Jebediah's Crime: A Heroic Supernatural Thriller (The Hinge Series Book 1)

by Vincent Phan Tran

  Suddenly, a pair of black boots slammed down on top the table, almost snapping it in half. The crowd followed the boots up to a graying, grim-looking killer dressed in body armor and dangling two guns at his side. One of the guardsmen started to step away, asking "Who the hell—"

  Jebediah fired his gun without looking. The soldier pitched to the floor with a bullet to the brain.

  "Quiet," Jebediah said.

  The room froze. The bounty hunter spoke without emotion or inflection, and it made him all the more menacing. His voice rose to the rafters and balconies overlooking the guardsmen's barracks.

  "You know me?" Jebediah asked them.

  No one answered. Then Mathe, still sitting at the table, nodded his head.

  "Who am I?" he asked.

  "Jebediah Creek," Mathe replied. The room shifted ever so slightly at the name.

  "You're here because you're soldiers," said Jebediah. "You fight because that's what you were hired to do. You've all heard of me, you know what I've done."

  He paused and looked around the room, and to the men it felt as if he was looking into their souls. "You were hired to fight. But are you willing to die?"

  "You think you can take us all? One man alone?" a guardsman spat.

  Jebediah pointed wordlessly to the balcony behind him. Raja walked into view, drew both his blades, and stepped up to balance himself on the balcony railing. He crossed both knives in front and glared down at the room. He looked like a black-clad angel of death.

  "Who said I was alone?" Jebediah asked.

  For a moment, the tension hung thick in the air. Indecision balanced on the head of a pin; the men in the room were scared, but were also some of the best soldiers in the Caliber. And even though they were unarmed, they had a huge advantage in numbers.

  "W-wait!" Mathe was as surprised as anyone to hear himself speaking. He cleared his throat, then looked up to Raja.

  "Your mother was good to me. She was good to all of us. She visited us to make sure we were okay. She even brought us food."

  Mathe paused to lick his lips. "I had to pick your mother off a floor after watching a monster destroy her soul. They made a few of us bury her afterwards."

  Raja remained silent, but the sense of menace darkened around him like a cloak.

  "I know what you want to do here, and I won't help you. But, I won't try to stop you, either," said Mathe.

  The guardsman looked at the men around him, then he held up his hands, slowly stood, and began to back away to the door leading outside. Others joined him, nodding respect to Raja on the balcony and casting fearful glances at Jebediah. About half the guardsmen departed.

  One of the guards that stayed, a tall, hulking man with a dark bushy beard, glared at the two armed men.

  "Fuck it," he said. "There's only two of them. Lord Dipak will love us when we bring him their heads." He launched himself at Jebediah, and the rest of the soldiers rushed to join him.

  Jebediah's gun's boomed in the room. He fired again and again, striking man after man from atop the table. Their still-moving bodies fell dead to the floor. But the men of House Rakash had courage and they ran on. The lead reached the table, latched his hands to its edge, and with a heave tipped it over. Jebediah leapt to hurdle the falling table, then dropped to the ground with both guns pointed out.

  The men charged at the bounty hunter, but stopped when a scream came from overhead. Raja leapt from the balcony and fell like a bolt of lightning into the crew. He speared the first man with such force the unfortunate soldier was pinned flat to the ground, then pushed himself into a back flip. His hands flew wide and knives flung from his bandolier, exploding to strike left and right. Men screamed when the blades pierced their face and body.

  Raja's somersault landed him next to Jebediah.

  The gunman gave him a side look and racked fresh magazines into his pistols. Raja dropped back into a fighting stance and with a smile, flipped his hands in a come-get-me gesture. The remaining soldiers rushed forward with a roar.

  Jebediah shot a man in the face then dodged to avoid a wild blow from another. He came up behind his attacker and shot him in the back. Then a huge arm crashed down on him and knocked one of his guns from his hand.

