Andy looked supremely uncomfortable with the request, but he did as asked, scooting to the bedside to press against the woman's stomach, waiting for any motion that would let them know the baby was alive and... well, kicking. Noni helped Kira into a chair, carefully pulling the stripped piece of fabric from her wounds.
"Might I suggest learning to get out of the way faster, dear? It wouldn't go amiss if you're going to keep getting into these scrapes."
She had to have noticed the scars that rose on Kira's skin, clearly made from some sort of previous attack. "I will take that under heavy consideration before doing something so utterly stupid again. Now what are you using?"
After wiping the wooden bowl with a cloth, Noni had begun spooning a different herb into it, along with another generous helping of oil. Speaking as she stirred it into a thick yellowish paste, she motioned to the bowl.
"This is yarrow and lavender. Yarrow helps to stop bleeding and inflammation. Lavender is calming and helps with flushing the wound of infectious nasty things so you don't have a bigger issue down the line. I've tossed in some arnica, borage and tea tree as well, just to be certain there are no bacteria present. When a creature has been clawing corpses, better safe than sorry, I say."
Chapter Nine
Kira had to agree wholeheartedly with that assessment. Noni tore strips of muslin to make homemade bandages, dredging them through the poultice until they were soaked in it. Wincing as she pressed them to the wounds, Kira counted to ten, breathing through her nose as slowly as she could to keep herself from passing out.
She was fairly certain most were superficial, just the tips of the nails broke the surface. Her arm and shoulder though, those might actually need stitches before the night was over. On top of the bandages covered with the herbal blend, Noni added clean pieces of muslin, securing them with large pieces of paper tape that she'd pulled from her bag. At this point, Kira was pretty sure the bag was magical. Either that, or their new friend was psychic.
They stayed until the woman began to shift uncomfortably, the Valerian beginning to wear off slightly. The baby had been kicking up a storm as Andy had checked it, so it meant both were going to be just fine. Relief flooded Kira. They'd done it. They'd taken down a monster and saved both mom and baby. Whether or not she was currently torn to shreds was a different matter. They'd made a difference today.
Noni bent to pick up the now discarded knife, bringing it over to Kira. She shook her head, pushing it back to the other woman. "It's yours, it belonged to your sister. It's something you have to remember her by. I was happy to simply be given the use of it temporarily. I can't keep it, it'll be a story to tell your grandkids one of these days." Noni insisted, setting it in her lap despite her continued protests.
"Kira dear, I'm far too old and cranky to need this around. What use would I have for it? You earned the right to carry the Katmon Tarim as a warrior for the Filipino people. No one else would take this on their shoulders, but you did without question. There is no one more worthy. Besides... you just may need it again one of these days, yes?" Noni's tone was teasing at the end, eyes twinkling with mischief. She apparently saw something in Kira that even Kira herself hadn't given a name to.
Some sort of burning desire to help people, to make a dent in this world, to bring the shadowy realms to light. People weren't scared of the dark anymore, they no longer believed in monsters. This chase had awakened something in her, some deep seated need to be doing something to stop more women from becoming victims like she had. She hadn't known what she needed to do to heal herself until this.
Leaving the pregnant female in the capable care of Noni, Andy helped her down the stairs as slowly as he could, settling her into the passenger seat of the van they'd left on the street. Every nerve in her body was screaming at her for daring to take a single step, but she ignored them.
Once back at the motel, Kira gingerly sat at the small desk chair, trying to slowly eat the hamburger Andy had stopped to get for her. He'd grabbed food, then stopped at the grocery store to get her a gallon of orange juice. Said she needed to drink it to start replenishing the blood she'd lost so she didn't feel woozy.
As much as she hated orange juice, she was doing her best to drink it down one long sip at a time. He was right, of course. She'd lost far too much blood, but if she went to the hospital, they'd ask questions she knew she couldn't answer.
Even if by some miracle they managed to get video proof of everything that had happened tonight, no one would believe them. They'd be labeled crazy, the video a hoax. People didn't want to believe they were prey to creatures they couldn't name. It was a visceral fear, something they couldn't control, and few people wanted to face those fears.
After what she'd been through? She wasn't most people. Booting up the laptop, she started adding notes about the Aswang to her journal sheets, making notations about what exactly had gone down once they'd found her. If she ever came across one again in the future, she wanted to make sure she was prepared and didn't forget a detail that could possibly be important later.
Taking another sip of the juice, she struggled to her feet to make it to the bed, groaning as her muscles protested the movement. Shockingly, the herbs Noni had used actually helped. Instead of a sharp, shooting pain like it had been, it was now a deeper ache. The poultice had dried, she could feel it cracking as she moved. Hesitantly reaching to pull one of the edges of tape, she lifted the fabric gently to check on whether she'd have to figure out a story for the ER or not.
"Andy? Andy! Come here, please."
Chapter Ten
Where there should have been grotesque lines carved in her flesh, were thinner lines. The claw marks were lighter, the slashed skin beginning to knit itself back together in slow increments. Staring at her now uncovered arm, Kira tried to focus on what she was seeing. Somehow, Noni had managed to make these wounds look like they were at least a week or two old, not just hours.
