers back on a few minutes ago after taking them off to run his toes through the thick pile-

He was in hell.

He had his own private office in hell and, dammit, it was one of the nicest offices he'd ever had. So nice that.. .if this wasn't hell... he'd be in heaven.

But it WAS hell.

Or, rather, it WOULD be.

Holt didn't know what was going on, exactly, and he felt sure that he would probably NEVER know. He didn't rank high enough to know. And if by some chance he found out, he'd wish he hadn't. What he did know was that Rock Springs was going to Hell... perhaps figuratively, perhaps literally... and that he had been recruited to ride it all the way down like a surfer perched on the crest of a monstrous tidal wave...

...ride that baby all the way to shore! Yes indeed!

"God, help me," Holt said for the tenth time in the past two hours. "All I wanted was..."

What HAD he wanted? He didn't even remember. Whatever it was, he was sure that he got it.... with no tricks or cruel twists, either. The bastards had given it to him straight up, just like they always do. All of that 'ask for a million dollars and they kill your mother for the insurance money' crap was just for TV and horror novels. When the REAL devil did business, he did it fair and square. No tricks. No traps.

No excuses.

You get what you want, and they get what they want.

Only he never actually knew what he was getting into. Not at the beginning. What was it, then? A job. Not THIS job, no, that was years ago. He was desperate... in debt... had a family that would eventually leave him, but he didn't know that THEN... He wanted a job. He got one. That job turned into another job... and then another... with a couple more 'special favors' exchanged along they way...

...and then, here he was. Chief of the largest precinct in Rock Springs, right when the big... whatever... is about to start. Almost like they'd planned the whole thing from the beginning.

"God..." Carver sighed. "Why didn't you stop it? And why won't you stop it now-"

"Because he doesn't care," came a voice that nearly sent Holt tumbling out of his expensive leather chair. He caught his balance after an embarrassing second, then gasped at the man standing in front of his door-

-his CLOSED door-

"uhhh-"

"Royce," said the man. "You remember me don't you?"

"Yeah, the uhhh..." Holt glanced at the stump that was all the remained of Royce's right arm. Him. THAT guy.

"The cripple," said Royce.

"I wasn't about to-"

"I don't care what you were about to do. What we're gonna do NOW, is talk. I got a favor I need you to do for me."

"Favor... what kind of..." Carver frowned. Was this one of THOSE favors?

"I think my buddy Dobbs deserves her job back."

"Marilyn Dobbs?"

"Is there more than one Dobbs on the force, Tarzan? No, there isn't, so who do you THINK I mean, eh?"

Carver folded his arms across his chest.

"Who do you think you are?" he said firmly. "Marilyn Dobbs is NOT going to be a part of my police force... THAT is not open for discussion. But if it was, coming in here with that attitude would NOT help-"

"Discuss?" Royce frowned. Then frowned deeper... his face almost seeming to fold in on itself. Almost. Then, as if by magic, his face returned to normal. "I see... I see... YOU think this is a matter of discussion. Obviously, you didn't get the memo..."

Royce had seemed content to stand in front of the close door, but now he approached the desk.

"...maybe it got lost in the mail, or maybe you've been too busy to get caught up on all your reading... so let me give you the short version."

"You hold it right there, mister!"

Holt thought about the gun in his desk drawer. But that was all he did... think about it.

"MY name... is James Royce. YOU, are a f@#&ing monkey who's name means SQUAT to me! But due to the some cruel twist of what you apes call fate, You and Me are workin' on the same side... kinda like partners, only I'm the cop and YOU'RE the dog-squeeze under my shoe. In OTHER words-"

Royce's left hand came down to rest on Holt's antique radio. Holt used to like listening to that radio... he used to LOVE it. But that was before he started hearing the voices talking to him through the static. Static that sounded an awful lot like wild, insane screaming.

-static that blared out of the speakers the instant Royce's hand touched the polished wooden frame.

Holt cringed as the sound tore at his ears. He expected to hear the voice... the voice! That DAMNED VOICE!

But he didn't. Royce lifted his hand, and the static/screaming stopped.

