Immortal Beauty (36 page)

“What?” Claire practically screamed which shocked everyone in the room. It was as if a beautiful marble statue, indifferent and lovely had suddenly come to life to offer up an opinion. “That’s crazy! In order to keep from aging a person has to drink the water consistently over time. They just can’t stop. We all know what happens then.” She froze back into indifference just as quickly as she had jumped to life.

“It’s the perfect product.” Marcus looked down to his forgotten book. “The consumer has to keep buying it to stay young. Celine will become richer than ever and who know what she has in store? She’s been manipulating human embryos. She’s up to something really evil this time.” The forlorn book was about the Celts and the invasion of the Roman army. It was something he never tired of and never gave up on. He felt that maybe one time he would find some vital clue that he had missed, something that might help them.

“This time?” Claire scoffed. “She’s always up to something evil Marcus. You know she’s going to try to get this house back and control of the waters underneath. You know it as well as I do and you know that she wants us dead like always. Now she wants to offer her sacred water to the public. We have to stop her. No more mercy, no more ethics…We’ve just got to kill the bitch.” For the first time ever Sasha heard a passion in her voice that had never been there before. It was exciting to see the stone goddess come back to life.

“That a girl Claire! I knew you couldn’t be that boring. I knew you had it in you!” Frankie was teasing her and for once she didn’t mind. Sasha listened to all this quietly. It seemed they were all agreed on one thing. Celine had to be stopped. She decided she was in but as soon as this mission was finished so was she. She didn’t wat to have any part of this spectacle any longer and there was a weariness in her that came into being the moment she remembered the past. She was tired of this fight. She was tired of coming back to life again and again only to have it ripped from her by some insane creature who thought she was a god. She was tired of falling in love each time and having it destroyed before her very eyes. She would help them get Celine out of the picture because she was certain that they needed her skills. They would need an assassin and this is exactly what Nyorin was. She had been trained to kill without mercy which was always such a paradox as Nyoirin traditionally was the goddess of compassion. Plus she knew that deep inside she wanted to be the one to take her out. She had never killed anyone in this life and wondered if she really could do such a thing. When she had turned her attackers into victims it was not a matter of thought. Would it be the same with Celine? She wanted to kill the three young men who attacked her and wondered if she would have if she had not lost her energy so quickly. It shocked her how easily the desire to kill came to the surface and shocked her even more that it all felt so natural and casual. She would save her killing instincts for Celine and then when this was all over she would return to being just Sasha White and walk away from all this luxury surrounded by madness. There would be no more curses to follow her through time. She would never drink the damned water and she had no desire to live forever. She had always treasured the idea of meeting her mother again when it was her time and this hellish battle was threatening to take even that from her. She trusted her instincts and they told her once they rid the world of Celine D’Aumont they would no longer be condemned to return to this world over and over again as some kind of monsters with special powers. These powers had to be in place for a reason and the reason was one wild and crazy red headed bitch named Celine. Sasha turned a slim silver bracelet round and round again on her wrist as she began to look at this odd assembly before her one by one and sighed inwardly as she remembered all the love and all the affection she had felt for them. At one time in history long long ago they were nothing more than friends and even lovers just like everyone else and this she rememembered more than anything. She realized in that moment that this was and had always been her family and in a very strange and calm manner she was aware that she somehow filled the role of mother to these misfits through time. She was strong and protective like a momma bear over these strange and lovely creatures and like a momma bear would tear the heart out of anyone who threatened them. She roused herself and stopped fiddling with her jewelry. Enough sentimentality. Now it was time to deal with the business at hand. If she thought of all of this as business then somehow she might just make it out unscathed. The business at hand was now finding Taylor and getting him to safety and then taking out the abomination the world knew as Celine D’Aumont, president of Celgen technologies. She placed her hand gently on Marcus’ shoulder as if to let him know that she was in the game. He sighed in quiet understanding and have her hand a little squeeze.

“Alright, we’ve got to come up with a plan to rescue Taylor and get rid of Celine. Does anyone have an idea?” Marcus was challenging them all.

“I do!” Frankie raised his hand like a child in a classroom. “Let’s get out of this depressing room and go sit out on the terrace in the sunlight. It’s too gloomy in here to think up something brilliant.” He grabbed Sasha’s hand and pulled her with him out of the room. They were back on the large staircase and he whispered into her ear so the others couldn’t hear him.

