Grave Beginnings (The Grave Report, Book 1)

by Virdi, R. R

  I crept forwards cautiously to watch as smoke began billowing out of her jagged and now deformed mouth, as the smoke continued to pour out, her features began to shift, her lengthy fiery hued hair began to recede and darken. Within seconds her hair was the exact shade and style it was when she was posing as a human, the rest of her body soon followed, her glimmering red skin was soon back to her prior fair complexion, the obsidian protrusions were gone as was her tail. Lying in a crumpled mess before me wasn’t the body of something out of a fiction story but rather a young naked woman.

  “Is…is it over?” asked Ortiz hesitantly.

  “Yeah,” I said hoarsely, “I think it’s over.”

  Ortiz decided to go perfectly limp and plop straight onto the floor, falling into a comfortable cross legged position, hunching over as she propped herself up on her balled up fists, her elbows were resting on her thighs. “Thank God,” exhaled Ortiz in complete exhaustion, “it’s finally over.”

  “Not exactly,” I said firmly, “what about him?” I asked, giving a sharp nod towards the unconscious James, sprawled all over the museum floor.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “Right…” Ortiz muttered as she calmly rose back to her feet, “what about him?” she mused slowly to herself.

  “You can’t take him in can you?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

  “No,” she replied bitterly, “I can’t charge him for any of the deaths that have occurred, there’s no solid links.” She explained.

  “Or believable ones at that,” I snorted.

  “True,” she replied.

  I looked around the museum a bit and then back to Ortiz whom I shot a wide grin, “destruction of public property?” I said with a mild shrug.

  She smirked, “I think I could make that one stick,” she said in a pleased tone.

  I cleared my throat forcibly and stood up straight as I said, “assaulting a respectable citizen,” making a mock gesture of straightening a tie. It’s not like I had a tie to straighten, hell, I didn’t even have a complete shirt left!

  Ortiz quirked a question eyebrow, “you know if you claim that, you’re going to have be questioned again, you sure want to be dragged into that?”

  “If you take him in,” I said nodding towards James, “aren’t you going to being dragged into worse.”

  “You already dragged me into worse,” she chided, casting a wide glance around the museum and nodding to the Ifrit’s corpse.

  “Ah, good point,” I conceded, “but seriously, how are you going to explain any of this, how are you going to explain why he looks like he’s in sixties?”

  Ortiz’s face became a pensive frown, “I can’t.”

  “Then…maybe, oh I don’t know, don’t file a report?”

  Her face looked like I had just committed some form of heresy, “I have to report this Norman, rules.” She said as if that explained everything.

  “Ah screw the rules,” I said in animated voice and making a disregarding motion with my hand.

  “You’re speaking another language as far as I’m concerned,” Ortiz said in an exasperating tone but there was a small smile on her face.

  “Alright then,” I said with a sigh as I knelt to scoop up the Ifrit’s now useless vessel, “how’s about we all go to the hospital first, then decide?”

  Ortiz pursed her lips as she thought for a moment, “works for me,” she agreed, “and then…a nap.” She added.

  I let out a bark of laughter. I could’ve used one as well but now that my case was done, I would be pulled from Norman’s body and shoved into some other meat suit just as soon as I visited Church and wrapped things up.

  I walked over to James and bent over to grab him by the elbow, “come on grandpa,” I groaned as I began lifting him to his feet, “we’re going to the hospital!” I said cheerily. “Imagine it,” I groaned as I continued hauling him up, “drop dead gorgeous nurses ready to give us sponge baths and all you can eat Jell-O!”

  James had decided to speak for the first time in, well a while, “I…I…” he wheezed feebly.

  “You….?” I asked confused.

  “I…feel her,” he rasped weakly.

  “You…feel…her?” I said perplexed, “the hell does,” I began when suddenly all the air was forced out of my body. “Oomph,” was the sound that came out of me as the Ifrit’s sprang forwards with all her mass and speed, colliding hard with my mid section. James slipped from my grip and sunk to the floor wearily, there was a series of cracking sounds around torso and several more as I slammed into the hard museum floor nearly a dozen feet away.

