Hollow

Chapter Twenty Nine - The Devil's Hour

"Waste of a journey I'd say." I comment and she laughs in her hideous manner, the sound strangled by her lack of emotion and her attempt to force it.

"I would disagree, see these boys, although young are quite unique, their maternal twins, when the curse set in it didn't break their bond as usual. It strengthened it, their stronger, more in-tuned...matchless." I can imagine her stroking their heads like they were pets, obeying her every command.

"Well then I am sure the Origene would be most pleased to meet them."

"The Origene will never meet them" She barks. "He would destroy them before they even have a chance. They would just become two more pawns for his army, two nothings he would not even notice. Here they can flourish. They can grow and learn under my guidance."

"You know the Origene is planning something, something you will not be able to stop or prevent. So why are you trying?"

She stares at me now, her eyes glaring with her stolen soul.

"The Origene has no power anymore, haven't you heard?" she replies but her words hold no truth or conviction to them. She was afraid, afraid that the life she had now would change, afraid that she would no longer have the power she possessed. She would not have the control over the streets she roamed so freely. It was the downside to stealing souls. They remained in you for days, making you feel human once more. Along with happiness and joy came fear and sadness and it was fear that trumped any other feelings coursing through Isolde right now.

"You will not win here." I tell her clearly and it only entices her more.

Winning was all she knew, even before her change Isolde was the kind of human who would get what they wanted, always. She had grown up in Columbia, her family was poor and she had learned from an early age that if you wanted something you needed to take it, to steal it.

As the years passed she soon realised stealing the basic necessities weren't enough, she wanted more, needed more. I found her at twenty two, she was a born leader and even at that young age she had a group of followers at her command, a gang she controlled.

"Lucas, I want you to go around back and stop anyone from getting out, vamanos!" She tells the young boy of seventeen, he had been at her side since he was twelve, hanging on her every word.

He nods, pulling down his ski mask and taking his shot gun in hand he scrambles through the alley way and behind the small bank.

I watch as she continues to organize the others, all of them young and foolish, faces sweaty and covered in dust and dirt carrying large guns and wearing masks and kerchiefs over their faces.

"Manny, I want you to stay out front while Alex and I go to the safe. Michael will be our eyes, if you see anything every one runs. Split up until it is safe, understand?" she asks and they nod.

She touches her forehead chest then both shoulders, praying to her choice of god for help and pulled the kerchief she had around her neck over her mouth. A strange request considering the immoral crime she was about to commit.

I was merely a supervisor, watching Isolde, knowing her time was coming soon.

With a quick movement they stood from their crouched position behind a dumpster in the alley way filled with old newspapers and trash. The move quickly, storming the small bank. I hear the familiar first warning shot fire and a terrible shrill cry as the women dropped to their knees and the attendants placed their hands behind their heads.

The shouting began then.

Isolde's voice commanded someone take her to the safe in her Spanish tongue, then something went amiss, there was a second shot, but it came from outside, from the rear.