Susan tilted her body and throttled back the magic force guiding the wind around her. She landed on the Tuscan tile roof of the mansion. From experience, there were three possible locations in the house where the bow might be. In the main study, bedroom, or underground in something like a vault. Securing the line, the rappelled down the side to a half open window on the second floor. She retracted the line and entered. Almost no sound could be heard as she jumped off the windowsill down to the carpet below. It was a hallway. Her bare feet could feel a slight tremor. Someone was upstairs in an adjacent room. Her ears picked up singing. Susan dashed behind an old chair to get her bearings. She could see stairs leading down to the left which meant the master bedroom had to be opposite. Susan fortified herself by applying green colored lipstick and dashed as fast as she could down the hallway. A series of heavy footsteps were not far behind. She ran under the giant bed just as a pair of black nyloned feet clad in shiny black shoes came into view behind her.
Her voice sounded young. The song was French. Susan barely afforded herself a peek. "That's actually a thing?" she said. The girl stopped singing. Susan paused. A tense moment passed and she went back to singing. The girl was maybe 19 and dressed as a French maid. Frilly black and white uniform and all. The giantess dusted the dressers as Susan waited for her to leave. Suddenly the giantess sat on the bed and kicked her shoes off. She rubbed one foot leaving the other on the floor. Susan cringed at the smell of Lycra and feet. Apparently, she had been on her feet for some time already. She could hear the girl typing something on a phone. "Dammit! Take your funky feet and fuckin' leave already!" Susan thought. The girl stood back up, put her shoes back on and began collecting dirty clothes on the floor. Susan barely had enough time to hide behind a bed leg.
She watched the giantess leave and breathed a sigh of relief. Now free to do a search, Susan took note of what exactly was in the bedroom. A vase with fresh flowers. A painting of the constellation Sagittarius Fine dressers and walk in closet. Nothing truly strange. "Downstairs it is" she said. Wisely, she used the air vents to go down. Her tiny feet made a thud as she landed. "Ow" she muttered as the cold metal did nothing to soothe her soles. She made her way thought the vent looking out of grates to find the study or office. Then something caught her attention. There was a sensor behind one. She sniffed the air. "Motion sensor" she muttered. She found it odd that a sensor would be inside the grate. What purpose would that serve? "She thinks someone my size would break in? Can't be" she thought. Susan inched close to the grate. Very slowly she bent the steel grate. Too fast and the sensor would activate.
"Overthinking it. Might have a rat problem" she muttered as she squeezed through. The study was large and filled with shelves that held at least a hundred different books. A computer sat down on a desk in the rear. Susan could see four different cameras at different angles observing the room. Her combat suit cloaked her body heat and as long as she didn't move too fast, she couldn't be seen. Carefully, she made her way to the back of the room Antique vases, swords, paintings in the room. But one thing caught her attention. An arrow hung inside a glass case on the wall.
She jumped as hard as she could barely getting her hands on the top of the lining of the case. Using one of her hands, she pried the case open with her sword and gingerly pulled herself inside. However, she didn't know that she activated a spell doing so. Susan wiped her lipstick off, clicked its silver casing to the right twice, and applied a white color type. "Clairvoyance" she muttered activating the spell.
"And item number 3 is a lovely Mycenaean vase with the image of Poseidon dating back to 455 BCE. Bidding starts at..." Anna was saying before she sensed something. " One million dollars. Excuse me" she said turning the bidding to an auctioneer. Anna rushed off the stage and went right to one of her guards. "Bring the car around. There's an intruder at the mansion" she said. Minutes later, she was tapping her foot irritated as her Maybach limo tore down the street. "Ma'am. Cameras don't show anyone on your study" the passenger said. "Someone is there. I can sense it. Drive faster!" she yelled.
