Chapter 06: Synthetic Heroin

The morning of her fifth day in London dawned bright and clear. The clouds and rain were gone, at least for the morning. Linda yawned and stretched. She had spent a restless night, dreaming of the European Ancient One getting married. He was wearing George’s face, and everyone was laughing at her as she sat helplessly tied to a chair, watching.

Linda sat up in bed. Her pillow was soaked. She had night sweats again. That hadn’t happened since her foster care days. Her nightgown was wet around the collar, and felt yucky, clinging to her skin. Linda stood up and stripped off the wet gown, dropping it on the floor. She picked up the phone, and ordered a room service breakfast, then walked into the en-suite for a quick pee and a hot shower.

Mouse finally got Linda to laugh and cheer-up. The shower was big enough for a basketball team, with eight different shower heads spraying water from different directions. Mouse created illusions of all five girls showering and washing their hair with Linda.

So, what’s on the agenda for today? asked Ret.

I think we need to pay an Angel visit to Glasgow in Scotland first with the Silver Angel. There’s only going to be the one Angel here, in the UK. Then, we’ll see. I’m expecting the Ancient One to show up sometime today. I’m surprised he hasn’t already. Must be having trouble getting flight reservations, Linda smirked.

Are we going to visit Jessie on the Lady Whisper this weekend? We miss her, the Twins complained.

No, we can’t. The Whisper is at sea, halfway between the Bahamas and England. It would be rather difficult to explain to the crew how Linda suddenly showed up onboard, explained Mouse. Don’t worry, they’ll be here in a little less than a week.

Why does it rain so much here? I wouldn’t live in London if I didn’t have to. It’s too soggy, Tink decided.

Are we going to the wedding on Sunday? Ret asked.

I thought about it, Linda answered. I wanted to be there when the minister asks ‘Is there anyone who has reasons why this marriage shouldn’t happen’ I wanted to jump up and say “I do!” I know that’s not exactly what he says, but close enough. Problem is, it will be too painful. I’d probably have Tink start shrinking things. Shoes, hats, belts, bras, panties, especially panties. And bras. Maybe dissolve some fat deposits in someone’s titties. I can think of all kinds of ways to make this the wedding from hell.

Linda shook her head, and added, No, I’m going to take over their damn company and fire everyone instead! Then we’ll see who’s a suitable match and who isn’t! Snobs looking down their noses at an orphan. They should be ashamed of themselves. If they had any idea how much money I had for their fucking business ... well, George would be marrying someone else. Me.

Food is here, Ret announced.

Linda put on the white fluffy hotel robe and let the room service attendant in. She tipped him fifty dollars, US, and sat down to eat.

Fifty dollars?! Wasn’t that a bit excessive? Mouse asked.

Yes, but we’ll be here another week. I want the staff to know we tip well. I think we can get even better service. Besides, what else are we going to spend the money on? Linda told them.

Ret very softly whispered, More steel-toed shoes.

So what do we plan to do when the Ancient One shows up? We going to slice and dice him? Tink asked.

Like always, we’ll play it by ear, Linda answered. We’re too busy right now to take on more territory. The UK feels right, but I haven’t decided yet about the rest of Europe. If he wants to fight about the British Isles, then we’ll kill him. If not, we’ll take our time.

How do we get to Glasgow, this morning? We don’t have a portal there, Ret whispered.

Same way we jumped to the English cities. Kelly’s range has increased to around one hundred miles now. Glasgow is a bit over three hundred miles from here if Mr. Google is right. So we just make several jumps till we get there. The Twins have this all covered.

What happens when we finish the terrorists? Tink asked.

We need to do a quick visit back to the States. I don’t want them to think the Angels are gone. We need some recon in Ohio about the drug stuff, too. I’d like to add Denver, New Orleans, Atlanta, and Seattle when we get the chance. We can hold off on the other cities a bit. Then we come back here, and hit some of the low life assholes. Pedophiles, rapists, murderers, pimps, the usual creeps. Probably a few politicos too. I wonder how the UK is taking their Angel invasion. We may have to watch some BBC news broadcasts over the weekend, Linda informed her friends. Her Posse.

All that uses the time until Jessie and the Lady Whisper should be here. We’ll still have another ten days before we have to fly to Australia, so we can cruise the Med for a bit.

