Invisible and silent, Charlie crouched at the far end of the warehouse. All her senses sharpened. Her eyes darted around, taking in the surroundings as clearly as if it were a cloudless afternoon. She could easily see the sentries by the same brown door the girls had been escorted through. She could hear their communications with the people inside, as well as the sounds of men moving around the perimeter.
She didn't need her sense of smell just yet. She'd use that to gauge the level of fear her targets would be feeling very soon. She listened until she heard the footfalls of sentries away from her intended target—a boarded-up window twenty yards ahead.
Before leaving the apartment, Angel had examined the city plans and chosen this window as her best entry point. It would also serve as her exit point after she completed her part of the mission. He explained that if the FBI followed proper procedure, that section of the warehouse would be approached last.
Nearly silent, Charlie sprinted to the window in seconds. She double-checked her hearing to confirm it was still safe to enter, tracking the men's location as they moved about. Concentrating, she detected the girls' voices from deeper within the structure. Her eyes crinkled with anger and determination as she reaffirmed her vow to get them out safely and set to work.
Shifting into her hybrid form, she carefully dug her claws into one of the boards and pried it up to peek inside. She quickly scanned the area, assessing the layout, then quietly ripped the wood away, creating just enough room for her to alter her physical form into a more fluid version, allowing her to slip inside like a liquid shadow.
This was just one of the newer tricks she had learned in the past couple of months, and it helped her embody all the horror films Angel had shared with her. She could now control her mass, change her voice pitch, climb walls and structures much like a spider, and intentionally manipulate lights and other electrical devices. She'd practiced all these abilities regularly just for a moment like this.
Recalling a line from one of Angel's favorite films, eager for these assholes to experience the scariest night of their lives, she whispered, "Wait'll they get a load of me!"
Still, it wasn't a good choice for her catchphrase, so she'd keep trying. However, the thought of frightening them sent a thrill tingling through her body, including between her legs. Tonight's shower was going to feel extra good. She assessed the various equipment, stairs, and exits in the room, calculating how she could use them for her first hunt. She trained her ears on each door to determine where the nearest sentry was.
Identifying her target, she pressed the button on her earpiece to update Angel. She got straight to the point.
"Made it inside undetected. No one in sight, but I hear a sentry in the next section heading this way. I'm in position to start phase one," she whispered while her eyes continued to scout the room.
His soft voice replied, "Understood. I'm thirty yards out, waiting for a sentry to come around the corner closest to me. He's my first target. How many men do you detect?"
"Hold." She closed her eyes, focusing her hearing. In seconds, she detected footfalls, radio static, and occasional speech from various places inside the warehouse. Mentally ticking off each isolated sound, she nodded and opened her eyes. "I'm detecting at least nine inside."
"Your hearing will never cease to amaze me, Charlie. Even with my night vision goggles, I'm limited to my line of sight. If you can take them out one at a time and clear your section, I'll clear the outside and then head in at the same dock the girls went through."
"If they're where I think and they're easily startled, I won't have any problem with at least the first two. They seem far enough apart that they can't alert each other."
"Good. Remember, these men are professionals. Most are likely former military or privately trained personnel. They know how to handle pressure and are highly skilled marksmen, so you'll need to up your game here."
"I have no intention of showing mercy." It may have come off colder than she intended, but she didn't care.
He picked up on the tone in her words. "Stay frosty, okay? Don't let your emotions lead you."
"I promise, Angel. I won't take any risks that could harm the girls." She affirmed. Her next words mixed a warning with a bit of humor. "But I'm gonna show these guys things that'll turn their shit white!"
His chuckle came through her earpiece, obviously catching her little movie quote. "Now that?" He laughed quietly. "That I'd love to see."
"Then clean house and join me ASAP." Her voice carried a smile for a moment before she heard movement on the other side of the door. "Target's approaching."
"Copy. Stay safe!"
"You, too. I'm going radio silent now." Clicking the button off, she searched the ceiling for a good place to perch.
Licking her lips, she slithered up to the rafters, gripping the steel girders with her claws. Her grip left impressions as she swung and floated between each one. Finally, she reached the first door.
Closing her eyes, she focused and completed her transformation into full demonic form.
When she opened her eyes, they appeared larger, crimson with glowing yellow irises. Her horns grew longer and thinner, and her hair lengthened and spread out, moving as if alive, floating around her like black silk in water.
Crawling down like a lizard, she sank her forefinger claw into the door's metal frame and slowly pulled it open.
Glancing into the next room, her target paused at the sudden creaking sound. She moved her head out of sight, pulling the door slightly wider as bait to lure the man into the room with her. Hearing him approach, she released her grip on the wall and dropped to the floor with an almost silent plop, her soft canvas shoes muffling the sound. She slid backward into the nook of the staircase. Concentrating, she shifted her demon mass beneath her coursing hair. This allowed her to appear much smaller than her normal 6'2" frame.