Susan could smell the arrow. The wood was oddly fragrant. Its tip was clean gleaming metal which in itself was strange. Not a trace of corrosion. Her first thought that it was undoubtedly a fake. She touched her just to confirm. Susan gasped as the spell showed her all kinds of visions. The first being held in a young woman's hand. Her face was an unearthly beauty. The feeling of purpose and devotion crept into Susan's heart. Then another of a burly man holding it. The feeling of power and divine right overcame her. And then the last was of a young man holding it. He was dying from wounds. His warm blood coating its wooden shaft. He spoke old English yet somehow Susan understood what he said. "Wherever this arrow falls, bury me there" he said. * The arrow was pulled back on a bowstring and let loose. She held her breath instinctively as the forest zipped by. The feeling of bravery, protection, and finally loss sat her heart.
(Authors note: This is supposedly how Robin Hood died. With his last bit of strength, he fired the arrow and told Little John to bury him where it fell.)
"It's real. This is one of the original arrows that came with the bow" Susan muttered snapping out of it. She didn't know that Anna had just returned and was watching her remotely. "Close the vents. Gas the room" she ordered. Susan heard the metal screech of the vents snapping shut. "What was..." she was saying before the door was cracked open and a small canister was thrown inside. It popped and began flooding the room with gas. Susan hopped off the case right onto the desk and dashed for the window. She held her breath as she made her way to it. She lept with the notion of breaking it and railing with any cuts or injuries later. She slammed into it...and it did not break. The Impact caused her to gasp as the air was forced out of her lungs. She couldn't help but take in the gas. She scrambled up to the desk ready to fire off a lightning spell in order to break the thick glass. She only got halfway when her eyes began to get heavy. Her legs weak. "No... fort...fortify....cation...." she muttered changing the circle. Susan fell to her knees. The vents opened and the sound of fans circulating the air filled her ears.
"All clear" someone said. Anna entered the room and saw the tiny girl on her desk. "I'll take it from here" she said as Susan lost consciousness.
"My head..." Susan groaned as she awoke. "Already. You should me still under for another two hours" Anna said sitting at her desk. Susan tried to move but fond her wrists bound with string and her body suspended over a Newton's Cradle. Anna pulled back a ball bearing and let go. The loud clacking right under her little feet worried the girl. "Interesting. It's clear now that you're not human. Gremlin? No too tall and no German accent. A borrower. You're a borrower. But you were human sized at the party yesterday. Oh yes I remember you Rachel" Anna said. Susan yanked on the string suspending her. "It's obvious you know some kind of growth magic. Who taught you?" Anna asked. "Yo mamma" Susan chuckled. Anna lowered Susan an inch. The heavy clacking bearings not far from her toes. "You went right for that arrow. Why? For what purpose? Who sent you?" Anna asked. "Your papa. He said you've been a bad girl and to take your toys away" Susan said grinning. Anna stopped the balls.
She moved them apart and lowered Susan right between them. Once done she pulled back the farthest right ball bearing. "Who...sent...you" Anna said getting close. "I'll tell you on one condition" Susan said. "Pop a tic tac. Your breath is kicking like Bruce Lee" Susan laughed. Anna frowned and let go of the bearing. It clacked and within a second the kinetic force transferred right into Susan's chest cracking three ribs. "Still think this is funny?" Anna asked looking at the tiny girl cringing in pain. "You expect me to talk?" Susan asked. "No, I expect you to beg, plead, cry, and scream. Then talk" Anna replied. Susan glared at her. "A cute little suit to hide your body heat and even a petite little sword. You came prepared, but you didn't know I placed a spell on that case using a strand of my hair. When you opened the case, you broke the strand and alerted me. Now...what possessed you or whomever sent you to go looking for that arrow?" Anna asked pulling the bearing back once more.
"You killed that banker" Susan replied. Anna gently released the bearing but it's little force only caused Susan's ribs to be sore. "Yes. Flashy that but sniper rifles are cumbersome. Archery is far more elegant. A certain nostalgia about the bow" Anna said. "Why? You're a fucking art dealer. Why kill him?" Susan asked. Anna untied Susan and placed her in the desk. Susan could see her gear sitting a foot away. Too far to grab and too long to put on. However, the arcane she had been drawing was only inches away and nearly complete. "Money. Me and my friends wisely invested in the euro and with that merger it would've went up in value" Anna replied.
