Chapter Thirty
Away to a Home
Away from Death
The Old Farmhouse
November 7, 2059
9:05 pm
"Stop it! Stop right there Smiley or I swear to god I'll gun you down!" Alona couldn't believe those words came from her. She had heard stories about Smiley from Nightsky and knew the samurai wasn't someone you would ever want to threaten with a gun. The guy was fast, brutal, and completely out of his pea brained mind at the moment. He had the ork, Gideon down on the ground. One of the ork's arm lay limply on the ground stripped of flesh almost to the bone. The other cybernetic arm jutted out a spur which completely impaled the samurai. The back of Smiley's caught bulged out where the spur was. Yet Smiley was running like it wasn't even there. His hand, with its razors and spurs, was raised and poised to remove every bit of flesh from the ork's neck up.
She didn't have much of a choice in the matter. When she, Riggs, and Tart arrived at the house they found Shard cowering in the corner claiming she was on fire. At the same time Gideon and Smiley were going at each other like they were trying to rip each other's heads off. They were pretty close to doing it too. They had to be stopped before they were both dead. Riggs was busy trying to calm Shard down. Tart didn't seem to know what to do. Alona was the only one left. In her mind, she had to do something. She had decided that she wasn't going to let them kill each other even if that meant shooting one, or both of them. Both the shadowrunners wore some pretty heavy armor. Alona put her faith in that and her lack of skill with a submachine gun. They shouldn't be fatally hurt if she had to shoot.
Alona tightened her grip on the MP5. "I mean it mister!"
The deranged Samurai caste his heartless gaze on her. The smile in his face was so wide it looked like it would split his head right into. He twitched slightly. Alona paled.
"Go fuck yourself bitch!" In a flash an Ares Predator appeared in his hand.
Alona screamed and depressed the MP5's trigger. The submachine gun rattled away in her hands, spewing out lead and casings like there was no tomorrow. Bullets sprayed the room. Smiley's Predator boomed. Everything went to hell in less than two seconds. A bullet zipped past Alona's ear and exploded behind her. A sharp sting bite at her ear. In the muzzle flash of the MP5 she saw Smiley get off the ork and charge at her with murder in his eyes. She held the trigger down. Chunks of the samurai's coat tore away. A full volley struck him at almost point blank range. The samurai faltered, stumbled, and fell. Alona did not stop shooting until the clip ran dry.
Alona opened her eyes. Smiley lay on the floor next to Gideon. The ork was breathing heavily. Her throat went dry. "I killed him." She breathed. Smoke flicked off the barrel of the MP5.
Smiley suddenly stuck his head up. Blood seeping from his mouth. "Not yet, bitch!"
Alona gasped in astonishment as the samurai spun to his feet and grabbed Gideon with both hands. The ork was only barely concious as Smiley swung him around and hurled the full girth of the ork at the girl. The tumbling ork smashed Alona to the floor. The MP5 clattered out of her hand. She screamed in pain as the two of them tumbled to the ground and got tangled up in each other's limbs. The ork's extended spur grazed across her skin. She felt sharp sting of the metal and the damp sensation of blood. She struggled to free herself as Smiley bounded on top of her. He struck her square in the face with a metal laced fist.
Her lights almost went out. Her nose was broken, two teeth were loosened, her upper lip was smashed. Smiley wrapped his clawed fist around the collar of her shirt and hauled her up. He screamed right into her face, spitting blood and saliva on her.
"You fucking little bitch I'm going to fuck you up so much that your fucking face it going to be on the goddamn motherfucking floor! You worthless piece of meatpuppet shit! I'm going to hollow your goddamn insides out so I can fucking live in there you fucking goddamn bitch from hell! When you get to hell tell Bishop he can go fuck himself! In fact, he can fuck all the little pieces I'm going to send you to hell in!"
"No! Get away from her!" Tart came out of no where and leaped on the madman's back. She wrapped her hands around the samurai's neck and tried to pull him off. She pulled at his hair, kicked at his kidneys, anything to get him off Alona. "Don't kill her, Smiley! Leave her alone!"
