“Yeah, he's frisky alright. Whadda ya call something like that?”
It laughed a greasy laugh and chills ran down my spine.
>Why it's a DamnedThing, of course. They take forever to create, and train, but I rather enjoy the process, even if they don’t.
I've been saving it for a special occasion and this seems....right<
Sparky charged me again, and again I was able to jump away, while slashing with my aura infused right hand. This time the Damnedthing spun and swiped at me. I was very close to it and the center of its taloned paw hit me in the chest and sent me flying to land hard on the concrete floor. Had I been a half a foot further away when it clocked me, the dimly visible sickle-like claws would have about sliced me in half. It moved unhurriedly toward me and I struggled to get away, but my legs had gone on strike. I couldn't even stand up to face my death head on. It stood over me and I could see its faint outline. Bear-like, but the size of a Volkswagen beetle.
>Well, that didn’t take long. We’ll take good care of your little vampire. Goodbye, Gordon<”
The beast lowered its keg sized head to sniff me and I saw the nebulous black collar that held its throat like a hell-forged choke chain, the oily black tendrils running into the creature’s back and neck. With nothing left to lose, I reached my left hand and grabbed the slick blackness and yanked with everything I had. The thick inky strand squirmed in my hand like an eel, then abruptly parted with the sound of rotten flesh tearing. The black leash let go, releasing the monster from its Hellbourne master. The Damnedthing stood still for a moment, its huge jaws hanging over my torso, dripping gooey saliva onto my chest, then I saw a light of awareness flare in its ember eyes. It reared up on its hind feet like a Kodiak bear and roared at its new freedom, shaking dust from the girders above. Suddenly it whirled and lunged after the Hellbourne that had recently held its leash. Its roar shook the building and an enormous crash of metal joined the mix. The sounds receded into the distance, echoing strangely and were almost immediately replaced by the moans of the wounded and shaken cops calling to each other and trying to restore order. I lay back for a moment, my head pounding from a collision with the concrete floor that I hadn’t noticed in the excitement of eminent death.
My squad found me a few minutes later and Sarge called for a medic. I waived him off, indicating he should help someone seriously injured. The last thing I needed was for a medically trained individual to document my rapidly healing wounds.
The efficient machine that is the NYPD soon had generators, lights and organization. The Special Situation Squad was running things and pretty quick Velasquez, and Roma pulled me into a quiet corner to debrief me, while DeMarco and Aikens looked over the sophisticated drug lab that had been found in one corner of the vast room. Sommers and Takata moved to the dark part of the room, their weapon lights illuminating the wreckage of double industrial doors leading into a tunnel. Joined by one of the few intact Entry teams, they followed the carnage into the tunnels beyond.
Roma and Velasquez both listened carefully as I ran through my part in the altercation with the Damnedthing and Hellbourne. The Inspector paused me for a moment and called Aikens back over, then had me restart my narrative from the beginning.
“Chet, you ever come across a mention of a Damnedthing before?” Roma asked the skinny technician. Aikens thought about it, then answered, “I don't remember any details, Inspector, but there is something vaguely familiar about it. I'll need to delve into the archives and make some calls.”
“Do that now. I'm going to need more information about it before I can even attempt to explain it to the Commissioner,” Roma said. I learned a lot from that sentence. Roma had more juice than I thought if he reported directly to the NYPD Commissioner.
Aikens left to get his research underway and I continued with my play by play. When I got to the odd conversation between myself and the Hellbourne, Gina interrupted with a question.
“Have the demons ever talked to you before?” she asked.
“Well the free floating or geographic kind, the ones you guys rate on your scale ten system, almost always talk to me. Taunting, insulting, threatening, it's all part of their own brand of psych-ops. But the mobile Hellbourne have never addressed me before. Hellbourne don't linger or hesitate when I show up, they just react really quickly. I think it's because they can't track me. I'm cloaked from them like they’re cloaked from everybody else. Pisses them off.”
“But this one knew you?”
“Well, they all know of me. They always know stuff about me. That's why I don't have friends or particularly, girl friends. They would know immediately and use that person against me,” I explained.
They both looked at me blankly for a moment, then Gina's mouth dropped open as she thought about what I had just said.
“Explain that again,” Roma said.
So I detailed the results of my one and only date in high school. This time their expressions reflected a much worse emotion: pity.
“But wait, didn't that Hellbourne say they would take care of your girlfriend?” Gina asked.
I had changed that part of my narrative. I didn't mention the vampire part, just the girlfriend part.
“It was referring to a girl that they have already targeted. I've been actively protecting her and they aren't happy about it,” I said.
“Who is the girl?” Roma asked. I hesitated, not ready to divulge her name and he frowned at my silence. He started to speak, probably an order, but Velasquez interrupted.
“It was the girl you helped at Plasma last Friday. It was Tatiana Demidova, wasn't it?” she guessed.
My face gave me away and Roma rocked back on his heels in shock. After a pause he spoke.
“When we spoke yesterday, Chris, I had no idea that you knew the Demidovas. Gina discovered that little fact when she did some follow up calls to your Precinct Commander. I've been interested in the Demidovas for years. And I think you know why, don't you?”
I still kept quiet, unwilling to worsen the situation.
“Listen up Gordon, you WILL tell me what you know, do you understand me?”
Gina spoke up again, her eyes watching me thoughtfully. “Actually, I don't think he will, Sir.”
Roma looked at her in surprise.
“Think about it, Sir. He is protecting this ....girl with his life from demons. And she is already on the demons' radar so to speak. On top of that, she's a drop dead knockout. It's obvious, Sir. He likes her or maybe even loves her.”
She was too perceptive. I looked down at a point on the floor between them and focused hard on a chip in the concrete there. Roma pondered Gina's revelation and then finally spoke.
“You like her in spite of what she is? You do know what she is, don't you?” he asked.
“I'll take your silence as answer. Boy, I gotta tell you I didn't see this one coming. How can you reconcile your fight against demons with your....your relationship with her?”
That pissed me off.
“Do you know them? Sir? Or are you judging all of them on stereotypes?”
He stepped back at the tone in my voice, which could have been a lot worse. She might not want anything to do with me, but I would be damned if I would get lectured by someone who had never met her.
“Regardless of what you know or think you know, the Hellbourne want her dead and that should be reason enough to protect her,” I finished.
“I've seen the results of their handiwork, Gordon, and if you think she is all warm and fuzzy you’re kidding yourself.”