"What friends?" Susan asked. "Friends that believe that power should be in the hands of those that have the knowledge to use it properly" Anna replied poking her. "That includes magic?" Susan asked. Anna grinned. "Now now. Who's supposed to be asking the questions?" Anna asked smiling. Susan shoved her finger away. "You should be nicer to me. Care to see what happened to the last two people who thought they could steal from me?" Anna asked. Anna reached down and opened a drawer in the desk. She pulled out two odd plastic rectangular objects and sat them before her. "Fuck me..." Susan muttered.
"This guy here thought he could kidnap me and ransom me off. I was 16 at the time and just learned about my birthright. The look on his face when I shrank him was priceless! I tortured him for days. Put him through every degrading thing I could think up. But what can I say? I prefer to collect things not pets. He begged to lick my feet, get stuck up my ass, all the nasty things he begged me not to do just days before when he saw what was coming. The hot resin in the mold caused him to scream so weird. Like the sound a cat makes when you put your hands around its neck. As you can see he was very much alive when it encased him" Anna said. Susan stared at the shrunken man entombed in the resin block like an insect in amber. His eyes wide open and his mouth frozen in an eternal shriek of terror and pain.
"And this one? A cat burglar if you can believe it. Took her out the same why I did you. She was cute so I kept her alive a bit longer than that said fuck there. Trained her to lick my pussy without saying a word. Just spread my legs and she'd go right at it" Anna sighed with content. Susan sat on her legs. Her hand scratching out the last symbols. "And you still killed her. Got bored?" Susan asked keeping her distracted. "On the contrary. As you pointed out my expertise is in art. Beauty to me more precise. I just wanted to preserve that beauty for all time. A thousand years from now, my little girl there will still look the same. The pinnacle of womanhood preserved for the ages. I'm looking to add to my collection but first. First, I wanted to have fun. Have you eaten pussy before?" Anna asked. "Yeah I did. All the time and she squealed like a pig. Just have to find that one spot and dig in like buttered grits" Susan replied smiling as she scratched the last symbol.
"That's what I want to hear" Ann said slipping off her panties. She reached for Susan. "I hope you're hungry. It's been a stressful day" Anna chuckled just before Susan briefly glowed. "No thanks! I lost my appetite!" Susan yelled jumping into the air. She came down as hard as she could on Anna's finger snapping the bone in two. The giantess yelped and jerked her hand back. "You little shit! Ventus!" she howled holding her palm out towards Susan. Susan had just grabbed her sword and lipstick as a gust of wind ensnared her. "Become a fucking stain!" Anna yelled throwing Susan through the air. Susan desperately cast a growing spell as she was being hurled by hurricane winds and crashed into the wall human sized so hard she left a hole. "I'll be damned! Adet!" Anna yelled as Susan pulled herself free. Susan coughed blood, her vision blurry, as she saw a bow magically appear in the woman's hand.
"Don't bother running. As long as I can see you..." Anna muttered picking up a pencil. "You can't be..."Susan said as the woman fired the pencil from the pulled back bowstring. The pencil flew from it and Susan barely had time to dodge. The pencil oddly curved in midair striking Susan in the chest. It barely missed her heart. "Re...return!" Susan yelled calling for her sword. The toothpick sized blade flew into her hand and fro "You're...fuck...not the only one with that trick" Susan said. Anna picked up a pen and fired it. Susan cut it down, but the shards still found its way into her skin. "Anything straight and long enough can be an arrow and it will find you!" Anna yelled. She grabbed another pencil and fired it. Susan went to cut it down but missed as her vision got worse. This one hit her so hard she was pinned to the door. The eraser tip poking out her chest. She found it hard to breathe as she vomited blood. It was clear it pierced her right lung.
