Darker Shade of Pale - HER FREEDOM (10 page)

Chapter
Eighteen

By moonlight and lantern, Tyb and I filled the back of the Mule with boxes of his canned goods. "I'll be gone in the morning. Going to take my critters down the mountain to Bucky's." Bucky is the pig-farming, rabbit-fur trading neighbor. "Shouldn't be gone long, just a couple hours."

I didn't like the thought of being up here alone with
Christos running lose. In fact, that was deeply unsettling. The look on my face must have been epic for Tyb to tack on, "You'll have the dogs with you too, Izzy. You'll be fine." He then offered me a smile.

"What should I do while you're gone?"

"I'll show you. Come on." We walked back to the house and went into his bedroom. He opened the secret door to the panic room and told me to follow. Anxiety heightened my awareness, that maybe in a few hours I'd be scurrying down this corridor and hiding in fear of the man who has haunted my world far too long. How stupid and naive was I when I got involved with him? Damn hindsight.

When we reached the panic room we went through the door leading to the treehouse. It was a long walk in darkness until we reached the safety of the mini castle. We walked past the room where
Tyb removed my implant to the next door.

"This is what you can do."
Tyb opened the door and revealed several closed circuit camera monitors, all focused on the outdoors. There was no feed from the house or panic room. "Keep an eye out. Anyone you don't recognize is probably going to be on the taskforce."

"And if I see
Christos…?" Sit here and hide? Do nothing and wait for the cowboys to save me? I didn't like the thought of sitting around and doing jack shit but get my anxiety going.

Tyb
looked at me in a manner I never noticed before. "What do you want to do?"

"Not freak out."

He cracked a smile. "That's a good start. You got a couple options. Sit tight and let the task force handle him or defend yourself if he's that close to you."

Could I shoot
Christos? Putting a bullet through a can is a lot different than putting one through flesh. 
I suppose I could imagine his torso as can of Dr. Pepper and let loose…

"Guns are in the house. Should we go back and get them?" I asked, half-wondering if my revolver would do the job.

"Oh, Izzy. I'm prepared." He turned around and shut the door to the monitor room. Behind the door, a large metal locker set into the wall. He opened the locker and revealed an arsenal that couldn't possibly be legal.

At least a dozen long guns, half of which looked like assault guns with banana clips.
Tyb reached in and pulled two out, one much larger than the other. "This is your gun. Make friends and follow me." He held out the smaller of the two to me. I expected it to weigh a lot more than it did when I took it from his hands.

"That's a
Saiga. Less than ten pounds. This here is my Vera Barrett," he held aloft the huge fucking gun. "This is thirty-two pounds."

"Are they legal?"

"As long as they have a ten-round clip, yep. Any larger and it's heavily frowned upon in California."

"Are we in
frowny territory?"

He laughed.
"Completely, utterly, totally. Thirty round capacity suits my needs. Don't have to reload as often."

"But it'll take longer to reload."

"True, but if one takes out the target first, the need to reload is reduced."

"Point taken, Gun Guru."

With a metal box about the size of two stacked bricks in one hand, and his 'Vera' in the other, Tyb led me out of the room and down the corridor to yet another door. It revealed a set of stairs, which we climbed in silence. At the top, yet another door. That lead us to the top of the tree house. Ragged columns of concrete rose around us, gaving the appearance of a stump rotted and darkened by age. "Up here, you can get a damn good view of the property." Kinda hard to tell, being that dawn had yet to make its approach this morning. Must be four-thirty. All was quiet in the land, with the exception of a lonely owl hooting every so often. No moon tonight, just the shimmering of stars overhead.

"Did you hear that?"
Tyb whispered.

"No. What was it?" I asked back, just as quiet.

"Sticks breaking. Listen."

And so I did, straining my ears to hear whatever put
Tyb on alert.

I didn't hear what set him off, but I did see a light in the distance. "What's that?" In the darkness I pointed, but it did no good.
Vague outline of an extended index finger at best.

