by Tobi Grim
“It’s not fair!” Brianna screamed as she charged.
Lupa readied herself, swinging her fist into Brianna’s face as she grabbed her. Wrenching Brianna’s dirty blonde hair, she pulled her onto her ass, kicking her in the stomach as the woman sobbed. Fucking hell, this girl was pathetic. Lupa let the other Hunter’s hair go and stared at her on the ground, blood pouring from her face, her arms clutching at her stomach. Lupa’s hands itched. Her skin was hot with bloodfire magick. She readied her fist to punch the stupid fucking jerk again, to burn her up inside and make her sorry that she had ever fucked with her.
“Witchy girl.” Sledge was standing on the other side of Brianna, “Thinkin’ we needin’ to hold her for you to call your Organization?”
Lupa looked up at Sledge, who had what appeared to be an amused expression on his face. Sighing, she supposed he was right, but she really would prefer to make Brianna pay herself… But she wouldn’t. She shouldn’t. She glanced over to the other two men, who were out cold, and spotted her bag on the ground where she fell.
“Guess you’re right. My bag is over there, you watch her?”
Sledge nodded and crouched down, eyeing Brianna with cold indifference. Lupa gave one last scornful glare at the blubbering, pathetic mess, turning to her bag and snatching her phone out to call Slasher.
“Little Red?”
“Quick. Come down to…” Lupa looked up for the street signs, “the corner of East Street and Coop. Brianna is here.”
“What happened? Shit. Don’t answer, I’ll get someone down there straight away. Are you ok? Do you need anything?”
“I’m ok, not hurt. Just… be quick would you?”
“Of course.”
Lupa hung up and turned back around to… Shit! Sledge was laying on the ground and Brianna was gone. Fuck! What the fuck happened? Running over to Sledge, she could see his veins, angry with the pulsing spell curse. Fucking bitch. Lupa ran up the street, searching for the Hunter, but couldn’t find her anywhere, how the fuck had she gotten away so quick? Lupa was sure she hadn’t been on the phone longer than thirty seconds, the spell curse alone would have taken at least that… she punched a wall and growled. Fuck this. She couldn’t see any alley ways for Brianna to hide down… where the hell was she?
Jogging back to Sledge, she checked his pulse. Good. He was alright, just a regular knock out curse then. Dammit. Where was that mother-fucking psycho witch? And damn Clean-up would be coming… should she call them and cancel? She looked over to the two men who were still out cold. No, they might be of some use. Besides, she’d need someone to help her with Sledge, there was no way she could do anything on her own.
Lupa sat on the ground and gently lifted Sledge’s head onto her lap, it was all she could think of to do. Pulling out a smoke she lit it, glaring down the street, still trying to figure out where the fuck Brianna could have gone. Suspicious eyes peered out of windows, but no one came out. You didn’t go helping anyone in Blackwater, too much risk of getting mugged or beaten up, or both.
“Little Red?”
Lupa looked up to see a massive hulk of a man standing over her. “Slasher send you?”
“Ay, sure did. Where this girl? Who these men?”
Lupa sighed and gently put Sledge’s head back on the ground as she stood up. “Brianna’s gone, she knocked out my friend here. Those two guys attacked us with Brianna, they might be useful for questioning.”
The guy nodded and pointed at the two knocked out goons, four beefy men jumped out of the truck to load them in. “What about this big guy? Been spelled, ay?”
“Yeah… can you take him back to my place? It’ll take a few hours to wear off, and I can’t sit with him here all fucking day.”
“Yeah, we can do that, ay.” The big guy walked over to the other men, shoving his thumb in her direction. They nodded and came to lift Sledge into the back of the truck.
“You’ll have to ride in the back too,” one guy said, his voice squeaky and not matching his massive hulk, “Aint no room up front. Tells where you livin’ an’ we droppin’ you.”
Lupa sighed and told the guy her address as she climbed in the back. This was going to be one fucked up drive. She huddled into the corner and grabbed one of the straps that wasn’t holding a person in place, feeling her chest tightening as the guys shut the truck doors. She closed her eyes and tried to pretend that she was somewhere else, hoping like fuck these people drove fast.