Meeting Andy's gaze, she gave him a small smile. "I am so glad we decided to canvas the neighborhood." He nodded, helping her to remove the rest of the linen from her skin, brushing the dried poultice off as he went. Every wound looked the same, as if it had been weeks and not just mere hours. Now, she was more interested than ever in learning how to use herbs like this. Obviously, it would be needed.
Making her way to the shower carefully, she stood under the hot spray, mind going over everything that had happened these last few days. If she hadn't experienced it herself, she wouldn't believe it. Where most people would be frightened and wanting to hide, Kira herself felt an immense sense of pride in what they'd done. Few could take on a supernatural creature and live to tell about it. Fewer still could end up taking out the monster in the process.
It made her aware of the wendigo she'd escaped. Every thought centered on the moment she'd realized he'd followed her to the hospital. She would never find peace, never be able to truly heal as long as she knew her own nightmare was still out there, still hunting. How many had died in the years since she'd escaped that place? How many more had struggled to get away, but failed?
Sleep was a long time coming that night, yet again. Her mind refused to settle enough to allow her any rest, and when it did, she now had new fears and memories to add to the old. Unidentified monsters chased her through her dreams, screeches and growls echoing across the endless darkness as she scrambled over boulders and broken roots to attempt to free herself. Her tears mixed with the pouring rain as she realized she'd never truly be free.
On the drive home, she was quiet and introspective, not talking as much as she usually did. She stared out the window, not actually seeing any of the scenery passing by. Andy thankfully picked up on her mood and didn't ask too many questions to draw her into conversations.
All she kept thinking about were the ones that died. The nameless, faceless men and women who no one was helping. Who didn't have a clue what it was they'd heard in the night. Whether that noise was the rustling of trees or something just a bit more sinister. It ate at he
r, the knowledge that people just didn't believe anymore, and their refusal to see the truth put them in harm's way.
Once they'd arrived back at campus, Andy parked in the reserved lot, turning to face her. She could tell he wanted to know if she was okay, but she didn't actually know what to tell him. "Ki? You haven't said more than 10 words on a ten plus hour drive. I'm worried. Are you okay? If you're not feeling up to it, we can analyze the footage later this week, prep something for the station. That way you can get some rest before your next classes. We had to have caught something."
He was so sure of himself, so steadfast that if they'd caught something on camera, the world would be forced to acknowledge the creatures that lived alongside them. That if they could just show the footage, people would begin to believe again. How could she tell him they never would?
Looking at her best friend, who was so earnestly trying to keep her talking, she again saw the Aswang headed for him. The way he brandished his own tiny and ineffective weapon in an effort to defend her. Truth was, she hadn't ever had anyone willing to put themselves in harms way for her before. Hadn't let someone in as far as she'd let Andy.
That terrified her, the thought that one day he could be hurt, or worse killed, on these little trips they did. The knowledge that his death would be her fault. Losing her best friend wasn't something she'd mentally be able to handle. Especially not if it was something she'd dragged him into in the first place.
"You ever think that maybe the monsters around us exist solely because no one has stepped up to put them down? That maybe if someone took action, they wouldn't be able to infect others? That innocent people wouldn't have to die in vain?"
His lips firmed slightly. "C'mon woman, let me get you settled in your dorm before you go off on a tangent. We'll meet up tomorrow to figure out a filming schedule for this week and get our thoughts on paper for a half-assed script. Then we can pick our next topic and start researching for that. I know what you're doing. You're thinking too hard, worrying over things you can't change. It'll eat you alive if you let it. If I have to force you to sit and plot out an entire year's worth of ideas, I've got the time and patience to do it, and you know it."
Allowing him to walk her to her door, she remained lost in thought until he hugged her, telling her he'd see her tomorrow. She smiled then, the expression tinged with sadness before glancing around the room at her few belongings she could get packed up easily.
"No Andy, you won't."
His eyes narrowed, his stubbornness nearly a match for hers. "You're saying goodbye, aren't you? If you think it'll be that easy, you've lost your damn mind. You and I are a team, for better or worse, even if this qualifies as worse. Where you go? I go. I will see you tomorrow, and if you're not here, I will find you. You can't run from me that easy, Kira, and I'm not accepting this as a goodbye."
Despite his words, she knew in her heart that someone had to step up. Someone had to put their life on the line to protect the people around them. Surely he'd understand. If people refused to see that they weren't alone in this world, then maybe it took someone like her.
Someone who had been touched by death itself and survived. Someone who had no family left to mourn them. No one at school would miss her except for Andy. She had no other close friends. To most, they'd register her absence and then keep going on with their day. "Will you take a 'see you later', then? I won't go anywhere tonight, I promise." Giving her another glare, he finally nodded before letting her close the door behind him.
The only way to fight the monsters was to become one yourself. To set aside morals and human philosophy and think like them. To immerse yourself in their world until their blood stained your hands, until none were left.
