by K Hanson
Behind me and out of view of the bandits, things thumped and rattled as David pulled stuff out of that cabinet.
“Listen, bitch,” the woman said, glaring at me over her rifle. “I think you know where this girl is. I think she’s here. You can either give her up, or we can drag her out after you’re nothing but a bleeding corpse on the ground.”
The seconds seemed to stretch into eternity as we stared each other down, each waiting for the other to break first.
A streak of light flew across the room out of the corner of my eye, then burst into flames against the far wall.
As the bandits turned their attention to the fire, I charged toward the lead bandit.
Her head swiveled back to me.
With my left hand, I grabbed her rifle and yanked it from her grasp. I tossed it back over the counter as I swept my right foot across her legs.
A gunshot rang out.
A bullet grazed me just under my left rib cage.
My side stinging, I pivoted toward the bandit who had shot me, pointed my pistol at his head, and pulled the trigger.
I only needed one of them alive, anyway.
An arm wrapped around my throat, the sharp steel of a blade digging into my neck. A faint trickle of blood dripped down my skin.
“Drop the gun,” he commanded.
Shit. Well, I couldn’t fight back if he slit my throat.
I lobbed the pistol far from the bandit leader, as she picked herself up.
Another gunshot, and the arm holding me went limp.
Across the counter, Amari held the leader’s old rifle, smoke drifting up from the barrel. I gave her a quick smile, then dashed over to the bandit leader.
I shoved her back onto the ground and stomped down on her ankle. She winced as I increased the weight.
“Okay, your friends are dead,” I said. “What do you want with her, and who do you work for?”
The woman grinned wide enough to show a couple more teeth than a typical smile. The effect was unnerving.
“You defeated us, but our master will make us outlast even death,” she said. “I’ll never betray him.”
She yanked a knife from her belt and plunged it into her chest. As blood pooled on the floor, her hand fell limp at her side.
Shit. I really needed to stop letting my best leads die.
A quick search of her body revealed a tattoo on her right forearm. The other two had the same marking: an N on top of a pentagram. It didn’t take much deductive effort to figure out who the symbol belonged to.
The Necromancer.
CHAPTER 7
I didn’t know how the Necromancer was having his cronies find Amari. They knew exactly where she was, even following us into the restaurant. That didn’t come from intelligence or informants. Somehow, they were tracking us, and I didn’t know what to do about it. We just had to get to safety and figure things out from there.
Across the counter, Amari stood, her eyes wide with terror. She set the gun down and shoved it across the counter.
“These people were looking for me.” Her voice had a breathy tremble to it. “They’re trying to capture me again. I won’t go back!”
I waved for her to come to my side of the counter. “I don’t think it’s the enslavers. Take a look at their tattoos.”
I pointed down at the nearest bandit’s hand, and David came up behind us to look over her shoulder.
“Not exactly subtle is this person?” he asked.
“You think this is the Necromancer?” Amari asked. “That N seems pretty obvious.”
“I think so, too,” I said. “Have you seen this before?”
“No, never.” She shook her head. “Of course, I didn’t really see the people that attacked me. I just heard them around me.”
“David, do you have any idea how they could be tracking us?”
He rubbed his forehead, staring into the distance as he thought.
“I’m not sure,” he said. “Maybe they have someone watching us?”
I shook my head as I knelt and picked up the tablet the leader had been using. “I don’t think so. I would hear breathing from a stranger if they were close enough to tail us to this restaurant. That woman was looking down at this.” I passed the tablet to David. “Maybe they have a tracker on Amari?”
David shrugged as he looked over the device.
“Hard to say.” He touched a couple of icons and got to a screen showing a map with a blinking light. It matched up with our location. “We can’t properly scrub ourselves for tracking devices until we get somewhere safe. Normally, I’d say we should change into new clothes and check everything for a device. But we don’t have that luxury right now. We have to hope nobody else comes after us between here and our destination.”
“We’d better get going fast, then. Before this Necromancer figures out that his first search party is dead.”
“Why would she kill herself like that?” Amari asked, her voice high-pitched and her arms wrapped tight around herself. “She would rather die than talk? Does she think the Necromancer will bring her back?”
“It sounds like this Necromancer fellow has recruited quite the fanatical following,” David said. “An almost religious devotion.”
“That makes them dangerous,” I said. “If they’re willing to off themselves to avoid interrogation, they’ll do anything for their leader. Come on, let’s get moving.”
I waved for them to follow me as I hurried out of the restaurant and back on the road toward Cathedral Hill. We moved at a brisk pace, silent and focused. Once we had put some distance between the restaurant and us, and I was sure I didn’t hear any threats nearby, I turned toward Amari.
“How do you feel?”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“You just shot another person. I thought you might want to talk about it.”
She shrugged one shoulder. “Honestly, I’m not thinking about it much. Maybe because a gun is less hands-off than a knife, but I didn’t even think about it when I did it. That guy was going to kill you, so I acted.”
“Have you used a gun before? You seemed to know what you were doing.”
