Disappearing, Inc.

Chapter 8- X's Men

Chapter 8- X's Men

The cold blade pressed against my skin and made a small cut. I could feel my warm blood trickle down the calf of my leg. I took a deep breath and looked the figure in the face.

"Would you like a drink?" I played it safe and swung my leg over and pressed it against the silky material of my dress, trying to stop the blood flow. The huddled mass got up and walked away sheathing the blade while, covering the metallic in the layers of the cloak. This person was a professional.

"Disappearing, Inc. Retreat."

The light breeze tousled my hair as I waited for the rest of my team. To my left I saw the figure drifting away. This was my chance.

Through the streets of Paris we went, I signaled to my team I was gone and rushed down allies, turning corners only to continue on the tail. We passed young couples, old gardens, and little shops, blooming with light. The moon danced higher into the midnight blue sky as I ran deeper into the heart of the city. We arrived at a small church graveyard and suddenly, it disappeared out of sight.

I gasped and scrambled to the point where I last saw the cloaked figurine, clawing at the aged dirt. I yelped in disgust. How could I lose it? I stayed hidden and out of sight! There was no way it could just...vanish. My leg was bleeding heavily now, for my exertion. In an effort to try and stop the bleeding, I tore off a part of my dress and wrapped it around the cut when I noticed an unusual marking on the ground.

Our program's crest.

The golden lion with a blade in it's hand surrounded by checkered blue and yellow was carved carefully into the cold ground. My eyes fleeted down an invisible line, back to the grave hovering next to me.

"Jane Claire McColton". My great grandmother. Inflicting stories battled in my head. My parents had told me my grandma was MIA in a mission years ago and the body was never found. However, this said my great grandma was buried here, which means the body was found and my parents had lied. Again. How much haven't they told me? How many missing pieces were there? I shook off the dangerous thoughts and hobbled down the dark ally, trekking back to our hotel. There was so much I had to tell my team.

When I arrived back to the hotel room, they were all huddled in a circle on the bed.

"Guys, big news." I said. Three tear-stained turned to face me.

"What happened?" I said. We were a tough team and it would take a lot to break us to tears.

"My...my dad..." Brooke sniffled, eyes puffy, "My dad was killed." She broke into another fit of tears at the words.

"Oh my, I'm so sorry!" I too could feel tears running down my cheeks.

"He was murdered in New York twenty minutes ago, we saw it on the news." Morgan said, also balling. Kelsey flipped the TV ON and the headline read: 'Big Time New York Stock Broker Murdered'. The reporter was at the crime seen, showing pictures of the blood and caution tape. It was just too much to take in.

"When is this recording from?" I asked, wiping away my tears with the back of my hand and staring at the corner of the television set.

"This is being replayed from a couple minutes after the assault." Said Kelsey.

"Look." I said pointing to the corner I had been looking at. "This looks like the same person in the restaurant. Only a bit shorter. And look! He's covering a gun! The murder weapon!"

Immediately, Morgan reached for the phone.

"Wait. There is no point in calling the police because we are in Paris and the FBI can't do anything to help us. We can't even call Madame Miranda because she doesn't doubt X." I reminded.

"What does X have to do with this?" Morgan asked, with her hand still gripping the phone as if it was her last lifeline. I explained what had happened during the tail and what I found.

"I think that X has men all over, threatening what we love most because X knows we are on our own. We need to be more on the watch now for more people dressed like that."

"Yes! It's all coming together! That makes sense." Said Brooke whose eyes were still fill with mourn. "He hurt you because your a member of Disappearing, Inc. and he killed my father for the same reason. He wants weak."

For the fist time in a while, we settled down with the feeling of security, knowing we had each other at our backs and weapons in hand even though we knew someone was hunting us down. We relaxed a bit, taking hot baths, eating comfort food, and watching the city of Paris whiz by from our porch.

The phone rang, "I got it!"!Shouted Kelsey from the porch. I sat in the bathtub, humming a tune from when I was young when I heard a muffled yelp. Startled, I got up from the tub and wrapped a towel around to see what the commotion was.

"Kelsey?" I asked, peering from around the bathroom corner. "What is it?"

She stuttered some words that I couldn't understand and pointing a quivering finger at the phone then at the door.

"I think...I think X called me and he said to check the doorstep."

I was stunned. Although it may be a trap, our best bet was to see what was on the other side of the door.

"Guys. Cover the door, guns loaded, if anyone tries to attack, shoot." I commanded. I looked out of the little window to check the hall, but it looked empty.

"On the count of three I'm opening it. 1...2...3..." I swung the door opened and gasped.