Dark Temptations

by Eric Alan Williams

  Grace was jaw dropped, as for Hannibal, he never cared for Polanski. He nodded. "Yeah, you heard her Polanski, she didn't stutter."

  Polanski rolled his eyes and walked off.

  Marine looked at Hannibal, "Can you believe that bull shit? I mean, I knew he was one of those uptight Christian types, but being a racist on top of it?" She smirked and batted her eyes. "Humans never ceases to amaze me... I hope that cross he wears around his neck doesn't end up burning his ass."

  Hannibal barked back. "Hey now, don't wrap all humans into one basked Marine, just because fat-bastard back there turned out to be a sensitive and an immortium hater, doesn't mean we all are…"

  She looked at him. "... You know, you're alright, Hannibal… And… You're right."

  "Do I detect a compliment in there somewhere?" He asked with a wide-eyed grin.

  Marine looked at him as she jived her head. "My praises don't come out often, but when they do come out, they are well deserved."

  An older gentleman entered the lobby. He was dressed in kevlar and had a gold star on his left shoulder. Commander Harvey made a direct line over to Marine. Marine looked up. "Agent Evans?"

  "Commander Harvey?" She stood up to shake his hand.

  "Mayor Brumfield would like to see you." He said.

  "Are you serious?" Marine asked with a frog in her throat.

  Commander nodded as he withdrew his hand. "You did save her daughter. Please, come with me, Agent."

  "What about us?" Hannibal asked.

  Commander Harvey smirked. "Did you two save the mayor's daughter?"

  Grace and Hannibal looked at each other, then looked at Commander Harvey. The Commander smirked. "That's what I thought."

  Maine was escorted into a round room with a circular desk with a cherry stain in the center. There was a large black chair on the other side of the desk. A woman with neatly kept brown hair was sitting there, waiting. Marine looked at the Mayor, then around at the room again. She saw the viewing screens, holoprojectors, and several other techs in the room. She was trying to distract herself. She was nervous.

  Mayor Helen Brumfield stood up and walked over to shake Marine's hand. Marine noticed Commander Fentrose behind her. She extended a warm handshake. "Mayor Brumfield, it is an honor."

  Mayor Brumfield shook her hand graciously. "The honor is mine Agent Evans."

  Marine seemed a little awkward after the handshake ended. She was at a loss for words. Marine had her tough side when she was on the job, dealing with other wolves and immortium, but when it came to political figures, or anyone famous, she choked.

  "Miss Evans, I can't thank you enough for saving my daughter Krista. What you did was nothing short of a miracle."

  Marine frowned. "Just doing my job, Mayor Brumfield."

  Mayor Brumfield walked over to her desk and leaned against it while crossing her arms. "You did a fine job today, Miss Evans."

  Commander Fentrose walked around to the side. "Well, you did lose a cruiser, and apparently left us without any leads. We do know that James Harpon was delivering the Mayor's daughter to someone…"

  Marine spoke up quickly. "Actually, we have a lead. Turns out that Harpon was a cyborg, his brain was intact. One of the medical examiners came by just before I came up, asking if Agent Huxley would do his, sensitive thing and brain drain what he can from it."

  "Well, that's a fortunate turn of events," Fentrose mentioned with her robotical voice.

  Fentrose scoffed. "Still, care to explain, a... Falling leg, falling from the sky, and landing on a sidewalk bench, scaring some poor old woman that was sitting there waiting on an aircab?"

  The Mayor was curious as to why Fentrose was coming off a bit brash.

  Marine shrugged. Her attitude came rushing back. "When I leaped on to that airvan, they were shooting at me, Commander. I was on the bottom of that van, and, well, I acted in the interests of self-preservation and taking out the bad guys Commander. They were shooting at me. I was dangling from the bottom of that airvan, and the only thing, I could think of, was to take out one of the men attempting to kill me, save the Mayor's daughter, and oh yeah, take out two bastards that killed two women working at the daycare. So... I just punched a hole through the bottom of the floorboard, grabbed that asshole's leg and yanked the fuck out of it."

  Fentrose’s eyes couldn't raise or show a surprised expression due to her cybernetic implants. The woman was caught off guard and was ten milliseconds away from putting her on leave for that language.

  The Mayor stepped in. "Miss Evans, while your actions were unconventional, you saved my daughter, and under code 997-JS, if I know my law codes correctly, an Interpol agent can act, as judge and jury, when a murder has been committed with enough substantial evidence, and in this case, we have no doubt it is substantiated." She looked at Fentrose. "This woman deserves a medal for what she did, Not your sarcasm."

  Commander Fentrose relented physically and nodded. "Of course, Mayor, forgive me."

  Helen smirked at her. "I will think about it."

  The Mayor looked at both women, then Commander Harvey, who had remained quiet. "Commander Harvey, I understand, that Fentrose's division has been the one investigating the attacks on the local gay community?"

  He nodded, "And Miss Evans here, is one of the agents on that specific case."

  Helen raised her eyebrows. "Interesting." She looked at Marine. "Tell me, Miss Evans. Have there been any developments in finding these... Serial killers?"

