Daniel looked over to Jack, worried that he’d see his friend breaking down. But no. His gaze was firm and unyielding as always.
“I see him, dead on the ground, lying in the dirty dusty streets,” Jack continued, his mouth curving into a frown. “You remember what I said before we went into that village?” Jack looked over briefly, but Daniel was looking out the window. “I told you then, I don’t like this, but you insisted it would be alright.”
“I hate what we did too, but-,” Daniel began.
“But what, Daniel?” Jack questioned. “Someone got too trigger happy, didn’t they? And then what?”
When Daniel didn’t respond right away, Jack put his focus back on the road. The van was silent save for the small chatter in the back from the other men. They were carrying on conversations between themselves and seemed to not listen to their discussion.
“Then what happened?” Jack questioned again more firmly.
“We ended up with a dead child,” Daniel finally said in a soft voice. Jack nodded and glanced over at the blond man sitting there staring out the window. His phone dinged loudly once again, and Daniel pulled it out to check. “Turn right in a quarter mile.”
“I just hope my gut feeling is wrong on this,” Jack said, and turned right onto a small road in the state of disrepair.
Both of them were silent as they approached a clearly abandoned large metal structure. The sun was just starting to set on the horizon, hiding behind a small mountain in the background. There was a parking lot beside the building with a couple of what seemed to be working vehicles parked in it.
A chain link fence surrounded the building and the lot but one of the gates had been left wide open. Jack stopped the van a few hundred yards away from the parking lot and pulled off into the grass behind some trees. He shut the engine off and looked over to Daniel.
Daniel got out of the van. The crew in the back followed, sliding the rear door open and piling out to face him. He looked to the five men wearing black ski masks and took a deep breath. “Once more. Do not discharge your weapon unless we receive fire first. The objective here is to clear them out, destroy their evidence, and capture a gryphon. I will go in first, and everyone else follow.”
Daniel reached into the van and pulled out a backpack. He threw it at one of the guys. “Jack will be carrying the tranquilizer gun, but just in case it doesn’t work, it never hurts to have a backup plan. There’s a net inside. Use it to capture the gryphon if you have to.” By this time, Jack had climbed out of the van and was at the back, digging around.
The men all stood silently, watching Daniel and Jack put on their ski masks. Daniel turned to Jack and gave him a nod before turning to walk towards the building. He removed his Glock from the holster and began to jog across the mostly empty parking lot.
The other men formed around him as they hunched over in the cover of dusk and ran through the open fence gate. Daniel’s heart beat fast in his chest, the same rush of adrenaline he’d felt again and again in his military days. He knew how to control the emotions within himself, but Jack was right, something did not feel right. The group pressed themselves against the building near a side door. Daniel’s chest heaved and he looked to Jack who seemed to be breathing even harder than he was already. They had really let themselves go.
Daniel lifted a hand off his weapon and pointed to a window. One man crouched and moved to the window to peer inside. A couple seconds went by as he watched, and the man came back with a nod. He held up five fingers for the count of five people inside.
That matched the Intel he had. One of Daniel’s hired hands had been scoping the place out for the past week. There were three vans that came and went frequently, and only two of them had an additional passenger. From what they could tell, the vans had no additional seating in the back.
They all moved over to the door and Daniel took another deep breath to steadyt his mind. He opened the door quietly and rushed inside with his men in tow. He brought his handgun up with both hands, sweeping the room as the others followed. Their footsteps echoed loudly in the vast open metal structure, but nothing stirred. There was a dim light coming from a room in the back of the building and Daniel motioned for everyone to move forward.
The men were careful to step over the various items scattered along the concrete floor, not wanting to make more noise as they approached. Nevertheless, there was a sound of something rolling across the floor, and Daniel motioned for everyone to stop. A man walked out from around the corner, and peered out into the vast darkness for a moment, waiting for his eyes to adjust. Daniel and the others slowly crouched lower, hoping the low light would hide them well enough.
