Chapter Eight
Madison Square Garden
People moved about while Peter led Cassandra and the young women toward the stage where they would be performing and Cross, sitting in the cage, gently cooed. Dressed in makeup, wig, sideburns, goatee and moustache, Peter adjusted the leather coat while he smiled at Cassandra and she leaned closer, kissing his cheek. Large screens dangled overhead as Peter looked up and saw the screen that was over his stage. The screens allowed the audience to watch the acts during the Showdown and he noticed the security guards stationed near all the exits.
"Guess they're not mucking around, seeing what happened to Gordon Lester," Cassandra whispered and Peter nodded his head. The young women walked up the stairs while Cassandra placed the cage on the ground and opened the cage. Cross hopped onto her forearm as she stood up and gently stroked Cross' chest. They had decided not to use Boe in the act, but she could sense the tiger's aura and thought she caught a blur of black and white moving behind the stage. Peter watched the stage hands while they set up the stage when a large pair of arms slid under his arms and lifted him off the floor.
"Peter!" Cassandra yelled while a man around six and a half feet tall held onto Peter and Peter's eyes went wide.
"He-hello, Wiktor," Peter gasped when Wiktor Graygankov placed Peter down and Peter turned, looking up at him. Wiktor had jet black hair that was cut nearly to his scalp and shining green eyes. His face looked like it had been craved from stone and his head rested on a large, muscular neck. Wiktor had a broad chest and wide shoulders and Cassandra thought he looked like a linebacker or, and she chuckled, a large bear.
"Hello, Peter," Wiktor said with a Russian accent and they shook hands. "Why are you here? I thought you never do Showdown again."
"Well, I sort of got blackmailed into it," Peter said then explained how the Hard Rock was going to fire him if he didn't show up and the growling coming from Wiktor sounded almost bear like.
"Hmph, well, you come with me," Wiktor said as he slid his arms under Peter's arms and lifted him off the floor.
"Hey, put him down!" Cassandra said as she stormed over to them and Peter softly laughed, rolling his eyes.
"Who is Little One?" Wiktor asked as he placed Peter down, looked down at her and Cassandra placed her hand on her hip while Cross growled at him.
"That's my girlfriend," Peter said.
"Where is Ginger?"
"She died, Mate," Peter sighed then grunted when Wiktor hugged him then put him down, patting Peter's shoulder.
"I am Wiktor Graygankov," Wiktor said while holding out his large hand and Cassandra smiled, taking his hand in hers.
"I'm Cassandra Lake," she said as they shook hands when four figures came closer and one of the figures was in a wheelchair. Turning, Wiktor smiled when he placed his hand on Peter's shoulder and Peter winced.
The first figure was a tall man with long blonde hair tied back with a black cord and his blue-green eyes sparkled in the light. His face was long, but handsome and he had the start of a moustache growing above his upper lip. Cassandra noticed how his jeans hugged his thin hips and he softly smiled at her. The second figure was a few inches taller than the first figure and he had jet black, wavy hair, dark eyes that almost look black and olive skin. His round face was neatly framed by his hair and he had dimples when he smiled. Both were wearing jeans and brown leather boots and the first man's t-shirt was black with an anarchy symbol on the front. The other man was wearing a blue denim shirt and the top three buttons were open, exposing the dark hair on his chest. The third man was sitting in a wheelchair as he looked up at her with green eyes and his blonde hair was cut close to his skull. He had a long, handsome face, but what stunned Cassandra was the fact that his legs had been amputated at the knees and his jeans were tucked under his legs. He was also wearing a white t-shirt with a dragon on the front and a denim jacket and a baseball cap was sitting on his lap. The teenage girl standing next to him had long blonde hair and green eyes and she was wearing jeans, sneakers, a denim jacket and a red t-shirt with Lady Gaga written on the front.
"Well, lookie who's here," Anthony Torelli said as Peter smiled at him and shook hands.
"Never thought you'd have the balls to come back," Zoltar Casmiri said and Peter softly shrugged his shoulders.
"Hey, Uncle Peter!" Stephanie Collins said as she hugged Peter and he looked down at her father, Frank, and Frank crossed his arms over his chest. Peter wasn't really Stephanie's uncle, but he had helped Frank train her over the years and Peter walked closer, kneeling down next to the wheelchair.
"What the hell happened to you?" Peter asked.
"Dad was in a car wreck three years ago," Stephanie said while Frank sighed and Peter stood up, placing a hand on Frank's shoulder.
"It was a drunk driver," Frank said softly and Peter nodded his head then looked at the others.
"Ok, I know I've been like a ghost these last few years, but shit happens and…" Peter said then grunted when Wiktor smacked him gently on the back and Peter smiled, rolling his eyes.
"No need explaining. We are all together again. That is good thing, da?" Wiktor asked with a grin and Cassandra slid her arms around Peter's arm. "Now we go have drink and get to know Little One."
"Sounds like a plan," Peter said when he saw Mark and Seamus walking toward them and Peter sighed, rolling his eyes.
"Who are those assholes?" Anthony asked when Mark and Seamus stopped near Peter and Peter folded the leather coat back, placing his hands on his hips.
"Detectives," Peter said with a nod of his head and Mark gave him a blank look.
