Red Lady

-18-

Eden

What seemed like many, many hours later, the four of us spilled out of the car. At this point, I didn’t give a damn that it was freezing cold outside. I was just happy to be out of the confines of that damned car. I stretched my muscles, feeling them thank me as the tension released from them. I felt like a bear that had just awaken from hibernation.

“Eden, cover yourself and help Irene and Donavan get the bags out of the back while I check us in. And please, find a place to hide that gun with all the luggage.”

I saluted Avian and watched his back until he entered the safety of the hotel. Then, and only then, did I turn to help my friends. I took the gun out of the car secretly, disassembling it and packing it into one of the less filled bags that we had. When my red headed cousin came out, he grabbed the last bag and showed us inside.

I looked around at the elegant design of the place, watching the rich walk out of the elevator in tailored suits and warm snow wear. When one of the desk clerks noticed me just watching, I let my head fall down slightly and looked at my feet while being led.

The room we had was nice, to say the least. Two queen sized beds were pressed against the left wall, the golden duvet inviting us to sleep in its warm and comfort. I had a sudden urge to jump on the bed and hide away from the cold.

“I call a bed with Eden,” Donavan said, giving me a smirk.

“I think not. You’ll be sleeping on the floor.”

“That’ll be uncomfortable!”

“It’s better than sleeping outside, is it not?”

He gave me a fake glare, intent on continuing to argue.

“If I sleep on the floor, then I’ll be all stiff tomorrow and I won’t be a use to anyone.”

I snorted. “One, you’re never really that useful. Two, you’re not the one who has to kill tomorrow.” I added a sly smile just for him.

“It’s true,” Avian said with a shrug, placing his bags carefully on the floor.

“You’re really gonna make me sleep on the floor?!”

“Maybe if you’re a good boy, you can sleep at the foot of the bed.”

Donavan made an unamused noise and was about to say something else, but Irene shut him up by coming over to me with Avian’s laptop in her hands. We sat on my bed and I looked at Major’s information on the screen.

“Here is Mr. Sanchez’s residence, as well as his job location. He works at a local public high school as a Geometry teacher.”

I snorted at this, but nodded my head. “I guess that makes sense.”

“Why?”

“Major taught us the mathematics that go into a kill, to give us the perfect shot.”

“Math is involved in killing? All you have to do is point and shoot.”

I glared over at the brunette man, who was looking at the two women on the bed. Avian was behind him, backed up a few feet with his hands in the air, having nothing to do with what the other man said. I turned back towards Donavan.

“That floor is looking more and more comfortable for you my friend.”

“Today is Thursday,” my cousin interrupted, moving some of his things where he wanted them, “Which gives you plenty of time to scope out some places and decided where you want to take him out.”

I nodded and stood up straight, going towards my duffle back to fish out some clothes. No one said anything as I stripped of my shirt and heavy coat, putting on a long sleeved shirt and a light jacket, which hid my gun holster as well as the weapon. Along with that, I bound up my hair and hid it over a beanie, finishing off my designed look with a pair of fake prescription glasses.

I went to the hotel door, waving as my goodbye. “I’ll be back soon, don’t wait up for me.” I closed the door and strutted down the hallway like a dangerous predator, which was exactly what I was.

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Eric

I sat in Mr. Sanchez’s class, glaring at the man who was sitting at his desk, pecking away on the damn keyboard. This guy pissed me off so bad, thinking he’s the boss of me just because he’s one of my damn teachers. I’m eighteen, a legal adult; I don’t need lame teachers breathing down my neck. What I do outside of this horrid place is no one else’s business but my own.

I looked up at the black clock on the wall, jumping out of my seat once I noticed that the time for my detention was up.

“I’m out of here,” I pretty much shouted, grabbing my backpack and bolting out. Mr. Sanchez didn’t say a thing.

I never understood why that old man gave me detentions. I got into a couple fights, and the detentions I got for them didn’t stop that. But he brought me in anyway, always giving me a look like he was interested in me. It was becoming seriously creepy. Right this second, I was dreading the detention after school tomorrow.

I was too busy thinking, which caused me to bump into someone on my way out of the damn school. I grunted, almost falling to the ground, but the other person grabbed my shirt and pulled me up with what seemed like no effort at all. I grabbed onto them to make sure that I didn’t fall, and felt a small arm under my hand.

Looking up, I saw a woman standing there, clad in tight blue jeans, a black shirt, jacket to match, and a plain beanie. The glasses on her face brought out the brightness of her blue eyes. A second look down towards her chest (Come on, I’m a boy and she was hot), a saw something shine from inside her jacket. I became frozen when I recognized it as a gun.

“Be careful where you’re walking or you’ll hurt yourself,” she said, an Irish accent coming out of her mouth. For sure, she was not from around here. Well, I already knew that because I knew everyone in this town, seeing how small it was.