  Jebediah spun to his back and dropped close to the ground, his leg sweeping out to strike his attacker's leg. The soldier tripped and fell. On the ground himself, the bounty hunter brought his other gun over, sighted, and shot the prone guardsman through the ear. He looked up in time to see a soldier with a ferocious expression swing a metal bat directly at his head. It was moving far too fast, and there was no way to avoid the blow.

  The bat rang to a stop less than an inch from his face, ringing against Raja's outstretched hook blade. The knifeman punched his other hand forward and stabbed the guard's neck.

  Jebediah came to his feet and with a boom dropped a man running up behind Raja. The two fighters went back to back and the chaos of the fight stormed around them. Gunfire, fist and blade blended together, and the two fighter's blood mixed with pouring sweat. The duo took strike after strike from the soldiers while paying them back in turn. They stood and fought and defended each other until, finally, the sound of violence and screams died away, leaving only Raja and Jebediah's ragged breathing.

  The two stared at the mass of dead bodies around them. Acrid gun smoke drifted through the air.

  "Good thing you showed up when you did," said Jebediah to Raja. "Are they ready?"

  "Yes," nodded Raja. "They were heavy. Took longer than I thought to place them."

  A roar echoed through the hallways, and both men looked at each other.

  "There's your sister," said Jebediah.

  "We'd best hurry," Raja replied.

  Both men ran out of the room with the sound of a raging dragon ringing in their ears.

  A wide, luxurious hallway let both men race shoulder to shoulder, their feet almost springing up from the deep red carpet blanketing the ground while the exposed stone on the side sped past them. They came to a halt at an intersection and spun to look behind them.

  The other end of the hallway was darkened. Two red eyes peered at the men through the gloom, and fire licked out with just enough light to illuminate a horned face from hell.

  Shira Rakash folded her wings tight against her back, then sprinted like some monstrous beast down the hallway at them. Jebediah swung his shotgun from behind his back and fired. The twelve-gauge launched a flash bang. The exotic ammunition lit the hallway with an explosion of light and sound, momentarily blinding the oncoming beast. She roared a scream of fury.

  "That way." Raja jabbed a finger down the left hallway. "The two doors on your right. They're huge, you can't miss them."

  "You sure you can do this?" Jebediah asked.

  Raja nodded, then ran away, down the other hallway and to the bedroom wing of the mansion.

  Jebediah turned and fired his shotgun again. A normal slug shot out but bounced off the armor of the beast.

  She glared at him, then charged, gouging great rents in the floor. She exhaled a great jet of liquid fire directly at him.

  The bounty hunter flung himself into a roll down the hallway. The fire blast barely missed him and singed his clothes. He came to his feet and sped to the two huge doors. He shoved them open and hurled himself in.

  He found himself staring at a garage. The Rakash's expensive automobiles were parked in an angled pattern down the length of the gray cement floor. Mobile vacuums and car wax trolleys were scattered about. The garage even had its own fully stocked repair shop sitting next to what the bounty hunter had been seeking.

  A large fueling station.

  Jebediah ran forward and threw himself behind one of the gas pumps just in time to hear the doors crash open from Shira's entrance. He stayed hidden behind the pump. Shira couldn't use her fire weapon without igniting the tank and killing herself.

  The plan the two men had thought up was fairly straightforward. They'd raise enough of a commotion in the soldier'
s barracks to force Shira to project her bestial form. Jebediah would draw her into the garage where the fuel tanks would limit her fire breath and the lower ceilings would keep her from flying.

  And while Jebediah kept Shira busy, Raja would reach the bedrooms and dispatch his sister's prone form. The plan was simple, and didn't really leave much that could go wrong.

  "Hey there Jeb," said Raja.

  He spun and stared open mouthed at the other man. Raja was crouched behind a fuel pump.

  "Wha-what the hell?" Jebediah sputtered.

  "I didn't make it too far. Got in here through a back door."

  "What happened?" the bounty hunter hissed.

  "Quit being mad," whispered Raja back.

  "I'm not mad!"

  "Well, you sound mad so quit it."

  "You just surprised me, Raja."

  "You could talk a little nicer to me."

  Jebediah took a deep breath. "Do you mind, please, telling me what happened?" he asked through clenched teeth.

