*Outside the Octagon House
There was only a sliver of a moon in the sky, the occasional hooting of an owl and chirping crickets were the only sounds that could be heard at the estate. The black car pulled up to the iron gates. He looked at the gates and realized why he had such a hard time finding her. The man could see the residual magic, the blue light was broken and faded. He crossed the threshold and a wicked smile crossed his face.
Now that he crossed over the threshold it seemed silly that he had forgotten this place. He had been here a handful of times. A lifetime ago! No, maybe two he thought. He could feel his appetite increasing and the thought of how close he was to his goal was rather pleasing. He took a moment to savor the moment and he got back in the car. He told the driver to cut the lights and drive slowly. It was a snails pace, but it was necessary. He couldn't have the lights or the approaching cars scatter his precious jewel. Most likely she was sleeping, it was after all the wee hours of the morning.
He would NOT let her slip through his fingers again. The thought of it enraged his core and he found himself famished and very angry.
Before the house came into view he had the driver stop. He was too impatient to wait for the driver to open his door and he stepped out.
"Sorry sir." The driver begged, desperately hoping he could see tomorrow.
"Shh." The man hissed. He needed to think. It was all in front of him and he couldn't act too hastily not now, not when he was this close. He sent a text and than a call. "How fast can you get troops to the address I sent."
"How many do you want boss?"
"As many as I can have within an hour, preferably 1/2 hour even better 15 minutes."
"I can get two snipers, and 40 paramilitary in 1.5 hours. And in a half hour or less I can do 1 sniper and 10 paramilitary."
The man thought for a moment. "Less than a half hour for the 1 sniper and 10 men. I will quadruple their pay. Also this is an extract mission, I need the girl. Wounded is fine absolutely no death."
"Yes sir."
"And I want them to come quietly. We have the upper hand and I DO NOT want to lose that. Understand?"
"Yes sir."
There was the beep of the phone and then it clicked off. The man checked the clock on his phone, the count down had started. The man licked his lips and cracked his knuckles. He was so close he could taste it. He could smell them. There were four people in that house and Emmeline was one of them. His body was humming with excitement and hunger. The man could barely contain himself, he just wanted her already.
At exactly 15 minutes and 30 seconds the reinforcements had arrived. Good he thought. He made sure to brief them on the mission. He knew they most likely had been briefed, but he wasn't going to let this opportunity slip through he would tolerate no mistakes or it would literally be their necks. A wicked smile was plastered on his face as he turned around seeing them huddle around for their briefing.
"In that house there is a young woman, Emmeline, she has auburn hair and green eyes. That is who I am after. I want you to extract her and her death or escape is an immediate failure." The man paused to let it sink in. "There also may be a young man in the house capture him as well, he you may wound, preferably not kill. There are two others in the house, you may capture, wound, or kill, I don't really give a damn. But I will remind you, I want Emmeline alive and relatively unharmed. If you are confused about your mission please let me know."
No man stepped forward, to ask a question would mean you would be dismissed which was code for killed. Besides, the mission was relatively straight forward, grab the girl. Everyone else is collateral damage.
"All right. You have 1 minute thirty seconds to prepare for the mission, set your watches. Countdown starts now."
The men quickly and quietly prepared their weapons and tools they placed themselves strategically around the house. When the time went off the men executed their plans. They threw in flash grenades and smoke bombs to further stun the already confused members of the household. The men banged down the doors and two entered from the windows.
The sniper was position in a tree not too far away where he had excellent view of the house. The inhabitants were not going anywhere.
***
*Inside the Octagon House
Their newly human ears were ringing and they were struggling to breathe. Men attacked them from all sides. Gregory put his shirt over his nose and mouth and suggested the others do the same. Ania fell to the floor, the sudden noise startling her. And the only advantage the once ghost household was that they knew the house backwards and forwards and every which way in between. But the surprise left them all in chaos.