You must be mistaken (Aine x Wander)

[Aine]

Strands of pale red hair blew softly around her face. A slight sun kissed complexion, paired with a piercing set of green eyes. Perlita was a young girl of twenty-two. At the moment she was trying to work her way through collage as a barista at a cafe. A few night a month she managed to take on some shifts at the bar just down the street. Her long term goal was to finish Zoology, and begin her research on jungle wild life.

She had never really gotten people to tell the truth. Her own species confused her, and for the most part she wanted nothing to do with them. There are a few exceptions of course, humans can't survive without the contact of other humans. Perlita's circle is a small one though, consisting of only three friends. The closest of which is Valerie, a fellow class mate and more recently roommate. After their second year in collage they decided to get an apartment together. The price of rent however required them to take on one other person. Francise, a flamboyantly gay man. To say she was getting a touch of culture would be putting it lightly.

At this moment she was clearing one the the outside tables. It was a complete mess, a group of high school kids had come in. She hated them the most. Perlita could barely see them as even human, with how rude and dirty they were. Shaking her head briefly at the mess, she brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. Wishing now that she had pulled it back into a pony tail. Filling the gray tote with plates and cups, the redhead balanced it on her hip as she headed back towards the doors.

"If I see one more teenager walk through those doors, I think I might scream," she stated setting the tote on the counter next to the sink. "They are disgusting creatures, and should be locked in cages until they reach adulthood." This earned her confused look from a couple fellow employees. Shrugging and rolling her eyes, she walked back towards the front counter. There was much of a line as of yet, but there were enough to keep her busy for a few minutes. After taking orders, she moved to the espresso machine.

 

[Wander]

The perspective of the universe is quite different when one is swinging upside down and has several eyes to peer through; not to mention the increased agility and several limbs to boast. Spider was one form that Xangor loved. The arachnid form was the best means to spy on someone. That is what he was doing at this moment, stalking his prey, searching for the right moment to snag her and then eradicate the threat to his people. The web emerged slowly from within him, his hairy legs oscillating slowly as he hung in the air, out of view and gazed upon her for his chance.

“This woman is a threat to all the ‘Badle’ on earth!” Exclaimed the Polomark.
“But can we be sure that she is a threat?” After all, she is only a girl.” Retorted Assassin Xangor.
“You are a hired professional, paid to do your job for your people, your Badle. Do not involve your personal opinions in your orders, officer.” The polomark commanded as he gazed upon the assassin with a menacing glare.
The assassin could merely bow in absolute acquiescence, as he pulled his long black mane of long wavy hair into a tight bun. He extracted his long brown hood, a uniform for the Assassins of the Badle and stood naked there before the polomark. Then, he pressed the rune upon of the Badle, a square within which the ambigram of the name of his people was engraved into his chest. It was a brand that was put upon the Badle when they were born; it was the source of all their abilities.

The moment the stubby with no nails fingers touched the rough scaly skin upon his chest, a blue flame emerged from within the rune and engulfed every inch of his red skin, his webbed feet, his long pointed tail and his sharp nose and sinewy features upon his hairless body was engulfed within the power of the flame.

As the flames subsided, the dog, his brown fur glistening magnificently under the glow globes of the polomark’s room hopped up towards the Badle’s throne and stuck his moist tongue out. The picture of the girl was placed into the dog’s mouth by the polomark as the dog turned around and escaped room, his tail oscillating behind him.

Thus, Xangor, embarked upon the journey to find and hunt his prey. The prey that was in fact innocent. The threat to the Badle was from a person who had managed o intercept the super encrypted email of the polomark and sent him pictures of the Badle’s changing form and threatening him to pay the ransom lest their existence be exposed to the world.

The internet protocol address of the emailer/blackmailer was traced and thus their target found and bounty provided to their best assassin, Xangor. Little did the Badle know that the blackmailer was one step ahead of them and had used another person’s home computer to send the email and thus an innocent woman shall now succumb to the brutal acts of this ruthless assassin for Xangor was famous for never missing a target. He would not only kill, them, he would brutally murder them.

Thus, he searched for a good few days before finally apprehending her. “This place is quite public, I need to find her alone.” Thought he as he stood there in human form with a newspaper covering his face while he observed the girl entering the store where she worked, “I should follow her!” He concluded. Presently, he was in his most agile and inconspicuous spider form and now swinging for the ceiling, searching for the right moment to attack.

 

[Aine]

Perlita finished with the last customer in line. Not suspecting she was being watch at all. Glancing at the tables outside she was happy to see there was much of a mess out there yet. The lobby of the cafe was a different story though. The low tables set in the center of chair groupings had plates and mugs covering the tops. Saddened by the fact her fellow employees didn't see the need to clear the tables themselves. She grabbed yet another gray tote from the back and head out on to the floor.

A short fifteen minutes later, she was done with the task. All tables were cleared and wiped down, ready for the next customer to use. With a quick look at the clock a smile spread across her face. Five minutes and her shift would be over. Just enough time to clean up her station, and make a coffee to go. Perlita's end of shift clean up was always easy, she made sure to keep her station clean through out her shift. So just a quick wipe down was all she had to do. Coffee in hand she tossed her black apron into the basket near the back entrance and waved her goodbyes.

