Chapter
50: Detour
“That
was interesting,” Vicky commented as she sat back in the bucket seats of
Billie’s car as she drove down the highway towards the Candy Store. She tried
making herself a little more comfortable after such an intense scene between Van
and Sara, but it was difficult. She thought that would definitely be the end of
them, but for some reason, she knew they’d work through it somehow, so she
felt a little more at ease.
As for
being next to Billie, that was a whole other story. She rather would have been
in the back with Sara sitting up front instead of her, but that wasn’t
happening for obvious reasons. The tension between Vicky and Billie was so thick
you could cut through it with a knife. She knew Billie was extremely stressed
out at the moment. The case they were working on had just taken off, and there
were probably millions of things running through her mind at the moment. The
last thing she needed was Vicky breathing down her neck bugging her about what
would happen between Van and Sara.
Looking
over at Billie, Vicky could see that she hadn’t heard the comment. She gave a
small sigh of relief and continued to look out the window at the bright lights
of
Turning
her head to see if she hadn’t been hearing things, Vicky discovered that
Billie was glancing in her direction. She turned back around and stared out over
the colored lights that passed them as she replied, “So… what do you think
happened between Van and Sara?”
“I
dunno,” Billie shrugged. “I’m just glad Ian and I haven’t had that
argument yet.”
“Why,
what do you have to hide that he already doesn’t know?” Vicky asked.
“Plenty,”
Billie responded brokenheartedly. She had many more demons hidden beneath pretty
exterior, demons that could potentially be the death of their relationship. She
sighed deeply.
“We’ve
all got our demons. For crying out loud, look at Sara. She hit the mother load
with the Witchblade. I’m still having a hard time with that thing. And of
course I’ve got my own demons, like drinking on the job, but that’s a whole
other story,” Vicky started.
“I’ve
done heroine,” Billie somberly replied.
Vicky
looked at her sharply. “Heroine?” she asked.
Billie
nodded and continued to watch the road ahead of her. “I had been deep
undercover on this one case, and three weeks into the game, it was either blow
my cover or keep it rolling, so I shot up,” Billie said as if it was another
normal conversation.
Vicky just
sat there and stared at her in disbelief. "You're kidding right?" She
tried to crack a smile but Billie just kept looking forward. "So what
happened?" Vicky softly asked trying to be as considerate as possible, as
hard as it was proving to be. She had drudged up this conversation after all.
"My
commanding officer found out I was a junkie and pulled me out without blowing my
cover. I went to rehab and now here I am," Billie answered, turning to
Vicky to give her a little smile as if to say, “its okay.”
Vicky
caught Billie's expression and felt a little better. She wondered if Van and
Deaq had known about this. Had they told Sara? She knew that wasn’t important
but she still wondered. “And I thought I had it bad,” Vicky finally said
after a long silence.
“So,
what happened to you? Why’d you start drinking on the job?” Billie replied,
glancing over in her direction.
“Hacking
up dead people just isn’t as fun as it used to be,” Vicky answered. Billie
tried not to cringe at the thought, but Vicky already saw her making that face.
“Go ahead and do it. I know it sounds disgusting, but it was fun when I first
started, now it’s just taxing, especially with some of the gross and unusual
shit I’ve seen in the last few months. It’s been making me sick and want to
change careers, but I don’t think you can successfully transition from dead
people who can’t talk and tell you what happened to them to people who are
still alive with and willing to tell you whatever you’ll listen to. I’m
sorry, but I’d rather get and eyeful than an earful.”
Billie
began to giggle at that last comment. “I guess you’re right. Cutting up dead
people can be pretty disgusting, but trying to listen to some of the living
makes you wanna go ahead and kill yourself,” she replied. “For example,
Van.” They both laughed this time.
“Are you
making fun of Sara’s man?” Vicky asked in mock surprise.
“Of
course I’m not, I’m just saying…” Billie nearly exploded in laughter.
Their conversation had made her feel a little bit better, especially now that
she and Vicky had traded some pretty deep stories, but she was still in turmoil.
Ian had to know the other pieces of her past that she knew would destroy their
relationship if he found them out himself, but how was she going to tell him?
How could she? These were things she had tried to avoid for the longest time,
and having to drag them back to the surface would only cause her more pain and
would more than likely make him turn away from her like every other boyfriend
she had told her secrets to. He’d probably call her a freak and walk out on
her like they did. That’s the last thing Billie wanted, especially now that
she had found someone worth fighting for.
Parking in
the underground garage of her building, Billie quickly exited her car had headed
for the elevator, letting Vicky follow behind at somewhat of a distance. She
wanted to be alone at the moment for fear that she’d lash out at anyone who
tried to talked to her. The feelings and emotions that were floating around in
her head were becoming unbearable. Once they had reached her apartment on the
third floor of the building, she quickly headed to the bathroom and locked
herself inside.
