“No, I mean, what did Roc’s notes say about children, in general? Abby has something somewhere…one second.” I stop my pacing and rummage through her notepad of notes near her laptop. “Here. Abby was looking into their bloodlines, but stopped after she thought she lost relevance. Like, what if the killings skipped a generation or something random like that? Roc have anything on that?”
“No,” Blaze says as he does a quick scan through the document he has pulled up. “No, I think he was following something different, entirely.”
“Damn it, no…that wouldn’t work. There are children everywhere, but not a single one has died to this witch yet. Childhood memories are fresher in the minds of children, right? Doesn’t that make sense?”
“We don’t know if any children have died to this guy yet. There could be some that we aren’t aware of yet.”
“Amber Alerts? Did he do a search on those?”
“Yeah, and he checked around for abduction reports and unexplained murders. Nothing.”
“Maybe he goes for the adults because the memories have to ripen? Children’s brains aren’t fully developed. Maybe the memories are richer if they come from a fully developed person. All of these guys were older, right?”
“Correct.”
“We’re missing something, Blaze.”
“…That just means that we have to try harder.”
“This isn’t working. We’ve devoted so much manpower already to this, and we’re not getting anywhere. We’ve got to approach it at a different angle. We should go where the body was found and look for some clues.”
“You sure that’s a good idea?” Blaze asks with a raised eyebrow.
“I think it’s the best idea I’ve had all night. Abby and Roc have been looking at these, and they’re super smart, don’t get me wrong, but we haven’t given it a shot. We’ve solved wilder shit than this, right?”
“Yeah, but it’s hard to compare, Ray. Every case is different.”
“I know, but we’ve got to do something. That witch is closing in, and I don’t like how close he already is. He can already be plotting something for where we are. He’s moving quick, Blaze.”
“I know, but we have it covered.”
“No, we don’t,” I say flatly. “You only think we do. Psychics are hard as hell to take down and depending on how strong they are, they can do a variety of things. He may even know that we’re talking about him right now or something. We have to be more aggressive.”
“And you think going to the scene of the crime is a start?”
“It’s a start…” With a few clicks of the mouse, I’m able to cycle back to the files focusing on the investigation of the most recent murder. “Okay, I found the address. I’m going to see what I can find. You’re welcome to come, I honestly think this is a great opportunity to find something Abby and Roc might have missed. What we’re doing now isn’t working. We can’t just wait for enough people to die to figure out the missing piece to this.”
“Fine. I’ll go with you,” Blaze answers after a long pause.
“Good, because I really think I can use the backup for this one. I hate witches with a passion.”
****
We hit the crime scene not long after our conversation, determined to bring down the witch before he can strike again. We search high and low for evidence, but there isn’t nothing that we can find. I knew our chances would be slim, but I still had hope. The actual police had done their job well before we were in the area, and Abby and Roc did what they could, but I was hoping for the offshoot that we find something that everybody had missed before.
“Told you, Ray. Nothing’s here. The place is clean.”
“I know, I know…it’s just frustrating, that’s all.” I take another look at the surrounding area, the streets are deserted and the air, still. “Maybe the alleys?”
“Sure.” Blaze gives me a nonchalant shrug. “Lead the way.”
I take the first step down into one of the backstreets, but I can’t help but feel the sneaking suspicion that someone’s watching me. I turn back and look across the street, peering into the windows, cars, and alleys, but no one seems to be around but us. Even though that seems to be the case, I still feel uneasy for some reason, and I don’t know why.
“What’s wrong?” Blaze asks. From the corner of my eye I see him emulate my same behavior. He got the heebie-jeebies, too, but just like me, he doesn’t see anything out of the ordinary.
“Nothing…” I do a final scan before dismissing it, and we continue on our way through the slums.
Every now and then I hear something while we walk. A can tipping over in the wind, a stray animal, bags rustling, a variety of things, but they all keep me on edge. At first, I thought it was all in my head, but Blaze appeared to be picking up on it, too. The deeper we go into the area; the more things start to feel off.
