Caeda: Rules to Kill By
by demented20
Beautiful assassin Caeda gets mad when contracts get in the way of her regular life, and when she gets mad people die in bunches.

"Errick!", Caeda shot upright in the bed calling out her younger brother's name. Her right hand reached out for her long dead brother while her left hand rubbed against the scar around the base of her neck. The scar always itched during this particular nightmare.

Caeda looked around the room as reality reasserted itself. She wasn't back in Pennsylvania, she wasn't a little girl anymore, and her brother wasn't going to answer her. But she could still hear his voice calling her name. He didn't call any other name. Just hers.

Caeda's chest heaved and her lean body was covered in sweat. She was wearing only a sleeveless t-shirt, and it was nearly transparent from sweat. She sat and waited until she stopped shaking. She had known a nightmare was going to come, but she hadn't known which one. Turned out that it had been the first nightmare. The same nightmare she had been having since she was 9 years old. Caeda reached down and threw the covers from her legs. "I'll never forget", she whispered. "I'll never forget any of you", she muttered as she rolled out of the bed. A gust of cold air blew through the slightly open windows causing Caeda to shiver as she eased herself towards the bathroom. She flipped on the light and threw water all over her face several times before looking into the mirror. Her eyes were bloodshot and puffy. Her skin was pale and she felt tired. Elskede, her cat, rubbed against her feet and looked up at her. He didn't purr because he knew this wasn't the time for purring. There was no joy in Caeda's heart right now, not even for him. Caeda almost thought that her cat could sense her emotions. He came to her because he knew that she didn't want to be alone. Elskede was as close to family as she had.

He followed her into the kitchen where she poured herself a double shot of Talisker Scotch and downed it before pouring another. Her eyes watered; her mouth and throat burned after two doubles. Her gait was uneven, but at least she could go back to sleep now. She nearly fell over as she put her pillows back on the bed. She climbed back into the bed and pulled up the covers. Her eyes were closed before her head touched down.

After a couple of days, Caeda was able to get back to a semi-normal schedule. She went to the park, and to the gym, but most importantly, she had time with her art. Caeda was an exceptional sculptor and potter. Making art was the only thing that took away her own private pain for any length of time. Art didn't mask it, or push it away, it erased it and made her feel whole, if only for a little while.

Early one October morning, Caeda was busy wrapping and packing her art into two large boxes. With that done, she carried the boxes to the elevator. The elevator was hardly used because most of the residents, including Caeda, thought of it as a death trap. A little research confirmed that the elevator had been installed during the Roosevelt Administration, the Theodore Roosevelt Administration. But Caeda didn't take any chances with art and the stairs. She loaded the boxes into the elevator pushed the button and hoped for the best. Thirty seconds of creaking, moaning, grinding, and shimmying later, success. The door opened and Caeda hurried to the lobby of her the building. She glanced back over her shoulder and shook her head as the elevator door closed. Riding that thing was worse than being shot at, she thought as she walked out onto the street.

People she knew greeted her as she walked down the street holding her boxes full of art. Just about everybody in the neighborhood had a piece of Caeda's art in their homes. She used to give them away as Christmas presents. She still did on occasion, but it was hard to tell what someone wanted. She might give a small statue to a lady who wanted a glazed vase, and give a vase to a guy who wanted a statue.

Caeda had to cross a couple of streets before she reached her destination. She made it to the door of the small boutique. She had to hop on one leg in order to pry the door open with her shoe before she could enter, but she wasn't too worried. Caeda never tripped.

"Oh, I am so glad you're here. I sold the last of your pieces yesterday and people are already starting Christmas shopping", Jens, the Boutique owner spit out in his Norwegian accented English.

"Calm down. I told you last time that I'd have some more done before November. Don't I always come through for you?", Caeda smiled and put her boxes down on the counter.

"På det siste minuttet", Jens muttered under his breath.

"I caught that", Caeda looked at the owner and smiled. "Besides you can't rush artistic inspiration. It comes when it comes."

"Det er hva jeg prøver til å fortelle min kone. Det kommer når det kommer"

Caeda's cheeks blushed and she turned to leave the store. "Good-bye, Jens. I'll see you later."

"Hey, these are all very lovely", he called out while looking through the boxes. "How much do you want me to pay you?"

"Whatever you think is fair. I'll be back later this afternoon or maybe tomorrow morning."

