When Things Get Out of Hand

I was awakened by the incessant beeping of my alarm clock. I tried to find the snooze button but failed miserably, knocking to the floor a beer bottle and my watch. I then proceeded to picking it up and smashing it on the floor repeatedly until it finally gave one last warbling beep of death. Damn, I was going to need a new alarm clock, again. I got up with a groan and felt my way to the bathroom. I closed the door, undressed, got in the shower and turned on the hot water.

As I showered, I thought about Rose sleeping in the next room and my imagination took that as a cue. I suddenly had the image of me slipping into the room, taking the covers off of her, sliding into the bed and slowly pulling her close to me……Dammit! I turned off the hot water and turned on the cold to its highest. It made the rest of the shower bearable. God, I really need help. Maybe I should go to a psychiatrist? Unless it’s a hot, horny female psychiatrist, it probably won’t do any good.
I quickly finished showering, got out, and toweled myself dry. I looked into the mirror and examined myself. I checked my injuries from yesterday and found them mostly healed. I rubbed my chin where I was slowly starting to grow a beard and noticed my old scar that went across my jaw. It brought back memories that I preferred not to remember. I then put the towel around my waist and silently walked into my bedroom. I saw Rose was still asleep, so I tip-toed to my dresser and took out some clothes. I went back to the bathroom and got dressed. I then walked towards my secret weapons room. I passed by Argus, who opened a weary eye at looked at me, as if to say “Don’t forget me”. I went into the kitchen and refilled his food and water bowl before slipping into the room. There I began to disassemble and clean all of my weapons. Now, in this room I have a long range of weapons, ammo, and accessories. I have pistols, assault rifles, sub-machine guns, light machine guns, snipers, grenade launchers, hell; I even had a minigun and a rocket launcher for those big, bad S.O.B.s.

Even though cleaning and maintaining these weapons might seem like hard work (and trust me, it is), I liked it. It sort of centered me. As I finished putting the last gun back together, I looked at the time. It was 7:00 a.m., so I decided to clean myself up and get ready. When I turned towards the door, I saw it was blocked by Rose who was leaning on the frame. She had chosen to wear a sunny yellow dress with orange and red flowers today. She stood there for a bit, just staring, first at the room and the guns, then at me. Her eyes seem to twinkle with amusement as she turned around and walked into the kitchen. I walked out, and closed the room with a little discomfort. It may not be a fortress of solitude but it’s still private. I went to the bathroom and cleaned myself up. I put on a black t-shirt, Black jeans, and a black leather jacket to top it all off.

I looked at the time again. It was 9:35, so I went to the living room to get my stuff. As I entered the living room, I caught the scent of breakfast being made. Rose came up to me with a plate that had to fluffy, golden pancakes, crispy bacon, sunny-side up eggs, and a delicious biscuit.

“Would you like to sit down for some breakfast, John?” she asked.

My mouth watered and my stomach growled. I hadn’t seen, much less eaten a breakfast this good since my childhood. I managed to get my stomach under control by appeasing it with one of the pancakes and some bacon.

“No can do Rose, I have a crime scene to look at.” I replied. I heard my cell phone ring and I picked it up. “And that would be mommy wanting to know why I haven’t done my chores yet.”

“Hello?” I answered as I was heading towards the door.

“Hello is this John Riley?” a male voice asked.

“This is him, and who might you be?”

“Oh thank god!” He replied ignoring my question. “I need your help!”

“Listen, I don’t just give my help away to strangers who somehow get a hold of my phone number.” I replied just a little hypocritically. I mean most of time I do end up having to help strangers who somehow manage to get a hold of my phone number but I wanted to feel like I had a choice for once. “Now, I ask again, who are you?”

“My name is Frederick, I am Alaina’s fiancé.” He responded. “I t-th-think something happened to Lisa and she always said that if anything happened her, to call you.”

Alaina was an old friend and one of the few mortals that knew the truth. She had been journalist who already believed in the paranormal and was looking for evidence of its reality. That was how we had crossed paths. She had been lured into a trap by a few supernatural beings and I managed to get her out of it

From then on, she was changed. She quit the journalism business and joined my private investigative company. I gave her time off for her wedding and I hadn’t heard from her in days. I know it sounds like I should take more of an interest in my coworkers lives but, hey, it’s not like I’m not busy.

“Alaina told you that?” I asked now more concerned. She would never give my name unless absolutely nessacery. She knew the dangers of what would happen if any of the bad guys found out my name. “All right, what’s wrong?”

