by Hunter Blain
“What’s that?” Joey asked, panic evident in his voice. I noticed his forearms, feet, and shins were bleeding where the air friction had done its job.
“Anti-venom, blessed by the Pope,” Doc Jim said.
“Holy shit, the pope helps with this kind of stuff?” I asked, supremely impressed.
“Of course he does. Do you honestly think the most powerful religious figure alive isn’t involved in the fight against evil?” Doctor James Hunt said as he moved gracefully from his tools to Dawson. Within a few moments, the wound was stitched and dressed. Dawson’s breathing had begun to slow as the holy anti-venom coursed through his veins.
“Is he going to make it?” Joey asked, his breathing slowing to match his brothers. I wondered if that was a twin thing.
“I can’t make any promises, but I am confident he will be fine, in time.”
“How long?” Joey asked aggressively.
“Hey, hey, hey,” I tried cooing Joey, “He’s going to be fine, man. The doc has saved my life twice now. I trust him.”
I saw the corner of Doc Jim’s mouth curl up into the slightest smile at the recognition of the work he prided himself in.
“What is his name?” Doc asked.
“Da…Dawson,” Joey stammered, eyes still wide in alarm.
“And yours?”
“Joey.”
“Well, Joey, there is some meat in the freezer in the other room. Go get some for you and your friend here.”
“Brother. He’s my brother,” Joey said with nerves near fraying.
“You and your brother are going to need to eat, especially him. Also a room back there has a bathroom, complete with shower, and an assortment of clothing. Wash up and pick your size and then bring the food out here.”
Joey went into the other room. I could hear a door shut and the sound of pipes protesting as hot water started running through them.
“Thank you again, Doc,” I said as I transferred several thousand dollars in Bitcoin to him. I could only guess how much holy anti-venom cost.
“My pleasure, as always. Your associate has already begun preparations for your blood bank,” Doc Jim said casually.
“Da?”
“He used a more, exotic name,” Doc Jim said dubiously.
“Yeah, go ahead and forgive him for that. It’s easier to just run with it, unless you are me of course.”
“Noted. You do keep strange company.”
A whine escaped from Dawson, which I took for a good sign. It’s always bad when you can’t feel the pain. Ulric had got some good licks in that stunned me; but boy did I get lucky and get some doozies in on him. Damn that felt good, to see the surprise and pain in his eyes as I cut his fucking ears off. Hopefully we would be able to find that spot again and continue on his trail.
After a few minutes, Joey emerged from the backroom wearing an ensemble that was too long for his arms and legs. The sweats he wore had to be tucked into his socks while his sleeves were rolled up a few inches, resting just above his wrist.
“Did I not have your size?” Doc asked, looking Joey up and down.
“I pulled the right ones for Dawson for when he wakes up. This,” He said looking down at himself, “will do. Easy to take off when I get my hands on Ulric.” He turned his attention to me, gaze fierce as if I had not told the full truth, “How did he summon demons?”
My eyes shot briefly to Dawson who breathed slowly on the table before returning to Joey. “I’ve been thinking about that. I don’t think he can. I have been tormented with demons since I first hooked up with the Father. He has been pointing me towards the light and giving me the dirty jobs no one else wants. I had only seen a few demons over the centuries, but now I know where to look thanks to Papa T. Together we have sent dozens back to Hell with a swift kick in the pants.”
“I bet the Devil doesn’t like that very much,” Doc said while checking Dawson’s vitals.
“Tell him what he’s won, Johnny!” I said in my prize-winning announcer voice. “Satan is pretty pissed at us and has recently been sending demons in droves, at least in comparison to the norm. What I don’t get,” I said while stroking my beard with my hand in contemplation “is why the demons came out as we had Ulric on the run? Wouldn’t Satan want us to kill him and start the apocalypse?”
We all sat deep in thought. The pieces just weren’t adding up, at least that I could see, which wasn’t saying much. Just keeping it real with myself.
“Perhaps I might be able to offer some insight,” said a deep voice with the slightest hint of a lisp. A tall, beautiful man entered gracefully into the room. He had thick blonde hair that was made to purposefully look messy, but in a fashionable way. Piercing pale blue eyes looked into mine just over a warm smile. He enunciated each word clearly, as he stuck out his hand in introduction. “My name is TalGoid from the Seelie Court, and I am a friend to mid-world.” As I stood unsure and quickly looked him over, feeling for trickery, I noticed the points at the top of his ears that was hidden by his hair.
I stuck my hand out and said, “Cook. John Cook.”
“Oh, I am aware of you, good sir, and might I add it is indeed a pleasure,” TalGoid said.
“Flattery will get you everywhere TalGoid,” I said with a smile, briefly flashing my fangs in a veiled warning.
“TalGoid,” I said again, tasting the words. “That’s fun to say.”
“Please, call me Taylor. It is my mid-world name.” Taylor said, ignoring my subtle warning. He was thin with arms and legs slightly longer than a mortal.
“But TalGoid is so much fun,” I feigned in protest.
“You can call me Susan if you like,” Taylor jested.
“You mentioned information,” Joey said flatly.
“That I did.”
