The Blood Eagle in the Big Easy

by K. A. Lange

  He slumped back onto the table, his anger subsiding before he started to speak. “That’s kind of the way I saw it as well, but you’re right who can be sure if you can’t actually remember what’s true and what isn’t.” The man’s large frame draped over the sides of the table as he lay back. “That’s why I’m here and not somewhere else. I believe what you have told me.” His eyes were heavy as he fought back the weariness that threatened to overtake him.

  Grabbing my arm as I got up he looked tired and weary. “Viktor... When you find this crazy bitch, don’t give her any chances, just kill her fast.” He swallowed hard. “She hates you and she is vicious as hell. If you make the smallest mistake she will kill you!”

  “Don’t worry.” I put my hand on his arm. “I only seem like a nice guy! She will go down hard, I promise. I don’t tend to ask a lot of questions when it comes to murderous monsters. I just shoot first and pretend to ask questions later so it looks good on paper.”

  “She made me watch as they ripped her apart...” He croaked.

  “I know.” I put my hand on his shoulder. “She’ll pay for that.”

  “I’m glad she took that bastard Galvez though.” He said as I walked to the door causing me to stop and turn. “He was at the compound. The last few weeks that mom and I were there he and another man with a scar on his face came in and tied me to a desk while they raped and beat my mother. They were as sick as Gullveig and I won’t be sad when they also die!”

  I began to feel nauseated as the news hit me hard. I thought about a child being exposed to that type of brutality and it was a wonder that he hadn’t become a monster himself. “I didn’t know.” Swallowing hard I found it impossible not to feel the pain he had been subjected to throughout his life. “I can’t blame you for being angry but for now try and get some rest.”

  “And Viktor there was one thing she said to Galvez before she took him.” He shook from the memory. “She said something about a Congo Square. I don’t know if that helps or not.”

  “Yes...Yes it helps a great deal. I got to go. Please try to get some rest.” Pushing the door open as I pulled my cell from my pocket I realized we might have a chance to take the bitch tonight if we got lucky enough.

  Hitting the redial button on my phone Gregory answered on the first ring. “Hey boss have you made it home yet?” Part of me felt guilty for asking but another part of me just didn’t care. If there was a chance to catch Gullveig we had to take it.

  “I haven’t even made it out the front door of your office building. What’s going on?” Gregory demanded.

  “Call the SOG and anyone else you can think of. We might have a chance to take Gullveig tonight. Nicholas overheard her mention Congo Square.” I spoke quickly to Gregory as I waved at Kira to join me. “That’s only a couple of blocks away.”

  “Shit! My wife is going to kill me.” Gregory protested. “Let me call you back. I have to make a few calls.” The line went dead as he hung up.

  Turning to Kira who waited patiently I started to formulate a plan. “We need to get both rapid response teams in position immediately to work in conjunction with the Marshals Service.” She nodded as she took notes and waited for further instructions. “Also call Tony at the NOPD and let him know we will be out making a ruckus tonight in Armstrong Park.” She immediately picked up her phone to make the appropriate calls.

  Taking the stairs two at a time I wanted to catch up with Gregory to help set up a comprehensive response team. Opening the door to the lobby I caught sight of Gregory leaning against Justine’s desk just as he slid his phone back in his pocket. “You get in touch with everyone?”

  “Yeah, the SOG should be onsite in the next twenty minutes.” Gregory pushed himself up and met me halfway. “You sure about this Congo Square?”

  “No idea but its the best lead we have right now. We will be riding with one of my teams. You got any body armor in that tank of yours outside?”

  “Yeah I got standard issue stuff” Gregory smiled at me as he said “Came with the truck.”

  “Well that would make it worth the price of admission wouldn’t it.” I clapped him on the back. “Meet you out front in five.”

  I made it out in four with body armor, weapons and a generally bad disposition. True to their word the SOG was on site within fifteen minutes. With the extra manpower I provided we were easily able to cover all the exits. Gregory, Kira and I took point with Kira to my right and Gregory to my left. We walked through the metal archway denoting Armstrong Park. Congo Square was just to the left between us and the Municipal Auditorium. Off in the distance I saw the combined forces of the SOG and Warden Industries sweeping the park methodically, ensuring that if our prey were here they wouldn’t get away.

  As we walked in I was the first to see movement in the center of the square and ran forward. What I saw made me slightly ill, not because I hadn’t ever seen a mutilated body before but because this was the second such gruesome scene I had witnessed in less than twenty four hours. What I could only assume was Dr. Galvez was laying on his back with his arms and legs spread wide as if being drawn and quartered. They were held in place by ropes running off into the darkness. What I had originally thought was movement was random light glistening off several feet of the poor souls disemboweled intestines. Every visible inch of skin appeared to have been sliced open by someone taking their time torturing him.

  “Kira, see about cutting him loose.” I growled.

  “I’ll help.” Gregory called out.

  Incredibly Galvez turned his head toward me as he grunted in pain, shocked that he was still breathing considering the brutality of his wounds. “Viktor?” He coughed blood. “Come quickly.”

