Light and Shadows: A Kaitlyn Strong Story

by Art DeForest

  “They have him! The goon who shot me said he was going to kill Fangs personally!” I tried once more to rise. Running to my companion as fast I could was all I could think about. The hands of my supposed friend continued to restrain my efforts. “Let me go!” I said, frantically swatting at them as I tried to move.

  “Kaitlyn, calm down.” Came Sara’s voice sharply. “You won’t do Fangs any good running off without thought.”

  I continued to struggle for a second, but what Sara said made entirely to much sense. Darn it. “They’re going to kill him.” I said plaintively, looking into her eyes.

  “He is a very tough and dangerous animal, Kaitlyn.” She soothed. “Use your power and try to connect with him. See if you can find out what’s going on.”

  I stared at her briefly with a vacant expression on my face at her brilliant suggestion. “Duh,” I thought to myself. “Using your brain is a good thing, dumbass.” I chided myself before relaxing back to the floor and closing my eyes.

  It only took a second for me to reach out and touch Fangs’ mind. He was hiding someplace dark. He welcomed me silently as we connected once more, sending a wave of love and assurance that he was fine. His thoughts were like a calming balm to my frantic mind.

  I relaxed further, letting my muscles go limp with relief. “He’s alive.” I said quietly. “He managed to escape his cage and he’s hiding right now.”

  “That’s a relief.” Said Sara with an audible sigh. If anyone knew what it would mean for me to lose Fangs, it was Sara.

  “He’s hiding right now, but he knows that they are looking for him.” I said after a moment. Apparently he had a pretty close call with the goons from the subway tunnel before he got away.” I said, glancing up at Deacon.

  He nodded in acknowledgment. “Still, he has given us a little time in which to plan, instead of having to rush off, guns blazing.”

  “I don’t think we’ve got time to get reinforcements though.” I replied.

  “Definitely not.” Came a female voice from behind me. “Antonella’s people could be there at any moment to pick you up.”

  I jerked my head around to see Lila standing there with a worried expression on her face. “Antonella’s people could be there any minute to get you.”

  I stared at her for a moment before turning back around to stare at Sara once more. “What’s she talking about? I’m already gone.”

  Deacon spoke up before Sara could reply. “It turns out that Viktor’s people had the place bugged. The Abandonados have so many properties that he didn’t recognize the address when I first gave it to him.” He said with a slight look of chagrin. “Once he knew what property we were talking about, he directed his people to start actively listening instead of just recording. We heard people there call in to Antonella and inform her of your presence. She said she was sending a car to pick you up. Having Lila with us gave us a chance to rescue you without storming the place.” He said with a sly grin.

  I nodded at him in thanks even as my brows drew down into a concerned expression. “What is it.” He asked, looking at my face.

  “That’s two possible ways to access that building that are burned for us now. The elevator they caught me at and Lila.” I replied. “How are we going to get in there now?

  “We are hoping that you can use your connection to Fangs to get some idea of where he is in the building.” Replied Deacon. “It may come down to breaching a locked door or even a wall, but our hope is that we can get as close as possible to him before having to do anything drastic.”

  I nodded my head, seeing the sense in his plan. I’d never tried to track Fangs using our bond. It was still a relatively new thing for us after all. “Can I do that?” I asked, turning to face Sara.

  “I believe so.” She returned. “I have a general sense of where Kanjee is at all times. Concentration and communication with him allows me to get fairly close.”

  I nodded at her words and closed my eyes once more. As I examined our bond, I could definitely sense his direction from me. “He’s in that direction.” I said raising an arm to point. “I can’t really tell how far away precisely, but not too far.”

  “At least she’s pointing in the right direction for Fangs last known position.” He said from his lookout position near the entry into the store room. I wish someone could point Trish out like that.” He concluded glumly.”

  My eyes got big at his last remark. “My god, In all my worry for Fangs, I forgot about Trish!” I exclaimed. “We’ve got to get in there now.” I said urgently. “If Antonella is sending people after me then they may very well be going after Trish as well. Especially since they know we’re onto her location.”

  Suiting action to word, I tried to stand up once more, going slowly this time and letting my head adjust to the movement. I found the vertigo had left me thanks to Sara’s blood and my own healing abilities. Remembering Sara’s previous chastisement about running off without a plan, I stood for a moment in thought. “Give me a sec.” I said to the others as they watched me rise. “I’m going to see if Fangs has her scent. Maybe he can get close to her and we can get them both at the same time.”

  I sent an image of Trish out to Fangs, along with an inquisitive thought about tracking her down. I got the sense of him sampling the air around him with his nose for a moment before getting confirmation that he could, indeed, smell her. The smell was faint however. With a little encouragement, Fangs left his place of refuge and started sniffing around for Trish.

  With a final admonishment that he be careful, I opened my eyes once again. “Fangs is trying to track her down. He’s got a faint scent to trail.”

  Before we got out of the backroom, I stopped once more. “Does anyone have any spare weapons?” I said a bit plaintively. “I feel naked here.”

