by JKMelby74
The lawn was cut down sharp and though it was dark, I could tell the garden that sat along the perimeter of the property was well. All the plants were closed up and rested, but I could tell when the sun was up, it had to be quite a sight. We stepped onto the porch and Tyler knocked on the door. A light came on inside and the door opened.
“Hi.”
“Tyler. Oh my god!” A female voice said in surprise. I couldn’t see past Tyler but I did see two slender arms wrap around him. When the arms released him, he stepped aside and I saw her. Gwen was gorgeous. It was rare I ever had thoughts like that. The demon seemed to enjoy blocking those feelings, but this one came through loud and clear. Her hair was long and blonde and gently framed her face. Her eyes sparkled through the darkness and her smile was familiar and welcoming. I nearly forgot who I was.
“This is my friend, Jake Corba.”
“Hello.” Her voice was beautiful too.
“Hi.”
“Not that I’m not glad to see you, but what are you doing here?”
“Inside.” Tyler pushed his way in. I followed and Gwen shut the door behind us. We walked into the living room. It was cozy. I had never really experienced cozy, but her living room was it. The sofa was large and overstuffed; the carpet was deep and soft. There were shelves on the walls with books and other collectibles. The only light was coming in from the adjoining kitchen. Tyler switched on a lamp and the room was bathed in a clean, white light and I was able to see more clearly. Everything looked better. Gwen included.
“Okay. Can you tell me now?” She stood before Tyler.
“You remember that box I gave you a few years ago? The one I told you to keep safe?”
“Yes.”
“I need it now. You have it, don’t you?”
“Of course. It’s just I’m not totally sure where it is.”
“What?”
“You left it with me over six years ago! I’ve moved things around several times since then. It’s probably in a closet or something.”
“Fine. That’s fine,” Tyler said, obviously trying to keep his composure. “Do you think you could find it?”
“I don’t know. Maybe, but it might take a couple days.”
“Days?”
“You need it that bad?”
“Yes, Gwen. It’s very important that I get that box back now!”
“Okay. Feel free to look. I’m just too tired right now,” Without a word, Tyler headed into the back and started tearing through everything. “Don’t break anything, if you please!”
“He gets a little excited.”
“I know. He’s my brother. Have you known each other long?”
“Just a couple days. He hired me.”
“What?”
“I’m an investigator.”
“Okay. I was thinking something else. Would you like some coffee?”
“That would be great. Thanks.” She flashed another smile at me and headed towards the kitchen. I couldn’t help but be captivated. I watched as she gracefully navigated the kitchen. She filled the coffee maker with water, set the filter; ground the beans almost in one, graceful dance. I then realized I had been looking and I saw she was looking back at me.
“Sorry. I just never really knew how coffee was made. I usually just pay for mine.”
“That’s okay. I prefer to make my own. I just don’t trust those big corporations, at least not with food. You never know what they put in there.”
“I hear you.” A loud crash rang from the back of the house.
“Sorry!” Tyler called out.
“Why is he in such a hurry to find that box?”
“I really don’t know how much of that I should tell you. I think it would be best if we found it and got out of your hair as soon as possible.” I took another survey of the house.
“How do you afford a place like this out here?”
“It’s okay. I got it in the divorce.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m not. We married right out of high school. I thought we’d be that happy for the rest of your lives, but a few years of married life changed all that. By the end, we were both desperate to get out.”
“Sounds horrible.”
“It wasn’t that bad. There were some good years. How about you? Married? Dating?”
“Single. I’m kind of a workaholic.”
“Career man.”
“For all the good it does me.” Another loud avalanche from the back announced itself.
“Nothing broke!”
“He’s going to tear this place apart.” Her eyes were focused past my head so I wasn’t sure if she was talking to me or if it was a random thought. Her eyes came back to me.
“What do you do?”
“Private investigations. Security.”
“I doubt that.”
“It has its moments.” I could feel heat rising up into my neck. There was a sudden ding. Gwen turned away towards the coffee maker.
“Soup’s on!” She grabbed a couple cups and filled them. She handed me a blue one that had swirly flowers painted on it. I took a short sip.
“That’s good.” I said with surprise.
“Thanks. I get the beans from a little tea house here in town.” I was just about to continue the conversation but there was a soft knock at her door.
“Are you expecting someone?”
“No. Excuse me.” She turned to answer the door. I followed behind her. I was about to reach for my gun, but I then realized I didn’t have it. I pressed my back to the wall as Gwen opened the door. I tried to see who it was, but there was a sudden flash and I felt something big and hard slam against me. I fell onto the hardwood floor and slid back slightly. I heard Gwen scream as two large beasts rushed in. I twisted over and leapt to my feet. I turned just as a large arm was swinging around at me. I threw my arm up and blocked it. It felt like a wrecking ball. I could hear more crashing and screams from the back.
