Ah, the glories of chapter two. In this chapter we get to experience a little bit of mystery, a little touch of action, and the literal appearance of an old ally of Charlie's. I'd also like to take a moment to thank greenwine for his review. It may not have helped my struggles with the mechanics of the artist's craft but it was certainly a huge ego boost and highly appreciated as I slug through (re)writing this story. Clealy I'll have to put in some more quid pro quo work to get some more reviews, but I've never particularly sweated that. In any case, that's enough time for my random prattalings (glorious though they be) let us continue watching the;
Rise of the Heroes: A Tale of Detroit
Chapter 2: There Will Always be New Heroes, and New Enemies
The hospital had clearly seen better days. The windows were mostly broken and many had sheets of plywood boarded up across them. Once white plaster had been chipped and worn down so now it looked almost like rotten gray flesh slowly sloughing off the building in dribbling sheets of skin. It seemed even as though the local vandals avoided the place, for unlike every other building in the decaying neighborhood not one ounce of spray paint had been used to tag the decaying edifice.
Bridget sighed in frustration as she looked at her pack and the two twits who'd been put in charge of the mission. They'd been circling around the building and checking it out thoroughly for about the past two hours now.
"How much time now," she prompted for about the third time.
"Five minutes since you last asked," noted Norman as he failed to even glance at his watch.
"What's the rush," asked Tongue-tied with a smirk. "Hot date?"
Bridget snarled as a wave of red hot anger flashed through her. She suspected the little twerp was getting off on the excitement of feeling like he was on some sort of action mission. He was saved by any reply she might have come up with as Charlie and Leona finally returned from another circuit around the building.
"The entire place looks abandoned and empty," said Charlie revealing a brilliant observation that Bridget and the others had been reporting up to Raging Falls in their nightly reports for weeks now. "Still, I wish I had a better idea about what we were walking into." Charlie glanced at the golden wolf next to him. "Anything to offer yet?"
"The spiritual activity is…strange," Leona offered with an uneasy growl as she glowered at the building. "The spirits here dampened and hard to read."
"Nothing for it but to go inside then." Charlie motioned for the others to follow him as he began heading for the police tape laden front doors. "We'll be able to get a better read and maybe even figure out what's going on here."
"And what is going on here?" Bridget sneered at Charlie as she asked. "All we was ever told was to keep a sharp eye on it and report everything."
"We're not entirely sure," he admitted with a shrug. "But it's strange for spiritual activity to read like it does here. The entire building seems to be devoid of any activity, and in the spirit realm it's so tightly bound up you can barely move through it. It feels like there's something here, something quite valuable and well protected. If we can; I intend to find whatever that valuable item is, and bring it back to the council so they can divine how best to use it."
"Ponce," Bridget muttered under her breath as she rolled her eyes. She really didn't understand how the others could begin to put up with Charlie. It was painfully clear that all of them being put under his command was just another sinecure from his Uncle, the mighty Marn Valhallan. It was so obvious that Charlie had been cared for and attended to every day of his life with such a rich and powerful relative. He'd probably never wanted for food or clothing. He'd never come home to a dark house because the electrical company had shut them down for not being able to pay the bills. He hadn't had to drop out of school to care for his younger siblings. Worst of all was that his parents had probably known he was Garou, and had been quite aware of the coming change. It wouldn't have been like it was for her, oh no, not for Lord Charlie the chosen one.
There would have been someone there to stop him when the Rage finally came for him and forced the First Change. There would have been someone there to stop him. There would have been something done to protect his family.
She shook her head forcefully, not wanting to dwell on that thought. As she cast about, looking for something to distract herself with, she spotted a trio of ravens perched upon a nearby telephone wire. The birds seemed to be staring quite intently at her and the others as they crossed the street towards the hospital.
"Once we're inside I want everyone to stay on their toes. Don't allow yourself to be separated and I suggest you always stick close to either Leona or myself at all times." He reached out and tore down the tape blocking the doorway.
Bridget watched as the ravens suddenly cawed uneasily. Two of them took to the air in a flutter of wings and raced off as though hell itself were at their heels. The last one remained where it was, dark black eyes seeming to peer intently down at her.
"Bridget?" Broken Claw eased up next to her, almost reaching out to shake her shoulder but pausing just short of touching her. "We're going inside now."
"Huh? Oh, right." She motioned to the raven. "Sorry, I was just weirded out by that bird."
"A reasonable concern," offered Broken Claw with a small shrug of his shoulders. "Many cultures believe that the raven serve as the watching eyes of various gods be they gods of war or death. Their appearance was often heralded as a sign of a time of upcoming battle or of great tragedy and death."
"Thanks," she sneered, "ye really know how to help a girl relax." She glanced over her shoulder at the raven as she walked through the doors and into the hospital. The large black bird continued to watch her, a look of somber awareness on its face.
