Grace appeared on the tablet, dividing it into three screens. "The son Vernin checks out too. Hated his dad, and says his dad was some crazy religious nut job trying to recruit him and his mother into some cult about fifteen years ago. He said his dad tried again about two years ago, going on and on about bringing an end to witches. The son also said he is more than happy to testify. Apparently, when Polanski learned his son was dating a Sensitive, he held his son at gunpoint and scared the hell out of the girl he was dating. They both filed a report together. And, poof, the law enforcement report is nowhere to be found, but the son had a paper copy. His son Vernin has been living in fear ever since, fearing his father would just come after him and get away with it being that nothing was ever done the first time around."
Ezra nodded. "Okay, you three get back here now, and Hannibal, Grace, transmit to Fentrose so we can get a warrant to check out that church you mentioned."
"I already did before I patched in. Fentrose said we should have it within an hour or two. That Church is in Bastion City, near Mullins University."
"Good work. See you guys soon. I'm going to check out this surviving witness the sentinels left us."
Ezra got into the back of the ambulance, the droid attending the man nodded. "Please keep your questioning to a minimum, he is in a bit of shock still."
Ezra nodded. "I will."
The droid left as Ezra sat beside Albert. "Are you okay?"
Albert was sarcastic, "I almost ended up like all those people I've heard about in the news, how do you think I'm feeling?"
"Fine, how did they lure you?"
Albert wasn't too proud of it but spoke up anyway. "I had a profile, MindFuckMe23 alright, I posted that I wanted a sensitive to have some mind-blowing sex alright, the guy said he was a sensitive, I was kinda into bald men, he sent me some huge dick pics, and told me all of the crazy mind powers he could do while we were fucking, okay. He shows up with drinks, the next thing I know, a vampire with these freaky red glowing eyes, and a werewolf are tearing those bastards to pieces. The vamp says he's a sentinel and to let you guys know they took the guy named Todd with them in for questioning, and that Todd worked at the Haze for you to look him up."
Ezra leaned back and rested his elbows on his knees. His face was flushed. Hearing what Albert just said, rushed through his mind like a bowling ball. It made his head hurt. A red-eyed vampire, and a werewolf, he thought. He instantly thought back to the club, the new one that had opened, seeing Xairin with that man that he knew was a wolf. Ezra started shaking inside. "Are you sure he had red eyes?"
"Demonic red eyes, fucking glowing, and shit."
"Red hair?"
Albert shook his head. "He was in that bald nosferatu form they can take. Never saw the werewolf in human form either. Both of them were scary as shit, and the vamp gave me his blood to heal. According to the droid, I had nine cracked ribs, a punctured spleen, and a broken leg. They saved me."
Ezra looked off to the side. "Xairin, what are you doing?' He thought to himself.
"Have you told anyone else about the red eyes?' Ezra asked. He couldn't believe he was asking that, but he needed to know.
"No, I don't think so, just you. Everyone else, I've just said scary vampire, why?"
The song Ezra heard Xairin sing that night he saw him with another man came rushing back like a title wave in Ezra's head. It was as if he was hearing him sing it all over again as if he was standing at the bottom of that stage, watching Xairin sing alongside the holo constructed band. Ezra knew in his heart it had to be Xairin that did this. The red eyes, a werewolf with him, it had to be him. He knew that Fentrose had already informed them that a sentinel team was going to be assisting, but this wasn't what he thought would happen. What happened was a bloodbath, with no single perp surviving. As much as it felt wrong, and he felt compelled to protest and report the brutality, all he could think about was that song Xairin sang.
I'm walking on broken glass, trying my best to escape the past, if you saw me, would you save me? Huh..."
"When I first met you, I thought the hell I knew was finally through. We made a life together, a wonderful life together. We once had it all, then I made a mistake that caused our kingdom to fall, I lost you, I lost you... I tried a hundred ways, to prove I had mended my ways, I still lost you, I still lost you."
"I'm walking on broken glass, trying my best to escape the past. If you saw me? Would you save me? Huh?"
"I'm out here all alone, trying my best to find a place to call my own. If you saw me, would save me?"
"I think about you every night, wishing I knew how the hell to make things right. I miss you; I miss you. I'm like a zombie every day, just trying to make my way, I still think of you, I still think of you. You were my life, now all I think about is looking at this knife, I'm tired, so, so tired."
"I'm walking on broken glass, trying my best to escape the past. If you saw me? Would you save me?"
"I'm out here all alone, trying my best to find a place to call my own. If you saw me? Would save me?"
"Time is running out, no matter how loud I try to shout, I miss you, I love you. I see that you've moved on, for me, it is the dark that ate the fucking dawn, I miss you, I miss you. I know I made one mistake, and for me, my heart now quakes, can you forgive me? I just want you to forgive me…"
Xairin prepared to get louder as he went into the last parts of the song. His voice carried with a sublime beauty as his deep voice hit the high notes and low notes and went into drawn-out crescendos again. The crowd was clapping and shouting.
"Cause I'm walking on broken glass, trying my best to escape the past. If you saw me? Would you save me?"
