The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

Light and Shadows VI: A Darklight Shines

by J. Darksong

Ch. 6) In A Book Full of Death

“Alright! I have a plan” I stated, feeling my confidence waver slightly as they turned to stare at me expectantly. “Um. Sorta. Well... an idea, actually.” I said, faltering. Did I mention that I don’t do well under pressure? “Anyway... it’s the best we’ve got for the moment. Regina, your power... your ‘Danger Sense’... how does it work, exactly?”

“What? Um... I don’t... I’m not sure what you mean, exactly,” she said, frowning. “I don’t know how it works, it just does. Why are you asking?”

“Well, for instance... do you think of me as a threat? What does your Danger Sense say about me? About Heitmann?” As I spoke, I gathered a bit of my inner darkness, keeping it hidden just below the surface, ready to use if needed. Not that I intended to use it, mind, but I needed this little test to be credible.

She blinked, clearly confused. “I don’t know... I mean... neither of you is a threat, if that’s what you—HEY!” she yelped, jerking back away from me in alarm. I smiled merely standing there. “Okay, what the hell was THAT all about?” she said scowling. “Why did you just sudden—FUCK!” she yelled, jumping back again. Now she glared at me. “What the FUCK are you doing?” she yelled, then winced, remembering her daughter was standing nearby. “Sorry, sweetie. What the HECK are you doing, Darklight?”

“Nothing, just testing a theory,” I said, walking over to Hitman. I whispered in his ear for a moment, he whispered back, then I explained, briefly, what I wanted him to do. He sighed, rolling his eyes, but agreed. “Okay, Regina, would you please come stand in front of Hitman for a moment?”

“No way,” she growled. “You two are up to something, and I want to know what it is.”

“Look, I’m just trying to get a read on your power, all right?” I explained patiently. “I want to know the range, the effect... what triggers it, and what doesn’t. I need to know how much control you have over it, if you can aim it, control it, turn it off or on... and whether it’s some kind of psychic awareness, or an environmental effect, or magic, or something else entirely.”

“And WHY, pray tell, are you so interested in my power all of a sudden?” she asked heatedly.

“Because if it works like he’s hoping,” Hitman burst in, frustrated with the whole thing, “then maybe you can act like a damned trouble sensor, and use your power to detect where your pal Ted is hiding!”

That took her aback. “Detect... you mean find Ted by sensing the danger the nukes pose?” she asked. We both nodded. “I...” she began, considering. “I’m not sure. It never even occurred to me to use my ability like that... y’know? I mean, actively looking for trouble? It’s always been just the opposite... reacting instead of acting. It just kind of pushes me away from trouble.” She sighed wearily. “Except when it comes to picking the right kind of boyfriend, that is.” She sighed again. “Okay. I’ll give it a shot. What do you want me to do?“

“Well, first of all, I’ve figured out that it goes off for any imminent threat, or attempted threat, whether you know it’s coming or not,” I said. “Now, I want to know if you can differentiate between two apparent threats, one real, and one imagined, and at what range can you sense them. So, please go stand in front of Hitman for a second, okay?”

“Okay.” Kneeling down beside her daughter, she smiled. “Sweetie, mommy’s going to go help these two guys with a little experiment, okay? I want you to stay here out of the way so you don’t get hurt, alright?” Chloe nodded, staring up at her with wide eyes. “Just relax, baby. It’ll be okay. No one’s going to get hurt, alright?”

As she walked over to Heitmann, I knelt down, picking up a small rock. After she was about halfway there, I yelled out. “I want you to tell me when you feel either of us becomes a threat... and at what level, one a scale of one to ten, okay?” She nodded, then settled into place, closing her eyes. I held the rock in my hand, idly... tossing it gently from palm to palm. I intended to throw it near her, in her general vicinity, but not actually at her. Behind her, Hitman raised a fist high above her head, and held it there, not moving. Throughout all this, Regina stood quietly and calmly.

