by Alex Siegel
"We'll come back for her," Stony said. "We have to move."
She nodded.
The team explored a kitchen next. Bags and cans of animal food were stacked almost to the ceiling. The larder included huge sacks of oats, rice, corn meal, potatoes, beans, and fresh carrots. Food bowls of all sizes filled the sink. Stony wondered at the cost of feeding so many animals.
He heard a sound half-way between a grunt and a laugh. He turned just in time as six spotted hyenas ran into the kitchen. The sight of animals from Africa startled him enough to make him hesitate for a critical second.
The hyenas were much bigger and tougher than the pit bulls, and the team instantly had its hands full. Stony blasted one hyena in the face with his shotgun. Keeping quiet wasn't an option anymore.
A second hyena jumped on him and knocked him down. He gave the animal a bear hug, squeezing until its ribs snapped and blood spurted out of its mouth.
No more hyenas attacked Stony, so he checked on his friends. Mia rebuffed one animal by breathing green gas into its face. She finished it off with a shotgun blast which destroyed its head.
Ace had already shot two more in the chest.
Kane was wrestling with the last hyena, and his hands were wrapped around its thick neck. The animal's flesh rotted as Stony watched, and the effect reminded him of time-lapse photography. Weeks of decay were occurring in seconds. The hyena finally twitched and died.
Stony stood up. "Is everybody OK?"
His teammates nodded. They were lucky this time.
"Whoa!" Kane pointed at one of the bodies.
Stony looked. The dead hyena was transforming into a beautiful woman with brown hair. She wore a thick iron collar, and he recognized her from the briefing in headquarters.
"One of Orcus's slaves," he said.
"A lycanthrope?" Mia said.
He pursed his lips. "I've never heard of a were-hyena, and lycans always stay in family groups. These other hyenas aren't changing. They're real animals. No. Something else is happening here." He glanced at the doorway. "We'll figure it out later. We have to move! Orcus might try to run."
Stony moved through the house. He walked quickly now and didn't bother with being quiet. The shotgun had announced their presence loudly enough for the neighbors to hear.
Every room had animals in cages, turning the house into an overcrowded zoo. The animals appeared healthy though, and most of the cages were clean. It seemed Orcus was a Satanist who loved his pets.
The team reached the front of the house where a staircase led to the second floor. The lights were off above. Stony peered into the darkness suspiciously. When he had approached the house earlier, the upstairs lights had been turned on.
He had night vision goggles, but he hated the way the light amplification technology made the world fuzzy and green. He just flipped a switch and turned on the stair lights instead. He was done being sneaky.
He padded up the stairs, looking and listening for any hint of danger. Mia, Kane, and Ace followed in line.
Something big and heavy landed on Stony's back. He reflexively hardened his skin in that area until it was as tough as iron. Big teeth clamped onto the back of his neck but failed to puncture the skin. An animal was trying to kill him. It had obviously pounced on him from a balcony over the staircase. The attack would've worked on anybody else.
Stony's three friends tried to help him, but the narrow staircase made that difficult. He twisted around and wrestled with the attacker until he managed to grab its head. It was a big cat, perhaps a panther or a female lion. He was about to crush its skull with his bare hands when he noticed the animal had human eyes. It was also wearing an iron collar.
Another slave-woman-animal-thing, he thought. We need to question it.
"Mia!" he said. "Give it a shot."
"Huh?" Mia said.
"Put this critter to sleep!"
She reached into her belly pouch and felt around.
In the meantime, the panther tried to slash Stony's gut with its powerful hind claws, but he ignored the futile attacks. His body armor could stop a bullet, and his skin could stop another bullet. The claws had no chance of penetrating.
But the constant squirming annoyed him. "Stop it!" he growled. "Settle down. I'm not sure what you are, but I do know I'm tougher and nastier than you. Want me to break your legs?"
The panther stopped. It understood.
Mia pulled out a plastic syringe with a short needle. She injected the panther in the shoulder.
