Shadow Corporation chp 2, Ebony

Ebony
England 1997.
Ebony is curled up in bed her tiny body trembling; she is unable to shut out the sounds of the nightly quake as it erupts. She hears her mother’s usually calm voice begin to quiver in panic as the rage in Adam’s, her step father’s voice reaches boiling point. She cuddles closer into her favorite toy, a faded black and red tiger that smells of dirt from the garden. Counting sheep calms her for awhile until the sheep manifest into homicidal clowns swinging machetes and bearing Adam’s face. Her favorite daydream of being a princess in a splendid castle consoles her for a short time but the castle transpires into a dungeon from which there is no escape. Terrified she closes her eyes and faces the gruesome clowns once more, her fear slowly turning to anger. Finally she faces one individual clown looks through its green eyes and into the blackness of its heart, willing it to stop. Slowly pulling the unicorn covered blanket off her and holding her tiger close, Ebony steps out of bed and follows the shrill sound of her mother’s now snide voice into the lounge room.
“Oh, are we not feeling well, Adam dear,” Tabitha slurs, as her daughter enters the lounge room and Adam clutches his chest and sinks to his knees on the floor.
“Would you please, please, stop hurting my mother” Ebony says, in a firm voice that does not sound like it is coming from a 7yr old child.
Adam falls sideways into the fetal position, his face turning blue as Tabitha stumbles to his side finally grasping the seriousness of the situation. “STOP, YOU MONSTROUS CHILD” Tabitha screams, glaring at Ebony as if she is a demon sent straight from hell.
The clown’s heart in Ebony’s mind lies still; she envisions the blood running back through the arteries and flooding the lungs. Another minute and the brain would be starved of oxygen; the body would die soon after. She looks at her mother’s now desperate face as she crouches over her husband and softening she releases her will and allows the heart to beat once more.
The rest of the night is quite. Ebony finally falls asleep at around midnight and wakes early the next morning to brilliant sunshine streaming through her bedroom window. As she makes her bed and takes her glass through to the kitchen she smiles to herself thinking of the hangover her mother and Adam would have, and knowing that after last night everything would change. She pours herself some coco pops and settles down in front of the small TV in the lounge room to watch her favorite Saturday morning cartoon, Winnie the Pooh. Adam and Tabitha come into the lounge room at around eight am and ask her very politely to pack some clothes. Tabitha mumbles something about them all getting out to the country for a few days to get some fresh air. So Ebony packs her jeans, a couple of lighter tops and a jacket hoping that the warm sunshine will continue. Half an hour later she tucks her tiger under her arm as her mother hurries her into the car. Adam drives their battered V.W. out of London, swearing and cursing at the city traffic. This was not unusual and for the hundredth time Ebony tried to figure out who was sillier, the dangerous drivers, tailgating and cutting through three lanes of traffic without indicators or Adam for expecting this behavior to change and drastically raising his heart rate each time he drove through the city. Ebony could not be sure of the answer, but she did know Adams heart would give way soon, no magic necessary. Typically, her parents are speaking to each other only in whispered tones excluding Ebony, so she concentrates on the scenery rushing past and tries to guess where they are going. They head left along the freeway and continue for forty minutes past St Alburns, then turn left at an exit declaring Redding 80 m; Oxford 10m. Soon after they turn off the freeway and down a well used dirt road. They bounce around for five minutes or so on the dirt, then turn a sharp right into the cover of some ancient fir trees and the road becomes tarmac again.
An hour and fifteen minutes after leaving London they pull up in front of an enormous iron gate with two formidable looking marble lions standing guard on either side. Ebony puts her head out of the open window straining to get a better look at the lions that remind her of Aslan, her favorite character in, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, that her mother had grudgingly read to her the summer before. Her mouth opens in amazement as she looks past the fence to the house, a huge medieval looking construction of solid stone and marble. Circling the house is a fifteen foot high iron fence with spikes at the top of each post. The doorway to the house has two thick stone columns on either side of it, the left with a large J engraved deeply into it and the right a . Ebony shudders in awe as Adam reaches over to the intercom and declares, “Adam and Tabitha Hargrave to see Guile Jackson, he’s expecting us”.
The huge iron gates swing open with an eerie silence, allowing Adam to continue down the long driveway and park in front of the Column with the J on it. As they get halfway to the door Ebony notices two large Dobermans, razorblades with fur, she thinks, laying either side of the door seemingly as frozen as the lions at the entrance. Ebony follows suit and freezes, then quietly warning her mother and Adam of the danger starts backing up once more towards the safety of the car. Before they reach the car the front door opens and a tall blonde man of around thirty, with chiseled facial features and enormous arms ushers them through. Ebony has never seen him before but she knows instantly that he will be important in her life and smiles in greeting. The inside of the house is even more impressive then the outside, Ebony realizes, as Guile leads them down a large old fashioned marble corridor on into a contrasting modern sitting room with thick black shag pile carpet and a huge flat screen TV mounted on the back wall.
