The Thief Who Came In From The Cold: A Tale of Detroit

Chapter 5: Into The Den of The Demon

Harris had Belle pull the Corvette into a small and empty parking lot. He turned to look at her again as she flipped off the engine. "Just had to steal a car didn't you?" In the back seat Doc groaned and hopped out. Apparently unwilling to listen to the argument yet again.

"I think it will help," she countered. "It got us here quicker, didn't it?"

"It's conspicuous. It's big, and red, and conspicuous!"

"Nobody's forcing you to ride. Besides, I'm still free to do what I want. You're not the boss of me!" Harris sank his face into his hands and paused for a few moments to collect his thoughts.

"Just realize, that if..."

"I know, I know. I'm fine with all your little rules. Jeez!" Harris muttered something to himself as he climbed out. Belle pretended not to hear. They started walking through the dark neighborhood. Porky had said she'd returned to her old stomping grounds. Well, this was where she had lived and hunted back...he shook away the rest of the memory. It was just too dangerous to consider at the moment. He needed to stay focused. He couldn't afford distractions.

One mistake with Blue and you were dead.

The streets were dark. Various empty lots were littered with garbage and broken junk. The building were all narrow, crooked and dark. The snow upon them didn't seem to hide this fact. Instead it seemed to settle into cracks like age does wrinkles. Adding a weary and dying feel to the buildings, their faces pale and bled dry by the creature that now lived amongst them. The area was mostly abandoned and even avoided by the Sabbat due to a lack of anything interesting in the district. It was the perfect place to remain undetected. He sniffed the air, his eyes widened in surprise.

"She's here." He sniffed again. There it was, just hugging to the edges of perception. A smell that awakened all sorts of old thoughts and ideas in him. It was the smell of wild abandon, of danger, of death. It was Blue's smell. He walked off as Doc and Belle followed. He sniffed again, it was a faint aroma, but it was growing stronger...only a few more blocks.

They followed him down the sidewalk and then turned into a narrow path between two tall tenement buildings. Harris slowly walked along the narrow alley, he paused occasionally to sniff the air or to peer into a window. Blue was close, he could practically feel her presence. Suddenly Doc grabbed his shoulder and jerked him back against the wall. Harris was experienced enough to remain dead silent. He quickly spotted the opening door that had alerted Doc. Stepping out of it came a massive mountain of a man, a form that Harris immediately knew.

"Roulda," he silently whispered to himself. The monolithic figure closed the door behind him and walked down the alley away from where Harris and the anarchs hid. Harris watched the fearsome hulk move into the street and out of sight.

"You know him," Belle asked quietly.

"Unfortunately, but there's no reason for him to be here...it doesn't make any sense. Unless... They must have left him to keep an eye on Blue. That's the sort of job he's good at."

"Who is he, what is he?"

My brother. The one I betrayed. The one who loved me best and hates me most. Harris considered the thoughts quietly. He had never really considered the possibility of seeing his broodmate again. He knew Roulda would have suffered for the loss of his master. Harris' eyes narrowed, Roulda was dangerous enough by himself. A unshakable hunting dog. Once given a task and a purpose Roulda would keep at it until it was done or he was dead.

The fact that such an obsessive mind had been brought near Blue was a worrisome thought.

"He's a Tzimisce. A pretty tough one too. Shoot him and keep your distance, don't let him make it a physical fight and you should be okay." Harris gave the information coldly and quickly. It was all they really needed to know. Just keep the rest buried. Buried and dead like the him that that past belonged to. He was different now. He was changing within as he had changed without. He was no longer the monster.

Harris silently slipped along the wall till he reached the door. He leaned down to inspect the lock. It was simple enough. He glanced back at Belle and Doc, they were busy keeping an eye out for trouble. Harris peeled back the flesh of his finger and formed the bone into a long thin piece. He fitted it into the lock and shaped it up to become an effective key for the door. He opened it and quickly returned his hand to normal. He motioned the anarchs closer as he swung the door open.

"Doc wait here, Harris and I will head in to see what we see." Belle pulled out her guns and walked over to stand behind Harris. "After you of course." She smiled and motioned him inside. Harris sighed and shook his head as he slipped into the small building. It was a run down apartment for rent, the rooms choked in dust and the few pieces of furniture draped in white cloth. Harris slipped quietly across the floor, peering quickly and sharply around corners. His senses were strained to the limit, he knew that if Blue was here they were in danger.