"Ok. The check will be waiting", Jens yelled to her as she left his store. He rubbed his hands together and started pulling out all the pieces that he had been brought. She was so talented. She could have sold her art in other shops for hundreds of dollars per piece, but she didn't. Jens wondered how she actually made a living since she basically gave her art away. He'd never asked her, and she'd never mentioned it. It didn't matter to him. She was such a nice young girl... a little strange, but all artists are strange in their own way.

Caeda was still smiling as she walked towards her apartment. Jens was a sweet man to have such a warped sense of humor. "I try to tell my wife. It comes when it comes", Caeda said aloud, translating what Jens had said. She laughed again thinking of poor Mrs. Bondevik.

Caeda went home in a generally good mood. She had a smile on her face. She was too happy to stay in the apartment. "Want to go out?", she asked her cat.

"Meow!", was his general response to any of her questions.

"I'll take that as a yes." Caeda pulled out a very stylish blue and white catmobile. She was about to load Elksede inside, but she knew that she should check her contracts before she left. She pulled out the laptop and waited for it to sync with the satellite. She frowned when she saw the red flashing exclamation point next to this contract listing under her name. She opened the listing and her annoyance turned into anger. "They have their nerve!", she said to no one. Caeda reached into the secret compartment and pulled out a phone. Elskede jumped up on her lap and started trying to nose his way into the carrier. "Not yet. I have to make a phone call."

Caeda's face was serious as she rushed out to Washington Square Park. She dialed the only number that phone would ever dial and waited for her handler to pick up.

"Hello Caeda", he answered, trying to be more chipper than usual.

"What the hell is this? Who does this asshole think he is? Nobody demands that I take a fucking contract. I do what I want when I want." She squeezed the phone tightly and pressed it against her ear hard as she paced near a tree.

"Caeda, there is no need to get angry. He's given you five exclusive contracts. That means that he's vested with the guild and with you. He is a good customer of yours."

"He can jump in a lake for all I care. He has no right to demand anything from me, and this contract! Any idiot with two eyes and a trigger finger could do this. I am not one of his henchmen who follows his orders. You better tell him that. Nobody orders me around!" The plastic of the phone popped a couple of times and the color went out of Caeda's fingers as her grip tightened.

The handler sighed. He knew how dangerous Caeda was on a normal basis, but he had no idea how dangerous she could be when angry. At least he was in Zurich and not in the US. "Listen, I understand what you're saying, and perhaps the contract listing was worded wrong."

"Worded Wrong! You're missing my point!"

"I assure you that I'm not, but you understood the rules before you joined. These are the rules. You know that he has the right to post a contract you can not refuse. Of course your regular rates apply, but you just can't refuse."

Instead of the power to walk up walls, Caeda wished that she had the power to reach through the phone and strangle her handler, but her anger at him subsided a little. It wasn't his fault. He was just doing his job. "Okay. Send me the information. I want to get this one done quickly." Caeda closed the phone and this time started walking towards the Battery. She couldn't dump her phones in the Hudson every time. Besides, she needed a little more time to get her nerves settled. Her day had been going to well, and now this. The only thing she regretted was that was she wasn't going to take Elskede out like she had promised.

Caeda's mark was a guy named Jerry Margolis. He had started out as a petty hustler, and as a tough for local mob boss Monte Collins. He had gotten arrested for accessory to murder, but the DA couldn't make the charges stick so he went back to the streets. He still did work for Monte, but about a year and a half ago, he had gotten into a racket that had made him a wealthy man. He bought fancy cars and nice suits for the first time in his life. He had even broken into rackets that had been off limits for a lightweight like him. Caeda was going to catch him at one of his new hustles, a high roller poker game where it cost $25,000 just to get a seat at the table. The information she had been given said there was a poker game going on in Queens this afternoon.

Caeda had scouted out the location. The game was taking place in a nice older house in Middle Village, Queens. There were people in front of their houses, and people driving down the streets. Usually Caeda would have waited until dark, but she was too pissed to wait. She walked down the street with a jacket covering the top of her all black outfit. Her every step was full of deadly purpose. Her face had not a single trace of emotion on it. Only her eyes revealed anything. They revealed her simmering anger. She had to work at not grinding her pearly white teeth. She couldn't get the insult from her mind. This was a contract for a rank amateur. Caeda was one of the best in the world at what she did. She looked around quickly before hopping a fence and then a row of hedges before approaching the house from the rear.

There was a portly guy sitting in a rocking chair near the back steps reading a Sports Illustrated. His other hand was resting on an Uzi that was laying flat on his thigh. He could have seen her when she bounded over the hedges, but he had been look at the magazine instead. It wouldn't have mattered. Caeda headed for the back door as if the man in the chair wasn't there. He saw the movement out of the corner of his eye.