“Well, are you going to offer an old friend a drink Guile?” Tabitha askes, in a slightly nervous tone.
“Sure, Tea or Coffee, I’m positive you and the family will have a long drive home in the not to distant future and you would not want to drink and drive with my daughter in the car” Guile quips, as he pours himself a glass of Cointreau on ice from the bar.
“Um, black coffee for both of us “Tabitha answers, a note of irritation entering her voice as she sits down on the large black leather couch and motions for Adam to join her.
Ebony is standing just inside the door looking around the room, it feels like home. She pictures another colour other than black on the back wall, maybe maroon or deep purple. An ancient Aztec mask mounted on the far wall feels angry to her, it wanted her and everyone in the room to suffer, it has to go.
“Oh sure, Ebony can go outside and play with Rashki and Rahki, for goodness sake Tabitha, of course I haven’t got anywhere for a child to play”, Guile snarls, pulling Ebony out of her thoughts of decorating.
“Guile, it’s just for a moment I need to talk to you privately” Tabitha says, in an almost pleading voice that Ebony had never heard from her mother before.
“I’ll just wait outside the door Guile, promise not to break anything or disturb the razorblades, sorry dogs”, Ebony says dreamily, as she steps back out of the room closing the door behind her. The marble hallway is cold and silent but Ebony feels an unfamiliar sense of security as she sits down cross legged on the ground and begins plaiting her long dark hair.
That afternoon Ebony says goodbye to her mother and Adam, she does not even watch them go as they head back down the driveway and out of Ebony’s life. Guile speaks with her quickly as he would to a new employee. She is to put her things in the top bedroom, and keep it clean; she will start school the next day; she will not use magic, ever. His chief Lisa, would look after her today get her settled in and he would see her in the morning.
Lisa fussed over Ebony all afternoon, showing her around the enormous house and gardens, planning shopping trips to London and Oxford for the new clothes Ebony would need. That afternoon, after dinner and Eastenders, Lisa gives Ebony a warm hug, the first she can remember in her short life, and tucks her into bed asking her to stay in her room until morning.
After dark the huge house comes alive, Ebony can sense excitement and tension in the air although she can hear nothing from her top bedroom. Looking out of the stained glass window she can see Porsche’s, Rolls Royce’s, and Bentleys filling the driveway. Lisa had asked her to stay in her bedroom but Ebony is curious and the bedroom door unlocked, so she walks out and down the stairs, following the sounds of a crowd. Outside, Ebony heads past the huge oval shaped pool and sees people going down into what appears to be a basement. The entrance is blocked by two burly looking security guards, taking blue invitation cards of people as they walk through. Remembering Guiles warning not to use magic, Ebony waits until two rather large guests walk through and sneaks in between them.
The basement turns out to be huge, almost as long as the house and fifteen or twenty foot high. Ebony sticks to the back of the room avoiding the crowd and finds herself a spot between some speakers where she can see what is going on. Close to a hundred well dressed men and woman are standing around the huge basement, talking and laughing with each other. There are no chairs only a bar along each wall and a boxing ring in the centre of the room. Suddenly the speakers and spotlights came alive, drawing all attention to the centre of the ring where a slight man with long blonde hair wearing a black Armani suit announces. “Welcome ladies and gentleman, please top up your glasses and prepare for the first fight of the evening. I’m your host, Sebastian. In the red corner a man who needs no introduction, the reigning international champion, Guile Jackson, and in the blue corner, the challenger, from Shang Hi, China, Bolo Yong”. Ebony blocks her ears as the crowd cheers and shouts in anticipation.
Next minute the crowd falls silent and stands spellbound as the fighters begin circling each other, allowing Ebony to climb unnoticed to the top of the large Gibson Amplifier for a better view. Guile’s opponent is huge; he looks to Ebony like a sumo wrestler only without the fat. His head is almost completely shaven except for a long black rats tail that hangs in a plait down the centre of his back to his waist; he has coal black eyes and a scar on his chest just above his left breast. The crowd starts cheering again as the fighters move in on each other, then quickly out. Guile’s opponent is now back treading holding his right arm in close to his ribs. The movements had been so quick Ebony did not think it possible but she knew the right wrist was broken, the fight virtually over before it began. Guile steps back now, smiling, daring his opponent to attack again. He does moving forward with a fast snap kick with the left leg. Guile catches the uplifted leg with a kick of his own throwing the heaver man of balance and falling towards him, then, using the forward momentum he slams the broken right wrist back onto itself with a palm strike. For the next ten minutes Guile continues inflicting more damage on the right wrist. Not going for the knock out just playing with his opponent as a cat does with a mouse. Eventually he tires of the game. Knocking his opponent to the ground, he steps back slaps the left wrist hard with his right hand, the undeniable warning being, that his next move would be to break the left wrist, and says “Stay down” in a voice that carries clearly through the entire basement.