Once outside in the alley behind the building, she took a breath of fresh air. While she liked her job, these days she found the end of her shifts much more enjoyable. Schoolwork was beginning to weigh her down, and it didn't help that she also had to keep up with two jobs. It was 5:30, but with the new spring weather she still had plenty of daylight left. The day was nice, so she didn't see a reason to not just walk home. Fourty-five minutes is all it would take anyway.

The white t-shirt she wore was thin enough to let the cooling breeze pass through. That same breeze lifted her hair, and swirled it behind her as she walked. A part of her didn't really want to head home yet, but she had to shower before heading out for the night. She had promised her friends she would go out drinking. Planning it right down to taking the next day off to recover. She had also made sure to get her studying done so she didn't have that to worry about it.

~~Time Skip~~

An hour later she was pushing the door to her apartment open. It was a simple one bedroom, but that was really all she needed. The neighborhood wasn't that bad, and her apartment was on the sixth floor so a break in was very unlikely. The furnishings is where the place looked nice, even though it was all second hand. Tossing her house keys in the bowl she always used, Perlita made her way to her bathroom, stripping the moment she was in it's presumed safety.

 

[Wander]

The basic essence of being an assassin is not being able to assassinate, but being able to know the right moment to assassinate. This is what distinguished Xangor from the rest of the assassins of his tribe. He was the best at what he did because his ability to judge when exactly to strike and avoid any form of suspicion. Thus, he was summoned when the task was to end the existence of this woman who had threatened the exposure of the entire race of the Badle and their peaceful co-existence within the humans undetected for several millennia.

His many eyes lay fixated upon this woman, gazing and always watching, searching for the right time when she is alone. Then as he observed her and her kind demeanour towards work and others around her, it struck him. ‘The last thing that she seems is an evil blackmailer. Could the polomark be mistaken?’ He wondered. By now, the girl had escaped the confines of her official purpose and was on her way out. Xangor assumed that she must be headed home. ‘This is my chance!’ Thought he as with a light blue flash and a smoke, he was now a dark crow, all black with keen vision and was flying across town, gazing down at the girl and observing her every movement from above.

With correct estimations, he had deduced that she was going for her house. ‘I have never killed an innocent before and something tells me there is something wrong here. I might need a confession from her before I strike. That would be easy interrogation is something I have mastered over the years.’ With this thought, the crow landed upon the window sill of the girl and gazed as she stripped naked and entered the bathroom.

Gazing upon her perfectly formed naked body in all its beauty and perfection, the assassin Xangor felt a surge of lust course through his body and a chill run down his spine. ‘No!’ he reminded himself, ‘You are here to kill her and not make love to her, do your job, get a confession, finish her and destroy her computer.’ With another blue smoke light and smoke, the crow had transformed into a cockroach and could easily slip through the gap of the open window. Racing towards the bathroom, a puff of smoke and light brought him to his complete and natural Badle form, he was strongest in this form and he stood in an absolute stealth behind the bathroom door, waiting quietly in anticipation.

Stealth was something Xangor excelled at and thus even as he stood there behind the door, the girl called ‘Perlita’ as her name was told to him, did not notice him. In less than a second, he was behind her, his hand covering her mouth, while the other, bound the blindfold over her eyes. He with the other two pieces of clothing he carried, her hands and legs were now bound together as she was seated on a chair in the bedroom room while the muscular Badle stood towering over her after closing all the windows and shutting the doors to avoid any sound of her voice escaping the room and the apartment. “Did you think you could mess with the Badle and so easily manage to get away with it?” He asked.

 

[Aine]

Two years ago when she was living with a roommate she would never have thought of stripping down as quickly as she did. The perks of living on your own was, you just didn't have to worry about such things. The down side was, you didn't have someone to count on coming home in the nick of time when someone has broken in. The walls between apartments in the building per designed to drown out sound from your neighbors. You couldn't even hear the upstairs neighbor walking. Most of the time this was nice, made late night studies and sleeping in a lot easier. Trouble was nobody would hear her screams of help. She would be left to the mercy of any intruder, and Perlita wasn't strong enough to defend herself for long.

Grabbing a towel from the small closet next to the bathroom, she stepped into the room. Hanging the item on it's hook, she prepared herself for her shower. Did she see the man hiding behind the door. No not at all, but she wasn't really looking for him either. The floor the apartment was on made it nearly impossible for someone to break in. Her door had been locked when she got here, so there was no reason to believe a person could be waiting inside.

Some would have you believe your first instinct was to scream when grabbed from behind. Reality is you body freezes, taking a moment to catch up to current events. The hand was already over her mouth before she caught up, by that point screaming was pointless. Perlita did struggle as the blindfold was being placed over her eyes. A lot of good it did, her intruder acted as if he didn't even notice. Seconds was all that passed before she was being carried from the bathroom and then set in a chair. Limbs bound to the chair, the redhead had no means of escaping.

The blindfold removed she was treated to the vision of a muscular male staring down at her. Her chest heaved quickly with panicked breathing. She was even feeling slightly dizzy, most likely a side effect of being on the verge of a complete break down. Then he spoke, but it didn't make any sense to her one bit. "I....what is a Badle? Is it some sort of gang? I swear I had no idea you even existed." She was babbling, another side affect of her panic she supposed. Tears came next, not the waterfall kind but the ones that for at the corner of your eye. Some of which had to nerve to actually roll down her cheeks.