Linda got ready for Scotland by dressing warmly and filling her backpack with a thermos of hot sweet coffee, some rolls and an apple left over from breakfast. Killing terrorists can work up an appetite. Nothing better first thing in the morning than an apple and a dead terrorist. Oh. And coffee. Can’t forget the coffee.

Kelly and Karen took four separate jumps to reach Glasgow. Then Linda and the girls went on a rampage. Ret discovered a terrorist ring of three cells. Linda visited all three. She left behind a trail of blood and body pieces. Police raids on the cells in Glasgow had turned up even more hot intel about ISIS and terrorists all over Europe. Three hate-filled Imam’s joined the carnage this time. They would not be recruiting young men and women to die by killing others. Never again.

Linda idly wondered where the seventy-two virgins in heaven came from for the ‘martyrs.’ Didn’t the virgins get any say-so about this? Somehow the whole thing sounded unfair to her and the Posse. Sexist religion. Well, she didn’t care really. Not as long as they left everyone else alone. When they didn’t, they would get Angelized. She read somewhere that more people died during the course of history in the name of religion than for any other reason. Sad. Maybe it was true, maybe not. Either way, it was still sad.

Edinburgh was within one jump range for Kelly and Karen. Linda arrived overhead as the shiny, sleek Silver Angel. Ret started searching for targets.

He’s here. He isn’t close, but he’s here, Ret told the Posse. Right now he’s just watching us from about three hundred yards away. Ret laughed. He’s disguised to look like a flag on top of a building. We can’t let him get too close. He might see through the illusion of the Angel. Disguise and Illusions are his specialty.

Pass on this message, Ret. ‘I see you hiding over there, Mr. Flagman. Know this, I can rip you into little pieces and feed the birds your flesh anytime I wish. Leave me alone. The United Kingdom belongs to me, Linda instructed.

The Ancient One replied, England is mine. Always has been. You have no right to take my toys away from me.

Linda answered him, You must not have heard about Brexit. The UK left the European Union. They belong to me now. Leave me and the British Isles alone, or I’ll kill you and take everything away from you. That’s not just a threat. Countries are not toys. People’s lives are not playthings. The time of the Ancient Ones draws to a close. If you want to continue living, run away and hide. Leave me alone. We Angels will kill all of you if we must.

Tink, Linda whispered dispassionately, Cut off his left foot. Don’t cauterize it. Let it bleed. I want him to think it was cut by a blade of some kind. Not just dissolved off. We don’t want them to know we can dissolve things. Ret, maybe you can reinforce the blade idea in his head.

They all heard a fading scream. Ret reported the Ancient One had left.

Did you get his bank account numbers? Linda asked.

No. I think if we gave another trillion dollar account to Juan he’d have a heart attack. I made that piece of crap forget his bank account numbers. He even forgot the name of the banks. I don’t know if he gets some kind of statements or something, but for now he thinks he has no money. We do need to send Juan the account numbers we’ve picked up from a few of the local terrorists here. I don’t think they’ll be very big, just operational expenses, but we may as well drain them.

Good idea! Now back to the terrorist elimination business. Find us targets Ret, Linda whispered.

Edinburgh was surprisingly barren of terrorists. Ret only found two and they were unconnected, complete amateurs. Still, they had a van and planned to drive it into a crowd of people, so they died. Cut in half by Tink. It was a messy death. Linda did learn one thing from Ret’s probe into their minds. They dreaded having their dicks cut off. All those virgins in heaven, and no dick. Linda resolved to make sure dick removal was included in all future terrorist meetings. Carve a dick, save a virgin! Seventy-two virgins. From ... somewhere. Possibly the Virgin Islands!

Linda provided equal opportunity protection. Ret located a cell of neo-Nazi’s that had bombed a synagogue and were now planning to burn down a Mosque while the worshippers were trapped inside. Tink cut their dicks and balls off without cauterizing them. No place left for a tourniquet. Then she carved a Star of David on their chests.

Twins, take us to Whitehaven, then across to Ireland. We need to visit Dublin, then we can head back to the hotel for some supper.

In Dublin Linda found a lot of retired terrorists and freedom fighters from the old IRA days, but no one active. She decided to just leave the old guys alone. They weren’t hurting anyone now. They spent most of their time in pubs talking about the glory days.