“Well, she hasn’t been home since her bachelorette party and I’ve called her several times and she hasn’t responded. She always answers her cell phone.” He said sounding really nervous. “I also feel like I am being followed. I can’t see anything but I feel something, dark and for some reason it keeps smelling like a farm around me but no one else notices it.”

“All right, where are you?” I asked my blood running cold. This was bad. It might just be my paranoia but, if he was right, then this was his instincts talking.

“In Times Square, I figured no one would do anything with this many witnesses.”

“All right.” I said thinking quickly about a possible meeting place. “Do you know where Auntie Anne’s pretzel place is?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Go there and wait for me. I will be driving a black and red Dodge Charger, okay?”

“Thank you and please hurry.” Was all he said before he hung up.

“What’s wrong?” Rose asked turning everything off and following me out the door.

“Alaina’s fiancé asked for my help.” I replied with a sigh. I petted Argus and ran out my apartment. I ran through the lobby, nearly tripping on the damn chairs that are never pushed in, and into the parking lot. I got in my car, turned it on, and gunned the engine just as Rose got in. You might be wondering how I can afford such a nice car yet live in a crappy apartment. Well, I can’t. This car was given to me by one of my clients as a thank you gift for saving his daughter from a dangerous cult. I, of course, had to add a few of my own upgrades. I reinforced the frame, put in bulletproof windows, and put in a whole trunk set-up for my weapons all at the cost of a years worth of money. As you may or may not know, the Council really doesn’t pay that much which is the reason I had to start my private investigative service.

As I drove through the less crowded streets of New York City, I remembered the conversation. She always answers her cellphone. That was true. The reason was that I might need information at any time. See, once she found out about my world, I had asked the Council if they would give permission for her to be granted certain rights. First, that she would be granted access to the Library of the Ancients. This, for you mortals, would be the equivalent of one giant encyclopedia of everything.

Second, that she would be given certain powers to defend herself from what was out there. These would include a lighter version of a Hunters’ abilities plus the ability to control fire (notice I said control and not conjure). The Council wasn’t happy per say, but they gave it to her none the less. You could say that she was a researcher of sorts. Of course, I didn’t force it upon her. She literally twisted my arm to get her in. She couldn’t stand not doing anything while evil was afoot. I know you might have noticed this word and might have laughed at my use of it. Afoot? Probably reminds you of the old comics. Jumping jellybeans, Batman! So I grew up on those comics. Sue me.

I finally turned onto 8th avenue, and stopped in front of Auntie Anne’s. I saw him, and waved him over. He looked to be in his mid-thirties, with dark brown hair cut short in a business look. He wore brow line glasses and a suit which just reinforced the look. He hurried towards the car, clutching his briefcase like a life preserver. Just then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a blur heading straight for him. As it passed by, I saw it resembled a cross between a bull and a very muscular person. Its lower body consisted of two huge hooves covered in hair, I mean fur, that would ripple with each step taken. His upper body consisted of abdomen and arms that resembled a humans’, more like Arnold Schwarzenegger if you ask me, and the head of a bull, horns and all. In one motion, it picked up Fredrick and continued down 8th avenue.

“Was that a….” But she didn’t seem able to get the words out.

“Minotaur. A big, bad, Minotaur just ran off with Lisa‘s fiancé.” I said answering her question. “Brings a whole new meaning to getting swept of your feet, doesn‘t it?”

I switched gears and drove after the Minotaur. This creature is highly dangerous and highly destructive. It has the strength of a hundred mortals, and it can run very fast for being so big. At first, it ran on the crowded sidewalks knocking people out of the way or throwing them into the air with its horns. Then, it decided to go on to the street. On the wrong side of the road. At rush hour. As it was about to make contact with the first car, it lowered its head sending the car flying into a convenience store.

“Oh shit, Martinez isn’t going to be happy about this.” I said barely avoiding hitting a car that had landed on its hood. I saw the wide-eyed passenger was still breathing, thankfully. I decided that it was time to take action.

“Rose, can you get into the backseat?” I asked. She responded by nimbly sliding to the back. “Pull open the middle seat, and take out the M-16 with the ACOG scope.”

She came back to the front seat holding the gun with a magazine already in it. The M-16 assault rifle is the regulation rifle for the United States Military. Every soldier, no matter their job, is taught how to fire one. It can either shoot fully automatic fire, 3 round burst, or semi-automatic fire. I dodged falling debris, then put the car on cruise control and lowered the window.

