Hybridization Novel Chapter 44 – A Case of the Mondays (Multi – POV)

Chapter 44 – A Case of the Mondays (Multi – POV)

“Everyone has their own ambitions and their own goals. Everyone also has a price for which they will make your ambitions, their ambitions.” – Counter argunt in a discussion about hostile takeovers.

Monday Morning:

David Gelman was returning to the coven offices after a very satisfying lunch. He often enjoyed the local dives where he could get all the fried food he missed at ho. His wife was a health freak and refused to keep any ‘junk food’ in the house. She didn’t mind him indulging when he was on his ‘work trips’ as long as he didn’t bring any ho.

His daughter Patricia was much less understanding. “I don’t know how you eat that trash.” She said from the passenger seat. “You need to take better care of yourself, dad.”

David smiled. “The way I see it, I eat healthy for most of the month and have a couple days where I can have red at in more than a four-ounce serving once a week.” He glanced over at her coffee cup. “Besides, I don’t get on you about your caffeine addiction.”

“It’s not an addiction.” She said.

David just chuckled and shook his head. His daughter had picked up the habit over a decade earlier when she entered college. Ever since then, she had been on a strict five cup daily limit. He did find it interesting that she stuck to brewed coffee and never touched the energy drinks the younger generation was so fond of.

“So long as your hands are steady. We don’t need you ruining another ritual.” David said with mild chastisent. “The last round of supplies was hard enough to co by, and we don’t need any more waste.”

She winced at the mory of how her shaking hand had jumped while tracing the summoning sigil and ruined hours of work. “I swear it won’t happen again.”

Tutting, David consoled his daughter. He loved her more than anything and would naturally forgive the minor slip up. He was the council head, so it was easy for him to excuse the mistake and bully the other mbers into letting it slide too. Besides, they could always grab more people off the street for the sacrifices if it ca down to it.

His wife and son were mundane, never having an ounce of magical talent no matter how much energy he tried to push into them. So, when his daughter developed a talent that would likely surpass his own, he naturally developed a strong parental relationship.

“Don’t worry, we can try again next month” He said and pulled into the back alley of the building his coven owned. “We have so more business to settle tonight so I hope you are prepared.”

He had been planning on making her a full, inner mber for so ti. Patricia had been an auxiliary mber of the coven for several years at that point and he was prepared to bring the issue to a vote. He had spent months working his way through the elders and securing approving votes with favors that would take years to pay off. In the end, he deed it worthwhile to make sure his lineage continued in a position of strength and power.

When they returned, it was back to work. The Coven of Winding Trails was a monster when it ca to paperwork and there was much that needed to be done in relation to their outer mbership. Tithes needed to be counted, and issues handled for those mbers to keep them happy.

Their coven worked very hard to make sure the right pockets were filled, and wheels were greased to ensure that mbership was valued rather than forced. It also helped to have so dirt on them, in case they balked at the activities of the senior leadership.

Monday Night:

After several hours the inner council finished their work and began to congregate in the main hall for dinner. There was to be food catered in for them to enjoy before they got down to business. It had been proven ti and ti again that they got more done and fought less with full bellies.

Eventually their dinner conversation ebbed, and the most junior mbers bused the table to the waiting trolleys before returning to their seats. Patricia was standing by in the side room where the trollies were, having acted as serving staff for dinner with the other junior mbers present.

“I call this eting to order.” David said and imdiately got a second. “Is there any news to report?” He asked the table, looking to the most senior mbers first.

“The veil situation remains unchanged.” Les offered from his seat mid-way down the table. He waited for permission to continue. “It seems that our tampering has permanently disabled that particular grand working. We are still attempting to find leads to others that we might influence for our gain.”

“Have the other covens provided any information?” asked Katherine from her seat next to David. “The ones we worked with to take down the veil, not the cowards in the other covens.”

Les shook his head. “No, but they said they are sending soone to follow a lead in Vatican City.”

“If you can, please impress upon them the need to be discrete in these matters.” David said. “We don’t want to tip anyone off, if we can help it.”

He was about to continue when he saw a blur at the far end of the room that made him squint at it in confusion. It looked like a smudge that one saw when they had sothing in their eye. He blinked rapidly, trying to clear the distortion only to find that the door was open and standing in the corners of the room were a few very heavily ard people.

“Hands!” one of them shouted in a very harsh, commanding tone that made David almost comply out of reflex. “I said let

see those FUCKING HANDS!” he roared and everyone at the table raised their hands and gaped at the intruders.

