The Alphas Game - Complete Set (17 page)

Chapter2

Ysella really is a beautiful woman in her natural form. I’m fairly positive that I’ve viewed it now because I forced her back into it. I couldn’t do it in the office because it’s a pretty  complex ritual, not one that should be done on an unwilling subject when they’re not restrained, it’s just too easy for them to get out of it if they’re not properly immobilized. So I had to wait, but it was worth it. The woman has long greenish hair, but in non-florescent lighting I’m pretty sure that it would look blond. That’s where the similarities to my secretary end. Where Hope’s hair is curly and full of pep, Ysella’s has a hard straightness to it, something that actually looked severe when coupled with the serious streak in her deep black eyes. Her sharp cheekbones and slender frame were traditionally beautiful, but if you dared to stare deep into her eyes you can see the destructive nature that she carried with her. She was the most dangerous type of fairy, one that embodied the violent and destructive forces that exist in nature, fire, deception, poison. All of these things existed within her.

“I don’t have to say anything to you people. I know my rights.” The fairy was adamant and that or other declarations to the same effect seemed to be the only thing she was willing to say. “You’re just reaching and you’ve got nothing on me.”

Rosie sighed as she examined the fairy’s face. It was cold and uncaring, but behind that was a confidence, a belief that even after being caught she would never have to pay for her crimes. They weren’t getting anywhere with this woman. She hadn’t given up anything and she seemed to have covered her tracks well enough to be confident that they wouldn’t be able to track down her hideout or anything else about her. “Why don’t you just come clean? We’re going to find the truth one way or the other and your life is going to get a lot easier if you just talk to us.”

“I don’t have to say anything.” Her voice was haughty and cruel, like an ancient noble speaking to a commoner. Her Romanesque nose was the line that her vision followed as she looked down on them.

Grey slammed his hands down on the table. His ears were tinged pink, but his motions were highly controlled. He was using every interrogation technique he had ever learned and nothing seemed to be working. “Let’s just leave her to think about it.” He left the room, followed closely by Rosie. Kevin was waiting outside with three cups of coffee held in a triangle between his hands and they moved to the adjacent room to watch her and discuss the way this case was going. “I feel a lot better knowing that at least one of them is off the street.”

“I do too.”  She agreed with Grey then turned to Kevin. “Did we get anything else with the Schmidt’s body while we were arguing with a wall?”

“He was shot in the head.” The lion sipped his coffee carefully. It was steaming, directly from the pot in the tiny break room that was less than fifty feet away. He licked his tender lips and continued to explain. “They haven’t found a whole lot else.”

“Did they trace the gun yet?” Grey asked as he held the cup full of nearly boiling caffeinated drink. He was holding it between his hands as if that was the only source of warmth in the room. It was a comforting action, one that he had been using for many years when life got a little difficult. He took solace in the warmth, praying silently for a miracle to arrive and help him to solve this case.

“They don’t have anything official yet.” Kevin warned carefully.

“What are the preliminary findings?” Grey asked in a hurry. He had recognized the tone of Kevin’s voice and wanted to know what the man had found out.

Kevin thought about it. “Well they’re pretty sure that it was the same gun used in several other crimes from the area.”

“Can those crimes be linked to Alfi?” Rosie asked, leaning forward as if expecting something incredibly exciting to happen.

“He’s a suspect in a lot of the cases, and the rest of them have a new suspect.” He explained. “But every single murder committed with that gun is unsolved and they had all been previously thought unsolvable. Now that we have Schmidt’s body, we might be able to let a lot of people get some rest. That is, if we can find Alfi.”

“How many murders are we talking about here?” Rosie asked. “How many people did this man kill?”

Grey’s eyes widened at the thought of the crime spree.

“From everything we’re seeing, he might be one of the most prolific serial killers in the country.” Kevin told them this as he leaned back in the chair. “None of this has been verified.”

“We know, how many killings has he been linked to?” Rosie placed her coffee cup on the table and stared at the man.

Kevin didn’t really want to answer. It wasn’t going to be pleasant at all. The number was a lot larger than they previously thought. “It’s proven that he’s killed ten people.” It was a statement of fact, but not the answer that the other two were looking for. “He might be linked to as many as forty more. It’s just an estimate at this point, please keep that in mind.”

“Fifty people? Are you serious?” Grey placed his hands on his forehead. His long exhalation showed awe in the number.

“It’s just an estimation,” Kevin warned them. “We don’t know for sure that there are more than ten.”

“This is insane. We have to stop the guy,” Rosie insisted. “I’m going to talk to her again. She has to give us something.”