Back in the hotel she sent the bank information off to Juan, then Linda changed clothes and went downstairs to eat supper. Linda decided on Chateaubriand. She had no idea what it was. It sounded French and it was expensive, so she ordered it. She got lucky. It was delicious. So much tender sliced meat and side dishes, there was no way she could finish it all. She was right about one thing, though. It was expensive. The meal for one cost her over two hundred dollars. She didn’t bother trying to do the conversion to British pounds. Linda just kept putting twenty dollar bills on the check until the waiter nodded his head. Then she added twenty percent for a tip. That got her a big smile and a thank you. The meal didn’t come with dessert. She didn’t have room for it, anyway. Linda asked Tink if she could dissolve the food in her tummy. Tink ignored her. Again.

I found out I can dissolve pollution in the water. Not in the air yet though, and not in the tummy of girls who eat too much, Tink told them.

Practice on the water whenever we’re not busy with other stuff then Tink, Linda decided. If you ever learn how to do overeating girls let me know.

Back up in her room Linda TK’d the television on and changed channels till she found a news broadcast. The story was full of Angel sightings and speculation. The people and police were thrilled with the deaths of so many terrorists. Everyone felt just a bit safer than before. The death’s of the Imams came as a shock to some, but most citizens just nodded their heads as if they knew the source of hatred in the UK all along.

As a side issue, tensions between immigrants and locals lessened. A lot. People actually began talking to each other and acknowledging folks of divergent backgrounds. The Angels messages of acceptance and tolerance were being heeded.

Politicians, on the other hand, were either cheering the Silver Angel or castigating her. Those who stood in opposition were gradually fading away as they resigned their posts. The gleeful press pounced on every instance of a politician leaving public service. There was no flood of embarrassing blackmail material like in the United States. The blackmailing Ancient One apparently only operated in America, not in the UK. Still, they were worried enough about what action the Silver Angel would take that it seemed a good time to retire, and live on a country estate. Politics in the UK were cleaning right up, according to one newspaper.

In the morning Linda decided on a blitz. She would visit all nine major cities today, letting Ret and Kelly pick out and lock on targets, then she and Tink would destroy them. One hour in each city should make for an interesting day. It would keep her mind off the wedding coming up tomorrow, too.

Linda planned to target rapists today. Only rapists. Serial rapists. Date rapists using date rape drugs. Unrepentant rapists. Dead men. Maybe some dead women too, but unlikely. The targeting plan might dip into other areas, like pedophiles. Rape and pedophiles were usually similar. It was hard to mention pedophiles without remembering her own childhood. So yes. Pedophiles, too. Little Tink would carve their crimes into their chest. Linda would kill them. Ret would make certain that no victims were trapped or bound helpless by the rapists. She would also contact the police with directions to rescue anyone needing it.

The press would call Linda’s Saturday a rampage. Bloody Saturday! Not a bad kind of rampage. To Linda it was more of a necessary slaughter. That Saturday over three hundred rapists in the United Kingdom died. Gone forever. Their parents probably mourned them. Co-workers may have been shocked. They looked so normal. Innocent. But they were flawed. Something in their heads was just off kilter and they didn’t belong in a civilized country. Any country, for that matter.

Now they were gone, and the world was a better place. Nine cities were cleansed. The rest of the country was put on notice. There’s a new wind blowing in the UK. Some things, some people, were no longer going to be tolerated. They weren’t going to get off free in court on technicalities. Angels don’t play that game. For Linda, you were either guilty or innocent. It didn’t matter how much money you had. Didn’t matter who your family was or what connections you had. Didn’t matter how powerful you were. The guilty died and the innocent were protected. Vigilante Angels at work. And play.

Sunday was the wedding day. George, and the bimbo with a cash dowry. Linda had to leave the country. She resolved to spend Sunday in Ohio, chasing down drugs. If she stayed in the UK it would be too tempting to crash a certain wedding party and create havoc. So, Ohio. Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Akron. The only question in her mind was what color to use for the mid-west Angel.

Linda decided to go with an ebony-skinned beauty. Long white sheath dress, and white wings, for the contrast. Beautiful hair, face, and body. Everything perfect. Better dress warmly, Ohio in early February is a cold place to visit.

Kelly and Karen took the Black Angel to Cleveland.

