Demonic Aid? (Chapter 1)
#1 of Demonic Saga
This story has been bouncing around my head for awhile now, trying to figure it all out, get it in proper order, and above all else, find a proper beginning. This is a non-furry tale, so if that upsets you, then sorry. It's humans and supernatural entities, such as zombies, vampires, werewolves, angels, and demons, but with my own twist on the view. Many chapters will contain violence, death, blood shedding, and even a few surprises, but the protagonist won't be getting a lot of nookie, he does have an unending job to do. So, without further delay, if the following tales do not disturb you in any way, enjoy the beginning of this series.
Several police officers had cornered off a section of the sidewalk, the traditional tape keeping all non-essential personal, the press, and the curious public from getting too close to the scene. All that could be see was a white sheet draped over a body, or whatever was left, the entire form of the corpse soaking through the sheet. The lead detective sighed heavily after looking at the face of the victims, seeming to have seen something similar to this, or probably much worse. After dropping the sheet back down, the detective's partner finally arrived on the scene, getting a bit of a hateful scowl from the lead detective who just happened to catch such a case.
"So Dan, why did I get a call from the Chief at one in the morning?" The late detective asked curiously, tying her hair back as if she were rushed from the other side of town without so much as a good wash to get rid of the smeared make up from the previous day.
"Well Charlene, this is one of THOSE cases... the special kind that even serial killers would think twice about." Dan replied, scratching his unshaven cheek, looking like he'd need three months in Maui to get rid of the bags under his eyes.
"A skin job? Again?"
"Yeah... but this time, something different. As you know, the previous three corpses has something else taken, apart from their entire skin of course."
"Dan, I know. First one had their fingers removed, second the toes, the third the breasts... what is it this time? Teeth?"
Dan wheeled around and glared at her like some sort pissed off Irish school teacher who had down some poor whiskey. "Charlene... the whole fucking head is missing! You know who we have to call now!"
The tired detective groaned a bit, rubbing her forehead in annoyance. "You know how I absolutely hate calling that guy... sure he helps us and everything, but he creeps me to Hell and back."
Dan just looked at he blankly, "You don't know the half of it Charlene... you don't know the half of it."
The cellphone went off, the owner digging into his trench coat pocket and flipping it open, taking the time to see who was calling before answering. The man had on some military grade boots, faded denim jeans, a Metallica t-shirt, and a very faded cowboy hat. He finally put the phone to his ear, sighing softly before finally speaking into it, "Detective Daniel Smith, to what do I owe this call so late in the evening while I was enjoying my stroll through New York's Madison Square Garden?"
"Oh cut the bullshit... we've had 4 skin-jobs, this recent one missing the head. Do I need to fill you in on the entire case?"
Chuckling, the odd man just rolled his eyes. "No need to Detective... I'm guessing you're at Broadway and 23rd? I'll be there shortly, say fifteen minutes?"
"Just get your ass over here... and don't try and creep out my partner."
"Detective, I keep telling you both, Detective Charlene Grey is very intuitive. I don't have to try to creep her out, she just senses very strongly. But, I'm on my way."
Both Detectives sighed heavily, finally having put some caffeine into their bodies to at least keep them moving, their outside contact sitting across from them in the Cafe across the street from where the body was,the Medical Examiner having already carted the body off to the morgue for the standard tests. Things had be eerily quiet between the three, the strange contact having put on sunglasses that easily kept his eyes hidden, the two detectives watching the stranger going through the case file on the unknown perpetrator at a somewhat snail's pace. The only thing he had asked of them the entire time was if there were any strange markings in blood near the site of each body and if there was a bloody tool or blade at the scenes, and when answered, he just nodded, as if putting the pieces together himself.
Finally, the odd cowboy closed the case file, having only read over the first victim. "These are dump sites. Lack of symbols and bloody tools tells me that. He put them in the open to try and throw me off. This is something your department, much less race, can't handle, even with the proper equipment. Leave this guy to me, and the dump jobs will stop."
Charlene slammed her fist onto the table. "To Hell with that! This is a homicide investigation, you ain't doing shit you vigilante fucktard!"
The stranger just smiled. "Well, you have a colorful way of telling me to 'not interfere', but even Danny here knows when this shit comes down the pike, best consult me. If it's something that your department can handle, I'll just give you my input. If it's something you aren't even capable of comprehending, best leave it to me."
"Bullshit! I ain't letting you take this case from me, even if you're the son of the Devil!"
He just laughed loudly, "So like many of your Irish ancestors, quick to curse, and also quick to throw the Bible. But you aren't far off in your assumption, just remember, this is a job for me to handle, not you. If you try to track this thing down, you won't get far before you're the next one on the pavement with that sheet over you."
The female detective just kept fuming before Dan slammed his own fist down, "Calm down Charlene! You're causing a scene! Sit down and be quiet or the Chief will put us both in a sling!" He turned to face the informant, sighing a bit, "So... you already know this sick fuck has killed four people, how many are needed before he's even close to finishing?"