I threw the rock, hard, and it went past her, landing a few feet away. She didn’t even flinch. Kneeling down, I picked up another rock, then nodded to Hitman. Touching the small iron bar in his pocket, his body shimmered, and his upraised fist transformed into a deadly weapon. Still, Regina stood calmly, without flinch. Sighing, I focused on her now, intending to throw this rock between her spread legs, not directly at her, but close enough that it MIGHT come in contact with her. She flinched slightly, just as I’d made the distinction, but didn’t move. Ah. Good. Starting to narrow in on it a bit. Taking aim again, I threw, and before I released it, she shifted, turning slightly to the side, causing the rock to sail by, missing her leg by less than an inch. Huh. Interesting. I see my throw was a little off and she compensated... Snatching up a third rock, I decided then and there to aim for her head. If nothing else, she’d proven she could dodge it with her eyes closed. Before I could even rear back to take aim, however, she was already moving.

“Hold it,” she said, opening her eyes. “You’re NOT throwing that rock at my head!” she said with heat. I nodded, smirking, letting it drop from my hand.

“Good enough. That’s what I needed to know.”

“SHIT!” she yelled, ducking and rolling to the side, pulling up her weapon as Hitman moved, his heavy steel plated hand slamming down violently in the place she’d stood seconds before. Staring down the barrel of her pulse blaster, he held up both hands, still smiling.

“Sorry to scare you, girl,” he said easily. “Just part of the experiment. Relax. It’s over. No harm done.” He chuckled softly, then grunted, flying back suddenly, landing hard on the ground. “Hey! What the hell? Who did that?” Blinking, he glanced around at me, and then at Regina, who looked just as surprised. “Alright. Who’s the wise guy?”

“Easy, Hitman,” I said, placatingly. “I’m sure it was an accident. Besides, you’re made of steel, right now—it’s not as if it actually hurt you.”

“Hmph! Worse, it hurt my suit,” he grumbled brushing the dirt from his Armani jacket.

Despite the slight dustup, I’d learned a lot. Regina’s power was fully instinctual, reacting on a purely subconscious level. Her range seemed to be dependent on the relative threat to her; a minor threat wouldn’t truly register unless it was close enough to be of consequence, while a larger, more potent threat she could sense from much further away. Alas, it seemed that intent was the main trigger activating the effect; her mind had to understand whatever it was was truly a threat to her before it would respond. A grenade with the pin in was as much of a non-issue as a rock or a tree or anything else, even if she was sitting right on top of it. A grenade with its pin pulled, however, an active and very dangerous threat, would set her off from several yards away from the limit of the blast radius.

Which, was to say, Ted Whitman wouldn’t show up as a blip on her radar unless she somehow stumbled across him... or unless he armed a nuke.

“Well, that bites,” Hitman grumbled, “Subconscious, smub-conscious.... it’s a shame you can’t just MAKE yourself think of the damn things as a threat before they’re armed...”

Make herself... think... “Odin’s Bloody Beard, Hitman, you’re a freaking GENIUS!” I said suddenly, turning to Regina. “We still have a chance to make this work! Your power is guided by your subconscious, right? Well... um... if you wouldn’t mind me doing a little... mental fine-tuning,” I said, causing black inky tendrils to emerge from my hands, “I think maybe I could ‘convince’ your subconscious to focus on Ted and the nukes as a definite threat as they are now. Then you could use your powers to track him down!”

Apparently, she wasn’t a big fan of that idea, as she blanched, going pale. “You... want to jam those... things... into my head?” she said with a shudder. “Um... oh man... shit... isn’t there some other way we can do this?”

“Other than sitting here and waiting for CTU to arrive, or for one of the groups we have randomly searching to get lucky, nope,” I said flatly. “It’s this or nothing. And Regina? I get it, okay? I don’t like it when people monkey around inside my skull either. I know what that’s like. Believe me, I get it. But we don’t have a lot of options here. You know I’m not a threat, okay? Your Danger Sense isn’t going crazy right now, is it? I promise, I won’t hurt you, or do anything other than make your power work the way we need it to. Okay? You trusted me to help find your daughter. Trust me with this.”

“Yeah, fine, alright,” she said with teeth gritted. “But if you make me bark like a dog, or cluck like a chicken, I swear, I’ll kick your balls up into your throat.”

