Saturday, September 19, 2009

Part XLVI

Part XLVI

I mumbled under my breath as I passed through the doors to the hospital making myself unremarkable. It was past visiting hours and I needed to make sure Destiny wasn't getting any from things that shouldn't ever get a pass. I passed by the nurse on her way out of Destiny's room and she shuttered and looked around. I sat down in the chair and watched Destiny eat her Jell-o for dinner. It was magic to see her awake and responding, and I wasn't sure I wanted to reveal myself just yet.

She ate slowly, letting the Jell-o melt on her tongue. She stuck her spoon back in and paused. She looked around the room, then settled her gaze right on me. She smiled and took another bite. I stayed where I was. She got it, and that was all I needed.

She finished and put her spoon down and pushed the tray back and away from her. She leaned back and sighed, and patted the bed next to her. I hesitated, then joined her, not knowing what it must have been like to feel me but not see me as I slid in next to her. She turned on her side and we spooned like high school kids not sure what should happen next. She drifted off to sleep and I lay there feeling her breath and getting angry inside.

The window to her room was facing East, and the sun hit me like a pin prick on the back of my neck. I woke with a start and made sure I could still feel her and she was warm. I moved carefully away and sat back in the chair.

On the small side table next to the chair was a pad and a pen. I tore off a piece of paper and made a swan, it was the only piece of Origami I knew, but I'd practiced it a lot. I put it on the pillow next to her head and then laid my palm on her forehead. I consulted with Grandfather Lee, then mumbled under my breath and made her forget me. I locked all her memories so deep in her mind it'd be almost impossible for anyone to find them. If I made it out of this alive, maybe I'd come back with the key.

I paused at the door and felt my spine go rigid. I was done playing around. The Tall Man would pay. I was a hunter now, not a victim, and come hell or high water, I was going fuck him up so bad he'd wished he'd never met me. As my hand slipped off the door jam, I mumbled under my breath and sealed the room. I didn't take my hand off the wall until I reached the front door. Outside my nose began to bleed and Grandfather Lee complained that I was endangering myself by trying to lock down the whole hospital. I told him shut the fuck up.

Back at the hotel, I checked the laptop. It was finished. I was heading to Utah, and I was bringing death with me. The Old Man started to purr when I picked him up. He could feel the anger in me and it made him happy. I scratched him behind the ears and put him back down on the bed. I picked up my cell and called Bruce back.

I need a drop shipment.

I need a new eye.

What color do you want?

I want green.

Green it is.

Not hazel.

It'll be so green people will think it's fake.

I gave Bruce an address and a list of things I was going to need. I hung up and packed my gear. I picked up the Old Man and walked out of the W hotel. As I pushed through the front door, Steven Segal was walking in. I mumbled under my breath and heard him shit his pants. I smiled like the Cheshire cat and didn't break my stride. He was no Chuck Norris.

I pulled onto Wilshire, then dropped to Westwood. I turned right onto Santa Monica and onto the 405 and merged onto the 10 until I hit the 15 North. Grandfather Lee was mumbling low in my brain, keeping me focused. We had a plan, and on top of that I was done messing around. I was focused for the first time since the whole sorted affair had begun. I was out for blood. I was out for retribution, and I no longer cared who got in my way.

I made it to Vegas in record time and pulled into the Fed Ex where I'd had Bruce send my package. The package had to be moved to the van with a lorry. It filled up a quarter of the free space. The kid helping me get it in the van wasn't happy about it.

What they hell d'ya order?

A shit load of guns.

He laughed. It made me a little nervous he thought that was funny.

I laughed as I pulled out and hit the road, because there were guns in the box. Big magic guns, the kinds of things that look like props in a Sci-Fi film and put stupid amounts of hurt on things that shouldn't exist. I was carrying a box full of one-of-a-king Bruce specials, and I was going to use them in very imaginative ways, on very imaginative things.

I stopped in Salt Lake City five hours later and me and the Old Man grabbed a hotel room. I picked the Residence in in city center. We were going to be here for a bit and I needed a room large enough to work in. It had a full kitchen too, and I had things to cook.