To Freeze Fire Ch 08

With each step she took, the feeling inside her grew.

A sense that deep down, this action would be conceived as a betrayal in the eyes of the man she was falling for. Despite the knowledge they hadn't known each other for that great length of time, it surprised her how she could almost guess what he would think.

Without a doubt, the first assumption would go to her having been taken, abducted. She would be that she had been taken. But by going with them willingly, without so much as a cry for help, would he think even worse of her? And for that matter, would he discover the truth?

Part of her knew he would look past the reasons she was doing this. Only hoped he would be able to cut his losses, and let it go. Her act was not brought on by a sense of needing to betray him, or revenge. It was probably one of the most selfless things she had ever done. To spare his life, in exchange for hers.

She kept walking down the dirt road, fighting off the dizziness that seemed to grow tauntingly with each step she took. To keep herself moving, she felt no other choice but to distract her mind, pulling for motivation. It caused her to think of what she was giving up. What was being taken from her. Never looking into those blue eyes and that angelic face again hurt almost too much to think about.

For a moment, weak tears pooled at the corner of her eyes, and she quickly brought her attention to her actions, as she was brought face to face with a door, and told to get into a black car with illegally tinted windows.

With a deep breath, she got in, be nudged over to sit in the middle back seat of the SUV, where one guard and their leader took a seat on either side of her.

"I don't believe we have ever officially be introduced," the frail looking leader voiced as the car started to move.

In any other case, she would have looked out the window to avoid meeting his gaze. As the guard on that side was hunched forward, a hand on a knife at his belt. Staring at the cup holders between the two seats, she replied grimly, "I hardly see the point now. Do you take the time with all of your hostages for proper introductions?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught him smiling, "Just the ones who rose to the occasion and presented me with a challenge. The name is Jareth."

In her mind, she had thought knowing his name truly was of moot point know that he had her as his captive. But now, she knew she had been wrong. It caused her to remember her first encounter, when she had been more naïve. Back when she didn't know that there were such things as ice mages, fire starters, vampires, and half breeds.

Only been three months being away from home, and she had set up a life for herself in a small town in Illinois, having hitchhiked a very dangerous way to get there. Out of cash, her stomach growled from hungry upon her arrival. All the things her mother had taught her as a child, seemed to assume guilt in a way she couldn't deem possible. It wouldn't let her steal, and since she couldn't pay, she would have to find a way to make money.

In the middle of this small town, she ran across a diner. It was more of a primal act of needed food that brought her to enter, but now inside, she approached the bar, and hoped her situation would grant her some symphony from the waitress, "Hi, I'm really sorry to bother you. My name is Mia, and I've come a long way without any food or water. Is there any chance I can wash dishes, or help out around her to earn some soup, or anything you have to eat?"

The waitress with the name tag Anne looked at her as she had hoped, nodding, "I like to see someone willing to work for their food rather than ask for a handout," she said in a gentle tone, "If you want to sweep around the shop, and pick up the trash along the outside, when you're done, take a seat and I'll bring you a little something. " the waitress pointed to a little cleaning cupboard to the left of them, "Broom and dustpan are inside there."

Extremely grateful, Mia nodded quickly, "Thank you so much."

Did kept her part of the bargain, making sure that both the floor and the park lot was spotless, and before she had the chance to choose a seat, the waitress who had given her a chance, was signaling her over, with a full entrée of burger and fries.

"Is that mine?" she asked in a meek voice. She was less than hopeful to get at minimum, a simple bowl of soup, and some water. But this, was so much more.

The waitress nodded, in a bewildered tone, "Well, yeah Hun, that was the agreement. Besides, maybe Sal's burger will put some meat on your bones, you look like your about to blow away."

For a moment as the kind women who appeared to be in her late forties, perhaps early fifties, walked on to attend to another customer, she stared at the food. Then, without hesitation, dove right in.

Her first bite into the burger almost made her groan. It was amazing how not eating for just over 24 hours could heighten not only your sense of smell, but taste. In less than five minutes, the burger was gone, and she was starting in on her fries.

