by P. S. Power
"Goody. I was about to get bored. Who do you think called that in?"
She was speaking to him, but Zack was the one that answered. His voice was playful and almost happy sounding.
"It could be anyone. Midgets that are upset with everyone looking down on them? Only, no, because Little People tend to be awesome. Our people could have done it, but that seems a bit heavy handed. My best guess? A certain feminist group. Probably just a call too, because if you're going to actually attack you just do it, you don't make threats first. I don't suppose we could get a copy of that threat? What was said exactly? Who took the call? Who did it come in to?"
Rupert searched the room carefully, his eyes scraping everything for bits of information or possible threat.
"Valerie, over at Pretty Plus. It came in about fifteen minutes ago. We heard it. Calley knows more than I do, since it was kind of far away for me. Viv suggested we go store to store and spread the word, which is a good plan." He spoke like he needed to defend his sister.
She was probably right given the situation there, so Ty headed out too, only to have Sally take his arm.
"You should look for bombs. Start at Pretty Plus. Be really careful, and try to find anything unusual. Focus really intently and don't miss anything."
The words made more than sense to him, and he moved to get that done, running fast. If there was anything, then odds were it would either be just outside the back door since that was the easiest target, which ended up being perfectly clean when he checked the area, or in the front. In places where a person off the street could walk in, say carrying a bag, and not be noticed.
There were a lot of places to hide things like that in a clothing store. It still didn't take him long to locate the likely bomb. It did surprise him that anything was there, because Zack had been right. You didn't call something in like that if you wanted dead bodies all over the place. In the center of a circular clothing rack, in the shielded ring made by rather tame looking dresses and skirts, all in black, sat a paper shopping bag. He didn't touch it, just looking down into the top of the thing.
"Hmmm. Well, this does look like a bomb to me. Wires, an electronic timer, something that looks like modeling clay in blocks."
He spoke the words out loud, which got several people to run toward him. One of them was the girl that his mother had changed into.
"Good work. You should keep looking. Here first, then go store to store. I'll mark this one."
It took a bit for him to actually go from one place to the next, but that was the only explosive device. After about half an hour a Police officer came and started to tell him to evacuate the building. That was silly of course. He wasn't done checking it yet.
After explaining that, he went back to work, only to have the officer try to push him around on the topic. The man even pulled his gun, which was ignored. Normally that would have been a big deal to him, but at the moment he had important searching to do.
"Look, I'm working here. You need to get and stay, out of my way." The man wasn't thrilled to hear that, but finally another cop came over and sent him away. A useful one.
Robertson.
The Coalition of Nations local liaison. His partner wasn't there at the moment, but the older man actually just asked what he was doing. That was kind of why he had the job he did. The guy was brilliant, and actually bothered to try to be reasonable, even if something strange was happening.
Ty didn't stop searching for even a second.
"I found the first bomb. I need to go over the whole building... Um, I can't die. I can go into that more later, if you want, but for the time being, don't you think that you should leave? If I get blown up it will be messy and inconvenient for a week or two. That's all. Can you say the same?"
"No, I can't. I'll pass the word. The world is sure a strange place anymore."
It really was.
The explosives unit did their job, well away from him, and he didn't find anything else. Even as he went into each store, since they were all still open, and checked them individually. One at a time. It took a long while, but by the time he finished, almost everyone was gone. It was also morning, or close enough that it was daylight outside when he went to see where everyone had gotten to. There was a large collection of people in the parking lot, but when Ty moved in that direction he realized that he didn't know any of them.
Almost none of them.
Several of them were kind of familiar, having been part of the feminist attack on the bookstore a few weeks back. Looking around he noticed that Will was there standing with them, if a bit to the side. The feminist guy that had helped to wrestle the gun away from the would be killer that had targeted Alex.
Instead of waving though, the man pointed at him, and yelled.
"There he is! There he is! That's the one!" His look was a bit blank and vapid, and several women
turned toward him, and started running.
Then they attacked. Mainly with weak slaps, which didn't hurt, and hair pulling. That part did close to nothing, since there wasn't a lot up top for them to hang on to, which he could have told them, if they would have stopped freaking out at him like they were. Then several of them picked him up, bodily, even though he wasn't moving. At first he didn't get it, but when the van pulled up next to him, an SUV, with lots of windows, Tyler worked it out. He was smart that way.
He was being kidnapped. Again. Only this time it was a bit more serious in intent, and more comical in execution.
"Um, hey... You probably don't want to do this. You can get in real trouble for kidnapping."
That got a rather homely woman to punch him in the face.
"Shut up, cis scum!" A little chant went up then, as he was tossed into the back of the red vehicle. It was a nice burgundy color, actually, with a bit of metallic sheen that was visible in the very early morning light.
Rather than fight, since these people honestly weren't ready for that kind of thing, he called out, wondering if anyone would be able to hear him.
"Hey! This is Ty Gartner. I'm being kidnapped. By the people that attacked the bookstore. Red SUV, in the parking lot. A little help, please? They're mainly women, and I don't want to hurt them."
