Although Hank’s outward appearance mostly belied his Asian heritage, his grandfather had been a transplant from Okinawa. He’d also been a true believer in the importance of martial arts training, as well as a strict taskmaster.
Hank ended his kata with a series of strikes and locks before grabbing a bottle of water. Taking a few swallows he then looked over at Lucifer, who had been watching him intently
“How’d I do girl?” he asked her before taking another sip.
Luci rolled over on her back, playing dead.
“Yeah, I know, I sucked. I guess I was a little distracted.”
As Luci rolled back onto her stomach, Hank made his way over to the green stone he had pulled out of the ash. Picking it up by the chain, he twirled it around and watched as flashes of light seemed to reflect off of its surface. The stone wasn’t clear like an emerald, but a solid green. It wasn’t extremely polished either, nor did it have what he would consider facets like a diamond. The fact that it reflected light at all was a puzzle. It was actually a quite simple looking stone, but it seemed to actually amplify the surrounding light…or made its own?
“Mighty strange,” he mumbled as he pocketed the stone. Glancing at his watch, he realized that he was running late. He had a lot of ground to cover today, and he hadn’t planned on getting such a late start. Taking a quick shower, he donned his khakis and a light button-down and headed for the door.
“Let’s go Lucifer, got a big day.”
The red dog was instantly by his side, panting excitedly as Hank picked up his gun and stick. Although his foot now bothered him only when he walked a lot or was very tired, he still used the staff every day. Thanks to his grandfather’s training, it now seemed more like an extension of his body than a tool to help him get around.
And it was a hell of a weapon!
Pushing the gun under his belt at his back, he then pulled the tail of the shirt over it before grabbing Lucifer’s leash. Far from needing any kind of restraint, Lucifer was still required to wear a leash in some places that he frequented…like the office.
“Come on girl,” Hank coaxed as he set off walking. Only two miles to the office, they had but eighteen minutes to get there to avoid being late for the meeting he’d scheduled for 8:00.
“Looks like we need to hoof it girl,” he grinned as he started off in a fast trot.
***
Pushing through the swinging doors of the Medical Examiner’s lab, Hank snapped his fingers lightly at his side and pointed to a spot beside the doors. Lucifer moved to that location and sat quietly.
“Do you have to bring that mutt in here?” Dr. Jacoby asked, looking up over his glasses at the dog. “She could contaminate the evidence!”
Hank grinned. It was a running argument between him and the doctor whether or not it was proper to bring Lucifer into the lab.
Luci always won.
“I promise she will sit there quietly doc,” Hank replied. Looking back toward his dog, “Luci? Show the doctor how good you will be.”
Luci sat up on her hind legs, holding her front paws out like a bunny.
Dr. Jacoby sighed.
“Whatever. I suppose you’re here to ask about the findings on the ash you discovered?”
“If you would be so kind,” Hank replied, planting his walking stick in front of him with both hands on top of the gnarled and rounded end.
Dr. Jacoby walked over to a set of shelves and removed a clear plastic container and brought it back to the table.
“These are the remains that you found,” he stated as he opened the container.
Hank peeked over the edge, seeing that it was filled with one-gallon zip-lock bags. “Have you been able to tell if they are human remains yet?”
“It is remains of something; I’m not sure about the human part yet.”
Hank screwed his mouth to the side in confusion. “You lost me, Doc.”
Dr. Jacoby looked up at Hank over his glasses before pushing them up his nose.
“What I am saying detective, is that although these are not human remains, they are not animal either. I’ve only had time to check the mitochondria DNA however, so I’d rather hold off telling you anything else until I have the full DNA profile back from the state lab.”
“Just give me your best guess then doc,” Hank replied. “I really need somewhere to start on this.”
Dr. Jacoby looked up at Hank and shook his head. “I’m really not comfortable forming an opinion at this time.”
“Lucifer,” Hank called out over his shoulder. “Crawl.”
Luci moved to her belly and started slowly crawling toward the lab table.
“Hey!” Dr. Jacoby spoke loudly. “Keep that mutt over by the door!”
“She just wants to see what’s going on, Doc,” Hank replied, turning and watching her inch forward. “Maybe she can sniff the remains, she’d let me know if they were human.”
Dr. Jacoby watched with dread as the dog moved closer and closer to the table.
“All right, all right! I’ll tell you if you get that red devil away from my evidence.”
Snapping his finger beside his leg, Hank put his fingers together in an upside-down hand signal for stop. Flicking his fingertips back twice, Luci got up and returned to her place by the door, panting happily.
“You were saying?” Hank smiled at Dr. Jacoby.
The doctor mumbled under his breath before speaking. “Let me reiterate, these are very preliminary findings.”
Hank nodded quietly as he waited for the doctor to continue.
“As I said before, these remains are not of a human. What I left out was that they did encompass some humanlike strands.”
Hank took in the information, but wasn’t sure he’d heard the doctor right.
“What is it you’re telling me, Doctor?”
