Feros and the Underworld Prince

by A. L. Bridges

  “Oh shit… OH SHIT!” I scream as I pull out my phone to dial Katie’s number.

  “HELLO? COLE? I CAN’T HEAR ANYTHING SO JUST TEXT ME!” Katie shouts over the music and then hangs up.

  Meet me in Desert Arboretum Park, like now!

  Be ther in 5

  I’ve never been one for smoking, but now seems like a pretty good time. I start searching the bodies and I’m in luck: a pack of Camel Crush that contains three cigarettes and a lighter. I break the menthol capsule in the filter and light one up.

  “Cole! You’re covered in blood!” Katie exclaims when she sees me at the park’s entrance about five minutes later.

  “Don’t worry… it’s not mine.” I tell her as I light another cigarette.

  (Because if it’s not your blood, then why would she need to worry?)

  “And since when do you smoke?” Katie asks.

  “Since I just killed Cheza’s boyfriend.” I inform her.

  “What? Cole you didn’t… kill him because he was dating Cheza, did you?” Katie cautiously asks.

  “No, of course not. He and four other guys had M4 carbines and were about to execute a kitsune, a Japanese fox-girl, and then they opened fire on me when I yelled at them to stop… but Cheza will never believe that!” I exclaim as I start to panic.

  “Cole, calm down. If you don’t tell her, Cheza will never know that you did it!” Katie states in a reassuring manner.

  “That won’t work… his torso is a pile of pulp; I’ll be implicated the moment she hears that… hell, I’ll be implicated the moment she hears that he died, regardless of the how.” I say as I hang my head in defeat.

  “What did normal humans want with a kitsune anyway?” Katie asks.

  “I don’t—” I start to say as I remember their red auras. I pull out my phone and dial Natasha’s number.

  “Sorry, Natasha can’t come to the phone for an asshole who has been back for nearly a week and is just now calling her.” Natasha answers.

  “Yeah, sorry about that, but I’m having a bit of a crisis.” I tell her.

  “What’s up?” she asks.

  “I just killed Cheza’s boyfriend, but what’s strange is the fact that he and four other armed men tried to execute a kitsune… oh, and that they all had red auras, just like the enhanced vampires I fought in the Underworld.” I explain.

  “Wait a minute, they were human!?” Natasha asks as if this is really troubling news.

  “Yeah. Their upgrades weren’t really noticeable except for the fact that I was moving at a speed that would have been incredibly difficult to follow, yet they seemed to have no problems tracking me in the middle of the night.” I inform her.

  “This is really bad news… What’s your situation?” Natasha inquires.

  “I’m at the entrance to the park where I killed them, standing around with Cheza’s friend Katie, smoking a cigarette that I bummed off a dead guy, and trying not to think about Cheza’s animosity towards me when she discovers that I killed her boyfriend.” I explain.

  “Haha! Oh, how I’ve missed you Cole! Wait, who’s Katie?” Natasha asks.

  “She’s one of Cheza’s friends that I rescued during Cheza’s grad party. She’s in the organic chemistry class that I’m taking at ASU and we became friends.” I tell her.

  “Wow Cole… you really have a knack for bringing girls into your problems, did you know that?” Natasha says and I nearly drop the phone; her words are a crushing weight upon me as I think of Kita.

  “Cole? Cole are you there? Cole!” Natasha says.

  “Yeah… I’m here…” I reply, sounding like I have something in my throat. I hear Natasha gasp over the phone.

  “Cole… I wasn’t referring to Kita, I was talking about myself. I don’t blame you for her death, Cole… Is this why you haven’t called before now?” Natasha asks gently.

  “Yeah… that probably has something to do with it…” I quietly respond.

  “Then I forgive you for not calling… can you please hand the phone to Katie?” Natasha requests and I hand over the phone.

  “Hello… I’m not sure, what would it entail?… I don’t know… Yeah, I guess I kind of am… Really!? I would!?… He has a harem?… No, we’re just friends so no thanks on the harem; otherwise, I’m in… Okay.” Katie finishes her conversation while I’m too shaken up to consider listening in to hear the whole thing, and then she hands the phone back to me.

