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Chapter 13 - Blood in the Streets

Ciel got better the next day. I tried to talk to him again, but every time I got close he always found something to be busy with. Bas told me not to worry--Ciel was difficult but a good person. I was inclined to believe him.

Work kept me busy as well. So did the boxing lessons and St. Andrews. My Chinese was coming along splendidly, or that was what Tri told me, but I still made people laugh when I tried to speak anything more than a few words--I must have sounded like a baby to them. Oh well, baby steps at a time, I guess.

The peaceful days didn't last as long as I wanted, though. I found out that everything could change at a moment's notice.

I had to be at work early that morning, the morning where things got uncomfortably close to home. We had a ship in the docks getting serviced, and the captain was riding us to hurry up with the repairs. It was the last day of working on it, and I wanted to get ahead of my work before it got too cold or windy to really be up in the rigging. I always felt like a frozen fox by the time I climbed down, but I did my job very well and was starting to make a name for myself. It felt a bit like when I was a chimney sweep--I was good at my job then. I hadn't felt pride like this in many years.

It was going to be a good day.

Until it wasn't.

"SIMON!" a young voice shouted out at me before barreling into me from the alleyway I was passing. I grunted and skidded back, dropping my pack and wrapping my arms around whoever had tackled me around the waist.

"Lucas?"

"Simon Simon Simon!" The boy was talking so fast and slipping into Spanish at times it was hard to understand him. He was cold and shivering and looked like he had been through hell and back.

"Lucas, calm down!" I firmly grabbed him by the shoulder, kneeling down in front of him and holding him still. "What's wrong?"

"I saw it!"

"What did you see?"

"I saw the dragon! I saw the murder scene! I saw it all, Simon! I saw it all!"

My blood ran cold. I knew it was Mordecai. There was no way he wasn't killing here. I had been expecting Spring Heeled Jack, but a dragon? I frowned and took my coat off, putting it around Lucas's shoulder and pulled it closed. He was shivering. He was so cold.

"Why are you out here in the cold? You could get sick!"

"I didn't...I didn't know where to go. Mama and Papa are angry and up in arms. The murder was near our home, and the third Hispanic person to be killed. Simon, everyone is angry!"

"Angry at...?"

I paused and shook my head. This wasn't the time for questions. I took his hand and turned around and went back into the Arc, leading my little friend in. I knew it wasn't allowed, but I didn't care.

Tin was still asleep up in our room, so I couldn't take Lucas there. Instead, I found a small room on the first floor and pushed him inside, closing the door behind us. I went over to the fireplace and threw in some firewood to get the fire started. All the rooms were maintained until the early morning hours, so there was enough ember to get it going with just a few pokes. Soon it was roaring and the room was growing warmer.

Lucas looked around the room and tilted his head to the side. "I thought...I wasn't allowed in the Arc."

"You aren't, and I'm going to get an earful when they find out I took you here. But I'm going to risk it. You're half frozen and I don't have anywhere to take you that you can warm up quick enough. Or anywhere we can talk to."

"So--"

"So," I put on my serious voice, "you're going to behave, and if you do anything in here to make anyone mad and make me look bad--"

"I won't!" That surprised me. Lucas was usually one to banter back and forth. I was expecting a quick and witty reply from him, but no, he didn't say a word. He just tugged my jacket more over his shoulder.

I reached into my bag and pulled out an apple I had in there for lunch and handed it to the boy. I wasn't going to work today, it seemed.

Lucas took the apple and chowed into it quickly. Even upset, he was still hungry. I grabbed the chair from the table and pulled it near the bed.

"Now, tell me what you saw and what's got you so upset."

The small wolf nodded and gulped down a piece of his apple. "Last night, I couldn't sleep so I sat by the window to try to get enough light from the moon to read a book that I borrowed from St. Andrews. I don't know what time it was--there was no clock in our home--but I stopped reading when I... I heard it. Someone screaming, and the sound of feet running... I knew I shouldn't have gone outside, but..."

"But you did," I finished for him.

