Update
I got a bit more into the action today. The next scene is the conclusion of the story, which may get done tomorrow, or in the next few days. Either way, it's the kind of scene I most look forward to writing.
Current Word Count: 30,384
Scene of the Day
Somehow, I got the impression that if he didn’t like the
answer, he was going to make us learn what the knife felt like.
In response, I flashed my best ditzy smile and pressed
myself into Collin’s side, my arm going around his back.
His surprise let some of his magic free, and it sent
pops of static against my aura that almost made me shiver.
He tensed at my touch, but only enough that I noticed.
The thug remained entirely oblivious as he continued
staring.
“Oh, thank god! Our car broke down up by the bridge! We
thought this was some kinder’ ghost town, with how everythin’ looks,” I gushed.
The higher pitch to my voice was nauseating, but
effective, as the watcher relaxed almost entirely.
I’d done a better job at it than I’d thought, too, since
even Collin looked thrown, even if the look only lasted a few seconds.
“Heh. Nobody’s gonna’ help you ‘round here, lady,” the
thug laughed. “You picked a really shitty place to break down.”
Collin picked up on what I was going for, quickly
enough, and forced a big smile that looked almost real.
I bit my tongue when he put his arm around my shoulder.
“Do you think you could help, at all?” he asked. “I
think the damn engine just overheated, but we don’t have anything in the car to
cool it off with.”
With how genuine he sounded about it, I was convinced
that he hadn’t been boasting about doing this kind of thing before.
I forced my mind to focus on the knife-wielding scumbag,
instead of being impressed, though from the way he was looking at me, Collin
seemed to know, anyway.
The watcher considered us for a moment, seeming to take
in everything about us.
I hoped there wasn’t any residue from the cloaking spell
in my aura, or it could get very ugly, really fast.
Finally, he released a huff and shrugged at us.
“Ah, hell, borin’, today, anyway. Might as well take a
look.”
Sliding the machete into a sheath attached to his leg,
he strode forward.
As a group, we made our way for the car, with Collin at
my side and the man behind us.
I didn’t know about Collin, but having someone literally with a knife at my back made
me itch to pull my athame.
Even with it, we managed to keep up the oblivious act as
we went, pretending we noticed nothing wrong with Dunwich.
“So what’re you doin’ ‘round here, anyways? Kinda’
outta’ the way,” the thug remarked as we reached the bridge.
Collin tensed, his mind clearly working on a cover
story, but I was faster.
“Took a wrong turn. Really wrong turn. Then the damned
engine blew, because loverboy here didn’t believe it when I said I heard
clickin’ twenty miles back by a gas station. How about you?”
The watcher seemed too amused by my ploy to really think
about things, like the fact that it was almost a completely straight stretch of
road from Dunwich to Arkham, and that there weren’t any gas stations along the
way.
Whoever our ringleader was, she apparently hadn’t
bothered to hire locals.
Good for us, but not so much for her group.
“I already apologized ‘bout ten times. Give it a rest,”
Collin continued.
“Think I’ll save tha’ fer when we’re back in
civilization, thanks.”
“You know you’ll forgive me easy enough. Might as well
drop the charade,” Collin scoffed with a smirk.
More of his energy rose where we touched, sending
tingles through me.
This time, I knew it was intentional, because his smirk
got even bigger when I blushed.
“Yer lucky I won’t smack ya’ in front of watchful eyes, amadán,” I grumbled.
“We can discuss changin’ that, when we get back, if ya’
like,” he laughed.
“Oh, we’re definitely
havin’ a conversation when we get back,” I swore.
His furthered amusement didn’t encourage me, much.
My blush increased, and it took me a second to realize
he was distracting me as we made our way across the bridge.
“So what about
you? Why’re you out in this corner a
nothin’?” I asked the thug, hoping to keep him
distracted, too.
Thankfully, we’d more than taken him off his guard by that
time, and a few more seconds would put us out of sight of the house.
“Ah, just some work thing. So where were you headin’,
before your wrong turn?” he continued.
We cleared the rocks, then, and became invisible to any
eyes from the house.
“We were actually lookin’ fer a militia compound. Ya’
wouldn’t know anythin’, would ya’?”
Collin tensed and I brought my dagger out.
“It’s a funny story, actually. We heard there’s some
psychopath planning a war up here, and thought we’d give it a look,” Collin
added.
“That place behind ya’ really stuck out, thinkin’ bout
it,” I concluded.
Before we’d even finished turning on him, the watcher
was moving.
I had to give credit where it was due.
Especially for his size, the thug was fast.
Neither of us had finished rounding on him before his
machete cleared leather, flashing at my throat in a lightning-fast slash.
Luckily, I wasn’t exactly a slouch, either.
Metal clanged when
my own blade met it.
As he pulled back for a second try, Collin swung a fist
into the watcher’s arm with a meaty thug.
