Chapter 11

Present day

Billy had been running a drone over the back part of Meredith’s land for the last couple hours. Him and Billy were sitting in the pool area watching a laptop feed from the camera. Finally, about 1am, they watched as two SUVs made their way down the logging road towards Meredith’s house.

“That’s a bit odd...” Jacob said pointing to the laptop.

Billy walked over and looked at what he was seeing. “Yes, I see why you might think that’s odd since they’re running IR lights instead of regular headlights. Let’s get ready.” He spoke.

Meredith and Adrienne came out and saw the drone land next to the pool area. “Game time I’m guessing?” Meredith asked.

“Yup. Two vehicles both running blackout drive lights about a mile from here.” Jacob replied.

“Lambs to the slaughter.” Adrienne said smiling as she double checked the two knives on her belt. She and Meredith were dressed in multi-cam clothing. Billy and Jacob had explained that these uniforms had been specially made to give off less of shadow if an infrared light was aimed at you. Meredith was threading a suppressor on the end of an H&K pistol.

Billy walked over and saw what she was doing. “Your father carried one of those.” He told her.

“Kind of poetic, wouldn’t you say?” She asked with smirk.

Billy was shaking his head in agreement. “It is. Where are you and Adrienne going to be while we’re out there?”

Meredith sighed and rolled her eyes. “Like we planned ... FATHER ... We’re going to be here close to the house in case anyone gets past you and Jake. We’ll stay out of your way and let you men have your fun and protect us helpless women.”

Billy and Jake quietly laughed. “You’re FAR from helpless, little Mike. But your dad would come back and kill me if I let anything happen to you, so thank you for doing what I ask.” Billy replied.

Billy and Jacob double checked that the suppressors on their rifles were tightened down, pulled their night vision goggles down and took off into the woods. They were being careful to follow the trail they laid out earlier in the daylight with mini-chemlights. Meredith and Adrienne watched as they eventually melded into the darkness.

“Are you ready honey?” Meredith asked Adrienne.

She grabbed Meredith’s hand and squeezed it. “Always my love.” She said.

A couple of hours later, Adrienne was dragging one of the attackers over to the other bodies. Meredith watched as the head bounced and bobbed unnaturally, noticing that it was barely attached to the body. It was a testament to Adrienne’s skill with a blade.

Meredith stood in the wooded part of her backyard with Billy’s rifle slung over her shoulder. She was watching as he was beating on the last man alive out of the eight that The Order sent to finish the job that they started with Michael and Allison. Meredith could tell that Billy was doing nothing more than stress relief. He hadn’t asked anything of him; he was just “softening him up” for questions. I heard another body drop down in the row next to the others. Jacob walked over still wearing his NVG’s with his suppressed M4 still slung across his chest.

“I swept out to the logging road in all directions. If there was anyone else out there, they’re long gone by now. How long has Tanto been at this?” Jacob asked her.

“He’s only been at it for a few minutes. I can tell that he’s not really doing much damage to him. He pulls up a bit at the last second.” Meredith told him. “Billy’s just getting his attention and making sure that he understands that he’ll break him eventually if he doesn’t tell him what he wants to know.”

“Billy’s been known to go overboard during an interrogation.” Jacob volunteered.

“Oh, I’m sure. But if it was your brother or best friend, wouldn’t you go a bit overboard also?” she queried. Jacob just nodded his head in understanding.

Meredith walked closer to Billy and looked at the pile of shit that tried to kill me. He looked around for Jacob and yelled, “Jacob, c’mere and look at this tattoo. You’re more of an expert of eastern bloc military than I am.”

Jacob walked over and looked at the bottom of the tattoo. He pulled out a knife and slit the uniform sleeve all the way to the shoulder. “VDV ... Russian Airborne, not quite Spetznaz, but just as tough. Looks like from the crest on the ink that he was with the mountain division; very well trained and very tough. We’re not going to get anything out of this one. What do you want to do Tanto?”

Him and Billy were talking amongst themselves about how to proceed. Meredith was looking around for Adrienne. She found her standing back watching the whole scene from a distance. She had a look of pure hatred and malice on her face. She walked over to her and slid her hand into hers and put her chin on her shoulder.