Lucas nodded. "I...I sneaked outside to look around. I went to where I thought I heard the scream come from. I smelled this scent in the air and I knew it was blood. Lots of blood. It was like metal, and it was fresh. I thought about turning around, but I was already outside. When I walked into an alleyway, I found the...the body there. It was Senor Macro, he worked at the factory...with my Papa. He was... He was..."

I watched Lucas try to hold back his tears. He was very upset but he was trying to struggle on through. It made me think about the memory of Avery when I had seen his corpse and how I had struggled to process everything.

"He was cut up. Huge gouges in his face, chest, arms...it was like something big and with many claws cut down his body. Like he fell on a rake or something and someone dragged it down across him again and again! And standing next to his body was...the Dragon!

"Simon, he...no, it...was horrible! I could see the scales on it, they were shimmering in the moonlight, and it had this horrible mask or...or helmet, or something. It was like those dragons you see in Chinatown sometimes, but it looked evil! And it had this...this rake thing, with long metal teeth. It was covered in blood.

"It was running away from the scene of the crime and stopped to look at me. It crouched low, and I was sure it was going to kill me. But then other people came and it took off. It was able to jump really high, Simon!"

My hands clenched over my knees. It was Mordecai. There was no doubt about it now. I had some odd hopes that this "dragon" was just some myth people were talking about. I hoped that Mordecai was still recovering from his fight with Fiz and Rut. But he was back to his old games and being violent and bloody. The only difference was that this man wasn't kidnapped and tortured before he died. Lots of people were just murdered in the streets or their homes, if you believed every story about this dragon.

Mordecai had also shed his Spring Heeled Jack disguise, or at the least, put it to rest while he caused chaos across San Francisco. The question was, why? Why was he dressing up as a dragon and killing people? Mordecai was insane, sure, but he generally had a reason for anything he did. Could he have been so insane now that he didn't care and was just murdering for fun? That wouldn't explain the costume change, though. After all, it took effort to design and create a completely new outfit for his new killing spree.

I needed to call Rut.

Lucas gasped as he motioned to my clenched hands. I had pierced my palms with my claws and was bleeding. I uncurled my fingers and frowned. I grabbed a kerchief from my bag and began to dab at them, wincing a little bit.

"What's wrong?" Lucas now sounded less afraid and more worried.

"Nothing," I quickly said. "Just bad memories. What else did you see, Lucas?"

"W-Well, he wrote something on the wall, in the blood. It was Chinese."

"Could you read it?"

"No," Lucas shook his head. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a slip of paper, handing it over to me. "But this is what the writing looked like."

On the slip of dirty paper was the following:

????

I couldn't read it, but it was clear and perfect. "Did you write this down at the scene of the crime?"

Lucas shook his head again. "I ran home as fast as I could, then grabbed a piece of paper I could find and wrote it down."

I blinked and looked it over again and then at Lucas. "How'd you remember this?"

Lucas shrugged. "Pictures in my head."

"In your head?"

Lucas frowned and then sat up and closed his eyes. He began to repeat the first things he'd ever said to me, going back and forth between our conversations and trying to mimic my inflections. He did this for a few lines and then opened his eyes.

"See? Pictures."

My muzzle hung open. I had read about this talent, had heard it joked about all the time, having a "photographic memory" or something else, and started with an "I." It was really rare, so I thought everyone was just making things up. But Lucas...was he the real deal?

"So you remember everything?"

"Not exactly. I just...can remember a lot. Like it's frozen in time. But my younger memories are a bit fuzzy, and I don't remember things I'm not paying attention to. I couldn't tell you how many people passed us by on a walk home unless I was looking at the crowd. But...I can sorta see words in my head. It's hard to explain."

"No, you did it well enough I think," I said and got up and sat down next to him on the sofa. "You know what kind of a gift you have?"

"Uh-huh," Lucas nodded. "But I don't tell nobody about it."

"Why not? It's a really wonderful talent."

Lucas had one of those painful smiles on his face. You know the kind, the ones that aren't happy at all but they're used to hide something deep down that hurt. "I did...once. When I was small, I had this friend. I showed off. Showed him I could read back everything he said to me. Even from days ago."

He looked down at his feet, which he fidgeted as he got nervous. "He called me a freak...so I stopped sharing and showing off. Even Tristan doesn't know."

