“Wh-What… What is this?” He could barely speak.
“Yours!” Aerin answered with the biggest grin John had ever seen her wear.
“How did you… when did you?” Basic sentences still seemed a little hard for him.
“We got it this morning.” Meredith said as she approached. “I had to call in a few favors, but I think we did alright.”
“Why?” John was in utter confusion.
“Without you, we wouldn’t be where we are right now.” Meredith answered. “You’ve done more than anyone could’ve asked of you. It was the least we could do.”
“I… I don’t know what to say other than thank you.”
“Tell us how we did!” Aerin chimed in as she walked around the car. “I had to design it from memory, and the last time I saw it… it wasn’t doing too great.”
“It’s… amazing!” John could barely contain his amazement. “The details are spot on; it’s almost like the same car.” He ran his hand across the hood once more to remind himself that it was real. “Thank you!”
John suddenly threw his arms around Aerin and wrapped her into a tight hug. He lifted her a few inches off of the ground and spun her in place. The act had caught Aerin completely off guard and her face had turned a bright shade of pink; it remained that way until John released her and turned his attention toward Meredith. He picked up the small Angel and twirled her in place, spinning her high in the air. Instead of blushing, Meredith giggled heartily as John spun her around.
“Thank you!” He said again. “Really, this is amazing.”
“Why don’t you look inside?” Aerin suggested. She reached down and pulled on the metal handle, opening the driver’s side door for him.
She stepped back and gave John room inspect the car further. The interior was brand new, he could smell it. The seats were two-toned black fabric with white running down the middle that accented the light grey carpet and ceiling. He sat down in the chair and felt himself sink comfortably into it. The fabric was soft and it conformed to the outline of his body. His fingers ran slowly over the slick wooden steering wheel before he gripped it tightly, his mind imagining the machine roaring down the interstate. He looked over the console and found it to be much different than the one he had been used to. Everything was digital, from the dials all the way to the radio. A large blank screen sat where one would expect general controls on the console.
“We put in the same navigation system that all our cars have.” Meredith said as she leaned in next to John. “You’re officially one of us now!” She said with a smile.
The phrase hit John harder than he had expected. One of us, it was something he’d longed to hear for years now. The two Angels beside him genuinely cared for him. Perhaps, finally he had found a place to call home.
“Thank you, you two.” He said as he tried to hide his ever reddening eyes from them. “This is… more than I could have asked for.”
Suddenly the passenger door opened up and Aerin slid into the seat beside John. She closed the door and looked over with smile.
“Wanna go for a drive?” She asked as she jingled the car’s keys in her hand.
“Oh hell yeah.” He said with a smile he couldn’t hold back.
John inserted the key into the ignition and pressed his foot down on the clutch. He turned the key and the engine started immediately with a powerful roar that echoed throughout the garage. Meredith pushed hard on the heavy metal door and closed it before she waved them off. John shifted gears and spun the car around before bringing it outside to the curb. Once there was a break in traffic, John pulled out onto the street and headed toward the center of town.
He weaved the Charger in and around dozens of cars that lined the busy city streets as they made their way farther into town. The sprawling cityscape around them provided a lovely backdrop to what was now more of a relaxing drive than John had hoped for. The calm flow of traffic was nice, but it wasn’t what he wanted. There was an itch in his foot and an urge to press the pedal to the floor, so when an opening presented itself he jumped at the chance to put the car through its paces. John shot up through the break in traffic and made a beeline toward the onramp for the freeway. The engine roared as they sailed up the ramp and out onto the 110. John made quick movements with his feet as he shifted gears, causing Aerin to squeal in delight at the show of professionalism. She reached over and rolled her window down and pulled her hair out of her ponytail, letting it fly wildly behind her in the wind.
The center of Los Angeles flew by them to the right as a more residential district opened up to the left. John glanced down at the GPS screen beside him and saw that the 110 headed off into that same residential area he could see beside him. Not wanting to be bogged down by more traffic, he turned and headed up another ramp that led to the 101. The Charger barreled up the ramp and out onto the freeway. John could feel the power at his fingertips again, a power he had missed for some time. He reached over and rolled his window down as well, creating a nice cross draft between his and Aerin’s window.
The wind rushed into the car and whipped around wildly through John’s hair. This was it. This was what he had been missing. The freedom, the power, the speed, his heart had been desperately yearning for this; and Aerin had been the one to give it to him. The same girl that had taken it away had given back what he’d missed so.
After a short while there was a sudden beeping sound that emanated throughout the car. At first John didn’t notice it over the sound of rushing wind, but it slowly began to grate at him ever so slightly. He and Aerin both rolled their windows up at the same time, apparently she had picked up on it as well.
“What is that?” John asked.
“Let me see…” Aerin leaned forward and began to inspect the console. The sound was coming through every speaker at a steady pace, like some kind of alert tone, similar to that of an old beeper. Aerin swiped her finger over the screen as she searched for the cause. “Looks like the scanner picked up something.” She stated.