*****

Kurt was first through the door, thankfully not having to force it and it opened easily on well-oiled hinges. He went straight across to the left corner, pivoting his body and shuffling to keep the table in his sights. He noticed the two doors on the side of the room and the one at the back behind a partition.

Nobody at the table had noticed their entrance except for one man that sat at the head of the table. Kurt was fine with that since he seed to think his vision was failing based on the series of rapid blinks. Once the girls had taken up positions in their side of the room, Kurt spoke.

“Hands!” he shouted and saw several people at the table jump while a few looked at him in shock. “I said, let

see those FUCKING HANDS!” he put more force into his voice when he repeated himself and had to suppress the smile from using the quote.

Imdiately, thirteen sets of hands went up. “Two, cuffs. Three, cover.” Kurt said while Val moved up to the table and deployed flex cuffs, starting to grab arms and pull them into position before wrenching on the overgrown zip ties. Kristi moved to cover her as she secured the people at the table.

Kurt took a peek into the door on his side of the room, but it was just an empty room with shelves full of boxes. He ducked back out when he heard so of the stunned people starting to protest at the sudden intrusion.

“Who are you?” One of the younger n shouted as he stood from his seat near the end of the table. He began to make motions with his hands, gesturing at Val. “I dem…”

Crack. The front of the man’s head vanished, and he fell back into his seat as Kurt put a round through the back of his skull. Everyone at the table flinched and ducked, a few shouting as they were sprayed with blood and bone. He was proud of his girls for barely showing surprise at the sudden cranial evaporation.

Once he fired the shot, Kurt thought he heard a scream but couldn’t place its location. Instead, he continued on his mission and walked up to the high-backed chair with a corpse now bleeding all over it. He pulled the chair back across the concrete floor and dumped it over and out of the way, the body tumbling to the ground.

“I didn’t tell you to stand, I didn’t tell you to speak. Either you do as I say, or you die here.” Kurt said bluntly. “Three, start cuffing, I can cover.” He didn’t regret killing the man but was now wishing he had so less lethal options. That could be a problem for future Kurt, however, there was still a job to do and no ti to wish for what he didn’t have.

Kristi slung her machinegun behind her back and began pulling hands down to cuff. She noticed that there wasn’t nearly as much resistance now that they had so proper motivation.

Kurt moved level with the head of the table, keeping both other doorways in his line of vision and his gun pointed at the man sitting in the tallest chair. Val was almost done with her side, so he waited for her to finish before he traded out, cuffing the man at the head of the table on his way to the opposite door.

“Watch the back too.” He muttered to Val as he passed and nodded toward the door behind the partition. “I am clearing that one.”

He kept his rifle up and level as he began to slice the pie around the door fra. He saw this room was actually occupied by more than just shelves and boxes. There were a few serving trollies with dirty dishes piled up on them and the lights were on. In the back corner, crouched behind a table, was a woman in what appeared to be her late twenties or early thirties.

“Hands. Put your hands up!” Kurt yelled at her. She complied imdiately and raised her hands above her head.

“Don’t shoot. Please don’t shoot. I’m not even a full mber. I swear.” She said, babbling profusely as she stared down the barrel of his rifle.

“Turn around and back up toward .” Kurt commanded. She instantly followed the order and backed his way. She had to bump her way along the table as she did but eventually, she made it to the center of the room. “That’s enough. Lay face down on the floor.”

She knelt quickly before lowering herself face down. Kurt moved forward and brought her hands behind her back, then slipped a pair of plastic cuffs over her wrists before zipping them closed. He hauled her to upright by her upper arm and was about to walk back out the door when he heard Kristi shouting.

“I said shut the fuck up!” He heard Kristi clear as day over a mumbling, droning voice.

Kurt peeked out the door with his rifle raised to see a mage with her hands beginning to glow with a crimson light. Crack-crack-crack-crack. Kristi cut loose with a burst and stitched a line of rounds up her torso.

The glowing hands faded, and she fell face forward into a slowly growing pool of blood. The woman he was holding began cursing him, almost but not quite yelling.

“You monsters, why did you have to shoot Kathy. She hadn’t done an…” she was cut off as Kurt put the muzzle of his rifle under her chin.

“I swear to whatever god you believe in that I will paint the ceiling with your grey matter if you so much as utter another word with my permission.” He growled in her ear. “Nod if you understand.”

She nodded once and he pulled his rifle away before marching her out to the others and laying her face down on the floor. He walked over to the man who was sat at the head of the table. “Anyone else?” The man shook his head.

“Two, start laying them out next to this one. I want PID on everyone.” Kurt said and they began pulling people to their feet to walk them over. “Three, go check that back room.” Kristi nodded and moved off toward the partition at the back of the room.

