by Kris Greene
“Gabriel, what are you doing here?” Carter fumbled with his pants. Katie just looked at the floor and tried to clean herself up as best she could with rough toilet tissue.
“I would ask you the same thing, but it’s pretty self-explanatory.” Gabriel walked off. He wanted to run as far as he could from the sight, but his legs wouldn’t cooperate. Seeing the girl he was so madly in love with going down on his best friend had shattered Gabriel’s heart.
“Hold on a minute, man. Let me explain before you run off.” Carter caught up to Gabriel and spun him around. He was taken aback at the look in his friend’s eyes, as Carter had never known Gabriel to be capable of hate, but there was no mistaking his glare. Katie wasn’t his girlfriend, but they all knew he had a crush on her. Carter hadn’t even meant to do anything with her, but Katie got wild when she drank.
“There’s nothing to explain. You guys are adults, so it’s none of my business.” Gabriel’s voice cracked.
“Gabe, it kinda just happened,” Katie offered.
“Oh, his dick just happened to slip into your mouth,” Gabriel said scornfully. “I don’t even know why I thought I could come to you for help, Carter, when all you think about is your dick.” Gabriel tried to leave the bathroom, but Carter cut him off. “Get out of my way,” Gabriel said in a low growl. The overhead lights began to flicker. When he heard the thunder rolling, he braced himself in welcoming anticipation.
“Not until we talk.” Carter folded his arms as if it wasn’t up for discussion.
“Carter, if you don’t move I’m not gonna be responsible for what happens.” Even though Gabriel didn’t want to hurt his friend, he could feel the pull of the Nimrod become stronger. The water in all the toilets began to over-flow, soaking the bathroom floor. The mirrors along the wall shattered, spraying everyone in the bathroom with glass.
“What the hell is going on?” Katie asked in a panic-filled voice.
“Just get back,” Gabriel warned. He walked backward towards the front door. Beneath his jacket the Nimrod began to peel away from his skin.
“What the fuck!” one of the bouncers shouted as he charged into the bathroom and slipped in the water. Gabriel moved to leave and the second bouncer grabbed him by the arm.
“Somebody is gonna tell me what’s going on,” the second bouncer ordered, shaking Gabriel like a rag doll.
When Gabriel looked up at the bouncer the lightning had returned to his eyes. “Let me go,” Gabriel ordered him. Seeing the rolling clouds in Gabriel’s eyes, the bouncer quickly complied and stepped aside for him to pass. The bouncer wasted no time in doing as he was told and getting out of Gabriel’s way.
Gabriel half-stumbled out of the bathroom, giving everyone he touched a good shock. Trying to keep the Nimrod from manifesting was like trying to keep from throwing up when you’ve had too much to drink, a losing battle. He moved more off instinct than sight and was finally able to find one of the fire exits. He tried to take deep breaths when he got outside, but every time he did Katie’s sweetness filled his nostrils. It had been her scent that he was following.
“Gabriel, wait up!” Carter came through the fire door after him. On Carter’s heels were Katie and the reluctant Vince.
“The Judas, the whore, and the persecutor. You could be done with all of them in one swoop,” the Bishop whispered.
“Shut up!” Gabriel said through clenched teeth, trying to strangle his arm through the jacket. “Carter, just leave me alone.” Gabriel stumbled down the alley.
“Carter, if the punk wants to leave, then let him.” Vince sucked his teeth in frustration. Carter ignored him and followed Gabriel down the alley.
Gabriel rested on a trash can and took slow, measured breaths. Gradually the pull of the Nimrod subsided, but the tattoo did not go completely still.
“Gabriel, please, man. I just wanna talk,” Carter pleaded. His eyes were moist with the realization of how deeply he had wounded his friend.
“I thought that if nothing else, she would be for me,” Gabriel confessed.
“I know you were sweet on her, but you never said anything. I didn’t mean to hurt you, man; I swear.” Gabriel had been there for Carter through some rough times, and a piece of tail wasn’t worth their history.