“No, I’ve played some video games, but I haven’t held one for real. To be fair, you were pretty close, and his back was a big target.”
“True. Though, if you’re going to be shooting any more in the future, I’m going to teach you some things. That could have gone badly if your aim had been off.”
Amari’s shoulders slumped. “Sorry, I just tried to help.”
I hadn’t meant to come across as chastising.
“I know, and I appreciate it. I don’t want to discourage you. You did well. And so did you, David.”
He started as if he had been woken from a deep daydream. “Hmm, what did I do?”
“Don’t be humble. I don’t know what the hell you threw across the room, but it certainly got their attention.”
“Ah, that.” He adjusted his glasses, though they didn’t need it. “I just found some of their cleaning supplies, mixed them together, then lit them up. Made for quite a brilliant display, but I knew it wouldn’t burn with enough heat to light the place on fire. I considered oil, but that might have been too hot. It wasn’t exactly complex chemistry. Anybody could have done it.”
He was being humble, but I knew him well enough to notice his slightly straighter back. He was proud of what he had done. As he should be.
“Thanks for not burning the place down around us,” I said.
We continued on to Cathedral Hill. The night was quiet, and the night stalkers didn’t come close enough to cause any problems. Finally, we arrived at the gates.
On the other side of the sheet metal wall, the twin spires of the cathedral pierced the sky. It certainly made a more impressive landmark than anything the Glenview Station had. This settlement was perched on a hill overlooking the deep void that lay just downtown. Because of that, it had more frequent night stalker attacks. But their guards were better equipped and more co
mpetent than the Glenview guards.
They were also much choosier about who they let in and who they did not.
“Hey there,” I said as I waved up at the guards in their towers on either side of the gate.
“What do you want?” asked a woman, her hands casually resting on the gun that hung from a strap around her neck. “We aren’t expecting anybody today.”
“I’m Isabella Espinoza, with a couple of friends. Ask Rose, and she’ll tell you that we’re fine.”
She studied me for a moment, then glanced down the side of the tower.
“Go get the doctor. We’ll see what she says,” she called down to someone I couldn’t see.
Apparently, they didn’t remember the last time I had come knocking. A horde of night stalkers had been at their gates, and I had helped kill them. They had been reluctant to let me in then, too, though probably because I had ripped a night stalker’s head off with my bare hands.
Maybe it was better that they didn’t remember me.
A couple of minutes later, the familiar voice of Rose came from over the wall. “Isabella? Is that you out there?”
“Yes, we have someone for you to look at,” I called back.
“Let them in.”
The gate rumbled open, and I walked through with David and Amari next to me. Within the walls, a settlement surrounded the cathedral, using existing apartment buildings, school grounds, and houses to hold people. A couple of gardens had sprouted, growing patches of asparagus, carrots, and even some rhubarb in the darkness under lamps powered by generators.
With the backdrop of the old church, the community should have felt idyllic, or at least as much as could be expected in such crazy times, yet the darkness somehow made it seem sinister, like two fangs jutting into the dark sky.
Dr. Rose Howard stood in front of us, her auburn hair pulled back into a neat ponytail. She had sharp yet elegant cheeks, and her eyes carried an intelligent focus. A blue lab coat hung from her shoulders. Even after everything that happened, she managed to look the part of a doctor.
But when I saw Rose’s face, guilt settled into my gut. She took after her father, and I could only see the ghost of my former chief.
It had been my responsibility that he had left, and it had been up to me to get him back, both for her sake and the sake of his community. I had failed.
But we still needed Rose’s help. So I would swallow my guilt for the time being.
“Hello Isabella, David, it’s been a while.” Even though I knew she didn’t blame me for her father’s death, her face carried a bit of sadness, her voice sounding a little flat. Or maybe I was just imagining it. “What can I do for you?” she asked.
“We’re here for an investigation,” I said. “This, here, is Amari. We thought you could take a look at her.”
Amari stepped forward, and Rose shook her hand.
“Hi, Amari. You seem healthy enough. What do you need from me?” Rose asked.
“I, um,” Amari stammered. “I’m not exactly sure where to start.”
“The fact that she is healthy is part of the reason we’re here,” I said.
Rose tilted her head. “What do you mean? I can’t say I’ve ever taken on a patient for being too healthy.”
“Amari was killed,” I said in a flat voice, curious to see Rose’s reaction. “And now she’s alive.”
Rose narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips, looking like she didn’t quite believe what I was saying.
“Let’s go to my medical station.” She glided away from the gate, and we trailed behind her.
She led us into the cathedral itself. Lamps illuminated a high vaulted ceiling that soared overhead, and the stained glass windows glittered. The pews had been torn up to make space for a number of different stations and work areas.
Walking down what had been the main aisle, we reached a corner that had been blocked off with curtains. Shelves full of bandages, syringes, vials of medicine, and other medical supplies lined two of the walls, with a desk tucked into one corner. Four empty beds took up most of the space in the medical station. A couple of stools sat off to the side. Nobody else was around when we entered.
