Juliet's Tryst

Chapter 50: General Garcia

General Garcia stood outside a large tent with each arm placed on his waist. Two elbows went perfectly in opposite directions. His legs were so close together they looked like one big leg. He breathed heavily, reminiscent of a donkey. This was a man who always finished his task.

"Why isn't she dead?" The question barked, each word coming out of his throat like a bullet. Juliet hopped out of the car. The three men cowered behind her. They would be punished for not following orders.

"General, if I-," Juliet started.

"I'm not speaking to you. Lunes, why isn't the bitch dead?"

One of the men behind her stood at attention. He dared not move any closer.

"Sir, I believe that you should listen to her."

"I didn't ask what you believed," Garcia's lip upturned cruelly. "I asked why you did not bring me her corpse. You couldn't finish the job? The girl too pretty? You want me to finish wiping your ass for you?"

As he spoke those words, he aimed a handgun at Juliet's forehead. She stepped closer to him. Garcia's energy was singular. He was angry. The anger seeped into the gun. She lifted her hand.

"This won't be necessary," she said. The General pulled the trigger. "You'll find that it won't work."

Something other than fury passed the man's face. Surprise was not a common expression on his face. It contorted strangely, pulling lips and eyebrows away from each other.

"What do you want?"

"I want you to stop the current offensive," Juliet said. "I claim this ground for Kyria and Earth. They wish it peaceful."

As she said this, the ground under them rumbled. The plants shook in their acquiescence. Garcia was not swayed.

"You think you can come in here and ask me stop a military operation? Who are you?"

"You kill people without knowing who they are?"

"Nobody who walks this ground is a friend of mine."

"Not even humans?"

"Especially the humans," Garcia smiled.

"They have nothing to do with this. They did not ask to be here."

"Then they should not defend the hive queen when we get our hands on them. Fucking got infected somehow."

"How many have you killed," Juliet asked. Her voice was soft, but she already knew. She could see it in his eyes. This was a game. It was him against Dee, his fantastical imagination of her.

"You can go visit them and see." He moved one of his rigid arms to an area to his left. "We give traitors a nice and proper burial in a little pit."

Thirty-seven. Once he pointed to where they were, she could feel them. The dead sighed, their breaths brushing against her neck. Some of them, Garcia hunted through the expanse between castle and army. Their fear still lingered in the air, and it smelled of blood.

This was enough.

"We're almost done here anyways," he motioned to the plug in his ear. "We've already cornered their hive Queen. It might take a little but she'll be dead soon. And once she's dead- we're going to find her little girlfriend. I'll fuck her like she fucked the planet. I expect she's hidden somewhere in the castle. An eye for an eye, these days."

"Oh, no," squeaked one the men behind her.

She willed Garcia's throat to contract. He started to cough, then choke. His body convulsed, and he fell to the ground. His eyes bulged, making him look even more like a donkey.

Juliet kneeled before him. She wanted his murderer to be the last thing he saw, like each of his victims. There was enough rage inside her to match his.

"I'm the little girlfriend," she said. The recognition finally dawned on him, and the fury sparked in him again. It was not his impending death which made him angry. He missed his opportunity to kill her. "And I'm telling you that you're done here."

She placed a hand on his chest, and his lungs started fill with mucus. He would be dead within the hour, a slow and excruciating death. No more little killer games for him.

Then, she screamed. It was a scream of power. The energy inside her spread and filled the army encampment. Everything not alive was dismantled, save for the car. She needed that.

"Take me to the castle," she said.

As they neared the castle, the three men were silent. It gave Juliet space to concentrate. The technology attacking the castle was not ordinary human technology. It was a blend of Kyrion and human. It reeked of another betrayal.

The car dropped her off before the battalion guarding the door. The men wanted to fight with her, but she told them to go back. She did not need any more humans in this conflict. It sped away with a storm of projectiles aiming for it, but none hit true.

"They are under my protection," Juliet said, and every soldier heard her. In the next moment, she became attuned to a small number of the drones above. Their energies shined like precious stones, ready to fight forever. The only way for an attack on the castle to happen was if Kyrions and humans worked together. She was sure Garcia hated the fact.

Three drones fell on the ground. The soldiers swarmed onto them, and jumped away as more fell. Juliet dismantled as many as she could before running inside. The great hall was empty.

The castle was a kaleidoscope of energies, and she nearly passed out from stepping inside. It was different from the inanimate objects, it had a more intricate soul. She willed herself to concentrate. She had to find Dee.

It was impossible. The different energies tangled, and faded. Rooms would appear in her mind, and then fade away. She placed a hand on the wall, but that made the situation worse.

Dee was fighting for her life, they were close to killing her. Juliet screamed again, but it did nothing.

"Take me to her," she yelled at the castle, but there was no response. The system was down.

She leaned back against the door, defeated. The other-knowingness was telling her to relax. The only way forward was to allow breath to pass unobstructed through her. Yet, terror curled her insides up. The thought of losing Dee made her unable to concentrate.

Place a hand on your stomach. The new voice did not sound like Kyria. As soon as she obeyed, her stomach started to move up and down slowly. She felt as though the air was forcing itself into her lungs.

Once she could finally breathe, she saw Dee. She was at the very top of the castle, in a small chamber. She was tied to the wall, each limb spread as far as it could go. Her body convulsed and contorted, shedding the human façade. Her skin darkened, becoming a dark shade of purple. Spikes grew. A long tail swished from side to side, violently.

This did not faze the three figures. One of them held a long Kyrion spear, waiting for the right moment to plunge it into their Ruler's neck.

The Kyrions are mix between the Shrike and sea urchins. Spiky bois.