Midnight Squad: The Ties That Bind

by J. L. M. Visada

  I nodded nervously. This was going to be the first time I’d ever really been in anything you might call a fight. Sure, these guys were tiny, but they still had experience. The only advantage we had was that we knew they only had illusions, and they didn’t know that we knew that little tidbit.

  Grim had Penny and Danika run off ahead of us, and then after counting to ten, we started running into the fight. We could already hear the tiny screams. When we got close enough to see what was happening, I was shocked. Penny was pulling their wings off. She wasn’t killing them, just making it so that they couldn’t fly. Meanwhile Danika was in her wolf-human hybrid form, and she was chomping down on them like they were some kind of snack at the state fair.

  Katy stopped and cast a spell. I could tell because suddenly my mouth tasted like I’d touched my tongue to a battery. Wind slammed down onto the faery village like a sledgehammer. It drove all the Dullahan to the ground. Many of the illusions they were trying to use flickered and went away. After that, it was all pretty much academic. The rest of us stomped through their village like Godzilla through Tokyo. I even slapped a few of the little guys around. It was a lot more satisfying than I thought it would be.

  The fur around Danika’s mouth was painted dark blue from their blood. She was chomping down on the little guys like Augustus Gloop from Willy Wonka. Niki was slapping them down, and then kicking them as hard as she could. Some of the little blue guys would spin end over end like she was kicking a field goal. A few of them just dribbled across the ground. Niki looked over at her fiancé, and cringed.

  “You are so-o-o-o brushing your teeth when we get home.” She said.

  “But honey, they’re delicious. It’s like eating a walking jolly rancher, except they’re chewy instead of hard.”

  “Really?” Niki’s eyebrow shot up quizzically.

  “Yeah, try one.” Danika held out a squirming little blue guy.

  “Um…no?”

  “Hey, I ate those nasty steamed vegetables that you called a meal. So now it’s payback.” Danika handed over the Dullahan.

  “It was steamed rice, carrots, broccoli, and asparagus. It’s good for you.”

  “No, I’m a werewolf. What’s good for me is meat, meat, meat, and more meat. Vegetables are a side dish, and even then only if they are covered in enough cheese that you don’t taste those god-awful things. Remember, to a werewolf the food pyramid is basically meat on the bottom, meat byproducts on the next level, bacon bits, then everything else on top, and that top part is tiny. It’s tiny with little arrows drawn out to the side pointing at the other tiers on the food pyramid. Now eat your squirming little blue guy.”

  “Can I just lick him and we call it even?” Niki whined.

  “Oh fine…you big baby.”

  Niki tapped at the dullahan with her tongue. A strange look came across her face, and then she took a longer lick. A big grin sprouted on her face.

  “They’re good, huh?” Danika laughed.

  Niki seemed to be hesitating for a moment, and then suddenly she gave a little shrug, put the little guys head in her mouth and bit down. My stomach lurched when I saw it, but I fought to keep everything inside.

  “Oh…they taste…incredible.” Niki wolfed down the rest of her Dullahan, and started looking for another.

  Now Danika, and Niki were gobbling the Dullahans down faster than Pac-man eats those little white pellets. The Dullahans were so terrified of being eaten that they were blindly flying into the rest of us. We were just tearing them apart. We’d wrecked their village, and at this rate, there wouldn’t be any Dullahans left.

  Finally, a little voice screamed, “We surrender!”

  We all stopped what we were doing, except for Danika and Niki. They were still happily chewing away on their Dullahans. My stomach did little flip-flops again at the thought, but who was I to judge? After all, just twenty minutes ago Niki shared my outlook on eating the squirmy blue guys. Now she was eating them like it was a buffet.

  A Dullahan stepped out looking much more authoritative than the rest. “Why are you here?”

  “You sent three of your people to kill us. Now we want answers, or we’ll destroy every last one of you.” I was convinced that Grim meant every word.

  The chief sighed, “I knew I shouldn’t have sent Sunset. Do they all still live?”

  Grim gave an evil grin, “They’ve all been dealt with. Us Lightbringers can be pretty nasty when you get us properly motivated.”

