P.S.I. – Paranormal Security Institution
Jim B

Episode 1: The Order of the Green Cap
Part III


Hampton Inn Hotel
9:31 A.M

David’s van turned the corner onto Race Street, the site of Eckley’s murder. His brows furrowed as he stared down the street. “Looks like our investigation isn’t going to be a walk in the park,” he said, glaring at mass of people standing in front of the hotel. Pulling into a parking spot on the other side of the street, he lowered the front windows to overhear the crowd.

The sidewalk outside the hotel and convention center where was a chaotic scene. Hours had passed since the police had cleared the area following the forensics search, and in their wake, dozens of devoted Eckley fans had assembled to pay tribute to their fallen prophet. Many had attended his speech last night and cried over the fact that it was the last time they would hear him speak the truth. One of the crowd members, a young Hispanic man wearing a black shirt that read “9/11 WAS AN INSIDE JOB” under his coat, addressed his friends.

“The battle does not end simply because one of the strongest soldiers has fallen,” he loudly proclaimed, trying to evoke a patriotic pride from the others conspiracy nuts. “Darien Eckley was assassinated because the powers that be were getting scared. They knew he would soon expose them, and they wanted to silence him!” This last sentence was loaded with rage, and the response was equally angry cries. “But they will fail if they attempt to silence any more of us,” he continued, “for they have awakened an enemy greater than they could have imagined. We must show them that we will fight back harder than them. That we will win!”  

Rebecca rolled her eyes in response to the loud rallying cries evoked by the passionate, albeit insane speech. “So… I’m guessing this won’t be as easy as we first assumed. Think we’ll be able to reason with them?”

“They’re conspiracy theorists, dear,” Danielle said. “Reason is a foreign concept to them.” She looked out at the ranting crowd with a weary expression. “I confess I’m a bit puzzled as to how we’ll get past them.”

“Learn by doing,” David commented. He opened the door and the girls followed suit, quickly flicking a switch by the steering wheel once they’d exited before he left. Once out they crossed over to the other side of the street, their approach met by hostile glances from the group in front of the hotel. As they set foot on the pavement, David stepped to the front of the group and reached for his holo-badge. “Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. We’re going to have to ask you to step aside. This is a crime scene that requires thorough investigation and it cannot…”

“Shove it, stooge!” a wild-eyed brunette woman shouted out. “We know why you’re here. Black jackets, black van… are you bringing out the helicopters as well?”

The trio was baffled by this absurd display. The guy in the 9/11 shirt got up in David’s face and growled with a menacing sneer. “You took out Eckley, and now you want to eliminate the rest of us to dissuade anyone from carrying on his legacy. Well I got news for ya, lizard boy; we’re not going to curl up and capitulate. You want a battle, you got it. We have the resolve, and we will continue to fight your manipulation of the masses to reveal the truth!”

Another round of cheers and positive comments followed this proclamation. Rebecca sighed; this was going to be difficult. “Look everyone,” she addressed them, trying to restrain her frustration, “you are clearly very… committed… to your beliefs. And I can respect that. But we want to find the person who murdered Mr. Eckley and bring him to justice just as much as you do. And we can’t have our investigation hindered if we’re to be successful. So if you could all please leave…”

A burly man stepped forward and cut her off with his intimidating presence. “You think we’re gonna buy that load of bull, bitch? Get the hell out of here and tell all your Zionist neocon friends at the CIA that they send any more of their cronies here, we’ll land ‘em in the hospital.” He would have ranted more, but his tirade was interrupted by a tight grip on his wrist. The brute saw David holding his arm, his eyes narrowed in fury.

“Listen to me very carefully, neanderthal,” he said in a harsh, commanding tone. “First, you will apologize to my colleague for calling her that vile word. Then, you and the rest of your tinfoil hat-wearing friends are getting out of here so we can do our work without being hindered by lunatics. Do I make myself clear?”

“And what are you gonna do if I don’t, ya little stain?” He began to ball up his fist. “Gonna get your reptile buddies to take us out?!”

