Connie Murphy was in the kitchen making a sandwich. Bread products and appropriate fillings lay out in front of her on the counter as she finished applying the butter and was now deciding what would go into the middle. In the relatively large cottage she and her ten year old daughter lived in, they were granted with a relatively large kitchen that Connie had decided to furnish with a modern style. Surrounded the white wooden cupboards and cabinets were networks of stainless steel and distorted glass that give the kitchen a high class shine when light would shine in through the patio windows behind her. Or it would if the weather had decided to allow the Chicago sun into the air rather than deem it fit to coat the sky in an overcast grey cloud, that always seemed to threaten rain but never deliver.
After much careful deliberation, Connie came to a sound conclusion and carefully laid two thin pieces of ham on the bread and coated it slightly with a sprinkling of grated cheese. Connie had originally planned to wait for Anna to get home from school before preparing herself a snack, but the school bus was being late today and this was one of the few days where Connie had a day off. The utter boredom of not having anyone to arrest was grating her nerves. Only the sounds of her rumbling belly were able to get past her complaining mind and she firmly decided to put as much thought into the sandwich making process as possible, lest she finally lose it and walk out into the street to look for delinquents to scold.
Armed with fresh sandwich and cold bear, She worked worked her way into the beige coloured living room and sat down into the large sofa, while laying out her post-lunch meal on the coffee table in front of her. Connie scattered the magazines that had accumulated on the table in search of the TV remote and cursed the many subscriptions that she and Anna had subscribed to. Thankfully for her sanity, Anna hadn't yet broken into the age of make-up and clothes shopping and was gladly settled into comic books right now.
Finally grasping the remote, Connie gave a silent battle cry to the magazine gods and switched the TV onto the new while taking a bite out of her sandwich.
Tasty.
Leaning back against the armrest, she absently chewed on the bread as the latest news on Chicago filled the screen and a rather too attractive news reporter looked up into the camera.
"Welcome to News24. There has been confusion on the streets of Chicago today as cars heading into the city centre have been deadlocked for miles with no signs of alleviation..."
Leaning forward, Murphy grasped onto her bear and nestled back into the sofa.
"The traffic was originally caused after a school bus tipped over and blocked the entire road. No reports have been issued yet on what happened..."
Connie paused just as she opened the can and began to feel a sense of dread coming up through her.
"...but it has been ten minutes since the accident and police forces are being deployed around the area in order to seal it off from the public. There has been no word yet on why security has been needed for a traffic accident."
Connie dropped the can onto the floor and the liquid poured from it and seeped into the carpet. In a single, fluid jump, she vaulted over the side of the coach and grabbed her phone and police jacket, with her gun already loaded in its holster. She was already half-way out the door when she speed dialled Kirmani's number and quickly walked over to her car. She had already opened the door and sat in the seat when Kirmani picked up and a flood of sounds shot through the earpiece.
She clearly heard him say "Kirmani here!" as he shouted through his end, but it was over laced with a stream of gunshots in the background and what sounded like gale force winds around him. He was on duty today, so he must have been called in with the rest of the force.
"Kirmani, it's Murphy. Are you by the school bus? What's going on down there?" She had to shout it a couple of times but he eventually understood the message and quickly replied.
"It's raining hell here Murphy. Dresden's here and he's kicking up a storm. The bus is all right but we're having a little trouble understanding what's going on right now."
"What's going on Kirmani?"
"BRING INSECTICIDE!" he yelled into the earpiece and quickly pulled away from the phone in order to speak to some else. "I gotta go Murphy, get here quickly," and he hung up.
Connie stared at the phone dumbfounded for a few seconds before dumping it into the seat next to her and pulling out of her driveway. She swears to God that Dresden going to get his ass kicked if it turns out he overturned Anna's bus.
She had to pass a few police checkpoints and flash her badge to each of them before Connie got to the scene of the accident. She could see the bus a short distance away on its side, but the path to it was blocked by a lane of police cars. Officers were running to and fro the barricade while other were leaning against the cars with their guns drawn and aiming in front of them. A few were scurrying around on the top of the bus and pulling kids out, before passing them to the waiting police below. Connie carefully manoeuvred around the cars already there and pulled up just in front of the barricade.
