The God Hunters

by Gordon D Lanyon

  “I was in the area. It was the right thing to do. This is all so...” She seemed at a loss for words to describe the devastation around us. “Overwhelming,” she finished.

  “Yes. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  “You know this building?” I asked worried because she'd taken me here. There was something about her that attracted but also put me on edge. She felt dangerous. That part of me which was new and separate was telling me I was flirting with danger. She watched me with a kind of close personal attention that was off putting. This wasn't a normal girl. The thing inside wanted to touch her but was afraid to try. A sudden image of teeth filled my thoughts.

  “I’m familiar with this building,” she admitted, then added almost as a trivial after thought. “I almost died here.”

  For anyone else that would have been a strange a statement to make but somehow I didn't doubt her. I decided to return her honesty with some of my own.

  “I guess we're well met. I almost died here as well.”

  She laughed and a real smile flitted across her face. I’d been right. She was beautiful. Absently she tied her hair back into a tight ponytail. It had been loose, the elastic broken, no doubt from her efforts below. I liked it loose. With it tied back she looked too serious. The frown was back in place along with the tied back.

  “What are you looking at?”

  “Your hair,” I answered without thinking, suddenly realizing my face had a big stupid grin on it. A warm flush spread across my cheeks. Good God, I was blushing!

  She grimaced. Taking a step to the side she put a little more distance between us.

  “What do think happened here?”

  I took in the damage that was everywhere. A lot of people had died, whole families just buried. All the joy I had felt from saving the girl left me.

  I shrugged. “Mother Nature flexing her muscles. We're in a fault zone. There’s always been talk of a major quake happening. Not that I paid much attention to it. You never think it can happen to you or your family. Certainly nothing like this,” my voice trailed off. My grandfather had died when I was young but aside from that I'd never experienced death on a scale such as this. I was having difficulty processing it.

  She nodded, considering what I’d said as if every word had to be individually parsed.

  “A lot of people were surprised by this. Three hundred kilometers north of here is a place called Huu-ay-aut. It's a First Nation's village. According to the people who study this kind of thing that should have been the epicenter of anything hitting this area. All this damage,” she pulled the long coat she wore tighter around her, “is hundreds of miles from the fault‘s weakest point. Strange don't you think? All the damage here, nothing there where the Earth’s crust is weakest. Instead the center point for the quake is right down there.” She pointed at the giant ’K’ still lying at an angle in the ground. “It started from this very building, with the rip rolling out to the north and south.” She pointed while she watched me. It felt like I was being measured. “It's like someone smashed a giant crowbar into the earth at this exact point and levered it open.”

  The sun was setting behind her. She stood there framed in a golden halo, her face with the sun behind her, dark and unreadable to me but I knew she was watching me closely. The thing inside me stirred and I realized with a start what I'd known from the beginning; she was like me. She had a Beast of her own. There was a strength about her, a tenseness in the air around her.

  “You seem to know a lot about fault lines. Is that what you do? Are you one of those lab rats you mentioned?”

  A surprised laugh escaped her as a plethora of emotions played across her face, none of them good. “Not at all. I try to avoid those types. I’m just a girl who likes to know things. For example, why this happened.”

  ”There's more to you than meets the eye then,” I said into the suddenly strained silence, causing her to laugh. But this time her laughter held a harsher ring. “I wish I could tell you more. I can see you still have questions.”

  “You see well in the dark,” she answered. “You said you were almost killed in that building. Tell me what happened.” This time her voice held the whip of authority. There was also a breathlessness about the question that told me she was very interested in my answer.

  “You wouldn't believe me if I told you,” I said finally. “I'm not sure anyone would.” I tried a smile but knew it was unconvincing. I was pretty sure she wanted more than I was prepared to give at the moment.

  She took a step closer and I tensed.

  “I know people died in that building before it collapsed. They were killed by a man who was maybe, not a man at all. He was unarmed. They had guns. Yet somehow they lost and he won. What was he doing there? Was he defending himself or were they? Let’s pretend you’re him. How would you answer those questions?”