"We clear on things now, ape?"

"Y-yeah," Holt stammered. "Yeah, I think... yeah. You're..."

"Yeah, I am. I used to have YOUR job. I watched things that needed watching... did things that needed doing... made sure that the law kept its nose OUT of certain things, and INTO certain other things. But I got a promotion. I'm in recruitment, now, and... surprise, surprise... that makes me your boss. You know about recruitment, don't ya, Holt?"

"Yeah..." Holt swallowed the lump in his throat.

"That means I do things for people. Favors. Nice things... for nice people like my partner Dobbs. My friend has fallen on some hard times lately, and I think having her job back would... well... really do wonders for her. She'd like that. She'd... appreciate that. And maybe, one day, she'll be in a position to... I dunno... do somebody ELSE a favor. See what I'm getting at, monkey-boy?"

Holt just blinked at him. Here it was... it was happening again. Only now it was happening to somebody ELSE, and HE was the one doing it.

"Wh-what do you want with her-"

"NOT YOUR BUSINESS, APE-BRAIN!" Royce roared.

"Okay... okay... you want her back? She's back. I take her off suspension right away-"

"Better wait until she's all healed up, though... might look suspicious. You just type her up a nice little memo and drop it in the mail. Today."

"That...that's it?"

"No," said Royce. "Looks like you're short-handed around here,... maybe you ought to keep me around as... oh, I don't know... a consultant?"

"A consultant."

"Yeah... somebody to help out with whatever needs helping out. Pay me whatever you think won't insult me. Think you can manage that?"

"Y-yeah, I think I can justify... uhh... " He felt like a coward. But he wasn't, was he? He was just living up to his obligations. Right?

"Good boy. See how easy that was?" said Royce. He turned, then paused.

"Oh, one more thing-"

Royce turned back toward the desk. He reached for Holt... reached with his RIGHT arm. The arm he didn't have.

But he had one now.

Something long and spindly and incredibly STRONG unfolded out of the fleshy stump and grabbed Holt by the chest.

-not by the throat... by the CHEST! The clawed fingers were big enough to encircle his entire torso and yank him out of the chair. Holt's feet left the floor, and his legs dangled in the air as Royce snarled up at him. Holt's eyes traced the monstrous appendage... not quite believing what he was seeing. It was some kind of skeletal... THING... with dry leathery skin wrapped around the exaggerated bone so tight that it the whole thing creaked when Royce flexed the nearly nonexistent muscle. The arm was longer than Royce's entire body... and stronger than...

Holt realized he couldn't breathe. He ALSO realized that his ribs were about to snap in chest like twigs. His arms were free and his fingers clutched Royce's wrist like a baby trying to bend a steel bar.

"UNNnngh!"

"That little conversation you were having with God when I came in? Me... I think it's hilarious. Heh, monkeys thinking God actually listens to 'em... but the management tends to frown on that kind of thing. So cut it out. Got it?"

Holt nodded.

Royce's huge fingers... all three of them... opened, dropping Holt down into his chair.

"Good."

When the room stopped spinning, Royce was still standing in front of the desk. His right arm ended abruptly at the elbow, with no sign of the monstrous appendage that had just gripped Holt.

"Looks like we're all caught up on things here," said Royce. "I'll here bright and early tomorrow morning. See ya then... boss..."

Royce vanished.

He didn't walk out, or burst into flames... no flash of light or puff of foul smoke... he just disappeared.

"Oh, G-" Holt began, but stopped himself. He couldn't even say THAT any more. He was a lapdog now. A puppet. And that THING was his boss!? It was certainly better than the voice on the radio... but how MUCH better?

Sweating profusely, Holt dabbed his forehead with a handkerchief and tried his best not to cry.

His new masters probably wouldn't like THAT, either.

"ou'd think and hired killer would have a better car than that," said Jason. The ride across town was short but brutal. Sebastian said he knew how to ride a motorcycle... and he wasn't lying. They'd made it here almost as fast... or maybe faster... than Jason could have in the Corvette. So what if Jason's ears there were two high-speed blenders strapped to either side of his head, or that his teeth felt like they'd all been knocked loose and secured with masking tape. And having to ride with his arms wrapped around Sebastian's waist didn't do much for his ego, either.

