Dead Water (4 page)

“
You never said,” I reminded him.

“
Would you have listened?” Potter remarked, glancing over his
shoulder at me.

“
Let me do the talking,” Murphy said, swinging open the van
door once more and climbing out.

Leaning
forward in my seat, I watched Murphy stand in front of the van. The
other police vehicle crawled slowly down the track, its thick tyres
throwing up snow and slush. I peered ahead and could see four cops
wedged into the unmarked patrol car.

“
There’s four of them,” I told Potter.

Without
saying anything back, Potter pushed open the van door and climbed
out.

“
Where are you going?” I hissed. “Murphy said to leave it up to
him.”

Potter slammed the door shut and joined Murphy in front of the
van.
Here we go again,
I thought to myself, sliding open the van door and jumping
out. I joined Murphy and Potter as the car came to a juddering halt
in the snow. Murphy and Potter gave each other one quick, knowing
look. It was like they had some kind of telepathic link. But
despite their constant bickering and sniping at each other, they
were a team – a partnership. Both were able to anticipate the
other’s next move and both had each other’s back. It seemed that no
father and son or any two brothers had the loyalty these two men
showed one another when they were in trouble. Their friendship was
unbreakable.

The
driver’s door to the patrol car slowly creaked open. A giant of a
man climbed out of the vehicle. His police cap was pressed flat on
the top of his huge, round head, the beak pulled down too far; the
rim almost touched the tip of his long nose. He was dressed all in
black, his police uniform immaculate – something Murphy would have
been proud of. From the passenger’s seat climbed another cop. This
one was smaller than the first, but carried in his hand a long,
black rod which hissed and spat tiny blue sparks. The back doors
opened on either side of the vehicle like a set of wings. The last
two cops climbed out, and I could see that one of them was female.
The four cops came forward.

Standing
before us, the huge cop looked bigger, like some kind of freaky
giant. The other swung the Taser in his fist like a club. The last
two hung back.

“
Who are you?” the giant cop asked, his dark eyes peering out
at us from beneath the beak of his cap.

“
We’re cops,” Potter said.

Now I
don’t know if Potter was being a wise arse, but all the same, it
seemed like a stupid thing to say.

“
I can see that,” the cop growled, his voice sounding deep and
throaty.

I saw
the two silver pips on each of his shoulders. He was an Inspector,
and he outranked Murphy.

“
You’ll have to forgive Constable Gabriella,” Murphy cut in.
“He is still young in service. He obviously didn’t understand your
question.”

“
How many ways have I got to tell you, Sarge – its Gabriel!
Gabriella is a freaking girl’s name!” Potter glared at
Murphy.

The
Inspector looked at both Murphy and Potter in disbelief as they
stood and argued. “Listen here, you couple of morons, I couldn’t
give a crap what your name is. You need to get your act together
and smarten up. Just look at yourselves. You’re a complete
mess.”

“
See, Gabriella, I told you you’re untidy and need to smarten
yourself up,” Murphy grunted. “But oh no, you wouldn’t listen to
me. And now the Inspector has seen you looking like a sack of shit,
and we’re both in trouble.”

“
I don’t look like a sack of shit!” Potter snapped back at
Murphy, taking a cigarette from his coat pocket and lighting it. “I
wear my uniform with pride. Anyway, you’ve got no room to talk –
you’re wearing carpet slippers, for fuck’s sake!”

“
Is this some sort of a joke?” the Inspector roared. “I don’t
believe what I’m hearing and seeing. How dare you stand there and
smoke...”

“
Shit! I’m sorry, guvnor,” Potter said, taking another
cigarette from his coat pocket and offering it to the Inspector.
“How rude of me – I should have offered you one, too.”

“
If you don’t fancy a cigarette, I’ve got a pipe you can have a
suck on,” Murphy cut in, fishing his pipe from his coat
pocket.

The
Inspector looked at both Murphy and Potter as if dumbstruck. Then,
as if noticing me for the first time, he said, “And who are you,
the sidekick?” Unlike my friends, I wasn’t dressed in police
uniform.