“Oh, this is just so MTV.” Katie sighed. “Neither one of you guys has any papers on me, so I really don’t appreciate you talking about me like I’m not standing here. Gabriel.” She turned his face so that she could see his eyes. Until that moment she had never noticed how beautiful they were. Gabriel’s eyes were like looking into the ocean at high tide. “You’re a great guy and I’m sure you’re gonna make some girl really happy, but don’t look for that in me. I’m on the fast track and you’re just too much of a sweetheart for that, but we’ll always be friends.”
“Do you see this?” Vince rubbed his thumb and index finger together. “That’s me playing the world’s smallest violin. Get on with this stupid shit so I can go back in the club.”
Carter had finally had enough and turned on Vince. “Why do you have to be such a fucking dick?” Carter slammed Vince against the wall. He drew his fist back threateningly, but Vince just smiled. “I swear to God I wanna bust you in that shit-eating grin,” Carter huffed. Before he could make good on his threat they saw the familiar flash of blue and red lights.
“Oh God, it’s the cops,” Katie said nervously.
“Cool out, Katie; we’re just hanging in back of the club,” Carter told her. He let Vince go and turned towards the headlights that were coming down the alley.
“I’ve got pot on me; they’re gonna take me to prison.” She began to pace the alley.
“Katie, don’t go fucking Lindsay Lohan on us now. Just be cool and they’ll be on their way,” Carter said through clenched teeth. He tried to be the cool head amongst them, but he knew what it meant to be a black man trapped in an alley with the police.
The first cop who stepped out of the police van was tall and wiry, with a cropped blond cut that hardly looked up to regulation. His face was as pale as a sheet of paper, but his eyes were deep black. Four more cops spilled from the van and advanced on the group with their weapons at the ready. The blond approached them with an easy smile on his face as he twirled his baton from hand to hand. There was something about his smile that made Gabriel uneasy.
“What’ve we got here?” the blond asked, eyeing each of them. When he spotted Gabriel he took his time observing him. The blond’s eyes lingered on Gabriel’s arm as if he could see the Nimrod beneath the jacket.
“Nothing much, Officer, we just came out back to smoke.” Vince pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and placed one in his mouth.
“Is that right?” The blond continued to watch him.
“Yes, sir.” Vince raised his lighter to the cigarette. His hands were shaking so badly that it took him three tries to get it lit.
“Okay, everybody hug the wall.” This was a beefy officer sporting a buzz cut. His hand flexed on the holstered Glock as if he couldn’t wait to free it. One by one the youngsters faced the wall, but Gabriel hesitated.
“You hear me talking to you?” Buzz Cut said.
“Get on the fucking wall!” a redheaded officer ordered, grabbing Gabriel roughly by the collar. He slammed Gabriel face-first into the wall and began to frisk him roughly. “You got any weapons or drugs on you?”
“No,” Gabriel said.
The blond walked up behind Gabriel and paused. Gabriel could feel something passing between the officer and his tattoo but didn’t know what it was. The blond grabbed him by his neck and applied pressure. “Where is it?” the blond whispered into his ear. The streetlight flickered above them and the alley seemed to get a little darker.
“Their garments mask their true natures. Comply with the imposters and it will be farewell between us, child of the Hunters,” the Bishop warned.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Gabriel said, trying to ignore the Bishop’s rambling.
“Sergeant,” the blond said in a commanding voice. The redheaded officer cocked the slide on his weapon and placed it to the back of Carter’s head.
“What the fuck is going on here?” Carter asked nervously.
“What’s going on is that your friend has until the count of three to give me what I want or I’m going to send you on a grand voyage,” the blond replied.
“I told you that I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Gabriel said. In the back of his mind he knew that they had come for the relic, but he hadn’t the slightest idea how to give it to them, since it was now embedded in his skin. Gabriel looked around nervously for help, and it was at that moment he realized that he couldn’t see anything beyond where the blond cop was standing. Both the club and the mouth of the alley were obscured by darkness. Gabriel thought about running but realized that he couldn’t move his legs. When he looked down he noticed the shadows oozing over his sneakers and up his calves.
