The Shikari Box Set

by Dora Blume

  “It does leave some very big questions which need to be answered by our fearless leaders. I wonder how it is that they’re supposed to know everything, yet they seem to know very little and are becoming obsolete. Under the current crisis, Bryant says they aren’t helping. What good are they if they aren’t going to aid in something this big?” Sloane thought they were obsolete most of the time but they were proving to be even more useless than she’d previously thought.

  “I can’t imagine what they’re dealing with if they have bigger issues than this one. I’m sorry but this seems pretty damn big to me.” Erik stared out the window a minute, then sat up straight. “I think she’s leaving.” He waited to confirm what he’d heard. The woman finished talking to her right-hand man and was packing up her things. He was surprised she’d go home; she wouldn’t need to sleep if she didn’t want to. Maybe she was keeping up appearances.

  “Where to?” Sloane was sitting upright again prepared to drive.

  “I’m not sure yet, hold on,” he listened intently.

  “Well she’s not going alone, so we can’t grab her now.” Erik looked at Sloane devilishly. He knew that’s what she was hoping for.

  “Okay, be serious, where’s she going?” Sloane began drumming her fingers on the wheel. She sat bolt upright ready to move at a moment’s notice.

  “She’s headed home, like a good professor, apparently keeping up appearances is important to her. Too bad that her right-hand lives with her. She’s quite cunning. She possessed the woman and had another possess her husband. Keeps her from having to keep up appearances at home and they have a reason to always be talking to each other. This is not your average demon. She’s got plotting down to a science and her mind is very skilled at making future connections. I’m impressed. I think Darwin has hit the demon population with this crew.” Erik knew he was being sarcastic but Sloane would appreciate it.

  “Okay… they live together, any chance we can take them both at home?” Sloane wanted a strategy. It didn’t bother her to take on both. She’d done it before.

  “Well let’s see, they’re headed to the parking garage. I’ll let you know when to pull out so we can follow them.” Erik liked the prospect of knowing where they lived. It’d be much easier to abduct them away from their demon infested school.

  “Okay go, they’re in the pearl Chevy Equinox, it’s new, you shouldn’t miss it. They’re the only ones leaving.”

  Sloane inched out of the parking spot. She didn’t want to be noticed. Seeing where they lived would be beneficial. She tapped her fingers on the wheel, sitting upright, her back as straight as a board, eyes darting around taking in every detail. The wait for them to exit was excruciatingly slow. Sloane fidgeted in her seat.

  “They’re at the pay booth now; she’s going to turn right.” He continued to follow her thoughts. It was convenient she was driving.

  Erik continued to give directions as Sloane drove unnoticed behind them. They turned into a driveway in St. Paul only a few blocks from the Como Zoo. The large, brown house had two peaked roofs. The picturesque windows were accented with dark brown trim. It seemed like the perfect house for two college professors.

  “Wow, they picked a nice neighborhood to live in.” Sloane drove down about a half a block and parked between the cars that lined the street.

  “The professors lived here before, they didn’t exactly pick it.” Erik listened as the couple walked into the house. “Wow, they seem so normal, considering they’re possessed by demons.”

  “Do they have any kids? Children could be the reason they’re keeping up appearances.” Sloane turned in the seat to examine the exterior of the house. She didn’t see any toys or evidence of kids living at the house.

  “Nope, not a one. They even have separate bedrooms within the house. Based on her thoughts the couple has lived this way for years, so it’s comfortable to them. They continued living the couple’s lives. They thrived on routine and having their own space.” Erik paused, “Huh?” Erik couldn’t fathom their reason for continuing living as the couple. The demons weren’t trying to keep up appearances at all they were doing what felt right. He didn’t realize the human host had so much influence over the demons. It was interesting to listen to the minds of these two.

  “So, they’re just living like this because the people they possessed used to live this way? That’s kinda weird.”