The thug took a swing at David. Incredibly, in spite of how close they were, his target managed to dodge it, swerving to the side with incredible speed. The guy was stunned. David shifted back to his normal position and gave a smug smirk. Winking, he tightened his grip on the guy’s wrist and pivoted to the left, tossing the man over his shoulder. Everyone in the crowd was stunned to see their fellow believer bested by a man half his size. The beefy punk hit the pavement a few feet away with a heavy thud. He got up slowly, holding his back and moaning in pain. Turning to see the little man who bested him beckoning for a second round, he took off, waddling away like a penguin with a club foot.

“I don’t need any reptiles to help me deal with scum like you,” David commented, sizing up the rest of the crowd. “Now… does anyone else want to cause problems for us?”

“Oh you want problems, puto?!” The Hispanic man screamed. “I’ll give you problems!” He yanked a switchblade out from inside his coat and flipped up the knife. Rebecca spotted it and focused on the weapon, channeling her mystical energies into the device to manipulate it at its molecular structure…

The knife-man readied himself to take a slash at David, but before he could, he noticed something strange about his weapon; it suddenly felt rough… heavier. He took a glance at it and was shocked – the thing had turned to solid stone! From the hilt to the blade it was just a blunt rock. He was stunned into speechlessness. Mouth agape, he looked out at the strange trio. Rebecca gave him a knowing glance. “Rock beats blade,” she told him flat out.

“Dios…” He shivered, trying to figure out what action to take, then after a few moments he made his decision; he turned and ran off screaming, dropping his now worthless stone knife behind him. The rest of the crowd still had their eyes fixed on the mysterious new group.

Danielle met their looks with a mischievous expression. “Do you even want to see what I can do?” Then with a snap of her fingers, a booming thunderclap shattered the still air. “That was just a sample.” And a sample was all they needed; everyone rushed off in different directions, shouting in complete panic. The faerie pouted. “Bugger. I truly wanted to show them more.”

“At least we cleared the area,” David remarked. “Though I wish we could’ve done it with some more subtlety.”

“Well, think about it this way,” Rebecca chimed in. “If they talk about what they saw, the only people who’ll believe them are other whack-jobs.” She quickly glanced across the street. “Hey, if they come back, they can’t do something to our ride, can they?”

“Not likely,” David answered. “I locked it before I got out. The windows are reinforced, and biometric scanners under the door handles mean they’ll only open for registered agents. So we’re good.” He started for the hotel doors, then stopped and gently bowed before the girls. “I must apologize for my harsh behavior with that brute. It was uncivilized, but I wouldn’t allow him to insult the two of you.”

Rebecca smiled. “Not a problem. Thank you for defending our honor. Chivalry is clearly not dead.”

“Quite. It’s undead,” Danielle joked.

The trio laughed as they passed under the awning and went into the hotel. Upon entering they were pleased to find that Eckley’s murder hadn’t attracted more gawkers; the ones they dealt with outside were more than enough. Thankfully the lobby and seating area were practically barren. Just a few people sitting in the couches and chatting about everything under the sun, and only one person checking out at the front desk. They moved behind the guest and approached the Asian desk attendant, her nametag identifying her as Julie.

“Can I help you?” she asked.

“Yes Julie,” David spoke up as he removed his badge. This time he was able to show it without interruption. “Peter Parker, Crime Scene Unit. Myself and my associates, Miss Grey and Miss Munroe, have been assigned to the murder of Darien Eckley.”

The desk attendant was a little shocked. “I don’t understand; I thought the police completed all their forensics work earlier.”

“That was only a preliminary investigation, ma’am. We suspect that the killer may have been seeking something on Eckley’s person, and as we found nothing of interest on his body, there’s good reason to believe that one of his possessions may provide information as to whom his murderer was. We need to search his room to determine if this is the case.”

“I don’t know…” Julie was hesitant. “We were assured that the police didn’t have any further work to do here. And this horrible event has already drawn a lot of unwanted attention that could hurt our reputation. I mean, you saw those nuts organized outside spouting off their freaky theories…”

“We took care of them,” Danielle interrupted. “They won’t be troubling you any further.”

“Really? I’m impressed…” She paused for a moment as she looked over the agent. “You’re with the CSU? You look so young."

“I age well,” the faerie feigned a blush. “Blessed with good genes. But that’s irrelevant; can you please tell us which room was Eckley’s?”

