The Black Rose

“Alex, Alex,” a voice called out from the dark.

“Alex!“, “Alex, it’s me!” My eyes opened and I watched in horror as my hands were wrapped around Mia’s neck. I let go falling back into the steering wheel.

I pulled myself off her. “I... I’m sorry.”

Mia stared at me dumbstruck and terrified. I looked at my hands. I touched my face. It seemed so real.

“You were having a dream,” she rasped clasping her neck.

“You kept screaming, Annie.” I glanced back at Mia, still dazed.

“I... I had a nightmare.” I couldn’t even form words. My heart raced, and I felt white-hot rage coursing through my veins as the vision of Annie lingered.

I frantically searched for the duffel, ripping it open until my hands latched around the familiar white vial. I twisted the cap and downed the remaining pills.

I lay back in the seat like a cocaine addict who just scored. It was daylight. I turned to Mia, who cowered against the driver side door.

“I’m sorry,” I muttered. I could feel the orange fairy dust dissolving the anxiety and rage. I moved to grab her hand, but she retracted. For the first time in my life, I felt ashamed and guilty.

“Who’s Annie?” Mia rasped, glaring at the empty bottle.

I gulped. “It’s a long story…where are we?” I asked changing the subject.

“We’re in front of my old house,” she faltered. “I was just going to wake you, but you started...” Mia stopped. There were slight red marks from my hands.

“I need to get my research. I know it sounds silly, but it’s my life’s work. Besides, no one knows I own this house. No one,” she echoed.

I glanced around, gaining my bearings. This was Mia’s first house. How did I miss this?

I turned to Mia, her angelic, worried face waiting for my response.

“How long do you need?” I asked.

“Maybe ten minutes?” her brows furrowed.

“Fine, just hurry. I will keep watch.”

Mia made a swift exit and ran to through the gate and to the side of the dark house. The house was dilapidated and in need of a serious makeover. How did she hide this so well? My curiosity peaked, I got out of the car and followed her.

When I checked on her former house, it was owned by a different family, all paperwork water tight, but at the state of this house, no one had lived here in years. Who was this woman? Was she a paranoid genius or did she have some secret assassin life I was unaware of?

Making it to the side of the house, there were two double metal doors that led to the basement. One was ajar. My hand reached for the gun holster in the small of my back as I made my way down the dark, dank steps. At the bottom of the steps, bright LED lights ignited the basement level. My eyes broadened. The old crusted exterior of the house was a decoy. Before me was the same thick glassed super lab she held in her current home’s basement.

“What is this?” I asked aloud, making my presence known.

Mia turned, acknowledging the gun in my hand.

“This was my first lab, well not the original model. I have made some serious upgrades.” She didn’t look up again as her fingers feverishly typed away on the screen.

“What are we actually here for?” I asked, taking in the sleek white tables, small surgical area, and microscopes.

“I told you, to get my research and erase it from my drives.”

Something smelled fishy. I moved to Mia and placed the small of the gun against the back of her skull.

“What aren’t you telling me?”

Her fingers froze but she remained silent.

“I will pull this trigger,” I barked. I didn’t want to, but I had already sacrificed so much for this woman. I had overlooked details, failed to follow through with my research for this woman. Mia held her hands up in the air as if to surrender.

“I…I wasn’t completely honest with my progress.”

“Spill,” I commanded, pushing the gun into her skull.

“Okay,” she turned, exasperated, her eyes meeting mine. My heart caved. “I am enhanced.”

My jaw dropped. “You’re what?”

“I lied when I said I hadn’t experimented on humans, well myself. I’ve successfully, well at least I hope, enhanced my neural pathways.”

Her eyes flit to me and then at the gun, now pointed at her forehead.

“I made myself smarter,” she exclaimed. “I didn’t tell you in the lab because, once again, I don’t trust anyone. I trusted you enough to show you the lab, but not everything I had been up to. I carried out the experiment in this lab, and I wanted to get the steps and all of the data in case it could be of further use to us later.”