  The Dullahans cringed when he said Lightbringer. I was curious why Grim didn’t mention that Who and Twilight were still alive, but I decided now wasn’t the best time to discuss any of that.

  “I am Rainbow, the chief. If speaking with you saves my people, then I will speak.” Give the guy credit. Even tiny as he was, he really knew how to play politics. He chose his words carefully, so that all the other Dullahans would know, or at least think, that he’d just stepped in and saved them. It was pretty sly. I guess politicians are the same all around no matter how big or small.

  Katy yelled, “Where are my parents?”

  Rainbow spoke calmly, “I’m sorry, but they were driven out of the house before we got there. I believe they are in what you humans call a sanitarium.”

  “What!” Katy screeched, and energy began crackling around her.

  “We didn’t do anything to them. They were already there before we got here. We were just supposed to play along like nothing had happened to them, and wait for you to show up. We also were supposed to convince your neighbor to work at that hotel so that she could give us information about where you were going, and what you were doing.” Rainbow spoke so calmly that it almost lulled you into a false sense of comfort.

  “So where are Emilia’s parents?” Janine questioned.

  “I don’t believe they are still alive. The werewolves took them. They’re rogues so they probably ate them. I honestly don’t care. They’re just humans. If the werewolves didn’t kill them, then we would have, eventually. Just like their daughter. We’d have killed her or traded her to someone when this was over, but now we’ve been saved the trouble of deciding what to do with her.” Rainbow said coldly.

  “So tell us everything you know.” Grim’s voice left no doubt that refusal was not an option.

  The Dullahan chief told us a lot, but not very much was useful. A little while back they’d been contacted about a job for The Darkness. Dullahans never turn down the requests of their masters, and so Rainbow got the details needed to carry out the mission. He never met with the representative of The Darkness, and only got information from e-mails, and text messages. Apparently this is common amongst them. The Darkness only provides its members enough information to carry out their parts in the mission. They go to great lengths to make sure that the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing. The only reason Rainbow learned that Katy’s parents were in a sanitarium was because he wanted assurances that the parents wouldn’t show up unexpectedly. Katy just looked numb, like she’d been kicked one too many times, and just didn’t care anymore. Rainbow gave a few speeches along the way about the greatness of his people, and how The Darkness would always destroy the Lightbringers in the end. It was all a bunch of chest thumping garbage meant to appeal to the surrounding Dullahans. I tuned most of it out as general crazy talk.

  We left, but not before Grim decided to make one final point. He picked up Rainbow, and held him up to eye level, “You stay far away from us. If I even think a Dullahan is within two miles of us, then we’ll be back, and we’ll destroy you all. The Darkness will not save you from us. Do you understand me?”

  Rainbow nodded nervously, but his voice still sounded calm, “The Darkness is greater than all. It will protect those that serve it. We will, however, leave you Lightbringers alone for the duration of your stay.”

  Grim tossed the chief into the air. Rainbow stumbled a bit as he attempted to right himself. Then he fluttered his way back to the ground. Meanwhile we were already headed back to the v
an, and I suppose to the sanitarium. It was already pretty late. I wasn’t really sure what we were going to do.

  It was a long drive, and when we arrived we weren’t exactly hopeful. Katy led the charge up to the main office. “I am Katy Delacruz. I’m here for my parents.”

  It took some explaining before the chief administrator let us in. It was highly unusual to be allowed inside at this time of night, but they made a special exception. We marched deep into the bowels of the building, and finally we were at Katy’s parent’s cells.

  The front door was Plexiglas, with holes in it for communication. An orderly tapped onto the glass, “Mr. Delacruz? Your daughter is here sir.”

  Katy stepped forward, “Papa?”

  A man shambled to the door. His eyes were wide with fear, and a frothy spittle was running down the side of his mouth. What little hair he had hadn’t been combed in a long time. It was a tangled mess. His movements were jerky, and out of place. It was as though each movement was an afterthought. His mouth moved nonstop. When he finally reached the door we could hear him nervously rambling, “Darkness…The Darkness…The Darkness”

  His eyes were darting around the room, but they were unfocused. He was lost in his own rambling madness. Katy started crying softly. It was clear that the man’s mind was gone. Whatever had been done to him had driven him completely out of it. He reached into his shirt and pulled out a necklace. It had a strange symbol on it. Katy’s father slammed it against the door. For a moment his eyes focused, but then faded away into insanity.

