Caeda: Mountain Rescue
by demented20
Even when gorgeous assassin Caeda is doing good, people die.

She knew all about those, and it hurt her somewhere deep down to think that she was probably the source of his nightmare. Nightmares were the things of monsters and demons. Caeda didn't think of herself as either of those things. But she had to admit to herself, that she had come to his home with killing on her mind. Now she wasn't sure. She wiped her face with a gloved hand. Fresh water ran from the top of her head drenching her face again, but she never took her eyes off that room. Caeda sighed. All at once, she realized that she wasn't going to kill anyone else tonight, or at least she wasn't going to kill the man in the apartment. It wasn't his fault that he had found out where she lived. If it hadn't been for her anger and haste, she could have killed her mark alone and in secret. Her anger and wounded pride had made her act foolishly. Still, she knew that the smart thing to do would be to sneak into this man's window and slit his throat. Her left hand absently rubbed the choker around her throat. The scar beneath was itching again. Then her fingers rubbed against the St. Jude medal set into the front of the choker. Killing him was probably the smart thing to do, but it wasn't what she was going to do.

It was time to go home. There was no need to linger. Caeda climbed down the back of the building and headed a few blocks to the subway station. She caught the A south to Washington Square. It was still pouring rain as she walked the short distance to her apartment in Greenwich Village. With her anger completely gone by the time she climbed back into her own window, she had started to shiver from the cold. She stripped out of her wet clothes and took a long hot shower. She warmed herself for a while on the couch before she rolled into her bed. She went to sleep wondering if she had done the right thing, or if she had just ruined the rest of her life. Either way, what was done was done. She wasn't going back. She just hoped that she never saw him again, and that he never told anyone what he knew.

Caeda woke up before sunrise and got packed. She left a message for the Broker telling him what had happened and asking him to keep his eye out for her name popping up around town. After that, she and Elskede left. She got into her car and drove. There was only one place for Caeda to go when she wanted to get away. It was a long drive to get there, but it was well worth the trip.

Caeda pulled her brand new powder blue Volkswagen Beetle down the gravel road and up to the simple wood framed house at the top of the hill. She opened the car door and looked around the beautiful scenery of the Allegheny Mountains. The peaks and ridges rose and fell creating an awesome vista all around her. The air up here was always crisp and clean. She took a deep breath and looked at the changing colors of the leaves on top of nature's own canvas. Looking at all the colors made Caeda's fingers itch to create some art. She spun around in a circle taking in the view. The huge evergreens behind the house blocked her view of the clearing below, but Caeda knew it was there. She had lots of memories of this place. Caeda smiled as she walked up to the door and turned the knob. It was never locked.

"Chet!", Caeda called out. "Hey are you here?" She already knew the answer. He would have greeted her if he was home. Caeda went directly to the kitchen. She pulled open the freezer and smiled. Chet always kept his kitchen full of food. Several neat stacks of brown paper wrapped meat were in the bottom of the freezer. Caeda pulled out one and unwrapped it. She curled her nose. "Elk... Oh well. I can eat elk." She covered it up and put it back.

She went out and brought Elskede inside. She let him loose as soon as she closed the door. Elksede knew his way around Chet's house as well as he knew his way around her apartment. To prove that fact, he jumped out the open window over the kitchen sink and out into the wilderness. Caeda just shook her head. He would be back. Caeda dragged her luggage into Chet's second bedroom. It had been over a year since she had been here, but it looked exactly the same as the last time she was there. She had to be careful when she was in Chet's house though. He was a complete organization fanatic. He wanted everything to be in the right place, and he hated clutter more than anything. Caeda liked things neat, but she just had to smile when she thought about Chet turning red in the face when she would leave a dish towel lying on the counter.

Caeda was tired from the long drive, but she was still restless. She went down the long narrow stairs behind the house to the valley at the foot of Chet's personal mountain. The land was relatively flat down there, and the forest had been cleared. Chet rarely had visitors to his home, but when he did, he never brought them down to the valley. This is where he kept some the tools of his trade, and all the apparatuses that he trained with. Caeda could remember all of them. As a young teen, Caeda's foster father had sent her up here to train. She had been a gifted student in all manners of fighting. As a teen, she had soaked up all the knowledge her foster father and the special tutors could teach her. She had learned hand to hand combat first, but very quickly she had learned how to handle weapons. Caeda smiled to herself when she thought back on those days. She had figured that she was pretty good and pretty dangerous, but then she had met Chet. Chet taught her firstly that she didn't know anything, and then he had taught her all he could. Chet had trained her almost to her breaking point in these hills. She had slept out in the cold during winter, and in the heat of summer. Chet had honed her skills in this clearing. Caeda's foster father had taught her to be dangerous, but Chet had taught to be a killer, how to hunt the one animal that had an equal capacity to hunt back... humans. But her relationship with Chet was different now. He would always be her teacher, but after her foster father died, Chet became more to her. He was a trusted friend and colleague. He was one of the two people in the world who knew who she really was, and where she had come from. The Broker was the other.