"Please...I..I swear I have no idea what is going on right now. You..." from the expression on the mans face she knew he didn't believe her. "You have the wrong person," she could feel her pulse racing, it throbbed in her head.

 

[Wander]

The conventions of interrogation had begun; the guilty acting innocent, pledging of having no knowledge of or involvement in the crime. While Xangor truly cherished the art of interrogation and the challenges it brought about, he despised the action of having to cruise through the irksome and monotonous inception of the guilty pledging for non-involvement. ‘Cut the crap and let’s get to the point!’ He wanted to say. But that was not possible. Interrogation was a very precise process and while the start was irksome, it was absolutely necessary. He had to undergo it in order to extract a confession from her.

“Oh? So you know nothing now? Well, your computer seems to say otherwise. Your sent mail happens to speak a completely different story altogether.” Accused the assassin and locating the laptop from her table, he booted it. It started and he clicked upon the internet browser. Her email was already logged in. ‘Tsk, tsk, tsk!’ He clicked his tongue and shook his head. “For a blackmailer, Perlita, you are very careless to leave your email logged in on your laptop.” He advised as he clicked upon the sent mail icon and then the last sent email which was sent to ‘polomark@badle.com’ It said:

Dear Polomark of the Shifters,
You cannot hide your existence from the humans for too long. I know your people exist and I have the evidence to prove it. Your identity can stay hidden from the world if you want to continue surviving. Transfer $1,000,000 to Citibank Account number: 156071579 if you wish for these pictures to not be on the internet and in the White House.
Yours Sincerely,
Shifter Hater.
There were several attached pictures of Badle and the blue light of them shifting along with their animal form after the shift.

Xangor grinned. “For a blackmailer, you are quite stupid. Did you really think we could not track you down by your email, I.P address and bank account number? It is a piece of cake for us to infiltrate the White House, let alone this unguarded apartment.” He proclaimed.

“So, you think you are tough taking pictures of our kind in hiding, eh? Let us see how you fare with the best of us right in front of your eyes.” Xangor, then unbuttoned his shirt and took it off. The rune upon his chest glowed a deep blue hue as he murmured a prayer and closing his eyes, pressed hard upon it.

Flash! The blue light erupted along with the smoke. When the smoke dissipated all that Perlita could see were feathers. The longest and most magnificent crimson feathers that no bird in the world had the pride to possess. They opened to wide in a spread eagle to display the assassin Xangor in his true Badle form, hairless, serpentine crimson skin, runes marking his entire torso, neck and arms and the most prominent one glowing blue upon his left chest. The muscular and hairless body only contained eyebrows and eyelashes accentuated with a long mane of straight black hair which fell from his head to his mid back. A long stubby tail swished in every direction like a pendulum with a sharp pointed end which seems like it could be used as a potential weapon. The Badle tilted his neck and a loud crack of joints could be heard from it. “It feels good to be in my real from.” Said he as he opened his eyes and big crimson pupils within black irises bore down upon Perlita. He grinned. “What is the matter?” He asked, “Did I scare you? You did not seem so scared when you clicked pictures of my brothers while changing.”

 

[Aine]

This strange man was speaking nonsense. What the hell was a Badle or even polomark. She stared at him as he spoke in udder disbelief. The email that he read out loud sounded ridiculous. "Wait...what," she really didn't get much of a chance to say much as he continued. If she had been able to speak she would have told him that wasn't even her bank account number.

Perlita was get more scared by the second. The stranger sounded very angry about what ever it was he thought she did. The only people she ever emailed were her mother, and her professor. If he actually looked through her email he would see that. Fixated on the single email that, in his eyes, proved her guilt. Panic was beginning to rise again, just when she thought she had emotions under control.

To make matters worse he began to take his shirt off. Perlita of course thought the worst. After all what did most home invaders do with female victims. Her complexion look on a whiter shade, as her body frozen in the chair. What happened next however was not what she expected. A blue light emanated from his chest. After a few words she didn't understand, he was replaced for a moment by blue smoke. When it cleared it wasn't a man standing there any longer. In his place was a serpent, bird, man with red skin.

Perlita began to breath fast and heavy, her previously white skin returned. It looked as if all color had simple drained from her body. "Please...please don't hurt me," her words coming fast between breaths. She was beginning to see stars, meaning she was hyperventilating, and more then likely going to pass out soon. What was this man....person...thing? She could feel her heart beating fast and hard, the sound of it in her ears. "Please I swear I don't know what you're talking about. I won't tell anyone what I have seen here." Who would believe her anyway? They would throw her in the nut house.

 

[Wander]

Xangor was fed up. This woman was not even trying anything new. There was no blame game, no deviations, and no deceptions to crack. She kept on repeating herself like tape recorder stuck on the same tune. “I don’t know anything. What are you talking about” Was all she could muster. ‘Doesn't she know that this is the oldest trick in the book? This will only get her to be in more trouble? Oh well, not my problem if she is stupid. I gotta do my job.’ He concluded as he came up in front of her. “Now you have two choices. Either vomit the truth or tell me a believable story.” He offered as he raised two long and sharp fingers before her which had no nails on them.