I charged forward and hit the creature right in its gut. I heard an otherworldly grunt escape and the monster swung around wild. I was thrown back and landed with a crash. I looked around and the broken timbers that were once Gwen’s dining room table were lying beneath me. I looked up and saw the creature coming up on me. I grabbed a large piece of what used to be a chair and stabbed it up into the monster’s chest. The creature fell forward on top of me, but I managed to roll it off quickly. I caught my breath and heard something that sounded like a wall coming down. I dashed through the living room and down the hall. I ran into the first room I came to and saw the other creature holding Tyler down and across from them, was Jackal and he was holding Gwen from behind, his hand clutched at her throat. His head swiveled in my direction.
“Jake. I see you finished playing with my other friend. I was just talking with Tyler and his sister here.”
“How did you find us?”
“I was on your trail right away. The Reborn may be a bunch of zombies, but I’m not. I knew special measures were going to be needed to bring Morgan back around. A little deeper research explained everything else. Now, here we are.”
“What do you want?”
“The Dagger of Sira! Give it to us and we let these two live the rest of their lives with all their limbs intact.”
“It’s not here.”
“Don’t play stupid with me, Jake,” Jackal pressed one of his razor sharp claws to Gwen’s neck. “I really don’t want to get blood all over this new suit. Just give it to me.”
“You heard him! It’s not here!” Tyler gasped. The creature holding him down pressed down harder. Tyler screamed out in agony.
“Come on, Jake. Just think of it as one more favor for the cause.”
“What?”
“You didn’t tell him? Oh. Allow me then,” Jackal turned to Tyler. “Your little private dick there let The Reborn take back Morgan’s body in exchange for release from his own curse. He and I worked it all out beforehand.”
Tyler strained his head towards me. I saw the
pain of betrayal in his eyes.
“You did let them take her!” I shook my head and tried to think of something to say that would make it all sound less selfish, but there was nothing I could say. I then saw Tyler’s arms begin to flail wildly. Large hairs began to sprout from his skin and his body began to grow. The creature standing on Tyler flew back into the wall. Tyler stood up, fully transformed. His thick, dark fur flowing freely. His claws shining and his muzzle dripping with drool. His mouth opened and out came a roar that shook the ground beneath us. He took one step forward and with lightning speed lunged forward. Unfortunately for me, he lunged at me.
I felt his full force hit me right in the gut and we flew back right through the wall behind me, landing hard just outside the house. I saw the massive hole in the house we left in our wake. I then felt a large, clawed hand grab my shirt and haul me up. I looked down at Tyler’s burning eyes. The rage he was showing was like nothing I had ever seen.
Chapter 23
Regret
Tyler was holding me up in his one hand while the other was getting ready to plunge into me and pull out whatever internal organs it could grab.
“You betrayed us!” Tyler’s voice as a werewolf was deeper and less human. More like a growl. “We, I, trusted you and you sold us out!” He was right. There was no defense for what I had done and I was prepared to take my punishment. In a sick way, I was almost looking forward to it. No more demon. The freedom of the hereafter. Of course, where my soul was destined to go afterwards was something of a worry for me, but I didn’t want to panic about two things at once.
I closed my eyes, fully prepared to feel his talons cut through my flesh, but instead, I fell. I opened my eyes and saw Tyler falling to the ground as well with a large hole in the middle of his chest. I looked past that and saw Jackal, still holding Gwen, with his hand extended out with a large shotgun in his grip.
“I couldn’t just let him kill you. You’ve been such a great help to us,” Jackal pulled Gwen up and poised his fingers back at her neck. “Now! You know what we want!” I looked over to Tyler. His eyes were barely open. His head lifted up and he looked to me.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I am so sorry. I was stupid. I know that. I just wanted to be free.”
“Venris.” Tyler whispered to me.
“What?”
“Venris.” His head dropped back down and his eyes closed gently. I placed my hand to his muzzle.
“Hurry it up! You can do whatever you want with the corpse once I get what I came for!” Jackal persisted. I looked back down to Tyler. I noticed something shining under his arm. I pulled at the object and discovered it was a gun. I hid it away under the waist of my pants and got up and marched into the house.
“The dagger’s not here. I don’t know where it is. You just killed the only person on Earth who could get it for you.” I saw the mad glare in Jackal’s eyes.
“You’re lying! I know it’s here! Give it to me! Give it to me now or you’ll never be free!”
“Sorry.” Jackal looked away and turned to the large creature that had been holding Tyler down. It lurched forward toward me. I jumped back, spun around and found a large splint of wood that was sharp at one end. I instinctively threw it at the beast. It ran through the monsters head and popped out clean on the other side. Its eyes went glassy and then it fell over with a loud crash. I swung around, pointing the gun I had taken from Tyler toward Jackal.
“Fine. For now, I will go, but we will be back.” Jackal threw Gwen down onto the floor. He stepped back into a dark shadow and disappeared. I ran to Gwen. She seemed too shocked to realize what was going on. I grabbed a blanket from the destroyed bed and wrapped it around her.
I looked back at all the debris lying around and began sifting through it. I could barely tell what any of it was. I could hear Gwen beginning to cry. Her sobs were coming from further away. I looked up and saw her kneeling over Tyler’s body in the yard outside. He had shifted back into his human form. I wanted to go to her but I had to find the dagger. He had said it was in a box. I kept burrowing through everything. Finally, I found a very old looking box that had a very strange molding on it. I walked over to Gwen who was crying uncontrollably. I knelt by her and placed my arm around her.