I see a shadow pass behind me from the corner of my eye, and I instantly draw and point my gun that way. Of course, it’s nothing, but I see the after effects, the wind, carrying a small grocery bag on its tail. “Something isn’t right, Blaze,” I say, my back to him.
“Yeah. I agree. I think we might have stepped into his territory. We need to be careful.”
“If he’s using these specters for recon, they have to be linked to him, somehow, right?”
“Yeah. No person can move that quick naturally.”
We press on in the night, both of us catching glimpses of a shadowy figure as we move through the alleys. Blaze and I alternate our pace, from sprinting to walking in an attempt to confuse the projections. We cross streets and hide; anything we can think of to make the specters search for us instead of tracking us. As time goes on, our game of cat and mouse works in our advantage. I catch up to one of the projections just as it turns the corner and find a man in a hooded jacket appearing to be linked to them telepathically. Even though it’s dark out I can still tell that he looks just like the man in the picture.
The specter is the first to notice me, but the witch isn’t too far behind. He pulls out a gun and shoots my way before breaking out into a sprint down the alley.
“Blaze, it’s him! He went this way!” I yell as I continue my pursuit of the witch.
Even though I know his power is something I can’t take lightly. He’s too dangerous to lose sight of. If we don’t get him here, who knows what he’ll do next?
“Sailor! Sailor! Wait up!” Blaze is faster than me, so I know he isn’t concerned about losing us both, he’s worried about me getting shot while I’m rushing into battle like a mad man.
“I can’t let him get away, Blaze!” I turn the corner and a series of shots erupt from the alleyway. I immediately press my body against the bend of a wall to make myself as small as I can. I pop out and catch him just as he makes a sharp turn.
“Sailor, you have to stop.” Blaze appears beside me, his breaths in a rush while he checks his surroundings. “Sailor, I think this is a trap. I don’t think he’s trying to kill us. We should turn back. Abby and Roc can look into the traffic cameras around the area. We can get an ID on him and form a perimeter. We know where he is, now.”
“I can’t, Blaze. You know that. The longer we wait, the more people die. We don’t know how many people he’s attacked, or why. We only find their bodies when it’s too late. If you’re scared, call and wait for the others. I can handle this. We need to figure out why he needs childhood memories or else we have nothing.”
“Sailor—”
“Blaze, we don’t have time for this. Trust me on this one. We’re going to get him.”
“Fine.”
With Blaze in my corner, we both resume the chase of the witch leaving a trail of bodies in his wake. Our conversation buys the witch enough time to gain some distance on us, but we keep going across the cityscape until we find a door wide open in the middle of an alley.
“He went in here.”
“Yeah…looks like it,” Blaze says as he steps into the dark corridor. “Be careful.�
�� Blaze leads the way, and I follow behind him, matching his pace. The place is too dark to see much, but it’s clear that there’s been some setup involved.
“This is definitely a trap, B.” I clench the grip of my gun tighter and put a bit of distance between the two of us. He uses some sort of blue magic. It’s definitely not related to blood, but it doesn’t seem to be psychic in nature, either.
“I know.” We both know the truth, but that doesn’t deter us from pressing in further. Blaze and I’ve been through worse. Nothing short of a room full of threats will be enough to take us down, and even then, they’d have to get lucky. One witch should be enough for us to handle. I get out my flashlight, and Blaze does the same. “I don’t hear him anymore, Ray.”
“He’s hiding. Ambush, maybe?”
“At this point, it wouldn’t surprise me.”
We move through the facility at a crawl, combing the infrastructure one room at a time. If this is one of the witch’s safehouses, there’s a chance he may have traps scattered throughout. I try to flick one of the switches on, but the main lights don’t budge even though it’s clear that the building is running off of some sort of power source. The emergency lighting’s on, but this building is clearly out of commission.
“Did we lose him?”
“Why would he lead us here, just to run away?” Blaze scowls.
“Because here, I can do what I want.”