  I probably should have hesitated, but I didn’t, quickly kneeling beside the dying man. “It would seem that you’ve had a very bad day.” I explained to him. It also bothered me that he would know me by sight. “And how is it you know who I am?”

  He laughed, or tried to, as blood bubbled out his mouth. “You have the gift of understatement.” One of the ropes holding him went slack, releasing the tension on his right arm. “She told us about you... made us memorize your face.” He coughed as he choked on the blood filling his lungs. “But that was long ago. She wants us all to pay...” He choked again as frothy bubbles came up and we both knew he was close to death. “You must save Owen...” He begged as blood leaked from every orphus of the mans body. He gasped for air and held my arm tight. As he tried to speak a wild smile broke out across his face. “She is going to kill you! She will make you suffer...”

  I shook him off my arm. “She isn’t the first to try!” I growled. “Tell me who Owen is. Is he one of your creepy little friends?”

  Galvez choked and laughed. “I hate you! You know that don’t you?”

  Who said that creepy dying guys ever make sense? “What of it?”

  He grabbed and squeezed my arm once more as he wheezed. “I want you to understand what this costs me to ask you for help. I want you to die at her hands but I want my son to survive. No one knows he is my son. I have never told her about him but I think she knows. I gave up the others to her. You won’t be able to save them but Owen, Owen you can save. Promise me you will do whatever it takes to save him and I will tell you what you need to know.”

  I nodded and said. “I swear I will try to save your son but you don’t have much time left to make these types of bargains.”

  He sighed. “Don’t I know it. Very well I will entrust you with what I know and in doing so I will most likely save your life. Sort of ironic once you know the truth of things. Come closer Viktor and let me tell you what I know.” As I leaned in Galvez lurched forward and placed his hands on either side of my temples.

  It took a moment to understand what was going on but I soon realized that I was seeing Galvez’s memories. I felt his knees ache from kneeling too long. He stole a glance to his left and smiled when he saw Helena’s nude form. Lust nearly overtook him as he longed to ravage her. I felt his desire
for her building as his mind raced through pornographic images.

  ‘Do I need to be subjected to your ‘home movies’? I thought.

  ‘Patience, soon enough things will become clear. Sit back and enjoy the show. It’s the last time they will ever be seen” Galvez replied.

  Helena caught him leering at her and she smiled as she licked her lips. He was nearly satisfied until he looked to his right and caught sight of the other person kneeling beside him. A large muscular man in his early thirties knelt beside Galvez, with brown shoulder length hair, and a thick Grizzly Adams beard that did little to hide the three scars running from his temple to his throat. His dark eyes caught Galvez staring and he silently mouthed the words, ‘I’m going to fuck her till she bleeds. Then I’m going to fuck you!’

  Anger welled up inside Galvez but before anything could be done about it the door opened. He sensed movement across the room well before he heard three sets of footsteps accompanied by the metal rap of the ancient silver cane the crone held in her right hand. The three made their way slowly across the barren warehouse.

  ‘Viktor are you paying attention?’ Galvez asked.

  ‘To what exactly?’ I demanded.

  ‘The rap of the cane for one. Did you know that it’s missing a few pieces?’ He asked.

  ‘What do I care if the cane is missing anything?’ I wondered.

  ‘The cane is the key to her power. When it is assembled completely it is a weapon of untold power. More than enough power to crack the shell of this rock we call home.’ Galvez taunted. ‘Now be quiet or you will miss the fun stuff.’ I turned my attention back to the memory that had been put on hold for my supposed lesson.

  “You may lift your eyes and bask in my glory” I heard an aged woman command.

  Galvez kept his eyes on the elderly woman before he glanced around to her right and left. She was gnarled with age and her body was failing. As the senior member of the three it was Galvez’s duty to discover and fulfil the crone’s needs. “You summoned us here my mistress. How may we serve you?”

  The old woman sneered at him as she spoke. “The time has come for you to procreate! Helena is ripe and will bare me the vessel my spirit needs to complete my work. I have breed this bitch’s family for nearly two millennia to acquire the traits needed for a total binding.” The crone held out a finger pointing at Helena. “You have been made for this! You will produce the golem I will inhabit. You should be honored that you will incubate the host of new era! Go and prepare to be filled with the seed of life.”

  Helena bowed her head and said. “As you wish my mistress.” The crone pointed at a pile of blankets on the floor, then sat close by and waited for them to provide her a show.

  Thankfully that memory faded and a different one came into view. Helena was giving birth in a dank musty room. I watched and learned that Nicholas had a sister as well as a brother. Only Galvez bore witness to triplets being born. “I will hide these two and keep them safe but the girl will have to be given to our mistress.”

  Helena cried and screamed that she couldn’t do it. “You will do it or we all die including both of our sons. We don’t have a choice.”

  “I hate you so much.” Helena seethed.

  “I hate myself for this whole thing. Nothing you say or do will ever compare to the self loathing that I feel.”

  That memory faded and a third took its place. I watched as Galvez handed the baby girl to the crone who smiled. “You have done well today. What of the other two children?” She asked.

  “Gullveig, my mistress, they were both stillborn as you said they would be.” Galvez intoned lying through his teeth.

  Gullveig smiled. “Good. Very good. It is time to make the change. Are the preparations complete?”