The unattractive woman, who was heavy, square shouldered and who had a slightly better beard growth going than he could manage himself, started hitting him again. Poorly.
"Quiet, you male oppressor!"
"Um, I'm not oppressing you. You're committing a crime, and literally hitting me! That makes you the oppressor here. You want to not be doing that. Stop and let me go. Now."
Another of the women, who seemed a bit rabid, screeched in his direction. Her hair was fuzzy, and she probably would have been cute, if it weren't for the deep frown lines on her face. Flecks of spittle flew from her face as she yelled.
"You! You threatened to rape our friends. You won't get away with that!"
That was news to him.
"I... What the hell are you talking about? I didn't do that." No, he'd let Balthias do that. It was a very different thing.
That got incoherent ranting, the message of which basically told him that the woman had nothing to go on in particular. She just started saying words, which while catchy, didn't cover why he was being taken. Her reasoning seemed to be about the Patriarchy, which, when he asked to have that really explained got three different responses from four different women. The only good part of the whole thing was that they started fighting among themselves about it, which meant there was screaming when the doors were ripped off the vehicle. It was a booming and screeching thing, that involved sounds Tyler was nearly willing to bet would do some hearing damage.
To those others, who didn't just soak that kind of thing and grow teeth back like he did.
Strangely, even though he'd expected Eve, or maybe Ginger, to get there first, or possibly Zack, or his mom, it wasn't any of them there. No, the Vampire that was kicking some behind rather handily was one that he didn't recognize.
Only that wasn't
true. When he saw her slightly nerdy face, and focused he got it. He'd met her, twice. She'd lent Eve her car to give him a ride once in fact, which had been ultra cool of her.
"Hi Maggie. Thanks for the rescue. Please be careful not to hurt them. I think they might be... I don't know. Kind of deluded? I'd say slow, but that isn't right. I don't want to insult people with learning disabilities, so this has to be something else. They might have been tricked, or brainwashed into it, so we should be careful."
The last of the women, the heavy one that had screamed first was tossed into the parking lot. The Vampire looked like a bit of a hippie to him, and a tiny bit like a nerd. She was also kind of adorable, while she was saving his life like that.
"Fanatics are always a pain in the rump. I was just going to come in and see if I could get the word on what's going on at the meeting. I heard you, so figured you might know?"
"Nope? I bet we can find out, if we try. There was a bomb threat. Probably these people. We should, I don't know, call the police?"
She nodded, and pulled a cell phone, which meant that they got very prompt service. The cops were still there, and she was known as the daughter of Chief Sims. They didn't even shoot him first this time before arresting the actual bad guys. Bad gals, he reminded himself, not wanting to get that part wrong. They didn't even spray his face with anything or try to taser him, either. In all, it was a good day.
Chapter ten
It still took hours for him to get out of there. The police kept asking him the same six or so questions, over and over again, and generally were acting like he was making up being kidnapped, even with Maggie Sims backing him up on the topic.
It was bad enough that the woman finally lost her cool a bit and growled at some of the men.
"Look, this isn't hard. Look at the video from those cameras?" She pointed, frustration in her voice.
It was a good point, and while they did get with the plant manager for the mall, and the footage was both delivered and very clear, he was still hassled for a long time, as if he were making things up.
In the end it was Robertson that explained the whole thing to him. The cop looked exhausted, his mustache kind of messed up, which Tyler had never even thought of as being a thing that could happen.
"They know that you've taken out Vampires, unarmed. One more than one occasion. There's no way a bunch of regular women could take you against your will." Even as he spoke he was skeptical sounding.
Ty nodded.
"Sure. I could have kicked their asses. Then you'd be taking me to prison right now, wouldn't you? Hell, I was stabbed the other day and the cops attacked me for it. Are you really going to tell me that I had a legal right to self-defense given that? If I even pushed them away so I could run I'd be open to arrest now, right?"
That got the cop to look baffled for a moment, but after a while he laughed, just a little. A dry chuckle that seemed nearly miserable under the surface level.
"True. It's a trap for all men. Even cops have to deal with it from time to time. I saw a case recently where a woman came up behind an officer who was working on a computer and slashed his throat, trying to kill him. She got probation for it. Probation. He lived, but there was an investigation into his use of force, wresting the knife from her. He didn't even punch her."
That was kind of shocking, but it also made sense at the same time, from what he'd seen.
Still, that being pointed out did get the other cops to pull back a bit, question wise. They got part of it, if nothing else. He hadn't been being a wimp, being taken like that, he'd been being diplomatic. Luckily Maggie, the Chief's daughter had been there to help him out.
It was funny, but not one of the cops put two and two together to come to the conclusion that she was a Vampire. Not even with the vehicle damage. Ty suspected mind control on her part, but he didn't see it happening. There were no particularly lingering stares or verbal commands telling them what to do. Not that he could tell.
It was nine in the morning by the time he was allowed to go home, and for once he actually got to. After all, it was an order day, which meant the new books were coming in later that night. That meant he was able to find a place and just sit. It had been a while since he'd been able to do that. At least without anyone trying to hit him at the same time.