She was ready.
Ignorance was not bliss. Ignorance was death. Eventually, the world would believe. If not? Well, she'd be lurking. Waiting. If Andy was along for the ride, then they'd turn the tide.
Together.
Relic
Chapter One
Her face twisted in distaste as she glanced down at her half-eaten plate of stuffed strawberry pastries. They'd stopped at the Waffle House because she was starving, and these had sounded delicious on the menu. She'd really been enjoying them too. Then Andy had decided breakfast was the best place to lay out the details of another case. "He was pulverized? Like... human body bag mush? That can't have been quiet."
With that image in her head, the mess of pale pancakes blended with red syrup and bits of mashed fruit became even less appetizing, so she pushed it aside in favor of reaching for the notes he'd scribbled. His handwriting left a lot to be desired, as always. Anything Andy wrote, you wondered if he'd suddenly had some sort of fit halfway through and the pen had jerked off the paper in spurts and starts.
"You really have got to take some penmanship classes, Andy. I love you dearly, but we need a Rosetta Stone for this. How did you ever make it as a journalism major? People have to be able to read your reports in order to use them. Does that say he was burned, or he was turned? Wurned? Spurned? Wurned isn't even a damn word." Turning the paper upside down to see if it read better that way, she laughed out loud as Andy yanked the paper from her grasp with a scowl.
"That's clearly a B, woman. Burned. He was pulverized like he'd gone through a trash compactor and burned. But nothing else in the room was charred, not even the floor underneath him. His body showed no other marks, just bruising indicative of a whole lotta force. There were no ignition sources in the room. And get this. The room was locked from the inside after he'd gone there after dinner."
"It was still locked when the housekeeper called after she'd gone to wake him up the next morning and he wasn't in bed. Police had to bust the door down. The windows were the kind that were inset in a steel frame that didn't open. Alarms never went off for any entry or exit points, the security company confirmed it. There was literally no way for anyone to get in that room. Yet, we got a body."
"Was this in Paris? Rue Morgue Street, by any chance?" Kira couldn't help the jest. While this was a serious subject, she'd read Poe when she was a high school emo kid, so she knew the origins of the locked room mystery cases in detective fiction had started with Poe and the Murders at Rue Morgue. Reaching over to steal a bite of his hash browns since they didn't resemble broken bloody humans, she chewed while she thought over what he'd said so far.
"Alright so, we have a locked room. A battered male. Burned body. Spontaneous human combustion? I mean... there have been cases where it may be a genuine answer, but none where the body appears to have been beaten beyond recognition, so that part just doesn't fit. That requires a lot of strength. From the photo in the article, he didn't look like he was a small guy. Even if someone could get in, what they did to him required force that tells me the killer was most likely not human. Which means... this is definitely one of our cases."
Staring at the photo Andy had printed out, she shook her head. It just didn't make sense. The guy was built like a linebacker. Solid, with broad shoulders. His hair was beginning to gray, but he wasn't that old. He'd have had the strength to fight off an attacker, or at least hurt them at some point. Yet the reports said there was no sign of a struggle. Just an instant, agonizing death.
The housekeeper lived in residence, and swore she hadn't heard a thing, thinking he'd gone to the study as he usually did, then went to bed. She hadn't even realized anything was amiss until she'd gone to wake him that morning for an early meeting. So all of that damage had been near silent. It defied explanation.
As Andy finished his meal, Kira glanced longingly at her neglected one. As much as she wanted it, with the images currently in her head, she just couldn't bring herself to eat it. Sighing, she nudged it toward the edge of the table for the waitress to pick up before turning back to watch Andy gleefully shove a forkful of eggs into his mouth. He was doing it on purpose, she could tell.
"You know, eating like an elephant shoving grass into its piehole isn't the most attractive thing in the world. Sometimes, I
wonder why we're still single, then I look at us and what we do for fun and think 'Yep. That's why.' I take it we're going to Boston?" The man had worked for the Archaeological Institute which had a field office there. Old artifacts and creepy curses? It made sense, those things were always terrible. That's where they'd begin.
Chapter Two
Kira woke to the smell of something delicious wafting under her nose. Sniffing, her eyes grudgingly opened, blinking as the sun's brightness caused them to water in protest. Snatching the burger that was being held out to her, she ignored the way her stomach growled. Yes, stomach, she was aware that she was starving. Mumbling a thank you towards Andy behind the first mouthful of delicious beef, she peered out at the scenery. She wasn't sure how long she'd been out, but he appeared to have covered a lot of ground.
"I figured since I ruined your breakfast, I should at least offer another option for lunch, since I knew you'd be hungry once you woke up. We've got another hour and a half before we get into Boston proper, then twenty minutes or so before we reach the outskirts where he lived. We might as well head there first, get a hotel room. We aren't going to be able to get into the city and check the morgue until at least midnight anyway, so the housekeeper might be more willing to speak to us if we tell her we're doing an investigation."
Kira Malone Chronicles: Vol 1 (Slaughter USA) Page 8