But here they were.

The Expedition was intact, parked on the side of the highway next to an abandoned-looking car that Jason wouldn't have even noticed otherwise. It was certainly NOT the kind of car that had 'Professional Assassin' written on it... which was probably the point.

Jason wandered around the vehicle, peering into the windows.

"Bloody clothes," he said. "Not Ashley's, though. Either they're his, or he doesn't do all his work from a distance. Maybe Ashley's right. Maybe he's hurt-"

"Not hurt enough."

Sebastian was pulling weapons out of the back of the Expedition. He already had his swords, but now he had a Mossberg pump-action shotgun...

...and an H&K MP5 submachine gun.

He tossed the H&K to Jason. Though he saw the throw only from the corner of his eye, Jason's hand still found the weapon in the air easily. With a twirling flourish, Jason flipped the weapon around and slipped the strap over his shoulder, all without taking his eyes off of the car's back seat. Although he'd never held the weapon before in his life, he could tell instinctively from its weight and balance that it was fully loaded with 30 rounds of armor-piercing ammunition.

Jason didn't bother to ask where the gun had come from. He didn't want to know.

"That might be strong enough to deflect his attack. But I wouldn't count on it."

"Is that why you gave it to ME?"

"It's the most powerful gun we have..." Donovan appeared, hovering just above and in front of the trees lining the road. He floated down toward Jason. "We'll have to rectify that in the future. They aren't far. A clearing, with a small trail leading to it. They appear to be talking."

"About what?" said Jason.

"I didn't risk getting that close. If Ashley can detect my presence, then perhaps he can to."

"Or maybe she'd just tell him you're there," said Sebastian.

"Yes, there is that."

"No, I don't think she's on his side," said Jason.

"She's on her OWN side," Donovan corrected him. "She made that painfully clear in the car when I tried to stop her."

"You shouldn't have trusted her," said Sebastian. "You were right to keep her close... but you shouldn't have trusted her. Now we don't know what to expect."

"Neither does HE," Jason looked up from the car. "...because I just had an idea."

"You?" Donovan said, clearly unimpressed with the very CONCEPT of Jason's idea... despite the fact that he hadn't heard it yet.

"Yes, he's in charge now," said Sebastian. "Didn't you hear?"

Jason ignored the comment and told them his idea.

By the time he finished half of it, both Donovan and Sebastian were smiling.

"hat do you mean 'more'?" said Kline. "Your friend's lives aren't enough?"

"Looks to me like you're at a disadvantage," Ashley replied. "You kill my friends, and THEN what are you gonna do? How are you gonna force me to go with you? If I'm so valuable to these monks that they'll deal with the likes of you, then they CERTAINLY won't help you if you bring them damaged goods, right?"

"You watch too many movies," Kline said with a slight but very unfriendly scowl.

"All the time. SO... I'll tell you what I want, and THEN we can deal."

"Go ahead," said Kline. "I'm... curious."

"Not ONLY will you let my friends live, but you're going to help them. You're gonna tell them who hired you, where they are, and what kind of demons-"

"I don't know any of that. There are no names. No locations. I communicate with a cell phone and a laptop-"

"Perfect," said Ashley. "You give Jason that computer and he'll have everything he needs to know. Then they can take care of your demons for you. You'll be safe even if the monks don't help you."

"I can't do that."

"Why not? Afraid?"

"This isn't a simple matter of me not wanting to die. There are... complications. Escaping is one thing. But betraying them is..."

Kline paused. He seemed to be listening to something, but Ashley couldn't hear anything.

"What?" she said.

"Ever get the feeling you're being watched?"

Ashley thought about searching for any human minds in the area... but decided against it. If Kline couldn't do that himself, then that was one more advantage she'd be better off keeping secret for now.

Kline's face contracted into a deepening frown. Then the corners of his lips curled up in a sinister smile.

"I think your friends have found us."