“I’ll not ask you twice, offshoot.” The blond’s voice was harsher.
“Please, I don’t—,” Gabriel began but was cut off by the voice in his head.
“The shadows have no patience for your lies, Hunter. Loose the power gifted to you and let both mortals and demons feel your wrath,” the Bishop urged.
“One,” the blond began his count.
“Gabriel, I don’t know what’s going on, but if you have whatever these guys want, then please give it to them,” Carter begged.
“Two.”
“Gabriel, what the hell is wrong with you? Just give it to them!” Katie shouted.
“I don’t know how,” he said honestly.
“Three.”
CHAPTER
TWENTY-THREE
Gabriel didn’t hear the shot, but he saw Carter’s brains when they jumped from his skull onto the wall. He looked at Gabriel with wide eyes as he dropped to his knees and fell over dead. Katie screamed and was rewarded with a club to the head by one of the officers’ guns. Gabriel moved to help, but the shadows wound tightly around his legs. They hurriedly bound themselves around his arms and pulled him down on all fours. He struggled, but the shadows wouldn’t give. He looked up helplessly at the blond who was standing over him grinning.
“Is this what has become of the feared Knights of Christ?” the blond laughed. He knelt beside Gabriel and grabbed him by the jaw so that the young boy could look into his eyes, eyes that were swirling pools of darkness. “How desperate the church must’ve become to entrust the holy weapons to the likes of you. Give me the Nimrod, boy, and I’ll kill you quickly.”
Gabriel looked from his dead friend to the blond and spat in his face. “Find it your fucking self.”
A lone tear of shadow snaked from the blond’s eye and wiped the spit away. “You are a brave one, aren’t you? Well, let’s see if we can have a little fun loosening your tongue.” The blond raised his arms and Katie was lifted from the ground by a band of shadow that had wrapped around her neck. The girl whimpered while the blond dragged her over.
“No!” Gabriel tried to get up, but the shadows held him firm.
“Fond of this one, are you? I shall make this most unpleasant.” The blond tightened the shadow around Katie’s neck.
“Please, God.” Katie sobbed.
The blond cocked his head. “God?” A loose strand of shadow slithered up and caressed Katie’s cheek. “God has no place in the shadows. This is your last chance.” He turned to Gabriel. “Give me the Nimrod or watch your friends die.” The shadow band tightened and Katie’s face started turning red.
“God damn you, if I knew how to give this thing to you I would.” Gabriel was frantic. “Do something, damn you!” he shouted at his arm.
“Well, let’s see if we can help you figure it out.” The blond closed his fist and broke Katie’s neck. Her lifeless body dangled on the band of shadow. Eyes that were once blue and alert were now dead and unseeing.
“I’m gonna kill you!” Gabriel raged.
“That’s it; let your hate fuel it. My will be done,” the Bishop said anxiously.
With a roar Gabriel managed to free his arm from the shadows and the Nimrod was instantly in his hand. He tapped the shaft against the ground and sent out a burst of light that dissipated the shadows. “Soulless thing, I know your true name, Moses shadow master.” Gabriel tapped the shaft on the ground again. “And it is your name that will mark your passing back into the pit.”
Gabriel charged Moses wildly, but Moses tripped him up with his shadows. Gabriel made to strike out with the Nimrod, but suddenly he found the weapon and his arm wrapped in shadow. Moses jerked him off his feet and slammed him from wall to wall until Gabriel was dizzy. When his vision cleared, Moses was standing in front of him. Moses had fashioned a piece of shadow into a thin shard and drove it into Gabriel’s collar. Gabriel tried to scream, but a patch of shadow covered his mouth.
