The First Immortal

by Matt Elam

  The three bullets meant for each of us had missed their marks, by only inches.

  After Donald regained his bearing, he yelled, “Everybody good?”

  “I’m good,” groaned Rodriguez, pushing up from being face planted to a kneeling stance.

  Through the side window, I caught a glimpse of one of the shooters running past the house.

  “I’ve got that guy. You get the other one,” I said, running toward the back door.

  “Wait! Johnny! How do you know there’s another one?” Jinx yelled.

  Almost simultaneously, four rounds ripped through the front window, forcing Donald Jinx to duck for cover again. Daniel Rodriguez Army crawled toward Jinx.

  “Let’s out-flank this son of a bitch,” said Jinx.

  “Let’s do it,” replied Rodriguez.

  Jinx made hand gestures that he’d go right and for Rodriguez to go left, to which Rodriguez nodded he understood the plan.

  During the NFL combine, I had run a four-point-six second flat forty-yard sprint at a bodyweight of two hundred sixty-two pounds. It had been many moons since that time, but I could still book it. Plus, I was nearly forty pounds lighter, which took some stress off of my joints.

  I heard some commotion in the trees thirty yards ahead of me. I slowed to a jog.

  If this asshole’s in the trees, he must be a crossling. But what kind?

  This time, I saw the spark of gunpowder as the chamber exploded. I sidestepped to my left and performed a diagonal roll. The round whizzed by me.

  Another round was in the air. I jumped behind a thick oak tree and could hear the old wood absorb the projectile.

  I unclipped my tactical folding blade from my blazer pocket, and listened.

  Silence. He must have been reloading. It was my turn to go on the offensive.

  I spun out and away from the tree. I took a big step toward Tree Asshole’s general location, cocked my arm back, and let the blade fly. End-over-end it went until it disappeared into the branches where I had seen the gun go off.

  I heard a scream and then a significant thud. I accelerated toward the sound, but with zig zagging footwork. I didn’t know if he still had his firearm with him. I couldn’t take the chance.

  Tree Asshole was getting to his feet now. He yanked the blade I’d just hurled from his left thigh. I stopped when I was five yards away from him.

  The man in the hood turned and without warning, launched my own knife back at me.

  It was a decent toss, but I slipped it with ease. I looked around. The gun was not in sight.

  We circled one another.

  “Who sent you?” I said.

  No answer.

  He assumed a very traditional fighting posture, which led me to believe he was from the Second Sun. It was just a feeling.

  With a yell, he charged in and threw two haymakers and one straight punch. I blocked the first two strikes with my forearms, and the last one with a palm parry. I grabbed his neck with my right hand, and squeezed hard.

  Tree Asshole’s eyes went yellow with enormous black pupils. Then six massive incisors appeared as he opened his mouth.

  A damn crossling, I thought.

  He snapped at me, repeatedly, but I held on to his neck for dear life. In less than ten seconds the windpipe had collapsed. I didn’t stop strangling until I heard vertebral bones shatter, and the pulse cease completely.

  I laid his lifeless body on the dirt. I reached into his pocket, and pulled out a blue metallic orb, which I knew I’d find. I pulled the oval-shaped pin and placed it on his chest.

  Now, typically, I’d walk away with a badass gait, while the background filled with orange flames, like the old action movies. But there was another guy out there - most likely a crossling - and I had to get to it before Donald did, or worse. Before it killed him and Rodriguez. So I ran.

  Twenty-Six

  PINNED BEHIND HIS CADILLAC, Jinx waited his turn to fire. He had to admit, the guy on the other side could shoot.

  Whoever he is.

  He looked over at Rodriguez, who was able to get a shot off here and there. When Rodriguez ducked back down for cover, Jinx waved to get his attention.

  Jinx mouthed the words: cover me.

  Rodriguez nodded, and exposing only his pistol to the shooter, unloaded three rounds in in the suspect’s general vicinity. The distraction allowed Jinx to peek around the front of the car. The gunman had taken cover behind an SUV on the opposite side of the street, at his two o’ clock. In a bent knee stance, he shuffled to an adjacent hybrid vehicle.

