Echo - Chapter 9

Echo carefully drove to a stop reaching her apartment. Her boot hitting the pavement seemed eerily loud compared to the silence that surrounded her and interrupted her thoughts which still lingered on the incident from the parking lot. She did a scan of the area and wrote it off as just her being paranoid. Yet she couldn't shake off the mood around the place that seemed to hold its breathe as if awaiting her reaction to something that was yet to come.

Slowly Echo swung her other leg off the bike and brought her foot down to meet the other. Walking, she quietly opened her door finding it unlocked. Her eyes narrowed as she realized someone was either inside or had been. Quietly closing the door, Echo reached under the entrance table where her fingers found the familiar blade she kept there. Never had she had to use it but she thanked herself inwardly for at least keeping it there as a precaution. Grasping it in her right hand she proceeded forward and stopped when she heard the slightest of noises. Her breathing sped as she prepared herself to face her unwanted guest. Looking forward she saw the figure.

She watched as they rummaged through her belongings frantically searching for something that they would not likely find. A string of profanities arose from their mouth in a low hiss. The person was well-built and judging from the person's voice and figure, it was a man.
Echo quickly thought through whether to give away the element of surprise and question the man or use it to her advantage and attack him.
The man rose to his full height and turned towards her direction as if to leave and stopped when he saw her. Reaching under his jacket he brought out a knife.
Seeing that her second option was now gone, Echo chose to question him.

"What business do you have that brings you here?" She said in a hard voice.
Ignoring her question the man looked about frantically, his breathing hitched. After many seconds of trying to decide what to do the man then looked her head on. He then fixed into a low stance and proceeded to head towards her.
Rising from the low crouch she was in, Echo unsheathed the short blade she had in hand and came at him.

Swinging out, the man stumbled forward when his fist made no connection. Taking this opportunity, Echo tackled him and they fell to the floor with a loud thump. Crawling over to him she punched him in the face as he attempted to swing again. Scrambling still, the man crawled towards the blade that he had, which now laid several feet away. Arising from the ground, she walked and kicked it from his reach and grabbed him firmly by the collar. Dragging him she then fixated him onto a chair where he slumped groggily.

"What business do you have that brings you here?" Echo said repeating her question.
"The man, he asked me to search your home for..." He stopped as if remembering that he was not supposed to be telling her.
"What man?" She hissed.
"I don't know!" He replied clearly scared out of his mind. His eyes widened at her fury.

"Well then, how about you tell me what on earth you were doing in my apartment?"
"I was told to look for-", stopping once more he looked at her and cringed as her expression grew darker.
"Look for what?"
"I can't say."
"Tell me," she threatened, her expression telling him she didn't need to state what would happen if he didn't.
"I will not, they'll kill me if I do. Either way it seems I'll be dead by tonight but if I'm to die than it won't be because I've betrayed them."

Frustrated, Echo turned away from him. The man was clearly not experienced in fighting and judging from the enemies she had, she could say confidently that he worked for Theron. Whirling, Echo focused her gaze back on him.
"What's your name?"
"My name is not your concern Echo."
He knew her name, yet she knew nothing of him. This left her deeply troubled at how far behind she was. Leaning close to him she put a hand on his shoulder.
"Who. Do. You. Work. For? Is he known by the name of Theron?"
She stared him down and he looked off to her right avoiding her eyes when she said the name. Just as she was about to repeat her question she heard her phone ring in her pocket.
Placing her blade she held onto the table she answered.

"Yes?"
"Echo, It's Emmer. Lucian has informed you of the Theron situation, yes?"
"Yes he has. How did you get this number?"
"I have my ways. Now tell me, are you up for a visit?"
"Not quite.."
She glanced down at the man still sitting looking off in the distance while blood trickled from his mouth.
"Well how about tomorrow? There are still a few things that need to be discussed."
"Yes, I'll call you and set up a time tom-"

Echo cut off as she felt a sharp pain in her hand. Looking at where it rested on the man's shoulder she saw as he bit down hard. Panicking, she clawed at his face in an attempt to get him to release. Still, he persisted while a throaty laugh arose from him. Crying out she lifted her leg and kicked him as they tumbled to the floor and she distantly heard the chair crumble beneath them. Gasping in pain the man released and smiled at her viciously. Kicking away from him she finally managed to push herself up and punch him square in the jaw before he proceeded to pass out. Her breathing spiked as she looked at her hand that dripped with blood onto the ground below. Looking towards the man she exhaled in relief as she saw the man was only human.