"Warding symbols! That's what they are!" Tongue-tied's excited shout shook her out of her fugue. Bridget glanced around to spot him and the others standing by the front admissions counter. On the wall behind the counter was an intricate design scrawled up in a spidery light touch of black ink. The entire display was almost four feet across and seemed to twist and shift whenever she tried to focus on it.
"You're right," agreed Broken Claw as he approached and peered closely at the feathery etching. "This must be why no one in the neighborhood seems to pay any attention to the structure." He shook his head in bewilderment. "The amount of effort to keep an entire building warded..."
"The Elder Council will be very curious about what is so important to deserve that effort," agreed Charlie as he headed down a wide hallway that went deeper into the decaying structure. "Everyone keep your eyes peeled. Leona what sort of energies are you picking up from the spirits?"
"Bad energies," snarled the wolf, "not a surprise in filthy city."
"Leona..." Charlie sighed, as though this were some long running debate between them.
"Hgggh." The wolf snorted as she glanced at him and then twitched her ears in what might have been the equivalent of a wolfish shrug. "Uncertain, spirits scared or angry." She spoke in the language of wolves, which Bridget could understand, though it made her head ace. "Possible danger."
"Possible danger?" Bridget frowned. "I thought spirits couldn't hurt you unless you stepped into the Penumbra with them?"
"Stupid thought," snorted the wolf. "Think you only Garou to cross between spirit realm and this one? Stupid."
"Stupid?" Bridget clenched her fists, ready to retort, but Norman glanced sharply at her and shook his head. Bridget sneered at him but swallowed her angry reply. She realized that impressing these idiots from Raging Falls was important to the rest of her pack, and was begrudgingly willing to play nice for their sakes.
She wedged her hands into her pockets and fought hard to keep her mouth shut as they wandered around the empty and dusty hallways. Their footsteps echoed about strangely in the darkness and more then once Bridget had jumped at an oddly twisting shadow before realizing it had belonged to one of the others.
"Bridget."
"Wha?" She glanced up at the others who all seemed to be excitedly discussing some splattered paint upon the floor of a large operating room. "What's up?"
"We think these are more runes that are serving as a focal point for the entire concealing rite on the building," answered Broken Claw as he glanced up from the tiles, a look of curious bewilderment on his face. "I'm not sure whether to be amazed at the achievement or frightened of the power it must have taken."
"So why'd you call to me then?"
"We didn't," grunted Norman as he glanced around. "Did you hear something?"
"I didn't," snarled Leona as she slinked around the room, her ears twitching. "My ears better then human ears."
"Probably nothing," sighed Bridget with a wave of her hand as she turned her back on them.
"Bridget over here."
She turned to glance at the others, who were still excitedly discussing one of the whirling patterns on the floor. All save for Leona, who was anxiously still pacing the perimeter. It was clear none of them were hearing the soft female voice which sounded so oddly familiar to her. Bridget's eyes narrowed as she scanned the room, trying to pinpoint the sound. She began easing towards one of the side hallways leading away from the lab they were currently in. She would have sworn the voice came from somewhere over there.
"Bridget, help us."
The voice was eerily familiar, but she still couldn't place it. Her eyes narrowed as she peered around the corner into the long dark hallway. At the end she could see a slightly open door to a stairwell. She glanced back to the others, reassuring herself that they were just a shout away if something went wrong, and then she turned and moved towards the stairwell door.
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'Leona' Throatripper watched as the other circled around the splattered patterns on the floor and tried to comprehend the workings of the strange ritual that they all stood within. The entire thing made her hackles stand on end. She didn't like the idea of being within a building that had been so heavily ensorcelled against spirits and humanity noticing it. Secrets were a confusing and twisted habit of the humans and the thought of why some creature would wish to hide an entire building made her thoughts ache unhappily.
She could remember her First Change and that period where all the thoughts of the humans had flooded into her brain and twisted it up into painful shapes. It was one of the reasons she so despised entering the homid form; it always seemed to bring such confusing thoughts with it to frustrate her thinking.
It was almost equally as frustrating to watch the others act so amazed at the supposed wonder of the twisted creations all around her, she was tempted to suggest to Charlie that they just shred apart the ritual, banish the casting and let things sort themselves out as they may. Still, she held her tongue, since she knew he wouldn't approve and she begrudgingly accepted that perhaps, in this instance, it might be more prudent to let his human intuition guide them. For a homid she had always found Charlie thoughts, if sometimes too soft, at least clear enough to be worthy of following.
She was worried about him, however. His human instincts were getting in the way of him properly leading these pups. Her pack mate and friend seemed nervous and uncertain in his leadership, and she suspected the pups could pick up on those emotions. It ill befitted a leader to allow himself such uncertainty. She was certain the one female, the red head, sensed the unease and that had led to her disrespectful challenge of Charlie's authority.