“Take the wheel!” I said taking the gun from her and leaning out the window. I aimed carefully at the Minotaur’s legs. I took deep breaths to steady myself and on the last exhale I began firing. I fired short, three round bursts with explosive rounds. Asphalt was kicked up as the bullets impacted centimeters away from the Minotaurs hooves. After eighteen shots, all I had managed to do was create potholes. I aimed a little higher this time, took another deep breath, and fired. Two more barks from the rifle and suddenly the Minotaur went down.

I got back in the car, tossed the gun onto the backseat, and grabbed the wheel. I took off cruise control, braked, and spun. We ended up facing the Minotaur after two or three spins. We were still a few feet away and we saw it just lay there for a bit. I pushed the car a little closer and in a moment it was up. It rammed into the car sending us into a flip and ran away. We flipped into a building and I slammed my head against the roof and the steering wheel. My whole body went numb and I suddenly felt very sleepy. As my sight was slowly enclosed by darkness, I couldn’t help but remember the first time I met Alaina….

“John!” Rose yelled as I felt her arms around me.

“John!” She yelled again shaking me. As I stared felling pain, the darkness finally enveloped me.

*******************************************************************

“John!”

“Melissa, I’m maneuvering a vehicle here. I am pretty sure there is a law against talking on my cell phone and driving.” I said looking for a parking space. In a city filled to the brim with people, it is very hard to find parking space.

“How long does it take you to park?” She asked.

“It’s Manhattan, what do you expect?” I retorted.

“My eighty-two year old, blind grandmother could probably find parking faster than you.” She said chuckling.

“Laugh it up, Lieutenant, I’ll call you when I get a parking space, okay?” I said hanging up. I know it may seem rude, but I prefer not to be ridiculed by my own friends. I finally found a spot in front of this abandoned one story building. As I got out, I noticed that there seemed to be no one parked around this area. I shrugged it off, and went to go to the crime scene when I heard a woman’s scream followed by a wolves’ howl. Oh-no. Not here. Not now. I knew what had made the second sound all to well and I knew what I had to do about it. I went to my trunk and took out an M4A1 assault rifle. I added to it a reflex sight, a silencer, and a flashlight and I took three magazines of hollow-tip, explosive rounds.

I also took out my modified Colt M1911 and replaced the extended clip of normal bullets with silver bullets. I also took my custom combat knife which was made of steel but the surface was coated in silver. I looked around for any witnesses, then proceeded to the entrance of the building. I opened the door ever so slowly and was met with a black void. I turned on my flashlight and slowly walked into the building. I carefully crept down the long hallway sweeping my light along the walls. They were splattered with blood, entrails, and pieces of meat. I was nauseated by the sight. No matter how many times you see this kind of thing, it always affects you.

As I went deeper into the dark building, I decided to maintain my light pointing forward, not get distracted by my surroundings. After a little bit, I stepped on something that felt……squishy, to say the least. Now, I tried to tell myself not to look down, to just continue walking and never look down. Yet, there was that nagging curiosity in the back of my mind that kept on saying “Look, come on look. You know you want to.” So, I finally looked down. The sight that met me will forever horrify and haunt my mind till the end of my days. I had stepped on a pregnant woman that couldn’t have been more than 25 years old. She was laying horizontal to me. Her face was quite beautiful and it saddened me. It was one of the only things completely intact, for the rest of the body had been ravaged by the same monstrosity that I was hunting.

I knew she had been pregnant because I had unwittingly stepped into her abdominal area. This was the worst part, the thing that shook me to my core. These monsters hadn’t bothered themselves tearing her abdomen apart. They had dug the unborn baby out with her entrails and left the rest of the cavity intact. I nearly threw-up but I managed to get a hold of myself. I attempted to pull my foot out when my other foot caught on something and I fell. My M4 flew out of my hands and, just the way the flashlight was pointing, it displayed the whole scene around me with horrifying quality.

To my right was an old man that probably had been in his sixties when he was killed. Again, only his face intact, showing the fear and pain in his last expression, while the rest of his body was in tatters. I recoiled away from his corpse and bumped into another. I turned around and came face-to-face with a little boy that couldn’t have been older than 4 years old. His face was contorted in surprise, as if he had just realized that the things that were about to attack him weren’t playful dogs. I flinched and backed away again only to end up beside the first corpse I had found. Her stare seemed to penetrate my very soul even though her last breath had been exhaled a long time ago.

I shut my eyes tight and curled into a ball as my emotions raged inside me. I wanted to cry, I wanted to scream, I wanted to run and never come back. My body rippled and suddenly, I was throwing up. This time I hadn’t even tried to prevent it. I couldn’t. Then I heard more howling followed by a yell of defiance. Someone in there was fighting. After seeing all of this and being faced by the creators, someone still had the will to fight on. I think, and will continue thinking, that that was what finally got me up.

