Chapter
*1*
We live in an age where technology is dominant and magic is forgotten fairy tails are no longer thought to be real and the battle between light and dark are topics of movies and entertainment, wars are waged based on the silly things such as colour language and what is written in a book. The days of fighting for survival have been forgotten by the masses that grow fat, lazy and complacent. But when you take a deeper look at the every day when you search for the odd stories and the mysteries that surround the world you will see the battle of light and dark, the battle for all of our souls is happening every day.
My name is Jess I spend my days in a constant fight against the legions of hell, the darkness in the hearts of mankind and generally the strange shit that no other agency or police force can deal with. We work with organisations and governments all around the world to make sure that the things that go bump in the night don’t bump to loudly, we are supernaturals and humans working together for the good of all, most don’t know who we are and those that do know wish they could forget.
My current case I fear will haunt my dreams for a long time to come, as it is I can't close my eyes without picturing the first crime scene for this case, as I think of it my stomach turns and I can understand why they called my division in on this case, no normal person could be capable of what I walked in to.
As I approached the house the smell hit me like a hammer hitting an anvil. It was like approaching an abandoned slaughter house as I ducked under the police tape I held my breath for what I was about to see wasn't going to good. I entered the home and I noticed the silence, usually there is chatter and theories flying around but It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop everyone was processing the scene in silence the scene itself is the worst I have ever seen blood was splattered all over the walls in all directions. I approached one of the victims to find that the flesh had been stripped from the corps but by the looks of the room and the way the skin was removed it looked as though the victim was alive when this took place I couldn't even think of how strong someone would have to be to do this while the victims where still alive and conscious. I needed to see the first responders and the medical examiner to get their findings before I jump to conclusions. I approached one of the uniformed officers to find out where I could find them, the poor guy seemed to be having a difficult time with the scene he was pale and clammy and seemed to be forcing his mouth to remain closed to stop from vomiting before anything else I told him if he's going to puke do it outside away from the scene of crime and while he's at it to send the lead detective and medical examiner to me.
While I waited I took in I'm surroundings looking for anything that will clue me in on what the hell could have done something like this, sure when you work for the agency you get used to dealing with some screwed up shit and over the years I've been front and centre of most of that but this is next level. I close my eye's and take a deep calming breath preparing to unleash my other senses trying to piece together what went down in this beautiful picture of suburban bliss. I could taste the terror in the air there were 4 people here when this happened two adults and two young ones a dark aura that lingers in the air the true reason for why there where no screams heard was that they had been paralysed in fear this was primal fear that usually triggers fight or flight in animals. It walked through the front door like it belonged it glides to the mother leaning forward it whispers quietly I ill make you watch, I will enjoy feeding on your terror, she tried to scream but she is overwhelmed and
all she can do is gasp for air I can feel how terrified she was, her husband tried to fend off the attacker while she took the children and attempted to flee, her husband made little difference to the monster in their mists and was batted away as it followed the mother it was cackling to its self as though the whole thing was amusing and thats when I felt it a tiny spark hidden beneath the stench of fear death and blood there was a spark of hope I turned looking for someone that could answer my questions and thats when detective Duncan Lancaster walked towards me and the first thing I said in greeting was "how many bodies" the frown that appeared on his brow was enough for me to see that I had managed to piss him off, like I cared "dip shit answer my question how many bodies have you discovered this is important" at that Duncan replied" who the hell do you think you are walking on to my crime scene and demanding that I come to see you? then you start shouting questions at me like I'm something you scrape off the bottom of your shoe, the boss upstairs may have called you in but you will still show me respect on my god damn crime scene got it!. "look I'm not here to get in to a pissing contest but I need to know how many bodies have been located and I need to know now".i can feel the spark getting weaker by the second, the urgency in my voice must have finally got through to him because he tells me they had discovered 3 bodies two adults and one child, this sent chills down my spine and I shout at the top of my lungs for everyone to stop what they are doing, Duncan grabs my arm and pulls me towards him as i try to walk away from him " get your fucking hands off of me Lancaster! We need to find her". What do you mean her" what's going on?" "you are the worst investigator I have ever met look around they have two kid's if you only found one body where is the other kid?" at this every one stopped and stared at me like I was possessed and in less than a minute everyone had stopped what they where doing and started tearing the place apart looking for this precious spark of life and it was at this point that I decided that I was going to make sure whatever was responsible for this was going to suffer.