Thoughts of Bridget made Throatripper glance up from her patrol to eye the troublesome pup. But as her eyes cast around the room she could see no sign of her. Throatripper sniffed the air uneasily, catching a scent of the spicy anger smell that clung to Bridget like a second skin. The pup had wandered off alone! Throatripper almost barked out a warning when she caught a second scent, a familiar mix of the musky smell of secrets and the bright aroma of rain. She was familiar with this smell and suspected it could mean trouble. Her eyes narrowed as she slipped into the shadows around a nearby doorway and began to stalk her prey.
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"There are a lot of smaller rituals worked in throughout the pattern, all intermingling with each other." Tongue-tied threw up his hands in amazed exasperation. "Broken Claw and I might be able to tell you more if we tried to peel some of them back and untangle the mess but I sorta suspect anyone slick enough to put this thing together is slick enough to set up something to tell them when somebody tampers with it."
"It's like a spider web," offered Broken Claw softly, "beautiful artistry to gaze upon, yet dangerous to those who touch it."
"Agreed." Charlie sighed as he stood up. "So we're still no closer to figuring out what's going on here. We better keep searching."
"Should we split up to cover more ground?" Norman cracked his knuckles eagerly.
"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Charlie cautioned. "If someone put this much effort into this place it either contains something very valuable or very dangerous. Until we know which we should stick together."
"Speaking of that," Broken Claw glanced around uneasily, "where are Bridget and Leona?"
Charlie cursed as he spun to look over the room. How could he have let himself get so distracted as to allow one of the pups to wander off? Stranger yet was the disappearance of Leona, she should certainly have known enough not to go off on her own.
"Bridget did say something about hearing, y'know, voices, or a noise, or something, right?" Tongue-tied scrambled to his feet and looked to Charlie for direction. Charlie felt himself cringe inwardly as he realized Broken Claw and Norman were both looking to him as well. He licked his suddenly dry lips and fought hard to maintain an outward seeming of calm.
"Waaaah!"
The high pitched wail came from the darkened office a few feet behind him. Charlie jumped in surprise before he, slightly sheepishly, motioned for the others to follow him through the door. He tensed as he rushed into the room, ready to find either of the women horribly wounded and facing some horrid beast.
He wasn't expecting to find Leona crouched over a small dark shape, her teeth barred as she growled a low and threatening snarl. She glanced up as he and the others stumbled through the door, her eyes gleaming eagerly as she motioned down to the small figure cowering beneath her.
"Caught spying on us."
"Good job, Leona." Charlie waved at her to step back as he fixed his best glare down at the figure on the ground. "Okay, who the hell are you and-" His voice caught in his throat as the figure looked up and winked at him.
"Hey, Charlie, how're tricks?"
"Jo?"
"I'm glad you remember me at least." The young girl scrambled up to her feet and dusted herself off as she frowned at Leona. "At least some of you remember me."
"I remember," snorted Leona, "but you spying on us."
"Me?" Jo's dark eyes blinked in wounded pride as she gestured theatrically at herself. "I'm hurt, I'm literally hurt. Actually quite literally hurt considering the whole wolf jumping out of the shadows and dragging me to the floor thing." Jo scooped up her fallen black sock cap from the ground and batted the dust from it while she continued talking. "Of course I suppose I can forgive you. I mean, I know when I'm breaking into places I tend to get pretty jumpy. Maybe next time I'll call ahead, not that any of you have ever seemed to carry a cell phone for me to call, but maybe this will convince you to drag yourself into the twenty-first century with the rest of us." She brushed her waist length straight black hair away from her face before cramming her cap back into place.
"Jo," Charlie began.
"So it's been a dog's age hasn't it, or a wolf's age. Actually are they different? I can never keep that part straight, but it's literally just a saying so I suppose it's fine one way or the other." She smiled cheerily up at him as she placed her hands on her hips and winked. Even as she spoke with him her large dark eyes never seemed to stop moving as they darted back and forth across the room, eyeing everything and everyone with intense scrutiny before dancing on to the next subject. "Still, it is nice to see you again." Her gaze was now darting excitedly across Norman and Tongue-tied. "Or literally for the first time too. Did they put you in charge of a pack, Charlie?" She waggled her finger at him. "I always knew you'd be going places. Well, I mean, we're all 'going places' except, I guess, for those who are in a coma or something. Though I guess those beds have wheels for a reason. But I mean you more in the upward mobility through the ranks sort of way of going, rather then the sheer possibility of movement. I mean, I know most people will say it's due to your uncle. Still, you're more intelligent then half the howling fur balls up there at Raging Falls so you'd probably have gone places in any case. At least I'll literally be able to say I knew you when."
"They're not my pack," he tried to cut in.
"No! Do you need me to come up to the mountain and have a conversation with Marn? I could put in a few good words for you. Well, okay, let's be honest, I'd put in more then a few, but that couldn't hurt, could it? If one works then three is better I always say, especially when it comes to ice cream. Good gravy, and look at these three!" Jo, who stood just a shade over five feet tall craned her neck back as she glanced up at Norman. "What are they putting in the water up on that mountain? So, how are you guys liking the city, did you just get in tonight?