“I’ve got to talk to you…alone….later sometime.” He impetuously kissed her on the forehead. “I’m so glad you’re back. Eternity is just no fun without you!” He pulled her arm and dragged her with him down to the bottom of the fantastic marble stairs. The light was pouring in through the long windows and lit up the floors and Sasha remembered just how much she had loved this house. She was remembering the time when it truly belonged to her and she was the lady of the chateau and in love with a dashing and reckless young man named Etienne. She had been happy here once and wondered if it were possible knowing what she did now, if she would ever find such a thing again in this life. She felt strongly for Taylor but now it was tainted and changed because of all this new information and what had been the beginning of a simple romance has mutated into this mixed up mess and now she didn’t know what she felt. Instead of being on a second date they were now doomed lovers who kept trying to make their love work against the odds and always lost everything. She would not let that happen again.

“C’mon slowpoke!” Frankie jarred her out of her bottomless thoughts. She was glad he was here. He had an ability to make everything seem light and fun. Even this nasty business of coming up with a plan to kill Celine was like a game to him. He probably enjoyed coming back to life century after century to try and outwit the red haired beauty. He viewed everything as if it were a puzzle to be figured out. He continued to beam at her as if he just found a new best friend. “Don’t worry about Taylor. If I know him, he’s probably buttering her toast right now and pretending to form an alliance with her. He’s setting her up. That’s totally his style. He probably has her thinking that he’s in love with her and trying to get her to drop her guard, though that’s really my specialty.” He winked at her and she had to laugh at his never ending smile. “She’s so vain she just might fall for it. No, you’ve got nothing to worry about with him. He’ll be home soon and you two can pick up where you left off.” They were outside now and the infamous black bird swooped down on them to land on the table as it emitted three loud caws. Claire had joined them and beckoned for the bird to come sit on her shoulder and the black feathers with the white China doll had it’s instant effect of stark contrasts. Claire could not help but be beautiful. Sasha wondered what her story was as she well knew that still waters did indeed run deep. Marcus had ordered a large breakfast for them all and in the daylight in such beautiful surroundings it was easy for Sasha to pretend that nothing out of the ordinary were happening at all. She might as well enjoy it like Frankie because she alone knew how quickly this little charade was going to be over. For now she would play house with them all and pour the tea and and serve the smiles for once it was all over she was going to walk away from all of them, even Taylor. She was through being a puppet for Destiny. If she were here for a reason she would accomplish that reason and get on with her own life. No longer did she desire to live in Paris because of this. She thought her whole life that Paris had been her dream. Even that was a lie. She had some infernal eternal honing device to return to the waters underneath this house, nothing more. All of her dreams and goals were nothing more than a false mask hiding the true reason why she had to come here. In one moment Paris had become unbearable to her and she could not wait to leave and never return. A single lonely tear fell from her eye unnoticed by the rest. She was crying now because her entire life had been an illusion and in this one moment it had been destroyed forever. She hated Celine more than ever now and knew for a fact that she would not have a problem taking her down. The food arrived and they ate and talked about normal things like how Spring had arrived early in Paris and the current politics until all of the servants had departed. As soon as they were alone they began to make a plan. They had to weave a web to catch their enemy. They had to be as devious and as manipulative as she was and though they were loathe to stoop to her level they all got some satisfaction knowing that they were going to strike first this time. Only Marcus remained uneasy with all this planning. A little voice crept into his head that was just the bearest whisper but he couldn’t force it away. The voice kept asking a question. “If you kill Celine, what’s to stop her from coming back?” He did not know the answer nor did he share this with his friends. For now he kept quiet and listened passively as his friends and family planned on how they were going to kill the only woman he had ever loved.