Moses leaned in close enough to where Gabriel could smell his rank breath. “It is good that you know my true name, Knight. So that when you reach the dead lands you can tell them who sent you.” Moses’ shadows wrapped Gabriel in a cocoon and began to squeeze so hard that he couldn’t breathe. Spots danced before his eyes and he was about to black out when he heard a gunshot.
Rogue almost got knocked over when the boy came charging out of the bathroom. He had a terrified expression on his face and his aura was going nuts. Rogue almost thought he saw the arm of the boy’s jacket moving like he had something under it. Three more people followed him out the fire door. They were definitely mortal, but which side of the light they fought on was a question, a question that Rogue intended to get the answer to.
He hadn’t even meant to do it when he slipped into the shadows, but sensing his urgency to keep up with the boy, Rogue’s powers acted of their own accord. It had happened to him like that a few times over the years and when it did it usually meant his life was about to become more complicated. He just hoped that in his haste to take the proper measures there wasn’t someone in the club who might’ve been adept enough with shadow magic to pick up on what he’d just done. It seemed senseless to worry about it after the fact, though.
He didn’t see them when he materialized in the alley, but he could feel the magic crackling all around him. For a minute he heard voices, but they’d suddenly been drowned out. He peered down the alley and realized that he was having trouble seeing the other end. There was nothing wrong with his eyes but the image he was seeing. It was shadow magic, and from the potency of it the barrier wasn’t raised by another conduit like him; this was pure shadow magic. Rogue drew his revolvers and went to investigate.
By the time he’d gotten within three feet of the shadow barrier he could feel it calling out the thing lurking inside him. It was said that the entire race of shadow creatures drew their power from one common source; therefore, they all shared a connection. Staring at the wall of darkness, he felt like he wanted to do nothing more than go to it and add of himself to the collective. Luckily, something slamming against the barrier snapped him out of it. He looked down and saw the lifeless body of the girl who had been following his mark. Her neck was bent at an odd angle, but there was no bruising, only the residue the shadows had left. Rogue followed the dissipating shadows to their source and spotted a blond in a police uniform. One look at the cop and Rogue knew what was really hiding inside the mortal shell.
A feral roar brought his attention to the center of the darkness. The young man was now on his feet holding what had to be the Nimrod. When he slammed the shaft against the ground it sent out a flash so bright that it scorched Rogue’s face and eyes. The demon screamed so loud that Rogue felt a trickle of blood coming from his eardrum. Through blurry eyes he saw the young man charge the demon, but the shadows didn’t let him get far. Rogue watched as the demon effortlessly manipulated the shadows and bound the young man. The boy fought the good fight, but he was too much of a novice at using the Nimrod to stand against the demon. As the demon choked the breath from the youn
g man Rogue decided it was time to react.
With the revolver in his right hand he hit the officer closest to him with two bullets to the back, dropping him. Not breaking his stride, he fired on the demon with the revolver in his left hand. Regular bullets wouldn’t have done much other than piss the demon off, which was why Rogue made sure to hit him with the enchanted rounds. As the bullets entered the soft flesh of the demon’s host’s body, Rogue whispered the words of power and they exploded in a great burst of blue light. The demon howled and the barrier of darkness shattered.
“On your feet.” Rogue grabbed the young man and yanked him up by the front of his windbreaker. Through his mass of tangled hair Rogue could see that he was little more than a child, but more important, he knew him. “Gabriel?” He was a little older than the last time Rogue had seen him, but he’d know the offspring of the Red-feather clan anywhere.
Gabriel looked up with dazed eyes. “Rogue? How did—” Gabriel was cut off as Rogue spun him out of the way just as a hail of bullets ripped into the wall. Rogue responded with a few shots of his own.
“We can catch up later, but right now we gotta dip,” Rogue told him. “Let’s move, kid!” Rogue shouted to Vince, who was in the corner trembling. The shadows were regaining substance and closing in on him. Rogue fired another one of his enchanted bullets at the ground, which slowed the shadows but didn’t stop them. “Move it!” Rogue screamed, but it was useless. The shadows washed over Vince like a wave and consumed him.