"That's not possible-"

"And judging from the slipperiness of the mind I'm sensing... my guess is that the Knight has come to your rescue. COME ON OUT HERE, MR. BROOKS!"

Kline started looking around. He could sense Jason's presence, but he couldn't tell exactly where he was. Neither could Ashley.

"I KNOW YOU'RE OUT THERE!" Kline stood up and stepped away from the rock. Ashley felt a ripple...

Kline was about to do something. The bullet? No, he needed a target for that...

"Before you pull the trigger of that gun you undoubtedly have aimed at my head," Kline said, smiling wider now. "I should remind you that I'm telekinetic. Projectiles are my specialty. You send a few of them my way, and there's no telling where they'll end up... even with YOUR aim. Your friend Ms. Ricks might be... injured. Or worse."

"HE'S LYING!" Ashley shouted to the trees. She couldn't tell where Jason was either. But she could feel him out there somewhere... "HE WON'T HURT ME!"

"Ahhh, well SOMEONE is lying," said Kline. "So who do you believe? Her. Or me?"

"JASON, JUST LEAVE HIM ALONE! HE WON'T HURT ME! WE MADE A DEAL! JUST LET US GO!"

"Come out in the open where I can see you, Mr. Brooks. Either come out... or take your shot. But I really-"

Jason took the shot.

Ashley heard a loud 'CRACK' that was not one sound, but a series of identical ones. Thirty rounds of hot, rotating metal roared out of the trees surrounding the clearing, all originating from a point direction in front of Kline.

By the time Ashley inhaled, contracted her vocal cords, and let out her scream, it was all over.

Kline twisted and jerked in the clearing, convulsing violently with every shot. Bullets and shrapnel veered around him like water around a rock. Ashley felt several of them zip past her face-

-and then zip past her face AGAIN, going in the opposite direction. Kline had not only deflected each of the speeding rounds, but his mind flared out around him and caught each of them.

He turned them around-

And then sent them back the way they had come.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"

The trees in front of Kline threw up bits of bark and pulp as the storm of bullets tore through them. Ashley heard a scream that may or may not have been her own. She hoped it was. She couldn't sense Jason's mind... but that didn't mean he wasn't there. Surely he knew this was going to happen... surely this was part of some plan...

"And, just in CASE-!"

Kline lurched forward, throwing his balance onto his left foot while thrusting his right hand out in front of him.

The trees... trees that were already perforated with bullets... exploded.

And then the trees behind them...

...and the trees behind THEM...

...and the trees behind THEM...

A cone of sheer, telekinetic fury cut through the woods like a scythe, leveling everything in its path. The edge of the clearing vanished, receding in a spray of shredded trees that expanded as it traveled, until it had carved an arc 30-degrees wide and over a hundred feet deep into the surrounding forest.

After that, everything was silent.

At least for a moment.

"JASON!!" Ashley screamed. "NOOOO! YOU SAID YOU'D LET THEM LIVE!"

"If he's smart or lucky then he's still alive. If not, then I just did him a favor. Either way, we are leaving."

Kline grabbed Ashley's arm. Ashley slapped him-

-her hand came away bloody. Blood was cascading freely from Kline's nose... washing over his lips and dripping from his chin in a steady flow.

The gasp was hardly out of Ashley's mouth before Kline yanked her toward the small dirt path leading back to the highway. Trees closed in around them; branches and vines slapped at Ashley as Kline pulled her along behind him.

"Don't think I've forgotten about your boyfriend," Kline hissed. He pulled a gun from his pocket. "But HE'S not a Knight. That means you can talk to him, even if he's not close enough to hear you. Tell him to leave us. Tell him not to attack. If he does, then my lessons in how to use our power will start right here and now... with him. TELL HIM!"

He shoved the gun up against the bottom of Ashley's chin.

"Y-You won't hurt me!"

"Won't I? Maybe I've changed my mind. Maybe now all I want is to get out of here... "

"You... you don't... you don't want to go to hell! I'm the only way you can prevent that!"

"But he doesn't know that, does he? And I think I just got his attention. Now talk to him."

"SEBASTIAN!" Ashley shouted.

"WITH YOUR MIND!!"