I was still scared by the sight of the gun, and was unable to say anything. She didn’t seem to care that I was speechless, just gave me a smile and walked pasted me, continuing on her way down the street.

I think a little piece of danger had made its way into this part of town, and that danger was the hot woman walking down the street with a gun.

---------------

Dominic

I was not the patient type, that was the damn truth for sure. I could barely wait for my food to come out during a restaurant, let alone wait for FBI and SWAT reinforcements to get their things together before we all could fly off to Quebec. Usually, if a case went into another country, we let whoever was there take care of it. But this was Eden Hayes, and she was too dangerous to leave to the local police.

I also wanted to get this show on the road because of Su. I did not, under any circumstances, want to leave her here without me, but grabbing the person who did this to her was slightly more important than being by her side. Plus, I knew Kris would take care of her while I was gone.

“Alright, I informed the local sheriff, but he’s the only one that knows. We don’t want people panicking, and we don’t want to scare her away. If she knows we’re on her tail, then she’ll know that we’ve found out the order of her kills,” Myers said, coming up to me in his usual attire.

“Have you told the rest of the law enforcement where she’s going to hit?”

“They all know, and they’re on their toes.”

I nodded my head and jumped out of my seat when the captain of the SWAT came marching down the hallway, ready in his uniform. He walked up to us, looking nothing but serious.

“Everything is ready to go, we’re just waiting for everyone to board the plane.”

“Then let’s go,” I said, grabbing all of my stuff and walking a head of the two men. I was going to get her, I swore it.

---------------------

Eden

I walked back into the hotel room, shaking out my hair and running my fingers through it. Having it up there for those couple hours had made it knotted, damn it. Everyone was sitting around, pretty much doing nothing in particular. Lazy bums, all of them.

I talked as I began to braid my long hair. “Is everyone ready for tomorrow? I decided to take him out after school was over.”

“Jesus, right after school? You’re going to wait until all the kids are gone, right?” Avian said, shaking his head.

“I’ll try to. I don’t want any witnesses or anyone getting hurt, but I’ll do what I have to. I can’t make any promises.”

No one seemed very happy with my choice, but they didn’t argue either. They knew it would not have made a difference.

I threw my jacket on the bed, taking off the holster, then rested against the headboard, closing my eyes and relaxing. I could feel the man next to me looking at my face, but I didn’t really care, so I decided to ignore him. I couldn’t when he continued to stare at me, though.

“What?” I asked irritated, not opening my eyes.

“Nothing,” he mumbled, turning his attention elsewhere.

“You can sleep in the bed.”

“Aw, thanks Eden!”

I rolled my eyes under my closed eye lids and slowly fell asleep around the people that I trusted the most. A mafia leader, a former FBI agent, and a powerful mystery woman. The best kind of friends I say.

-----------------

Jocasta

This was the fifth time I had called Michael’s number, and he had yet to pick up. Usually, I gave up out of frustration and swore to kill the one who ignored me, but the fear that I knew I would strike in him would was enough to keep calling.

On the third ring of this call, there was finally a groggy answer on the other end of the line.

“Hello?” he asked, bringing a smirk to my face.

“It’s nice to hear from you again Michael,” I purred. There was silence on the other line, and I knew he had connected the voice to a face. My smirk grew even wider.

“Jocasta… why are you calling me? Especially at such a late hour.”

“We are in different time zones, I was not aware how late it was there. I apologize.”

“That doesn’t answer why you’re calling me.”

“I was just checking up on you, to see how you are doing. Did you get the call from the FBI about our little Eden Hayes?”

I heard him chuckle into the phone. “Yes, I have gotten that call. Am I supposed to be scared? There is no way that she can find me, let alone kill me. I taught her everything she knows. She can’t kill any of us.”

My brows furrowed in confusion. She had already killed one too many of us. “What did they tell you?”

“They just said that the Red Lady was coming after me. Ha, can you believe that?”

“You must be out of the loop since you are not living in America.” I shook my head. He was going to get himself killed, not that I cared. He was an arrogant man who has forgotten that that child had been taught by all of us, and surpassed most of us in her skills.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Nothing, nothing at all Michael. Go back to sleep, although I’m sure there will be no time for it soon.” I mumbled the last part before hanging up.

I took the dart that was on the table beside me and threw it at the wall, where the picture of Michael Major was pinned up. It hit directly into his forehead.

There were twelve pictures on the wall, three of which were turned around so only the blank side showed. Those three were the ones that had died of natural causes. I had the rest of the pictures in the order in which Eden would go after them. The first four all had darts through their foreheads.

Benjamin Blue, Wesley O’Neil, Albert Montgomery, and Michael Major.