“If you could bring his car up from the parking garage as well, we’d appreciate that,” Rebecca added. “There may be something of interest in there as well.”

“Mr. Eckley didn’t register a car with us. From what I know he was using a limo service the entire time he was here. We already told that to the officers who were here earlier.”

“Oh… my mistake. Sorry.”

Julie muttered skeptically. Something was off about these people. If they were with the cops, they should’ve known that Eckley didn’t have a rental car. She needed to find out who these people really were. “Let me get in touch with security. I’m sure they’ll be able to address your request.” Reaching for the phone, the agents picked up on her expression as she glanced at them – “You don’t fool me” was written on her face.

Rebecca started to sweat nervously. “Oh crap…” she whispered to her friends. “I’m sorry guys… I didn’t know. Our cover’s blown.”

“No need to panic, dear,” Danielle responded with a quiet reassurance. “Any problem can be resolved if you have a spark of inspiration.” With a mischievous glint in her eye, she looked across the room at a tubular trash can with an ashtray bin. Pointing at it, she willed the remnants of the burned out cigarettes and cigars to heat up. Soon smoke began to emanate from the tray, and a few seconds later, flames emerged from the bin.

At first no one noticed the sudden fire. But once the smoke detector went off everyone in the lobby became frightfully aware of it. Staff and patrons were caught off guard by the mysterious blaze. Julie caught sight of it and dropped the phone in her disbelief. “Oh my God… someone get the fire extinguisher!” She rushed out from behind the desk to try and help a small group control the flame, while others drew away from it in fear or panic.

Taking advantage of the distraction, David vaulted himself over the front desk and landed near the computer. He had to orient himself with the system quickly; someone would notice what he was doing within a couple of seconds. A rapid scan of the screen pointed him to the list of current guests. He clicked it and entered his target’s name in the search bar that came up. Moments later, he had the answer: 921.

“Hey, what the hell are you doing?!” Julie’s voice rang out from across the room. One of the bellhops had managed to extinguish the fire, and with the danger averted her attention returned to the strange trio... one of whom had gotten onto her computer. She was livid. "Security!"

David leapt back to the other side and rejoined his crew. “Eckley was in room 921. But getting up there might be a bit of a challenge.” He nodded in the direction of the hotel staff making their way towards them.

Looking for a way out, Rebecca glanced back and forth until she saw it. A couple getting out of an elevator. Perfect. “Grab my hands, guys.” David and Danielle complied just as Julie was in reach to grab them. The enraged woman reached out…

… a sudden flash of light momentarily blinded her, and she ended up getting a hold of the air. When her vision returned, she saw that the three strangers had vanished. Her fury was immediately replaced by disbelief. “Wha… where did they go?”

The elevator doors at the end of the lobby closed as Danielle hit the button for the ninth floor. “That was a clever escape,” she complimented Rebecca.

“Thanks,” the witch blushed. “It took me a long time to get the hang of teleporting myself and other people, but I think I’m improving. Just wish I could change it so I don’t use light to warp. I’d kinda like to disappear in a cloud of smoke like Nightcrawler. That’d be cool.”

“You’re already the coolest,” David grinned, giving her a congratulatory pat on the back. As the elevator made its way up, the vampire lowered his headset's microphone and tapped the button in his ear. “Jaz, Kevin, it’s David. We got into the hotel and are making our way to Eckley’s room. How are you progressing?”

“Everything’s fine, Dave,” a female voice responded. “A few… difficulties at first, but we cleared those up. Now we’re going to check out the body.”

“Great. We’ll get back in touch with you when we’re finished.”

“Affirmative. Best of luck to you guys. Oh… can you get me a Toblerone from the mini-bar while you’re there? Thanks.” The transmission ended leaving David confused as to why Jasmine thought that specific candy would be in the room. He didn’t have much time to wonder, though, as the elevator quickly came to a stop. The threesome walked out onto the floor and found what they were looking for – a plaque pointing out the directions of the rooms. 913 to 925 were down the right side of the hallway, so off they went.