Belle followed after him. Despite her smaller size she seemed to make twice as much noise. Harris realized that her movements would have still been considered silent by any human. But, Blue wasn't human...she was Blue. He prodded open the bathroom door with his foot, his muscles tense. But the inside was grime coated and unused. Even the dust of the floor seemed mostly undisturbed.. Harris quickly peeked through the rooms again, they were empty and obviously not utilized. But her scent was strong, very strong. He glanced at a door set near the back wall, a room he hadn't checked yet. In front of the door was a path clear of dust. He nodded at it.

"They'll be in the basement," he informed Belle, "stick behind me and be very careful. Blue is a dangerous woman."

"Do not worry about me, worry about our mission, no?"

"Right." He didn't much care for how relaxed she seemed, he knew he didn't feel the same. And he was probably far more experienced then her. It was important to keep an edge. Especially now, especially with Blue. He realized it would be pointless to try to warn Belle more.

She'd just have to learn about Blue for herself.

Harris checked the door, it was unlocked, and slowly opened it. He peered down into the basement, it was lit dimly by a large light bulb suspended from the ceiling. He could just make out a figure hung head down from a support beam. The richly dressed man had to be Eric. His clothes were torn, and stains of blood and other substances spattered them. Harris winced, he knew well how much Blue could enjoy her hobby of torture.

He scrutinized the visible area, but failed to spot Blue. Damn, their footsteps in the rooms above must have sounded like drumbeats down here. Blue had to know they were here, she had to. She'd know not to expect Roulda back so soon. She'd know to be ready. But where? Harris started down the rickety steps, keeping an eye out on the room as more of it came into view. She'd not be expecting Roulda, so where was she? The steps creaked as he continued slowly down them.

The steps.

Harris suddenly noted that they were slotted boards, leaving space between each step. And below them, an empty area, a place where someone could stand and watch people coming down through the slots.

With a yell Harris leaped off the side of the stairs and spun to face under them as he landed, his black coat swirling around him. He saw the dim outline of a figure in the shadows under the stairs. A figure he knew well.

Blue lashed out and planted a gleaming knife in Belle's ankle. Belle gasped and suddenly seemed to freeze up as she toppled down the stairs. She tumbled and rolled down them to collapse onto the dusty floor. Blue turned to face Harris, her eyes flashed in the shadows, twin bits of gleaming blue ice. She grinned at him. He tensed, ready for anything, trying to figure out how he could deal with her by himself.

"You must be the smart one, right?" She laughed slightly. Harris didn't relax, he knew how she liked to play with her victims. "Well, there's more then one way to skin a cat."

"Hello Blue."

"Do I know you?" In those four words Harris saw his chance. Of course! She'd never seen this face he now wore. She only knew him from before, as the monster. He had a chance, a slim one, but a chance. First he'd have to slow down his racing heart, calm his nerves, appear confident.

"Yes, you know me," he said coldly as he forced himself to appear to relax. She stepped forward slightly. Slipping into the dim light, her pale skin nearly glowing in soft perfection. She wore her usual blue dress. She wore a long blue coat that hung open, half hanging off her bare shoulders. Her gleaming blue eyes narrowed as she peered at his face. One of her hands reached up to brush at her flowing blonde hair. Harris cursed himself, if anything she was more alluring now then the last time he had seen her.

Her curves were perfect. An athletic body of toned muscle, yet still with every enticing curve in the right place. The dress was tight, sheer material pulled around the soft white mounds of her breasts. Her hair hung in sculpted golden majesty around her face and eyes. Those eyes seemed to burn through him, leaving their marks upon his very soul. No! Concentrate. He saw her hand slip her hair behind her ear. That move he had seen before...

"Strange," she smiled softly, "I thought I would remember such a handsome face." Her arm spun out and sent a knife spinning through the air towards him. Harris had been ready for it though and easily ducked. He quickly rose again and pulled out the twin .45's he had concealed in his coat.

"Still keeping a knife sheathed behind your neck I see." Blue smiled at him as she raised her hands and clasped them above her head. Harris couldn't help but notice the erotically appealing pose that it created as her back arched and her chest was pressed forward. "Don't try anything else," he said coldly. "I have phosphorous rounds."

It was a lie, but it might keep her off him. He had to keep her unbalanced, convinced he was more dangerous then he was. Otherwise...he was screwed.

"I am at a loss," she said with an easy grin, still seeming quite relaxed with the situation. "You apparently know all about me. Yet I know nothing of you."