The man’s eyes widened as he saw the group, and Jack fired his tranq. A quick puff of air was all that could be heard before the man clutched his chest and then fell to the ground moments later. Men in the room beyond began to talk loudly in alarm as they ran over to help their fallen friend. It was time to move.
Daniel led the group forward as fast as he could, shouting, to the people gathering around their unconscious friend. “Get on the ground!”
All of Daniel’s men clicked on their weapons’ flashlights and scanned the room. The gryphon lovers quickly scattered, shouting in alarm and running towards the nearest exits.
Daniel had his men give chase, but the people seemed to have a quick evacuation plan in place. This was fine with him. He did not want to take more than one for questioning anyways. They would be long gone before the group could come back with reinforcements. He and Jack went to a window overlooking the parking lot, and watched as three vans escaped, speeding off down the abandoned road.
“Well, that was easy,” Jack stated before removing his ski mask.
Daniel nodded with agreement and looked over to the unconscious man lying on the ground. “Yeah, they scattered like rats just as I thought they would.” He removed his mask as well. “Did you see anyone carrying anything with them as they ran?”
“No, not a thing,” Jack said and the other men shook their heads.
Daniel shrugged his shoulders and holstered his weapon. “Good. All right, you two take this guy outside and load him in the van. You other two, take any laptops you can carry and destroy the other computers.” The four men nodded and turned to go do their assigned tasks. Daniel turned to Jack and the last guy with the backpack. “And you two are with me. We’re going to look for the gryphon.”
Daniel took out his flashlight and scanned the back room first. There were old metal tables scattered everywhere, and a couple of them were set up with running computers and wires going in every direction. The room dead-ended there, with nothing else more to see besides dust and old abandoned office furniture.
The sound of gunfire echoed in the empty structure, causing Daniel to tense up for a second. He looked over to one of the men aiming his riffle at the now shattered computers, riffle barrel smoking from the shots. He frowned at the unnecessarily loud method of destroying the efforts, but did not bother to reprimand the man. After all, he had not specified how he had wanted it done.
Daniel and Jack continued outside the room and began to search the other areas under the upstairs offices. He noticed a camping cooler in the distance and pointed it out. As they approached, he noticed a couple of cots, some more coolers, and some duffle bags. “Go check those bags,” Daniel commanded the man with the backpack. He started to dig through one of them, tossing clothes and other personal belongings to the wayside. Daniel saw a cellphone lying next to one of the cots and picked it up. The background was of some guy with a woman, but the phone was locked.
Jack walked around the corner before calling out in a calm voice. “Hey, we got something here.”
Daniel put the phone in his pocket and walked around the corner to see Jack standing in front of a large metal sliding door that was chained shut. More gunshots echoed in the building as the men went about destroying computers, but he could hear something else inside. There was a laughing voice coming from with
in.
“Do you hear that?” Daniel asked. Jack nodded and pointed to an open cooler full of red meat.
“I don’t think these scraps are for the guys here,” Jack pointed out. This had to be where they were keeping the gryphon.
Daniel put his ear up to the metal door and closed his eyes to concentrate on the sounds inside. He could hear the clicking of talons across the ground, and more gentle laughter. Then, the gryphon began to mutter something to himself, but Daniel could not pick its words out.
Daniel pulled his ear away and knocked on the metal door. Jack raised an eyebrow at Daniel’s action, but then the gryphon responded, “Food time?”
“Yeah, it’s time for food. Can I come in?” Daniel responded. They waited for a minute and heard the chuckle of the gryphon again.
“Yes. Yes. Please, come in,” came the eerie voice. Daniel found it hard to understand, like he was listening to growls and a distant human voice mixed together. Daniel reached over to the chain and started to unhook it from the wall.
“Go ahead and get ready.” Daniel looked over to Jack. His friend looked nervous, and unsettled for the first time in ages. Daniel watched him for a second, looking into his dark brown eyes. There was fear in Jack’s eyes, and his mouth was curved into a frown.