  “Oh, he’s still wearing the necklace I sent him.” Katy sounded genuinely touched.

  The orderly answered, “Yeah, he gets pretty violent when we try to take it from him. Your mother is the same way. They are really attached to those necklaces.”

  Katy covered her heart, “Really? I bought them as a…peace offering. I bought the necklaces right after we stopped Eisen. I hoped they’d like them, but I wasn’t sure.”

  “What’s the symbol mean.” I asked.

  “It means…happiness.” Katy said, and she smiled a little. “Can I see my mother now?”

  The orderly shrugged and stepped over to the next Plexiglas door. “Mrs. Delacruz?”

  At first nothing happened. We all leaned closer to get a better view. The light was off inside her cell, and it was too dark to see very far inside. Suddenly something threw itself against the Plexiglas door. It looked like a giant ragdoll. Its hair was a twisted mop of knots. Peeking out from under the mass of hair were two rage filled eyes, “Sin-n-n-n, s-s-s-s-sin, SIN! You’re all sinners! SINNER! SINNER!” It started banging its head against the Plexiglas. It also slapped its necklace against the door for us to see.

  “Mama?” Katy sniffled. How Katy was able to keep it together was beyond me. I was still having a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that the…thing I was looking at was a human being. It acted like some crazed wild animal.

  “I’m sorry, but you are all going to have to leave. It’s really starting to agitate her, and when she gets like this then he isn’t far behind.” The orderly said kindly, but firmly. He pointed us toward the exit, and then went back to try and calm Katy’s parents.

  We started our way back to the front when someone screamed, “Joseph? You old dog! Where have you been.”

  Grim’s head snapped right, and he stared into the cell. “Marcus?”

  “Oh, come on, man. Don’t call me that. You know that was the old me. I’m the new me now. The better, upgraded me. I’ve been value sized.” The sound came from the cell, but the man making it was too far away to see clearly.

  “What are you doing here?” Grim asked.

  “That rat-infested hole you and I were stuck in that they called a sanitarium burned down. So I got moved here. My only complaint was that it burnt down on a Wednesday. I mean, couldn’t it have been a Friday?”

  “Yeah, taco nights on Thursday always were the best. So how are they treating you here?” Grim leaned against the doorway.

  “Better than I probably deserve, but not as good as I’d like. Then again, that probably describes most people. Of course, it looks like you’re doing pretty well. I mean, what’s your HMO because those are some fine ass nurses.”

  Grim laughed, “Nah, these are my friends.”

  “Friends? Come on…pull the other one, it’s got bells on it. Since when have you got friends? I thought I was your only one.”

  Grim’s face got serious, “We’ve never been friends.”

  “Okay fine, acquaintances. Sheesh, you’re just lucky I don’t take this stuff so personally.”

  “I wish you would.” Grim sneered.

  “Fine, be that way, but if anyone should be angry…it should be me. I mean…you did leave me. We were supposed to escape together. My plan was perfect, and then you decide to use me as a distraction to make sure you escaped. That was pretty cold, man. We could have both been free as two birds.”

  “Never would have happened.”

  “Why not? My escape would have been so easy if you hadn’t stepped in.”

  Grim smiled, “I’d never let a scumbag like you out in the world. If you’d have gotten out, then I’d have snapped your little neck like a twig.”

  “So it’s like that, huh? I was good enough to get you out, but not good enough to be called a friend. Just rude, and you haven’t even introduced me to the hotties. Come on, Joseph. I’ll be your best friend.”

  Grim twisted his head around, and popped his neck to relieve the stress, “Listen you little puke. You were convenient. I needed a way out, and you were it. That being said…it’ll be a cold day in hell before I would let a murdering pedophile like you just walk out with me.”

  “They never did convict me, Joseph. Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?”

  “I heard enough proof out of your own mouth.” Grim hissed.