"Whoa, Hun. Slow down," the waitress chided as she came over to fill up her glass full of ice tea, "That's a good way to make it come back up if you're not careful."

Looking up with a red tinge staining her cheeks, her eyes immediately went to behind the Anne.

"Are you guys' hiring?" Mia asked pointing to a sign behind her, which read, "Help wanted."

"We are looking for someone to hire on part time." Anne told her, "I can get you an application if you like. It's just a formality, really. I own this business with my husband, and I could pretty much guarantee you'll have the job. We've had the sign up for going on three weeks, and no one else has inquired. Small town, ya know."

"Oh well, um..." an application would require things that she couldn't afford to put on paper. She had went too far by telling the waitress her real name. A social number would lead her father right to her. "I would love a job. And I appreciate what you've done to help me out. But I can't formally be on the payroll."

"You in some kind of trouble?" she asked, her eyebrows coming together.

Mia shook her head, "No, nothing like that. It's just..." she thought of the first excuse that came to mind, "I just got out of a really bad relationship, and my ex has kind of been stalking me. As crazy as it sounds, he has ways of tracking me down through my social, and I avoid giving it out now at all costs."

Anne has a more deepening look of concern on her face, and for a second she thought that the middle aged woman may reach out to call the cops.

"I really do want a job. I know how to run a register and have great people skills," She said earnestly " And if you feel comfortable with it, I will take less than what you usually pay, as long as its cash. I know it might be asking a lot but I'm just trying to start over, and I'm not exaggerated when I say, it would mean the world to me."

Now, after explaining her alleged situation, she could only wait. She chewed on her lower lip for a moment, "You gotta place to stay?"

It took a moment, but she shook her head slowly.

"Sal and I have some extra space upstairs, you can stay there." She said almost to herself, "Meaning you would have no excuse to being late to work young lady."

"I got the job?" her mouthed dropped. Could it have been really that easy? Had she not only found a way to provide for herself, but a roof over her head in one go

Anne nodded, "As long as you're as good at keeping the place up, as you were at cleaning the parking lot."

At that time in her life, things seemed to be coming together as they never had. She had a savoir which had given her a chance to rebuild her life. Over the next couple of months, she cleaned up the second floor and made it into a home. Piece by piece she made it hers. She was hopeful, and finally letting her guard down. Which would end up being a mistake. A big mistake.

He was on the clock. Once the sun came up, it would be game over. Even if he could stand the burns from being in and out of the sun while he searched, the trail would risk becoming cold by that point. And he couldn't afford that. His foot floored on the gas, while he fist pounded into the steering wheel, and he cursed. 'So stupid! You shouldn't have let her go out there on her own!'

But he had.

Back at the house, just before he had gotten into the truck he had caught a scent. A foul, familiar stench. His competition. A bounty hunter who had had always been second best, to his 100% accuracy for retrieving people in one way shape or form. It was what had made him take the job in the first place. The job to find and bring Mia back to her father.

Word had begun to spread about the bounty hunter, Jareth who had become a legend to the shadow figure he had presented himself as. Where Michael had always stood aside from the limelight, and for obvious reasons, his competition fed off of it. Like he needed it to survive. Call it male vanity, but he needed to see if the rumors were true. It wasn't about the money, though two hundred and fifty thousand was generous, but hitting Jareth where it would hurt, to accomplish what he couldn't, would be the ultimate prize. So he had went to the town the rumors spoke of, and found Mr. MacLennan; Mia's father.

"I can bring your daughter home." He had told him, "I have a particular set of skills that my competition doesn't, and would be willing to stake my reputation on it."

Of course his reputation had proceeded him. The look in the aged man's eyes was to be expected. He came across this kind of thing a lot since he was not much of a people person. Doubt.

"You mean," Mr. McLennan whispered, taking a seat at his desk, "You would be willing to stake the bounty hunter Michael's reputation on it."

His lips curved into half a smile, and his muscles tensed beneath his clothes, like a cat preparing to spring. He had caught the scent of two ice mage guards hiding in the room we had first entered the room, and now, it was time to have fun.