  The man stuck his gun over the hood to take a shot while Jinx was uncovered.

  Thud, went Jinx, performing a very stiff looking forward somersault. Two rounds fly past him.

  “I’m out!” shouted Rodriguez.

  Jinx knew he had to keep the asshole busy while his partner reloaded. A round came zipping in and flattened the tire he was lodged behind.

  Shit. Jinx pulled the trigger. Once. Twice. Click, he was out.

  He counted ten shots, and then Rodriguez yelled he was out, too.

  Nothing from the other guy.

  Suddenly, something grabbed his ankle from under the hybrid vehicle.

  Jinx gave out a quick guttural sound as he tripped to the cement sidewalk. The man was already on his feet and moving toward Jinx.

  The shooter must’ve been out of bullets, too.

  “Stay where you are, asshole!” said Rodriguez, his barrel pointed at the man’s mid-back region.

  The hooded man put his hands up.

  “Get on your knees. Do it, now!”

  So far, the shooter seemed to be abiding by the detective’s instructions.

  His right knee contacted the sidewalk.

  As his left knee was coming down, the man exploded backward and flung his arm toward Rodriguez.

  Jinx couldn’t believe what he was witnessing. The man’s hand was physically changing, bones shifting, and something that looked like a Cobra’s head and upper neck with the color of human flesh surged forth from the man’s long sleeve.

  “Ahhh,” gargled Rodriguez, gripping his upper chest. He fell to the ground, and went lifeless in a matter of seconds.

  “Daniel!” said Jinx, getting to his feet. He brought his hands up in a boxer’s guard, and bent his knees.

  The creature had turned around now, but with the hood and blackness of night, Jinx couldn’t see his eyes. The man accelerated toward Jinx. Still dazed and shocked from what he’d just seen, Jinx covered up the best he could, flexing his spine and keeping his elbows into his ribcage to protect his organs.

  The freak punched his arm forward and the serpent hand emerged once again, six inches from his forearms.

  Smack. I knocked the crossling’s arm away.

  The man jumped back into a cat stance, now two serpent hands appeared, both equipped with tongue, teeth, and eyes.

  “That’s not creepy as a hell,” I said.

  The crossling threw a roundhouse kick to my solar plexus area. I blocked it with my shin.

  He threw a left snake head jab and followed up with a snake head cross. Normally, I would have caught the knuckles, but that would not have been wise here. I slipped the attacks.

  The crossling spun and tried to hit me with a backfist. I captured his wrist. The serpent’s head moved wildly, trying to get to me. I had a feeling the untrapped arm was heading my way.

  It came right at me. I ducked and his arm went over the top of his trapped arm. I quickly replaced my initial grip with my other hand, and secured his top arm with my right hand. And I kept twisting until they broke like twigs.

  The mutant screamed, and the serpents hissed. He fell to his back.

  I picked my leg up and swung my boot high in the air, at level with my own head. I came down straight onto the crossling’s skull with the heel of my boot. I performed another axe kick. One more. His head fractured. In a few moments, his vitals were gone., and the serpents went still.

  Donald ran to my side, the
two of us looked down at the dead aberration.

  “Jo, what the fuck is going on?”

  I think it was time to tell him everything.

  Twenty-Seven

  I DROVE DONALD IN Luck to Kowloon City. I had phoned ahead and let Sifu know what had taken place at the house and that I was going to let him in on the secret. Given the recent events over the past two years, however, I feared it would not remain one for very long. Cheung Sifu told us to arrive at eight thirty p.m.

  I pulled into my trusty stall, number forty-seven, at eight twenty-five.

  Donald hadn’t said a word on the ride over. Instead, he chose to look out the window. I let him be. I couldn’t imagine - or maybe I could - what he must have been feeling given the events of tonight.

  I turned the car off. “Well, you ready, Donnie?”

  Donald said nothing, just continued to stare out the window.

  I figured if I got out first, it would catalyze action, so I went for the door handle.

  “Two tours,” said Donald.

  I stopped.