“What is it?”
“I’m not… sure.” Aerin tapped the screen a few times. “It says there’s an anomaly, but… nothing else. Want to check it out?”
“Might as well.” John shrugged. He didn’t have anything better to do, and if there was something out there they needed to deal with it. “Where to?”
“Take…” Aerin slid her fingers across the screen as she navigated the digital map. “The next ramp and go left.” She instructed.
John followed her directions and took the first off ramp he saw. He let off the gas and shifted down as the Charger coasted up the ramp onto a city street. He turned left at the end of the road and headed out over the 101 on one of the many overpasses that sat above the freeway. The beeping grew steadier in tone as they drove farther down the road. Suddenly, there was a sharp ping and then the tone faded out altogether.
“What was that?” John asked.
“Looks like it got a fix on the reading.” She said as she looked up ahead of them. “It should be right out there.”
Aerin pointed ahead to where she thought the reading was coming from. It was a large, open area full of rusted metal boxes. As they drew closer, they could discern what exactly they were seeing. It was a massive train yard, and a dead one at that.
The Charger turned off the main road and down into the yard. The asphalt vanished and was replaced by a long gravel service road that spanned the entire length of the yard. Every single train car nearby was rusted out and many were covered in graffiti. The place didn’t look to have been in use for years. The whole yard was full of old trains save for the very far end, which looked to be connected to the bullet line and seemed to serve as some kind of waypoint or repair yard from the looks of things.
Aerin swiped her fingers across the map screen in order for it to zoom in. John slowed the Charger down to a manageable speed as he watched the machine work. The symbol that marked the reading suddenly became a large circle over the train yard and the surrounding area
. John didn’t have to ask Aerin what it meant; he already had a good feeling. They were going to have to find whatever they were looking for the old fashioned way. He continued driving slowly around the train yard, passing by signs of vandalism old and new alike. Both John and Aerin focused their senses in an attempt to feel anything, but after a few passes they were satisfied that whatever they were looking for wasn’t there.
Their attention quickly turned toward a handful of buildings that sat just off the side of the yard. John pulled up into an empty lot and shut the Charger off. Up ahead looked to be some kind of derelict factory; it was made of old brick that had been painted white sometime back and stood roughly five stories at its tallest point. On the side of the structure was an ancient smokestack that towered over the surrounding area. It was in extreme disrepair and looked to be from a time long since gone by.
John followed behind Aerin as she got out and led the way toward the factory. It seemed as good of a place as any to start. After they had walked about fifty feet from the Charger, something weighed down upon John. It was a subtle feeling that one could easily miss, but the feeling was definitely there. It was like a strange overbearing presence that seemed to push down on top of John, like he was being held back or as if something was attempting to contain him. He glanced over at Aerin and could see that she felt the same as him.
“What is this?” He asked.
“A barrier.” She responded as she closed her eyes in thought. “I’m not sure what kind though.”
“You don’t know?” John mused. He smirked a bit, though he was surprised. “You’re usually pretty good with this magic stuff.”
“I am pretty good with magic,” She said with a confident smile before clarifying. “But I don’t know this spell.” She held out her hand as if to catch a drop of rain. “It’s not an offensive spell, whatever it is. We’ll have to find the core so I can study it. This is probably what the scanner picked up.”
“Why would there be a spell out here?” John asked as they walked along.
“Could just be some local mage trying out new magic, or maybe some kid got ahold of a book they shouldn’t have.”
Aerin sighed and walked ahead. Satisfied with the explanation, John followed behind her. Two large iron doors marked the entrance to the factory; however, the doors had been twisted from their rusty hinges and were lying on the ground. Inside was a room that looked like an entrance hall that led to another set of metal doors, which were also broken free from their connections. John was surprised to find that there was no factory floor beyond the other side of the threshold, only more hallways leading to rooms of various shape and size. The building bore the look of a factory on the outside, complete with smokestack and everything, but the inside resembled something more like an apartment building.
The light that trickled in through the front door grew dim as they prodded deeper into the complex. It became increasingly dark and John’s pupils dilated in order to take in as much of the fleeting light as they could. Suddenly he heard Aerin clap her hands together beside him and a bright light burst forth. She held it in the palm of her hand, a bright shining mote of light that lit the way for them, the very same spell he’d seen her use at the Monastery some two months prior.
“That’s pretty nifty.” John remarked.
Aerin smiled and nodded at his remark as she led the way. They searched throughout the building as best they could, following what little sensation Aerin could detect in the air. Eventually she stopped altogether and closed her eyes as she attempted to focus in and sense some kind of change in the barrier that surrounded them, but to no avail. Any sign of a change had vanished, the barrier remained the same as it had been the moment they entered it. There was no change in density that would lead them closer to the core. Nothing.
“I can’t feel anything.” Aerin said as she leaned against a wall. There was a mixture of emotions on her face. In the dim lighting John could just make out confusion and slight aggravation.
