“You gave me pretty big bread crumbs to follow my friend and they checked out. I ran the plate through the DMV. It’s a used car recently registered to a Shedu Kalan. He’s from India by way of Japan as far as I could trace with the passport. As long as he didn’t have a forger create it, the info should be real enough.
“I even managed to find an address. He rented out a place near the middle part of the city. I could see about staking it out myself, but I thought maybe you and yours might want first shot at them. If I list them as persons of interest in the robberies we started this up as, we might spook them to go underground.
“Based off their appearance from the video, my guess is that they’re very good at hiding their tracks,” the detective stated without saying aloud why their appearance mattered. Though no one should have followed either of them or be listening to their conversation, it was still best to stick to the more mundane facts.
With a nod to the man, Nick agreed. “Their kind usually is. Just like the ones I’ve known for a long time.”
The dark skinned man sat back as the waitress returned. Nick had replaced the pictures of the two men sitting in the front seat of their CR-V only keeping the address out before sliding the envelope to the side out of reach of possible accidental spills. After the woman had deposited the coffee and burger for Fred and a plate of chicken fingers for the voran, the detective leaned in and said, “You haven’t changed a bit since we met. Just how long have you known some of these people for anyway?”
“It feels like a hundred years for my oldest acquaintances,” the voran replied understanding that no one would believe that he meant it more than metaphorically. No one who looked as young as Nick and his vampires would be believed to be over a century old after all. No one lived that long without wrinkling up at the very least. “Not everyone has been around as long of course, but my oldest friends date back a long way,” Nick stated with a smile.
Leaving the idea of people over a hundred years old to gestate in his mind; Fred countered, “It must be hard to keep the time secret. How have they kept out of the headlines with their particular habits?”
“They move a lot. Papers can be faked or bought and nowadays computers are easy enough to adjust or have certain people plant what is needed,” Nick said quietly. “They do what they need to for survival just like we all do.”
Chuckling, the man shook his head and replied, “Maybe I shouldn’t ask. The odds are I wouldn’t want to know some of the details of what’s been done.”
“I’m sure some of it would have a statute of limitations based on age,” Nick smiled in amusement. Cold cases could be opened, but more basic files of birth and the things they needed to hide their existence would only be searched by someone checking on them specifically. Getting doctors to make certificates of birth to help them wasn’t very hard for creatures that could glamour humans into doing what they needed after all. A desperate enough vampire would even dare the sun, usually during winter, to create what was needed where they needed it.
Nodding though with less mirth than his friend, Fred changed the subject saying, “I can look into those silver thefts you mentioned on the phone, but they’re not in my district so it’s a little trickier. There was also something else you might want to check. A set of smoke grenades leaving traces of silver nitrate in an alleyway created a big disturbance Friday night.
“I was able to get some of the details since a friend of mine was running the crime scene. Blood was found in several places. It was labeled feline blood from at least two species, but they couldn’t be identified. So far they are labeling it as a dirtied crime scene making it hard to decipher that part. They also found a strange dust pattern, but he wouldn’t go into that since the cat part had made him more curious.”
Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, Nick thought to himself instead of aloud for fear of anyone hearing. Feline blood might be nothing, but it was unclassified because of the possible contamination. If they were human cat hybrids, then science was unlikely to be able to identify the breeds of the unique creatures.
“I wonder if our trio ran into trouble,” was all Nick would consider aloud. “If they were playing vigilante, maybe a rival gang caught them.”
Understanding the voran’s play on words, the detective added a little more information, “It was a closed alley with high buildings. If they did chase someone from a rival gang, it’s likely they had to fight their way out of a trap. Sending in people to check it out might have to watch out for more activity without police around watching their backs.”
The warning was understood. It wouldn’t be the first time a new clan of vampires had moved in from the north. He just hoped they weren’t like the last. Then again, some of these could just be remnants of Cyrus’s army gathering together and becoming organized for self preservation.
When their food was finished, the two men went their separate ways. Nick called the apartment and heard Charlotte’s voice. With caller ID on his phone, she had probably seen his cell identified and hurried to answer.
“Nick?” the woman asked sounding more surprised than anything else.
“Hey, Charlotte,” he greeted less formal than he might have been with the detective. “I need you to write down an address. My contact came through and I am going to check it out now.”
Now concern came through the speaker as the woman warned, “Nick, Logan and I could come as back up. With Kate added, we’d outnumber them, since Marek’s bunch won’t be of much use to you until tonight.”
“I don’t want to pick a fight,” he reminded her, “and besides I’m human so what danger would they see coming.”
A slight pause was broken by a sigh as Charlotte revealed reluctantly, “If their sense of smell is as good as ours, then they’ll smell her on you.”
Meaning Nicola, the voran felt less concern, but he reminded her, “I doubt that they’ll attack before they are sure. Having her smell on me isn’t the same as being one of them, but since we don’t know how they’ll react, I am calling you with an address.
“I’ll call you when I get there. If I don’t call back within an hour of that, then it’ll be time to call in the cavalry.”