"Hey, where the fuck did you come from? He put his mag down and his fingers grasped his Uzi. Caeda sighed in frustration. "Don't go near the door! Did you hear me?", he started to rise from his chair and aim his weapon.

Caeda's right hand slipped down to her waist as she strode towards the door. Without breaking stride or looking, she pulled free a throwing knife and hurled it across her body. The blade struck the man's neck. He gurgled and spasmed, but very quickly he was still. He fell face first on the lawn. Caeda didn't care if anybody saw, because she wasn't going to be in the house very long.

She threw open the door and went inside. The inside was darker, but her eyes adjusted quickly. There was a large room in front of her, and she could smell the kitchen off to her right. The stairs were to her left, but she had to walk towards the center of the house to reach the foot of the steps. She almost made it before one of the toughs came from the kitchen. He hurried over to her.

"How did you get in here?", he demanded. That made the other guy look in her direction, but he dismissed her as a treat immediately. He just saw a slim woman with dark hair and dark pants. The first guy kept coming at her. He reached out and pushed her in the center of the chest. She took a step back. "Are you fucking deaf?"

He thought he had it handled, but then his eyes met hers. He saw death in those icy blue eyes. Caeda grabbed his wrist with both of her hands and twisted while bending his hand backwards at the same time. He grunted in pain as she twisted his arm further. She let go of the hold, and wrapped her left arm around his neck. She let his ample body weight fall at the same time she twisted his neck against the falling as hard as she could. His spine couldn't take it. It snapped, and he died. Caeda was always quick and efficient, but even more so today.

The other guy ran around the corner with his gun already drawn, but he still wasn't quick enough. Caeda's right hand flashed to her thigh. Her black silenced .22 calibre Beretta was out in a blink. She didn't have time to aim properly. She just point shot. A single red dot appeared on the second man's forehead. He fell to the floor. Caeda holstered her gun and turned up the stairs. The third guy downstairs should have called for help, but instead he ran up behind her and wrapped his arms around her torso and squeezed. Caeda nearly fell and her face twisted from the pain of his reverse bear hug, but she didn't loose her composure. Her left arm was free, and she reached over her shoulder and grabbed a handful of his hair, as he started to pull her down the stairs. She used her foot to trip him behind the knee. At the same time, she used her other leg to push against the step as hard as she could. They started to fall together, but as they fell, Caeda twisted so that she was facing him. They hit the floor with a crash. Caeda's eyes narrowed as she pulled her ka-bar free and slipped its blade into the man's heart while her eyes were locked on his. She watched as his life faded.

She wiped off her blade and stood up quickly. She started back up the stairs. She was expecting another man to be guarding the upstairs. She saw a chair with an automatic rifle propped against the wall. That third guy must have been the upstairs guard. That was the reason he didn't have a gun on him.

Caeda didn't bother to check the doors. She knew which one the game was behind. She pulled her special hood over her head and face before she pulled her pistol. She leaned back and kicked the door hard. It flew open and Caeda burst into the room like a terrible storm. There were six men in the room. Caeda took them in all at once. One of them was on the other side of the room pouring himself a glass of something or other. She dismissed him. The other five were at the table. Two men had their backs to her. The other three were facing her, but there was only one man there that she was interested in.

Her strong fearless steps ate up the space between Caeda and her target. She raised her pistol. Jerry ducked to his right and went to the floor. There was a head in her way. Caeda grabbed the back of the offending man's chair and pulled it over backwards before she raised her pistol again. She looked down the sights. Her finger started squeeze, but then it stopped. Jerry's terrified face looked back up at her, but Caeda couldn't pull the trigger. She tried again, but she was filled with remorse and sympathy. Then the indecision came. The indecision was so strong it overpowered all her other emotions. Caeda's hand shook so badly that the pistol nearly fell from her hand. Her eyes darted from face to face. They were still scared beyond moving. Then she looked down at the man she had pulled over to his back. There wasn't any fear on his face. There was something else there. His brown eyes looked directly up at her and his handsome face looked as if he were in deep thought. She didn't know what to do. She turned back to Jerry, but only made it half way. Powerful fear and remorse hit her again, this time so powerful her knees buckled.

