What about what happened at Love Bites? Trevor asked. That wasnt exactly fitting with her MO.
We might need to enlarge her area before long, Chad offered. And what about the body we found earlier today?
They all shivered remembering the scene. They had received a call from the police about the body of a young man being found and thought they needed to see it. The man had been about twenty years of age and was wearing the remnants of a tee shirt with the local college name on it.
When they got there, the police had taped off the entire area and about one hundred yards all around it. Chad had thought that odd and went to talk with a couple of his buddies on the force, when he came back his tan was noticeably paler.
What is it? Zachary asked.
They said we need to see for ourselves its just as bad as what you described about the bus the other day.
As the four of them approached, Trevor had to breathe through his mouth in order to keep the smell from making him sick. The worst part of it was he could taste the acrid odor and that was just as bad. Zach gave him a surgical mask from his jacket pocket he always kept a few on hand for situations like this. When they saw the body, even Zachary had to turn away and take a few deep breaths.
The body had been literally ripped apart and everything that had been inside was on the outside. The worst part was they could all see where something had actually eaten parts out as whole chunks were gone. Long claw marks covered what little bit of flesh was left and the bones were visible, some of them broken and poking out.
The eye sockets were the worst as they stared straight up the eyes had been dug out. Part of the scalp had been ripped away and the skull punctured with brain matter still slowly oozing out of the hole. The mouth had been pulled open and left hanging and the tongue also devoured.
Large portions had been gouged out all over the body and the stomach was lying wide open. Angelica turned away from the scene and covered her mouth with a hand to avoid nausea it wasnt helping.
Poor bastard, Zachary whispered and knelt down next to the boy. This past week had flown by with a frenzy of demon activity and it didnt look like it was slowing down. Whats the official word?
The police say it was an animal attack. Chad answered.
Angelica shook her head, No animal did this, she rasped and headed back to the car. It was the grave.
Zachary shook away the memory and looked away from the map toward Angelica. What did you mean when you say it was the grave?
Angelica frowned, Its all I could feel from the body. The wounds were almost too old for me to even feel that. I dont know how to better describe it but to say that it was the grave that killed him.
Zachary stepped away from the map and went to his laptop sitting on the coffee table. Linking up with PIT, he sent a message to Storm documenting the latest events his response was immediate.
Looks like Storm's pulling in PITs major players. Zachary informed the others and paused before looking up at his teammates. Hes brought in the fabled Ren hes already here.
Trevor shivered visibly at the mention of Rens name. Ren had always been the phantom of the group more of a legend than a real person because Storm was the only one who had ever met him. Hed once asked Storm who was the most powerful member of PIT and Storm hadnt even hesitated in his response. But if Storm was sending his second in command, then that meant he was sending an army right behind him.
Zachary and Trevor both knew what that meant the war was starting.
Chapter 3
During his teenage years, Ren had made it a habit to log into the Paranormal Investigation Teams database so he could keep up on current events. He was also smart enough to then destroy whatever computer he had used so it couldnt be tracked back to him. It had been a thrill to breech the firewalls set up on a division of the government that supposedly didnt exist.
The paranormal investigation team, otherwise known as P.I.T., knew Ren was stalking their assignments and siphoning their encrypted information, but so far they had never caught up with him and they had never found a firewall thick enough to keep him out of their private system. Not only was he stealing their data, but Ren was leaving data behind from his own paranormal investigations.
After several years, the head of PIT had started leaving Rin messages behind the thickest, most encrypted firewalls Rin had ever seen. It was behind those walls that Rin had secretly joined the elusive P.I.T. group, but only on his own terms that he worked alone.
Whoever was behind that wall not only knew his name, but also some other things about him that no one else knew like the fact that he wasnt entirely human. It was only after hed taken on a level seven demon that had started a flesh eating cult in the Congo and been severely wounded that the head man of P.I.T. had finally caught up with him.
Ren was in the middle of a fight with the skin-demon and very much on the losing end when a hand had gripped his shoulder the next thing he knew, he was on a small private island in the middle of the ocean. Rin had turned around to come face to face with the man behind the encrypted walls Storm.