  Her eyes were bright in the dark, luminous and unblinking. She'd put power behind the last question and I wanted to answer truthfully. To resist her I tapped into my own power. The thing inside woke and rose more fully, prepared to fight and kill, but I pushed it back. I couldn’t allow it to control me. I took a breath, tried to relax while it paced back and forth, unwilling to lie down.

  “I wouldn’t know where to begin,” I said, my voice betraying my own inner tension. “Since I’m not him. You already seem to know everything anyway. I'm just a teacher who lives down the road. You’ll have to get your answers from someone else. I’d be careful though. The only one who could answer them would be the guy you mentioned and it sounds like he may be dangerous.”

  The green eyes blinked slowly in the dark. A sigh escaped her and I felt her relax which in turn helped me relax. My Beast backed off, disappointed but still alert.

  Her eyes regarded me with mild disappointment.

  “I suppose it’s time for one of us to be honest with the other Nick. I know what happened because I work for the government. I'm a problem solver. Very hush hush.” She smiled coldly, reaching into her jacket she pulled out her cell. “You’re not a good liar by the way.”

  Deftly she tapped a few buttons, then turned the phone so I could watch. It showed the fight by the elevator, the killings. I winced, unable to mask my reaction. She was right. I'd been way past normally fast. Which meant there was no reasonable explanation for what happened. I watched as the man in the video turned and for a split second his face was clearly framed on the small device. Walker paused it there.

  “I've been looking for you. Found you when you showed up at your house. I was about to grab you when you stopped to free the girl. That was unexpected. It made me think I might have it wrong. Maybe there was a reason for what happened in the video. I decided to wait and hear your side of the story but instead you tell me you don’t know anything about it. So you're a liar.” She waved the phone slightly at me. ”Just so we're clear, I don’t like liars.” A pair of handcuffs appeared like magic in her hands. “I don't want to hurt you, but I will if you resist.”

  Her voice was hard and distant. She meant every word. I backed away, considering my options. Fight or flight? Fight my Beast said hungrily, struggling with me for control. It wanted to lash out, to strike first. “You don't understand,” I said, my voice breaking from my efforts at control. Things were going downhill fast. I couldn't fight her and the creature inside at the same time.

  “What don’t I understand? I gave you the chance to talk and you lied.” A gun appeared in her hand. Apparently she'd changed her mind about the cuffs. She was fast! I'd known she'd have all the same abilities I had but had chosen to ignore it.

  I spun and kicked, hearing a short grunt as my foot connected. With her there could be no half measures. The gun flew into the crevasse below.

  “Damn,” she said, “I liked that gun.” Then she leapt forward, coming right at me like some movie ninja. I turned, stepped to the side but her knee grazed my head. Amid a sudden proliferation of stars I felt myself spun around and slammed to the pavement. I was reeling and sligh
tly sick from the blow when my arms were pulled behind my back. I heard the cold ratcheting click of a handcuff snapping shut on my wrist.

  “The good news in all this Nick,” she began while working to get my other wrist into place, “is that we'll have time for a more honest talk later when...uuuuh!”

  The last part of the sentence was cut off as Belle rocketed into her, sending her flying over the edge of the crevasse. Thankfully, Belle hadn’t been trying to really hurt her, just move her off me.

  Leaping to my feet I watched Walker’s arms windmill as she began a long tortured tumble down the steep embankment. She cussed impressively all the way down three stories of ripped up concrete rubble. Belle almost went with her but managed to sink two sets of impressive claws into the hard asphalt ridge and hold herself in place. Scrambling back, Belle shook herself, then gave me a cat-like look of disgust. Grabbing my hand in her teeth she began pulling me away. I briefly resisted, needing to be sure Walker was OK before I left. I watched as she rolled to a hard stop just under the giant K of Kailex Enterprises. She sat there slightly dazed before staggering to her feet.

