Midnight Squad: The Ties That Bind

by J. L. M. Visada

  The were holding onto Niki tightened his grip around her throat. “Just let us go, and when we’re safely away I’ll let this little bitch go.”

  Grim turned towards the werewolf holding his sister. The Black swirled around his body faster, and started enveloping him again. Then he just sunk down into The Black, and rose back up standing right behind his sister’s captor. The scythe made a clean cut, and the were flopped onto the ground. The strangest thing is that there was no blood. No sign that the scythe actually cut anything. The scythe twirled and passed through two more weres. They both fell in a heap. “Penny, guard Danika, Niki, and DD.” Penny looked like she wanted to argue, but instead she only nodded.

  Then Grim turned towards the leftover weres, “Run while you can. Tonight the hunters are the hunted.”

  The pack began running, instinct kept them all running together as a group. Grim’s horse rose back up from The Black, and he was off after them.

  “Be careful…please.” Penny whispered.

  “He’ll be fine.” I said, trying to sound more confident than I really was.

  “There you are, I’ve been looking all over for you.” Sam said as he wandered out of the shadows. He froze as he saw the bodies. “Okay, for the record I saw none of this.”

  Penny stormed towards Sam, “And who the hell are….Dammit!” She stomped her foot in frustration. Meanwhile I was still standing there holding her arm. It’d popped off again.

  “Penny, maybe you should wait until it’s completely healed before you go moving around?” I said, and I was trying not to laugh. I really was. “Hi Sam. So you finally caught up with us. What took you so long?”

  Sam smiled. It was one of those easy smiles that makes your heart flutter, and made me reconsider my earlier opinion on sleeping with the man. What was it about this man that turned me into a wanton hussy? Maybe it was just that his beauty inspired terms like wanton hussy instead of cheap slut? Besides, it’s not like I’m planning on being Mrs.…what the heck is his last name!

  “Sam, I’m sorry, but I didn’t catch your last name?” Yeah, just call me Daphne “Smooth” Dinkly. What can I say? I have no game.

  Niki started laughing, “Didn’t catch his last name? Go DD! Go DD! Getting freaky on the deaky!”

  “Really?” Penny scowled. It was pretty clear she didn’t approve of who I was choosing to play tonsil-hockey with. Who was she to judge? How many times have I heard her and Grim going at it like it was going out of style? Frankly, I’m still kind of surprised that Grim’s…thing hasn’t broken off yet.

  “Yes, really.” I said, and sure I sounded pretty defensive. It just felt like Penny was mad at me for finding a little comfort. “Or am I supposed to ask your permission before I enjoy someone else’s company?”

  Penny stiffened, and snatched her arm out of my hands. “I suppose not. I just didn’t think you were so…”

  “So what?” I asked. Penny looked as though she was afraid to answer. I probably should have left it alone, but for some reason I just couldn’t. “So what?” I asked again.

  “Easy.” Even as Penny said it, I could tell that it actually hurt her to answer me. Why on earth would it bother her so much about who I was with?

  “Easy? Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve been with anyone? When am I supposed to find time to date?”

  “It’s just that…”

  “Shut up! Do you know how many times I’ve heard you and Grim going at it like two Bonobos? How the heck can you really just stand there and criticize me for finally enjoying some company? You…you…fucking hypocrite!” I was so angry. Penny is just a jerk for looking down her nose at me. Men might line up and take a number to worship the ground she walks on, but the rest of us have to live under much more realistic circumstances. This was the first guy that showed me any attention in a long…long time. To make matters worse, Penny had me angry enough to curse. I’ve been trying so hard to avoid my potty mouth. I’ve gone months without saying a bad word, but I’ve already slipped up a couple times on this trip. At this rate I’ll need my mouth washed out with soap before this is over. How am I supposed to be a good role model to my sisters when I keep talking like a sailor?

  “DD…I’m…sorry.” Penny looked really hurt, but right now her feelings were the least of my concern.

