The girl nudged the Hulk and they tore off toward their friend. Scott hollered at their backs. "You kids stay safe."
The girl looked over her shoulder and stuck out her tongue.
"I don't think you have to worry about those extortive street rats," I said and brushed at my jeans to rid the material of the thin strands that the liquid spray had webbed into.
Thankfully, the strings had begun to lose the stink of eggs with the congealing into a solid. I was willing to bet one of the street vendors had put out cannisters of the stuff and sold them for five bucks a pop specially for the occasion.
"What are the odds they're going to buy more punk spray?" I said.
"Probably one hundred percent," he said. "Cute, huh?"
I eyed him with a look of suspicion but he was watching the kids with an expression that indicated he really did think they were cute.
"You've got a problem," I said and headed up the sidewalk, leaving him to catch up.
"Oh come on, Graves," he said. "Halloween is the one day a year they can prank and enjoy immunity. Don't you remember having that sort of fun?" He fell in beside me.
I thought back to my childhood, the one I'd had before my twin and mother went missing and my father lost himself to drink. I couldn't remember nearly as many good holidays as bad.
"The girl was something, though, huh?" is what I said instead. Even though he knew my past, I knew it was hard for him to really imagine it. His mom might have been a hunter, but she was a damn good woman and she'd been there.
Scott watched the kids with obvious enjoyment. "She'd make a great hunter."
"Let's hope she never has to know bogeymen are real and can just follow her passions into everyday mundane criminal activity."
"Maybe she'll be a cop."
"Maybe she'll be an ambulance chaser."
We had turned the corner that led deeper into the borough where the golem had last been. Remi's garage was still a ten-minute walk away but the streets were swarming with kids unlike the night before. It worried me that the creature could still be about with all the extra activity but I hoped the same activity might have driven it into hiding.
One could hope for such a thing. Until the hope is dashed at least.
The way it was in the next few moments.
Chapter Eight
It was the piercing shriek that got me racing into the alley before Scott could even react. He was usually pretty fast on the uptake, but there's no speed like the reaction of one woman hearing another's scream. The tone, pitch, and timber of it was a girl's and I knew. Just knew who the voice belonged to. My heart hammered so hard I thought it was going to lodge between my ribs.
"He's gone," Annie said when she saw me skid into the alley way.
There were several exterior lights on the buildings as well as streetlights and it was clear that the kids were alone in the alley. Both stood with their backs pressed against the brick wall and palms splayed out beside them. They were trying like hell to disappear into the grout.
I skidded to a stop several feet away as I panned the alley for threats that might not be immediately visible; a vampire skulking in the shadows, a demon seeping up from the sewer grates. Scott was right behind me and I know he was doing the same thing because he muttered, "I don't see anything."
The girl had lost her crocheted Annie wig and I could see that her hair was short and black, as though it had been cut by someone who didn't know what they were doing and she'd had it fixed.
She didn't blink for long moments as she processed the sight of us rounding into the alley and worked out that she'd spoken with us just a few minutes earlier. Shock, no doubt. I knew the signs and I worried she might be ready to pass out.
I had no idea what to do with children and as I reached her first, I reached for her shoulders, thinking to hold her steady in case she wanted to bolt or in case she collapsed. I mean, how sturdy were kids anyway? I just figured if she knew there were adults with her, she'd believe everything was going to be fine. Whatever had them spooked, they could relax because an adult would take care of it.
I should have known better. She didn't know me, and all I'd done was scare her even more. She took one look at me with those eyes the size of plates and balked. Her foot stomped down onto the Hulk's instep and he stumbled sideways and nearly fell. I clenched my fists at my sides, willing myself not to touch either of them and make things worse.
I felt Scott's hands on my arm as he pushed me aside. He took her gently by the shoulders as he knelt in front of her, one knee on the asphalt and one bent to make a sort of seat next to her in case she sagged. It was something I should have thought of and I sidestepped to give him space. I was just in the way there.
He looked into her face, level to her eyes.
She stood very still, brave or scared or wooden from shock, I wasn't sure.
"Who's gone?" he asked her in the kind of tone I'd heard Joy use on a few hunters who'd come back to the base with bad injuries and shell-shocked faces.
There were no words for the way she looked at both of us. Her expression spoke of disbelief and shock, and something else. Something you only saw on people's faces when they'd seen the devil. Both Scott and I knew the look well.
It was then that I realized what she was trying to tell us. What our own eyes should have told us as soon as we saw two kids in the alley and not three. I palmed my forehead in realization.
"Danny," I said. "He's not with you."
She shook her head in agreement with my assessment. I noted she'd dropped her fabric bag of candy and punk string. I stooped to pick it up, thinking she needed time for her body to absorb the adrenaline and decide whether flight or fight would be the best option.
It hung in my hand as Scott hoisted her into his arms. She didn't even fight him off. Just lay down against his shoulder as though she were a toddler who'd bumped her head and needed comfort. It hurt my heart a little to see the tough little thing reduced to that.
"Scott?" I said as my gaze slid over the scene and I noted a small pile of dirt and a sneaker.