“Quelles difficultés vous ma amour?” Meredith asked her in French. Adrienne didn’t say anything, she just stared at the man on the ground. Meredith reached out through their bond and felt the conflict in her. She was infuriated that they came for Meredith. Adrienne felt nothing but malice and contempt for them. Suddenly, Meredith’s eyes opened in shock and she felt Adrienne bring all her power forward. It felt like a dam had been destroyed and the river was flooding the valley.

“YOU WILL NOT TAKE HER FROM ME!!!” she screamed as she pulled out of Meredith’s grasp.

Meredith watched as she strode forward past Jacob and Billy. Jacob tried to grab her arm as she walked past. Adrienne pulled her arm free with enough force that it pulled Jacob off balance and caused him to fall. She continued to stride forward. Adi came to a stop in front of the soldier that was sitting on the ground. The man looked up at Adrienne and sneered, not at all afraid of what a mere woman could do to him. Meredith smiled inwardly knowing he had no idea what was coming. They watched as she grabbed him around the neck with one hand and lifted him up off the ground till he was dangling over her head. Billy and Jacob looked like they’d just seen a ghost. Both paled and took one step back. Adrienne started speaking Russian to him in a loud tone.

“She’s asking him why they came for you,” Jacob nervously interpreted for us. “And also, who gave them the orders to kill you.” Jacob paused for a second as he listened to what Adrienne was saying. “If you tell me what I want to know, I promise that you’ll die in orgasmic pleasure. Don’t answer me and I promise you pain the likes of which have never been seen on this planet.” Jacob finished saying as Adrienne dropped him roughly on to the ground and started to walk away.

Adrienne knelt and whispered in the soldier’s ear. Meredith listened through their bond as she spoke. “You and yours took from me. I was forced to watch as you and yours used a bullwhip and then dragged him behind a horse until he was dead. I wasn’t strong enough to fight you then.” Adrienne leaned back so the soldier could see her eyes glow and change color to their Mistress’s violet. “Now I am. I will give you 5 minutes to wonder about what I can do to you.” There was a look of pure terror in his eyes now as Jacob went over and started to talk to him in hushed tones. Adrienne walked past us into the house. Meredith’s heart suddenly reached out to her, but Adrienne closed herself off from her.

“Billy can you and Jacob keep trying to get info out of him. I need to see to Adrienne.” And walked off before he could reply. She ran into the house and found Adrienne standing at the kitchen table with an open bottle of tequila, pounding down shot after shot. She walked up to her and started to slide my arms around her waist and shoulders.

“DON’T Ma Fille! I am not in a very good place right now.” She told me. “After the fighting was over, he looked up and smirked at me. It was like looking at the same thing as when my Henry was killed so many years ago.”

Meredith grabbed her and pulled Adi into her and squeezed tight. She felt her start to loosen up some and melt into my embrace. Her tears fell onto my arm from her sobbing.

“I cannot lose you Meredith, they have taken so much from me already. I just got you. I will not lose you Ma Fille!” she was saying quietly to me.

“I made a pact with you after our visit to Hannah’s realm. I intend on keeping it to the best of my abilities, even if it kills me.” She told Adrienne.

“You’re not funny Meredith. Death is no laughing matter where they are concerned.” Adrienne replied. Meredith took a minute to formulate a strategy to get through to Adrienne.

“If you had told me that I would be in love with you after only 8 days, I’d have called you a liar. I know that some of it probably due to our link with Our Mistress, but most of it is all myself and you.” I spun her around so that she was facing me and put my hand on her heart. “You told me that I was here and that I would stay here.” I took her hand and put it on top of my heart. “I told you days ago that you will always be here, and I meant it. I tell you that every day and it hasn’t changed. I’m not going anywhere, and they’ll have to do much MUCH worse than that to take me from you.” I whispered to her.

Meredith saw her eyes start to tear up again, so she put her hand on her cheek and caressed it with her thumb ever so gently. Adrienne put her arms around her and squeezed as hard as she could. She re-opened the link and flooded her with passion, love, and emotion. Meredith almost sunk to her knees from being overwhelmed with emotion and passion. But Adrienne held on to her and wouldn’t let her fall.

