Penny slowly climbed back up onto her feet. Her shirt slowly turning red from the steady stream of blood pouring from the bullet wound in her shoulder. Rodger walked casually over to her desk and started to poke around her desk.
“Two choices slayer,” he said casually, “either return to the fold or I kill you where I you stand.”
Penny didn’t reply. She continued to stand defensively trying to find a way out. Rodger leaned on her desk and sighed.
“Fine have it your way.” He said as he aimed his pistol.
Suddenly the door to the office burst open. Jarred stormed in flustered.
“Penny what the hell?” he demanded, “We got a segment to shoot in five minutes.”
“Jarrod get out of here.” Penny said seriously not taking her eyes of Rodger.
Jarrod shot Penny an angry look.
“What? You gonna kick me out of my own office? Do I have to remind you who sign your paychecks? And what the hell is the deal with the monkey men outside?”
“Jarrod . . .”
“No Pen we’re going now! You can talk to your grandpa later.”
Rodger had had enough of Jarrod’s interruptions.
“Young man it is in your best interest if you leave Miss Whitfield and myself to our negotiation.”
From Rodgers expression Jarrod began to sense the situation was more urgent then he first interpreted. It was then she noticed the growing blood stain on Penny’s shoulder followed by the gun, poorly concealed, aimed directly at Penny.
“Everything okay Pen?” Jarrod asked
Rodger turned and glared at the reporter. This was the moment Penny was waiting for. Moving at full speed she spun kicked the gun out of Rodger’s hand. This was followed by a side kick to Rodgers stomach sending the head watcher flying back against the back wall and collapsed onto the ground. Grabbing the back of her chair she swung it around smashing open the window in their office. With her exit path clear Penny charged at the window and dived out. Hearing the sudden commotion the enforcers, position outside the door, stormed in ready for a fight. They were about to head outside and make chase but Rodger motioned them not to.
“Sir we’re going to lose the slayer if we stay here.” One of the enforcers snapped
“Don’t concern yourself. She’s not going to make it far,” Rodger replied, “This was the reason why I bought them.”
Penny limped her way down the side path as quickly as she could. While she did this she pulled her cell phone from her pocket and dialed Brett's number. He didn’t answer. Part of her hoped Jarrod didn’t get to him first as Brett’s voice mail message.
“Brett it’s me!” Penny said urgently, “Call me as soon as you get this . . . it’s bad. Rodger’s in town. I want you to find Megan and The Wanderer and get the hell out . . .”
Suddenly, from out of nowhere, Penny was clothes lined by a second person. She landed on her back hard and winced in pain. Penny looked up to see a girl with long, light brown hair and disturbing jade eyes staring severely down at her. The girl was dressed in a basic black shirt, dress pants and boots. She tried to reach for her cell but the girl kicked it away from her. Penny’s shoulder wound began to throb painfully as she tried to scramble backwards. The girl walked up, grabbed her by her wounded shoulder and yanked her up onto her feet. She slammed Penny into the side wall violently staring into her eyes as she did so. Penny tried to struggled free but to her shock she couldn’t. This girl had strength . . .
. . . Slayer strength . . .
. . . But that wasn’t the thing that disturbed her the most. What got to Penny was the vacant expression in the girl’s eyes. It was like something had sucked the soul out of the girl leaving her a hollow shell to be manipulated by anybody who had the power. The girl began to press harder on Penny’s wound causing the champion to wince. Penny managed to get one of her arms free. She punched the girl across the jaw causing her to lose her grip. Pushing her out of the way Penny bolted for the car park.
What the hell was going on? Penny was convinced that girl was a slayer so why was she attacking her and why did she look so absent? Penny rounded the corner and was about to head up the drive way but the sight of four other girls who were dressed identically to the girl who just attacked her made her stop dead in her tracks. This was bad. It didn’t take a lot of thought to realize these girls would have similar powers to the first one. Penny began to feel the slightest sense of faint as her blood dripped lightly from her soaked sleeve.
Slowly the girls began to circle Penny, each of them wearing the same black expression. One of the girls punched Penny across the face causing her to stumble back. Before she could she recover two of the other girls grabbed her by each arm. The pain Penny was feeling was quickly becoming unbearable. Her options were dropping fast. That's when she saw Hope sitting on a nearby branch. She gave the small bird a desperate look before the other girls attacked. Hope flapped her wings and soared into the air. That small bird was Penny’s last chance.
~ The abandoned mansion, Phoenix Arizona ~
Brett leaned back on his chair as he rubbed his eyes. He’d been spending most of the day trying to find out anything he could about the Chambers Activities and so far he had come up empty. From the other room The Wanderer entered and sat in a nearby chair.
“How’s it going?” the old man asked
“It’s both slow and up hill,” Brett replied, “not exactly what I would call stimulating fun time for me. Any luck with Megan?”
“Nope, I tried her cell and her dorm number both of them came up bupkis.”
