The other detective bobbed her head. “I like it. I like it. So what is the code word given to us that we need to help crack open? Anything new?”
“There’s a name of some organization, I believe. There are various documents here that are signed by some-” he glanced back at his notes to make sure he got the name right. “Serpent League.”
“The Serpent League?” she asked bewildered.
“Yeah. Have you heard of it?”
“No, not at all.” Guajardo laughed. “But it’s funny how similar it sounds to The Raven Gang. I mean, what’s next? The Crow Club? The Bunny Brigade?”
Hunter laughed for the first time that day. “Let’s hope this thing doesn’t last long enough for those to become things. Anyway, in the meantime, I suggest we use our databases here and see where else this name shows up.”
“Considering how hard it was for the gang to find that name, I can’t imagine it’s being advertised anywhere where we can see.” she replied.
“Anything is worth a try. The guy is now the subject of the investigation of the decade. Elder is hiding out there somewhere and he’s scared. He’s getting careless, and he has surely had pitfalls before. He is not God, Rita. He’s just a man. Somewhere along the line he made a mistake. Let’s find it and get those kids in the Raven Gang back home.”
A knock in the office door put the break on the conversation. Turning around to the window on his door, Hunter saw the same clean-cut young officer from just minutes ago. He gave a frustrated sigh and rolled his eyes at Guajardo before clicking it unlocked and peering his head out the door.
“Didn’t I just send you away?” he asked. “Now go on. Shoo. I have nothing to say.”
The young man fumbled his lips. “I’m actually just here to say that I support what you’ve done one hundred percent.”
The detective awkwardly opened the door the rest of the way, assuming a professional stance. “What do you mean?”
“I know about your work on the Raven Gang case.” the officer continued. “It’s kind of the talk of the station right now. But you never gave up, and you knew something was strange about it the moment you got it when no one else wanted to think something so criminal could be going on right under our noses.” he extended an open palm to the humbled Hunter. “And now that you’re owning up to the mistakes you made in the line of duty, it only solidifies my opinion of you. You’re a great detective, John Hunter.”
He was scrambling for proper words. But in the uncomfortable pause the most he could get himself to do was to accept the young man’s hand shake.
“Alright. Alright.” he said with a growing grin. “I’m happy someone around here sees the great job I did. So, who do I have the pleasure of thanking?”
“Officer Jacob Brent, sir.” he nodded with a dimpled smile. “And no thanks are needed. I am happy to assist you and Detective Guajardo in any matters concerning other cases as well.”
The Officer Brent went back to whatever junior assignments he was given for the day as Hunter shut the door. He smugly returned to his partner in containing crime.
“You hear that, Rita?” he nearly started dancing. “I’m a great detective.”
“Clearly, you’re not.” she replied flatly.
“What do you mean?”
She shook her head and made snapping sounds with her jaw. “You seriously couldn’t tell that he was lying?”
“He was so not.” he fired back halfheartedly. “You’re just jealous because he didn’t say anything about you. Anyway, why would he do that?”
“First off, I grew up with four other siblings, so don’t challenge my lie detecting ability. And I don’t know why. Maybe he’s trying to butter up his superiors in hopes of an early promotion.” She shrugged him off and returned to organize case files on the side of her desk.
Hunter shifted from the coat rack, swinging his wool coat over his shoulders. “What bull. Forget about it, I’m off to grab lunch. Do you need anything?”
“A bagel maybe. FYI, If the server flirts with you it’s not because you’re a good detective.”
“Ha ha ha.” Hunter flung his head back in dry jest. “I’ll try to remember that.”
The detective fixed his dress shirt sleeves on the inside of his coat and strolled out of the station in high spirits. It was the first time he actually wanted to get a meal since he left his daughter to an uncertain future three thousand miles away, so he knew things had to be getting better. Whenever he had even a slight bad feeling about something, it always turned out to have had a vital justification. Years as a detective ingrained that in him.
But he didn’t notice Jacob Brent eyeing him during his whole walk out of the building.
“Do it again!” Gary clapped his hands like a child.
BJ tiredly rolled her eyes. In an instant her human body was engulfed in the restrained white light. Her comparatively small form began to expand into an immense, elongated form of a quadruped. Everyone in the room suddenly had to leap from their seats to make space for the massive grey pachyderm. Her thick legs and saggy body were now fully formed. She lazily slapped her trunk up in the air, eyeing her smiling friends without amusement.
A chorus of cheers and applause swarmed the gang’s underground base. All who were seated were now standing with grand toothy smiles.
“Oh!” Patrick shouted amidst the lauding. “That was the fastest and biggest one yet!”
Johnny chuckled, pointing at the giant BJ. “Hey guys, I think we need to address the elephant in the room.”
Everyone laughed. Even Edgar, who was laying peacefully against the wall shrouded in blankets could not hide his awe and amusement.
Nearly as soon as she had morphed into the Indian elephant, she was already shrinking right back down to her natural size. The brightness retreated back to her and she was left in the same plain clothes as she was when they first saw her human form.
“If you all will be so kind as to let me stop with my powers for a moment,” she said sternly. “we can get to helping each other.”