The moment
she sat down on the toilet, Billie began to shed the tears that she had been
holding back for the longest time. Her untold fears were slowing becoming
reality now that she had finally realized that bringing up her past with Ian
would be inevitable. She wanted to tell him, oh LORD did she want to tell him,
and she knew now when she felt the weakest and most vulnerable was probably the
best time because who could resist a crying woman even if she was trying to tell
the man she was falling for she was probably the last person on earth he’d
want to spend time with? At least it would lessen the blow if he up and left the
moment a few things came flying out of her mouth.
Billie
eased herself up off the toilet and inched her way to the sink to look at her
reflection in the mirror. She looked like hell and quickly decided to take off
all that horrible makeup that was just making her face all the more worse off
than it actually was. Besides, she really didn’t need all that extra makeup on
her face when the fireworks started. It would only screw up her face more.
Billie
picked through her purse and pulled out her cell phone, her shaky fingers
slowing dialing the number she had so quickly memorized to be those that
belonged to Ian’s cell. She continued to shake as she pulled the phone next to
her ear and waited, the agonizing silence between each ring making her wonder
why she was doing this, until finally someone picked up.
“Yes,
Billie?” Ian’s soft, silky voice ran through the line like a torrent of cool
air that immediately calmed her ever jittery nerves.
“Ian,”
she replied in a still shaky voice.
“Billie,
what’s wrong?” he immediately asked, sensing her unstable mindset.
“I…I…
I need to talk to you,” she finally answered, holding back her tears by
keeping her voice low, her heart stuck deep in her throat. “Is there anywhere
that I can meet you, like you place or wherever?”
“Yes,”
Ian said, then promptly gave her directions to the mansion.
“Thank
you,” Billie replied. “I’ll see you in a little bit.”
“Billie,”
Ian interjected before she hung up.
“Yeah?”
she said.
“No
matter what’s wrong, we’ll get through this together. I promise,” he
replied.
Billie
felt her heart begin to ease at his last comment. It didn’t feel stuck in her
throat any longer as she smiled and said, “I know we will. I’ll see you
soon.”
“Alright,
bye,” he finally hung up as she sighed with relief. Maybe this wasn’t going
to be as bad as she thought.
After
washing off all the residue from her cheeks, eyes, and lips, Billie looked at
the mirror again and saw the real face behind it, scarred flesh and all. It
didn’t look so bad. Three years had passed since the “accident.” She had
refused to think about it since it happened, but tonight was the night she’d
finally find the courage to bring it up. If she got anything out of this, it
would be the satisfaction that she had finally admitted to herself that she was
moving past that point in her life. Now, how was she going to get past Vicky
without her seeing the hideousness of her scars? Well, maybe two people knowing
weren’t that bad.
Billie
walked out of the bathroom and headed towards the living room where she heard
the TV on. “Vicky?” she asked softly. “Vicky, where are you?” She looked
down at the couch to find her asleep, her head rolled back onto one of the
cushions with the controller in her left hand and her right hand covering her
eyes. It was a relieving sight. Billie held back her snort as she grabbed a
blanket from the side of the couch and spread it out over the sleeping woman.
She could only hope that Vicky wouldn’t wake up until
*~*~*
The 405
was a wide open space that night as Van, Deaq, and Sara sped down the freeway at
break neck speeds to reach their destination in time for the meeting with Trent
Weaver. Van led the group in his Mustang, followed by Deaq in the Eclipse, and
finally Sara headed up with rear with her R6. They had already made a good
headway, giving themselves about a ten minute window just in case they ran into
some trouble.
From the
looks of it and the warmth on her wrist, Sara knew that trouble was inevitable.
The Witchblade was swirling in anticipation for the fight that was brewing. She
knew she had to tell Van and Deaq somehow, but it was hard to watch the road and
dial numbers on her cell phone as she sped down the freeway at nearly 100mph.
She’d just have to wait until someone decided to call her. Or she could use
the little trick Van and Ian had been using to get to her when she was
unresponsive in all conventional ways… telepathy. That would certainly get
Van’s attention, if not make him call her.
Taking a
few deep and calming breaths, Sara sent out her first thoughts hoping that
they’d at least make a dent in Van’s concentration. Up ahead, she could see
his brake lights turn on for a moment, but he continued to speed down the
freeway as if it was nothing. ‘Damn,’ she thought, deciding to try it again,
this time, a little louder.
‘VAN!’
she mentally yelled, hoping that this time it would work a little more
effectively.