⃝
Lupa heard a soft groan from her bedroom and ran in with a glass of water. She’d gotten the Clean-up guys to put Sledge on her bed, he was never going to fit laying down on either of her couches. Crouching on the floor next to the mattress, she waited for him to open his eyes… Unsure whether to touch him or just… wait.
“What’n the fuck?” Sledge put a hand to his head, the spell curse’s angry black mark still pulsing in his veins.
“If you can sit up, I have some water here.”
Sledge sat up slowly and took the glass from her, downing the contents and regarding the back of his hands with an angry sort of curiosity. “What the fuck is this?”
“Spell curse. That damn bitch got you while I wasn’t looking… I tried to find her but she just fucking disappeared. Are you ok?”
Sledge shook his head, his long hair falling in front of his face. She couldn’t see his expression, but she’d bet that it wasn’t one she wanted to see. “I a’right. Aint fuckin’ happy. Aint fuckin’ feelin’ very fuckin’ calm. How long I dun been out?” When he looked at her his eyes were yellow, Lupa fell back on her ass in surprise. Fuck.
“Shit,” Sledge rubbed his face and tried to get up off the bed, falling on his ass too. The yellow colour fading from his eyes.
Lupa smiled slowly and then giggled. “Sorry.” She said, struggling to control her laughter, and pushing herself up, “Come on, let me help you.” She put her hand out, Sledge looked at her with an eyebrow raised.
“Aint thinkin’ you be able to help a big guy like me up, witchy girl,” Sledge grinned at her as he pushed himself up off the mattress.
“Come on then, let’s have a drink.” Walking into the main part of her apartment, she grabbed them each a beer, waving her hand for him to sit on the couch. “You’ve been out for about three hours all up. The guys that came to pick up Brianna took the two guys you knocked out, and brought us back here.”
Lupa sat down next to Sledge, who was staring at his veins. “What that fuckin’ witch doin’ to me? This likin’ what she got into your arm?”
“Not really. This is just an after mark left in your skin, it will fade. She just used a knock out spell on you. Did you… see anything? She would’ve had to have a herb stick or something…”
Sledge took a long drink from his beer, not looking at her. Not really looking at anything. “Aint sure. Didn’t see her pullin’ nothin’ out. Just felt this pain in my chest. Aint feelin’ like I can breathe, tried to callin’ out your name but nothin’ comin’ out, then I seein’ her get up and run and then nothin’.”
Sledge pulled out his smokes and offered her one, taking it she let him light it before lighting his own. Shit. If he hadn’t seen Brianna get anything out… had someone else been there? Hiding maybe? There hadn’t been any cars around that she’d noticed, but maybe down a side street further up… was that how the bitch had gotten away so quickly? Fuck. Fuck shit fuck. This was really going to hell. How the fuck had they found her? Or was it just by chance?
“Did you hear anything? Anyone… chanting?”
“Aint thinkin’ so. But I weren’t listenin’ for nothin’.”
Right. And if there had been someone else, they wouldn’t have needed to be close… if they were a member of The Organization they would have the skill to… shit. Had Brianna gotten Shane back on her side? Convinced him to come along?
“I’m going to call Slasher, someone else was probably around to put the spell curse on you. Fuck. This aint good. Gimme a minute.” She got up and grabbed he
r phone, leaning against the bench as she waited for Slasher to answer.
“Little Red, what’s going on? I’ve been trying to call you for hours.”
Whoops. “Sorry, I was worried about Sledge. You got anything out of the two guys?”
She could almost hear the disapproval in Slasher’s eyes. “Sledge is there?”
“Yes. The two men?” Fuck, this wasn’t the damn time.
“They haven’t said much,” Slasher finally said, “I don’t think they actually know anything. They said she gave them five hundred dollars each to come along and beat up some people that had fucked with her. What were you doing with Sledge?”
“It doesn’t matter. But look, someone else was there. Another witch. They put a spell curse on him while I called you. Have you heard from Shane?”
“What?”
