"Oh spare me the melodrama. Boo hoo, my parents left me in a dumpster and I barely make enough for instant noodles. That's life for you. Some get the luck of the draw because God loves them, others get the shit end of the stick. Besides, no one is going to care about what we did to her, only the fact that she threatened our lives with a stolen gun. She shoots us, we win. She don't shoot us, we still win. Not even you can turn this around."
"You can't win if you're dead," Melinda points out angrily.
"So go ahead, nutjob. Shoot me. Do it, or let me finish my drink and go home. I have an appointment at the abortion clinic in the morning."
"Again," Julie exclaimed.
"Yes, again. I can't help it if the condom keeps breaking every time. My mother won't let me have the surgery, which would save me all the trouble of buying the damn things in the-"
"MURDERER," Melinda screams in rage as she pulls the trigger.
"NOOO," Lilia screams, the whole club becoming silent. The music stops, Julie and Cassandra open their mouths to scream as Dave reaches out for the gun. Tiffany's dark grin becomes wider as she watches the hammer of the gun snap back. Lilia blinks, and blinks once more to find that her eyes were not deceiving her.
Everything has slowed to a complete stop. The girls and Dave before her are frozen in time. Well, all but one girl.
"What the hell," Tiffany yells in shock and anger, standing up from her seat and knocking her knees into the table, giving off a long list of curses before sitting down again.
"I guess that big pride of yours really does come in handy."
They turn to see Jenne and Ellisaüch standing at the stage, dark smiles upon their faces before Jenne turns a stern gaze at the bar.
"And you two are in big trouble when we are done here," she states with authority, John and Richard sheepishly appearing from behind the bar, "and you better had not touched the alcohol either."
"We haven't," John mumbles in embarassment.
"Told ya we should've ran with everyone instead of trying to call 911."
"How was I suppose to know this place was a dead zone?!"
"Out," Jenne yells, making both young men run.
"When did you get here," Lilia questions, giving a disapproving glare at them, more so at Ellisaüch.
"About ten minutes ago," Jenne replies, "Just long enough for our tranny here to confirm my suspicions."
"Tranny?"
"You are so gonna get it for working with a Carrier, invading my territory again, and attacking those that are under my protection."
"You bitch," Tiffany yells, turning to see the other young adults gone and Lilia looking at her.
"Very clever to disguise yourself as the one girl that is out of town right now. You also knew that Lilia and I didn't have a good relationship going on, so I stayed away from her and her charges. Alot of kids going to be doctors these days, or volunteer at the hospitals."
While everyone look at Jenne in confusion, her statement almost makes Lilia slap her forehead in remembering that one little detail: Melinda is a hospital volunteer for the terminally ill. That is how she got infected in the first place.
"I won't be chasing you out this time," Jenne's grin becomes sinister as she stares at Tiffany, "so you best get out of those threads and face me outside, Gary."
Chapter 10
"Gary," Lilia repeats in confusion, looking between Jenne and Tiffany, "The Half-Breed demon you're always fighting? I thought you had killed him!"
"I'm not gonna ask you again," Jenne states angrily, ignoring Lilia, "Drop the girly clothes and get outside. Now."
"It should really be obvious to you Lilia," Ellisaüch points out simply, “Our little imp here is not who she is, or rather, he is pretending to be. And for someone of your nature, you should be ashamed of not seeing it sooner."
"Calling the kettle black there pot," 'Tiffany' chuckles, her voice becoming deep and masculine before turning to Jenne, "I doubt anyone is going to care about my methods, so long as I get good results. If anything, I might be rewarded for my efforts."
"You always try to push the envelope with everyone," Jenne comments dryly, "If you are done insulting us-"
"I ain't, thank you very much. So what took you so long in finding me? Too lazy or something?"
"This wasn't my problem until your Infected started attacking my own," Jenne states angrily.
