Modus Morte: Chapter 19

Jayna had absolutely no idea how to classify the club they were in. It wasn't exactly a gay bar, or a leather bar, or even a Goth bar. The sign on the front of the building said Menagerie, but she thought zoo might have been more appropriate. The entire building seemed to vibrate with a mixture of sex, drugs, alcohol, and bass-driven music. There appeared to be no rhyme or reason to any of it, other than a deep prevailing feeling of desperation. From the look of the crowd someone had taken half a truckload of Salvation Army rejects and half of a demented costume shop, run it through a blender, and dumped it on the floor for the patrons to fight over. She desperately wanted to go home and scrub herself. "Are we learning anything here?" she asked her companion.

"I've found out that the PD needs to keep a lot closer eye on this place," Torres leaned toward Jayna so she wouldn't have to shout to be heard, "but about the case, nothing so far. You?"

"A few people have some magical enhancements, but nothing major." She tapped her glasses. "Several of what could be classified as magical creatures have walked through, but again nothing that sets off any alarm bells for me. The only walking dead have been a couple of vampires, young ones at that." She took a sip of her drink and frowned, never being a fan of cheap wine.

"I think we are wasting our time here. How about a cup of coffee someplace where we can hear ourselves think?"

"Works for me, drive me home and I'll throw in a late supper."

Thankfully the walk to the car was uneventful, and it hadn't been tampered with. The ride to Jayna's was quiet except for the ringing in their ears, and Jayna was relieved not to see any zombies along the way. They were pulling up behind her house when she finally spoke. "You know going to that place made me glad I'm a homebody." Torres burst into laughter. "And to think people label the ancient Greeks and Romans as decadent."

Torres turned off the ignition and turned toward Jayna. "You're being serious aren't you? Jayna only looked at her with a blank expression on her face, then opened the door and exited the car. Torres quickly followed. "Jayna, are you ever going to tell me who you really are?"

"Are you asking as a police Lieutenant, or as a friend," Jayna walked away toward the house, "and does it really matter?" Torres had to rush to keep up with Jayna's much longer strides.

"I know the problem with Az has you rattled and believe me, I'm not trying to make things worse for you, but I'm curious. It's in my nature. It had a lot to do with why I became a cop in the first place. Most of what little I know about you I learned through the PD, but I'm asking because I want to be your friend."

Jayna climbed the stairs to the second floor entrance and unlocked the door, turning to face the other woman before entering. "Angelina, I am what you see. How I got here doesn't matter. It's all just smoke and mirrors." Torres followed her into the kitchen, deciding that this was a good a time to let the matter drop.

Jayna hung her jacket on a hook on the wall inside the door and began preparing a pot of coffee. "So how do we find out if the others had any better luck than we did?"

"I've got Jasper's cell number in my purse. I'll give her a call and tell her that we've called it a night and see if they learned anything." She took a seat at the table and began rummaging through her bag, retrieving her phone and a small notebook. By the time she was finished with her call there was a mug of steaming coffee sitting in front of her. "Jasper says that Az went home after they left the club. She's at an all-night diner waiting on Takeo. He went somewhere to follow up on a lead, and she couldn't go along without blowing his cover. She said they could come by here to talk. If that doesn't work for you, I'm to call her back."

Modus Morte: Chapter 20

The wait was quickly becoming interminable. The coffee was watered-down, the place reeked of grease, and Jasper's leg was bothering her. This wasn't the way to spend your first day out of a cast, getting stomped upon by an idiot who couldn't dance followed by three hours stuck in an uncomfortable restaurant booth with a perpetually twitchy cat with a bad attitude. "Reaper, why don't you just go home? I can take care of myself."

"That will not be necessary." Takeo swept into the seat opposite her. He seemed almost breathless and a bit damp around the edges. Since it wasn't raining out it made her wonder what he had been up to that he had felt the need to shower before meeting her, but considering the kind of people he'd been with she wasn't about to ask. "You are welcome to go home and take a cat nap, Reaper-san."

"Cat nap my ass, you slanty-eyed..."

"Shut up, Reaper." Jasper was in no mood for another one of their pissing matches. "Did you find out anything helpful?" she asked Takeo before things could deteriorate any further.

"Possibly, several people I met tonight were at the same party as Romanov the last time anyone saw him alive. He left on foot and did not live far from the party."