“I’m not so sure that she’s going to talk. There were several of the murders that couldn’t have happened without an accomplice.” Kevin started to detail some of the horrific crimes. They were bloody and violent, committed by a sadist who had no respect for life, someone who was bent on destruction. Rosie wanted to throw up by the end of the watered down descriptions. It was a cruel twist of fate that Schmidt, a man of great influence and power, had fallen to a killer that typically targeted human women. Alfi was planning something, and from the way it looked, he had picked his next target and was starting to torment them.

“I think he’s got an eye on you, “ Kevin continued. “You should stay back here. Grey and I will see if we can get her to talk. She’s going to be a lot more confident talking to us because she’s controlled us before and it might get her to make a mistake and admit something that she doesn’t want to.”

“I’m not his type.” Rosie glanced over the physical descriptions of the woman that Alfi had killed. Every single one of them was a tall white woman of incredible grace and eloquence. Every single one of them had no knowledge of the world that lived in the shadows. The dark skinned witch didn’t fit either one of those qualifications.

“Doesn’t matter. I’m pretty sure you caught his eye.” Grey agreed with his partner. “You should go into protection.”

“I’m not going to run away. I’ve got a gun at home. I’ll go get it and if he comes near me, I’ll shoot him.” The detective placed her coffee cup down on the table with a thud, causing the dark brown liquid to splash over the sides and hit the table.

“Did you forget that he might be a shape shifter? Are you going to shoot everyone who comes near you, just to be sure?” Kevin asked the question, even though he knew he wasn’t going to get an answer or change her mind. He hoped, however vaguely, that something he said would make a difference and lead her to a reasonable state of mind.

“I didn’t forget.” The woman chewed on her lip as she looked over the file once again, trying to cover for the fact that she had indeed gone a little overboard with her declaration of intent. “I’m not hiding.”

The men ignored it, they had more important things to consider. Schmidt’s boss was coming down from his office to help handle the increased workload that came from a murder, and somehow they had to convince the man that they should be kept on the case. It wasn’t an easy proposition, seeing as how a lot of pressure was being placed on them to step back and let a more specialized team take over. “Do you think they’re going to send Jones and Abernathy?” Grey asked his partner.

“They’re the experts in cases like this, but I’m pretty sure we’ve got a day or two, they have to come all the way from California. That takes some time to arrange and get them on the plane.   I plan to keep working with this case. We’ve got to find something out. It feels like we’ve just been stumbling around in the dark looking for clues.”

“I know, let’s just try to get this thing solved.” Grey stood, leaving Rosie behind and walked back into the interrogation room. Kevin walked with him, leaving Rosie to stare through the one-way window at the interrogation. “We just got the news.”

Ysella looked up at him, but she didn’t respond. Instead her eyes locked onto his in an uncomfortable stare. Kevin moved up to assess the situation. “You do know that your little tricks aren’t going to work in here, right?”

The woman sighed. “I know.” She straightened her form and looked at them. “I’ve already told you, it doesn’t matter how you’re going to try to trick me, I’m not going to tell you anything.”

“That’s fine. You can deal with Abernathy and Jones.” Grey’s smug smirk irked the woman. “They’re experts and will just make you answer the questions they want you to.”

“Here’s the thing. We traced Alfi to the gun that was used to kill Schmidt and we know that he was still in prison when the man was killed. Considering that you were posing as the man, we have pretty much an open and shut case.” Kevin explained as he sat across the table from the woman. “That means we’ve got evidence and you’re going to be locked up for a very, very long time. We don’t like it when you kill FBI agents.”

“Your brother isn’t as organized as you are, is he?” Grey joined his partner, flipping the chair around and straddling it. “He’s never going to be able to orchestrate an escape. He’s not going to be able to get you out. He’s just not a subtle as you are. He’ll get himself caught in no time and all of this will have been a waste of time.” He could see the arrogance on her face starting to drain away as she considered the possibilities, but it didn’t last long before she shook herself back into control.

“Are you trying to make me an offer?” Ysella asked Grey. She really didn’t believe them, deception was part of questioning suspects and she knew that after going through it with her brother.

“Nope, just telling you the facts. I don’t make a deal if the person I’m talking to doesn’t suggest it,” Grey explained, examining his fingernails closely. He stood. “I’m going to take off now. They’re going to come by and put you in a cell to wait for the specialists. Your powers will be blocked and you’ll be trapped in this form. I’m not going to worry about questioning you anymore. You’ve won, I hope you enjoy your victory.”

Ysella looked a little shocked about his response. “What are you doing?”

“I’m leaving. I think I’ve given you enough chances to talk yourself out of trouble, but we have enough evidence on you to put you away for the rest of your life.”