“Nick, this doesn’t sound like a good idea,” Charlotte refused to give up the idea of backup. “You don’t know anything about them.”
“I didn’t know anything about werewolves when I walked in and sold chocolate for the daughter I didn’t have; but look how that turned out,” he chuckled.
“Yeah, the idea makes me itch all over,” she retorted in light of her current condition.
“Speaking of which, do you feel any better or worse with the full moon so close?”
“Pretty much the same, I’ve been using the wash cloth and towel from your shower for a rub down more often though,” Charlotte answered with a sigh of frustration.
“Hang in there, Charlotte. Now write this down,” he said giving her the address and apartment number.
Sitting in his Escape after circling the apartment building one time, Nick came to the conclusion that this wouldn’t be as easy as he might hope. If he planned an assault, it would be easy enough for a voran or vampire to leap onto the terrace of an individual apartment to break in through a sliding glass door; but to enter and reach the front door he only had two entries.
While some apartment complexes had exterior walkways to each front door, this was not one of those. There was a front and back door; and both were glass but also security doors that would only open for a buzzer inside or a key. While he had learned the skill to unlock some doors, standing in front of it for any length of time could bring the police ruining both his plan and his day.
Venting a sigh, Nick decided to try the rear. At least there he wouldn’t have his back to the street. Pulling into a spot marked guest, the voran started to unlock his door when he noticed another car roll into the parking lot. He was in luck as a middle aged woman was trying to carry a couple bags of groceries along with her purse. He let her close in
on the sidewalk as she adjusted first one bag and then another.
“Do you need help?” the man asked as he walked casually towards the sidewalk and gestured to the bags.
Naturally the woman was suspicious and asked, “Do you live here?”
“No, I am visiting a friend on the third floor, Shedu Kalan.” At the shake of her head at the name, he clarified, “An Indian fellow, the eastern ones not the Native American kind, or maybe you’ve seen his roommates a slim Asian girl and another man with dark hair?”
The descriptions were enough as well as the increasing weight of the bags she was barely able to hold any longer. Offering again with a gesture to her bags, the woman gratefully let him take them both and led him to the door. After her key let them inside, he followed her to the elevator going to the second floor. Bringing her groceries to her door and depositing them there to avoid the woman’s discomfort of him waiting for her to open the door, he waved to the woman, who had never introduced herself to the stranger.
Taking the elevator up a floor, it didn’t long for the voran to find number thirty six. He had felt for their feline essence and that of the supernatural, but he could only feel the energy of someone who felt very human. While his radar was letting him down, at the door Nick could smell both the scent of three cat like creatures and old blood. Judging from the description of the crime scene from Friday night, he could assume that they had not escaped uninjured.
Knocking on the door, his radar was enough to feel two of the three moving about though neither went for the door immediately. One moved forward towards the wall that the entry was on, but quickly veered to hurry down what he assumed was a hall. Listening closely, the voran heard a rapid tap on a far off door and the complaint of a female voice.
The third aura moved towards the front door cautiously as if waiting for backup from both of the others.
Nick knocked again as if he had no idea of their awareness of him. The closest one grew bold and cracked the door open revealing a chain at about their eye level.
“What do you want?” the Indian man known as Shedu asked from the relative safety behind the heavy wooden door.
“Shedu Kalan, I have come to discuss your night business,” he said being both vague and obvious to the hunter.
“I don’t know you,” he said before sniffing at the air. His eyes narrowed as he caught the scent of vampires and probably werewolves on him.
“We nearly met two Saturdays ago, now unless you want to risk a nosy neighbor stepping into the hall and wondering about our conversation, perhaps you will let me in. You can smell who I represent on me, I am sure.”
The door closed and Nick heard the chain being slid out of the security slide. When it opened, the voran took in the Indian before him. Slightly taller, the man was slender and not as muscular as the voran. Nick guessed that he outweighed the man by almost thirty pounds, but size didn’t necessarily mean anything in their world.
“Who are you?” Shedu asked still being blunt and wary.
Closing the door behind him, Nick answered, “I am someone like you in a way. I’m a hunter of vampires that can’t control their appetites.”
Eyes narrowing as the man sniffed at him once more, Nick guessed that he was both trying to check the voran’s scent and trying to buy time for his people to join him. Footsteps in the hall revealed the first, the other man who looked more ready to attack than listen.
“I smell vampire on you... and I don’t think it is their blood.” Wrinkling his face, he looked confused as he added, “Do I smell dog as well?”
“Werewolf,” the voran answered casually moving into the room as he took in the Spartan conditions. A couch and table, a folding chair and a floor lamp created an uncomfortable setting. The kitchen was simple and held no surprises. “I have a few staying at my apartment until we can get them into their own home. They left their pack and had nowhere to go.”
The second man shook his head, “Werewolves are almost as bad as vampires and I smell one on you as strong as the dogs.”
Shrugging, Nick replied, “That’s my girlfriend. She’s quite a lovely girl. You could have met her last week also before you killed the stray we were tracking.
