As the three of them approached us, Freddy was the first to speak.
“Well done, both of you, truly exceptional work. Are you unharmed?” he asked.
At that point I looked myself over for the first time. There were several slashes through my black polo shirt, although none of the cuts were very deep. My jeans had seen better days, slashes all over and a big one across my left thigh. I also had a spattering of blood here and there, especially on my silver-ish sneakers. I looked over at Erika and then back up at Freddy before I responded.
“It would seem the only casualty is Erika’s shirt.”
Danny giggled, Kara looked at Erika and they both shook their heads and rolled their eyes. Freddy, as usual, wasn’t sure how to respond so he just put on his “oh dear” face. The team wandered around the bar to make sure there wasn’t anything we were missing. Kara waved her arms around in a magical looking fashion, while Danny closed his eyes and focused on the area, and Freddy seemed to be noting the architecture. But no one found anything out of the ordinary. A quick word with the recently awakened bartender confirmed what we all suspected. This was another fight between the Rock Creek and Potomac werewolf packs.
Things were getting out of hand fast and we needed to put a lid on it before it spilled onto the streets. At this rate we weren’t far away from a full-blown pack war.
CHAPTER 2
The girls and Danny headed out to the van while I stayed behind to make sure the guards had no trouble securing all the prisoners. Freddy, for some unknown reason, decided to keep me company. He was rambling on about the building’s architecture and its history. I was only half listening. Something about the Feng shui being set up to keep a calm atmosphere and Celtic symbols carved into the wood in order to promote peace or something. Freddy means well, but most of the time his ramblings are just that, ramblings. I nodded like I was listening, keeping my attention on the lycans scattered around the bar.
Once they were all secured and escorted out, even the barkeep who was coming downtown to give an official statement, Freddy and I stepped out into the early evening sun. It was late June and we were enjoying the last of a few low humidity days in the seventies. The weather report said that things were going to start getting hot and humid tomorrow, so I took a deep breath and enjoyed the pleasant evening air.
The bar was nestled in behind a couple of rundown warehouses, which backed up to Rock Creek Park. It was a great place to have a supernatural pub, very little civilian traffic and easy access to the park. Once the door was locked, one of the guards threw some police tape over it, to make it clear that they were temporarily closed for business. I nodded and thanked him and his men for their help before Freddy and I started walking towards Vlad and the van. Freddy was still rambling and something he said actually caught my attention.
“…Quite brave of a wererat to open a place like that,” he said.
“Wait, who’s a wererat?”
“The bartender. He was the gentleman who called us in. It’s no wonder he had trouble keeping things under control. Even with all the Feng shui and…” I cut him off.
“Seriously, that dude was a wererat? Since I hadn’t seen anything other than lycan, I was starting to think that you all made the rest up.”
“Of course not. Why would we deceive you in that way?” Freddy asked very seriously.
Freddy is so noble that sometimes I can’t help but smile. I knew that he wouldn’t deceive me, especially on something important. While I do often enjoy his wide-eyed innocence, it can be dangerous when trouble hits. Which is why I promoted myself to the rank of battlefield commander. I was actually shocked that Freddy didn’t complain more. Maybe the boss had my back. Or maybe Freddy just realized that he was in way over his head when things started to hit the fan. Whatever the reason, they had agreed and kept out of my way when the fists started flying. But enough about them, there was a rat to learn of.
“How do you know he was a rat?”
As I pointed out earlier, when Erika and I joined the fight, the barkeep was already unconscious and in human form. Having no evidence to the contrary, I just assumed he was another wolf. Freddy frowned for a minute before responding.
“I mentioned it in our pre-mission briefing. Perhaps we were having communication issues. Now that you have chosen to ride in your own vehicle, we should run occasional equipment tests in order to make sure that all of our communication gear is in full working order. I wouldn’t want you missing important information like this in the future,” he finished.
