Chapter 4

Chenosh entered the grounds, moving quicker than the eye could follow. Leaping over the brick wall, he crossed the lawn in front of the mansion in a matter of seconds. The guards patrolling the grounds never saw him. By the time one of them headed around the corner of the building, heading towards the back Chenosh was standing behind one of them. The man was lighting his cigarette with a cheap lighter when two hands reached out, and snapped his neck. Chenosh let them man drop, his senses trained for any danger. Hearing no sign of alarm, or feeling anyone approach he bent down and started relieving the man of his weapons. The man was carrying a shotgun and a pistol. Making sure to grab plenty of ammo off the corpse Chenosh found a knife in his belt.

"This should prove helpful." Chenosh said to himself.

Walking around the corner calmly he spied the back of the second guards head. Slinging the shotgun from its strap, he let the knife fly. Twirling through the air, it buried itself right into the back of the man's head: where the neck met the head. Like flicking an off switch he was dead before he hit the ground.

Pulling the blade out Chenosh glanced up. Above him was a well lit balcony that could provide an unexpected entry into the building.

"Beats going in the front door. No one's say I can't be fairly original." Chenosh said feeling his heart quicken. Violence had always had this affect on him. Already the excitement and anticipation threatened to overwhelm his sense. Establishing control, he reigned his emotions back. In less than a moment the choppy waters of his emotions had stilled again. This was no time to let her emotions go. It would breed only unusual "accidents" that might raise a few eyebrows.

With an almost effortless leap he landed in the middle of the balcony, staring at two terrace doors. Inside Don Gespacci was stepping out of the shower, when suddenly he looked up.

"Hello." Chenosh said, raising his gun and shooting Gespacci in the kneecap. Howling in pain he fell to floor, cradling his ruined knee. Hearing footsteps on the far side of the door Chenosh used his intuition to put two bullets into the boss' bodyguard who was getting ready to burst in. The body could be heard loudly hitting the wooden floor with a satisfying thud. Doing a final scan of the building Chenosh sensed two people in the bathroom. Focusing in on the two individuals he tried to feel if they were hostile. In the space of a couple of seconds he discounted them as a threat: both women were hiding in the bathroom. It was unlikely that either one was armed.

"Three guards Don? You've got to be fucking kidding me! Why exactly haven't you been bumped off yet? You order a hit on someone without even doing your homework, and your detail is a joke." Chenosh said opening the doors, and pushing them open. Glass crunched underneath his shoes.

"Who the fuck are you?" Gespacci asked between clenched teeth.

"Perhaps a change of appearance is in order." Chenosh said shifting into her female form.

"Seem more familiar now?" Chenosh said.

"Holy shit!" Gespacci cried out.

Chenosh was now focused in the moment. Rage filled her, dredged up from deepest parts of her soul. For nothing else existed, that's why she was surprised when sense someone outside the door. Figuring it was the wounded man trying to get up, she put another bullet into him. Without really aiming she fired a bullet into him.

"Shit!" An all too familiar voice cried.

Immediately turning towards the sound she said, "Johnny?"

"What the fuck Chen!" John yelled back as he groaned in pain.

Quickly opening the door she found the body of the original gunman, now dead and Johnny holding his gut. The bullet had ripped into his abdomen causing tremendous. The wound was bad. Heading back into the room she pulled off one of the sheets, ripping them to make a bandage. Hurrying to him, she pressed them to the wound.

"I'm sorry!" Chenosh said.

"If I didn't know better I would say you were actually worried about me." Johnny said trying to force a smile.

It gave Chenosh a chance to be angry: something she preferred over the feeling of panic she had been feeling. It was a new emotion to her.

"I wanted you to wait in the car." Chenosh said.

"Sorry. Not so good at following directions, even when you make your intentions obvious." Johnny said with a chuckle that ended up hurting him like hell.

"Stop laughing you idiot before you bleed yourself to death. I've got to get you to a hospital." Chenosh said.

"No arguments here. Would you mind carrying me? It hurts when I stand." Johnny said. Chenosh felt an odd warmth creep into her heart as she saw how brave he was being. She simply couldn't be hurt like him, so she couldn't possibly understand why someone wouldn't just be overwhelmed by it.

A gun fired behind her and she felt the impact of a shotgun shell hit the back of her head. Lucky enough instinct again had saved her, before she could even think about it. In her panic she must have dropped the shotgun on the floor, and her intended victim had decided to use it. Glancing over her shoulder, she picked up the gun she had set down in front of her on the floor and shot him between the eyes.

"Damn girl! Your like a walking tank." Johnny said wide-eyed, "Does anything hurt you?"

"Not much. Enough of this chit-chat. I'll drive you to the nearest hospital, and we can continue this conversation later." Chenosh said. Stuffing the gun in her front waistband she picked up Johnny as if he weighed nothing.

"My hero." Johnny said, unable to resist.

Sighing she said, "Johnny do you want me to add an injury to the list?"

"Umm ... no." Johnny said.

"Then shut up!" She commanded.

"Ok." He said unable to hide a smile.

As they drove, Chenosh glanced at him worriedly. He seemed to be getting weaker.

"Hold on Johnny. Don't you die on me!" Chenosh said trying to keep one eye on the road which was very difficult given her state of mind.

"Don't worry I'm fine..." He said, his voice trailing off.

Breaking hard, she swerved the car off the road into the dirt. Once it came to a stop she rushed to the other side, pulling him out of the car.

"Johnny! John!" She cried out, trying to shake him awake. When he didn't stir she took a deep breath. Closing her eyes she pictured herself as energy. Pressing him to her she forced as much of it as she could into him. It was a move of desperation, but she couldn't let him die. Something deep inside her refused to give him up. Chenosh didn't know what it was, but she felt it and knew that it was important.

In a one terrible moment she thought he wouldn't wake up. Time seemed to slow down and she felt tears come to her eyes for the first time in her life, but then something stopped her. Johnny took a breath and opened his eyes. Looking into his hazel eyes she smiled. Now she knew why she felt so close to him. She had seen it in his coming back from the brink: a vision much like her ancestors had experienced.

"Hello my sweet Monen'hi. My soul mate." Chenosh said, kissing his lips. At first it was gentle then fierce. She broke the kiss leaving him gasping for air.

"Is that how you brought me back? I felt myself slipping, but then I felt you all around me. You saved me." Johnny said stroking her cheek with his fingertips.

"You are my Monen'hi. To me that makes you more precious than anything. Despite our betrayal of our god, Pree'mus blessed a number of Di'san with this gift. When we are near our soul mate we can feel it. Even I as stubborn as I am I cannot ignore it totally. I felt you were special somehow, and with it the overpowering urge to keep you safe. I can share things with you that I cannot share with anyone else." Chenosh explained.

"Like the energy I felt filling me." Johnny commented.

"Yes. That and so much more." Chenosh said.

"Really? What?" He asked.

Closing her eyes she opened her mind and gasped. In the space of what seemed like moments to her, Johnny lived entire lifetimes. He not only saw her memories, but felt and experienced them. He walked and lived the lives of her ancient kinsmen. When she shut off of the flow of memories, his eyes were wide and dilated. It took a few minutes for him to come back to himself.

"Wow! What the fuck was that?" He said his breaths coming in gasps.

"Those were to memories of my ancestors, my family." Chenosh said helping him up. Johnny was now completely healed. The only traces of the earlier wound were the blood left behind sitting on his skin, and soaking his shirt.