Post by mothercanuck on May 20, 2024 4:35:06 GMT
Somewhere in the French countryside…
She watched the fields pass by in blurs of green, chin cradled in her hand. Her brown eyes stared out, half-lidded and looking as if she’d fall asleep at any moment. Any other time she might have been marveling at her surroundings, but she currently had many other thoughts swirling around in her mind.
Namely, the text message from a few weeks back.
When she tried to message the number back, she only received an automated reply: ‘This number is out of service and cannot be reached.’ The picture she had saved to her camera roll and looked at several times a day. But as much as she stared at it hoping the answers would materialize in her mind, the more they slipped through her fingers. Like trying to hold onto a dream after waking.
A curt laugh brought her out of her thoughts and she turned her face away from the train window. Across from her, Eddy was reclined in one of the train’s luxurious seats, phone pressed to his ear. He caught her eye and gave her a wink and a wide grin. “Yes, it’s all been going amazingly well, as you’ve seen. Three matches, three wins. People’s eyes and ears are definitely turning in our direction.” He paused to listen to the other end, nodding here and there. “Yes, we’ll definitely be more than ready for this upcoming match. I have no doubts in my mind about that. Kasey has been an absolute beast with this new training regimen you sent over, and I think it’s going to give her matches going forward a little…something extra.” There was a devious flash in his eyes as he pulled the phone away and tapped the screen to end the call. “Well, Father’s sufficiently pleased with your progress thus far. Keep it up and soon, we’ll have the whole of IWF staring up at us in complete awe and reverence. Hopefully even a little fear, as well.” He chuckled again.
She fidgeted with her fingers in her lap, before straightening her back and resting her elbows on the table, steeling herself to speak her mind. “Eddy…when am I going to actually meet him? My…our father, that is?”
He reached across the table and patted her hands, giving her a placating smile…though she caught the undercurrent of condescension. “All in due time, dear sister. He is an extremely busy man, after all. All his business dealings are helping to fund your new training, new gear…he’s even been throwing in a generous allowance to cover your travel and living expenses as well, remember?”
She nodded her head, giving what she hoped was a grateful smile. “And it’s not that I’m ungrateful. But…it just seems like if he had been searching for me for so long, he’d want to meet me as soon as possible.” She paused, biting down on her lip. “Not to mention my mother, as well…”
She looked back up and in one split-second, she thought she saw something like panic flit across his face, but it was gone in an instant, replaced with the same cool smile he always wore. His hazel-green eyes crinkled at the corners as he squeezed her hands gently. “The truth is…I haven’t heard anything else from her since last year, when she first came to me. I messaged her after you and I met up in Ibiza, but they all bounced back unread.” His face fell into a look of sympathy. “I’m so sorry. I really truly believed that she wanted to find you. I suppose she just got cold feet at the last moment. But I’ll tell you what - you continue on this incredible trajectory you’ve been on, and I’ll do the utmost to try and find her. Deal?”
A little smile came across Kasey’s face and she nodded slightly. But before they could say anything else, Eddy’s phone rang again. He glanced down at the screen, an apologetic look filling his face. “Alas, duty calls once again. No rest for the wicked, and all that. I’ll only be a moment.”
As she watched Eddy get up from his seat and press his phone to his ear before walking off down the aisle, she let out a beleaguered sigh and put her chin in her cupped hand again. Her eyes instinctively went back to staring out of the train window, this time watching a herd of cows grazing serenely in a field of clover. She was vaguely aware that someone passed her by, but paid no attention…
Until she felt something tap her elbow.
Glancing down at the table, she saw a small white notecard resting on the tabletop, right underneath the point of her elbow. She glanced up and down the aisle, but didn’t see anyone. Raising an eyebrow curiously, she lifted the card and turned it over…
She never stopped.
——
“Ah, Paris. The Immortal City. It doesn’t matter how many times I’m here, I will never tire of these views.”
Standing in a luxury hotel suite with a perfect view of the Eiffel Tower, Edwyn Merrick smiled as he gazed out towards the iconic landmark. It was certainly a stark departure from the types of promotional videos that he had been filming, but to him the setting was irrelevant. What mattered was the message to be delivered.
As he turned towards the camera - dressed as always in a finely tailored suit that more than likely cost what most people earned in a single year - the sly glimmer in his hazel-green eyes was illuminated by the dim light of the lamps in the room. Despite the luxurious surroundings, there was still an aura of malevolence that clung to him as finely as his suit. “Just as I will never tire of watching each and every victim that has so far fallen to Kasey. The fear as she locks their legs. The desperate struggle as she bridges over. The final last gasp of hope as they madly slap the mat in defeat…or, in poor Mimi’s case, as they offer up no resistance whatsoever and simply fade away.” He closed his eyes, reveling in his memories. “Better than any world-class opera or play, I assure you. And the highlight reel will continue this week. Rosa DeLuca has been plucked from the garden, and offered up to become mulch.”