Lupa took a deep breath. She really wasn’t in the mood for Slasher to be her mother right now, she needed her to be her Commander. “Someone else was-”
“I heard you, Lupa, is Sledge ok? Spell curses can really fuck someone up who isn’t a magickal being, especially with Brianna’s experience… have you given him anything to counteract the curse?”
Shit. Lupa hadn’t even thought about explaining that. Dammit. “He seems ok. He’s awake. Must not have been too strong…”
“Ok. Well, I’ll see if I can get a hold of Shane. But I really don’t think he would get involved, he’s been really worried about her. As far as I know, he has teamed up with Brianna’s father in searching for her… but if she’s down in Blackwater…”
Right. She could easily hide down there, and Lupa doubted a mayor would ever think of soiling a shoe by stepping a foot in Blackwater, so far from the bright lights of Ebonyroads. Lupa ran her fingers through her hair. This was getting more screwed up by the day.
“Lupa…” Slasher’s voice softened a little, “please be careful. I know you don’t want me sticking my nose in, but Hammer is a drug dealer. He doesn’t hire people with great moral compasses…”
Lupa rolled her eyes and turned her back on Sledge, leaning over the bench. “I get it. But it’s my life, ok? I’m being careful. Can’t you just trust me?”
“It’s not you I don’t trust, Lupa…”
“We have bigger things to worry about right now, like a fucking crazy ass witch who has it in for me. Or maybe the fucking wolfblood nest we are supposed to be raiding!” Lupa lowered her voice, “I’ll be careful ok? Can you please just leave it alone?”
Silence. Great. “Ok, Lupa… I have to make some calls. I’ll let you know if I find out anything.”
Lupa sighed as Slasher hung up. She turned back to Sledge to see he was very busy studying the ashtray on her table. “Slasher is going to look into Shane and see if it could have been him.”
Sledge grunted, still not looking her way. Shit. She had lowered her voice but he probably heard everything. Dammit. “Sorry you had to hear all that, Slasher raised me. She sometimes treats me like I’m a teenager still…” Grabbing them both another beer, Lupa sat down next to Sledge, unsure if she should say something more…
“It’s ok. I understandin’. Maybe I should leave…”
“No! No… you don’t have to. She’s just being overprotective. There’s nothing she can do. It’s my house, I’ll have whoever I want here.”
Sledge gave her a quick sideways glance. “A’right. But I aint wantin’ to cause you no problems… thinkin’ that spell weren’t strong ey? What’s a fuckin’ strong one like?”
Lupa bit her lip, “That was a lie… Slasher asked if you were ok… humans-non magick people, non wolfbloods and such- if they get hit with a spell curse it can really fuck them up unless you’re super careful. There was a guy a few years ago who was hit by one, he ended up losing most of his skin. Human’s react funny with the magick, there are spells that can be used on humans but we don’t call them spell curses, they are just affected by regular spell casting.”
“Why aint you usin’ them on all wolfbloods when you fightin’?”
Lupa shrugged, “It doesn’t really work like that. Wolfbloods… well, they have a power within their blood that affects our magick, but The Organization doesn’t really know why as they aren’t magick themselves exactly. The more wolfbloods around, the harder it is for spells and spell curses to work, that’s why we need physical magick to fight.”
“Aint knowin’ that. Hammer’s people aint havin’ things called spell curses. They just gotten spells. Don’t think they ever usin’ them on people like this one.”
Lupa doubted that, but then…Sledge had been taken in… still, that didn’t mean Hammer and his mother had let him in on everything to do with their people. Especially if he didn’t need shit like that to fight. But they certainly could not have them, after all they were comfortable with using the more… pleasurable types of magick to get what they wanted… had they taught Sledge that? Lupa blushed with that thought and cleared her throat.
“So um… did you still want me to see if I can find anything on your parents?”
Sledge looked at her oddly for a moment then nodded. “If’n you aint mind… I wanna know where I come from. Aint never really knowin’ much. My Da never talked about my Ma, and as far as I knowin’ he never had no family ‘round.”
Lupa opened one of the drawers in her table and pulled out a pen and paper, handing it to Sledge so he could write his parent’s names down. She noticed he seemed to struggle a little trying to decide what hand to write with then kinda gave up.
