Noir, City Shrouded By Darkness Read online

  Kim gripped the PPK in her purse, sure the woman reached for a weapon, but was surprised to see the business cards. "What's she doing?" Kim wondered. "What kind of game is she playing?" A million things came to mind. "This woman tracked me down and came all the way to my apartment. Is she hoping to blackmail me? Only an idiot would think they can blackmail a Closer. So why is she here?"

  Kim scanned the hall to see if anyone else was on the floor and asked, "What do you mean, is that me?"

  "I’ve been looking for the..." Kat started to answer.

  She then thought, "Maybe I shouldn’t say the Phoenix out loud. Someone could be listening, and Kimberly might not want anyone else to know."

  Kat continued, "I’ve been looking for this... Umm..." She flipped the card over, looked at the picture, and turned it back to her. "This firebird. Is this you? If so, I would like to talk."

  "Talk?" Kim thought. "I can’t let her leave, and I can’t kill her here." She glanced at the hall’s cameras. "If I could only get her into my apartment then I could..." She grinned wickedly. "Hmm..." Kim visualized herself shooting the woman. "All I would have to do is call Voice for a Guild Prep/Cleanup Crew, and no one would be the wiser." She saw herself standing over the woman’s lifeless body. "I'll have this annoyance taken care of."

  Kat reached down, picked up the dropped mail, and handed it to her. "This isn't a bad time, is it?"

  "No. Of course not," Kim answered.

  She then thought, "This is almost too easy. But still I must be on my guard. This could be a trick."

  Kim said, "Come on in." She took the mail still wary of Kat and commanded, "Door, unlock."

  The door slid sideways." Kim motioned for her to go in first and followed. "Door, lock," she commanded, and the door closed, entombing them.

  The Apartment Computer System turned on the lights as they entered each room. "Welcome back Ms. Griffin and welcome guest. The apartment..."

  "Mute," Kim commanded.

  Kat walked down the entry, stopped, and studied the kitchen. She walked over to the faucet and glanced back at her. "I see no scanner for a Water Ration Card. Your water isn’t portioned?"

  Kim wondered, "Portioned?" She looked to the sink then thought of the shower and bathtub. "I guess I never thought about it. Most of the city's given an allotment for the month and here I enjoy unlimited." Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Is she trying to distract me? Or is she this naive?"

  She answered, "No. My water isn’t portioned."

  "Oh. You must be rich then." Kat set her backpack on the black leather couch, walked over to the small round table, and sat.

  "What's she doing?" Kim wondered. "What is she up to that she’s acting so calm?" She started to pull the PPK, noticed the cedar chest in the living room, and turned her attention back to the woman.

  Kat saw the teacup Kim left from the morning. "Tea. I love tea." She turned wide eyed like a child asking for a piece of candy. "Could I have some, please? I haven’t had tea in a long time."

  "Tea?" Kim glanced at the kettle on the stove, then at her purse, and thought, "I’ll play along for now.”

  She answered, "Sure, why not. Let’s have some tea. Black's okay, right?" She didn't wait for an answer as she carefully positioned her purse on the counter, so she would have quick access to the gun.

  "Yes, black tea is fine."

  Keeping a close tab on the woman, Kim filled the kettle, placed the stainless steel pot on the burner, and turned it on high. "So..." Kim set out two sets of cups and saucers. "Who are you? And why have you come to see me?"

  "Who am I?" Heavyhearted over Preacher's death and still weary from the endless running, Kat laughed as she stared at the table. "That's a good question." She reached into her pant’s pocket for her dearest possessions.

  Kim went for her purse and reached for the PPK, till she saw the items the woman removed.

  Kat placed the Music Box, two business cards, and the worn Note on the table and opened the paper. "Katharine, I think. If this Note was meant for me." She studied the writing.

  "I could shoot her now,” Kim thought. “And end this game." The kettle shrieked, she turned the burner off, removed the pot, and poured hot water into the cups. The aroma of orange filled the air.

  She said, "Note? I don’t understand."

  "Huh?" Kat turned to her. "Oh, I guess you wouldn’t. You see, I don’t know who I am." She looked back to the items. "The only clues to my identity are these three things." Unsure herself, she added, "At least, I think they are."