Dr. Jacoby shook his head as he looked down at the ash, raising his eyes toward Hank before he continued. “What I’m trying to say, Hank, is that you have made a very mysterious scientific discovery.”
“What you have discovered, is a completely unknown species of humanoid!”
Chapter 3
Hank Snowdon sat at his desk quietly, thinking. He’d been trying to get through some paperwork on some of his other cases, but his mind wouldn’t focus.
It kept going back to what Dr. Jacoby had said earlier.
…a completely unknown species of humanoid…
What the hell did that even mean anyway?
Sighing, he reached down and scratched Lucifer behind the ear. Glancing at Luci, he saw that she was looking back at him expectantly.
“You’re ready to go, aren’t you girl?”
Since the first reports of missing people had started coming in a week ago, Hank and Luci had been spending their afternoons on the south side of the city. Their investigation was concentrated around the South Waterfront neighborhood, as well as Brooklyn across the Willamette River. These were the areas where most of the reports had been coming from, as well as where they had found the ashes yesterday.
Luci loved the added activity to her days.
“Ok, girl,” Hank said as he leaned over and snapped on her leash, “Let’s go see what we can find.”
Following 2nd Avenue south for ten blocks on foot, they then turned east and made their way another six blocks to the river, then south again into South Waterfront. Using the travel time as their lunch hour, Hank bought two hot dogs from a street vender and gave one to Lucifer. Letting her off of the leash when he could, Luci could then get some additional exercise chasing the errant squirrel or bird. All told, their leisurely thirty-block hike took them 45 minutes.
When they arrived at the sparsely populated waterfront, the leash came off for good.
They were in investigative mode now, and Lucifer was a full-fledged member of the PPB on patrol.
“Let’s see what we can find girl,” Hank mumbled to his companion as they made their way east toward the riverfront. Whenever he found someone on the street th
at would talk to him, he stopped and asked them a few questions.
Many were homeless however, and most homeless didn’t like cops.
Purposely dressing casually for this investigation, Hank was many times able to pass himself off as one of the hundreds of people that passed through to or from their jobs in the area. He’d also brought along a supply of cigarettes and candy bars, which he casually offered to the people that he talked to.
Sometimes a little bit of sugar went a long way.
Lucifer would stay in the shadows, ever watchful but staying out of sight, allowing Hank to appear as if he were alone when he approached someone. They were the perfect team.
Almost everyone that talked to Hank knew of someone that had gone missing. He also noticed that many of them were doing their best to hide their fear at what was happening.
After talking to whoever he could in the last few days, he’d come to one inevitable conclusion, although he wasn’t sure how the information would help him.
The ones that had been reported missing were all the strangest of the strange.
What the various homeless were telling him was that the missing persons were either the meanest, the shyest, or the sickliest of anyone that called the street home. Additionally, many of them had more than one of these traits, sickly being the most prevalent.
Two hours later, Hank and Lucifer took a break at a long-abandoned bus stop.
“What do you make of all this Luci?” he questioned the dog seriously. “Every one of the people that have gone missing were supposedly different from most, according to those that lived amongst them. On top of that, you have to add what Dr. Jacoby said in the lab this morning…that at least one of them was different…a completely different species.”
Luci laid her head on Hank’s leg as he brooded about everything he knew…and everything that he didn’t!
To say that Dr. Jacoby’s revelation that morning had shocked him would be an understatement. Not that he could see how it really helped his investigation yet. But the fact that most of the missing people had been described as different certainly seemed to point to the fact that they could all be this new type of…person.
Laying his hand on Luci’s head, Hank rubbed it absentmindedly as his mind continued muddling though his thoughts.
“Let’s assume that all of these people are not the same as me Lucifer,” he spoke to the red dog. “Say they are all this new breed of human. My first thought is…I don’t know what my first thought is!”
Standing up, Hank started pacing in front of the bench. Luci kept tempo, walking alongside of him, helping him worry over the problem.
“I guess my first thought is: why are they here in the first place, and what the hell is happening to them? Do they all just disintegrate into ash when…what…they get out in the sun? I’m not even sure yet that they all do turn to ash!”
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the stone before plopping back down on the bench. Staring at it, he was again mesmerized by the flashes that glinted off of the stone.
And what the hell is this all about? He thought to himself.
Taking a deep and determined breath, Hank then slipped the chain over his head and let it settle onto his neck.
Nothing.
Luci started whining as she looked in his direction.
“What’s the matter girl?” he questioned.
Reaching out toward the dog to pet her, she moved away warily.
What the hell?
A movement to his left caught his eye. Turning, he saw a large man cross the street…a very large man! Hank estimated that he must be at least seven foot tall! He hadn’t noticed anyone being on the street only seconds before.
As he watched the giant, a glint of light caught his eye, followed by another, and then another.
He is sparkling! Hank realized suddenly, just like the old man Roscoe had described the day before!
Lucifer started barking in Hank’s direction, her teeth bared in warning.
“Seelie or Unseelie?” Hank suddenly heard behind him.
Jumping up and turning quickly, he found himself facing yet another man, wearing a hoodie and sunglasses…and brandishing a sword!
