Memoirs of a Balancer-Gate

Feel free to follow the yellow brick road below, it’ll take you back to the beginning. If you are even braver, you can choose the path of confusion and start here. Your fuckin’ choice, don’t blame me if you are confused as shit. PT11 Roads Travelled PT12 Shrouded PT13 Oblivion PT14 From Scratch PT15 Repercussions PT16 pt.1 Misconceptions PT16 pt.2 Misconceptions Dos PT17 Disparity

There are times in your life where you will look back at the choices you’ve made. It will not matter whether they are made with good intentions, ill will on your mind, or in the heat of the moment. No matter the circumstances, these choices will define your life as a whole. Even the smallest of decisions can forever impact your life as a whole.

Disconcerting? Hell yeah it is. Think about it for a minute.

Now that your done regretting your breakfast, I’m gonna fuck with your head eve more.

None of them fucking matter. Complete 180? Yup, it sure is. No matter what happens in your life up to this point, the decisions that you made, or the ones made for you by others, it won't decide your future. If you don’t want them to, that is.

No matter what happens you will always be in control of your life. Even if it means making decisions that you never thought you’d have to make.

These are the kinds of thoughts that go through my head at the least opportune moments and most dangerous fucking moments. Like sitting on a roof top, with Duncan at my back, holding together a barely functioning group of survivors, with a dwindling ammo supply, and we’ve already exhausted plans A-Z.

Yeah, bad timing for an existential crisis. I know.

But before we get into all that, lets start from the beginning.

It had been a few weeks since my break down at this point and things were beginning to heat up. Our operational tempo was akin to the beat of a 90’s rave track. As fast as we were completing ops, another 2 would take its place.

We were running on fumes and bouncing all over the US. The creepy crawlies were popping up at an unprecedented rate and no one could seem to figure out why. The worst part of it all was that normally docile and timid creatures were coming out in broad daylight.

I mean seriously, did chupacabras really have to attack a heard of cows in the middle of a round up. Try telling a bunch of ranchers that it was just a herd of wild dogs. I even called bullshit on myself during that explanation.

To top off our shit storm, the psychic net picked up something that resembled what we dealt with in Costa Rica. It just happened to located in Idaho this time. Fucking Idaho. Really?

After an exhaustive investigation by our techs, we began to find signs of something that resembled a gate to another plane of existence. Thank god it hadn’t opened like it had in Costa Rica, but it was building to that point. By comparing the data we collected down south against what we were seeing here, it was obvious that something big was coming.

I received all this data on my way back from dealing with a water wraith in Washington. I was exhausted, half drowned and ready for a day off. Instead I received an email to re-equip and get my shit back in gear as soon as I landed. Fun shit.

As soon as the wheels touched down, I hopped off and headed straight for the team ready room. It had been repaired, and cleaned up since my little tantrum and the only visible sign of my little explosion was a patch of new drywall where I had put the table leg through the wall. I even signed it.

“Yo amigo! You ready for some fun shit mate?!” Duncan yelled as soon as I entered the room.

“If by fun shit, you mean 2 days of sleep and a woman with morals lower than her standards. Then yes, I’m fuckin stoked.” I replied as I shrugged off my pack and began giving my current gear a once over, deciding what needed to be cycled out and what needed to be restocked.

“Well I don’t know ‘bout all that but I like where your head's at.” He said as he began meticulously packing the gear he had strewn out before him.

“Gadgets?” I asked as I looked at the array I had loaded into my pelican case before me.

“Just my laptop, a sat phone, my studs, and a few remote listeners and transponders.” He said as he loaded each one into a pelican case that matched mine.

“Alright, I got the Ham, studs, my laptop, and a power supply.” I said as I clicked my case closed again.

“Sounds good. Armor?” He asked as he held his Carbon Lattice suit out in front of him and began folding it.

“Same as you, Full kit.” I said as I walked to a locker on the far wall with my name on it. “Full space suit for the cowboys.” I said as I grinned and pulled my similar yet personalized suit out of the locker.

“I’m a spaaaaaaace cowboy. Bet you weren’t ready for that!” Duncan began crooning.

“I’m a spaaaaace cowboy. I’m sure you know where it’s at!” I sang along.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, YEAH!” we sang together in an ode to the Steve Miller Band classic.

“Weapons?” I asked as I chuckled at our impromptu karaoke.