  “I don’t care. You keep walking around like you run the place. The hotel is being paid from the money earned by my patents. The armor that we’re trying to sell is based solely on my designs. You walk around treating us like your presence is some huge favor for us. I was doing fine before you, and you know what. If you leave tomorrow…I’ll still be doing fine. I might even be better off! I wouldn’t have to share the money with someone whose only contribution is a pair of tits to distract the men buying our stuff. I can pay for girls to shake their tits. So what exactly do you do that makes you worth having around?” It was mean, and Penny really didn’t deserve to be talked to like that. My only defense is that I was still cranky about being interrupted when I was getting so hot and heavy with Sam. Also, I have to admit that I really was getting sick of her occasional bouts of acting like being a vampire just entitled her to being treated better than the rest of us.

  “I’m sorry. After all our time together, I’m still not completely comfortable with dealing with humans. I spent a long time with humans being considered nothing more than food, and occasional playthings.”

  “Bullpucky! You know how to treat people with common decency. You just choose not to sometimes. I’m not stupid. You think that I don’t notice how you always try to pull a power play when we are dealing with outsiders? If Sam wasn’t here you’d be…you’d be the funny nerd that I absolutely love having around. Just because Sam is here doesn’t mean you have to become this asshole vampire that rules us all. I’ve got news for you, sister! You don’t rule jack crap! You have this weird obsession about trying to appear like you rule us in front of others. You can keep saying it’s a vampire thing, but it’s really just an asshole thing. Now you’ve got me cursing, and Sam probably thinks I’m always this screaming banshee. So congratulations. You’ve ruined what is quite possibly my last reasonable opportunity to hope for something resembling a normal sex life.”

  Penny started to move towards me, but Niki and Danika stepped in between us. Danika was healed up pretty well, but Niki looked like she’d have one heck of a bruise on her neck.

  Niki said, “Penny, you know we all love you. If you keep treating us all like this then you’ll drive us all away. We’re your friends, and I know that deep down you know that treating us like you do isn’t right.”

  “But…how am I supposed to keep you all safe if none of you do what you’re told?” Penny sounded so lost. I almost caved in right there.

  Danika answered, “I know it’s not easy. Trust me. Every day that I wake up I worry about Niki. They’re human, and that means they break so easily. I just want to lock her in a closet, fill it with packing peanuts, and then wrap the whole house in bubble wrap. The problem with that is that if I did something like that, it means I don’t trust her to make her own decisions. Penny, we have to love them all enough to allow them to live their own lives. We have to accept that they might get hurt, or even die.”

  “I WILL NOT ACCEPT THAT! NOT NOW! NOT EVER!” Penny was fuming.

  “Then all you’ll do is drive them away. Do you remember the book Of Mice and Men?” Danika’s question caught me a little off guard. I couldn’t see where she was going with this.

  “What does that have to do with anything?” Penny hissed.

  Danika wrapped an arm around Penny, “Honey, you’re like Lennie. Your heart is in the right place, but sometimes your intentions get in the way of our lives. I know you mean well, but if you keep it up you’ll either drive us all away, or we’ll eventually hate you for trying to control us. It’s just like Lennie when he accidently killed a puppy by petting it.”

  “I thought he hit it because he thought it was going to bite him. I think you�
��re getting your books and your Bugs Bunny cartoons confused.” Penny grumbled.

  “Seriously! I’m trying to help you, and you want to give me shit about whether it was of Mice and Men or Hugo the Abominable Snowman from a Bugs and Daffy cartoon?” Danika growled in frustration.

  “I just want to keep you all safe, and the only way to do that is for you to all do exactly as I say…when I say it, and not question it. Crap…I really do sound like a big bag of crazy don’t I?” Penny’s shoulders slumped in defeat.

  “If they made any bigger bags of crazy, then Costco would probably sell them.” Niki laughed.

  “I’m sorry guys. I just want to keep you safe.” Penny said sadly.

  “And Lennie just wanted to pet the rabbit.” I grumbled, but most of my anger seeped away the moment Penny started acknowledging the problems that she was causing all of us.

  I think we might have all started hugging at that moment, but then we heard the screams. Grim must have caught up to the leftover pack members. We could hear their howls of terror, and one by one those howls were cut short. My stomach knotted as the screams dwindled.

  Niki whispered, “Dear God, what the hell is he doing to them?”

  “He’s doing what he does best.” Penny said it with so much pride that it made me shudder.

