“You’ll do as I tell you, or Ben and Jack, here, will teach you some manners,” the man warned. A large red mark in the shape of the back of one of the hands of the hired muscle covered her right cheek.
“I’m sorry, gentlemen. Is there a problem?” She asked.
The wealthy man and his two hired gorillas turned in her direction, his face contorted with anger; the help’s with surprise. “Who let you in here?” the man demanded.
“I did. You are mishandling one of my friends. You had better let her go if you know what’s good for you.”
“You and what army?” Jack asked, smirking.
“Yeah, baby. You’re cute, but I think you’re a little out of your league, here,” Ben added.
The usually gray-green eyes burned a glowing hot red. All three of them stood still, with blank expressions. “Now, gentlemen; I’ll need you to follow me,” she commanded. Turning to Sherry, she said, “Don’t worry, sweetie. They won’t bother you ever again.” The party of four, led by Poisonous, went down into the lobby, and headed for the men’s restroom. One man stood at a urinal, minding his business.
“Leave!” she ordered, eyes glowing with extra power, making the man obedient to her command. He quickly finished his business, and left. Gone, she turned to the three men. “You will stand very still, and not move a muscle.” Already under the power of her suggestion, the men said nothing, and stared straight ahead. One by one, she filled them with deadly poison, and in turn, they shriveled up and disappeared, leaving not a trace of their existence.
Finished with the problem clients, the building’s fancy elevator took her back to the Presidential Suite, where Sherry sat on the bed with tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Don’t worry sweetie: I’ve taken care of those awful men. They’ll never bother you again.”
“He seemed so nice at first,” she lamented.
“You know, Sherry; hopefully you’ll learn from this. Never judge a book by its cover. Just because this man obviously had lots of money didn’t mean that he had any intention of treating you like a lady. He simply thought he had bought you to do his bidding. He probably turned on the charm just to lure you into his trap. Moral of the story: get to know your gentlemen before you pursue them. It will save you a lot of trouble down the road.”
“Y-you’re right,” she stammered. “This was awful.”
“There, there, dear. You just go ahead and go back to your apartment, and I’ll pay you double for all your trouble tonight.” Which will be quadruple for Mr. Moneybags.
“Thanks, Perri. You’re wonderful.”
“I do my best, sweetie.”
Fourteen
Monday, September 8th
The news of the disappearance of Frank Migliaccio, a well known mobster who owned several shady businesses up and down the East coast, reached Dan Hightower’s desk. Reviewing the video footage from the hotel where he was last seen, his favorite person of interest showed up again, leading Frank and his accompanying muscle to a men’s room in the lobby. In the footage inside the men’s room, the three men stood still as mannequins, and as she walked up to them, her hands went into the necks of the three men, and they proceeded to shrivel up and disappear in a cloud of smoke, as though she had baptized them in spontaneous combustion.
Taken aback, almost not believing his eyes, Dan reviewed the video footage again. The outcome was the same as the first time. He shook his head, and said, “This is just too fantastic to believe. She seems to have the ability to make people disappear.” The thought rolled around in his mind for a while, and he said, “Wait a minute…” He dialed the Chief of Police, who answered on the first ring.
“Haywood.”
“Barb. This is Dan Hightower, F.B.I. Wasn’t there a case from about two and a half months ago of the disappearance of a young man in his twenties named Chad Brisbois? Was his body ever found?”
“Truthfully, Dan, he seems to have disappeared without a trace. He was last seen at the Capital Scene, and after reviewing the security footage, he was accompanied by a young woman, who looks to be of Indian descent, about five feet, six inches tall.”
The now all too familiar perp’s modus operandi made him shiver with a sense of foreboding. Not only did she seem to inflict harm on all she came across, she had the ability to make people literally go up in smoke. What kind of monster is this woman?
“Well, thanks, Barb. We’ve been tracking this woman ourselves, and are very interested in finding her, and bringing her in for questioning.”
“Good, luck, Dan”
“Thanks, Barb.”
* * *
The lunch with Roger proved relaxing, and fruitful. They had discussed various enterprises to be exploited on the Dark Web, and, of course, the hunt.
“All this talk of the hunt makes my blood boil, sweetie. Keep it up, and I’ll have to have my way with you.”
“I’m not standing in your way,” Roger responded, grinning.
“Mmmm. You’re speaking my language…”
Poisonous walked back towards the apartment, glowing from her encounter with Roger. As she got closer to apartment 618, the presence of the Light hit her with more power than it had ever done before. She struggled as she got closer to the door, and when she finally walked in, the presence of the Light suffocated her. However, she mustered up all her courage and bucked up her resistance to the powerful effects of the Light. As she walked in, she noticed a man who looked very familiar: it was the man from the Islamic Center that she had convinced to be her ‘husband.’ She had made him forget her the last time she had encountered her, so saying, ‘Hi, how have you been?’ wouldn’t work. She could
