by Doug Burbey
Hot wet blood spilled across his chest and face and he waited for the pain and then death to come.
"You going to take a nap old man? Or are you going to get off your ass and finish the job?" Kayter said as Declan felt the weight of the skitter pulled off his chest. "So, you want to talk about that whole coat thing now? Maybe need a bit more practice moving through the woods in it?"
He felt his face heat as he stood up. "No, I don't think we need to mention this again. Ever. Come on, let's go."
Kayter smiled broadly, "Yes, we shall never again mention my having to kill the big bad spider for you after you tripped on your own coat and fell down."
"I did not… Ugh, never mind. We have killing to do."
Children are going to be the death of me. This is why I never had kids.
They moved towards the glow of the portal now clearly visible through the trees in front of them and they stopped just short of the small clearing. Declan could make out the shape of the human mage, as well as two more of the skitters. The mage was sitting on the ground, chanting softly as the two small demons circled around him slowly. He looked over at Kayter and held up two fingers with one hand while wiggling the fingers of his other hand mimicking a spider. She looked over at his gestures with a shrug of her shoulder and tilted her head at him.
Oh geez, you kidding me?
Declan held out two fingers again. Then pointed at the portal and then used both his hands to make spider gestures. He groaned when he noticed that Kayter was trying to restrain herself from laughing. Just as he was about to conduct a single finger gesture towards her, he noticed her eyes widen and her smile immediately disappear. Declan glanced towards the portal and saw what had caught her attention. Coming through the portal was not just the original ring two demon, but what looked like almost an entire sub horde squad of fifteen to twenty, ring two demon foot soldiers.
Oh hell, we can't wait for them to start to disperse.
Declan quickly snapped his fingers to get Kayter's attention. When she turned her head away from looking at the new arrivals in the portal, Declan noticed for the first time a look of genuine fear in her face. He pointed at the pouch on his now heavily damaged vest, and then unclipped the cover and withdrew a hand grenade, then pointed at her to do the same. The sound of a human scream and a demonic bellow, accompanied by a nearly perceptible wave of empathic energy, jerked his attention back to the portal.
Just a few steps outside of the portal stood a massive, muscled and armored, insect-like demon leader. Declan recognized it as some form of horde lord, a commander by the various splashes of colored paints across the armor-like plates of its body. It was growling and snapping at one of the ring two demons. The ring two demon stooped and tried to back away slowly but appeared to have angered the demon horde commander somehow.
Declan reached down and slid his index finger through the ring of the grenade while gripping the base of it firmly with his other hand, glancing over at Kayter and nodding at her to do the same. He watched as the horde commander screeched and growled towards the other demons while gesturing at the human who appeared to be trying very hard not to run away in terror.
What the fuck is this all about?
Confused, Declan prepared to toss the grenade but did not take his eyes off the portal. He watched as the horde leader grabbed the apparently offending demon by its head, digging its talons into the base of its skull, then it barked some form of command towards the other demons. They responded immediately and re-entered the portal, followed by the remaining skitters.
Declan and Kayter both stood still, just inside the edge of the trees and watched as the horde leader twisted the neck of the lower demon. The snapping of its bones was audible even from their position hidden in the trees. The human mage screamed, causing the portal to flicker, with the momentary loss of its human anchor's attention. The demon leader then easily tossed the dead demon's body back across the threshold of the portal into the demon realm. The mage started sobbing but tried to refocus and hold the portal open while backing away from the demon leader. The demon approached the mage slowly then, to the amazement of Declan, the demon stooped and lowered its face towards the near-panicked human. It held out a talon and lightly tapped the mages cheek, drops of blood appearing with each tap.
Declan then heard clearly spoken English words come out of the tendrils covering the demon's mouth, "Lighten up, Francis," just before it turned around and reentered the portal, leaving the mage and the two hunters alone in the clearing.
The demons uttered phrase kept rolling through Declan's mind.
That's a movie quote that Shane used to use all the time. Why in God's name would I be hearing it right now from a fucking demon?
"Holy shit! Did you just hear that, Colonel?" Kayter stuttered, her eyes wide. The portal mage turned towards them and drew a small pistol from inside of his cloak and held it in his shaking hands.
"Easy there, buddy." Declan withdrew his finger from the grenade pin and slid it back into his pouch, as he gestured for Kayter to do the same, while never taking his eyes off the mage holding the gun. "I really think we need to talk. No reason for anybody to get hurt here."
"I… Who…" The portal behind the mage collapsed, and disappeared, as the mage's stuttering words betrayed his lack of concentration on holding the realm bridge open.
Declan raised both of his hands in front of him, "Look, no weapons." As he started to take a few steps forward. "Just let me ask you some questions, give us truthful answers, and I see no reason why we can't forget we ever saw you here."
The trembling mage raised the pistol quickly to his own head and screamed "No, I won't be sent to the factory!" then pulled the trigger. The mage's body collapsed onto its knees and then fell forward into the dirt.
