Nemesis (Draft)

9 weeks later.

The sun had disappeared when Elise awoke. Scarlet rivulets of cloud hung high above, the glow of the heavens bright as if the sky had been set ablaze. It was the vibration of her mobile phone, which laid nestled, next to her service weapon, under a dimmed bubble of clarity emanating from the night lamp, in her darkened room, that had wakened her. She reached for the phone as she got out of bed. The body next to her shifted to a more comfortable position. 

 "Hello?" "Elisa. What would you say if I told you you're back on the clock?" Elise recognized the voice on the other end of the line. It was her partner. Damnit! She thought. 

 "I'd say screw you, Deco. It's my day off; I'm going back to sleep." "Well, you may want to re-think that, partner. That ghost of yours may have struck again," Deco said teasingly. 

 Elise sprang to her feet immediately, upon hearing those words, and seemed to rush to the window. A white sedan sat protruding from the settling darkness like a ghostly projection in a haunted house. 

 "And sure enough, a witness is on record seeing a…well; you know how the s**t goes by now." Deco seemed to have lost her train of thought. Or maybe she baited her partner into stating the obvious. 

 "…As seeing a red-haired leaving the scene, I know." Elise finished her partner's sentence. By now she'd made her way out of the bedroom and down the hallway. 

 "You got that right," Deco replied, "By the way, Elise, you may want to re-think that day-off of yours. Don't you think?" "Well, I guess I don't have a choice, now do I?" she replied as she descended the foyer stairwell. 

"Besides, when have I ever turned down a chance to chase ghosts in the winter?" she stopped now realizing how quiet it was, so much so that she thought she heard her voice echo as she hit the landing. 

 "Hey, Deco, do you want to come in?" Elise asked as she walked towards to front door. "Nah, I'm good. I'll be waiting. Make it snappy though." 

 "Give it fifteen minutes," Elise replied. 

 When Elise stepped through her bedroom door once more, the room was well lit. The one that had been lying next to her was sitting upright, well awake. 

 "So how good of a shot do you think I am with this persuader?" The awakened sleeper asked, taking aim at Elise with her Millennium G2 she'd placed on the night stand. Elise slid her hand swiftly, in an upward motion, and reached for the revolver she'd tucked in the seams of her pajama against her back. This was a habit she'd developed over the years. Without averting her eyes from the woman sitting on her bed, she drank the shot of whiskey she'd poured into a coffee mug. Her strong hand gripping the gun beneath her robe. If I have to kill you... at least make it easy for me. She thought. 

 "You know, you shouldn't point a gun at someone if you don't intend to shoot," Elise said. "I'm sure you've heard that one before." Her voice was calm but cold, detached, and carried a menacing aura that her guest didn't seem to notice. Elise grinned. 

"Well, it's a good thing I intend to," the woman said as she slid off the bed and moved towards Elise. "Sex pistol's out, and it's aiming straight for you," she said, still taking aim. Elise slowly released the safety on the revolver tucked under her night garments. At this point, she hadn't thought much of the situation other than that the woman taking aim at her was quite at ease holding a gun. What kind of game are you playing here? 

 "So, how 'bout it, Elise?" the woman said as she finally got to her feet, smiling. Then she released the safety and tucked the weapon in her underwear at the precise location of her womanhood. "I'd have to admit that I'm impressed," she said, moving towards Elise as she removed her shirt, revealing the bare, full swells on her chest, their pebbles fully erected. 

 "Very calm with a gun pointed at you," she said. 

 The bright lights caught the woman's figure at an angle. At that moment Elise noticed how beautiful she was. A slender figure floating on long legs. Perfect contours separating her hips from her midriff, and full lips, poised, constantly, for a smile above a pair of peeking dimples on a finely structured face containing eyes that seemed to carry all the secrets in the world. She, the woman, grabbed the gun she'd placed into her underwear and with it slowly lowered her lingerie. Then she slid her finger into the crease between her thighs and slid the fluid laced finger up her stomach and between her lips. She winked at Elise and stepped slowly, backward towards the bed. Elise slowly released the grip she had on her concealed weapon, feeling the effects of the shot she'd taken on an empty stomach. She stepped forward from the spot she had stood up until now, starring at the woman who now laid across the bed sucking on her finger between full red lips. Elise breathes a sigh of relief. Perhaps on another day, she would've caught the fact that this was an attempt at foreplay. "So, have I persuaded you yet, Elise?" the woman asked. Propping up on her right elbow and shifting on her side, revealing a delicately inked serpent slithering it's way up her side and onto her back. Elise caught sight of it. "How about something a bit practical before you go chasing ghosts?" *