My mind whirled. This made sense. This was why Mia had been so meticulous in hiding her secret bunker and now this place. But could I trust her to tell me everything now? I hadn’t been entirely honest myself, and still not. I lowered the gun.

“Is that why you believed me when you saw my blood?” I asked, the pieces fitting together now.

“Yes,” she breathed. “I knew it was possible because I had done it. Not to the extent or level as you, but still. I had accomplished my goal. I enhanced my brain to help solve the world’s problems.”

And now that reality is but a dream, I thought.

“Do you believe me?” she asked, her eyes boring into mine.

It was my turn to take a leap of faith. “I do…but is there anything else you aren’t telling me? To protect you, I need to know everything.”

She nodded. “I would ask the same of you. Is there anything else you aren’t telling me?”

I sighed. I walked right into this one. “Yes,” I muttered, “But mine would take all day and we have to go.”

Mia turned back to her computer and it read one hundred percent. The files had finished uploading. “Let me eject this and delete and we can go.”

As her fingers struck the keys, deleting her life’s work, she pressed. “Give me something. You now know all of my secrets, and I hardly know anything about you. I thought you were a journalist named Jennifer and now you are this Alex person, an assassin, someone who would strangle me in your sleep and point a gun at my head for little reason.”

I exhaled, shaking my head. I wouldn’t even know where to begin explaining my story, my secrets. “I just found out my father…” I paused. Saying it out loud would mean it was true. That my father, the person who helped bring me into this world was working for the same group I was trying to destroy. “He is a leader in Shadow.”

Mia turned, “What?”

“I had no idea. He let them take me and turn me into this.”

“And you still want to take them down?” she exclaimed.

“Yes,” I nodded. “I may have his genes, but he was no father to me.”

“Wow,” Mia murmured.

I glanced at the computer as the last of the files erased.

“We need to go.” Mia extracted the chip from the computer, and we walked to the steps.

“Wait,” I motioned, cracking the basement door. The coast was clear.

Safe within the confines of the car, we sighed with relief. As I put the car in drive, Mia broke the silence. “I can’t believe you would shoot me.”

Shit. A mix of guilt and defiance stirred.

“I didn’t want to,” I muttered.

I glanced at Mia, her expression souring. I knew that answer wasn’t what she wanted to hear, but it was the truth.

We drove in stewed silence to my loft, my thoughts consumed by what just happened. Just as I knew I didn’t want to pull the trigger I also knew I could. I could kill anyone.

“Who’s Annie?” Mia whispered, pressing again for an answer.

My concentration thwarted. “She was an old friend, my only friend. She’s gone now.”

“They took her?” Mia pressed.

“No,” I countered. “Cancer did.” I thought of her letter folded within my pocket. Could I have killed Annie? Dr. Marlo forced the visions within my head showing me I could, but would I actually?

“I’m sorry,” she consoled.

I gulped. I didn’t want to talk about Annie or feelings anymore. Luckily, we had just pulled to the front gate of the loft. The giant metal gate opened. I wiped my face, patting down my hair.

“Good afternoon, ladies,” a new security guard announced jovially. “What apartment are you in?” the man asked.

“Penthouse,” I muttered, “Olivia Brown.”

“Ah yes, Ms. Brown. Would you like me to valet this for you?” He asked.

“That would be great, thank you, Adam,” I smiled glancing at his name tag.

The new guard smiled. He seemed off. There hadn’t been a new person here before.

I grabbed the bag from the trunk and handed Adam the keys.

“Have a wonderful evening,” he called.

I just nodded back. “What’s up?” Mia whispered.

“Not here,” I muttered.

“Ah Ms. Brown,” the familiar front desk man announced.

“Hi, Ryan, just out of curiosity what happened to the other security guard?”

“He was sick today. Adam, there is new. Apparently hired at the last minute.”

“Thank you. Say, I may be expecting some guests later this evening or tomorrow morning. If anyone comes in asking for me, could you kindly let me know?” I slipped a hundred -dollar bill across the table.

“Of course,” Ryan nodded, hesitantly. Something was wrong. Ryan looked left outside to Adam who had left to park my car, then to the right. “Ms. Brown, someone has already come to visit you. She went up to your loft.”