Caeda had no idea what was happening, but it was time to go. The fear was leaving the men's faces altogether. It was being replaced with curiosity. Caeda turned towards the window and started running. Her strong legs carried her quickly. She turned her shoulder towards the glass and tucked her head as she broke through the glass. She flew out the window and over the lower roof before landing softly on the lawn. She jumped to her feet then ran. It didn't matter which way she went. She just needed to get away from there. She ran and ran for several miles until her emotions went back to normal. She was covered with sweat as she finally slowed. She put her hands on her hips and looked around to see where she was. She could feel the lactic acid making the muscles in her legs tremble and making her hands shake a little, but at least she had normal emotions, or close to normal. There was still something not quite right.

Her sharp mind tried to comprehend what had happened back there, but it was totally out of her experience. She did understand one thing. She had missed a target. For the first time in her career, Caeda had failed to kill her mark. That made her embarrassed and upset. She had to do something quickly before Jerry left town. She dropped her pistol down a storm drain before she called a taxi to take her to the Upper East Side. She usually wouldn't do this, but she had no choice. She paid the taxi to let her off at 79th and Park. She'd walk the rest of the way to her destination.

Caeda tried to look normal, as she walked past the 20 million dollar town houses and the fine cars. Caeda made a pretty good living, but she couldn't even rent a broom closet in this neighborhood. To make matters worse, Caeda was worried. She had never missed a mark before. She didn't know what to do. If the Broker couldn't help her then she would be in real trouble.

Caeda knew that the Broker's security staff saw her well before she approached the front door and rang the bell. A butler opened the door. He knew Caeda's face, and he had a suspicion about her line of work. He smiled tightly and bid her enter without saying a word. She was humorless when she came over to the house, and today she seemed even more so. The Broker wasted no time. He knew something was amiss. He came to the entrance himself.

"Welcome, my Dear", he called out to her as he approached. The man called the Broker was a smaller man about 5'8" and very slightly built. His hair was turning gray at his temples, but he had a air of control about him. Caeda needed that control right now. She needed his steady hand. He opened his arms, and they hugged. "Why the long face?", he asked pulling away. Caeda was almost as tall as the Broker and he looked at her face for a long moment.

"Do you have a minute?", she asked.

His brow gathered. "You needn't ask", he replied in his strange not quite Slavic accent.

The Broker closed the door to his private office and then turned around. The airs he put on for everybody else were gone. "Now, are you going to tell me what's going on?"

"I missed a target. I went there and I had my gun pointed at his head, but I couldn't pull the trigger. I tried and tried, but all my feelings went crazy. I was scared and then I was confused. Finally I had to get out." Caeda fell down into the plush chair opposite the desk.

The Broker sat behind his desk, and leaned back putting the tips of his fingers together as he listened to her. "Who was your target?", he asked with a frown on his face.

"A thug named Jerry Margolis."

The Broker seemed to relax. "So you need help finding him?"

Caeda simply nodded.

The Broker reached under his desk and pulled out a special phone. "I need the real time location of a guy named Jerry Margolis, and I need it quickly." He hung up the special phone, then looked up at Caeda and smiled. "You worry too much. So what you missed a target the first time out? It happens to everybody."

"Not to me. Never ever."

The Broker got up from his chair and came over to her. She seemed too ashamed to even look him in the face. He put a finger under her chin and raised her face to his. He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. "That's pride talking. There is no problem with taking pride in your work, but don't let pride get in the way of good judgment."

A few minutes later, the phone rang. The Broker went to his chair and sat down before he picked up the receiver. He listened and took notes before he hung up. He pushed a single sheet of paper across the desk to Caeda. He had written the address down on it. "See, I told you that you worry too much."

Caeda smiled and stood up to leave.

"Wait, before you go. You aren't the only person looking for Mr. Margolis. There are others. I don't know who, but be careful."

"I will." Her pretty face twisted into a frown again. "What about my emotions? Does he have some sort of device?"

The Broker smiled and shook his head. "No, nothing like that. He has no control over your emotions at all."

"Then what happened?"

The Broker smiled and sighed before he answered. "There must have been a member of a very old family in that room. I'll explain it later. You'd better get going before that address is no good."

"Thanks" Caeda hurried back to the street. She walked to Park Avenue before she caught another cab. This time it was to Jersey. The cab dropped her off at a gas station in Hoboken. The station was near one of the few undeveloped brownfield areas near the waterfront. It was getting dark outside as Caeda made her way towards what had been a warehouse complex. There were several buildings on the sight, but she was looking for building C. The Broker had one of the best information networks in the world. Caeda never doubted him. He was right again this time.