Just as she went to open the door to get out, there was a yell of warning from atop the bus and overlapped with a loud screeching sound from in front of her that immediately gave her goosebumps. She looked to the caller for guidance, but a shape blurred in front of her and she focused back to the barricade. She could see nothing out of the ordinary, but eventually noticed a large shadow begin to from on her windscreen. Connie quickly pulled herself forward in her seat to get a higher angle and she quickly wished she hadn't. She couldn't be a hundred percent sure what she saw, but at first guesses, it appeared to be a giant spider leaping towards her car.
Spread out in a wide circle, eight, pincer-like legs extended from a single body that must have stretched at least five feet in diameter. Fur covered the legs, but its underside was covered in a leathery looking armour. It was a mostly dark brown colour with faint stripes of gold in the matted hair. With little grace and even less poise, it landed spread eagled on the hook of her car, causing Connie to jolt out of her seat and into the back rest. Quickly righting itself with two legs pressed against her windscreen, eight black eyes studied its tinned meal and decided to get at it by bashing its head against the glass.
Connie knew she should reach for her gun, but she was frozen in her seat and her knuckles had turned white from gripping the steering wheel to hard. Thin cracks began to form on the glass as the spider furiously tried to break in, fangs extending from its mouth as the cracks got larger and larger. Connie didn't know how you were meant to deal with giant spiders.
"FORZARE!" The words shot across the ground and snapped Connie out of her daze. The spider also turned to look for the new intruder and Connie watched as a column of mist formed through the air and slammed into the side of creature. The blow was large enough to completely explode the spider as limbs and blood suddenly separated from its host and covered Connie's windscreen in a dark red mess.
Now the moment of fear was gone, Connie quickly pulled her pistol out of its holster and leapt out of the car, all the while scanning for more arachnids. Her eyes settled in the figure standing atop the bus and she once again stood shocked at the appearance. Standing above her in a brace position, Harry had his long staff extended towards the hood of her car and his thick duster fluttered around him in the wake of a powerful wind. His eyes impartially scanned her body for injuries and she felt her cheeks blush a little as his eyes lingered over her and she tightened her police jacket around her.
Noticing her discomfort, he grinned and waved at her before turning to the two other figures atop the bus. "Michael! You stand behind us and help pull the kids out. We'll have to cover you so you'll have to lower them down on your own."
The one he referred to as Michael, looked like the dashing knight from the fairytale's. Across his body, he wore a full set of chain mail with a large grey cloak that didn't seem to weigh him down one bit. He was a tall man with broad shoulders and a long mane of dark hair that he had tied behind his head in a small ponytail. In his hand was a massive longsword that was giving of its own, unnatural glow. Michael casually held it by his side that could only have been accomplished from years of experience. He nodded once to Harry and knelt down in front of the open window of the bus and reached in to help lift others out.
From behind them both, another spider suddenly leapt out from behind the bus towards Harry's turned back. Connie's heart stopped in her throat, but before she could call for help, the third man in Harry's company suddenly leapt into the air from a standing jump and cut straight through the underbelly of the spider with a long, thin rapier. Black guts spilled from the wound and the creature give a dying cry of protest before its body landed on the bus only a few inches from Harry. Only pausing for a second at the sight of the now dead enemy, Harry turned towards the other man and smiled, "Thank you Thomas. Now we're going to cover Michael while he gets the kids out," after a pause, he then added "and we want to go for efficiency rather than theatrics. Try no to show off." they smiled at each other and walked to the side of the bus to look at what ever all the other cops seemed to be staring at.
Thomas was the shorter of the three, but still coming close to Harry's height. Around his body, he wore exquisite clothing that had been dyed in dark red and blues. Though he hardly seemed to be sweating from the high jump, he had a smouldering look to him that would have had girls swooning for him, if not for the dark black circles that had covered his eyes. He looked like a predator and Connie didn't trust him at all, but Harry seemed unconcerned by his appearance she she decided to leave the questions until later.
Connie heard her name called from behind her and she turned to find Kirmani running over to her. He still had his gun on him, but his was hanging in his hand loosely and Connie could see a thick cut across his forehead. He tried to hide his discomfort, but Connie quickly slapped his protesting hands away and forced him to sit on the edge of his car seat. They were both in authority mode right now, so after he slumped his shoulders in acceptance, he jumped straight to the point. That was how people were meant to act in an emergency. Not try and make jokes and banter on about faeries before finally getting to the point.
"Well Lieutenant, as you have already figured out by now," he glanced over at the bloody mess on the hood of her car, "we seem to be having a bit of a spider problem. They originally started coming out the middle of the street and attacking everyone but it seems something's holding them back right now."
"What was going on when you got here?"