It was early afternoon when Caeda drove into town. The small town tucked in the mountains near the borders of 3 other states was quaint and more than a little charming. It was the sort of place that most Americans thought no longer existed. Caeda knew that it existed, and she was thankful, because she needed a refuge. She pulled into the dusty parking lot of Mack's Drive-in Diner. The building was simple on the outside, but this place was the best restaurant in a 100 mile radius. Caeda walked up the steps and pulled open the wood and glass door. The smells hit her and her mouth began to water. She knew that she was hungry, but she had no idea how bad it was until she smelled Annie's meat loaf and Mack's famous cheeseburger.

"Hey, there she is!", Mack called out from behind the long counter of his diner.

"Long time no see there young lady", one of the patrons said from his booth.

"How is everybody?", Caeda asked almost shyly. She never liked attention, but she knew that the people here were genuinely happy to see her. These people had known her for almost half her life, and they knew her life story, but they didn't know what she currently did for a living. She was sure they wouldn't approve, but they weren't going to find out about that anyway.

"The big city kick you out again?"

Caeda laughed as she climbed up to her favorite stool at the counter. "No, but it can drain your batteries. I came back here to get away and recharge", she told the truth as she settled down. There was no need to look at the menu. She knew everything on it, and there was no need for Annie to come and take her order. She already knew what Caeda wanted.

"Good to see you, doll", Annie said as she slid Caeda a steaming cup of hot chocolate.

"You too." There were few things in life better than hot chocolate, Caeda thought as she felt the warm liquid rolling down her throat. She licked some from the top of her lips and spun in her stool to face the rest of the patrons. She had her back to the door, which was rare for her, but she had no enemies in this town. To them she was still the little girl who used to come spend time with Chet. Besides, if someone did want her dead. They were welcomed to try.

"Anything new since the last time I was here?", she asked.

"Not much", Willie answered for the group. "Mavis had a son. You remember she was pregnant the last time you were here. Oh and someone finally bought the Haughen place next to Chet's. Some doctor from your neck of the woods named Hovawiz or Horowitz. Says that he's from Long Island. Anyway, he came here to get back to the human roots and write a novel. Whatever the hell human roots means. Last time I checked, human roots doesn't mean running water or electricity or cars, or damned constructed dwellings."

Caeda chuckled. "Human roots to him probably means that he can't get his low carb latte on every street corner. So cut the guy some slack." Caeda turned around quickly as the door to the diner opened. Two men in the middle of a conversation stepped in. Their conversation stopped as soon as they saw Caeda sitting at the counter.

"You!" Milt Bragg exclaimed as he came in and rushed up to her. He hugged her around her shoulders. "You come to town and don't tell nobody! You just sneak in and sneak out like you used to do when you used to steal the eggs from my little hen house."

Caeda shook her head. "I keep telling you that it wasn't me."

"Uh huh. Oh and I was in New York looking for you. You still live on the south side?", Milt asked as he settled into his favorite booth. Everybody in town sat in the same place when they came to Mack's. It was almost like they had assigned seating.

"South side is Chicago. I live in the Village in Manhattan."

"Yeah yeah, the Village. Its at the southern end of New York isn't it?"

Caeda nodded and sat her now empty hot chocolate mug on the counter.

"Well then I was right. Anyway, I was in New York and I came looking for you and couldn't find you."

"What were you doing in New York, Milt?" Caeda asked and turned to pick up a fresh cup of hot chocolate.

"You remember Doug my nephew? Well he got one of those master's degrees and got a job as a stock broker on Wall Street. Can you believe that?"

"Yeah, Doug was always a smart guy."

"Me and my sister went to New York to help get him settled in. I thought it might be nice to look you up so I got the phone book, or books. They have three or four of the damn things!"

Caeda smiled because she could see the frustration returning to Milt's face. She could only image him in New York trying to find the proper phone book. "So did you find me? My name is in there."

"Yeah, but it took me half an hour to find the damn book with the J's in it. Well I found it and went to your apartment building, and a little old lady told me that you had gone out of town."

Caeda frowned. "When was that?"

"Oh over a month ago."

Caeda nodded. "Yeah I was in the UK. I had some business over there." She wouldn't tell them what her business actually was. She turned around again when she smelled the meat loaf coming. "Well, the next time you come to New York give me a call, and I'll give you a guided tour."

"Oh no. Its going to be a hell of a long time before I go back to New York. I don't even like going to Pittsburgh."

"Its not that bad. There're lots of things you would like in New York." Caeda smiled and started eating the meat loaf. It was as tasty as she remembered it.

"You still do your art?", Willie asked as he was finishing his meal.

"Sure do", Caeda answered.

"Well you know Jenny's a senior in high school now and she's gotten pretty darn good. You should head over to the high school. They have her art up all over the walls. She's smart too. She'll be the first of us to go to college, but we want her to get into a good school. She wants to do art. She's looking at different schools, but she went to visit schools in Philadelphia and she fell in love with Villanova. I know you went there, and we were... Well what I'm trying to ask is if you would mind writing a letter or something to the school? Since you graduated from there and everything."

Caeda shook her head and laughed at the same time. "I'd be honored to write it. I'll start tonight. And I'll head by the high school before I go back to Chet's and write that letter. Man, Willie, you can turn a molehill into a mountain sometimes."

The patrons laughed. "Thanks", Willie began. "Its a talent."

