Rapture Falls (26 page)

She staggered
up and backwards, sinking
to her knees as the life blood ran from her current
vulnerable form. S
he gasped and gurgled unable to speak, her breath came in short
sharp
bursts
of fine red mist
and she fought against the approaching darkness, she pitched forward onto the carpet and lay still except for the occasional shudder.
Baine moved quickly, he had no idea
if she was mortally wounded
but he was sure that she
was still
dangerous
and he had nothing left to fight with. H
e took the large bunch of keys
from the dead sergeant’s
belt;
he took
a final look back at the still form of the archangel
,

“I will kill you” he stated the fact without emotion.

H
e
staggered
further back into the station, fortunately there were clear directional signs hanging from the ceiling. He quickly spotted the one he wanted, “Evidence Room”; he rounded the first corner and stepped over the first of several bo
dies that littered the corridor, the floor was slippery with their bloody and battered forms. He
moved
through knowing that he was leaving evidence footprints in the crimson stains but his need for speed negated any trail that he left behind, he found the evidence room and swiftly retrieved his book from it, his bag however was
missing presumably because there had been considerable cash in it, he grabbed a bag from the floor, it was a garish purple but what the hell. He ran out as quickly as he could
manage
, the book had restored his full abilities and he could
feel his healing ability kicking into overdrive, he could now
clearly sense the approaching re-enforcements, as he reached the foyer he was not surprised to find the
Lucifer’s
body missing from the slaughter, he ran out into the
cold
night and quickly immersed himself into the
shadows
, after everything that had happened he knew that he was actually going to discover
the harsh truth
about hell and women scorned.

             
McCullum arrived at a nightmare, the police station was swarmed with every possible uniform imaginable, and the sheer magnitude of the response was as staggering as it was understandable. Dawn was still some way off and the swirl of flashing blue lights of varying sha
des illuminated the building. T
he central police station lay within a large number of university buildings in the centre of the city
,
it drew much attention even at this isolated hour. The few drivers about had already started to slow down and rubberneck creating even more of a scene, it was not long before word spread amongst the journalistic community and they descended like a plague of voracious locusts desperate for information. McCullum took the only lead that he could and began barking
at
and shaking uniformed PC’s who seemed as lost and
confused
as the public, slowly McCullum managed to extend the tapped off area further and further out cordoning off the immediate surroundings and keeping the press at bay. He lined the blue and white tape barrier with as many officers that he could find
,
creating a human barricade,
allowing only the constant stream of siren laden vehicles through to either look over or cart away the dead, once McCullum was confident over the security of the exterior he steeled himself and headed inside. The cold night air was drafting through the tear in his jacket from his earlier encounter with the creature from the Black Lagoon,
Gabriel had explained to him that the thing had been a Reaper, a hell spawn demon sent forth from the Grigori and used as a mindless killer to dispose of any dangerous threat to their cause. S
omehow Gabriel had healed his painful wound leaving nothing but a dull ache where the sliced open skin had once been.
Gabriel had known
him
and shown him things that seemed to make a perfect sense and he had left Gabriel with a f
eeling of serenity and purpose, Gabriel was he father, this was no parlour trick like that of the priest de Payens, this was real. McCullum had never known much about his father, his mother had merely told him that they had been abandoned by the worthless scumbag to fend for themselves, all of his life had been a chip on the shoulder struggle desperate to prove himself to a non existent parent and all the while the truth had escaped his lying mother
’
s lips.
Gabriel had told him all about his higher purpose to serve at his father right hand for the 11
^th
Order, all about the war with the Grigori and the search for the Cube to create a heaven on earth and most interestingly about the betrayer Baine who had been a loyal member of the 11
^th
Order until his treacherous defection to the Grigori threatened to bring about a reign of hell that would destroy the world. McCullum had always felt detached from the world and the people around him
and now he knew just why, his place was not amongst mankind, he was not one of them, he had to find Baine and find the Cube, Gabriel had shown him that a few human lives lost counted for nothing in this war when the entire world was at stake. Gabriel had filled him up with a fathers love and
,
armed with his purpose
,
he had notified the armed response unit to take Baine down at the castle where he had slaug
htered yet another innocent.
McCullum had headed for the central police station where they would hold
him;
he had no intention of letting anyone else question Baine before he had extracted what he needed. It was unfortunate but McCullum knew that he may have to dispose of any non-
believers
that may impede his mission and he also had to
be ever
vigilant against the agents of the Grigori who had infiltrated
every area of power including the police force.
McCullum formed his mask and entered the station, the stench of death was overpowering, fortunately owing to the late hour the station had been relatively quiet and the staffing levels were low
meaning that despite the fact that there were five dead officers it could have been significantly worse. McCullum spotted a pale and stricken DCI Jones standing lost in the foyer, the medical examiners office was
grossly
over stretched and they scurried like ants using their duties to shield them from the horrors of dealing with the bodies of the indestructible protectors, the police were our guardians, they kept us safe as we slept and sat perched at the end of a telephone line ever ready to sweep to our rescue, but now it seemed that there w
as a force greater, one
which left us all vulnerable
.