"Good, that gives us a chance to narrow the search area down. I don't know how much more club-hopping I could stand." Too many more Tobys and she would go postal. The thought of that inebriated sot made her shudder, and she pushed him from her mind. "Jayna and Torres are waiting for us back at the shop. We should probably get going before it gets any later."

"Can you handle a ride on my motorcycle, or should I call you a cab?" Takeo asked with an odd gleam in his eye.

"No motorcycles!" Reaper began, only to be cut off once again by Jasper.

"That will be fine with me." She gave Reaper a no-nonsense look. "You can find your own way home. I'll be just fine."

“Jasper, you can’t be serious!” The cat sputtered in indignation.

“Watch me!” Jasper got to her feet and grasped Takeo’s proffered arm. “Don’t wait up!”

The cat muttered indignantly as the pair exited the diner, waited a few moments, then left and headed back towards the Minutemen building, still mumbling. Of all the… “…Bastard…total freakin’ bastard…”

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Jasper couldn’t help it. She really couldn’t. “Takeo, faster!” The person in question tilted his head a bit more towards her, he hadn’t heard her. “GO FASTER!” She almost screamed in his ear. THAT he heard, and the motorcycle gained speed even as he nodded his head slightly.

She grinned from ear to ear beneath her borrowed helmet. Feck, she had missed this…sense of speed. It wasn’t the same as her powers, not even close, but she still had a couple of weeks before she was allowed to do any serious running, so it would have to do, in the meantime…

“Go FASTER!” The man in front of her complied even as he shook his head as if to say ‘no more’. They had already gone past their destination and were almost to his apartment, where he had gone to pick up a spare set of clothes. She was pretty sure he had just gone out of his way to make her happy, but of course he would never admit that.

The bike gradually slowed down and stopped, and she hopped off and pulled the helmet off, laughing even as Takeo jumped off with a flourish of his own. “I believe that m’lady enjoyed that a little too much.” He teased, bowing. “After you.”

She took his offer and went first so that he wouldn’t see the blush that spread across her face, “I’ve always been a little excitable around things that go fast.” She grinned. She ducked her head a bit as he laughed at her. It was a nice sound.

“Really?” he asked. She bet he was grinning as they made their way down the hall.

“Yeah, you should see me run.”

“Maybe one day I will.” He smiled at her as he unlocked the door to his apartment. This time it was definitely not an irritating smile. It made her realize just how much she enjoyed talking to Takeo without Reaper around. It was a refreshing change. Of course only having the miserable old cat to talk to for a long time probably had a large impact on what she considered a ‘refreshing change’.

She stepped aside as the Asian pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked the door. Once inside he took his shoes off automatically and she followed suit, cursing her boots and their multiple buckles, before turning her attention to the room itself.

The apartment was sparsely decorated and very clean. Jasper almost could describe it as antiseptic. "Nice place." she said, looking at the few decorations that adorned the walls. A few masks, another sword, a niche with an Ikebana arrangement, a few candles scattered around on flat surfaces here and there.

“I will not be long.” He gestured to a low piece of furniture, and she sat, staring at the arrangement.

“Did you do that?” She called, hearing nothing but slight rustling from the other room. “The flowers, I mean?”

“Hmm?” He reappeared quickly, with a leather bag that she assumed contained the clothes he came after. It didn’t look big enough to hold much, in her opinion, but for all she knew he had just wanted an extra pair of underwear. He probably wore thongs or something. She shook her head to get that mental image out of her mind.

“The arrangement, you mean?” He tilted his head to one side. She’d decided days ago that he only did that when he was trying to hide something, or when he was about to pull her leg about something. “No, my wife does them for the cat.” He grinned at her.

“You’re an awful liar, Takeo.”

“Why do you say that?”

“You don’t have a cat.”

“I do not have a wife either.”

“So what’s in the bag?” She decided against responding to the last comment and changed the subject before it got too personal. And too uncomfortable.

“The cat.”

“Takeo!” She had to laugh.

“And the wife.”

More laughter. Even Takeo was smiling at her now, and she couldn’t help it, she stood up and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. He was just too damn cute for his own good when he was smiling.

“Uh…Jasper-san?” Damn it, he was even cuter when he blushed. “We need to get back to the others.”