  “Okay, so here’s the plan: port Katie and yourself to your house and get cleaned up. I’ll meet you both there in about twenty minutes. Don’t worry about the park, I’ve already sent a team for cleanup and they should be there any minute.” Natasha says.

  “How do you know where I am?” I inquire.

  “We’re the government, Cole; we know everything… haha just kidding. I’m using your phone’s GPS to track you. Now hurry up and get going, and don’t worry about Katie; she was just hired by The Agency’s research and development division. Oh, and by the way, she is going to be studying you in a lab setting sometime in the near future. Tootles!” Natasha says and ends the call.

  Chapter 14: Suck it Dr. Scholl’s

  “Do you mind if we go back to the sorority house first so I can change?” Katie asks after I hang up the phone.

  “Sure.” I tell her and grab her hand as I reach for my triskele.

  “Whoa I feel dizzy… that is too cool! How did you do that!?” Katie exclaims when she sees that we are in her room. I walk into her bathroom and stand there with my back to the door while Katie changes.

  “I don’t really know; it’s something that only gods are supposed to be able to do, but I’ve been able to ever since I had this tri-circle symbol branded onto my shoulder.” I tell her and Katie finishes getting dressed in silence.

  “All done; let’s head to your house.” Katie says a few minutes later when she’s finished changing into jeans and a yellow t-shirt.

  “Alright, let’s go.” I say and grab her hand.

  I port us to my room only to find two armed men standing in it. We all stare at each other for a moment as I notice a red outline around them. They recover and start to snap their submachine guns into firing position, but they never get that far. I backhand both of them using a single swing from my left arm and watch as their heads explode all over my room. I look over at a gore-covered Katie as she slips into shock; at least she wasn’t wearing her white dress from the party. I lead her to the bathroom and I get jumped.

  “COLE! There are a large number of enemies with guns and they have captured Sara and Tia! They told me to take my bracelet off and hide so I ran in here and…” Naia tells me in a flurry of tears.

  “Shhh it’s okay Naia, I’ll take care of this; just stay in here with Katie and make sure they don’t find you.” I tell her.

  I walk towards my closet to arm myself, stopping to touch the unfamiliar submachine gun that the two men were armed with. Heckler & Koch MP7A1, thirty round magazine, velocity of 2400 ft/s, loaded with some kind of custom 4.6mm hollow point. These are definitely guns that are geared to be used against body armor, but because of the hollow point bullets, I’d say that they’re meant to be used against very agile enemies. I consider handing one to Naia, just in case, but I get the feeling that she would be more likely to panic and accidentally shoot me than any enemies.

  With my holster and jacket on, helmet engaged, sword in right hand, gun in left with WFNGC rounds, and silencer attached to my gun, I slowly open my bedroom door and peek around the corner. My extrasensory hearing tells me that there are about four enemies in the living room, roughly three in the kitchen, around three more down Tia and Sara’s hall, and two more in the basement.

  The three men in the kitchen are wearing combat armor and are armed with MP7A1 submachine guns and red auras; I’m guessing that the rest of the intruders are similarly equipped. I can’t get a view on the living room because of my viewing angle. I curse myself for not having a mirror in my room and then I get a brilliant idea; I hold u
p my phone and use the screen to reflect an image of the living room. I see Sara and Tia on their knees with their hands bound behind their backs. I spot three men and one woman in the living room as one of the men approaches Tia.

  “Where is he!?” the man shouts and slaps Tia.

  “We know he’s here! We watched him come home and nobody has left the house so tell us where he is!” the man says as he raises his hand to slap her again.

  That is, until his body hits the floor as the result of a 10mm auto round passing through his skull. I flash out and cut down the nearest enemy while I fire three rounds into the kitchen to take out one more. The team now realizes that something is amiss as they snap their weapons up to start firing. I grab the nearest enemy and press my sword to his throat while I use him as a human shield.