I could understand the fear and wanting to fit in. Kids could be cruel, and something as unique as this would easily make Lucas the subject for ridicule. I put my hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

"You don't have to hide it with me, okay? You can tell me anything you want."

Lucas nodded, sniffling and wiping his nose with the back of his hand. He looked up at me, his eyes wide and full of fear.

"Is...is everyone going to be okay, Simon? Am I going to get killed?"

My throat tightened as I imagined what must have gone through this friend's mind for the past few hours since seeing the murder. That fear of being killed, of ending up dead on the street, was so real...I hadn't felt it since when I was a boy and running from Spring Heeled Jack. For a moment, I was that kid back in London and I hated it. I found strength and comfort as I got older, but now Lucas, because of me, was exposed to this psychopath.

"You'll be safe as long as you do what I say," I answered. "This is serious, Lucas. No testing the waters, no seeing how far you can push the limit on things, this is listening 100%. Can you promise me you'll listen?"

Lucas nodded his head rapidly and sniffled. "Y...Yes. I promise."

"Good." I stood up and stretched, popping my back in several places. "For starters, I don't want you going anywhere alone. If the Dragon saw you, he may come back and look for you, but if you're with people, especially adults, he'll be less likely to do anything. So every morning, I want you to be walked here to the Arc by your Papa or Mama. Tin or I will take you to St. Andrews, and someone will always walk you home. You don't go anywhere alone, okay? Not even just down the street."

"What...what if my Papa can't walk me here?"

"If you aren't here in the morning, I'll come get you before work. Or Tin will."

"That's a lot of time out of your way, Simon..."

"I'd rather get to work a little tired than finding out something bad happened to you. I know everyone at St. Andrews would feel the same way. So we'll make sure you're okay, but you can't break the rules."

Lucas nodded solemnly. He looked scared and I hated seeing him this way. He was always so energetic and happy. I wasn't going to let Mordecai destroy this cub like he had so many others.

"Also, I'm going to make sure you can come here if you need to. You can't come in past supper time, of course. But if you're in here and in my room or one of these rooms, or even better, helping around, I think I can convince Oro and Miro to allow it. But if you're here you need to--"

"Be on my best behavior," Lucas said with another nod.

There was a knock on the door and then the door knob turned. In walked Bas wearing a scarf around his head and carrying a broom, humming a tune to himself. He must have been assigned to sweep the lower rooms. When he saw me he jumped, and then Lucas. He looked confused.

"Bas!" I said quickly, looking at Lucas quickly before turning back to the cat. "This isn't--"

"Oro and Miro are going to--"

"He's not here for THAT!"

"Well..." Lucas said with a slow smirk forming on his muzzle. I turned to glare at him.

"Thin ice!" I huffed and turned to Bas. "This kid is Lucas. He saw a murder in his neighborhood and I brought him in here because there wasn't somewhere safe. I swear it."

Bas frowned and looked at Lucas, quirking his brow upwards. "Is Simon being honest?"

Lucas nodded. "Yes, sir. He knew he'd get in trouble but wanted to get me somewhere safe and quiet. I did try to tell him it was a bad idea."

"It is," Bas agreed. "Kids shouldn't be in here, Simon."

"It's just for the daytime, until I can get him to St. Andrews. He's not going to be here near the evening and out of here well before we open. I promise."

Bas was conflicted, I could tell, but he was also a bleeding heart. He observed Lucas for a long while before looking back up at me. "If he behaves...I'll stick up for you two."

I exhaled with a deep sigh of relief. "He's offered to help out around here, but if you need him to go somewhere, you can put him in my room or one of these. He's going to be on his best behavior, and I told him there's no second chance."

Lucas nodded rapidly as if for effect.

"Bas, I need to go talk to someone. Can you keep an eye on Lucas for me? Just until I get back."

"I'm supposed to be cleaning..."

"I'll help," Lucas said and jumped off the bed, puffing his chest out. "Just ask any wolf here how good a cleaner I am, they'll tell you the same thing."

"But you're the only wolf here," Bas said softly.

I looked at Lucas and sighed. "Be gentle. And behave. I'll be back in a little bit."