Kirmani waved a hand at Harry, who was now whispering to Thomas and looking past the bus. "By the time we got here, Dresden was already on the bus with his Knight friend and the other one was cleavering his way through the horde of bugs. When the spiders began to turn on our car barricade, it seemed like they set off a bomb or something and now the spiders aren't moving anywhere."
They both turned to the bus as Harry's voice boomed over the crowd. "Right folks, your exterminator squad has come up with a quick and hopefully painless plan that we should probably tell you about. Who's the senior officer here?"
Everyone was to confused at the moment to ignore him, so eyes started scanning each other for someone to dump the responsibility onto. Kirmani had already figured it out and so had Connie. One by one, faces found and fell onto Connie and she mentally cursed her luck. Harry followed their lines of sight and his gaze settled on Connie. He became very cheerful that he found someone he could trust and he clapped his hands together.
"Wonderful, things are going to go a lot smoother now." He grinned hard and held out his hand for Connie. "You'll need to come up here Murph. You're going to want to see this."
very carefully, with only the briefest of hesitations, Connie walked over to the bus.
Damn, damn, damn...
She said over and over again in her head. Reaching up and grabbing his wrist (because she couldn't handle an intimate handshake right now), she abseiled up the side of the bus as Harry pulled her over the top. Hand on her shoulder, he brought her over to the side of the bus (which would actually be the side of the side of the bus) and pointed down the street. He really didn't need to point as it was very hard to miss. Only a dozen meters away, the road was filled with rows upon rows of spiders. Dark furry bodies clustered around each other and many climbed on top, purely Connie thinks, to have a perfect view to stare straight at the humans. In the background, she could make out a glowing circle in the middle of the street. Instinct dictated her action and Connie tried to take a step away, but Harry's hand kept a reassuring grip on her to calm her down.
"Don't worry about them for now, I've set up a ward to keep them back, but I can't hold it forever." Connie glared at him and he showed his hands to her with reason. "Look over at where they are if you don't believe me!"
Keeping a glare on him for a few seconds longer, she eventually turned and looked at where the spiders had stopped. Sure enough, she could make out a thin, blue sheet sprouting from a chalk line across the road that physically blocked them from moving. Bodies impacted against it constantly, but it only caused a brief spark of light and a dazed creature.
"Told you," he whispered into her ear, and she jumped slightly at the close contact. Connie took a step backwards and looked at Harry.
"You have thirty seconds to explain Dresden."
He stood straight back and saluted her before relaxing and leaning onto his stick and grinning at her. "Complicated explanations later, simple ones now." He looked over at the crowd of animals in front of them. "Never-ending army of spiders are coming out of that glowing portal in the middle of the street. For now, just think of it as a hole in the air. They injured a few civilians before rolling over this bus. Luckily, my evil, early-warning system," he thumb pointed to Michael who was still pulling kids out of the open doorway and passing them down, "notified me and me and my … friend Thomas, came to back him up." Connie noticed the pause but decided to leave it for another time. She still didn't trust this Thomas though. "So far, no-ones been hurt aside from a few over eager cops of yours but the spiders are still pretty dangerous." He finished his story and waited for Connie to pat him on the head for a job well done.
"Thank-you Dresden." Sometimes it was just easier to comply with him rather than argue. "I will want that complicated explanation later though."
He scowled at her, but they quickly turned their heads as they were interrupted by a third party. "Mum!" Michael was just lifting Anna out of the bus as her head swivelled and spotted Connie. He settled her down on the bus rather than pass her down. Connie quickly ran over to grab the sides of her bulky blue jacket and pulled her into a hug. She kissed Anna's forehead and long black curls like Connie's were brushed around and tickled her nose enough to finally break the embrace.
"Are you alright Anna? You're not hurt are you?" She quickly asked, already checking Anna for bruises or cuts.
Anna wildly shook her head. "I'm fine. I thought you told be that flame-throwers were illegal. How come Mr. Dresden gets one?" Connie looked over at Harry and he smiled without giving an answer as Anna continued, "Mr James had made us put on our seatbelts when the bus fell over, so we were mostly dizzy rather than hurt. A few people even threw up, but I didn't." She explained proudly. Trust children to focus on the little things.