"That's true, now why don't you go and pull that knife out of my friend's leg."

Blue pouted slightly, "why do we need to bring her into this." Her voice was innocent, a little girl's plea. Harris cocked his guns and forced himself to steady his aim. She was too dangerous by far to let his guard drop for even an instant. "Oh pooh, fine I'll go pop the knife out." Blue slowly made her way towards Belle. She leisurely knelt down, keeping her eyes on Harris. "Guess you can't blame a girl for trying."

"True," Harris kept the guns trained on her face. Locked in on that burning azure gaze. Blue suddenly smiled at him, her whole face lighting up. She stood, she hadn't taken the knife out of Belle. Her blue eyes glinted in the light from the bulb above her, her perfect skin gleamed. Harris snarled at her. Blue only smiled more as she walked towards him.

"You know, the first time I wasn't sure, but now..." She brushed a hand softly across her throat, the fingers dancing lightly above her full breasts. "I'm so happy to find out I was right." Harris forced his gaze to tear away from her soft white neck, forced himself to keep the burr of a threatening snarl in his voice.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"It is true isn't it...almost...True...Blue." Harris shook his head, she only smiled more. "Harris, I had heard you'd been kicked out of The Hand. That was a mistake on their part, you were always so," she eyed him up and down, "good."

"Take the knife out of her, Blue." Her eyes looked into his. He saw the fire there. The fires that would swallow him alive if he let them. He snarled at her. His hands were shaking.

"And then, when Roulda told me about you killing your sire and leaving the Sabbat. Shocking."

"Do it now damnit!" Blue ignored him, her face bright with glee as she leaned in and kissed the tip of one of his guns, she looked up at him while doing so. Her eyes sparkled with mischief. Her pouting red lips hung slightly open as she brushed them along the muzzle of his other gun. They glistened next to the hard metal, looking so soft and inviting.

"C'mon lover, can't you relax for a bit? What would Falco say?"

"Don't," Harris could feel the beast swirling beneath his mind. Wanting to be let out. And Blue was holding the keys. Holding them, and threatening to use them. Oh yes, she had always known what buttons to push with him. And now she pushed.

"Oh, I guess you would know, wouldn't you?" She batted her eyes, they seemed to glow with an inner light.

"Blue..."

"After all..." Her voice a sensual whisper

"...don't"

"...you got to hear his last words." She flicked out the very tip of her soft pink tongue, brushing his .45's barrel as her eyes bored into his soul.

"No."

"When you killed him."

Harris closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. The memories he had tried so hard to block flooded over him. The memories of a monster. Blue easily snatched the guns from his trembling hands. He dropped to the ground and gripped his head.

"You went and tore him apart didn't you?" Her voice, judging him. But she was right, he had done it, his only friend...Harris sobbed as he shook his head from side to side. "Did you like it? Did you get off on it?" Harris groaned as he dropped his head to the dirty floor. Her words cut through him, his lover judging him for his, now forever silent, friend. How could he even pretend to be a man when he knew he was the monster.

"But you knew he wasn't like us, Harris. He never was. He was just playing at it. While you and I? We were the masters of the game! No shame in you proving it to him. He questioned you, and you showed you were stronger." She leaned in and pointed the guns to his head, Harris felt the wild rushing roar as his world went red. "Admit it, go on. You loved every second. Just tell Blue."

No! She was wrong, he wasn't like her! He was trying to change, she was still darkness through and through! How dare she speak to him of Falco, she had once almost killed him as well, only Harris' intervention had saved his friend! She was not his judge, she was his foe! He felt a flare of hatred, how dare she! How dare she question him, judge him, tempt him! Blinding red hot rage clouded his vision. Murderous red mist fogged his thoughts. Blue's gleaming azure eyes locked with his. Harris' hand suddenly clamped around her throat as he issued a roar of pure rage and anger. He hurled her over his shoulder to slam hard into the concrete wall.

"That's it Harris," she laughed as she rolled back to her feet. Her grin was wide, her eyes flashing in excitement as she opened her arms towards him, "come on back to Blue!" He growled as two shards of bone ripped from his forearms to jut over his hands. He leapt to his feet and spun in a tight circle. Dust swirled off him as he held the jagged spurs of bone before him. He bared his gleaming fangs at her as his form thickened, muscle and bone bulking him up.