Up ahead,
the Mustang’s brake lights turned on as she heard the screeching of tires on
pavement. ‘Christ! Sara! Don’t scare me like that!’ Van yelled back,
causing her to stop abruptly as well.
“Holy
shit, it worked,” Sara said to herself softly as she started to speed up once
more. She looked to the car ahead of her to see Deaq was glancing back at her
with an angry glare in his eyes. She knew he was probably wondering what the
hell was going on, but that would all be explained in moments if she could get
Van’s attention again and ask him what she was meaning to ask him.
‘Hey,
Van, could you give me a call and connect to Deaq as well so he can hear this
too?’ Sara thought softly so she wouldn’t scare him again.
‘Yeah,
sure; what’s going on?’ Van replied.
‘I’ll
tell you in a minute,’ she answered, placing her finger on the ‘talk’
button of her phone so she was ready when Van called her. When she heard her
phone ringing in her headset, Sara quickly picked it up and waited until Van
gave the all clear that Deaq was on as well.
“So,
what’s up? Why’d you try to kill us all with the telepathy shit?” Van
asked once everyone was connected through their phones.
“Because,”
Sara said, “I just got this weird feeling from the Witchblade. Something’s
gonna happen, and soon.”
“Like a
hinky vibe?” Deaq spoke up.
“A
what?” she replied, confused.
“A hinky
vibe, basically what you said, a weird feeling about something,” Van
explained.
“Okay,
whatever, just be on guard,” Sara said. “I don’t want anything bad to
happen to either of you two.”
“Aw,
isn’t that sweet?” Deaq mockingly cooed. “She doesn’t want anything bad
to happen to either one of us.”
“You
know what, Deaq,” Sara shot back; “I hope you crash into something.” If
they were facing each other, he probably would have stuck his tongue out at her
or something. She didn’t know what was behind his smart ass remarks all of a
sudden, but she did have a feeling that it had to do with what she and Van had
done back at the Candy Store.
“You
know what, this is stupid,” Deaq replied.
“And
that took you how long to realize?” Sara snapped.
Van
wasn’t paying much attention to the bickering as his eyes caught sight of
three cars that had been slowly approaching them soon after they had hit the
405. They were three black Mazda RX-7’s with blue neon glowing from the
undercarriage and silver flame decals on the doors and hood. He knew almost
immediately that they were probably the trouble Sara had anticipated and decided
to quickly warn his colleagues of the approaching danger.
“Guys,”
he said into his headset.
“You
know what, just shut up already!” Sara was yelled at Deaq.
“Why
don’t you shut up? You started this!” he griped.
“I
started this? Excuse me, but weren’t you the one mocking me?” she spit back.
“GUYS!”
Van yelled a little more loudly to hopefully grab their attention. “Both of
you shut the fuck up! I think we’ve got company.”
Sara’s
head snapped up almost immediately as she glanced around at her surroundings to
see where their trouble would be coming from. She spotted the three RX-7’s
approaching from her left and quickly broke away from her group to spin around
so she was now facing her opponents. Just as she had expected, all three
vehicles had drivers and passengers all carrying semiautomatic weapons, and all
appeared ready to cause damage.
“Here we
go,” Sara said in that determined voice that told everyone she more than ready
for this. “Bring it on, baby.”
*~*~*
Billie
pulled up to the mansion at a quarter after three, her entire body beginning to
jitter again as she thought about all the things she was getting ready to reveal
to the first person that she had ever really cared about, the first person she
was willing to admit she was falling in love with. As she stepped out of the car
and onto the pavement, her eyes went up to glance at the massive expanse of the
house. The place was incredible even in the dark. It was a freaking monstrosity,
for crying out loud! She could even tell that the color was a rich brown, almost
like the color of a wild duck egg. It was absolutely stunning. And the Greco
Roman pillars were an amazing addition. The place was probably a Mediterranean
paradise.
The dark
oak wood doors opened to reveal a single individual wearing a black butler’s
uniform, who quickly ushered her inside the mansion before she even had time to
ask his name or where Ian was. “The library,” the man told her in a thick
English accent before she could even form the question in her mind. It was as if
he knew what she was thinking… creepy.
“Um…
Whi…?” Billie started before he interrupted her.
“At the
end of the west wing, which is straight town that hall,” he answered, pointing
to her left.
“Thank…”
she tried once more, but just like that, poof! He was gone. “You,” she
finished, then shrugged it off, making her way down the hall towards the library
where Ian surly was. She slowly walked on the marble floor, her three inch heels
clicking every time they made contact with the expensive stone and echoing like
she was at the
Continuing
her walk down the hall, she noticed it was almost bare except for the occasional
painting on the wall of a beautiful woman wearing a bracelet with a jewel that
closely resembled that which Sara wore. Billie shrugged it off as a weird
coincidence and continued her journey down the expansive hall. It felt like the
trip was taking forever until she finally reached the closed double dark oak
doors of the library. Out of common courtesy, she knocked before she entered,
trying hard to keep her hand from shaking as she drew it upon the doors twice.