“Watcher, this is one. We have secured the site. One-one Pris. Two KIA.”

Penny’s voice crackled over the radio a mont later. “Roger one. Contacting recovery.”

Kurt began grabbing wallets out of pockets and pulling ID cards out. He set them on their backs after reading the nas. The dead woman and two others had purses hung on the back of their chairs, so he went to get those before going back to the side room to grab the ID of the woman he found there.

He noticed she had the sa last na as the man that sat at the head of the table. David and Patricia Gelman. Judging by the ages and appearance, they were likely father and daughter. A mont later his radio crackled.

“One, Three. Y-you n-n-need to see this.” Kristi said, her voice was a little shaky.

“One, Watcher. Recovery is ten minutes out.” Penny said, cutting in right after Kristi on the radio.

“Roger, Watcher. Three I am in route.” Kurt answered before looking at Val. “If they move, talk or even look like they are casting, shoot them.”

He quickly made his way to the back room behind the partition. He noticed it was barely standing up by its zig-zag nature, so he pushed it over, giving him line of sight to the main room from the doorway. He stepped through, expecting to find a complex, but was t with a large room with a sunken section of floor. Kristi was standing at the top of the steps, her back to the door. He also noted that the room was unnaturally cold, like it was a giant walk-in refrigerator without any visible equipnt.

In the middle of the sunken section was a ritual circle. He stepped up next to Kristi and saw that the ritual was drawn in what looked like blood. It was almost completely dry, despite the cool, damp room so it wasn’t very fresh.

The diagram wasn’t what Kristi was looking at however, and he followed her gaze. In the corner of the room near the door they entered through was a tarp. Kurt could tell at a glance that tarp was covering bodies, mostly because so of the limbs stuck out from under it.

What caught his attention, and likely Kristi’s, was the small, child sized arm that protruded from the side. A wide gash was across the wrist of that arm and Kurt saw similar marks on so of the others. He stepped forward to the tarp, swallowing hard at what he was about to do.

He pulled the edge up, trying to use his body to block the sight from Kristi. He failed. She gasped and he heard a strangled ‘no’ co from her as he lowered the tarp. His blood boiled at the sight of the five innocent people that were used as no more than blood donors.

“Out.” He commanded while turning back to Kristi and grabbed her by the shoulder. He looked her in the eyes as they welled with tears. “Just clear out of this room.” He grabbed her hand, pulling her forward as she nodded and tried to choke back a sob.

Kurt wrapped his arm around her and helped guide her to the corner of the main room. Val looked over, concern in her eyes at seeing the dragoness in such a state. Kurt’s wolf was howling in rage, trying to force its way to the fore and make him shift. He suppressed the urge and stord over to David after sitting Kristi down on a bench.

“Up.” He commanded and grabbed him by the collar. “Who leads?” He demanded after he had the man on his knees. He didn’t say anything, just staring at him with hate in his eyes and a clenched jaw. Kurt hauled off and punched him in the face. A quick, though forceful jab to the nose was all that was needed.

The blow rocked the man back and blood gushed from his nose as he literally was knocked on his ass. Kurt pulled him up and set him back on his knees, this ti pointing a rifle at his knee. “Who leads?”

David spluttered and spit blood on the floor. A tooth ca up with the blood and clattered across the concrete. “I do.” He said in the muted tone that ca with a smashed nose.

Kurt turned and stord down the line to grab Patricia, hauling her up to her knees. “Is that your father?”

She didn’t even speak, just nodding as tears ran down her cheeks. Kurt dragged her over to kneel in front of her bleeding father. After dropping her, he grabbed an older looking woman. “Is he the leader?”

“Fuck you.” She spat at him, so Kurt shot her in the knee, and she fell forward screaming.

He grabbed the next person in line. “Is he the leader of this coven?”

This man had the good sense to answer. “Yes!” he shouted. Kurt deposited him back to the ground with a little more force than was necessary.

“One, Watcher. Recovery is five minutes out.” Penny said.

Kurt acknowledged her as he stord over to the father and daughter duo. “Why did you murder those people?” He addressed David directly.

When the man didn’t answer Kurt pressed the muzzle of his rifle to the top of this thigh and raised an eyebrow. That got so traction, and the man spluttered once more, spitting so more blood out as he spoke.

“Ptah. Because we needed blood for the summoning.” He admitted.

“And you used won and children…” Kurt led him with an opened statent. He had seen the fear on their faces and the horrific wounds that caused them to slowly bleed out.