He thrust the gun upward into the flesh of Ashley's jaw.

Ashley's thoughts reached out with the telepathic equivalent of a bullhorn-

<<SEBASTIAN! SEBASTIAN, DON'T ATTACK US! JUST LET US GO! ITS ALL PART OF A PLAN TO->>

Too late.

Sebastian didn't have the magical protection that Jason did. Kline could sense his mind the instant he got close enough.

Ashley felt her captor stiffen, then turn-

There was an explosion.

Then three more.

Ashley blinked and jerked backward. When her eyes opened, she saw a cloud of dust hanging motionless in the air before her.

"Heh," Kline chuckled. His laugh had a sick, wet sound. He had blood in his mouth. "Shotgun. Bah-"

Kline took the gun away from Ashley's chin and waved the weapon in front of him. The smoke floated away, and the multiple projectiles from the shotgun fell to the ground at his feet. If they had continued on their path, they would have erased Kline's face-

-not that he had much of a face now anyway. A tiny trickle of blood was drooling from the corner of his left eye. Everything below his nose was red.

His hand tightened on Ashley's.

"You came here thinking I was weak and vulnerable, but I'm not!" He shouted to the trees. Sebastian had been close by... hiding behind a tree until they walked past, then firing the shotgun at close range. But he wasn't there now. He had taken his shots and darted away. Ashley could still sense him, though. She knew exactly where he was... which meant...

"Please don't!" She begged. "Don't hurt him!"

"If you love him, then reach out to him and make him stop," said Kline. He sounded like he was drowning.

"SEBASTIAN, PLEASE! JUST RUN!"

"Reach for his mind. Put your thoughts in his mind and MAKE him stop! Either you stop him, or I will!"

Reacting in panic, Ashley reached out-

Mistake.

Big, BIG Mistake.

Kline was right there with her. She'd let her guard down, and the assassin had slipped into her mind... a tiny part of his consciousness rode on the back of Ashley's thoughts like some kind of parasite, and when she touched Sebastian's mind-

"Target Acquired," Kline smiled. "Thanks for the ride."

"NO!"

Kline released her hand, but before Ashley could even try to run... or attack... something big and incredibly heavy slammed into her from the front, knocking her down. Then it pushed her into the ground until the air gushed from her lungs. She couldn't move. It felt like someone had parked a car on her chest.

"NNNNN!!"

"I wanted to be stronger," said Kline. He was talking to her, but looking at something in the woods. "So they found drugs to make me stronger. Before, I could barely lift a spoon. Now I can level trees. Crush rock. I've even flattened a car once. But what do you think happens when I cram all that power... all that energy... into a space the size of a dime?"

The wind began to blow around them. Only it wasn't wind. It was the same thing that was pressing Ashley to the ground...

"...It's a little something I like to call..."

Trees began to sway violently back and forth, their large trunks groaning in protest. Ashley felt the ground shudder beneath her.

"...Superbullet..."

Branches and smaller trees yielded to the building telekinetic storm. The sound of snapping wood was like a series of explosions in Ashley's ears.

"You said... you said..."

"He's not running. The fool is sneaking up on me with that shotgun.... if he runs, I won't kill him. Make him run, Ashley... make him run, or he dies..."

Suddenly, there were more explosions. Real ones. Sebastian emptied the shotgun at Kline, but the projectiles were swept away instantly.

Then came the sword. Ashley heard him drawing it.

<<RUUUNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!>> Ashley screamed. The cry scoured across Sebastian's brain, erasing his current thoughts like a psychic reset button. She heard the sword hit the ground. She felt Sebastian back away...

...felt his thoughts rush back in. Felt him pick up the sword again.

"Ohhhh, too bad," said Kline. "Say goodbye, Ashley."

Ashley expected the telekinetic 'wind' around her to keep building slowly... but with a silent shrug from Kline, the force leapt exponentially... instantly. Trees and grass exploded outward. The world seemed to shriek... howling and raging against the power that Kline had unleashed. If Ashley hadn't been flat on the ground, she would have been torn apart. But Sebastian-

Suddenly, all of the horrible fury around her began to shrink. Kline had let it out to build up speed, and now he was drawing it back in.... concentrating it... bending and folding it into one... tiny... bullet.