they found her in a kitchen cupboard cowering silent tears pouring down her cheeks, she was shaking like a leaf but with an iron grip on a knife that she just slashed the good detective with. when he let out the shriek of pain and surprise I couldn't help but be impressed with her sheer determination to survive and give hell to anyone that tried to stop her. as Duncan fell backward and shuffled away fast as he could I took his place in front of the Childs hiding place and my heart broke as I looked into her eyes, she was pressed as far back as she could be still waving the knife with all her might, but her eyes they are practically feral with fear but also rage, the poor thing must have seen what happened to her family if I could I would have wept for her but this is not the time for me to indulge in my emotions, I need to be strong for this child,
as I mustered a little of my power in to my voice I commanded her to look at me, my compulsion took hold of her but she was fighting, this child is so strong, I stare her down and start to speak "my name is jess, I am not going to hurt you and I'm not going to make you release the knife with what you have witnessed I understand if you don't trust us but I need you to come out of that cupboard and allow a medic to look you over then I will need to ask you some questions! Do you understand? she inches forward's blade still outstretched and her movements still cautious. she looks up at me and croaks out "jess will you stay with me?" I replied the only way I can " of course I will sweetheart now come on out and tell me your name then we can get you all fixed up”
“Alisha my name is Alisha” that's all she said before she fell forward overcome with exhaustion she was unconsciousness at this point, I caught her in my arms before she hit the floor and swept her into my arms as I turned to make my way out of the house with detective Lancaster hot on my heel’s demanding to know where I was going, I made it a point to ignore the stupidity of his question and him in general as I made my way over to the medical examiner I was happy to see it was at least the happy face of Keith one of the less creepy of the
examiners as I approached him with Alisha sleeping in my arms he quirked his eyebrow as if to question as I reached him I asked him to look over her to make sure she was fit to travel and I asked him to do his best not to wake her and also not to take her knife the kid was still clutching the thing with every once of strength she had even while passed out she truly was impressive, I really needed to get her back to the agency and quick.
as Keith set about his task I looked at the detective and snarled “what do you want now?” at this point he bristled, looks like the guy has some balls after all “ look I don’t care what sort of clearance you think you have you can’t just storm on to my crime scene like you own it and order my team around, and how the fuck is it that you are on the site for less than five minutes and manage to figure out that there was a witness granted the kid is probably in so much shock she won’t be any fucking help!”. At this moment I lost it and let loose with a right hook straight to his jaw that took him right off his feet and straight to the floor he looked up at me eyes wide blood already dripping from the side of his mouth “don’t you have a decent fucking bone in your body you obnoxious wanker! She has just witnessed the end of her world in one night she has seen her whole family mutilated and probably thought she was going to be next for fuck sake she even tried to stab you! She was scared senseless and all you can think is that she’s going to be a shit witness? I swear if I didn’t have better things to do right now I would rip your balls off and feed them to you, you arrogant prick as it is I have a monster to find and stop as well as try and help this kid piece her life back together so if you don’t mind fuck off! If I need anything from anyone ever, you will be the last person I will call. Keith, how is she ?” “She is physically fine but she is going to need help to process all of this”
“yeah I have someone in mind for that task too, look I know you have a shit tone to do but I need someone to ride shotgun with the kid while I drive back to the base and you're the best suited for it can you be spared for the journey?”
“I’ve done everything I can do here, the lab techs just need to finish with the scene and transport the remains and the evidence to the morgue for processing I'm assuming you want the work done at your facility and not the standard facility?”
“you would be right on that Keith do you need to leave any instructions or will your guy’s know what to do?”
“I will be a few minutes if you can settle the kid I believe you said her name is Alisha in the back of your car and I will be with you shortly”,
As he left to leave instructions I lightly woke Alisha and brought her to my car and informed her that Keith would be joining us she was a little startled at the thought of someone else joining us but settled after some gentle encouragement and a little compulsion, once I introduced her to Keith I would send her back to sleep with another suggestion having Kieth there was purely a precaution In case she woke while we where on the road. As Keith bound towards us I introduced him to Alisha and she seemed to understand that he was no harm to her I saw her whole body relaxed and I didn’t need to compel her to sleep because as we started closing our doors there was a small adorable snore from the back seat, I hoped with every fibre of my being that she could have a dreamless sleep, the kid didn't need to be tormented anymore.