Gary shunned his glee away. “Right. Right. Of course. Let’s get started.”
The gang returned to their seats as she took one of her own. It had been almost a day since BJ’s arrival to the base but they hadn’t had time to get to know her yet. Between sleep, taking care of ill members, and BJ’s intermittent vanishes, Patrick and the gang weren’t the most organized squad.
“Okay.” Patrick started, eyeing her intently. “To start off simply, why did you come here?”
“I wanted to meet the team that took down my father. It was an impressive achievement.”
Lindsey grunted. “We’re not done with that yet. We still need to know what he’s planning now.”
“What do you know about the Serpent League?” Slate asked.
The shapeshifter crossed her arms over her chest, not making eye contact. “Only what I remember hearing when I was a small child, which isn’t much.”
“Is that the name of the group your father put together with my father and Gary’s father?” Patrick pushed.
“Oh no.” she batted her hand to him. “You’re probably overestimating those guy’s power. Whatever the Serpent League is, it’s been around for a long time. And I’m proof of it.”
“What do you mean?” Gary asked.
BJ took a pause. Patrick was aware that she was probably feeling overwhelmed by everyone’s presence in the room demanding answers. He didn’t want to think that she might have something to hide. It was possible, but considering the multiple bombshells she had already dropped on them, she probably enjoyed telling the truth.
“I mean this.” her breathing labored. “I don’t know how I got these powers. When I was a child, I remember I had cancer. I remember the faces of my parents at the news that I probably would not live much longer. But since I’m still here, what my father chose to do with me worked.”
“And this had something to do with the Serpent League?” Gary asked.
“Yes.
I do believe. All that.” BJ turned away from the gang’s collective gaze. She steadied her eyes at the ground, fiddling with her thumbs. “This thing had this effect on me. I remember my father telling me he was going to give me something to save me. He took a syringe and gave me the medicine, but it warped me, and I couldn’t control what it was turning me into and I was so afraid that I did something....”
No one spoke for a moment. Patrick stopped himself from pushing. He didn’t want to be rude to the new team member, especially since she brought Edgar home.
“I killed my mother.” she said.
“Mary Elder’s mysterious death,” Patrick said, inching off his seat. “that was you?”
“It took me a long time to forgive myself. I couldn’t control what I was because of my fright. When my father saw what I had done, with all the blood on the wall, he stabbed me through the neck with a knife. But my powers allowed me to survive.”
Johnny rubbed his tight jaw. It had grown tense from watching BJ’s animal transformations and hearing her story. “Just when I think we’ve seen and heard the last bit of bananas, we get a buffet. Your father doesn’t realize you’re alive?”
“And I’d like to keep it that way.” She stopped to look everyone in the room hard in the eyes. “I want to help you guys. I believe it was good you stopped Elder days ago, but you’ve sent him into a spiral that won’t be reversed. He’s probably already about to execute his next plan, and no amount of advanced laser weapons or modified animals could help this one.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t want to sound superstitious or anti-intellectual, but the brief faces and flashes of my parent’s conversations about the Serpent League are not easy to swallow. I remember my father’s voice whispering in terror at the discussion of their power, talking of it as if it were nothing of this earth, like nothing that science could comprehend in thousands of years. I think that, maybe, my father’s ambitions with his mutant animals and how he made all his strange weapons and devices can be traced back to his meeting of the League.”
The gang took time to process the implications of what she warned. Patrick, Slate, and Jane asked her a few more related questions, but there was only so much that she could tell them. For her entire life after tragically leaving her family she spent her time morphing into whatever animal suited her environment. She made a lot of animal friends, but it wasn’t until the previous night that she conversed with humans again. They kindly assured her that she had done a stellar job.
She thanked them for their willingness to let her stay in the basement of the Bronstrom building with them. She concluded by telling them that she was happy to do her part to help stop the coming attack from her father.
“It’s perfectly fine, BJ.” Johnny gave her a thumbs up. “I hope you’re hungry, because I can make nearly anything in that kitchen back there. Just place an order, Zoogirl, and I’ll have it out in minutes.”
“What did you call me?” she asked.
Johnny’s face flushed. “Um, I figured that since you have these superpowers you should have a superhero name. Zoogirl? Because you can turn into animals?”
“Oh, thank you, Johnny.” she giggled. “I’ve never had a code name. I like it!”
The redness of his face didn’t fade. “I’m glad. Anyway, I think I can hear the kitchen calling to me. I’ll start prepping lunch in a couple minutes.”
Johnny left to the kitchen, continuing his favorite role for the gang. Gary and Jane followed him back to make sure there was enough for two more portobello sandwiches. The rest of the group stayed modestly in the room, occupied with their private activities.
He didn’t want BJ to feel like she was being ignored, so Patrick shifted out of his seat and joined her by the sofa. She looked at him with a tired smile. He did his best to return it, but it came off more like the expression of a toddler looking at broccoli.
“What’s wrong?” she swiftly asked.