'Why would Theron send a man, who not only didn't know how to fight, but was human to her house to retrieve something she possessed?' She thought. Bending down, she picked up the phone which was still on the conversation. She brought it to her ear.
"Emmer, I'll call you and set up a time for tomorrow."
"What happened?" Emmer exclaimed.
"Trouble, but don't be concerned, it's well handled."
"...It doesn't sound like it."
"It is. I'll call tomorrow."
"Yes, well alright. Goodbye."

Hanging up, Echo leaned against the wall for several minutes. She still shook with fear at having the man bite her. Questions rose in her mind; What would she do if he had been a vampire? Would she be forced to become the thing she loathed the most, or would she kill herself and end it? Images of the red eyes from her dream popped into her mind. Her vampire half was clearly taking on a power of its own waiting to be let out, and she struggled with the task of ignoring it. Shaking her head, she dismissed the thoughts and headed off to find something to tie him up with.

When she returned to the living room she was relieved to see that the man still lay there sprawled out. She kneeled and began to wind the rope around his ankles. A brief knock at the door interrupted her and she rose once more grabbing the blade that she had set down earlier. She stopped near the door and listened... nothing.
"Who is it?" She called out.
"Lucian."
Great, she thought, now she had to deal with him. Sighing, she opened the door still holding the blade. He eyed her questioningly but entered without saying a word.
"More business?"
"No, Emmer mentioned you had trouble."
"And I also recall saying that I had it under control."
He stopped as they reached the living area and saw the cds that laid sprawled everywhere from the man rummaging through her things. His eyes finally rested on the man who laid there sprawled out and halfway tied up. He looked at her and she saw as he rose an eyebrow.

"Echo, I keep finding you in more bizarre situations..."
"He broke in," she said flatly.
Smiling he laughed.
"I know, do you know why?"
"Something about the man he worked for, I'm guessing Theron, wanted him to retrieve something but he didn't say."
"I see, and then you just decided to knock him out when he wouldn't give you answers? That's a little harsh."
"No, he attacked me. I was forced to restrain him and this was the only option."
"I see", he repeated.

Walking over to the man, Lucian began to finish the task of tying him up while Echo decided to get some water. She looked at her hand which began to heal.
Lucian stood by the door after finishing and watched her.
"What's wrong with your hand?"
"He bit me, nothing more. I'm fine."
"He bit you?"
"Yes, a nasty little joke that he found quite funny."
"It is good he is human, no? If not you would find yourself in a difficult situation."
"Yes, I suppose I would. Thank you for... checking on me? It was nice, even though I didn't require your help," she said smiling.

He nodded and smiled back.
"Ah, yes well, maybe one day you will."
"You already have", she corrected him.
"Yes, I suppose I have, although that was more on Emmer's account."
They stood there for a moment in awkward silence. Lucian cleared his throat.
"Well I suppose I should take him and see if Emmer or Cedric can get any information."
"Alright, that sounds like a good plan. The interrogating thing is not really in my field of work anyway."
"I would say otherwise by looks of him," he chuckled.

Echo closed the door as Lucian took his leave. She surveyed the apartment and exhaled in frustration once more at the mess that was left in the conflict. She sipped her water and went throughout the apartment turning off the lights that Lucian had flicked on as habit. Turning off the last one she heard a crash. The sound of glass breaking. Running Into the main room Echo saw a small note that was surrounded in bits of glass. The glass gleamed against the street light from the outside as she carefully walked around it. Picking it up she saw the words in a neat script.

-Echo, you didn't think that human was the only one I'd send... did you?
-T

Looking up Echo saw another figure that was hooded, seeing no features it reminded her distantly of her first encounter with Lucian. The man smiled and she saw the glimmer of his fangs as he proceeded to walk towards her.
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Thank you for the comments guys.

Jaggyr: Hmm, I don't know about them yet haha. I'm glad to hear you're taking a liking to Echo's character.
Mary: Most of the people who voted say they prefer short chapters and more frequently, but I'll try to make the chapters longer and keep the same pace. I'm really happy you like the story.
Jazz: Thank you, I always love hearing feedback from my readers. All comments are greatly appreciated.

As always, another chapter shall be out soon. Hope you liked.