  “Running is stupid Nick! We have your picture. We know who you are. We can find you anywhere you go. And we will. I can promise you that. The people looking for you...” and now she paused for a moment considering her words. “If you make them work for it, they’ll hurt you. I’m your only chance to have a say in how this plays out. Come with me now, willingly, and I’ll make them listen.” As I turned away, she continued. “I'm your only chance to get through this in one piece Nick.”

  I stood there for a minute looking down, listening to what she was saying. She was probably right. She was my only chance. But I couldn't do it. Couldn’t take the chance they’d lock me up and throw away the key. I had things to do. Kailex had proven more dangerous than I’d realized. I'd had a chance to stop him and failed. Because of my failure, people had died. I hadn't taken him seriously enough. I hadn't realized how high the stakes were. Lives had been on the line and now all this ... misery was on me. Not all of it, perhaps. But enough so I couldn't just leave it. Saving that little girl had decided things for me. I had to see this through to the end. Whatever that meant for me. I needed to make it as right as it could be made. So many hurt, killed. I couldn't change that but maybe I could prevent it from happening again.

  Belle could find him. With her help and a little planning, I might be able to stop him. I nodded to myself. Maybe finding him and ending this was the best chance I had as well. Perhaps then Walker's government friends would listen. Really listen. All they knew about me now was on that video. I was a killer. A madman. Video proved that and video never lied.

  To them, I was just another monster whose motivations they didn't understand. Did they even know about Kailex? Walker hadn’t even mentioned him. Maybe they weren't interested in exploring other avenues. I was the threat they could see. They were military and the military kept things simple. See a threat, end a threat. If I went with her I'd never see daylight again. My stomach lurched at the thought. I turned sharply away from her voice. She couldn't help me. I had to get back to the base I’d just run from. It had been a couple of days, Kat might have returned. I hurried on.

  Walker scrambled up the precarious slope. Nick was gone of course. Blood dripped from a rip in her left sleeve with surprising tenacity. Absently she applied pressure, giving the wound several moments to clot before releasing the arm. She checked it; a six inch gash ran along her forearm. It would be gone in the morning she knew. One of the benefits of the many terrifying procedures she'd gone through.

  Mentally she reviewed the entire meeting for mistakes. If she was honest with herself she'd made two. The most obvious had been missing his two hundred and fifty pound wolf. She frowned replaying the moment in her head. Not wolf, wolf-like creature she amended. It was mostly a blur in her memory but the thing had knocked her aside as if she weighed nothing and she knew that since the change she weighed considerably more than nothing. Nick’s companion was a formidable adversary. She'd be on the lookout for it next time.

  As she cleaned the mud from her gun she review her second mistake. This one was tougher to take. She'd had time to fire but hadn’t pulled the trigger. She'd been unsure about the gun's setting. Had it been on stun or something higher? She shook her head angrily. No use worrying about it now. She'd froze and because of that he’d gotten away. Her jaw clenched. That wouldn't happen next time.

  She took out her phone and called in. After the usual protocols she got her handler on the line. He sounded unhappy which was no surprise. He was always unhappy now. They’d been at this for a while and were still way behind the curve. Events like the one she was investigating had been happening for years.

  “It's not like you to be so careless.” Behind the rough edges of his anger she heard his concern for her. “Was there any contact? He didn't get to you did he?”

  Her mind flashed back to Henry and her old terror. Nick hadn’t gotten to her but Kailex had. Chills ran down her body. He’d gotten inside. Castle didn’t know that part. She fought against the fear and disgust welling within. She told herself it was a lie anyway. He hadn’t beaten her, but it had been close. Very close. The feeling of him worming his way through her memories made her gag. She quickly shut the memory down. In the end she’d be the last one standing. Not him. And now that he’d run, not Nick either.

  “No,” she said into the phone, “he didn't get to me. But don’t worry, Benson hasn't escaped. I'm on it.” She deftly manipulated the phone, calling up a tracker program. Dutifully a small red dot appeared on the Google map program. The dot was moving rapidly but she could still catch it if she hurried.

