Chapter Twenty-Two: Being Watched and Watched Again by Tina Semanas Three special-ops soldiers dressed in black battle gear and ski masks slowly emerged from the deep shadows of the woods surrounding the red barn. Step by watchful step they drew closer to the perimeter of the building. A fourth black outfitted sentry still lingered in cover of the white pines. Punching a call button on his wrist-talkie he softly whispered, “We followed the suspects all the way to an old abandoned barn 20 miles outside the city. A minute ago another vehicle has pulled in, it looks like an army vehicle, the kind used 30 years ago by our military... but I am not sure who it belongs to. I couldn’t see who was driving because someone shut the doors to the barn before I got a good look. I will try to have one of my men sneak up closer to get a better look through one of the side windows and I will keep you informed. Do you have any further instructions at this point?” A stern female voice on the other end responded, “Before you take any action, are you 100% sure Ara is still alive? Are you positive the explosive you put on her apartment door failed to kill her?” “Yes, there was another woman with her and from how she looked when they left the building she must have been closer to the door than Ara was when the bomb was detonated? Somehow she did not die from the explosion and the driver of the vehicle had to carry her out and put her into their pink vehicle. We followed them into a mall parking lot where they exchanged the Rover with two strange cat ladies for an old brown glider. All three were still alive, but the lady is badly hurt.” The voice on the talkie responded, “Are you able to get the identity of the woman who is with Ara?” “That is a negative Mam, and by the bruises on her face it will be hard to make a clear identification.” There was silence for a few seconds on the other line. “Ok, we have to be cautious because I don’t want to stir up a hornet's nest - - Ara is the new darling of the Doyenne Conclave. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are Tergament guards lying in wait protecting her from a distance. So take it slow and watch your back! Keep me updated and we need to know who is in that other vehicle!” “Yes Mam.” ——————————————————-- “Where is she?” Athan anxiously asked Ara as he jumped out of the vehicle. “She is right over there lying on the couch. Beck is in really bad shape.” Ara pointed to a sleeping Beck and then turned to Drew running into her older brother’s arms. “I can’t believe it is you, you are alive!” Drew hugged his sister tight, and said, “I missed you so much sis!” As Athan approached the couch where Beck was sleeping soundly, he wiped his eyes with both hands as his emotions overcame him. He never believed he could love someone so much. Kneeling next to her head, Athan gently brushed a loose blond curl off of Beck’s face and then leaned in to kiss her softly on the cheek. As a single warm tear fell from his cheek onto his sleeve, he whispered near Beck’s ear, “Babe, it’s me, I’m here and I am not leaving you again.” Beck made no response. Athan felt for a pulse and it was faint but steady. “How long has she been unconscious?” Looking towards Ara for an answer he was approached by her driver who said, “She has been in and out of consciousness for the last hour. I have tried to do the best I can to keep her stabilized. But I am afraid she is starting to fade fast; she needs immediate care from one who has more skill than I.” Athan turned to the driver and said, “Sir, I am in your debt. What is your name?” “You can call me Nias, I am a simple servant of the Sisters. At present I have been permanently assigned to carry out Ara Dias’ will. I have been trained in first aid, and I have given Beck two experimental shots that have stabilized her vitals, and they have even begun to repair any vascular damage she has sustained. The shots I gave her include some powerful new drugs that are designed to help the body accelerate the process of regeneration, however, they cannot heal broken bones, or stop the damage from the shrapnel she incurred from the explosion. I think her main problems concern regulating her pain, stopping any more internal bleeding and fighting infection.” “Hello, my name is Don, and I am a doctor.” After shaking hands with Nias, Don continued, “Is there a large flat table to put her on and some running water nearby?” “Yes,” Nias said, “I think the kitchen table is strong enough and the sink does have some hot water. If you need to, there is a stovetop to boil the water as well.” “Great, Athan and Drew, I will need your help too.” After clearing the table and finding some clean sheets to lay on top of the table and to cover Beck, the four men slowly lifted her broken body over to the table. Bringing out four large bags from their vehicle, Don tossed to each man a surgical mask, gloves and an apron. In no time Don had the safe house transformed into a working M.A.S.H. unit. Outside the small kitchenette window, two keen eyes under a single dark mask was peering in. —————————————————————————————-- A bashful attendant came to the foot of Dr. Gladstone’s bed waiting for her eyes to open. “What do you want? You better have some information on where Ara and her band of miscreants have gotten too?” After rubbing her eyes, Dr. Gladstone reached out waiting for her attendant to come over to help her on with a black satin robe. The small servant said, “Yes, news has just come in from the Central Surveillance Headquarters. They were able to hack into the pink Rover’s navigation system and it had them stopping at a large mall in North Olmsted, Ohio. That is about 20 minutes away from Lacy Dias’s apartment. They were able to hook into the local satellite feed of that area and they zoomed in on a brown glider that was seen leaving at the same time the Rover was leaving with the two cat ladies. The feed shows Ara, Beck and their driver getting in the brown glider and heading west on old highway 10. It leads into an area of abandoned farm houses and adjacent land that hasn’t been cultivated for some