May, 2024

  Detective Shime Yasu lay in bed, staring at the ceiling of her small apartment in Manhattan. Despite the blackout curtains, a little light got into the room around the edges. It was afternoon, when she was normally asleep, since she worked nights.

  She was a rather short woman, at just over five feet tall, and half Japanese, though in deference to the fact she’d been born in the United States, she placed her given name before her surname. She had green eyes and dark hair, but that was a little hard to pick out in the dark.

  She’d just woken from a dream that was more memory than made up, involving a bizarre case she’d worked the year before. She’d never forget the looks on the faces of the arresting officers, who’d acted as though they’d seen some real awful stuff, but that had been nothing compared to her own reaction, on seeing the dash cam and body cam videos.

  It had started with a goth girl chasing after a crazy man riding the top of a taxi, while the cabby fired a gun upwards, through the roof! The man was obviously both crazy and on enough drugs to shrug off being shot, reminding Yasu of her time as a beat cop, when she’d been forced to deal with a perp high on PCP, who’d been utterly impervious to pain.

  Then, it got weird: the girl turned into a massive panther and the man’s head changed into that of a squirrel, including orange teeth and mad, rodent eyes. It hadn’t been a mask; the transformation to and from had been caught on camera, on top of there being no explanation for the girl’s whole-body change.

  Shortly after that, the panther jumped onto the roof of the patrol car and rode it closer to her prey, at which point it leaped to the roof of the taxi and the two supernatural creatures fell off, in a struggling heap.

  Naturally, the two officers reacted in a standoffish way and hesitated to get involved, though they pointed their guns.

  Shortly after, the cat turned back into the goth girl, via a burst of black mist.

  That was the point at which the uniformed officers tried to arrest them both, for disturbing the peace. If it hadn’t been real, it would have been the funniest thing Yasu ever saw.

  At that point, the girl produced a pistol from another burst of black mist, an M1911, by the look of it, and emptied the clip into the squirrel-man. Fortunately, all the drugs he’d taken seemed to be wearing off and he went down, bleeding black, his blood rapidly evaporating into dark vapor. Despite all the holes in his body, he cursed a lot and didn’t die. In fact, by the time he’d arrived at the station, his injuries had completely healed.

  It had been Yasu’s job to question the goth girl, to get her identity, only for the girl to produce her passport out of thin air, like a magic trick. Running that through the computer had brought up records that had been thoroughly scrubbed, in a very military fashion, which didn’t make sense for a teen girl.

  Shortly after, a female Army Lieutenant had shown up to confiscate all records of the incident, on authority from the President of the United States, which had been confirmed via a few quick phone calls.

  That same Lieutenant had given Yasu a little plastic card, which had been on the nightstand beside her bed, ever since the morning after the incident that officially hadn’t happened.

  Yasu reached over and picked it up, also taking a moment to turn on the bedside lamp.

  She held up the card, which was white and resembled a credit card, because it included the same kind of contact pad for a chip. It was plainly decorated, aside from a phone number below some text: When you’re ready to open your eyes.

  Yasu rarely had day in which she could sleep without her mind first drifting to the bizarre, supernatural events, which reminded her of the Men in Black movies, though she’d been dwelling on stories of Yokai, rather than aliens, because such beings were fond of animal forms. She wasn’t sure if she was ready to open her eyes, but she was tired of not knowing the real truth. Perhaps that was close enough.

  She sat up and grabbed her phone off the nightstand, dialing the number from the card.

  After six rings, a woman picked up and asked, “Are you ready to open your eyes, Detective Yasu?”

  “I hope so.” Yasu answered as honestly as she knew how.

  “Good.” The woman on the other end chuckled, “Go to Fort Hamilton and present the card you were given to the gate guard. You’ll be asked for your name, home address, social security number and an authentication code. Speak honestly about your identity, then provide this code: 5-6-3-5-2-7. That code will be valid only for the next thirteen hours, though you’re required to show up in exactly twelve. Do not be late, but do call again if something prevents you from arriving as scheduled.”

  “Understood.”

  “Goodbye and good luck. I hope you’ll find satisfaction in the work, since the pay is crap.”

  Yasu smiled, because the Lieutenant that gave her the card had said basically the same thing, but sometimes, the truth was worth more than money.