“Are you ok?” Daniel asked, concerned
“I don’t like this,” Jack responded and swallowed. He lifted his tranq rifle and took a step back. “I’ve got that gut feeling again.” Jack looked over to his partner and closed his eyes. “But, It’s your call.”
Daniel put his hands on the curved metal handle and stopped. He could hear the talons scraping across the ground as the gryphon approached the door. It was not chained up inside, free to roam as it wished. That meant it was not dangerous, right?
Daniel froze for a minute, thinking to himself and weighing his options. They could turn around right now, leave this place and tell Daniel they did not find the gryphon, but that would mean they left this sentient creature to its death. “We have to.”
Jack took a deep breath and squeezed on the tranq rifle. He turned on the flashlight and gave a nod to Daniel. He slowly opened the door, rolling it across the wall while it screeched and moaned in protest. He had to struggle to open it all the way. Daniel took a step back and brought his flashlight up to peer into the darkness, but there was nothing inside.
His heart beat hard in his chest and everything was quiet save for their own breath. More shots rang out in the background, causing them both to jerk and turn their heads to the source of the sound. In that instant, a massive black mass of fur and feathers leaped out from the darkness.
Jack pulled the trigger, and the dart hit the gryphon, but it did not stop. It landed on top of Jack with its wicked foreclaws placed on his head and neck. The great gryphon hissed loudly and squeezed, talons digging into Jack’s throat.
“Jack!” Daniel cried out. Fear had overcome his body and he froze in place. His flashlight shook as he brought it over to see blood pooling around the gryphon’s talons from Jack’s throat.
The gryphon slowly turned its head and gave a weak laugh, and now Daniel could see the deformed face of the hideous beast. It had the lower muzzle of a feline, and the top half of a beak. Its feathers were missing in patches around its face, and it only had one eartuft. There was still blood on its beak from the last meal. Jack wheezed under the gryphon and struggled under it.
Daniel’s nerves organized themselves, and he immediately drew his Glock. Tears began to pool from his eyes as he flicked off the safety and put his finger on the trigger.
“Get off him!” Daniel cried out and took a step forward. The gryphon’s feline green eyes dilated as Daniel’s flashlight glanced over his face.
“Why? He is food, yes?” the gryphon said in response. “I eat, and then we play…We…”
The gryphon swayed gently and his eyes began to droop. He lost his balance and then fell over onto the ground as the tranquilizer finally took effect.
By that time, the other men turned the corner and shined their lights on the scene. They all froze as Daniel dropped his side arm on the ground and ran over to Jack. He fell to his knees and picked Jack’s head up to look into his eyes, and the eyes looked back to him.
“Jack…” Daniel said in-between gasping breaths.
Jack’s throat had multiple punctures from the giant talons of the gryphon and dark blood poured from each one. Daniel quickly withdrew a handkerchief from a pocket and placed it over the wounds, pressing hard in a futile attempt to stop the blood flow.
Jack reached up and gurgled a word that he could not understand. Then the fear and panic that Daniel had seen in his friend’s eyes moments before were gone, and he looked to be at peace, staring up at him.
“I’m sorry Jack. I-I should have listened to you. I always should have listened to you. Jack, don’t. Please, don’t,” Daniel choked out as tears fell on his friends face.
Jack stared up at him and smiled for a second, and then his hand fell limp. Daniel felt Jack’s body relax completely and it seemed as if the color slowly disappeared from his friend’s brown eyes. Daniel took in a deep breath and wept silently. The other men fell in around him to gauge in the scene, but none of them talked.
Several long moments went by, and finally Daniel slowly placed Jack’s head on the ground. he closed his deceased friend’s eyes with his fingers and stood up.
