More Than Meets the Eye

  Chapter 9

  Avery drove his car down to the waterfront, passing darkened warehouses and half abandoned loading docks, scanning this way and that, looking for a large black wolf in the darkness.

  Tasha was also looking, but the inky blackness of the water to her right kept drawing her attention. There were a few barges tied up, but nothing bigger. And nothing that looked like a gangster hideout. She rolled down her window, despite the cool autumn air that flowed into the car, chilling her.

  “Why you looking at the water? Werewolves can’t swim,” Avery reminded her. He parked his car behind a large crane, rusted with age, but still looked to be functional. “Hey look. That dock looks like it gets regular use.”

  “I’ve notice that a number of these docks are still in use. What makes that one so great?”

  “Because this one is in the Quick’s territory. If it’s not Quick’s then they pay Quick to let them do business here. Either way, it’s as good a place to start as any.”

  Tasha was about to open her door, when Avery laid a stilling hand on her arm. “You know, I shouldn’t let you get out. Chances are pretty good that you will be in danger.”

  “Yeah, yeah, and Jake will have a conniption. Got it. This is too exciting to just sit it out in the car.”

  “Oh man, I did not want to hear that,” Avery mumbled. “Just promise me you’ll hang back, and do exactly what I say. Oh, and here,” he handed over an amulet. “Wear this. It’ll help make you not quite as appetizing should we run into a rabid hellhound.”

  “Not quite as appetizing?”

  “You won’t be invisible to it, but it makes you seem less interesting than, say, a gangster, or two fools out in the middle of the night chasin it. The amulet kinda confuses it, so it will go for the most obvious target. Just make sure that target is not you, kay?”

  “Got it.” She pulled the chain attached to the medallion over her head. “Lighter than it looks.”

  “Yeah, cuz it’s not got but a trace of gold in it. Which is why it’s not as effective as say one with a lot of gold in it. You are still vulnerable, so…”

  “I said I got it. So, where do we start? That warehouse?”

  “Might as well. It’s seems a little obvious though.”

  “Yeah, well, c’mon, let’s keep to the shadows.” The two moved from behind the crane, to a pile of crates, on farther to crouch down to peek around the corner of the big stone warehouse. “You’re not getting one of those, intuitions or anything are you?” Avery whispered tightly.

  “Nope. You?”

  “Not a thing.

  “Because there’s nothing here,” Jake said from behind them, causing Avery to turn and draw his side arm and Tasha to jump straight up with a squeak of surprise.

  Jake laughed. “Gotcha.”

  Tasha was about to give Jake a piece of her mind until she turned to face Jake, saw he was stark naked, and turned back around, her cheeks burning. Jake chuckled at her discomfort.

  “So, you’re not going to yell at me for bringing Tasha?” Avery asked, warily eyeing his friend as he slid his gun back into its shoulder holster.

  “Well I would, but I know it wouldn’t do me any good. I’m beginning to think that the only way to keep her outta this is to chain her up.”

  “Damn straight,” Tasha muttered.

  “I’ve gone over the entire area you said was Quick territory, but I couldn’t detect anything. You didn’t happen to bring my clothes with you did ya?”

  “Yeah, in the trunk of the car.”

  They crossed over to the car, Avery opened the trunk and handed Jake a bundle.

  Meanwhile, Tasha walked to the very edge of the dock and looked down into the black water. It was colder here and Tasha hugged herself against the sudden chill.

  Jake and Avery came up and stood to either side of her. “Something about the water Tash?” Jake asked.

  “I don’t know. I do seem to keep getting drawn to it though.”

  “Let’s walk a little,” suggested Avery.

  “I’ve already been down in front of that warehouse, so let’s go the other direction,” Jake pointed and the others followed.

  “Smells pretty,” Tasha commented. “Like rotten everything.”

  “Old wood, metal, rubber and fuel. Throw in fish that have died from the contamination and it does make for an olfactory delight,” Avery added sarcastically.

  They continued to walk until Tasha stopped.

  Jake immediately began to sniff. Avery pulled his gun, “Whatcha got Tash?” Avery asked while scanning around them.