One guard made a grab for his neck, and his hand came up, knocked it away easily as the ice flew from the other guards hands, missing his chest, which, to a human, would have instantly stopped their heart. Being half fire mage gave him resistance to this attack, and when the guard happened to get past his defense, it quickly turned to water, like laying on an ice pack for too long. Taking advantage of their surprise, too quickly for their eyes to follow, he retracted his knife hidden in his sleeve, elbowed one of the guards in the face, and pinned the other to the wall with the blade to his throat.

He raised a brow at Mr. McLennan, "If this is the way you treat guests, I would hate to see how you treat family."

His future employer smiled, "You'll have to forgive the formality. Because of the bounty that's at stake, you would be surprised how many "fake" bounty hunters think they can waltz right in here to collect the sign on bonus."

Michael shrugged, releasing the man on the wall, who had barely been able to keep his feet touching the ground, now gasping for breath. He came a couple of steps closer to his future employer, most humbly taking a seat in front of his broken down desk. His eyes now scanned the room, in its most crippling state. You would think a man willing to pay a quarter of a million dollars to find his daughter, would be able to afford better. A lot better.

It was now, his doubt, which filled the air. "Is this your place?"

Mr. McLennan shook his head, "For obvious reasons, given the nature of this deal, meetings like this are best if held in a...neutral setting. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Perhaps." Michael agreed. Of course he wasn't going to believe a word until he saw some sort of payment. This pay was nearly too good to be true. He would have enough, more than enough to start over.

"It's obvious you're well equipped to deal with bodyguards, but to claim to be the bounty hunter Michael, is a bit much to swallow. Of course, if you're who you say you are, you probably get this sort of thing happening to you all the time."

"My actions will speak for themselves," Michael told him sternly, "You will have your daughter back home within the month, and my reputation, will be firmly assured."

The elderly man set his jaw, "Even if you are who you claim, I should warn you, this task will be more trying than my body guards. My daughter is a half breed. She was born with an ability that didn't manifest until her later years, but its strong. She is dangerous, and as I'm sure Jareth would agree, she will not go down without a fight."

Michael smiled, "Good. I like a challenge. Now why don't you tell me the circumstances that lead to your daughter running away?"

"I hardly see what that's relevant." His employer seethed.

"When finding people, it helps to know what they are running from, what motivates them." The grey haired man seemed to be deciding whether or not it was a good idea to tell him, so he added, "Tell me about her. Her name, and what she's like."

"My daughter's name is Amelia. she prefers Mia. She has brown hair and eyes, about 5'4 and mostly kept to herself," He breathed out, taking a seat across from him. "My daughter and I have never seen things the same way. She prefers fantasy rather than face the facts, and I am, a man of seeing things for what they are. My daughter ran away three years ago a day after she turned 18. Perhaps she got tired of living under my roof, and just the same, if things were different, I would be okay with that. But she had responsibilities here. And we need her back home." He took a moment to pause, "Is that enough?"

Michael nodded. "Should be. Do you have a picture or something that belonged to her?"

Mr. McLennan's hand dug into his pant pocket, retrieving a small envelope, "There's a picture inside with the money to get you started on your search. It's from six years ago, but it's the most recent I could find."

'Not exactly father of the year material' he thought matter of fact, wondering by his tone if a more recent picture even existed.

Meeting him halfway, he took the envelope.

Just as he had finished putting it in his pocket, there was a rap on the door, just outside of the room. Both of their heads turned towards the person who came in.

Immediately, his blood ran cold. It was a vampire. A man with a shock of black hair and pale skin. "Forgive the intrusion," he spoke quickly, "He's here in the next room. He says its urgent."

Mr. McLennan nodded, "Thankyou Barry. We are finished."

On his way out, he kept wondering what the hell a vampire was doing in the house of an Ice Mage. The clans had been at war since anyone could remember. And this vampire was working for him. He had told himself it didn't matter. But when he passed him, as he walked out the front door of the small house, he smelled it. The scent of his enemy. His brother Zael.

