Fallen - Chapter 7 - History
#7 of Fallen
A warm wind blew over the top of the city. Julius' fur shifted back and forth on his bare chest in the stronger air currents that wrapped themselves around the tallest of the city's buildings. Crouched on the very edge, in the shadows where none could see him, the blue tiger listened carefully for signs of trouble. Shouting, laughter and sirens were just some of the noises carried up to the city's guardian by the warm wind from all across the city.
"What do you know of your creation?" a familiar voice suddenly asked.
Julius reached out his hand instinctively, grasping the concrete ledge he'd been perched on. Startled by the white wolf's unexpected presence, the tiger had almost fallen from his perch and plummeted to the ground over seventy stories below.
"Where the hell do you keep coming from?!" Julius scowled in agitation as he climbed back up the side of the building. Life just smiled at him.
When Julius was once more on his feet and not dangling over the city's streets, the mysterious Arkon repeated his previous question, "What do you know of your creation, of the creation of Arkons?"
"No more than you do I'd wager," Julius growled as he turned his attention back to listening to the sounds of the city's nightlife. But after a moment the tiger looked at Life with confusion, "What sort of question is that, anyway? Or were you not taught that lesson? I find that hard to believe."
"I wish to know what you were taught," the white wolf replied in his usual calm manner.
Julius just stared at Life as if trying to establish the meaning of some vague, abstract painting that had no actual meaning.
"Humour me," Life said flatly.
"Fine," Julius replied, turning to look out over the city again.
"One of the eight Creators was inspired by an idea imagined by humans. The Creator decided to give that idea form and thus was created the first of the Arkons. And to ensure the survival of their new creations, Arkons were given three gifts by the Creator, knowledge, power and the Gateway."
"Given," Life interrupted, "not created with. They are a privilege, not a right."
Julius scowled. He now knew where this conversation was going.
"And should an abused privilege not be confiscated?" Life continued.
"Why do you persist with this?" Julius almost roared, turning to face the white wolf fully.
"Why do you insist I am wrong?" Life countered calmly. The dark blue tiger just glared at the bothersome wolf before abruptly turning away without a word.
Silence was all that filled the minutes that passed. Eventually Julius' attention was demanded elsewhere and the tiger almost thanked the cry for help that wafted up the side of the building. Eager to be rid of the mysterious white wolf's lectures, the blue and black striped feline leapt to a nearby building with a lower roof. From there Julius bounded to another lower building and then another from that one. In only a few seconds the city's condemned protector was blocks away and rapidly following the pleas of a distressed victim.
A young woman in her mid twenties stumbled through an alley, the broken heel of one of her shoes severely hindering her ability to run. Her white shirt was torn and missing several buttons, leaving her rather large and round breasts almost bare, except for a revealing, red lace push-up bra. The man, in his early thirties, that was pursuing her leisurely walked down the alley after her, his demeanour confident and malicious; he knew the alley she'd gone down was a dead end.
"Now don't be like that," the man said, unbuttoning his belt and suit trousers as two other, more muscular men emerged from the shadows and blocked the way out behind him, "I do like my girls to be feisty, but if you struggling I'll have to hurt you."
"Stay away from me you sick fuck!" the woman cried as she desperately tossed a freshly thrown out cabbage from a garbage can at her pursuer.
His pants undone, the man undid his suit jacket and began on his shirt as he watched his chosen victim turn the alley's corner to discover only three towering brick walls and no way out. In one of the walls was a door with a light over it filling the small area with light. Her only hope of escape, the woman threw herself against the wooden door, but it did not budge. She tried again, but again nothing happened. As the woman was about to try a third time, her pursuer turned the corner.
"No escape my little tramp," the man almost seemed to croon. Slowly he advanced on the woman, removing his shirt and pushing his pants down to reveal the hard member within.
"Oh! Wait a sec," the woman suddenly said, holding up her hand.
The man paused.