"And they say you are one of the best," 'she' turns to Ellisaüch again, "As for you, everyone knows you're such a prideful Hell Watcher for always detecting your prey before they can come within miles of your eyes. For you to take this long and relying on a Half Breed Demon to to tell you the obvious... You might want to think about retirement."
Ellisaüch glares darkly as her back suddenly bulges. The fabric rips and teeth-like shackles connected to chains burst free from her back. The shackles move quickly and rip apart the booth and chairs, but 'Tiffany' has jumped away. Dark smoke covers 'her' before it dissipates upon her' landing.
Crouching before them is a young man with dark silver hair and green cat-like eyes, wearing nothing but a pair of black leather pants and zipper booths. Silver horns curl out from his head, matching leather wings twitching on his back. He slowly stands as a long silver tail sways behind him, the curled blade at the tip knocking at nearby chairs.
"Much better," Jenne smirks, fire surrounding her as she changes to her Half-Breed form, "I got nothing against transsexuals, but guys wearing bras with no tits creep me out."
"Well I did had a set in my disguise," Gary points out with a wave of his hand, "but enough of your hypocrisy. I'll be taking your territory here and now today."
"Like hell you will," Jenne snarls and charges forward, talons at the ready. Gary dodges her swipe and counters with a swipe of his own. Jenne dodges and meets the blade of his incoming tail with her own.
Lilia watches in awe and a mix of fear and shock as the two Half-Breed Demons trade blows with each other, Ellisaüch grinning darkly and enjoying the show as she sits by the bar and sipping a martini. Tables, chairs, and booths are cut, slashed, and thrown high into the air. Bottles shatter from the debris and holes appear in the walls. Lilia could see why Jenne wanted to take this fight outside. The owner of the club is going to have to shut the place down and have it rebuilt. A good chunk of insurance money and sales gone in an instant, if he can get the insurance money... Kind of hard to explain exactly how the damage had been done...
Gary jumps back from a vicious swipe, forming a scythe blade in his hands before charging at Jenne, who meets his blade with her own.
"You won't beat me," Gary sings madly, "and when I'm done with you, I will hand your head over to Lucifer himself."
"It's you," Lilia screams suddenly in rage, "You were the one that attacked my charge in the alley a week ago!!"
"He would've become one of the Damned sooner or later," Gary states uncaringly, "I was doing the world a favor by getting rid of that scum before he killed more humans with his poisons, as is the right of the Half-Breeds."
"Attacking a human before their sinification and shattering their soul for tidbits of Ash," Jenne tsks, "The Reapers will enjoy destroying you if Lucifer doesn't get his hands on you first."
"I think he will be more pleased with not only how much Ash I have collected, but handing over those two brat will be an added bonus. What would he say if he knew-"
"You bastard," Lilia screeches in rage, her body enshrouding in white and sparkling mist that covers the nearby furniture and floor in frost and ice. The mist clears a second later to reveal Lilia wearing a blue and white kimono and holding a large silver fan, bright silver wings folded neatly on her back. Realizing he's in danger, Gary pulls away, only to find his scythe hasn't budge. Upon looking at it, he yells and lets go before jumping back in fright.
The blade of Jenne's scythe curls around Gary's, the eye sockets glowing bright red and gold. It breaks the blade in pieces before the blade slides pass its teeth, the head screeching hellishly. Jenne lets go of
her scythe as it begins to change form. Bones grow into arms, muscle and tissue surround the bones as blood splatters upon the floor. Hands grow upon the arms with black talons, the tips dripping with dark liquid. The end of the staff grows out into a powerful serpent tail, burnt black and gold scales slithering about and covering every inch of muscle. Snakes bursts from the head and hiss loudly at Gary, saliva dripping from their jaws.
"No one threatens what is mine," the private detective growls dangerously as her tail swishes so fast that it is making whip cracking sounds.
"Shit," he curses loudly at the newly-formed male Gorgon before him as he turns to run.
"You're not getting away," Lilia shouts as she waves her fan and sends a wave of ice and snow at him.
