The metal gleamed in the sunlight pouring in from the small window at the top
of the wall. She was a beautiful thing, too bad I’d have to dull the shine. Smooth
and sleek was nice to look at, but not very practical in my line of work. Closing one
eye, I used the other to sight down the barrel. I swung my body around to aim at
random items in the room.
“She’s a beaut, Ray.”
“That she is, girl, that she is.”
I laid the weapon on the counter, running my hands slowly over it. “Wrap her up.”
“Thought you might say that.” Ray pulled a case, the kind I prefer, from under the
counter and got to work on putting the gun away.
Turning my back to him, my eyes took in the “store.” Not much had changed since
I was a kid. A few pieces of higher technology, but other than that, the appearance
was identical. Nice to know some things stay the same.
“Your pop would’ve liked this one too.”
Attention now drawn to the aging man behind the counter, I stifled a sad face. The
mention of my pops always did that to me. Hardened face, I gave Ray a sly grin.
Whistling air escaped between his teeth, “That is one look I don’t want to see
directed toward me again. Yet another way you’re like your old man.”
“I may have some of the same mannerisms, Ray. But I won’t go out like him.”
“No doubt about that. He taught you everything he knew. Now you have time to
learn past that. Considering how good he was at his job, girl, I wouldn’t want to be
on the opposite end of this where you are concerned.” He patted the gun with
obvious affection.
“And that’s saying something coming from you.”
“Damn straight it is.” He handed the case over to me in exchange for the briefcase I
gave him. He didn’t even open it to check. No one would dare cross him, not even
me. “Now get out of here and don’t tell me where you are going.”
“Like I would anyway, ya old geezer.” I grabbed the case and made my way up the
stairs. No, I wouldn’t tell him where I was going. For if I did, he wouldn’t let me
walk out of here.
3 years earlier…
He was still staring at me. I fought down the urge to lash out at him. At barely
eighteen, most girls knew how to deal with guys staring at them. I didn’t. “Home
schooled” with an education that would turn most people’s hair white, I wasn’t
prepared for the attention.
First day of college, what the hell was my pops thinking? Sending someone like me,
like us, to mainstream college—it just wasn’t done. I had to admit though, that
despite not being prepared socially for this, my pops had a good idea. You see, my
major is criminal justice, minor in art antiquities. The possibilities of our joint
venture would expand exponentially with my new found knowledge. All I had to do
was get over the urge to put Mr. Google-eye in his place.
I eyed the clock, expecting something different to happen. A watched pot never
boils and a class clock runs five minutes slow, guaranteed. This class was a bunch
of bullshit. I don’t know why I had to be here anyway. “Freshman Orientation,” ha,
what a pile they are feeding us.
I turned my head back around to the front of the class, only to have a beach ball
almost hit me in the head. One hand shot out and caught the ball an inch away
from my face. Curling my lip, I glared at the rainbow orb in my hand. My hand
wasn’t big, but my fingers are quite dexterous. I held the ball with the tips.
Glancing at the teacher…er… professor, I schooled my expression.
“Nice catch young lady, now tell us your name and something interesting about
yourself.”
Panic settled in. I don’t give information out about myself, it was a rule. Pops had
registered me under my legal name though.
“Come on, we don’t bite,” assured the Prof.
“What if I do?” I replied coolly.
Mr. Google-eye snorted, directing my attention to him. He raised one eyebrow and
his eyes turned to stone. Gone was the good natured flirt, arising in its place was
something I recognized, something that made me feel at home. This guy was a
stone cold killer.
Without taking my eyes off him, I let my predatory self show though. “Tarena.
Tarena Simp.”
“Now tell us something interesting about yourself.”
“Like what?”
“Anything that may perhaps set you apart from the others. We want unique
individuals in this institution.”
Hmm, unique, huh? I have a whole lot of unique, unfortunately, not much of my
set-apartness can be vocalized to the masses.
“I’m just your everyday, ordinary girl, Professor Klum.”
“Doubtful, young lady. Just tell us anything. Did you have a job over the summer
perchance?”
Looking directly at Mr. Stone Cold Killer, I said, “Yes, I did as a matter of fact.”
“And what did you do?”
“Pest Control.”
His thin lip sneered to one side.
“Interesting summer job for a young lady. See, I told you, you are unique in some
way. Now pass the ba—”
I threw the ball at Sneer’s head. He caught it, but it took him two hands and he
wasn’t as quick as me. I could take him. It was my turn to sneer.
Pale green eyes stared back at me. I’ve seen those kind of eyes before, goblin eyes.
They almost glow and have little variation or texture in the color. The light color
was accentuated by the slash of cheek bones and a roman nose. His strong jaw
jutted out at an angle to seem proud. How could I have thought his former
expression was a flirtatious one? A face as serious as his isn’t capable of flirtation.
It was only capable of one thing that I knew of.
Turning to the front, his face went through a drastic change. He was all smiles
again. Ahh, he’s one of those—a blender. Perhaps, I need to lighten my step
around here. Blenders are dangerous. They are not easily caught, since no one
ever expects them. I saw him, but he let me. A shiver trembled along in the inside
of my body. I was too good to let it show on the outside. Appearance was
everything, but I felt like someone just walked over my grave, and that almost made
me reveal weakness. If there was one type of person you can’t show weakness to, it’
s a blender. I should know… I am one.
A melodious baritone voice floated across the room and turned my shudder into a
shiver. The voice caressed me and soothed something I didn’t know needing
soothing. As I directed my gaze to the man with the voice I stopped cold in my
tracks. It was him again, that God damned blender.
He turned to face the rest of the class, but his eyes stayed on me. I met his direct
gaze and I felt as much as saw, the cold in both of our eyes warm to something
softer and liquid. My insides quivered in a way that couldn’t possibly be normal. I
wasn’t sick was I? Warmth pooled in my gut and churned. Then I felt it, the feeling
I get when I blend into my surroundings. Except I wasn’t blending into my
environment, I was blending into a person, and he was blending with me. I pulled
back and busied myself with my purse.
Out of the corner of my eyes I saw his head tilted ever so slightly that the rest of the
class surely didn’t notice but I did. His face shut down, inch by inch it changed from
open to shuttered. He battened down his hatches and quickly ended the speech
about his summer activities. Life Guard. Ha! My ass. More than likely he guarded
people against staying alive.
| Shiny Gun |