“Just the usual mate.” He said as he walked to his locker. “Hold on, I’ll be right back.” He said as he suddenly turned and sprinted out of the room.

“Fuckin aussie.” I mumbled as I went to my locker to retrieve my weapons. Thankfully my last op hadn’t called for an arsenal and my weapons were in my locker where I’d left them. A full stock of ammo resting at the bottom of the locker.

I retrieved an arm full of weapons and made my way back to the table and began organizing everything as I heard someone enter the room.

“What the fuck were you after kemosabe?” I asked, never looking up as I loaded my Saiga into its appropriately shaped hole in the foam lining of its case.

“Actually we were looking for both of you.” I heard Lily say.

“Shit, wrong harbinger of doom.” I said smiling as Lily and Sarah strode in.

“Where’s my little miscreant?” asked Sarah as she looked around the room.

“RIGHT HERE BABY!!” Duncan yelled amidst the sound of chainsaw firing up. “The BoomSaw MK2 is operational.” He cooed as he repeatedly revved the whirling weapon of mass destruction.

“Jesus Christ.” I muttered as he waved the massive Alexander Arms .50 Cal Assualt Rifle with attached under barrel Chainsaw around, like a kid on Christmas with his first lightsaber.

“Had her remodeled and tuned up since my little throwdown in California. She's lighter in the hands, spinning at a higher rate of death, and ready to run for the long haul.” He said as he finally shut off his compensation machine of death.

“Whatever you say bud.” I said as I snapped my Glock 19 off my hip and gave it a quick once over, just to make sure that its little submarine style trip hadn’t damaged any of its main and extra components. I sighted down on my locker and flicked the SureFire on to make sure that the Trijicon RMR was still functional and I was ready to blind anything that I couldn’t shoot.

“You just taking your little pea shooter?” He asked as he picked up his custom 1911 out of its case. The double stack .45 STI 1911 was a work of art in its own right. It had Trijicon RMR, SureFire tactical light, and enough ammo to put down Dolf Lundgren and Arnold Schwarzenegger together.

“Yeah, I like my little pea shooter.” I said as I checked my two spare mags on my left hip, sitting opposite to my Glock.

“Well I didn’t order you a gun just so it could look pretty in its case mate.” he said, referring to the matching 1911 he had bought me after Costa Rica, that was currently residing in a case next to my bed, eagerly awaiting the day that someone broke into my bedroom.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” I said as I loaded a few more spare magazines into my gun case. Just in case.

“Well, all this fancy gear is great and all, but did you remember spare underwear this time?” asked Sarah as she eyed the arsenal laid out before us.

“Sure it’s right next to my spare rifle mags.” I said as I snapped my case closed.

“Same.” Duncan said as he loaded the last of his spare mags.

“Hand to hand gear?” asked Lily as she shook her head.

“Oh you know it hun.” I said as I fingered the twin Karambits that I had in the small of my back.

“You want to know how I got these scars?” Duncan asked in his most unsettling Joker voice and pulled his K-Bar from its sheath.

“Jesus.” Sarah said as she shuddered. “I’ll never get used to that.”

“Well you both look prepped and properly creepy.” said Lily as she laid her tablet down on the table.

“It’s our most endearing quality." I said as I put on my most stunning Patrick Bateman Smile.

“Fuck off.” She said as she loaded up our latest op briefing.

“A swing and a miss.” Duncan said as he plopped down in the closes chair.

“Strike 317.” I said as I stowed the last of my gear by the door and sprawled out in a matching chair and propped my feet up on the table.

As we watched, a map of a small town in Idaho blew up on the big screen before us, remotely controlled by Sarah and Lily on their corresponding tablets.

“So here it is.” said Sarah as small icons and varying shades of color overlaid a topographical map of bum fuck nowhere.

“Aaaaaaaaand, what the fuck are we looking at?” I asked as lids started becoming heavy. The boringness of pre-op briefing beginning to seep into bones.

“This is a topographical map.” Sarah sighed.

“No shit.” Duncan and I Said in unison.

The rest of the meeting was downhill and boring. Between nodding off and cracking the usual jokes, I got the jist of the situation. There was a small town in central nowhere that was showing the signs of a gate that was going to be opening soon. There were unexplainable weather conditions, a rash of murders, suicides, and general mayhem in a town that was usually clean as a whistle and quiet as a library.

With all of this now drilled into our heads, Duncan and I loaded up into my Jeep and began the trek cross country to our new home away from home.