“Please, sit.” She gestured at the stools and cots that were spread around her station.
Amari and David sat down, but I remained standing.
“What do you mean ‘killed’?” Rose asked, her arms crossed.
“She was murdered in an alley and revived.” I leaned back against one of the empty beds. “We want to figure out who did it and how. She heard the name ‘Necromancer.’ Does that mean anything to you?”
Rose paused, then shook her head. “I’m afraid not.”
“I looked at her,” David said, “and she has a wound that could have been fatal, based on the location of the scar. The regeneration of tissue is really quite remarkable. But I wanted a second opinion from a medical professional.”
“I’ll take a look.”
“Thank you, Rose,” I said. At that point, I figured I should give them some space, and I could use some time to process things on my own. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to step out for a bit. I’m probably not much good here.”
She nodded and turned her attention to Amari. I flashed Amari a smile on my way out through the curtains.
Before I did anything else, I had a stop to make. I made my way around to the back of the cathedral, where the cemetery sat. Many of the graves were from before the darkness, but there was a new section with soil that had recently been disturbed, which marked the deaths that had struck this community since things went to shit. That plot was catching up to the older part in terms of size.
I navigated my way around the headstones until I arrived at the one I was searching for. I stood and looked down at the grave I had caused.
Chief Kurt Howard
No body lay beneath the dirt before me. The headstone was just to commemorate the man who had meant so much to Rose, David, and me, as well as many others. He had been my first captain when I was a detective, and then rose to the rank of chief. As a mentor and friend, he was one of the biggest reasons I had succeeded as a detective. If I needed a partner, he would also jump at the chance to back me up.
And that dedication had gotten him killed. Worse than killed, really. Thanks to the monstrous work by the Arkwright Corporation, he had been transformed into some twisted combination of night stalker and human, though it had been far closer to the former. After the transformation, his mind had no longer been his own. I had been thrown into a room with him, forced to fight it out.
After a couple of failed attempts to administer a cure David had made, I had no choice but to put him down. Howard wouldn’t have wanted to live like a beast, but it had still broken my heart to do it. Leaving the Arkwright facility had been the longest, loneliest walk of my life.
Tears streaked down my face as I gazed down at his grave. Some colorful paper had been woven into something resembling a floral wreath, and it looked recent. Maybe Rose kept his grave decorated.
I let the emotions fill me and give me fuel. Then, it was time to use that energy and keep moving. Enough moping around.
I swept away from the grave, wiping the tears from my face. The best cure for feeling guilty would be to find whoever was doing this necromancy shit and put a stop to it.
It was great that they had brought back Amari, but what would the price be down the line?
As I left the grave, I remembered something that had happened the last time I had been here. A small night stalker attack had hit the gate, and we had killed the group of monsters easily. What stood out was that I’d thought one of them had actually moved a bit after it had died. We had burned the bodies to make sure. But what if that was connected to what the Necromancer was doing? Could that be the beginning of all of this?
I strode around the perimeter of the compound, my eyes on the towers, looking for the guard who had been there that night. When I approached the northwest corner, I caught sight of the familiar young man wi
th short orange hair.
“Hey,” I called up to him in his tower.
He glanced down at me and smiled. “Ah, Isabella. It’s been a while. Don’t think you’ve been here since that last little scrape.”
“That’s actually what I wanted to ask you about. Did you see anything odd during that fight, or after?”
“More odd than usual? No, I don’t think so.”
“I thought I saw one of the dead night stalkers move. I brushed it off, but maybe it might have actually happened. Notice anything like that?”
He glanced over the walls, a distant look in his eyes as he scrunched his face in concentration, and then shook his head.
“Can’t say that I did. Not that you’re wrong, but I didn’t see anything like that. Sorry.” He frowned at me. “What’s this about?”
“Just an investigation I’m doing. I don’t want to say anything too soon if I’m wrong. Keep an eye out for anything weird, and let me know. If I’m not here, tell Rose.”
He nodded. “Definitely.”
Pieces had started to come together, but I needed more information, and I wouldn’t find it around Cathedral Hill. It would be a waste of time to loiter about while they looked over Amari. I needed to go to the scene of her murder. It had been at least several days since it happened, but perhaps some clues would be left behind. We didn’t have much to go on, mostly because our leads kept dying.
It was time to go to Fort Lorraine and see where Amari had died, why they had chosen her, and who the hell this Necromancer might be.
CHAPTER 8
It was quite a long trip from Cathedral Hill all the way out to the Lake Lorraine area, but it was also quiet. As I drew close to my destination, I passed an abandoned movie theater and a restaurant that had a porch full of rocking chairs. A couple of them shifted as a breeze caught them.
I thought back to when Amari’s “uncle” had come to request my help. He had claimed that someone had referred him to me, but I had never done work in this part of the city since the start of the darkness. Probably another lie. Why would he lie about all of it, though? What had actually led him to choose me? All of these questions were mysteries that might be impossible to solve now that he was dead.