  “Two tours in the Middle East.” He repeated the statement.

  I let him talk.

  “And believe me, I saw some messed up shit there.” He looked straight ahead. “Things that I regret doing. Things that I regret seeing.” He shook his head. “But I ain’t never seen the freaky, fucked up shit I witnessed tonight, man.” He shuddered.

  I said nothing.

  For the first time since we’d gotten into my car, he looked over at me.

  “What, Johnny? No sarcastic remarks for me?”

  “Let’s just go inside, Donnie,” I said, softly.

  We met in a private conference room inside Cheung Sifu’s home. Seated there were three individuals: Cheung Shum Wah, Mayor Theodore Roosevelt Ching, and District Attorney Patricia Sawyer.

  Donald’s eyes widened when he saw Patti and the mayor. He shot a look back at me.

  “Patti’s involved?” said Jinx.

  I raised my hands up. “I had no idea, man.” It was the truth. I knew of the mayor’s involvement, but Patti’s being there had hit me right in the gut.

  How long had she known?

  “Nei ho ma?” said Sifu’s man servant. He led us to the table and each of us took a seat.

  Sifu was packing his pipe with tobacco while the servant poured the hot tea.

  The mayor spoke first. “Good evening, gentlemen.” He gave us the nod.

  We nodded back.

  “Detective Jinx. You and I have had a good relationship over the years, and I imagine what you hear tonight may come as a shock to you”

  “Sir, I’m not sure what’s going on, but what I saw tonight with the man and the - the hand things…” said Jinx, shaking his head, “I don’t know whether to go see the shrink or what.”

  We all nodded. We’d been there. Even Patti nodded.

  Why the hell is she nodding? Why bring her in on this?

  “Or this may all be some kind of bad dream,” said Jinx. “I’m actually hoping it’s that.”

  “It is no dream, Donald,” said Cheung Sifu. He puffed on his pipe.

  The mayor’s gaze caught my own. “Mr. Jo, being that Detective Jinx is your long time best friend, would you like to apprise him of the situation?”

  I quietly cleared my throat. “Sir, if you don’t mind, I’d like to talk to Donald privately regarding my part in all this. I owe him that much.”

  “Sure, completely understand,” said the mayor. “Well, I don’t think I have to remind any of us here tonight that these are perilous times. Nationally, the POC (Party of Change) has taken both the White House and the senate. The New Republicans have the majority in the House, but if they lose it, I feel America as we’ve once known it is lost forever.”

  Donald placed his elbows on the table now. He looked like he’d gotten his bearings now.

  “This, uh, portal?” said Mayor Ching, almost under his breath. “This thing has opened up a pathway that we cannot even begin to comprehend.”

  Donald didn’t seem to understand what Mayor Ching was talking about.

  The mayor looked at Sifu to provide the answer. Sifu indulged in another draw and puff, the rich aroma released into the air. “When Johnny first discovered the other dimension, we had no idea what to make of it.”

  Donald shot me a gaze like he didn’t even know who I was.

  “It has all the features of seventeenth century China. The Ming have lost power, and the Qing is laying its heavy hand on those that defy the new emperor.”

  “Wait. Did you say other dimension?” asked Jinx.

  “Yes,” said Sifu, taking a sip of his tea.

  Donald rolled his eyes, and looked at each of us, waiting for the punchline, but it never came. Sifu went on about spies entering and exiting through the bi-layer, positioning themselves for only God knew what.

  The main players: The Global Security Initiative of our world. Second, the Manchu. And third, the rising Immaculate Dynasty faction in the other world.

  “I like to refer to other dimension as the Second Sun,” said Sifu.

  Donald stared at Patricia now. “So how long have you known, Patti?”

  “Going on two years,” she said.

  Donald breathed out hard. “Damn.”

  Another car ride alone with him was going to be rough. I could already feel it.

  Mayor Ching chimed in. “District Attorney Sawyer has been an invaluable asset to us against the GSI here in Little Hong Kong.”

  “You mean the bastards who stole my evidence?” snorted Jinx.

  “I stole your evidence, Donald,” said Patricia, evenly.