Caeda wished that she had gone home and gotten another pistol. She had a silencer in her pouch with no gun. That was next to useless. She could throw it at somebody, she guessed. She would have to make do with what she had. The chain-link fence around the site had plenty of holes in it, and so did the buildings. Some of the huge doors were open revealing the decaying ruins of the maritime past of Hoboken. The wharfs and shipyards had been idle for years. One day this entire site was going to be turned into a thriving community, but today it was just Caeda's hunting ground. She was hunting Jerry Margolis to kill him, and possibly to salvage a little bit of her reputation. She knew that she wasn't the only person hunting Jerry, but she didn't know that the others had already found him.

She found building C. There was light coming from the second floor windows. Caeda slowly pushed a door open and stepped inside. The floor was covered with dust, pieces of wood, and pigeon droppings. She grit her teeth and swallowed hard as she stepped inside. She was careful as always not to touch anything. She had to stay on her toes as she walked towards the stairs. They too were covered in debris. She checked them out and was relieved. The stairs were made of concrete. Not much chance of creaking. She started up and noticed that the floors got much cleaner after the first landing. By the time she made it to the second floor of the large building, the floors looked as if they had been recently mopped.

The light got brighter as Caeda continued. She heard shouting, and the loud smacks of flesh hitting flesh. She could hear the curses and moans. Somebody was getting worked over, but next sound she heard would make her cringe. She heard a piercing howl of unadulterated pain that cut to her very core. Then there was another. Caeda had heard a sound like that, but only once. She put that from her mind and slowly opened the door.

There were bright lights set up at one end of the long upstairs room. It lit the room unevenly, but it was lit enough for Caeda to see five very large men standing there. There was something else there that all of them were looking at, but she couldn't see what. Usually Caeda would have taken the direct approach, but something told her not to. She took off her gloves and jacket off before climbing to the rafters of the building. She climbed slowly along the trusses upside down until she could see what was going in. It made her breath catch in her throat. Caeda was a killer, but she wasn't a monster. She saw Jerry Margolis strapped to a chair, and his entrails were spilled out onto his lap, but he was still alive.

"I told you to tell us the truth!", one of the large men yelled. "The boss said that you were too dumb to know what's good for you! Are you ready to talk?"

Jerry mumbled something. One of the guys walked up and slapped him across the jaw. One of the few remaining teeth in his mouth flew from his mouth and bounced across the ground. Caeda had seen enough. She unhooked her legs and let them hang towards the floor. When she was vertical, she let her hands loose. She fell to the ground, but barely made a sound as her boots touched the floor. The five men didn't even notice her until she walked even closer.

They turned quickly and three of them pulled their pistols. Caeda could tell a lot from the way a guy pulled a gun. These guys were quick, well disciplined, and sharp. She couldn't toy with them, but she was going to make them suffer a little. Caeda stopped walking and put her hands up, but for some reason that didn't make her look any less dangerous.

"Who the fuck are you?", the head guy demanded as he came closer.

"I was going to ask you the same question. I have business with that guy over there", she said and slowly brushed some of the dark hair from her face.

The man's face twisted into an angry frown. "We have a little business with him too. I think you just became our business too. Get over there and stand next to him." He snatched her by the shoulder and pushed her rudely into the bright lights next to Margolis. He was even worse up close. Caeda's lip curled in disgust. Jerry's head rose slowly and his eyes met hers. There was no recognition in his eyes. He had no idea that a few hours earlier, the same woman standing next to him had been aiming a gun at his head. Caeda knew that Jerry had no idea who she was, because there was only one thing written on his face. "Help".

"You know there are better ways to get information from a person", Caeda said.

"Oh yeah? You gonna teach us?"

Caeda shook her head. "Its too late now. Its too late for all of you." She turned back to face the men. They had put their guns away. She looked at the man closest to her. He was used to being obeyed and feared. He could see that there was no fear in this woman. The other guys seemed amused at her, but he sensed that there was something wrong. She reminded him of something. He had never met her, but it seemed to him like there was a memory in his mind that was trying to get out. He looked her up and down. She was wearing a skin tight black outfit that showed off the womanly curves of her trained young body. Her long legs seemed more than simply firm. They looked like they were as strong as she wanted them to be. Her arms were the same way. He looked over her flat toned stomach over the swell of her breasts to her face. She had the face of a model, soft supple lips, a great bone structure, and the eyes... It was the eyes that he remembered from the report. His blood chilled when he realized who was standing in front of him. He remembered the exact words the from the report. "...eyes as beautiful as fresh snow at sunrise, or if you're her target, as cold as the hand of death itself."