At the time, he hadn't knew what it meant. But when Mia had told him about the arranged marriage, everything her father had said, suddenly made sense. All the talk about getting her home to tend to her responsibilities, and her being a challenge came crashing together.

The truck came rolling to a stop at the red light. Finding Mia had presented itself as his most cherished challenge indeed. It caused him to think in a way that made him vulnerable, and it was a side of him, he wasn't entirely sure he liked.

Tapping the steering impatiently, a small billboard at the side of the road caught his eye. Jill's Exotic dancers. It rang a bell. At one point, during one of Jareth's and his run in for the same bounty, he had overheard one of his goon's mention something about Jill's. At the time, he had logged it away, figuring Jill was a woman he cared about. in searching for the man's weaknesses, he never found a woman named Jill. Now, he couldn't help but wonder...

"Could he have been talking about a place?" he muttered to himself, a car horn splitting his ears within the same moment. The car behind him revved his engine, and when his eyes looked up, he eased off the break and gave the truck a little gas. The light had turned, and with it, so had his direction.

He had fully been prepared to go straight to the source, risking everything to find Mia, thinking surely the first place she would be taken, would be to her father. After all, knowing Jareth, that would be his first stop to collect his bounty. But as he pulled into the driveway of the place he had first met Mr. McLennan not five minutes ago, he felt the hope start to slip away. He had known the chances of finding him there were slim to none. Once he had Mia, he was supposed to call her father so they could arrange a place to meet. It had been a useless ghost of hope, that he might find him here.

Reaching in his pocket, he pulled out his cell, and flipped through the number he sought. When he found it, he hesitated. A thought overwhelmed him, making him very hesitant to press send and let the call go through. What if he was too late?

What he hadn't considered until this moment, was if the tradeoff had already happened. God knows how long he had been asleep before noticing her absence.

'Jill' his mind called, 'He might have gone to Jill's to celebrate.'

It was where Jareth would go after getting his payment, and where he would hopefully find him. And when he did, things would get ugly fast.

The black SUV came rolling to a stop, and as darkness swallowed the sun, she felt herself being pulled in as well. Despite her captor being in the direction, she found herself looking to the left as the door opened when the driver came around to them.

For the first time in three years, she was staring at the face of a building, she once called home. As she stepped out, dragging her backpack as she went, her hands began to shake, her teeth digging deep into her lower lip. The scent of fresh paint hit her nose, making/ her look to where the porch light was already turned on. Just below that was a paint can, with a brush laying on top. She knew the man of her nightmares was home.

He had always took pride in keeping a tidy house. The times he had locked her in her room without food for not doing the dishes, and cleaning fast enough or with enough care made her shutter. This was the man she had learned to fear, without fully being able to understand. She had always went back to the times when her mother had still been alive, and things had been different. He had be compassionate. He had been her father.

"Go," Jareth told her, nudging her in the back harder than necessary. It was enough to knock the breath from her, and she was left to weakly walk forward, past the gate, and up to the porch.

As she made her attempt to step up onto the platform, one of Jareth's lackey's took her arm, and yanked her back in place. Meanwhile, the devil himself stepped forward, and rang the doorbell.

Her heart began to race erratically, unsure what would happen the moment she stepped through that door, and she was reunited with him. A panic attack was surely on its way just as, suddenly, the door swung inward.

The figure that appeared in its place was not her father's but a man she had never seen before. He was dressed formally, complete with a tie. Jareth straightened his posture, and proceeded to speak, "Inform Mr. McLellan, we have found his daughter, and have come to collect the bounty."

Her heart was in her throat, making it more and more difficult for her to swallow with each passing second. Closing her eyes, and pretending she was elsewhere worked for a brief moment, until she was being urged further up onto the porch. Eyes open, she saw the young man in the formal suit step back out of the threshold, invitingly.

The rest of those loyal to Jareth, immediately clustered in behind them, taking each step they left behind. "Mr. MacLellan would like to speak with just the two of you."