Rin shook his head at the memory of those first few moments. Storm looked like he should have been the lead singer for some 80s rock band instead of the mastermind behind the most secretive group of people in the world.
Storm had only smiled and removed the hand that had still been gripping his shoulder. Trying to retire from P.I.T. the hard fast way? Why dont you stick around a while? Id hate to lose my best friend, before we have a chance to become friends.
What? Ren winced, holding his hand over his chest where the demon had tried to scratch his heart out.
Sorry, Storm sighed reaching for him again. They were suddenly in the half underground, half underwater facility that was hidden deep under the island. There isnt anyone here with the power to heal, but I can always take you to someone that can if youd prefer.
No, Ren practically growled. If you can give me some needle and thread, I think I can handle staying in one place for a few damn minutes. He leaned back against a counter trying to stay out of Storms reach, And if you touch me again, youre gonna lose your hand.
Storm laughed and opened one of the upper cabinets then waved his hand at all the medical supplies. His smile vanished when Ren unbuttoned his shirt and Storm saw the deep groves the skin-demon had made. A couple more seconds and Ren would have been gone.
I think that since you have a fetish for demons, you might need to learn a little about them before you challenge another one to a fight. Storm looked away from the claw marks already knowing what the scars would look like. Hed known Rin for a long time that friendship just hadnt happened yet.
Ren reached into the open cabinet and grabbed what looked like a sterilized stitching kit then moved toward the mirror on the wall. If youve met one demon then youve met them all right? He couldnt keep the sarcasm from his voice as he tried to mentally block out the pain it wasnt working.
Wrong. Storm corrected, You only know what Ive allowed uploaded into the database. He sat down on the hospital bed in the middle of the room.
Ren looked in the mirror at the man behind him. The things hidden in that database were enough to set the world on fire enough to where just having the database was a danger. It was hard to believe there was more but then, he knew some things that werent even in the database.
Wrong. Storm corrected, You only know what Ive allowed uploaded into the database. He sat down on the hospital bed in the middle of the room.
Ren looked in the mirror at the man behind him. The things hidden in that database were enough to set the world on fire enough to where just having the database was a danger. It was hard to believe there was more but then, he knew some things that werent even in the database.
Im listening. And listen he did for weeks.
Storm was right to keep the information he shared out of the archives for the same reasons the Vatican held their stuff in secret vaults. If some of this information was to reach the normal population, it would be the end of the world as we know it.
Rin knew without a doubt that the man was still withholding information because whatever gods had handed him the power to jump through time and space had also made it dangerous for him to tell anyone anything beyond the present moment. He could be the best history teacher in the world but if Storm tried to tell anyone the future, it could rip the space-time link and the link was Storm himself.
He was also right about their friendship. They had been friends from day one, and that was saying a lot since neither of them was the type to trust anyone. Truth was they were both a lot alike in many ways.
Storms little island getaway was actually somewhere in the past but Storm had given it all the comforts of a modern day mansion and a futuristic base. One side of the building made Ren feel like he was in a huge fish tank while the other side was built into the sturdy rock surrounding the island. The best part about it was the complete solitude. This was the one place Ren could come where nothing paranormal could touch him except for Storms time jumping ability.
At first, hed thought Storm was only in his mid-twenties, but after knowing him for over ten years, Storm had never aged a single day so he wondered just how long Storm had been around. Rins own aging had even slowed down because he spent so much time near Storm and his power.
Ren flinched when a voice jerked him from his musing.
Ive just made you the proud owner of one of the oldest houses in LA, Storm announced as he appeared at the end of the long pier that stretched out from his island. He smirked seeing Ren almost jump out of his skin.
Damn it, will you please make a noise when you pop out of nowhere like that? Ren turned around and leaned back against the railing seeing the satisfied look in Storms face.
You were expecting someone else? Storm laughed.