"Actually we've been here a few weeks now," Norman answered in puzzlement as he glanced over to Charlie and shrugged.
"Well, it's great to meet you in any case." She thrust her hand upwards. "My name's Josephine Corven, but my friends call me Jo, you can call me Jo." Norman slowly took her hand and Jo pumped it enthusiastically while still chattering away. "I'm a friend of Charlie's and Leona's from waaaay back. We fought together in The Pit y'know. Yes sir, you could say I taught Charlie darn near everything he knows, not that it took too long let me assure you. I always rather liked him in any case because he always had this polite habit of not leaping on me and growling in my face, something I wish more Garou learned."
Charlie sighed. Jo was an old friend, but she could be a little rough to deal with at times. He watched as the short young girl excitedly began to explain to Norman one of the battles he had been in with her, her oversized leather jacket billowing about her as she made excited arm motions to simulate the attacks of some Black Spiral Dancers.
Josephine Corven, the resident Corax of Detroit and an ally of the Raging Falls caern, though also having perhaps too close a relationship with the city Garou. The chatty were-raven had been a friend of his mentor, Dominic, and had helped Charlie when he and his pack had been forced to descend into The Pit to battle the Black Spiral Dancers there. She was also a spy of no small skill and a magnet for trouble of all sorts. He couldn't help but wonder what it was she was doing here sneaking around with… Charlie's thoughts suddenly caught up with him as he remembered that they had caught Jo spying on them.
He shook his head in surprised exasperation. He was well aware that Jo used her usual rapid-fire style of talking that seemed to result in information overload for anyone having to deal with her as a self-defense mechanism of sorts. She seemed to bank on acting calm enough and taking over the conversation through chatter so that she could perhaps prevent people from getting answers out of her or remembering they'd caught her doing something illegal. He was slightly ashamed that it had almost worked on him since he well knew her methods.
"Leona." He bowed his head to his packmate and motioned towards Jo's back, the young girl having already worked past Norman to chat with Broken Claw as she, quite obviously now it seemed, was making her way towards the door. No sooner had he spoken then a golden blur leaped upon Jo and drove her to the ground painfully.
"Ow!" Jo tried to squirm free but to no avail, finally she slumped to the ground in defeat and sighed. "You know Leona, you're lucky you're so much tougher then me or I would totally kick your ass for doing this."
"Jo, why were you spying on us?" Charlie crouched down by her head, intent on getting some answers as to why the best spy in Detroit, who had long been an ally of his caern as well as a personal friend, now seemed to be spying on him.
"Well, to be perfectly honest I wasn't spying on you, I was doing recon."
"Recon?"
"Yeah, y'see, I sorta had a couple of ravens keeping an eye on the place for me. So they come flapping up and are talking all about people busting in and I was like, damn. I literally said damn. Then I was all like, I better go down there and see what's what. Though I didn't say that part literally. I mean, I could of, I just didn't at the time. But with someone busting in I figured some bad mojo was going to be hitting the figurative fan and that I better go and check it out."
"I still think that's called spying."
"No," Jo rolled her large dark eyes at him as she gave her usual dimpled smirk, "it's called security work. It's only spying if you're busting into a place to snoop around. Speaking of which, what were you guys spying for?"
Charlie almost answered her, but managed to clamp down on the impulse. It was another habit of Jo's. she'd always be just honest and open enough with people to get them to start talking about things they shouldn't. He realized now that Jo had been pumping him and the others since she'd shown up, the questions about him earning a pack and how long they'd been in town suddenly seemed not so innocent. Marn had, after all, ordered utmost security, and Jo wasn't exactly known for keeping her mouth shut about secrets she'd discovered. She seemed to notice the betrayed look on his face and the smirk slipped away.
"Look," Jo sighed, "I honestly thought you guys were going to be some Wyrm creatures or something." She shrugged as she offered a wan smile. "Needless to say considering how you tagged and bagged me I'm literally happy that's not the case. After all, usually by the time the Wyrm has things mounted on top of you then you're about to have an unpleasant experience in at least one or two ways, sometimes both at the same time."
"Jo, stop talking for a minute, I have to think."
"Oh c'mon, like I haven't had captors pull that one on me before. I swear, I hear it all the time. My favorite trick is usually just to say 'sure' and then literally stay quiet for a minute. Then they invariably start asking more questions which means it's usually good for a cheap laugh when they start yelling at you to answer. Then you can have some fun by pointing out how they're changing the rules on you. Though now that I think about it often the yelling is paired with hitting, and I'm not so fond of the hitting parts. Kinda ruins the joke when your mouth is full of blood."