“I’m so sorry.”
“Who was that?”
“Jackal Bledsoe. He’s working with some very bad people. I know this is not a good time, but is this what Tyler was looking for?” I held the box out to Gwen. She glanced at it and nodded.
I opened the box up. There was a large, ornate dagger resting in a bed of black silk. The handle looked like it was pure gold with silver accents in the form of some kind of ancient symbols and a large green jewel was embedded in the hilt. I picked it up and I felt a shiver as I wrapped my fingers around it. I looked over at Tyler’s lifeless body. I put my hand to his head.
“I’m sorry. I am. I do this for you,” I got up and looked around but couldn’t find anything helpful. I looked down to Gwen. “I need a fire.”
“What?”
“I need a fire. A big one.”
We began to gather debris and flotsam from all around. There wasn’t much left of the house anymore. We gathered everything we found together in a pile in the backyard and I lit it up. Soon, a large bonfire had started. I took the dagger and tossed it on top. Gwen and I both stood there watching the flames dance against the night sky. She seemed more intent on the flames while I was watching the dagger. I reached in and grabbed the dagger. It was hot of course, but strong as ever. It didn’t even bend slightly.
“You’re never going to melt it like that. You’re going to need something really hot. Like an oven or kiln.”
“Oven!”
“I think mine is destroyed right now. Sorry. Why do you want to destroy it anyway?”
“Just think of it as Tyler’s final wish.” I saw a large stone sitting in the corner of the yard. I ran over to it and began stabbing at it with the dagger. I plunged the blade down into the center of the rock and it broke the stone apart, leaving the dagger unscathed. I lifted another nearby stone up and placed it on the blade. I then pulled at the handle, hoping to bend the blade, but nothing. I pulled the dagger out. Not a scratch on it. Gwen came up behind me.
“Easy. I don’t think you’re going to be able to destroy it like that, either.”
“I don’t know. He said something before he...went.”
“What?”
“Venris. Does that mean anything to you?”
“It might. He had some friends he talked about. I never met them, but I do remember him mentioning someone named Venris.”
“Do you know where I can find this guy?”
“Not a clue.”
“Great,” I was sad for Gwen, but I still couldn’t help but be annoyed by having what we were after but not a clue as to what to do with it. “Come on.”
“What?”
“We have to go. I need to find this Venris guy and there is no way you can stay here.”
“Why not?”
“Because Jackal will return and when he does, I’m sure he’ll bring more of those things with him. This place isn’t safe for you anymore.”
“I can’t leave Tyler like this.” I looked down at his limp body in the dirt.
“What do you want to do?” Without a word, Gwen turned away from me and walked over to a small tool shed off the side of the yard. She came back with a shovel in hand and began digging.
We managed to get the grave dug in a little more than a half hour. We draped Tyler in a large cloth and lowered him into the hole. Gwen stood over the open grave, tears streaming down her face. The shine I had seen when we first met had dulled, and I blamed myself for that.
“Tyler. I love you, big brother. You were closer to me than anyone on Earth, but after what happened with the wolf, you moved away and we grew apart. Not just by miles. You seemed to be living in this other world that I knew nothing about. I missed you. I just wish you could have opened up to me.
Maybe you were protecting me from something but I would have risked anything if that meant I could have had my brother back in my life. Where he belonged. I hope you have peace where you are now.” She took her shovel and dropped the first pile of dirt into the grave. After a couple more, I joined her and we had the grave filled in.
“We really need to get out of here.” I could feel the unstable energy in the air. Whatever was coming was going to be there soon. Gwen stood before the fresh grave. She bent down and whispered something into the ground. She stood up and with a loud sigh; she flipped her hair up over her shoulder and marched toward me.
“I’m ready.”
We were traveling back over the route Tyler and I took to get to Blue Haven. The sun was beginning to rise just as we left San Francisco. It felt like we were enclosed in our own piece of the world. It had been a quiet trip.
“Stop the car.” Gwen said.
“What?”
“Stop the car! Now!” I pulled over to the shoulder and before the car could come to a complete stop, Gwen jumped out the door. I stayed back and watched as she walked a few yards away and just stop. I studied her for a good ten minutes as she just stood, quietly, with her back to me. I got out of the car and started toward her.
“Gwen?”
“He’s dead.”
“I’m...”
“Don’t. I just need it to be quiet for a bit.” I nodded slowly and took a step back. A cool breeze blew past us. Her hair fluttered slightly in the gust. I could still smell the salt of the ocean, which still wasn’t too far from us. She pressed her arms around herself and hugged tightly.
“I’m sorry.” I said fast enough to avoid her cutting me off.
“It’s just hard to digest. I knew about Tyler. I guess part of me knew that something horrible could happen to him. I knew it was possible. I just never wanted to fully believe it. I sure as Hell never thought I’d see it.”
“If it’s any consolation, and I’m sure it isn’t, he’s probably glad to know you weren’t harmed.”
“You may be right. He was always so selfless. It used to bug me when we were growing up, but I learned to appreciate that part of him as we got older.”