Hunting Season Pt. 02 Big Game Ch. 01

"Aaaaahhhhh" a scream of pain erupted from one of the operators and she pulled back instinctively, blood flowing freely from a deep bite mark on her wrist. I lunged into the gap she had left and pressed my hand against a white makeup and blood smeared face and dove into her mind.

It was a carnival, but a hundred times louder and brighter with lights flashing and voices shouting intelligible garble. Clanging bells and wailing sirens filled my mind and I struggled to focus on anything as faceless people raced around me. Shit, I wasn't going to be able to do anything with this I thought as I looked around frantically for something to attack.

I pulled back, I needed to focus in order to pierce her chaos. I took a breath and prepared to dive in again when I heard an excited voice.

"Finally, someone to play with." Killer Clown squealed like a girl in a playground. I looked over and my eyes locked on the bright feral gaze of the woman beneath me. With a grunt she tugged her arm free from one of the woman holding her and delivered a crushing blow to the face of the other, staggering her back. She then spun on her back and double kicked the first woman hard in the chest, launching her across the room with a whoosh of air.

She used the kick to launch herself back onto her feet and turned to face me. I was still kneeling on the floor, one hand slippery with blood and the other with smeared makeup as I struggled to scramble away. "Now sugar, wanna' play hide and seek? I hide this knife and you try to figure out where I stuck it."

I looked up in terror as a small gleaming blade appeared in her hand, then with lightning speed she drove it down into my back. "If you guessed spine, you win."

"Ben!" I heard a scream as the breath whooshed out of my lungs and I was driven to the floor by the force of the blow.

A blaze of black energy crackled around me as Killer Clown was slammed against the wall. Grace flew into view, driving her forearm against the back of the orange and purple head as she screamed in rage. The dark energy talons sprang from her fingers and the psychotic clown barely avoided being cut in two as she buried them into the wall beside her. Another burst of energy exploded and the wall burst out into the next room. Surprised, Grace lost her balance and both women fell to the floor among the wood and plaster. I scrambled up, grabbed one of Killer Clown's hands and locked her down.

It is my only weapon, and it usually only works when the victim is surprised but out of pure desperation I managed to improvise. I dove past the chaotic carnival that was her conscious mind and into her sub-conscious. I found her fight or flight instinct, which was surprisingly calm given the situation and dialed it up to maximum. Her mind exploded in fear and rage, but she couldn't decide which one to act on. I also grabbed hold of her nervous system and turned it up to eleven, sending her into the equivalent of an epileptic seizure. She couldn't think, she couldn't move, I had her.

"I can't keep this up for long, what's plan B?" I gasped through gritted teeth.

Another of the operators ran up and grabbed her flailing wrists, wrapping a zip tie tightly around them. Other ties went around her elbows, ankles, knees anywhere they could fit. Finally, a collar was strapped around her neck and I saw a black box with blinking red light. A push of a button and the light went to blinking green, then steady. I recognized the collar that I had used to catch Xin, a sophisticated drug injector that constantly adjusted the dose in response to sensors tied to the nervous system. Killer Clown relaxed and was out for the count.

I broke my link and collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath. Strong arms grabbed me, pulling me up as a frantic voice called my name. "Ben, Ben, are you alright? Ben, please Ben talk to me." Grace shouted as her hands fumbled awkwardly with the knife sticking out of my back.

"I'm alright, I'm fine." I gasped as I struggled to sit up. I reached over my shoulder, fumbling for the handle of the weapon lodged between my shoulder blades. I got my fingers on it and pulled it free with a grunt. "I guess this non high-tech battle armour is good enough after all."

She looked at me through tear filled eyes, her mouth agape with shock as she fought to comprehend what had happened. For a moment I saw the old Grace in there, then she shook her head and her face hardened. "I leave for 10 seconds and you manage to get yourself stabbed. How the fuck am I supposed to keep you alive if you can't even, even..."

I pushed myself to my feet, absently wiping my bloody hand on my chest. "I'm glad you were here Grace. Thank you."

She stared at me for a moment then snapped her mouth closed. "Lets get out of here before the real cops show up." She growled and turned away with a huff.

"You could have told me about the collar." I said to her back.

"It was Xin's idea, for some reason she didn't want you dead. I didn't tell you because I didn't want to give you another excuse to back out. We could have never gotten it on her if you didn't put her down first." She said in a husky voice without turning around. "Lets get back to the compound and put this psycho on ice, then you can be finally be useful."

Yeah, she totally has a thing for me I thought to myself.