Linda appeared in the cold gray skies over the city. It was still dark. Linda had forgotten the time zone difference. It was nine on Sunday morning back in London. It was only four in Ohio. Linda got ready to jump back to her hotel room when Ret stopped her.

There’s a problem. A young girl is about to be raped by a pimp. He wants to break in his new whore, Ret muttered. She’s fighting back. He plans to give her that new drug to make her compliant. She’s only thirteen years old.

Kelly, do you have a fix on her? Linda asked.

I do now. I’m locked in, Kelly replied.

Karen, take us there. We have to save this girl, Linda decided.

Linda and the Posse arrived in the dirty living room of a small, squalid apartment. A skinny-ass naked black man was holding down a partially nude, young black girl, and trying to force himself between her legs and into her pussy. The young girl was trying to scream, without much success.

Linda picked the man up and slammed him against the floor. He stopped moving. Dead? She asked.

Not yet. He’s still breathing, Ret answered.

“Are you an Angel?” the sobbing girl asked Linda.

“Yes little one. I’m an Angel. You’re safe now. I won’t let him hurt you anymore,” Linda told the little girl.

“But you’re black like me. All the Angels are pretty white women.”

“Not all of us. Now, tell me how you ended up with this piece of shit?” Linda asked her.

The thirteen year old girl shuddered. “I had to run away from home. Mom died of cancer and my stepdad decided I was a good substitute. He said I had to move into his bedroom and keep him warm. I know what that means, so I left.”

“And the pimp?”

“He’s a pimp? He just offered me a place to stay for a few days, then when we got here he tried to rape me. That’s when you showed up.”

“Yes, he’s a pimp. He was going to rape you and get you addicted to that new drug, Fentanyl, then put you out on the street whoring for him. He has several other young girls working for him already.”

Thanks for the background info, Ret, Linda whispered. Any safe relatives we can take her to?

She has nobody, just like us, Ret replied.

We have to keep her. Someone has to take care of her. The Angels have to! Tink had her mind made up. The Twins agreed. So did Mouse.

Her name is Sabrina Davis. She’s smart and a good student. I say we keep her, too, Ret added.

“Sabrina, right?”Linda got a nod in return. “How would you like to come stay with some friends of mine for awhile, until we can get a permanent solution for you?”

“Stay with the Angels? All of you?” Sabrina’s hope soared through the roof of the small apartment.

“Yes. Now let me take care of this pimp and we’ll be on our way. Have you ever been to London?”

Ret, contact the police and tell them there is a dead pimp here, courtesy of the Black Angel. Tell them where to locate the three other girls he has working for him, too. If they’re not addicted we can help them; if they’re addicted, and I suspect they are, then we just have to allow social services to take over, Linda told the girls.

Done. Yes, all three of them are addicted to Fentanyl. Not much we can do. I’ll send Juan an email from London to get them some financial support, and help them while they recover, Ret whispered.

Linda crushed the pimp’s brain.

“London? In England?” wondered Sabrina.

“Yes. Now take my hand, Sabrina. We’re going to jump all the way to London!”

The Black Angel and Sabrina arrived in Linda’s hotel room together. Then Black Angel disappeared, thanks to Mouse, and Linda walked in from the en-suite bathroom.

“Well, hello there young lady. The Angels told me you need a friend, and a place to stay until they can help sort out your future. My name’s Linda. I’m a close personal friend to all the Angels.”

Sabrina turned very shy, meeting Linda for the first time in her torn, threadbare clothing. “Hello,” she managed to say.

“Did Black Angel bring your things with you?”

“No. We left in a hurry. My suitcase is still there. I don’t have much, but there are some things from my Mom I would like to have.”

“Alright then. Let’s get you a nice hot shower so you can wash up. I’ll see about contacting Black Angel to get your stuff. Have you eaten? We can order you some breakfast from room service after you’re all nice and clean.”

Linda ushered Sabrina into the bathroom and pointed out the towels, and everything a young girl might need, courtesy of the hotel’s free samples. There was even a new toothbrush, and a big terrycloth bathrobe for her.

Linda closed the door, to give Sabrina privacy while Black Angel returned to the scene of the attempted rape. In the apartment Linda walked over and kicked the dead pimp with her steel-toed shoes. It felt good to finally have the proper gear for a hard working Angel.