  “Nothing. It’s just not as cold right here.”

  Jake shook his head in disbelief. “I should have felt it. You’re right of course.”

  “Air movement,” observed Avery, as he directed Jake’s attention to the swirling movement of Tasha’s long, black hair. “There’s no wind, but Tasha’s hair is floating up. Suppose its exhaust?”

  Jake held his hand out over the particular spot, beginning from the farthest point away from him over the water and then moving it back towards the edge of the dock. “It’s strongest right here.” He knelt down onto the cement and lowered his hand past the dock. “Hold my feet,” he ordered.

  As Jake slid over the edge, Avery and Tasha grabbed him by his legs and held him in place until he began scooting himself backwards with his hands.

  “There’s a vent down there,” Jake said as he stood, dusting himself off.

  “And why would you need a vent under a dock?” Avery asked as he walked further, leaning over the water as he went.

  “Good question,” Jake replied, sniffing the air again.

  Tasha followed Avery, with Jake trailing behind her, sniffing, ever sniffing, until he took off at a run, past both Tasha and Avery. He stopped about one hundred feet away, crouched low. He stood and asked Avery for his cell phone, which he opened without saying a word to his companions, pressing a finger to his lips for silence. “It’s me. I’ve found it.” He pointed down to what looked like a large drainage grate, inset so that it was even with the cement of the dock, then motioned for Avery and Tasha to move away.

  Avery spotted an out building, what may have once been a guard shack, not twenty feet beyond, so he led Tasha there, Jake following after he had completed his call.

  “You caught a scent?” Avery asked. Jake nodded.

  “What do we do now?” Tasha asked. She was scared and excited. And she was starting to get twitchy and restless again.

  “We don’t do anything,” Jake admonished. “If I am correct, then we’ve got our selves a very dangerous predator nearby. And probably some magic somewhere as well. We need an actual monster hunter to help out.”

  “Mel comin then?” asked Avery.

  “Yeah, he’ll be here in a few. Don’t know how he knew where I was going to be, but he’s nearby.”

  “Burly had him on standby,” Avery said.

  “Wait, hold it, an actual monster hunter?” Tasha interrupted.

  “What, you know there are monsters, but you question the existence of monster hunters?”

  “It’s just, I don’t know, there’s this whole alternate culture that I’m just finding out about. Just give me and minute to adjust will ya.”

  “Well, when Mel arrives I want you stay here, out of the way. Things could get nasty.”

  “Yeah, I remember,” Tasha was still sore from the claw gouges she’d gotten the night before. She looked at her watch. It was going to be yet another late night.

  It wasn’t but a few minutes until Mel pulled up. He didn’t come right onto the scene, but parked a few hundred feet away. In that time, Jake had done some additional investigation of the grating. He met Mel next to the guard shack, greeting him with a grim face and a handshake. “Glad you got here as quickly as you did.”

  “Pleasure,” the grim faced being grunted. Mel was a giant of a man, the biggest man Tasha had ever seen, leaving her with the impression th
at Mel may actually be a giant. He had huge, broad shoulders and was thick all over. His hands were broad and looked like a large club or double headed ax would feel quite at home there.

  “I’m guessing that grate is where the hound was given access to an underground hideout. I’ll bet…”

  But Jake never got to finish what he was going to say, as Mel turned and headed towards the drainage grate that Jake had indicated. Mel took a whiff, grunted what Tasha assumed to be an affirmative, lumbered back to his work truck and unloaded a large, leather bag. He brought the bag over and removed a large, double headed ax and set it on the ground beside him, causing Tasha to grin with satisfaction. Then he removed a broad sword almost as long as Avery was tall, as well as its scabbard, which he strapped onto his back. He also picked out some round grenade looking spheres of various shapes and sizes, which he tucked into a sack fastened to his waste. He finished by pulling out a handful of knives, which he tucked in various locations about his body. The last thing he took out was a net. When he stood, he took the ax in hand and set the net next to Tasha.

  “You got a weapon?” He asked Jake, who shook his head to the negative. “Look in my truck, find something you can use. You too mage. Girl, you should stay here.”

