Chapter Fourteen
The Newtown Fire Department building sits in the center of town. The garage part of the building is one level above the lobby with the lounge for the fire department on top at the second level. Boyce's office was located up on the second floor next to the lounge. He picked up the microphone. "firefighters please report to the garage for a debrief." The fourteen Newtown firefighters waited for their boss in the garage. Boyce strolled out onto the floor. "as you guys are aware a child from PontyPandy has gone missing. Emergency services has been asked to help with the search. I am going to be selecting some of you to go with them." Two of the firefighters looked at each other. Boyce paced back and forth in front of them. "Dylan, Landon, Willow, Kai, and Jamie will be accompanying me in PontyPandy. The rest of you will continue your posts here. If anyone else wishes to join, speak with me in my office. As you were." The firefighters went about their business. Two of the firefighters slipped away. They stood in an alleyway a few blocks down from the fire station. A dark portal appeared in the alleyway. "hello boys." Greeted Ashley. "you have arrived just in time." Said Bast. "Boyce is getting a search team together. Apparently they want to find the child." Ashley laughs. "well they'll have to keep looking. I've got her hidden away really well." She leaned up against Wisp who moved away from her. "but we've got bigger problems. The house is working with them." Ashley snarled softly. "great. Just what we need. Those band of old dogs will be quite an annoyance." She then grinned at the two boys. "and that's where you come in. I want you to deal with Boyce and the House. If you can get rid of Boyce, then that may stall the House for a little while. That should give me time to move the child again." Bast crossed his arms. "and what do we get in return?" he asked. Ashley laid her arm across his shoulders. "I'll make sure you get a little something "extra" attached to your paycheck." She backed away from them. "good luck boys." She says as she vanishes into a cloud of smoke.
Wisp and Bast make it back to the fire station before anyone else notices that they've been missing. They go about their duties for the day. "I think I know how we can get rid of Boyce." Whispers Wisp. "maybe we can get our hands on a sandman and deal with him that way." Bast shrugs. "I doubt it will work. We'll want to do something more gruesome than that." Wisp rubs his chin in thought. "or we could let one of Aksel's demons loose and watch as it rips him apart." Bast sighs. "I don't think Aksel will let us use his precious pets though it could be worth a shot. We just need to make sure Boyce is out of the way. I say we kidnap him and torture him." Wisp let out an evil laugh. "I like you're thinking! Let's capture him!" Bast placed a hand on his shoulder. "let's wait until tonight. We'll hide in the lounge and then we'll capture him." Boyce locked the door to his office. He turned to leave when Wisp and Bast quickly surrounded him. Bast punched Boyce in the stomach knocking him out. He slung him over his shoulder. Wisp clapped his hands happily. "good one Bast! When he wakes up he'll have the ride of his life!" Bast smiled. They made off with their boss.
Sam's Uber driver dropped Sam off in front of the fire station. Sam let out a small sigh. The garage doors to the fire station were closed. The lights to the office were on. Station Officer Steel was just about to clock out when Sam showed up. Sam tapped Station Officer Steele on the shoulder. His boss nearly jumped out of his skin. "Samuel, you shouldn't creep up on a man like that!" He held his chest. Sam chuckled. "sorry sir. I just came by to check up on you. I haven't been here in ages." Steele nodded. "I'm glad to see that you are here. Wait for me in my office and we'll have a chat." Sam waited for Steele in his office. Steele made his way over to his desk. "I'm sure you already know about your niece being missing." Sam nodded. "Everyone is doing the best they can to help find her." Steele sits down in his chair. "my memory is starting to come back. The doctor says my memory went away because of a drug overdose." Steele smiles. "I'm glad to see that things are getting better for you. How is firefighter Morris?" he asks. "she's fine. She's still dealing with losing her boyfriend but she's getting better." The two of them heard a knock at the door. Steele motions for Sam to hold that thought. Steele walked over to the door. Taniks was standing outside. "good evening gentlemen. We appear to have a small problem."
"what do you mean Boyce is missing?" questioned Steele. "exactly what I said. I swung by the Newtown fire station only to find him missing. None of the nighttime firefighters know what happened to him. They thought he may have gone home already." Explained Taniks. He dipped his head at Sam to show him that he was acknowledging his presence. Steele placed his face into his hands. "come on. Let's go by his house." The three of them went by Boyce's house. Steele used his spare key to get in. The inside of Boyce's house was dark. Taniks sensed that there was something off about it. He motioned for Sam and Steele to wait outside. One of his eyes began to glow. It turned his vision a dark shade of blue. He checked each one of the rooms. "the house is empty." He whispers. "something isn't right." He met up with Sam and Steele outside. "I have a feeling Boyce is in danger. Let's check the fire station for clues." Steele searched Boyce's office while Sam and Taniks searched the grounds. Taniks started to pick up on two malicious auras. "it would appear that your sister has been here." Taniks looked at Sam. "I can still sense her aura." Sam spotted dark ash on the ground. He bent down to look a closer look at it. It felt like goo when he touched it. "she wasn't alone." Whispered Sam. "there's two other auras here but their very faint. They're the same auras I felt when we first checked Boyce's office." Sam got up from the sidewalk. "we should follow those two auras and see if Boyce is with them." Taniks nodded. "I'll go on ahead. You guys wait here." Said Sam. "you sure?" asked Taniks. Sam gave a reassuring nod. Taniks walked back to the fire station. Station Officer Steele notices that Sam is missing. "he said to stay here. He's going after whoever took Boyce. I'm sure he'll be fine."