The fairy smiled. “You can’t put me away for the rest of my life, I’m immortal.”

Grey turned and looked at her. There was a hard smile on his face. “We’ll put you away until we can’t hold you anymore, which probably won’t be until Armageddon. No one really knows how long that’s going to be. It could be next year, it could be a thousand years from now. You are going to be one of the most securely locked up people in history, so you’ll be the last one to ever get out. There’s a chance that if the world ends and no one lets you out of your tiny dark basement, you’ll be trapped down there, alone for eternity.” With that he left the room, letting her think about the fate that was about to come crashing down on her head. Kevin followed, not saying a word, knowing that what needed to be said had already been said.

They walked back into the second room and watched the woman. Her face seemed to be morphing through a gamut of emotions before their eyes. What Grey had said had  obviously made a difference, but her love for her brother was already incredibly strong, something that would be a challenge to overcome, especially for law enforcement that were already high on the untrustworthy scale that she kept.

Chapter3

We pissed him off, and I knew it before he found us, but I had no idea how bad it was. His rage was overpoweringly strong, undeniably uncontrollable. He found us at my office and his red face seethed and steamed, unable to form words properly as he flew at us, doing his best to kill every one of us. We knew what had angered him so much, but it didn’t matter why he was so mad, what mattered was the fact that we had his sister in custody, trapped in a cell. It’s incredibly obvious how much these siblings seem to care about each other, but the reasons are still unclear to me. Both of them have extremely sadistic tendencies, the type that seem to cut them off from all relationships, but their sibling relationship seems like it’s extremely stalwart.

He was stalking them, watching carefully to pick the perfect time to strike. Hunkered down in the back of the police car, he understood that he could be discovered if someone looked close enough to see the blood on the front of the officer’s neck and running down his shirt. He wasn’t exactly happy that he had lost control like that and regretted the fact that he was not a shape shifter like his sister was. Instead he was gifted with the ability to slip in and out of places, remaining mostly unseen; a way to fool other’s minds. It’s a unique ability, not so much invisibility, but the ability to be ignored as long as he didn’t do anything too unusual. He liked it, but it wasn’t as handy as Ysella’s ability to take on other forms. If she hadn’t been caught, this wouldn’t be happening.

He blamed them, rage flowing uncontrollably through him. They had taken his sister into custody. If they had just let her go, he wouldn’t have to do this. He wouldn’t have to hurt him. “If they would just mind their own business I wouldn’t have to do this.” The thought kept repeating itself in his mind. He watched, his eyes barely poking above the bottom edge of the window.

They arrived and he was pleased by the fact. They only glanced at the car in front the building, assuring themselves that the guard was still out there. He smiled, glad that he had decided to prop the man’s head back up and that the tinted windows obscured the details of his crime.  Concern crossed his face when he noticed the shifter’s pause.

“I smell blood.” Grey’s voice felt like a prison, certain doom.

“I do too.” Kevin agreed, nodding. He pointed. “It’s coming from that direction.” He was indicating the direction of the surveillance vehicle, his position and Alfi knew that it was time to strike. He opened the back door, slowly unfolding his lanky legs from the back seat, carefully making his form stand up to his full height. He was somewhere between Kevin and Grey in length, but much smaller in frame.

His joints started to crack and pop as he began to change into his fairy form. Every full-blooded fairy and some mixed blooded individuals had at least two forms, a humoresque form, one that could appear human with some exotic features, and a winged form, something obviously supernatural. Ysella, and some other fairies like her, could take multiple forms but Alfi wasn’t one of the lucky few.

Wings sprung from his back, forcing themselves upright with vibrant colors of green and red, nature’s sign for poison. They looked like a mixture of bat and dragonfly, with skin covering the four separate long skinny wings that had protruded from his shoulder blades and mid-back. His face grimaced and changed, growing fangs dripping with acidic ichor. His bite was poisonous, something dangerous that was not to be trifled with. The venom would paralyze his foes and victims, leaving them unable to defend themselves.  His face contorted into a violent smile and his eyes danced with vicious delight, more vibrantly green.

His body grew something similar to scales, a natural armor and Rosie was reminded of a bug when she gazed upon the deadly form. His skin covering looked like it glittered somewhere between brown and a bright green. His coloring was the type that would signify poison to a predator.  That was the destructive element of nature showing its stripes. Nature is a violent and wondrous thing, and one must respect both parts of it to truly appreciate its beauty. The problem with Alfi was that his nature had grown out of control, become something that rampaged throughout the world destroying everything in sight. This wasn’t a fight she wanted to be in, so she slipped behind Grey and Kevin as they too started to shift, hair growing from their bodies, snouts forming, and their joints beginning to pop and shift into different positions. “Shifting looks painful, glad I’m not one.”