Let him think one of the girls had somehow gotten free. Make him come to me.
She peered through the strands as the man pushed the door open and stepped through the archway. She whimpered softly, mimicking the sound of a frightened child. The man cursed quietly, disabling the safety on his semi-automatic.
Whimpering a bit louder, she modulated her voice into a blend of a terrified little girl and something unnatural and menacing. "Please, Mister. Don't hurt me."
He shifted into a defensive stance. "How did you get in here, kid? And what's wrong with your voice?"
She slithered unnaturally from beneath the staircase. The shadows joined the performance as she dramatically twisted her waist and head in opposite directions. "Help? Please… please don't hurt me. Please."
Swallowing hard, the man backed away. "What the fuck are you?"
"Help me…" she whimpered in a high-pitched, whining voice. "It huuuuurts."
As she drew out her last whine, she saw him drop his eyes to his gun, seemingly remembering he had one. When he began to lift it toward her, she lunged with a low, guttural screech. His eyes widened in shock as she pounced on him, curling her sharp claws into his flak jacket. Simultaneously, she kicked his arm, breaking his grip on his gun and sending it clattering to the concrete floor.
Sharp white teeth flashed toward his throat, stunning him. He tried to scream, but a cold, leathery hand clamped over his mouth, and searing pain exploded in his neck. The girl-creature was ripping out his throat, and he choked, fell onto his back, and barely registered his head smacking the concrete before his vision and consciousness faded away.
Strewn on the floor and unconscious from the tranquilizer dart in his neck, the man convulsed once and then went still. Breathing hard from the thrill of the 'kill,' Charlie pulled the spent dart out, dropped it into an empty pouch on her waist, and stood. Cracking her neck, she wiped her hands on her pants and grabbed the sentry's legs, effortlessly dragging him under the staircase.
She moved nearby boxes to hide him, then checked her left arm. It held a Velcro wrap containing five additional darts, each in an individual pocket with a rubber stopper. She grinned at the gift Angel had given her in the apartment, which provided her with this new advantage. Pulling off a stopper, she prepared the next dart and placed the used stopper in the same pouch. Flexing her leg muscles, she jumped hard and upward, grabbing a rafter girder and quickly scurrying back to the same door, now wide open.
Sliding down and through the door frame, Charlie crawled along the rafters and crouched on a long beam, holding onto another while scanning the area. Focusing her senses on the next door, she detected movement heading in her direction. Licking her lips, she let out an eerie moan, pitching her voice just loud enough to mimic the man she had just taken out.
"Skeet? Are you okay in there?" The second sentry stepped through the door, gun at the ready, illuminating the area ahead with a bright LED light. Carefully surveying his surroundings at eye level, he called out, "Skeet, where the fuck are you, man? You know you can't leave your post."
Silence answered.
Cursing, the sentry took a walkie-talkie off his belt. "Skeet, this is Parker; come in. What's your twenty? Over?"
Again, silence answered. Clipping the radio to his belt, Parker stepped further into the room.
Above, Charlie moved gracefully through the rafters toward his location, deliberately clicking her claws against the steel beams. When his head snapped up, tracing the sound to her location, she stopped. Glaring at him, she waited to see what he would do next.
Before the sentry could turn his light toward the source of the sounds, his radio squelched, and a gruff voice came through: "Parker, report. Over."
Parker jumped in surprise, and she barely stifled a giggle. Cursing, the sentry snapped the talkie up and growled, "This is Parker. Skeet's off his post. I'm canvassing his section now. Over."
"Well, forget that lazy jerk. Samedi wants everyone in the main office ASAP. The barge is arriving soon to move the girls."
"Roger. On my way." Parker acknowledged.
Shit! She tensed, realizing time was running out quicker than they'd hoped. She would have to act fast to eliminate this guard so she could warn Angel.
As Parker turned to leave, she resumed clicking her claws on the rafter between her feet. Oh, no, you don't. I'm not done with you yet.
He spun back and pointed his gun upward, shining the LED light at the source of the clicking noises. Concentrating on the gun's light, she used her magic to make it flicker and grow dim.
Frustrated, Parker hit the side of the light to stop it from malfunctioning as he followed the wall upward into the rafters. She waited for the perfect moment, then cut her magic so the light would work properly as it landed on her, illuminating her crimson eyes in the shine of the light's ray for a split second before jumping to a rafter behind him.
"What the hell?" Parker shouted.
Squeezing the trigger, he unloaded a volley of bullets, aiming for the pair of eyes. Only when the ammo was spent did he stop, his hands shaking wildly.