“Aint knowin’ how to spell their names, ey.” He said, turning a little red.
“That’s ok, just give me a roundabout and I can search a few different options. Do you know if they were born in Black City?”
Sledge grunted as he wrote slowly on the paper. Shit. She hadn’t even thought about the fact he might not be able to write very well… he handed it to her not meeting her eyes, she quickly read the names on the paper and raised her eyebrows.
“Your mother was a part of the Hellion bloodline?”
Sledge glanced at her, “You know her?”
“No, I don’t know her…. but the Hellion’s are a well-known bloodline. They… they aren’t supposed to be this far south though. As far as I knew, they are a pack from the north. A large and very strong bloodline. They took over thirteen cities when they first attacked, I think they are down to about eight now though…” Sledge watched her carefully, he looked curious and wary at the same time. “If she’s a Hellion, I can at the very least give you some information about them, but I probably won't be able to give you any specifics on her, The Organization wouldn’t have known about them before the attack... Are you sure it’s her last name?”
“Aint knowin’ for sure. Only seein’ it once written on a box. She dyin’ before they attackin’.”
Lupa nodded. “Well if she is, it might be hard to find much out about her specifically, they don’t come into cities on their own. At least… they aren’t supposed to, from what records I’ve seen on them. And… from what I’ve learnt about them at The Organization… they are forbidden from even breeding with humans. Wolfbloods only… which might explain why she was killed. Not just because there was witch blood…” she shrugged as he grunted, “I can try. But I make no promises, that might be all the information I am able to give you, unless you want to know where they are.... I can look into your Da too though, I could find something more on that… side of things…”
Sledge nodded, “Thanks, witchy girl, I aint carin’ where them wolfbloods are. Even if that bein’ all I find out… makin’ me feel like I got some knowledge on who I am. Aint just… Hammer’s fightin’ man.”
Lupa got that. She could understand wanting to be more than just what people saw. She didn’t want to be known as the witch with wolfblood. That’s why she worked so damned hard to kill them, to take them down and prove herself. She wanted to be the witch, not the scummy wolfblood witch whose parents were… well, just like Sledge’s…
“I’ll do what I can.” She smiled at him and he slowly smiled back.
“Thanks. But I better be callin’ Hammer. Gettin’ me picked up. It gotten late.”
Lupa nodded and went to grab herself a harder drink while he called his boss. She decided to pour one for Sledge too, just in case he ended up hanging around for a while. He stood up and came to the kitchen bench.
“They dun got a man nearby, I better go waitin’ out the front…”
Lupa pushed the glass over to him, tipping hers back as he did the same. “Cool, I’ll come wait with you. Fresh air would be nice. Looks like the marks from the spell curse are almost faded.”
Sledge looked down at his big hands, his veins only just slightly grey now. She opened the door and waited for him to join her. They stood outside in the cool air, the rain was only lightly falling tonight, but falling all the same. A van pulled up with its windows down and rock music blaring.
“This bein’ my ride. Catch you soon?”
Lupa smiled, “You betcha.”
⃝
Lupa woke up to her phone ringing. Rolling over she looked at the time. Four am. Fuck. Who the fuck was calling her now? “Mmm?”
“I apologise if I have awoken you, Little Red, but we have a situation I would like your assistance on, and I would think it would be in your interest. Sledge is waiting for you down stairs.”
Hammer hung up. Fucking great. What was it this time? Something else at the nest area? Had they attacked somewhere else? Had they left? Fuck! She pulled on her black denim shorts and a loose fitting shirt. Yanking on her boots and yawning.
She grabbed her bag and headed downstairs. It was raining and fucking freezing outside, Lupa hadn’t even thought about grabbing something warm… ah well, too late now, she hugged herself as Sledge opened the door for her, diving in and rubbing her bare arms. Sure, she could go back up and change but… whatever. She was already here now, her groggy head wasn’t really catching up to speed just yet. Sledge glanced at her with an amused smile as he started the car, putting the heat up despite the fact he was in a heavy, black jacket.