"I am not like you!" The bellow tore out of him painfully, his fanged mouth issuing an angry growl as he glared at her. She cocked her head at him and smiled happily.

"Now that's the Harris I knew," Blue giggled. "So...whatcha gonna do lover? Kill me? Fuck me? Not sure? No plan?" Her eyes narrowed as the grin fell away from her face, her voice becoming a cold and dangerous whisper. "Better think fast..."

She held up his pistols as he roared and charged at her, multiple thunderclaps echoed through the room as she fired into him. Harris accepted the tearing bullets as he lashed out wildly at her, Blue however easily spun out of the way of the blow. She hopped back from him and crouched at the base of the stairs. He roared as he spun after her and charged. She smirked as he dove forward, his arms lashing for her. Her legs uncurled as she sprang into the air and bounced off his back, leaping over him.

His wildly flailing arms nearly ripped into Belle's prone form as he staggered and tried to regain his balance. Blue laughed as one of her spike heeled shoes crunched into the back of his leg. Harris grunted in pain, the heels were solid steel. Bone and flesh crumpled under the speed of the strike and the strength of the metal. She danced around him as he staggered to his knees.

He looked down at Belle's frozen form. This was wrong. He was man, not monster. Blue was a monster. Think! If you're a man, think! He then rose with a purpose. Limping, and with his right hand tucked against his bleeding belly he pursued Blue. His fanged mouth opened in a maddened snarl of bestial rage.

She quickly moved around him. He turned to follow the fluttering blue swirl of her coat, only to receive three rounds pumped into his back. He staggered as she spun around in front of him and placed both guns under his chin. Harris locked eyes with her. Woman. Lover. Warrior. Killer. Blue. She smiled...and fired.

Twin thunderclaps smashed into his jaw. His head rocked back as smoke billowed out of his mouth. Blood sprayed from his ruptured throat and torn cheeks as he collapsed to the ground in a bloody heap.

"Shame, shame, Harris, you've been letting yourself slip," she chided as she dropped his empty guns with a sigh and looked at his bleeding wounds. "Phosphorous my foot. Here, mine are loaded with hollow points. Ought to make a nice mess!" She walked up to him and looked down into his blood spattered face. "You been good?"

She pointed the guns at his face, Harris smiled. Blue paused as she caught the slightest flick of his eye looking behind her. She heard the twin clicks of two revolvers. Blue's flashing eyes widened as she howled and spun. Belle opened fire on her. Bullets hissed into Blue, but the Assamite, even surprised, easily had the upper hand. Her automatics barked and Belle was tossed back as bullets ripped into her. Harris jerked up, his right hand opening to reveal Blue's knife. He jammed it deeply into her toned leg. Blue managed to gasp in surprise before dropping to the ground, frozen and still. Belle picked herself up and wiped at some of the gore dripping from her. Harris began pumping blood to his many wounds as he staggered to his feet.

"We better hurry," he muttered as he allowed his body to resume its more 'natural' shape.

"You're a fucking Tzimisce," hissed Belle as she pointed her guns at him. Harris turned and looked into her narrowed eyes.

"Shouldn't we worry about this later?" Belle seemed unsure. He sighed, this could get rough, how could he get her to trust him quickly?

You're...you're a Tzimisce. A fucking fiend!" She thought him the monster. They didn't have time. He didn't have time to try and explain. The problem was solved for him when a shout and gunfire was heard from above.

"Roulda's back," said Harris, "and it sounds like he brought friends. What's it going to be, Belle?" She paused for a split second, her eyes glaring into his. Then she quickly sheathed her guns and began cutting Eric down. The seneschal moaned weakly as Harris slung him over his shoulder and staggered up the wobbly stairs. He felt Belle's gaze burning into his back, this wasn't over for her. He suspected he may have just lost out on his second home.

Doc crouched in the doorway as he quickly glanced around it towards the figures attempting to enter the alley. The big guy, a smaller fellow dressed in leather, and two punk rocker looking guys. Doc frowned, there had been two of them wearing trenchcoats as well when he had first seen them.

"Probably circling in on me," he muttered as he leaned back behind the door frame. Bullets whizzed by his face and chipped off pieces of wood and stone from the alley's walls. Doc twirled one of his guns and leaned back out into the alley. He placed one round directly between one of the punk's eyes, and popped two more into the large fellow's arm, causing him to drop his machine pistol.