“Me either.” John stated as he leaned up against the opposite wall. “Place looks like it’s been abandoned for years, I don’t think anyone’s been here in a while.”
“Whoever set up this barrier did a good job concealing it.” Aerin said as she scratched her head with her free hand. Suddenly she sighed heavily. “Want to go check out the other buildings?”
“Yeah.” John answered. “Let’s just give it one more pass before-“
The sound of crunching glass suddenly resonated down the hall behind them. John spun around quickly to see nothing but a door swinging shut at the end of the hall. He burst into a run as Aerin quickly followed behind him. Whatever had gone through the door was fast. It had managed to push through another door just beyond the first one that led to another hallway. John ran to the end of the hall, but found that it split in two separate directions, and this time there was no door swinging shut to show him the way. Aerin quickly brushed past him as she ran down the left path. Without question, John followed right behind her.
“We’re definitely chasing something!” Aerin stated as she threw open a door that led to a staircase. “I can feel it!”
“Well I’m right behind you, don’t lose it!”
Aerin ran up two flights of stairs and turned out into a hallway. John turned the corner right behind her and quickly had to sidestep to the right in order to avoid running right into her. She had stopped dead in her tracks in the middle of the hallway, a look of utter confusion on her face.
“It’s… gone.” She muttered.
“Gone?” John repeated. “What do you mean it’s gone?”
“There’s… nothing there anymore.” Her eyes darted slightly side to side as she thought. “I lost it.”
“Well it couldn’t have just disappeared.” John stated as he stepped around her. “Maybe you’re just losing your edge.” He said as he patted her on the shoulder. “I’ll take a look around.”
The hallway that John walked down was dimly lit. Light filtered in through a busted window at the end of the hall and from open doors on either side leading to different rooms. The floor was covered in a thick layer of dust that looked to be disturbed slightly in some parts, a testament that something had been through there. John closed his eyes and attempted to feel for whatever he was looking for; but, just like Aerin, John couldn’t feel a thing. And so he began to search manually, opening doors and rummaging through old rooms as he looked for signs of something.
“Hey!” He called out as he searched. “Anybody there? We’re friendly!” He shouted. “I just want to talk!”
There was a sound from the room across from him. John leaned in and found it to be mostly empty with only one lonely bed sitting off in the corner, a dusty old mattress atop it. The sound had been metal in nature, leading John to the obvious conclusion. He bent down slowly beside the cot and looked beneath it. To his surprise, there was a small girl curled up against the wall. Her arms were wrapped around her legs as she pulled them tightly against her body as if to make herself as small as possible. Her eyes were closed so tightly that small tears were forced out of the corners; they beaded up and trickled down her face as she shivered slightly.
“Hey there, don’t be scared.” John said in as soft a voice as he could manage. “I’m not gonna hurt you.” He assured as he held out his hand. “My name’s John, what’s yours?”
The girl’s eyes opened just a little as she studied John’s face. She closed them and gripped her legs tighter as if she was trying to make herself disappear. Once she realized the futility of her actions, she opened her eyes slowly once more and spoke.
“E-Emily…” She muttered softly.
“Emily.” John repeated. “That’s a nice name.” He paused to let his words settle into the girl’s head before speaking again. “Why are you under the bed, Emily?” He asked.
“I’m… hiding.” She timidly responded.
“Why are you hiding?”
“I heard something downstairs, but then I got scared
.” Emily answered.
“I’m sorry we scared you.” John apologized softly. “We were just looking around.”
“Why?” The girl asked.
“I’m on a secret mission to protect people.” John answered with a smile. He held his hand out toward Emily once more. “Come on out and I’ll tell you all about it.”
“O-Okay…” Emily said sheepishly.
Emily slowly pulled herself out from under the cot. As she stepped up into the light, John got a better look at her. She was small, no older than six or seven, with long brown hair that was frayed at the ends. Much like her hair, her outfit told the tale of poverty, or rather homelessness. Her sweatpants were tattered and scuffed and her oversized shirt was shredded all over. Despite the obvious, there was something different about her that John couldn’t quit put his finger on. Something about the small girl seemed familiar. Before he could study her more, Aerin stepped into the room behind him.
“Looks like you really are losing your touch.” John said jokingly.
“I just don’t get it.” Aerin shook her head as she leaned against the threshold of the door.
Upon hearing and seeing Aerin, Emily quickly cowered behind John. The girl was incredibly timid. John placed his hand on her head and felt the tension in her lessen slightly.
“You don’t have to be scared of her.” He assured. “She’s my partner.” He said with a smile. “Well,” John laughed slightly. “I’m really her partner. I help her fight the bad guys.”
“Bad… guys?” Emily repeated.
“Yeah, we keep people safe.” He said as he lifted the girl up under her arms. She moved to protest, but stopped as John sat her down atop the old cot. “You know why we’re here, so why are you here?”
Slayer: A Demon Hunter's Tale Page 24