I picked myself up slowly, still slightly trembling. I brushed some of the gore off of me, and then went to pick my M4 up. I continued down the corridor, always maintaining my sight aimed towards the light of the door at the end of the long hallway. I finally managed to regain my senses as I got into the dim lit room that appeared to be a gym. I scanned the room and noticed a door at the end with light coming out from under it. I moved slowly towards the door, rifle aimed. I opened the door enough so that I could see inside without being seen and without making too much noise.

Inside, the room was dark except for the middle, which was lit up by a flare, where there were two women inside what looked like a pit. The first woman looked to be about 5’, 7”, with a runner’s body structure. She had blood red hair with emerald eyes. She was tired but she tried her best not to show it. She had what looked like an M9 and was rotating clockwise in a wide stance. The second woman was laying at her feet in a fetal position. Just then a dark shape edged near the circle of light. The woman turned toward the shape just as another shape lunged from the opposing side. She barely managed to bring her weapon up and fire before the shape closed the gap between them. I caught a glimpse of it as it flew past the girl and out into the darkness again. Hells bells, they were playing with the girls. Any mortal who saw this would have thought that it was just an abnormally large dog. See, people seem to fit things they don’t understand into their own logic. Well, whatever works, right?

I pulled out a few flash bangs from my belt and armed them. These flash bangs were also modified. Instead of containing a cocktail of chemicals, I had substituted them with sunlight and the screech of a banshee. A lot more effective with supernatural beings. I put on my wrap around black out shades, out in some ear plugs, and primed the flash bangs. I took in a deep breath and threw them in, waited about three seconds, and ran in after them. All the werewolves looked frozen in place momentarily stunned by the explosions. As I rushed in, I quickly counted that there were at least four in there. I took aim and shot at the first wolf point blank in the top of the head. It exploded in a shower of gore and brain matter. I pivoted to another one just as they seem to regain their composure. It took one in the shoulder, which effectively crippled the limb, and two more in the chest. It flew backwards as the explosions rocked it backwards. I pivoted once more and took aim as a third one lunged at me. Just as I was squeezing the trigger, it managed to complete its jump and topple me to the floor, knocking the gun out of my hands.

Its jaws snapped just a few inches away from my face and, if I was not just about to get mauled by them, I could have counted every single one of its yellow, knife edged teeth. It’s at times like these, that I sometimes reconsider my line of work. Maybe it’s just the jaws snapping in my face or the fact that my gun is five feet away from me, but right now my job just plain sucks. Luckily, my left arm had been up so my face wasn‘t ripped off. Unluckily, my arm ended up inside its jaws and was mauled. Ah yes, pain thy name is teeth. It moved its jaw slowly grinding into my flesh, and started going into the bone. I clamped down my teeth to withhold a scream. I reached down to my hip holster and pulled out my Colt. I brought it up to its chest, and pulled the trigger. The click seemed to echo in my brain. Hells bells, out of all the times.

If it could, I bet the werewolf would have laughed at me. It shook its head from side to side dislocating my shoulder in the process. More out of anger then anything, I banged it on the side with the butt of the pistol. It yelped in surprise and loosened its grip on my arm, which gave me the advantage of flipping it over. I held it down with my knees while I used my good arm to get out my combat knife. In a panicked attempt to get me off of it, the werewolf swiped it paw across my face and tried using its back legs to push me off. I felt one of its nails dig into my jaw as well as its knee hit me in a very unpleasant place.

“Oh, you have got to die!” I yelled as I finally managed to plunge the knife into its heart. Its struggles stopped immediately. I fell to its side and tried to regain my breath. After a bit, I sheathed my knife and pushed myself up. I silently walked over to the nearest wall and slammed my dislocated shoulder into it. I yelled as it popped back into place. I walked over to my pistol and picked it up. I looked into the barrel and saw nothing. John, you idiot, you never chambered a round! I shook my head at my own lack of intelligence. I pulled the slide back, chambering a round, and turned to find the girl pointing the gun at me. Typical, I manage to defeat a bunch of dangerous, ravenous werewolves only to about to get shot by the person I was trying to save.

“Whoa, lady, please put the gun down and let’s talk about this.” I said trying to sound reassuring but my voice came out strained. I coughed into my hand hard and saw some blood in it. Damn, that’s not good. I looked back at the girl to see her still pointing the gun at me.

“How do I know that you’re not going to do something to me, when I lower this gun?” She said. Okay, she had a point there. Not that I was going to do anything, but that I could.