Only once his opponent has crawled out of the ring does Guiles attention turn to the crowd. He bows Kung Fu style, left fist over right, to the audience four times, north, east, south and west, then stops, looks directly at Ebony and winks. Ebony nods in response and watches as Guile leaves the ring and heads directly for the speaker she is sitting on, the crowd parting quickly to let him through.
“Was it necessary to hurt the wrist quite so much?” Ebony questions as she slides off the speakers into Guiles outstretched arms.
“Yep” Guile replies, as he carries her to the back of the basement and through a door Ebony had not noticed. Inside is a small private bar, seating and tables for around twenty people. The door closes softly behind them and the sound of the crowd outside is instantly silenced. Guile places Ebony on the floor and takes her hand, leading her towards an empty seat closest to the large open fireplace at the back of the room.
“You must be Ebony, please take a seat” The host, Sebastian says, standing up and indicating Ebony should take his seat. “Good fight Guile, My arm feels better already” He adds, with a wink.
“Ebony feels I did not have to damage the wrist quite so much, ironic really my daughter turns out to be a pacifist” Guile says, light heartedly as he takes a drink offered to him by a uniformed waiter and sits down.
“I asked if it was necessary that’s all, he hardly seemed a challenge, you have barely even raised a sweat” Ebony replies, in a soft but even tone.
“Bolo broke my arm in four places two months ago, revenge is sweet” Sebastian answers, perfect white teeth flashing in the dim light of the bar.
“Has the arm healed?” Ebony asks, suddenly sickened at the thought of this man with the gentle sea green eyes and delicate appearance being beaten by Guile’s monstrous opponent.
“Don’t worry Ebony, Our friend Sly seduced Bolo’s wife and showed him the video highlights just before the fight. Although sweet looking he is hardly innocent and he did eventually win the fight.” Guile laughs, mocking Ebony as if he could read her thoughts.
“Um, I’m getting tired could I please go to bed now?” Ebony asks politely, uncomfortable with the direction the conversation is taking and a little confused as to how Sebastian, or evidently Sly, could possibly win a fight against a man such as Bolo Yong.
“To much? I’m sorry Ebony, I’ll take you to your room in a minute just let me finish my drink” Guile says, the mocking tone gone from his voice.

England 2005

Ebony stops in mid stride, memories of her first day with Guile fading and reality returning abruptly, “Guile, let me have a look at the phone you got out of the thugs jacket, lets figure out who’s brave enough to actually try and have you killed”.
“My monies on, lets see, everyone who lost money on me the other night” Guile laughs, handing over the phone.
Ebony takes the mobile and goes to call register, “Second last call was to Khan’s number, see his names even written down for us so we don’t have to trace the number” Ebony says, showing guile the screen and starting to walk along the path towards home.
“You look worried Ebony” Guile says, looking decidedly unworried.
“Why would Khan have you killed? He already won a fight against you” Ebony says, feeling more anxious by the minute. “Looking at these phone records, Khan and our thug have been in contact a couple of times over the past week so Khan is probably behind this”.
“Okay, I will go pay Khan a visit, don’t worry Eb, it will be fine” Guile says, placing his arm protectively around his daughter.
“You need to back off dad, did loosing the fight the other night not clue you to something. We are dealing with magic here and the power is not Khan’s. Stay low for awhile let me find out who’s behind this” Ebony says firmly.
“You are not to use magic, I know you are worried baby but I will handle this” Guile says, his tone leaving no room for discussion.
They kill time talking about school and other subjects until they reached the house. Ebony goes directly to her bedroom unable to shake the feeling that everything in her life was once again about to change. Only this time she did not want them to, she loved her life with Guile, their family, Sebastian, Zoar, Axel, Harley, Storm, they were all threatened she knew this beyond doubt. She had seen Tabitha and Adam only once since that day and that had been at Adams funeral. He had died of a heart attack four years ago. Naturally, Tabitha thought Ebony was to blame but she had attended the funeral anyway, reassuring herself she did not miss or need her mother. Ebony had had no reason to resist losing her previous family, this time was different, this time Ebony would fight. She walks out of her bedroom, downstairs to Sebastian’s room, knocks and enters