Black Knight 02 - Back in Black (6 page)

"Because, like I said out there, some of those guys have never been in here. Or at least have only been in once or twice. They're not regulars, and our regulars are good people. Sure you've got the occasional tweaker and stoner, but most of my boys are just out looking for a good time."

"What if the person doing the attacking was finding his victims here?" I asked. "We don't really think that your establishment has anything to do with the attacks, but a flyer for tonight's drag show was found in the alley at the last attack."
 

"Well, yeah, it would have been. We papered the hell out of the Spirit Square lot last night. It was kinda our target demographic, you know?"
 

"No, I don't know. In fact, I have no idea what you're talking about. So help me out a little." I had this sinking feeling in my gut that our best lead so far was going to turn out to be a complete dead end. Sabrina was not going to be happy.

"The play going on at Spirit Square last night?" George went on. "They were doing
Jeffrey
, a total gay comedy. Probably every car in the parking lot belonged to a queen, so I sent one of my bar backs out to put a flyer under all their windshield wipers, so when they came out of the play, they got invited to keep their weekend going here. It's guerilla marketing, baby, the only kind we can afford nowadays. Somebody probably took the flyer off their windshield and tossed it on the ground, then it ends up in the alley."

"Crap. That was our best lead so far."
 

"Sorry. Wish I could help more, man."
 

"Yeah, me too. Guess it's time to earn the itty-bitty retainer the CMPD has me on for this case. If you come up with anything else, please let me know." I stood, turning toward the door. I'd just reached my hand out when the door flew open. A twenty-something boy with bleached hair and teeth ran in like the devil himself was outside. Which given my luck, wasn't out of the question.
 

"George, you gotta come quick. There's this huge guy at the front door and he's fighting with Otto." The boy gasped.
 

"Otto's a black belt in three different martial arts. I don't think I need to be there to help him." George looked about as concerned as if he'd just been told the floor needed mopping at the end of the night.
 

"No, you don't understand. He's kicking Otto's ass! He might need an ambulance! Call 911, quick!" The kid was almost hyperventilating, and I shoved past him to get back to the club. I ran past Greg and Sabrina, shouting for them to follow me. We headed to the door as fast as we could, which for me and Greg was pretty fast, only to draw up short when we saw the mess that was waiting for us right outside the entrance.
 

Chapter 10

There was mayhem just outside the front door, and it took me a couple of valuable seconds to figure out exactly what was going on. When I finally got a good look at the scene, I still didn't exactly believe what I was seeing. Otto, the bouncer with Greg's taste in clothing, was bleeding from the nose and mouth and circling a giant on the porch leading to the club's entrance.
 

Yeah, I said a giant. Probably a vast oversimplification, but I couldn't come up with a better description for a beast that topped out at about nine feet tall and somewhere in the range of four hundred pounds of solid muscle. This thing had greenish skin, arms bigger around than my waist with claws at the end of each finger, and a face that not even a mother could love. Otto was a big dude, and obviously had some hand to hand combat chops, because he was still alive, but I knew if we didn't do something fast, that was about to change.
 

"Do you have a gun hidden somewhere in that outfit?" I asked Sabrina as Greg and I started to fan out and try to flank the giant.
 

"It's called a handbag, you idiot, and yes." She muttered, knowing she didn't have to speak loudly for me to hear and not wanting to terrify the crowd any more than they already were.
 

"Alright, then get George, the bartender, and tell him what you're going to do." I was moving out of her earshot as I got around behind the beastie. I saw it freeze and start to sniff the air, and I knew our cover was about to be blown. Vampires have a unique scent, kind of an old blood smell, and creatures that have enhanced senses can pick us out in a heartbeat. That's one reason we don't hunt in the suburbs – too many dogs. This guy obviously had a good sniffer, so our element of surprise was blown. Because it can't ever be easy.
 

"And what exactly am I going to do?" Sabrina asked.
 

"Make the crowd ignore this!" I yelled as I leapt for the giant's back. Greg saw my move and went in from the side at the monster's knees. Otto saw that the cavalry had arrived and launched a flurry of roundhouse kicks at the monster's face to give us a chance to land our best shots.
 

That didn't go nearly as well as it had in the movie in my mind. The giant took a couple of shots from Otto to the face, but ignored them because apparently it was way tougher than I expected. It was also way faster than I expected because as soon as I landed on its back, it reached over one shoulder and grabbed me by the back of my neck. The thing swept me over its shoulder and right into the path of my flying partner. We went to the ground in a tumble of arms, legs and unfortunate wardrobe choices, and I looked up to see a shoe that had to be a size twenty-seven coming down at my head.
 

Greg and I rolled in opposite directions and both managed to avoid being stomped into paste, and we got up on opposite sides of the creature. I kicked the thing in the knee, and it backhanded me off the porch into the parking lot. I skidded for several feet before coming to a halt against a BMW convertible. I checked to make sure I hadn't dented it, and got unsteadily to my feet.

Greg was standing toe-to-toe with the monster, landing huge haymakers on the monster's midsection. I thought I heard a rib crack, and the thing reared back in pain. Then it lashed out with a foot and caught Greg square in the gut. He flew several feet through the air and right behind me in the windshield of the Beamer. I pulled him free of the shattered glass and said, "You okay?"
 

"No. You?"
 