“I know.” She sighed. “Back to the bike?”

“Yes.”

Modus Morte: Chapter 21

“Ok, everybody, I don’t need to tell you to be careful…” Torres was in the center of the group, at the outer edge of the park, back to the street, flashlight in hand. “But be careful. We don’t know what this ‘necromancer’ is capable of.” She had come prepared with extra flashlights and in-ear communicators, and had gone into ‘in charge’ mode immediately, announcing that they were all working for the JSPD at the moment. No one objected. Torres was in one hell of a bad mood, and they could all sense it.

“Fan out, and check in with me after fifteen minutes.” Nods all around. “You find something, you call me, got it?” More nods. She knew from working with Ciela and Jayna before, that they were capable of taking care of themselves. With the cast off, Jasper was no slouch either, and all three of them vouched for Takeo. So why was she so keyed up?

“Right.” She sighed. “Here we go.”

Torres took the lead entering the park. It was deserted and a bit grungy looking. As far as she could tell, no one else had ventured here tonight. That was a good thing, if the situation got out of control there would be no innocent bystanders. The more time passed the sooner she wanted to put this freak away.

There had been another zombie found that morning, but this time the zombie had been a kid barely into his teens. Torres cursed both the kid and his parents for letting him out after curfew, but more so she began to despise their target. He was a sicko and had to be found and put away. This search was taking place as soon as it had been possible, but for the kid it hadn’t been soon enough.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

The park was edged on one side by the stone ruins of what was once a massive hospital building. The broken walls were scarred and blackened by one of the numerous battles that had taken place on the Street in recent years. Damaged beyond repair, the owners had abandoned it and the large surrounding area to the dregs of the Street. Considering the morbid mood cast by the nearby cemetery, it was little wonder that the park was mostly abandoned at night.

Mostly abandoned being the key words. There were always a few brave, or stupid, souls fearless enough to shortcut through the empty park, and occasionally beginner mystics would try their hand at a séance or summoning in the small cemetery. Drunks would pass out on the hospital steps, Goths would have poetry readings by candle-light either in the cemetery or on the former site of the supposedly haunted orphanage.

Occasionally children would play on the equipment left behind by the orphanage when they shut their doors, but of course, never at night. The night was for the freaks. The playground and the safety of the light were for the children.

The playground was where Jasper found herself drawn, moth to a flame, on pure instinct. Reaper’s hackles were up, and the normally loudmouth cat was eerily silent as they passed a broken and rusty swing set.

Jasper could tell that someone had died here, and quite recently. All around her, she could see ghostly images, drifting across the playground, through the few trees, around the tombstones. They were everywhere; the area was thick with them. It was obvious they were use to not being seen, as they shied away from her, going on with their dreary existence. The place was rumored to be haunted, and now she knew why as the spirits wandered past.

There was a recently created ghost, still repeating his death, walking across the playground towards the merry-go-round. He looked eerily familiar and her body seemed to move on it’s own as she followed him.

She got closer, but still could not place where she had seen him before. When he stopped at the merry-go-round it hit her hard who he was. It was Romanov. She felt a surge of cold power that told her that he died here. The man was reenacting his last few minutes of life right in front of her, and while his killer was not there, the murderer had left a dark smudge of power where he had been. The darkness that he left behind stood and moved towards Romanov.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Ciela stared up at the ruins of the hospital in disgust; searching them would take hours if she had to go through on foot. While most of the building was collapsed, there were still basement levels and interior rooms that were mostly intact. Of course no one said she had to search on foot, and she unfurled her wings in a short flash of light that she hoped didn’t blind the others. Jayna and her glasses probably got the worst of it. That thought sent her mind off in directions that she'd rather they didn't go & she shoved them away again, for safekeeping as she began her search.

Once airborne and scanning the ruins, the helmet fed her information. The basement held an assortment of rodents, bats, and more insects than she wanted to contemplate. No one, human, necromancer or Tezcatlipoca-spawned demon, was hiding anywhere in the remains of the hospital. However, off to her side, she could see Jasper ringed with an odd glow, and all around the park, and almost everywhere else in the area, ghosts.