The man's eyebrow raised a bit, "Four eh? Fingers, toes, breasts, and now the head? This thing will be needing just one more victim, and the piece missing will be a heart, but not just any heart. It has to be the heart of an innocent, a pure individual's heart, free of any taint or corruption."
Dan and Charlene both exchanged odd looks before looking back at the odd cowboy, "What do you mean? This is New York, everyone is corrupted on some level, we all see Evil."
The man just sighed, "The closest thing to being pure and clean in this sense is a child. This thing will be hitting a hospital, or worse, a pregnant woman who in nearing the end of her trimester. But I already know where this thing is."
Charlene just raised an eyebrow, "Okay, the child thing I buy, but why do you keep referring to the perp as 'this thing'? We're not in The Blob, now are we?"
"We aren't in that classic film, but I refer to the one who committed these acts of savagery and violence as 'the thing' due to the fact that is has to sexual gender or orientation for that matter. I'll see you two later, I've got an asshole to track down and take down."
Charlene rose to stop him, but her partner stopped her, giving her a grave look and shaking his head to get her to sit back down. The cowboy left the cafe, heading on his way to deal with what the papers called 'The Manhatten Skinner', The female detective just looked at Dan with a confused look as she sat back down, Dan just looking like he saw a ghost or probably his ex-wive with custody papers over the kids.
"Okay Dan, spill it. What do you know about our own little Mystery Man?"
He looked at his partner, gently holding her hand, "In Heaven, there was a great civil war. Lucifer, who had stated that he rule instead of God, had managed to gather a third of the host of Heaven to his side. The remaining stood steadfast with God, and in the end, all those rebelled fell from Grace to rule in Hell."
She just nodded, "Yeah, and?"
He looked her straight in the eye, "Our 'friend' was part of that host that fell. He is named Flame, a fallen angel, or what we now call, a demon."
Flame sighed, walking towards the abandoned warehouse, finding it too cliche. The only way it would become even more typical is if it was in the middle of a graveyard, which wouldn't even bother him. He looked around, smiling softly to himself, knowing that he won't have to hold back in this area. He slowly walked to the main door, pulling out a hidden sword from behind his long coat, grinning softly to himself. It wasn't every day he got to face a Necromancer, much less one this powerful, and the ritual that was being performed would allow the Necromancer to become a Lich. No matter, they all die the same.
He kicked down the door with relative ease, leaving it clattering on the floor with a clean indentation of his boot, easily seeing the necromancer as it was preparing the final stages of the unholy rite. Flame flicked his wrist, pushing the dark caster aside with ease, walking toward the unharmed child and picking her up, cooing softly to make sure she stayed asleep. He felt a spark hit him, looking at the necromancer, flashing a grin. "Is that it? I figured you'd have a stronger thunder bolt than that."
The demon grinned even more so, rushing at the unholy caster and gave one swift slash, cutting the human skinner in two cleanly. He flicked his sword a little, cleaning the blade of any blood before checking on the innocent child, giving her a small kiss on the forehead as she slept, carrying her out and sheathing his sword. Not all jobs were this easy, but at least he saved an innocent life. Then his phone rang, and he answered it.
"Hello?... Yes Boss, I know about it... I just finished that job.... the little girl is safe Boss... yeah, the usual 'Eternal Life' issue... bringing Little Suzy back to her parents Boss... wait, he never arrived?... That's not good... Let me get the little girl out of the equation first Boss... the death of an innocent life is unacceptable Boss, you know that too well... I'll handle it, don't worry..."
Charlene just stared blankly at her partner, unsure what to do with this new information. The strange man they talked to when strange shit happened was actually a Fallen Angel? A Demon from Hell? But why help people that they were supposed to suppress, kill, and other horrible things? This was something she couldn't wrap her head around at all, why on Earth would a Demon HELP humans? Was this even allowed? Did God even know about this?
Just then, Flame walked back in, holding a young baby in his arms, walking over to a waitress just as the call came through about a baby girl being kidnapped and an Amber Alert being issued through all of the island. The woman broke down into tears as she picked up the little girl, sobbing tears of joy as Dan picked up his radio and called off the Amber Alert, saying that the little girl just turned up alive and well. The female detective was stunned, unable to form words as the demon sat across from them, sighing a bit in relaxation.
"Well, that part was resolved, but there's an even bigger issue..."
Charlene spoke up first, "Care to tell me why you're helping people in the first place? I thought you were supposed to rend humanity asunder and bring forth the apocalypse!"
Flame laugh loudly at that, taking off his hat and setting it down. "That's from the Book of Revelations. Not a bad tale to try and keep humans on the straight and narrow, but overall just fictional. Seems Dan has been talking a bit, but I'll indulge you with the crash course. I help people because it's my job, not to cause all sorts of calamity. Hell is more like a prison, and there are a few of us who wander the mortal world to keep an eye out for any paranormal weirdness. Most of the time, we just let our Boss know of people who've committed heinous crimes so that when they die, they go to their proper place. That's the knit and gritty of it, cuz right now, I got a bit of a pissed o-"
Just then, an explosion outside could be heard coming from down the street, Flame got up and put his hat back on, bolting out of the cafe towards the gas station. There, amongst the flames, stood a hood figure with skeletal hands. The two detectives saw the Lich and drew their guns, the mass of panicked people running away from the explosion, fearing for their lives and probably thinking it was a terrorist attack. The demon didn't care, he just focused on the undead ahead of him, waiting for the crowd of people to pass by.