  Marine spoke up, keeping a calm tone of voice. "Yes and no."

  The Mayor nodded. "Go on, explain?"

  "Like you, I am sure, are aware, these individuals managed to plant a cyber-attack in Bastion City's facial recognition software. It made things difficult until some of the new A.I.'s were released to help squash the program." Marine fidgeted a little. "We were seeing anywhere between one and three bodies a week turning up, that was until a wereleopard attacked a man attempting to abduct his boyfriend in the same exact manner that we know the other victims have been abducted."

  The Mayor asked curiously. "So, the werecat attack, he attacked one of your perps then?"

  Marine shrugged. "We think so. The only other survivor linked to this case, couldn't positively identify the man, that the wereleopard, Jeffery Marsh, attacked. What we do know is, no new bodies have turned up since the werecat attack. No homosexual sensitives, or those that have indicated in their dating profiles, that they are sensitive friendly, have been reported missing since Mr. Marsh, saved his boyfriend from Kellen Pennywise's attempt in the abduction." She looked at the Mayor. "Mr. Marsh's boyfriend had very high levels of a drug called scopolamine in his system, which is the same drug that has been found in every corpse we have found linked to this case."

  "What efforts are you pursuing at this time? This case has started to gain Global interest. I need to know that this case is being dealt with, with intensive diligence in apprehending these individuals."

  Marine nodded. "If Mr. Pennywise was indeed one of the perps responsible, we have already started looking into every aspect of his background. We do know that he is a student at Mullins University where he was top of his class in cybernetic defensive tactics, and last year, according to one of his professors, he created an A.I. capable of disabling and hunting down computer viruses. He fits a possible profile of being the one responsible for the program that disabled our facial recognition software."

  Mayor Brumfield nodded. "Okay, have your Commander send me a list of any additional requests you and your team may need to hasten this case along." She extended her hand. "I can't thank you enough for what you did for my daughter.

  I look forward to thanking you again when this group is found, apprehended, or they are dealt with by your team's discretional use of code, 997-JS."

  Marine felt relieved. She smiled. "Thank you, mayor."

  Chapter 5

  Jason Fifer wasn't used to getting orders from the Grand Alpha of the Sasquatch Werewolf tribe directly. Usually, it w
as his father that would have been the one to tell him. Getting a phone call from Argosh directly was an honor. The request Argosh made to Jason three days ago, however, was a unique one.

  Vampires being allowed on burial grounds usually was never granted.

  Jason was going about his day at his garage, fixing a few older model automobiles, and one hovercar. His face had grease on it from the older models. The man looked rugged, unkempt. His wavy brown hair was hidden by his cap, which he wore backward. The front of it had his repair shop's name and logo. "Fifer's Autobody."

  Of his three brothers, Jason was the youngest, and the only one still breathing. Alex was the oldest, his other brother, Daniel, had died a decade prior in a scuffle with a weredeer named Brian Vorheez.

  Being the only child left alive, Jason's father, August, felt pressure to have another child and began courting again. August wanted an heir just in case his own Immortality ran out, and Jason wasn't the breeding type. Part of why the two never got along. Now that Alex had died, August was even harsher on what he called "a six-decade phase…"

  Jason was the manly type, but never over the top in his masculinity. He never displayed a single hint of any effeminacy. No one suspected he was gay at all, until a werewolf from the tribe, by chance, ran into Jason at a gay bar when he was traveling to San Francisco, right after World War III. The blabbermouth, Sydney Boothe, made sure to spread it quickly when Jason rebuked the man's advances. When August found out, it didn't go over well at all.

  Jason barely spoke with his father. He was loyal to the tribe and its packs and stayed on the tribal lands, but aside from his sexual side, he still never felt like he truly fit in.

  Sure, due to biting over the years, the tribe was very diverse now. Most of the original Indians of the tribe were either in hibernation or killed off over the years. The interbreeding with the bitten had diminished the physical native traits. There were a few that you could tell were indigenous, but for the most part, that was waning. You couldn't tell it by looking at Jason, or his brothers, but he was a quarter. His father, August, was half Indian, and half British.

  He had six employees that were working hard that day. Two women that worked harder than any man could, were working on the hovercars to get the two in the shop ready as fast as they could. The owner of the red flying convertible was expected to pick it up later that day, while Jason and three men, worked on the older cars. Jason loved older vehicles. Deep down, he didn't care for hovercars or hovertrucks.

  Jason bent down with his knees, placed his hands under the front of a blue 2027 Ford Charger, and lifted it up as if it was a paper box. "Come on, Charlie, we don't have all day." He said to a short dark-headed man bringing a toolbox.

  Charlie looked up since he was just five foot six and began repairing one of the heated oxygen sensors while Jason looked around as he held the vehicle steady. Charlie was quick at fixing these. "Got it!"

  Jason let the car down slowly after Charlie was out of the way and went around to the back end and lifted it up. "Alright, let's get this EVAP canister replaced. I have to be somewhere here in an hour, I think, and we still have two more cars to get on the road." Jason said.

  "I'm on it, man," Charlie said. Charlie plucked the old Evap Canister out and quickly ran over to get the new one. It took him about five minutes to get it just right. "Okay, got it."