The man never saw Caeda's hand move. She retrieved a shiny cylinder from a pouch. She pushed the button and whipped her arm in an arc. The top of the cylinder opened and the six foot long steel whip snaked and coiled over her head.

"Caeda", was all he could manage before she brought her arm forward. There were dozens of razors embedded in the steel wire of the whip. Those blades bit into the man's flesh deeply. Caeda let the whip rest for half a heartbeat before she dragged the blades across his back and shoulder taking skin and muscle and even bone with it. The man cried out in pain as blood poured from the long jagged wound. The other four men pulled their guns and fired, but Caeda was gone. She slipped behind the bright lights into the shadows behind them. The men fired blindly. Caeda was on the floor hoping they didn't fire downwards. She was just as blind as they were. The lights had ruined whatever night vision she still had left.

The men dropped their now empty mags and spread out to find her. Caeda smiled as she crawled on her belly along the floor. She could kill them one at a time.

"Do you fucking see her?", one of the men asked the others.

"No! And did he say Caeda! That can't be Caeda!"

"Look sharp, and keep your damn wits. She's just a fucking cunt. She'll bleed like anybody else."

Caeda stood up. She had her back near the wall. She felt along the old bricks as she moved. There was a guy to her left, but he was too far for her whip to reach. She thought about using one of her knives, but the angle was hard and if she missed, they wouldn't. The guy was right. She bled like everybody else. If these guys were good enough maybe they could make her bleed. If not then they would leave this building in body bags.

Caeda's fingers brushed against the bricks again, and she chided herself for thinking so ordinary. She put her palms against the old bricks and started crawling backwards up the wall. She faced outward so she could see which made it harder, but she wasn't tired. She crawled all the way to the ceiling. She could see them all now. They were all looking for her. Their weapons were drawn and ready for action, and they were never out of sight of one another. Between the four of them, they could see the entire floor, but she wasn't on the floor anymore.

"Maybe she left?"

One of them scoffed. "And maybe you're a fucking idiot. She's out there. Keep looking. This isn't a normal woman. She works for the devil himself. Either you send her to hell or she'll send you there." The tension and fear made his voice crack, but he was doing as he was trained. He hunted her.

Caeda could feel the burning in her shoulders. Most of her weight was being supported by her shoulders. She put the toes of her boots against the wall and the special gum seeped through the pores. That took some of the load off her arms and freed a hand. She felt her pouches for a weapon for the occasion. Her hand felt the loose silencer. She smiled and pulled it out. She gripped it tightly and started moving. She made her way across from the door. She took careful aim and threw the silencer at the partially open door. It hit just right and the door shut.

"There!", the men yelled. They turned as one and fired. The loud barks of the pistols filled the room. The men fired and fired, their fingers fueled by fear.

Caeda dropped to the floor and came up behind them. She walked towards them in the darkness. Every one of her movements fluid and dangerous. Her ka-bar slid out of its sheath without a sound. Caeda was close as the shooting stopped. She could smell the gunpowder. She could smell their sweat, and she could feel their fear. They were breathing heavily as one of them started towards the door to see what they had been shooting at.

Caeda walked up behind one of the men. The knife came up as she got close. She stabbed the knife into the man's neck before dragging the blade across his throat. That's where her own would be killer had erred. Caeda knew how to slit a throat. A loud gurgling hiss announced the man's death. Caeda drew the knife back and grunted as she threw it as hard as she could. The next man turned towards Caeda. The knife slammed into his chest before he had turned all the way around. He dropped his gun and his hands grabbed the handle. He tried to pull it out, but he no longer had the strength to even stand. He fell to the ground in a heap.

Caeda was moving now. Even when she ran, it was art in movement. Every limb, every muscles was perfectly tuned and matched to one end, killing. Caeda came in close and spun quickly. She kicked the pistol from one man. She bounded and pirouetted towards the other man. She grabbed his gun hand by his wrist and pushed down on it with all her weight. He was a strong man, but he wasn't ready to hold her up with one arm. His arm dipped, and Caeda twisted. He grunted from the pain and the gun dropped from his hand. Caeda slipped next to him and put her back against his side while she still held his wrist. She put his arm over her back and stood up while pulling his arm down as hard as she could. His elbow dislocated terribly. She turned again, rending ligaments and tendons. Caeda grunted and went to a knee as she threw the man over her shoulder. He landed with a boom, but she still wouldn't let go of the wrist. It was twisted beyond its range and his arm was bent at a horrible angle. She dug her fingers in deeper. She bent her knees and then put her foot on his shoulder and pressed down hard. The other man roared in frustration and came towards her. She looked up at him. Her beautiful face set in determination, and she stood up keeping her hands firmly around the wrist and arm. She yelled out as she poured all the power she had into her legs. His arm was like a weight trying to keep her down, but she was too strong. The man wailed as Caeda tore his shoulder from the side of his body. Only the skin kept it attached.