Connie held Anna's shoulders and looked into her eyes. "Well done Anna, but for now, your going to have to do exactly what I tell you to do, understand?" Anna noted her mothers serious tone and nodded her head. Connie glanced over to see Sid already standing by the bus with his arms held out. "I'm going to be passing you over to my partner Sid, he's going to take you down and over to the medics to make sure your alright, okay?" Anna nodded again and quickly hugged Connie before she was passed down and Sid took her over to the stationed ambulance where the other kids were. Connie carefully watched he until she went out of sight and then stood up to look at Harry. He was waiting patiently as he watched her and her daughters exchange. Michael had just finished pulling a teacher out, who Connie assumed was Mr. James and Thomas had been staring at his feet, uncomfortable with the intimacy in the air. Good.
"So what's the plan Dresden?"
Happy to be in the conversation again Harry piped up and began streaming details. "This is what going to happen. I can keep the ward up for now, but its hardly going to solve the immediate problem. Our primary goal is to close the gateway quickly before any more show up, but that will mean I will have to lower the ward and we'll need to go through them. They have basic weaknesses like any fleshy creature, but I recommend aiming for their legs or body as the front of their heads are mainly hardened bone. These spiders have a hive mind, so as soon as it's closed, they're bodies should all disintegrate and we'll all hopefully be no worse for wear." Michael and Thomas unanimously nodded and Connie had to pretend she was watching a sci-fi film in order to understand everything, but she thought she got the gist of it.
She carefully watched them all agree with each other before turning to Harry, "Dresden?" He focused on her, "Why are there arachnids the size of dogs in the middle of the city?"
From the face he pulled, it was as if she had just slapped him. "You're asking me this now? I come up with a brilliantly fiendish plan with the minimum of casualties and you want to know now where they came from?" She didn't humour him with an answer and stared at his face blankly while he combed his hand over his hair. "Listen Murph," he lowered his voice and leaned in towards her, "I promise I'll explain everything to you later, but right now, we're on a difficult time limit and I'm going to need you to trust me."
They all turned to her and she mulled over the consequences of putting her faith in Dresden's hands before she grudgingly accepted the plan. "I can get us cops to shoot the them, but there seem to be more spiders than we have bullets. I'm not sure if we'll even be able to get close to the centre."
Harry shook his head. "You won't be going through them. We will."
"Hell no Dresden. Even if you and your buddies were expertly trained with those," she vaguely gestured to the swords and Harry's staff, "We don't send civilians into dangerous situations and I'm sorry to say that includes you."
Harry seemed very put off by this limitation and lightly grabbed Connie's arm. "Don't think of us as civilians. We're all experts with these matters and we've dealt with these before. Plus, Michael and Thomas are more than experts with the sword. Like you wouldn't believe and this staff has more uses than just hitting things."
Connie took a second to think about Harry's serious words. She was well aware that he had lied to and manipulated her in the past, but he had never let her down once. She could count on him to do the right thing, even if it usually is for the possibility of a pay-check.
She didn't like this one bit, but she grudgingly nodded to Harry and slowly turned around to walk towards the edge of the bus and look at the other cops waiting patiently for commands. She counted about ten of them.
God, she felt stupid on top of the bus. I'm like a queen standing in front of her subjects.
Forcing away her embarrassment and scratching thoughts on Lord of the Rings out of her head, she addressed the crowd. "Okay, listen up because timing needs to be essential for this." The men and woman stood to attention. "I'm going to half of you to line up on each side of the street with your weapons drawn and ready. On my command, you are going to fire at will at the..." She didn't want to say this, "...giant spiders. If you have the opportunity too, shoot the abdomen, but otherwise, go for the eyes. Make sure you only shoot down the side of the road as a team will be moving through the middle. Do you all understand?" They all carefully looked at each others reactions and firmly nodded to Connie. If you can't trust your team leader, who can you trust?
As they all moved into position, Connie walked over to Harry who was beginning to lower himself down onto street level. On the dangerous side. Connie put her hand on his shoulder and he looked up at her. His friends had already walked towards the 'ward' and were patiently waiting. "I hope you know what you're doing Harry."
He smiled at her and lay his hand on top of hers. "I'll be fine Connie. If I can survive on the abysmal fee you pay me, I can survive anything." He was very sure of himself and Connie smiled back as he jumped down onto the road and strolled over to the edge of the ward. He span his stick in one hand and shook his other arm, causing a bracelet to fell down onto his wrist.
Connie bent down onto one knee and aimed at the set of spiders closest to Harry. Michael stood straight with his sword held out in front of him and Thomas moved into a duelling position with his Rapier, his left foot standing behind him.
Harry took a deep breath and muttered a few words while exhaling. The air shuddered for a moment and there was an abrupt snap as the blue sheet disappeared.
To be continued