Chapter 31

I slipped quietly into Sammi's room, almost invisible in the black clothes I had put on. The bed was empty and Becky and Sarah were lying on the floor. I checked them out quickly, my rage growing. Who would dare hurt these two angels? They come into my house, take my daughter, and injure another one of my daughters and one of her friends? Sarah's first few days with her new family, finally back in the States, and this happens? My rage was overflowing. This would end tonight. Becky and Sarah were in good shape, having just been overcome by something like chloroform. I silently padded downstairs.

As I neared the common room, the mental signature of who this was in the house hit me like a brick. I suddenly realized I knew these people! I knew I had been looking for them, waiting for them for years. This was going to be fun! But first I had to take care of my girls, make sure they were protected. I headed back up the stairs. Sammi would be safe for now. She was not the only thing they were after, and they were not here to hurt her. They would kill the rest of us if they could, but they would not hurt Sammi.

The rest of the girls were waiting for me in the hall, except for Rhonda. I glanced into the room and saw that Becky and Sarah were beginning to stir. They were alright, but it would be awhile before they woke up. They would be ok alone for now.

"Katie, see if you can find Rhonda. I want to know that everyone is safe," I commanded.

"I know where she is. I will get her when I get John," Victoria replied softly. She smiled slightly when I looked at her, the implication obvious. I turned to the other girls, who were listening as they were buckling on their guns.

"Victoria, Katie, Julie, Cindi, I want you all outside, covering every exit. Take John and Rhonda with you too. Those of you already here go out the second story balcony and down the outside stairs. Don't go downstairs. There are eight of them down there. Anyone except us that tries to leave this house, kill them. No questions, no warnings. Shoot to kill. I don't need prisoners this time. Be careful who you shoot, however; they have Sammi." I saw the girls' heads pop up suddenly, sharply, their eyes changing right before me. Flat, devoid of all expression. I knew I didn't have to give them any further instructions on how to deal with these guys.

"Amy, Megan, I want you at the end of this hallway, guarding the way upstairs. Anyone other than me comes up, kill them. No questions. No one leaves this house alive tonight." I knew Megan was going to give me a fight.

"If you think you're going down there alone, you don't know me very well," Megan stated flatly. Amy looked at me as if I had just sold her favorite puppy.

"I know you very well, Megan; that's why you're not going down there with me. Amy, you need to stay here and guard Megan. Keep her safe, honey." Megan looked like she could gleefully kill me. Amy looked shocked that she would ever be required to keep Megan safe.

"Patrick..." Megan started. I interrupted her.

"Open your senses and your mind, Megan. Sense who is down there," I commanded her. I was a little sharp with her, but I really didn't have time for this crap. She tilted her head slightly to the side and concentrated briefly. She jerked back to us sharply, her face obviously turning white as a sheet even in the dark hallway.

"Oh shit!" She said softly, a tremor in her voice. She sounded like she could easily be in tears any second.

"Yeah. Oh shit is right. You are not going down there. They had one shot at you years ago. That didn't go so well for you or your friend. You're lucky to be alive. They're not getting another shot at you. Stay here. I told you after that first time you met these guys that I would kill them for what they did to you. I've been waiting a long time for this. Stay here, I will be right back. Amy, don't let her come downstairs." Megan grabbed my arm before I could leave.

"Patrick, that was a long, long time ago. I'm over that. I'm fine now. You can't take them on by yourself. You need help." She wasn't doing a very good job of convincing me she wasn't terrified.

"Can and will. You know the effect these guys have on you. You'll go to pieces just as you have every time before when you saw them. I don't have time to take care of you. Stay up here. Don't argue with me, damn it!" My voice and face softened. "Please, Megan. I can't take the chance of you getting hurt again. Let Amy take care of you. You do a great job, Megan. There's no shame in this, in knowing when to run. Let this one go. We don't need you every time. Please." Amy looked at me, confused. She had no idea what I was talking about, but she knew something was seriously wrong. The other girls had already left for their assignments.