But observing the grim expression upon her face, Xangor deduced the worst and sighed. “You leave me no choice. You insist of being innocent when the evidence is stacked against you. I have no choice but to resort to coercion.” Warned the Badle.

Smack! It was more than just a warning that the brutal assassin gave, for he slapped her face so hard that a mark of his hand was imprinted in a light red hue upon her cheek and blood rushed to the point of impact. Blood trickled down the end of her lips. Xangor groaned upon witnessing the tears stream down her cheeks. “Now don’t give me the innocent girl game. I have played with it a million times and it won’t work against a professional like me. Tell me what I need to know!” Demanded the assassin. When he did not get the answer he desired, the Badle assassin was furious. Smack, smack, smack! Three slaps on either cheek were laid upon her in succession and the Badle grinned at the misery and pain of the woman he had bound to the chair.

His long fingers sunk into her hair and he tugged at it violently; her hair pulled so hard, she could feel it would almost tear off her head. He tugged to arch her head upwards to face the ceiling. Xangor was a professional, he would not pull the hair enough for it to tear, but enough to cause immense pain. “I am running out of patience. Confess that you tried to threaten and expose the Badle or else I will slit your throat right now and leave you to bleed painfully to death.” He warned.

Ting ting, ting ting, ting ting! The sound reverberated in the room. From the pocket of his pants, the assassin fished out a cellular phone and answered it while still holding her hair. The phone call lasted for a while and Xangor released the girl’s hair from his grip and attended to the matter at hand. It was a phone call from the Polomark and it had been made to reveal to the assassin a certain unfathomable turn of events.

 

[Aine]

When she saw him move closer, her speech stopped immediately. Watching him, she waited for the violence. What she didn't know was why he was even here. For what ever reason he thought she was someone about to release information about him and his people. She had no clue what he was, or where they were. No matter what she did or said would convince him of this. Speechless still she tried to pull away as he lifted the two long fingers to her. When she tried to speak nothing but noise would come out, she couldn't even form intelligible words.

She was expecting it in away. Even with that though the sudden impact of his hand on her face shocked her. Perlita's face snapped to the left, and for a moment she could only see stars. They weren't the pretty kind, it was merely dots of light against a dark background. Her cheek stung, she could still feel the heat rising to her skin. "Please.....you have to believe me," those few words she was able to form were all she got out. The stranger continued with the blows to her face. Obviously not happy with what she had said. A part of her wanted to confess just to make it stop. But what would she confess too, how would she confess?

Blood trickled from her nose and lip, her right eye was already beginning to swell. Tears rolling down her cheek, mixed with the blood on her chin. Whimpering when she felt his finger snake into her hair and pull. Maybe this was it, maybe it would all stop now. Death would have to be the only move left. Closing the only eye she needed to with her face towards the ceiling she waited for it. The rest of her body limp from exhaustion, sagged against her bonds in the chair. Human instinct caused her to deny one more time, "I swear....I don't know who you are."

Now he threatened to kill her, this was something she already knew. She opened the one eye to look at him. She didn't know what he wanted to hear. He would probably just kill her either way. The normally vibrant green of her eyes would looked tired and dull. "I can't tell you what you want to hear." The words soft, she wondered if he even heard them. No matter, he wouldn't have listened to them anyway. She closed her eye once again, mentally preparing herself for a death she knew was coming.

Then his damned cell phone rang, as if to prolong her misery he answered it. When his hand released her hair, her head fell forward. She would be looking at her own lap at this point. She heard him speaking in hushed tones. Why won't he just finish this, what could be so important that he would step away from his job. Perlita only assumed this was his job, as in her mind he did it exceedingly well. He had her ready to confess to something she hadn't done, or hand any clue about.

Blood from her lip and nose continued to flow, tripping onto her thighs and stomach. With her one not swollen eye, she watched the patterns that were created. For a moment she hadn't realized that the stranger had stopped speaking. The phone call was over, which would mean all this could begin again.

 

[Wander]

Excerpts from the telephonic conversation between the assassin Xangor and the Polomark of the Badle:
Polomark: Why haven’t you killed her yet? We specifically gave you the address!
Xangor: I do not understand. I have her bound to a chair.
Polomark: How long have you had her bound? Why did you not kill her?
Xangor: You know my rules. I was getting her to confess. I have had her bound for ten minutes now.
Polomark: But we just received another email asking for higher ransom...that means....you have the wrong person!
Xangor: What? You’re telling me that now?
Polomark: I realised that myself. Tell her that it was an identity mistake. She has not seen your real form. Pay her money, it shuts people up and she will forget it when she is slightly rich.

With this, the polomark hung up and left Xangor in a state of trepidation. How was he to tell the polomark that he had already shown her his true form. How would he tell him that he had already mentioned the Badle to her? ‘Why do I always manage to act so hastily?’ Thought he, ‘Now I have this girl upon my hands who knows about us and who has seen me? I cannot kill her, it would kill me to take the life of such a beautiful girl and who is innocent about everything. I will not make her the scapegoat of my mistake. I will have to apologise to her. Although I doubt she will ever trust me to actually accept it. It is hard trusting someone who has just beaten you to a pulp with their bare hands.’