They suddenly opened, startling her and making her take a step back. A warm wind
hit her face as she peered behind the doors to see the roaring fire in the
hearth.
Billie
slowly entered the warm room and looked around to see where Ian was. Instead,
her eyes caught the volumes of books stacked on the high shelves all around the
room. She had never seen so many books in her entire life, except for the local
library. The sheer number was enough to astound her. The only other things she
could see were two black leather couches, a podium, and another black leather
chair facing the fireplace. She continued her exploration of the library, her
eyes never leaving the volumes, scanning each book individually and reading the
title until she came to one in particular.
“The
Hunchback of Notre Dame.” The voice came from behind her, startling Billie
enough to make her jump and gasp, but she didn’t turn around. She stayed there
as a pair of strong arms snaked around her waist and came to rest upon her hips.
She leaned into the hard chest, making herself a little more comfortable as the
moment of the inevitable approached.
“I loved
that story,” she said softly, keeping her eyes on the book as Ian placed a
soft kiss on her neck.
“It’s
the story of my life,” he replied.
“Mine
too.” Finally gathering the courage to get on with it, she added, “Ian, I
have to show you something, something you might not like, something that might
frighten you, but please, don’t run. Whatever you do, don’t run.”
“What
could possibly make me run?” Ian asked.
“This,”
she answered, turning around, her eyes downcast as her dark hair fell around her
blemished left cheek. He looked at her questioningly, his ungloved hands pulling
the bushy strands away from her face to reveal the horrible scars that he had
never seen before. Before he could stop himself, he gasped.
Billie
knew what that meant. She stepped back intuitively, shielding her face as she
turned around and made her way back to the door. “I don’t know what made me
think I could show him this soon. God, I knew this would happen! Why couldn’t
I have waited just a little longer,” she cursed herself. Before she knew it,
someone had appeared in front of her, blocking her only exit. Billie looked up
to find Ian standing before her, his eyes locking onto hers in an attempt to
keep her from running. She stopped immediately, wondering why he was still
there, why he had kept her from walking out instead of letting her leave on her
own accord.
“What?”
she asked in that moody tone that she usually reserved for the guys at work.
“Wanna get a closer at something you’re probably never gonna see again?”
“No,”
Ian softly answered, trying to keep from getting wrapped up in Billie’s anger,
or angering her further.
“Then
why the hell aren’t you letting me leave?” she griped, trying to push past
him as her hair fell into her face. But he remained undeterred by her foul mood
and continued to block the double doors, effectively keeping her from running.
“Because,”
he said, “I have something to show you as well.” Ian grabbed the hem of his
black knit sweater and pulled it off revealing his fine, lean muscles. Billie
was beginning to wonder what the hell he was getting at until he turned around.
To her horror, she found hundreds of scars from what appeared to be either a
stick, a belt, or, God forbid, a whip. Her hand flew to her mouth, stopping
anything that might have inadvertently slipped out as her eyes stared at him,
unable to break away. She soon began to realize that whatever her face looked
like was nothing compared to his back.
“Oh, my
God,” Billie softly whispered, her other hand gently reaching up and touching
one of the more prominent scars. Her soft, cool touch sent a shiver down his
spin as he remained still while her hand traveled down his back, continuing to
glide over each and every blemish until it came back up again, stopping where it
had started. “Where did you get these?” she asked, her voice still almost a
whisper.
“My…
father,” Ian answered, his face going slack as the memories seemed to come
back to him full force.
“You’re
father?” Billie nearly yelled, but it came out more like a squeak as she moved
around to face him when she felt his muscles tense beneath her hands. “I
seriously hope he’s dead, because I’d kill him if he wasn’t. What kind of
man can do this to their own child?”
“Kenneth
Irons,” he softly replied. Billie’s eyes nearly rolled out of her head.
*~*~*
“Sara,
what are you doing?” Van yelled into his headset as he watched in his rearview
mirror what was about to happen. Before he had time to react, Sara had already
pulled her gun and started shooting at the first of the riders that were
following them. He made a U-turn and followed her lead, pulling his own gun from
his pocket and placing a full clip into it. Opening his window, he stuck his arm
out and blindly started to shoot at his targets, hoping that he wouldn’t hit
Sara or Deaq in the process.