“I don’t like it. Megan couldn’t have just vanished like that there has to be something.”
“No argument here kid. Megan’s not exactly the cut and run type. I’m gonna hit the streets see if I can find anything on our techno-pagan.”
The Wanderer walked over to the door. Just as he opened it Hope flew in in a panic and landed on the monitor. The small bird started to chirp wildly.
“Whoa, whoa slow down,” The Wanderer said in concern, “what happed to Penny?”
The bird continued her story. Brett watched The Wanderer’s expression worried.
“What? What’s going on with Pen?” he asked
“You still have your car out front?”
“Yeah”
“Get it we’re gonna need it.”
~WNHK studios, Phoenix Arizona – 10 minutes later ~
Penny hit the wall hard. She slid back onto the ground in extreme pain. Penny glared at the five girls hovering over her. Every moment she continued to fight with these girls the harder it was for her to concentrate. She forced herself back onto her feet and got into a fighting stance. The girl’s in black began to organize hitting the injured woman from all sides. As one girl caught her in the stomach another took out her legs causing her collapse onto the ground.
This was it. This was the end for her. Even if Hope managed to find The Wanderer to raise the alarm she felt the amount of blood loss she’s suffered was too severe. Penny closed her eyes and waited for the end. From the distance she heard the sound of an approaching car. Suddenly Brett’s car sped into the car park and headed for the girls. The four girls flipped out of the way as it screeched to a halt right next to Penny. The Wanderer kicked open the back door and carefully lifted the injured Slayer into the back.
“Go!” he yelled to Brett
Brett dropped it into gear and accelerated away from the building as fast as they could. As soon as they were out of sight Rodger stepped out calmly from the sidelines and joined the five vacant looking girls.
“I’d say that was a successful field test.” He said in a satisfied tone
Professor Tillman joined him a moment later.
“True, but the Sentinel Slayers they failed to subdue Miss. Whitfield.” He replied
“I wouldn’t worry about that Miss Whitfield,” Rodger replied, “In a few hours she won’t concern us.”
Rodger and his team started to leave the lot. Little did they know somebody else was watching them from a second floor room. Deke slowly lowered his camera as he and Jarrod watched the entire display in shock.
“Tell me you got that.” Jarrod exclaimed
“Yeah I did,” Deke replied in disbelief, “I kinda wish I didn’t though.”
Back at the mansion the both of them laid Penny carefully on the bed. The wanderer picked up his medical pouch from the corner and moved in next to the injured slayer.
“This is gonna hurt a lot Pen. Just want you to know that.” The Wanderer said seriously as he prepared to remove the bullet from her shoulder.
Penny nodded and readied herself as The Wanderer pulled out a pair of forceps from his pouch. Penny winced. After a few moments of gentle manipulation, finally, the bullet came out. He quickly placed a piece of cloth on her shoulder and looked over to an anxious looking Brett.
“Hold this here as hard as you can,” The Wanderer instructed, “The pressure should stop the bleeding.”
Brett nodded and took the piece of cloth. The Wanderer moved over to the table and started to examine the bullet.
“Are you sure she doesn’t need a hospital?” Brett asked
“From what Hope said they would find her there.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know yet,” The Wanderer explained, “Probably more of Rorgia’s goons who . . . hold on.”
The wanderer noticed a clear liquid dripping out the tip of the bullet. He didn’t need to run any test to tell him what that stuff was he had seen it before. The Wanderer cleaned off the bullet confirming his fear.
“Oh god.” He exclaimed
“What? What is it?” Brett asked
The wanderer jumped up from his seat and moved over to Penny.
“Get her ready to move now!”
“Why?”
The Wanderer snatched the bullet from the table and held it in front of Brett.
“See this bullet here?” he snapped, “pretty sure this is a drainer.”
Brett looked at the old man confused. The Wanderer started to prepare Penny for travel
“I saw this type of ammo used back when I was stationed in the Middle East. They fill the caps with a powerful anticoagulant which stops the blood from clotting.”
“I don’t understand.” Brett said
The Wanderer picked up Penny then glared at Brett.
“Quick answer we don’t get Penny to a hospital now she’s going to bleed to death.”
Finally the news sunk in for Brett. He grabbed his car keys.
“Then you take her I wanna head back to the station.”
“What’s at the station.”
“I couldn’t find Pen’s cell when we picked her up, my guess, it’s gotta be somewhere around the building,” Brett explained ”I think this might be a good time to call Pen’s sister in law for help and the only way I can do that is with Pen’s phone.”
~ Raleighfield University, Raleighfield California ~
“ . . . Back at UCLA Alex swore to me he would never become a lecturer. He considered it selling out and a waste of knowledge.” Sasha Morgan said playfully.
Alex Whitfield laughed and rolled his eyes and laughed.
“Things change Sasha.”
