“IT’S NICE AND SUNNY today. Not a cloud in the sky. The snow might even melt at this rate,” Blade comments as she looks up into the sky while shielding her eyes with her hand. “It’s the perfect day for hunting.”
“Looks that way,” I agree.
“Rynne, I’m counting on you. Show me you’re responsible and a team player so I can keep you around.”
“Yes, Commander.”
“Gather around Gold Team,” Blade announces as we walk to the garage.
I still feel remorse about setting a bunch of thralls loose on Philadelphia, but Blade took care of my mistake already. It seems she’s moved past it.
Blade briefs us. “We’re hunting an aswang today. A spirit gave a specific location for him, and we’ll confront him well before night. That means his strength won’t be any greater than yours or mine. He won’t be able to transform. However, that also means he won’t react to holy water or anything else like that any more than you or I would. In the daylight, an aswang is fundamentally human, aside from their retained knowledge of their power and abilities at night. This means it shouldn’t take much to kill him. The hardest part of this mission will be getting inside Harper Crow’s mansion and making sure we have the right target. If you look into an aswang’s eyes, you’ll see your reflection upside down. Remember that. Harper Crow has a high-security system installed in her mansion. She isn’t just going to allow us to waltz in. She’s involved with this aswang, so that means we’ll have to infiltrate.”
Blade produces a map and lays it down on the worktable in the garage. “Sherri, you’re taking down the security system. You looked into all of that like I told you to, right?”
“Of course.”
“And you can handle it?”
“Yes.”
“Great. Call it in when we’re clear and keep a look out so Bartholomew doesn’t escape. The rest of us will sweep the building. Whoever finds him first, take him out.”
Blade goes through the map of the mansion and its grounds and the places we’ll be positioned to start with. I’m assigned Donovan as my partner. After we’ve been thoroughly briefed, I sit next to the big guy in our armored van.
“We’ll be the first to take that bastard down,” he tells me as he slugs my shoulder.
I rub the spot where he hit me. Donovan certainly knows how to keep up the morale despite this dismal line of work. If I didn’t know better, I’d say this stuff doesn’t faze him at all, but I know that’s not true. He just decides to deal with it in a different way.
Our drive through the city doesn’t take long. When we arrive outside the mansion’s perimeter, we leave our van with Sherri in an area shaded by some trees and far enough away from the mansion to be inconspicuous. We check our gear and make sure communications are up before spreading out. Donovan and I are placed to the east of the mansion, near the back. We’re well outside of the black Gothic fence encompassing the grounds so we should be out of range for any cameras.
We wait a few minutes before Sherri checks in, telling us she’s hacked into the system and brought down security. Then we’re on the move. Donovan and I easily climb the fence without getting cut by one of the arrowhead-like points. The grounds, like the rest of Philadelphia, are coated in melting snow, creating a glistening sheen across the Gothic architecture making up this entire property. We pass by a fountain that’s been turned off for the year. Its main piece is a gargoyle; in the summer, water probably spews from its mouth. It seems to me this Harper Crow woman has had an infatuation with monsters long before Bartholomew.
There’s a small door on the east side of the mansion that we run to. It’s locked of course, but Donovan handles that hurdle with ease, blasting the lock with a nearly silent explosion. Since my time with the EEA, I’ve learned that this organization spares no expense on its technology. They do what they do in the best and quickest way they know how. The EEA has been around for a couple hundred years, so it’s not surprising that it’s only grown from its conception and continues to expand every day.
The door brings us into the kitchen, just like Blade’s map said it would. We scan the area, but we don’t find a soul. The place is empty and eerie with cold light drifting in through high windows. The spirit said Bartholomew was staying here with the owner of this mansion, the woman he’s involved with. That means he’s most likely staying in one of the suites or with the mansion owner herself. We were expecting to run into bodyguards, maids, or some kind of servants, but based on the kitchen alone, the mansion seems empty. I don’t know what the woman is doing with an aswang, but it must be something she doesn’t want to chance anyone else knowing about. This makes things easier for us.
We continue through the gloomy mansion without seeing a single soul. There is a great darkness here somewhere, though. I didn’t feel it so strongly outside, but now that we’re inside, I’m almost certain the aswang is upstairs. Just because he can’t use his demonic powers during the day doesn’t mean he can hide his darkness. Humans can’t hide their darkness either, after all. Whether this heavy darkness is from him or Harper, I know neither of them are on the first floor.
“Upstairs,” I whisper to Donovan.
He shrugs and doesn’t argue, so I figure I’m not breaking any rules by taking the lead. He must see it’s as pointless as I do to sweep the entire bottom floor. According to the map, the entire bottom floor looks more like a place servants would dwell, so he must figure it’s unlikely we’ll find Bartholomew or his keeper down here. As we make our way to the second floor, the darkness becomes denser. It’s stirring. The aswang might be able to feel my own presence against his.
I lift my finger to my lips, signaling Donovan to remain quiet as we pass by a few rooms. Eventually, I linger by the closed door I’m sure Bartholomew is behind. According to the map, this room is the master suite. I try not to think about what we’ll see by barging in here, based on the sounds I can hear coming from outside the door. It’s not like we have any other choice. Donovan knows as well as I do that something is going on in here because of that.
Donovan kicks the door down, revealing a tangle of sheets and two naked people.
“Ugh, really?” he complains as he trudges into the room.
“What the hell?” the woman shouts as she covers herself with a sheet. “Get out of my house before I call the police!”
There’s a dark-haired man next to her, looking just as upset by our intrusion, but instead of covering himself, he’s hovering by the dresser, probably thinking about retrieving a gun or a knife.
Donovan points his pistol at the man. “Check him out, Rynne,” he says. “We don’t wanna go shooting any humans.”
I cautiously walk forward, knife in hand. When I’m standing in front of the dark-haired man, I ready my knife and tell him, “Look at me.”
“What do you think you’re doing?” he asks instead, his eyes darting every which way. “You’re making a mistake. This isn’t going to end well for you.”
I make a subtle jabbing motion with my knife to let him know I’m not asking again. A dark resignation enters the man’s eyes as he looks at me. I see my reflection in his eyes, a reflection presented upside down, and I stab him in the heart.
He gasps and falls down to the ground clutching his chest and writhing for just a few seconds before lying still.
The woman, Harper Crow, screams. “What have you done!” she demands. “You killed him! You actually… You killed him!”
“He was toying with you,” Donovan says.
Blade and Miguel enter the room moments later and see that I’ve already taken care of our target. Donovan’s holding Harper back as she fights against him. Her eyes are burning and looking only at me.
“You’re a monster!” she shrieks. “You killed him like it was nothing! No second thoughts—nothing!”
“That’s because he’s good at his job,” Blade says.
She walks up to Harper, caught in Donovan’s hold, and takes Harper’s face in her hands to check her eyes. Then she recites a few lines in Latin to be sure. “Seems you’re human. That’s lucky for you. You get a second chance. If you fly straight from now on, you’ll be fine. Our people will be keeping a close eye on you, and if they see fit to dispose of you, they will. This is your one and only warning.”
Donovan and Blade let Harper go. She stumbles back and falls onto her bed. She hugs her sheets closer to her.
Harper has been tainted by Bartholomew’s darkness, but she’s still human. She still has a choice. She hasn’t been cursed to live a life of darkness. We spared her that fate. I hope Tasia can continue to resist darkness. I hope it doesn’t somehow consume her in the end. I know the Oracle said she would gain power over Arsen, but some part of me still worries that the demon will win in the end. It seems I’m nothing but a faithless mortal, but I will do my best. I will continue to do as the Oracle commands. All will be well in the end. Everything is as God wills it.