CHAPTER 16: ASCENT

            The climb was dirty but not filthy.  I had to rest more than once, but I knew the client was probably in Angel’s room by now, and I couldn’t help but wonder what her true intentions were.  She seemed to react oddly when I made a comment about the blue flash I’d witnessed when Wingman met his unfortunate demise inside of Angel’s… temple, as she called it.  The must have been the “ritual” the client was talking about, how Angel acquires her… power.  The fact that she does this continuously makes me wonder if her power lasts only so long as she has victims.  Like a vampire, I thought.

            I saw a light above me.  A vent.  That must have been the ground floor, where the “draw” took place.  Far above, I could see another vent, the second floor.  It was a long way to go.  I climbed, considering everything I’d seen and heard so far tonight.  I wondered had Leila presented me with all the evidence she’d rounded up if I would have been able to believe it.   Watching Hotshot’s decimation and Wingman’s devouring, I was a believer now.  Are there other’s like Angel? I wondered.  Why, after all these generations of collecting men, is she just now recruiting some followers?  Her “city” was impressive, but if she was centuries old, wouldn’t it be… bigger?

            Another hour, maybe more, and I was getting close to it now.  My arms and legs burned and ached.  But I was determined.  The client… Leila… was no saint.  She herself had killed many men.  If we get out of this, I might have to ask about that.  But she wants out.  Was redemption beyond her at this point?  I’d like to think not.  The light was a little brighter now; I was a couple reaches away.  With my last reserves of strength, I hoisted my body into the vent, and peered out in to the hallway.  I could see one of the windows… the sun was rising.

            Scanning the hallway again, I looked all the way down.  Last door on the left, Leila had said.  I spotted it.  Nobody was up and about yet.  If they had half as much “fun” as Jayne and Angel, I imagined they were all pretty tired.  I didn’t even bother hugging the wall this time, breaking into a steady jog down the long, long hallway.  I stood in front of the massive doorway, catching my breath.  Maybe this isn’t the best idea, I thought for the hundredth time.  But I was tired of running, and tired of hiding.  I had to trust my ability to read people (Leila was a minor misstep, but it turns out her original intentions were, in fact, innocent).  I took a deep breath, and then crawled into Nicole’s room.

            Some daylight had poured into her room already.  Not much.  But it was getting progressively brighter.  I saw a bed on the far side of the room.  It looked like someone was in it, under the covers, but it was really hard to tell from the floor.  I worked my way to where a piece of comforter touched the hardwood floor.  More climbing.  When I got to the top, I saw her large mass under the sheet, curled up, laying on her side.  Familiar blond hair stretched from the top, and I could make out her voluptuous shape in the sheet.  The single white sheet heaved with each breath she took.  She didn’t even have a pillow.  But… her breathing was irregular, though.  Was she… awake?

            “I’m sorry,” I heard her whisper.  My blood froze.  But… she wasn’t talking to me… I saw some movement under the sheet again.  And then, she sniffled.  She was… sobbing.  I took another deep breath.  I came here for a reason, and I wasn’t about to turn back.  There simply wasn’t anywhere to go.  It was now or never.

            “Nicole,” I called out.  Not quite shouting.

            The sobbing stopped.  So did my heart, for a moment.  Slowly, painfully slowly, the white sheet withdrew from her face.  Her blue eyes appeared suddenly.  They were wide with astonishment, and looking right at me.  I could see the remnants of tears soaking the sheet beneath her.  The blue in her gaze pierced me, not with danger like Jayne’s emerald eyes, but they made me feel almost comfortable.  The sheet continued to withdraw, revealing the rest of her lovely face.  The corner of her red lips curled into a barely perceptible smile.  And I knew I was safe.  Finally.

But as the sheet withdrew a little more, something else caught my eye.  Looking down near her chin, I saw a miniature man lying on the bed beside her.  He was not crushed, or mangled, or soaked in passion.  But he was definitely dead.

            Well, I thought, wondering if my luck had finally run out, I have been wrong before.