"Shit! Shit!" Parker cursed again. "What the fuck was that?"
More clicking sounds echoed from the rafters, but now they were behind him. He spun around, shining his light toward the noise, and saw a shadow dart away from the beam's focused glare. Nerves on edge, he tried to track the elusive creature again, determined to identify and eliminate it out of spite.
Grabbing his spare mag, Parker ripped the empty one out and slapped the fresh one in. "Whatever you are, you'll soon be dead meat!" Parker swore, both as a warning and to steady his own fear.
In answer to his threat, a long, thin tail drooped right in front of his face, its spade-like tip nudging him, seemingly playfully, in the nose. His eyes shot up and landed on a nightmare of teeth, blood-red eyes, and a growl that no living creature could produce. Parker gasped, frozen in place, bravado erased by shock.
Quickly, the tail wrapped around his gun like a coiled snake and yanked it out of his hands, sending it flying into the dark. Parker didn't have time to register the action before the creature landed on his shoulders, knocking him to the ground. A single cry escaped his mouth before he felt a hot, clawed hand grasp his face.
Breath, hot and sulfurous, swept across his cheek, and an unholy voice echoed in his ear, "Night night, asshole!" This was followed by a sharp, piercing pain in his neck, and instant darkness engulfed him.
Perched on his back, unconcerned about whether her weight would bruise him or break any bones, Charlie quickly plucked the dart out and dropped it in her pouch.
She clicked her radio urgently. "Angel! Come in, please."
Immediately, it buzzed with a reply. "I'm here. Status update?"
"We're out of time! The barge is arriving! I've only been able to clear the two outer sentries. The other ones are all gathering to move the girls."
"Shit!" He paused a beat. "I eliminated the patrolling guards, but there's still some unaccounted for."
As she effortlessly dragged his body beneath a table and out of sight, she asked, "What's Amanda's ETA?"
"Ten minutes, tops. Once she arrives, she will radio the others, giving us a maximum of twenty-five to thirty minutes to clear out," he explained.
"I understand. What should I do if all of them are in the rooms with the kids?"
"How many darts do you have left?"
"Used two; have four left."
"If your survey count was correct, that leaves seven thugs in one spot and on high alert when the others don't arrive in short order." He paused.
"Charlie, I will try to lure as many out of the room as possible. When I do, go in, take out the stragglers with the darts, and get them out through the north window."
"You'll be outnumbered!"
"I know, but we don't have time for anything intricate. This is divide and conquer. I have enough darts for whoever I can lure out, but I'll be pinned down. Once you get the girls out, go full demon and save my ass!"
"Angel? There has to be another way!" she argued.
"There isn't," he snapped.
"You have your orders, Charlie. Now, move!"
Gritting her teeth, she let out an exasperated sigh, yet she responded appropriately. "Understood." But she added softly, "Be safe!"
No longer worried about being sneaky, Charlie sprinted through the door and across two large areas, quickly closing the gap between her and where the girls and sentries would be.
As she turned a sharp corner, she came to an abrupt halt, covering her mouth in shock. On the floor beside a few dirty mattresses lay the charred body of what appeared to be a teenage girl.
Approaching slowly, she dropped to one knee and let out a sharp cry. Charlie steadied herself, then carefully examined the body, noticing the ravaged throat. An angry, guttural growl rumbled from within her. No ordinary guard was responsible for this torture. Whoever did this was sadistic and reveled in their work.
She bowed her head, her shoulders shaking as a cold shiver ran down her spine. Rage began to build from deep inside. Embers of fire sparked between her horns, and her eyes pulsed brightly in the darkness. Her black hair flowed around her, alive and flickering like the flames of a raging fire. Mercy drained from her, replaced by a feeling she had never known before.
The desire to kill.
She stood up, her hands curled into tight fists as she made a solemn vow, "I promise you those bastards are going to pay!"
Moving around the girl's body, Charlie took three unsteady steps, then stopped. Turning, she gazed at the charred remains and committed the image to memory. It would fuel her when the time came.
With a growl mixed with rage and despair, Charlie moved swiftly through the far door, continuing her mission as ordered.
Interesting, Samedi thought as he stepped out of the shadows that swallowed the corner of the same room, caressing the amulet around his neck
From the moment she first crossed the magical boundary around the warehouse Samedi had cast days earlier, its power had successfully masked his presence from the demon's senses.
But this wasn't an ordinary demon, was it? She definitely wasn't like the ones he had summoned before, and he had many questions about her existence. Who called her here, and why? The sadness and anger when discovering Chloe's body puzzled him. And most importantly, could he make her his own?
All he'd ever known about demons was that they sought to kill humans; it's what they're made for. At least the ones he called certainly possessed endless bloodlust. Moving quietly, he began to follow her, eager to see what she would do next.