Strange Aeons [Book 1]

6. The Lion's Charge [part III]

Banshee was lying, deprived of any energy on her bed. Chico's bed was empty, he was probably at that strange church where she found him the day before. She had gone to her usual workplace, the Boston Docks, and the aching muscles were being a nice distraction from any magical problems they ultimately had.

She closed her eyes and tried to finally get to sleep.

The noises of the city didn't really subside with the marching of the night. She was used to deep silences when a noise meant something was wrong, and to fall in a deep slumber when noise was the normality had always been difficult. Plus, she hated sleeping with closed windows too, especially when the temperature started rising, which for her meant half-March. She hadn't had a decent night of sleep since she got to that blasted city, to its cars and horns, to its helicopters and police sirens, to its shining light that hid the stars. Those weren't nights. They were half-days.

Then, she suddenly opened her eyes wide.

Something was off.

The sounds were the same as ever, the dimming light coming from outside too, but something was definitely off. Something in the room temperature, maybe. And her perception wasn't magic. It was pure soldier instinct. She looked at the ceiling for some seconds, breathing regularly to give the impression she was still asleep.

Then, out the corner of her eye, she saw something. A slight movement of shadows and lights, coming from behind her headboard. Slowly, she slid a hand under her pillow, clasping the stock of the Taurus she kept under it.

Another movement.

She jerked up from the bed, rolling on her side, to land on the floor on one knee, the gun firmly held in one hand, supported by the other to get a steady aim. Her grey eyes blinked, trying to make out her mark.

It was a shadow, knelt on the windowsill with a strange grace, looking in her direction. The shadow was a spot of black, backlit by the murky light coming from outside. But the instant her brain started to put things together, it was quite an unmistakable silhouette.

The pointy hood, the jacket, long to his feet, the combat boots, the tiny but refined and elegant hands peeking out from his sleeves.

She wasn't really in the mood for a magical showoff.

She shot.

The bullet reached its target and planted deep into Staccato's shoulder.

He didn't even move. She saw his shoulder jolt back when impacted with the bullet, but then nothing. No spurt of blood, no pain scream, nothing.

He started emitting a strange sound after a couple of seconds. At the beginning, she mistook it for sobs, maybe pain sobs.

Then she understood, with a shiver down her spine.

He was laughing.

«My my, they told me you're just an animal skin's loincloth short from a savage, but to shoot like this, without even blinking... you truly don't have lady manners.»

«The fucking hell are ye doing on me window?» she shouted, keeping her gun pointed in front of her. The cold stability of the weapon in her hand made her feel much more self-confident than all the magic in the world.

«Truth be told, I didn't expect of you something as stupid as sleeping with a window open, half-March. You could get a serious pneumonia, don't you know?» his voice was velvety, like that day in the office, fluid and dense, like molasses.

«Are ye here to play doctor with me?»

«Oh God no. No, no.» he denied, as if he was suddenly disgusted. «Well, let me come to the point and be brief: I came here to gentlemanly, in will if not in actions, ask you to stay away from me.»

Banshee looked at him, clearly not understanding.

«I know, about the trial. Well, let's just say that it would be better if you'd just go down silently and not drag us into it. All right? Friendly suggestion.»

Banshee squinted her eyes. Not being able to discern his expressions made understanding the situation more difficult than she liked. Probably his point.

«Ye do know that the Supervillain Manual is not an actual manual, don't ye?» she asked, her voice more sure now, her grip on the gun increasingly steady.

«I don't really like to crush ants with a combat boot, so I decided to come here and... warn you. You're getting me to the point I usually lift my boot. Don't make me lift my boot, Banshee. You seem like the reasonable one, as funny as it could be, so I decided to hop in and talk with you, hoping you could discuss it with the other ones and leave me and my Coven well alone. Do that, and I may consider leaving you alone in exchange.»

«Is this supposed to scare me?» she asked, slowly standing up, her aim firm on Staccato's chest.

«Hopefully, but I'll settle for convinced.» he admitted, candidly.

«Too bad.»

He sighed. A very deep, dramatic, theatrical almost, sigh.

«I suppose I should have expected that from someone with such a short ability to organize its future. Or to evaluate challenges for that matter. You have no vision, Banshee.»

«And ye'll have no knees if ye don't turn yer ugly mug and feck off stage left.» she pointed towards the direction with two small movements of her gun. Staccato muffled a small laugh.

«I'll see you, and your extremely entertaining grammar and accent, on the field, then.»

She didn't even answer, waiting for him to jump away from the window. He looked back and then just took a step behind, freefalling down. She didn't rush to the windowsill. Bad guys who voluntarily jump down from buildings tend to have a plan B.

She sighed, put the gun back under her pillow and laid down, her face burning with anger and hate. And something else was buggering her. There was something familiar in that little man.

Something she couldn't quite put her finger on.

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Hey Guys! Hi and, as always, thanks for reading! I'll appreciate any comment, and, at this point, your thoughts about characters and plot getting thicker, as we get to know some secondary recurring characters (the Lions)

Quick question: would you like it if I made a "Cast" page with all the actors and people who we chose as "face lenders" for our characters? We have a pretty big cast here, and we'll be so happy to share it with you all!

Let me know, and have a great week!

Daniel