Susan saw that death was near and tried one final desperate gamble. With blood on her hands, she drew an arcane on the door behind her. She felt it activate and her back felt intense cold. "Pity. Would've enjoyed breaking you in" Anna said pulling back the bowstring holding an antique quill pen. The tip sharp enough to pierce her skull. Susan jerked to the left exposing the pristine, reflective sheet of ice formed on the door just as Anna let loose. It happened in just three seconds. The quill pen zipped through the air and made an impossible turn of 180 degrees. It flew right back at Anna piercing her heart. She fell backwards on the floor. "How..." she muttered just before her life ended. Susan stood over her. "It hits whatever you see right? You saw yourself in my ice mirror" she said answering the question of a dead woman. Susan yanked out the bloody pen. "If Keith was here, he'd say something corny about the pen being mightier.... fuck..." Susan groaned as she felt cold.
She barely had strength to make a healing arcane. It stooped her from bleeding to death internally but so many spells drained her stamina. She could feel only two or three left in her. "Who was they?" she muttered as she enlarged her phone. She dialed a number. "Control...need a hacking suite for my phone" she said weakly. Her phone wirelessly linked to Anna's computer and began the drive dump. "Mistress! We heard shouting! Is the situation under control?!" a guard shouted on the other side of the door. Susan didn't answer as she watched the slow progress on the phone. Then, they began shooting the door. "Not...not good" Susan said as the ice, which reinforced the door, cracked and broke. Then a round got through and shot the CPU canceling the hack. "Times up" she muttered grabbing the bow and the arrow out of its case. She pulled the bowstring back keeping her eyes locked on the armored glass window. She let go and the arrow shattered it. "Nice...weapon...." she muttered.
She shrank it, undid the growth spell on herself and her equipment, and used the last bit of energy she had to cast a flight spell. Susan took to the air just as they broke the door down. She held on to her equipment for dear life. It was her duty to bring back the phone and the bow. She fluttered in the air as she drifted in and out of consciousness. Her body was still covered in bruises and blood. Her bones creaked. Her ribs not broken but cracked or bruised. She didn't have the energy to heal herself any longer. Her vision so blurry from concussions she flew into the window she thought was hers...
"Rachel where the hell are you? You didn't show up for the auction. You're not answering your door, but you didn't check out. Was it something I said?" Randolph asked just before he heard an odd thump on his bedspread. "What was...oh my fucking God" he muttered. Susan saw a blurry face before passing out.
Susan found herself in a field staring up at the night sky. The stars twinkled above her as some began to glow brighter and brighter. Bright paths of light connected them and they began to take human like forms. She recognized one. The centaur Sagittarius as it reached for her. An ethereal grip seized her taking her high into the heavens. The closer she got to his face the bright and hotter it got. "They will all burn starting with you" it said as a mouth made up of a cluster of stars opened up. Susan screamed as she was pulled into it. The power felt as if it was burning her into nothing. "LILY!" Susan screamed so loud she woke herself.
"It's okay! You're safe! Safe!" Randolph said laying next to her. Susan looked at him and then around the room. Her tiny heart pounding in her chest. "Must've been one hell of a nightmare" he said. Susan went to move and grimaced Her arms and legs wrapped in tiny cut bandages and gauze. "Best I could do" he said. Susan nodded. "So, are we gonna talk about it?" he asked. "About the nightmare?" she asked. "No...how the fuck are you the size of a borrower!?" he asked. "...because I am one" she replied getting up. Randolph went to reach for her and she stopped him. "Be right back" she said disappearing into the bathroom. When she emerged, the bandages were gone and she was healed.
"This is some freaky shit" he said nervous. "My stuff?" she asked. He pointed to the nightstand. Susan checked to see everything was there. Uniform, sword, lipstick, phone, and bow all accounted for. Susan fell on her butt dizzy. "I'm fine just hungry" she said. Randolph gave her a bit of hamburger he had for dinner earlier. He quietly watched her devour it. "That was a good field dressing" she said. "I had practice. You going to tell me how the hell a 5'7 borrower can exist?" he asked. "...magic" she replied. "Okay if you won't..."
"I'm not lying. I can change size because of magic. Magic is real" she replied. "Like Harry Potter shit?" he asked. "More like Merlin shit. Water please" she asked. Randolph watched her drink. "So a borrower girl travels around the world buying old shit and casting magic to fit in society?" he asked. "No. I'm kinda like INTERPOL for magic" she replied. Susan relaxed on a pillow. He laid next to her. "You're taking this all in stride" she said. "I'm more worried about you than my sanity right now. You came in my room like you had a fistfight with a cat" he said. "Not all my jobs are quiet" she replied. "This was a job?" he asked. "Susan...my real name is Susan" she said dodging the question.