  "Unlikely story," Kim thought as she carried the two saucers to the table with her purse strapped over her shoulder. "What kind of ploy is this?" She set a teacup in front of Kat and one for herself. "Either she's very clever or very stupid."

  Kat gave the paper to her. "See."

  Kim read the Note. "Katharine, you must not fail. This is your last chance to redeem yourself. I know you can complete your mission, my dearest Kat. I am counting on you. Signed, R.G." Kim peered up from the Note. "Who’s this R.G.?"

  Kat shrugged.

  "I don’t understand. What does this have to do with me?"

  Kim handed back the Note and thought, "So far, none of this has anything to do with me."

  Kat folded the paper and picked up the business cards. "For the past year, I’ve been trying to figure out how these clues fit in my life." She slid the red speckled card across the table. "Now finally, I’ve found the Phoenix." Kat placed the one she had from a year ago beside the other.

  Kim looked at the blood covered card. "This is the one I left beside Topa." She picked up the worn business card. "But where did you get this one?" She examined it more closely. "This is an earlier design from years ago."

  "I'll start from the beginning." Kat dipped the tea bag in the hot water several times, drained the bag with a spoon, and placed it on the saucer. She breathed in its orange scent and stared at the brownish liquid.

  "This all seems familiar," she thought.

  Kat then continued, "About a year ago, I awoke in the abandoned Etna Toys Plant and Warehouse with no memory. Beside me on a table was this Note–" She tapped the paper and pointed to the other two items. "-that business card, and this Music Box." Kat looked to the backpack on the couch where she stowed the Beretta. With aversion to having to carry the gun, she added, "And one other item."

  "So what you're saying is, you don’t know who you are. You think because you have one of my business cards you’re supposed to find me. You have. Now what?"

  After picking up the honey bear, Kat drew a smiley face on the spoon and whispered, "Fly... fly away, sad, sad, day." She stirred the honey in the tea and looked into her face.

  Kim wondered, "For Ares' sake! What is she doing playing with the honey? She must be out of her mind."

  "Then what?" Kat shrugged. "I don’t know. I was hoping you knew me." She examined Kim's face again. "Are you sure we haven’t met? You look very familiar, but I can’t place you. It's kind of like when you wake from a dream. You know something happened, but all the details are fuzzy."

  "No we haven’t met," Kim answered, irritated.

  She remembered their meeting at Topa’s estate and thought, "Might as well get some information from her before I eliminate her."

  Kim said, "I am curious. What were those things you killed? Some kind of robot? And why were they at Topa’s estate?"

  Kat’s gaze became distant, exhausted, and dismal. "They're bio-mechas, model Un-Men." She flushed, a little embarrassed. "They were there to hunt me."

  "Hunt you?" Kim chuckled, thinking she made it up. "Why are you so important?"

  "I don’t know. They call me the Pandora Project."

  "They? Who are they?"

  "The Council. A man named Argus said they were monitoring me and watching me through the tests." Kat muttered as her eyes showed fatigue, "So many tests."

  "Pandora?" Kim leaned back in her chair. "The woman who opened a sealed box from Zeus and let all good escape from existence. The
woman who doomed the world."

  "All good?" Kat never considered the significance of the project name.

  Kim answered nonchalantly, "Yes, plagued Man to suffer."

  "Is that my destiny?" Kat wondered, conflicted inside. "Am I destined to cause people to suffer?" She stared out the window at the dark day for a few moments. “I guess this was another dead end.”

  "I’m sorry I bothered you," Kat said as she pushed her chair back. "I'll show myself out. It seems my search continues."

  "Are you so naive?" Kim stood and reached into her purse. "Idiot! Do you know what I do for a living?"

  "You’re Kimberly Griffin." She glanced at the business cards on the table. "The Phoenix." Kat paused as it sunk in. "A Closer. A lawful assassin." She stared at the splattered blood on one of the cards. "You kill people." Appalled, she turned her gaze to her. "You kill people for money."