Um. Ouch. Just THINKING about that made me want to cross my legs. “Duly noted,” I said drily, letting my inner shadows emerge. As I moved to strike, a... something, shoved me back, hard, almost knocking me off my feet. “Hey! Oww... what the...?” Glancing around, I saw nothing, and no one within range. So... what had just hit me?

Does her subconscious have some kind of psychic defense mechanism or something? No... that doesn’t make sense. She would have responded before now to defend herself if that was the case. And I don’t think its intentional... not an attack, per se, more like getting shoved back out of the way. I frowned, and turned, my eyes lighting on young Chloe, who was standing just a few feet away. Frowning. Glaring at me.

Huh. I wonder... she is still a bit young, but... who knows?

“Okay, let’s try this again, okay?” I said loudly, bringing forth a new pair of shadow tendrils. “Now just relax, Regina. This won’t hurt you. All it will do is calm you down, relax you, and make you feel a bit sleepy, okay?” Carefully, slowly, gently, I extended my tentacles towards her, piercing her body, and her mind, linking us. As always, the link was purely mental, not empathic, but even I could feel the fear rolling off of her in waves. I pressed down on her psyche a bit firmer, stilling her fear, numbing it, and began delving deeper into her mind, into her subconscious, trying to find the link to her power.

I should note, once again, for the record, that I am NOT psychic. My power is not psychic in nature. It’s something else entirely. Like my version of ‘healing’ wasn’t really healing but also something... else. If anything my quasi-dimensional non-photonic energy seemed to act almost like magic, more like my cousin Nebby’s mist than an actual psychic connection. Well, again, like, but not the same. Her connection was actually more empathic than telepathic, according to her, although with sister it was somehow both... Anyway, my point? I was basically an amateur at best, despite all the practice I’d put in recently in learning to control my powers. It took several long tense minutes to find the mechanism of her power, that bit of whatever in her mind that reacted to threats. Then several more, as I attempted to figure out how exactly to connect to it, interact with it, and convince her subconscious mind to send my instructions to that whatever in order to make it do what I needed it to do.

For any non-Supers out there, as a point of reference, try to imagine threading a needle while blindfolded, and wearing gloves. Not only can you not actually SEE what you’re doing, your sense of touch is muted so you can barely even FEEL what you’re doing.

Nevertheless.... after much trial and effort, I opened my eyes, and broke the connection. Regina sagged, going limp, but I caught her, holding her up as she regained full consciousness. “Mommy!” Little Chloe yelled, rushing to her side. I winced, then gasped in surprise, knocked back several feet, as the child clutched her mother’s hand. “Are you okay? What happened? What did he do?”

“Shh... it’s okay, baby,” she said with a smile. “I’m okay... just woozy for a minute there.” She glanced over at me. “So... did it work?” I shrugged.

“You tell me,” I grumbled, getting back to my feet, dusting myself off. At least that confirmed my earlier suspicions. “You should be able to sense something by now.”

Sighing, she closed her eyes and focused, opening herself up, letting herself simply feel her environment. Then, with a gasp, she opened her eyes, and turned. “I felt it,” she whispered, awestruck. “It was... I don’t know how to describe it... like standing near an oven set on high with the door open. I’m far enough away to keep from getting burned... but I can still feel the heat in the air around it... that way,” she said, pointing northeast.

“Away from the main highway, and towns, heading towards the woodlands,” Hitman grumbled softly. “Perfect. Just perfect. At least if we can catch him in time, we won’t have to worry about any innocent bystanders getting nuked if things go sour. Not that I’m all that innocent,... I’d just prefer not to test how effective a lead coating is against an actual nuclear explosion.”

“C’mon, gang,” I said, moving back to the black SUV we’d appropriated from the captured mercenaries. “Let’s get moving. Time is running out.”

* * *

Jessica was in heaven.

The alterations she’d made to everyone’s minds made them all subservient to her will, and completely and totally insatiable! As she and Lacie worked each other to their sixth and tenth, respective, orgasms of the night, she basked in the satisfaction that she had made her fantasy into reality. She wasn’t just dreaming anymore—she was living the dream.