The thick carpet lining the halls did an excellent job of muffling their footsteps as they walked along. And to their good fortune, no one else seemed to be wandering about. With luck, they thought, it would be much easier from here than it had been in the lobby. Turning a corner the agents came to the last cluster of doors before the hallway turned into a dead end. Danielle spotted the entry to 921 on the left wall and moved towards it. The Do Not Disturb sign still hung from the handle. “Well, not like he needs his privacy now,” she smirked. The faerie retrieved the laser lock-pick from her jacket and positioned it over the card slot on the lock. A twist of the rounded end caused a beam of white light to emanate from the hole at the point “A little laser-guided jiggery-pokery…” the red light over the handle dimmed as the green one began to shine, “… and Bob’s your uncle.” With a satisfied grin she opened the door. “After you, my friends.”

Rebecca and David entered the room and began their visual examination. Eckley had clearly sprung for one of the more luxurious suites: king-sized bed, big-screen TV, a comfy couch and recliner, coffee maker with packs of pre-ground Arabica – all the amenities a paranoid author could want. Resting on the desk was a stack of hardcover books. David went over and grabbed one. It had to be at least two inches thick. He glared at the cover. From the best-selling author of “THE SERPENTS OF ZION,” Darien Eckley’s Analysis of the Reptilian Invasion, and How to Defend Earth from the Alien Overlords. The cover art was a cartoon-like perversion of van der Weyden’s Saint George and the Dragon, though instead of a noble knight on horseback driving a lance into a winged serpent, it depicted a young man in combat fatigues holding a gun over the prone body of a humanoid being covered in green scales.

The vampiric author speed-read through a few pages and was left dumbfounded by the absurd text. “People actually paid for this lunatic’s ramblings?” he muttered in disbelief, slamming the cover shut to shield himself from the pain the words within could inflict.

“Hey, this is the same culture that thought The Secret held all the answers to their lives and treated it as their new Bible,” Rebecca replied as she searched through some dresser drawers. “There’s a fringe fan-base for every writing style, even the stupid ones.”

“Gods help the literary world.” Putting the book down, David caught a glimpse of the mini-fridge under the desk, and his curiosity got a hold of him. He knelt down and opened it up to get a look inside. It had the standard hotel fare: $5 bottles of water, a few fancy liquors, some sodas, chocolate cookies, dried fruits, and candy bars… three Toblerone bars. “She is good,” he muttered, impressed with Jasmine’s earlier prediction. David yanked a bar out and pocketed it, then as an afterthought, called out to the girls. “Anyone want a snack or drink? I assume this is still going on Eckley’s bill, and it’s not like he has any use for it anymore.”

Rebecca shook her head. Danielle, who was by the closet, looked a little queasy. “Thank you for the offer, David, but I must decline. The thoughts of eating in a dead man’s room… I mean I know he wasn’t murdered in this room, but still… just a tad off-putting.” She slid open the closet door and began rummaging through the pockets of the suit jackets hung up. In the breast pocket of the second suit, she felt something. After pulling it out, the faerie was amazed by the sight. “I think I just discovered the inspiration for the late Mister Eckley’s theories,” she muttered with disdain. Danielle held out the zip-top bag so her friends could see the white powder that filled it about halfway.

************************************************************************

As the agents proceeded with their investigation, down in the lobby a state of normalcy was being reestablished. Julie had returned to her position and was currently speaking with a hotel security officer, trying to explain the strange events that occurred recently without appearing crazy.

“You talked to everyone else, Hal,” her voice was high and strained; she was struggling to keep from cracking under stress. “They all saw them. Three people standing there, then they were just gone. Flash of light and they disappeared. And right after that fire… how the hell did a fire get started in the ashtray?!”

Hal could see the pressure had clearly gotten to her. Best to be as reassuring as possible. “Julie, I don’t think you or anyone else I spoke with is lying,” he responded with a calm, almost paternal voice in the hopes that it would soothe her. “But some pretty stressful things have happened here since last night. A high-profile guest gets murdered, cops come by and keep everyone detained for hours, bunch of crackpots gather outside for some freaky memorial service, and then a few practical jokers set off a spark here in the hotel. That’s enough to fray anyone’s nerves. And sometimes stress can affect your judgment. So when they ran off after messing with your computer, you all interpreted it as a disappearance.” He gave a sympathetic nod. “It’s understandable, it happens.”