There was a slight look of worry on Freddy’s face. It was clear that he was actually concerned about me missing information. So, I gave him a reassuring nod as if we would check the equipment. Although, I was pretty sure that there was nothing wrong with our gear. I had a fairly good idea why I missed that tidbit of information. The truth was that I just normally tune Freddy out when he drones on. I know, it’s not a good habit, but seriously that dude can ramble. In order to spare Freddy’s feelings, Vlad and I started muting the mic so he wouldn’t over hear us laughing or making fun of his tangents. Yeah, yeah, don’t look at me like that. I never claimed to be a grown up.
But this communication topic brings us back to our rides. The team travels in a large black unmarked van. It always reminds me of a four-door ambulance or a police paddy wagon. It could seat six up front in bucket seats and had enough room in the back for equipment, light lab work, and the occasional body. It looked like a government van and wasn’t going to be very helpful if you wanted to sneak up on someone, but to be fair, my car was far from inconspicuous.
The setting sun was turning a beautiful red and streaking through the trees into the parking lot. A light breeze was shifting the leaves and causing the light to dance across Vlad’s hood. In case you needed any more proof that my super sleek black sports car was awesome, Mother Nature was adding to his flair. Vlad reminded most people of the old Pontiac Firebirds, although he looked far more futuristic. He is a two-door electric vehicle and pretty much the coolest thing on the streets. Also, in case you don’t remember, he’s a dragon.
Vlad is actually the spirit of a long dead dragon. Through a series of unauthorized and irresponsible experiments, a couple of GHOST scientists were going to inadvertently destroy his soul. As luck would have it, I was in the right place at the right time to help. Vlad’s spirit needed something large and organic to bond with in order to survive. I happened to be driving a futuristic sports car that was made of some weird organic composite material in order to go green. Vlad was able to save himself and bond with my car. He has continued to “grow” into his new form and we communicate via the leather band on my left wrist, which sadly is the last remnant of his corpse. I have tried and offered to free his spirit many times, but he claims that it’s his job to watch over me now. Dragons can be odd that way.
In addition to the fact that Vlad can drive himself around, a few other perks have shown up as he continues to bond with the vehicle. The body has become tougher, more durable, and harder to scratch. If you look close, you can even see the outline of what appears to be tiny scales all over his exterior. But if his tough exterior does get damaged, his body will heal on its own. In fact, a series of scratches he acquired on our first mission, across his roof, are almost completely gone now. He’s beyond cool, a good friend, and I am really enjoying the fact that he can now join me at work. I patted him on the hood as we walked by.
As Freddy and I approached, Kara and Danny were chatting and Erika had just stepped out of the back of the van with a new shirt on. Like me, she had taken to carrying extra clothes at all times. The downside to constantly fighting things in the supernatural realm is that they often destroy perfectly good outfits. I grabbed another polo out of the back of Vlad and tossed it over my head. Once I pulled it down I noticed that Erika was looking me over. I gave her a sly smile.
“Get a nice look?”
“It only seemed fair,” she grinned.
I just shook my head and laugh
ed. Kara and Danny both gave each other a knowing smile and Freddy looked confused. Erika and I had gotten much closer over these last few weeks. Spending so much time training and heading into combat together, it brings people closer. Add to that the fact that we both happen to be attracted to each other, and certain other feelings start to crop up too. At first I thought Erika had only started flirting with me as payback for the way I always flirted with her and Kara. But the last few days I was noticing a change in tone. I wasn’t entirely sure it was innocent flirting anymore. I was starting to think she wanted more. I figured that and her performance in the fight were two very good reasons that we needed to have a talk. But first, I could see that Freddy was eager to share information. My rat ignorance clearly gave him a good reason to show off his knowledge skills. I’ll admit that I was a little curious, so I gave him his opening.
“Now that Erika is done being inappropriate, I believe Freddy was going to tell me a bit more about rats?”
