The Brimstone Betrayal

by Terence West

  Circling around cautiously, I scanned inside the warehouse. “No alarm?"

  Karl shook his head.

  I craned my head in and peeked around the dock. “How did you know?"

  He pointed to himself. “Goblin. I can sense these things."

  "Glad you're on our side,” I admitted.

  Holding my pistol down, I moved carefully inside. The smell of sulfur was heavy in the darkness and I could hear the rhythmic thrum of machinery. Tasting the air, I could detect the scent of Vampires, various Demons, Werewolves, and something more that I couldn't quite identify. Wrapping my fingers around my necklace, I snapped the amulet off and quickly deposited it in my pocket, as the glow would easily give me away. Glancing back, I saw that Karl was sticking close to my heels, his beady eyes scanning the darkness warily.

  The loading dock was roughly rectangular. Stretching off for some distance into the warehouse, boxes and crates were piled high to the ceiling. I could see an exit on the right wall, and an open arch to the rear. The amulet, still feeding me directions through a magical link, was pulling me toward the back. Weaving through the maze of boxes, I heard a couple of rats scamper into the darkness, their claws scraping against the smooth concrete floor. My pulse—if I had one—would probably be racing at this point. Making me feel a bit better, I could hear Karl's tiny heart hammering in his chest. Reaching the back of the loading dock, I spun and pressed my back to the unfinished wall. I could clearly hear voices beyond the doorway, but couldn't make out how many or what they were saying. I caught their scent on the recirculated air...

  Trolls.

  They are vile, rank, ugly, and basically stupid Inhumans. Their saving graces include being unnaturally strong, and prolific breeders. This made them perfect for the role of protection. Like lemmings, they would follow an order to their death if required, and would throw every bit of themselves at it in the process. A little shorter than the average humanoid, their bodies were covered with a thick blue skin notoriously hard to cut. Long, pointed ears were slung back from their thick skulls, while two massive tusklike teeth jutted up from their lower jaws and out of their mouths. All Trolls secrete a pungent pheromone that others of the species use for identification and mating practices, while their faces look like someone took a human's face, melted it, then hot glued it back on the beast. Still threatening when alone, they become the most dangerous when in packs. Trolls had a tendency to swarm and rip their prey limb from limb. I hate Trolls.

  "Karl,” I whispered, “we need an alternate route."

  The Goblin nodded and pointed to the top of a nearby stack of crates. Understanding, I snapped on the safety and stuffed my Beretta temporarily in the waistband of my pants. Lifting Karl up, on a silent count of three, I tossed the tiny Inhuman up the side of the crates. Catching the edge with his hand, he swung wide but finally managed to control his body and get a more solid hold. Skittering up the side, he disappeared from sight.

  Pushing back to the wall, I could still hear the Troll's voices. They were getting closer, but I wasn't sure they had detected me yet. Moving on my toes, I circled around the crates and stuffed myself in between two of the larger ones. This wasn't a place I really wanted to be. If the Trolls attacked, I didn't have anyplace to go. I had to get above them. Snapping my claws from my fingertips, I dug into the wood and pulled myself up. My shoulder thumped in agony and my hand felt like it was on fire as I pulled. Boosting myself on top, I dropped to my belly as the first Troll walked into the warehouse.

  Cursing under my breath, I drew my pistol and held my finger against the side of the trigger guard. Two more followed the first inside with their distinctive hunched posture and shuffling steps. On patrol, but apparently bored with the assignment, they lackadaisically scanned the area. I could hear them muttering to each other about poor working conditions with their gruff, monosyllabic tones. Each was clothed in a piecemeal mixture of iron armor, leather, and some kind of animal fur. The first Troll had several gold piercings in both of his ears, the largest tusks of the three, and sported a neon green shock of hair that terminated in a thick ponytail. The other two, slightly smaller, had black hair, and no piercings.

  "Lock door?” Green Hair grunted at the other two while pointing at the door Karl and I had entered from.

  The second Troll nodded with a growl. “It locked."

  "You check?” Green Hair asked.

  The second Troll pointed over his shoulder with his thumb. “Gar lock."

  I didn't think they really talked like that. Amused, I had to stifle a laugh.

  Green Hair pushed the second Troll forcefully out of his way and towered over the third. “Gar, check door?"