The moon barely hung in the sky. Boyce slowly wakes up from having been knocked out. He coughs holding his stomach. "wakey wakey." Coos a voice. Wisp slides his knife across the brick wall of the room. He begins to laugh wildly. "I was waiting for you to wake up so we could have some fun." His blade shines in the light. "Wisp? Why are you doing this?" asks Boyce weakly. "oh you know because we made a certain promise to a certain someone that you would be dealt with properly. Now that you are awake, we can have some fun." Boyce struggled to get out of his binds. The chains slowly tightened in response. "I wouldn't move if I were you. Those chains release a nasty poison which can kill you. That would be so unfair. I want to kill you myself." Wisp licks his blade. "decisions. Decisions." He holds his blade up to Boyce's throat. He lets it tread lightly across his flesh. Bast rolls his eyes. "will you get on with it already?! We're burning day light!" snaps Bast. Wisp circles around Boyce one more time before yanking on his chains. Boyce gags as the chain around his neck grows tight. Wisp carves a circle around Boyce. Dark orange goo begins oozing through the circle. It releases a toxic gas into the air. Boyce coughs harshly. He suddenly starts to feel sick. Painful blisters begin to appear on his skin. "this is a special illness that I've crafted specifically for your boss!" laughs Wisp. "this little illness eats you from the inside…out!" Boyce writhers in pain.
Sam jumped down into the alleyway. A trail of yellow light spilled into the alleyway. Sam got down on his hands and his knees. He peered in through the window. Boyce was by himself in the room. His head tilted in an odd angle. Sam carefully moved the window out of the way. He dropped down into the room. He hid behind some boxes. He listened out for guards before going over to Boyce. Boyce heard a set of footsteps behind him. "no more." He croaked. "relax sir it's only me." Sam fiddled with the cuffs on Boyce's wrists. The cuffs loosened giving Boyce enough space to free his hands. Boyce rubbed his wrists. Sam snapped the cuff that was around Boyce's neck freeing his head. Boyce slumped to the floor. Sam carefully lifted him up. The lights came on in the room suddenly. "well well if it isn't Mr. Hero-Next-Door himself." Sneered Bast. "come to the ruin the party have you?" Sam stayed quiet. He snarled softly at the two men. "we weren't expecting to see you here. We had set this trap specifically for the House themselves. Maybe Ashley can give us a fair deal on your head." Fire erupted from Bast's knuckles. "let's take him, Wisp." Wisp laughed derangedly. He pulled out his knife. Sam stood his ground. Wisp took his first swing at Sam. Sam dodged his attack. He kept ducking and dodging every one of Wisp's attempts. Bast punched Sam in the stomach with his fiery fist. The flames exploded sending Sam flying into the wall. Boyce rolled out of Sam's hands. He dragged himself away from the onslaught. Sam weakly got to his feet. He wiped the blood from his chin. Bast came at him again. Sam grabbed his fist stopping him. Bast smirked. He drew in a sharp breath and then exhaled a stream of fire that pinned Sam against the wall. Sam howled in pain as the fire burned him. He fell to his knees shaking from his burn wounds. "some hunter you are." Bast kicked Sam in the jaw knocking him back again. Sam coughed up blood. He panted looking at Bast. "Wisp, deal with his boss. The hunter is too weak to fight back." Wisp laughed. "with pleasure." Orange mist formed around Wisp. A circle formed underneath Boyce. "No!" Blue light erupted from Sam's body. It surrounded Boyce protecting him from the wave of bile. Wisp let out an annoyed hiss. Sam got to his feet again. He swayed. He could feel his powers flowing through him. Blue tattoos appeared on his body. He held up his hand. "you. Are not…. going to harm…my friends!" spat Sam. Bast just laughed at him. "you aren't going to be able to stop me." Bast charged at Sam. He slammed into him. Flames surrounded Bast burning Sam again. Sam howled in pain. He fell over again. "Sam!" yelled Boyce. Wisp blocked off his path. "you and I are going to have some fun."
Sam tried to get to his feet. Bast punched him sending him flying in the other direction. Sam slammed into a pole sliding down it. Bast kept beating him over and over again. Sam just kept getting back up each time. Sam finally had enough. His aura turned a dark shade of blue. "face it hunter, you are weak!" spat Bast. Fire surrounded Bast. "Now to end you!" Sam's eyes began to glow. He took his defense stance. Bast charged straight at him. Sam held his hands out in front of him creating a barrier. Bast pushed against him. Sam grunted with the effort to keep Bast back. He focused his spiritual energy in front of him. The barrier slowly grew stronger. The barrier started to break. Sam lowered the barrier and ducked out of the way. Bast went right past him. Sam turned around. He waved his hands around. A circle appeared in front of him. The circle formed into a dragon symbol. Blue flames erupted from the symbol surrounding Sam. Sam let the flames cover his arms. "bloeddio'r Draig Las!" shouted Sam. He moved his hands forward. The flames spiraled towards Bast colliding into him. The blast sent Bast flying into the wall. It also left a crater in the floor of the basement making water spout into the air. Wisp whimpered in fear. He ran out of the room before Sam could do anything to him. Bast weakly got to his feet. "not bad." He wiped the blood from his chin. "I'll be seeing you." He followed after his friend. Sam fell to his knees. He blacked out.