“You three really do leave quite a bit of a mess behind, don’t you? Are you new to this? A good vampire hunter makes sure to leave as few clues about himself and his quarry as he can to avoid the normals from ever finding out. It’s a good idea to hide who killed one of them in case they’re part of a larger coven as well. Their kind tends to want revenge.”
The second man launched himself at Nick, declaring, “Thrall! I knew it!”
With movements no better than an athlete to counter, the voran sidestepped the attack and raised his right hand in passing. A flicker of light struck the man’s right shoulder bringing a cry of pain, though Nick knew that it was little more than a shock in truth.
Turning as he bumped into the couch to stare down the voran, Alad reached for his right shoulder as his arm hung limp and numb. “What did you do to me?”
Shedu looked ready to attack as well, but had noted two things. The stranger was incredibly fast, like a vampire in fact. Second, he had noticed the flash of light from his open hand and the apparent affect on Alad’s shoulder. Like a taser had gone off, the kasha was stunned, but only locally in the shoulder. This was no thrall.
The third presence tried to sneak up from behind and launched at him. Nick turned to look her in the eyes surprising the woman as she thought herself stealthy. Dressed in shorts and loose short sleeve shirt, the girl’s wet hair was wrapped in a towel. His left hand redirected her momentum to his right letting a flicker of his aura zap her arm at the elbow.
Slapping her rear as she passed by, a second flick of his aura froze her right leg causing her to collapse to her right. Nick gave enough of a shove to redirect her path wide of the low table letting the girl flop onto the couch.
As he stood calmly facing Shedu, Nick continued his introduction, “As I was saying, I know you are vampire hunters and I am in the same field. I don’t just go around killing arbitrarily and apparently you have a similar code. You had a chance to attack my friends the other night and just drove them away to escape.
“Again you didn’t cover your tracks very well. We had to use silver blades to dust the corpse for the wind to blow it away. Then you left your identity to be found on video all the way to your car. The only thing I don’t know is whether you are a feline version of a werewolf or some other creature I don’t know about. I saw the hybrid forms, though not how you change. At least no humans should stumble on that part and I erased the more sensitive parts as well.”
They looked unwilling to answer and he asked one more thing, “Is that all the faster you are in an attack in your human forms? If so, I can’t imagine how you killed any vampires or survived the mess you walked into Friday.”
So surprised by his knowledge was he, that Shedu exclaimed without thinking, “Were those your friends as well?”
The other two looked ready to attack as best they could as they jumped to the same assumption. Nick shook his head saying, “No, I deduced that from what my cop friend told me of the incident. Silver nitrate dust all over an alley, feline blood on the scene and I can smell the old blood here as well.
“I didn’t have to go there to figure out a thing.”
Alad’s eyes started to glow and Nick waited curious to see what the change would be like. He had watched the werewolves turn in full and in part, so what they had in store made him wonder since they seemed nowhere near their cat strength in human form. Werewolves were almost as strong either way, but their claws and teeth were powerful additions in a fight.
Reaching to his back, the man pulled a mask that had been tucked in the belt of his pants. He placed it near his face in a quick movement and everything began to change. The smell of feline filled the room, but his smell didn’t cause a voran to sneeze or falter in any way. In seconds, tiger fur and head drew Nick’s attention. He had claw
s and his legs bent differently as well. Unfortunately for Alad, his right arm remained unresponsive, but the tiger still attacked thinking his speed and strength enough to take the man in front of him.
He was indeed much quicker, but the voran wasn’t surprised. Telegraphing his attack with the change left the kasha open for a strike to his left arm as he swung wildly. Dodging the blow, Nick moved inside swiping across the tiger’s abdomen crossing his waist with an extended aura blade.
Alad hit the floor unable to move his legs any more than he could either arm. Shedu looked at the human looking man, who couldn’t be just human as he disposed of two of his team so easily.
“What are you?”
“I think I asked you first, before your friends tried to attack me,” Nick replied moving to the couch where he helped Lam slide over to give him space. Half immobilized, he had little fear that the girl would mount an attack of any sort, though he was playing it a bit cocky with the Indian still standing confused near the door. He had barely taken a step since the scuffle began.
“We are known as kasha,” Shedu responded. “Like a werewolf we can change our forms to that of the cat family we are linked to, though that is where the similarities end. We hunt evil spirits and set them free of their dead flesh when they refuse to move on by their own will.”
“The burned out corpse?”
“One of our powers is to pull the animating spirit from the undead, which tends to leave the shell a burnt out husk,” the Indian replied moving to the fallen kasha. Sitting Alad up and leaning him against the island counter, their leader spoke calmly as he continued to appraise his chances if he was to try to take on this strange human, who wasn’t just human.
“What is with the mask? I saw his eyes change before hand, so I don’t think they are where your powers come from,” Nick asked trying to find answers.
“They are magical talismans holding a portion of our essence to assist in hiding what we are from the creatures of darkness. It let’s us hide what we are.” Shrewdly he turned the conversation with a question of his own, “How do you hide what you are? I notice lingering smells on you, but you appear human.”
Standing Before Monsters (Vorans and Vampires) Page 16