time.” Dr. Gladstone stood and said, “I know the area well. It is pretty close to my office headquarters in Oberlin. Do they know where exactly the brown glider went?” The lady continued, “They pinpointed a range of two miles where it could have gone. The satellite feed had a short period of two minutes when it went dark, and the surveillance team just sent out three units to comb the area. They will notify you when the location of the car is found. Is there anything else I can do for you Doctor?” “Yes, have my cook make me something with bloody red meat and wine. I am starving. Also prepare my bags I want to head back to Ohio, I have a feeling there is alot of unfinished business that needs to be attended to there.” As the attendant bowed and slipped away softly, Dr. Gladstone went into the shower room to rinse off the crustiness of a bad night's sleep. Thinking to herself, “Ara is so close to power, but too young to be dying so soon.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ “Boss, we have recognition. By using our facial scanning equipment through one of the barn’s windows we were able to identify the five people with Ara. They are all names I am sure you will recognize, with two of them being Athan Stone and Drew Dias.” The leader of the special-ops team continued talking in his wrist-talkie, “The lady with the bruises who was with Ara at the apartment is Beck Paris, the vlogging celebrity. The other two people we were unable to find identities for.” The voice through the talkie sounded confused, “Drew Dias? I thought he was dead? And Beck Paris, how did she get messed up in this?” “Well, from the looks of it Mam, Beck Paris probably isn't of much help to the group, she is in critical condition so they have set up a makeshift E.R. to work on her. The doctor they have definitely knows his stuff. I also have had two of our guards checking for any signs of a Tergament force in the area. After conducting a thorough check of the perimeter and the woods surrounding the farm there is no sign we are being followed or watched by The Sisters’ security force.” The voice responded, “You better be sure?” “I am.” The special-ops leader replied. “O.K., I want you to move in and take Ara, her brother Drew, and I want Athan Stone as well. I am sure he has information that could really help us.” The woman continued, “At this time I don’t want anyone killed but you can do what you need to for them to comply; if Beck Paris dies, so be it. Your window is shrinking, so make your move as soon as possible.” “Yes Mam. Signing off…” ------------------------------------------------------- “Athan hand me the vascular clamp, I need to stop the bleeding in her leg while I take out some chunks of metal that are deeply lodged near the Iliac vein.” Handing Don the clamp he was then able to stop the flow of blood as he then proceeded to pull out three large pieces of sharp metal. Athan couldn’t bare much more of this. “Drew, give Beck more of the morphine drip, her heartbeat and breathing seems fine, so I don’t think a little more of the morphine will harm her at this point.” Don wiped some beads of sweat off his forehead as he reached in to grab a shard of metal that was buried deep into the meat of Beck’s thigh. After a few more minutes Don released the clamp, handed it to Athan, and started stitching Beck’s skin where he made his original incisions. “That should about do it.” “Don, will she be alright?” Athan nervously asked. “I think she will pull through, but she needs some serious rest. Hopefully we will have no complications bringing her back to our community…” “BOOOM!!!” The two large doors of the barn blew into the room of the safe house smashing into the green military Rover, with one landing on the hood. Ara fell backward in shock, as she turned to where the explosion was she saw four men in black battle gear emerging from a cloud of orange smoke streaming in the barn. The men quickly took positions all around interior of the room each carrying a large assault weapon. The tallest one in the middle approached the group wielding a stun stick stopping just a few feet from Ara. “Ara Dias, we have been ordered to take you, your brother Drew and Athan Stone into custody.” He took off his black ski mask revealing a dark beard with a bright red scar zig-zagging across a wrinkled and pock-marked face. He continued, “We want to make this easy, so come with us where our vehicles are parked up by the old farm house. Make it fast.” Athan said, “No way! We have a patient that is in critical condition and if we leave now she will die.” “That is not my concern,” the man responded cold as stone, “we have one job, to take you three alive, and our window to get out of here without someone dying is shrinking. So you three must come with us now, or we will take you by force.” Drew looked for an opening to run, and as he tried to move backward, he was swiftly hit over his head by one of the guards knocking him to the ground. The main leader said, “Ara and Athan, I suggest you come with us. It is obvious Drew has no choice now but to be dragged out of here.” “But what about Beck? She will not survive, I need to stay with her.” Athan was insistent. “Yeah, well, my stun stick is pretty insistant too, and it doesn’t seem to care a wit about Beck and her condition. So Athan, move or be moved.” Athan kissing Beck on the forehead said to Don, “Take care of her. Keep her alive.” Don nodded to Athan, and grabbing his arm handed his something small placing it in the palm of his hand. Athan quickly clenched his hand into a fist hiding what Don gave him. “Don’t worry Athan, Nias and I will take her back with us, and she will be well cared for. As you for, go, and watch over Ara and Drew. And take those when you know you must.” The man with the stun stick raised high said, “Now or never...let’s go! The boss is waiting.” Ara turned to him and asked, “Who is the boss?” “None of us really know her,” As the man slipped his ski mask back on he said, “We have never seen her face, but she told us to call her simply Madylyn.”
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