  Gar thought for a moment and scratched his head with his thick, blue fingers. “Door locked,” he replied sternly.

  Green Hair slammed his forearm into Gar's chest knocking him aside. “Out me way,” the Troll growled.

  Gar snarled, but acquiesced. As Green Hair sauntered out of the warehouse, the two remaining Trolls growled at each other, surely for some form of dominance. Gar punched the second Troll hard in the chest knocking the wind out of him. As the second Troll gasped for air, Gar took his position behind Green Hair. Apparently, I had just witnessed a coup, and Gar had promoted himself.

  "Rose,” I heard Karl's voice say.

  Looking up, I spotted the Goblin hanging out of an opened air vent.

  "You've gotta see this,” Karl said, his eyes wide. He disappeared back into the shaft.

  Holding my hand on my shoulder, I gritted my teeth and fought through the pain. Climbing up over the crates and boxes, I glanced down at the warehouse one more time to make sure the Trolls hadn't spotted me. Clicking the safety on, I pushed my Beretta back into its holster and snapped the safety strap over it. I peered into the shaft and saw Karl moving quickly away from me. Placing my hands on the edge, I pulled myself inside.

  Chapter 26

  "Oh my God,” I breathed.

  Wrapping my fingers around the slits in the ventilation grate, I pulled myself as close as I could. I stared down in horror at the black heart of the warehouse as a mass of machinery moved autonomously about its nefarious work. Deep bronze with silver and black highlights, it seemed to stretch on endlessly. Chugging, cranking, and undulating, it created a primal cacophony that was almost musical.

  Hundreds of clear tubes, filled with featureless, white, seemingly proto-humanoids with black, sclera-less eyes, were plucked one by one from the roof by gigantic, robotic arms and inserted into the machinery. As they descended, the clear fluid in the tubes was drained and replaced by a thicker, mint green substance that caused the proto-humanoids to painfully convulse. Further down the machine, a bright blue pulse electrified the green fluid, creating the sulfurous smell I detected earlier. As it became transparent again and the humanoid's spasms stopped, the tubes were replaced on the conveyor belt in the ceiling.

  Were these the pod people? Could they be the Maryut Yaz told me about?

  "See?” Karl said anxiously. “I told you it was aliens!"

  "Those aren't aliens,” I corrected him. Although, I wasn't entirely sure what they were. They certainly looked like the gray aliens from abduction lore.

  Scanning across the sprawling machine, I spotted several purple Seeker amulets scattered on the floor. Each was glowing brightly as mine still was. That wasn't a good sign. Pulling the Maker's PDA from my pocket, I poked the power switch and watched the screen light up. The Sprite, according to the software, was directly below us. Looking down through the grate, I spied its glowing body darting back and forth over the machinery. I tapped Karl's shoulder and pointed down through the grate, but he was already ahead of me. Eyeing the Sprite warily, I'm sure he was planning to tear its wings off or some other equally graphic torture.

  Shouting on the far side of the warehouse caught my attention. Adjusting my view, I spotted two Trolls escorting a prisoner toward the machine. I couldn't make out who the leggy blond prisoner was but I did recognize the glo
wing purple amulet around her throat. She was a Seeker. The Trolls were laughing and grunting as they pushed her protesting toward the machine. Out the corner of my eye, I saw a great, dark form shoot down from the rafters sending the Trolls spilling to the floor. With a throaty roar, it was on the Trolls clawing, ripping, and biting.

  "Toby.” I sighed. Why hadn't he stayed with me in the first place? No, he had to act all macho and play the hero. He was going to get himself killed in the process, though. Pushing the vent out with a crack of metal, I grabbed Karl and slipped my legs through the hole.

  "What the hell are you doing, suckhead?” Karl protested.

  "Sorry,” I apologized as I shimmied through. Grabbing Karl, I pushed off with my free arm. “Time to go."

  We sailed into the space between the machine and the tubes. Immediately wishing I had rethought my attack plan, I glanced off one of the tubes and landed hard on the machine's chain-driven conveyor belt. My shoulder screamed in protest, but I couldn't let it slow me down. Rolling to the right, I barely avoided the powerful metal clamps that latched onto the tubes as they dropped into position. As the clamps snapped closed with a loud clang, I tossed Karl down to the floor. The tiny Goblin hit with a thump and skittered to his feet. Ducking beneath a robotic arm, I pushed off the conveyor belt and dropped down. Landing on the balls of my feet, I drew my weapon and charged toward Toby and the Trolls. I couldn't see the blond Seeker. She had probably fled after Toby knocked down her captors. She could've stayed and helped us, but the point was moot. I had to get to Toby.