"Dad, we can't just let you go down there alone. I don't know who these guys are, but I know I have never seen Megan scared of anything or anybody before. You need backup." Great. Now I had to fight both Megan and Amy. Did I say I liked teenage girls?

"Fine. Come down with me. But you keep your asses out of sight and just keep watch. If I see you even try to get into the action, I'll shoot you myself. You have no idea what we are dealing with here, Amy. Take a look at Megan and take a clue from her. Obey me on this one, Amy. You may not get a second chance." I held my hand up as she started to protest. "If they take me down, then all bets are off. Kill them. Otherwise, stay out of it. This is personal." Amy nodded. She didn't like it, but she nodded.

I silently, slowly crept down the stairs, keeping close to the banister to keep the stairs from squeaking. I don't know why I bothered. They knew I was coming, and I knew where they were. Nothing about this was going to be secret. I could feel that I had gone into 'Amy mode' already, but I also noticed that something was different. The white energy that was in me had migrated from its normal place. It now permeated throughout my whole body and mind. I felt infused with energy, almost invincible. It was almost as if the white energy had taken over, guiding me and giving me power. I felt ready for anything. Strange; I knew it was dark in the house, but I saw as if it was daylight.

As I slipped silently through the house, I saw a shape walking through the hallway. Whoever it was, they were not very good, as noisy as they were. Then I saw them in profile and realized it was Amy.

Amy?!? What the hell was going on? She walked quieter than that when she was three years old. The noise she was making would have awakened the dead. I realized what she was doing when I saw the shape slip out of an enclave behind her. Amy was playing as a stalking horse! I was going to beat that girl!

I fired three quick shots into the man's back as he slipped up behind her. Good thing I had the silencer on. I saw another movement to the side, and 'Amy mode' had me firing before I consciously knew who or what it was. The second man fell also. Amy looked at me, grinned and waved, and headed for the hills before I had time to catch up to her and spank her cute little ass.

That took care of their guards. Now it was time to head to the common room and see what awaited me. As I slipped into the room, so quietly no one knew I was there yet, I sized up the situation.

There were six men in there. Five of them were waiting patiently for me. The sixth one was standing next to a bound, gagged and blindfolded Sammi, pointing a pistol at her. I was tired of seeing her in that position. That poor girl deserved a break. At least these guys would never do this to her again. I would see to that. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Amy hiding in the hall, positioned so she could watch. I didn't see Megan anywhere. Good; I hoped Amy had talked her into staying upstairs. It was time to dance.

I noticed that everyone in the room was facing away from me. Not that I cared; I wasn't planning to sneak up on these assholes anyway. They would know it when I killed them; I wanted them to know why they were dying. What the hell; might as well send a message on how it was going to go right from the start. I quietly walked up behind the nearest man. In quick succession, I punched him hard in the kidney, kicked him behind the knee, hearing the bone snap, and grabbed his head, twisting it and breaking his neck. I stepped back to let him fall unimpeded to the floor, announcing my presence. I looked over at Amy and saw her eyes widen in surprise. I saw the look of respect in her eyes as she gave me the thumbs up sign.

The other five men all turned quickly when they heard the sounds. I don't know why they weren't expecting me to come from that direction. The head asshole, the one I hated, the one I really wanted to kill, slowly, turned and grinned at me evilly.

"Katoro! There you are. Long time no see. That was a mean thing to do to an old friend. Where's my 'girlfriend' Nagalla? I wanted to play with her again. She enjoyed it sooo much last time. I didn't think she would ever stop screaming. Oh, I'm sorry; I guess her name is Megan now, isn't it? Cute little name."

I wasn't going to let him irritate me. He was trying to get me to make a mistake. The only mistake I would make tonight was to kill him too fast.