Caeda left the diner feeling better than she had a day before. She hopped back into her little VW and drove down Main Street through the cluster of two and three story brick buildings that made up downtown. Caeda turned right at the town's only traffic light to go to the high school. The janitors were cleaning the halls while Caeda took her time looking at Jenny's paintings and drawings. Her paintings were really good, but her drawings were even better. Jenny had future in art if she wanted. Caeda would write that letter sure enough, but on the way back to New York, she was going to stop at Nova and give it to Doctor Perlov in person. Caeda had seen enough. She could have spend all night looking at the artwork.

Elskede was waiting on the porch when Caeda pulled up to Chet's house. The fact that Elskede was outside let her know that Chet still wasn't home. She sighed and went inside. Caeda opened a can of food and put it out for her cat before, she settled down and started writing. It would her first recommendation letter, but she still had a good relationship with Dr. Perlov.

She spent the next day putting the finishing touches on her recommendation letter, but mostly doing nothing. She didn't even do any art. She played with Elksede and hoped that Chet would come, but other than that she reveled in the fact that she had done nothing productive whatsoever. She had even allowed herself to take a nap. She rarely did, but she felt totally fresh after waking up. She pushed down the covers, stretched her arms above her head and yawned. Elksede was sitting at the foot of the bed. He looked at her and started towards her. He walked lightly and stepped between her legs. He tried to nudge his way to her chest, but instead got caught under her white sleeveless shirt. She had nothing on beneath, and he kept going forward.

"Whoa. Easy there", Caeda giggled and pulled him from beneath her shirt. "I'm not that desperate. At least not yet." She held her cat to her chest and pulled her shirt down as she climbed out of the bed. She held Elskede in her arms and made her way over the cold floors towards the kitchen.

Caeda had avoided it for 2 nights, but she went to the freezer and pulled out some of Chet's elk. She didn't want elk, and she wasn't the world's best cook, but she managed to make herself some elk stew. Later that night she was in the process of lighting a fire in the hearth when there was a loud knock at the door. Caeda wondered who would be knocking. All the towns people knew that Chet never locked his door, and neither did Caeda when she was staying there. The knocking became more urgent as Caeda got closer to the door. She quickly pulled open the door. A young girl about 10 years old stood across the threshold. Her face was dirty as were her clothes, and her feet were bloody from running over the rough ground barefoot.

"Oh my God I need help! I need help!", the girl said rapid fire as Caeda opened the door. "They have them all, and they're going to kill them."

"Slow down." Caeda put her hands on the girl's shoulders trying to calm her. The girl was still shaking, and she looked scared beyond words. "Tell me what's going on."

The girl swallowed hard and tried to control her breathing. "Men came to my house. They went to every room and put us all together. My mom and dad and my little brother. There's blood on the floor. I jumped out the window to find help..." The girl's voice trailed off and her arms went to her stomach. She got suddenly ill thinking about what the men might do to her family when they realized that she was gone.

Caeda leaned down to look the frightened girl in the face. "What's your name?"

"Amariah", she answered in a shaky voice.

Caeda's smile was wide as she stood up straight. "Nice name."

The girl's lips turned up slightly after looking at Caeda's smile.

Caeda nodded. "Good, now come with me." The girl tried to protest, but Caeda pulled her by the arm into the house. "Here put these on. We aren't the same size, but its better than nothing." Caeda threw the girl some shoes, and then got dressed. She wasn't wearing her choker. She switched her medal from the green one she had been wearing to a blood red one. She was wrapping it around her neck as she went to Chet's bedroom. That was the only door in the entire house that was locked. Caeda slid her left index finger over what looked like wood trim next to the door. The door unlocked. Caeda pushed it open quickly and went inside. Chet's weapons trays were already open and waiting. The left index finger indicated to the computer that it was an emergency. Caeda looked at his arsenal. She had her pick of all manners of weapons, but all she took was a single unused knife. She stuffed the sheath into her waistband and shut the weapons drawer. She closed the door and went out into the room. "Ok, let's go."

Caeda and the girl went down the road to the next house over. When Caeda was young it had belong to Old Mrs. Haughen, but now it belong to Amariah's family. "How many men did you see?", Caeda asked as they got close.

"At least five", the little girl answered quickly.

Caeda stopped when they were about 100 yards from the house, and reached into her pocket slowly pulling out a cell phone. She handed it to Amariah. "Here take this and call 911."

"There's no service here", the girl protested. "There's no cell service anywhere in this area. Besides I want to help my family. They might be dead by the time the cops get here!"

"Shh." Caeda went to a knee and took the girl by the shoulders. "You're a brave girl to do what you've done already. Take that cell phone and run back to the top of the ridge. You should be able to get a great signal there. Wait for the police to come. Don't come back down here until they get here."

"What if they kill my family while I wait." The little girl saw a change on the woman's face as soon as she asked the question. The little girl had seen Caeda's pale blue eyes back at Chet's house, but now there was a different look in those eyes. The little girl recognized the look. It was the same look the men who had broken into her home had when she had seen their faces. It was the look of a killer. She knew right then that there was no more arguing with the woman.

"I'm not going to let that happen", Caeda said in the emotionless voice she got when she was about go to work. "Just do what I say. Now go."

Amariah turned and ran as fast as her skinny little legs could carry her. Caeda watched her run into the darkness. She was a brave little girl. Caeda just wished that she had been as brave when she was her age, or as brave as the little girl was now. Caeda didn't think of herself as brave because you had to fear death in order to be called brave in the face of it. Caeda didn't fear death. You had to love life in order to fear death. She baited Death instead and hoped one day it would bite.