-------------

Eden

Today had gone by way too slowly. I had woken up too early, even before Avian, which was saying something. Maybe that was the reason this day seemed to drag on and on. Usually, I wouldn’t have to wait this long for a kill. We went quickly over the procedure of the kill, I packed my guns, then I was off. But now I had to wait for the school to let out, and it wouldn’t be completely empty until three in the afternoon. It was slowly killing me inside to wait.

It came to be around 2:30, meaning it was time that I head out and everyone else make sure that we were packed up and ready to go. I don’t really see why we even unpacked, but we did it anyway. Avian would be sitting a couple blocks away, ready to bolt out of here once I finished the kill and got to the car. We were a mostly flawless team.

I put on something that looked exactly what I was wearing yesterday, except I had more guns on myself. I had my shoulder holster, which held my two .380 Beretta pistols, as well as a space for an extra clip. I also had on my thigh holster over my pants that held my compact .45. Not one of my favorites, but it would have to do today. Thankfully, the jacket that I was wearing today was black and long, not only covering the gun, but blending into the color mostly.

“I’m heading out, alright? We all know the meeting place, right?”

“Yes, now go. I want to get out of here as soon as possible. I have a bad feeling about this kill,” Avian mumbled, pretty much pushing me out the door.

“You had a bad feeling about the last one.”

“Yeah, and look what happened there.”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I got the guy,” I said before walking away. I followed the exact path I had yesterday, soon coming toward the school. I opening my phone and texted to Irene ‘I’m here’ before turning off the device and walking into the building.

“Excuse me,” a woman at the reception desk asked me, and I swore under my breath. I had forgotten that these places had somewhat security for the children. I put on a fake smile and turned the woman.

“Hi, sorry, I’m just looking for Mr. Sanchez’s class,” I said, although I knew exactly where I was, “My sister left some of her stuff, but she had to go visit our grandparents and couldn’t get it before she had to leave. I just came to grab it real quick.”

Actually, the lie sounded like one to me, that’s how bad it was, but the woman smiled and nodded her head. “Go on ahead and I’ll call him and tell him you’re coming to pick up her things.”

I nodded my head and started walking quickly to his room. Shit, now this wasn’t going to be a surprise. Hopefully, though, I still had the upper hand.

---------

Eric

“Dude, this math work is stupid and I don’t get it,” I complained for the fourth time, ready to bunch the paper into a ball and throw it into the trash. So far, Mr. S had ignored me, but I seemed to have gotten on his nerves this time.

“You find it stupid and you don’t get it? This is simple Geometry Mr. Mond, no wonder you failed it and had to take this class again.”

I glared at my teacher, who was erasing the white board where the notes from today’s class had been written. Before he could finish, his class phone rang, making him sigh and walk over to it quickly.

“Hello?” he asked. He had a confused look on his face when he continued, “I’ll look for it to give her, thank you.”

When he hung up the phone, he looked back at me. “Apparently one of my female students left her stuff here. I think I might have put something in the teacher’s lounge over there. Go look for me.”

I just got up, glad I didn’t have to do math anymore. The teacher’s lounge was more like a crappy kitchen. There was a green counter where there was a sink, toaster, and microwave. There was also a small fridge where they could put food. Or if they were science teachers, experiments. I didn’t see anything that belonged to a student, so I turned around to look out the glass window on the door to motion that there was nothing there.

What I saw was something that made my heart stop. It was the woman from yesterday, and the gun that I saw was now pointed at Mr. Sanchez. The man looked scared, but not as much as a usual teacher would have been. I went to the floor so she wouldn’t see me, but opened the door a little bit so I could peek out and hear what they were saying.

--------------

Eden

I knocked on the door, probably the politest thing that I was going to do today. I got a muffled “come in” from a very familiar voice that put a twisted smile on my face. I opened the door and walked in as quietly as I could, shutting the door just as quietly as I could. He apparently hadn’t heard me at all.

“I said come-“ he turned around, about to repeat until he saw me.

“Hello Major,” I greeted, pointing my gun at his head. That made him drop his book to the floor, putting his hands up in a surrendering pose.

“Eden…”

“Aw, you still remember me after such a long time?” I voiced, sounding happy. I took the beanie off, letting my braid fall down my back and threw the hat to the floor. There I was, just as he remembered me, only a lot older.

“They called and told me that you would be after me, but I didn’t believe them. Why are you here?”

I stepped closer to him, crossing my steps as I walked, making me look elegant as well as dangerous as I got closer. “What do you mean? Haven’t you heard? I’m here to kill you.”

“H-haven’t heard what?”

“You really must be out of the loop Major, not knowing anything that is going on. But I guess I don’t really blame you. Most of my business has been in America, and why would a Canadian want to know about that?”

I stepped closer, causing him to step back. He was scared now, scared out of his mind. His fear made me fill with a sort of happiness, and I wanted to just pull the trigger and watch him fall to the ground in a bloody mess. But I had to wait.