Worried, she landed and folded her wings, walking towards Jasper even as she did so.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Torres had gotten as far as the orphanage steps when a flash of light caught her eye and she saw Azangel take to the sky. She had to tell the girl she made an excellent target when she did that, but surprisingly the glow faded to nothingness in seconds, and she lost sight of her. Of all the buildings that made up the perimeters of the park, this one was in the worst possible shape. With only two walls, foundation, and stairs remaining, there was simply nowhere to hide.

The steps faced the street, and she walked around to the edge of the remaining walls only to find a group of Goths sitting in the center of the cleared-out foundation. She pulled her badge and advanced towards them. If she had possessed Ciela’s powers, the whole place would have been as bright as noontime, she was that pissed. “It’s way past curfew, people.” She barked out, startling the teens.

Pasty faces turned towards her in annoyance. “We’re not doing anything wrong.” Torres looked around, and it was true, they weren’t doing much of anything except sitting and reading what was probably very bad poetry. One of the group stood as if to speak, and she glared him into silence. “You have to leave, it’s past curfew, and the JSPD is conducting an investigation. If you don’t go now, you could get hurt.”

As if to make her words ring more true, this was when the ghosts began to appear.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Reaper was saying something to her but she could not hear him, even the air around her seemed to be screaming inside her head. She watched, horrified, as the dark form took hold of Romanov and drained the very life out of him. Someone was tugging on her but she did not know who it was, because she couldn’t seem to turn away from watching the man die. It left a vile taste in her throat as she tried not to throw up, and she rocked slightly. Her eyes seemed to glaze over whoever was standing there. She could tell it was one of her companions but who she wasn’t sure. “He died here.” She announced in a voice calmer then she felt. “We’ve found our killer.”

“Who is it?” She heard the other person ask. It took a moment, but she finally recognized that person as Ciela. The power rushing around her made it hard for her to hear.

“I don’t know, all I see is a dark stain where their power was.” She explained quietly. Jasper tried to bring her surroundings into better focus. Romanov had begun reenacting his death again, and by the reaction from Ciela she could see it too. Jasper knew that the spirits were probably feeding off of her, and now anyone nearby could witness the man’s death. This was going to attract the wrong type of attention. “I need to get some air.” She told the other woman as she slowly walked away. She had to get away from the playground, but that was not as easy as it seemed, as something seemed to be pulling her back. Romanov wanted her attention.

He practically demanded it like a petulant child. She could hear him begging her to make this stop, this cycle of living and dying all over again. The man probably didn’t even know that he was dead. The murder apparently took place so quickly Romanov didn’t know what had happened to him, just that it was horrible.

Reaper was talking to her, demanding she leave. She ignored him like she always did, and turned back to the spot where Romanov stood. He was again reenacting his death, eyes begging her to stop it. As quickly as it seemed to have happened, he probably didn’t get to say much of anything when the actual event occurred. Jasper approached the spirit cautiously, testing the air. The dark shadow wasn’t actually anything; it was just a burn mark on space. It could not hurt her, but it resonated with the very essence of the one who did this. Jasper placed a hand on Romanov’s former shoulder and used her powers to yank him backwards. She knew if she interrupted the cycle he would be able to talk to her.

The spirit was surprised by his reaction and seemed to fall to the ground. He was breathing as laboriously as if he had been alive. She didn’t have long to act. “Listen to me Romanov,” she commanded him. “You’re dead. Someone killed you.” He looked at her, confused and bewildered. The pain his spirit was going through was evident on his face. Immediately she could tell he wouldn’t be able to tell her who killed him, it was written on his face. Maybe she could fix that.

“This can’t be happening.” She heard someone say. She didn’t know who it was. But all her attention was now focused sharply on the spirit in front of her. She kneeled to face him.

“It’s all done.” She told him. “The pain is gone. Nothing will hurt you now.”

The look he gave her was that of a confused child, but he was slowly beginning to understand. “He was… a friend...” The spirit told her.

“Who was?” Jasper coaxed.

The spirit seemed to be having difficulty. Jasper was beginning to think she had asked too hard of a question for the traumatized thing, but after a few moments she was rewarded with her effort. “F… Faust.” He said slowly.