"You said earlier you remind me of my sister. That's not true. You remind me of my first crush, first friend, first...lover" he replied. "Really?" she asked. "She's how I learned borrower first aid" he said. "She was a borrower?" she asked. "My father bought her for me when I was 10 years old. An 8-year-old pedigree girl with blond hair. Rare and valuable. She was terrified of me. Cried and screamed for the first month when I got near her. I doted on her. Clean clothes everyday. Nice food. Baths. She grew to trust me and that trust turned to love. Some years later we took it to the next level. My father found out and... hurt her badly. Broke her arms and legs. I stayed in my room all summer nursing her back to health but she never fully recovered" he replied softly. "What happened to her?" she asked. Randolph stared at Susan with teary eyes. "I killed her. She asked me to. She couldn't walk right. Hold food in her hands. She just asked me to kill her. I loved her so much I couldn't see her in such misery. I used my fingers on her head and jerked. Tink...I called her Tink" he muttered shedding tears.
His giant hands trembled until Susan scooted over and touched them. "It's not fair to lose someone you love so soon is it?" she asked. He shook his head. "Close your eyes" she said. Randolph did and when he opened them Susan was his size or more accurate he was hers. The bed was now enormous. "Did you shrink me?" he asked. Susan didn't answer other than pulling his shirt off. Her hands took off his shorts and boxers. "Love me. I'm ready for you to love me" she said. He pulled her in to kiss her. His tongue licking the inside of her mouth. When he broke the kiss, she pushed her on her back. "All borrowers in this good shape?" he asked feeling her toned legs. "The ones that live long enough" she chuckled. He kissed the tips of her toes. Susan shivered as he sucked each one. "I'm sensitive there" she shivered. He pulled her close as he lined up his cock. She didn't have to ask to be gentle as he pushed inside of her.
Susan tensed up as he stretched her out. She nodded that she was okay as his eyes asked if she was. His left hand caressed her check. His right hand the side of her chest. She giggled as his fingers felt her ribs and moaned as they made their way to her left breast. Randolph knew a few things about borrowers. Their sexuality was more pronounced than humans. What they felt physically and emotionally more in depth than him. How strong they were compared to humans of similar size. If she wanted, her legs could crush his hips. Her hands break his arms. She could kill him easily but as he touched her soft skin, her delicate body, she seemed as fragile as antique glass.
He swore she got wetter as he sucked her nipples. Her cheeks flushed as she encouraged him to go faster. Susan could feel his heart beating faster and faster. Her eyes could see his slightly dilated. A sign that he was infatuated with her. His breath got sharper and she locked her legs around his waist. "Oh god..." she groaned as she felt him cum. She could count on one hand how many times a man came inside her. Most of them dead by her hand not long after. This man, this man that made her feel again she accepted his semen readily. Her cunt squeezing and spasming around his tiny cock for every drop. "Randolph sweetie?" she asked. "Yes? I... I wasn't too rough was I?" he asked worried. "You were perfect, but I need you to pull out before you kill me" she said with a grin. He quickly backed away and Susan sighed.
Randolph quickly grew back to his normal size. "What happened?" he asked. "...still under the weather. The spell wore off because I'm still tired" she replied weakly. "Anything I can do?" he asked. "Place me on your body? I've been having bad dreams lately" she asked. Without a word, he placed her on his bare chest. His finger rubbing her back up and down. "You really do have experience" she muttered. He stayed awake watching her sleep. It brought back fond memories of his lost love Tink. How he would have her sleep on his chest when he was a teen. Hours into the night he would fondle her sleeping body lovingly. Her long blonde hair which was never cut. The tiny bumps of her spine. His finger brushing each individual ass cheek. He would stifle a chuckle as she muttered in her sleep and roll on her back. She would spread her legs as his finger rubbed her crotch. She smelled and tasted so sweet.