About halfway there, I got my first real surprise of the trip. We had stopped at a small gas station on stretch of desolate highway. The type that seems to criss cross the country and lead to nowhere in particular. We had pulled over to refuel and offload our own personal fluid. Opening the trunk, I rummaged through our gear, trying to find a sweatshirt to fight off the cold that always seemed to seep into the Jeep. It may have been fun and practical, but it was definitely not air tight.

As I moved our gear around, I found a case that I didn’t remember loading. It was big, black, and bulky.

“Duncan, what's in the box?” I asked as I eyed the case suspiciously.

“Nothing.” He replied quickly. Too quickly.

“What’s in the fucking box?!” I demanded as he continued to pump gas.

“Just a contingency.” He said as he finally holstered the gas nozzle.

“Bull shit.” I said, unsnapping the case and revealing its glorious contents.

Before me sat a heavily modified M2,or Ma Deuce as it’s more affectionately known. It was a 50 caliber, fully automatic death dispenser that was heavily modified to our standards. It had custom shortened barrel, slide on suppressor, twin butterfly triggers, and an Eotech sight mounted on top.

I whistled as I gazed upon it in all its glory, sitting alongside 3 cans of ammo.

“Had it made just to fit that mount you welded onto the roll bar up top mate.” Duncan said, referring to the gun mount that I had previously designed and welded onto the top of the jeep. It was a lazy Sunday and I had been bored. Bad things happen when I’m bored.

“You did this for me?” I asked as I lovingly caressed the ultimate soft target destroyer.

“Well we had to put that mount to use eventually.” He said grinning.

“If I were gay……” I said as I snapped the case closed.

“Not a chance mate.” He said as he strode to his side and we hopped in, continuing on our field trip.

We arrived at our destination 2 days, and about a million piss breaks later. Even with enough energy drinks to kill a horse and a enough Adderall to kill the rest of the herd, we had to stop and stay a night in a run down highway motel. I’ve stayed in a lot of unsavory places but there is nothing scarier and more unsettling than small motels off the side of a highway in the middle of nowhere. Creepy shit, even in my line of work.

Our first few days in town were relatively uneventful, we slowly got a feel for the town as a whole as we poked and prodded the local authorities and populace under false identities. Marshals Cody and Duncan became household names about twenty four hours after we made land fall in this god forsaken town.

The only thing that really set off our weird radar was the open hostility towards us. We usually made a stir in towns like this when we showed up, but this was different. Mothers were hiding their children and people were openly glaring at us as we sat in a small diner and ate our food. Weird.

“Don’t mind them, they just hate outsiders getting involved in our business. Even if they can’t solve the problem themselves.” Said our waitress as she set our food down in front of us.

“Sorry, we don’t mean to cause any tension.” Duncan said as he picked up his fork and dug in.

“It’s fine. It’s nice to finally see some new faces in here.” Said the only other waitress working as she strode up to us.

“I’m Emmy and this is Maci.” Said the first waitress as she settled down next to Duncan and politely stuck her hand out across the table to me.

“Nice to meet y’all.” I said as slid over and made room for Macy. She was a bit on the heavier side, so I made slightly more room than Duncan had to.

“Yeah, pleasure’s ours.” Duncan said as he put on his trademark smile and politely accepted Emmys hand.

“So are you guys here about all the crazy shit?” asked Macy, quite bluntly may I add.

“Yeah we’re here to see what we can do. The Marshal Service assigned us to the case.” I said as I began digging into my food.

“Well you picked a good place to start. The owner got his brains blown by his wife before she made their kids orphans.” Said Maci as I tried not to choke on my food. Holy shit, this chick was something else.

“Any reason why that would have happened?” Duncan asked as he continued to chow down on his hotdog. Slightly slower now.

“No clue.” She said non-challantly as Emmy gave her a harsh look.

“Home problems if I had to guess.” Said Emmy as she continued to stare her co-worker down. The tension in the air was palpable.

“Well I’m glad it’s still open cause this looked like the only good place to eat, next to the bar down the street.” I said as I downed the rest of my drink.

“I got that for ya sweetie.” Said Maci as she grabbed the cup from my hand, her hand lingering on mine as she did.

Looking across the table, I saw Duncan grinning at me as Emmy rolled her eyes. Fuck me right? She probably wanted to, but I wouldn’t do her with Duncan’s dick.