I called ahead and gave the boss a quick break down on what I discovered and to inform him that this would defiantly be one of those cases, while on the phone I explained about locating Alisha and that I would be bringing her in, he asked if there where any additional resources that I would be requiring and as much as I wanted to take this case on alone I knew it would take to long and I needed specialist help from a few of the others. I voiced this to the boss saying” I will need Minerva an empath healer. With her help I should be able to get Alisha to open up about the attack and Minerva should be able to help her recover as much as possible, Next will be Archimedes with his skills as a battle mage and me being one of the dragon blood we should have enough brute strength to take this thing down unfortunately neither of us can track for shit and we are going to need the best we can’t let this thing lose to kill as it likes that means I’m going to need Zain I’m seriously going to need a stiff drink he’s the best hunter on payroll but god he’s an annoying jackass, this shifter is worshiper of the god of the hunt Cernunnos and in turn the horned god of the hunt has blessed him with enhanced tracking and hunting skill and a few less desirable traits, as well as Kieth doing the autopsy and over seeing the evidence at our facility . the boss confirmed that my request was fine and that he would personally call them in and they would be briefed and ready by the time I reached the office, he also said he would get the spare office next to his set up for Alisha so that we could keep an eye on her while we completed the assignment.
This case is going to be rough and I knew deep down that it wasn’t going to end without a much higher body count, on the drive back to the base I briefed Kieth on what we knew so far which wasn’t much I also informed him that he would need to use the authorised team from his office, Kieth is one of the humans that know what we do and he works with us to solve cases. As such he has a team of individuals that work in the labs and the morgue that assist him with making sure the secrets of these crimes never surface. Once briefed and informed of the requirements he got on the phone to organise the rest of his team after the call we spent the rest of the journey in relative silence with only the occasional moan from the back seat coming from Alisha.
*
back at the agency we lay Alisha on the sofa in the office next to the boss she was still sleeping soundly then I headed to the conference room while Kieth went to the med lab to get everything ready to start processing all the evidence. The first to speak as I entered to conference room was minerva “ what hell have you got us involved in now knuckle head ?” “Well your as charming as ever Mini, well the boss has outlined the case for you all, we have Keith using our lab for evidence processing and the autopsy Archie I’m going to need you working backup also try to support Mini she’s going to be helping the girl get u s a description and any information on the incident as well as research on what we could be dealing with. Boss is it okay if we stash Alisha here until the investigations over and we can track down relatives or something” “thats fine just keep me updated on what’s happening and if you need anymore support just let me know, and lets hope you find this monster before we see anymore victims. At this he stood up and left the man was always a man of few words and I admired him for that after the door closed behind his retreating figure I turned to my team and asked if they had any leads that we could work without this mini outlined everything the had received from the police which wasn’t much and said they had a lot of data for Kieth and his team to work through, also they had started to make a list of anything with a history of killing its victims in the way Alisha’s family had so far they had narrowed it down to 4 different types of monster but there could be more, we might have a freak of nature in any of the supernatural communities that has a kink for skiing victims also jess I hate to ask do we know if the skin was taken with the perp devoured or left at the crime scene, at this question I was forced to just stare blankly for a second or two as I hadn’t even considered what may have happened to it, After I snapped out of it I asked mini why it mattered and would it help narrow down our potential pool suspects? The look I received from mini was that of a teacher trying to explain something very simple to an unruly child, “really jess I can’t believe I’m being forced to explain this to you but knowing what happened to the skin tells us a lot if the skin is gone and it looks like it was removed cleanly it could mean a skin walker, if it was left and the bodies looked mutilated I could tell us that we are dealing with something that has some twisted kink and a specific M.O this could lead to finding the perp quicker and maybe revealing a pattern. This is basic stuff you should be paying attention to! I know you’re usually the muscle in the team but come on try using that brain of your’s to.” “Jesus, mini give me a break it was a blood bath in there and I was more focused on finding the kid and getting her out, look at this point we have Keith sorting through evidence with his techs we won’t have a report from them for a few hours yet, the kid is passed out and I doubt she will wake until morning mini I want you to be there when she wakes up, be gentle with her and remember she is still holding that knife, Archie I need you to start going through the library see if there is anything that matches the current intel we have”. “No problem Jess I will head to the library now I will also contact the mage council and see if they have picked up any magic spikes in the area” Zane I need you to contact the local packs and shifter organisations see if they have any intel on anything strange that might lead to a suspect, everyone it is now 4 AM I want to meet everyone back here at noon for a debrief is that clear? As I turned to leave zane shouted and while we’re working the case what will you be doing princess I glared at the asshole and explained that I will be approaching the vampier council as they will be the prime suspects in a case with this much blood then I’m going to see if I can get the dragon Breed to speak to me.