  “Yep, they're mimicking the lives of the people they possessed. It’s quite interesting. I can’t understand why they’d keep living the same way if they don’t have to. They’re making dinner right now, like they have every night for the last twenty years. They have no reason other than it feels completely natural to do so.” Erik shook his head he couldn’t completely understand the dynamic at play here. It didn’t make any sense to him.

  “So, can we use that against them?” Sloane started to contemplate. It’d be great if we knew their routine. Taking them would be a breeze.

  “Of course, you’d go there, I’m sure there’s a way we can use this information against them. If they continue to live the lives of the couple, they’ll be predictable. The couple they’ve possessed are pretty predictable people. They have the rest of the night down to a science. They eat dinner, watch television, he’ll read a book and then after the ten o’clock news they’ll give each other a kiss and retire to their beds. There’s nothing surprising in their lives. They won’t even talk about their plans at home. Work is never discussed at home; it’s taboo to the couple. Valuable intel for us, except the fact that we won’t get anything out of them while they’re here as to what the plan is to destroy the Shikari.” Erik threw in that last piece to get a rise out of Sloane.

  She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and smirked. “So… what you’re saying is that we should grab them now.” She lifted an eyebrow in anticipation. “They wouldn’t expect it. We could take the couple back and have fun torturing them for the rest of the night. I’m totally up for that kind of action.” She clasped her hands as if in prayer and pleaded jutting out her bottom lip, “Pretty please, Erik.”

  Erik rolled his eyes at Sloane’s plea. “God, you’re insufferable. We can’t do that. How exactly are we going in there and taking them with us? It’s just the two of us and we have nothing in here to sedate them. How in the hell would we get to the car without the entire neighborhood seeing? Use your head Sloane.” By the time he was done talking she’d turned to the side giving him her full attention. She looked as though she was appeasing a child in their tantrum. Erik took one look at her and threw up his hands. “No, Sloane, no.”

  “Oh, little brother, always the voice of reason. Why can’t you join the dark side for once and go with me? Why do we need a plan? Why can’t we just bust in there and hit them over the head with something and shove them in the trunk? There, plan made, let’s go.” Sloane went for the handle on the door. Erik reached his hand over to stop her.

  “No, not going to happen, Sloane.” Speaking with irritation in his tone. “I know this is how you operate but it’s not going to be how we operate, got it.” He removed his restraining hand and gave her a hard look.

  “Fine, you know, you suck all the fun out of life.” She sulked, crossing her arms over her chest, and slumping lower in the seat. She began again, her voice thick with sarcasm. “So… what are we going to do, sit here while the lovely couple has dinner?”

  “No, we can go back to the pub and make a plan with Mike. These two won’t be leaving tonight.” He watched Sloane a moment before she finally nodded in agreement. He blew out the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. If she jumped out of the car, he’d be forced to follow.

  Sloane started the car and pulled out. “I still don’t understand why we can’t just go in now. Why wait?”

  “What, is this a Snicker’s commercial? Um… how about because we could die? That’s a good enough reason for me.” Erik lit a cigarette and took a long drag. He loved Sloane because she was his sister but she could be reckles
s and uncaring at the worst possible times.

  “Fine, can we go tell Mike and then come back, I really want to torture that bitch.” Sloane rubbed her hands together quickly then they were back on the wheel.

  “So… insert villainous laugh here.” He shook his head at her. He noticed her eyes were wide, and she kept swiping her thumbs over the steering wheel. “Wow, you’re set on this. Sloane we really need some kind of plan first.” Erik rolled his eyes at her when her posture didn’t change, she was still ready to go. She hadn’t seemed all that interested in demons for the years she was gone. Suddenly, she’s back and ready to torture. He shook his head; his sister’s moods gave him whiplash. Erik couldn’t figure out what the hell he’d done to deserve to be abandoned by her. They were both just kids when their mom died. Erik chose to stay, chose to live this life, she didn’t. He was angry because he’d been worried about her. She could have contacted him to let him know she was okay. She never once tried and that hurt.

