DARK DREAMS
Chapter 2: Chasing a Nightmare
Enforcer Headquarters...late evening...
Commander Feral had cleared his desk at last, though he knew by morning more would appear. He was soo very tired but was too uneasy to go home and sleep. But as night fell, the tension in his body increased. Giving up, he locked his desk and rose slowly to cross the room and get his coat. Everything he did was in slow motion. The desire to stay tugged as the urgency to leave pressed him at the same time, leaving him at war with himself. If only there were someone he felt comfortable enough to discuss this with but Felina was to close to him and he'd not made any other ties that would allow him to let down his guard. Sighing, he dragged his coat on and locked his office door.
Reaching his vehicle in the parking garage, he actually wished an emergency would occur to keep him at work but the evening was quiet as it had been for many weeks now with the exception of the creature in the park. Grimacing at the reminder of his nightmares, he climbed in his vehicle and drove home. Flicking on all the lights in his apartment, he tried to dispel the feeling of darkness creeping through him. He stripped off his uniform and in a desperate bid to shake off the strangeness he turned on the late night news only to hear Ann Gora give a report on the 'Park Vampire' as they were calling it. With a growl of temper he switched channels until he found an old gangster movie and tried to focus his attention on it.
Exhaustion caught up with him and he slide into slumber in his recliner. The dream was nearly the same as the night before. He was flying through the night sky toward Megakat Park. A patrolling chopper came into view and he ducked behind a billboard to avoid being seen. When the chopper disappeared around a group of buildings, he continued on his way to the park.
Gliding silently over the trees, he spotted a small group of young adults playing basketball. He landed in a tree nearby and watched them hungrily. After an hour, the group broke up and went their separate ways. He followed a healthy specimen heading through the park without a care in the world. As soon as he was certain the male was far enough away from the others, he made his snatch. The young Kat squawked and struggled but couldn't get free. He took his prey to a tree and repeated his acts of the night before.
Dawn found the Commander waking in his bed, screaming in denial. How had he come to be in bed and nude when he thought he'd fallen asleep in his recliner? Frightened, he staggered out to his living room and saw his TV was still playing, all the lights were on and his clothes were no where in sight. 'Oh God! What is happening to me?' And still he couldn't accept that the creature and he were connected in some way. It was simply too incredible to believe.
Enforcer Headquarters...start of morning shift...
Felina had just signed into work when Snow met her at her office door with the drawing and news of yet another attack. Sighing she turned around and with Snow in tow, made her way to her enforcer vehicle. At the hospital, they replayed the previous day's interview with the exception of the drawing.
"This is a drawing the last victim described for us. Does this look like the same attacker?" She asked the pale young tom in the bed.
He took one look and choked turning his face away, "Yes that's the thing that grabbed me and I hope I never see it again."
"Thank you for your help." Felina said in sympathy. They left the room to its shaken occupant. Felina was angry. On the one hand, she was relieved the creature wasn't killing its prey but on the other, it was traumatizing its victims. They needed to catch this thing quickly before the public really got upset. As they left the hospital, she laid out a plan of attack to Snow.
"I want you to commandeer about twenty patrolmen from A-Shift and have them canvas the area around the park. Don't forget to interview park maintenance crews. Show everyone this picture and see if you get a bite. Meanwhile I am going to show it to Dr. Sinian at the Museum of Natural History and see what she makes of it." She ordered as she pulled in front of Headquarters. "Call my cell if you find out anything."
"Yes sir. I'll get right on it." Snow nodded briskly, got out and hurried off to carry out her orders.
Felina mulled over her meager information on the creature as she made her way through morning traffic for the Museum. She realized, belatedly, that perhaps the doctor might not be in as yet. Sighing, she called dispatch to get Dr. Sinian's private number. She pulled to the side of the road and dialed her up. She got lucky. The doctor was just leaving for work and said she would meet the Lieutenant at the Museum.
Some twenty minutes later, the two she-kats were walking into the doctor's private office.
"Now, what is it you need to see me about Lt. Feral?" Dr. Sinian asked politely.
"Have you ever seen anything like this before?" Felina showed her the drawing.
"Oh my!" Dr. Sinian said, a hand to her throat. The drawing was terrifying. It was an image of a dark Kat-like creature with glowing eyes. "I'm not certain. It looks familiar. Here, let me check a couple of references." She said briskly as she went to a huge bookcase of ancient manuscripts. Studying the titles for a moment, she pulled two of them off the shelf and placed them on a table. Quickly thumbing through one she shook her head and began searching the second of the old books. "Yes here it is. Oh dear! It says here that this is a family curse that befalls one male descendent each century. The Kat that bears this curse is usually unaware of it until it is triggered by the anniversary of the curses' casting." She read.
"Wait! How could a Kat not know about the curse if it is in the family. Surely it would have been handed down in a written history for each generation to be aware of it." Felina asked confused.