"You know I'm going to kill you tonight," I said softly, not raising my voice at all. "I promised you long ago that if you messed with Megan that you were going to die. You did anyway, so now I will keep my promise. It may have been a long time ago, but I haven't forgotten. I didn't expect you to come looking for me, though." I did wonder why.

"Well, I wanted to pick up Bandor's little body he made. He misses her. Then I wanted to see if I could make Megan scream again. I still dream about that. Finally, Bandor told me about the cute little black haired beauty you have. I thought I'd show her what a real man was like." He grinned at me. "Besides, you can't take us all on, and it seems like all your girls have run away."

"You really are as stupid as you look," I laughed. "So, your choice; do I just blow you all away, or should we put down the guns and do it the fun way? It's a fine day to die, dickhead; shall we die together?" I saw his face cloud over with anger. Good. He laid his gun down and motioned for his followers to do the same, except for the one guarding Sammi. They looked at him as if he was crazy, but they did as he said. He also told the man guarding Sammi to take her blindfold off. He wanted her to see me die. I tossed my gun out into the hall, aiming it to land at Amy's feet, out of their sight. I figured they would cheat soon, and I wanted her to be able to get it to me.

Just as I expected, the gutless leader let his men go first. One of them grabbed the body of the dead man and pulled him out of the way. They approached cautiously, well aware that I had already killed one of them. I decided not to wait for them.

I ran towards the nearest man, making it obvious I was intending to jump into the air, kicking him in the head. They were expecting that. What they were not expecting was for me to suddenly stop, pivot 270 degrees, and kick the man on my right in the head instead. As he slammed against the wall, I followed him, punching him in the chest, pulling his head down hard to meet my uplifting knee, and then slamming his head against the wall. Finally, I grabbed his arm, bent over at the waist, and threw him over my shoulder, to land right in the middle of the two guys heading for me.

Suddenly there was a mass of arms and legs and bodies everywhere as they tried to sort themselves out. I took advantage of the confusion to come up behind the nearest guy. I smacked the open palms of my hands over his ears, shattering his eardrums and disorienting him. Then I turned both hands outwards and sliced the edges of my hands into both sides of his neck, compressing his carotid arteries. As he began to lose consciousness, I whipped him around, slammed the palm of my hand into his nose, shattering it and driving the pieces up into his brain, and then grabbed him and hurled him headfirst into the nearest wall. I was just about to turn to deal with the last one when I felt an arm loop around my neck, shutting off my airway.

I almost laughed out loud. These guys were so predictable. They really were not that scary unless they were picking on young females. It was a situation I had to deal with quickly, though. I stomped hard on his instep, feeling and hearing the bones break. Then I reached back and drove both my thumbs into his sides as hard as I could. I felt his hold lessen just enough that I slipped my hand under his arm, grabbed his wrist, and snapped it, breaking several bones. As he withdrew his arm in pain, I whipped around and sliced my hand across his throat, fracturing his windpipe. I hate to hear them die that way, so I punched him in the heart as hard as possible to speed it up and hurled him into the far corner of the room, as far away from me as possible.

I turned and looked calmly at the leader, a little smile on my face, enjoying the look on his face as he realized that it was just him and me. The guy guarding Sammi was not stupid; he was watching her very carefully. It was as good an excuse as he had to stay out of this, and he was making the most of it; any port in a storm. The leader looked shocked that his men were gone so quickly. I laughed quietly.

"Didn't think I could do that, did you? I warned you. I told you not to mess with Megan. You didn't believe me, wouldn't listen to me. Then I warned you that I would kill you if I ever saw you again, and that I would make it my job to be sure I would see you again. You not only didn't listen, you came into my house, kidnapped my daughter, knocked another one of my daughters and one of her friends unconscious, verbally threatened Megan again, and then just stood there, not even trying to run? You are just so fucking dumb I can't believe it!" I moved towards the door as I talked to him, cutting off his escape, as I noticed him belatedly trying to make a run for it.