"Goddamn floozies!" Smiley dropped Alona and backpedaled into a wall, slamming Tart against. Tart's grip weakened. Smiley shoved her off and spun around in a back kick, catching the decker right on the temple. Tart staggered, her vision spinning. Smiley popped his razors and swung back around, slashing out. He connected with Tart's hand and nearly ripped it right off.
Tart screamed. Louder than she had ever screamed before.
"Playtime is over!" Smiley snatched his other Predator from its holster.
An unseen force suddenly snapped Smiley's head back. His eyes glazed over and blood spurted from his mouth and nose. He swayed in place as his lips curled back in a final sadistic grin. His head went numb. Then he lost all sensation in his arms. His legs were the last thing to go. Then the eccentric samurai collapsed.
Alona looked up to see Shard, her hair ruffled and sweaty, standing in the doorway. Riggs was supporting her.
"I'm sorry, Smiley." The elfin mage breathed. "Wether it was really you or not. I am sorry."
9:20pm
Lenny held her for a long time. He thought about how his life was. Fifteen years ago he was no saint, but he had the woman that he loved. That made life worth living. Then it had all been taken away from him. Now he had her back. All he wanted to do was stay in her embrace. Nothing else mattered to him. All he could do was hold her softly and tell her how much he loved her. He told her about what the had done since she had gone. How he had spent everyday remember her smile. He told her that her little laugh had been the greatest joy he had ever experienced in all his laugh. He cried that he had been would be without that joy for the rest of his days. Now he heard that little laugh, that small little giggle she did. It made all the coldness of his world melt away.
They stood together for a long time. She stood quietly as Lenny poured his heart out to her. All the while he drank in every moment of it. She looked at him with her big brown eyes. Those eyes that always seem to understand what he was feeling.
"You really miss me, don't you?"
"More than you will ever know."
"I miss you too, my love. I'll always remember the times we had."
"As well I. They are the only things that keep me sane in the life that I lead. They......you are like an anchor I have to hold onto."
"But it breaks your heart to think of me."
Lenny slowly nodded. That was true. He got very little pleasure out of life. He often thought back to his happiest days with Serena. Each time he thought back to her it tore his heart out. They had been taken from each other, she was murdered before her time. All because of what Lenny was doing. He had sworn to himself that he would never let that happen again. It was part of what made Lenny himself. He had an urge to protect those around him. It was why he was the unofficial leader of the team. At the end of the day it didn't matter how many shadowruns the team completed. It was how many of them that were left alive that mattered to him. He wanted everyone to live. He tried to preserve all their lives to make up for losing just one very special life years ago.
"You know this isn't real, right?" She said.
Lenny shut his eyes. "I know."
"And you're still staying with me?"
"I know this isn't real. I don't care."
She backed away. "I have to go soon, Lenny."
Lenny's breath caught in his throat. "No, don't I-"
"It's okay. I am a part of your past Lenny. Not your present."
He reached out for her, holding her by the hand.
"You know it has to be this way. There are other people who depend on you. They are counting on you to protect them."
"But-"
"I had this chance to come and see you again. I knew that it wasn't a good time. I knew you were in the middle of something important, but I wanted to come. I wanted to see you one more time."
"How did you know?"
"Easy. I'm always watching over you, Lenny. Wouldn't you do the same for me?"
Lenny nodded solemnly. "Yes."
Serena smiled warmly. "See? It's all for the best, but we will be together again." She began to fade away.
"Serena wait."
She looked up at him.
"I love you, Serena."
She smiled warmly. "I love you too."
9:25pm
In the dark depths of the basement the old woman sang her ancient chant of mystical words. Words that the living did not understand. They were words that only the dead knew. The orb glowed with her speech. She found herself in their world. She walked among them, showing each were they should go. They flowed around her as her own patron spirit gave her the power she needed to perform to them. She was lost in the world of the dead. Their voices spoke to her through the orb. They passed their pains and loves and hopes to her as they went on their way. The sensation of it was so strong the old woman was completely unaware of the real world that her body rested in.
So she did not see the blade of the Katana which darted from the pitch blackness of her private place and neatly severed her head from her body. In an instant her soul joined the other souls of the dead. Her body slumped lifelessly. The chanting stopped.
Nightsky walked out of the shadows, sheathing the blade that had took her life.
He stared at the Orb of Voices. Then picked it up and shoved it into his coat.
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