  His comrades don’t even hesitate to open fire on him while I shoot the other two in the kitchen. I rush forward to slice his gun arm and a leg off of the final enemy in the living room. A bullet sinks into my right thigh as two more hit my jacketed ribs. I turn and fire to take out the two men that came up from the basement as three more bullets hit my jacket.

  I walk down Tia and Sara’s hallway while expanding my hearing. I can hear the adrenaline altered breathing of an enemy in Tia’s doorway, along with another in Sara’s doorway. I throw my dead human shield down the hallway and through the guest bedroom door to act as a distraction. Two barrels point towards my distraction, indicating its success. I rush down the hall and slice the head off of the guy in Tia’s doorway as I point my gun behind me and unload the remainder of the magazine. I turn and see that I got two headshots out of the last five rounds. I eject the empty mag, reach around behind me, and slide my gun over a new magazine.

  I return to the living room and slice through the handcuffs that are binding Tia before I hear gunfire from outside… Natasha! I run out the door just in time to watch the spray of blood that results from a bullet passing through Natasha’s neck. She crumples to the ground outside her car as I feel my Drive take over.

  “I create nothing. I preserve nothing. I only destroy. Scatter…” I command as I fling my left arm outward. Small globules of blood fly towards the five enemies that are outside.

  “Incinerate,” I order and watch as the globules explode in giant infernos at head level.

  (Acetylene. Chemical formula: HCCH. When combined with oxygen, it creates an exothermic reaction that burns at six thousand degrees Fahrenheit)

  Airi commentates; I don’t remember when I learned that, but she obviously does. At a temperature that is four times higher than necessary for cremation, the enemies’ heads are pretty much gone and their bodies have also ignited; thankfully, they’re all on the pavement so the fires won’t spread. I rush out the driveway gate to Natasha’s side and see that she is already missing about a liter of blood. I press my left hand over her neck, the hole in my palm coinciding with the one in her jugular, and I force my blood into her. After about half of a liter, I start to feel woozy.

  “Airi, what’s going on?”

  (It seems that you were poisoned, most likely by the bullet that hit you)

  “I thought poisons didn’t affect me?”

  (Most don’t…)

  “Well, keep the contaminated blood away from Natasha and finish the job.”

  My helmet disengages while I finish pumping my blood into Natasha. After instructing my blood to seal off Natasha’s wound, I pass out beside her.

  ****

  “Well, wasn’t that close?” I hear a crackling Kita say as I open my eyes to see the pale, bullet-hole Kita floating over me, parallel to my prone position on top of the bed in the master bedroom.

  “I thought we were about to have a new member; it would have been nice to see Natasha again. You almost had the death of another girl on your hands, and her only crime is associating with you. Who’s going to be next, hmm? Maybe that nice girl, Katie? Perhaps you should just do the world a favor and join us Cole. What are you living for anyway? Chezarei hates you and everyone who gets near you ends up being worse off. You are just a monster that shouldn’t exist so why do you even try?”

  Maybe Kita is right… what’s the point in continuing on when the woman I love hates me and all I bring is suffering to those around me?

  “Here’s what you can do: take that revolver, stick the barrel in your mouth, and pull the trigger.”

  I look at the revolver that is in my hand.

  I pull the hammer back.

  I press the barrel to my temple.

  ****

  [September 13th]

  I wake up in the master bedroom with the memory of my dream consuming my consciousness, along with a feeling that something was off about that dream… then I realize that I’m sharing the bed with Natasha, Naia, and Katie.

  (DAMN BRO! Turn your swag off)

  “Haha thanks Airi, I really needed that.” I tell her as my mood improves despite the aftershock of my dream.

  “Hey Cole, are you awake ye—” Cheza starts to ask as she walks in the room at roughly the same time I realize that I appear to be naked from the waist up, and thus, completely naked to Cheza.

  Well, that improvement was short lived.

  “Cole… did it hurt when you FELL OUT OF THE WHORE TREE AND FUCKED EVERY BRANCH ON THE WAY DOWN!?” Cheza screams and storms out.

  That dream’s bullet isn’t looking too bad right now…

  “Cole… don’t think that… please?” Natasha pouts with a pitiful gaze.