Doc leaned back and smiled as the amount of gunfire at him doubled. He popped open the wheel of his revolver and shook it to empty the chambers. Spent casings bounced and clattered around his feet. Harris and Belle came up from the basement as he heard the gunfire lessen.

"Howdy," Doc pulled out his other gun in a blur and leaned out the door to fire three rounds into the two Sabbat who were sneaking down from the other side of the alley. Their friends having paused in their gunfire to allow them to advance. He ducked back quickly. "We should probably get out of here, now."

"Agreed," said Belle as she came up and readied her guns.

"Hey," Doc said as he glanced Harris up and down. Noting the various bloody bullet wounds in his gray suit. "You look like hell."

"No shit."

Doc quickly reloaded his empty gun. "We got two coming up the way we did, and four more at the other end."

"I guess we'll just have to force our way out," said Belle as she loaded her guns as well.

"I say we go on three, okay?"

"Agreed," said Belle and Harris.

"One." Harris readied himself for the dash, Belle cocked her guns. "Two." Doc leaped out into the alley and began firing wildly in both directions, one gun in each of his hands.

"What fucking happened to three?" Belle cursed as she also leaped out and began firing her guns. Harris rushed after them as they charged down the alley. The two Sabbat in coats had pulled out shotguns, but were quickly blasted down by Doc and Belle. Belle charged ahead, leading the way. Harris stumbled after her, still hurting from the beating Blue had given him. Doc emptied his guns and put them away as Roulda bellowed and charged the trio.

Doc grinned as he hooked his foot under one of the dropped shotguns and flipped it into the air. He easily caught it and pumped two rounds into Roulda's chest. The massive warrior staggered, Doc then fired one more round into his face. Roulda flopped back as Doc dropped the empty gun and pursued Belle and Harris.

Belle had already started the car and was pulling into the street. Doc rushed after it, Belle hardly slowed for him. Doc increased his pace and ran up alongside the speeding car, he opened the door and leaped inside as Belle continued to accelerate.

"You could have slowed a bit."

"I thought you were supposed to be fast?"

"We have problems," cut in Harris.

"What problems," asked Belle in annoyance. She motioned to the street they were driving down with a shrug. "Looks like a clean getaway to me."

"One of the guys back in the alley was Michael Cooler."

"The Archbishop!"

"Yeah, and I bet he's calling in to the guards at the border now."

"Can't we just break through," asked Belle as she pulled onto another street.

"Not without a fucking army."

"So...what do we do?"

Cooler closed the cell phone and shoved it back in his pocket. The guards at the bridges would be ready. He then quickly bounded down the stairs into the basement. He glanced down at the fallen form of Blue as she lay sprawled on the dusty floor. What had this pathetic nothing been thinking, he thought darkly. How could she have ever thought she could affect him. Him, an archbishop of the Sabbat, when she was nothing?

He lowered his shotgun towards her head. She had blown it all, a perfect plan ruined because she had wanted to toy around with him. He scowled at her and his finger tightened on the trigger. The door slammed open as Roulda barreled down the stairs and quickly knelt by Blue. Cooler swung his gun back up to his shoulder in surprise as the dangerous Tzimisce ignored him in favor of Blue. He noted how quickly Roulda's loyalties had switched from the Sabbat to the Assamite. A change he didn't approve of at all.

"Mistress, are you well," Roulda asked as he pulled the knife from her leg. Her eyes flared open, suddenly Cooler didn't feel quite so much power over her as her blazing blue orbs locked with his gaze for a moment. He took a step back, hardly aware he was doing so. After an instant, that seemed an eternity, she glanced away from him and back to Roulda.

"Well enough," she hissed as she staggered to her feet.

"You let them reclaim Eric." Cooler was rather pleased to see the cocky bitch humbled by a few Camarilla at least. But what to do about her now? "I don't suppose you already had my information?"

"No," Blue replied as she reloaded her pistols.

"Looks like a few neonates waltzed in here and made off with your meal ticket," Cooler sneered. This was bad, but he saw a solution. He still needed her skills, and had to get her going after them. Cooler knew he'd only need to attack her pride, then just let her reclaim his prize. Then, when it was all over, then she could go to hell. And he'd be more then happy to send her there himself. "So what do you plan on doing. I won't pay you for 'just trying' you know."

"I know," Blue walked over and opened a cabinet that sat against the wall. From it she drew a gleaming falchion. Her blue eyes shone like smoldering stars in pools of darkness as she held the finely honed blade before her. "But they aren't out of Windsor just yet..."