Both detectives started firing, the Lich almost chuckling as the bullets did nothing to it as it floated after them, the crowd finally dissipating. Flame grinned, pulling out his sword and rushing after the unholy summoner, toying with it as his demonic stamina hardly ever gave out. The two detectives couldn't get a clean shot and groaned, at least figuring their bullets weren't effective. The demon just kept dodging and deflecting those swipes, an almost maniacal grin on his face.
"What in the name of all that is Holy is that?!" Charlene cried out in frustration.
"A Lich, undead Necromancer, very limited ways of dispatching it," Flame called as he dodged another swipe, "This one is fresh, pretty weak compared to a few I took out in Scotland, but this'll be easy enough soon. Save your bullets for something more mortal..."
The female detective just huffed, wondering why the demon was even doing this, much less toying with a monster. She just watched as Flame dextrously weaved around the monster's rather slugging attempts of striking him, the hat even staying on as he worked his way around, then she saw a flash of something, a glint of a pocket watch, pulling out her sidearm and aimed carefully. She pulled the trigger, missing the watch itself, but hitting the golden link, causing the watch to fall away from the Lich, inevitably felling the monster in a rather unique way.
Flame just stared in amazement, looking between the now pile of ash, to the watch, to the female detective, a rather confused look on his face as he sheathed his sword and walked over to her. Dan was perplexed as well, having seen everything from the explosion to now, looking at his partner. The demon motioned both of the cops to follow him as the fire department arrived and started hosing down the fire, the runoff water washing away all evidence of the conflict. Neither of them said a word as they followed him into a nearby library, apparently empty when the explosion happened and everyone ran for their lives, and that's when Flame's phone went off.
"Hello?... Yes Boss, it's dead dead... good, at least you can handle the soul... actually, I'll give you details in the report... Boss, I got two people I need to explain a bunch of shit to... Yes, Dan Smith is here... yeah, he helped me out with that vampire issue twenty years ago Boss... Even he agrees he got lucky... Boss, I'll give it to you in the report, okay?... see you later then."
He hung up the phone, rubbing his forehead, "Boss chats alot... can't blame him though, he doesn't get alot of visitors who are 'just visiting'... anyway... Charlene... I knew you had a lot of intuition, but you just put a bullet to a pocket watch chain,and felled a newly born Lich. You got pretty lucky I think."
She folded her arms and huffed, "Why would a monster who dressed in rags carry something that looks brand new?"
Flame just smiled and nodded, "Very perceptive of you. But still, intuition guided you. As you probably already know, Dan knows me from when he was a child, and he actually managed to stop a Master Vampire. Big job at that time, but alas, he's grown up since then. Now, I can get more in depth to your questions Charlene."
She nodded, closing her eyes a bit. "Okay... what exactly is it you do?"
Flame smiled softly, "I hunt down paranormal anomalies and extinguish the issue before it becomes too prevalent to cause harm to human life. I also let my Boss know when a human has committed sinful acts and he keeps them in a list for double checking once the Damned dies. That's the simple run of the mill of it."
"Are there any rules you have to follow?"
The Demon nodded, "Yes, several. 1: I cannot kill a human unless another human's life is in danger. 2: I cannot use my demonic magics in front of humans unless to save another human life, and 3: I must always report to my Boss when a job is complete."
Charlene blinked a bit, folding her arms, "So that sword?"
"Demon forge, unbreakable, sharper than any diamond or laser. And let me put it more correctly, I'm a Fallen Angel, Demon is a bit more of a rude term. Angels, both Graced and Fallen still wish to help humans, just in different ways. Fallen, obviously, are more hands on, while Graced just watched to see who stays Innocent and who becomes Damned."
Dan remained silent throughout the impromptu Q&A, knowing that now, Charlene shouldn't get all stressed out when another situation with odd circumstances comes and plops into their laps. Flame just stayed calm, albeit, almost happy, with telling Charlene the answers to her questions, hard as it may be to believe. After Charlene seemed satisfied, the demon stood up and stretched, nodding to them both before leaving.
The female detective looked at her partner, sighing a little, "Now Manhatten has everything... I'm thinking about clocking out early and just trying to sleep this off... hoping it's a bad dream."
Dan nodded in response, "Yeah, but there's always some new weird shit the following day. Best be ready when that call comes in, cuz that make up is still smeared all over your face."
Charlene just groaned loud in frustration and left, leaving her partner with a smirk as he got up to head to his place, his body feeling pretty sore already just from getting up in the middle of night to start this escapade. Once he got home, he saw he had a few messages, letting them play while getting ready to shower. That's when he heard it, one of the messages sounding ominous, with some growls thrown in. He just rubbed his head, knowing that the following day, he'd have more paperwork to fill out.