  I tried to shout, why won’t you die!? Only it came out as, “hrngh!” courtesy of broken ribs…as in all of them.

  Ortiz was a blur of motion, racing forwards with the pistol held up high like a club; she drove it down towards the Ifrit’s skull in a furious pistol whip. The Ifrit however was having none of that; with a lazy upward flick of her wrist she had slapped the pistol out of Ortiz’s hand with ease.

  The Ifrit had lashed out with her palm at Ortiz’s chest but Ortiz leaned out of the way, the blow glancing her shoulder and sending her into an out of control sprawl towards the ground.

  There was a noticeable thunk several feet in front of me; it was where Ortiz’s pistol had landed. I exhaled in frustration, even that hurt, I gritted my teeth as I crawled forwards. This was by far the most difficult several feet I’ve have had to cross, it’s hard to do anything with all your ribs broken. It doesn’t take much imagination to understand how much pain I was in as crawled on my stomach, grinding my already broken ribs across the unforgiving tiled museum floor.

  It hurt like hell!

  I had barely even moved across the floor, the pistol was at the very edge of my arms reach but I had nothing left in the tank. I made some incoherent painful groaning noises as I inched my hand forwards, my fingers just brushing against the cool metal of the handgun. I grimaced as I twisted my body, the pain was too overwhelming to describe as I angled myself so my left side dipped away from the gun, pushing my right side closer to it. I tried once to grab the gun, my fingers running across the grip but not far enough to actually grab it, I clawed at the diamond-beveled grip, raking it with my fingernails. It began to slide forwards, once it was close enough I used my remaining strength to grab it and point it towards the Ifrit.

  Freeze! I shouted authoritatively, except it came out as, “fwee!” and it was more of a pained wheeze. Whatever, I had broken ribs and I was only a few letters off, I had a damn gun pointed at the Ifrit, she got message.

  She tilted her head to side curiously as she regarded me. She stood there completely naked, what was once an absolutely gorgeous body was now hideously deformed. There was a softball-sized crater that started from her left eye socket and enveloped most of that side of her face. It taken away a bit of the upper lip on that side as well, leaving behind a grisly sight where I could see bits of hanging tissue of what was her lip as well as parts her gums and teeth. The missing chunk of lip gave her mouth the look of having some perennial snarl. Then there was the fact that the wound was leaking the same tar like ichor that her earlier wounds oozed.

  In fact, her entire body was beginning to become coated in the stuff, the wound on her arm, the gaping hole in her chest and liver, not to mention the knee I had pierced earlier. Don’t get me started on the foot, it looked wrong when it was all twisted in her other form and now in her human form, it was just…well grotesque.

  She must’ve noticed the expression on my face as I looked at her, “what’s the matter,” she purred, her voice back to husky seductive feminine one. “Don’t you find me attractive?” she asked as she gyrated sensually in place, or it would have been sensually if she didn’t have fist-sized holes in her face and torso that were weeping motor oil.

  I took a deep breath and worked really hard to make sure the next words came out coherently, “damaged…goods,” I wheezed before having to take a number of shallow breaths.

  She gave an
indifferent shrug and then slowly spread her lips into a ravenous smile; the damaged part of her lip began to actually peel away from mouth in places as it stretched. Her smile would have been intoxicating before but now it was down right bone chilling. “That weapon of yours really hurt me,” she pouted insincerely. “Too bad you’re out now,” she said merrily, her one eye twinkling as her smile transformed into something more malevolent.

  She began walking towards me when I shook my head side to side, disagreeing with her last statement, “ngh,” I wheezed, I had meant to say no.

  She let out a hearty laugh at that, “please don’t lie, if you had anymore left, you would have used them before.” She said as she began approaching again, somehow she managed to make her hips sway even whilst dragging her twisted leg behind.

  Damn, that takes skill.

  I held up a single finger, indicating that I had one shot left.

  The Ifrit actually threw back her head and laughed dismissively, “you’re bluffing.”