  He wanted to tell her, but he wasn’t sure how she’d take it. She was so focused on taking out the demons, she wasn’t thinking about anything else. They’d only just begun to talk about her abandonment. The pain he felt burned, and he wanted nothing more than to hash this out right now. Before Erik even realized it, Sloane was pulling up to the pub, and he’d lost his chance to tell her how he felt. This was eating away at him. He wanted to tell her but at the same time he needed to put it behind him and deal with the demons. Maybe when this was all over, they could work out their own family issues. They sure had enough of them for a lifetime.

  Sloane jumped out of the car and headed in. It took Erik a minute to get out of the car and join her. Mike was at the bar, “You closing this place down until the craziness is over?” It wasn’t like Mike to shut down the bar for anything but the closed sign was flipped in front.

  “Aye, I figured it’d be best to not have a bunch of hooligans in here while we’re figuring out this mess. Can’t have your normal folks over hearin’ us now can we love?” Mike winked at her. She knew he was only raised by Irish parents but she loved when he slipped into his brogue. She found it incredibly sexy to hear.

  “Well I have an excellent idea that will have you slinging drinks in no time.” Sloane raised both eyebrows twice and bit her lip. She knew she had an advantage over Erik when it came to Mike but it couldn’t hurt to be a tiny bit suggestive toward him.

  “Oh yeah, love,” his voice rose, intrigued. “What would that be?” Mike’s eyebrow rose as his eyes swept up her entire body. Every time she bit her lip it made him want to replace her teeth with his own.

  Sloane smiled, knowingly. “We go back to the house where Erik and I just left the two in charge and take them back to our father’s house to torture them. It sounds perfect right?” Her voice shot up in anticipation. She sat forward on a stool and rubbed her hands together eager. She looked up at Mike through her lashes.

  “Um… I know I’m going to regret saying this love, but if it were that easy you and Erik would’ve done it while you were there. Neither of you are the type to drag things out. My bet, Erik saved your lives by convincing you to come here.” Mike glanced to the door as Erik walked in. Erik looked pale and drawn as he slumped in the seat next to Sloane.

  “So, sounds like it’s a good thing you went with her. She’d take on the world if you’d let her.” Mike joked with Erik, he seemed to need the uplift. His eyes drifted back to Sloane, which was becoming a habit of his when she was around.

  “That ain’t no shit. She tell you she wants to go back there so she can torture them? She’ll get us all killed with her recklessness.” Erik sighed.

  “What do you think? Should we be heading back to the house?” Mike knew Erik would have the best handle on the situation since he heard their thoughts firsthand.

  He looked over to Sloane then sighed, “I have to admit it could be a good idea. It’s when they’re the most vulnerable. At the college, there are too many of them around but at home they’re vulnerable. They were completely oblivious to us being onto them. They think they’re untouchable which is good for us. People are always easier to take down when they think they can’t be.” Erik looked to Mike, waiting for his response.

  “Do you think that taking them now would avert their plan?” Mike was being critical, he wasn’t sure if this would help them. They’d still have the problem of the possessed people here and who says someone wouldn’t just step up when the demons are dead.

  “It’s a damn good start. If we grab them we can find out what they know.” Sloane was elated at the possibility. She sat up straight and drummed her fingertips on the bar.

  “You’re assuming they’ll tell us anything. We risk tipping our hand if they get away.” Erik was trying to think through every detail before acting. They needed to have a well thought out plan. Sloane was always too quick to jump into things. She rarely thought about the consequences of her actions.

  “Alright, so lots of things to think through.” Mike tried to be the peacemaker, he focused on Sloane. “Can you see what might happen if we take them? It’d be nice to have a glimpse into our future before we rush things.” Mike’s voice was gentle and soothing, he knew confrontation would never work with Sloane.