In hot
pursuit, Deaq followed his two companions, his gun also drawn and ready to shoot
at anything that came his way. This was definitely going to be a fight to the
death for all of them, and he wasn’t going to be on the death side any time
soon.
Sara felt
the Witchblade activate on her arm, allowing bullets from all sides to
harmlessly deflect away from her. It gave her time to formulate a plan of
attack. The three cars were fast approaching, guns drawn and emptying bullets
left and right. The bike was becoming an increasingly hard thing to maneuver now
that the Witchblade was fully extended on one arm and she was holding a gun in
the other. She knew she was going to crash if she didn’t do something soon, so
she decided to do the only thing plausible… jump.
“Guys,
cover me!” Sara yelled over the gunfire.
“Sara!”
Van tried to yell back when he saw her stand up on her bike and got ready to
jump off. “Sara, don’t do it! Sara! SARA!” It was too late; she had
already flown off her bike. How she could have survived that kind of a jump was
beyond him, but there she was, standing already, gun drawn, Witchblade wrapped
around her other arm like a sleek bullet magnet. He knew he really didn’t have
to worry much about her now that she had it activated. But still, something deep
inside told him to keep watch over her and make sure she didn’t kill herself
doing something stupid.
Sara
continued to shoot at the oncoming vehicles even though it appeared that they
were going to hit her. Once the first one came within ten feet of her, she
rolled to her right to avoid it. The driver did a quick U-turn and came back
from the other direction. It looked as if he was going to try and hit her again
if Van hadn’t taken a lucky shot and hit his gas tank, making it explode the
moment the bullet made contact with it. Sara was thrown back several feet, but
quickly recovered, even taking time to wipe some of the dust and grime off her
pants and coat. She turned around and quickly realized that she had made a bad
judgment call. Another car was quickly approaching, and this time she knew she
wasn’t getting away.
Van saw
the second car approaching as Sara dusted herself off from the explosion. He
knew she wouldn’t have time to react, so he made his move, flooring the
accelerator. As the second car came upon Sara, she instinctively placed her
hands over her face, hoping that this wasn’t going to hurt that much. Seconds
later, she heard a loud crash and peered through her fingers to see what was
going on.
The crash
looked like something out of an action movie. Gas spilled out all over the
pavement from both cars, the driver of the black RX-7 probably dead under all
the crumpled metal and Van lying across the steering wheel unconscious.
“Shit!” Sara said as she rushed to the driver’s side of his car to try and
pull him out before anything got worse. But that would soon change. She didn’t
know how it happened, but the other car became engulfed in flames. By now Sara
was frantic. She didn’t know what to do. The flames were getting closer, and
all she could do was try to pull at the door. Raising the Witchblade, she
shattered the windshield and tried to get Van out that way.
Deaq had
his own dilemma to deal with at the moment. The other car was still after him,
and gaining as the driver stepped on the accelerator and used the first of his
NOS tanks. They were fast approaching a construction zone that Deaq knew was
blocked off for a reason. A bridge was being worked on, and it hadn’t been
completed yet, so half of it was still an open space while the other half was
paved. He decided to take his chances with the risky idea forming in his head
and plowed through the cones, the other car following.
Coming to
the bridge, it was hard to tell which side was the paved side and which side
still needed to be built. Getting in a quick prayer, Deaq continued barreling
down the pavement as the last driver came up on his right. He grabbed the gun
with his right hand and started to fire shots at the driver, but all too soon,
the man and his car dropped from view and a loud explosion could be heard from
behind him. Stopping the car, Deaq got out and took a look at what happened.
Just as he had anticipated, the dumbass fell for it.
Quickly
getting back into his car, Deaq drove back to where he last saw Van and Sara
only to find another burning wreck, and Sara frantically pulling at metal and
shards of glass, a huge metallic glove encasing her entire right arm helping her
cut anything that stood in her way. Deaq stopped a couple feet away and decided
that he didn’t care what the hell was going on. He needed to help get his
partner out of that wreck before it exploded.
Sara was
scaling the hood of the car by the time Deaq came up beside her and gave her a
hand. They both grabbed Van and dragged him out of the burning vehicle onto the
pavement some few feet away. Sara sat down beside him, gently placing his head
in her lap and started to coax him out of his unconscious state by stroking his
face with her gloved hand. “Wake up, Van, wake up.” She was nearly in tears.
“Please, baby,” Sara begged, her heart leaping into her throat.
Hearing a
groan escape from his lips, she looked down to see his eyes flutter open.
“Mmm… What the hell happened?” Van asked in a groggy voice.
“I just
pulled you out of a burning car. That’s what happened,” Sara answered.
“Don’t ever scare me like that again! Were you crazy?”