  Reaching into the side pocket of his black cargo pants, Deacon withdrew two hawthorne stakes and handed them to me. While he was doing that, Marcus reached down to a concealed ankle holster and withdrew the biggest derringer I’ve ever seen. “Holy crap.” I said. “What does that beast shoot?” I asked with an astonished look on my face.”

  “.45 long colt or .410 shotgun shells.” He said with a grin. “There’s one of each in there.” He said, gesturing towards the gun. First shot is the .45, silver ball hollow point like you carry in your Kimber. The second is the .410 round, packed with 6 silver balls of double ought buckshot.

  I raised my eyebrows in appreciation. “That should do some damage anyway.” I replied. As big as the piece was for a derringer, it still fit easily into the thigh pocket of my pants.

  Nothing delayed us further and we were quickly through the storefront and back out on the street with a quick wave to Mo Ping as he sat behind the counter.

  Marcus and Deacon were still dressed up in their touristy chinese peasant outfits. The large bag holding their long guns was banging along against Deacon’s hip, the strap over one broad shoulder.

  We didn’t dare approach the front of the building this time, so turned to go down the side street once we crossed the street. We walked along the side of the building until we came to the grungy alley behind it. Ducking into it, we stopped and I once again focused on Fangs.

  8

  Fangs had fled down and around in circles on the stairs, only to be brought up short by yet another tall door. He noticed that this one had a large metal bar across it about half way up and he wondered if it worked like the small bar that he’d moved in order to escape his cage.

  Raising up on his hind legs, he put the weight of his front paws on the bar, so he could inspect it. Much to his surprise, the bar moved towards the door with a metal clack and the barrier started to move underneath him. He jumped into the air and flew backwards in surprise at the movement under his paws, landing in a crouch a short distance away. He stared at the barrier, poised to run or fight, depending on what came through the door. He heard another clack as it settled back in place.

  Fangs stayed crouched for a while, watching the door in
tently, but nothing came through. It was then that he started to consider that maybe it was his own actions that caused the barrier to move instead of some bad person, coming to poke him with a metal fang again. He had touched the metal bar after all. He hadn’t had a chance to try and pull it to the side yet, but maybe this bigger bar only needed to have his paws on it in order to open the door.

  Getting up from his tense crouch, he moved towards the door cautiously. He was tensed to jump and run at the slightest hint that it was opening. When he reached the large obstruction, Fangs pushed his nose into the spot where the door met the wall. Nothing happened, so once again he steeled himself and put his front paws back on the bar.

  Just like before, the cool piece of metal under his paws, moved and there was the clack sound that he heard previously. The door started opening again, but this time he didn’t jump away. As it moved away from him, he let his front paws slide from the bar to the hard surface of the door and allowed them to move down the face as it continued to open further. He saw that the barrier was opened wide enough for him to slip through as his feet came to rest on the floor, but it also started to close immediately once his paws touched the ground.

  Acting on impulse, he bolted for the opening. His tail just managed to get through the barrier before it closed tightly once more. That was good. Doors that closed on your tail, hurt! Painful past experience had taught him that.

  Bitter smells assaulted his nose. Things like what his person put on rags when she rubbed the flat surfaces in their den. He also smelled blood, and fear. He was standing in the middle of another long narrow hallway. Doors were strewn up and down, along both sides of the hall. Down at one end of the hall was a large room with bright lights and strange sounds coming out of it. It was also where the bad smells came from. He really didn’t want to go in there.

  A quick inspection of the hallway showed that one of the doors was open slightly. That was good. All the doors, except for the one at the opposite end of the hall from the bad room, had the round balls on them that Fangs had never been able to get past. The one at the other end of the hall had a bar across it like the one Fangs had just passed through. He debated for a moment about which way to go, but finally settled on the nearby door that was open. In his gut, he knew the bad men were looking for him, so he wanted to get under cover and hide as soon as possible.

  Fangs found a good hiding spot behind a soft box that humans sat on. Sometimes Fangs got yelled at when he tried to sit on them too. It was confusing. It seemed like sitting on them is what they were for. Dismissing the thought, Fangs curled up and went to sleep. Waiting for his person to come.

  She didn’t show up to hug him and rub his ears like he’d hoped she would. Instead, after a nap had passed, he felt her once more touching his thoughts. Relief and love poured through the bond as she felt that he was safe and hidden as she had suggested. She also had another task for him. She wanted him to keep tracking the wolf person that he had followed to this bad place.

  Fangs reassured his person that he could do that. His inner self trembled a bit however, because that meant he had to go into the evil smelling room. Her scent was wafting out of it constantly along with the bad smells.

  Rising up to all fours, he shook himself and stretched. A huge yawn followed that showed an impressive array of teeth. Now, he was ready to continue the hunt. The door he’d come through earlier, still open. He eased his head through it in order to make sure nothing had changed. Seeing things as they should be, he eased out of the entry and moved slowly towards the evil smelling room.