Sebastian was dead if Ashley didn't stop it. But she COULDN'T! She reached into herself, searching for some shred of the power she'd used earlier

-it wasn't there. It WASN'T THERE!

Quickly, she turned away from that option and sought another. She tried again to force her way into Kline's mind, but IT wasn't there EITHER! Kline's mind was still cloaked! If she could just find a way in, she could shut him down... she was SURE of that, but there WAS no in! There was nothing to force her way into! The only time she had even so much as glimpsed his mind was-

Bingo.

Ashley's thoughts flew outward from her mind... not toward Kline, but toward Sebastian. She plunged into his consciousness like a torpedo-

-and there it was. That little parasite... that bug... that tiny fragment of himself that Kline placed in his victims to target them. Ashley shot toward it... touched it... and followed it back to its source. It was like one of Jason's ricochet shots, only HER bullet had bounced off of Sebastian's brain and zeroed in perfectly on the bleeding bastard that had forgotten that his little psychic bugs worked both ways.

"Gotcha," Ashley whispered out loud. Kline didn't hear her. He was focusing on his 'superbullet'...

..and he never saw it coming.

<<...razors...Razors...RAZORS...RAZORS-RAZORS-RAZORS-RED HOT BLOODY BURNING RAZOR BLADES IN YOUR SKULL!!>>

"ARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHH!!"

Kline grabbed his skull and doubled over as pain sliced across his thoughts.

"AAAGGGG!! YOU BITCH! YOU-ARRRRRRRGGGH FUUUUUUUUU-"

The concentration of power spun out of control, expending itself into the air above Kline as he stumbled and started to fall.

"GGGGGNNNNNRRRRAAGH!"

There was a sudden jolt, and Ashley was back inside her own mind. Kline had forced her out! She leapt to her feet and started to run. He grabbed her shoulder and spun her around-

Blood splattered against her face. Kline wasn't just bleeding now... blood was literally SHOOTING out of his nostrils.

"That..." he sputtered. "...that the best you... can do...?"

"No," said Ashley. "THIS IS-"

Then she kicked him in the crotch. Hard.

"AHH, FU-"

His gun hit the ground, and Ashley jumped back out of the way. This was going to be PERFECT-

It WOULD have been perfect.

But somehow, through the pain and the blood, Kline STILL had enough control left to not only see it coming, but to do something about it.

And he didn't even turn around to look.

One moment, Sebastian was swinging the sword in a downward arc that would have cleaved Kline's skull down the middle-

-and the next, Sebastian AND his sword were flying backward as if shot from a cannon. If there had still been trees around them, Sebastian would have come apart in a bloody mess when he hit one. But Kline's little 'lesson' had ripped them all away. Sebastian expended his momentum in the air before finally hitting the ground and rolling to a very uncomfortable-looking stop.

"Hhhh!" Kline huffed. A jet of blood splattered his shoes. He looked at Ashley with bleeding, bloodshot eyes. "Still not too late... he's still kicking around back there... and I'm still ticking away inside his head. Come with me, he lives..."

"You're crazy."

"Yeah... yeah, I am. Heh... but I've got more chips to play, girlie. I got more secrets."

"I don't want your Monastery. You AND them can ROT IN HELL-"

"I know what we are... What we can become... "

"I don't CARE any more! You can KEEP your lies!"

"I know... I know... your father..."

"So? I never met him! I never KNEW him! He left us before I was born, so that makes him a BASTARD just like YOU! If THAT'S all you've got, then-"

"He... He's.... HE'S the reason I'm here..."

Ashley's protests and denials caught in her throat. For a long, horrible second, he had her. She was going to do it. She wasn't going to THINK ABOUT doing it... wasn't going to CONSIDER doing it... was going to do it. She was going to put her arm around him and help him back to his car. Then she was going to get in beside him, close the door, and ride away...

But then she saw Sebastian flying backward from Kline's telekinetic wallop. She saw Jason's bullets turning in the air and rushing back into the trees from whence they'd come.