Now fully understanding that he underestimated his enemies, Gary rushes for the exit, dodging freezing winds, the Goron, and Jenne. He ducks and weaves through chairs, tables, incoming chains, and broken glass. He nearly cries with joy upon seeing the open double doors and races for it. Just as he reaches his hand out, Lilia suddenly appears and blocks the exit, wings spread wide and covered in shimmering white lights. Using his wings, Gary stops and runs back as Lilia screams, the lights rushing forth and covering everything they touch with ice. Jenne makes a swipe at Gary and he dodges, only for him to get entangled in chains that hold him tight.
"The Chains of Judecca," Ellisaüch states calmly as she walks over, "The very same chains that bind Lucifer in Hell bind all Watchers that they can use at their discretion. They are completely unbreakable."
"You bitch," Gary growls loudly, struggling against the chains. Jenne and Lilia approach him slowly with murderous intentions in their eyes. Gary struggles harder, screaming as the Gorgon suddenly grabs him from behind him and bites hard on his neck, talons digging into his biceps. Burning pain spreads throughout all parts of his body, increasing in strength and becoming excruciating. His skin begins to turn paler than before, turning ash gray before solidifying into stone. His movements begin to become sluggish and he stares at them with wide eyes before he stops moving altogether.
"No," Lilia yells as she covers her eyes with her wings when the Gorgon turns his eyes upon them, pulling them away a minute later as Jenne ushers the Gorgon to her, "Is that really a Gorgon? I thought they were all female."
"Surprised," Ellisaüch grins as she pulls her chains away, "Male Gorgons are rare and don't possess the magical eyes that the female Gorgons do. The venom in their talons and fangs can turn one into stone, but the time it does depends on how much venom is used. About one out of twenty Gorgons males are born and they fight to prove their strength and the right to mate with the females. The losers are banished from their clan, very few being known to survive on their own."
"How did you tame him to become your living weapon," Lilia asks incredulously as she watches Jenne pet the snakes on the Gorgon's head, the snakes and Gorgon purring warmly.
"I found dear Dreki alone and starved eons ago," Jenne answers, caressing the Gorgon's cheek and making him trill in pleasure, "He had been beaten by his clan members due to his small size. I took him in and nursed him back to health. He became my living weapon and has been with me ever since."
"Okay," Lilia turns back to Gary as Dreki's skin and muscles fall off as he changes back into Jenne's scythe, "What are we going to do about him?"
"Our little friend here will be stuck like this for several hours before the venom wears off," Ellisaüch explains, looking at her suit in disdain, "And you owe me one suit. What shall we do about it?"
"The suit's your problem," the private detective states, "You ripped it, you pay for it. As for Gary-"
The state that is suddenly swallowed by fire coming from a hole below him. The flames lick at every inch of him before he is slowly dragged through the hole. The fire is then swallowed into the hole and it vanishes, leaving only a brief cloud of smoke in its wake.
"There's our answer about that," Ellisaüch comments, "I guess someone was too impatient for us to decide."
"Makes things a lot easier," Jenne replies as she changes back to her human form before going behind the bar to put on a shirt and jeans from a bag, "Gary will have a ball with Lucifer punishing him. In the meantime, I got one more stop to make before this night is out. You wanna come with us, Lilia?"
"Huh," Lilia looks at her with a confused look, changing back as well, "Where are you going?"
"To finally put an end to this once and for all."
* * * *
"Detective Raiden?"
"Yes" said police detective looks up from his paperwork to see Officer David coming up to him with a file in his hand.
"Intelligence went over the reports on the medical students arrested for the Single Family Serial killings," Officer David reports, handing the file over to Raiden, "We found a connection between all of them."
"This," Raiden stares at the report incredulously, "They're all from the same hospital with the exception of Danny Oubarski.”
"Jamerson General Hospital," Officer David confirms, "We've also checked the list of patients and hospital staff that they've had contact with and, through process of elimination, narrowed it down to six people. The receptionist, the doctor that was training them, his assistant, and three patients. Abraham is on his way to question them as we speak."