“So I’ve noticed,” She replied, “Anyway the mayors waiting for us.”
“Right,” Alex replied as he turned his attention to Clare, “I’ll be back ASAP.”
“Have fun.” Clare replied smirking
Alex led Sasha out of the office. He looked at the dazzling smile she gave him. This was one the things about her that attracted him in the first place. Clare smirked at the both of them. It was obvious to even her there was still something between them. The sound of her phone ringing broke her minor trance. She walked over to her desk and casually answered the phone.
“Professor Whitfield’s office.”
“Neighborhood Watch?” Rodger replied from the other end of the line.
The playful expression dropped from her face.
“Yes sir” Clare replied
“I’m going to need you to run interference.”
“What kind?”
“Communications black out. Miss Whitfield’s associates are going to try and get in contact with either Alex or The Divine One. I want you to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“Yes sir I’ll do my best.”
Rodger hung up his cell. He walked down the two rows of girls each of them wearing the same blank expression on their face. Professor Tillman was going over his check list as the head watcher approached.
“The Divine One?” the professor asked
“In the dark,” Rodger replied, “That should make sure there’s no interference with the rest of this field test.”
“Perfect. I want to make sure they’re ready before we send them to Raleighfield,” Professor Tillman replied
“How long?”
“Not long now,” Professor Tillman replied, “I’d say one or two more tests before we can confirm whether or no the programming is holding.”
“Good we can’t delay this any further.”
~ Phoenix Hospital, Phoenix Arizona ~
Penny slowly opened her eyes. She looked around the hospital room in a daze until she saw a nurse tending to her bandages.
“Hey,” She said softly, “What happened?”
“You were shot.” The nurse replied
At first Penny looked at the nurse confused. Then the memory of that day’s event’s flowed back into her mind. Penny shifted her injured shoulder uncomfortably. The nurse rested her hand.
“Don’t try to move it too much okay?” the nurse continued, “You don’t want to pop a stitch do you?”
Penny looked up to the welcoming expression of the nurse. Suddenly she was struck with an extreme feeling of déjà vu.
“Have we met?” Penny asked
The nurse smirked and wrote a few notes down on her chart.
“I helped check you in.” she replied, “Hey, you’re grandpa’s waiting outside if you want to see him.”
Penny looked at her confused.
“Grandpa?”
“The old guy who brought you in.”
“Oh, right, my grandpa, yeah.”
“I’ll send him in.”
The nurse left the room and a moment later The Wanderer entered. He sat down next to Penny and smiled broadly.
“How are you doing kid?” he asked
Penny thought about this.
“I was shot and nearly beaten to death,” Penny replied uncomfortably, “aside from that I’m fine.”
“I sent Hope out to try and find any sign of that demon pack who attacked you . . .”
“They weren’t demons.” Penny replied sharply
The Wanderer looked at her curiously.
“Then what were they?”
The look of despair on Penny’s face was almost too much for the old man. Penny managed to shift herself to a sitting position.
“They we’re Slayers, all of them, I think I recognized a couple of the girls from back before the battle.”
“Wait, I don’t understand this, why would Slayers attack you?”
“I don’t know but it was way too much of a coincidence that the minute I got away from Rodger they caught up with me.”
This didn’t sit well with the wanderer. He gave the young woman a look of extreme seriousness.
“Rodger as in the head of the Council of Watchers?”
Penny nodded.
“Yeah he was the one who shot me, listen, I need you to go and get Brant he need’s to know what’s going on.”
“No way missy! I’m not leaving you alone in here with the council on your tail.”
“Brant is our best shot at finding out exactly what we’re dealing with,” Penny snapped “We need answers now!”
The Wanderer conceded defeat and stood up.
“Alright but I’m gonna be checking in every half an hour. You put your efforts into getting better okay?”
Penny rolled her eyes playfully.
“If I have to.” She smirked
The Wanderer gave her a brief smile and kissed her lightly on the forehead. Over the past two years he had come to love her like she was his own daughter and the sight of her like this was almost too much to bear. The Wanderer didn’t take much notice of the nurse, who was standing by the doorway, as he left on his task. The nurse on the other hand studied him closely. When the coast was clear she rushed back to the nurse’s station, picked up the phone and dialed a number frantically.
“Hey it’s Michelle,” The nurse said seriously, “Yeah it’s definitely her . . . Hey, I thought she was dead to but it looks like we were all duped . . . No Rodger got to her before we did. She been beaten pretty bad . . . look, now’s not the time to start talking extraction. Something’s come up. Pen told the old guy who brought her in that she was attacked by Slayers . . . Now you know why I wanted to do this in person. Get the girls together I want to know which slayers they were and why they’re working for Rodger. I’ll stay here and guard Penny as best as I can.”
Michelle paused as she received a stern lecture from the other end of the line. She smiled and leaned back causally in her chair.
“You worry too much as if Neighborhood Watch could get anywhere near me.”
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