I'm out here all alone, trying my best to find a place to call my own if you saw me… Would you save me? huh..."
It was as if time stopped for Ezra as that song played in his head, and he could see and hear Xairin on that stage. That refrain, "Would you save me…" That song was haunting Ezra.
He looked at Albert and looked deeply into the young man's eyes. Albert’s head started to shake. Ezra made him think he saw black eyes instead of red and left the ambulance.
He took a deep breath, running his fingers through his wavy brown hair, pulling at it. Ezra had never done anything like that. Covering something up…
He eventually made it down into the sewer and to the crime scene. He was wearing gloves. He touched the head to the black man that had been bitten nearly in half at the shoulder. He saw the white-clawed hand burst through Marshall Dingus's chest. He gasped. "He got Marshall." He looked over and found the body to Marshall Dingus and did the same. He gasped again when he realized that Marshall, helped with Rory's murder. He wasn't the one that killed him, but he was one of the ones that helped beat Rory Winstead to the point he begged for it to be over. "Fuck."
Marine arrived.
"Damn." She said while looking at the bodies. "Are you getting anything off of these?"
Ezra nodded and pointed. "Marshall Dingus helped beat Rory Winstead to death, and that guy helped with at least nine of our other cases."
They made it to a dead end, where the two mummified bodies were found. Marine gasped. "Oh, the vampire that did this, definitely not the type of vampire you want to fuck around with."
"What do you mean? How the hell do two men in their early twenties look like they just got unearthed from Ancient Egypt?' Ezra asked.
"See how those poor bastards are all dried up and shit." He nodded. "Only a handful of vampires can do that, one of them being the queen bitch herself, a vampire you don't ever want hunting your ass. It's a rare power that allows vampires to literally drain the blood from your body without even touching you. It just flies right out of every hole your body has, and they just stand there and absorb it."
He looked up. "Let me guess, Xairin's great grandmother?"
She nodded. "I told you, that is one family you don't want to be fucking around with."
"They're going to cover it up, aren't they?" He aske
d.
Marine looked at him. "Ezra, we might get the credit at the end of the day, but Cecilia Thunder herself spoke with Fentrose and arranged an agreement that a sentinel team would be enlisted. I am going to say this as a friend who loves the shit out of you, Ezra. You don't want to piss off a council member of the society of night, and you sure as fuck don't want to piss off anyone related to fucking Queen Bitch, Lilith herself. I have heard enough horror stories about what that bitch can do, and now, this is personal Ez. I know you have feelings for Xairin, but Ezra, you have got to watch yourself."
They made it to Trent Morrison's body. Ezra read his mind. He saw and could feel his legs and stomach being ripped to shreds. He also saw the church, and they already knew about the masks. "That tubby looking guy that left the same apartment building that Polanski lived in, I think he was wearing one of those masks."
Ezra's eyes lit up, turning a brighter green as he touched the head of the corpse lying there. "There are over seventy people that belong to his cult hunting down victims for Polanski Marine."
"What?" She asked.
"I just saw it in this guy's mind. Polanski has a flipping army of disciples out there hunting people."
Marine looked at him sternly. "Then you better patch into a neural upload unit, so what you just saw can be held in a court of law."
"I will after we check the last body."
What was left of Brandon Steelton was next to nothing except for a face and most of the brain. His body looked like someone had put a high-powered farming tiller on top of him and left the thing running. Ezra tried to get what he could. He closed his eyes to focus. "This guy, newer to the group, but in on fourteen of our murders. We need to get to that church. I will go and do that neural upload, you know I hate those things, but it will give everyone a real face to look for. Most of the congregation that attends has no idea what's going on underneath it."
Marine nodded. "Go wear your thinking cap and upload what you pulled, I will catch Grace and Hannibal up to speed once they get here."
Chapter 10.4
The chapel of The Soldiers of His Holy Light was empty of the usual congregation. Bryce Cable, a new recruit that had attempted to go on his first kill the night of the wereleopard saved his partner, was cleaning the pews. After his first time and escaping the wereleopard, he managed another outing, one in which he earned a head, a head that unbeknownst to him, would seal his fate.
Bryce was a stout man and usually the driver most nights. He was so excited to get to try, and even more excited after his first slaying of a witch-lover. Even with a successful kill, he was still stewing over the spotted werecat, interrupting the hunt his first night out and not only that but killing his best friend, Kellen.
A red glow started to form behind him. The light was bright enough to cause the man to stop using his dusting laser that was burning the dust particles away. He turned around, dropping the laser pen. He gasped as he saw a jagged red rip in the air burning brightly. At first, the young man thought it was God or an angel coming to visit him to reward him as the Monk had promised God would. He got on his knees and began weeping. What arrived through that rip, was not the angel he expected, but an angel of death instead.
Xairin came through the portal in full on monstrous glory. He saw the man knelt before him. The face looking up at him didn’t have time to react as fast as Xairin’s did. This was the face that Xairin saw in Marshall’s mind. This was the man that killed Rory… Xairin’s left-wing, reached forward, jabbing its claw into the man's left eye. He started screaming, but it didn't last long. Xairin got closer, and with a single swipe, clawed the man's face right off with his right hand.