"Not really. Let's go." With that, we ran back at the monster, Greg going low for its knees while I went for a flying clothesline. The thing just jumped straight up into the air, making Greg miss entirely and swatting me out of the air like a retarded frisbee. Which is how I landed, too. I got to my feet, wiped a little blood out of my face, and circled around to the monster's side. Greg went in the opposite direction, and to my surprise, Otto the bouncer flew in with a dropkick that rocked the thing back on its heels. He landed in front of the monster in a combat stance, albeit a little unsteady.
 

"Get out of here." I growled at the bouncer. "You're just gonna get killed."
 

"Not tonight, friend. But I do appreciate your assistance." The bouncer replied, and he made an odd gesture with his right hand. Suddenly a gleaming sword with a three-foot blade appeared out of thin air, and Otto launched himself at the giant, sword raised high above his head. He moved almost faster than I could see, and that's really saying something.
 

"I hate surprises in the middle of a fight." I muttered as I knelt under a backhanded blow from the giant. While I was on one knee I pulled my backup pistol from an ankle holster and emptied the clip into the giant's crotch.
 

The beast screamed in pain, and Otto's sword flashed down lightning-quick, cleaving the monster's head from its shoulders and splattering greenish-black blood all over Otto, Greg and me. I licked my lips experimentally, but apparently giant blood has no nutritional value, so I was just grossed out, not grossed out and fed.
 

"Ick." Greg said, wiping giant blood and whatever else out of his eyes.
 

"Ick indeed." I agreed, looking around for Sabrina. The porch, which had been crowded with onlookers just seconds before, was curiously empty. Only the four of us and the corpse of a green-blooded behemoth were outside the club. I looked over to where Sabrina was leaning against the closed door of the club and asked, "What did you do?"
 

She smiled back at me and said, "I held up my badge and gun and shouted 'Raid!' as loud as I could. You'd be amazed how many guys are flushing little baggies of things down the toilet right now. But you probably still want to clean this mess up pretty quickly. And put that away." She pointed at the glowing sword Otto was holding. He waved it in another curious gesture, and the blade disappeared.
 

"Okay," I started. "You wanna tell us exactly what the hell is going on here?" I asked the bouncer.
 

"No, but that probably isn't an option, is it?"
 

"No. It's not."
 

"Okay, then. Help me get this mess out of here before anybody notices, then we can go somewhere and I'll explain everything."
 

"Alright. What do you drive, because there's no way this beast is gonna fit in my Honda."
 

"I've got a truck, I'll bring it around." Otto said as he started off towards the parking lot.
 

"Way to buck the stereotype,” I said to his back as I started picking up arms and legs, trying to figure out how we were going to get the monster into the back of a pickup. Otto just flipped me off without looking back, then went around the building toward what I assumed was the employee parking lot. He came back a few minutes later in a small panel truck with the club logo painted on the side, and backed it expertly up to the corpse. He jumped out and grabbed the beast under the arms. With a strength that belied his normal human appearance, he picked up the creature's torso and stood there staring at Greg and I.
 

"You two going to help me, or do I have to do everything?" He asked with a smirk. We each grabbed a thigh and together we wrestled the giant into the truck. Otto slammed the door down and said, "I'll take care of this. Meet me at Landmark in two hours." Without looking to see if I had any objections, he got into the driver's seat and pulled out of the parking lot.
 

"I don't think I want to know what he's going to do with a headless giant in Charlotte at 2AM on a Saturday night." I said as I headed down the hill to my car.
 

"Yeah," Greg agreed, squelching along beside me, oozing monster blood with every step. "And I don't want to know how much it's going to cost to clean your upholstery after this ride home."
 

Chapter 11

After a quick trip home to clean up, Greg, Sabrina and I headed to The Landmark, a 24-hour restaurant famous for decent food and interesting atmosphere, especially after hours. Greg and I were in our more normal garb, while Sabrina was still in her club wear. I'd offered her some of my clothes, but apparently
Sandman
t-shirts were not her style. We took a booth in the back and waited for Otto to arrive. He made it there before our drinks did, dressed down in a long-sleeved polo and a baseball cap over his bald pate. He'd obviously taken the time to shower as well, because there wasn't a hint of slimy green blood anywhere on him. The waiter took our orders, and then went off to leave us to our conversation.
 

"Okay, Otto. Let's start by telling us what that thing was? It looked like a giant with bad hygiene." I started.
 

"No, that wasn't a giant. It wouldn't have come up to a giant's belt buckle. That was a troll." The bouncer turned troll-slayer said matter-of-factly.
 

"Troll? Like under the bridge troll?" Sabrina kicked me under the table as patrons in other booths started to look around, and I lowered my voice. "What do you mean a troll? Trolls don't exist."
 

"Neither do vampires. Yet here you are." The smug bouncer leaned back and sipped his sweet tea. I had to admit, he had a decent point.
 

"Just once, I'd like to meet a supernatural creature that couldn't spot us from fifty yards away. Just once." Greg muttered from across the booth.
 

"I pegged you two from a hundred yards away as vampires. It took the other fifty yards to peg you as straight boys." Otto shot back.
 

"Anyway," I interrupted before they could really get going. "That doesn't answer the question of what the troll was doing there. Got any ideas, or did you just slice first and ask questions later?"
 

"I didn't ask. Trolls are ancient enemies of my people. The mere sight of one in my city filled me with an uncontrollable rage, and I attacked. I lost control of myself, bringing shame to my father and my House." I could tell by the verbal capitalization that he wasn't talking about the TV doctor, but otherwise I had no idea what he was talking about.
 

"Who are your people?" I asked, figuring I'd start slow.
 

"The Fae. Your people call us fairies." He said.