  An undulating ball of gray fur and blue skin rolled along the floor and finally smashed into the side of the machine. The force of the impact knocked several of the robotic arms out of position. The sound of bending metal and grinding steel began to fill the air as a shower of glowing, golden embers erupted like a geyser and rained down over us. Further down the warehouse, I saw several more Trolls charging angrily toward Toby's position.

  Reinforcements. Crud.

  The Werewolf stood to full height with one of the Trolls in his massive paws. Tossing his head back with a howl, Toby ripped the Troll in two and tossed the pieces to the floor. The second Troll, apparently unhappy his buddy had just become half the man he used to be, leapt onto Toby's back and wrapped his powerful arms around the wolf's throat. Toby clawed at the Troll with all of his strength, but the Inhuman's hide was too thick. The Troll repositioned his hands as Toby bucked and writhed. The wolf howled in agony. He was trying to break Toby's neck.

  I felt my eyes glaze over black. Leaping straight ahead, I caught one of the Troll's tusks with my broken hand and swung it onto its back. The Troll snorted and tried to bite me, but loosened its grip on Toby. Pressing the barrel of my Beretta into the side of the Troll's fat head, I pulled the trigger. The muzzle flash sizzled its flesh and singed its purple hair, but I didn't see any blood. Cursing under my breath, I fired again and again and again.

  Toby slammed the three of us into the solid concrete wall behind us. I felt the Werewolf and Troll's weight pin me. “Toby,” I gasped as my chest cavity started to compress. “New plan!"

  The Troll, enjoying the fight, took the opportunity to throw several vicious elbows into my side. Cackling with glee, the Troll bit down onto the back of Toby's neck with his tusks. I saw the wolf's crimson blood spurt onto his gray and white fur. Letting lose a sound that was a mixture of a squeal, roar, and howl, Toby bucked wildly forward sending me sailing off the Troll's back and hard into the side of the machine.

  Drawing myself up, I noted three more Trolls were almost upon us. This was a fight we weren't going to win.

  One of the massive robotic arms swung out from the machine and hit the Troll solidly in the head. As the creature squealed in protest, the arm's powerful hydraulic fingers clamped around it and lifted it easily from Toby. As Toby collapsed to the floor the arm suddenly surged forward and mashed the Troll into the wall. I could hear the motors whining in protest as it crushed the Troll. Bones began to snap and crackle as the Troll slowly stopped fighting and became little more than a blue smear on the wall.

  I looked up to find Karl straddling the arm with several wires and controls wrapped around his hands. “I can feel the power between my legs!"

  "Get down from there!” I shouted. Turning to look at Toby, I stopped and spun back to Karl. “No, wait."

  Karl stopped climbing and looked at me curiously.

  "I have a better idea.” I pointed down to the new Trolls. “Get ‘em."

  Mounting the arm again, Karl wrapped the wires around his tiny hands. He cackled in delight.

  Rushing to Toby's side, I dropped down and ran my hand softly over his head. Toby looked up at me and whimpered. A glistening patch of blood on the back of his neck had completely matted down his fur. “We're not done yet,” I breathed. “You have to get up."

  With a growl and a high-pitched whine, Toby started to lift himself from the floor. Snapping his head toward the oncoming Trolls, his lips peeled back into a snarl exposing his perfectly white fangs.

  Rearing back on the wires, Karl pulled the robotic arm from the wall and swung it hard to the right knocking the first Troll to the floor. The second, carrying a jet black AK-47, skidded to a stop, turned, and pulled the trigger. The weapon's high-pitched rat-a-tat-tat echoed angrily off the concrete and machinery. Tubes from the arm's hydraulic system broke free spraying a white cloud of compressed air wildly like a beheaded snake. One of the tubes snapped back and whipped Karl in the face. With a shrill grunt, the Goblin tumbled free of his perch.