“Well we’re gonna be here for a bit and see if we can find something more concrete.” Said Duncan as he finally looked away from me and smiled at Emmy again.

“Alright, you guys should come here while you’re in town!” Emmy said with a bubbling smile as she stood and continued about her job.

“I’m gonna need you to do me a solid amigo.” Duncan said as his eyes finally left Emmy’s retreating rear end and fixed me in a hard gaze.

“Nope.” I said as I looked away.

“Just once, all you have to do is keep her busy.” Duncan said as he reached across and grabbed my hand.

“Not happening.” I said as I snatched my hands away.

“Don’t worry. I know your weakness.” He said as he grinned and winked at me.

“Get fucked.” I said as Maci strolled by and deposited my new drink with a flirtatious smile.

He continued silently smiling at me as she left and carried on with her job.

“Let’s just get done first then we’ll see if I dive on this grenade for you.” I said as I continued finishing my meal.

“This is why you’re my best mate.” He said as his sadistic grin returned and he went back to his meal.

Finishing up our meal Duncan and I cleaned the last of the food off our plates and asked Emmy for our bill. I excused myself to the restroom and made my way to the back of the restaurant.

As I was standing in a closed stall relieving myself, I heard the door open and close to my right. Not thinking anything of it, I finished my business and as I was zipping myself back up, I heard the tell tale rattle of someone trying to open the locked door.

“Give me a second.” I said as I turned to open the door, I looked down and saw a set of feet at the bottom of the door. There was only one problem, my friendly bathroom buddy was trying to enter the only occupied stall while there were two others open next to it.

Anybody else would have been confused and walked right into this setup, too bad for this asshole, I’m paranoid. Actually I’m not paranoid, I’m just aware of all the possible outcomes. Especially the worst ones.

I reached forward to unlock the door and instead of stepping out into an awaiting ambush, I stepped back and let the door swing in towards me.

As soon as it was fully open, I saw a tall, skinny, and obviously surprised asshole reach into the stall to grab me. I intercepted his incoming arm and spun him past me and into the awaiting porcelain. As I spun him, I slid past him and exchanged spots with him so I was now standing outside the stall looking in at my recovering would be ambusher.

“What the fuck do we have here?” I asked as I planted my feet and let my arms hang loosely at my sides.

“Fuck you cock sucker.” He said as he turned and tried to launch himself out of the stall.

I grabbed his incoming arm again and once again spun him past me. I put a little more force into this toss and felt him hit the wall hard enough to leave a nice crack in the drywall as he went limp.

As I turned to rush out of the bathroom, I heard one word over the ruckus that was starting outside the bathroom.

“NEBRASKA!” I heard Duncan yell at the top of his lungs.

Now for those of you who don’t know. Nebraska is a simple code word that me and Duncan use. It is something that can be used seamlessly in a conversation to indicate that shit was going south. Or in this case, it was shouted loud enough that I could hear it across a restaurant and through a closed door. Shit was hitting the fan.

As I went to burst out of the bathroom, I felt a resistance against the door as I pushed against it and I decided that enough was enough.

I stepped back a single step, planted my left foot behind me and lashed out as hard as I could with my right foot. I felt the resistance give way and something tumbled out of my way as the door crashed open. I sprinted through the now open door and looked to my right.

I saw another guy on the floor, struggling to get up after his little spill. Asking no questions, and taking the situation at face value, I wound up again with my left foot and delivered a soccer style kick that would have made Rooney proud, straight to the newest assholes face.

I kept my pace up as I bypassed the now still bathroom blocker and rushed up to Duncan who was currently grappling with the biggest person in a group of three that was slowly surrounding him.

Everyone in front of me seemed oblivious to my presence as I strode up behind them. I saw Emmy and Maci trying to disarm the situation, as much as it wasn’t working, they were giving the guys hell and trying to drag one of the assailants away.

I strode up the closest guy and pulled one of my Karambits from my back in an overhand grip with the blade facing down out of my palm. I grabbed him around the throat from the rear and pressed my Karambit into his thinly clothed side, right over his liver.

“Make a sound and you wont be drinking any beer for a long time.” I said quietly as I pressed up close behind him and made myself as small of a target behind him as possible.

“THIS ENDS NOW!!” I yelled as I held one of the would be assailant’s hostage.

Everyone quickly looked at us and Duncan released the asshole that he was holding.

“You ok Ricky?” asked the ring leader that Duncan had just released.