“Stop right there,” I said, holding my hands up to both Joey and the elf, Taylor. “Joey, I know you are young but there are some fundamental rules you gotta follow man. One of which is to not make deals with the Fae.”
“Once again, I reiterate, I am of the Seelie Court.” Taylor’s intense eyes locked onto mine, hiding ancient wisdom and patience. “Not to be rude, but it would seem we could all learn something from one another.”
“Look, I do my best to stay the fuck out of everyone’s business,” I said. Putting on my best PeeWee, I said, “I’m a loner, Dotty. A rebel.”
“I am well aware,” Taylor said, nodding. “But it would appear you are learning to make friends. Which brings me to why I am here.”
“Have you tried sending me a friend request on Facebook?” I asked.
“You don’t have a Facebook,” Taylor answered.
“Exactly.”
Unperturbed, Taylor continued, “We have a vested interest in the continued existence of mid-world.”
“What! Like a summer home?” I asked in typical John fashion.
“Using your example, I ask; which would be more important to you? A home you own and live in for several months out of the year, pay taxes on, upkeep, and even loan to loved ones— or a random hotel you use for a night or two a couple times a year.”
I stood in silence, awaiting his explanation.
“There are those in the courts of Fae that care not for mid-world. To them, this is all a game. The Shadow Court especially.”
“Shadow Court? That sounds foreshadowing as hell,” I said while winking at the camera.
“Pardon?” Taylor asked.
“Nothing. Anyway, you were saying?”
Taylor stood in silence for a moment, assessing me, “As I was saying, we of the Seelie Court wish to see mid-world remain as it is. We fancy it.”
Frustration began to build as yet another player in this chess game was asking me to trust them based on nothing but their word. Trust is a currency, and once you spread yourself too thin, it doesn’t take much to break you. There was only a few people I trusted completely; Depweg, Da, and Father Thomes. Next on the list was the twins and after that at the bottom of the barrel, Locke. But right now,
Taylor was asking for more trust than even Locke was. I believed Locke didn’t want to go back to Hell. Why should I believe this elf cared about mid-wor... I mean Earth. Stupid Lord of the Rings jargon. Or was that Odin’s religion?
“John,” Joey said walking up to stand next to me, “You’ve been standing still for like a minute.
“Huh? Oh right,” I said, joining the present again. “Why should I trust you?”
“I would be disappointed if you believed the word of a stranger so easily. So I bring a token of friendship. Might I see your phone?”
“Do what now?” I asked.
“Your phone. I wish to show you something that I am confident you would want to see,” Taylor said, extending his hand confidently.
I turned to Joey who shrugged before reaching into my pocket and placing my phone in Taylor’s hand.
“Could you unlock it first?” Taylor asked, keeping his hand outstretched. I did as was asked but with a scowl.
After pressing my thumb on the button, my phone unlocked with a click. Taylor brought the phone up to his face and gracefully navigated to a built-in app. He opened it and selected one of my contacts on the find-friends application that most phones come built-in with. I didn’t know I had it. Depweg had set everything up for me, like a kid who changed the timer on his parents VHS player.
Taylor flipped the phone around, wearing a smile, to show a map near Houston with a picture of Depweg as an icon. He was in the middle of the Sam Houston National Park near Lake Conroe.
I stared at the screen, feeling stupid that I hadn’t known that I could use the phone like this. It was with me the whole time, waiting to show me where my best friend was. I could have told Ulric to meet me, then snuck in and stolen Depweg when he was waiting for me several miles away.
Taylor handed the phone to me, which I clutched and stared at the icon of Depweg.
“Use this knowledge to save your friend. But please, do not kill Ulric,” Taylor said.
“How do you know all this?” I asked, barely above a whisper, my eyes never leaving the screen.
“Information is my currency. I know what I must,” Taylor said before adding, “With that, I must bid you adieu. Please enjoy a parting gift.” He finished with a bow before pivoting and strolling through the front doors. On the table next to Dawson was a clear vial with blue liquid inside.
“What do you make of that?” I asked the room.
Joey responded with, “I don’t like his smell.”
“Trust until given a reason not to,” said Doc Jim, picking up and inspecting the vial.
“I think that was clearly made for Dawson,” I said, aiming the statement at Joey. It was his decision.
“I guess it wouldn’t make much sense to immediately betray your new friends who were supposed to help stop the end of the world. If he is going to trick us, it won’t be until after the real problem is over. Do it,” Joey said, nodding at Doc.
Doc nodded and inserted a syringe into the vial, pulling out the 5 CCs it held. He inserted the liquid into the IV line and we all waited. I could hear Joey breathing heavily again, as if questioning his own decision; but there was no going back now. His breathing increased until he was near hyperventilating.
“Wait!” Joey cried out, feeling the weight of losing his brother become a real probability. I honestly don’t know what I would have done in his shoes.
Dawson stirred and his eyes fluttered open. He yawned wide and licked his chops. After a moment, he noticed he was in a weird room and began to look around frantically, a growl growing in his chest. Then he saw Joey and he whined in confusion.
“Spider got you, bro,” Joey said as he approached the table and stroked the bandaged wound on Dawson’s leg.