“Just
about as crazy as you jumping off your bike at a hundred miles an hour,” he
replied with a sly grin.
Before
Sara even had time to give him a slap in the arm, the two of them were thrown
back as a final explosion erupted from the burning wreckage of the last two
cars. She instinctively wrapped her arms around Van to protect him as they hit
the pavement together. They sat up and watched as a ball of fire and smoke
dissipated in the sky above them. In the distance, the wailing of police sirens
getting closer now permeated the night air. Sara knew they had to get out of
there fast before anyone arrived on the scene and quickly helped Van to his
feet. They limped over to her discarded bike and quickly got on as Deaq revved
the engine of his car and started down the road with them.
Sara heard
her cell phone ringing and quickly picked it up. “So, what are we gonna do
now?” she heard Deaq ask.
“I
dunno. How much time do we have left before we gotta meet
“About
five minutes,” he answered.
“Good,
then pull over so I can make sure Van’s alright,” she said, following Deaq
to an off ramp that she assumed would lead them to
“Why did
we stop?” he questioned as she kneeled down in front of him and slipped off
her gloves. Her cool hand pressed against his forehead feeling for any fractures
to his skull around the large bloody bruise now forming near his right temple.
“I need
to make sure you’re okay,” Sara said, watching him wince as her finger
gently wiped a few drops of blood off his skin. “Looks like you took a pretty
good whack to the head.”
“No
wonder I got such a headache,” Van sarcastically remarked. She slapped his
right arm for the comment and he quickly yelped in pain. “OW!” he cried out.
Sara’s
eyes immediately went to his right arm and found the source of his discomfort.
There was a large burn running form his shoulder to almost his elbow. “Don’t
move,” she ordered, heading in the direction of Deaq’s car and knocking on
his window to get his attention. He rolled it down as she asked, “Do you have
a first aid kit in your car?”
“I think
so, why? Is Van hurt that bad?” Deaq replied, getting out, but not before
popping open the trunk.
“He’s
got a nice lump on his head and his arm is burned, first degree most likely, but
nothing that needs to be looked at immediately,” Sara answered as she rummaged
through the trunk until she found what she was looking for. Grabbing the first
aid kit, she headed back to where Van was sitting, with Deaq in tow.
Sara
kneeled down before him and gently grabbed the lapels of his jacket to slowly
pull it off his shoulders. Van winced in pain, but never once made a sound as
she delicately freed the right sleeve from his burned flesh. She ripped his
shirt sleeve off to take a better look at the burned area. It wasn’t one of
the most gruesome sights either had seen, but it still looked like it hurt. Once
she had his jacket off, she opened the first aid kit and began rummaging around
to see what was in there. She found a bottle of disinfectant, a large wad of
cotton, gauze, and an Ace bandage.
“This
might sting a little,” Sara warned as she doused the cotton with a quarter of
the bottle of disinfectant and proceeded to place it on his arm.
Van looked
away, the pain shooting through his body like a thousand needles going into his
skin at once. This really wasn’t the time he wanted Sara to see him so weak.
He tried to stay strong as she cleaned the wound, but the pain was unbearable.
His head leaned towards her shoulder as he found comfort in her half embrace.
His arm still hurt, but at least this felt better than lying on pavement. Van
finally let out a sigh of relief when he felt Sara start to wrap his arm in the
gauze then the Ace bandage. When she was finally done, she wiped her hands on
her pants.
“Feeling
any better?” Sara asked as she took his face in her palms and looked into his
eyes.
Van smiled
weakly and replied, “A little.”
“Okay,
now let’s see that cut on your head,” she said, her thumb gently beginning
to feel around it again. He winced in pain once more and she quickly grabbed a
band aid from the kit. After placing it over the cut, she kissed his cheek and
looked at him again. “Alright, we gotta get going. How much time do we have
left?” Sara asked as she looked up at Deaq.
“Two
minutes,” he answered.
Sara
helped Van up and headed to her bike. Once he was wrapped around her, she
started her engine and took off to follow Deaq to the designated meeting point.
She could feel Van nestle his head against her back and close his eyes for a
little rest before things began to happen again. Sara sighed, wishing that this
was already over so they could both get some sleep.
*~*~*
“Kenneth
Irons was you father?” Billie asked as she looked into those dark amber eyes
looking for something to tell her that she had heard right.
“He
wasn’t my real father, he was just he man that raised me,” Ian answered in
that defeated tone after sensing that Billie was about to make a run for it
again, except this time it was for a better reason than before.
“Why did
he do this to you? What could you have possibly done to deserve this kind of
cruel punishment?” she asked, unable to fathom all that she had seen. She had
been through a lot herself with her foster parents and all those different
families she had lived with before she finally decided it was time to get away,
but this? This was too much for anyone to bear alone and keep locked up inside
for so long without telling. Billie was determined to get this out of him before
it got to the point where he just broke down.
