Chapter 2

"This is serious. Now we have to investigate this." Billy said. On the page before him was the name of an immortal.

'Robert L. Parker, 31, was found dead this morning in an alley close to the Golden Gate Bridge. He was the latest victim in the recent string of killings that has plaugued the city. Like the other victims, his corpse was badly mutilated. So far the police say they have found no similarities between victims except they were all in the area when they were killed. The public is warned to keep away from the area as much as possible, and to stay off the streets after dark. Anyone wishing to report anything suspicious should call the toll free hotline at...'

"Whoever or whatever this is is attacking immortals!" Black Hawk was intimidated by the news of a dead immortal. If your master didn't kill you, not much should be able to, and none of it should be running loose in a city with more immortals than any in the states except New York. " It was none of our buisiness before, but now it's personal! Butch Cassidy went out to get something from a 7/11 and now he's dead. He wouldn't go out without a fight, so then whatever this is can take down a fully armed immortal!"

" What on earth could have done that?" Kate said, taking the paper from Billy.

"I can think of several things, all of them bad." he told her.

"We at least have to find out what it is that's done this. I can think of a lot more things than Billy can, and if any of them found their way here it would be catastrophic." Tanya said. It obviously worried her more than she was letting on judging by her next statement. She took a deep breath. "We might have to call Quetzalcoatl on this. But he won't come unless we have concrete evidence. We need to do some recon for this." Tanya's eyes had a nervous glint to them and her fangs were long in her mouth. " I'll go, but I won't go alone. Kid, Hawk, can I count on you guys?"

The two looked at each other. If Tanya had even suggested calling in Quetzalcoatl, then this had to be dead serious. It was common knowledge that she hated their master more than Cucubuths hated Dearg-due. The two were related pretty closely in elder terms, and she was the family embarrassment, the half wolf.

She'd been on a crusade her entire life to prove that she didn't need her family's help in anything. The fact that she even considered calling her uncle, meant that she didn't think she could handle it herself. And in their experience, if Tanya couldn't handle something, then you got the heck out of there, possibly fleeing the country all together!Even the fact that their master would obliterate them if they let his niece get herself killed wouldn't be enough to cause them to volunteer. Neverless, after a quick glance at each other to make sure they wouldn't be alone in their deciscion, they both replied the same thing.

" Yeah."

" Sure, I'm in."

Tanya nodded, glad to have help. "Then let's get going. It's nearly 6:00 and our best chance is to have seen all there is to see by sun down. I don't want to face this thing in the dark. We need every advantage we can get."

Kate had realized something "What about me? If you guys are going then I am too!"

"No." said the other three simultaneously. As the youngest immortal both phisically and chronologically, everyone tried to keep Kate away from dangerous missions as much as possible, at least untill she was over 50 and had completed her training. And if Quetzalcoatl would kill them over Tanya, then they didn't even know what he'd do if they even suggested that Kate could come. He'd done way to much to get her for her to be endangered, and if ever there was a dangerous situation, then it was this one.

"No." Tanya continued, "You can see what's coming, even if it's only clear minutes before it happens. You're our ace-in-the-hole. We need you focusing all you've got on finding out what this is. If you get anything, text me." She glanced at Calpurnia who was listening to them with a worried look. " Cal, can you make sure she does?"

The dorm head nodded " Y'all be careful. There's something nasty about this. I can tell. You three better walk away from this alive."

"Don't worry Cal, we will." Tanya smiled then turned to the other two. "Get your weapons. Time to track some monster."

"So does anybody have anything even resembling a plan or do we just look til we find something then make it up from there?" Billy asked the world at large.

The three of them were standing at the mouth of a dingy alleyway near the city's piers. Apparently everyone had taken the advice of the police, because an hour from sun down the entire area was deserted. The Kid was anxious to get out of the open. The last thing they needed was to get reported by someone thinking they looked suspicious. Which he had to admit, they did.

Tanya frowned "While it's still light we should look for any kind of trail. Blood, scuff marks. Black Hawk, do you know if Butch had his gun?"

Black Hawk nodded. "Yeah he wouldve been fully armed. I'm surprised they didn't metion that in the article."

"Or maybe he didn't have it on him when they found him, which probably means he drew it, but lost it at some point. So anyway, look for bullet casings, or the gun itself. But when the sun goes down, we'll have to join back up." She threw her head back and inhaled, searching for any scent that could lead her to what she was looking for.

Billy shrugged, stuck his hands in his pockets and set off down the alley way, eyes on the ground. He'd never admitt it, but half of him hoped they didn't find anything.

The way Tanya was acting scared him. She was actually worried about this. And if that wasn't enough, he had a good idea of what this could be, and he didn't like the thought of meeting it down a dark alley.

Kate Barlow sat on her bed, a look of intense concentration on her pale face. She had a bad feeling about this whole situation.

A few minutes after the others had left, an edge had come over the tangled threads at the back of her mind, as if the misty strands had turned to steel wool. She slowly combed through them as they flowed past, waiting for them to clarify. She hated when it was like this. Usually events came clear just minutes before they actually happened, but if she tried hard enough, she could often get them sooner. No luck tonight. The future was currently about as clear as a golem. That was bad enough, but then there was that bitter feel to what she blurrily could see, like she'd bit a green persimmon while seeing them.

She slowly closed her eyes. Come on, she thought, come clear. And then, in a rush it did, the truth leaping out at her from the threads of time, with teeth bared. She opened her eyes screaming.