She could hear Ciela talking into her communicator behind her. She figured it was to tell the others who they were searching for. Jasper couldn’t tell because she was too focused on Romanov. The spirit seemed split between misery and relief. Misery at an obvious betrayal and relief to finally realize what had happened. Jasper stood up and stepped away. The ghost would be all right. He would be able to free himself from the repetitive act of dying over and over again simply by knowing that it was over with.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Takeo was nowhere near Jasper and Ciela when Jasper’s powers flared up. He was on the opposite end of the cemetery looking cautiously into the shadowy crags of an unmarked mausoleum. He could see the results, and even hear Reaper’s surly comments about it over the communicator, when suddenly ghosts became visible everywhere. Takeo grimaced slightly when one appeared sitting on a tombstone nearby that had previously been empty.

He was not one to overreact to surprises and guessed quickly by what Reaper had been saying as to who was the cause. He gave the old ghost a proper bow while he wondered if it had always been there or if Jasper had resurrected it. That would have to be a question for her later.

The ghost tried frantically to get his attention. "I am sorry, but my concern for the moment must be with the living." He wanted to continue his search of the area quickly and chitchatting with the ancestors was not on his to-do list tonight. He would pay his respects another time.

Takeo ignored the static-filled communications between the others as he spotted a suspicious looking shadow near one of the larger headstones. It looked solid, definitely different from the ghosts around them. The form moved like, and appeared to be, a human. The magic overload in the area was beginning to affect everything, and Takeo now realized why Reaper had been hounding Jasper to learn to control her powers. They flared up to a great intensity that would soon get unwanted notice.

Takeo decided to take a closer look. It could just be a drunk, but it could also be the type of attention they did not want to attract. As he neared quietly he could tell the person was staring across the park towards the area of the playground where Jasper and Ciela were standing. He could tell they were talking to a ghost, but it was too far for him to make out the ghost’s face. The man was so engrossed in watching the girls and the ghost; he didn’t seem to notice that Takeo stood only a few feet away. He was in the shadows but even Takeo was not invisible.

Takeo cleared his throat, making the man jump. The other man was sweating profusely and obviously extremely nervous about something, but he smiled all the same, a gesture that Takeo for some reason didn’t like. It reminded him of some of his more forced smiles. He decided introductions were in order. “Hello…” Takeo didn’t like not knowing who he was talking to.

“Hello sir.” The other man said, and he seemed to be grasping at what to say next. It was obvious by the way the other man acted he was not used to strangers just walking up to him, “Do you know if that young lady is the cause of all this?”

“Hai.” Takeo said. “She most definitely is.” He could not hide the truth. Jasper’s energy signature was all over the place, but he didn’t like the idea of the other man knowing about it.

“Amazing.” The other man said with a grin as he stared back at the women. Takeo frowned as he watched the man.

“May I ask who might you be?” He asked pulling the man’s attention away.

“I am sorry, that was rude of me.” The man held out a hand towards Takeo as if to shake hands. “My name is Faust.” Something in the back of his head warned him that shaking hands with this man would be a very bad idea. He always trusted his instincts so Takeo gave Faust a formal bow instead all the while keeping his eyes on the other man. Bad feelings aside, he couldn’t abide to be rude. That would put him on Reaper’s level, which was somewhere he refused to be.

“I am Takeo Mori.” He told the other man. Faust seemed a little surprised at the bow, and withdrew his hand. He seemed disappointed too, but smiled at Takeo again.

“A very interesting name.” Faust said, glancing back at Jasper. “Do you know her?”

“Hai, I am acquainted with her.” Takeo answered, frowning slightly. Faust was obviously interested in her powers almost to the point of distraction. Takeo could also begin to sense some sort of power around the other man.

“I would love to meet her.” Faust said. He then glanced at Takeo and fervently added, “Someday.”

“We’ve identified our target.” Ciela’s voice came crackling loudly over the earpiece, interrupting anything else the other man would say. Faust visibly paled as he apparently heard this. “His name is Faust.” The man in question darted into motion, heading away from Takeo before Ciela’s announcement was complete.

“KUSO!” Takeo said as he started into motion after the man. The irony of the situation smacked him in the head as he yelled into the communicator. “I’ve found him.” He announced as he wound his way through the headstones after the man.

“WHERE?” He could hear Jayna shouting at him. She was closest; he had caught a glimpse of her earlier, trying to figure out a safe way into the ruins of the nunnery.

“Into the nunnery!” Takeo replied as he watched Faust dart into the ruins of the building.