Before
I’d had a chance to say anything, Potter cut in and said, “This is
our prisoner. We’ve arrested her.”

“
For what?” the Inspector scowled, and just for a moment, I saw
a spark of yellow glint in his dull eyes. Potter had been right. We
were fucked.

“
For killing all those cops out here yesterday,” Murphy said,
now puffing thoughtfully on his pipe.

The
Inspector eyed me up and down, then looked back at Murphy. “You
seriously expect me to believe that this young girl was responsible
for killing all those police officers yesterday?”

“
Yep,” Murphy said, blowing smoke casually from between his
lips.

From the
corner of my eye, I saw the two cops at the back reach for their
long Taser sticks.

“
I know she doesn’t look like much, but you should see her in
action. Believe me she can be a real
tiger
when she wants to be,” Potter
smiled at the Inspector. Then winking at me, Potter added, “Isn’t
that right?”

“
Sure is,” I said, swinging my arm at speed towards the
Inspector. Without even having to think about it, my razor-sharp
claws sprang from my fingers and buried themselves in the
Inspector’s throat. A jet of hot, black blood shot back at me,
splashing my face. The Inspector threw his hands to his throat.
They gripped my wrist, trying to pull my claws from his jugular.
His blood pumped over my fist and down my arm in hot, sticky waves.
He made a gargling sound in the back of his throat as he tried to
scream. Blood sprayed from his open mouth and coated
Potter.

“
Now my uniform
is
a mess,” he groaned, tearing the coat from his back as he
sprang into the air. In a flutter of black shadows, his wings were
free. He clasped the head of the nearest cop in his claws. With one
sudden and blindingly quick twist, he tore the cop’s head clean
off. The head came away from the neck so clean and fast, that the
body stood momentarily in the snow, until it toppled
over.

The
Inspector stopped struggling and fell still. I slid my claws from
the jagged hole they had made in his throat. He collapsed backwards
into the snow, where the blood pumping from his throat turned the
road crimson. I ran the back of my hand down the side of my face,
wiping away the splashes of blood that were there. With my stomach
leaping at the sight and smell of the blood, and knowing that the
Lot-13 was close to running out, I closed my eyes and licked my
fingers clean. The Inspector’s blood felt hot and tasted sweet in
my mouth. I swallowed hard and felt the blood warm the back of my
throat. It felt more than good, but I didn’t want to come to enjoy
that sensation.

I opened my eyes to see the last two remaining cops pulling
their uniforms free as their bodies bristled with fur. I stared at
the female officer in fascination and with morbid curiosity, as her
body began to twist and stretch out of shape as she took the form
of a wolf. Her fur was white and sleek, covering her long, slender
body from head to toe. An elegant-looking tail snaked from her hind
quarters as she leapt into the air, her jaws foaming.
Was there something like that hiding deep inside
of me
? I feared, ripping my coat free. With
my wings springing from my back, I lunged at her. We met mid-air,
clattering onto one another. She howled, her giant jaws spraying
foam just inches from my face. The little black claws at the tips
of my wings grabbed for her as we spun around and around in the
air. Her fur felt like silk as I raked my claws along the length of
her back. She barked and yelped in pain as we fell through the sky.
As the ground raced up towards us, I saw Murphy removing his
uniform and folding it into a neat pile on the driver’s seat of the
police van. He didn’t seem to be in any hurry.

We
thudded into the snow. With my huge black wings arrowed out behind
me, I sat astride the wolf as it kicked wildly out with its back
legs, trying to scratch at my face with is giant front paws. The
wolf’s bright yellow eyes rolled in their wet sockets. The thought
that somewhere deep inside of me was a wolf just like this one
terrified me. With fear and dread consuming me, I clawed and ripped
frantically at the fighting wolf. My claws sliced and slashed open
giant wounds. Slick-looking entrails and tufts of blood-soaked fur
shot up into the air as I tore the wolf to pieces. Somewhere inside
of me, a voice was urging me on. It was as if by killing this wolf,
I was killing the one I feared hiding deep within me.