Caeda used the shadows from the trees to get up close to the house. The Horowitz family home was three stories tall plus a basement and constructed haphazardly since old Mr. Haughen had added rooms as his family expanded. The ugly construction had a certain charm to it. Caeda was just glad that she knew the layout of the inside of the house. She was close enough to hear voices. There was cursing going on. The voices were coming from the second floor of the house. Caeda brushed against the wall of the house and looked up to the double windows. She could hear the voices and see movement. It was time for a closer look. She put her palms flat against the stone foundation of the house and started climbing. She was careful to stay out of the light, but it was impossible to stay out of the light completely. She climbed beneath the windows to peak into the house. She felt relieved when she saw the family still alive and together. They were huddled in each other's arms. All three of them had blood on their faces. There were cuts and scrapes on their hands and faces, but they were alive. Caeda turned her eyes and saw three men in the large room. Two of them were leaning against a wall while the other one was shouting.

"Give me the formula Horowitz and this will all go away!", he yelled.

"I don't have whatever it is that you want. I didn't take any notes with me when I left my job. I don't have it!"

The leader of the attackers turned his back to the family and rubbed the stubble on his chin. He took a deep breath and spun quickly enough to surprise even Caeda. He had his pistol out and its barrel was pointing at Dr. Horowitz's head. "You think you're tough? Every man has a point doctor. Every man. I just have to find yours." He pulled the gun back and pointed the barrel at the head of Mrs. Horowitz. She tried to pull her head away from the gun, but she was already against the wall, but the gunman knew that wasn't the button. He took the gun away and pointed at the Horowitz's only son. The little boy was already crying and when the gun went to his head he began to hyperventilate. The leader smiled when he saw the look on Dr. Horowitz's face. He pressed the gun into the 5 year old's head. Caeda brought her feet up closer into her body. She coiled her arms and was about to jump into the room.

"Let's see if you'll talk now, doctor. Here, take the boy. We're going to play a little bit since the good doctor wants to play with us. Bring the doc too", the leader said. The two men that Caeda had seen walked over and so did another man that she hadn't seen. One of them snatched the boy up and carried him painfully under one arm while the other two men pointed their guns at the doctor's back. Another kept his gun trained on the mother who was reduced the lying on the floor too afraid to move and too grief stricken to look up. The tears fell directly from her eyes to the floor.

"To the roof. We'll see how tough the doc is."

Caeda ducked her head down and climbed around. She slowly made her way up the side of the house. The group was already on terrace old man Haughen had built to look out over the mountains. Dr. Horowitz was on his knees crying as two of the gunmen had their weapons pointed at his head. The leader had his only son dangling over the railing. The house was three stories tall, but there was a drop of at least 50 feet to the ground behind the house. The boy wouldn't stand a chance. Caeda climbed towards the terrace very carefully. Sometimes the siding boards on a house like this got loose and she couldn't afford to make any noise.

"You know, I was going to play a little", the leader began. "but I'm not even in the mood. You've pissed me off Horowitz and you've wasted my time. I'm going to get what I want, and this is going to show you that I mean fucking business."

"Noooo!", Horowitz yelled and jumped up to his feet. The leader's hand was releasing. The doctor was already moving and his son was starting to fall. The doctor lunged and reached out his arms for his son. He would have made it, but the butt of a rifle struck him in the middle of his forehead. His son dropped out of sight yelling for his father until the yelling stopped.

Caeda was ten feet away when she saw the leader's hand release the boy. She tried to climb along the wall, but that was too slow. The boy was falling. She had to save him. There was no other thought in her mind. For all the people she had ever cared about, she had to save that boy, but mostly for her own brother Errick, she had to save that boy. It was Errick's face she saw as the boy fell. Caeda put her special boots against the side of the house and turned. She lunged out away from the wall of the house into the gloomy darkness. Her strong legs propelling her at a good speed. She reached out for the boy as he fell. He was screaming and flailing his arms. They were both falling. Caeda couldn't see the ground, but she knew it was going to appear in a hurry. She reached out and stretched as hard as she could. She only had to touch him. Just before she was about to give up hope, she felt the back of the boy's hand touch the back of her hand. That was enough. The special gum that Caeda's body made stuck to human skin just as easily as it stuck to everything else. She had him. She twisted and threw him up. She spun and extended her left hand against the side of the house. Her entire hand hit. She stopped falling. She extended her arm again and the boy fell against her. She pulled him in close.

"Shh", she told him. The boy was too scared to cry out anymore. "You're safe now."

The leader looked back over the edge and saw nothing, but the foggy darkness below. He snorted. Horowitz was beside himself with grief. He couldn't even find the strength to stand. The leader stepped on the doctor as he walked back into the house. The two other men grabbed the doctor and carried him by the shoulders.

"I want my Mommy", the boy whispered to Caeda. "I want my Mommy and my Daddy."

Caeda smiled at the boy as they hung from the side of the house. "If you promise to be a good boy, I'll go get your Mommy and your Daddy. Will you promise to be a good boy and do what I say?"

The boy nodded.

"Good. Do you have a special hiding place around here where nobody can find you?"

The boy nodded again.