"Go to sleep," Stony said. "When you wake up, you'll tell us everything."
After a moment, the panther relaxed and its eyes closed. Stony placed the animal on the stairs.
It transformed into a woman, and she was gorgeous! Long, red hair caught the soft light beautifully. Her total lack of clothes allowed him to see all her pale, flawless skin. The muscles stood out on her flat, little belly. Her hips formed perfect, feminine curves. Her iron collar was the only ugly thing about her.
Mia punched Stony in the shoulder.
"What was that for?" he said.
"Staring at a naked woman while I'm standing right here." She glared at him.
"Oh, sorry. Back to work."
Stony jogged up the stairs. He had wasted a lot of time with the panther-woman, and he felt the need to rush.
An upstairs hallway led to several rooms with closed doors. He hated closed doors. Very unpleasant surprises could be hiding behind them.
With his shotgun ready, Stony kicked open the first door. He discovered another scene of unspeakable horror.
A plastic enclosure held a huge colony of rats. Hundreds of little, furry animals were scampering across a labyrinth of wooden ramps, bridges, and tunnels. Chewed human body parts were scattered across the floor of the enclosure. Some poor victim had been butchered and fed to the rats.
Stony clenched his jaw and approached for a better look. The body parts were from an adult male.
"I think we found the missing priest," Stony said grimly.
Mia sighed angrily. "Orcus has a lot to answer for."
He heard dogs barking in the distance. They were outside the house. Gunshots followed.
Stony activated the radio in his helmet. "Field teams, report! This is Stony. What's going on out there?"
A woman responded, "Unknown, sir. The disturbance was on the east side of the operational area. We're sending agents to investigate."
"Tell me what you find."
"Yes, sir."
Stony looked at his teammates. "Let's finish this sweep fast."
They busted open the door of the next room and found it was a Satanic ceremonial chamber. Statues of Lucifer as a goat-god stood in the corners. Wax from black candles had melted onto a stone altar. A black, inverted crucifix hung from the ceiling. Stars were drawn on the walls in red paint. Glass jars contained colored liquids and powders.
Stony pressed his lips together. He was more familiar with the items than he liked to admit.
"Nobody is here!" he barked. "Keep moving!"
The next room contained four beds. A large, luxurious bed with an extra-thick mattress was clearly for Orcus. His three slaves slept on cheap cots with thin sheets. Floggers, gags, and leather hoods hung on the wall. Steel manacles were chained to a pole in the center of the room.
Stony still didn't see anybody. "Move," he ordered.
He discovered shelves full of books in the next room. He scanned the titles and found an odd mix of Satanist texts and textbooks for veterinarians. Orcus was passionate about evil and animals.
"Keep going!" he yelled. "Find Orcus!"
Stony went to the next door. With his shotgun ready, he kicked open the door.
A full-grown, male lion jumped at him. He pulled the trigger on his gun, but he didn't know if he hit anything. The lion knocked him down hard enough to stun him.
Stony heard thumps, more gunshots, and the lion roaring. His friends were fighting for their lives. He shook his head, pushed himself to his knees
, and looked around. The hallway was rolling like the deck of a ship in a storm.
The lion was sitting on Ace's back with its jaws around his head. Blood trickled from several bullet wounds in the lion's brown fur coat, but the animal didn't give up its prey. Stony fired his shotgun twice more, blasting the lion in the spine.
Mia tried to shove the lion off Ace, but she wasn't quite strong enough. Stony still felt dizzy, but he managed to get on his feet and help her. Together, they finally pushed the lion over. It roared softly and struggled to get back up, but its many wounds were too severe. Blood gushed onto the carpeted floor.
Ace was in even worse condition. The flattened shape of his ribcage indicated it was crushed. Blood oozed out of his mouth. The lion had also cracked open the back of Ace's skull with its teeth, exposing the pink brain underneath. As Stony watched, Ace stopped breathing.