With a howl of pain, his unarmed hand fell limp, and he
swiped with the machete in retaliation.
While his speed wasn’t quite as much of a surprise,
being a Nephilim, Collin still moved impressively quick.
He ducked under the slash and came up with a fist
ramming straight into the thug’s abdomen.
The thug dropped his machete, a second before he jointed
it on the ground.
He seemed much less impressive curled in a whimpering
ball on the dirt.
I kicked his machete up before he could recover, and did
a quick once-over.
The gun at his ankle was taken, too, and I was very glad
he hadn’t gone for that, first.
“Alright, so here’s the deal,” I started while kneeling
next to him. “I don’t care fer small-fry. Ya’ tell me how many’re in there,
what they’re packin’, and who’s runnin’ this sideshow, an’ I’ll let ya’ go back
with just the broken arm my employer gave ya’.”
Gasping and wheezing for air, he just stared straight
through me with watery eyes.
“Geez. Couldn’ta’ gone fer someplace tha’ wouldn’t stop
‘im talkin’?” I sighed.
He didn’t seem to mind my glare, much.
“Don’t blame me,” he retorted with a shrug. “I was goin’
for his shoulder. Bastard moved.
Sighing, I turned back to the thug and waved the machete
by his face.
“Ya’ know, if ya’d played it cool an’ not come at my
neck with this thing, I probably woulda’ been worried ‘bout yer breathin’,
right ‘bout now. As it is, I’ve already been psychically bombed twice by you
bastards, an’ subduin’ you didn’ help my mood much. So, if ya’ don’t tell me what I asked, I’ll be glad
ta’ take ya’ down to Arkham. I’m sure the APD’d love entertainin’ ya’.”
At that, his eyes widened, and his mouth started moving.
“There’s five of us, ‘sides the boss. That bitch said
there’d be no way anybody’d come lookin’, out here,” he coughed.
“What toys do the others have?”
“Some heavy shit. Lady, you’ve got no chance, with just
you two,” he laughed. “Three of ‘em are leeches. Other’s a wolf.”
“Oh, wonderful.
Collin, double-check. Make sure that damn thin’s loaded,” I said with a nod at
his jacket.
Vampires were, in my experience, not easy to put down.
With their stamina, strength, and incredibly
regenerative system, they made great hired help.
Especially for criminals.
Lycans weren’t much better.
Popular myth held them as people cursed to transform
into animals, but it really depended on the person, how they’d contracted
Lycanthropy, and a whole plethora of other factors.
Unfortunately, the ones hired for the kind of thing we
were dealing with could almost unanimously shift whenever they wanted, and
usually had the super-strength and senses even when they weren’t shifted.
“And what’re you?” I asked, glaring down at him.
“Magician, obviously, but what kind?”
“Nothing impressive, otherwise I’d’ve blown you to Hell
already,” he huffed.
Then, he grinned at me, and I readied myself for a
fight.
“I’m the doorman,” he added.
It took me all of a second to figure out exactly what he
meant.
He was human, and a sick one, at that, to give off the
aura he did.
But he had a special kind of magic, which would enhance
psychic ability.
In his case, given the circumstances, I’d be more than
willing to bet telepathy.
“So ya’ sent ‘em a psychic S.O.S. as soon as we got ya’,
huh?”
“That’s right, ya’ bitch,” he laughed.
Being laughed at hurt a little less when his mirth died
in a violent fit of coughs.
I rose to my feet with a sigh, wondering if we already
had weapon sights trained on us.
“Time ta’ take a nap.”
With that, I brought my foot down into his stomach,
right where Collin had hit.
With another wheeze, his eyes rolled back, and he went
limp.
“Okay, so comin’ back later won’t work. We need to hope
that whoever’s runnin’ things won’t set anythin’ in motion while we’re
distractin’ ‘em.”
“Mikhail can handle it if things go bad. They seem to
like fire. Fire, he can handle.”
“Yeah, I noticed tha’. A pyrokinetic bartender? That’s a
pretty interestin’ person ya’ve got workin’ that place. But we’ll leave that
aside, fer now. This is gonna’ hurt like hell, afore we’re done.”
“Like you expected anything else? C’mon, let’s get
going. On the plus side, you don’t need to worry about using spells to avoid
whatever’s down below, now. It would’ve gotten you going back over that time,
if it was an issue.”
“Yeah, must just be my lucky day,” I laughed.
“I don’t want to be anywhere near you on an unlucky day,”
he retorted.
“Me, either.”
Grinning, he made his way around the cover with gun in
hand.
“Oh, by the way, you play a pretty good ditz. I prefer
otherwise, though,” he called over his shoulder before getting on the bridge.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I grumbled as I followed
quickly behind…
Translation Notes
"amadán"- Gaelic: "arse, idiot, etc."
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