She was 13 when she muttered in her sleep she loved him. The boy who was raised alone, privileged, and doted on by servants was never told that. He devoted himself to her ever waking existence from then on. He even went as far to make up a birthday for her. That time next year as soon as he got home from school he fucked her. His days in class weren't spent on thinking about tests or homework. No, he thought about sucking on her body, licking her feet to make her laugh, ticking her belly. That smile of hers made his day. And then his father broke her body. She lived in pain everyday. They couldn't make love anymore. Laughing hurt. They boy learned not every fairytale ends in a happy ending. And as this tiny girl snoozed curled up in his chest hair, he saw his second chance.
Like Tink, Randolph placed her on the pillow next to him as he feared crushing her in his sleep. Susan dreamed she was trapped in a spiderweb. The clicking of its mandibles right above her as the arachnid began to descend. Her ankles were tangled in the threads. Her arms ensnared Before she was to become a tasty meal, a hand plucked her free. The sun blocked out the face, but the hand didn't feel feminine. "It's going to be okay" a voice said. Susan woke up.
"Morning" Randolph said staring at her. "Watching me sleep?" she asked. "You snore" he said smiling. "Naw I don't" she said letting her accent slip out. "Like an itty-bitty chain saw" he laughed. He leaned in and kissed her. There was a knock on the door. "That's breakfast" he said getting up. Susan made her way to her phone. Even at small size it got reception due to some clever designs. "Whoops" she said seeing 12 missed calls. "About time!" Fuck happened Susan?!" Keith yelled when he picked up. "Mission accomplished. There was some...resistance but I got the job done" she replied. "...alright. You coming back today right?" he asked. "I'll be home this evening” ‘she replied. "Sounds good. Anyone know about magic other that the target?" he asked. Susan looked at Randolph. "Susan? I don't need to remind you of protocol 3" he said. "No you don't. It's fine. Bye" she said roughly. "Breakfast in bed!" the giant said laying out a napkin over her bare legs.
"Is me eating so fascinating?" she asked as he stared. "How can someone so small eat so much?" he asked. "We have very active metabolisms when where tired, injured, or pregnant" she replied. "Doesn't that mean you go to the bathroom a lot?" he asked. "Hey! Personal! Don't you know this from your girlfriend already?" she asked. "Never truly watched her like that. Things like that I gave her privacy" he replied. "Well bathe me. I'm not that much of a prude" she said finishing her eggs and bacon.
Randolph showered as Susan bathed in the sink. She wanted him to do it for her, but she could see that nervous boy still in him after all these years. "Dry me off" she said to him. He steadied her body as a dry cloth dried her skin. She squirmed as his fingers dried her from ass to crotch. His finger and thumb drying her tiny feet. His warm breath blowing on her body and hair. She had him set her down on the sink. Astonished, he watched her grow to his size. "And this scribbling did that?" he asked. She hesitated to answer but she did confirm it. He stared at her for a moment. "I love you" he whispered. "...I know" she replied.
She so desperately wanted him to fuck her again. To have his cock stretch her out and breed her. Her instincts demanded it. She couldn't. What she had to do was hurtful enough. To make love again would just twist the knife. "Jesus! Hell are you doing?!" he yelled as she crawled out of his window. Her toes gripping the spaces in the brick mortar. She easily slipped into her own room with the still open window. Randolph rushed to her door. "Easy as pie" she said shrugging. "Don't scare me like that!" he yelled holding her. "I won't" she muttered. Susan got dressed and packed. He didn't say a word, but she could tell he was upset. "I'm sorry I scared you" she said holding his hand. "It's not that. You're leaving to go wherever" he said. "Duty calls" she said.
"Stay with me. Forget this crazy magical James Bond shit. Now that borrowers have rights, you can get a real job. Scratch that. Just...just come home with me. Marry me..." he said visibly upset. "I can't. I made a promise long ago to protect people from those that would do them harm. People like you. I can't stay with you" she said applying orange color lipstick. "Will I ever see you again?" he asked. "Maybe. The world is funny that way" she replied. "I won't forget you Susan" he said. Tears fell from her eyes. "...yes you will" she muttered before kissing him deeply.