"Oh no. The time for running is over. Now it is the time for dying. It is too late to run now. You have had way more chances than you deserve; way more chances than you gave Megan and her friend. But don't worry; I won't make you scream and suffer like you did to them. I will kill you quickly. You're not worth the time it would take to pay you back the way you deserve. Are you ready to die, dickhead?" I asked quietly. It was definitely a rhetorical question.

You know how sometimes you are presented with a set of circumstances where you just know that something is going to happen, that there is nothing you can do to change it or stop it? I could see the look in his eyes; he knew he was going to die. I knew what he was going to do before he did; I just hoped Amy was awake behind me.

We circled each other for a moment, looking for an advantage. Finally, we both decided there was not going to be an advantage, and we just closed with each other quickly.

He was good, I'll give him that. Unfortunately for him, so was I. For several minutes, we fought at blinding speed, neither of us really landing any telling blows. Every blow we threw, the other blocked. Finally, he tried to get a little too fancy and he made a mistake. I knew he would eventually try his favorite move, and I was waiting for it.

He threw a punch at me, expecting me to dodge it, and a second later started a kick. The theory was I would dodge the punch, running right into the kick. If he connected, I would be hurt, bad. The only thing was, he forgot that I had seen him fight before. I knew he was in love with that move. So, I did the unexpected. I moved into the punch, intending to let it hit me. I knew it wouldn't. He never intended the punch to land; it was just a diversion. But what my action did was cause his kick to miss badly, leaving him in a very awkward, vulnerable position. In quick succession, while he was off balance, I punched him in the kidney, kicked him in the spine, listening with satisfaction at the loud crack I heard, and grabbed his arm, twisting it up behind him. I felt his shoulder either dislocate or break just before I threw him face first into the wall.

As he rebounded off the wall, I could tell by the look on his face that he knew he was finished. I knew it too. I was not surprised in the least when he moved as rapidly as he could to the side, reaching down to pick up his gun. I had been expecting that. I turned to catch the gun that I already knew Amy was throwing to me. As I caught it, I realized it was too late; I didn't need it. I quickly ducked out of harm's way.

As if in slow motion, I watched as Megan walked across the room. As usual, she never made a sound, even in her boots. I watched her slowly stride towards him, methodically firing her gun, round after round, each bullet striking him directly in the middle of his chest. Megan is an excellent marksman; she adjusted the firing angle as he started to fall, assuring that the bullets continued to hit him directly in the center of his chest. I saw the look of understanding in his eyes as he realized what was happening. He almost looked relieved that it was going to be this fast, before the look in his eyes started to fade. Megan fired thirteen rounds of her fourteen round clip into his chest, one after another, a blank, dead look on her face. Her eyes were completely expressionless; the lights were on but nobody was home. I knew what the last bullet was for. She walked directly up to him and shot him in the head.

I looked back at Amy and saw the shocked, almost fearful look on her face. I imagine it mirrored the look on my face. We just never expected dear, sweet Megan to be that cold, that ruthless. Megan stood there, looking at him lying there on the floor, then turned and looked at the man holding the gun on Sammi. He flinched as her eyes suddenly filled with hatred.

"Let her go!" She hissed, her voice as deadly as you could ever imagine. I shivered, even though she was on my side.

"I will kill her if you try anything," the guy announced. He sounded as afraid as he looked. Then I saw Megan's eyes turn flat and devoid of all expression. He had seconds to live. That's when I interfered, as I didn't want Sammi hurt. I laid my hand gently on Megan's arm. She turned to look at me.

"I will take care of this, sweetheart," I assured her softly. I felt her relax slightly. I turned to Amy.

"Show him why that is not a wise, or possible course of action, would you, honey?" I asked her. As usual, I was amazed at the speed with which she moved. Before the man could even react, Amy had her gun set underneath his chin. She smiled sweetly at him.