“But I still don’t see how…”

“It’s okay, Jules. I’ll stay here with you until the end of your shift to make sure no one gives you anymore trouble.”

Hal had no idea that his pledge would soon be challenged. The front doors slid open and a tall, bald man with a broad physique entered. Whether he was muscular or heavy couldn’t be determined. Actually, none of his features could be determined. He was wearing a thick trench coat that went down to his shoes, the collar turned up to cover his mouth, and sunglasses obscuring his eyes. The figure slowly made his way to the front desk, his mere presence unnerving both Julie and Hal.

“Darien Eckley’s room,” he stated in a low growl that was devoid of emotion, but still had a menacing quality to it. “Where is it?”

Julie scowled. Another joker had come to mess with her. “Forget it, you little creep,” she scolded him. “I put up with your buddies earlier, and I’m not in the mood to deal with any more asses today.” To emphasize the point, Hal grabbed onto the stranger’s bicep and exerted his authority.

“You heard her, buddy. You’re leaving. Now.” The burly man turned his neck towards Hal… and slammed his forehead into the guard’s face. Hal cried out in pain – it felt like he’d been hit with a cinderblock. The shock of the blow caused him to loosen his grip, and the stranger took the opportunity to deliver a powerful backhand to his victim’s already damaged face. Hal was sent flying by the attack. He landed on his butt near a planter at the end of the desk, nose bleeding and loosened teeth rattling around in his mouth.

Julie was petrified; she couldn’t believe anyone could be that strong. She was so caught up by fear that she almost didn’t notice the force tugging at her hands and pulling her over the desk. The frightened woman screamed as she was lifted up by the marauder, struggling in his powerful grip. “Darien Eckley’s room,” he demanded again.

“921! It’s room 921! Oh God please don’t hurt me!”

The brute didn’t listen to her pleas. He simply dropped her. Julie hit the floor hard on her side and clutched her ribs, moaning in pain. She looked up to see the stranger make his way towards the elevator and press the button to go up. No one in the lobby dared go near him; they were all far too scared, worried about what he would do if anyone else got in his way. Eventually the elevator came down and he boarded, not once looking back as the doors closed. Julie struggled to get up and rushed over to Hal, who was now starting to bleed from his mouth. Fighting to hold down her panic, she turned to a bellhop.

“Call an ambulance,” she panted. “And the police. Hurry!”

************************************************************************

Back in Eckley’s room, the agents had made substantial progress. While nothing of significance could be found in the victim’s luggage or the rest of his clothing, Rebecca managed to uncover some evidence in an uncommon place; a vinyl suitcase duct taped to the underside of the bed. She removed it from its hiding place and dropped it on the mattress. “Eckley didn’t take any chances with security,” she sighed while looking over the combination lock. “It’s not gonna be easy cracking the code.”

“That’s why it helps to have a natural code-breaker at your service,” David said. He grabbed both ends on the side with the handle, started to pull, grunting as he poured his strength into it… and the hinges broke. The case opened revealing a thin laptop. “Lovely,” he exhaled as he recovered from his exertion. “I think it’s safe to assume that his computer is password protected, and given what we know of the former owner, he wouldn’t leave any written hints to prevent others from spying on him. Felicia should be able to crack it when… what was that?”

David motioned for the others to be quiet. And they heard it; a quiet metallic clacking. They looked to the door and saw the handle moving slightly. Someone was trying to get in.

“One of the staffers must have come looking for us,” Danielle whispered. “We’re nicked.”

“I don’t think it’s someone from the hotel,” David replied. “They could’ve used a master key card to open it right away. It looks like this guy’s trying to force it open.” Almost immediately, the rattling stopped and the handle became still. They all breathed a sigh of relief. “Guess he gave up,” David said.

He soon found that he spoke too soon. With a sudden crash the door was knocked in. The agents recoiled in shock as the bruiser from the lobby stepped in. He stared down the trio, and though his eyes were obscured by the opaque glass, they still seemed to radiate an aura of menace. “There can be no witnesses,” he snarled. The brute moved towards them, preparing for the kill. It would complete its objectives without disturbance.

“I don’t think conventional tactics will defend us against someone with his strength,” Danielle stammered, backing up against a wall.