“He’s fine.” I said as I pressed the knife in a little harder, feeling the stitching in his shirt starting to part beneath the razor sharp blade. “Everyone is gonna be fine as long as y’all do exactly as I say.”

“Fuck tha-“ the ring leader tried to say, before Duncan completed his sentence for him with a high kick right into the side of his unsuspecting head.

I immediately released the one I was holding as he began to squirm after watching his leader meet the ground in the most unconscious way. I let him take a step forward before I stepped forward into the back of his knee and sent a fist crashing into the side of his neck.

Looking around, the diner was silent besides the mumbling of the third asshole who was desperately looking for a way out and watching as his bathroom buddies slowly stumbled out to see the aftermath.

“Grab your shit and get lost mates. If not, you will be leaving in body bags.” Duncan said as he stood over his unmoving opponent.

The one coherent member of the group quickly rallied the other two lesser coherent members into action, as they dragged their buddies out the front door and thankfully into an awaiting SUV before speeding away.

“The fuck?” I said as I looked back at Duncan who was crouched down next to a booth a few spots down from the one that we had previously occupied.

“Disrespect.” he said never looking away from the boy that he was crouched in front of.

“You ok mate?” he asked a teary eyed youngster that was sitting with what I believed to be his mother and sister.

The little boy said nothing as he clutched a stuffed ram tighter to his chest and averted his eyes.

“I think he’ll be just fine, thanks to you.” Said the older woman at his table.

“What’s your pets name?” Duncan asked the little boy after he smiled and nodded at his mother.

“Rammy.” The boy said quietly, barely peeking up to look at Duncan.

“Well I got a deal for ya bud. You promise to take care of Rammy and I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen again.” He said as he smiled at the little guy.

“Ok.” The boy said with a little more enthusiasm and slightly cracked a smile.

Standing up, Duncan strode towards the front counter and deposited a hundred dollar bill on the counter. “For the mess.” He said as he made his way towards the door.

“You don’t have to do that.” Said Emmy as she snatched the bill off the counter and chased after his fleeing form.

“Don’t bother, he won’t take it back.” I said as I strode past her towards the exit. “Just how he is.” I said as I exited the building and hopped into the driver’s seat of my Jeep, Duncan already waiting in the passenger seat.

“Have a little fun?” I asked as I started the Jeep and slid it into first gear.

“The boy was autistic, they started calling him a retard. I reacted.” He said without a trace of emotion.

“Understood.” I said, looking back at the road and feeling my face flush hot. At that point, I wished I’d done a little more damage and given them a lot less mercy than I afforded them.

The next two weeks were a blur of investigating and conducting interviews. We made very little headway, mostly due to the stubbornness of the local authorities and populace. No one wanted to talk to us about the incidents that had occurred and were still occurring in the town. I mean seriously, we had been there two weeks and there had been three assaults, two burglaries, and a rape. All in a town that had been as quiet as the grave up until a month ago.

The only reprieve from our frustrating lack of findings and cooperation was our time spent at the diner. We spent most of our time there, either eating or quietly reviewing the tiny amount of information that we had found.

Our first real break came as we were sitting there, eating our dinner and bickering about the next best course of action. Good cops weren’t working and bad cops were real close to showing up to the show.

“How about you just ask me.” Said Emmy as she scooted in next to Duncan, across the booth from me.

“Well then, what do you have for us hun?” I asked as I leaned over the table, propping my head up in my hands.

“How about the thing that set this all off.” She said as she sighed. “It all started right after the owner, ummmmmm had his incident.”

“What actually happened?” Duncan asked as he leaned back in the booth and let his arm slide behind her.

“Well Maci was right, his wife killed him then killed herself. Murder suicide with his gun.” She said, shuddering.

“Well what would have caused an outburst like that?” Duncan asked as she wrapped herself in her arms and shuddered.

“You can’t tell anyone.” She said as she eyed the restaurant warily and leaned in over the table.

I lifted my eyebrow and waited for her to continue.

“Maci was sleeping with him and I’m pretty sure his wife found out.” She said quietly.

“Well fuck me.” I said as I leaned back and put my hands behind my head.

“She wants to.” Emmy said with a giggle as I mirrored her earlier shudder.

Emmy quickly stood and went back about her duties, tending to the other patrons that were beginning to grow restless from the lack of service.

Duncan looked at me after another extended watch of her walking away, “Well looks like we have a new starting point mate.” He said as he grinned at me.