---

Less than 30 minutes later, I was standing at Tristan's shop. He looked at the note I had taken from Lucas and turned it over in his hand. "Lucas wrote this?"

"From memory," I quickly corrected.

"How did he...?" Tri started to say but shook his head. "That boy...anyway. It's a single line. It says Ya Zi is addicted to blood."

"What is Ya Zi?"

Tristan rolled his fingers on the desk in front of him as he was thinking. "It sounds like it's part of the Legend of the Nine Sons."

"Come again?"

Tri went over to his bookshelf and pulled out an old book. He hauled it over and put it down between us. He opened it up and I saw the most beautiful calligraphy of Chinese characters. The ink was shimmering and shiny, as if written in gold and silver in places. There were also fine paintings on whole pages of the tome. It was beautiful and old by the look of things.

"This is a book on Chinese fables. I got it as a...gift from a suitor years ago. An avid collector of Chinese antiques." Tri flipped a few pages until he came to a story with a picture of nine small figures surrounded by a much larger dragon drawn in the middle.

"The Dragon King had nine sons. Each of them had a different knack for things, like music, fighting, adventure, etc. One of them was Ya Zi. He was a hybrid of wolf and dragon, and had an aggressive personality. It is said that liked to fight. You can find figures of him adorning cross-guards on swords as ornaments."

He then told me all the other sons that the Dragon King had. In all, they were:

?? (Qui Nui), who liked music and is used to adorn musical instruments;

??, (Ya Zi), who liked to fight and is found on cross-guards on swords;

?? (Chao Feng), who liked to adventure and is placed on the four corners of roofs;

?? (Pu Lao), who liked to scream and is placed on the tops of bells as handles;

?? (Suan Ni), who liked to sit down and is placed under Buddhist statues;

??, (Bi Xi), who liked to carry heavy objects and is found under grave monuments;

?? (Bi An), who liked litigation and is placed over prison gates;

?? (Ba Xia), who liked to to drink water and is found on bridge structures; and

?? (Chi Wen), who liked to swallow and is placed on both ends of the ridgepoles of roofs, to swallow all evil influences.

"The Dragon King's sons all had things they liked, like how Ya Zi was addicted to fighting and combat. They're all specialized and unique in different ways and all play special meaning in Chinese society and mythology. It's one of those popular fairy tales that parents tell kids to teach them the importance of pursuing their passion and being good at it."

Tri then smirked and pointed to the last dragon on the list.

"You're more like Chi Wen, Simon."

"Huh?" I blinked, looking up from the book.

"He liked to swallow."

"TRI!" I growled and blushed, smoothing my ears back.

The fox was grinning from ear to ear and laughed. "Sorry, you just looked so intense, I figured a little joke could help relax you. You said this was found at the scene of the crime?"

"According to Lucas, yeah."

"Odd," Tri rubbed his chin. "There's been more murders than this one, and none of the papers said anything about messages being left at the scene..."

"The police could be keeping them a secret," I added.

"Maybe. But it doesn't make sense to put in all this effort to leave such an elaborate message."

"Yes it does, if someone is trying to frame someone in Chinatown for the murders."

"That's...a big statement Simon." Tri sounded dumbfounded.

I raised a finger. "Think about it, Tri. Someone dressed up as a Chinese dragon running around in the city killing everyone, but not a Chinese?"

"And they're leaving messages now in Chinese referencing Chinese lore and mythology..."

"Exactly," I said quickly, swallowing. "Someone is trying to make the Hispanic community turn on the Chinese."

"But who could do that? And who would do something like that?"

If only I could tell him. I wanted to but I did not want to drag another friend, another person into this mess. No, I liked Tri and I was planning to keep him out of the mess with Mordecai. So I just shook my head.

"I would like to see Lucas, Simon. Can you bring him here?"

"No, let's go to St. Andrews instead. He's more relaxed there, and I think seeing his tiger friend will help him relax. Right now, he's wound tighter than a watch."

When I left the shop, I made a promise to myself: Lucas would live no matter what. He was not going to end up like Avery--dead--or suffering like I had.

No. He was going to get the happy ending that I knew he deserved.