Nobody paid any attention to her words. They were focused on the coming combat as Alfi took to the sky. He flew over their heads, coming down behind the detective with a bloody bite that landed on her shoulder. The woman fell, letting everyone know how dangerous the venom could be.  Kevin flew into action, propelling his body forward and grabbing the fairy around the upper arm, forcing the physically weaker foe to move closer to the lion.

Grey’s hand shot out, connecting with the fairy’s jaw, deflecting the bite that was meant for Agent Leonard’s shoulder. The hybrid lion-man creature grunted his thanks and brought a knee up to connect with the fairy’s midsection, but he missed. The winged man seemed to have incredible speed and even pinned like he was, he was able to dodge the telegraphed attack. Grey grabbed at the man, securing his other arm and the creature screamed. It was ear piercing and shrill, the type of screech that has been attributed to banshees. Both shifters let go of their target, grabbing their ears as some blood started to drip from the orifices. Alfi’s grin became even more unbearable as he grabbed at the woman lying on the ground. Her eyes widened, but her body didn’t seem to want to respond to her commands.

The hands gripped her shoulders, digging sharp claws into her flesh, causing her to bleed and there was nothing that she could do about it. She tried to force her body to move, to wrench herself away from the creature’s   grip, but all she could do was twitch her fingers and toes.

The shifters recovered and reached out to swing at the fairy, but Alfi quickly danced out of the way, releasing his target. Grey and Kevin advanced, not wanting the violent killer to get away. The dripping fangs formed into a wider grin, a spiteful smile becoming even more spine-chillingly violent. As the agents closed on their quarry, the murderer spat venom into Grey’s eyes, causing the wolf to step back and try to wipe the vile substance from his eyes. The grey wolf began to howl in pain as the burning began its assault on the tender flesh around his eyes.

Kevin took little notice of his partner. He knew that his focus needed to be on Alfi, ready to fend off any other trick that the creature was ready to pull out. He didn’t lunge this time, instead slowly moving forward, carefully stepping over the prone detective, he wanted to put the others behind him and the winged creature didn’t seem to notice his tactic and retreated as far as the lion was going to push him. Alfi waited, Kevin seemed to be planning something but he couldn’t identify the plan as of yet. He wanted to be prepared.

Kevin reached out again, an open handed swipe aimed at the fairy’s shoulder. Alfi ducked back and realized exactly how close the strike came to destroying his wings. The big cat seemed determined to take out his wings and Alfi knew the purpose. Kevin wanted to remove his mobility, make it so that the fairy couldn’t get away fast enough.

Alfi lifted his body into the air, the wings buzzing behind him, unnaturally fast. The wings granted stability to his magical flight, they weren’t the parts that actually caused the levitation, but it was the only way he could control the direction that he wanted to go. Flying up, above the lion he misjudged the height and didn’t realize it until a clawed hand gripped the slender ankle. Alfi was plucked from the air and slammed onto the ground, but he managed to graze the flesh of his attacker with his teeth.

As the poison started to course through Kevin’s veins the shifter felt himself start to grow sluggish. There wasn’t enough of it to cause him to fall to the ground, but there was a dangerous slowing of the lion’s reactions. Kevin stepped back, his heel barely missing the witch’s head and the fairy noticed the moment of weakness, closing on his opponent.

Claws flew out from both combatants, landing slashing blows at the same time. Alfi gripped his chest, the blood was pouring out of him while Kevin’s wounds were already healing. Grey had recovered enough to step and join his injured partner. Alfi knew that there wasn’t much that he could do at this point and vaulted into the air, taking flight and getting out of reach before the two injured shifters could react. They tried to leap for him, but he stayed just out of reach, taunting them for a long moment before buzzing off into the sunset, enjoying the pain he had stacked onto the shifters and their detective. “I’ll see you later.” Infinitely pleased with himself he laughed as he flew off, pleasantly surprised at how long the combat lasted and how much injury he had inflicted onto the group.

The men started to shift back and Kevin reached for his phone to call the office and let them know about the situation. It would take several minutes for someone to arrive. During their wait Kevin picked up the detective, carefully cradling her prone form against his chest while Grey attempted to wipe more of the acidic ichor out of his eyes.

They were still in that position when backup arrived, Schmidt’s boss; a man named Edwards, leading the way into the remnants of the melee. “I’ll call medical and tell them to hurry.” The director of the special division started to shout out orders, with everyone else immediately snapping to attention. “Remember to swab the wound before we clean them out.”