“Look, your friend looks like she needs medical attention. I can take you two to hospital to get it.” I said trying to sound honest. I could see she didn’t think it was a good idea. “If I wanted to do something to you, I probably already would have done it. You’re just going to have to trust me. For the sake of your friend.”

I know, it was a low thing to do, especially for me. But it didn’t look like the other girl had much time and I really didn’t want to stay in this place, arguing of all things. She finally relented, and put the gun down. I blew a sigh of relief that just made me cough more blood and slowly walked towards her. Just then, one of the limp bodies on the floor moved a little. I immediately pulled my pistol out of its holster, and did a double tap into its brain. I heard another shuffling and turned in time to see one of the werewolves bolt for the girl. I fired a few shots that just ended up hitting the wall, missing only by centimeters. Just as it was reaching the girl, its form shifted and all of a sudden, there was a human there. He grabbed the gun from the girl and put it to her head while holding her in a headlock. Dammit! How did I not see this coming? I drew in a breath deeply trying to get air but I just coughed even more. I kept on coughing and my vision started to get blurry. I closed my eyes and shook my head to clear my vision……

*******************************************************************

I opened my eyes to see everything upside down. I heard sirens in the distance and I struggled with my seatbelt. I fumbled with the buckle for a bit until finally managing to take it off. I fell onto the roof of the car and landed on my back. I bit back a curse and turned over to see Rose talking on the phone with someone. I crawled through the broken driver side window and was about halfway through when something grabbed me by the neck, pulled me the rest of the way out, and picked me up. As I struggled to get out of its hold I saw that it was the Minotaur. I turned to Rose and made frantic gestures at it. She just stared at me, a sad look on her face. I stopped my struggles and just stared at her for a bit. This could not be happening. Not her. The Minotaur loosened its grip enough for me to talk.

“Why? Why did you do it?” I asked weakly, no longer trying to fight.

“There are some powers you can’t ignore, John. Some that just can’t be killed or beaten. I am so sorry that it came to this but it’s all for the greater good.” She replied sniffling. She kept on repeating the last part in a lower voice.

“Who are you trying to convince here Rose, me or you?” I replied. She ignored me, so I asked “How could you do this to Lisa, to Frederick, to, to, to me?”

She just turned away. I heard the sound of a sword being unsheathed. I turned to see the Minotaur holding an exceedingly large sword. Looks like you aren’t getting out of this one, Johnny ole boy. It lifted its upper lip in what I could have only guessed was a grin.

“Any last words, human?” It said in surprisingly good English.

“Bite me, asshole.” I replied. A rebel to the end, that’s me. It tilted its head as if actually contemplating it. Then shook it, thinking better of it. In one quick motion, it pushed the sword through my abdomen and out the other side. I gasped at the immense pain that sent shockwaves through my body. I arched my back and yelled aloud as it pulled it back out, and then it dropped me to the ground. I laid there writhing in pain as he laughed. Fighting through the pain, I managed to get enough strength to spit in his face. I wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of begging for my life. He roared in anger and lifted the sword again to finish me off. Just then, I heard three shots get fired all of them hitting the Minotaur’s sword arm. It roared again and both it and Rose turned. I moved my body to get a better look. It was Melissa, pistol in hand, calm look on her face, firing round after round at the Minotaur. Rose told it something and both of them ran off.

“Me-melissa!” Was all I managed to say. She turned to me and emotion broke through her calm mask. Surprise, followed by anger, and then finally worry. She ran over to me and saw the big gap in my torso.

“John! Oh my god, what happened?” She asked examining my wounds.

“It’s a pretty long story.” I said and tried grinning. She flipped open her cell phone and called somebody. She asked for a few ambulances as well as reinforcements and then went back to tending me. “Lo-look in the glove compartment Mel, there should be some first aid there.”
She went into the overturned car and came back with a little white box they had a red cross on it. She opened the box and looked even more worried. Crap.

“Mel, please tell me you have some sort of First Aid training.” I said. She shook her head. “I thought all you cops are supposed to know first aid?”

“It's not a requirement and besides it didn’t seem that important at the time.” She replied looking away.

“Hells bells! I am bleeding out here, Mel!”

“Can’t you just talk me through it?

“Don’t have much of a choice, now do I? Ok, first we have to stop the bleeding. Use the cloth in there to soak up the blood and put pressure on the wound.” She did it and miraculously the bleeding actually seemed to slow down bit. “Now you just wrap the wound in gauze……Good, hand me that syringe over there and the bottle of penicillin.”