  Galvez nodded. “All per your instructions. Nothing has been overlooked.”

  She eyed him closely. “You had better be right or I will make you suffer.”

  Galvez shook uncontrollably with fear. “I am but a servant my mistress. I live and die by your command.”

  She smiled once more. “I am out of time. Lift the child to my mouth and hold her till it is done.”

  Galvez stood and carried the screaming child to her doom. As Gullveig opened her mouth a darkness escaped her lips. The black spirit circled the room and howled as it dove for the child and then silence ensued. The little girls blue eyes turned black and her screaming and tears just stopped. There was no more of the little girl left within her, only Gullveig survived. Galvez shuddered before carrying the child out to the others.

  I felt sick as the memory faded only to have a new one take its place. In this memory Galvez was looking in a mirror as he drew the scalpel across his lower abdominal muscles. He winced as the local anesthetic hadn’t yet taken total effect. Once done he put the scalpel aside and retrieved a set of forceps and much to my displeasure prodded around in the wound for something. I heard a click of metal against metal and he pulled slowly the forceps out as blood and tissue came out along with a small rod of silver. After dropping the metal into a waiting dish he turned his attention to the open wound, carefully sewing it closed before standing up. He picked up the dish containing the metal rod and carried it across the room where he thoroughly cleaned both. Upon closer inspection it wasn’t a silver rod at all but what appeared to be a human knuckle, possibly from an index finger, plated in silver. I was beginning to understand.

  ‘Now you’re getting it.’ Galvez laughed.

  ‘That’s part of her cane?’ I asked.

  ‘Yes it is. We all had a piece of it sewn into our flesh. It was what gave us our extraordinary abilities. It’s those missing pieces that she is searching for now.’ He laughed again. ‘If she completes the set, everyone dies. I implanted my son with the piece she gave me.’

  ‘Why would she give them to you in the first place if she needed them?’ I asked.

  ‘To make her the glorious vessel that you nearly destroyed.’ He spat. ‘Enough!’

  I still didn’t understand, but before I could ask any questions a new memory came in focus of a young dark haired boy with bright eyes. Galvez stroked the boy's head gently and lovingly.

  ‘He is my son. The best of me and you must save him! His name is Owen Boudreaux. He was never a part of this. If you can save him and remove the silver digit from his body you just might survive this. Today I will die a conflicted man but it is a small price to pay if you save my son.”

  “Galvez I would have to guess that this is probably the only good thing you have done in your entire life. You can die knowing that your son might make it through this alive, our differences be damned.” Suddenly I was jolted back to reality as Galvez released his hold on me, and I saw him fall back to earth with a thud. The others hadn’t even had time to move. I now understand where the saying “Just before you die your life flashes before your eyes” comes from.

  As I stood up Gregory was the first to reach us. He knelt down and grabbed Galvez’s wrist, looking for a pulse. “Did he say anything important?”

  “Many things actually.” As hard as it was for me to admit, sadness for the man crept into my heart, for even a monster such as this could feel love for a child. “For starters he told me there is another man here in town that Gullveig is trying to find.”

  Gregory looked at me questioningly. “No chance for a name is there? I mean I wasn’t that far away. He couldn’t have said that much.”

  “The one other thing he told me was that from the beginning Helena had been a part of the whole thing. She was one of the five cult members we missed that day twenty years ago.” I seethed as the anger replaced the sadness. “We were duped! We were so very wrong.” I growled. “The sickest part of this whole thing is that Gullveig is Helena’s daughter and Nicholas’s fraternal triplet.”

  Gregory staggered back as if he had been punched in the face. “Are you sure?” He stammered. “He could have been lying.”I turned and walked away as the SOG and their forensics team took over the crime scene. Gregory w
as quick to follow. “You can’t be serious about this can you?” Gregory asked.

  “I wish I weren’t.” I whispered.

  Gregory studied me. “Viktor are you alright?”

  I shook my head. “Not really.”

  As I was explaining everything to Gregory I thought it best to leave out the whole otherworldly possession part of the scenario. He was still having a hard time wrapping his mind around the entirety of the situation. Gullveig could jump from body to body, and if she assembled her magic disco stick she would have enough power to split the world in two. As a side note and one I barely find worth mentioning, she was brutally murdering her old followers.

  “We need to clean this up and quickly.” Gregory stated, finally breaking the silence as he started pacing.

  “Agreed.” I replied.

  “Do we have any idea’s where to start?” Gregory asked.

  I nodded slowly. “Actually, I believe I do but I need to run down a few leads before I can be sure.” I paused for a moment as I thought of something that would keep Gregory occupied while I took care of an errand. “I need you to piece together Helena’s movements in the months before she left Alabama. I got a feeling we won’t like what we find.”

  Gregory nodded. “I will have the SOG ready to go as soon as we come up with a new lead. I still can’t believe that Helena was a part of that whole mess. She seemed so innocent and I just can’t get my head around it.”

  “We were both played for the fool, though it would seem that her past caught up to her. I believe that there is a reason that all of this is happening now. It just doesn’t make any sense that Gullveig would wait all this time without a damn good reason.”