"Hold on, I'll be right back."
Tyb leaned his gun against the wall and went back down the stairs at a quick pace. He returned shortly, carrying what looked kinda like binoculars. He handed me a pair. "Here, night vision."

I slipped the night vision goggles on over my head.
Tyb turned them on and everything took on a green cast. "Do not look at the light. It'll blind you. Look above the light and see the face. Left hand side of the goggles has a dial. Turn it forward to zoom in."

"It's a woman. Not
Zamara."

"Fuck. It's Aisha."
Tyb's voice softened as he realized who it was.

"How did she get out of jail?"

"I don't know. But if she's infected with the Virteria Serum, she's dangerous. She cannot be trusted."

"On the bright side, she attacked
Christos. That's got to count for something." Too bad she didn't rip his head off. That would have been awesome.

"That's because she's dangerous. She wouldn't bite the hand that's been feeding her… but now, that's not so certain." Deep resignation sat heavy in
Tyb's voice.

I leaned my gun next to Vera and gave
Tyb a hug. "I'm sorry shit is sucking right now." I brought this upon him. That didn't sit well.

Tyb
placed a kiss to the top of my head and said, "Shit was bound to happen sometime. Just do not trust Aisha. Do not get close to her."

Sarcastically, I asked, "Want me to keep a gun pointing at her at all times, too?"

If Tyb used sarcasm, it didn't register with me. "Probably a prudent idea."

"It's your sister!" But if it came down to it, whose life would he preserve?

"If it were Haytham, I'd be saying the same thing. They both are dangerous, Haytham more so now."

The light in the distance neared. "What do we do? Let her go up to the house and think we're there? Call her out when she gets here? What's the plan, captain?"

"I wish I fucking knew."

Chapter Nineteen

Aisha trudged her way to the tree house. Tyb kept his gun aimed at her the entire time. Finally, when she crossed through the meadow, she arrived at the foot of the tree house. Made me wonder if it was her plan to sneak onto the property without Tyb knowing. "Hey you two! Let me in."

She could see us? She wasn't wearing any sort of image enhancing device that I could see.
Tyb called down, "What are you doing here, Aisha?"

"Came to see my big brother.
And use that room you have set aside for me. I, uh, broke up with my boyfriend."

"Who bailed you out of jail?"

"You knew about that? Mom and Dad. All I had to do was tell them I broke up with him and was going to see you… they arranged it all."

"They've missed you."

"Yeah, I know. So you gonna let me in or are you planning on the bears and mountain lions to off me?"

"Aisha, I know you are not safe to be around. If I were to let you in, there will be at least one gun pointed at you at all times. I cannot trust you."

"Well, that's not exactly the homecoming I remember…"

"Little Sister, I can see you twinkling in the night. I'm not even wearing night vision. There is something not right with you and its
Haytham's fault. I heard you took a bite out of him, so now he's going glitter alongside you."

"Know what happens if I bite him again? Your little home away from reality will exist no longer. That can be arranged,
ya know."

"Since when do you channel Don Corleone?"

"Since my brother's been acting like a suspicious douche. Just a heads up, Haytham is coming this way. He doesn't know how to get here like me, but he'll follow my trail and be here, probably in a couple hours. He's no good without a GPS telling him where to go."

I spoke up. "So Morgan isn't with him to guide the way?"

"No, he's still stuck in the cold. Fucking Siberia is cold. But the fossils laying around were a nice bonus."

Tyb
spoke up again. "Are you really split from Haytham? No pulling my chain, Aisha."

"He and I had a big disagreement. Major, as in me taking a knife to his junk." Aisha's bubbly demeanor seemed at odds with how I pictured her. That's what I get for making assumptions.

After a moment, Tyb spoke. "Give me a couple minutes and I'll open the house. Just… don't do anything stupid. That's not a phone call I want to make to Mom and Dad."