"We need to talk," Mark said.
"I can't right now. Call my agent and make an appointment," Peter said as he turned his back on Mark and Mark balled his hands into fists.
"Look, we could do this easy or…" Mark said when Wiktor came between him and Peter and Peter turned around, looking at Wiktor's back.
"He said he doesn't want to talk to you right now. Be a good, little man and go," Wiktor said as he pointed toward the exit and Cassandra covered her mouth as she tried not to laugh.
"Yeah, get out of here," Anthony said as he walked closer and stood next to Wiktor.
"I could arrest the lot of you for obstruction of justice," Mark said as Peter pressed his lips together to prevent him from laughing then he sighed, walked around Wiktor and looked at Mark.
"There's no need for threats. If you need to talk with me then let's go," Peter said as he pointed with his hands toward the exit and Mark turned, heading for the exit. Seamus ran to catch up with him while Peter turned to the others, took Cassandra's hand, did a little bow and softly laughed as the others applauded while they walked away.
The doors to the squad room opened while Mark and Seamus led Peter and Cassandra toward the desks and Peter looked at the dry board. Walking closer, he looked at the flyer, the photos of Henry Altman and Gordon Lester, the scrape of material from his banner and the photo of his navel while Seamus walked closer and stood next to him.
"So, is that your navel or not?" Seamus asked as Peter looked at the photo of his navel then looked at the scrap of material from his banner and moved his head side to side.
"Yeah, it is," Peter said with a nod of his head then turned and looked at Mark, who was sitting at the desk, and Cassandra was sitting on the chair next to the desk. Cassandra had left Cross with the young women as she looked at Peter and Peter walked to the desk, leaning on the back of the chair. "Now, what did you want to talk to me about?"
"I need you to look at something," Mark said when Peter moved another chair to the desk then sat down and looked at the screen, Mark typed on the keyboard when the security video appeared and Peter leaned his lower arms on the desk.
"What am I looking at?" Peter said when the shadow appeared on the screen and his eyes widened. "Whoa, back that up."
Mark backed the video back to where the shadow first appeared then hit the pause button and Peter looked at the screen.
"Ok, giving the size of the shadow, I can say that whatever that is has to be around nine feet tall. And, if you look at the thickness of the sides of the shadow, I would guess that it has four arms," Peter said as he pointed to the shadowy figure with a pen he took off the desk and Mark nodded his head. Mark hit the pause button again as the video started and Peter jumped when the shadowy figure jumped out of frame. He watched the rubble and the banner fall to the pavement as Mark hit the pause button and Peter titled his head to one side. "Yep, it's a big one. The question now is what exactly is it? That isn't a vampire. They don't come that big."
"Do their eyes glow?" Seamus asked as Peter looked back at him.
"Yeah, sometimes they do," Peter said as Mark restarted the video and Peter went wide eyed when the shadowy figure looked toward the camera and the eyes were glowing. "Shit."
"Do you know what it is?" Mark asked.
"Nope," Peter said then looked at Seamus and sighed. "Did you get the footage from the Garden?"
"Yeah, but we haven't looked at it yet," Seamus said. Walking to the desk, Seamus reached over Mark when he typed on the keyboard then opened another window and the security video from the Garden appeared on the screen. Cassandra had gotten up then walked to Peter and he held his arms out. Sitting on his lap, Cassandra wiggling against him as his cock vibrated through his leather pants and he gave her a stunned look. He then gave her a "not now" look as she softly giggled and Mark sighed, rolling his eyes. Seamus' face turned beet red as he softly coughed then looked at the screen and Peter winked at him. "Now, as you can see, people broke for a lunch break and Gordon Lester is the only one still there."
"Not exactly," Peter said as he pointed to the screen and Mark hit the pause button. "See that shadow over there?"
They looked at where Peter was pointing while Seamus typed on the keyboard and the video changed to show a closer look of the shadowy figure standing near one of the stages.
"Rewind the video back to just before the shadow appears then frame by frame," Peter said while Seamus nodded and they looked at the screen. The shadowy figure seemed to vanish then reappeared and Peter held his finger up. "Hold it there. Did you see it rise out of the ground?"
"Yeah, it looked like it was coming out of the ground," Cassandra said.
"Now go forward," Peter said when the shadowy figure jumped into the air then landed on top of Gordon Lester and Seamus closed his eyes while the shadowy figure attacked. Peter moved his head closer to the screen to get a better look, but the shadowy figure kept its back to the camera and Peter sat back on the chair, sighing. "Well, that was messy."
"But what is that thing?" Mark asked when Peter noticed something and blinked his eyes a few times.
"Replay that last part," Peter said, ignoring Mark, and Seamus typed on the keyboard. "Hold it there! Do you see where it's standing?"
"It looks like where you were standing when you felt that weird power surge," Cassandra said and he smiled at her.
"Gold star for you," he said as she rolled her eyes and smiled. "That is where whatever it was left. That is why no one saw it coming or going. It uses teleportation."
"You mean like Star Trek?" Mark asked and Peter glared at him.
"No, I'm not talking "Beam me up, Scotty!". I am talking opening a portal and going from one place to another," Peter said as he looked at the screen and sighed, sitting back in the chair. "The question now is what is it and why did it kill them?"