  “You don’t have to sound so happy about it.” Niki grumbled.

  “I’m sorry, weren’t you the one that called us asking for help? What did you think he was going to do? His little sister was about to go fighting a pack of weres. By the way, just how did that work out for you? In fact, how did that work out for all of us? Your girlfriend is just now getting her legs under her. You look like a poster child for domestic violence. DD nearly got raped, and my fucking arm won’t heal right because I’m still so low on blood that I can’t make it knit properly. So tonight they almost killed us, and you’re surprised that Grimmy is opening a grade-A can of whoop-ass on them? It’s just a good thing that his powers spooked them like they did. If they’d have stayed to fight we’d probably all be dead.”

  “Well you don’t have to be a bitch about it.” Niki muttered.

  Penny walked over, ignoring the remaining screams completely, “Niki, this is why I’ve been trying so hard to control everything. Don’t get me wrong, I know you’re all absolutely right. I’ve been smothering you guys at times, and driving you crazy by micromanaging everything. I’ll try to do better. At the same time, you guys really have to start being more careful. You can’t just run off into the night and expect Grim and I to help pick up the pieces. If you’d have called ten minutes later than you did…we wouldn’t have been able to get here to help you.” She then turned to Danika, “You of all people should know better than this. With The Darkness out trying to get us, what the hell were you thinking?”

  Danika stared at the ground, “They threatened to go after Niki unless I met them somewhere to talk. I know it was stupid, but I’d have done anything to keep her safe. She means everything to me.” Danika and Niki hugged, and kissed each other. It wasn’t a passionate kiss, just a reassuring kiss to ease their tension.

  Penny smiled a warm, caring smile, “I know. I’d have probably done the same thing. The problem is that we can’t handle this stuff on our own. There’s something, or someone out there trying to kill us. The easiest way to do that is to separate us from the group, and pick us off one at a time. We have to stay together. We have to look out for one another. I’ll try not to drive you guys crazy, but you also have to not do something this incredibly stupid again. Now that being said, where’s Katy?”

  Terror flooded all our faces as the realization hit us. Divide and conquer. The werewolves tried it with Danika, and now Katy was alone with a bunch of witches. Who knew what they might be doing to her? I reached in and grabbed my cellphone, before I could start dialing Penny snatched it out of my hand. “Hey!” I screamed.

  “Yes, I’m a controlling bitch, but I’m a controlling bitch that can dial faster than you.” Penny grumbled as she tapped away on the keys. As soon as she finished dialing she stuck the phone in my hands, “There, happy now?” I’d have probably grumbled more about it, but right now I was so afraid for Katy that I just slapped the phone against my ear. Two things happened. The first thing was that I hurt myself by slamming the phone into the side of my head way too hard. The second being that while hurting myself, I also accidentally hung up the phone. The irony didn’t escape me that the very first time Penny tried to meet me halfway by giving the phone back to me, I screwed it up massively. It would be a miracle if she even let me chew my own food at this rate.

  Penny snatched the phone away, and dialed again while muttering, “Fucking humans! You’d think they could at least operate a damn phone. She can build all kinds of amazing things, but still hasn’t mastered the FUCKING ON-OFF BUTTON!” I tried not to take it personally. Especially since my ear was still throbbing from the impact. I just kept reminding myself that Penny was worried, and when she gets worried, she gets like this.

  Penny turned on the speakerphone. It rang, and rang, and rang. Each ring increased our tension ten-fold. Penny’s normally steady hands were trembling, and she looked almost ready to crush the phone. Finally, Katy answered, “Hey guys! What are you all up to? I’ve been looking around the hotel for you everywhere.”

  “Are you okay? Have they done anything to you?” Penny growled.

  “Has anyone done anything to me? What? Hey, aren’t you supposed to be on a date with Grim? Why are you on DD’s phone?” Katy sounded pretty confused.

  “Penny and Grim had to come save us. Danika got attacked by weres. It’s a long story, and we’ll fill you in when we get home. We were just worried that those witches might try to hurt you.” I said, trying to keep us all focused.

  “Yeah, those guys were complete posers. If magic was electricity they wouldn’t have enough power to toast bread.” Katy laughed.