"Good. I want you to go there and don't come out until your Mommy or Daddy calls you. Don't even come out if you hear my voice. Do you understand?"

The boy nodded, and Caeda smiled. She looked down for the first time and grimaced. She had felt that they were close to the ground, but she had no idea how close. Her feet were barely three feet from the ground. They had both been a fraction of a second from death. Caeda got angry again. She dropped to the ground and let the boy down. "Okay, go to the hiding place and remember what I told you." The boy ran off into the darkness, and Caeda turned back towards the house. She put her hands against the stones of the foundation and started climbing. Her muscles were warmed up and feeling good as she climbed. She climbed all the way to the third floor. She grabbed onto the railing and pulled herself the rest of the way up. Her boots made no noise as the touched the soft material of the roof. Caeda's fingers flexed in anticipation as she entered the house. She looked both ways and started down the hall. She backed up to the terrace when she saw a shadow coming around the corner. She quickly climbed over the railing out of sight. One of the gunmen came out onto the terrace and looked out over the countryside. There was a moon out and even at night the Alleghenies were impressive and beautiful. All things beautiful however, weren't serene. The man lit a cigarette and leaned against the railing. His weapon hung from his shoulders, but he wasn't ready to use it. Caeda was extra quiet as she climbed up behind him. She didn't use the railing this time for fear of a rattle or squeak. Instead she slowly put one leg over before bringing over the other leg and she didn't bother to pull her knife. She thought about breaking the man's neck, but she had a better idea. She got behind him and kicked him in the kidney as hard as she could. His body jerked to the right, and he moaned in pain. He tried to turn around to see where the attack had come from, but Caeda had already pulled her knife. She didn't stab him with it. Instead she wrapped her fingers around the handle and punched him in the side of the head hard. He was dazed. He fell back against the railing. Caeda looked over her shoulder before she loaded up and kicked him in the side of the head hard. His eyes rolled back into his head, and he fell onto his face

Caeda put the knife away and grabbed the man by the waist. Her slim, but hyper trained body hardened and with a grunt of effort she lifted his bulky upper body to the top of the railing. He was starting to try to come around, but it was going to be too late. With his chest resting on the railing, Caeda bent down and lifted his legs. She lifted his legs up and up until the balance had been tipped. The man bumped against the house once as he fell. He woke up at the last instant and tried to yell, but before the sound left his mouth, he hit the ground. Caeda popped her neck once and went back into the house.

"What was that?", one of the gunmen asked.

"Go check it out", the leader ordered him. The gunman ran up the stairs to the third floor. Caeda was ready. She heard his thick combat type boots stomping up the stairs.

She hid in plain sight in the darkened hallway. The shadows were her friend. The man came into view. He walked down the hall. He took another step towards the door and hesitated. He looked around and started sniffing the air. Caeda knew what he smelled. He smelled her. When she was working, she never wore scents of any kind, but she wasn't working. She smelled of vanilla and blossoming flowers. It was a lovely scent, but totally out of place in this hall.

The gunman looked down the hall, and almost dismissed the smell, but a gust of wind brought it back to him. He took the pistol grip of his assault rifle in his hand and looked around. He didn't see her until she burst from the shadows. He only saw a the icy color of her eyes and the blood red color of her choker as she flew towards him. She had her arms out in front. She put her hands on the back side of his head and pulled downward as hard as she could. The gunman had no time to react. His head was going down at the same time he saw her knee rising to meet his face. It impacted with a crunch. A deep gash opened at the bridge of his nose. She threw him back against the wall, reared back and put all her strength into a bone jarring punch to his jaw. The man slumped down. Not satisfied, Caeda raised her foot and stomped the man until his head was bouncing against the floor. Blood ran out of his mouth and from the half a dozen cuts on the side of his face. He wasn't completely unconscious, but he wished he was. He mumbled something and spit out some of his teeth. Caeda went to a lamp on the table at the end of the hall, unplugged it and snatched the cord out of the base. She put the lamp back and strode over to her victim. Gone was her normal every day walk. The walk of a young woman. Her movements now were very smooth, elegant, and dangerous. The man struggled to defend himself. Caeda kicked him in the pit of his stomach and rolled him over. She used the electrical cord to bind his hands and feet. Once he was hog-tied, Caeda drew the knife. She started cutting strips from the gunman's shirt. She wrapped the strips around each other and draped them over his head. "I can't breathe", the gunman protested in a near whimper. The blood from the gash above his nose was running down his face.

"I think you'll be all right", Caeda told him as she tied the gag around his head. "You're lucky I don't kill you outright. If this was any other town, I would have. Besides if you drown on your own blood, I wouldn't give a shit." She took the pistol from his side and tucked it in her waist band next to the knife. She never thought to take the assault rifle. It was too long for close in work like this. She heard the shouting again. It was time to go downstairs. Caeda kept her back to the wall as she very carefully put one foot on a step at a time. She didn't weight all that much which was to her advantage.

"I don't have the formula lists! I swear!", Dr. Horowitz yelled at the top of his lungs.

The leader of the group smacked the already bloody man across the face with the back of his hand. "So I have to kill your son and your daughter to make you talk. That is misplaced loyalty my friend."