Quickly, the woman slipped her hands under her short, dark blue skirt and tugged on her panties that matched her push-up bra. After tossing the underwear aside, she slipped one bra strap off her shoulder and gave her shoulders a shake, jiggling her breasts even more out of her skimpy underwear. "OK," she said and proceeded to continue her cowering
The man continued his advance, eager and lustful. When he finally stood before her, her back pressed against the door, he reached out his hand and firmly groped her exposed breast. The woman only moaned in pleasure. She flattened herself against the door, letting the light above her shine down on her ample chest. Shameless and hungering for the touch of her silky soft skin, the man grasped and squeezed her breasts like melons. He pinched and sucked on her nipples making the woman moan and whimper in ecstasy; she gave no resistance and thought nothing of pushing the ravenous man off her. After spending several minutes accosting the impressive volume of her breasts, the man shifted his hands down to her thighs and lifted her against the door. She eagerly spread her legs to allow him entrance but as the man slid his erection into her soaking wet womanhood, a violent thump jolted the wooden door from the other side.
Their role-playing suddenly forgotten, husband and wife stepped back from the door as a second thud made the door bounce in its frame. Now genuinely frightened, the woman clutched the man's arm and pulled him out of the light just as the sound of an automatic rifle made numerous small holes appear in the door itself.
"Roger! Call the police!" the woman's husband called down the alley to one of the men guarding the alley entrance. While one of the men pulled out a cell phone and headed out into the street, the second man headed towards the back of the alley to see if he could lend assistance. As he joined his employer and his wife, a shower of wooden splinters exploded as the door flew out of the frame, barely missing the role-playing couple as they dived to the ground.
More gunfire was heard as bullets sprayed out of the now open doorway. The man and his bodyguard helped the woman to her feet and the three of them began to make their way back out of the alley, not noticing another man lying unconscious on the wreckage of the door. A mighty roar erupted from within the building and soon a second unconscious body joined the first, landing unceremoniously on the ground like a ragdoll.
Inside the building, Julius gripped the side of a small, rectangular table and sent it spinning side over side through the air at two more men. Both of them dived to the floor, barely escaping the airborne furniture as it sailed across the large garage as though it weighed nothing at all. The muscular Arkon used the distraction to move closer to them but was forced to take cover behind a low, steel bench when a third human male reached over the hood of a beaten up Dodge Challenger and began emptying another magazine.
Julius cringed as the sound of bullets ricocheting off steel rang loudly in his ears. When the din finally let up, he risked peeking over the bench. He had only a moment before another spray of bullets came his way, but a moment was all the mighty tiger needed. Gritting his teeth at the thunderous sound of metal bouncing off metal, Julius positioned his shoulder against his side of the bench and began charging.
Shouts of "Holy shit!" and "Fuck, FUCK!" filled the air as sparks suddenly exploded from the side of the bench and formed a rolling wave of bright orange along its front base as Julius easily pushed it along the concrete floor. The man behind the 1970 classic vehicle barely had time to react before the shrill sound of tires sliding sideways replaced the screeching of steel grinding against concrete. The car's weight was nothing to the Arkon and it moved just as easily as the table and bench. Caught completely off guard, the gunmen soon found himself pinned against the side of the car as it was pushed across almost twenty feet of open floor and up against a brick wall in barely a couple of seconds.
With one man taken out of the picture, Julius wasted no time in turning his attention to the other two. Stunned by what they'd just witness, both of them made easy targets for the black and blue feline as he swiftly darted sideways before heading straight towards one of them. By the time either of the two men started to react, it was already too late. Julius reached his chosen target and brushed the assault rifle aside in an instant before grabbing him by the clothes and tossing him across the room like a child throwing a doll. Crook collided with crook and the two men crashed to the floor in a muddled heap, their weapons skittering away across the smooth, cold floor.