(this was unlikely firstly because the dragon breed think that they are better than anyone else and rarely chose to speak to anyone that they don’t want to. Secondly my being one of the dragon blood kinda pisses them off you see being one off the blood requires a child with the dragon mark to be given a blood transfusion of pure dragon blood at a young age the process is extremely painful and last several days, most of those who go through the process die before it finishes most of the ones that live go crazy and are either institutionalised or put down, on the rare occasion that one lives with their mind in-tacked they are usually enslaved and forced to fight on the front lines of wars gone by, nowadays it is outlawed to create one of my kind and how I came to be is a tale for another time)
Without giving him a chance to make another shity comment I stormed out I needed to go back to my apartment to shower I couldn’t go to the vamp council smelling like fresh blood.
*
Driving up to the vampier councils estate always freaks me out, the pace is huge and always makes me think of hill top estates in Greece, I didn’t see anyone about the grounds but I new I was being watched the gate opened with out me needing to stop and I cried on up the winding driveway until I stoped in-front of the large double doors, I took one last warming breath before I excited my car and walked uptake steps as I reached the door it opened and I was faced with the fake smile of some one recently turned, this vampier couldn’t be more than a few months old he still had the tell tale sign of red eyes that all blood suckers have when the blood lust was in control of their actions, older vamps can control this so they can appear less threatening to humans,”you must be Jessica from the agency my masters are waiting for you in the library lease follow me” without another word he turned and walked away leading me to my destination I knew this place well as it isn’t my first time dealing with the council but the where sticklers for protocol so I let him do his job with out causing trouble, as we approached the library I could feel the pulse of power radiating from the room it looks like every member was in attendance for our little conversation, this should be fun,…..
Chapter 2
Entering a room full of vampires is never something I look forward to doing, entering a room that has 12 of the strongest vampires and those that hold seats on the vampier council that shit just terrifies me, well time to put on my big girl panties and get this shit done. I walked in to the library like I owned the place making note of where everyone was, it seemed to a casual observer that they where mostly scattered throughout the room rescuing there own pleasures some reading books others smoking cigars and a few even gathered into small groups and having conversations, but the moment my chaperone left closing the door behind me they all turned and focused solely on me the gaze alone was bad enough but the intensity of the power and blood lust coming from them nearly brought me to my knees, I just had to breath and not react, if I lashed out with my power this would end badly so I just had to wait until they where satisfied that I wasn’t some sort of lose cannon. Minutes passed and then I felt the wave of power lessen it felt like I was stood there for hours trying to resist the urge to let lose, once I got my rage under control they all turned back to their earlier pursuits all but one anyway this one walked towards me and gestured for me to take a seat at a small coffee table the gentleman reached for my hand to introduce himself but I pulled my hand away and explained that I don’t like to be touched he inclined his head in a sign that he understood then said “am I correct In my assumption that you are Jesica from the agency” I reply with a quick yes, “am also correct in my information that you are on of the dragon blood” as he asked this his eyes narrowed in a calculating way, I hate vampires “yes you are right I am one of the dragons blood but that is not why I am here. As you know there has been an incident and the agency has been called in to investigate as it seems to be supernatural in origin. You should be aware of this because you are all here to put on this little demonstration of power now cut the crap and lets get on with this meeting, as I said this a ghost of a smile graced his face “you are as straight forward as your reputation say’s, well it’s like you said we have been appraised of the situation but as it stands we can’t see why it concerns any from the vampier community ?” At this question I was shocked they couldn’t be that stupid could they? “are you seriously asking me why this concerns you, a family was skinned alive whoever or what ever did it was powerful enough to hold them in some sort of thrall or trance while they did it and you can’t think of any reason that I came here their are dozens if not more vampier sub species that fit the base profile now we don’t know for sure that it is one of these that is why we have reached out to you so that you can help us apprehend those responsible am I making it clear now why it is a concern for the vampier council?”