He followed my gaze. "You thinking the same thing as me?"
"I imagine so."
He peeled the girl away from his shoulder. "It's going to be Okay. We'll get it figured out."
He set her down next to the boy who had taken to worrying the handle of his fabric bag. He shivered out of adrenaline response.
"What happened?" I asked and did my best to soften my tone the way Scott had, but failing and ended up making it sound like an accusation.
I tried again, managing it better. "What happened to Danny?"
I was willing to bet they'd seen the golem. I was hoping their friend just ran off instead of the more horrible certainty that was nagging me.
The boy swung his gaze upward. His face resembled his sister's, all forehead and eyes. He couldn't have been much younger than her. I wondered if they were twins and felt my throat tighten.
"It took him," he said. "Just came out of nowhere and grabbed him."
Even in the dim light of the alley's lamp posts I could see him trembling. He was trying to be brave but the shock was the only thing keeping him from registering what he'd just witnessed. It was always the same with someone who'd just seen the impossible. The costumes and the holiday made it easy for him to pretend he hadn't just seen something that shouldn't exist, and so he was able to maintain the denial. But the trembling told me he wouldn't maintain it for long. His body knew something wasn't right even if his brain was trying to rationalize it.
My mouth went dry and I stole a glance at Scott. I knew by the way his jaw went rigid that he felt responsible. I didn't bother to ask the boy what took Danny. It was a moot point really, and asking them to relive it would only traumatize them more. We had to do damage control instead.
"Which way did it go?"
She shook her head, not just once or twice but lots. She was lost in there somewhere and couldn't find a way to communicate more than the fact that she did not wa
nt to think about what she'd seen.
I shot a look at Scott. "It must be handy," I said. "It can't have got far already." My body was buzzing with adrenalin, urging my legs to run. If we hurried we might still catch it.
He looked past the kids to the other end of the alley. It was clear he wasn't about to bolt off in pursuit. He didn't want to leave the kids alone.
"We don't have time to waste," I said.
He stood up and the girl shrieked at him not to leave. When she clung to his leg, he fell back to a crouch.
"Oh come on," I said. "It's probably right around the corner."
"Graves," he said in a reproachful tone and I sighed because I'd heard the voice before. He wasn't budging.
"Never mind," I said in a huff. "I'll do it."
"It's not," the girl blurted out. "If it was, Danny would fight. I know he would."
She stared at me, daring me to argue. I wasn't sure if she was telling the truth or if she just didn't want to be left alone and was prepared to say anything to make sure we didn't leave. I laid my head back against the wall and ran the possibilities through my mind. The one thing that kept coming up was that Scott was right. Before we ran off chasing the golem, we had to get the kids off the street or out of the vicinity.
Because if it was right around the corner, they were about to get even more traumatized when we faced it.
"Okay. Let's get them home," I said. "Text Joy when you get there and have her send over a cleaner to meet you. I'll see if I can find...Danny."
A cleaner was someone from the organization with a counselling degree, someone who'd been out on plenty of hunts during their training so they could help mitigate and manage the trauma after someone had met and survived a supernatural event. I hoped they had training in child care.
Scott tore his gaze from the girl's face to direct a nasty glare my way.
"You are not sending me home like an errand boy while you take care of our problem," he said. I noted he avoided naming the creature.
"Someone has to bring them home," I said. "They aren't going to let me take them."
I indicated the way the girl was leaning against his leg. At the motion of my arm, she cringed all the tighter to it.
"They shouldn't be out without their parents anyway," I grumbled. "What kind of parent lets their kids out alone?"
"Our mom works night shift at the hospital," she said with a lifted chin. "She got called in last minute." Her head hung as the confession came out. "We weren't supposed to leave the house, but..." she let the statement trail.
"Candy," I finished for her and she nodded.
And it no doubt wasn't all about the treating. Someone had worked hard on those costumes. And they weren't just hooligans. Their mom, siblings, obviously, did care. But kids were kids. I didn't need to ask if they had a dad. If they did, the girl wouldn't have mentioned that she wasn't supposed to leave the house. A dad would have taken them out treating if the mother was called in to work.
I sighed. "Which hospital does your mom work at?" I said, pulling out my phone with the intent of calling their information desk and leaving a message. "We'll bring you there."
She narrowed her gaze.
"We don't know you." At that, she let go Scott's legs and squared her shoulders as though she'd just realized she was hugging a stranger.
"Look," I said. "I get it. We're strangers. You're right to be suspicious, but some weirdo is out there dressing as a monster. You saw it."
She flinched at my tone and the threat in it but I didn't care if I had to scare her into letting us help her.
I dug into my pocket and pulled out my hunter badge. It looked similar to an FBI badge and I hoped it would quell her very normal suspicion long enough to at least trust we weren't going to hurt her.
"See?" I said. "We're official. We don't want to hurt you. Hell," I barked. "We came running when you screamed. Would a criminal do that?"
I swung her bag of candy toward her and hooked it over her shoulder.