The Badle assassin turned around and this time his expression which always bore a diabolical menace was now laced with compassion. He came forward before her, his strides still long and magnificent as he bent down onto his knees and gazed up at her. “I am sorry, miss; it seems there has been some identity problem here.” Said he with a sigh. He went up to the cabinet and picked out a swab of cotton and some anti-septic. Spilling some onto the cotton, he dabbed her marks and wounds with it and could see the pain with the contortions of her physiognomy and the wincing shrieks.

Then, he decided that it would be best to be honest with her and tell her the reason for her condition for even though Xangor was an assassin sworn to protect his people, he was a just Badle. “Look, we are a different species of beings. We call ourselves Badle and we are shapeshifters. We can turn into any creature and beings at will.” He said as he stood up and closing his eyes, pressed the rune upon his chest. It glowed an illuminating blue and covered his entire body and he appeared as if he were being electrocuted. Then, a flash and blue smoke and right before her eyes was a beautiful tabby cat with lustrous black fur and deep vertical yellow eyes as it jumped up into her lap. “You see? We just hide from humans and we do whatever we can for survival because our numbers are very less and the humans would kill us off in fear of our powers. Someone used your laptop and your already logged in email to send an email to our highest authority, the polomark and blackmail him.”

Xangor jumped off her lap and then turned back into his human form, his bare muscular chest visible in front of her as he unbound her restraints. And continued to dab her wounds. “Please forgive me, it was an error on behalf of my people and an evil on behalf o one of your friends that got you here.” Said the assassin.

 

[Aine]

The stranger was taking a lot longer then she would have like to begin again. Was this part of his game, to make her wonder how long it would be before the pain continued. Her body was exhausted, though her mind would not let her drift to sleep. As if her body were trying to make her feel every ounce of pain inflicted, a cruel act of her body. Then she heard his footsteps as he once again came closer to her. Barely lifting her head, she looked up at him with the one eye. His expression had changed, no longer sinister and focused. Now he was showing concern, regret, and compassion.

Perlita flinched when he bent to kneel before her. Confusion crossed her face, was he actually now asking for forgiveness? Was he serious? The pain she still felt in her face wouldn't allow her to forgive him. He left for a moment, only to come back with cotton balls and antiseptic. Touching it to her face, she jumped trying to pull away. Why was he still hurting her if this was all a mistake? Maybe if he would have listened to what she had to say all this could have been avoided in the first place.

Once more he left, only to turn into a small cat. He then proceeded to jump into her lap. If her hands were free at that moment she would have shoved him off. Instead she was forced to listen to his pleading words for forgiveness. "This is suppose to make me feel better is what you are saying." She could feel anger now building inside her. "Oops sorry I broke your face....my bad...I thought you were somebody else." She was trying to keep her emotions in check, he might get angry and just finish where he left off.

When she was free to stand, Perlita jumped to her feet. Quickly making her way to her bedside table. "This does not make anything better," she snapped. Feeling a little braver with the silver letter opener next to her on the table. "You were two seconds from killing me....murdering me....because some crazy person broke into my house and used my computer." The anger was building once again. "I told you over and over I didn't know what the fuck a Badle was, and you continued." Her problem now was the adrenaline mixed with the trauma was now making her dizzy.

She looked down at the letter opener, and it seemed to fade out of focus. "Maybe...there is a reason to fear you people," she swayed a little. "After all you torture and kill people in their homes." Perlita swayed again, this time she wasn't able to right herself. Everything was so blurry, and her legs felt so weak. She crumpled to the floor beside her bed. Trying so hard to keep her one eye open, she failed. Darkness finally let her escape, even if it was brief.

 

[Wander]

The moment the woman was unbound; she rose to her feet and clambered towards the desk to extract a letter opener in order to threaten the mighty Badle. Even when she threatened him, she was being so feeble in her attempt that the only reaction that Xangor could give was mirth as he chuckled jovially. “I have battled mighty beasts and killed them with my bare hands, I can be any creature I like and you threaten me with that little thing?” He asked as he stepped forward with a grin. But then, right before his eyes, Xangor witnessed the girl tremble.
“Are you alright?” He asked but he saw her eyes shut and almost fall. “Oh no!” He exclaimed and rushed forward to hold her in his arms right before she hit the floor. Luckily, he was a man of extreme power amongst both the Badle and the humans and this would be put to good use by the assassin.

“Remi! Call Dr. Kingsley immediately! It is an emergency! I will be there soon!” Exclaimed the Badle assassin as he clicked open his phone and made ha call to his man servant.
“But, sir!” Retorted the butler.
“Do it Remi!” Xangor exclaimed and then leaned forward to lift the unconscious girl off her bed and carried her within his arms down the stairs of the building.
“Taxi!” Exclaimed the Badle. Presently, they were in a taxi and were on their way to Xangor’s estate.