“No. But we’ve gotta fight,” Rebecca said, trying to boost her courage. “This creep wants to try and stop us, he’s gonna learn it won’t be easy.” The young witch closed her eyes and clasped her hands together, chanting under her breath in a foreign, arcane tongue. A large circle of blue light appeared in the center of the room, and when it faded, standing in its place was a creature with a noble lion’s body and a majestic eagle’s head and wings. It turned to address its summoner. “What’s up, Becca?” the griffin inquired with a pleasant caw.

“Hey Gary. Afraid there’s no time for small talk. Big freakishly strong guy’s trying to kill us.” The beast saw the approaching marauder, who was apparently unfazed by the sudden appearance.

“Gotcha.” It crouched down and raised its hackles, growling at the sight of the thug. “Face my fury!” the griffin dramatically hollered as it leapt onto its target, knocking the brute down and swiping at it with its claws. At least it tried to; the bruiser managed to grab hold of Gary’s forepaws and push them away from him, keeping it at bay. Still, this didn’t bother the beast. “I’ve got him distracted! Get to work!”

The team took heed and sprang into action. David grabbed the suitcase from the bed, dumped out the laptop, and leapt over the mattress to reach his target. He began to bash the luggage over the guy’s head, but incredibly the thug didn’t show any pain. Not even a wince.

“This guy is resilient,” Rebecca said. “Let’s see if he can stand up to harder material.” She turned her focus to the case, and worked her magic to transform it from leather to lead. David smiled and resumed walloping the guy, but even with his face being beaten in with heavy metal, the creep didn’t let up.

Gary was getting annoyed. “Come on you freak, pass out or something! I can’t keep this up forever.” And he would soon be proven correct. For the killer tightened his grip around the griffin’s legs and hurled it to the side. Gary crashed into the wall, leaving deep cracks where he struck before falling to the floor. “Ooh…” he moaned, “that’s gonna leave a mark.” His eyes closed and he was soon consumed by another ball of light, only when this one vanished, he was gone as well.

“No! Gary!” The conjurer cried out in distress at the loss of her mythical pet.

David was aghast. He glared at the man with fury in his eyes. “Murderer!” He prepared to swing the metal case at him again, but the killer quickly got up and knocked it aside. The vampire grabbed hold and tried to bring him down, only to be met with incredible resistance. They were equally matched in superhuman strength, and David hoped that he wouldn’t find out that this guy was stronger. “You are going to pay for killing that poor creature,” he grunted.

“Gary’s not dead,” Rebecca called out. “He’s a spirit beast. He just had to return to the spirit world to heal. I should be able to summon him again in a few hours.” She gulped at the sight of the assassin locked in combat with her friend. “If we survive for that long…”

“I think we need to hang our dear intruder out to dry,” Danielle called out. She was back by the closet, coat hangers floating beside her. With a few swift hand gestures, the wire hangers began to unravel themselves and reform into small, thin metallic spears. She pushed her palms forward and the wire weapons shot out at the killer, piercing his coat above the shoulders and dragging him along the floor to the opposite side of the room, where he was pinned against the wall. He began struggling to break free. “I think we’ll need the big guns to subdue him,” the faerie muttered.

David reluctantly nodded. “I hate to do this, but you’re right. It’s our last option.” He withdrew his gun and aimed it at the thug. “Last warning, pal,” his voice wavered. “Stand down or I will fire.” The hulking man didn’t acknowledge the threat. Instead he pulled himself free from his pinnings. David sighed. “Okay, you left me no other choice.” He closed his eyes and pulled the trigger.

A wave of electromagnetic energy shot out from the weapon. It moved in a wavelike manner, leaving arc-shaped distortions in the air around it as it followed its path. The pulse hit its target in seconds, leaving the man stunned. He ceased all movement then fell face-down on the ground. David rushed over to him and placed his fingers on the man’s neck. The guy’s skin felt unusually hard; not like muscle, it was denser. But that wasn’t what shocked him the most.

“There’s no pulse,” David stammered. “And I don’t hear him breathing. Oh Gods… I had it on the lowest setting, it shouldn’t have killed him. No, no I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to… Gaah!”