"You..." Ashley hissed through clenched teeth. She had seen what Kline really was, and going with him would be admitting that she was the same kind of... CREATURE... as him. But she wasn't the same. She was Ashley. And HE... HE was a bug in desperate need of squashing.

And she could have done it, too. The power was there... it was right THERE at the front edge of her brain. All she had to do was touch it... ignite it....

-but that wasn't worth the effort. Not for a piece of trash like him.

"GO" Ashley spat.

Kline looked into her eyes and saw the fury boiling there. And the power. He felt the faintest hint... the tiniest glimmer of that thing inside Ashley that made his 'superbullet' look like spitball.

He saw it.

And he ran.

"ITCH!" he swore as he reached the car. "Almost had her... almost had her... almost had her..."

He repeated the words like a mantra, but whatever peace or enlightenment they might bring was apparently too squeamish to get near him.

He was bleeding like... like one of his victims. It would stop eventually. If he lived long enough, then it would stop on its own. But the PAIN! The damned PAIN that little blonde-

"BITCH!"

-had put in his HEAD! Where did she get THAT from!!?

Just the echoes of it was making him CRAZY!

But not THAT crazy.

"Heh..." Kline collapsed across the hood of his stolen car. Blood drained across the paint. He took a deep breath, exhaling through his mouth.

More blood oozed from his lips.

"...nooo, not that crazy..." he said as he reached down and felt around the space above the front, driver's side tire. It was there somewhere. He'd seen it in the kid's mind. The one with the swords... he had put it...

"Ahhhhhh."

Kline found the bomb and pulled it free. It was attached with a cheap magnet, with no tamper-resistant switch. He guessed they didn't have time for the fancy stuff. Either that, or they'd spent all their money on the high-power plastique explosive.

"Nice," he said.

He took another deep breath and then stumbled over to the black Ford Expedition. There, he attached the bomb to the gas tank, where it stuck with a heavy, magnetic 'KLUMPF'.

He had considered throwing the bomb into the woods... but no. They had damned him to hell, so he would damn them. He hoped they would be standing around the SUV like a big, happy family when they pushed the button. They'd be listening for a big boom somewhere down the road...

...but they'd probably never even HEAR the one that tore them apart like paper dolls in a shredder.

"Heh... have a nice day..."

Kline staggered back to his car. He got in, started the engine, and pulled slowly out onto the highway. He took his time getting away. There would be hell to pay... literally... for messing this one up. But at least he'd gotten the Knight and the girl. Certainly THAT would be worth some mercy.

It had to be worth SOMETHING...

Because if it wasn't...

...Oh, GOD, if it wasn't...

ess than a minute later, Jason Brooks wandered out of the trees. His clothes were smeared with dirt and sap, and he was cradling his bleeding left arm.

"Damned trees..." he groaned as he leaned against the Navigator. "...I hate trees."

Jason tried to straighten his arm... winced... and then folded it back against his chest.

"That's gonna hurt in the morning," he mumbled to himself.

"JASON!" Ashley ran out of the trees and threw her arms around him. "You're ALIVE!"

Jason didn't hug her back, and it wasn't because of his sprained arm.

"No thanks to you," he said coldly.

"Huh?"

"I thought we were a team," he added. "But apparently you're playing and entirely different game."

"Okay, okay, I deserve that. I'm sorry-"

"Sorry? You... we... after all of THAT, you think 'sorry' is gonna make it okay? You LEFT us!"

"Look, I needed to... I needed to know what I was and I thought he could tell me! But now I know that he's-"

"Whatever, Ashley. Just... whatever."

"Jason, please don't be mad at me-"

"MAD!!!!!?? CHRIST, you almost got us KILLED! We almost DIED! And..." Jason looked behind him. "Where's Sebastian?"

"He's coming. I was gonna help him, but he was giving me that crazed look, kinda like the one you're... giving me... right now..."

"Ashley, I thought all that talk earlier was just TALK! But you really ARE out for yourself here, aren't you!?"

