Demigods (26 page)

"The police have captured Viper," she told him with a slight smile, understanding that this would allow his mind to peek out from behind his heart, "and they are waiting for us to come and take her into custody."

Suddenly Ryan’s professionalism took over, and though he withdrew slowly, not so willing to end the emotion abruptly, he knew that he had to consider the task at hand.

"And just how is this going to go down?" he asked.

Mirage turned, and headed for the door, well aware that he was ready to follow her.

"I will explain it to you on the way," she answered in a tone that gently allowed his head to get back into the game, "but we must be leaving."

*            *            *

Sitting in the back of the transport van, Viper’s ankles were cuffed, as well as her hands, and a short chain connected them both. She seemed so incapable of doing anything, but they had no idea. It was not as though they could have actually been told what they were dealing with, and she knew this.

Both of the men that were with her kept their eyes upon her at all times, and their rifles were always pointed in her direction. They were given specific instructions, and they followed them to the letter, despite the beauty that she radiated. They were soldiers, and they resisted as best they could.

Viper sat in her own mind, and began to cry. It was not a situation that she had anticipated, yet here she was.

"Where are they taking me?" she asked, as she looked up from her restraints, yet they were ordered to not communicate with her in any way, so they sat silent.

It was an uncomfortable silence, because neither of them could believe that such a lovely young lady, being so tiny in stature, would ever be a threat to anyone. She was a very young woman, and there was no way that she could ever be able to harm them, but orders are orders. You follow them, or you disgrace yourself.

"Why are you doing this to me?" she began to sob, as she lowered her head, before raising it again, and shouting at them.

"I didn't do anything!"

At this, she buried her head in her lap, and cried. There were many things that she had gone through, and they all brought her pain, but this was a moment of her own design.

"I'm sorry, but I just don't get it," one of the men felt the need to state, very uncomfortable with the idea of treating such a petite young lady in such a way. "What could she have possibly done?"

The other man was a veteran, with the occasional gray hair to prove it, and though he was feeling very much the same way, he was far more disciplined.

"Orders are orders," he stated in a tone that was unempathic. "We just follow them."

For a short while, they both sat there, staring at her because they were told to do so, but not thinking the way that it was intended. She seemed so fragile, both physically, and emotionally, and it ate at them both.

Finally, Viper looked up, with tears in her eyes.

"I'm so tired," she whispered, as her lean to one side seemed to indicate the truth of this. "You look so tired too."

At this, both of their eyes began to blink, and the events of the day began to burden their minds to the point of encumbrance. Each bump in the road now worked against them, just as they do a baby, and like one, they soon found themselves in dreamland.

Not even Mirage understood all about her, for her mind was very strong, and she was able to keep most of her secrets to herself. One was the ability to curl her hands like a piece of paper, until they were even smaller in circumference than her wrists were.

Seeming without any effort, she removed her restraints, and then did something very similar with her feet, and removed them from there as well. This was what they had made her capable of doing, yet she was not about to thank them for it, despite how useful it was at the moment.

"Such sweet little angels," Viper smirked at the two sleeping men, as she tossed her chains to the floor. "Be thankful that you'll awaken."

*            *            *

Ryan was in a state of confusion, and not because he didn’t know what to do. It was the confusion of a man that knew exactly what he needed to do, yet was consumed by his own thoughts of the woman that he loved, and she sat right next to him in the passenger seat of the black sedan that she had brought back to the hotel.

Mirage had told him that the police were not going to even process Viper, and that she would be handed over to them from the very vehicle that they were transporting her in, but Ryan felt uncomfortable. It was not that he was afraid of Viper, because he trusted Mirage whole-heartedly. It was just that he did not like the idea that Sangmu would see him in the state of mind that was indicative to the type of man that the government had turned him into. He seemed to forget at times that she knew him far better than he even knew himself.

When they got there, he was to shoot Viper with the tranquilizer gun, and the dart looked large enough to drop a small elephant. In fact, it was, but that is what it would take to put her down.

Mirage told him that the SWAT unit would never even see it happen, and as far as they would be able to tell, it would be a simple transfer. Not even Viper would see it coming.

Once she was under, Mirage would take control of her mind, and would create an environment and scenario that Viper would never be able to tell from the truth. A medically induced coma would finish off her plan, and Viper would be allowed to live in a world that she would be most happy with.

Ryan thought that it would be far safer to kill her, but never mentioned it. He figured that Sang knew how he felt about it, yet hardly wanted to come across as a killer to the peaceful woman that he loved. Besides, trust is a part of love, and he certainly trusted her.

"When we arrive," Mirage finally spoke up after about ten minutes of silence, "you only need to follow me, and I will make them see what they need to see."

Ryan looked over at her, and smiled. She was so beautiful, even under such circumstances, and he was delighted that her calculated mind could not prevent her heart from causing her perfect lips to smile back at him.

Had she been anyone else, he knew that she would have paused to ask him why he was smiling, but he understood that she already knew. This was why she blushed, and turned slightly away.

"You may not need to focus much," Mirage told him without ever looking directly back up at him, yet never ceasing to smile, "but I do."

His thoughts, however inappropriate for the moment, were still quite flattering, and even a mind as advanced as her own, found it difficult to concentrate under the weight of such a feeling.