Charlie reached out and forcefully clamped his hand over her mouth, eventually shifting his thumb to help hold her jaw closed when she kept trying to talk anyway. It had been a few months since he'd seen Jo, and he'd forgotten how verbally tricky and obnoxious she was. He also couldn't believe how difficult she was being, there was no justifiable reason he could think of to explain why she was giving him the runaround like he was some enemy interrogator. It churned his stomach slightly, but he decided that if she wanted to treat him like an interrogator then he better start acting the part.
"Jo, I'm going to remove my hand to let you answer my question. I don't want you to break into a discussion about how my hand smelled or what happened to you last Saturday or whatever odd memory this situation reminds you of. All I want is a clear answer or, friend or not, I may just let Leona maul you slightly, and she'd probably do it."
Leona nodded slowly as she eyed Jo's head thoughtfully.
"Now, the question I want to hear answered is, what are you doing here?" He removed his hand.
"Checking out who was busting in," she rolled her eyes, "like I literally told you about three minutes ago." She was offering up her dimpled smirk again, almost as though she was daring him to try and wrest the truth from her.
"So you already knew about this building?"
"Now what would give you that idea? I'm leaning towards the fact I had it staked out, right? Is that what clued you in, when I told you I'd had the building staked out?" Behind him Charlie heard Tongue-tied bite back a snort of laughter. He jabbed his finger in her face, a flush of anger passing through him in response to her antics.
"Who were you watching it for and why?"
"Ah," Jo made a sound like a proud teacher in a classroom. "That's your first sensible question and it's going to be a little more awkward. You see, I'm not really at liberty to say."
"You not saying something?" Leona chuffed in laughter. "That is new thing."
"Oh bite me," Jo quipped but then quickly widened her eyes in alarm as Leona snarled at her. "It's just an expression! Charlie, tell her it's an expression."
But he was too distracted by his own thoughts to rush to Jo's aid. He knew she worked with his Uncle Marn and Raging Falls on a regular basis. However he also knew she worked with Syntax and The Jungle caern as well. Could she perhaps be working for the city Garou in spying on this structure? She hadn't been up at the caern on a regular schedule in months. Marn and the elders had been using this pack of pups to do some spy work in Detroit that normally would have been a job for Jo. That suggested that they had decided not to approach Jo on the issue. He knew the elders didn't want The Jungle caern aware of this mission, could they have suspected her as a potential information leak? Had the Detroit spymaster finally chosen a side in the uneasy cold war between the caerns?
"Are you working with Syntax?" The question burned raw in his throat.
"In general or in specific to this moment?" Jo asked almost too innocently. "Because in general, yes, I work, have worked, and plan to continue working with Syntax. If you're talking specifics, well, as I've said, I'm not at liberty to say."
"Can I ask why?"
"Of course you can, but I wouldn't be at liberty to say that either."
"You can't tell me anything?"
"I could tell you quite a lot of things actually, but, insofar as this specific topic? I know this whole concept of me 'not being at liberty to say' is complicated. But no, I can't tell you anything."
"Damnit Jo, don't put me in this situation," he snarled. He couldn't believe she was being so obtuse about this, especially not with her holier then thou habit of constantly trying to get the two caerns to cooperate. He could remember how much she'd harped on her neutrality and the idiocy of the anger between the caerns, yet here she was clearly working at some cross purpose to Raging Falls.
"For the record I didn't put you in this situation," the young girl noted pointedly. "As for the rest, I am sorry. Do whatever you think you have to."
He glanced up at Leona. She was a philodox, born under the half moon and predisposed as a judge of the Garou ways and a scenter of untruth. Leona's hackles bunched unhappily around her shoulders as she met his gaze and chuffed uneasily. Jo hadn't spoken any falsehoods, which meant she was quite intent not to help him understand why she was out here spying on him and the others.
"Fine, let's play it your way." He stood up and motioned to Tongue-tied and Norman. "I want you guys to restrain and keep a close eye on her. Whatever you do you do not let her get away from you or use any means to communicate with the Glass Walkers. Also, be careful about talking with her too much, she's smarter then she looks."
"Gee, thanks."
Charlie motioned Leona off and hauled Jo to her feet by her oversized leather jacket as he stared sharply at her. "I don't know what game you're playing, but don't try to act like the innocent party here. You're the one operating behind my back. I have my orders and I can't run the risk of you being a spy for Syntax."
"What about Bridget," asked Broken Claw uneasily.
"She's our next priority, we've got to find her and make sure she's not in danger."
"A pup's wandering around loose in here?" Jo shook her head. "You better find her fast, she's in major danger."
"From what?"
"I…" Jo pursed her lips and glanced away from him, at least having the decency to look a little ashamed. "I can't say, you better just find her quick."