He stood there in a magical daze for three full minutes before coming to. "What...where...what’s going on?" he asked finding himself outside of the hotel not remembering why. He walked back in and pulled his phone out. "Weird. Must've really spaced out. It's 11:45 already? Hmmm....very fuckin' weird. Huh? Who's this?" he asked finding pictures of Susan in his phone. "When did I take these? Damn she's cute. Why...why am I crying?" he asked feeling tears running down his cheeks. He caught a glance of a girl wearing the same dress getting into a taxi. He ran for it. "Stop! STOP!" he yelled as it drove away. "Miss? Do you know that man?" the driver said getting a view from his mirror. Susan glanced back. "...no I don't. Let's go to Nice" she said softly.
Her mind was on Randolph the entire trip home. She tried to rationalize erasing his memories of her and magic. "It was for his own good. Magic attracts trouble, danger, and death" she thought. It was the cornerstone to Protocol 3. There were four protocols in place for THORN agents. Protocol 1: Protect the innocent. Protocol 2: Kill only when necessary. Protocol 3: Keep magic and the existence of THORN away from civilians. Protocol 4: Agents may only use magic at their approved training level. These lessons were hammered into Agents on day one. Susan literally lived by them. She had killed more than a few to preserve protocols one and three. Blanked out memories when she saw death was unnecessary but never had it left such a bitter taste in her mouth.
She came home at 6:17 local time and walked through the door. "Yeah. I'll be there to see you next month. I promise. Lawan...I have to go" Keith said hanging up seeing Susan enter the house. "You look exhausted. I saved dinner for you" he said. Susan said not a word and walked right up to him. He was shocked when she hugged him tightly. She handed him her phone and went to the kitchen. "I'll dump the data while you eat" he said looking at her. She simply nodded as she sat at the table eating cold chicken. Keith figured her debrief could wait.
It was late in the evening when he found her again. He peeked into Rose's room and found the now borrower sized Susan laying next to the equally small teenage girl. She stroked her hair while she slept. "Something up?" Susan asked seeing him. "Just checking on her. She's been having bad dreams" he replied. "I know. Anything on the phone?" Susan asked. "It can wait" he said. "No. I'm still wired. Might as well do something" she said. Keith entered the room and sat in a chair near the bed. Susan hopped over to the nightstand. "When the feed was cut it corrupted the data download. However, I was able to recover a few things" he said. S
"Like what?" Susan asked. "A bank account. On paper, Anna Rosenthal was worth $70 million. However, the account we found led to other shell accounts scattered in banks around the world. She's really worth upwards of $2 billion. "What? Why would she hide so much money?" Susan asked. "Did Anna say anything striking? Strange?" Keith asked. "Other than turning me into a novelty piece on her shelf after she got bored raping me?" Susan asked. "Jesus Susan..." Keith muttered petting her hair. "She kept saying we and us indicating she wasn't alone in using magical artifacts to influence things" she replied. "So there might be others that worked with her for similar reasons or goals. I was afraid of that" he said.
"The money is a war chest" he muttered. "War chest?" she asked. "Term used for money or resources to further a goal in which you don't want people knowing about. The Americans used a few back in the 80's like the Iran Contra and the Israel weapons funding to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan" he said. Keith look very worried. "We got ourselves a big problem" he muttered. "Keith. Our job is to hunt people like this down" Susan said confident. "The bank account wasn't the only thing we found. We found something else. A word the kept repeating..." he said shooing her the phone screen. "Zodiac? Come to think of it, Anna had a ring with Sagittarius on it" she said. "I don't think she was just a crazy horoscope nut with a magic bow. I think she was a member of something much bigger" he said. "An organization?" she asked. "I don't know. The word zodiac must be tied to it. Intelligence is busy looking into it. Find some downtime" he said. "Keith. Before you go..." she said.
"Yeah?" he asked. She motioned for him to lower his head. She kissed him. "Thanks for not giving up on me" she said. "Family doesn't give up on family. No matter how bad it gets. Get some sleep" he said. "Yessir" she said saluting him.