Dawson sniffed the bandage, chuffed once, and then stood on the table, stretching. Then he began to revert back to man form. His fur fell out along with his oversized, insanely sharp teeth. As his snout receded back to meet his face, pearly white human teeth grew as joints popped and tendons shrunk. Within less time it takes to pee, Dawson was standing on all fours on the table. He offered a perfect view of his hairless ass.
With a gagging sound I turned my head away and shielded my eyes.
“Don’t like it? Then don’t look at it, perv,” Dawson said, amused.
“There’s a nice shower back there, dude,” Joey said to Dawson who removed the IV, which immediately shot blood out like a water gun. Doc raced to him with a bandage and said,
“It doesn’t work like that in real life. You can’t just remove a needle from your veins and expect nothing to happen.”
There wasn’t that much blood, but it still caught my attention. I remember how strong I was after I fed off Depweg, and my mouth salivated.
“Gross dude,” Dawson said as he walked by, noticing me staring at the blood.
“Huh? Oh. Uh…” I was at a loss for words. I had been caught with my hand in the cookie jar, or at least staring at it intently.
“Just fucking with ya bruh,” Dawson said before disappearing into the other room.
“What was in that vial?” Joey asked Doc Jim.
“I can only guess that it was some powerful faerie magic mixed with herbs from the Summer or Spring Court. I will have to try and procure some.”
“It’s really that good?” I asked.
“The boy was near death,” he said as he did a sidelong glance at Joey, knowing he had not revealed the whole truth of his brother’s condition. “Now he is fully up and well as if nothing had happened.”
“Demons are many things,” I started, “but they know how to kill in the most efficient ways possible.” I looked towards the now empty vial, “That stuff is going to come at a cost.”
“I will monitor Dawson closely,” Doc Jim said.
“For what?” Joey asked; concern in his voice.
“Anything out of the ordinary such as withdrawal symptoms, changes in personality, or any neurological dissonance just to name a few.”
“Oh,” Joey said with a frown as he looked at the floor, his eyes going distant as if he were lost in churning ocean of thought and doubt.
“Dude,” I said as I approached Joey and set my hand on his shoulder, “this is just to be super safe. In most plausible scenarios it doesn’t make sense that Taylor would trick us now, just like you said. If anything, he gave us a taste of something amazing to create repeat customers. There will be a price, of that I am sure, but it won’t be today.” I finished by patting Joey on the back and smiling as reassuringly as I knew how.
“You’re scaring me,” Joey said as he slightly recoiled away from me. “It’s like in Terminator 2 whenever John Connor teaches Arnold to smile at that rest stop in the desert.”
“You always know how to make me feel so pretty,” I jested to cover my wounded pride. I’m pretty, right? Tell me I’m pretty!
The water shut off and Dawson came out of the back room wearing form-fitting clothing.
“Are you two ready?” I asked.
“Ready for what? We got our asses kicked,” Dawson said touching his bruised face.
I thought about that for a second. “But he doesn’t know we are coming to him,” I insisted, eager to save Depweg. “We will have the element of surprise.”
“We had that last time too, dude,” Joey said. Dawson nodded quickly in agreement while pointing to his brother to further accentuate his argument.
“Then he won’t expect the second surprise!” I said with false enthusiasm.
“But why did you freeze when you had the chance to stop him?” Dawson asked.
“It’s a long story. I can’t attack him without him first threatening me. He was defeated, by luck, whenever I tried to, um, grievously wound him.”
“Bitch, you tried to kill him,” Dawson said.
“Yeah, dude. That shit wasn’t cool. You gotta, like, get ahold of that shit and lock it down,” Joey chided.
“Seriously, dude. I kinda like the world the way it is. Know what I mean?” Dawson added.
“I’m…sorry,” I said, ashamed. I had let my anger almost destroy all the souls in Heaven and on this earth. Sure wish I had a hole just laying around I could crawl into right about now. I could feel the twins eyes judging me. “But, I’m in control now. Plus I know that I actually cannot kill him, unless I think he is about to kill me. So, with that knowledge, I say let’s wound him. Like, a lot,” I said as I pulled the kukri from its sheath on my lower back hidden under my coat. Light glinted and reflected from the surgical lamps in sharp patterns across the room. “Once again I ask, are you two ready to go fuck some shit up?”
Chapter 15
W e climbed into the Uber and traveled the several miles to the outskirts of the park near the lake. As we stepped out and shut our doors, I tipped 20% because I’m a benevolent preternatural entity, and because Uber drivers rate their passengers. Did you know that? They can see your rating and decide not to pick you up.
“Time,” I asked in a statement to Dawson as I pointed at him without even looking in his direction.
“Um, I don’t have a watch, dude.”
“Where’s your cellular telephone?” I asked.
“We don’t carry it,” Joey said. “You know; the whole naked thing.”
“That’s why I usually carry a fanny pack,” Dawson said.
“I guess that is practical,” I said, nodding my new appreciation for the terrible fashion that was the fanny pack.
“Practically gay,” Joey said with a snicker.
“Whatever dude. You’re just jealous of my sweet pack.”
“Does it stay on when you transform?” I asked, intrigued.