“GAAWWWDDDEESSS!” Lacie screamed, arching her back, thighs clenching, in ecstasy, as she came again, naked toes scoring the wooden frame of the bed as they curled lightly. Jessica giggled in blissful glee; Katie’s mom had promised to replace the bed after the night was over, citing all the damage she tended to cause to normal furniture whenever she lost control of herself. Indeed, the only reason she hadn’t already shattered the bed to splinters was the command Jess had given the matronly Super that she was bound helplessly in unbreakable chains until one of them released her. With that command woven tightly within the center of her brain, she found herself helpless, bound not by true chains but by the power of her own mind.

Nevertheless, Jess had learned early enough not to underestimate her strength, spying again the crushed remains of her favorite dildo, lying discarded on the floor after a particularly intense pussy contraction from the superhuman slut.

“Mmmm... oohhh nnnnn... so good... yes, yes, girls... keep it up,” she moaned as Megan and Katie continued to suckle and nibble on her naked pleasure filled form, making her writhe. Life was perfect. This was perfect. IN fact... the only thing that would have made it better would have been if the two LaSilvas sisters had been there as well. Jess swooned, eyes rolling back as Katie’s tongue swirled, mirroring that move that Sylvia had taught them before, bringing her to climax...and she imagined Sylvia and Aurora there as well, her fawning, submissive, oversexed sluts, blissfully writhing and dancing to her tune, eager to please her as well. And the image grew... imaging their mother, the lovely exotic silver skinned Sarah as well, kneeling naked at her feet... along with purple-haired Valerie... and dark haired Veronica, the deadly assassin, tamed and controlled... and Dr Eva Snow... and her twin sister, Anastasia Snow... and on and on and on...

“AAAAHHHHHHHH!” she screamed, the pleasure too much, too much, and as she came, hard, as the world went white...

Blinking, shaking her bleary head to clear the cobwebs, she grunted in surprise, finding herself firmly bound, restrained hand and foot, all with warm soft constructs of light. “Huh? What the... why am I tied down? Katie? Megan? Lacie?” Grunting, shaking herself, trying to get free, she frowned, finding Katie standing over by the door, whispering softly in her mother’s ear, before they shared a deep kiss and the elder Frasier left the room.

“Sorry, sweetums,” she said with a giggle, returning to the bed, “but I wanted a little ‘alone time’ with you. I sent mom and Techna home for the night. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Actually, yeah, I do kinda mind,” Jessica began, only to moan softly as Katie straddled her, muffling any protests by kissing her deeply. Breaking the kiss, slightly dazed and really horny, she chuckled. “Uh huh. Alone time. I get it. But you didn’t have them send them home. You could have just let them snuggle together in the guest room down the hall.”

“I know. I actually considered that,” she said with a very wicked smirk, “but I didn’t want you distracted for our little talk. Well, not distracted by them, anyway.” Closing her eyes briefly, she pressed the palms of her hands together, causing them to glow... then slowly pulled them apart, creating what appeared to be a glowing dildo-shaped light construct. Jessica’s eyes widened in surprise, but before she could voice any concerns, a second construct, a ‘light gag’, slipped firmly into place over her mouth. “Uh uh, baby,” Katie chided her lightly. “No talking now. It’s my turn to talk.” Sliding the glowing pulsing sextoy between Jessica’s wide spread legs, she added mischievously, “And this is to make sure you listen.“

Jessica squealed, thrashing as much as the bonds would allow, which was virtually not at all. Katie’s light filled her, in every sense of the word, somehow seeping deep into her very being, deeper than an actual dildo could have ever fit. Warm, gentle but insistent heat spread throughout her body, starting at her clit and branching outwards, accompanied by a deep rhythmic pulsing that seemed to encompass her entire being. Her vision wavering with each pulse as her brain vibrated as well, her thoughts reduced to short static fragmented bursts.

“Now, baby,” Katie began, leaning forward to nibble and suck on Jess’ earlobe, bringing her right to the brink, “I just want you to know that I have enjoyed single every second of tonight. It was so much fun! Fucking Megan, and Mommy, and you... mmmmm... If I died right now, I can honestly say I’d have no regrets at all.” Smirking, she bit down lightly, reaching a hand down to her breasts, pinching her nipples, and constructing a pair of tiny pulsing nipple clamps atop her diamond hard little nubs. “That said... I want to make something very very clear. I want YOU to want ME above all others.“

“Mmmphhh!! Mmhhp Mhhuuu! Mmmhhp Mhhuuu!"” Jess managed to protest before the next crest shattered her ability to respond. Her bare feet flexed, stretching and curling her toes as her body thrust again and again against nothingness, receiving the fucking of her life from mere insubstantial light, both inside and out.

