The Return of Lightfoot
Garrett awoke the next morning and once again joined Press in her morning workout. For someone who had gotten her bell rung pretty good the night before, she was looking none the worse for wear. Some days it really pays to be a shifter.
When everyone was awake and assembled, he put out the word to move out.
Everyone assembled on the warehouse Snifter had discovered previously. They discovered it to be abandoned.
Not wanting to leave any stone unturned, Garrett and the others searched the place for clues. They found little to go on at first.
A sharp howl came from across the cavernous room. It was Snifter. He had found something.
The humanoid shape was barely recognizable. It looked as if it had been horribly burned until the skin had disappeared, leaving the muscles and sinews raw and hardened. The only problem was there wasn't the faintest scent of burning. Snifter identified the scent of the body as Blue Eyes, one of their pack. Even though there were no obvious signs of life, she was still holding on and desperately trying to regenerate, somehow.
They brought her back to the hotel and placed her in a bathtub filled with lukewarm water. They didn't know how long it would take her to completely heal, so they left her there to recuperate.
Garrett walked outside to have a smoke when he noticed something amiss. There was a small folded piece of paper stuck just above one of the hinges in the door. He pulled it out and opened it.
The note was brief:
You are being watched. Be careful. I will be in touch.
He peered around the parking lot, letting all his senses scan the immediate area for threats. There appeared to be nothing out of the ordinary.
After double checking his surroundings, Garrett took his bike to the shop directed to him by the kindred who was nice enough to fix his bike for him. They told him to come back the next day. He asked them if they were sure, not believing they could be finished overnight. They confirmed it would in fact be ready the next day.
After dropping off the bike in what had damn well better be capable hands, he took a cab to the post office, where he was expecting a special delivery.
He walked in and checked his P.O. Box. Inside was a large manila envelope. He pulled it out and opened it. He placed the cell phone in his pocket, unconcerned with it for the moment. His attention was completely on the contract in his hands. He read it front to back twice and still could not quite believe it. He felt as if his whole life had led to this moment. He signed it and immediately mailed it back to Tony.
He walked out into the sunlight with a smile on his face. Perhaps it was this alien sense of pure happiness that caused him not to notice the three men that were slowly descending on him.
As he walked through the parking lot, he did notice them. They shadowed him, uncertain about making a move in broad daylight. He started to lead them away, but they suddenly changed their minds. They charged in from three different directions.
Garrett halted and hunkered down. In the split second between realization and action, he knew that shifting in public was probably a bad idea. Then he noticed they had weapons. Shit.
The first man came at him from the front, swinging a chain. Garrett managed to duck the blow and move out of the way. Two more rushed in, one bearing a tire iron, the other holding a monkey wrench. They swung. Garrett propelled himself backwards, hoping to at least dodge one of them.
A tire iron smacked his shoulder with a loud thud. Pain shot down through his arm to his fingertips. The monkey wrench missed Garrett's head by a few inches, but smashed into the tire iron man's face, sending him to the ground like a limp dish rag.
Garrett hit the ground on his back and had only a moment to react. He did the best thing he could think of under the circumstances. He kicked his foot out in front of him, smashing it into the knee of the man wielding the monkey wrench. There was a wet smacking sound as he fell to the ground with a loud cry of pain.
The last man paused long enough for Garrett to get to his feet. He stepped forward as a small rock flew into the scene, pinging off the side of his head. This made both men turn to look.
A girl was standing a little more than 15 feet away, holding another rock in one hand and a cell phone in the other. She spoke.
"You had better leave him alone. I'm on the phone with the police right now and they're on their way!"
He looked back at Garrett and then spared her another glance. He dropped the chain and started running. The others followed suit more slowly.
Garrett took a moment to work the feeling back into his arm. It wasn't broken, so it should heal in a moment's notice. He walked over to his would be savior and cracked a smile.
"Did you really call the cops?" he asked.
She smiled. "No, not yet anyway. I figured they would run off if I threatened them with it though. I don't think you would have lasted very long against three guys."
Garrett scratched the back of his head. "I don't know … I think I could've taken them."
She rolled her eyes, but remained smiling. "I'm Ashley."
The next few minutes were spent conversing. He tried his best to convince her that he really was a musician with a newly acquired record contract, but didn't think she bought it. She explained that she was a college student at the local university and extended an invitation to meet with her friends that night for drinks. He accepted and headed back to the hotel.
He filled everyone in on the skirmish at the post office and the mysterious note on the door. No one had any ideas on what to do next. Their leads were nearly exhausted and short of running around trying to find random broken cross bikers, they were nearly out of ideas. One idea came to mind, however. Garrett picked up the phone.