"We want to help," Scott said in a far more soothing tone. "If someone took your friend, we want to make sure he's okay. We want to make sure you're okay. That's all."
The girl chewed her bottom lip and stole a glance at her brother. I noticed he'd found her wig and was clutching it at his side. Seeing it, seemed to make up her mind for her.
She named the hospital and while the anxiety left her face, her shoulders didn't quite relax all the way. I recognized the posture of a kid who was always on guard and I felt the nudging of kinship with her. She was probably very close to the age I'd been when I'd lost Chris and Mom to a supernatural force and left me alone with a father who couldn't cope. He'd turned to drink so aggressively, I'd had to emancipate myself by the time I was fifteen.
It hadn't been easy convincing a judge I was already doing all the adult things in the household and had been for years, but I managed it. I'd got a job after school and accelerated my learning so I could graduate and get into the full-time workforce. A social worker checked on me in my boarding home to make sure I was still in school, able to pay my board, and do all the things I'd promised the judge I could do.
I hadn't seen my father in years and I was okay with that. I still lived much of my life out of the Chevy Tahoe I'd inherited in the lawsuit because I was on assignment and out of town so often, it didn't make sense to keep an apartment.
I could see this girl going the same route if her mother was the sort of woman that my father was a man, but I got the sense that wasn't the case. Her mother had taken the time to create those costumes. So something else was eating away at the carefree attitude a kid her age should be enjoying and that could be anything from school, to poverty, to trauma left over from an absent father.
But it was not her mother. And that made the knot in my stomach ease just a bit. Whatever she was suffering through, she had a mom to walk her through it. That was more than I had. The kid still had a chance.
But for this newest trauma. Which was why it was imperative to make sure our cleaners helped them all process it. Lying to a kid and telling her she hadn't seen what she knew she'd witnessed was not going to work. They might try it, but I doubted it would take.
I crossed my arms over my chest and chewed at my bottom lip as I considered how we could get the kids to their mom and still make sure the golem didn't hurt any of the kids roaming around in costume.
"Maybe we'll just call them a cab," I said. "We can meet up with them later. There's plenty of time for questions after."
Later meant after we neutralized the creature. After meant we'd figure out if they needed more help than a cleaner or two.
I knew Scott would understand.
He pulled out his phone. "I'll text Joy for help and you call a cab."
He laid his palm on the girl's shoulder almost absently as he tapped the screen with his thumb. I noted both kids had huddled closer, leaving me standing at the mouth of the alley to phone the cab.
I phoned a cab and gave them the address, telling the driver we'd be standing on the street. I noted the sign post with the street name and panned the area as I gave the information. There was a park nearby. I could just make out the swings and seesaws and monkey bars. About a dozen kids of various ages had started to congregate there, moving in the shadows to compare notes on their loot.
And that was when I saw the greater, broader, and darker shadow moving toward them.
It was too late to get the kids out of there, because the golem had already found a cluster of kids to prey on.
Chapter Nine
I knew we weren't prepared to deal with trying to protect a dozen kids from realizing there was more to life than the things they could see. But we needed to neutralize the golem. Scott must have thought the same because he was right there along with me, tearing off toward the playground. I didn't think about leaving Tawny and her brother vulnerable behind me, because we'd done the best we could for them and now there were others in danger. Whatever happened tonight, those kids, every
single one of them, were going to have nightmares for years.
I was huffing and dragging in a lungful of burning air as I hit the grass on the other side of the street. It was a broad playground with streetlamps every dozen feet to illuminate each piece of equipment so kids could play past dark. Insects flitted around the lamps, making the light seem to be moving on the ground.
The monkey bars and slides were aging and the teeter totters looked like they were frayed along the edges, but to me that meant it was a well used playground. Even the preteens skulked about the edges in their faux costumes made of mostly beanie hats and gothic makeup.
But preteens and tweenagers were still vulnerable and they hadn't yet noticed the golem lumbering toward them from the edge of the grass line. Scott passed me long before it stepped out into the open field and headed toward a cluster of tweenagers who showed the kind of concern you would if you expected the thing advancing on them was a costume and not the real deal.
I said a quick Hail Mary although I'd given up religion a dozen years earlier.
One of them pointed at it, drawing his comrades' attention toward the creature.
"Shit," I yelled at Scott as I recalled trying and failing to de-animate the thing earlier. "It doesn't have a shem on its forehead. Don't bother trying to stop it. Just break it."
Break it. I had no idea what I meant by that, but at twelve feet tall and heading toward a bunch of innocent kids, I figured the next best thing was to turn one big awful into two smaller awfuls. At least, that might give us a chance.
It was made of earth, after all.
Scott broke through the kids, making them scatter sideways, but it wasn't enough. They knew by then something was wrong. They huddled back together for protection, too stunned to run off, or thinking that whatever was wrong couldn't possibly be bad enough that their lives were at risk.
"Get the hell out of here," I yelled at them. I waved my arms in great sweeping gestures to no avail. They gave me those deadpan looks of a teen to an adult who had gone off her nut.
A Cursed All Hallows' Eve Page 139