His chosen place was Calley's sofa. It was warm and soft, letting him sink into it. There was a nice and rather large television in front of him, but he left it off, just breathing for a while. A thing that he eventually realized he didn't need to do. On the good side, even with his life being kind of bad at the moment, he also didn't think he was capable of depression. That was kind of cool, actually. No one needed that kind of thing, if they didn't have to feel like that.
After about half an hour of that, just when he was going to get incredibly bored, Calley came in, through the front door. She looked pretty exhausted. The real kind that gave her dark circles under her eyes, like a real person.
"Tyler! You still live here?" She hopped over the arm of the couch and slid in beside him, cuddling in to his side.
"I know. How are things going for you? I'd share first, but the fact is I have no clue about my life. I mean, you'd think I'd know, having lived it, but no... Not so much." That seemed fair to him.
"Catherine is freaking out. We're seeing attacks at a level that pretty much means someone is setting them up, but she doesn't know who it is, or why they'd bother. I mean, feminists? They aren't normally bombing kidnappers, are they? Even the extremists tend to be more about talk than action. That pretty much means someone is trying to line things up for some reason. Then there's the thing with Vivian. I mean, she's Rupert's sister. Sent after Catherine personally?" There was a rapid settling of her body, almost vibrating against his side.
After thinking for a few seconds, that being a thing that he liked to do occasionally, Ty could see that as strange.
"Yeah. My guess is Greater Demons. Zack pretty much told me that if I trusted any of them he'd cut off my arm and eat it in front of me. I like my hands, so... Yep. I'm blaming them irrationally. Probably The Storm, since I know she's going after my mom."
Hopping up the Bat girl scurried to the kitchen.
"Pancakes! You want?"
He did. It actually sounded pretty good, given everything.
"Sure. I should help." Not that he was the best cook in the world, but he could do a few things in the kitchen. More than just that, actually. Really, he was good at it. His mom had taught him how, so he could make his own dinners when she was working. Now he had to wonder what she'd really been doing all that time. Demon stuff, no doubt.
He had other kitchen skills too however. Washing dishes and standing there, mainly. Opening cans was a talent of his as well, and he could mix a mean pitcher of frozen orange juice concentrate. If they weren't going to use fresh oranges. Most of the time they hadn't done that either, since Ty had grown up poor, but he'd been shown how, so that he'd have the skill.
They had several cans too, so he worked near the sink, trying to stay out of the way.
That almost didn't matter, since the girl kept moving toward him, even as he shuffled over to give her room to work. That kept him moving around the space until Calley set up an electric griddle on the counter, pulling it from below that.
Then she stopped pursuing him like she had been, clearly not getting that she'd been doing it. As the batter was poured and started to make little noises at it cooked, the girl set up some eggs on the stove in a pan. She glanced at him, but he waved those away. They smelled wonderful, but that wasn't a good thing at the moment. He was feeling kind of hungry, which was mainly a psychological thing for him.
Eating was just for fun.
Kind of like sex.
That could have been sad and might be someday, if he ever wanted kids, but at eighteen he was feeling all right with that kind of thing. He couldn't get a girl pregnant? Wonderful. That was one less thing to worry about.
As she worked, standing like a wa
rrior in front of the griddle, holding a long handled spatula, Calley glanced over at him.
"Ohhh, will you pour me a glass of OJ?"
He got her one, the heavy pitcher, which was made of clear glass, feeling about room temperature to him. There was a bit of condensation on the outside of it, meaning it was cool. So was he though, naturally.
"I keep forgetting that I'm cold all the time. I know why I didn't realize it for years, but it's shocking that no one mentioned it to me." Only, of course, they had. People had mentioned him having cold hands several times, Ty just hadn't touched people a lot.
Now that he thought about it, Lucy had always hinted that he should avoid that, so he wouldn't catch their germs. An awful lot of what he'd done had been about not being noticed as a dead person, now that he was able to see his own life clearly.
Before the first batch of crispy smelling golden brown cakes were put on a plate, a soft knock came from the front door. It was late enough in the day that it didn't seem impossible, though he used the peep hole, and was a bit shocked to see who was there, on the other side of the thing.
Cracking the door, he let his head pop out, and tried to seem skeptical.
"Are you here to tell me about our Lord, Jesus Christ?"
The Mistress of Souls snorted a bit, and then let her head tilt from side to side.
"Not exactly. So, let me in anyway? I mainly just came to check on you, since I hear you've had a rough few days. I'm good like that. Practically your best friend, when you come down to it. I mean, who else comes from out of state just to make sure their pal is all right?" Her face was smiling and friendly. Also a bit too good looking. Like she wasn't exactly real.
Perfect on a level that was too hard to ignore. Like the Alede were. Only without blasts of lust coming off of her, which was nice, now that he noticed it.
"Um, okay, but no sex or tricks. I mean, tricking me or my friends. If you want to do stupid Demon tricks to amuse us, that would be cool."
That got a nod, but no words.