He dialed the number and waited. It rang a few times before picking up a voice mail box. He left a message and a few minutes later, his phone rang. He answered.
"It's good to hear from you Garrett."
"You too, John," he replied. "Say … Are you incredibly busy right now?"
There was a brief pause on the line. "Where are you?"
"I'm still in Pittsburgh. I've run across a little problem that could lend favor to your expertise."
Another brief pause. "I'll be there tomorrow. Keep your phone on."
Satisfied, he hung up the phone. Maybe tomorrow they would actually get somewhere with this mystery. For now, all they could do was wait.
The hours pressed on and the day slowly started to die. Garrett went to the bathroom to freshen up for the evening's plans. Then he remembered the body in the bath tub.
He pulled the curtain back. She was still very unpleasant to look at, but he could tell she was regenerating, slowly but surely.
Snifter helped him move her long enough for everyone to get a shower. Snifter once again refused the opportunity. Garrett had a plan.
He approached Snifter, who by now had an idea of what was going on. First he tried to do it diplomatically.
"Snifter, you really ought to take a shower," he said as nicely as he could. Snifter didn't budge.
"I'm going out tonight. There will be girls there," he said with a hint of charm. "If you take a shower, you can go with me."
Jiggly laughed. Press was silent, save for a grin on her face. Snifter looked at the two of them and back at Garrett. He whimpered, but still refused to move. Garrett lunged forward.
Press, as if anticipating this, moved almost quicker than he did. They grabbed the flailing, pleading lupus and dragged him into the bathroom. Press turned on the water as Garrett forced him into the shower stall. Snifter screamed in protest, but couldn't struggle free. Quickly and effectively, they moved out of the bathroom, but kept him inside.
Garrett looked at Press as they held the door shut. She smiled, and then laughed. "I knew it would come to this eventually," she said.
On the other side of the door, Snifter wasbegging to be let out. It wasn't until then that Garrett fully appreciated Snifter's fear of water. He really was scared.
Garrett decided to try and reason with him again. "It's not going to hurt you, buddy," he said soothingly. "The warm water feels good. It will make you clean."
There was a long pause before a reply as heard on the other side. "Garrett?" the voice inquired. "How do I do it?"
After a seemingly retarded discussion on how to properly shower, Snifter gave in. Garrett and Press moved away from the door, no longer needing to guard it. After awhile, they heard the shower turn off. Then they heard a series of strange sounds. Not really wanting to know, Garrett approached the door anyway.
"Is everything all right in there?" he asked.
"How do you shake all the water off in this form?" Snifter asked.
After another retarded Q and A on how to dry off with a towel, Snifter finally came out of the bathroom, clean for probably the first time in his life. He got dressed and accompanied Garrett that night on the town.
They arrived at the small bar as per Ashley's instructions, about eight o'clock. They found her inside, with a group of friends. Introductions were made and they sat down and chatted. Ashley went on at great length about an audition coming up later that week and how she wanted the part but there were possibly more than 100 hopefuls auditioning. It struck a chord in Garrett's mind, but he knew not why.
Snifter, it appeared, was making himself quite popular with Ashley's friends. Garrett figured the kid had just realized how good it was to be clean.
An hour or so passed, and someone mentioned a fraternity party going on at the nearby campus. It didn't take long for all of them to wind up there, on the doorstep.
A guy answered the door and surveyed the scene before him for just a moment. Here were two guys with what appeared to be about 15 girls with them. Needless to say, he was impressed.
Garrett introduced himself. This lit up a flicker of recognition on the guy's face. "Hey, I think one of my brothers said something about seeing you play. Come on in."
They entered the house and felt themselves overtaken by the frenzied debauchery of more than 100 drunken, bawdy college students. Beers were very quickly distributed to the newcomers and the group quickly dispersed in the large common room.
Garrett relaxed, settling against a bare patch of wall with his beer. He felt like he needed a break from being serious and this was just what the doctor ordered.
He made it through a few beers before being approached by some of the frat brothers. One stepped forward.
"You're Garrett Rainbird, right?" he asked. "The same one who played the Barbarosa a few nights ago?"
Garrett smiled. "Yeah, that would be me. I'm celebrating my record deal."
At this, the fraternity brothers cheered and gave Garrett more beer. He was a bit drunk by the time someone asked him if he would play. He agreed and a stage was hastily cordoned off in the main room. They moved in some equipment and set it up.
