Jade
I was running down a New York street, carrying a gun. A woman about my age was running alongside me. We turned a corner and crossed the street to arrive at our destination, a three story brown brick building, surrounded by a low hedge. A white van was parked on the street, with its back doors hanging open. A man lay dead on the street, with a delicate wooden arrow sticking out of his chest.
"It's Jade. It's got to be. Who else actually uses a bow anymore?"
Several other officers appeared, and we stormed into the building together.
The place seemed to be some sort of museum or high-end furniture dealer. Room after room was full of huge oriental rugs, antique chairs and tables, cabinets, chests, and so on.
Running into the next room, I met a strange sight: at the far end of the room a tiny woman was standing, holding a large wooden bow. Her face was unusual and elflike, with tiny features, except for a large smiling mouth which seemed to protrude unnaturally out of the front of her head. She wore some kind of tiny antique Asian war helmet, with curved ivory horns emerging from the top.
After only a short pause, Jade rapidly whipped an arrow from her back, and with one fluid motion had sent it plunging through the man next to me, and then almost instantly disappeared into the doorway behind her. Two of her associates could be seen joining her and running at either side into the darkness of the long hallway.
Seeing that the man was already dead, I took off down the hallway as well.
Almost as soon as I'd entered the darkness, I felt a sharp sting in the side of my chest, and dropped to my knees, letting my pistol clatter to the floor. I could hear Jade running off. I pulled a long thin arrow, with a tiny barbless point, from my chest. Blood and some green substance (I assumed it had come from some punctured internal organ, gall bladder perhaps) coated the end of it. I continued to sit for a moment, and, when convinced that the wound was not serious, stood and resumed my pursuit.
I could hear a great deal of commotion in other parts of the building.
Running into a room containing a brilliant red rug and hundreds of Chinese vases, I saw Jade standing in the middle. I froze. She didn't move either. "I won't hurt you," I said.
"I know," she answered. "Because you love me, don't you?"
I walked up to her slowly, with my hands at my sides with palms upturned, to show that I was unarmed. Her tiny fingers grabbed the sides of my neck, and she kissed me. Her big mouth and odd teeth felt strange to me.
"We can't stay here," I said. "They'll kill you, and maybe me, too."
We ran off together, listening to the sounds of my team searching other parts of the building. "They're sure to have caught the others already," she said, slightly out of breath, and with a look of sadness.
After running through several rooms, we found a courtyard with a row of bushes along one side. We dived behind the bushes without a word and lay there silently, catching our breath, for several minutes.
"Sorry about that," she whispered, placing a tiny finger over the hole made by the arrow earlier. "I had to. You know."
I put my finger over her lips. We held each other quietly for what seemed like a long time.
"There's no way — I mean, we can't. . . ." she had started to say, when one of the policemen, a lanky guy with blond hair came spinning around the corner. He shouted something, and we both jumped. A shot rang out, and I threw my hands into the air as quickly as I could, shouting, "It's me! Don't shoot!"
The policeman nodded his head in recognition, and I slowly rose to my feet and stepped back. Turning around, I saw Jade on the ground, with her hand over a profusely bleeding wound in the center of her chest. Tears were running down her cheeks, but she wasn't making a sound. She wasn't moving at all.
"It's Jade. It's got to be. Who else actually uses a bow anymore?"
Several other officers appeared, and we stormed into the building together.
The place seemed to be some sort of museum or high-end furniture dealer. Room after room was full of huge oriental rugs, antique chairs and tables, cabinets, chests, and so on.
Running into the next room, I met a strange sight: at the far end of the room a tiny woman was standing, holding a large wooden bow. Her face was unusual and elflike, with tiny features, except for a large smiling mouth which seemed to protrude unnaturally out of the front of her head. She wore some kind of tiny antique Asian war helmet, with curved ivory horns emerging from the top.
After only a short pause, Jade rapidly whipped an arrow from her back, and with one fluid motion had sent it plunging through the man next to me, and then almost instantly disappeared into the doorway behind her. Two of her associates could be seen joining her and running at either side into the darkness of the long hallway.
Seeing that the man was already dead, I took off down the hallway as well.
Almost as soon as I'd entered the darkness, I felt a sharp sting in the side of my chest, and dropped to my knees, letting my pistol clatter to the floor. I could hear Jade running off. I pulled a long thin arrow, with a tiny barbless point, from my chest. Blood and some green substance (I assumed it had come from some punctured internal organ, gall bladder perhaps) coated the end of it. I continued to sit for a moment, and, when convinced that the wound was not serious, stood and resumed my pursuit.
I could hear a great deal of commotion in other parts of the building.
Running into a room containing a brilliant red rug and hundreds of Chinese vases, I saw Jade standing in the middle. I froze. She didn't move either. "I won't hurt you," I said.
"I know," she answered. "Because you love me, don't you?"
I walked up to her slowly, with my hands at my sides with palms upturned, to show that I was unarmed. Her tiny fingers grabbed the sides of my neck, and she kissed me. Her big mouth and odd teeth felt strange to me.
"We can't stay here," I said. "They'll kill you, and maybe me, too."
We ran off together, listening to the sounds of my team searching other parts of the building. "They're sure to have caught the others already," she said, slightly out of breath, and with a look of sadness.
After running through several rooms, we found a courtyard with a row of bushes along one side. We dived behind the bushes without a word and lay there silently, catching our breath, for several minutes.
"Sorry about that," she whispered, placing a tiny finger over the hole made by the arrow earlier. "I had to. You know."
I put my finger over her lips. We held each other quietly for what seemed like a long time.
"There's no way — I mean, we can't. . . ." she had started to say, when one of the policemen, a lanky guy with blond hair came spinning around the corner. He shouted something, and we both jumped. A shot rang out, and I threw my hands into the air as quickly as I could, shouting, "It's me! Don't shoot!"
The policeman nodded his head in recognition, and I slowly rose to my feet and stepped back. Turning around, I saw Jade on the ground, with her hand over a profusely bleeding wound in the center of her chest. Tears were running down her cheeks, but she wasn't making a sound. She wasn't moving at all.