"Aye
aye, captain. I can save you the trip. You gotta see what I can do now." Aisha took a few steps backward before running at full speed—no, faster than full speed- toward the treehouse. Somehow, she ran up the side and jumped up high at the last moment to vault over the cement battlements, joining Tyb and I. "Taadaaa!" She took a bow, and her hair tumbled over her shoulders like a cape for a moment before she stood back up.

"What the fuck did you just do?"
Tyb took a step back and leveled Vera at Aisha.

"Yeah, one of the things that
kinda pissed me off about Christos, was that I got turned into a super-solider guinea pig. It's not that big of a deal." With a shrug of her shoulders, Aisha offered half a smile. "It is what it is."

"It's a very big deal, Aisha. Why would you let him do that?
Mara said you consented, signed a waver or some shit."

"
Mara only got half the story. I'm dying, Tyb. My neuropathy had gotten to the point where I couldn't function. I asked him if there was anything he could do. Turns out glittering skin, running up walls, thermo vision and the ability to make huge jumps are side effects. I don't feel pain any more, yay perk. But the whole wanting to gorge on blood… yeah. Not my cup of tea. Oh, and don't worry. I took out a couple deer before I got here, so I'm not so hungry right now." She smiled again.

Curious, I asked, "Wasn't the serum a part of a government project?"

She faced her brother while she spoke, her eyes never leaving Tyb's rifle. "Yeah, my 'cure' got parlayed as a weapon when the full scope of side effects made itself known."

I asked another question. "Why did he blow up the Berkeley lab?"

Aisha turned to me and spoke; her demeanor less bubbly. "Because he was angry. He didn't like his wife trying to play his game. So he rage quit."

Just like that, the epic temper tantrum that hobbled a state with fallout. Nice.

Tyb's voice was low. "Why are you here, Aisha?"

"Because I want your help in taking
Christos out. He's fucking mental. And I know you hate his guts."

Tyb
scoffed. "You were with him for years and you 
just now
 notice he's batshit crazy?"

"Yeah, well in all fairness, some reality checks take a little longer to cash than others. I was young and dumb, once. Just like you,
Tyb. Do you want my help or not? Make up your mind; I'm getting tired of your inquisition. Oh, and who are you?" She addressed me.

"Sorry, Sis.
But you've been gone for years, with a man you know tried killing me, and now you're back… I'll level with you. I'm suspicious."

"I'm Izzy."

"Yeah, hi Izzy. You know, you look a lot like Selesta Haytham. Fancy that, here in the backwoods. Didn't know you finally found someone, Tyb."

"You look a lot like Scarlet Johansson," I replied. And she really did, except her hair was a bit darker. Then again, wee hours of morning before dawn makes deciphering colors a bit on the difficult side. Aisha's heart-shaped face held two large eyes framed by trimmed brows. Her nose possessed an aquiline line, and her mouth, a perfect cupid's bow. I felt disorientated. Never thought I'd meet my husband's mistress.
Didn't know how to act, so I'd just keep my mouth shut.

Tyb
spoke up the moment Aisha opened her mouth to speak to me again. "Izzy and I have been exclusive how long now? A year?" I don't know why exactly he lied other than his distrust of Aisha, but I'd play his game.

"One year, two months and four days since we first spoke in that bar down the hill about animal husbandry. He swept me off my feet at the mention of goat groping and chasing flighty chickens."

"See? A woman after my own heart." Tyb wrapped an arm around me.

With oddly glowing eyes, Aisha stared me down.
"Really. That long, eh? Didn't know barfly's were your style, Tov."

"Didn't know whack-ass
nutjobs were your style, until it was too late, that is. What was it about him that made you tell everyone to fuck off so you could go live your little dream with his version of kinky fuckery?"

"Because I liked the pain.
Made dealing with the neuropathy easier when I felt the hurt in other places. But I don't expect you to understand, just don't fuckin' judge, okay?" Suddenly she whirled around and peered between the tree-battlements, out into the forest next to the meadow. I could see her eyes glinting a bright lime green in the dark. It was unnatural and very unsettling. But not as unsettling as her next words. "He's coming."