His smirk became sinister as the heavy thud of booted feet could be heard on the marble floor. The now-familiar image of the white fox skull mask materializing on camera signaled the arrival of Kasey Vex, her dark eyes burning behind the mask. While her older half-brother did not look out of sorts in the posh Parisian hotel room, Kasey was certainly a different story. Baggy black cargo pants tucked into the tops of her Doc Marten boots, an oversized white T-shirt with the sleeves hacked away layered overtop a black cropped sports bra and the signature pink hair cascading pin-straight down her back. But if her appearance made her seem out of place, it was quickly forgotten as she began to speak.
“Rosa DeLuca. The next victim in my growing list of conquests. I’ve seen the matches you’ve had so far, and I’ll give credit where it’s due - you certainly seem like quite a formidable opponent. You’ve racked up quite a string of victories since you arrived. And I hope you savored those victories, little Rosa. Because I’ll be leaving you with the sour, bitter taste of defeat that nothing will remove.”
From a fine crystal vase resting on an end table, Kasey plucked a single red rose from the massive bouquet that was resting inside. She rolled the flower in her hands, inspecting it very intently as she continued to speak. “‘Every rose has its thorns’ indeed. You pride yourself on your heavy hitting. On your martial arts prowess. Your military service to your country. I won’t deny that you have worked hard to get to where you are today. But all these thorns you’ll try to sting me with…” Kasey ran a finger down the stem of the flower, stopping to rip off each and every thorn her fingers came into contact with and tossed them carelessly to the ground, where she crushed them under her booted heel. “Are nothing. After all, what good is hitting hard when you won’t even be able to hit your target?”
She paced the floor a few steps, waving the flower through the air. “You and I are on a collision course. Both of us are currently undefeated since our debuts. An impressive feat by any measure. But something’s got to give, little flower…”
Wrapping her hand around the full red bloom of the rose, Kasey stared straight into the camera lens as she squeezed her hand and crushed the rose. Through her fingers, a red liquid started to seep and drip onto the white marble floor. Her face twisted into a vicious sneer. “And it won’t be me.”
She watched the fields pass by in blurs of green, chin cradled in her hand. Her brown eyes stared out, half-lidded and looking as if she’d fall asleep at any moment. Any other time she might have been marveling at her surroundings, but she currently had many other thoughts swirling around in her mind.
Namely, the text message from a few weeks back.
When she tried to message the number back, she only received an automated reply: ‘This number is out of service and cannot be reached.’ The picture she had saved to her camera roll and looked at several times a day. But as much as she stared at it hoping the answers would materialize in her mind, the more they slipped through her fingers. Like trying to hold onto a dream after waking.
A curt laugh brought her out of her thoughts and she turned her face away from the train window. Across from her, Eddy was reclined in one of the train’s luxurious seats, phone pressed to his ear. He caught her eye and gave her a wink and a wide grin. “Yes, it’s all been going amazingly well, as you’ve seen. Three matches, three wins. People’s eyes and ears are definitely turning in our direction.” He paused to listen to the other end, nodding here and there. “Yes, we’ll definitely be more than ready for this upcoming match. I have no doubts in my mind about that. Kasey has been an absolute beast with this new training regimen you sent over, and I think it’s going to give her matches going forward a little…something extra.” There was a devious flash in his eyes as he pulled the phone away and tapped the screen to end the call. “Well, Father’s sufficiently pleased with your progress thus far. Keep it up and soon, we’ll have the whole of IWF staring up at us in complete awe and reverence. Hopefully even a little fear, as well.” He chuckled again.
She fidgeted with her fingers in her lap, before straightening her back and resting her elbows on the table, steeling herself to speak her mind. “Eddy…when am I going to actually meet him? My…our father, that is?”
He reached across the table and patted her hands, giving her a placating smile…though she caught the undercurrent of condescension. “All in due time, dear sister. He is an extremely busy man, after all. All his business dealings are helping to fund your new training, new gear…he’s even been throwing in a generous allowance to cover your travel and living expenses as well, remember?”