“Cattle are cattle. They served their purpose.” He muttered loud enough to be heard over the woman sobbing on the floor a few feet away, at least having the balls to et Kurt’s eyes. “Why should we care about so random mundane humans? They are everywhere and should be happy to serve their betters.”

Kurt had t these types in the past. Those that thought they were above the regular humans because they had so access to magic. Kurt growled as he pulled away. David had a smug look despite having a broken nose and a missing tooth.

“What’s the matter? Want to kill

but can’t?” He taunted. “I guessing you are just the hound they let out when your masters need work done.”

Taking two large steps back he locked eyes with David as he grabbed Patricia by the hair and yanked her back up to her knees. David’s eyes went wide at how he handled his daughter. “No, stop. I for…” He began to say.

Kurt pressed the muzzle of his rifle to the base of her neck, in the space between the woman’s collar bone and her trap in a slightly awkward angle with his rifle held nearly vertically. He looked right at David, ignoring the choking sobs now coming from Patricia. “Cattle are cattle.” He quoted and pulled the trigger.

He had fired at such an angle that the bullet passed through her lung and diaphragm before entering her stomach cavity and passing out through the side of her hip. She tried to scream as he let her fall forward but only managed a sucking, rattling gasp.

“You monster! You fucking bastard! What have you done!” David roared while his daughter began slowly dying on the floor in front of him. The rest of the room was silent, even Val and Kristi refused to say a word as they watched the sight.

Kurt watched on in silence as Patricia began spitting up frothy pink blood. He could see her shuddering and shaking, almost flopping like a fish on the ground. He noticed that her trachea began to deviate, pushing to one side as the pressure in her one working lung began to collapse her airway.

David was telling her sweet lies the entire ti. He promised that everything was going to be fine, that a healer would be there any mont to save her. For her part, Patricia just stared back in horror, eyes wide as her world began to fade.

A mont later the door popped open. “Friendlies coming in!” a man shouted before poking his head through the door and saw the sight before him. “Fuck. Danakar, we need dical.” The elf man said as the team poured into the room.

The halfling that ca pattering around the corner went to the woman Kurt had shot in the knee and slapped a talisman on the wound. It likely acted to slow bleeding while he cast a spell over her prone form. He then scurried toward Kurt. “Step aside, I can…”

“No.” Kurt said and blocked the healer’s path.

“But I…”

“I said no. She is a worthless shit-cunt that admitted she isn’t even a mber of the inner circle. I am doing this to prove a point.”

“Heal her!” David scread. “I beg of you, please heal her.” He was clearly trying to appeal to the nature of healers and their generally caring disposition.

“Listen, I am here to heal people.” He said and tried to step around Kurt. “What is Jay going to say when he finds out?” He said it in a very na-drop tone.

Kurt snorted. “He’s already watching and hasn’t said a fucking thing.” He tapped the cara on his shoulder, pointing it out for the tiny man. “If he wants to chew

out then fine, but this bitch dies.”

Danakar looked to the woman who was breathing in shallow rapid breaths, and he could clearly see the bullet holes. “I don’t think she deserves…”

He was cut off as Kurt reached down, grabbed him by the back of the vest and hauled him over to the door in the back wall. The little halfling was kicking and yelling the entire way as Kurt ripped the tarp off the pile of bodies. He didn’t say a word as he held the healer still and made sure he saw.

Dropping the man to the floor Kurt spoke in a low tone. “Do you think she deserves to live after this?” When the healer just shook his head, he dragged him back out of the room. “Go, secure your charges but leave her.” He gave him a little push to get his legs moving.

“I swear you will pay for this. What sort of vile creature are you.” David yelled as his daughter’s breathing halted and her eyes rolled back in her head. She began convulsing with little twitching kicks before finally going still.

Kurt stowed his rifle, belt, glasses and clothing so quickly it looked like an illusion vanishing. Standing in just his boxers for a fraction of a second, he let the wolf finally take over.

He swelled, his body and limbs lengthening as he grew to his full height. With one massive, clawed hand he reached down grabbing David and snarling at him, letting the spittle fly and drip as he forced his lupine features to shift slightly so he could talk.

“The kind of creature that you wish had killed you as cleanly as I killed her.” Kurt snarled before throwing the man down and hearing bones snap as he landed poorly from the four-foot fall.

Every eye in the room was on him and more than a few of the recovery team had reached for their sidearms as they watched the spectacle. He could sll that more than one had pissed themselves, at least a little. Taking a few long strides, he made his way to the elf that seed to be in charge.

Kurt shifted back to his normal form and summoned his gear back to its original position. “The building is yours. We are leaving.” He said and the girls were hot on his heels as they left to et up with Penny.