. “i think its time for you to leave let me show you the way.” “ don’t bother I know my way out and thanks for nothing”as I left the library all the remaining council members converged on the one I was speaking to, I’m sure they know more than they are letting on, starting up my car I looked out on to the sunrise thinking if this is how the vampires had reacted may the gods protect me because I had a feeling the dragons would be worse. I put my var in gear the there was a sudden knock at my door startled me, winding down my wind I was greeted with an annoyingly cheerful grin followed by a very gentle and delicate voice, the type of voice that would be classed as angelic and beautiful saying “my name is Abigail and it is a pleasure to meet you Jessica, If I can be so bold to say that I assume you meeting with the council didn’t go as well as you had hoped?” I sighed and answered this strange little critter “yes the meeting wasn’t as productive as I would have hoped but it was what I was expecting while answering these questions was slowly grasping my fire arm ready to defend myself, the girl calling her self Abigail looked straight to my arm and smiled “ now Jessica that’s no way to treat someone who only wants to help, let me come to your meeting with the dragon breeds representative I’m sure they will answer more fully and honesty with me there and I can always help provide a little extra muscle to your team I will even say please??.
I didn’t know why but my instincts where telling me that Abigail was on the level and wouldn’t do anything to deliberately put be in danger “ fine get in but try any funny business and I will kill you I put as much steal into my voice as humanly possible but still she just giggled to her self as thou I just said the funniest thing she had ever heard, she got in and buckled up. Then we where off in to the rising sun to meet with the dragon bread representative,
*
The dragon bread like many in the supernatural community can blend in with humans and except for the truly ancient one the aren’t as large as people think the biggies have ever seen was as big as a mountain but on average they are about the size of one or two double Decker busses but they rarely use the dragon form on this plane of existence, when the are required to mingle with the lesser being they will transform into a human form, many of the ones that interact with humans regally are in charge of big business or control those in power in different countries they truly are only concerned in their own self interest.
My sat-nav pinged to alert my that we had reached the destination that I had been given and it took me a moment to process what I was seeing this had to bee a joke they had arranged to meet my at an old style pub called the dragons keep I couldn’t keep a straight face who knew that dragons had a sense of humour Abigail got out of the car and I meet her at the entrance of the pub as we entered we where greeted by a very disheveled waitress who asked if it was just a party of two before we had a chance to respond a very tall very handsome man interrupted “it’s okay sweet heart these lovely ladies will be joining me in the corner booth” “Gudmundur I didn’t see you there I will see your guests to your usual table sir, this way please ladies” and the waitress was off at top speed signalling for us to follow her she sat us at a corner table with a wrap around couch seating arrangement that had a clear view of the entire venue and I could see all exits and escape rotes this dragon was tipping his hand a little showing us all the vulnerabilities that could be exploited if this conversation turned nasty which was often the case when it came to me and the dragon breed Gudmundur sat next to Abigail and I got the impression the new each other you never saw vapours and dragons acting so friendly towards each other but these to seemed to be like old friends enjoying breakfast at their local greasy spoons diner. “okay you two spill what the fuck is going on I have been called to a brutal murder case have a little girl stashed at the agency my boss has asked for the representatives from the supernatural councils co come together and help but so far I have been snubbed by the vamps, had the blood sucking version of the energise bunny decide to take along with me with zero explanation as to why then we come here as requested to meet the dragon representative who is only the second dragon in my hundred years of life that hasn’t disrespected me or straight up tried to kill me so what the fuck is going on, Abigail looked at me like had sprouted a second head and started to spit acid then broke down in to hysterical laughter at my outburst while this was taking place Gudmundur sat in silence with a good natured smile acting as though nothing out of the ordinary had taken place. Once Abigail and I had gone our respective emotions under control Gudmundur started by saying “ladies welcome to my home Abigail