  Jake and Avery ran to the truck to rummage for weapons while Mel sought for a way to remove the drainage grate. He finally settled on forcing his thick fingers through the grate and gave a great tug. The grate came up in his hands, pieces of concrete bouncing to the ground. He quietly set the grate down onto the ground and jumped into the hole.

  A moment later he popped his head up and gave final instructions. “We go in, get the hound. You, girl, when we go, you cover this hole up with the net. It will keep anything from getting out.”

  Tasha nodded dumbly but as soon as all three men disappeared down the hole, Tasha picked up the net. First she noticed the tingling sensation running through her body. Of course it’s magic, she thought, a regular net’s not going to hold a supernatural being. The net also came apart without any tangling, also an indication of magic. The corners and sides where weighted with weights.

  She spread the net over the drainage hole and then she moved back to the guard shack. Currently, she had settled in to a mood more scared than excited. There was no one around to bolster her bravado. She was also cold, as the wind had picked up. It was blowing off of the water and chilled her to the bone.

  Tasha considered the guard shack and decided it would definitely be warmer in there than outside. It would at least block the wind.

  She tried the door knob. It was unlocked. She tried to open it, but the door was warped, so it took a little shove to get it opened then closed again once she was inside. Tasha hunkered down on the dusty floor and hugged her knees to wait. The waiting portion of any investigation was always the most difficult, this one, even more so. She couldn’t help but wonder if her friends were safe, or if this was just some elaborate trap. Or what if the Quick gang wasn’t home, but came in now, trapping the three men she’d just locked in. Tasha sighed and rested her chin on her crossed arms to wait it out.

  ####

  Tasha felt it before she heard it, a slight tremor in the floor. She heard the faint sound of a guttural, roaring howl that set her already cold body to ice. A stronger tremor followed by a louder roar, brought her to her feet.

  Tasha cleared a spot in the dirty window and looked towards the netted drainage hole but nothing was disturbing it. Where was the hellhound then?

  Another thump followed by another roar. It sounded further away from her than where the gutter was located. She looked down the ally way, but couldn’t see anything, so she wrestled the door open and crept around the corner of the little shack, eyes trained down the street, past Mel’s big truck. There was yet another thump, much stronger now and the roar was unmistakable. The hellhound had found a back door, or at the very least was making one of its own.

  Tasha saw the pavement surge upward and she staggered slightly from the shudder of the earth as it yielded to the terrible power of the beast. The Hellhound had broken out of its underground prison.

  It was free.

  Tasha was terrified. It took her a moment to pull herself together, but she managed somehow to quit with the blinding panic and look for a way to help.

  “Tasha!” Jake hollered from just below the netting. As she ran over to him he continued. “This net’s not going to let us out. You need to pull the net up from your side.”

  Quickly, she gathered up the net, which Jake took from her when he pulled himself from the drainage hole. Another roar made them both freeze in their tracks but still they managed to turn their heads to the direction of the hideous sound.

  The hound was advancing on them. Jake nudged Tasha towards the guard shack. She obeyed and quickly moved behind the shack. Jake and now Avery who had just joined him, slowly moved towards the beast, the net spread open between them. Mel had popped out of the hole the beast had created farther down the street and was closing in from the back.

  “We can’t take it from the front,” Avery muttered. “It’s too smart.”

  “We can keep it occupied and Mel will have to take it from the back.”

  “I don’t like it, brother,”

  “I don’t either, but we don’t have many more options. None that I like anyway.”

  Tasha had an idea, but didn’t ask for Jake’s permission. She knew he wouldn’t allow it.

  Tasha popped out from behind the shack and ran. First she ran straight towards the monster, hollering and waving her arms as she ran so that it was sure to see her. Once she was sure that she had gotten its attention she ran back towards the direction she had come from and ran beyond the shack.

  “Ta…” Jake began, but Avery slugged him in the chest.

  “Quiet, she’s distracting it so we can take it from behind.”

  Jake’s answer was a low, angry growl, though at Tasha or him, Avery wasn’t sure.