“I know something has been riding you,” Katie continued, one hand idly stroking her own steamy nether region while her light constructs worked over Jess’ most sensitive erogenous spots, keeping her in a sexual frenzy. “I’ve had my mind twisted around enough time to recognize when someone’s acting out of character. You’ve been obsessing about this little orgy party for weeks now... don’t think I didn’t notice.” She scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Well, I noticed... Ms. Goody Two-Shoes didn’t really think anything of it, but then again, my ‘nice side’ is entirely too naive and trusting for her own good.” She sighed closing her eyes, then leaned back over, caressing her lover’s face gently. “But baby, it’s not your fault. It really isn’t. Some naughty person turned you into this horny little slut... and while I appreciate the end result, that’s MY job, and no one else’s.“

Any response Jess might have uttered was lost as the pulses vibrating along her erogenous zones suddenly sped up, tripling in intensity for a moment, making her cum again, before settling back down to their normal state, leaving her mind dazed, and scattered, and her body merely hungry for more.

“Oh, and Jess?” Katie continued, pushing a finger through the light construct deep in her pussy, finding and teasing her lover’s clitty directly while the light-dildo continued its diabolical work, “I appreciate being let out of my bottle. I really do. Until now, I’ve been content to merely sleep deep inside Katie, letting her run things for us both. But while I have no problem with us fucking the entire female population, I damn well intend to be at the top of your list, baby.” She sighed softly, closing her eyes, arching her back as she pressed her own wet pussy against Jessica’s, letting the vibrating pulses work through her as well. “Call it jealousy. Call it protecting my own selfish self interests. I have no problem being another number in the queue, as long as I’m Number One.“

Katie’s eyes opened then, staring deeply into Jessica’s... and had Jess been in any way coherent, she would have questioned the swirling spiraling flecks of purple and black clouding the blonde’s normally clear blue eyes. “Who needs subliminal mind control programs to open a person’s mind?” she mused aloud, speeding up and oscillating the pulses of her light with her will alone. “Your mind is already an open book to me, lover. Unfortunately, it looks like someone’s been scribbling in your margins. And we just can’t have that, now can we?” Straddling Jess, she kissed her, pressing her lips hard against her forehead, glowing brightly all the while. “C’mon, baby,” Katie murmured softly, grinding her body against her lover’s, as the light, and energy, and power continued to grow, brighter, whiter, hotter...

With a gasp, Jessica came again, hard, slamming her hips up into Katie’s setting her off as well, as both came together in a flashing blinding white light.

* * *

This was actually working.

Driving down the highway at around eighty miles per hour, I let Officer Baker navigate, guiding us steadily towards the largest area of danger in the area. I was a bit concerned at having her daughter there in the back seat, knowing we were purposely heading towards danger instead of away from it... but truthfully, there wasn’t anyone else we could leave her with, no one that her mom trusted, anyway... and if Ted was fool enough to set off one of those nukes in the area, well, there wasn’t really much of a ‘safe’ place to take her. So, for all our sakes, we needed to get there before he did something really stupid.

“How are we doing back there?” I asked, glancing into the back seat.

“Just peachy keen,” Hitman grumbled, holding Chloe’s hand, the youngster strapped in next to him. “Tell me something kid. Are you freaking insane? Do you have some kind of mental problem? Or do you just have a death wish? You’re driving close to a hundred miles an hour down the highway at night—WITH THE HEADLIGHTS OFF!!!” He took a deep breath before continuing. “You know, kid, not so long ago I had the unfortunate pleasure of meeting with a young lady in Midas City while on a case, who drove about as crazy as you do. The only saving grace of riding with YOU is that we’re in a damned SUV instead of a freaking motorcycle.” I smirked at that, having a rather good idea who he was talking about.