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The voice always seemed tantalizingly close, and more then a few times Bridget had ducked around a corner expecting to find her goal only to be greeted by yet another dusty and deserted hallway. The worst part was that she was almost certain she could recognize the voice. But every time she tried to focus on the inflection or the tone her thoughts seemed to become muddled and turned in on themselves until she felt almost as lost in her own mind as she was starting to feel in these twisting passageways.
"Only a little further," came the soft whisper from behind a slightly open door labeled 'Morgue'.
"Subtle," Bridget noted as she nudged the door open with her foot and peered inside. Her eyes strained to penetrate the darkness of the room. But this time her search was rewarded by some movement in the back corner. "Who's there?"
The movement stopped. There was an uneasy moment as Bridget tried her hardest to peer through the darkness at the small blotch of deeper shadow lurking in the corner. Finally the figure eased itself forward in slow, faltering motions. Bridget's ears heard the harsh and grating sound of metal being dragged across cement and the unpleasant noise set her teeth on edge.
"Hello, lady." The voice was a horse whisper, and a painfully pale and thin hand emerged from the darkness to drag its owner into view. Bridget gasped as she looked down at the emaciated, pale, child with bedraggled red hair.
An image of her sisters flitted across her thoughts, bubbling unbidden to the surface in the same inexorable way their blood had bubbled out of them and across the thick carpet.
"My God." Bridget could see now the chains clasped upon the girl's ankles and wrists, and see where the pale creamy skin had been rubbed red and raw by the harsh iron. She dropped into a crouch as she took hold of the girl's slender shoulders as gently as she could. "Are ye okay?"
"I'm hungry," noted the girl weakly as she uneasily shied her face away from Bridget's gaze. "I've been good, you'll feed me today, right?"
Bridget looked around the room again, now spotting the signs that it was being used as a holding pen; the pile of rags in the corner, the nearby bucket that stank of human excretion, and the heavy chains that connected to a large iron spike driven into the center of the floor. Bridget's throat was dry and painful as she tried to form a few words of comfort. She couldn't seem to manage though, and instead settled for drawing the young girl up against her in a firm embrace as she stroked at her hair.
She was uncertain how long she crouched there, but finally she took a steadying breath and pushed the small girl back enough to look at her again. Bridget forced a cheerful expression onto her face and winked at her.
"Donnae worry, I'm going to get ye out of this. M'name's Bridget, what's yuirs?"
"Regan."
"Okay, Regan, first things first, let's get ye out of those chains. Kay?" Regan nodded quietly, apparently still a little unsure about the whole affair. Bridget stood up and walked over to where the chain was connected to the large iron spike embedded in the cement floor. She frowned at it, doubting she was capable of uprooting it without turning into her monster form, and not sure if she wanted to do that in front of the clearly already frightened girl. The chains were attached to Regan's wrists and ankles by manacles that all had hefty brass locks on them. Bridget paused as she cast an appraising glance over the manacles, noting for the first time the intricate runes etched into the metal in swirling and spidery scrawls.
"Do you know where the keys to these are?" Bridget touched the heavy metal manacles, the runes seemed to shift about under her touch and felt hot and painful to her fingertips. She scowled at the thought of how unpleasant they must be to the girl trapped within them.
"Grandma Idony has them," came the soft reply.
"Who's Grandma Idony?"
"I am, dearie." The crackly, old voice warbled through the room strongly. Bridget turned around to regard the stooped figure of an old woman in a worn pink floral dress leaning on her cane in the doorway. Grandma Idony's wrinkled face beetled up as she peered through her thick glasses. "Who are you and what are you doing to my lovely little granddaughter?"
"Yuir lovely granddaughter?" Bridget stood up, placing herself between the old woman and Regan. "About the time ye chain her up in an abandoned building ye lose the right to call her that." Bridget took a few steps forward, spotting a set of worn brass keys hanging half out of the worn pocket of Idony's woven sweater. "The keys, old woman," Bridget pointed, "give them to me. I'm taking Regan out of here."
"Taking her out of here?" Idony chuckled, her thick wrinkled jowls bobbling about her face as she shook with suppressed mirth. "No, child, no I don't think you are."
"Be careful Bridget," Regan's hands tugged at the back of her duster, "I don't think Grandma likes you."
"Tch, the feelings mutual." Bridget pulled away and stalked forward. "Give me the keys, ye old bag, or I'll pop ye like an old balloon."
She wasn't quite sure what happened next. One moment she was reaching for the keys and the next she was slamming into the far wall behind her with amazing force. She hissed in pain as it felt like one of her ribs popped out of place and jabbed sharply into something important. She dropped to the ground in an ungraceful sprawl and gagged as she coughed up some blood into her mouth.
"The hell?" Bridget glanced up in surprise to see Grandma Idony slowly ambling forward, her cane clicking across the floor and her arm wobbling about unsteadily as she used it help brace herself. A wide grin was on the old woman's face, her lips stretching unnaturally from ear to ear. Her face almost looked like that of a bloated frog wearing too much pale foundation and with garish lip and cheek color applied too liberally.
