by George Fry
“So, he’s not human?”
“No idea.
It was a long shot, but it seems whatever human genes he had are being muddied by his demon powers.”
“Toppling giants with a single sword swing? Punching demonic priests into oblivion? Manipulating his own DNA? Demon powers are mental.”
“I sent in his fingerprints, but those came up with zero matches too.”
“What, did his demon magic change those too?”
“Probably, even the blood test came up invalid. He doesn’t match any human or demon we’ve managed to record. A total anomaly.”
The officers took a breather, as Richard filed his failed results away and Michael poured some fresh, hot coffee. “Why you trying to find info on this guy? You think he’s important?”
“It’s been about five years since these demons showed up and soon after, a man in a white coat, with unimaginable superhuman powers appears and starts slaying them. That can’t be coincidence. He must have some relation to why these monsters are here.”
“Facial recognition.”
“What?”
“If you really want to find out how long this guy’s been around, look through the database. Security footage, phone footage, photographs, his face must have shown up at some point before these demons appeared... not that you heard that from me.”
“Those databases are never accurate and if they were, you’d think someone would have figured this all out by now.”
“I see... welp, I’m heading back. You know, it’s a shame you’re so focused on this guy. If you put this much effort into your real work, you’d get promoted in no time.”
“You call monitoring internet trolls work?”
“Good luck, rookie.
And remember, I didn’t tell you nothing.”
Richard was left in his small cubicle office to ponder his next move. If finding Drifter’s identity was impossible through forensics and technology, then perhaps he needed to do some field work and speak with witnesses.
“But, where would I even begin to start looking for a witness?” He wondered.
Drifter had been around as long as the demons had, so asking random people on the street or at certain incidents would be a waste of time. Richard needed to investigate the most significant incident in Drifter’s life.
The first incident. Drifter’s first kill.
He headed to the internet to find the earliest video footage of Drifter uploaded. Naturally the results were all phone recordings of varying quality and none of them good, either.
Still, even with mediocre footage, a man in a white coat, with black hair, superhuman strength, a white aura and a sword was featured in all of them and there was no way there were other people with Drifter's powers running around.
But, this presented a new problem. The upload dates only went back four years, not five. One whole year was left unaccounted. The locations were all wildly different as well, meaning Drifter, as his name suggested, never stayed in one spot.
“Shit… was he really inactive for a year? If he was, this could blow my theory out of the water. Think, if he was active there must be some other way to prove it... maybe...”
Richard suddenly got an idea. He shifted his focus to reports of demon attacks. If footage of Drifter couldn’t be found, then maybe there was another way to track his movements.
After looking through file after file of demon attacks, skimming through them in chronological order, pinpointing each location on a map, a strange pattern began to emerge.
“They’re moving?”
While there were the occasional outliers and jumps around the map, from the first reported attack onwards, each new attack took place close to the last and gradually moved across the country. It was like watching a snake slowly crawl around the country.
“Most of these attacks aren't random, they're following something. But what?”
That’s when it finally hit Richard, like warm coffee spilling onto his leg.
“Drifter?”
He remembered the previous incidents he investigated, he always wondered how Drifter managed to be at the right place at the right time, but now he understood.
“That has to be it. He isn’t drifting around the country hunting demons, the demons are hunting him.
If that's the case, then maybe...”
Richard looked through the files again, searching for the attack that started it all. A small cluster of incidents from five years ago all pointed to the small rural town of Hearg.
“A strange monster appeared in an outside shopping centre, surrounded by flats. The monster disappeared as quickly as it came, in a bright white light. Nothing but ash remained.
This is it. This is where it all began. Drifter’s first kill, it has to be.”
The next day, Richard made preparations and headed out to Hearg to investigate.
Driving through, there was nothing interesting or notable about the town itself. It seemed peaceful enough, almost untouched by the demon attacks across the rest of the country, although considering what he knew about their movements, it made sense.
He soon arrived at the shopping centre, although it was more of a small town square surrounded by shops and apartments. Large potted fixtures with trees and other plants were on either side of the square.
Richard examined the area, looking for any signs of a battle. Based on experience, Drifter wasn’t exactly concerned about collateral, so if he was here, he must have left some evidence behind.
However, there was no immediately recognisable damage to the area, everything seemed perfectly fine, until Richard noticed the glaring scar in the pavement.
The ground was made up of small, square paving slabs. They were dirty and worn, from years of scuffed shoes, littering and gum, except for the slabs leading to the wall of plants. They were clean and bright, sticking out amidst the filth. The bricks of the wall also seemed to have been replaced at some point as they also looked less worn down with age.
It was only a hunch, but if this place was where the first demon attack ever recorded took place, then these clean slabs might be where Drifter had his first fight. This wasn’t enough to prove it of course. Richard needed to speak to the locals in the area to see if any of them witnessed anything.