“Two of you, get the kit and clean up his blood. We can’t leave any evidence behind.” Daniel wiped his face on an arm sleeve and walked over to his gun. He picked up the weapon and holstered it before turning back to the five men standing before him silently. “The rest of you, get this… damned creature out of here. I’ll take care of Jack.”
Daniel watched as the men went to work. Two of them ran out the door to the van while the rest started to duct tape the gryphon’s legs together. He looked over the gryphon again as they did so. Unlike every other gryphon he had seen in his life, this one had fur sticking out in patches between the feathers. It also had four avian legs, and the wings looked completely off. They were well-formed, but didn’t look at all like gryphon’s wings.
Daniel lifted one of the wings and ran his hands across them. They were leathery, like bats wings. He ran his hand down to the base and found massive scar tissue formed all around the joints. Daniel looked over the gryphon’s bulky body with a flashlight, spreading its feathers and fur out with his hands. It felt coarse and wiry. He found small metal discs embedded in the gryphon’s upper arm with ports in the center and questioned what they were for. There were more scars and marks all across the gryphon’s body in intricate patterns, and Daniel winced.
“What did they do to you?” he asked the sleeping gryphon. Its chest heaved unevenly, like every breath was hard for it.
The other men came through the door with bottles of bleach, powdered chemicals and water. Daniel stood back up and walked over to Jack who was lying limp on the ground in a pool of his own blood. Daniel bent down and gently picked up his smaller friend.
The men poured the chemicals on the floor to wash away Jack’s blood, and Daniel carried him out into the night. A cold breeze picked up and blew his blond hair as he walked across the parking lot. He looked down at Jack and choked back more tears.
“Do you remember that one day when we took care of your nephew? We took him to go see that scary movie because his mom wouldn’t let him, and he had nightmares for weeks.” Daniel sniffled and chuckled gently. “Your sister was so pissed at us. She wouldn’t let him cover visit you for months. I wonder how Kevin is? How has he been?”
Daniel continued to speak to his dead friend as he made his way to the van. He looked into the back and saw that the guys had stretched out a tarp on the floor. Daniel leaned forward and groaned as he gently placed Jack inside.
He turned away from the van and bit his lip to fight back his grief. T. He was responsible for his friend’s death. Daniel sat down on the bumper and put his face into his hands. His
sadness was replaced by a feeling of dread that crept through his body
He was going to have to be the one to explain it to all to Jack’s family. He should have listened to Jack a week ago. Jack warned him time and time again about working for this cult, yet he had continued to follow Daniel no matter what. His actions had killed the only true friend he had, and he was going to live with it.
Daniel looked down at his holstered side arm. It was starting to look very friendly to him. It would be easy to end it all himself. Then he would not have to deal with Matthew anymore, or have the guilt of his friend’s death so heavy on his shoulders. They could go down together, just like they promised each other in the past. No one would know Daniel took the easy way out besides the five men with him.
He immediately repressed the dark urges and thought of his family, his wife and daughter. He had to get away from this life, and provide a better future for them.
“No more,” Daniel promised.
Chapter 16 Game Day
Thyra’s eartufts perked up as she heard another high energy song play outside, causing the lockers to rattle occasionally from the bass. All the gryphons on her team sat at full attention in a semi-circle with Coach Victor in the center. Everyone would have looked calm to human eyes, but Thyra could tell that their feathers were flattened down with nervousness. Of course, she was no different. She could feel butterflies flying around in her crop.
Coach Victor was the only one of them that seemed at ease, sitting calmly as the bass continued to pump outside. He held a clipboard under his wing and was wearing his own professional button-down uniform with the team’s logo sewn into a breast pocket. Finally, he stood and gazed at the players with his dark black eyes.
“You hear them out there?” Victor asked. “Can you hear all the people waiting to see a good game? I can. And this is our home field. These are our fans. We don’t want to let them down, do we?” Victor looked around and when no one replied right away, his tall gray crest feathers stood up and he shouted, “Do we?”
The Gryphon Generation Book 2: A New Era Page 17