I gulped. “Thank you,” I smiled faintly as if I knew this already.

I grabbed Mia’s tensed arm, and walked to the elevator. I placed my hand on the screen and hit “penthouse”.

“What was that all about?” Mia asked. “Who is upstairs?”

“I believe Adam is Shadow,” I muttered. “Not sure why he’s here, though, or how much they know.”

My hands tapped the elevator’s walls in impatience. The blasted top floor.

“As for who’s upstairs, I believe I have a pretty good idea.”

Finally reaching the top, I took a deep inhale. The faint scent of vanilla, cloves, and bitchiness inundated my senses. I pulled the gun from the small of my back and removed the safety.

“Stay behind me,” I whispered. The door clicked open and I trained my gun ahead.

I stalked forward towards the sunlit living room. I turned the hall corner and almost fired.

“There’s no need for that,” Nadine smiled. “And you must be Dr. Semmens? My, my, I have heard so many fantastic things.” Nadine clapped, rising from the chair.

“Cut the shit,” I growled, “Why are you here?” My gun aimed at her head.

“I’m here for you,” her voice softened, “But I can see you’ve already moved on.”

“What is she talking about?” Mia piped up, but my eyes never left Nadine’s. You never took your eye off a deranged lion.

“Oh, she didn’t tell you,” Nadine’s face lit up. “Alex and I go way back. I trained her. How much have you shared?” Nadine looked at me unapprovingly. “I mean if you’re going to give all our secrets away you might as well have spared no expense. Did you tell her we had sex yesterday?” Nadine stalked forward like the royal homewrecker she was.

“Don’t come any further. You know, I’ll pull the trigger.” Nadine didn’t listen. She came closer and closer until the barrel of the gun pressed against a green folder she held against her chest.

“Do it,” she muttered. “Because if you don’t, Shadow will.”

I read the name on the folder, “Danielle Renee Watson.” A flutter of anger hit my chest.

“Is that—”

“Your file,” Nadine finished my thought. “Yes, and two others I thought you might find particularly interesting.” She moved my file and “Annie Francis Greenwald,” flashed across another, and finally “Richard Lee Watson.”

I gulped. Why did they have a file for Annie? My insides screamed to grab it, but I remained poised.

“Leave them,” I blurted, my gun unmoving. “Come with me. We can beat them together.”

Nadine cackled aloud like the crazed witch she was, “Beat them, oh you silly child. You don’t even know who they are.”

“And you do?” I asked. I glanced around for the cameras. Was this a trap? It didn’t smell like a trap.

“Don’t worry I jammed them…again,” she smiled.

“I know deep down you don’t want to do this anymore. You wouldn’t be here otherwise.” I could see the resolve in her eyes fade. “Nadine, together, we can beat them.” I stated confidently.

She shook her head, “No one can stop them. They are too powerful.”

She turned from the gun and moved to the windows overlooking the cityscape.

“It would be a suicide mission,” she muttered.

“I have no choice,” I huffed. “I won’t be anyone’s puppet any longer.”

Nadine turned to stare at me, her gaze catching me off guard. Her face was soft, it was vulnerable, it was scared.

“Help us,” I pleaded.

Nadine moved towards me again, but I didn’t raise my gun.

“Help me,” I muttered. Nadine’s hand moved to my cheek. Our eyes met.

“I wouldn’t even know where to begin,” she whispered.

“We can start by converting Damien,” I sighed. “I have other help too, help that can be trusted.”

A tear threatened to fall from Nadine’s eyes, something I didn’t think possible. “Alex I’ve been in this for so long I wouldn’t know what to do, where to start. The real world isn’t meant for mon— people like us.”

My hand moved to rest on top of hers still on my cheek. “Let me carry us,” I cooed. “We can beat them. With your knowledge of Shadow—”

“Why should I?” she croaked, interrupting me, but I knew what she meant. I didn’t love her, not in the way she wanted. My hand moved to her cheek. I wiped away the lone tear.

“I do love you, Nadine. You are, in a messed-up way, the only family I have.” I smiled and so did she. Her hand found mine and clenched.