The mother looked up wide eyed. "Oh you didn't know we had killed your little girl too. She was too much trouble. We had to take her out. Isn't that right?" The leader turned to the gunman across the room. The man nodded slowly, but the look on his face said that he was lying. He hadn't killed the girl. She had gotten away, and he was too ashamed to admit the mistake. Caeda could see the deception on his face even if his boss couldn't.

"So I guess I'm going to have to take your wife away for you to tell the truth."

"No, don't! You don't understand! I can't talk! If I do, they'll kill her anyway. You have to believe me", the Doctor pleaded with all the passion of a desperate man.

"I don't believe you." The leader turned. His finger started to squeeze the trigger of his pistol as he had done thousands of times before.

Caeda was halfway down the winding steps. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she leapt over the banister. She flew through the air gliding like a bird. She pulled her knife with her right hand and the pistol with her left. She glanced to her right and let the knife fly. It struck the man in the center of his chest knocking him down. She hit the floor and skidded to a stop at the same time she pulled the trigger of the pistol. She shot for the first thing her eyes saw. The bullet struck the leader's gun knocking it from his hand. He cursed and turned. Caeda already had the gun aimed at his head. She pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. She pulled it again. She looked down and saw the bullet jammed in the chamber. "East european junk", she said aloud and threw the gun. She rolled over to create some space. She thought that there were only two left, but she didn't know what the knife had not killed the man she had thrown it at. He had a full magazine of bullets in the inside pouch of his vest. The knife had grazed that magazine before hitting his chest. The blade had pierced the skin, but only an 1/8 of an inch. He aimed his gun at her and fired.

She saw him from the corner of her eye and jumped. The bullets threw up pieces of wood and dust. Caeda jumped form the floor to the wall. She climbed up the wall as if was the floor. The men were too shocked to move for a moment, but then they aimed up and fired. Caeda dropped to the ground and rolled. In the dust and confusion, Caeda had rolled into the next room. They stopped shooting and looked for her. They didn't have to look long. Caeda had rolled into Amariah's bedroom. The first thing she saw was a softball bat lying in the middle of the floor. She took it in her hands and rushed back into the bigger room.

She was silent. Only the whistling of the bat gave a clue. It was not until the impact that they saw her. She hit the gunman nearest her in the side of the head with the barrel of the Easton. His head sounded like a coconut. She cracked some bones in his skull. He went down shaking and twitching. Caeda turned to hit the next man, but he caught the end of the bat on her back swing. He snatched hard and pulled her off balance. The bat flew to the far wall. Caeda put her foot back to steady herself, and she launched herself at the man. She threw two quick punches to his face before she unleashed a spinning back kick that sent him clawing at the air as he stumbled to the ground. The leader had come closer. As his man fell to the ground, the leader raised his rifle and started firing. The bullets started out to Caeda's right, but the man corrected quickly. Caeda raised her arms and jumped. Her fingertips touched the ceiling and she pulled herself up quickly. She crawled backwards along the ceiling, but there wasn't really any place to hide. She was about to jump down to the wall, when everyone heard the sounds of multiple sirens in the distances. It was hard to tell how far off they were, but then the red and blue lights became visible through the windows.

The leader turned his head for an instant when he heard the sirens. That was all the time Caeda needed. She jumped from the ceiling. The leader turned to fire again, but she was already on him. She pushed the rifle away and drove her knee into his middle. She staggered back. She spun again and kicked the rifle from his hand. She was moving too fast for him. He pulled out a knife of his own and slashed at her as she circled. Caeda leaned out of the arc. He spun the knife in his hand a couple of times and got his balance back. He lunged at her bringing his knife down in a powerful arc. Caeda stepped in close to him and blocked the stroke by hitting his forearm with hers. She spun around him before he could compensate. She reached back and over her shoulder wrapping her left arm around the man's throat. She leaned forward and used his center of gravity to pull him over her shoulder. He landed on his face. She put her knee on the back of his neck and spun around to get at the knife. They fought for it and he was able to buck her off of him. She landed on her feet and charged him before he could turn around. She grabbed the hand holding the knife and pulled back at the same time she kicked him in the middle of his back. He yelled as she pulled on his shoulder. He twisted around. At the last second, Caeda snatched back on his hand. His wrist bent back so far that his index finger touched his forearm. He screamed in pain and swung at Caeda's head with a wild punch. She ducked it and kept the pressure on his wrist. She pushed forward and he fell onto his back. She dove onto him driving her elbow down into his solar plexus. He grunted and swore.

The sirens were just outside now. They could hear the roaring of car engines coming down the road. Caeda was relieved as crawled up his body and dropped three quick elbows onto his face. She broke his nose flat, but he was still thinking clearly. He didn't have the leverage to punch her effectively, but he put his hands on her ribcage and tried to push her off. He was a strong man, but Caeda was a strong woman, especially for her size. He felt her body tense and harden. Her slim body didn't look it, but it was very strong. He moved his hands over closer to the middle of her body and pushed again. Her stomach was flat and toned, but the leader felt how hard her midsection was as he pushed. He pushed with all his strength, but he wasn't even able to dent her abs. She wasn't going anywhere.