“Disobedience,
mainly,” Ian softly replied.
“What
kind of disobedience?” Billie continued her questioning.
Ian turned
away, unable to look at her, fearing that what he was about to say would make
him look stupid in her eyes as well as a fool. "Not listening to an
authority figure, doing the opposite of what I was told, disobeying orders and
not following through with them, taking things without permission... the list
goes on," he answered finally.
"Oh,
my God," she whispered, taking his face in her hands. "He beat you
because of those minor little things? I'd understand getting slapped on the hand
and belted every once in a while, but getting whipped across the back? That's
child abuse! You didn't deserve any of that."
"In
his eyes, I did, and I believed him," Ian came to Irons defense.
"Don't
ever say that. Nobody deserves anything of that nature, especially at a young
age. How old were you when this started?" Billie continued questioning.
"About
five."
"Oh,
my God! You weren't even five years old? That bastard!" Billie was fuming.
She was outraged that anything like this could have happened to anyone. Her
whole mission in life had been to stop these kinds of people. But then again,
people like Irons didn't go to jail. He probably would have found a loophole or
some kind of sorry ass excuse that deemed him unable to receive any kind of
punishment for his actions. And besides, what she was doing now didn't really
fit into that category of saving the lives of innocent victims. Yeah, she was
catching some of the worst criminals in the world, but she wasn't helping the
people she had originally wanted to help, those that had been abused.
"Oh,
God, baby, I'm so sorry," she said, wrapping her arms around him once more
and holding him close. "I guess it's my turn for the horrible stories. It's
only fair. You told me something you probably never would have told anyone else,
so I'll tell you about my little brush with sulfuric acid."
"Sulfuric
acid?" Ian inquired, a bit confused by how such a thing could cause that
much damage.
Billie led
him over one of the black leather couches and began. "I was working deep
undercover on a case about three years ago just after I got over my heroine
addiction. The guy was a chemical manufacturer, and one of the main chemicals he
produced was sulfuric acid. He also had a thing for killing people with his
acid, people he didn't like. I positioned myself as his secretary, and got
really close, which mean I ended up..." Billie didn't know if she should
tell him what she had done or just let him try and figure it out for himself.
She decided on the former. "I ended up... sleeping with him, and he told me
about some of the people he had doused in the stuff. Of course that was
something I regret, and probably will until my dying day, but at least I had him
on tape so the weasel couldn't get himself out of a conviction. When the day
came to arrest him, he was in the warehouse doing inventory. I had backup and
SWAT, but they had been instructed to wait until I gave them the signal. So when
the time came to tell him he was under arrest, he got pissed, grabbed a hose,
and tried to spray me with it. I turned, he hit me in the face, then before I
knew it, I was on the ground in an enormous amount of pain. I didn't know what
happened for the next couple of minutes, but by that time, someone had come to
my aid and was spraying me with water. I was rushed off to the hospital soon
after with second degree burns to my face. I had three skin graft surgeries, and
a whole lotta therapy. I started to think of myself as an ugly grotesque thing
that nobody would ever want whenever I looked in a mirror. I didn't want to be
around people anymore. I wanted to die, and wish I had because having people
stare at something this hideous killed me on the inside." Billie was in
tears now, visibly shaking. “I don’t even know how you’ve managed to sit
here and listen to me without staring at my face. I thought by now your eyes
would be glued to this thing,” she pointed to her scar and he looked at it for
the first time since she showed it to him. He gently ran his hand across her
cheek, feeling the valleys and peaks of her burned skin.
Tell
me I will never die
Take
away my pain
Rock
me gently in your arms
Say
that I'll remain in your keeping
The
unbelievable amount of tenderness Billie felt in Ian’s caress had her craving
more. She turned her head, catching his fingertips on her lips and kissed them
softy. He smiled, leaning in and placing a delicate kiss on her lips. Billie
closed her eyes and allowed Ian to deepen it. She parted her lips slightly,
giving his tongue access to her mouth. She could feel it run across her teeth
then over her own in a sensual almost erotic way. Her insides were beginning to
turn into mush as she pressed herself against his chest and silently pleaded for
him to take this further. ‘Lord knows, I need it after such an emotional
roller coaster ride,’ she thought, feeling his hands run down her spine and
rest on her hips.