  The hellhound slowly advanced on Tasha, only taking a casual, unconcerned glance at Mel, who was trying to head it off. It was more interested in investigating the noisy being that was running about. Usually, running meant prey.

  Avery and Jake hurried behind it.

  Tasha had now slowed to a backwards walk. She had the monster’s full attention now, but as it was not charging her, Tasha figured that the magical amulet Avery had made her wear was, indeed, confusing it.

  Mel approached Tasha with a great deal of caution. Once he arrived at Tasha’s side, he proceeded to keep pace beside her. He took note of her amulet, and quietly spoke. “Ah, now I see why it didn’t attack you. Good work, but you need to leave now. Quickly and quietly, when I say, you run between those two cargo pods.” Tasha nodded as she glanced to the direction Mel had indicated with a jerk of his big, wooly head.

  Still walking backwards, she tripped over a piece of debris. Mel grabbed her by the arm and held her upright until she regained her footing. “Easy there, girl. Steady. Now go!”

  As Tasha quickly turned and ran, Mel bellowed out at the same time, “Over here ya ugly beast!” and continued to yell insults at the thing until the hound’s full attention was on Mel and not Tasha.

  Tasha ran, fast and sure until she had squeezed herself inside the tight space between the two cargo units. Breathing hard, she poked her head out from her hiding place to watch as the hound bore quickly down on Mel. Tasha was fearful for the giant hunter’s life as Jake and Avery weren’t close enough to keep the beast from reaching Mel before they did.

  Mel stood his ground, pulled the mighty sword from its sheath, and, with the other hand still gripping the heavy double-headed ax, took on the great monster when it reached him.

  The guttural screams that issued from the hellhound’s mouth was more than Tasha could take. She covered her ears, but it didn’t seem to do any good. Her ears rang.

  Mel’s gaze never lost contact with that of his adversary. The hound attacked with tooth and cl
aw, Mel blocking and stabbing at the ghastly thing but the beast didn’t even seem to register the blows.

  Avery and Jake ran up behind the monster, dragging the net up and over the beast. As the net settled, it began to constrict, as if of it’s own accord, bringing the flailing beast to its knees while at the same time, impeding it’s thrashing, until, finally the monster lay in a quivering mass, yowling with impotent rage.

  Mel pulled two items from out of his sack. The first was the summoning talisman that Mel slid under the net to rest on the hound’s back. The second was one of the spheres and stuck it upon the wriggling mound of hellhound, and as he stood back, a bright flash emitted from the sphere, pouring light and energy over the beast. When the light finally dimmed, the hellhound was encased in a solid covering of what looked to be a metal of some kind but Tasha couldn’t decide what type. Not that it mattered. The important thing was, the hound was now inert, tightly sealed up in a metal cocoon.

  Mel left Avery and Jake in charge of the malformed lump on the ground while he went and got his truck. Tasha cautiously left her hiding place and made her way to where all the action had just taken place.

  Jake glanced her way and shook his head and smiled wryly in her direction. When she reached them, he hugged her shoulders and grumbled, “I don’t know if I should be proud, or bend you over my knee for getting involved.”

  “Good thinking, Tash,” Avery commented.

  “Thanks.”

  “But what if Mel hadn’t gotten to you in time?” Jake asked, his perturbation winning out over his pride for her actions. “You could have been killed.”

  “But he did. I thought it was worth the risk.”

  Jake growled again, but it was drowned out by the even louder growl of the engine of the large truck as Mel backed it across the empty lot then braked to a halt mere feet from where they stood. Mel hopped down from the tall cab and walked to a control panel at the back. He flipped a lever and a hook on a thick cable lowered from a large boom. Mel fed the cable through a loop that had magically appeared when Mel gave the metal cocoon a tap with the flat of his hand. Another flip of the lever and the bound beast was hoisted up into the air, rotated to hover just above a large, enclosed crate, and lowered down into the crate. Mel sprightly jumped into the bed of the truck, leaned over the crate and unhooked the cable. He covered the crate with its lid, secured it, ensuring that the entire crate was locked down tight before he jumped back down, leaned into the cab and shut off the noisy engine.