Caeda didn't see that the gunman she had kicked in the guts had gotten back to his feet. She would have noticed a split second later, but Dr. Horowitz had noticed. He was tired of being afraid of these men. He saw a chance to help the person who was helping him, whoever she was. He crawled from where he and his wife had been huddled and grabbed the rifle. He aimed it at the gunman who was about to shoot at his rescuer. The doctor had never fired a gun before and he hoped beyond hope that this weapon didn't have a safety or something. He aimed as best he could and pulled the trigger. The staccato bark of the rifle filled the room. The gunman was hit in the chest five times before he fell.

Caeda looked back over her shoulder at the doctor. "Take your wife and get out of here. Hurry, I got this one!", she yelled. The doctor took his wife by the hand and practically dragged her down the front steps and out the door.

Caeda turned back and looked at the leader. "Its just you and me", Caeda said and punctuated her statement with another elbow to the man's face.

"You fucking bitch."

"That's not nice at all." She leaned back a little to give herself room to hit him in the groin. He tried to pull his hands in, but Caeda's knees were on his arms. "See I'm going to be nice and let you live just so you can spend the rest of you life in prison."

Caeda could hear the cops coming into the house. They were going to have to work their way up to the second floor. She looked down when the leader started to laugh. It looked strange with his teeth stained red from his own blood.

"I won't spend a day in prison,", he laughed again. "I won't spend a day in prison because I'm going to tell them who you are. I know who you are. Most people wouldn't know, but I know. One killer knows another... Caeda." He laughed again as the cops were getting closer.

Caeda's eyes narrowed and she reached out with her right hand and grabbed the handle of the knife the leader had been holding. She leaned forward so that her chest was lying on his. "On second thought, I don't think I'm going to let you live." She slipped the knife between the leader's ribs slowly and steadily. He shook and bucked violently as the tip of the blade pierced the side of his rapidly beating heart. Very soon he was completely still. Caeda jumped off of him and wiped the sweat from her brow as two sheriff deputies ran up the stairs with their pistols drawn. Caeda threw her hands up, but they knew who she was. They escorted her down the stairs and cleared the scene.

Over an hour later, Caeda was leaning against the sheriff's personal car while the authorities got a handle on the scene. She was drinking bottled water while wrapped in a blanket. The sheriff walked out of the house and towards her.

"I should have known you would bring some trouble to town, little girl. You've got the big dogs here. News people are here all the way from Charleston and Pittsburgh", the sheriff said with a crooked grin on his face. "Did you let those medics check you out? Are you all right?"

"Yeah, Chuck, I'm all right."

He nodded. "All that time you spent with old Chet must have paid off because if it wasn't for you, those folks would be dead. You sure you don't need a counselor or something, you know to help you... with the one you had to stab to death? Killin' even when its self defense can be hard. Just ask Chet. He was in the war same time as me."

Caeda shook her head. "I'll be all right I think."

"You sure, you don't need anything?"

"Well a couple of things, and I think I'll be ok."

"Name it. You're the hero for the day."

Caeda smiled. "No news people. I don't want them to get my name, or my picture or anything."

"Done", the sheriff said quickly. He turned. "Jeffers! Come here boy!" The rookie deputy ran over to his boss. "Jeffers I want you to take this young lady down the road to Chet's in the back of a squad car. Make sure she's covered up. She don't want any pictures. You understand?"

"Yes, sir." He ran off to get his car from up the hill.

"And that second thing?"

Caeda's grin widened. "Yeah the second thing I want is a sip of whatever you have in that flask you always keep."

The sheriff tried his best to look innocent all the while reaching to his back pocket and pulling out his old dented flask. He handed it to Caeda who opened it and started drinking.

"Uck", she exclaimed after taking a long drink. "Gin!"

"Hey, beggars can't be choosers", the sheriff told her.

"You're right", Caeda responded and screwed up her face and took another long drink before handing the flask back. Just then Jeffers came back.

"Right this way, Miss." He lead Caeda towards his car. She waved over her shoulder at the sheriff.

Dr. Horowitz saw her and ran over. Caeda looked then and saw Mrs. Horowitz standing with her son and daughter. "Wait. I just wanted to thank you for saving my family", the former professor said.

"No thanks necessary", Caeda replied. She smiled at Amariah and waved. She continued towards the squad car. She was about get inside when she quickly turned around and grabbed the doctor by the collar. She took him off guard. He looked down into her eyes and saw what the leader had seen as she slipped the knife between his ribs. He saw the eyes of the assassin. "If you want to thank me. Give whatever you have to those guys who want it."

"You don't understand", Horowitz began.

Caeda held up her hand in his face. "You're right I don't understand." She looked past him and motioned to his family. "Neither do they. And they don't deserve this." Caeda let him go and got into the car. Jeffers closed the door. She laid down on the floor and covered herself with the blanket. No one even noticed as Jeffers drove past the half a dozen news vans. Caeda slipped into Chet's house unnoticed. The next day, the town wanted to throw her a party. She wouldn't have any of it, and over next few days the commotion died down, and things went back to normal except that the Horowitz family had moved out. No one knew where they went. Caeda just hoped that Dr. Horowitz wasn't trying to run. That never worked. There was nowhere to hide where a motivated person wouldn't find you.