“I’m sorry.” Patrick rubbed his hand over his face, failing at hiding his embarrassment through his smile. “I’m just nervous about how to talk to you. You have this awful history, but I don’t want to be too sympathetic because that would be awkward but at the same time not recognizing it would be even more awkward-”
“Patrick. Patrick.” BJ cut him off in between giggles. “It’s fine. Don’t worry. Just be normal. If anything, I should be apologizing for running off after we first met yesterday night. I was just overwhelmed by the responsibility I was suddenly taking on by revealing myself. You know, with my dad and all. But I’ll make it.”
He loosened his smile, casually crossing one leg over the other. “We’re here too if you need anything. We want to help everyone we can.”
She turned to look him in the eyes. “I hear you have a bit of a superpower of your own as well?”
Patrick’s eyebrows arched. He scrambled for words. “It’s not as cool as yours. I just get flashes, or visions of things. There’s so much I don’t know, but I think I can see the future in them.”
“Dude, that’s crazy! How did that happen?”
“They started right before I got involved in this entire Raven Gang thing. I think it has something to do with my father’s watch.”
“Right.” She replied. “You can teleport with them; do I have that right? But Gary doesn’t have visions?”
“No. I don’t know why. Plus Gary and I are the only ones the watches respond to. We haven’t figured that out either. Right now all we’re doing is hoping more is revealed when we crack the Serpent League mystery, and if we’re lucky, Gary and I will find out how our fathers died.”
He turned his head away to the sleeping bat buried in layers of fabric against the wall. Edgar had barely moved since BJ brought him back from Elder. The few times he had woken up he made random sounds and squirmed, nearly slapping Slate and Lindsey in the face when they were tending to him. Patrick didn’t know what Elder did with him, but whatever it was, it broke his friend’s spirits. He was clearly depressed.
From the side he caught BJ looking the sleeping creature too. Then she faced him again.
“You’re worried about him.”
“I am.” he gulped. “I saw him in one of my visions. He was being taken to Elder. That’s how I knew about it. But what if that wasn’t what I was supposed to know? What if I’m missing something big? Maybe I can’t save him.”
“That’s not your job.” An approaching voice said plainly.
Lindsey took a seat on the floor, gracelessly plopping herself in between them. The sudden interruption left them with a dense awkward pause.
“It’s not your burden alone, Patrick.” She continued. “You probably go through more unnecessary crap than all of us, but that doesn’t mean you somehow have more to redeem yourself for. We all love that giant flapping fuzzball, even though he makes this place smell weirdly like charcoal.”
“I know, but for some reason I can’t shake that nonsense off me.” Patrick nervously ran his fingers along the side of his head. “But with this power, I think that I have all the answers jumbled in front of me. I just need to put it all together, but it is way too hard.”
Lindsey put a hand to his hunched shoulder. “We get that you’re human, and we don’t have heightened expectations for you. Do what you can, just as we all are in a more regular way.”
He eased his joints. Patrick took another look over at Edgar to see that he was still dead asleep, his head hanging limply with his maw comfortably closed. Talking to Lindsey and BJ did calm him, but every time his memory flashed back to his latest seizure vision he couldn’t help turn to the bat and think something to himself.
What did Samuel Elder want with you?
Elder was angry, but he knew he had no reason to be. Just because the bat had somehow managed to escape out of his cage didn’t mean his plan was going to change at all.
Like he had any say in it, anyway.
The only reason why he still had the surge of rage after a day was beca
use he hated being bested. Edgar rampaging out of his containment somehow was just a minor fling in a long line of losses he made himself endure over the past few days. His whole life, his business, and his name as a hero and a humanitarian all were like flaming wheels falling from an exploding fiery chariot. What his best friend, Gordon Buchanan, had done for him those years ago.
That man’s influence was indelible on him. But now that the plan that Gordon helped concoct was foiled by his own son, he had to take a dark leap down, down to what was rightfully meant to pass.
But in the end, there would be no glory in it. Generations to come wouldn’t build pillars and monuments in his name. Most people would probably be able to get through a History class without even knowing his name. In the end, Samuel Elder was only a pawn in a much greater game. A game that he prayed no other players would come into. Not now. But the Serpent League was never considerate of his needs.
As he was analyzing the wreckage that the bat left after his escape, a hand briskly touched his shoulder, and an unsurprised voice followed.
“Shouldn’t he not be ruining your plans by now?” Laura Buchanan said with too much mirth.
Elder brushed her hand away and started back for his hideout. “The bat ruined nothing. I wasn’t trying to use him as one of my drones again. In fact, it was quite the opposite.”
“Is that so?” she asked. They both walked side-by-side, down a stone pathway among the trees. Up ahead some lights of civilization were mixed in with the stars.
“I told him he was dying, and that the only way he could be saved was if I reprogrammed the chip in his head.”
“Is that even the truth?” Laura asked sourly.
The doctor wasn’t looking at her. His eyes were glazed at something in the distance. “It is.”
They both agreed that a bit of food would do them well. Instead of going back to one of his private bases, Elder took Laura down the rest of the path until the happened upon an isolated twenty-four-hour diner. There wasn’t anyone else there accept for a couple bicycles locked in their holds and a couple pickup trucks along the curb.
The Serpent League Page 7