  (Pouting: if used correctly, it will prevent someone from saying no)

  “Wait, you can hear me?” I think.

  “Yes, can you hear me?” Natasha thinks.

  “Shit… yeah, I can and this is seriously going to fuck things up with Cheza. We cannot tell her about this!” I think.

  “Of course not; she’ll kill you, but on the bright side, at least I can’t feel your emotions or hear Airi!” Natasha replies as though the imminent threat to my life is a tested fact.

  “Well, I guess that is something to fall back on if Cheza happens to find out. Have you been able to find anything out about those guys from the park?” I ask.

  “Not yet, but I do have analysts working on it and they will be looking into the people who attacked here last night as well.” Natasha thinks.

  “Don’t bother with that; I’m almost certain that the people from last night are part of the same group as the ones from the park. So, since we have time, what’s been going on with the snow elves?” I ask as a not-so-subtle way of seeing if she still expects us to get married.

  “Haha, don’t worry Cole; with my grandfather gone, the two of us getting married isn’t necessary. Things seem to be going well and Pinga has taken over as chief or chieftess or whatever.” Natasha replies.

  “Well that’s good… not that I had any objections to marrying you or anything; I just see us as friends.” I explain.

  “Right, friends… that occasionally have kinky sex that involves chocolate syrup, peanut butter, and a sexy maid costume.” Natasha thinks with a grin and a wink.

  “Cole! I figured it out! You were poisoned!” Sara exclaims as she barges through the door, waking both Naia and Katie; how they didn’t awaken from Cheza’s screaming? I have no clue.

  “Yeah, I already know that part; what I need to know is the ‘what’ and the ‘how’.” I tell her.

  “Well, I’m going to assume that you mean ‘what poisoned you’ and ‘how was it administered’. The ‘what’ was a mixture of chlorotoxin and ground Datura seeds. The ‘how’ was a hollow-point bullet with a not-so-hollow point that sent out an electrical pulse when it penetrated your skin; I think that is the reason why you weren’t able to immediately neutralize it like you should have.” Sara informs me.

  I open my mouth to ask Sara what a Datura is when I’m interrupted by a ringing cellphone. Natasha crawls over me to answer her phone, allowing her thong-covered/ essentially bare ass to linger in front of my face… or my perceptions unconsciously
sped up at the sight of Natasha’s ass, allowing a one second time frame to span ten times that amount… both are equally possible.

  “Natasha here.” Natasha answers and I listen in on the conversation.

  “There’s a situation in Seattle. A group of drug peddling midgets are using a new type of steroid to cheat at the Special Olympics and they have started causing trouble for the local law enforcement agency. We are calling in all hands on this one so see if your friend is available for dinner this evening. See you there. Oh, and bring the new girl you hired so I can meet her.” A woman with a serious tone says and then hangs up.

  “Drug peddling midgets?” I ask.

  “It was a code. Apparently there is something big going down with enhanced supernaturals in Seattle and Carla has requested your presence.” Natasha explains.

  “Alright, when do you want to leave?” I ask.

  I need to talk to Cheza about Jarrett, but I really don’t want to, so going to Seattle as soon as possible doesn’t seem like a bad idea.

  “Cole, I have something for you before you leave.” Sara tells me.

  “Okay. Katie, you’re coming with us to Seattle; your new boss wants to meet you. I’m porting you back to your room so you can pack an overnight bag; just give me a call when you’re ready. Natasha, I need you to find a location for me to port to.” I order.

  Katie gets out of bed and I see that she is wearing some of Sara’s clothing… right, I exploded two guys’ heads next to her last night. Well, that explains why I’m in the master bedroom: there’s brain matter exploded all over mine. This doesn’t explain why everyone was in bed with me, however; I suppose it’s not really that important. I port Katie back to her room so she can pack a bag.

  “You don’t need to stay, Cole; I’ll just text you when I’m ready.” Katie says.

  “It’s not that; I have to wait a minute between porting for some reason.” I tell her.

  “Oh, okay.” Katie replies and starts packing.

  Thirty seconds later, I touch my triskele, port home, walk to Sara’s room, and knock on the door.