  Chapter Eleven

  We'd wandered through so many rooms I was beginning to think Belle was lost. I rubbed at tired eyes. I was worried about meeting Kat and this repetition of rooms was irritating to the extreme.

  While I worried, Belle seemed unaffected by all that was going on. An image came to me of her motionless in the foliage, closely watching some animal with horns. The animal slowly closed the distance between them as it munched on berries and grass. Crouched in the foliage, totally relaxed Belle watched its approach. Just waiting. Nothing betrayed her to her prey.

  “Right. I get it,” I said a little peeved. “I need to be patient.”

  Impulsively I sent her an image of me leaping from the bushes and running the animal down. I imagined the chase, the capture, the kill. My pulse suddenly spiked. I felt my teeth tearing into soft meat while the iron taste of blood filled my mouth. Abruptly, I ran into Belle, bringing me back to reality with a thump. She'd stopped and was just sitting there, giving me a careful look. The satisfaction of a successful kill left me but the blood taste remained staining my happy feelings.

  I realized I had a grin on my face and got rid of it. My Beast had been thinking for me and I hadn't noticed! My control had slipped that easily. Not a good sign. My disgust was so strong I felt sick inside. Angrily, I pushed the thing inside me to the back of my mind. It was still young and clumsy. I could do that now. What would it be like in a month? A year? Would I be able to control it then? Was the idea that I could control it a fantasy? A weary sigh escaped me. My life was too complicated for words now. I couldn't ignore the fact this thing would get stronger forever. I shoved the thought roughly aside. I'd deal with it when I had more time and maybe more information. Still, I needed to put a safeguard into place.

  I tapped the big cat on her back and she turned to look at me expectantly. She seemed to know what I wanted before I even spoke, so chances were good she had this part covered as well.

  “You have to watch me Belle,” I said. Staring into those big cat eyes, my own eyes suddenly filled with moisture. “If it turns out I can't control this thing, I want you to stop me.” I knelt beside her and bracketed her big head with both hands. “I don't want to hurt anyone who doesn't deserve it Belle. That would destroy the real me, the me that's in here.” I touched my chest. “I
couldn't live with that. Understand?”

  In answer the big cat pulled away and gave a low "chuff" as if to say fine but she'd make up her own mind. Coming to another door she turned and gave me a serious look before ripping four long gashes down the wall with a single swipe. She watched me until she was sure I'd gotten her message. If it became necessary, her claws were up to the task. She’d just agreed to do what I’d asked.

  “A simple nod would have done just as well,” I muttered.

  Deep inside I felt movement and heard a soft laugh. My Beast was unconvinced. It wasn’t as certain as I that she could put it down. Worse, it didn't fear her. That was an idea that needed changing. All Belle required was a few seconds of hesitation. I could give her that. I sent that thought into the depths where my brute dwelled and felt it rustle angrily before quieting. This wasn't an acknowledgement of my supremacy. It simply realized now was not the time to challenge me. With time it would get stronger. Maybe strong enough to take over. Like Belle, it realized instinctively the value of patience.

  “Let's go,” I said, striding through the door. I was tired of all this thinking. I wanted to do something, anything to take my mind off the things beyond my control.

  “Finally!”

  I recognized the lab from the other day. Parts of the equipment I'd ruined lay undisturbed on the floor. I wondered if that meant there was a problem. All the other rooms had been spotless. Belle picked up on my disquiet and sent an image of a lake with the sun beaming down. I felt calmer immediately. Surprised by its power to affect my mood, I decided our link was strengthening. A feeling of “rightness” spiked in me. Belle agreed.

  “So where's Meeta?” I wondered. She'd gone through one of the lab walls but honestly, they all appeared identical to me. In answer Belle opened a door. Meeta was there, still inside the glass encasement. Exasperation gripped me. She seemed asleep and I needed her awake. I also needed Kat. It was obvious that neither was available at the moment and I wondered if I could change that.