She nodded her head, giving what she hoped was a grateful smile. “And it’s not that I’m ungrateful. But…it just seems like if he had been searching for me for so long, he’d want to meet me as soon as possible.” She paused, biting down on her lip. “Not to mention my mother, as well…”
She looked back up and in one split-second, she thought she saw something like panic flit across his face, but it was gone in an instant, replaced with the same cool smile he always wore. His hazel-green eyes crinkled at the corners as he squeezed her hands gently. “The truth is…I haven’t heard anything else from her since last year, when she first came to me. I messaged her after you and I met up in Ibiza, but they all bounced back unread.” His face fell into a look of sympathy. “I’m so sorry. I really truly believed that she wanted to find you. I suppose she just got cold feet at the last moment. But I’ll tell you what - you continue on this incredible trajectory you’ve been on, and I’ll do the utmost to try and find her. Deal?”
A little smile came across Kasey’s face and she nodded slightly. But before they could say anything else, Eddy’s phone rang again. He glanced down at the screen, an apologetic look filling his face. “Alas, duty calls once again. No rest for the wicked, and all that. I’ll only be a moment.”
As she watched Eddy get up from his seat and press his phone to his ear before walking off down the aisle, she let out a beleaguered sigh and put her chin in her cupped hand again. Her eyes instinctively went back to staring out of the train window, this time watching a herd of cows grazing serenely in a field of clover. She was vaguely aware that someone passed her by, but paid no attention…
Until she felt something tap her elbow.
Glancing down at the table, she saw a small white notecard resting on the tabletop, right underneath the point of her elbow. She glanced up and down the aisle, but didn’t see anyone. Raising an eyebrow curiously, she lifted the card and turned it over…
She never stopped.
——
“Ah, Paris. The Immortal City. It doesn’t matter how many times I’m here, I will never tire of these views.”
Standing in a luxury hotel suite with a perfect view of the Eiffel Tower, Edwyn Merrick smiled as he gazed out towards the iconic landmark. It was certainly a stark departure from the types of promotional videos that he had been filming, but to him the setting was irrelevant. What mattered was the message to be delivered.
As he turned towards the camera - dressed as always in a finely tailored suit that more than likely cost what most people earned in a single year - the sly glimmer in his hazel-green eyes was illuminated by the dim light of the lamps in the room. Despite the luxurious surroundings, there was still an aura of malevolence that clung to him as finely as his suit. “Just as I will never tire of watching each and every victim that has so far fallen to Kasey. The fear as she locks their legs. The desperate struggle as she bridges over. The final last gasp of hope as they madly slap the mat in defeat…or, in poor Mimi’s case, as they offer up no resistance whatsoever and simply fade away.” He closed his eyes, reveling in his memories. “Better than any world-class opera or play, I assure you. And the highlight reel will continue this week. Rosa DeLuca has been plucked from the garden, and offered up to become mulch.”
His smirk became sinister as the heavy thud of booted feet could be heard on the marble floor. The now-familiar image of the white fox skull mask materializing on camera signaled the arrival of Kasey Vex, her dark eyes burning behind the mask. While her older half-brother did not look out of sorts in the posh Parisian hotel room, Kasey was certainly a different story. Baggy black cargo pants tucked into the tops of her Doc Marten boots, an oversized white T-shirt with the sleeves hacked away layered overtop a black cropped sports bra and the signature pink hair cascading pin-straight down her back. But if her appearance made her seem out of place, it was quickly forgotten as she began to speak.
“Rosa DeLuca. The next victim in my growing list of conquests. I’ve seen the matches you’ve had so far, and I’ll give credit where it’s due - you certainly seem like quite a formidable opponent. You’ve racked up quite a string of victories since you arrived. And I hope you savored those victories, little Rosa. Because I’ll be leaving you with the sour, bitter taste of defeat that nothing will remove.”
From a fine crystal vase resting on an end table, Kasey plucked a single red rose from the massive bouquet that was resting inside. She rolled the flower in her hands, inspecting it very intently as she continued to speak. “‘Every rose has its thorns’ indeed. You pride yourself on your heavy hitting. On your martial arts prowess. Your military service to your country. I won’t deny that you have worked hard to get to where you are today. But all these thorns you’ll try to sting me with…” Kasey ran a finger down the stem of the flower, stopping to rip off each and every thorn her fingers came into contact with and tossed them carelessly to the ground, where she crushed them under her booted heel. “Are nothing. After all, what good is hitting hard when you won’t even be able to hit your target?”
She paced the floor a few steps, waving the flower through the air. “You and I are on a collision course. Both of us are currently undefeated since our debuts. An impressive feat by any measure. But something’s got to give, little flower…”
Wrapping her hand around the full red bloom of the rose, Kasey stared straight into the camera lens as she squeezed her hand and crushed the rose. Through her fingers, a red liquid started to seep and drip onto the white marble floor. Her face twisted into a vicious sneer. “And it won’t be me.”
Well howdy there pardner.