"I was so surprised," the red-gold haired beauty staggered
slightly as her companion reached out to steady her, "you asked me
out."
"You know that you're beautiful," he softly murmured as they
went down into the darkness of the alley. He frowned to himself
slightly, noticing the skin on his arm blackening oddly, pulling a
sleeve down over the mark.
"Thank you," she smiled up at him woozily. There was something
a bit odd about the taller man, he was handsome but there was a
sinister bent to his look. The two kissed, her tongue exploring his
mouth, an oddly metallic tang to the taste of his mouth.
Gentle hands stroked down the girl's curved sides, measuring
out her lithe little form. She moaned softly, feeling her tight ass
being stroked, then the hands sliding around to cup the round orbs of
her generous breasts. A little shudder, then quite surprisingly she
was released, the man taking a half step backwards away from her.
"I'm sorry," he said softly from behind her.
"Why," her voice came out oddly husky as she turned around,
and then she simply froze when she saw the man's flesh crumple empty
to the ground. Something rose up, then it descended on her like a
cloud of organic knives before she even had a chance to scream. Wet
sounds, tearing, and a grinding of stone, then a long period of
silence.
The woman strode out of the alley, moving steadily, no trace
of drunkenness in her movements. She stretched, twisting a bit as if
she was trying to settle into an uncomfortable set of clothes. "That's
better," she smiled, her teeth gleaming dangerously, not caring about
the slowly spreading pool of blood on the ground behind her.
As Jess left the police station, she hoped that she had
sounded a lot more confident talking to Katherine than she actually
felt. This was not going to be easy, finding the skinwalker, and the
fact that the police were getting involved was just going to increase
the number of potential victims. 'And more hosts,' she thought grimly.
"Wait up," Alex Conner yelled, coming out of the station after
her. The tall, green eyed redhead looked like a cop, dressed in her
off the rack blue suit. "I do not care for being ditched," she said to
Jess fiercely.
"What can I do for you, officer?" Jess asked.
"Katherine just finished telling me that you were going to
handle this," Alex scowled, "and that I should just stay out of your
way." She grabbed at the dark haired woman's arm, "What the hell is
going on here?!"
Jess narrowed her eyes, meeting those green eyes. "You really
do not want to know," she shook off Alex's grip smoothly.
Before Jess could walk away from her Alex said, "I asked
around about you, you know." Jess looked back at her as the redhead
met her eyes frankly, "They say you're an occultist, some kind of
magician. Is that the kind of thing we're dealing with here?"
"And if it is?" Jess asked her calmly, even as she wondered
where Alex could had heard about her. She kept a low profile quite
intentionally, and she wasn't terribly pleased that word might be
spreading about her.
"This thing has a body," Alex looked clearly uncomfortable
admitting the suspect might not be human, "no matter what it actually
is, and having a woman with a gun along with you might just come in
handy."
That request surprised Jess just a bit. "You should know this
could get very bad and crazy," she cautioned Alex quietly.
"I swore an oath," Alex said softly, "to serve and protect the
people of this city. I wouldn't feel like I was keeping it if I just
stood by on the sidelines." She didn't beg, but the earnest appeal was
plain in the young policewoman's gaze.
'Damn it,' Jess thought grimly, 'she's got a point.' Aloud she
said, "All right, but I've got two conditions first."
"Oh?" Alex raised her eyebrow.
"If the shit does hit the fan, follow my lead," Jess shrugged,
"and you get to drive."
Alex smiled, "Sounds reasonable." With a bounce to her step
showing her relative youth she jogged off to get the car, leaving Jess
standing there with a smile. A few moments later the redhead pulled up
in front of Jess and popped the passenger side open, "Where to?"
Jess climbed in smoothly, "First we head back to my shop, I
need to pick up some gear. Then I start calling up my contacts." With
that, Jess pulled out her cellphone and quickly dialed the number from
memory.
"Sisterhood Bookstore," Alice Sinclare's voice came through
clearly.
"Alice, it's Jess," she found herself smiling apologetically,
even though she knew her friend couldn't see it, "I'm not going to be
able to come by tonight."
The frown on Alice's face came through even over the phone,
"But Jess, I put a few new books aside I wanted to show you."
"It's a bit of an emergency," Jess sighed. Her eyes narrowed
slightly, "Watch yourself for the next few days, all right? If one of
your friends start acting oddly, I want you to get away from them as
soon as you possibly can."
"Oddly," Alice echoed with a smile, "like you're acting now?"
"Just use your best judgment," Jess had to smile slightly.
Sheepishly she added, "I hope I'll be able to see you tomorrow."
"See you then," Alice said softly, "bye."
"Bye," Jess echoed before putting the little phone away.
Alex had a slight smile on her face, gazing out at the road.
"Is that your girlfriend?" she asked Jess curiously, obviously having
heard part of the conversation.
"Just a good friend," Jess answered coolly. 'A very good
friend that I'm going to have to tell about this part of my life
eventually,' she thought to herself glumly, 'there's only so long I
can dance around the issue.'
"We're here," Alex announced, jarring Jess out of her
thoughts. The unmarked cruiser pulled up in front of the shop, both
women climbing out quickly.
Jess lead the way inside after unlocking the door, speaking a
soft word to deactivate the more occult defenses. She pulled her light
jacket off as she walked, going into the back room with a hesitant
Alex right behind her.
"Wow," the police officer murmured softly. The traditional
tools of a tattoo artist were there of course, needles, ink and other
things, but many others as well. A long operating table occupied the
center of the room, what looked like a sterile container of scalpels,
and basins for water and other fluids were set up nearby. Alex's eyes
widened as she saw two swords crossed on the wall, and just below them
on a tray several throwing knives.
Jess tossed her light coat into the closet, rummaging around
for a moment before she pulled something dark black out. The coat
fluttered over her shoulders, settling down her body to her legs.
Black gloves were pulled on too, the only thing missing was the
shades.
"Trying out for the Matrix?" Alex joked weakly.
"This coat's armored," Jess explained crisply as she strode
across the dark room. She scooped up the throwing blades in a single
smooth motion, then she began to carefully tuck them away into
concealed pockets in her coat.
"So what do we do know?" Alex asked, prudently deciding not to
ask about the legality of the blades that Jess carried. She really
didn't think she wanted to know.
"Most of the killings have taken place around here, in the bad
part of town?" Jess asked calmly as she pulled her cellphone out
again.
"Yeah, how did you know?" Alex looked at her in surprise.
"Drug addicts, prostitutes, street people, they disappear out
here all the time," Jess said grimly as she called up certain numbers,
"that's probably why it's operating out here. If not for the unusual
state of the bodies, I doubt that Katherine would even have been
called in."
"So we know it's operating here," Alex said, "and I guess who
ever you're calling will help us narrow things down?"
"Something like that," Jess agreed, hearing the number ring.
She heard the phone pick up and smiled grimly, "Hello Sister, I need
your help."
"I told you not to call me again," the woman's voice was
angry.
"We've got a skinwalker in town," Jess quickly said before she
could hang up.
A moment's pause, "I'll be right over."
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