  I shook my head to disagree.

  “It’s a shame really that you don’t have anymore ammunition,” she said frowning, “that was by the far the most painful thing I have ever felt.”

  “Grhngh!” I groaned painfully, which translated into: Good you psycho skanky demonic murdering bitch! I wish I had a few more rounds too so I could cap your ass more thoroughly this time!

  It wasn’t too far off from what I meant.

  “We saved one last round,” chimed Ortiz, who had now risen back to her feet, clutching her shoulder tightly and grimacing.

  The Ifrit cast a lazy glance over towards Ortiz before giving a disregarding roll of her head and her single eye.

  “Just. In. Case!” added Ortiz in a tone that made our claim sound like complete solid fact.

  Ortiz to the rescue!

  The Ifrit let out a callous laugh, “and what good will that do you?”

  She was buying the bluff, good.

  “You attacked me three times and I still live,” she snarled.

  For now I muttered, it came out as “frngh.”

  “Albeit my powers have been diminished quite a bit,” she sighed, “I cannot regain my other form for very long time, until I heal.”

  Boo fucking hoo.

  “So again, what good is your one last chance?” she chortled.

  I looked past her and pointed a finger in direction I was looking.

  The Ifrit followed my finger to James and she let out an angry hiss, “you wouldn’t!” she snarled indignantly.

  I pointed my finger at Ortiz and shook my head side to side, conveying the message that Ortiz wouldn’t shoot James. I then jerked a thumb to my face and smiled as I nodded my head up and down, letting her know that I sure as hell would shoot him and damn both their asses to oblivion.

  Her entire posture tensed up visibly, her mouth hung agape and her single eye was wide in terror. She looked panicky, it was a good look on her, a better look would be dead, like really permanently dead but we were getting there.

  “Mortal,” she said, her lips trembling, “a chance,” was all she added.

  That left me confused, so I simply cocked my head to the side in bewilderment to let her know that I had no clue what she was talking about.

  “A chance for all of us to walk away,” she said in a pleading voice.

  Oh this was going to be good.

  “A wish, anything, any wish,” she said hastily, “ask for anything and I will grant it in exchange for my freedom and my life, ask!” she implored.

  If I could have laughed without blowing my ribcage apart I would have. One simple threat to shoot James and she had gone from the bimbo of death to begging for her life, it was great.

  “Anything,” she reiterated, “simply ask,” she beseeched.

  I was going ask if I could have her fuck off but that probably wasn’t going to happen. What the hell could I wish for anyways, I wasn’t that stupid, I knew all too well that it would just come back to kill me. It was a pointless exercise and I think some part of her knew that too, but if she could buy herself time, why not go for it?

  I was going to answer her with a string of obscenities but I couldn’t manage it, so instead I settled for grunting, “hrngh!” as I shook my head back and forth, oh and I gave her the finger too.

  Her body tensed up even more and I don’t know how that was possible, she must’ve been coiled tighter than a spring.

  I cocked hammer on the pistol and made a show of steadying my aim on James.

  The Ifrit turned her worried gaze towards Ortiz, upturning and extending her open palm in a friendly gesture as she spoke, “law keeper,” she pleaded.

  Law keeper? How come Ortiz was law keeper and I was mortal?

  “Law keeper,” she begged again, “a wish,” she said, “any wish,” she added as a small light burst into existence in the middle of her palm. It hovered like the orb she had conjured before, only it wasn’t nearly as big, it was about the size of a quarter and didn’t look so menacing. There were no pulsating dangerous flames, it literally looked like a ball of glimmering white light.

  She thrust her hand forwards again in a gesture that beckoned Ortiz to take her deal, the Ifrit’s face frozen in a state of worry.

  To her credit, Ortiz didn’t look like she was tempted for even a second, “one wish huh?” she scoffed.

  The Ifrit nodded fervently in silence, still holding out hope that Ortiz would be enticed by the offer and take her up on it.

  “Yeah okay,” Ortiz began sarcastically.