His lamentations were halted as the thug miraculously sprung back to life, latching onto his shooter’s throat. David flailed in his grasp as he tried to break free. Then he noticed the man’s hand. Some of the flesh was torn away, and underneath there was a smooth silver plate. “The fu…? It’s a robot…” he weakly cried out as his air supply was being choked out more with each passing second. “… a robot…”

Danielle furrowed her eyebrows. “So we’re dealing with a mechanical killer. Then this will make my job much easier, and I won’t have to feel guilty about doing it.” She began to twist her hands again, ready to manipulate the target of her elemental powers.

David gasped for air as the robot’s grip tightened. Then a loud crackling pop filled his ears, and when it faded, he found he could breathe more easily. The grip was loosening, no, more than that; the killer let go. Inhaling deeply to regain oxygen, the vampire reoriented himself to his surroundings. He stared down at the floor and saw the android’s arm lying there. It had been ripped from the socket. He saw the humanoid machine quaking in place. Moments later, its head came off. Circuitry, wires, and jagged metal connection plates sprouted up from its neck. Across the room, Danielle grinned with satisfaction as she finished her work, ripping the rest of the machine’s limbs from its torso. The once fearsome attacker was now a pile of scrap.

The girls rushed over to David. “Are you okay,” Rebecca asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he nodded, still breathing deeply. “But this just got a lot weirder. This is a highly advanced machine, and it’s been programmed to kill.” A flash of insight hit him. “This is probably what murdered Eckley!”

“I was thinking the same thing,” the witch responded. “It was probably sent back here to get rid of any evidence. But who programmed it? And why was it ordered to kill an author?”

“No idea. We’ll have to get it investigated in the lab.” He grabbed Eckley’s laptop and a copy of one of his books as well. “If we’re lucky, these will point us in the right direction.”

The newly-regained serenity was quickly shattered by the shrill sound of a siren from outside. Danielle ran over to the window and saw police cars pulling up alongside the hotel. “Splendid,” she sarcastically groaned. “This makes our exit far more difficult. Not that it was any easier before now. I mean, we couldn’t expect to take the lift down and leave with a bunch of mechanical body parts.”

Rebecca mulled over the situation for a moment. “Hey Danielle, can you see our ride from the window.”

She peered out again. “Yes. Bit of a strain, but it’s in eyesight.”

The witch came over to find the right angle of vision. “Yup, there it is.” She addressed her teammates. “Okay, we’re going to do another jump. This one will be a little tricky because of the distance, so hold on tight. And make sure you’ve got everything we need.” David nodded, clenching the computer and book under his shoulders as he grabbed Rebecca’s hand. Danielle picked up the head and one of the arms of the robotic assassin as she also took hold, ready to teleport once more.

As the police poured into the hotel, they didn’t even notice the sudden flash of light that appeared on the other side of the street. The trio instantly materialized beside their van. Rebecca let go of her friends’ hands and slumped down, gasping for breath. “Phew… really… took a lot… out of me.”

David extended a hand and helped her to her feet. “This took a lot out of all of us.” He could see that Danielle was also fatigued. “Don’t worry; we’ll get back and take time to recuperate.” He slipped his hand under the door handle, had his prints register positive, and opened up. A quick flip of the unlock mechanism and the girls piled into the back seat, the cybernetic extremities resting on the floor. David put the laptop and Eckley’s book on the passenger-side floor and prepared to start up the car. But a horrifying thought crossed his mind.

“Kevin and Jasmine… what if whoever sent the robot to clean up here at the hotel sent someone to dispose of Eckley’s body?” He frantically activated his headset once more. “Guys. Stay alert. A hostile android came to the hotel to get rid of Eckley’s possessions. There could be one coming for the corpse. Again, stay alert.”

For a few moments, there was nothing but silence. Then Jasmine’s voice came through. It sounded strained, worn out. And there were some odd noises in the background; groans and… gunshots? “Thanks for the heads-up, David…” she replied, the tension easy to pick up. “But I’m afraid we’ve already come across that probl…” The communication cut off abruptly. There was nothing but static. His jaw dropped in disbelief. Rebecca and Danielle had overheard on their communicators and closed their eyes, desperately hoping their friends were okay.

(To Be Continued…)