Kayter put her hand grenade back in its pouch and drew her sword, "Umm… I'm not sure what just happened. What factory? What we do now? And why did a demon, a high-level demon just do that?"
Pausing a few seconds before he answered, "Well, looks it like our job is done here. Time to go home. Yeah, I'm not sure what just happened here either. My guess is it was nothing good. No, nothing good at all."
Chapter 42 - Playing Batman
Kayter enjoyed running missions with Declan, and the extra money he'd conned out of the ICER agency didn't hurt either. But, it had been quiet for a few days and she needed something to do. Pulling up the computer she started to look and see if any of her contacts had said anything. And she wanted to see if there were any more news stories about missing Fae.
Flipping through programs she pulled up the tracking program that had been running in the background. The tracker program blipped up with multiple weeks' worth of tracking info on it. Kayter frowned as she stared at the computer. What was that from?
Oh yes, that weird government guy. The one that talked about DK.
She reached out about to hit the dismiss but paused.
I already don't trust them. Why not see if they're up to anything?
With nothing else pressing she brought up the map showing his route historically. The VFW she recognized, though part of her smirked at the knowledge his visits were much less frequent. An office building popped up every weekday, while an apartment building showed up every day. Most of the rest of the stops looked like restaurants, stores, boring stuff. She almost hit delete when one weird thing popped up and she zoomed in to look at it more closely.
Every few days, it looked like Monday's and Thursdays he went far away from his normal routes and ended up in an area that looked very industrial. Brow furrowed, she checked the times and saw his car stayed there an hour, then went home.
So, what does a shady government agent do in an industrial area in the evening? No restaurants, no shops, and he doesn't seem like the type to visit family working the swing shift. What the hell? Though this time Reynolds, use your brain?
The thought was wry and biting, she needed to quit being arrogant or she'd end up dead. With that in mind, she go
t dressed, planning on nothing but recon. She put on the new body suit Hunter Gear had designed for her. She hadn't had time to play with it, not wanting to risk an untried item on a hunt.
It fit perfectly. Meaning if she gained more than a pound or two it might start to bind.
Note to self, lose a tiny bit of weight, or next time get it made a bit looser.
Her leathers went on over it nicely without binding or catching. It moved well, and Miriam had included some hygiene functions in it if things went really sideways. Underwear and this did not go together.
With weapons and a plan this time, she headed out to the location. Parking in an anonymous parking lot a block away, she slipped off the bike and looked around. It was just getting dark and her night vision rated at the top of the charts. Securing her helmet, setting the magical protection, she slipped into the buildings, blending in with the shadows as she moved towards the buildings.
The address matched up to a squat, two-story building with cars and vans parked out front. Kayter paused, taking out her phone and took snapshots of the license plates, two of which were government.
Inspecting the building, there was nothing about it that said what department or branch it might fall under. In fact she couldn't see a name on it at all, just a door that said restricted. Walking on past, she continued until she ended up a block away, then she circled back. One of the advantages of buildings in America, all of them were required to have multiple exits in case of emergencies. She stood looking at it, reached in and powered her phone off. Breaking and entering weren't her strengths but with her speed and strength, she should be able to pull it off.
It didn't take her long to find the emergency exit, disable the alarms, and jimmy the lock. Learning how to lockpick had been a good choice. The camera angle sucked so she slipped up the stairs, moving slow and checking every corner, ears straining to hear any movement.
At the second floor, she cracked the door a bit after being unable to catch any signs of movements. It opened into an open area that looked like it had been set up for a cubicle farm but they had never gotten that far. Even standing in the door, she heard no people moving around or even the clacking of a keyboard didn’t reach her ears. Another glance around showed no cameras, so she moved in, her feet whispers of sound on the floor.
Don't get arrogant. That will get you dead, as you were so eloquently reminded.
Even with the reminder ringing through her mind she relaxed a bit, prowling the open area, but it carried nothing of any activity. To the side were windows and she frowned looking at them. They were too close to be windows to the outside. Reviewing the building in her head, there hadn't been any windows like those looking out.
Dropping to a crouch she moved over to the windows and peered out.
Well, what the hell is this?
Poking her head up she surveyed the area, frown deepening as she looked. People moved around below her, most of them in lab coats, one or two in suits – though those were all back away from anything else, talking with faces that held no emotions.
None of the people talked beside the occasional order to another. Kayter lifted herself up a bit higher to get a better angle into the rest of the room and froze. What had just been out of her sight when she peered over, now resolved itself and her stomach seized.
Strapped to two, no three of the six tables below were people. Their faces slack and IV's attached to each side of their body. They were all pretty, even strapped to a bed and unconscious they possessed a beauty that called to you, and Kayter swallowed hard.
Fae. They have Fae captured. Or at least Faeborn. Oh gods, the missing fae. Oh, fuck me.
Her blood ran cold and she wanted to be sick as she saw the beginning of a war with another realm below her. She kept watching the people below, all men, or at least there weren't any women present right now. The IV coming out on one side was blood pooling into a bag at a very slow rate.