  Sloane rolled her eyes, “Ugh… fine I’ll see what I can do." She walked over to sit in a booth. She pulled both legs up into her chest and leaned against the wall. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the future and the woman from her vision. She wanted to be right. Taking them now was a good thing but she couldn’t let that influence her power. She needed to see what would happen. She tried to quiet her mind to see. She waited. Nothing came. She huffed and opened her eyes and looked at the two staring at her in anticipation. “Quit! if you keep bearing into my soul like that, I’ll never see anything.” She glared at Erik and Mike.

  They quickly turned away. Erik motioned to the beer cooler. “Hey, can I get a beer?”

  Mike bent and grabbed two from the cooler and popped the tops. They lounged back trying not to look at Sloane. It was hard not to since they were waiting on her for answers to the future.

  Sloane tried to concentrate again, connect to herself and her power. After a few moments she saw a flash, the couple were entering the school building together, then it was gone. What the hell Sloane thought. That’s all she gets. Apparently, they don’t take them tonight because they go back tomorrow. Sloane was getting frustrated. She thought her power was back but apparently when she needed the information she was lost. She got up and went to the bar, “Get me one of those, would ya.” She sat on the stool while Erik watched her intently.

  “So...” Erik waited.

  “Well I saw them go to work tomorrow so apparently we don’t take them tonight.” She took the beer from Mike and took a good swallow before she looked at Erik.

  “Oh,” he said. He was expecting more than that from her but apparently, she wasn’t going to give up any more information.

  “This is such bullshit. I think we should just go take them now while we have the chance. I mean they’re just sitting at their house without anyone else around. If they go to the school tomorrow, they could be having that meeting and then we’re fucked because that meeting will be the end of us. That’s why I saw it, to stop it from happening and you two are stopping me.” She took another long drink.

  “Well love, if you saw them going to work as usual maybe that means the meeting won’t be tomorrow. We still have time.” Mike patted her arm but Sloane scowled at him.

  “No, it doesn’t work like that. I have no idea when that meeting was. It could be tomorrow and we have a chance right now to stop it.” She was frustrated. She wanted this over, wanted to go back to her normal life even though this was exciting. Her life hadn’t been this exciting, but at the same time she wanted the option to go back. There had to be a reason to be back now though. Demons being able to weaken them and take their power. If she hadn’t returned, it’d be one hell of a surprise when they succeeded.

/>   “So, what if you saw the couple going back to work as usual maybe they weren’t demons? You said you don’t know exactly how your power works. What if you got a happily ever after vision?” Mike asked.

  Sloane scoffed at that. “Really? You’re suggesting everything turns out happy. Have you been sleeping through your entire life? It never works out that way. Life only gets messier and awful, there are some glimpses of light and goodness but they’re few and far between. In this life, I’d bet on the couple continuing their reign of destruction rather than any happily ever after. What, did you get high today or something?”

  Mike eyed Sloane, “No. Maybe I still believe in love, despite your best efforts.” He clenched his hand into a fist.

  Sloane shook her head at him. “Really, with all this shit going on you went and got, high, didn’t you? How are you supposed to fight stoned?”

  “Love, as you should well remember I do everything better stoned.” He winked at her.

  Erik laughed at him. “Nice, got any left?”

  “Seriously, am I the only one here actually concerned that shit’s getting crazy?” Sloane threw her hands up in the air and began pacing the room. Erik and Mike both shrugged and said, “What?”

  “No, you’re not getting high right now. Since I’m the only sane one here, we’re going to go grab the couple to obtain the information we need.” Sloane looked to the two for argument.

  “That’s debatable,” Erik said and smiled crookedly. “You’re hardly sane.”

  She stopped pacing and put her hand on her hip. “Oh my God, you two are ridiculous. I can’t even be here with you right now. So, are we doing this shit or what? Cause if not I’m going to find some fun tonight.” She looked pointedly at Mike. “You two are worthless, really worthless.” She began pacing again and shaking her head.

  “Hey, you wouldn’t know anything about this couple if it wasn’t for me. Don’t forget that sis.” Erik put as much venom as he could on the word sis. He glared at Sloane, a challenge.