Taking a deep breath, Julius straightened up and watched as neither of the men moved a muscle. When he was satisfied that no one was left to continue the brawl, the Arkon relaxed and looked around the now trashed garage. Tools and bullet casings littered the floor. The table Julius had thrown was now just a mangled mess of iron and splintered wood. Even the bench he had used as a battering ram was misshapen beyond recognition. On another table that had escaped obliteration, the tiger noticed an assortment of paper work and walked over to take a look. There were maps with lines and circles drawn on them, outlining frequently travelled routes as well as the blue prints for a house that was likely the residence of the person being tracked. Among the disorganised pile of papers, Julius also found a small note with only a time, date and the address of a warehouse on it. Suspecting a connection, the Arkon decided to investigate the warehouse. But before leaving his current location, Julius had one last thing to take care of. Making his way to the boot of the old Dodge he had followed to the garage, the tiger opened it and stepped back, allowing the abducted female to get out.
She wasn't much older than seventeen and didn't appear to be severely hurt. When the boot was opened, she looked up at the tiger from a huddled position for several moments before realising he was letting her out.
"T-thank you," the girl stammered as she cautiously crawled out of the vehicle. Though her hands were a little shaky, she still seemed rather steady on her feet and when she stood in the open once again, she asked Julius, "Where... where am I?"
"Bethridge Street," the tiger replied. Then it was his turn to ask questions, "Who are you? Do you know what reason these men would have for abducting you?"
The girl was caught off guard momentarily by Julius' serious tone, but after a brief moment of collecting her thoughts she answered him, "My uncle is on the city council. Maybe they wanted to use me as leverage for something?"
Julius looked the girl up and down for a moment. Seeing his wandering gaze, she felt uneasy and shifted on her feet. But the tiger had simply been looking for any indication of injury that might've been missed while she was curled up in the boot of the car and his gaze soon moved from her to the trashed garage. None of the men whom had put up a fight were moving or making a sound and outside sirens could be heard getting closer.
"The police will arrive soon," the tiger stated, turning his gaze back to the girl once more, "I recommend remaining here until they do; they will see you home safely."
Without waiting for a response, Julius began making his way towards the back of the garage where the doorway led out into the alley.
"Wait! Where are you going?" the girl frantically asked, not wanting to be left alone.
"There is something I wish to look into," the blue and black tiger replied. And then he was gone.
With her saviour gone, the girl suddenly felt very uneasy. For the first time since being let out of her cramped prison, she glanced around what was left of the garage interior. Though none of them appeared conscious, or even alive, the sight of the two men lying in a crumpled heap on the floor, and the one pinned between the side of the car and the wall, only added to her uneasiness. Feeling exposed and frightened, the girl climbed back into the boot of the car and pulled it shut.
The address on the piece of paper was that of a warehouse located near the docks, and the date was current with the time being barely two hours away. Julius suspected that the criminals from the garage were to be at the warehouse at that time, possibly to meet with someone. If the girl was to be used as a hostage to gain control within the city's council, it might be that Carrick was connected.
It didn't take long for the tiger to find the warehouse in the darkness; it was the only one with lights on inside. Slowing his approach across the rooftops, Julius watched for signs of movement and listened for voices. And as he got closer, the familiar scent of his own kind tickled his nose, making Julius adopt a much more cautious posture. If Arkons were involved, there was no telling what might happen.
There seemed to be no life outside of the warehouse and only the occasional muttered cussing could be heard from within. Whoever was there didn't appear to be very active and were probably just passing time. With the scent of Arkon in the air, Julius took to the pavement in order to avoid weak or unsteady metal roofing making noise when he stepped on it. But this meant that he could not see in through the windows that lined the highest parts of the warehouse walls. With only his hearing to go by, Julius was forced to creep slowly along the ground. He moved along the side of the warehouse, listening for footsteps, breathing and any other noise that would tell him how many were inside and where inside they were located.
But when Julius reached the door at the side of the warehouse, it opened, and before the tiger stood a female Arkon. She was lithe with subtle curves and a small bust, but her body was well toned from frequent activity. Like Julius she was feline, but her pale golden fur and black spots identified her as a leopard. When she opened the door it was evident that she'd known Julius was there, but upon seeing him she paused, briefly looking at him before speaking.
"Julius!" she exclaimed.
"Accretia?" the tiger responded.