“What happened?” Exclaimed the doctor as he checked the markings and wounds upon the girls face.
“Long story; mistaken identity.” Replied the Badle.
“Mistaken identity? You tried to assassinate the wrong person? The best among us make a mistake?”
“Not me, the Polomark. He made a mistake and gave me the picture of the wrong target.”
“The Polomark? My god! If this goes to the Badle community then his reputation will be tarnished.”
“I know, but that is not my problem, it was his mistake and not my fault.”
“But why did you not kill her? You know we are not allowed to leave traces.”
“I already beat her up when she was innocent. Now you want me to add to that by killing her.”
“Compassion is ill fitting an assassin, Xangor.” The doctor accused.
Xangor merely nodded in acquiescence to this accusation and said, “Call me compassionate, but I needed to help her.”
“But she will think you are some thug, she won’t know our real identity.” The doctor said with a smile.
“Yeah, she wouldn't.” Retorted the assassin and sweat trickled down his forehead.

The doctor then gazed down upon the woman before him as she groaned and said, “Well, she is coming to. I have given her painkillers and applied gel. Take this ointment and keep applying it to her face. You are really very rough, Xangor; I would never be on your bad side.”
With this the doctor packed his belongings, accepted his fee from the millionaire and then exited the room while the Butler entered with tea. When Perlita opened her eyes, she was in the most luxurious room she had ever been in and Xangor stood in front of him in his human form as she smirked benevolently.

 

[Aine]

In her dream Perlita was floating. Her body felt as light as air, and her arms felt weightless. At first she was only moving slowly, then she was moving faster. She couldn't help but think of how strange the dream was. None of it made any sense, but she couldn't wake herself from it. Small parts of told her she should wake up, that something was wrong. The dream refused to let her go at the moment however. After a while she stopped floating.

Now she stood in a room, it wasn't cold but comfortable. Somewhere in the distance she could hear voices. “Long story; mistaken identity.”....... "You tried to assassinate the wrong person?"...... "It was his mistake and not my fault.”...... ".....killing her.” None of it made sense to her, and she couldn't see the faces that belong to the voices. Then a face began to flash in her memory. Red serpent like skin on a face inches from her own. Clawed finger reaching for her.

Now she was determined to escape this dream. She didn't want to see anymore of the scary being that was starting to emerge. She ran in the direction she had come from, and soon she saw the door. Around the edges of the door bright light shined. Her hand reached for the knob and she gave it hard yank........

Perlita's eyes fluttered open, as if they really didn't want to. They didn't focus on her surroundings right away. The main objective was to make sure she was actually awake. Turning her face to the right, and then the left. Objects looked real enough, and there was no longer a haze at the edge of her vision. Then she realized nothing here was even hers. Pulling herself to her elbows quickly she looked around the room again. Coming to rest on the man at her left.

He was the same man that broke into her house. The same man who tortured her for information she didn't have. Her first thought was, he wasn't done with her. That he kidnapped her because she knew too much. A tear rolled down each cheek, "I'm sorry, please don't hurt me anymore." Coming to a sitting position she braced herself to run. Run where she didn't know at the moment, "I swear I will tell nobody about you or your people. Just....please don't kill me."

 

[Wander]

The Badle sat patiently with a calm countenance and a pleasant smirk when Perlita opened her eyes. But she was almost frantic and jumped up to save herself at the sight of him the moment she saw him. Xangor sighed realising that it was going to take a lot of effort to convince this woman that his intentions are honest and that his attack was merely an error. That he had done only what was necessary for the continued existence of his species. ‘Survival of the Fittest’ a phrase so aptly coined by Spencer and promoted by Darwin speaks of the case of the Badle in every prospect. Her reaction on seeing him was such fear, if one ordinary woman was so scared of him, one cannot expect any different reaction from the human species as a whole. Human beings are indeed the most nefarious species, they kill what they do not understand. Genocide is innate within them as is compassion within the Badle. Yes, he did attack an innocent, but Xangor was only ensuring the continued co-existence of his species along with humans. Human beings who could not even exist in harmony among themselves, it was impossible to expect them to live in peace with another species, he had no choice and had to act for the preservation of their long kept secret.

Presently, he sat close to Perlita and heaved a sigh. “Look,” Said he. “I do not wish to hurt you. If I wanted to kill you, I had a chance and would have taken it, I would not have brought you here and nursed your wounds if I wanted to kill you.” The Badle pointed to the bandages on her face which had already started to heal her injuries. “I made a mistake, my people made a mistake and I am truly sorry for it. I want to make it up to you.”

Moving in a little closer, the assassin held both the hands of the girl in his and said, “I was ordered to kill you in order to protect my secret. But I felt guilty for how I treated you when you were at no fault; please forgive me. I was saving this for someone special, but I guess I owe you this. The Badle are allowed to share their secret with only one human. I do not want to kill you and I have to make you my secret keeper. You have to take an oath never to tell about my people to anyone and I promise nobody would hurt you. I want to help you. While following you, I read in your file that you are trying to pay for your education and are working in that odious restaurant at menial pay for it.”

The Badle then looked down sadly before looking back up at her and continued, “I shall pay for all your education, and I was looking for an assistant to help me with my work. I would be happy to let you have the job. Would $5,000 a week be okay? Please let me help you and take the offer, I feel really guilty for what you had to go through because of an error on part of my people.” His hands still clasped hers and he looked into her eyes expectantly, waiting for her reply.