Cecilia arrived; next, she too was equally monstrous, followed by a werewolf growling. Jason was giving Xairin no choice; he had to be close to him now.
A man hearing the scream came around the chair that the Monk would sit in. He saw the body hit the floor and three monsters standing there. He turned around to run. Xairin slipped. A second later he was biting into the side of the man’s throat before he could muster a scream. Xairin's clawed hand muffled the cries.
Knowing what Todd knew, Xairin reached down, and used the man's hand, ripping it off. He knew there was a handprint module nearby. He pulled the curtain back, placed the hand against the screen, and watched as the door slid over beside the Monk’s so-called throne.
Benson Steele was sitting at a desk reading over his homework from his court conduct course. The clean-shaven man had let his hair grow out a little and rose up when he heard it. He heard screaming coming from down the hall. The sounds of men yelling for help and screaming incoherently filled the air.
The young man quickly ran to his computer and pressed a button on the side. An alarm started sounding. He spoke into his microphone. "I hear screaming coming from the common rooms!"
Travis chimed in on his computer screen. "What?"
"You heard me, Travis, I hear screaming!"
On the other side of the screen, Travis saw Benson vanish. "Benson? Benson? Where did you go? Don't be messing around, Benson?" Benson never returned to the screen. In his study, his body was lying on the floor, out of the screen's view. His throat had been ripped out. Benson's eyes were still blinking. Xairin knelt down and placed his hand on the man’s face. Xairin’s eyes flickered. This was one of his attackers.
Travis was in the training arena. It was a part of the warehouse that had boxing rings set up for training. There were thirty in there with him. He had been sparing when he heard the alarm go off. Everyone was confused. "What's going on?" Bronson asked.
Travis shook his head. "Your brother just vanished off the screen, he said he heard screaming."
"Something happened to my brother?" Bronson asked. The bald man stood there with a terrified look.
Travis yelled out. "Assume this is not a drill, everyone, get your weapons!"
Roland, standing at the top of the stairs overlooking at the training area, yelled out on his microphone. "Silver ammo, assume that demons are responsible!"
Roland wasn't about to stick around. He knew that Cecilia made that threat of seeing him soon, and he saw how silver didn't cause a single blister. To him, his men would be a sacrifice for the greater good. He went to his office to start packing.
Travis ran over to another computer and sent out a message to the three teams that hadn’t reported back yet. “This is not a drill, do not come to the base, I repeat, DO NOT COME TO BASE! BASE IS UNDER ATTACK!”
Only two team leaders replied back with an acknowledgment. “Todd? What the fuck?” Travis said. He sent another message, no reply. “Ah, shit!” Travis said.
The hallway Xairin was walking down was filled with trophies on the walls. Xairin had to stop and look at them. The faces they were making, making them seem less human, bothered him deeply. Xairin lost his composure when he reached the sixth one, it was Rory's head. Xairin's nosferatu guise vanished, and his paled human form emerged. He pressed his hand to Rory's cheek. They had Rory's face, with his mouth wide open, and his tongue curled. They had implanted metal horns sticking out of his skull. Xairin could hardly breathe, looking at it. "Rory…" He kept pressing his hand to his friend's cheek. Xairin knew he had been decapitated but didn't think he would find his friend's head here. Xairin cried. "Oh, Rory."
His grief got the better of him. Xairin wept. Every memory of Rory came rushing back like a dam breaking. His face streamed with heavy tears. The shock of seeing this sight, caused Xairin to break inside. He screamed out in a hideous roar.
A man came around the corner and saw Xairin standing there after hearing the noises. He fired a silver bullet that hit Xairin in the left shoulder. Xairin turned around and looked at the man. The soldier’s body exploded from the sheer psychic rage that Xairin unleashed, just as the large stone did on the beach, only instead of newly made sand, blood and guts littered the hallway. The pure amount of psychic energy Xairin let loose, set off another alarm, along with a neural frequency that only Xairin coul
d hear. His nose started bleeding black blood. While he may have dispatched the man in the hallway, the signal being released sounded like a sharp pulsating noise in Xairin's ears. He tried to cover them, and fell to the ground, holding his ears. "AHHH!" He cried out.
Travis saw the lights blinking above, change to green. "Witches!" He called out.
The bonding allowed Jason to sense Xairin's pain to some degree, even though Xairin wasn't a wolf, the bonding a werewolf had with their mates, was a strong one. The werewolf stopped eating the man he had pinned on the floor and started running on all fours to where he could feel Xairin the most.
Cecilia was going down a hallway. She saw trophies on the walls that made her sick to her stomach. As humans emerged, she had no mercy as she clawed their throats, one by one, she went through them like confetti. One tried to surprise her by jumping out in front of her. She grinned and kicked the man, sending him crashing against the rear wall so hard that it broke his back. He slumped down to watch her moving like a blur, ripping out throats, and finishing with one man as she pushed his head into the wall so hard that his skull crunched inward. Her attention then directed to the man she kicked.
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