“Sailor, look out!” Just as Blaze screams his warning, I see it. A metallic canister rolls past Blaze and in front of me. He goes to push me out of the way, but it’s too late. There’s a sharp blast and the room becomes white with a flash of blinding light. He flash banged us. A wave of energy hits me in my chest and sends me flying and into a wall. Blind and disoriented, I can’t do anything but shield myself from the oncoming onslaught.
“Blaze?” I force my eyes open just in time to see Blaze get hit by a wave of dark blue energy. He crashes into a wall, but it doesn’t seem like it was enough to slow him down.
“Impressive. So, I was right,” the witch muses, “but it won’t matter, now!” The witch extends his hand in Blaze’s direction. Time seems to skip for a moment somehow, but when I come to, I see Blaze with his pistol out, firing blindly at the witch who’s now making his retreat. “I’m going after him!” Blaze calls out, his back to me. “Stay put.” Sensing that something isn’t right, I do what he says and try my best to identify the extent of my injuries. My ears and eyes hurt, and my head is spinning. I don’t think anything is broken, but there’s a lethargic feel to everything that I do. Did he somehow manage to give me a concussion? I’m stronger than that…I didn’t even hit my head. I press my palm against my temple and slowly shake my head in an attempt to dissipate the brain fog that’s setting in. When I open my eyes, I can’t believe who I see in front of me.
“Sailor? Sailor, it’s me. What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
“…Dad?”
“Yeah, sweetie, it’s me.”
“No, you can’t be real. I saw you die. Why…are…you?”
“There’s no time for that now, baby girl. Blaze is with the enemy now and we need to stop him. Come on. My dad extends his hand towards me but before I can grab it, a splotch of darkness emerges and materializes in the background near the exit. My gut twists and the nausea I feel brings back memories of darker times. There’s an evil lurking on the other side of the void…one that I’ve come to be familiar with from the time I was bonded with him.
“Dad…” I weakly raise my hand and point. “Dad…it’s Vartal. We have to get out of here.”
“You’re too hurt. We won’t make it in time. I have to fight him.” Dad draws his gun and steps towards the black vortex of demonic energy.
“Dad, no. He’ll kill you. You can’t beat him.” My voice comes out soft, slightly above that of a whisper while tears begin to flow from my cheeks. I don’t want him to see me cry, but I can’t help it.
“I won’t let him hurt you, Sailor. I promise. When have I ever let you down?” My dad runs his hand across my cheek and I embrace the warmth it brings. He then turns away, steps towards the portal, and begins to fire into the darkness.
“Joel Ray,” a voice calls out from the other side of the void. “For all of the time that I’ve known your daughter, it’s funny how this is only the first time that I’ve met you. It’s an honor to finally meet the hunter who’s laid so many of my brothers and sisters to rest. It’ll make claiming your daughter that much sweeter knowing that you tried and failed to save her.”
The swirling demonic energy slowly begins to take shape, forming a human figure. In time, the darkness solidifies and Vartal reveals himself, fully healed and with the body of a middle-aged business man serving as his vessel.
Dad unloads the remainder of his ammunition into the demon, but it doesn’t seem to effect Vartal in the slightest. Other than his body bobbing from the impact, he appears unharmed. “This…shouldn’t be…possible.”
“Your bullets won’t work against me. As I’m sure you daughter can tell you, I’m no ordinary demon. Far superior, in fact.” Vartal steps closer to my dad, his hands in his pockets and his lips fashioned into a sly grin.
“Dad! Run!” I scream. “He’ll kill you! Please!”
Dad continues to fire shots into the demon, but Vartal dismisses everything he throws at him. This must be his full power…what he was aiming for all along…and I helped him get there by letting him feed off of my soul.
A bullet manages to hit Vartal square in the head, he stops, but only to reset his skull to its neutral position. “Are you done, now?” he asks. “You lack the tools to defeat me.”
“Sailor, I’ll hold him off. Run!” I try to move, but I can’t. My body won’t respond how I want it to. I don’t know why. Is it Vartal? What did he do to me?
“Dad, don’t!”