"Now, dearie, what was that about popping someone?" Idony flashed a grin, her teeth a rotting morass within her blackened gums as a stench of decay washed over Bridget like a physical slap. "It sounded rather wonderfully dreadful."
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Leona had taken point as they'd made their way down the winding staircase, silently padding down the dusty cement steps her keen nose sniffing the air. It wasn't hard for her to pick up Bridget's scent and Charlie and the others followed in her wake, trusting her senses to lead them true. Behind him Charlie could hear Jo starting up yet another whispered conversation with Tongue-tied, the young man apparently quite content to chat with Jo since he was apparently enamored to have finally met the 'Gaian Super Spy; he'd heard about so much in some of the epic poems and songs. Norman walked next to them, his face stern and his back rigid, clearly worried about his pack mate. Broken Claw drifted along silently in the rear, a pale ghost dogging their steps.
With the others distracted Charlie quickened his pace slightly to move closer to Leona. "What do you think about the situation with Jo," he whispered softly as Leona paused to sniff the air at an intersection. The she wolf peered over her shoulder at him, her eyes glittering in the darkness.
"What situation?"
"My uncle, Marn, he gave us orders to keep out of sight and not let any of the Glass Walkers know about our mission here." Charlie glanced back over his shoulder to see the spy's wide dark eyes flitting across him as he whispered to Leona. He felt his back stiffen slightly, fearing that she was somehow eavesdropping. But then again, Jo's eyes were always darting around, so perhaps it was coincidence. "Don't you think it's a little suspicious that suddenly Jo, who we know works with the Walkers, shows up in the middle of a job we're supposed to keep hidden from them?"
"She spies, it's what Gaia made the Corax for." Leona's ears twitched in a shrug as she motioned him to follow her down the hallway to the left.
"I know the ravens are supposed to help us by finding and reporting secrets," he growled slightly tensely. "But don't you agree with me, that she's hiding something and is up to no good?"
"You pack leader, I agree with what you say." Leona didn't even pause in her tracking as she growled the answer. "You should take wolf form, easier to smell friends in that form when human thought doesn't get in way. You let human thought confuse you a lot."
"But-" The words died in Charlie's throat as one of the most alluring women he'd ever seen slipped around the corner. Her sparkling green eyes glittered brightly as ruby red lips slipped into a small smile as she saw him. She moved closer, confident yet clearly still slightly cautious.
"Greetings, brave warrior." Her voice was sweet as honey and washed pleasantly across him, causing tense muscles to relax.
"Hello," he wished he could think of something cleverer to say, but his brain seemed to suddenly feel like it was moving through molasses. Something struck him as a little odd as Leona growled out a greeting in wolf-speak. Certainly he could understand it, but it was odd to presume a human female would.
It was almost painful, but he managed to tear his gaze aware from the vision in front of him to glance down at Leona. The sleek she-wolf sat there with a silly eager expression on her face, her tail raised and an excited quiver to her body. Charlie blinked in confusion as he glanced back to the approaching woman. That was odd, Leona was very rarely excited to meet strangers. Did she, perhaps, also find the stranger attractive? But why would she, Garou or no Leona had always shown a preference for the beauty of the wolf form over that of the human.
"You seem troubled, my beautiful one," said the woman huskily as she moved closer yet, the smells wafting off of her as soporific and wondrous as her voice. "Allow me to comfort you, and you may comfort and protect me."
"I…" Something was wrong here, but he couldn't quite seem to put his finger on it. He glanced over his shoulder, wondering why the others hadn't come around the corner yet. The hallway behind him seemed so dark now that it was hard to see anything that way. Everything was so muddled right now. If only he could clear his thoughts, make them clearer. Suddenly he remembered what Leona had said only moments before about the clarity of wolf thinking.
He reached into himself, touching the primal well of inner anger that always bubbled just below the surface. His form shifted and wavered, his slacks seemed to melt into him as thick gray fur sprouted across his body. Charlie dropped to all fours as his bones and muscle reshaped and reformed themselves into those of a wolf. His mind seemed even sharper now, well aware that there were only a few important considerations. In front of him the woman suddenly seemed to waver and shift as well, her form changing to that of a ghostly beautiful white wolf.
Everything dropped into place in a second as Charlie realized why Leona had been speaking in wolf to the new arrival. He snarled in annoyance, his anger washing through him and shaking off the last vestiges of the creature's power. It seemed to realize it had lost connection with him, as the smile dropped from its face and it paused in its advance. Charlie allowed the anger to continue flowing through him as he shifted yet again, his body gaining muscle and mass as he shifted back to standing upon his hind legs. Shaggy brown fur grew thicker and longer to better protect him and his muzzle elongated and thickened as it was filled with powerful fangs. He rose up to his full height, his ears brushing the ceiling as he roared in challenge to the foul creature.