“Blue, O’Neil, Montgomery? They’re all dead. I killed them all.”

“You’re- you’re killing off the founders? Why?! We made you into a fantastic assassin!”

“Exactly,” I hissed, “you made me some killing machine. You ruined my life. And I have come here to end yours.”

“Please, it was a government assignment! What would you have wanted me to do, turn down the government? No one does that. I didn’t enjoy what I did.”

“You didn’t enjoy it huh? What about all those times where you abused us just for the hell of it? No, you’re only saying that to try and save yourself. You’re going to hell Major, and I’m sending you there.”

“And you think you are not?!”

“I didn’t say that,” I said, the smirk coming back, “I’m going to meet you there. Goodbye Major.”

Instead of pointing the gun at his head, I went to quickly point it at his cheat, where I fired five rounds into his heart. The bullets that went through him it the wall, and were soon followed by the blood that splattered. I watched the man’s body fall to the floor, eyes wide. He now lay on his back, lifeless eyes looking towards the ceiling while blood pooled around him.

I put the gun back in its holster and turned, about to leave, when I saw something. There was a door on the other side of the room that was open, and it had just opened a little more. I quickly took the gun back out, pointing it in that direction.

“Come out of there slowly with your hands up,” I said coldly. The person seemed to think about it, then the boy that bumped into me yesterday stood up, raising his arms over his head. His eyes were wide as he looked at me. Great, I just traumatized the poor kid. Why was it that people that I bumped into seemed to get wedged into my life? First Dominic, and now this kid.

“You’re lucky I’ve got control or I would have shot through that door and killed you. What’s your name?” I put my gun to the floor, but did not put it away. I’m not stupid.

“E-Eric,” he mumbled.

“Alright Eric, well, come here. You and I are about to leave here together.”

His eyes widened more at the thought of it and I knew he didn’t want to come anywhere near me. I rolled my blue eyes.

“Please, I’m not going to kill you. Now come over here before I have to start threatening you.”

He came quickly to my side, but not close enough to touch. Hell, I wouldn’t want to touch me if I was him either. I’m awesome with kids, if you can tell.

“Why did you kill Mr. Sanchez?” Eric asked, trying not to look back at the man on the floor.

“He was a bad man, and his name isn’t Mr. Sanchez. Come on Eric, let’s get out of here.”

After I finished saying that, shots came through the window and into the room. I was quick enough to duck and pull the kid down with me. He started screaming, not knowing what else to do. He also started to back up away from me, but I pulled him closer than he had been before.

“Don’t run away from me or you’re going to get yourself killed!”

Another round of shots came through the window and we pressed closer to the floor. Once they slowed down, I knelt up, hiding behind the dead man’s desk and started shooting out the window in the direction the shots came from. Eric went to crawl over to me, but I stopped him.

“Stay right there and do not get up.”

He nodded his head and hugged the floor as if his life depended on it, which I guess it did. Shots started being fired again, and I hid completely behind the desk. There was no way I was going to shoot whoever was shooting me, so there was no point in wasting my bullets.

I crawled back over to Eric and started dragging him with me to the door that led to the safe hallway. Unfortunately, the farther away we got from the window, the more obvious we were, and the closer the shots got to us.

I stood up once again shooting out the window just to keep the bullets at bay. “Get out of here! The hallway is the safest place.”

Eric stood up slowly, looking at me as if he didn’t know what to do. Was this kid stupid?! A line of bullets started, going straight for him. I pushed him out of the way, with my body, but wasn’t quick enough for the both of us. A shot got stuck in my arm and I hissed at the pain. Thankfully, it was only in the arm and nothing else.

I opened the door and pushed the both of us out of the room and ran down the hall, the kid’s hand in mine while I dragged him. The woman from the front was rushing to us, a scared look on her face.

“Oh my God! What’s going on? I called the cops when I heard all those shots.” Great, the cops were on their way.

“Here, take the boy,” I growled, getting out my other gun so I could shoot both. The woman gasped and pulled Eric to her in a protective embrace. I just ran from them to the outside, where I was vulnerable to the shooting.

It didn’t take the shooter long to find where I was and he started shooting at me again. While I ran to my car, I heard the police sirens and ran faster. Like hell I would be caught again.

Fortunately, the police cars seemed to be coming from the opposite direction from where I was running. The shooter was there too, still shooting, but losing his target as I got farther away. I turned a corner, where my Haven was waiting. That happened to be the car we were driving. The door was open and I jumped in while Avian sped away.

“What the hell happened to your arm?!” Donavan shouted, looking at the blood that poured from my wound. I winced when I looked at it. Why is it that your wounds hurt worse when you look at them?

“I was shot at,” I explained, my voice not sounding like my own, but strained.

“By Major?”

“No. We have an assassin trying to kill the assassin.”