  "Her fire blast knocked down a wall, and it blocked my way. It would've taken too long to dig out and there wasn't another way around. So, I figured you could use some help."

  "Help with what? Her? She's a goddamn dragon! We can't beat that thing."

  "But I left those things you told me to get in here," said Raja.

  "Those will slow her down, not stop her."

  "Well, you know what—" Raja jabbed a finger. "—forgive me for thinking you might want me here."

  "Oh, for gods sake. I didn't mean it like that."

  "Sure sounded like you did."

  A roar followed by the sound of a car being knocked on its side interrupted them. Then a sibilant voice, like the slithering of snakes, filled the room.

  "Jebediah," said Shira. "If you wanted my attention, all you had to do was ask. We could've done things a lot more fun than fight."

  "In your dreams, whore," Jebediah threw back, listening to her creep around the garage.

  "No darling, in your nightmares. I don't suppose my brother is with you?"

  Raja looked at Jebediah, then shrugged his shoulders.

  "This can end now, Shira," announced Raja. "Help us. We'll stop Father together."

  "Why in hell would I help you? Father is going to leave the empire to me. This is all going to be mine. The only one that could've ruined that is you. But you had to go rogue on us, on your own family …"

  "He killed our mother. Don't you even care?" Raja yelled.

  A moment of silence. "I care that he waited so long to do it," she finally answered.

  Raja stood and with a snarl flung blades from his bandolier at her eyes. Most bounced off the hard scales, but two stuck on her face. They jutted outwards like pins in a cushion.

  Shira raised an eyebrow. "Really? You're gonna throw knives at me?"

  "Not just knives," said Jebediah to Shira from the far side of the room, where he'd crept while she was speaking to Raja. He brought up one of the short metal tubes left by Raja in the garage and swung it on to his shoulder.

  "You killed Mei," he said, then pulled the trigger on the M72 LAW rocket launcher. The anti-tank missile launched from its tube with a cloud of smoke and fire. It twirled through the air and slammed into Shira's side, the explosion rocking her back.

  "Kill you!" she screamed. Her tail grabbed up a car and hurled it toward the gunman. Jebediah dropped the one-shot weapon and went to his knees. The car flipped over top of him and crashed into the nearby wall. He ran, slid under a red SUV, and crawled to the other side. He spotted another LAW in the corner and lunged forward to grab it.

  Behind him, Raja was hurling knives at Shira's face while dodging and leaping like a madman to avoid her claws. The blades couldn't hurt her, but Shira kept closing her eyes out of reflex. It gave Jebediah a chance to line up another shot.

  Scorch marks and shimmering, golden blood leaked from where the first rocket had impacted.

  "Maybe we can hurt you," Jebediah said, then pulled the trigger. The rocket leapt forward and struck the crimara's hindquarters. The impact flipped the beast completely over on its back, and it screamed fire up into the ceiling. The superheated blast knocked rafters down. The men rushed out of the way and found themselves standing next to each other.

  Shira came to her feet, limping and with blood dripping out of her mouth. But she was still alive, and naked hatred shone from her face.

  It was then the two men realized they'd let themselves get too far from the fuel pumps. They were no longer protected from her flames.

  Jebediah tried to run for another LAW stashed under a black sports car, but a jet of flame ripped out and blocked his way. Raja tried to move in the opposite direction but another shot of fire stopped him in his tracks.

  "No more," seethed Shira. "No more running. No more stupid guns. Now, you burn!"

  Jebediah and Raja heard their death in those words. They threw up their hands in a futile attempt to protect themselves. Shira unleashed a stream, and it covered both men in a hellish mound of molten flame.

  But they did not burn.

  They felt the heat, but it was muted like a fireplace. Both men opened their eyes and saw themselves surrounded by a green, glowing sphere. The fire still raging around them as Shira exhaled a seemingly endless gout of flame.

  But whatever created the protective shield was weakening. They both felt the heat grow hotter and hotter.

  Then a voice whispered in Jebediah's ear. It said, "Flying man."