  Six weeks had passed and Yasu was in one of three big military trucks driving up a dusty road into some mountains, though she had no clue where she actually was. She’d ridden in three military cargo planes, the last of which had been huge, a C-130. She hadn’t been told anything about where they’d stopped, nor where they were going, other than the fact that all locations along the way were secret.

  The back of the truck was mostly full of other civilians, based on the way they carried themselves, despite the fact the tight-lipped Army men had dressed them all in camouflage military fatigues suitable for a forest. The back of the truck was covered, leaving them in a hot and sweaty darkness for the trip, while a sergeant and corporal sat at the very back, watching over them with an odd mixture of responsibility and distrust. The patch on their left shoulders displayed a black sword on a puff of gray smoke, with various shades of gray in the background. It was shaped like a shield a medieval knight might carry.

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  Yasu and three others had begun their journey at Fort Hamilton, though more had come from various locations all over the states, twenty-two in number, each with a little luggage. Since they’d been encouraged to bring weapons they were familiar with, Yasu had packed the pistol she’d been issued by the NYPD, plus a little personal backup gun she’d always kept on her ankle and the set of katana, wakizashi and tanto she’d learned to use as a teen. The swords had taken a bit of extra care to pack, due to length.

  The truck came to a halt and the sergeant spoke politely, “Ladies and gentlemen, we’ll be taking a short break. You new recruits can walk around for a moment, but please don’t wander off.”

  The corporal climbed out and helped the civilians leave the truck, while the sergeant lingered and gave a hand down, as required.

  They’d stopped at a pretty clearing next to the dirt road into the mountains, which was surrounded by tall trees that blocked the view in every direction. Yasu got the distinct impression the location had been chosen for that very quality.

  Everyone that wasn’t a soldier milled about, aimlessly, some yawning, while others stretched. Most of the group were adults, but there were a few teens mixed in, who were all girls.

  One of the younger women wore a top hat and knee-length skirt of a sort that had been fashionable during the 1940’s, rather than military fatigues, and a pair of elbow-length, fingerless opera gloves, all in a camouflage pattern. Around her neck was a shark tooth necklace and on her wrist, she wore a charm bracelet of cast iron plates linked by silvery, steel chain. She had well-combed short, brown hair with blue streaks and the most vibrantly blue eyes Yasu had ever seen, almost as if they reflected the light more than average.

  Yasu recognized the girl as the very same goth that had turned into a panther, though she looked at least a couple years older, probably about twenty, but Yasu wasn’t quite sure. She imagined the girl’s passport, which had claimed she was twenty-seven, had been correct, after all, but she was probably one of those that looked like a teen until nearly the age of thirty. Yasu was simultaneously nervous and reassured by the girl’s presence, because she was extremely capable.

  Yasu stepped over and smiled, “Miss Watson, I didn’t expect to see you here!”

  The girl looked at Yasu and cocked her head to one side, sounding almost Canadian as she asked, “A?”

  “We met last year, when you were arrested. Lieutenant Porter came to bail you out.”

  The girl finally seemed to remember and nodded as she reminded Yasu, “It’s a secret.”

  “Yes, I know that.” Yasu sighed, “I’ve lived with that fact for the past year.”

  The girl laughed and shrugged, “A.”

  She stepped closer and took a deep whiff of Yasu, then wandered off. Though the girl was mostly trying to hide the fact she was doing so, she sniffed each of the new recruits, in turn. Based on the girl’s ability to turn into a panther, Yasu suspected she possessed a feline’s acute sense of smell. She could have been just getting to know the others, based on their scent, or she might have been searching for something. It was hard to tell.

  The girl stopped beside a scrawny man, taking a second whiff, then a third.

  “It’s a secret!” The girl growled and raised her hands, an M1911 pistol appearing in them as it condensed out of a black mist, pointing it at the suddenly fearful man’s forehead, while every soldier present drew their sidearms and did the same!

  The man gulped with terror and exclaimed, “What did I do?”

  The sergeant from Yasu’s truck explained, “You can’t hide from her nose, demon, so cut the crap and show your real face. If you don’t, we’ll just shoot you.”

  “Man, you guys are never any fun.” The small man’s head twisted and reshaped itself into that of a squirrel, complete with the awful, orange teeth and dark rodent eyes full of insanity.