“First of all, my power let’s me see perfectly well in the dark,” I said with a small amount of pride. “In fact, I see better and clearer like this than with the lights on. Best of all, Ted won’t see our headlights and know we’re coming up after him this way. And I’ll have you know I’m an excellent driver,” I said stiffly. “My dad insisted my sister and I get professional training when we turned fifteen. I have training in stock car, evasive driving, and even stunt driving. My cousin drives like a maniac because she’s fearless, and can take a good hit if she slips up. Me? I drive like a bat out of hell because I know how to keep control of the vehicle.” I chuckled, glancing back at him again through the mirror. “And even if we did crash...of the four of us, you have the least to worry about with your little absorbing trick. Just grab onto a piece of steel pipe in your pocket, and you’re good.“

“Cousin, huh? Meh... that figures. I knew there was something I didn’t like about that chick,” he grumbled. “And what about the rest of your passengers? Just knowing that she’s about to die in a horrible car crash won’t help ‘Danger Girl’ strapped in next to you. And what about the ‘squirt’? I still think we should have dropped her off somewhere, like the police station...“

“No!” Regina snapped, glaring into the back seat. “My daughter stays with me. You think I’d trust anyone else to look after her after everything that’s happened today?” She scowled. “And stop calling me ‘Danger Girl’, all right? I’m not a damned costume wearing crusader like the rest of you. I’m just a normal law enforcement officer—turn left, here,—that got dragged into this mess.”

“Uh huh. Normal. Riiiiight,” he sneered. “So anyway... you’d rather she gets mangled with the rest of us from this maniac’s driving, or vaporized into a swirling cloud of atomic dust when Ted blows the nukes?” Hitman shot back. “Great job there, lady. Keep it up. I bet you’ll get ‘Mother of the Year’—“

“Heitmann, will you knock it off?” I yelled, getting frustrated. “You’re NOT helping. And frankly, if I didn’t know you could alter your physical form to any material you come into contact with, I’d think your special power was being the biggest jerk on the planet.” Scowling, he turned away, crossing his arms at his chest. “Personally, I actually agree with you,” I said a moment or two later. “I think that both Regina AND her daughter should stay out of this one. But... we need her to guide us to Ted... and after nearly losing Chloe to someone who was SUPPOSED to be a trusted friend, yeah, I can understand her not wanting to leave the girl with anyone else.” I sighed softly, glancing at the young girl in my mirror. “Besides... you’re not really so helpless at all, are you, Chloe, sweetie?”

Twin gasps of surprise in front and back answered my question for me. “Yeah. I thought so. That... whatever it was... that shoved me back when you thought I was hurting your mom? And when you knocked Hitman aside for trying to smash her in the back of the head? What was that anyway... telekinesis? Some kind of psychokinetic manifestation?” Regina let out a soft sigh, and I turned to her.

“It’s a force field,” she said softly, staring down at her clenched hands. “I don’t know how it works any more than I know how my own powers do... I haven’t really done a lot of research or testing, I’ve always tried to get her to just... suppress her power. You know? Not use it unless absolutely necessary.” She seemed to deflate even more. “I was... teased a lot, as a child, growing up. My ability to sense danger... it’s subconscious, like you said. Back then, I would just react without really understanding why, and... kinda got a reputation for being a fraidy cat. The other kids teased me and taunted me all the time... made me HATE my power. Made me hate myself. I just... didn’t want Chloe to have to go through that as well, so I forbid her from using her powers.” She glanced up at me then. “Do you know what it’s like to have an ability that sets you apart, and to have a so-called ‘Gift’ that feels like nothing but a damned curse?”

“Yeah,” I said quietly, reaching over to squeeze her hand, gently. “I know a little bit of what that’s like.”

“Still,” she said after a moment, looking back down at her hands, “the worst part of all this is just... knowing that it’s my fault! If I hadn’t insisted that she keep her power a secret, if she had just used them... if she’d protected herself, and fought back against Jack... or whatever his real name is... if I had simply let her use her grow up using her God-given powers normally instead of fearing them, then maybe none of us would be in this mess right now!”