"No!" Stony yelled. "God damn it!"
He kicked the dying lion in the testicles. It could only moan in response.
Stony settled down. There would be time for emotional outbursts and grieving after the mission was done.
He checked the rest of his team. Kane was sitting on the floor with his leg bent in the wrong place. The injury didn't look life-threatening, but he was certainly done for the night.
Mia seemed unhurt, which came as a great relief. Stony finally checked himself. He would have a few bruises in the morning, but he could continue the mission.
He looked into the room the lion had come from. A pile of raw steaks was beside a salad bowl full of water. Mounds of hay bedding provided a comfortable place for the lion to sleep.
The window was fully open. Stony was sure all the windows had been closed when he had circled the house earlier.
"Mia," he said. "Come on."
She was staring at Ace's corpse with a mournful expression.
"Mia!" Stony said. "Save your tears for later."
Mia nodded and sighed.
He grabbed her hand and pulled her into the room. They went straight to the open window, which provided a view onto the backyard. Two horses were tied to the fence.
The other two were gone.
"Fuck!" Stony yelled.
His radio came to life. A female voice reported, "We investigated the disturbance, sir. Two agents were attacked and killed east of the house. The perimeter was breached."
"Yeah. Looks like Orcus and one of the women got away on horseback. Mia and I will chase after them. I want the field teams to spread out and search the neighborhood. Be careful! Orcus is extremely dangerous. Keep the teams tight. Send the cleanup crew into the house, but watch for wild animals. Oh, and a girl is in a cage."
"Huh?"
Stony didn't have time to explain. He turned to Kane and said, "Don't move. Somebody will be along to patch you up."
Kane nodded with a clenched jaw.
Stony climbed out through the window and jumped down to the ground. Soft dirt absorbed the impact of his fall.
He waited for Mia to follow him. She looked particularly graceful as she landed with hardly a thump.
Stony ran over to one of the horses, thinking he might ride it even though it didn't have a saddle. When the animal bucked and whinnied fearfully, he decided to stay on his feet.
He and Mia ran east but soon encountered difficulty. Tangled weeds, vines, and bushes made every step a battle. Patches of soft, gooey mud grabbed his feet. The dark night forced him to use his night vision goggles, but the world was still a green maze. He ripped vines out of his way in frustration.
"Orcus probably knew the best way through this mess," Mia said.
"And we don't," Stony said bitterly. "We should've done more recon and figured out escape routes."
"The horses were the clue. Tough lesson learned."
He saw flashlights up ahead. The tone of the voices told him they were PEA agents, but he and Mia still approached cautiously.
Six agents dressed in police uniforms were standing around two bodies on the ground. The corpses had bite marks on their legs as if dogs had mauled them. Gunshots to the face had killed them though.
"What happened?" Stony said as he stepped out of the brush.
Six guns were suddenly pointed at him. When the agents saw his face, they lowered their weapons.
"Looks like dogs were used as a distraction, sir," one man said. "Then Orcus shot our guys. Frankly, we weren't prepared for dogs and horses."
Stony saw a dead Doberman pinscher in the mud, and hoof prints surrounded it.
He sighed. "Mia and I will keep searching for Orcus. At least we have tracks to follow now."
"You want us to come with you?" one agent asked.
"No. We'll go faster if it's just the two of us. Work with the other search teams. Try to cover the whole neighborhood."
Stony and Mia continued their journey through the brush. They followed the hoof prints in the moist dirt, but their progress was slow. Stony imagined his enemy getting further and further away, and he clenched his fists until his knuckles cracked. He pressed on regardless, unwilling to just give up.
"I feel terrible about Ace," Mia said softly.
"Yeah. I liked him. Good fighter. Fun guy."
"Veronica will be devastated. Poor woman."
"I know she was sleeping with Ace," Stony said, "but I thought it was just casual sex."
She gave him an exasperated look. "Typical comment from a myopic male. She loved him! She never stopped talking about him."