  Donald’s head dropped, and his eyes opened wide with shock.

  Twenty-Eight

  DONALD AND I HAD known Patricia for more than three decades, so the admission of tampering with evidence in a state investigation had hit us hard. Donald told her as much.

  “The political landscape is changing rapidly,” began Patricia.

  “Yeah, but Patti - ” said Jinx.

  She put her hand up as a gesture for him to allow her to continue. “The mayor, Mr. Cheung, and I believe that the GSI is making a power grab in the western liberal states, including Little Hong Kong. We have our eyes on several, for lack of a better word, spies, as we speak.”

  “Spies in the LHKPD?” said Donald.

  “Yes, and in my office and Mayor Ching’s as well.”

  The mayor confirmed that he believed Patti’s statement to be correct.

  “So was that freak that attacked me a spy for the GSI?” asked Donald.

  “That crossling is most definitely from the Second Sun,” said Mayor Ching. “But as to which side he’s playing for, we’re not sure at the moment.”

  “Crossling?” said Donald, confusion showing on his face.

  “It’s a hybrid human,” I interjected.

  “What? Like some kind of low-rent fantasy flick?” said Donald.

  “More like a sophisticated science fiction movie,” said Sifu, putting his pipe down. “Human genetics makes up the foundation of the organism. Next, biological alleles of varying species are linked to the messenger RNA and DNA of each subject.”

  “How does that even work?” said Donald.

  “That’s where the sophistication comes in, Donald,” said Sifu.

  “What? Like stem cells?”

  “Stem cells are primitive compared to what science is doing with microtechnology now,” answered Sifu.

  “Wait,” said Donald, holding his hands up. “We’ve tried to mix human genetics with other species for years, right? It never worked. I mean, I saw a science group clone a human ear out of mice tissue, but this isn’t the same thing.”

  Sifu took a sip of his tea. “That is true. There has always been a catalyst missing in cross-linking species of different classes. Until now, that is.”

  “What’s the catalyst,” asked Donald.

  Sifu simply said, “The new dimension has dark Qi Gung. It is the catalyst
.”

  Donald exploded with laughter.

  It wasn’t a laughing matter for the rest of us.

  Rather than arguing his point with Donald, Sifu slid a box of matches across the table. “Take one out.”

  “Okay?” said Donald, taking a single stick out of the box.

  “Now, light it.”

  Donald lit the match and let it burn. Once the smell of sulfur had diminished, Sifu stuck a single palm up and placed it in line with the flame, three feet away.

  He breathed in softly and exhaled with force. His hand began to glow with a brilliant golden hue.

  Poof. The flame was extinguished.

  “My God,” said Donald, dumbfounded.

  “For every extreme, there exists an opposite extreme. Hard is balanced by soft. Light is balanced by darkness. Our world possesses golden Qi Gung, meant for healing at its highest level. The Second Sun possesses a dark internal force, meant to destroy or mutate the light.”

  Sifu took another drag from his pipe, letting his words sink in.

  Twenty-Nine

  I PULLED OUT OF the Red Lotus sanctuary and headed down Jackie Chan Boulevard. The first five minutes of the ride began as it did before we reached the sanctuary. Dead silence.

  Donald finally broke the silence. “So, Sifu Cheung said you were the first to find the portal?”

  “Well, obviously I wasn’t the first,” I said.

  “You know what I mean, man,” he said, his voice full of irritation.

  I didn’t want to fight with him over this, but deep down I knew this day would come.

  “Yeah, I found it and then told Sifu about it, and so on.”

  Silence again.

  “You could have told me, Johnny. I mean, I thought you trusted me?”

  “I do trust you,” I said.

  “And you didn’t think you could tell me news like this - something that changes the world as we know it?”

  I didn’t respond at first. Then said,“You’ve got a wife and kids, man.”

  “Ah, don’t give me that bullshit, Johnny,” snapped Jinx. “I had a right to know about the other world.”

  “Why?” I looked at him. “So you could worry when you leave the house whether a crossling would get to your family in order to get to you?”