"So foolish," trilled the creature as its form shifted again back to an eerily beautiful humanoid shape of indeterminate gender. Pale lips stretched unnaturally wide across its unblemished face to reveal blackened gums and a lolling grey tongue. "You don't actually think you can escape, do you?"
"We are warriors of Gaia," Charlie growled as next to him Leona shifted forms as well. She gained muscle and size as she shifted to hispo, become a potent prehistoric wolf of fearsome size and strength. "Who are you to think you can stop us?"
"Who are we?" The creature trilled happily as dozens of small slits opened up across its smooth white skin. Hundreds of scuttling black insects with gleaming red mandibles began to swarm forth from within its body to trail down along its limbs and trace across the floor and walls. "We are known as The Incubi, servants of Idony, Guardian of the Damned." From the hallway behind the creature came three more, just like it. They crawled along the walls and ceiling like bloated white spiders, their tongues lapping eagerly across their gnashing teeth as slits split open their flesh as well to release choking swarms of winged insects. "You say you are 'warriors of Gaia'? We say that here, you are nothing more then our next meal!"
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Broken Claw was bringing up the rear, as usual. He had discovered that even his pack mates, without even thinking about it, tended to prefer not putting him in the front. Not that he minded, not really. He had a deformity that perhaps affected his combat abilities, thus it was perhaps for the best he didn't take the front. Besides, there was a certain honor and dignity to guarding the rear in any case. After all, any surprise attack was likely to come from behind and he was sure he could serve ably to warn his pack mates of any coming danger.
In front of him Tongue-tied was distracted, as usual. He had finally found in Jo someone who seemed to love talking about random topics as much as he did. The two were in the middle of an excited conversation about one of the epic poems of the Raging Falls Garou of which Jo seemed to have some issues with the historical accuracy.
Norman walked in front of them. His broad shoulders slumped somewhat, no doubt in helpless frustration at the thought of Bridget wandering around alone in this strange place. Norman and Bridget often fought over minor matters but, for his part, Norman had always shown no less concern for her well being then any of his other pack mates. Broken Claw often envied him the easy grace with which he seemed to live up to Garou ideals.
Broken Claw often strove for that calm inner spirit that could serve as guide to the angry energy that dwelled within every Garou. Yet he worried he often got the mix wrong, fearing himself sometimes too complacent and at other times too feral. He had clearly been too complacent when Bridget had wandered off, since he should have had awareness of each of his pack mates at all times when on a mission. He needed to work harder and be better then that if he was to prove his value to the others.
"You hear that?"
Broken Claw was shaken out of his thoughts as Jo suddenly stopped in her tracks and peered over her shoulder back the way they had come. In front of her Norman slowed down to look back as well while Leona and Charlie, who were perhaps too far ahead to hear her, continued around a corner in their search.
"I…" Broken Claw peered back down the dark hallway, the only real light coming from a few cracked windows that let in feeble rays of moonlight. "I heard nothing," he slumped his shoulder guiltily, "but I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have been."
"No big deal," grunted Norman as he motioned for the others to hurry up, "c'mon, we can't let the others get too far ahead of us."
"No," Jo shook her head slightly as she continued to study the hallway behind them, her large dark eyes darting to and fro as she narrowed them suspiciously. "Something changed."
Broken Claw couldn't sense anything wrong. But then again Josephine Corven was a Corax, and the wereravens were used to plumbing secrets out of dangerous places and due to their questionable ability to defend themselves tended to have a highly regarded danger sense. He suspected if she felt something was off she was right, but then again this whole place felt 'off' to him, so perhaps she was just picking up on that.
He peered down the hallway as Norman again ordered them to get moving, noting that Charlie and Leona were getting further ahead of them by the second and that they shouldn't be separated. Tongue-tied grabbed Jo almost apologetically and began to drag her along with him. Broken Claw paused a moment longer, staring into the murky and dim hallway for another moment. Suddenly the window furthest away from him seemed to blink out of sight, as though it had been covered in a tarp. Broken Claw blinked in confusion, wondering if it had been a trick of his eyes.
Then the next most distant window seemed to be swallowed in darkness.
"We have a problem," he announced loudly as he began to back peddle towards the others as the approaching sheet of darkness consumed yet another window's feeble trickle of light.
From out of her oversized jacket Jo produced a large flashlight which she thumbed on, shining a bright lance of light back along the path they had come. Broken Claw gasped in amazement at what he saw.
Bugs, thousands upon thousands of crawling insects coated the floor, ceiling, and walls as they advanced in a giant tide. Further back amongst the swarm he could see larger figures, perhaps human sized, seemingly coated in the roiling masses of insects as they drove them forward.
"By Gaia," whispered Norman softly.
"No," Tongue-tied shook his head slowly as he began to shift upwards into his crinos form, "somehow I really don't think so."
The insects surged forward in a droning, chittering, mass of flicking wings and biting mandibles.