2004 Elektra

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she also knew she probably hadn t seen them all. The wise warrior would always save the best and most
deadly for the final kill. If nothing else, the trees planted precisely at each corner within the once-living
puzzle would shield them from the prying eyes of anything the tattooed man could send overhead.
Abby glanced behind them, then gasped and clutched at Elektra s elbow. The assassin followed Abby s
pointing finger, then grimaced as she saw movement on the surface of the bridge the lights, bursting
through the slats and cascading over the old wooden railings. Elektra urged the girl to move faster,
pulling at her, but now the lights seemed to be everywhere, exploding from the hedges like crazily
waving sparklers. They swirled around and between Elektra and Abby, trying to force them apart, but
Elektra wasn t going to let that happen. She sprinted toward the center of the maze, using her childhood
knowledge of the structure, knowing where each corridor, turn, and dead end was from the countless
weeks and months she d spent playing in it as a child. For a precious few seconds she thought they had
the upper hand, then she glanced back
and realized Abby was gone.
Abby ran as fast as she could, but when she glanced over her shoulder, all she could see was a sheet of
lights it looked like thousands of them coming right for her. She gasped and surged forward, saw a
break in the hedge and turned right, then turned again. Another turn and she made herself pause as it hit
her that she was not only running blindly, but she d gotten separated from Elektra. She wanted to go
back the way she d come but she couldn t there were the lights again, hurtling in her direction and
No!
They weren t lights at all, but pinpoints of& what? Eyes? Maybe, but that didn t matter, because the
lights were suddenly gone and in their place weresnakes, hundreds of them, rushing at her down the
pathway, churning out of the hedges surrounding her. She whirled and started to flee, but all she got for
her effort was a face-full of hedge she d turned into a dead end! She was trapped, and with no way to
escape, all Abby could do was flail wildly as the glittering scales of countless reptiles twined about her
body and ultimately held her prisoner.
Elektra dashed back the way they d come, hoping Abby had turned instinctively toward the house. As
she made her way back through the maze, expertly negotiating the turns and twists into the shortest path
possible, her heart hammered with fear for the teenager. Then she skidded around the last turn and
jerked herself up short as her face twisted in rage.
There, only a few feet away, was Tattoo, the cause of a good chunk of her and Abby s misery. His skin
was coated in a glowing, iridescent blue, and he was rising from a lotus position, holding his arms out in
front of him like he was urging a herd of invisible beasts forward. He probably was, and no doubt they
were descending upon Abby even as Elektra bared her teeth and stepped directly into his path.
The ink-covered killer was concentrating so deeply that he didn t even realize she d stepped in front of
him, and it could be only a bad thing that he was shaking and smiling despite his deep mind sink.
Nice trick, Elektra said with all the sweetness she could manage. Tattoo s trembling stopped abruptly,
and he opened one eye. The pupil rolled slightly as he tried to bring back only what he needed of his
thoughts. Unlike his previous decisions, this would turn out to be a bad one, indeed. But I ve seen it
before, Elektra added.
Before he could focus enough to move out of her range, Elektra stepped quickly into his opened arms
and slid her right arm around his neck until her hand was flat against his cheekbone. Bracing herself
against him, rib cage to rib cage, she snapped her left arm forward as hard as she could
Crack!
Abby thrashed within the grip of the snakes, fighting desperately for freedom. She twisted, then turned
in the other direction
and nearly fell flat on her face. Without warning, the reptiles holding her exploded outward, spewing
nasty black fluid toward the maze as they released their hold. In a matter of seconds Abby was
surrounded by small, dark puddles instead of the pulsing, twisting snakes. Finally,finally, she could
breathe. Finally she could run.
Time to find Elektra.
Elektra stepped back as Tattoo slumped to the ground with a broken neck. An instant later, the ink
patterns across his arms and chest bled messily out of his skin, sliding down his body like tears of oil.
Elektra gave a tight, grim smile. Abby should be safe&
At least for now.
20
TATTOO LAY DEAD AT HER FEET, BUTELEKTRAknew there was no time to celebrate. She headed
back into the maze toward Abby, but this time her steps were a little more hesitant shethought she
knew which way to go, but it wasn t a matter of just finding her way through it every decision had the
potential to be devastating. The wind picked up and brought with it the unpleasant recollection of
Kirigi s windstorm back at the house, and then something happened that took her anxiety level to a
whole new height.
A single leaf blew in front of her.
It fluttered on the cool breeze, turning and twisting like a perfect example of nature suspended for her
viewing. The only problem was that it wasdead, unnaturally so, black and withered with the ends
twisted in a way that could only mean one thing:
Typhoid Mary.
She s here, Elektra breathed, and then more leaves suddenly blew into her path, dark evidence of the
diseased woman s presence. She had to find Abby before it was too late.
She charged into the maze, taking turns and twists and letting her unconscious memory keep her from
getting lost. That instinctive memory wouldn t help her locate Abby, though the girl could be
anywhere, although the dying sounds from Tattoo s herd just a few moments ago made Elektra believe
the teenager had to be close. It was just a matter of finding the right pathway.
Abby heard Elektra s voice calling out, but the high, thick hedges surrounding her made it impossible to
tell where it was coming from. One minute she d spin expectantly, because she could swear the assassin
had to be right behind her; the next brought her nothing but deep, dark silence.
She heard a sound and took a turn around a corner, but there was no one there. Still, sheknew she d
heard something. Elektra? she asked tentatively. Her voice wasn t that loud because something wasn t
right she couldfeel it. Is that you? The leaves rustled again, and she looked up, then was horrified to
watch the sides of two hedges go black, the leaves shriveling and falling away as the heavy foliage died
right in front of her eyes. A moment later a shadowy figure stepped from between their twig-choked
skeletons.
Guess again.
And Abby looked into the white face of Typhoid Mary and saw death waiting in the woman s black,
black eyes& .
Elektra had almost made it to Abby when Kirigi stepped out of the shadows in front of her.
They stared at each other, and Elektra knew the time to run was over. He had destroyed her weapons
back at the mansion and now she was defenseless; finally she and Kirigi would meet their destiny, and
finish the ongoing war between them and a lot sooner than expected.
Or so he thought. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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