When they were ready, the fraternity president, (or at least who Garrett figured was the president) took the microphone, killed the music and quieted the crowd.
"Here at Omega Lambda Delta, do we not offer you the best parties on campus?" he asked. At this, the crowd cheered a resounding yes.
"Do we not offer you the finest entertainment?" Once again, the crowd offered a cheer.
"Well then, if you would direct your attention to our lovely stage here, I want to introduce the newest artist signed by Aria records, Mr. Garrett Rainbird!"
Most of them had never heard his name before, but cheered anyway. Garrett took his place on the stage and immediately began playing some rowdy blues. The crowd went crazy. He played four songs before excusing himself from the stage.
Ashley found him in the crowd not long after he had mixed back into the crowd of people.
"Oh my god, I didn't actually believe you were a recording artist," she said in drunken adoration. "But I do now!"
He kept circulating through the crowd and circulating through beer as it seemed like endless hands were patting him on the back and endless faces were complimenting him on a good job. It wasn't until a familiar face came into view that he actually started paying attention. It was Snifter, who was obviously drunk. Despite his intoxication, however, there was seriousness to his demeanor. He pulled Garrett close, so no one else would hear him speak.
"Garrett, I've got a problem," he said. "I've got these girls and they really like me, I think. I just don't know what to do now."
Garrett thought for a moment then smiled in a brash manner. "Snifter, buddy, all the hard work is already done. All you have to do is be cool and everything else will take care of itself."
"What do you mean, be cool?"
"I mean be cool. Just relax, go with the flow so to speak."
"But what about later on tonight? I mean … you know."
"Just be cool."
Snifter thought this over and said be cool over and over to himself. Apparently satisfied, he melted back into the crowd.
The night dragged on and eventually the party started to die down. The crowd thinned considerably as people started looking for places to lay their heads. Garrett wandered upstairs, only to find Ashley again. She led him by the hand through a door at the end of the hallway. Then the lights went out.
Garrett awoke the next morning with a slight pounding in his head that soon went away. But unlike the last few occasions he found himself in this position, he was not alone. There on the other side of the bed lay Ashley, looking quite content to be asleep. He rummaged around the room for his clothes and put them on. She awoke to the sounds of him moving around, stretched briefly, looked at the clock and came alive. She was up and dressed before Garrett could find his shoes. She gave him a quick kiss as she bolted out the door, no doubt late for class or something.
Garrett was in no such hurry. He found his shoes, put them on and stuck his head out the door, looking left and right down the hall.
A sound to his left caught his attention. A door opened on the far side. A girl half walked, half staggered out the door and began to move slowly down the hall toward the stairs. Then another came out of the same room. And then another. They all looked like they had a rough night of it and were clearly going to need a few hours of recovery time before doing much of anything.
He walked down the hall to the open door and looked inside.
Snifter lay stretched out on a bed with the world's biggest smile on his face. One look and Garrett couldn't stop laughing. Snifter cocked his head to one side and regarded him.
"I shifted to glabro some time in the night. I don't think they noticed," he said with a smile of complete and utter joy.
A commotion at the stairs caught Garrett's attention. A robed figure ascended the stairs and approached him.
"If you and your friend here would join us downstairs when you are ready, we would like to thank you for your contributions to our party last night," he said politely and walked back down the stairs.
After Snifter was dressed, they came downstairs and were led into the basement, where a small group of robed figures awaited them. One came forward. Garrett recognized him as the one who had introduced him to the crowd the night before.
"This is a rare occurrence for Omega Lambda Delta and a rare opportunity for you," he said. "We normally do not do this, but after careful consideration and overwhelming support from the brothers, we have decided to offer you honorary membership in our brotherhood. From now on, every one in the Omega Lambda Delta brotherhood is your brother if you accept."
Garrett and Snifter looked at each other. They shrugged their shoulders simultaneously and accepted the proposal. There was great rejoicing and the promise of parties to come.
Eventually, they pried themselves away and returned to the hotel. Garrett dropped Snifter off and went to the bike shop that had promised him what seemed to be an outrageous task.
He walked into the garage and could hardly believe his eyes.
The bike was not only repaired to its former condition, it had been fully restored. It almost didn't look like the same bike. He was told that mechanics worked through the night to finish it on time. Garrett didn't want to know how much they'd been paid to do it.
He was about to pull out onto the road and test his newly restored machine when the phone rang. He answered.
"This is Rainbird."
"Garrett, I'm here. Where do you need me to be?'
"Stay where you are. I'll come to you."
After getting directions and getting the Bonegnawers in gear, they all went to rendezvous with John Lightfoot.