“What?” Hank managed to get out.
The man in front of him looked annoyed. “I don’t recognize you, dude. You don’t look like fae, and you are definitely not Slaugh. Do you align yourself with the Seelie Queen, Shade?”
Hank was fighting to control his panic. Lucifer was four feet away, seemingly barking at both him and the stranger!
The man in front of him suddenly glanced to his left at the giant who was now rapidly approaching them.
“Shit, I haven’t got time for this.” The guy in the hood clenched his lips together, shaking his head. Turning toward the giant, he raised his sword in front of him. Suddenly, the sword was engulfed in flames, the heat from the blade searing against Hank’s skin.
“Adios fucker,” the man in the hoodie yelled as he started toward the giant.
The roar from his opponent shook Hank’s eardrums and he took an uncalculated step back in sheer confusion, missing the edge of the curb in the process. Losing his balance, he fell onto the blacktop.
Hitting hard on his back, Hank’s head then bounced off of the pavement. The smack made his world fill with a sharp pain, flashing stars and spinning darkness. The last thing he heard was the clang of metal on metal filling his ears until nothing but silence could be heard.
Chapter 4
He dropped his gear onto the ground, letting the dust kick up before he leaned forward and compelled the fire to burn higher and hotter.
“You look worse for wear.” Soap handed Benton a cup of soup he’d been cooking over the fire in his comrade’s absence.
“Just took a big one down. This place is infested, starting to feel like the exterminators do. Damn Unseelie crawling all over the damn place like cockroaches.”
Benton grimaced at the soup as he stared down into the tin cup. “What the hell is this crap?” He sniffed it and tossed the rest out to the side.
“Hey, it’s food, alright? We need to hunt or hit up a grocery store, our stores are low.” Soap rolled his eyes as he sat down on a large rock jutting out the ground. They were at the edge of Faerie, where the human world and the Faerie world touched. The wards were up here and kept any prying human eyes from seeing them while keeping the noxious fumes of the iron laced throughout the city streets from crossing into the land, but he could still feel it in his bones. He was lucky it didn’t bother him, just smelled like a garbage dump mostly.
Other faeries weren’t so lucky.
“Was he sick?”
Benton dusted his hands and sifted through his own sack of stores. “Was who sick?”
“The Unseelie you just offed, who else?”
“Ah, a bit. He was a fresh one, but I could see the iron sickness starting to get hold of him. They’re all getting sick, fortunate for us. But that’s not what concerns me.”
“Now what could be rubbing you the wrong way? Thought you always let stuff slide off ya like you were some sort of slithering salamander or something.”
Benton yanked out a stack of saltines. Rounding up Unseelie built up a ferocious hunger. He was constantly eating and burning away calories as if he never ate. The constant starvation was wearing on him and contributed to his brazen mood.
“It’s probably nothing. I just can’t get over how stupid the Unseelie can be. I haven’t captured hardly any of them to return them to Faerie. They all got to fight. Why?” He stared into the crackling flames of the fire, his eyes shining from its light. “I guess I didn’t think I’d be offing so damn many of them.”
Soap nodded, a sympathetic look crossing his face.
“Yeah. When we started this, I thought we’d be done a lot sooner. It’s never ending.”
Benton glowered at the fire, looking like he’d extinguish its life out for just existing. Soap let out a long breath, knowing it was time to let his frie
nd retreat into his own thoughts. He was so different from his sister Shade, yet so alike. They both simmered silently but where Shade was kind and wizened with all she’d been through, the violence and fighting only caused Benton to retreat even further into his mind. His dark eyes told of the horror he faced each day and he relived each kill, every fight and every life he took when the nights wore on and there was nothing else to do but to think.
“Get some sleep, man. We both need it. There’ll be tons more to dispose of before we can even leave the west coast. Just try not to think too much about it. It is what it is.”
Soap slid back onto his pillow and sleeping bag. The warmth of the fire kept him toasty enough. Benton scooted away from the fire, not needing its heat as much as the faery. He shook out his sleeping bag and pillow across the leaf-strewn ground. It crunched under him and he dusted away some of the leaves before rolling onto the soft feather down of his bed for the night.
Listening to the sounds of the city beyond the wards, he wondered about the human who’d been able to see past his glamour shield.
Did he have the sight?
Who was that man?
He hadn’t had time to ask but he was certain the man was not just human. He was something else. He had to be. Benton just couldn’t put his finger on why it bothered him, but he was pretty sure he hadn’t seen the last of the human and his devil dog.
Chapter 5
Hank came to with the feel of something wet on his face. Opening his eyes, he realized that Luci was licking him, sloshing her rough tongue all over his cheeks.
“Hey girl,” he mumbled, trying to remember what had happened. When it finally hit him, he bolted upright, only to have his head rebel in pain.
Placing his hand on the back of his head, he felt a knot straining at the skin of his skull.
“Ow,” he mumbled as his fingers gently probed the bump. Glancing around warily, he could see no one in sight. He and Lucifer had the street to themselves.