 

[Aine]

Watching him sit next to her on the bed. She focused on bringing her fear and panic under control. Looking wide eyed into his face as he spoke. While what he said was more then likely true, and it did make sense. A small part of her mind thought that maybe he could have kept her alive, so he could start over with the torture. He fingers went to the bandages on her face, she had yet to see the extent of the damage he had done. From what she could tell there was a lot of it. A question that she had, she kept to herself, what could he possibly do to make it up to her. She could have died, there wasn't a whole lot you could do to make emends.

Perlita mouth fell open slightly when he took her hands in his. She wanted to protest, but thought better of it. She really didn't want to offend him and make him angry. As he spoke a shiver travel down her spine, then back up. She already knew how close she had come, to be reminded of it wasn't a nice feeling at all. Glancing around the room, she didn't really know what she was looking for. Perhaps just a place in the room, that didn't leave her looking right at him. The thought of him following her was a little frightening. He then proceeded to insult the job she had to support herself through school.

Maybe it wasn't some extravagant career, and maybe it barely paid the bills. It was a good place to work though, nobody tried to kill her there at least. Well except that time Shane caught her apron on fire, but that was an accident. "It's not that bad of a job," she said quietly, looking down at the mattress. Why she felt the need to defend her place of employment, she wasn't too sure. Not like she was planning on making that her life long career or anything.

As the stranger continued, her mouth dropped open a little more. Was he seriously offering to pay for the next four and half years of school? Then offering her job that paid ten times more then her current job. This was turning out to be the strangest and most confusing day of her life. Perlita was speechless for what seemed like a long time. It had only been a minute or two that she simply stared at him. It was a lot of information to process. While having her schooling paid for, plus a salary that would be more then enough to support her sounded great. She was still very much afraid of him. Afraid of what she already knew he could do to her.

Then it struck her. She could learn a lot of things about him over time. She would learn what it would take to actually defend herself against him and his people. Protection in the process would be a plus. Then if he turned on her, she would be better prepared. "What would I be doing for you," she asked. Perlita hoped it wasn't something weird like, warm his bed and such. She would have to turn the offer down if that was the case.

 

[Wander]

A deep grin coursed upon the countenance of the Badle when he had heard her qualms as well as her defence of her job which was clearly the act of a woman who had self respect. He realised that this girl had all forms of self respect and dignity which the assassin truly cherished in an ideal woman. He would not accept it himself for he was a man that did not easily acknowledge awe, but he was deeply impressed by this woman, both by her bravery in the situation she was against, as well as her sense of pride, he knew then he had made the eight choice in making her his secret keeper as well as his friend and assistant.

With a mild shake of the cranium, the Badle dispelled her suspicions and said, “I know what you are thinking, but I want nothing of the sort. Look around yourself, you see the house you are in? I have enough money to pay for the most exotic women in the world, but I am not the kind of man to ever touch a woman until both of us share a mutual sense of affection and desire, without that, copulation is as meaningless to me as colour to the blind. So, don’t worry, that is certainly not what I ask of you. What I need is for you to be my friend and assistant. I am very busy man, you see.”

The assassin handed her his card upon which the following was written:
Dr. Steve Jackson;
PhD in Economics;
MBA; Harvard University;
Chief Financial Officer;
Microsoft Inc.

With this, he smiled at her and said, “So all you got to do is keep track of my appointments, give appointments to people about whom I should meet and whom I shouldn’t and when and where to meet them. You have to remind me of my day’s activities and yes, be my friend and talk to me during our free times together. Not much, you will not have to work more than six hours a day.”

The Badle then got up from his place and struck his hands together into a loud resonating clap. Instantly, the butler who displayed an extreme air of sophistication and etiquettes stepped into the room carrying a tray in his hands. The tray was set before Perlita upon which foods of various kinds including the likes of Lasagne, Pasta, Burger, hotdog, Fries, Chicken Alfredo, Caesar’s Salad, Crème Bru Le, ice creams of two kinds, orange juice, watermelon juice, and glass of water was set before her. The waiter genuflected before the girl and retreated into the confines of the massive house.

“I did not know what was your food preference,” Confessed the assassin; “unfortunately, that is something I did not learn in my small time around you. Therefore I asked Remi to prepare everything that people would ordinarily eat or drink. The doctor said you passed out more due to shock than your wounds; you are absolutely healthy with nothing serious. But you should eat a little for that is essential.”

The Badle then came up before her and sat down and said, “Once again I truly apologise for what happened at your house. I am being absolutely honest that it was an error and n harm was intended to you personally.”

Xangor really did feel guilty and wanted to offer true friendship, help and accompaniment to help the girl out of both her financial and emotional conundrum and be a support for her all through. He really hoped she would trust her.

“I am going to go out for a flight after you are done eating, would you like to come?” He offered with his palm outstretched before her.

 

[Aine]

She raised an eye brow as he explained about not expecting sex. Men normally thought sex was always on the table, so she found this a little hard to believe. She would give him the benefit of a doubt though. The moment he even suggested it, she would call him out immediately. Then again, he was actually a human, so maybe she really didn't have anything to worry about. "Well I will give the assistant part a good try, and maybe we could be friends. I still have a small voice telling me I can't trust you though." Perlita was an honest person if nothing else. Maybe what she said would hurt his feelings, but better he hear this now then later right?