She released Meredith, and her smile returned. The anger had been somewhat replaced by happiness and contentment. Meredith could still fell her anger, but it wasn’t burning as hot as it was. “Let’s go talk to him.” She said.

On the way outside, I grabbed 4 beers out of the refrigerator for Billy and Jacob. Adrienne was already standing in front of the man on the ground. Billy was telling him that it was too late now, and that they couldn’t help him now. Meredith held up the beer so that the guys could see it. Both walked over and grabbed them out of my hands.

“30 or 40 minutes be ok for what you want to do?” Billy asked. I just nodded my head and told them Netflix was cued up on the TV downstairs. All I heard as they walked off was Jacob asking Tanto “How big of a load do you think he crapped when she picked him up?” then they both laughed as the back door shut.

Adrienne grabbed him by the ankle and dragged him closer to where Meredith was. She rolled him over on his stomach and them put her knee between his shoulder blades. “You like giving out pain and suffering, that is fine. We will show you real pain and suffering. Unless you talk starting right now...” Adrienne grabbed him by the hair, lifted his head up, and pointed to where Meredith was standing 20 feet away.

Meredith was standing behind the four bodies that had not fallen into the wells when they made the assault on her house. The soldier on the ground watched as Meredith’s eyes began to glow. His eyes widened as he saw the first body erupt in flames. Soon the other bodies were burning. He was further shocked as he watched Meredith step up and into the conflagration and out the other side with no burns or injuries from the fire.

Less than 10 seconds later, the fire extinguished itself. He started to turn and look at Adrienne, but she kept his head looking at Meredith. “No, she is not finished. See what else awaits you.”

He watched as Meredith touched a large boulder that had been made into a flower bed. He felt the ground start to vibrate and then watched as the ground shifted and the boulder came up out of the ground. Not believing what he was seeing, he tried to shake his head, but Adrienne held it firm. He watched as the burned bodies of his team slid along the dirt and into the hole where the boulder had been. Suddenly the boulder slammed down on the bodies, sealing them away forever. Meredith knelt and sniffed the lilies that were growing in the flower bed.

“Mom loved lilies. Daddy and I built this flower bed just for her to take care of because they were her favorite flower. I’d like to think that wherever she is, she’s seen what just happened and can rest a little bit better knowing that she’s been partially avenged.” Meredith told him. She got up off the ground and walked over to the soldier. “Do you have anything you’d like to tell us?”

“Those were loyal soldiers and you murdered them. They were just doing their jobs.” He said with a thick Russian accent.

Meredith looked at Adrienne and then at the soldier. “Your job was to kill a young woman and her lover.” She asked him. “Would you have shown mercy to me if I had asked for it?”

The soldier looked at her in disgust. “You are an abomination to God; your kind deserves to burn in hell.”

“I thought not.” Meredith said in reply.

Five days prior

“Are we using rubber knives or real ones?” Meredith asked Adrienne.

“What is it you American’s say, I am taking the training wheels off your bike. There are many things I want you to learn from this. I also want to see if you are smart enough to figure them out. So, we are using real blades. If you have a preference, please feel free to use that one.” Adrienne replied.

Meredith ran into her old bedroom and into the closet. She opened the bottom drawer and pulled out her father’s combat knife he always took with him when he deployed. She took it out of the sheath and ran it across her finger. It broke the skin and a small line of blood came to the surface. Meredith smiled. “Still razor sharp...” She said quietly to herself. She stood up and made her way outside to the back yard. Standing at the bottom of the steps, Meredith was shocked as she watched Adrienne as she did handstand pushups.

Adrienne noticed Meredith standing with her mouth open in surprise. “You can do this as well ma fille, it is just a matter of figuring out how.”

“You’re not going to tell me?” Meredith asked.

“No, you have had enough training and you are smart enough to figure out how to do it on your own.” Adrienne said flipping onto her feet. She walked over to Meredith and kissed her on the cheek. “I will give you a hint. You have better spatial awareness now.” She walked over to a small fabric bag and took a towel out. Meredith noticed that it had something rolled up in the middle. Adrienne unrolled the towel and a small very old looking dagger was what was rolled up inside. She stood up with the knife in her right hand and walked over to where Meredith was. “Ready?”