Caeda stayed in town for another week and a half after the incident with the family. She was trying to wait on Chet to come home, but she was ready to get back. She made one more round through town saying good-bye to folks before she got on the road back to the Big Apple. True to her word, Caeda stopped at Villanova and handed Dr. Perlov the recommendation letter for Jenny. Caeda even took some samples of Jenny's art. After a short visit with old professors and friends, Caeda drove back to New York. She dropped off her cat and her luggage at her apartment before driving back to the midtown long storage garage where she kept her car. She took the bus back home. She had just settled in and checking her messages when there was a knock at the door. Caeda hung her head as she stood up. She sighed before she opened the door. When she did, she felt her face flush and anger swell from the deepest part of her being. She had been gone for two weeks and in that time, she hadn't thought once about to the asshole that she had been about to killed. The guy who had used his powers to track her down. The man who knew where she lived and had seen her about to complete a contract. The man who knew her face. She hadn't thought about him in all that time, but there he was standing in the hallway outside her door. Her fingers flexed and her body was ready for action. This time she was going to kill him.

"Wait wait!", he yelled and jumped back from the door. He had two cups of coffee in his hands. "Don't hit me please. I wanted to bring you some coffee and apologize."

Caeda's face was still dark with rage. "Apologize?"

The man took a step closer, but was still wary, for good reason. "I shouldn't have tracked you down. That was a misuse of my abilities. I should have figured that a girl like you would appreciate her privacy. And... I hope you like coffee."

Caeda just scowled.

The man smiled. "I would have brought flowers, but that might have seemed too forward."

He saw Caeda's anger break.

"So will you accept my apology and my coffee?"

Caeda reached out and took the cup from his hand. She looked him over again, but didn't say anything.

"I got these at the little café across the street. You know the one?"

"I'm the one who lives here. Of course I know it."

"You want to go down there, and you know talk and enjoy the nice day?"

Caeda frowned. She should kill this man, but she needed to find out if he had told anyone yet. She needed some information. "Sure. Let's go."

"So, how did you find me this time?", Caeda asked as she sipped her coffee while sitting at a sidewalk table of the café. "Did you use your powers again?"

The man laughed. "No, this time I used persistence. I've been coming down here every other day buying coffee. Until today I've been drinking both cups. I had almost given up hope. I thought that I might have scared you off."

Caeda shook her head. "Takes more than you to scare me." Her tone wasn't dangerous, but there was very little emotion in it either.

"Well you scared the hell out of me. I almost shit myself, pardon my French, but I almost did when you snatched me into your apartment last time."

"And you came back?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not the smartest guy in the world. Sue me!" He leaned forward in his chair getting closer to Caeda. "I might be an idiot for asking this, but were you really going to kill me last time I saw you?"

"You probably don't want the answer to that question."

"I do. I really do. I'm a big boy."

Caeda shook her head, and took a sip of coffee before she answered. She looked right at him. "Yeah, I was going to kill you."

The man frowned. "Why didn't you?"

Caeda smiled the smallest smile at something only amusing to her. "I didn't because you were at my apartment, and I didn't have a convenient way to dispose of your body."

"Are you serious? So you're telling me that if you could have gotten rid of my body, or if I had tracked you down in a place other than your apartment then we wouldn't be sitting here?"

Caeda tilted her head a little. "Well, one of us might be sitting here, but you wouldn't be."

"Man, that's some serious shit. So you really are... you know... you really are Caeda", he just mouthed the last word. "I've looked you up on the internet. There are cult sites dedicated to you. Some say that you're a reincarnated ninja, other say that you are a demon and only come into this realm to kill then you go back. Other say that you are the Angel of Death itself come down to kill those who do wrong."

That made Caeda smile. "Well that's all wrong."

"I thought so", the man began. "They got something else wrong too. They tried to describe your appearance, but they were wrong about that. You're much more beautiful than even they say."

Caeda shook her head. "I'm not going to kill you, so you don't have to flatter me."

The man had a faraway look in his eyes, then he snapped back and smiled. "I'm telling the truth. You are beautiful, and those eyes are... I don't have the words."

Caeda laughed. "These eyes! You try having these eyes in the third grade and see how beautiful you'd think they were then."

"You're telling me that you got teased?"

"Mercilessly", Caeda answered, her face sporting a childlike grin.

The man nodded. "I wonder what kind of little girl you were."

Caeda tilted her head and thought back. A look of profound sadness came over her face. "Happy", she said after some reflection. "I was a happy little girl."

The man regretted asking the question, but his smile came back quickly. "I was a mischievous little kid, into everything." He paused and took a deep breath. "Well, this is going well. I should at least introduce myself. I'm Russell Redwine", he said and reached his hand across the table. Caeda smirked. "You laughing at my name?"

"Not at all. I like it. R&R. Nice to meet you officially." She shook his hand.

His face got serious again. "So what's your name? I know your parents didn't name you Caeda."

She put her head down. Emotions flooded her mind, but she knew he wasn't doing it. She felt all sorts of emotions, but one she felt above all others, fear. She was afraid to take the step. Her breathing quickened and her palms began to sweat. "Amaris", she whispered. "Amaris Johanssen", she said louder.

Russell exhaled and leaned back in his chair. "Beautiful name. It fits you", he said before drinking the last of his coffee. "Was that so hard?"

"Harder than you know", Amaris told him with a sigh. "Harder than you know."

Link to other Caeda stories.

Caeda: The Art of the Kill  
Caeda: Death's Shadow
Caeda: Rules to Kill By

More Caeda to come very soon!

comments encouraged: dem2@hotmail.com