as always it is a pleasure to see you again and I hope you are well, and lady Jessica I don’t believe I have had the pleasure of meeting you but I do believe we shall get along quite well I understand that you haven’t had the best experience with the dragon breed but I must assure you that I am not like the others you have met, know from what I can understand you have a very strange case on your hands how can I be of assistance to you.” Well this was turning into a day full of surprises first the cheery vampier that wants to help and now a dragon breed something was going on and I did’t like it, “why are you both so willing to help me? every case I’ve had that has had any dealing with your factions has always resulted in more hassle as far as I’ve ever known your two factions don’t get along you’re both secretive bastards and rate helping anyone unless it benefits you so spill what’s going on?” This time it was Abigail that answered “Jessica being one of the dragon blood means you have some very unique abilities we know what some of these are, enhanced senses, enhanced strength and stamina, wounds that should take weeks or months heal for you heal in hours or at worse days am I right so far?” At this I just gave a nood of confirmation she took this as a confirmation to continue and went on “we also know that you have stoped ageing and have a slew of other abilities that are none of my concern but you have one that at this moment will help you a great deal, you know when and who to trust its like a sixth scenes a little itch at the back of your head that guides your disissions what have this feeling been telling you?” I hated to admit it but I do get feelings about people and situations and at the moment it was screaming that these are good people and mean me no harm “ fine I will give you both the benefit of the doubt but I warn you now don’t cross me! If your plan is to betray me I will hunt you down and destroy you do I make my self clear( good job jess just threaten two very scary and dangerous supernatural powerhouses what the fuck was I thinking) “we understand lady Jessica on my honer I will do you no harm and will lay my life down in your service” ”thats a little extreme but I appreciate your enthusiasm, now please tell me what do we know about this case do either of you have any actionable intel that we can use to stop who or whatever did this?” “ummm no we don’t have anything but I would love to visit the crime scene if that would be at all possible wouldn’t you agree Abigail ?” “ I agree seeing the site would definitely help should we head there now” dame these guy’s are eager “ no we can’t head there now I need to head back to the agency and get updates from the team, check on Alisha and before you say you will head there with out me you can’t you don’t have clearance and I can’t deal with the headache of you breaking into a crime scene, you have a choice you can stay here and I can contact you later to meet me at the crime scene or you can join me while I do what I need to do” they glanced at each other in a meaningful way and both said we will stay with you “in that case can we get some food before the drive back because I have a feeling it is going to be a long day and I need coffee before I get grumpy” Abigail turned to me with wide eyes and said while giggling “ what are you saying !! We haven’t seen you grumpy yet? Gudmundur get this woman coffee stat” sarcastic little blood sucker if I didn’t need to co-operate with these idiot’s I would kick them.
Chapter 3
Driving back to the agency was an interesting experience the vampier and dragon in my back seat where like teenage girls with all the gossiping and giggling well gudmundur didn’t exactly giggle he actually had an infectious belly laugh which was extremely annoying as it was ruining my hard ass image very time smiled, we approached the agency and could see the parking lot that everyone was back but their where a few cars that I could not recognise.
My office door was open and I could hear raised voices “what the fuck is happening now” I rushed in to see what was going on and was faced with Archie and Zain holding back Mini as she was yelling expletives at the top of her lungs her face was bright red and I’m sure the vain in her temple was about to explode. I was wondering what could have pissed her off this badly she was always so chilled out then I saw the source of her rage Detective Duncan Lancaster and standing with him where two stuck up looking bureaucrats one of which was holding Alishas hand and the kid looked as though she had been crying. A haze of red fell over me as I growled before any knew what was going on my fist connected with Lancaster’s jaw and he went down hard before I could continue my assault on the jack ass that made a child cry Gudmundur and Abigail grabbed me under both arms and snuggled to remove me from my own office I’m fairly sure at some point in the struggle I may have roared, once everyone calmed down I was taken to the bosses office while everyone else tried to clean up my mess.
ns 172.70.126.85da2