  "Idiot! And to think I was worried I let you slip by at Topa’s estate." Kim removed the PPK and screwed on the silencer. "You do understand I can’t let you live." She shook her head in a tisk-tisk manner. "You’ve seen my face, know my alias, and even been in my apartment." Her expression showed outrage and disbelief. "I don’t think I’ve ever met someone so stupid!" Kim took a moment to regain her cold detached demeanor. "So you were searching for me, hoping to find answers." With indifference and a just business attitude, Kim raised the gun and aimed. "All you’ve found is your death."

  Chapter Fourteen

  A Forgotten Melody

  8:32 A.M...

  Kat stared down the barrel of a gun. It wasn’t the first time, but it was unexpected. She wondered, "How could I be so wrong?" In confusion, she turned to the table and gazed at the three items that had led her to this point. "So foolish?" She fisted her hands. "I believed these were clues. I believed that if I followed them I would find answers not my end. Crap!" She closed her eyes in frustration. "How stupid of me. Why did I believe I was safe here?"

  Kim prepared to kill her. Her death would be like countless other Closings she had performed in the past. Kim thought, “Except this one will involve more paperwork. And it will be the first I've executed inside my apartment.” She noticed Kat didn’t panic and didn’t plead for her life like most Marks did. She only stared at the gun.

  A little surprised, Kim asked, "Are you sure you didn’t hit your head? You do understand you’re going to die?"

  Kat rubbed her forehead, remembering the wound she had when she first awoke in Etna Toys. She thought, "Maybe I did hit my head."

  The urgency of the situation finally sunk in, and her attitude changed as she repeated Kim's words, "You can’t let me live?" Her demeanor transformed from a wide eyed child, to the fierce glare of a cornered tigress.

  Kat looked to the backpack across the room and wondered, "Is this one of the tests? Is Kimberly just another assassin hired by the Council?" She fisted her hands, going over in her mind how to incapacitate her. "Why did I let my guard down?" Her face softened. "Why did I feel so at home here?" She stared at the tea, not wanting to hurt her. "Why do I always in up in these situations?"

  "Idiot," Kim uttered in a calm voice as she placed the muzzle against Kat's temple. "This is going to be messy. Your brains will splatter all over my table and wall. Why couldn’t you have died at Topa’s estate?"

  Kat ignored her, glanced at the clues to her life, and wondered, "What’s the point in fighting? In fleeing?" She picked up the Music Box. "What does it matter if she kills me or I fall prey to one of the Un-Men or some other assassin?" Kat heaved a great sigh as if it would be her last breath on Earth. "I’m tired." She opened the lid, and the melody played. "I'm tired of the tests." Her gaze grew distant as the tune continued. "I'm tired of being alone."

  Her eyes slowly closed, Kat went into a trance, and she entered the Drifting Time, but this one was different than the others. Within it, she entered the domain of dreams. In this realm of her subconscious, no Dry Clouds existed, the sun shined on the land, governments not corporations ruled the Earth, and no one hunted her. She drifted in this world on her stomach as if floating on a peaceful river. A breeze blew at her back, and the air smelled crisp and clean. Kat passed over large cities and small villages. She flew over many races of Man. She floated over forests, hills, deserts, oceans, islands, plains, lakes, jungles, mountains, and streams. Kat thought she recognized a few of the places, but she couldn't remember their names. The dream seemed endless till the wind changed.

  A torrent of air blew against her and slowed her progression as a shadow cast over the land, invading the peacefulness. A male voice laughed, and the sun fled as Dry Clouds stormed in and plunged the land into perpetual night. Kat felt afraid as she glided over this dark world, seeing no more of the places and people she had seen. Everything was different and darker in appearance and atmosphere. She stopped midair as if she slammed into an invisible wall. An unknown force pulled her, and she plummeted to the earth. The force also affected time. As Kat dropped, she grew younger till she reached her early teens. The descent slowed, and her thirteen year old body landed feet first in a white tiled room. In the room, people talked with muffled words. Two women’s figures appeared, but they had no faces.

  One of the faceless women placed her hands on her shoulders. "Katharine, you must be strong. I can no longer protect you." The woman looked to a door, hearing footsteps approach what appeared to be an office. The faceless woman turned back to her. "There are those in the Corporation that want to exploit you."

  The doorknob jiggled as someone tried to enter.