She did so, and I shot it into my bloodstream. I looked in the box myself, searched around a bit and found what I was looking for. I pulled out the minifridge version of Jack Daniels and a tiny bottle of Morphine. She frowned at me when she saw this but didn’t’ say anything. I shrugged as I opened the bottle. Who’s in pain here? I drank half the Jack, poured the morphine in and shook it a little, and downed the whole thing. After the morphine hit, I felt really good. Hallucinated a little but felt good. I lay back on the concrete and smiled. Mel gave me a weird worried look but just kept looking for the cavalry to arrive. A light, with no apparent source, shined on her, making her glow and I saw a halo and wings. I smiled even wider.

“What are you smiling about?” she asked.

“I’m just thinking about how good you’d look in white.” I said laughing. She gave me a look that made me wonder if I had spoken coherently. After a while I started to hear more sirens coming. The EMTs put me in a stretcher and I fell asleep somewhere along the way.

*******************************************************************

….My vision refocused and I recovered my stance. The man that held her was breathing heavily and the gun kept on shaking in his hand. Damn, he was just a pup, they all were. In some twisted sort of way, I felt bad for them. They didn’t even know about the council. But, sadly I didn’t have the time to feel bad, I had to kill him. He was already too far gone into the whole killing bit for successful rehabilitation. Didn’t mean I had to like it though. It also didn’t mean I couldn’t be diplomatic, at least for her sake if anything.

“Look, you don’t want to die, I don’t want to run the risk of hitting her while I kill you. We both have our reasons for not wanting me to shoot. What say we put our guns down and talk like two people……well, person to thing?” I said with my most patronizing smile.

He darted his eyes from side to side as if looking for an escape route. Oh, this was really not good. Cornered animals never react well. He was starting to shift back into a werewolf. Fur was starting to grow over his arm and legs, his teeth were becoming bigger and sharper, his nails were becoming claws, and his bloodshot eyes were turning a sickly yellow.

“Whoa, come on now, don’t do this. This isn’t going to end well, for either of us, if you go all wolfy. Stop shifting or I start shooting.” I said.

He growled at me, but kept on changing. I couldn’t shoot him for fear of hitting the girl which just pissed me off. I had to think fast or this wasn’t going to turn out pretty. I got an idea born of impulsivity and movie watching.

“I’m sorry mam, but he has to go down. Don’t take this personal.” I said aiming my gun and steadying my hand. She widened her eyes in surprise and fear and she tried struggling more. I fired a shot and she collapsed, the werewolf already too far into the transformation to stop, had lost its grip on her. All he could do was speed up the transformation, but it was already too late for that. I shot every single bullet left in the clip into its body, even after it had collapsed to the ground. I shook my head as I looked at the corpse, and then went to check on the girl. She was laying face down where she had fallen, her hands pressed together as if in prayer. I nudged her with my foot and she jumped. When she saw it was me though, she just appeared infuriated.

“You shot me, you bastard!!” She yelled trying to get up but just falling.

“It just grazed you, calm down. Besides I had to get you away from him somehow.” I replied getting her to a sitting position and checking her leg. She struggled a little bit but I held her leg firmly and examined the wound. I was right. It had dug a little into her leg but not enough to cause any lasting damage. She would heal it in about a week or so. Beats being dead any day.

“Your fine, just head over to hospital and they‘ll fix you up. Say you burned your leg on a lead radiator, just so they don‘t ask any unnessacery questions.” I said tearing the sleeve of my shirt and wrapping it around the injury. “Keep that on there. I’m going to go check on your friend.”

I ran over to where her friend was and checked for injuries. She had a cut on her head, but it didn’t look life threatening. As far as I could tell, she was just knocked out. It was a little awkward, considering I only had one good arm, but I managed to lift her onto my shoulder. I looked over to the other girl and she was already preparing to walk out. I followed her out and laid the girl in the back seat. I got into the driver’s seat and the other girl sat in the passenger seat. I drove in the general direction of the hospital and thought about what to do.

“So, what’s your name?” The girl suddenly asked. I was surprised by the question, so it took me awhile to answer.

“Um, it’s Riley, John Riley. Yours?”

“Alaina Travis, my friend’s name is Taylor.” She turned and stared out the window. “Thanks…….for saving us I mean. I was doing just fine but thanks anyways.”

“I’m sure you were.” I replied trying not to laugh. No point in pursuing the subject of whether or not she needed saving. “I just evened the playing field a little more.”

“Look, it’s better for everyone that you forget what you saw back there.” I told her as I parked in the hospital parking lot. She just kept staring out the window, not acknowledging what I said. I sighed and was about to get out when she grabbed my arm. I turned to see she was staring at me now, a fire burning in her eyes.