“We can do this,” I gazed into her eyes. “We can do this,” I repeated, my confidence building.

I could see the worry turn to resolve. “We can do this,” she uttered.

We stared at one another for a few more moments.

“I was able to tap into the cameras from Shadow so it should buy you enough time to talk with Damien and do what you need to do. Your last charade tipped them off. They’re counting on me to report what happened to the cameras,” she pointed in their direction, “As well as your chip and phone.” She reached into her pocket and extracted a new phone and placed it on the counter.

“As for the chip, they plan to use it as soon as Mia is apprehended.” She glanced at the bandage on my neck.

“It’s been extracted,” I confirmed.

“Good, I will tell them it’s where it should be,” she nodded. “What is the rest of the plan?”

“Mia will lure Damien’s boyfriend over, then we convince Damien to join our side.”

“That might be easier than you think,” Nadine added.

My brow furrowed.

“Damien has been on thin ice with Shadow for quite some time. Since he failed with you, Miriam was planning to neutralize him as well, including Landon.”

“Nice,” I beamed. My night getting far easier. “So, with Damien on board, we go to my secret location, and hunt them down, one by one.”

Nadine nodded. “Not much of a plan.”

“Well, it’s more of an improvisation,” I shrugged nonchalantly.

“And your father?” she pointed at the file. She knew.

“What about him?”

“You will kill him too?”

My jaw clenched. “It would be my pleasure.” Nadine grinned.

“Wait, let me get this straight,” Mia piped up from the kitchen table. “You’re telling me you are about to take on this powerful secret society which just so happens to be run by your father, and with a complicated ex?” Mia fumed.

Nadine and I glanced at one another. “That is exactly what I’m saying.”

Mia rolled her eyes and stood moving her hands to her temples. “You know she has a pill problem right?” Mia barked, turning on Nadine. Mia paced back and forth. I knew I had hurt her. She was jealous.

“I know,” Nadine agreed, glancing in my direction. She extracted three vials from her pocket. More pills. Sitting them on the counter, she continued. “I will go back to Shadow. I think Dr. Swartz could be of use. He can make more pills, possibly even try to wean you off them somehow.”

As much as I wanted to scream, I wasn’t an addict, I knew that was false. Just the sight of that vial, the sound the pills made as the vials shook, my mouth watered.

“That is a suicide mission,” I stated defiantly. “They must suspect you.”

Nadine shook her head. “I’m better at you than concealing it.” I rolled my eyes.

“Besides, we need more,” she aired. “Even with Damien, we are far outnumbered, and if we take Dr. Swartz he can’t make more of you.”

Mia interrupted. “Shadow wants me, right?” Glancing at the two of us.

“I’m suggesting we enhance me.”

“No,” I barked,” It’s too risky.”

“Not that risky,” she trailed. I knew what she meant.

“What are you getting at?” Nadine asked.

Mia hesitated, unsure if she should reveal her secret.

“It’s okay,” I consoled. “You can trust her.”

Nadine’s expression melted to confusion.

“I have already enhanced myself.”

“You did what?” Nadine cracked.

“I enhanced my brain. No where near to the degree as Alex, but enough to know it could work.”

“I barely survived,” I yelled loudly. “We are not putting your life at risk.”

“Well, with Dr. Swartz it would be less at risk,” Nadine interceded.

I rounded on her. Nadine threw her arms up in mock submission. “Just trying to help.”

“You know it’s the right thing to do,” Mia added.

I ignored her. “I don’t see how you can get Dr. Swartz out of Shadow alive?”

“How about you let me worry about that,” she sassed.

“Fine,” I snarked. The heat rising within my veins. “Do what you want. Rescue Dr. Swartz. Enhance yourself so you can be addicted to these pills just like I am!” I grabbed the vial of pills my hands trembling. “So, you can become a monster just like me!” I reached for the files, tossing mine to Mia’s feet. I needed to be out of this room, alone.

“Mia, you wanted to know what type of mind could kill all those people. Well, here’s your chance. I’m the Black Rose.”