Meanwhile in Monaco...
She walked right up to the gate. A guard standing in front of it stopped her. "No visitors" he said. She looked at him for a moment. Her eyes gazed at a name badge on his uniform. "Gabriel Monet...adet" she said softly. A small book appeared in her hands. She opened it and began writing. "Miss I said no visitors! Where are your parents?!" he yelled. The quiet, glasses wearing young teen girl looked down at the book. "Gabriel Monet led the girl to the study killing anyone that got in their way" she said as she wrote it down in the book. The man's eyes glazed over as he turned around and began walking. "Gabe? What is that girl..." a man asked before he was shot. Another stopped them and was gunned down...then another. Gabriel took a round in the chest but kept walking killing another guard. When they got to the room, he opened the door. A guard was ready.
The girl took note of his badge. "Have you lost your mind?!" The man said pointing the gun at Gabriel. He raised his own gun only to be shot in the head. "WHO THE FUCK..."
"Francisco Garibaldi shrank to the size of a mouse before he could do anything about the girl" she muttered writing that down. The young man dwindled in size very rapidly. It took him a moment to crawl out of his clothes which didn't shrink with him. He looked at first giant wriggling toes in designer sandals. His eyes traveled up a pair of towering legs past an expensive dress and stopped at her face. With little emotion, she pushed her glasses up on the bridge of her nose as she stared down. His mind couldn't comprehend that a young girl had shrank him. She snatched him up after closing her book which promptly vanished into thin air. "There are cameras in here. Show me where I can see the video" she said. "Put me..." he said before she squeezed hard enough to crack ribs. "Down...the stairs...the left room" he choked out.
The girl calmly walked down the stairs ignoring the bodies on the floor. The shrunken man in her grip looked at them helplessly. She entered the security room, sat down, and pressed rewind on the office feed. He whimpered in pain as her grip tightened as she watched the feed, paused, and then rewound it. "This is the only copy?" she asked with little emotion. "Yes...please don't hurt me. In the basement is dozens of priceless artifacts. Her...study has a wall safe. Please...please undo what..." he said until she gave him a look that froze his soul. Her thumb moved underneath his chin. "Don't do this...." he whispered crying. She gave no concern to his pleas as her thumb abruptly flicked upwards breaking his neck and severing his brain stem. She shook his corpse a few times just to be sure. With little thought, she swallowed him whole. She sighed as she took out her phone and began dialing.
"Yes?" a voice asked. "It is as what we were told. Sagittarius is dead" the girl said. "And the killer?" the voice asked. "Someone that knows arcane. Extremely skilled. A woman that got away" the girl replied. "Mogwai?" the voice asked. "No. Not their style. The woman was Caucasian, most likely American in origin. I have reason to believe she's a borrower" the girl replied. "A borrower? Are you sure?" the voice asked. "She was their size when unconscious. There is another matter. She had access to Anna's computer" she replied. "...any witnesses?" the voice asked. "None alive. The last one is in my stomach" she replied. "...scorched Earth" the voice said before hanging up.
The girl walked out of the mansion and stood on the other side of the street. "Adet" she said making the book appear once more. She looked at her phone before opening the strange book. "At 12:14 am. A gas leak explosion destroyed the mansion of Anna Rosenthal" she said as she wrote. Once finished, she willed the book to disappear. One minute later at exactly 12:14 am., the mansion exploded. The girl began walking down the road as if nothing had happened.
Somewhere unknown...
"Well Ares?" a voice asked. "Libra concluded it was the work of a borrower. A borrower that knows hand to hand, arcane, and how to blend into human society" Ares replied. "Then that means one thing. We have a THORN in our side" the voice said. "With the Etherion child in the midst, we must be on guard!" another voice said. "Calm yourself Aquarius. You do well to learn from Sagittarius' mistakes about letting personal emotions and desires interfering with business. They will come to us. We will play the game by our rules and our game board. Such is the way ZODIAC has done things before the time of our grandfathers’ grandfathers" Ares said smiling as she looked at a google satellite map of the Durmont estate...