“Or, maybe Jack would have found someone else to do his dirty work” I countered, still staring straight ahead, slowing a bit as we came to a junction crossing a set of railroad tracks. “Maybe someone else would be here trying to deal with this mess, someone who couldn’t track him the way you can... and maybe we would have all woken up in the morning to read about a new terrorist threat, or a major catastrophe that occurred during the night... or hell, never woke up at all! " She gaped at me, incredulously, but I merely shrugged. “I’m a big believer in fate. You know... destiny? There are no coincidences in this world, Regina. You’re here because you are the only one that can helps us stop your former partner. And... speaking of which... which direction do we go now? Left of right?”

“Le...” she started then paused, frowning. She glanced out the window, looking left then right, then left again. “He’s to the right, heading up towards Provo Peak.” When I glanced at her, she merely nodded. “It was nothing, just a minor threat. Ted is to the right! I’m sure! Let’s go already!”

“Um, okay, if you say so,” I mumbled, pressed down the gas pedal, sending our SUV rocketing forward once more.

Her danger sense turned out to be right on the button. After a long and rather arduous trip up the twisty winding roads to the peak, we pulled to a stop several yards away from the other black SUV missing from the hijacking. A few feet to the right, in the center of a grassy clearing, Ted stood, talking on a cell phone, glancing up into the night sky. I followed his gaze, then groaned softly, spying the helicopter quickly approaching from the north.

“Shit, looks like the people he contacted to make the deal are arriving,” I informed my team. “C’mon, we need to get this thing under cover and hoof it folks. Ted might not have noticed our SUV, but that helicopter is bound to spot this second truck when they get close. And as much as we want to stop Ted from making this deal, we need to catch the rest of the people involved in this plot, not scare them off before they’re even on the ground.”

Free of the SUV, I cloaked the area in shadows, and, lifting it over my shoulder, moved it back behind the closest ridge out of sight. Back with the group, I lead us stealthily towards the clearing. It was tricky. The helicopter was sweeping the landing site and nearby areas with a spotlight, making a cautious sweep before committing to a landing. My shadows would keep us hidden, yes, but a shining the light directly on us would give use away instantly, a suspicious inky black blot in the middle of a green and brown grassy clearing. We all held our breath as the beam crept slowly closer and closer.... and, daring to hope for something akin to a miracle, I focused my attention on the helicopter’s tail rotor.

C’mon, little demon imps. Nothing too destructive... but a minor disaster right now would really help...

Would you believe it actually worked? Just before the light could sweep over our location, a small flash of light sparked, and a plume of smoke issued forth from the tail. Nothing major, no explosions or out of control spinning, most likely just a leak in an oil line or something, but definitely enough to get the pilot’s attention. He brought them in for a nice landing in the middle of the clearing, and we all let out a collective sigh of relief. As the door opened, a group of men in dark suits emerged, most of them notably of middle eastern descent, but one particular Anglo Saxon face caught my attention. I peered closer, just to be sure, but my eyes didn’t deceive me. I knew that character.

“Son of a bitch,” I murmured, dropping back down to the grass. “Rat bastard fucking piece of shit sonuvabitch!”

“Hey! Language!” Regina chided in a stage whisper, covering Chloe’s ears. “So what is it?” she asked, frowning, glancing up at the clearing. “What’s wrong?”

“Yeah kid. Did you recognize those guys or something?” Heitmann asked. “You kinda look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“The Ghost of Christmas Past, maybe,” I mumbled, shaking my head. “I don’t recognize the others, but that old white haired fart in the lead? Yeah, I know him only too well. He’s an old ‘non-friend’ of the family, largely responsible for trying to kill my mom and have all Supers registered under the federal government a decade or two ago. When that didn’t work, he went into business with some psycho doctor to create an army of Supers under his own control... which didn’t work out so well either. And, just recently, his nephew tried to send me to the electric chair in court over that little fiasco at the treasury back home. And now, it seems, he’s fallen in league with terrorists.” I sighed deeply. “Damn... how low can one person sink?”

“Wait, wait a second,” Hitman scowled, peering closer, “you’re saying that old guy over there, he’s—”

“Yep,” I finished, closing my eyes in dread. “That’s my folks’ old friend, Senator Wallace Wellesley.”