“Certainly,” Freddy perked up, “As I said, the bartender, Thomas Williams, is a wererat. They are a fascinating breed of shifters. In fact when I was at University I started a project…” I cut him off.
“Frat party stories later, for now pertinent information. Are they weaker than the wolves?”
“Well, it would depend on your definition of weaker. While most academics consider the lycanthrope to be the most powerful and savage of all shifters…” Freddy paused as Erika interrupted.
“They aren’t that tough,” she scoffed.
I looked back in her direction and she just smiled at me. Freddy taking the queue that she had nothing to add continued.
“As I was saying, the lycan are often considered to be some of the strongest shifters. They are also the most studied. But interestingly enough, it is the Rat shifters that are the most common. Some scholars believe that they may in fact outnumber all other shifters combined. But if you’ll forgive the expression, they are often mousy in nature,” he finished with a tiny snicker.
“You mean they scurry off when people approach?”
“Or more accurately, they are shy and often keep to themselves,” Freddy corrected.
“Are they also free of the infectious bite?”
“Of course. As I have said before, shifters are born, not bitten,” Freddy stated.
“And silver isn’t their friend, right?”
“Another universal shifter fact, a heavy susceptibility to silver. Interestingly enough, when I was in my second year of university…” Freddy droned on.
I had already tuned him out, so I couldn’t tell you what he was talking about. But I started remembering a few of the countless shifter facts that Freddy had mentioned over the last couple of weeks. When all of this mess started, one of the first things I had learned about lycans was how they were made. Contrary to what the movies would have you believe, a werewolf bite does not in anyway turn you into a werewolf. Lycanthropy is actually an inherited trait, although quite often it skips generations. Freddy says sometimes families will go for a hundred years before the gene pops back up. I’m sure that is always a fun birthday surprise.
Apparently it happens with puberty. It’s not bad enough that the kid is getting pimples and regular body hair growing everywhere, now they gotta deal with full moon madness. Although the full moon is another part of the myth that people misunderstand. As the full moon was still a few days away and we had just fought several werewolves, you could probably guess that they are not beholden to the phases of the moon. The exception being when they are young.
It is the power of the full moon that brings about their first change. They turn into a savage beast and awaken the next day with no memory of the night before. There is some kind of teaching process where they learn to accept their beasts so that they can take control and learn to live in harmony. At least that is how Freddy explains it. But I’m sure we’ll get into more of that later. For now there were other matters to attend to.
The guards drove off in their own vans and it seemed about time for us to pack it in. The team had reports to file, and Erika and I should go get checked out in the infirmary. Plus that would give Kara a chance to help speed our healing along with a little magic. I think she felt like it was all she could do to help now that she wasn’t in the fight. As Erika headed for the driver’s side of the van, I stopped her.
“Hey, why don’t you and me ride together? Danny loves to drive the van.”
“Okay,” Erika replied.
“Thanks BD,” Danny smiled.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about my team calling me BD, but once Visine let the cat of the bag, it wasn’t going away anytime soon. It was a nickname I earned at a very dark time in my life. Maybe it was fitting that I use that moniker to atone for my past sins. Either way, it wasn’t worth fighting about now. Danny, Kara, and Freddy nodded farewell and they got into the van. Erika made her way around to the passenger side of Vlad and since he is a gentleman dragon, he opened his door. My door also opened, sliding down under the car as they do, and I jumped in. The doors slid back up, the electric engine whirled to life, and we were off.
“Okay pal, why don’t you drive us back to the office, Auntie Erika and I need to chat.”
“Got it boss,” Vlad replied, out loud.
Erika leaned forward and looked into my eyes. She was a little too comfortable.
“What do you wanna talk about?” she smiled.
She was clearly flirting. Although she had become a bit friendlier the last few days, I had a feeling that this particular advance was her attempt to hide something else. I gave her a warm smile and kept my distance.
“It seems my training is paying off.”