His first thought was to check the local grocery store and ask the man at the counter if he knew anything. Upon entering, Richard walked up to them, pulled out his police badge and introduced himself.
The man looked to be of middle eastern origin, and jumped at the sight of Richard’s badge.
“Wait! I’m here legally! I have a passport to prove it!”
Richard was taken aback by the man’s outburst.
“Uh… I haven’t said anything yet.”
“Sorry, can I help you with something?”
“I’m just here to ask a few questions.”
“Questions? Please, I don’t want to go down to the station again, I have no one to cover for me.”
“I’m not here to take you away, sir.”
“Really? Oh, thank goodness.”
“Do the police question you often?”
“Oh, not just me. Everyone in this town is uncomfortable around the police. Everyone is a suspect to them.”
“Suspect? For what?”
“For being a demon.”
“But, this is one of the safest towns in the country. There hasn’t been an attack here in years.”
“Yes, but peace in times of turmoil breeds paranoia. They’ll arrest anyone for being even remotely suspicious.”
“Christ, when did this all start?”
“As long as I’ve been here.”
“Do you know anything about a demon attack that happened here around five years ago?”
“I’ve only heard rumours from the locals. A large, monster appeared from thin air, terrifying the people. But, before it could hurt anyone, it was suddenly slayed by a young man wielding a sword. No one knows who the man was or where he came from and he dis
appeared soon after.”
“But that’s impossible!”
Richard slammed his hand on the counter, startling the cashier.
“Oh, sorry… but how can someone like that just show up and no one even know what he looks like!?”
“I don’t know, I wasn’t here at the time.”
“Dammit! Well, at least I can confirm there was an incident here.”
“The shop across the way still has the CCTV footage.”
“Are you serious!?”
“Yes. The owner likes to brag about it. Says it’s a historical moment in British history that the government will never take from him.”
“Oh, he doesn’t sound crazy at all, but I suppose I’ll have to chat with him. Thank you.”
“No problem, so are you going to buy anything?”
Richard walked away, with fresh gum in hand. Ready to speak with the store owner across the street.
Unlike the grocers, this store was like a small supermarket. Once again, he headed to the counter to ask the cashier to see the manager, revealing his police badge to show he meant business.
The tired teenager girl working the till turned to the door on the other side of the room, took a deep breath and yelled.
“HEY! BILL! POLICE ARE HERE, AGAIN!”
The doors burst open as a tall stuffy man in glasses and suit stormed towards the counter, fixing his tie.
“Right! You irritating little shits! I didn’t go through three years worth of legal battles, just so you can constantly come in here and harass me for my footage! It’s legally mine! You can throw around demon accusations and cry to the media all you want, but I’m not handing it over! Now, get out!”
Richard swallowed his gum in fear, he felt like a child being chewed out by his very large and very angry school teacher, utterly powerless before the man’s looming presence.
“Um… sir… I’m not with the police in this town. Please don’t hurt me.”
Bill fixed his glasses and took a closer look at the police badge.
“Oh, you’re from London. Well, what do you want? Come on, spit it out.”
“I’m investigating the demon incident from five years ago, sir.”
“Hey, hey, hey! I just said, I’m not giving my footage to anyone.”
“That’s okay, I’m not here to take it, I just need to see it.”
“Why are the London police so interested in security footage from a small town supermarket?”
“Well, to be honest, officers tend to operate wherever they can due to all the budget cuts, but that’s not the point! They’re not interested. I’m doing this solo. Please, that footage might contain a vital piece of evidence.”
“Vital?” The man laughed. “You kidding?”
“No, I’m serious.”
“Alright, guess I’ll let you take a peek.”
“Really? Thanks.”
“Remember: I said a peek!” The man stressed.
“Y-yes sir.”
Bill lead Richard to the back doors, through the storage area and into a small security office with a computer. He searched through the files until he found the video in question.
06/06_3:24pm. A simple filename but significant as it matched the date of the first reported incident. Once the file opened, Richard watched the scene play out in its entirety, as the camera remained stationary the whole way through.
It started with people simply wandering to and from the area, followed by those same people suddenly scattering, fleeing from the scene as a giant, orc-like demon slowly roamed on camera. It roared and stomped at the ground, then suddenly stopped and gazed at something off-camera, like someone had interrupted its primal rage.
A bright light shined from off-screen and in an instant, a black figure, surrounded in a white aura, dashed toward the monster, stabbing his sword straight through its gut. Then, in another burst of light, the monster exploded into white flames and flew off camera, tearing up the stone slabs beneath it.