“Give me a minute...” Meredith replied as she started to stretch. “Are we going as hard as we did yesterday?”

“
All I will tell you is to try and keep up. Also, what we’re doing here will also show you just how resilient your body is in repairing itself after it is wounded.” Adrienne replied with a predatory look on her face.

“Mother puss bucket, this is going to hurt...” Meredith whispered to herself hearing laughter in the back of her mind. She walked over to Adrienne and approached her. She held her knife like an icepick and took a fighting stance. “How’s my stance?” She asked Adrienne.

“Not bad, but I can tell that this is your weakness.” She replied. “Do not worry, you will learn quickly.” Adrienne threw her left hand in the air and then shot in faster than Meredith could see and sliced up her arm and cut a deep wound in her forearm.

Meredith hissed loudly as she looked at her wound. “What did you do?”

“Fighting with knives is different than fighting with fists. You have distractions that you have to watch out for. But if you pay attention, you can figure out where the real attack will come ... Again.” Adrienne said getting ready to attack Meredith again.

Meredith looked as her wound was healing. She got into a defensive stance and flipped her blade forward. She was going to try and fool Adrienne into thinking that she was going to stay on defense and learn her movements. Meredith stayed in place until she saw Adrienne moving to her left. She twisted to keep her facing front. When she was ready, Meredith rushed in. Adrienne had brought her blade down across her chest the same time her left hand grabbed Meredith’s blade hand. Adrienne brought the blade up and into her arm pit hard enough that Meredith screamed in pain. Meredith leaned over to protect her injury.

“Just relax Meredith. Your wound isn’t deep, and it will heal in moments.” Adrienne told her.

Meredith could feel the skin knitting itself together and then stood up getting a bit angry. “What am I doing wrong?” She asked.

“Think about my movements and what I’m doing. Watch the next sequence and feel through our bond.” Adrienne told her.

Meredith stood and took an aggressive stance to attack. She threw a series of low kicks and then led in with her blade in an up-hand slash. Meredith cut Adrienne’s arm, but she was over extended and Adrienne took advantage of that. Faster than Meredith could watch, Adrienne leaned in and pushed Meredith to the ground, flipped the bade around so that haft of the knife was forward. She hit Meredith 4 times where her lung was and then brought her knife to her throat and held it there.

“Did you feel what I did?” Adrienne asked.

“I did.” Meredith told her. She realized that Adrienne was using her magical speed to stay ahead of her and out fight her. “How did you use your speed?”

“You did it at Walmart. If you think about it, it will come to you,” Adrienne told her. “Again...” She stood waiting for Meredith to stand up.

Meredith thought for a moment trying to remember how she managed to make herself run faster. “I was pissed at myself for not picking up the cloaking thing faster ... Magic amplified with emotion...” She said to herself.

“But was it human magic or mine?” Hannah said in the back of her mind.

Meredith pinched the bridge of her nose in confusion. “Thank you so much for clearing that up for me...” she said to Hannah. She didn’t get the chance to figure it out before Adrienne attacked. She threw a back handed slash but twisted and came around in a clubbing motion with her other fist. Meredith saw the punch coming and leaned back out of the way. She managed to flip herself backwards, as she brought her feet up, she connected with Adrienne’s chin. Sliding back and shaking her head, Adrienne moved forward slower this time since Meredith was ready. Meredith watched Adrienne’s torso for queues as to what her next move was.

“Very good ma fille, you are learning.” She said with a smile.

“I have a great teacher.” Meredith replied blowing her a kiss. Adrienne started to move closer still and got to within 5 feet of Meredith.

“I am sorry, but this will hurt...” She said to Meredith. As soon as the words left her mouth, Adrienne did a backflip away from Meredith, when she was set, she threw her dagger. She heard Meredith scream in pain as her knife embedded itself in her thigh. Adrienne ran over and knelt next to Meredith. “Shhhh, let me take the blade...” She told her as she jerked the blade out of her.

Meredith screamed in pain as the blade came out. “Warn me next time...” she told Adrienne with clenched teeth.