Taking the card from him, she flipped it over a couple times. So she was a little impressed. Reality was this didn't necessarily mean anything. She could make business cards that said she was the CEO of Apple, that didn't make it true though did it? Her job requirements sounded easy enough, they didn't really play against what she was going to school for though. Not like she had to do this forever though right? This was just a job that would support her through school. "That's like $33.00 an hour you realize," of course he did.

Perlita was just having a hard time believing any of this could be happening. Who else would go through an afternoon of getting tortured, to having a job that paid for everything. That job consisted of taking some phone calls, and then leaving after only six hours. Most people would die for a job like this. Well her first personal business would be to find a new apartment. Something in a better neighborhood, and better neighbors. She could also look into actually buying a car, no more walking.

As Perlita sat contemplating, a butler came in with a tray in hand. Her eyebrow once again raised, why was there so much food? Did he think she could eat all this? "Uuuummm, that is a lot of food. Seems like a waste for one person." Taking the burger from the tray, along with the fries she pushed the rest aside. There was no way she could eat all that, she might not even finish the burger and fries. Taking a bite of the burger, she shoved a fry into her mouth.

Shaking her head, she laughed a little. "Gee I wonder what could have caused the shock. Couldn't be from getting beat to a pulp, or seeing some red scaly creature with wings." Sarcasm was a deference strategy she had pick up when she was a kid. If you deflected a bad situation with sarcasm, it was easier to forget it even happened. Taking another bite of the burger, she chewed silently for a couple minutes. Her mind still working to wrap around the days events.

Shaking herself from her thoughts, she focused on him. He was apologizing again, she was beginning to think she would hear this multiple times a day. Words meant nothing though, actions spoke louder. She would put effort into forgiving him, but only what he did over time would tell her he was truly sorry. The job, and paying for her schooling was a great gesture, but you couldn't buy her. "Uuumm, wait fly," she just caught on to what he said. What did he mean by flight? Was he going in a helicopter or was he doing the flying? "What exactly do you mean by 'go out for a flight'?"

 

[Wander]

An audible chuckle emanating from the lips of the Badle resonated within the copious room. Perlita’s sarcastic tone was amusing for the assassin. A billionaire of his stature would not accept such slander from an ordinary girl. But Xangor was humble and genuinely felt guilty for hurting the innocent woman. Therefore, he ignored her incising words and considered them as mere jest. He did not want the girl to experience any form of hostility from him. In fact, he was mildly impressed and to some extent attracted to this brazen girl who was dauntless enough to speak so courageously before a creature of a different species who had nearly killed her.

“Well, for one, thank you for accepting my job, Perlita. I promise I will try and make it an enjoyable experience for you when you join in tomorrow.” Xangor said as he came forward and stood before her, watching her relish the burger and fries with delight. It made him frown because he could not understand how when a person was offered the likes of a Caesar’s salad, Crème Brule, and Chicken Alfredo, one could prefer to eat a burger. ‘I will never understand the psychology of the middle class.’ He thought with a sigh, ‘They seem like a different species from the rich. Maybe if she is my assistant I can learn from her...that is if the rich sophistication doesn’t rub onto her after she is working with me.’

A smirk was upon his lips when he said, “Yes, I know that is thirty three dollars an hour. You want fifty? I don’t mind because I need a good person I can trust. Look around you, money is something I have a lot of. What I lack is people I can trust.” The room was copious, spacious and luxurious with an assortment of grand artefacts of chairs, wood burning fireplace, ancient architecture upon the walls, high ceiling and grand king sized waterbed upon which Perlita lay.

He came forward and bent down, his face gazing at hers now when he said, “By flight I mean actual flying. Those wings you saw, they were not for feathery show. They have a use. Besides, if I really wanna fly, I could easily turn into an eagle. But A Badle requires concentration when in any form but his or her own. Even now, half my attention is focused on maintaining this human form. Let me get rid of it.”

With this, the Badle stood up and closed his eyes as he raised two fingers up to the cavity in his chest and pressed the ancient rune after closing his eyes and muttering an inaudible incantation. Like electricity, blue light surged within his body accompanied by a thick smoke.

The moment the smoke dissipated, a large scaly creature, bigger than the human Perlita saw earlier stood before her. Long red vertical slits of pupils gazed down at her from the dark confines of their black irises as he grinned to portray an array of sharp fang like teeth.

“Mmmmm....It feels so good to be in my real form.” He said as he pulled off his shirt to reveal the red scaly skin upon a herculean torso. “Steve ismy human name in disguise; my real name Xangor. They usually called Xangor the Xenocide connoting my job of executing humans which pose a threat to our identity.”

Xangor observed that Perlita had finished her food and therefore he grasped her wrist and lead her towards the corner of the room. “I had the window elongated specifically for this purpose because then it is easy to come in and get out undetected.”

Xangor held her hand and pulled her towards the window, his long red wings were now stretched out like an eagle. “I am sorry, but you will have to sit on my back and hold on tight no matter what those ludicrous superhero movies show you, it does not work that way; I assure you, it is different.”

Xangor climbed up the windowsill and perched upon it, bending down in an appropriate position for her to easily climb onto his back. “So,” He finally said, “Have you decided yet? Are you coming for a flight or no?”