Ren just gave him a deadpan look since no one else had ever stepped foot on his island. Okay, Ill bite. Why did you buy me an old rundown shack? Its not even my birthday.
Without warning, Storm reached out and gripped Rens shoulder and the ocean fell away leaving them standing in the grass and facing what could pass as a modern day gothic mansion made out of dark stone. Hearing the crash of waves, Ren looked off to the right seeing the ocean. Turning full circle, he frowned noticing the driveway went on as far as the eye could see and the left side was nothing but a thick forest of trees.
Not bad for a rundown shack, Storm nodded toward the house, Fifty ocean front acres and remodeled with every update. Its hard to believe this used to be a small castle.
Not that hard, Ren turned his head and stared at Storm, Whats the catch?
LA needs you, Storm shrugged and started forward. Can you not feel it?
Ren didnt answer as he followed storm into the place. Truth was, his spider sense was telling him to run like hell. Los Angeles so far it sounded more like a forced vacation.
Once inside, he found himself in a huge circular space with an open winding staircase across the room leading to the next floor which split into two separate wings. Storm headed for the huge double doors on the right so Ren sighed and followed him.
Now this is more my style, Ren breathed seeing wall to wall monitoring systems and a glass desk with the computer built right into it.
Thought you would like this, Storm stretched out on the sofa that was set off by itself in an empty part of the huge room. He watched as Ren slid in behind the desk and started investigating the controls. No one can trace you here except maybe you and luckily, you dont count.
Storm watched his friend's eyes glow as Ren hovered his palms inches above the keyboard. It was a strange power to have and he didnt know anyone else who could do it but thats how Ren could break through the PIT fire walls that were one hundred years more advanced than what the government already had. He was literally sucking all the information from that computer and for all he knew teaching it a thing or two.
It was funny because Ren did not look like your average computer nerd his looks were quite startling. Hed seen women almost trip over themselves when they caught sight of him.
His hair was a little longer than shoulder length, midnight black with blue highlights when the sun hit it the right way. But even without the sun, you couldnt miss the thick silver streaks that made Ren look more like a wild child than he did. Add that to the dangling cross earring and the fact he always wore black and it was quite a striking combination. To add to the effect, Rens irises were like polished silver with blue highlights and a jet black ring around them. He kept sunglasses with him at all times because of the oddity.
What tripped him out the most about Ren was that computers were one of the things that made Ren happy as far as powers went. Ren was a succubus in every way that counted. If he was near a computer, then he fed off the computer's power almost like a download but his form of succubus also allowed him to take anyones power and use it for himself.
For example if he was near a shifter, then he could shift. If he was near a demon, then he had all the power that type of demon had, but the downside was that it was like using a mirror. He couldnt strip the demon of its powers. Both sides would have the same power so it wasnt always a win-win situation especially when your opponent had the power longer and knew how to use it better.
One way Ren could turn it to his favor was if there were more than one paranormal power within his succubus range then look out because he could use them all to his advantage.
Another downfall was that Ren didnt play well with others, so he refused a partner which was a crying shame. Storm could have set him up with powerful people and he could have mirrored any of them. Even right now, if Ren wanted to teleport halfway around the world and fifty years into the past, he could. Luckily, he wasnt interested in that kind of stuff. He watched the light in Rens eyes die down as he came back from the world of cyberspace.
Ren blinked and moved his hands away from the keyboard to lean back in his swivel chair. No one knows Im here?
Just Zachary, Storm admitted knowing he was going to be in for a fight with Ren on this, Im going to have Zachary watching over most of the ones that are already here.
Why do I not like the sound of that? Ren narrowed his eyes but had a feeling this would be a losing battle. Whats up with the mansion and set up? Why the bribe?
Storm cocked an eyebrow, Its kind of hard to bribe someone who can walk up to an ATM and ask it for money.
Youre avoiding the question, Ren pointed out.
Ive let you hide from the paranormal investigation teams for this long, and hell Ive even joined you in the solitude more times than I should have. Storm held up his hand when Ren started to argue, Youve always claimed that you owed me one Im calling in the favor now.