  “Still, be careful. They may not be powerful witches, but they can still use a knife or gun just like anyone else.” Niki warned.

  “Relax, they’re just fad chasers. Being a witch seemed cool, and so they got together and made their own coven. They’re also big into recycling, saving the animals, and all that other hippie bullshit.”

  “I don’t see what’s wrong about saving animals.” Penny pouted.

  “They only want to save the cute and cuddly ones. They’d save a kitten, a puppy, and maybe a baby bunny, but a mangy dog, a flea-bitten cat, or something that isn’t cute is kind of on its own.”

  “That’s just not right.” Penny grumbled.

  “Please! You’d save every animal if you could. You’d even save leeches if they didn’t all run from you like you went to the Michael Vick School of pet care.” Katy snickered.

  “Focus people! Katy, you may want to stay in public, or head back to your room. You’re all by yourself, and you could be the next target. As soon as Grim finishes up here we’ll be making our way back.” I said, and I tried not to notice how sad Penny looked. It was no real secret that she loved animals, but her vampire nature spooked them. I was still curious about how her opportunity to pet wild animals went, but I was afraid to ask in case it went badly.

  The Black formed in front of us, and Grim rose slowly. He was holding a barely conscious were by his head. As soon as Grim’s full body was out of The Black, he closed it up, cutting the were’s legs off just above the knee. It cut them off so cleanly that it looked almost as though it was done surgically. The were howled in pain. I thought he would just bleed out, but then I noticed someone had tied a belt around both legs to slow the bleeding. Grim had planned to cut off the man’s legs, and used his belt as a makeshift tourniquet. Jesus, he could be really brutal when he wants to be.

  “Now, who sent you?” Grim growled.

  “Fuck you!” The were spat.

  Grim started humming a happy little tune. He reached down, and grabbed the man’s right hand. He lifted it up, then carefully taking the man’s thumb, Grim ga
ve it a hard twist until the thumb popped. The man screamed, but Grim only chose another finger and broke it as well. Grim was about to grab the third finger when the man finally spoke, “Fuck! I’ll tell you. Just stop okay. I don’t know who sent us. Only Randy knew the person that hired us. He’s the guy that vampire bitch decapitated with a Frisbee.”

  Grim grabbed the man’s third and fourth finger and twisted them both around one another like he was making cinnamon twists. They cracked and popped as the man screamed. When Grim let go, both fingers were twisted horribly, and I never wanted to eat from Shipley’s ever again. I’m pretty sure from now on, instead of cinnamon twists, I’ll be thinking of this guy’s fingers. Yuck.

  Grim snatched up the pinky, and the man howled, “I really don’t know all right! I’m not lying! Please, why don’t you believe me?” The man was crying, and if he hadn’t just been part of a group of people trying to rape and murder us; I probably would have been begging Grim to stop.

  “Oh, I do believe you.” Grim said with a cold smile that caught me by surprise. “I believe every word you said. You think this is to get information from you? You don’t have any information left to give. No, my friend. I’m doing this just for the fun of it. Now…scream for me.” And Grim gave a sharp twist, and then with a hard tug, he ripped the man’s pinky off. The man screamed, but then started crying.

  “Holy shit. Big bro? We can’t do this. Killing him is one thing, but torturing just for…fun, that’s something else entirely.” Niki was as shocked as the rest of us. Even Penny was a little taken aback by how much Grim was enjoying this.

  Grim sighed, and then dropped the were. He then pinned him down by kneeling over him, pressing his shin down over the were’s throat. “Sis, you know it’s pretty cute that you still think I’m one of the good guys.”

  Niki begged, “But we are the good guys. I mean, you serve God. If that doesn’t make you a good guy, what does?”

  The man was kicking his little stumps, and trying to push Grim off. If the man wasn’t already going through shock, and suffering blood loss, and a severely damaged hand he might have tossed Grim off easily. As it was he couldn’t really do much more than flail around, and that was getting weaker by the second. Grim smiled, “No, I’m the guy that kills everyone at the end. I’m just a tool for Him to use. When the time comes, I’ll be sent out to kill a fourth of the world. How can you ever say I’m one of the good guys when I’ll be slaughtering so many people?”