There was a pause, where an elderly man ran toward the dark figure and attempted to pat his shoulder, only for his arm to catch fire. The man screamed in terror as the figure’s aura disappeared as he awkwardly tried to put out the flames. After which he bashfully apologised and ran away.
Richard reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a USB drive.
“Please, you’ve got to give me a copy of that footage.”
“I said: ‘a peek’!”
“But this footage… it’s extremely important.”
“Really? That’s funny. I was only able to hang onto it by proving how useless it was.”
“Useless!?”
“What’s so special about it?”
“Have you not heard of the man in the white coat?”
“What? You think the guy in the footage is the same person?”
“No doubt. They have the same powers.”
“But, his coat isn’t white and you can’t even see his face.”
“Actually, that is weird. I can see the old man, but Drifter’s face is always in shadow, why?”
“There was no evidence that could point to the identity of the man in the footage and even if there was, there’d be no way to prove it, since you can’t even see his face. Years of analysis from professionals and witness testimony lead to nothing.”
“Unbelievable...”
Richard couldn’t fathom the amount of effort it would take for Drifter to hide his identity to such a degree. Almost seemed out of character given how lazy he acted.
He ran through the footage a few more times. After a while he was inclined to agree with the court’s decision. There really wasn’t anything useful in the footage other than just reinforcing his own personal theory. Still… there was one last thing he needed to know.
“Do you still know any of the witnesses in the case?”
“Old Jonathan. The geezer who burned his arm in the footage. He was our key witness. He lives in the flats around here.”
“Could you give me his address?”
“Alright, but it’s your funeral.”
“Uh, okay?”
Bill handed over a piece of paper with the old man’s address. Richard climbed the iron staircase to the top floor of the apartments where Old Man Jonathan was waiting for him. The first person to meet Drifter.
The flats were owned by the town council and as such, were rundown and dirty, but not to the point of dissuading anyone from living there, just enough to keep them cheap. Richard knocked on the door with the chipped, blue paint and waited for a response.
Peeking through the crack was a short old man leering at him.
“What do you want?” He grumbled.
Richard showed the man his badge. “Yes, I’m with the police. I’d like to ask you a few-”
“I ain’t paying for your damn TV licence!”
The door slammed shut.
Richard knocked again. “Uh, sir. You didn’t let me finish.”
“Get lost! We watch everything on the internet now! Bother us again and I will call my solicitor!”
“This isn’t about your TV licence!”
“That’s what the last guy said, but he didn’t sound so confident once he became acquainted with the backend of my cane!”
“I’m here to talk to you about the incident five years ago! The demon attack! The man you met!”
The door opened slightly, the man glaring again.
“What the hell do you want to talk about that for? Did that lunatic at the store put you up to this? They trying to take his stupid video again?”
“No, but I have seen the video and its contents are very important to my investigation, especially the man captured in the footage.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Who’s at the door, Jonny?” Asked a kindly old voice from inside the flat.
“None of your business, woman! Just watch your show!”
“Jonny! Don’t be rude! He’s our guest!”
“What are you on about!? I d
idn’t invite him into the house!”
“Well, let him in, then!”
“Don’t be daft!”
“Look, I’ll make some tea.”
“Oh great, now you got her out of her chair. Guess you better come in, before she gets angry again.”
Richard didn’t quite know what just happened, but accepted the invitation nonetheless.
The flat was small, yet cosy. A surprising departure from how rundown the outside looked. The kitchen was just next to the living room with doors leading to the bedroom and bathroom to the side. A quaint little home for a crotchety old couple.
He sat on the sofa as the kind old lady served the tea on the coffee table. With the three gathered round. The old man got down to business.
“Well, what do you want? Out with it.”
Richard took a sip from his tea. It was sweet, really sweet, like warm candy melting in his mouth.
“Oh, wow. This is really good.”
“Why thank you, Dearie. It’s a special blend I ordered online.” The old lady blushed.
Richard smiled. “Well, it’s delicious.”
Jonathan banged his fist into the table. “Will you hurry up and tell us why you’re here already!”
“Er, yes. Mr. Jonathan, sir. I’m here to-”
“Mr. Jonathan? Jonathan’s my first name you stupid sod! It’s Mr. Beattie!”
“Okay, Mr. Beattie. I’m here to ask about the incident five years ago.”
“You said that already, what’s your question!?”
“Uh, okay. Well, let’s start with your perspective of what happened.”
“Fair enough. A big demon showed up just outside the shop I was in and then a strange young man destroyed it. That’s all.”
“Destroyed it?”
“Yeah, it burst into flames and burnt to ashes.”
“That must have happened after it flew off-camera.”
“Camera? You talking about Bill’s prized possession?”
“Yes. And after the demon was defeated, an old man ran up to the mysterious figure. That old man was you, wasn’t it?”
“Bah, you can’t prove nothing.”
“What?”