Superintendent Irving bulleted past attempting to exude a much needed air of authority and control over a clearly out of control situation,

             
“McCullum, Jones, follow”
Irving
barked and indicated to a quiet corner.

             
“Sir?” Baine enquired as Jones merely looked on blankly

             
“We need to have the power here lads” Irving commanded, “There are many young officers here who are lost and scared, we need to show the city that we are in full control here, so Jones look sharp and move fast, issue orders and assign tasks, it doesn’t matter what they are just make them active and occupy their minds”

             
“Yes, yes Sir” Jones moved slowly at first then gathered momentum as he shouted at subordinates.

             
“McCullum” Irving said softly, “I think that you know as well as I do that this sort of investigation is not really Jones’ forte, unfortunately for the sake of appearances I can’t officially ride over him and place you in charge of this, but I want you at the helm, I want everything
done by the numbers and every area covered and covered again, we need this finished quickly son, we need it and the city demands it”

             
“It will be Sir” McCullum answered confidently

             
Irving
left him alone with his
rapid
inner thoughts, he already knew the monster responsible and now he would have all of the resources available to track the beast down and exterminate him, McCullum had to force down a smile that threatened to rise on his lips and eagerly started the hunt.

             
If there was ever any doubt over his feelings Baine was lost when he saw her dance, her exquisite movements were devoid of all
inhibitions
, she twirled and spun around her apartment offering glimpses through an unobstructed view, momentarily flashing past the window before disappearing behind harsh brick walls. Baine stood in the dawn rain watching from the alley below her building, the dark water ran down his face and blurred his vision and caused him to constantly fight to clear his sight as he could not stand to miss a second.
She wore bright red tartan woollen panamas bottoms with a pink vest top, a
s she danced she became a different animal to the shy librarian, she was clear in her passion and in herself, this was a confident and powerful woman secure in her own skin spinning within her own walls. Baine closed his eyes for a few seconds, he knew that this image of beauty would stay with him for ever and he needed to record the picture imprinting it firmly within his memory for retrieval throughout the ages. Never again would a moment be as perfect as this, she span around and around, her movements changed from a blur of splendour into a slow motion waltz of perfection, he could see every freckle on her back, every blond hair that swung
and whispered
through the air, every twitch and release of perfectly formed limbs
and her face was radiantly lit by a wonderful smile of happiness that was all consuming. Baine opened his eyes and knew that he was no longer alone in his life; he had to succeed for now he had a reason to live free and for himself, he had never spoken to her and did not even know her name but she was now his muse and his reason.
Baine stared longingly for a final time, his head tilted up despite the pounding rain oblivious to his soaked clothing and chilled bones, he nodded sharply as in steely agreement with himself and turned away into the brightening morning, knowing that he needed to be on his toes and away come full light as they would all be looking for him, the mess at the police station had seen to that.

             
Lucifer waited within the blackness whilst her wounds healed so interminably slowly, she cursed and raged
with
impatience and lack of control over this human skin and all of its
increasingly
confusing emotions, the longer she stayed in this form the more that she was tied to a raging cacophony of roller coasting sensations that greatly impeded her mission. Samyaza had greeted her with a delighted contempt, she had removed him from her plans as his temper had been increasingly uncontrollable and yet it was her who had fallen prey to a rampant temper tantrum that had threatened to destroy everything that they had waited for over the centuries of frustration. Azazel was becoming more and more of a puzzle to her, he followed orders easily enough and never
voiced an opinion, but it was his
seemingly inactive mind that troubled her the most, back in the day Azazel had been condemned by God for his insistence of showing and teaching mankind the art of making swords and shields as well as self beautification that had greatly angered God. However the longer they had
spent
in this realm the more he had withd
rawn into himself with a glazed-
over look that even she worried about, Samyaza was easy to decipher as he was constantly
angry and frustrated by their slow progress, she knew that Samyaza would fall upon her like a jackal if he sensed any weakness but she had no idea about Azazel’s true intentions. The confrontation with Baine had damaged her greatly and she cursed herself for her arrogance, she had taken the man too lightly and lost control of herself feeling some strange and peculiar rage at his rejection of her physical form, she could not understand her actions that had so greatly jeopardised everything. After her revelations of the Grigori’s intentions she found that they were now back to square one in terms of the Cube, she had been unable to seduce Baine into becoming an ally and now he was a well informed concern to them all.
She sat perched within the black pentagram drawn on the apartments expensive hardwood floor, some of the myths were true as far as symbolism were
concerned
, watching the movies and reading contemporary literature she had often wondered just how many of her kind had sought to undermine mankind by truly terrible forms of popular entertainment. The pentagram was only a symbol and that of star which represented the five wounds of Christ; two
wrists
, two
ankles
and the side, good and evil were merely states of mind held within the beholder of the symbol
, she used the pentagram to assimilate her true form with the physical restraints of her temporary incarnation in order to restore the flesh and graft the bones. She have to wait until she was fully healed before she could follow Baine and this time she would have to hold her temper until he had retrieved the Cube before she would be able to unleash a ravenous fury and grind his bones to dust, she felt the now familiar tingle of pleasure heating her loins as the thoughts of glorious vengeance passed before her eyes, at least this form held some positive functions that she could indulge as she waited.