  The lights were very bright in this room. It reflected into his eyes sharply, off the shiny white walls, ceiling and floor. In the center of the room, was what looked like, an uncomfortable looking bed. Fangs wasn’t sure about that, however since it was made of cold shiny metal and didn’t have any warm comfy blankets on it. Instead of blankets, it had heavy pieces of leather at each corner and at the middle of one end that appeared similar to the dreaded collar his person sometimes forced him to wear. At least they had similar bits of metal on the ends, just like the collar.

  Metal tables and long silvery poles were placed around the table in haphazard fashion. Fangs couldn’t see what was on the metal table, but there was a faint trace of blood coming from whatever it was. Some of it was from the wolf person he was tracking.

  A small moan from the other side of the room drew his attention away from the table and over to a cage in the corner that was much larger than the one in which Fangs had been placed. Moving around the table for an unobstructed view, he saw the wolf person he’d been tracking, huddled in the bottom of the cage.

  Fangs felt the primal feeling of accomplishment that all predators feel when they track down their prey. He knew she wasn’t food, being she was one of his people, but the sense of accomplishment was there, nevertheless.

  Trish moaned softly again as she changed her position slightly. Fangs padded softly over to the cage and looked down at her huddled form. She seemed smaller to Fangs. Ribs were clearly visible on her bare sides and the bones of her hip seemed to protrude away from her. There were no cuts or wounds, but he could tell that there had been by the smell of dried blood on the floor.

  “Mmmrow?” Said Fangs softly down to the prone figure. He had to say it a few more times before an eyelid cracked open to gaze confusedly in his direction.

  She stared blearily at him for a moment before Fangs saw recognition light her features slightly. “F..Fangs?” She said in a dry, cracked voice. “Is that you?”

  Recognizing his name, Fangs called to her once more and both Trish’s eyes opened fully. “You are a sight for sore eyes, big boy.” She said as she moved painfully to raise an arm toward him.

  He couldn’t fit his head between the bars to comfort her, but he pressed his large spotted head against them to she could rub his ears. A low rumbling purr started in his throat as he felt her hand stroke his head weakly.

  “Where’s Kaitlyn, boy?” Said Trish.

  He didn’t know what the sounds meant for the most part, but he did recognize his person’s name. That reminded him to reach out to her and show her that he’d accomplished his task. She seemed closer to him now as he sent his thoughts her way. That was good. Maybe, since he’d finished his job, they could go back to the den now and cuddle for a nice long nap.

  Fangs felt praise and love coming back to him from his person along with assurances that yes indeed, she too, was looking forward to cuddle time as well. He just needed to be patient and protect the wolf person until she got there. It wouldn’t be long now.

  ++++

  “He’s below us.” I told the others as we stood as unobtrusively as possible behind a large green, foul smelling dumpster in the alley. I was staring at the back of the building, a finger pointing down at a fairly steep angle towards its interior.

  “Deacon withdrew a small tablet from the thigh pocket of his pants. Bringing it to life, he started perusing the blueprints that Viktor had scanned and downloaded to it earlier, while I was sleeping.

  “There is no basement shown in the original plans.” Said Deacon, continuing to swipe his finger across the tablet. “There are several locked service doors along this back wall.” He said, waving vaguely on down the alley. “But I cannot see where stair access may be found. Unless it is attached to the stairs that travel up beside the main elevator.

  “What about gaining entry through the subway tunnels?” I asked, my brow furrowed in thought. “Even if they are guarding the elevator now it may still be less dangerous than trying to get past them on the main floor. Plus,” I continued. “If this basement has any size to it, which I think it must have, then there may well be other entrances we haven’t found yet.”

  “That’s true.” Said Marcus, nodding his head. “We haven’t had the chance to explore down there since discovering the elevator. With all the hoopla of certain unnamed people being captured trying to save stray dogs and then needing to be rescued, we just haven’t had the
chance.” He added with a sardonic smile.

  I tried hard to glare at him, but I couldn’t summon much wattage. He was kind of right after all. “Be that as it may.” I said, raising my nose in the air a little. “I think our most direct route to Fangs and Trish may be down there.

  ++++

  Fangs’ head jerked up at a sound coming from the hallway. He’d crouched by the cage for quite a while, giving what comfort he could to the wolf person and keeping watch for her. Now, somebody had opened the door he’d come through earlier.

  The sound of the door opening was quickly followed by a snuffling sound followed quickly by the sound of claws, clicking against the hard tile floor. Fangs knew by the deep sound of the snuffling that it was an animal much larger than himself and the hackles on his neck and back started to rise. “Heh, he came down to where we’d have taken him anyway.” Came a voice from down the hallway. Fangs didn’t understand the sounds, but he recognized the voice of one of the bad men. The hair on his tail flared out.

  The table in the center blocked his view down the hallway, so he carefully slinked out from under the wolf person’s hand where it had rested on his back as she rested in the cage. “Wha? Fangs, where are you going?” The wolf person muttered, waking up from a fitful drowse. He recognized his name, but he had to see what was happening.