Ian took
his queues from Billie and began to peel off her jacket, careful never to break
the kiss as he slid it down her arms and let it fall to the floor at the foot of
the couch. Beneath it she was still in the lovely black tube top and leopard
print mini skirt. He reached down to her skirt and began to unzip the back,
allowing his hands full access to the silky skin of her firm rump. Billie moaned
as the soft pads of his fingertips traced circles up her tailbone and over her
hips until he reached the top of her thong. Hooking his thumbs on both sides, he
slowly began to pull it down her ass. Her hips rose instinctively to help him
slip it off her completely. It fell to the floor beside her jacket and skirt.
Brush
the hair out from my eyes
Read
me a good story
Kiss
my fingertips goodnight
Say
that I can stay in your company
Billie
pulled away for a moment to suck in a few breaths of air, her eyes barely able
to focus from the lack of oxygen she had just experience, but that kiss was
absolutely perfect. She pulled Ian towards her lips once more to continue as his
hands slid around her back to fiddle with the clasps of her tube top. Within
minutes, it too was on the floor along with the strapless black bra she had on
beneath it.
This time
Ian broke the kiss as his lips traveled down the sun kissed column of her neck
to just below her ear. It was the point that made her weak and moan his name in
that husky tone that drove him further. Her breathing began to slow and relax as
did her tense muscles. He knew exactly how to kiss her through the way her body
responded to his each and every touch. Right now, his touch was sending her into
oblivion with sheer pleasure. Slowly, her heart began to race as his kisses
flowed downward towards her collarbone. She shivered as he nipped her gently,
leaving light marks here and there.
And
I know this much is true
I
have lived inside of you
You
have always seen me through
While
I am peacefully sleeping
Billie’s
hands slowly crept up Ian’s back and pulled his hair out of the tight ponytail
he kept it in. As his dark locks spilled across her fingers, she felt his kisses
make their way down her chest and up her left breast, his teeth catching her
nipple. She hissed his name as the shockwaves of pleasure radiated throughout
her body.
“Ian,”
Billie murmured. She raked her fingers through his dark hair as she moaned his
name over and over. Ian continued to lavish attention on her other breast as he
could feel the passion building by the second. He let go of her breast and
quickly made his way to her neck suckling on it as a bee would a flower. Billie
knew she’d have one hell of a hicky the next morning, but she didn’t care.
This was much too fun for her to stop, and the pleasure was unbelievable. When
he finally let go of her neck, she caught her breath and looked deep into those
smoldering amber eyes wondering what he was going to do to her now.
You
have always been my friend
I
can see you beauty shining
I
will love you 'til the end
Long
will I remain in your keeping
Ian gave
her a devilish grin almost as if he had read her mind and began to inch his way
down her abdomen, leaving a trail of wet kisses in his wake. His tongue circled
around her belly button, sending a tremor through Billie’s body, until it
finally dipped into it. “Oh, God!” she moaned loudly, her hand reaching for
his hair. Her breathing began to quicken as his lips continued down their path
until they reached the downy soft triangle of curls between her legs. He ran his
index finger through it in circles, allowing Billie to continue shivering
against his touch. Before she even had time to react to all the sensations, his
tongue darted out over her wet folds, tasting her for but a second before his
lips traveled up her abdomen again. It effectively drove Billie nuts, getting so
close to release and having it taken away. She could barely hold out any longer.
“Ian,
please,” Billie softly begged. “Please, I need you.” Her straining voice
was enough to make him slowly inch his way down her abdomen again. She parted
her legs for him, giving him full access to her nether lips. She felt his tongue
give her another soft lick and she arched into him, silently pleading for him to
keep going. He followed her instruction quite well, his licks getting harder and
longer with each roll of his tongue until she could barely take it any longer.
That wonderful ache had been building up slowly, and now it was about time for
it to be released. Billie could feel it deep down inside, and when his tongue
came into contact with her throbbing clit again, she exploded. An ear piercing
cry escaped her lips, her legs tightening around his neck as her orgasm finally
ripped through her body. Moments later she went limp on the warm leather,
panting, trying to find her equilibrium again.
And
I know this much is true
I
have lived inside of you
You
have always seen me through
While
I am peacefully sleeping
While
I am peacefully sleeping...
“You’re
so good to me,” Billie whispered. Ian grabbed an Afghan off the back of the
couch and wrapped her in it then proceeded to pick her up off the leather seat.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked, a little surprised that they would
venture out of such a comfortable place.
“To my
bedroom,” Ian answered innocently, but his eyes told a different story. She
smiled back at him knowing exactly what was going to happen next.
“Please
be gentle,” she barely whispered, her lips softly kissing his neck as he
continued to carry her out of the library and down the hall to the magnificent
spiral staircase that led to the second floor of the mansion.
“As you wish, my Lady,” he replied.
A/N: Music: "In Your Keeping" by Jann Arden
Chapter 51: The Encounter