[Sodium_noir] Saturday Evening at Dusk

[Hope Zagorski]

Hope Zagorski, Leon Wolf
Dusk Towers

"Truthfully Hope I wouldn't stop you from leaving. But I would prefer that you didn't because of the danger you are in right now. The .. individual you had to kill did not exist in a vacuum. He had allies, devoted companions who might want revenge. Which is why our timetable has been stepped up and I am here laying this rather overwhelming burden on your lap with such little preparation or subtlety. My sponsors consider you a worthy investment of their powers and fear losing you to the forces of darkness. Better you should have to put up with me and my tactics than that."

Hope does not raise her weapon.  Neither does she drop it, relying on the cold comfort of steel and plastic to maintain a precariously thin grip on her sanity.  What she thought was reality seeming to be crumbling under her feet.  She was beginning to feel like Alice, and that she'd fallen into the rabbit hole.  This, however, was no fairy tale, but her real life.  Her life had been threatened before, but this time, for some reason, she felt that she truly was in danger.  Not just her life, but her very soul.  
  
Leon adjusts his sleeves, pulling the shirt sleeves to an equal length.

As Leon adjusts his sleeves, Hope takes the time to move away from the wall, closer to the door.  Even so, she moves so that there was a great deal of distance between them.       
 
>"However, I am sure you can understand that we are talking about people with an above average degree of influence. Now we have revealed our agenda to you there is a certain degree of trepidation."

Oh she understood perfectly.  They'd laid their cards out, let her see the hand, and weren't sure if she could be trusted with the knowledge.  

>Just letting you walk out of here without knowing we can trust you to keep our secret would be foolish. My sponsors are willing to take less pleasant action to ensure their anonymity. As important as you are in the fight against the darkness, if you put the others who took up the gauntlet in danger they, ...I, would find a way to accept your loss."
 
"I come from a long and noble line of Chicago Police Officers."  Hope replies.  "My word is my bond."  Besides, she thinks silently, who would believe a word she said about the matter?  Saying she'd met a one hundred and sixty five year old man who didn't look a day over thirty five, she'd be spending the rest of her days in a rubber room.  

He shrugs and looks a lot less stiff.
 
"There it is, looking at the bigger picture is rarely a cheerful vista!"

Hope shrugs, trying to pretend nonchalance.  "Sometimes the view of the forest is better than that of a single tree."  She offers in reply, trying to put some sort of spin on this, and still moving toward the door.  She had a decision now, between certain death, and uncertain.  Neither was a pleasant choice.  

Hope finds her voice, and a modicum of defiance.  The better strategy now was to find out what they wanted, and look for a way out.  "So what do your 'sponsors' want from me?"  She folds her arms, the Glock still in her hands.    



-- 
_______________________________________________

Search for businesses by name, location, or phone number.  -Lycos Yellow Pages

http://r.lycos.com/r/yp_emailfooter/http://yellowpages.lycos.com/default.asp?SRC=lycos10