My dad draws his knife and charges at the demon. He takes a swipe at Vartal’s neck, but he’s too quick to get in close. My dad goes for a second swipe, and Vartal dodges it without even trying. A set of tendrils then emerge from his back and pierce through my father, completely. “I told you, you lack the tools to defeat me.” My dad’s knife drops to the ground, his body still immobilized by the array of tendrils skewering him. He tries to speak, but one most have punctured his lungs. He’s being choked with his own blood. “It was a valiant effort, but I must say, I’m surprised that your comrades hold you in such high regard. If that was truly the best you can do, hunter, your legacy supersedes your actual abilities.” Vartal shifts his gaze to me and studies me. I want to do something—anything—but I’m unable to move, paralyzed with fear. “You never had a chance at saving your daughter. She’s mine now. Actually, ours would be a more accurate word.” Vartal retracts the tendrils from my dad and his body falls limply to the floor. Vartal then lowers himself into a squat and transfers himself over to my dad. With him being so close to death, and Vartal being so strong, there’s nothing he can do to block his advances. The vessel that he had before, the business man, topples over, lifeless, and Vartal rises from the ground, fully assimilated into my dad’s body. “Much better. This body will serve my needs just fine.” Vartal takes a deep breath and exhales through his nose. “I have access to all of his memories now, you know. So, I guess, I love you as much as he loved you. He still does, by the way. Of course, that won’t ever change. In fact, it’ll just make this whole scenario that much richer. You were loyal to me, Sailor. I will admit it. Without you, I wouldn’t be here, today. I owe you a great deal. For that, I will show you mercy, but you will be punished. I expect nothing less from those who serve me.” Somehow, I muster up the strength to draw my gun and aim it in front of me. My hands are trembling, but I just need to make enough of a dent in him to slow him down. Dad was on the brink of death, so maybe… “This, my dear, is the beginning of the end. I have your father’s memories, and your father’s body. I know everything I need to rip out the soul of your network of hunters and fulfill my destiny.”
/>
“Don’t! Don’t come any closer!” I pull the trigger and my bullet finds its way into Vartal’s chest.
“I didn’t think you’d be able to shoot your father so easily. No matter. It’s just the same as before. Nothing you can do, can stop me now, Sailor.” I shoot again as the demon approaches, my aim deteriorating under my distress. Every time, I pull the trigger, it’s like a part of me dies inside. Vartal has my dad, and there’s a chance that he’ll never be free again. “Sailor?”
“Sailor! Sailor, it’s me! Blaze! What are you doing? Stop shooting!” An unseen force rips the gun from my hand, and I feel someone grip me on both sides of my arms. My body rattles from a gentle, but firm shake and his voice becomes clearer. “Sailor, what’s going on? Are you okay?”
“Blaze? Vartal? He got dad. Vartal has dad. He was right here…and he…and you…you didn’t see… Dad said you were with the enemy now. Vartal…you…” I come to my senses and reach for my second gun, but Blaze pins my hand to the ground. “Why did you kill my mother? I did everything for you! I trusted you! Why did you leave me like this? I trusted you, Blaze!” I thrash against him to go for my knife, but he’s too strong for me to overpower. “How can you live with yourself?!” I say, unable to hold back my tears. “After everything we’ve been through? I saved your life! You’d be dead if it wasn’t for us!”
“Fuck, Sailor, I don’t know what he did to you, but I’m going to fix it. You need to calm down, okay.” I struggle against Blaze as he presses his weight against me to free one of his arms. He pulls something from out of his coat and I feel a sharp sting followed by a bit of pressure stemming from my arm. “Sedative,” he says calmly. “I’m not going to hurt you, but I need for you to calm down. Just let it work, Ray. Something’s not right with you, and I’m going to get help.” I try my best to burn through the drug, but struggling against him only tires me out quicker. He quickly disarms me and holds me in place while he glances around the perimeter. “…Yeah, it’s not good, Abs. Find us. You have our location.” I fade in and out of consciousness, but I’m still able to catch bits and pieces of what’s going on. The last thing I remember is Blaze handcuffing me and assuring me that everything’s going to be okay.
Sailor Ray and the Beginning of the End Page 10