"Oh." His heart sank even more. "Should I try to console her?"
"Just let her be. I'll talk to her when we get back."
They came to a slow-moving, muddy stream. The hoof prints went straight into the water. Stony splashed across and looked all over the bank, but he couldn't find where the prints came out.
"They followed the water to cover their tracks. Smart."
"Which way?" Mia said. "Upstream or downstream?"
He looked in both directions but didn't see an obvious choice. "Towards civilization or away?"
"Orcus is aggressive. Towards."
Stony pointed downstream. "That way."
The brush was even thicker at the edge of the water. Stony and Mia had to walk down the middle of the stream to make decent progress. He hated the loud splashing noises, but he detested the cold, dirty water filling his boots even more.
After slogging a few hundred feet, they finally emerged into the light of streetlamps. Stony found himself in a neighborhood of small but nice homes. The nearest one had red brick walls and a palm tree in the front yard.
Movement drew his attention to the side of the house. Two horses were standing there, eating grass. An open garage door worried Stony. The garage was empty, but oil stains on the floor showed a car normally parked there.
"Shit," he growled.
He readied his shotgun and jogged to the open garage. Mia followed close behind.
The inner door was open, and lights were on inside the house. It didn't take long to search the tiny home. They found the bodies of an old man and woman lying in bed with their throats cut. Blood had soaked a hand-quilted comforter. Stony didn't see any evidence that the victims had even put up a fight.
"At least they died together," Mia said wistfully.
Stony snarled. "They didn't need to die at all. Orcus just wanted their damn car!" He activated his radio. "This is Stony. We found two more murder victims. Orcus and the third woman are probably fleeing in a stolen car. We are unable to continue the pursuit."
"Can you describe the car?" an agent replied through the radio.
"Unfortunately, no, but the DMV can tell us what car is registered to this address."
"And what is the address?"
Stony gritted his teeth. "I'll figure that out. As soon as I do, send a forensic team over here. Orcus might've left some useful evidence behind."
"Yes, sir. The director wants you to return to the house ASAP. He said you're not dressed appropriately for public appearances."
He looked at Mi
a. Weapons decorated her body like Christmas tree ornaments, and few of them were legal for civilians to own. The black body armor and other military gear made her look like she had just come from a Special Operations assignment.
"Roger that," Stony said unenthusiastically.
He sighed. He and Mia would have to go back using the stream to avoid being seen. He wasn't looking forward to another hike through cold mud.
Chapter Three
By the time Stony and Mia returned to the house, the "scrub" operation was in full swing. Police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances filled the street completely, but Stony knew they were really from the PEA. Flashing red, blue, and yellow lights lit up the night. Agents dressed as evidence technicians streamed in and out of the house. They were carrying plastic bags and cardboard boxes full of evidence. All the material was going into the refrigerated trailer of a semi truck.
The standard procedure was to pack up and remove any evidence that looked the least bit interesting as quickly as possible. The PEA would burn the rest including the house itself. By morning, nothing but bricks and ashes would remain.
Standard procedure didn't account for hundreds of live animals though. The solution wasn't obvious. If Orcus had evil powers, that bad magic could've contaminated his pets. Simply giving them to some kind of animal rescue wasn't safe. On the other hand, killing all those innocent creatures seemed cruel. Stony shrugged. He was glad it wasn't his problem.
He and Mia slowly made their way around to the front of the house. They kept their hands away from their weapons. It was possible a few real police officers had slipped into the crowd of agents pretending to be cops. Mistakes happened in chaotic situations. Stony and Mia needed to appear peaceful just to be safe.
At least they didn't have to worry about nosy neighbors. By now, the PEA had cleared out all the surrounding homes. The residents would be told a story about a gas leak or something.
Stony spotted the little girl. The agents had removed her from her filthy cage and had wrapped her in a blanket. She was crying loudly as tears and snot dripped down her face. A woman in a police uniform was trying to comfort the poor thing.