She starred at me for a moment, holding her smile. Then she leaned back in her chair and relaxed. I guess she accepted that we were going to have a real conversation. I patiently waited for her to speak up. She took a deep breath, causing her cute little nostrils to flare before she started to speak.
“I have a good teacher,” she tried.
“I’m starting to think that I can’t take all the credit. There seems to be a bit of natural aptitude at play here.”
“Maybe I have a gift,” she playfully countered.
“Or maybe you’ve been holding back in class. It seems to me that you are stronger and faster than you want me to know. Why is that?”
“Why am I fast or why don’t I want you to know?” she smiled.
I gave her a small smile before replying, “I’ll take either answer.”
“Wouldn’t it be easier if you just make your accusation?” she asked, a hint of anger building in her voice.
It was unusual for Erika to be so emotional. I’m not saying that she didn’t have feelings, but she often controlled those feelings to an impressive degree. I was starting to think that mood swings were also part of whatever she was hiding from me.
“Come on Erika, it’s not like that. I just want to understand what I’m dealing with.”
Even as I said it I knew it was going to be taken the wrong way. What can I say; sometimes I have a way with words.
“Did you just say ‘what’ you’re dealing with?” she barked.
“I didn’t mean…” I sighed, “This isn’t going how I planned.”
“Oh. You had a plan for this attack?” she asked.
“No. I don’t want to attack you. I just want to understand. Frankly, I’m a bit insulted that you feel like you have to hide this from me.”
“Sorry you’re insulted,” she snapped, crossing her arms in frustration.
“Stop making this weird. I’m still gonna try to sleep with you.”
There was a moment of silence as we both took in the absurdity of my statement. Thankfully she broke the tension with a laugh and I joined in.
“At least there’s that,” she tried.
“I just mean that I know who you are. Telling me your secret won’t change that. But I’d like to know what you’re hiding from me. Please?”
“What if I
’m not ready to tell you yet?” she asked.
Her voice was soft and there was a bit of worry in her eyes. I kind of felt bad for pushing her. I sighed and gave her a warm smile.
“Then I guess I get to feel like a jerk for trying to hurry you.”
“You are a jerk,” she laughed and punched me in the arm.
“Tell me about it.”
We rode the rest of the way to the office in silence. I wanted to ask more questions, but she’d made it clear she wasn’t ready to talk. As someone with a dubious past, I could understand not being ready to share details. Heck, no matter what Erika’s secret was, I had a feeling that it would pale in comparison to the things I have done. No matter her past, the safe money said that I was still the biggest monster on this team…by far.
CHAPTER 3
We were heading south on Fifteenth Street and I could see the Washington Monument in front of us. As always, that five hundred and fifty-five foot monolith brought back childhood memories of visits with my mother and made me smile. It was still closed due to the quake damage, but as soon as it opened back up I was taking a trip to the top. If it didn’t happen soon, I might have to sneak in there myself one night.
Just before we hit Constitution Ave, Vlad turned left into the underground parking structure of our building. The GHOST offices were in the southwest corner of a US Department of Commerce building. It was a huge six-story stone and marble structure that did nothing to stand out from every other government building in the city. Exactly the kind of blandness one wants from the building that holds the government’s secret paranormal police force. Especially since we were situated on a very heavily tourist traveled corner. Hiding in plain sight, as they say. Even the gargoyles sat unnoticed as they nestled into nooks upon the roof.
The parking garage gate opened slowly and I could still see the shiny metal spots on its underside where it scraped against Vlad’s roof a few weeks back. I had been in a terrible hurry and didn’t have time to let the gate fully open. Since there was no such emergency today, Vlad allowed to gate to swing all the way up before pulling into the garage, heading down the ramp, and turning immediately to the right. We drove through a pair of large marble pillars, which didn’t even shimmer in response. Vlad knew we often leave in a hurry, so he backed into my assigned space against the far wall. I could see the security guards glaring at me from across the garage.
G.H.O.S.T. Teams (Book 2) Shifters Page 2
