The security system�s wires were all hooked into the main panel by the door. If you knew what you were looking for, it was not the most complicated, or secure, system ever devised but I guess it helped some people sleep though the night. Cut the green, bypass the red, cut the white, entwine the white and green and you have a blackout.
Diago squeezed my shoulder as he slipped into the mansion eager to battle Sirako. Where his hand had touched I felt a wet sticky feeling, at least the shirt was a non-stain fabric. I go through more good clothes that way. Blood never comes out all the way with most fabrics.
I followed Diago into the main house. There were sounds from the interior guards stumbling in the dark looking for flashlights and trying to fumble with cell phones and radio sets. People are so very silly when it come to blackouts�they always overreact for some reason.
We made our way to the upper landing with no additional trouble from the guards and then one stumbled down the hall. The idiot walked right into Diago�s knife, leaving Diago shaking his head in anger; an easy kill always left a rotten taste in his mouth, like sour milk.
The hall was clear and the intel said that Sirako would be in the room at the end of it, most likely alone or with a woman. The intel was right. Sirako was there, alone, but prepared for battle. His knife was jagged and rusty and his eyes shone in the dark.
Diago wasted no time with small talk, but lunged into Sirako full force. It wasn�t really a very even battle and it only took a short time. All the great hype by Z and the legends he told and Sirako couldn�t even last five minutes against the ferocity of Diago. Very disappointing.
�Well, lets go get a drink. Maybe a nice wine or at least a beer,� said Diago with a grim smile.
�Okay, lets get out of here before it starts to smell.�
No one challenged us on our stroll out through the front door. No one tried. Even the plane trip back seemed too easy with the air calm and Diago sleeping all the way. Z met us at the landing.
�Did all go well?� inquired Z.
�Yep. Now I am going to go get drunk,� said Diago walking away quickly.
�Krya, what happened here?� demanded Z.
I told him of the landing and reaching the mansion. I told him about the security system and the guards and of Sirako himself. I told him about how sad and disappointing it was that all the legends, all the build up, had just been hype and nothing more.
�Really?�
� "He had aged and was out of shape. It was not right.�
�Well, it is over now,� Z said with a sad shake of his head. �Go home.�
I crept though the window, my boots in one hand and a popsicle in the other. Gavin was fast asleep with his blankets wrapped around him and up to his chin. It is good to know that nothing had changed while I was gone. Gavin was still here, safe and innocent, my light in the dark.
Arielle Griffin
1-04 to 3-3-04