  Memories were dragged to the surface of his mind: Old Hobb rising to the skies, Jebediah picking through what remained of Hobb's belongings, and finding a green, pulsing gem stashed away in an old bag. Then him slipping the gem into his own pocket for no reason other than idle curiosity.

  Now, Jebediah reached into his pocket and pulled out the gem. He looked over at Raja. The knifeman was nodding like someone was whispering to him, too.

  Shira's fire blast was finally expended. It was just in time. The green shield, apparently drained, winked out of existence.

  Shira was confused. She'd expected to hear screams of pain, but instead, was staring at both men, alive and unburned. She inhaled another breath in preparation to finish them.

  Time slowed. Jebediah flung the pulsing gem directly at Shira's open mouth. Raja jerked his straight blade from his hip and hurled it, aiming for the gem. Shira started to launch her flame. The fire and Raja's knife struck the gem at the exact same moment, and a gigantic explosion of green energy erupted outward. It knocked both men to the ground.

  Green energy spread like acid across Shira's bestial form, eating away and consuming her. With a final howl of pain, she burned out of existence, leaving in her place a smoking hole.

  Both men came to their feet and stared.

  "Who was it? Who told us what to do?" Raja asked.

  Jebediah stood silent. When he finally spoke, his voice was filled with emotion.

  "I think I know."

  Raja looked at him for a moment, still not understanding what had happened, but knowing it wasn't the time to ask.

  "Let's find Dipak," said Jebediah.

  Raja nodded and both men made their way out of the garage.

  They stood for a moment staring at Dipak's empty bedroom. They'd walked the long way around the mansion, through the throne room and other areas. When they'd passed Shira's bedroom, the blackened corpse on her couch was unrecognizable.

  Dipak's bedroom was the last place to look. A few personal items had been taken, but there was no sign of Dipak himself. The Lord of House Rakash had sent his daughter out to die, then escaped during the fight.

  "No. No, godammit," Raja cursed. "I was supposed to stop him. I was supposed to end him."

  "The Caliber's turned their back on him," said Jebediah. "All he can do is run and hide."

  Raja looked around him.

  "They'll take everything from the House," replied Raja. "All the wealth in the accounts, everything. They're vultures like that."

 
"Do you care?"

  Raja thought quietly.

  "No, I really don't," he replied.

  The two walked away from the ruins of House Rakash and never returned.

  Chapter 26

  Jebediah Creek made his way back to the hospital. Dr. Gaal and Sugar greeted him at the front door. The doctor stood mute, and the dog came over and pressed himself against Jebediah's leg as if to comfort.

  Jebediah looked around, then, in a dead voice, asked "What happened?"

  "David manifested," she wept. "He Flashed, just like we thought he would. A glow surrounded him, and he floated over his bed. Then it was like a firebolt exploded all over him. And when it was gone, so was he. It's like it took him away."

  She took a shaky step forward as if to hug Jebediah. But he backed away.

  "I'm so sorry, oh my god, I'm so sorry." She put her hands over her face and wept inconsolable tears.

  Jebediah walked past her on wooden legs to his son's room. He stepped quietly inside, but there was no one there. He pressed his hand on the empty, crumpled sheets, still warm from his son's body, then sat down on the bed. A moment later, the nurses and doctors outside the room ran from what sounded like an animal gone mad.

  Jebediah finally staggered from the room. Dr. Gaal tried to stop him but he thrust her away.

  The doctor walked into David's room. She saw what Jebediah had taken, and crumpled to the ground with grief.

  Epilogue

  Ara and Magda left the island on a chartered ship with Mei's hidden away wealth. They headed for parts unknown, intent to forever leave the Hinge behind them.

  Raja Rakash, penniless and unwilling to join another House in the Caliber, eventually made his way to the Warren. He was as surprised as anyone when he was invited to join the Scrounge. He accepted, and went on to become one of their most storied members.

  The bounty hunter, Jebediah Creek, returned to the snowy territory of the Leaves, close to where he'd protected the birthing mother from her Rain-addicted son. He walked into the woods, laid a small fire, and sat on the ground.