“God damnit.” I said as I groaned and closed my eyes. The ideas that I knew were swirling through Duncan’s head were enough to make me want to abandon ship. I knew that all of them ended up with him getting laid, while I took a grenade and searched Emmy and Maci’s shared apartment. This is bull shit.

A few moments later a slight man walked up and stood in front of our booth, staring at both of us in turn without saying a word.

“Can we help you mate?” Duncan asked as the silence reached an uncomfortable point.

“You must leave this place immediately.” Said the man, his gaze unflinching as he stared us down.

“Well I’m not done eating just yet.” I said as I slid closer to him and the edge of the booth. Eagerly awaiting a hostile move on his part.

“You are not afflicted by the blight that is poisoning this town. You must leave before the scorching heat of the right hand of God scours this town clean with his holy love.” Said the man as he looked at me.

“Ok, just who the fuck are you.” I said as I stuck my finger into the mans chest.

Snatching my outstretched hand with unnerving speed, he held my finger as a burning sensation flashed through my mind. I saw a massive being before me, it was humanoid with 6 wings that continuously moved about its body and on its forehead between two closed eyes was a third that was open. The being was covered in what I can best describe as small flames that danced about its wings and body.

“I am a mighty Seraphim sent by the Lord to cleanse this town of its growing Evil.” I heard a mighty voice bellow as I snapped back to reality.

I was still seated and the vision was gone, replaced by the slight man that was still standing in front of me. I was breathing erratically and clutching my hand to my chest as Duncan lunged out of his seat and towered over the man.

“No. Don’t.” I gasped out as I watched Duncan rear back to punch the man.

Stopping mid back swing, Duncan looked at me and held his posture, prepared to strike.

“What do you intend to do? Kill everyone here?” I asked as I managed to catch my breath and Duncan continued to stand menacingly next to the Seraph.

“If it His will, then yes.” He said.

“Well shit. Give us a chance then, let us try to fix this before you murder everyone.” I said quietly, the few occupants still left in the building seemed oblivious to our slight altercation.

“I will afford you the time that the Lord deems necessary for me to complete my task.” he said as he spun around and began walking towards the exit.

Sitting back down, Duncan looked at me. “What the fuck was that mate?”

“Shit just got real screwy, we need to talk to Central Command. Now.” I said as I tossed a twenty dollar bill on the table and may my way towards the exit.

I saw Duncan waving good bye to Emmy before he caught up with me and we made our way back to the hotel. We headed back as fast as possible before we booted up our laptops and we called our Handlers. Once we had a conference call rolling, I explained to everyone what had happened and what I had seen.

Surprise was the theme of the conversation that ensued. We all discussed the possible ramifications and possibilities involved with everything that we had learned today.

“So we just got word back form the Archives and they are freaking out. Angel sightings are very lightly documented due to the apparent rarity of them.” Said Sarah through my cell phone that was on speaker phone on the table.

“Well what do we have on the Seraphs specifically?” I asked as Duncan typed furiously on his phone.

“One thing, a lot of fire and destruction.” Said Lily “There is one account documenting the Seraphs specifically. It’s from middle age Britain. Apparently a Seraph wiped an entire village clean off the map. In a day.” She said with a tone of concern in her voice.

“So some seriously powerful assholes.” Said Duncan, never looking up from his phone.

“Who you sexting?” I asked as I watched him grinning at his phone.

“No one.” He said as he finally looked up.

“Bull shit. It’s Emmy.” I said as I stared him down.

“And?” he asked as he stared back at me.

“When?” I asked as I sighed.

“Tonight, we’re getting drinks together. All four of us.” He said as he manically grinned at me.

Groaning, I leaned back in my seat and covered my face with my hands.

“What does he mean?” Asked Lily.

“You don’t want to know.” I said as I leaned forward again.

“Think with your big head.” Said Sarah.

“Oh I am. We’re goin in for some intel.” Duncan said as he wiggled his eyebrows. God fucking damnit.

“We’ll pick this up tomorrow.” I said as I went to end the call.

“Be careful.” Lily and Sarah said in unison before I hung up the phone.

“How long do we have?” I asked as I stood and stretched.

“We leave in thirty amigo. Get cleaned up.” He said as he mimed my actions and headed towards the shower while I went for the dresser.

“How do I always get into this shit?” I asked as I pulled out a fresh pair of jeans.