  She heard one of the women speak again, but wasn’t sure which one it was. "Rosetta, they’re here. Hurry."

  "Quick, Mary. Push the desk against the door. I need more time!"

  One of the women knelt to one knee to look into teenage Kat’s face. "They will take you. I can’t stop them, not with the power I have now."

  Someone outside tried to bust in the door.

  One of the women yelled frantic, "Hurry! They’re coming."

  "Be strong Katharine." One of the women stroked her cheek. "My dearest Kat."

  A small explosion removed the door from its hinges, and it fell as five soldiers rushed in.

  Back in Apartment H...

  Kim had been talking to Kat, but Kat had ignored her. "Aren't you going to plead for your life?" Kim asked, pressing her finger against the trigger.

  Kat didn’t answer, trapped in the Drifting Time.

  "No? Well it wouldn’t have done you any good." Kim squeezed the trigger, the hammer fell, and gunfire lit up her grim face.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Portraits Of Her Past

  The wind howled, blowing through the trees of West 1000 Avenue as night became day. Dawn, dusk, and twilight did not exist in Noir, since the sun no longer ruled over the land.

  Shadows gathered in the park across the street from Nexus Apartments and held position. The gathering stared at the building, knowing their target lay within. The shadows detected an electronic barrier surrounded the apartment, and like a magical curtain, it prevented the gathering of red eyed monsters from entering. For the moment, they would wait till the prey came to them. They were patient, so very patient.

  Earlier...

  9:36 A.M...

  All Kim had to do to rid herself of Kat was pull the trigger. This strange woman who sat before her would then be gone from her life. Kim only needed to walk the path her bleak and lonely existence already led her. A split second of time changed the course of both their fates. A sound distracted Kim and made her hesitate.

  Unfinished Melody chimed, filling the room. Louder and louder the music grew until the melody incited a trigger, not in Kat, but in Kim. Ghastly images inundated her mind. The roar and smell of fire, screams that chilled her soul, and the distinct sound of three shots. Her head throbbed, and Kim gasped as horrible pictures buried deep in her brain forced their way to the surface.

  "That music..." Memories of her mother rapidly flooded her consciousness, makin
g Kim feel sad, alone, and abandoned. "Stop it!" Kim yelled. The tune chimed on, pulling from her psyche portraits of her past she had long buried. She had separated herself from those happy moments that died when her mother left her family. "Stop the music!"

  Kat didn’t respond, so Kim slapped her hand, knocking the Music Box to the floor. As she slapped her hand, Kim inadvertently moved the PPK from Kat's head. "I said stop it!!"

  The Music Box closed as it hit the carpet, and the melody ended. Kim stared at it for a few moments and then turned her attention back to Kat.

  “I don't know what kind of game you're playing, but it won't work on me,” Kim said. “Do you hear me? Are you going to stay silent? Aren’t you going to plead for your life? No? Well it wouldn’t have done you any good.” Kim started to move the PPK back to her head.

  Within Kat's dream, five soldiers barged into the room. Rosetta and Mary screamed as three shots resounded then all faded to black.

  "No!" Kat pulled from her trance, swung her hand up and back, and shouted, "Mary! Rosetta!"

  She knocked Kim’s gun to the side. It went off and a bullet struck the wall. The gun blast lit up Kim's surprised face. Caught in the drama of her dream, Kat made a fist, pulled it back to hit Kim, and paused, realizing she no longer stood in the white tiled room, but in the apartment. There was no fire or soldiers and no one was in danger, but her. Kat slowly blinked, frozen in place and then lowered her hand.

  She caught Kim off guard, but Kim recovered quickly. Rage and sorrow filled her eyes as she aimed the gun back at Kat. She thought, “What's happening to me? I feel... I feel afraid.”

  "I’m sorry," Kat said as she tried to lose the remnants of the dream world and focus on reality. "I didn’t mean to..."

  "Who are you?" Kim’s gun hand shook as her emotions overwhelmed her. She hadn’t felt such fear or heartache in a long time, and she didn't understand why she was feeling them. "Why are you here?" Her head continued to throb as she stepped back from the table. "And how did you come across that tune?"