  Jason set it down gently. "Okay, let's fix those calipers on the Toyota.

  Working beside Jason and Charlie was Brittney Ugo. Brittney was blond, about 5'8, and one of Jason's best mechanics. She was also one of a few werewolves that were genuinely gifted with telekinetic abilities. Her tools and the parts she needed to fix the hovercar she was working on were all floating in the air within an arm’s reach of her. She was even using her powers to tighten nuts and bolts, while she was installing a new hyperon solar battery, which looked like an oval with eight spider-like legs that clamped down into eight power ports. The legs had to be pressed in manually and then tightened down once it was in place.

  "Hey Britt, you have that battery installed yet?" Jason asked.

  She was working quickly, almost inhuman. Her powers helped. "Almost Jason."

  "Elder Quinn should be by to pick her car up soon, try to make sure it's ready in the next thirty minutes or so."

  She looked up at him. Her blond hair was perfectly in place, without a hint of dirt on her face. She just glared at him. "Jason, it's me…"

  He was smiling as he held the blue Toyota Camry up. "Hey, now, don't get cocky." He said.

  She just went back to installing the silvery looking battery. Once she had all of the legs locked into the ports, the oval in the center, lit up with a purple light. "Got the battery in Jason!"

  The other woman working was Sam Marche, a spry brunette with tattoos, a nose ring that she had to re-pierce every day she chose to wear it due to their regeneration, and often showed up in a black tank top. Today was no different.

  Sam was working on a hovercycle, that was her specialty. The bike she was working on was a new Harley Jet model. She was also replacing a solar battery. This battery didn't look like the Hyperon, this was a Tesla bolt model. It looked like a pulsing device shaped like a number seven. She slapped it into the holster, and then closed the chassis. The black solatex exterior started to shimmer with a green light the moment the battery activated.

  Once she finished, she got up and walked over to Jason and crossed her arms. "I just finished installing the battery in the Harley, I'm going on break."

  Jason nodded. "Sure."

  As for the rest of his employees, they were busy changing tires, fixing breaks, and one was performing an oil change.

  Kevin Long, Jason's newest employee, and one of the few of the tribes that still had heavy Navajo features came walking up to Jason. "Mr. Fifer?"

  Jason was washing his hands. "Please, Kevin, call me Jason."

  Kevin was a little on the shy side. He was a born werewolf, like Jason. Kevin was twenty-four, but it appeared that his aging stopped at seventeen. He was awkward at times, clumsy. The poor guy had been fired twice for breaking things. Jason pretty much had him as his errand guy, running and picking up parts and working the desk. Jason wanted to give the guy a chance.

  "Jason, sorry. Hey, there's a vampire upfront asking for you?"

  Brittney stood up. "A vampire? On Sasquatch land?"

  Jason nodded. "Argosh called three days ago to let me know a vampire from the Council was coming by. Apparently, he is one of those heirs we have heard about."

  "One of Lilith's heirs, here? Why?" Charlie asked.

  Jason frowned and looked off to the side. "He apparently was on the same team with Alex. He wants to pay his respects."

  Charlie looked shocked. "Argosh is allowing a vampire to visit the burial grounds?"

  Jason threw his hands up. "Hey, Argosh makes the calls. He's already alerted the elders and called me and asked if I would escort this guy to Alex's resting place."

  "Why not just have your dad do it?" Sam said as she walked back into the machinery area.

  Jason looked at her. "Good question."

  Jason walked into the employee bathroom and washed his face. He was a little nervous since the guy he was escorting was a council member. Even if he was a vampire, being an heir to Lilith was significant news, so he hoped to leave a good impression. He ran his fingers through his wavy brown hair, tried to make it neater, and ditched the ball cap. "Okay, let's do this."

  Jason walked out of the bathroom and down a hallway that led into a mundane receptionist area. Despite Jason's lack of love for modern things, the reception area was mostly up to date. Everything was electronic. Sitting in one of the blue waiting chairs in his small lobby, was a stunning young redheaded man. He was neatly trimmed. He had a defined small beard, peaking that Jason could tell, was recently tended. The dazzling man was reading one of Jason's old National Geographic magazines he had on a metal table.

  Jason tried to remember the handsome man's name.
He knew it started with a Z sound. Argosh was very intent on making sure Jason knew it. He had already told him how the prince hated his name being mispronounced. It took him a second. "Xairin? Right?"

  Xairin was wearing a pair of blue jeans that formed perfectly to his bubble butt. He was wearing a black tank top that showed off his muscular chest, defined arms, and a clearly showed off his physical qualities. There was a pair of sun goggles resting in the side pocket of his pants. Jason could see a little chest hair near the top of the tank top. Just enough to cause Jason to key in on it. He liked guys cleanly shaven or neatly trimmed with a bit of chest hair. Plus, he wasn't like the rest of the tribe when it comes to fooling around with other Immortium; he wasn't a racist and he did have a thing for redheads. "You are Xairin?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

  Xairin seemed a little nervous and stood up to extend his hand. "Yes, I'm Xairin. Are you Jason?"