"That's usually true but apparently this family was so ashamed of the horror the cursed member was capable of they hushed it up and never spoke of it. The cursed male is normally killed before he can do anymore harm or beget any heirs. Unfortunately, they weren't very successful since it appears there is a poor descendent stricken with the curse at this very moment." Dr. Sinian said sadly.
"Well what is the family name so we can find this guy." Felina demanded.
"Unfortunately, this is only a report of the curse by an outsider who found out about it but never gave the name of the unlucky family to spare them from being ostracized by their peers." Dr. Sinian apologized.
"Damn. Is there a cure at least?" Felina said frustrated. "I don't want to have to kill the poor Kat when it clearly isn't his fault for his condition."
"Not in this account. But I may have something in one of those old magic tomes from Queen Callista's time. I'll have to research it." Dr. Sinian said thoughtfully.
"Well, in the meantime, we have to find this Kat and confine him for his own good until you can find the cure. Is there anything in that account to tell us more about what this Kat is capable of and how best to catch it? Does it only come out at night? Are we going to see it every night?" Felina asked.
"It says here the afflicted Kat feels the change in his body but, of course, he doesn't know what is happening to him. Fortunately, the curse is confined to the nights of the full moon only. The male's form alters to what you see in the drawing. The curse drives him to seek blood and sex from its prey. The sex of the victim is usually the gender the male is attracted to. The rest of the time, he is a normal Kat." She said with relief.
"So tonight is the last night of the full moon. It will hunt and then cease for another thirty days and start the cycle all over again?" Felina asked to be sure she understood what the book had said.
"That is correct Lieutenant. I'll give my complete attention to finding the cure and get the assistance from some of my apprentices. However, I'm sorry to say it still may take some time to find it, so you may have to cage the creature on full moons until we do." She shrugged her shoulders helplessly.
"First we have to catch him then we'll worry about keeping him caged when need be. I don't envy the poor Kat when we find him. To learn you have to be locked up to keep you from hurting others will be quite a shock." Felina sighed shaking her head sadly. "Anyway, I'd better get back to Headquarters and brief my uncle about this. Keep me informed. Here's my cell number. Don't hesitate to call me anytime."
"Certainly Lieutenant and good luck." Dr. Sinian smiled sadly.
As she was returning to Enforcer Headquarters, she heard over her radio of an attack by Dr. Viper at the Bio Chemical Labs. She cursed and changed her direction to head for the Labs. She continued to listen to reports as she got closer to her destination. She heard her uncle barking commands for more tank support then a snarl of fury when the SWAT Kats were spotted arriving on the scene. Groaning to herself, her uncle was going to be in a fine temper when she got there.
Sure enough, Commander Feral was screaming commands to his troops as they tried to hold back an ugly assortment of plantimals from trying to over run the lab while the SWAT Kats took out flying creatures making a bid to enter the building from above. So far the good guys were holding off the mutated army but it was a losing proposition. There were just too many of them. Then the SWAT Kats pulled a rabbit out of the hat yet again with a new weapon Razor had obviously developed. It was some kind of freeze gun.
They warned off the enforcers before spraying the mutations with great effectiveness. The weapon reduced the creatures to brittle crystal that broke with a slight touch. Within minutes it was over. Viper had gotten away because he had remained out of sight and was able to escape quickly by his favorite means, the sewer system. The area surrounding the lab was a mess.
Apparently, the SWAT Kats hadn't wanted to use the weapon because it could and did cause some reciprocal damage to the surrounding buildings and they were tired of Feral blaming them for property damage. But really, there was no choice. It was put up with some property damage or the taking of an important laboratory by a criminal. Her uncle was still furious with them. Sighing she waved good bye to the SWAT Kats as they wisely made their escape while she had to remain and try to soothe her uncle and help with the cleanup.
It took the rest of the day to clear up the mess and write the reports involving the incident. So by the time she was able to return to the case of the cursed creature it was growing late. She still needed to speak to her uncle but found he was in meetings until well after quitting time. Knowing there would be no way to learn who the poor cursed Kat's identity was before it hunted again that night, she gathered an elite squad of enforcers to stake out the park that evening. Patrols of four swept the park continuously the moment dark had fallen. Everyone was tense.
Around ten o'clock an alarm was sounded in the northern most part of the park. Felina raced to the site. She arrived in time to see her troops engaging an incredibly powerful creature who fought off everyone as if they were dolls and took to the air where her choppers tried to head it off, but despite trying to net it, the creature was too cunning and managed to avoid them and disappeared.
Frustrated and angry, Felina had her troops search the entire park for the rest of the night but there was no sign of the creature. By dawn, everyone was tired and frustrated, but at least there had been no report of anyone being attacked. The down side was they would never find the creature now and would have to wait until the next full moon unless they got incredibly lucky.