Exactly thirty minutes later, we were pulling into the parking lot of a small hole in the wall bar near the outskirts of town.

“Classy.” I said as we made our way towards the door.

“Just stay cool amigo.” Duncan said as held up his fist.

“You know it kemosabe.” I said as I bumped my fist against his and we walked into the stereotypical small town bar.

There were a few tables, 2 pool tables, and a dozen stools that were lining a wooden bar. With none of the tables occupied, one of the pool tables taken up by two middle age men, and half the bar stools taken, our small group comprised just under half of the total occupancy.

The girls were already waiting for us with cold beers when we got there. That was a good start at least.

We spent the remainder of the night migrating between the bar and the pool tables as we shot pool and drank our fill. To be honest, I was pretty well buzzed when the lights came up and the bar tender informed us that it was time to leave.

I looked to my left and saw Maci slamming the last of her beer. Damn that girl could drink, she had probably consumed double what I had in beer and looked no worse for the wear. To my right, Duncan and Emmy were pushed up tight together and giggling with their heads close together. Looked like his mission was a success as he stroked her lower back and she leaned in closer to him.

I, on the other hand, was planning a myriad of excuses as to why I would not be sleeping with my date.

Duncan stood up and informed us that they were headed back to the hotel and we were welcome to join them for a nightcap. Seeing the ploy for what it was, I politely declined and informed them that I would be driving Maci home, as she latched onto my arm in an attempt to stay standing. So much for being just a little buzzed.

As we were leaving, Duncan winked at me before climbing into the passenger seat of Emmy’s awaiting car. I flicked him off before turning and helping Maci into my jeep. Between the lift, large tires, lack of handholds, and her inebriation, it was an adventure just getting her into the passengers seat. Fucking drunk girls.

After an eventful ride back that included her puking out my window mid ride, we finally made it back to her apartment. I opened my door and hopped out. As I strode around the back of the jeep to her side, I watched as her door opened and she tumbled straight out and onto the pavement.

Stifling a laugh, I rushed over to help her up. By rushed, I mean slowly walked over as she unsteadily made her way back to her feet, and by help her, I mean I put my hand on her back to keep her upright until she made it inside.

Luckily for me, her seduction tactics ended with her tangled in her clothes and passed out on her bed. Dodged a fucking bullet there.

Using her inebriation and the spare time that it afforded me, I began searching her room for anything that could tie her to the gruesome death of her boss. I was hoping to find a shred of evidence that would prove the infidelity that had supposedly occurred and possibly put me on a track towards something useful in this case.

I scoured the house from top to bottom, leaving only the 2 bedrooms untouched. I found jack shit. Not even a used condom or a pair of discarded men’s underwear.

Spent, and not willing to search their bedrooms, due to one being occupied and the other being morally off-limits, I decided to grab a bottle of water from their fridge and relax. As I sat there on the couch, I went over everything that I had learned that day.

The most resounding thing in my mind was the Seraph. For some reason, he felt wrong. Even if he was a heavenly Deity, he gave off an old testament fire and brimstone feel. It was something so different and new to me that I couldn’t even wrap my head around it.

After a while of sitting and contemplating, I decided to put on my big boy pants and get the worst part over with.

Creeping into the monsters personal lair, I began quietly opening drawers and checking every corner of Maci’s room. Her dresser was a bust, nothing but slutty clothing and work attire. The rest of her room was mostly spotless and her snoring was enough to keep me looking.

Checking her closet, I finally hit gold. Laying on the floor of her closet was a non-descript shoe box. I would have thought nothing of it, but it was underneath a shoe rack that was three quarters full. What was in the fucking box?

Looking back, I kind of wish I’d never opened it. Inside was a myriad of pictures, personal photos of a middle aged mad, a few pictures of the man and another woman, and a few family photos. To top off the already creepy stash, there were a few pictures of that poor sap and Maci in the throes of love making.

Fighting down bile, I moved the more exotic photos that I assumed were blackmail, aside. Underneath them was a lock of hair, some multi colored children’s chalk and a few remnants of candles that had been thoroughly burned down.

Fear immediately shot through my system as I saw all this, this girl had everything she needed to attempt a summoning. Nothing good ever came of anyone playing with this sort of thing.

I quickly closed the shoe box and grabbed it as I stood and turned to make a hasty exit. Looking back at the bed, I felt my breath catch in my throat, she was fucking gone.

The rest to come soon everyone.