  "Karl!” I watched the Goblin fall back into the innards of the machine

  Toby snapped forward and knocked the AK-47 from the Troll's hands and clamped down on the creature's throat with his powerful muzzle. A fountain of bluish blood erupted from the Troll's neck. Shaking hard, Toby ripped a massive chunk of the Troll's flesh free and spit it away. The blue-skinned Inhuman stumbled back with its hands clamped over the wound then collapsed.

  Stuffing my Beretta into my waistband, I rolled forward, snatched the AK-47 from the ground and leveled it at the remaining three Trolls. Holding the trigger down, I fought the weapon's urge to kick and kept a steady stream of lead into the Trolls. As the weapon chugged, the first Troll hit the ground hard, but the remaining two were still coming fast. I felt the weapon sputter and click.

  Jammed.

  Tossing it aside, I drew my .45 and suddenly felt like I was holding a peashooter after using the AK-47. Snapping my attention up, I saw one of the tubes cycling toward the conveyor directly above us. Rolling onto my back, I lifted my pistol and pulled the trigger. The bullet hit the glass and punched a hole in it. As the clear fluid sprayed out, I took aim again. Steadying my arm, I squeezed the trigger again. This time the bullet hit where I intended.

  The release clamps snapped open as the control wires were severed sending the tube screaming toward the ground. Rolling onto the balls of my feet, I sprang forward and knocked Toby out of the way just as the Trolls and tube arrived. One of the Trolls was crushed beneath the weight of the tube. As it shattered and exploded open, the clear fluid washed over everything. The proto-humanoid inside hit the concrete floor with a wet splat. Its tiny mouth snapped open and wailed in terror. Convulsing on the floor, the last remaining Troll vainly tried to scoop it up and save it. Cupping handfuls of the gooey fluid in its blue hand, the Troll repeatedly tossed the substance onto the proto as he held it in his arms.

  As Toby and I stood out of the goo, I felt a cold, hard piece of metal in my temple.

  "Don't move a muscle."

  Out of the corner of my eye I could see the dark shape of a pistol pressed against my face, and the blond Seeker behind it. She held out her arm with Karl dangling limply from her hand. Despite her warning, I turned toward her.

  I can't really explain the emotions that washed over me in that moment, but I looked into a face I hadn't seen in a hundred and fifteen years:

  Mine.

  Chapter 27

&nbs
p; It was a trap, and we fell for it. Knowing we were outside, they used our Seeker amulets and my doppelganger to flush us out.

  Now it had become a stalemate. The Rose copy stood leering with her gun to my head and holding an unconscious Karl in the other hand. Panting heavily, Toby was on his knees below me, a massive, bloody wound on the back of his neck, while the only remaining living Troll tried to save the pod person I brought down.

  I was fast enough to attack my copy, but I had to consider the possibility that she was just as quick. I might be able to take the gun away, but not before she killed Karl. But if I attacked and missed, she could shoot me, then Toby, and kill Karl. Anyway I cut it, someone would die, and probably not the person I wanted to. I frowned as five more blue-skinned Trolls armed with AK-47s charged out from behind the machinery, and surrounded us. The Trolls separated allowing a black-clad figure to walk to the front. In that moment, all of my theories were confirmed.

  "Captain,” I greeted him through clenched teeth.

  The Captain Patrick Peterson copy smiled at me with satisfaction. His icy blue eyes snapped to me like lasers. “Hello, Rose.” He held his P90 to his chest. “I see you brought your puppy again."

  "I don't go anywhere without him.” I smiled.

  Peterson aimed his weapon at Toby. “When are you going to learn?"

  Toby's lips pulled back into an evil sneer.

  "Knock it off,” the Rose copy warned Peterson. “He wants them alive."

  Peterson stood unwavering. I watched his finger slide inside the trigger guard. Toby growled menacingly. I knew Peterson might get a shot off before Toby could attack, but it would be the last thing he ever did. Of course, the five Trolls with automatic weapons would make it the last thing Toby ever did as well.

  The Rose copy reiterated, “I said knock it off!"

  Finally stepping back, Peterson let his hand off the trigger with a grunt.

  "Good to see you can still take orders, Captain,” I said snidely.

  The Rose copy jammed the barrel harder into my head. “Shut up.” She paused, waiting to see if there were any further outbursts. “Captain,” my doppelganger said finally, “the syringe."