  Yasu shuddered, because while she wasn’t entirely certain, she somehow knew she was looking at the same squirrel-headed perp from the videos, despite the fact she knew he’d been shot in the head. The majority of the new recruits reacted with surprise, though they remained quiet as they relived the terror of the experiences that had brought them together, aside from one of the teen girls, who briefly screamed!

  The sergeant shook his head, “It’s Ulmoch.” His tone turned into a sour lament, “Why couldn’t it be some other demon?”

  The squirrel-monster grinned and laughed, “But I’m-” he dropped the F-bomb, “adorable, and you know it! Can’t you just imagine me burying some nuts in your backyard?”

  “Nuts? No. Skulls? Yes.” The sergeant countered.

  Ulmoch laughed nastily, “I guess you got me there!”

  “Artemis, what do you want to do?” The sergeant spoke to Miss Watson, “We could hold him at the detention camp, but I’d rather kill him now.”

  The girl’s weapon vanished and she took her hat off, hauling a tiny and adorable black kitten with green eyes out.

  As she held him up, the kitten spoke with a New Jersey accent, “Didn’t Verda tell you she wants any demons we find held for later?”

  The eyes of the recruits were finally torn away from the squirrel-monster, to stare at the talking kitten.

  “Yeah, but this is Ulmoch we’re talking about. Isn’t he Pride’s right-hand man?” The sergeant asked.

  “Yes,” the kitten spoke in a weary tone, “but that’s what Verda wants and she’s in charge. Regardless, we need to interrogate him about why he’s here. Someone should check on the man he replaced, because he’s probably dead.”

  Ulmoch laughed and the recruits went back to staring at him, “Good luck getting the truth, suckers! You got nothing I want!”

  “Oh, really?” The kitten laughed, once more drawing attention to himself, “Verda thought you might show up, so she had somebody acquire some recreational drugs. There’s all kinds of nasty stuff, rangin’ from LSD to cocaine and even a little heroine, but you don’t get anythin’, unless you cooperate. Argue at all and you get nothin’.”

  The eyes of all fell back on the monster, who quivered with excitement as he saluted, “Yes, sir! What information did you need, sir?”

  “That’s just sad, but not unexpected.” The kitten shook his head, then went on, “You’ll have to wait until after you’ve spilled your guts to Verda.”

  “You can count on me! I’d do almost anything for a good high!” Ulmoch offered up his wrists.

  “Bring me the extra-heavy tungsten-carbide irons!” The sergeant ordered, causing a pair of soldiers to hurry over, carrying a set of linked wrist and leg restraints.

  They appeared only barely able to lift them, because they were ridiculously thick, with an odd, black sheen. Yasu suspected they weighed between three and five-hundred pounds, based on thickness, material and the muscled nature of the two soldiers. The wrist and leg cuffs were made of solid metal three inches thick and the chains linking them were almost as heavy, resembling the stuff used for towing large vehicles.

  The monster cooperated with being shackled hand and foot, while everyone continued to aim at his head.

  As one of the soldiers cinched down the cuffs, Ulmoch grinned, “Can you make that a little tighter, so it cuts off the circulation? I like it rough!”

  “No.” The private refused and finished.

  Miss Watson returned the kitten to the interior of her hat, then put it back on.

  “You people are no fun!” Ulmoch complained as he was led into the woods by six soldiers, all of whom kept their weapons continually trained on his head.

  Notably, the monster had no trouble moving with the irons on, aside from the way they restricted his freedom, treating their obvious mass as though it were nothing. Yasu was grateful they had the monster under control, because she had no desire to face someone so very strong.

  “Recruits, line up!” The sergeant ordered, “Artemis isn’t finished smelling all of you and since there was one demon hiding among you, there may be more!”

  The recruits obeyed, forming an irregular lineup, and Miss Watson completed her sniff-test, which the rest of them passed.

  Finally relaxing a little, the sergeant called out, “Ten more minutes, then we move out!”

  From that point on, the soldiers finally relaxed a little and stopped treating the recruits as if they were potential threats, while Miss Watson wandered into the woods, headed the direction Ulmoch had been taken.

  Ashen Blades, Demon for President!

  Scarlet Eye: She Consumes Poison is intended to be easy to get into for those that haven't read my earlier work, it is a continuation of my Ashen Blades series. If you want to read what came before, there are links to the previous four books on this fiction's page, or you can visit my website, which is linked from my profile description.