Giving blood equaled a very bad idea for Kayter but she'd seen it often enough to frown at how slow the blood dripped into the bag. The other IV contained a clear fluid that dripped down. The person in the bed had shadows under their eyes so deep she could see them from up here. No way to tell the gender, most Fae tended towards an androgynous facial structure. None of these looked like pure Fae, but they weren't diluted very far either.
Dammit, I should have brought binoculars.
With eyes narrowed she traced up and down each inch of the bodies of the motionless people. Straps secured their arms and feet to the beds, and she saw a bag with yellowish liquid near the end of the bed, barely visible from her vantage point.
Her eyes snagged on what she'd suspected and dreaded seeing. A thick tube ran along the side of the bed and slipped under the blanket about midway down the bed. An opaque white substance moved through it.
Fuck. Feeding tube. This is not good. Means they are keeping them here long term. Which explains why the Fae haven't found the bodies. I wonder if they know these people have been missed?
She kept looking and saw one of the lab coat people swap out a bag and head back to under to where she could not see it.
I've got to get down there, figure out what is going on. I might not be the biggest fan of the Fae, Dad sure wasn't, but this isn't right. And I don't want to have anything to do with starting another war.
Moving quickly but making sure she didn't make any noise, she headed back to the door and the stairs. She needed to get into the other area.
Note – next time see what Miriam charges for invisibility.
The mental laugh helped. Invisibility wasn't possible. Bending light was hard and an enchantment that would do it, well she'd never heard of anyone pulling it off for more than a second or two. Not much use.
The stairwell had almost no signs of use, and with the emptiness of the second floor, she understood why. There might have been more further back on the floor around corners but right now her focus was on what they were doing with the blood. Her bones ached with the knowledge it wouldn't be good.
Getting down to the first floor, she stood by the door concentrating, ears straining, but it all seemed quiet. Taking a deep breath then holding it, she cracked open the door revealing a hallway. She stepped out into it and saw windows and doors a bit further down.
Thinking through the layout in her mind, the person she saw would have entered on the other side of where she stood. With that in mind, she headed to the windows, keeping her back to the wall, then carefully peered around the edge of the window, even as she listened for anyone coming this direction.
Inside was a full lab, scientific equipment, computers, refrigerators and things she had no idea what their purpose might be. The man she had spied stood on the far side of the room. She didn't see the bag of blood but she saw him watching something drip into a vial, a pinkish yellow color. He stood there for another minute, then hit a button, and after a few flashes of light the vial popped out. In an action that looked bored and if he'd done it a hundred times, he grabbed it, moved a few feet over and opened a glass door fridge and put it in a tray. Filling it up. Closing the fridge, he walked back out.
The room looked empty, so she took a chance and slipped inside via the doors near her. The coldness of the room slapped her in the face, but the rest of her body stayed comfortable. With sharp glances, and listening for voices, she headed over to the fridge and blinked at the full trays of the vials.
All were labeled, but the writing was tiny. She pulled open the door and crouched down sliding out one of the trays near the bottom, and grabbed a vial from the back, slipping it into her pocket. She then shut the door and stood, then headed towards the door that went into the room where the prisoners were.
Prisoners seem right, but why? Why risk coming to the notice of the Fae? No one knows for sure what they can do. But if they get pissed it could be very, very bad for us. They know what we can do, but we have no idea what they can do.
Even in her head, she couldn't come up with a convincing argument
for them to be here and not in a hospital if something seriously wrong wasn't afoot and they weren't trying to hide it from the Fae.
The set of doors leading out into the open area turned out to be a double set, with a small entryway with bins for lab coats and gloves and booties, not that she'd seen anyone wearing them. The second set of doors were loose and more to separate the area, than to close and secure an area. She could hear the beeps of machines and the murmur of voices in the other area.
Be smart. Not stupid.
Growling under her breath she backed out and headed to leave the building. Going out into that area would have guaranteed someone saw her and even if she'd worn a lab coat, just being female would make her stand out.
Moving quickly, she exited the building and went back around to the parking lot, looking for a place to observe unnoticed. The cars were still there, along with two delivery trucks, and she grinned. One of the trucks, a Freightliner M2, had a flat tire, and from the weeds growing near it, it'd been there for a while. It was well into dark and from the placement of the lights, the top of the truck disappeared into the night sky.
Perfect.
It took less than a minute to jump to the top of the truck and lay down on the filthy surface. Cleaning her leathers as soon as she got back would be mandatory, given the amount of bird shit and other things she refused to think about. Pressing her body flat against the surface, she trained her eyes on the door and settled in to wait.
Every hunter knows how to hold still and wait for prey. Kayter lay there and waited, her awareness soaking in everything. It didn't take long before three men walked out, chatting as they stepped out of the building. Two were in suits, the third had a lab coat draped over his arm. Light reflected off glasses from the lab coat guy and they headed towards the cars parked not far from her.
Kayter quit breathing, worry flashing through her that they might look up and see her, but none of them appeared to have any level of situational awareness at all.