"Okay, Sang," he said while looking straight ahead at the road, and the timing was well enough to put his own mind in a state that he understood very well. He was now pulling off the highway, and into the rest area where the transfer was to take place, so his training did what it was supposed to do.

Ryan’s eyes began to comb the area, though the darkness left so many places hidden. He was now well aware that Mirage could sense the minds around her, but he needed to know as much as he could, in a way that he understood.

"Is she here?" he asked her as they neared the van that was to have Viper within it, but her answer was a little discomforting.

"Yes she is," Mirage replied, "though something is very wrong."

He tried to ask her what she meant by that, as he began to evaluate the scene as best he could, while she had closed her eyes, and became silent.

The van was right where it was supposed to be, with two squad cars parallel to it, and two more flanking to either side. The fact that a uniformed officer stood outside of each car, while two fully geared SWAT officers were positioned at the back of the van, made it all seem very secure, yet Mirage still sat in a trance-like state beside him.

"What's wrong?" Ryan asked her as he pulled into a spot that was about fifty feet away from the position. Mirage did not answer right away.

For a time, she just sat there, with her eyes closed, and there was no answer forthcoming. He could see that she was alive, yet she did not move

"What's wrong?" he asked again, and finally she raised her head, and looked him in the eye.

"Don't move until I figure this out," she told him.

*            *            *

From the shadows, Viper sat and watched the car that had come. She knew that Mirage would sense that things were amiss, but she also knew that she would not run away. Instead, Mirage would try to find a calculation that made sense of it all, and that is exactly what she counted on.

She watched as two men exited the car that came, but she was hardly fooled. She was well aware that Mirage could have been projecting the image, and she understood that this witch could deceive her own eyes.

Viper also understood that the back door to the van would not open itself, and that one of them would have to open it, for she had made certain that no one else would do it.

At that moment, she would drop one of them, and she really did not care which one it was, because the other would soon follow.

If it was Mirage who opened the door, Ryan would be very alone, and she could then get up close and personal, yet if Ryan was the one to open the door, she would fulfill her promise to make Mirage watch him die.

Either way, Viper was ready to end this chapter of her life, though would soon find that the task would be a little more complicated than first thought.

Suddenly, three choppers appeared, and their lights illuminated the entire area. To make matters worse, they were military, and certainly transporting a delta unit, if not multiple ones.

With precision, armed men began to repel to the ground below, and quickly set up a perimeter. She was not certain how they had found her so quickly, but to think about it at this moment would be a waste of time.

Viper needed a new plan, and she needed it quickly. For this, she needed to see things clearly, so she silenced her mind so that Mirage would be unaware of what she was doing.

Lifting her cell phone, she activated the camera, for the image would tell her the truth, as long as the witch did not realize that she was using it. What she found was disturbing, because neither Mirage nor Ryan ever actually exited the car, and they were now leaving the scene.

Viper’s anger began to boil, and her hatred was consuming. The most logical choice would be to get out of there, and find a different time and place to deal with them, but rage is never a logical emotion.

Glancing around, she found the shortest route to her desired destination, yet certain things stood in her way. The soldiers that were quickly closing in were one of these things, while the other was two of the three choppers.

The man that she was trying to kill was her firearms instructor, and it was the skill that Viper had acquired from him that she now found most useful. Carefully, she took aim at the pilot of the chopper to her left, but she knew that what she was about to do had to be executed flawlessly.

Gently she pulled the trigger, and put a three round burst through the windshield of the first chopper, and without any hesitation, she did the same to the one on her right.

Before anyone could figure out what had just happened, Viper sprang from the shadows with a speed that was beyond human, and raced toward one of the patrol cars. This was her launching point, though only a few of the men on the ground caught a glimpse of her as she leaped through the air, and entered the side of the only chopper that was not spiraling to the ground.

The man inside was flung out the door before her feet had actually touched down, while the quickest way to remove the pilot was straight through the front windshield. In an instant, the machine was under her control.

The soldiers and officers on the ground were too busy doing their best to avoid the two helicopters that were crashing into the ground to ever have the time to even think about her, and now she was on to the task at hand.

Her eyes quickly found the vehicle that the witch, and Ryan occupied, but an approach from behind was not her intent. Instead, she circled around, and headed straight for them.

Her vision was unhindered by the darkness of the night, and she could see the eyes of Mirage looking up at her. They appeared to be calm eyes, yet she knew that there was a hint of fear behind them, for that is what she wanted to believe.

Viper then tried to use her phone to verify that her eyes were not deceiving her, but the camera was not as keen as her own eyes, and did little good. She would need a secondary plan in case the first was not successful, and she calculated one quickly.

She struck the window to her left, sending it flying away, before putting the chopper into a dive, and headed straight for them. The traffic on the highway was moderate, though well enough for what she needed.

Closer and closer she came to the ground, staring into the eyes of Mirage, yet Ryan seemed to not even notice. This of course, was not a good sign.

With only a second to spare, Viper launched herself from the window, and as she watched the chopper meet the pavement, it was easy to see that a vehicle was not there to slow its momentum.

As she landed on the ground beside the road, Viper saw that there was not another vehicle to be seen anywhere. Only the rolling explosion of the chopper broke the silence of the night, which meant that her backup plan was useless as well.