DANIEL HERON: BECOMING

12 - Someone should have taught you some manners while there was still time.

Apparently, Victor didn't realize it was the same person because he approached her the moment she walked in. "Good evening, pretty lady. You've come to the right place, I've been waiting for you," he said, engulfing her with his stare.

She cast him a sideways glance. "Aren't I a stupid bitch anymore?" she asked.

"What?" Victor's forehead furrowed as he looked at her.

"Isn't that the adjective you treated me with this morning?"

"What?" The lines on Victor's forehead deepened.

"Irrelevant. You know what they say: He who laughs last, laughs best," she said and encircled the group with her eyes.

Daniel took a step to the side to stand in the shade cast by one of the pillars. The rest of them were visibly perplexed. Apparently, they too sensed there might be something off about this woman, no matter how beautiful she was.

Slowly, she walked up to Lucio. "The rumor has it that you're bad," she said.

It wasn't Lucio that answered. Manuel gave her the response instead. "Yeah, we're bad. But we're very good at it." He laughed.

She turned her head towards him. "Then I came to the right place."

Is it possible that she's a cop? Daniel asked himself.

Manuel had no such thoughts. He opened his arms and practically bowed at her.

She slightly smiled and started to walk towards him, slowly. He did the same, closing the distance between them. They met halfway. The grin on his face widened.

Daniel watched as Manuel rose his hand towards her. He observed as his fingers touched a lock of her chestnut hair, but he didn't see the movement of her hand. It all happened too quickly.

In one moment, she stood still, and in the next the fingers of her hand were already wrapped around Manuel's neck, holding tightly, grasping his trachea. While he was desperately fighting for air, clutching her forearm in futile attempt to pull her hand away, her grip tightened. She was like a boa, slowly strangling its victim. Something cracked, and Manuel's body relaxed instantly.

With a flick of her arm, she cast him aside. He fell on the hard, concrete floor, not showing any signs of life. His head was thrown aback, eyes wide open, mouth agape, with a thin stream of blood oozing out.

As if someone pressed the pause button on the VCR, everyone stood still. They stared at the scene before them, not believing their own eyes.

Her eyes encircled them again, and when her gaze fell upon Daniel, he felt almost paralyzed.

Those eyes. Looking into them was like looking into the eye of the hurricane. Her irises seemed like a window to another dimension, a dimension where the lightning storm was raging.

Rafael was the first to move. A war cry escaped his mouth, as if he were a soldier who just got the order to attack. With both fists closed, he lunged at the woman who took Manuel's life. He lifted one hand, ready to punch, but he never got the chance to turn his plan to reality.

When he was just a short distance away from her, and when the raised fist already swung to hit her, she moved too quickly for any of them to even perceive. Rafael's swing hit nothing but air, while the woman appeared behind his back as if she were a mere illusion. She placed the palm of her right hand on Rafael's left cheek, paused for a moment, and then in one swift motion turned his hand to the right.

When she let him go, he fell to the floor like a raggedy doll.

She then turned to the remaining members of Lucio's infamous gang. She didn't say a word, her lips were sealed shut, but an unnatural amber glow shone in her eyes.