  “Ah…our little pillow talk. I wondered if you remembered.” The strangers eyes grew more menacing as he talked. “So, these ladies are your new friends. Well girls, if he treats you like he treated me…well you have my sympathies, but at least the sex is good, right?”

  My eyes shot to Grim’s face. He had his eyes closed, and he’d turned a little green. It looked like he was trying to forget whatever memories this man was stirring inside him.

  “You were a means to an end. I needed a way out, and by all accounts you were the man for the job. I’m not ashamed about what I did. It’s called survival, and I don’t regret doing what I had to do.” Grim’s voice was measured, like he was trying to avoid losing his temper.

  “What? You didn’t enjoy my sweet loving?” The stranger pumped his hips into the air, and I felt like throwing up. This man, if you wanted to call him that, was completely disgusting. He was malevolence personified.

  Grim snorted, “Frankly, I’ve had better.”

  “I can see. So, do they all do you all at once, or do they just take a number? Oh…did I touch a nerve big man? Ladies, since he’s being so rude. I’m Marcus Alexander Smith, but everyone calls me Simon…eventually.” Simon said playfully.

  I immediately recognized him. I’d watched his trial on court television for most of a year. Marcus Alexander Smith, otherwise known as Simon because he always left a tape where he recorded his victim playing Simon says. The children were boys and girls, but they always were blonde haired and blue eyed. They never knew anything was wrong, and were often laughing and playing right up until the end. Everything was fun and playful up until a child got the game wrong. Either they did something without Simon saying to, or Simon kept escalating the requests until he got the child to refuse to do something. Then the rest of the recording would be Simon forcing that child into…horrible things. I felt a shiver run down my back when I thought about all the horrible things this…thing…did to children. There weren’t words for the hatred I held for this man. I looked around and realized that I wasn’t the only one that recognized this monster. Niki looked ready to jump through the Plexiglas to
get to the man. Danika was only half-heartedly holding her back. Janine looked visibly sickened by his presence. Katy glared at the man like he was something she just stepped in. Penny was the only one that didn’t immediately recognize him, but when she finally pieced together who he was we all heard the audible crack as Penny’s fangs extended into her mouth with brutal swiftness.

  “We’re going.” Grim growled and started to walk off.

  “But I’ve gone to such lengths to get you here.” Simon said. He was practically gloating.

  Grim froze, and then turned slowly back. If the look in his eyes was any indication, Grim was really having to fight to control his temper. He looked ready to kill, and for possibly the first time ever…a part of me really wanted him to go with that feeling. Grim leaned in until his forehead was nearly touching the Plexiglas.

  “Ahh, that’s it, big guy. Now Simon says, give us a kiss.” Simon pressed his lips to the Plexiglas, and started making obscene sounds. Grim reared back and then head-butted the Plexiglas. The impact carried through and knocked Simon backwards. When he came back to the door, his lips were bleeding. “That was…unnecessary.”

  “And yet it was so incredibly satisfying.” Grim smiled, but it wasn’t a happy one. In fact, it scared me a little.

  “Well, I always knew how to satisfy you…didn’t I?” Simon laughed.

  Grim’s face became a stone mask, “Get to the point, or we’re leaving.”

  “Fine…and here I always thought you liked foreplay.” Simon chuckled.

  Grim turned and started to move away again when Simon’s tune changed, “Okay! Okay! You used to have a better sense of humor than this. I went to all this trouble to just have a little chat. You’d think you could at least be a little patient.”

  “What do you mean? What did you do?” Grim froze. He didn’t turn back, and I think part of him just wanted to keep walking and forget this whole conversation.

  Simon was practically giddy, “Well, let’s see. I had a nice chat with some of your enemies. I told them how you tick Big Man. I told them the secret to breaking Joseph is to go after the people he cares about. Destroy them, and you’re destroying him…well you. Hence my newest neighbors, but before that, I set fire to our old stomping ground. Sure, a few people died. I was actually hoping it would be more, but it got me the transfer here that I wanted. Before that…well I did have to get locked into that sanitarium to begin with. So, I suppose all those people that lost their kids have you to thank.”