FALSE SECURITY

When Sasha didn’t return from the hotel Taylor began to panic. He had fallen asleep after his display of power that was slowly coming all the way back to him. He started remembering different lifetimes and though the memories were scattered and incomplete he knew that they were real. He woke up around two in the morning and jumped out of bed. Sasha should have been there hours ago and he could only imagine the worst of scenarios. Something awful must have happened to her for that could be the only reason she never showed up without a single call. He knew that she felt the same way toward him and there was no longer any need to pretend any different. When she came to Orleans to rescue him he knew there was something very special about her. Now that his memories were returning to him he knew that this wasn’t the first time that they had met and there was a definite reason why she was so familiar to him. He took a quick shower and got into a fresh white shirt and the same jeans from yesterday. It was Europe, no one cared about such silly things here plus he had way too much on his mind to even think about such things. He ran down the stairs and checked with a weary desk clerk if there were any messages. There were none. He asked the sleepy man to call a taxi for him and as the barely conscious man begrudgingly did as he asked he stared at Taylor as though he were insane. Once the taxi arrived he paid the man an enormous amount of money to take him to the country. The roads were relatively quiet in the city and even more so as they got closer to Orleans. The night air was cold but Taylor kept his window open to stay awake and aware. The air felt good to him and it helped him keep his mind off of his growing terror that Celine had done something terrible to the woman he loved. He allowed himself to smile at such a thought. He knew now that he loved her and there was no use in pretending otherwise. Once he found her they could figure out what to do next. He wondered if she remembered anything at all. She seemed to find him familiar as well but never mentioned anything about past lives and now they were both enmeshed in something far stranger than any story he could ever make up. After a short time without end the cab pulled off the highway and entered the heavily wooded area of the little village. He asked the driver to let him out about half a mile from the lab. He did not want to be detected. He was beginning to remember all of his skills as an Indian long ago. He could travel without being seen or heard and become quite invisible if he wished. He had a plan. He entered the woods and began the trek through the frigid and hilly terrain which did not bother him but rather invigorated all of his senses. He was beginning to feel as if he had just come to life after being frozen in time and lost in space for an eternity. Even the animals took no notice of him as he passed by elk and deer as if he were one of them. He was getting close when he sensed movement off to his right. He stopped an became one with a large old tree and waited. He lifted his nose in the air and smelled. It was baffling to him. There was the slight scent of a human but it was mixed with something else. For a little while he thought he could smell a large wild cat but that wasn’t quite right either and then he heard the snapping of twigs and craned his neck around the trunk to get a glimpse of what was out there. First he saw a shadow and then the shadow moved. It was a human but there was something wrong with this person skulking around in the night. Taylor couldn’t quite put it together but there was something wrong with the movements and somehow the person seemed out of proportion. Whoever it was stood about six feet five inches and there was an odd profile as the stranger turned his head into the wind. He was sniffing the air much as Taylor had done earlier. Taylor was certain that the person couldn’t know that he was there as he was downwind from the man who now became alert and frozen. Then the person crouched down and waited. A small deer ambled into the area quite unafraid and calm. Whoever it was waited until the deer was relatively close and without warning sprang into action. He leaped from the ground high into the air and descended upon the startled animal. Taylor let out a gasp as he saw the man’s hands. They were too large and too much like a paw and there were claws and the claws had already begun to do their work as they tore into the deer with skill and precision. Without waiting for the poor creature to die the person, or whatever he was sank it’s teeth into the animal and began mauling. Taylor couldn’t watch. His mind quickly recovered from the shock and he started putting the pieces together. Chimera. Celine wasn’t searching for a superior protein, she was searching for a superior being. She was playing God with genetics and creating her own brand of human animal hybrid. She was breaking a multitude of international laws by doing such a thing. But why? Why would she want to do such a thing? What could possibly be her motive? Taylor decided to get out of the woods before the creature finished eating. The last thing he needed was to get into a rumble with this thing. He quietly stole away from the sight of carnage and as he went he felt a twinge of pity for this creature who had no say in his creation. What would the world do to such an abomination? It was Frankenstein’s monster come to life made from pieces and parts of the genetic code of God knows how many animals. More than likely if it were discovered it would be destroyed in the name of humanity and decency. This hybrid was everything that humanity had feared as science began to push back the frontiers of creation. This was what all the warnings had been about as scientists and their investors began to tinker with the building blocks of life. All this had come to be because of one insane and terrifying woman. Celine was playing with fire and must have known how dangerous this all was. He couldn’t stop thinking and formulating ideas as to why Celine would do this. For every act there was always motivation. Humans never did anything without getting something out of it, but Celine was no longer just human. She was something else entirely. Her humanity had died long ago even though she carried on throughout the ages. What would motivate her to create a new species? The answer would be at the lab. He was very close now and could see the building’s silhouette in the dark. From this angle in the early morning hours the house looked very much like a medieval residence of some land baron from medieval times. It was hard to believe that behind those walls of luxury lay secrets so horrible and terrible that if the world found out it would absolutely be the end of Celine and her reign of horror. Taylor was going to be the one to expose these secrets. In this lifetime this was his game and he practically invented it and once Sasha was safe he would expose this ancient monster to the world. He prayed and prayed that she was still alive and hoped that Celine hadn’t done anything to her. He knew he would kill her if she so much as lay a hand on her. He moved up to the back of the building making no sound on the gravel stones and avoided all of the motion sensors effortlessly. He was glad for these newly found abilities. He was going to need them.