"Hm," Raiden looks at the files of each of the suspects, "I don't see how any of them are connected to the students murdering the single families. In fact, the doctor here is one of the best in the country and has ran more fund raisers than any doctor out there."
"The suspect Elliott stated in his statement that the students had changed in personality once they had contact with him," Officer David points out, "The suspect could possibly be a new cult leader brainwashing the students, or possibly someone manipulating them to commit the murders."
'More than you think,' Raien thinks as he gazes at the pictures and the profiles, 'One of them must be the Carrier, but who-'
His eyes land on one picture, and they narrow for a minute before widening in realization. Of course. Why hadn't he seen it before?
"Detective Raiden," Officer David asks in concern, noticing the panicking look in his eyes, "Detective Raiden? What's the matter?"
"When did Abraham leave for the hospital," Raiden asks urgently, looking ready to run.
"Um... about thirty minutes ago... I think?"
By the time he looks back from thinking, Raiden is out of his chair and out of the office. Was it something he said?
* * * *
Officer Abraham tries to ignore the smell of antiseptics and the beeping of hospital machines. They remind him too much of when he had lost his grandparents within the stretch of two weeks when he was a child. They were so much in love that when his grandfather passed away first from terminal cancer, he knew that his grandmother was soon to follow. The doctors had said she died from heart failure, but he and his family knew she had died from a broken heart.
He takes the elevator to the seventeenth floor, the cancer treatment floor. Despite it being late, he needs to question the three patients on the suspects' list. If he can pin one of them as the mastermind to the murders, he can bring an end to the case once and for all. He would get a promotion, and earn the respect he feels he deserves.
"Let's see here," he mutters to himself as he looks at the piece of paper he received from the receptionist downstairs, "Ann Utgama's room should be down this hall. Victor Shade is on the next floor and Linda Barbowski is on the other side of the hall. I'll just talk to them first, then come back for the doctor tomorrow."
He pockets the piece of paper and heads down the hall. Nurses walk by him without questioning him, either too busy with their duties or have seen enough police officers to know why he is here. Many of the rooms he passes are dark, the occupants deep asleep. One of the rooms just so happens to be the one Ann Utgama is assigned to.
'Shit,' he thought, barely able to see inside through the small door window, 'She's asleep. I'll have to questio
n her in the morning-'
"Good evening Officer Abraham."
* * * *
Raiden presses the gas pedal as hard as he can, the sirens of his police car blaring loudly. He's glad that the streets are near empty, as the hospital is on the other side of town. He needs to get to Officer Abraham before the Carrier does, and begins infecting the other officers at the station.
He turns a corner and slams his foot on the brakes, cursing loudly as his car screeches to a halt. The street leading right to the hospital is loaded with cars, all waiting for paramedics and a tow truck to move two cars that had crashed into each other in the intersection. Someone had not been paying attention to the street signs.
With the way the cars are packed and trying to find alternate routes, there's no room for them to maneuver to let him pass. Raiden bangs his fist onto the steering wheel in frustration. He'll never make it in time.
Suddenly, a white bird lands on the hood of his car. To anyone else, they would see just a normal white pigeon. To Raiden, the pigeon is from a different world altogether. And this bird has a message for him.
All is well. The threat is being dealt with.
* * * *
"Aren't you supposed to be in bed," Officer Abraham states as he stares at Ann Utgama, who is wearing a hospital-issued robe over her hospital gown and holding a I.V. stand with no I.V. bags upon it.
"I wanted to go see my husband," Ann replies innocently, her smile unnerving him, "I heard he was attacked by the Single Family Serial Killer. I was so scared that I simply couldn't stay in my room and wait for the doctors to tell me of his condition."
"I think he would be more concerned about your condition than his own if he saw you out of bed," Officer Abraham comments, feeling very suspicious, "Anyway, I need to ask you a few questions."
Hell's Detective: Murder Page 18