  I knew she was kidding, taunting the Ifrit from the moment she opened her mouth, but I couldn’t have predicated what came next.

  “I wish I didn’t have to deal with you, with any of this,” she snorted, rolling her eyes to make her point. She focused her eyes back on the Ifrit, shooting her a venomous hate filled glare, “you’re pathetic,” she spat, “I wish I didn’t have to put up with your sorry ass.”

  You tell ‘em girl.

  The Ifrit’s attention turned back to me as my smile grew wider and I waved at her with the gun before steadying it back at James. I was hoping Ortiz would come up with something because my bluff was about to be called.

  The Ifrit’s head darted back and forth between us in a nervous frenzy; her face absolutely petrified until it slowly began to change. She cast another glance, looking at Ortiz then me, her features shifting into ones of understanding. She looked at Ortiz once again and the back to me, slowly as if suddenly realizing something, her smile returned and grew wider every second.

  She turned back to face Ortiz, holding out her open palm towards her and whispered gleefully, “be careful what you wish for.”

  No, I thought fearfully.

  The little ball of light hissed angrily through the air and…

  …Struck Ortiz right above her breast, sinking into her heart. Ortiz was frozen for a moment in perfect stillness, her mouth started moving silently, strangely as if she had forgotten how to talk. Her face was completely perplexed, “Na…Norman?” she whispered confused. Then she sunk to the ground, it seemed slow, like watching a snowflake lazily drift to the ground only to melt.

  “Oh God,” I gasped both due to the shock and the pain.

  The Ifrit let out the loudest cheeriest laugh I had heard yet, she was absolutely overwhelmed with delight. “Wish, fulfilled,” she said with her twisted smile that resembled a snarl, letting out another bout of uncontrollable laughter.

  “Oh God, Ortiz,” I breathed, “oh God.”

  The Ifrit’s body was shivering with sheer pleasure and ecstasy as she spoke, “it seems I have regained my leverage,” she laughed, “I can bring her back of course,” she matter of factly, giving a lazy flourish of her hand.

  I glared at her in cold hard rage.

  Her remaining eyed twinkled with maniacal glee, “provided,” she began as she walked towards James, “you allow him and I to live of course.”

  Of course…

  I wanted to rip her throat out
but I couldn’t even push myself up off the ground, all I did was lay there holding the pistol in futility, wishing I had more rounds.

  “But first things first,” the Ifrit said in a fit of youthful giggles as leaned over towards James, bringing her mouth closer to his. She cast a naughty look over her shoulder and towards me; I only saw half her face, the undamaged half as she spread her lips into a devious smile. “Oh, it’s quite alright,” she said in a wicked tone, “you can peep.” She slipped one hand around the back of James’ head and forced his mouth to meet hers.

  She pressed her lips against his, hard, James’ body jerked in reaction the second their lips touched, familiar tendrils began to form and writhe under his skin. I could hear him moaning in pain and his body was spasming out of control but she held his him there with little effort. Her arm snaked tightly around him, continuing to press his mouth against hers with no chance for him to break free. He features continued contorting until very soon he had returned the way when I had first met him.

  He didn’t look to be in perfect health, he was still worn-down and gaunt looking but it was obvious he was atleast back to his actual age. As the Ifrit slowly pulled her face away from his I could see a mass of the black ichor substance on James’ face, long thin streams clung two both their mouths and hung in the air between them.

  Ew…

  She ran a slow affectionate hand over the top of his head before making a tight fist and yanking him hard by his hair. James yelped in pain and the Ifrit let out a laugh of delight, “good,” she purred, turning back to address me. “I wanted him youthful and lucid so he could see all of this,” she murmured seductively, waving her arm at the scene around us. “I wanted to him to see that,” she said, thrusting her chin at Ortiz’s fallen body, “I wanted him to know everything that’s happened is on his head,” she said merrily. “I want him to feel anguish, to feel responsible, to suffer,” she seethed, her tone had quickly changed from pleasure to anger, “then I’m going to feed on him again, slower, it’ll be much sweeter this time around.”