The other man got to her then. He grabbed her under her shoulders and twisted as he threw her as hard as she could. The man was big and strong. Caeda was flying through the air towards the brick wall. A normal person would have hit face first, but Caeda wasn't normal. She never fell. Caeda had unnatural awareness in space. Even as a child she had always known what to do to change how she moved in space. Caeda could see the wall coming at her, but she would never hit it. Caeda twisted in the air and flipped. She extended her arms downward. Her fingertips brushed the floor. That was all she needed. Her fingertips attached to the floor and she curled the rest of her body to the floor. She landed softly and stood up. It happened too quickly for the man to react. Caeda charged him. She buried the sole of her boot into his stomach. He doubled over just to meet a rising knee. His own teeth severed a chunk of his tongue. He spit it out and tried to fight. He brought up his fist and swung. He was quicker than Caeda thought. She put up her arms. They absorbed much of the punch, but it still hurt. He followed it with another and another. He fought with the fury and frenzy of a man scared for his life.

Caeda dodged and weaved the punches. Even when blocking the blows from the big man, they took a toll. She finally slipped to his side. He threw a single off balance punch, but it was enough. Caeda rushed up to him and wrapped her arms around his torso from the side. She lifted up at the same time she swept his leg out from under him. They went down to the ground. Caeda was on him quickly. She threw punch after punch down onto his face. He grabbed her wrist tightly and tried to pull her off of him. Caeda's face contorted in pain, but he had made a mistake. Caeda rolled towards his hold and put her back against the ground. She used his arm to slide him on top of her. She wrapped her legs around his torso locked her ankles and poured on the pressure. He curled his body and tried to pull off her legs. Caeda was waiting on that. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him back. He struggled against her with all the strength in his body, but like she had said earlier, it was too late. Caeda squeezed and squeezed. The poor fool tried to hold his breath. Caeda smiled. This choke cut off the blood to the brain. He could hold his breath all he wanted. His strength faded quickly, but Caeda still held on. After nearly a minute and a half, she let him go. Her arms and legs ached from the exertion. She was winded as she walked across the room. The other man was still writhing in pain from his nearly severed arm. He was trying to get to his feet. Caeda kicked him the shoulder hard.

"Oh my God!", he yelled and rolled to his back.

Caeda stood over him before she squatted down so that her face was only inches from his.

"God doesn't listen to people like us. You should know that by now." Caeda put her gloves back on before she pulled her last throwing knife from its pouch. She let the man see it. He reached across his body with his good hand to fight her. Caeda simply let her knee drop onto what was left of his shoulder. He nearly fainted from the pain. "You should be glad that I'm not like you." She put the knife behind his head with her left hand and pulled up his head by the hair with her right. She brought the knife up at the same time she slammed his head down. The knife went into the medulla just as she had planned. He died. Caeda watched as his body jerked and then was motionless. She felt along his waistband. She pulled out his last magazine and slid it into the pistol she had knocked from his hands. She stood up then and went over to the man she had choked out. He was starting to stir. She strode towards him in that cold efficient way of hers and pointed the gun down towards his head. She pulled the trigger twice. The .40 cal had more kick than her .22, but Caeda had grown up shooting .45's so it wasn't so bad.

She turned towards the bank of lights. Jerry Margolis was still tied to his chair. There was a small pool of blood at his feet, probably less than half a pint, but it glowed crimson in the hot lights. Caeda's face set as she walked closer. She looked down at Jerry and then at the man she had gouged with her whip. His eyes were fixed. He had bled to death, but Caeda shot him anyway to make sure. She couldn't afford any mistakes. Then she turned her gaze to her original mark.

He looked at the gun and then up at Caeda. He was in so much pain. His brain could hardly form a thought. "Help", he whispered.

Caeda dropped the gun on the floor and walked over to Margolis. He was barely conscious. Caeda walked behind him and bent down so that her face was near his. "You didn't deserve this", she whispered into his ear as she took his neck in her grasp.