“Forget? You expect me to forget all the gruesome things that I saw in there, that could possibly be happening in other places just because it would ‘be better for everyone‘?” she asked furiously. Dammit, I didn’t like this. Mostly because what she said was true.

“Hey, I’m not saying it will be easy but we can’t have you running around trying to get yourself killed fighting these things. We have enough problems dealing with the creatures themselves, we don’t need mortals getting in the crossfire or unwillingly swelling their ranks.” I replied. All good reasons in theory and would have normally made any other mortal consider their mortality or usefulness. Sadly, this girl was hell bent on getting involved.

“Then I could work with you! You seem to know what you’re doing and you could teach me some moves and how to shoot a gun and a bunch of other things!”

“Hells bells, do you know what you’re signing up for, lady? This job isn’t a picnic! It’s a lot of hard work and putting your life in danger for little to no gratitude and money. You have to make tough decisions and they may involve working against people you know and trust. You can’t have a personal life to speak of. You must be able to leave the city, state, or country in a moment’s notice. You would have to swear loyalty, at the least to me and the most to the Council itself. And words can be a little more binding then you think. There is no such thing as nationalism or patriotism or anything like that. We have one ideal, the greater good. Not just for humanity but for all beings. Can you really tell me that you’re ready to give your previous life up, in its entirety, just to do the right thing?” I finished my speech with a frustrated sigh. A lot of pent up anger and regret had poured into the speech and I finally felt tired. She seemed to be deep in thought so I got out of the car and took her friend out of the backseat. I put her over my shoulder once more and walked over to the entrance. She fell into step behind me keeping silent.

Time to put on a show. I forced myself to jog in, go up to reception, and freak out about my “sister”. I made up a story of how she took a nasty fall after tripping on the stairs. They took her straight in for examinations. Before they could ask me anymore questions, a “crazed” man burst in giving enough of a distraction for me and Alaina to slip out. Some people will do anything for a little money. We quickly walked out and got into the car. As we drove away, Alaina was still silent, which worried me a little. Had I been too hard on her?

“Yes.” She finally said. At first I thought she had read my mind. Then I realized she had meant it as an answer for my other question and not in the way I expected or wanted. I studied her a little bit trying to figure her out. Why was she doing this? Why was she so willing to part with her lifestyle and why did she want to do good so badly? I voiced my questions to her.

“Why? After what I’ve seen today, I can’t help feeling that I need to do something. How many people die because of these things? How many have lost loved ones to these things? I feel like I have been given a chance to do something with my life and right past wrongs. That’s why.” She said. I was surprised by the insight. She had a strong set of moral values and it seemed that no one could break them. I found it very interesting and after a moment of second-thoughts, I decided that she just might be helpful.

“You might have what it takes. All right, fine, you can join me. There is a catch though. Convincing me was the easy part, you have to convince the Council now.” I told her. Fantastic, just what I wanted, a visit to the Council. I called Martinez and set up a meeting for tomorrow. As I parked, I got a serious headache that made me close my eyes…

*******************************************************************

I woke up to the sound of an EKG machine beeping. I looked around to see I was in the hospital. I saw Martinez sitting next to my bed nodding off. He looked old but it didn’t make him look any less menacing. He was in his mid-30’s, about six feet. He was pretty built, almost like he should be lifting weights for a living. He had scars on his arms from past battles but somehow, he always kept his face from being mangled. He woke up with a start, checked the room for any threats, and then returned to a more comfortable position.

“You know, I was expecting someone significantly hotter, in a nurse’s uniform who would have asked if I needed my pillow fluffed.” I said with a grin.

“You’ll just have to make due with a ruggedly handsome man who isn’t afraid to beat up a cripple if he is asked to fluff any pillows. How are you feeling?”

“Pretty good actually, painkillers seem to be working. What’s the damage?”

“Well, doctors say the sword missed most of the major stuff like arteries, heart, and lungs, but it got one of your kidneys and nicked your intestines. You’re lucky though. It missed your spinal cord by a few centimeters.”

“Yeah, I’m lucky all right.” I spat bitterly. I felt anger build up from deep inside of me. I had been betrayed and nearly killed by a person I had intimately trusted for no more reason then that a non-descript higher power demanded it. I was pissed off and hurt, both emotionally and physically. “I can see the obvious enemies and not get killed by them, whoop-dee-do. What good is that when even my friends seem to be the enemy?”

“Hey, none of us expected Rose to turn like that. You can’t beat yourself up over it, man.”

“How long for a kidney?” I asked changing the subject.