Suddenly, I felt a firm hand grip my shoulder. “That’s
enough,” I heard a voice say.

Covered in blood, flesh, and fur, I opened my eyes. Murphy was
leaning over me and looking into my face. “The wolf is dead, Kiera.
The wolf is
dead
.”

Slowly,
I stopped clawing and tearing. Gasping for air, I clambered off
what was left of the wolf. Murphy helped me to my feet. I stood in
the scarlet snow, panting and sighing, my face, arms and wings
dripping with blood.

“
What have I done?” I panted, looking at Murphy.

“
What needed to be done, if any of us were to survive,” he said
flatly.

“
I tore it to shreds,” I said, blood dripping from my claws and
spattering the snow at my feet.

“
And it wouldn’t have thought twice about doing the same to
you,” Potter said, suddenly appearing beside me.

His
long, black tattered wings hung from his back, the tips of them
trailing in the snow. He was naked to the waist, and his
well-defined body was splashed with blood, as were his claws and
forearms. I had to fight the sudden urge to be held by him, to be
pressed against him. To feel that warm, sticky blood and his body
moving against mine. I looked away.

“
I killed the last of them, Sarge,” Potter breathed
deeply.

“
Not the last of them,” Murphy grunted. “Just the start of
them. There are plenty more where they came from.”

I looked
at Murphy.

“
Let’s clean this mess up and get on our way,” Murphy added,
heading back towards the road.

Chapter Six

Kiera

Together
we carried the remains of the wolves down the lane and hid them
beneath the snow-covered bracken and thistles at the edge of a
ditch.

“
What we can’t find, the foxes will eat,” Murphy
said.

I felt
soiled and dirty somehow, and although earlier I had enjoyed the
taste of the Inspector’s blood. I now just wanted to be rid of it.
I wanted to shower and scrub the blood of those wolves from my
body. I was desperate to wear some clean clothes. We trudged back
up the road, towards the police van and the unmarked patrol car. It
was then I spied the female officer’s uniform scattered along the
lane wear she had pulled it free during her transformation into a
wolf. Bending down, I gathered up the clothes. I went to the back
of the van, climbed inside, and closed the door.

Alone, I
began to undress. The passenger side door suddenly flew open, and
Potter was looking in at me. I crossed my arms over my
breasts.

“
Do you mind?” I snapped at him.

“
What are you doing?” Potter asked, staring at me.

“
Getting out of these blood-soaked clothes, what does it look
like?” I hissed.

“
Okay, but hurry up. The Sarge wants to get going,” Potter shut
the door, leaving me alone again.

I
screwed my dirty, torn clothes into a ball and stuffed them under
the nearest seat. Then, almost bent double in the confined space at
the back of the van, I put on the female officer’s uniform. As I
buttoned up the shirt, I couldn’t remember the last time I had worn
a police uniform. It must have been back in the Ragged Cove, I
thought. That seemed like a whole lifetime ago now. Once dressed, I
clambered from the van and back out into the cold. Potter was
leaning against the van, smoking a cigarette. He looked me up and
down. I closed the van door and headed towards the unmarked car
where Murphy was removing the blue emergency light from the
roof.

“
Hey, tiger,” Potter said gripping hold of my arm and spinning
me around to face him.

“
What?” I said, looking into his dark eyes.

“
Seeing you dressed like this again reminds me of why I fell in
love with you,” he smiled at me.

“
How come?” I asked.

Leaning
in close, Potter whispered in my ear, “I’d forgotten how damn good
your sweet cheeks looked in uniform.”

I eased
myself away from him, sliding my arm from his grip. “We should get
going,” I said. “Murphy’s right, more of those Skin-walkers could
come back at any time.” Turning my back and leaving him alone by
the van, I made my way down the narrow country lane towards
Murphy.