She felt him gain strength. She thought it was to struggle, but she was wrong. "Morning Star", he uttered. "You must help..." His body convulsed.

Caeda tightened her grip. "Shh", she whispered into his ear. She closed her eyes and rocked backwards taking his head with her while keeping his shoulders still. His neck broke cleanly. She let his head drop. She looked around the room. It was time to go. She pulled her ka-bar free, and found her silencer before she turned off the lights. She walked down the stairs and out the door. She wondered how long it would take for people to find that scene. She caught a taxi back to Manhattan. She closed her eyes and tried to relax as the taxi entered the Holland Tunnel. It had been a strange day to say the least.

Caeda stumbled into her apartment and put her weapons away quickly. After that, it was time for a shower. She made the water extra hot. She felt dirty. She scrubbed her skin pink before she exited. She wrapped a towel around herself and got dressed in her favorite lounging clothes. Elksede jumped onto her lap as soon as she sat down on the sofa in her living room.

"So how was your day?", she asked her cat.

"Meow", he wined.

Caeda frowned. "Oh that's right. I promised to take you out. I'll do it tomorrow." Just then there was a knock at the door. Her brow drew together. She wasn't expecting company. She really didn't want to answer it, but oh well. The person knocked again. "I'm coming", she called out in a weary voice.

She unlocked the door and opened it. "Can I help you", she asked instinctively. Then her eyes narrowed. The man at her door was a little more than six feet tall with a good athletic build, dark brown hair, but his eyes. Caeda gasped when she recognized those eyes. He saw her face change right before him. He saw the face of the assassin. She reached out and grabbed him by his collar and snatch him into her apartment. She tripped him as he came in. He tumbled onto the floor. Caeda slammed the door closed. She was on him in a blink. She dropped her knee onto his diaphragm. She put her right hand on his throat and pressed her thumb on his larynx. He coughed and looked up at her in absolute terror.

"You were at that poker game. You were the guy I turned over in the chair. How did you find me?", Caeda hissed. She was as mad as she had been in a long time. Death was on her mind. The danger coming from her almost sucked the very light from the room.

"I could feel you", he said in a horse voice.

Caeda grabbed his hair, lifted his head and slammed into the hardwood floor. "Feel me how?"

"I left a piece of me inside you when you jumped out the window."

Caeda leaned her knee into his midsection, while she thought. "Did you have anything to do with my emotions."

He nodded. "Yes, yes, that's why I came. I can affect people's emotions. You left before I had extracted my power from you. That's how I could track you."

"Is it out now?" She punctuated her demand by leaning more onto his diaphragm depriving his lungs of precious air.

"Yes", he groaned.

Caeda slapped him across the face. "Do you work for Margolis?"

"No, I had never met him before the game. I swear. I was just playing poker."

Caeda could feel a rage inside that was frightening even to her. She slapped him again, this time harder. "If I feel the least little change in my emotions I'll rip your throat out."

She took several deep breaths before she spoke again. "Can you do that emotion thing when you're asleep?"

"What?"

Caeda's face darkened. She lifted his head, slammed it into the floor and pressed her thumb deeper into his neck. "I said can you do your emotions thing when you are asleep?"

"No, I can't." He saw her relax.

She let him go and got off of him. "Get out", she ordered through clenched teeth. "I said get out!" She reached down and snatched him to his feet. Her anger not nearly subsided. It lingered just beneath the surface.

The man ran out the door, down the hall, and out the front door to the street. Caeda closed her door slowly and slid down to the floor; all of a sudden, she was too weak to stand.

"This can't be real", she breathed. This was her worst nightmare. She was always so careful to keep her regular life and her assassin's life separate, but now someone knew. Someone knew who Caeda really was. It was a nightmare worse than any she had while sleeping. She lowered her face into her hands. "Oh, God please no", she cried. Once this secret was out, her life was over. Just when she thought she had built something real, fate ripped it away. Caeda wiped her eyes and stood up. Elskede followed her back to the bedroom. He jumped onto the window sill while she opened the false bottom of the trunk. She pulled out one of her dark outfits and her weapons. Another tear rolled down her cheek as she got dressed. One more to kill, she thought as she opened the window and slipped out. She climbed up to the roof, and got moving... one more to kill.

To be continued...

Link to other Caeda stories.

Caeda: The Art of the Kill  
Caeda: Death's Shadow

More Caeda to come very soon!

comments encouraged: dem2@hotmail.com