“You already got it. You’ve been asleep for four days. Whenever you want, you can tell the doc your ready to leave” He said getting up. “I have to get back to the Council. Are you going to be all right?”

“Yeah, go on, cap’n. As soon as I get out though, I’m going hunting.”

“I thought you might say that. Your car’s in the parking lot. I fixed it up and inside is all the information you need. Good hunting.” and with that he left. Leaving me to lay in bed to brood about what had happened. C’mon, John, get your head in the game. I forced myself to think about what to do next. One: Most importantly, I needed to find out who had enough power to force Rose into betraying the Council, and me in the process. Two: All I had to go on was the Minotaur that had kidnapped my lackey and her fiancé, as well as skewered me. Three: There was the possibility that I would need to pack a lot of heat as well as get as much info as possible to get through this hunt in one piece. With that knowledge in mind, I decided that I would go see my contacts in the city to gather information. I got up and found my clothes sitting on another chair. I got dressed in the bathroom, slowly and carefully. I focused intently on it and never let my attention waver. Because if I did, that would give my mind enough time to think about what had happened. I needed a clear head to work, and emotions would just get in the way right now. After, I went back to my bed and, in the same careful and attentive manner, put on my shoes. A nurse came in during this and gave me my discharge papers and telling me I had another visitor. It was Melissa. She came in and closed the door behind her.

“Hey, how are you?” She asked.

“I’m fine! Fit as a fiddle, Mel. I was just about to leave actually.” I replied walking towards the door. She leaned against it, preventing me from leaving, which told me that there was something she wanted to talk about. Go, go, gadget obvious. “What is it, Melissa?”

“We need to talk about the day you got injured. More specifically about how you got injured.” she said. Damn, I hope this wasn’t going where I thought it was going.

“Yeah, what about it?” I asked casually, though inside I was freaking out.

“What the hell was that thing that tried to kill you?”

“I don’t know what you mean by thing, Melissa. I got stabbed by a big guy who didn’t like me.” I replied flippantly.

“That’s bullshit and you know it. And what the hell was Rose doing there?”

“Dammit, Melissa, you don’t want to know. This is the kind of stuff that nightmares are made of. Just think of it as a mugging and let it go. Please, for the love of god, let it go.”

“This is my city and I have to protect it. Your holding back on me and it could endanger lives. So, I ask again, what the hell was that?”

“If I tell you, you’re not going to believe me”

“Try me”

“Fine, it was a Minotaur.”

“A-a what?”

“Min-o-tar.” I said and I managed to push past her and get out of the room. I limped down the hallway and towards the main entrance of the hospital. She quickly caught up with me and had a look of confusion and disbelief on her face. “Told you that you wouldn’t believe me.”

“You’re telling me that a Minotaur attacked you? Are you sure you didn’t bump your head in the car crash?” she asked. I ignored her and went to the parking lot looking for my car. She followed me and kept making cracks about my sanity. I tuned her out long enough to find my car between two SUVs. I got in and saw the file Martinez had made for me. I snatched it as she leaned into the car.

“Besides, how could something that big go unnoticed by everybody?”

“Mortals see what they want to see. Why see a mythological creature when you can just see a very hairy, very big man. It makes my job a whole lot easier in some places and harder in others.”

“And what exactly is your job?”

“To maintain order between beings and, if nessacery, kill any wrong doers. And in my experience, it becomes nessacery a lot. But, we cannot kill mortals. Well, we’re not supposed to and it’s frowned upon, but if all else fails. Personally, I try not to get in any situations where I would need to.”

“So, your investigative agency….?”

“Is sort of real. It helps pay the bills and is a good way to keep tabs on anything that happens in the city and state.” I replied finding the keys cleverly hidden in the sun visor. “Look, I would love to stay and explain this to you, but I have things to do. We’ll talk about it later, ok?”

“If its endangering citizens, I want in.” she said. Jesus, this was just getting worse.

“Melissa, I can’t let you…”

“Either you let me in, or so help me god, I will lock you up, John David Riley!”

I cringed as she said my full name. See, names have power. When a mortal uses somebody’s full name it’s like pulling a dog’s leash. It makes a person pause and regard the other person. Were a more powerful entity to get your full name, they would be able to effectively control you and make you do things. Maybe if she hadn’t known my full name, Maybe if she hadn’t made a valid argument, maybe if she wasn’t a cop, I would have just left and she wouldn’t have gotten involved. Heh, yeah right.

“Fine, I find anything, you’ll be the first to know.” I said, driving away. Great, one more thing to add to the already long and difficult to-do list. As I drove back to my apartment, I tried thinking about where to start. Then I noticed that I was on