"HEY! I never said I was perfect! I make mistakes, okay! I make mistakes just like everybody ELSE!"

"So do we..." Said Sebastian. Sebastian looked worse than Jason... but nothing appeared broken. He limped out of the trees and joined them. "...we trusted you."

"Sebastian, please don't say that!"

"Why not? It's true."

"Nooo! No it's NOT!"

"Hey look, she's crying," said Jason. "Think those tears are real?"

"No telling," said Sebastian.

"I'm SORRY!!!"

"I think that's enough," said Donovan. He appeared silently behind Ashley. "Let it go."

"DONOVAN!" Ashley tried to hug him... but her arms passed right through his torso. "I'm sorry! I didn't MEAN it! I didn't mean to hurt you! It just... it just slipped out!"

"That's all right," said Donovan. "No harm done."

"All-" Sebastian started.

"-Right?" Jason finished.

Donovan nodded at them.

"Just let it go."

"LET IT GO!?!" said Jason.

"I was there in the woods at the end," said Donovan. "I heard what he said to you, and I can guess what this whole thing was about. Ashley, I think you and I... need to have a talk. There are things we need to discuss. Privately."

"Well somebody needs to talk to ME and tell me what's going on here!"

"There are still demons in Rock Springs," said Donovan. "Finding and killing them is what's going on. We'll deal with this business when we have the luxury of free time."

"So she gets a free pass?" said Jason.

"She gets the same 'pass' you did when you wanted to let a demonic hound slaughter the Rock Springs police department, Jason. Remember that?"

"That was DIFFERENT!"

"Different how?"

"Different because I didn't DO it!"

"Because you saw it was wrong on your own... or because I talked you out of it?"

"But... you... I- Okay, FINE! Whatever! Just don't ask me to trust her again!"

"Jason..." Ashley gave him a pitiful look. She was still crying. Jason looked at her, and couldn't figure out just how angry he was supposed to be. He'd snapped at Sebastian earlier. He'd had a reason then, too, but... his temper had been unusually short lately. And right now he wanted to wring Donovan's ephemeral neck for that crack he'd just made. He had a right to be mad now, but HOW mad? Mad enough to make Ashley cry... like that...

"...well... not right away..." Jason mumbled. "...just... just stop with the crying..."

"Thank you, Jason," said Donovan. He nodded at Sebastian, who said nothing in return.

"So... wh-what are we gonna do about... him?" said Ashley. "Are we gonna let him go-"

"Oh, HELL no..." Jason pulled a small rectangular box from his pocket. He unfolded a collapsible antenna... and held the box out to Sebastian. "You wanna send this guy to hell... or should I?"

Sebastian shrugged and took the box.

"What's that?" said Ashley.

"Just a little surprise for our telepathic assassin," said Jason. "And you're probably wondering how we would surprise a telepath? Well... Like this..."

Sebastian pushed the button on the front of the remote detonator.

The explosion was a distant rumble... followed by a cloud of thick, black cloud rising over the trees. While Ashley watched the smoke, Jason leaned down and removed the bomb from the Expedition's gas tank.

"The first one's always free," he said, holding up the decoy. "Sebastian gave him exactly what he was looking for."

Sebastian nodded.

"We had to put up a fight to make it look good," Jason explained. "Make him think he'd won... Hopefully he wasn't driving next to a school bus when he found out he was wrong."

"Collateral Damage," Said Sebastian... a comment that everybody thought would be better off ignored.

"Hey, who's bike?" said Ashley, pointing to the Harley.

"Mine now." Sebastian got on, started the engine, and drove away.

"If only they were all this easy," said Donovan.

"Easy? Heh... THIS from the guy who floats around and does nothing all day... C'mon Ashley. We'd better not let Sebastian wander around by himself too long."

Jason and Ashley got in the Expedition. Donovan floated upward and watched them leave... then headed in the general direction of the smoke on the horizon. He'd have to make sure, of course. But more than that, he had to think.

"...you had to tell her, didn't you," he said. "Now you've gone and done it. Now you've gone and changed everything..."

[END]

copyright 2005 by Dark Icon Entertainment