Guardians of the Gates - Part 1, The New Breed - Jeff Schanz (best books to read non fiction .TXT) š
- Author: Jeff Schanz
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Sebastian nodded.
She stiffened as something suddenly occurred to her. What if that thing really is a werewolf, and all that other movie nonsense is true, and if someone is bitten they might turn intoā¦ oh, my god!
Sebastian sighed. āEasy, Miss. No oneās going to turn into anything.ā
Ok, what the hell? And ā good, by the way. But, what the hell? Am I talking out loud and didnāt notice?
āNo,ā he said, āyour unfortunate friend ā uh, Frank, was it? ā is dead for keeps.ā Sebastian looked back at the dead werewolf thing and paused for a moment. Though he was preoccupied with the dead creature, it seemed like something else was bothering him. He sighed and said, āAnd looks like this wolfer isnāt going to disintegrate like heās supposed to. That complicates things. And I doubt the police will understand what happened, so ā we probably need to get moving.ā
She nodded, sighed, and hung her head. Her hands went to her sweater pockets and tried to clasp each other through the fabric. In a small voice, entirely to herself, she started rambling. āGreat, now Iām running from the police? Some weird thing attacks me, kills my ā friend, I get saved by some cowboy ninja, and he tells me I need to get going before the police arrest me.ā She nodded again, pinching back the desire to cry. āSure. Of course, Iāll just go home. I can make some tea, watch the telly, just forget the whole thing. Right? Iāll try some of my new tea and catch up on my shows, just like nothing happened. No one will know. Nothing happened at all. I donāt even know where Frank was tonight. Never saw him. Never saw anything at all. Exceptā¦ except that everyone knew he was taking me out. He told everyone. Everyone will know. Theyāll find him. And theyāll see that heā¦ Theyāll think that Iā¦ that I wasā¦ā Here came the tears. Never looking up, she continued to babble to herself. āFantastic. Just fantastic. Iām going mad. Mm hmm. I have to go now. Yes, have to get home. I should probably pack. Go somewhere. But I have a presentation tomorrow, I canāt leave. Iāll leave the next day. Iāll say Iām sick and need some time off. Right. I can work remotely, find an island that has wi-fi. But they could find me, couldnāt they? Thatās fine, Iāll just say it was a lion. Lions escape from zoos, donāt they? Iāll just stay here and say a lion did it. Theyāll believe that, right? Yeah?ā
She hadnāt noticed Sebastian approaching her. He placed his hand on her shoulder. It snapped her out of her trance. She wasnāt sure if she was offended or thankful.
āWhoa, Miss,ā he said. āI think weāre losinā ya, here.ā
You donāt say?
āYouāre just a little ā shocked right now,ā he said, patronizingly. His eyes stared at her mouth, not her eyes. āItās ok. Understandable. Not exactly easy stuff to process. Iād buy you a drink but they donāt allow swords in bars.ā
More Jokes? Really? Evidently, he noticed and dropped his head and sighed.
āSorry. Listen ā youāve been through a lot, and you probably need some time to digest it all, so you do need to get home, ok?ā
The car. Frankās driver.
āFrank had a car meeting us at the gate over there,ā she said, chin pointing to an area behind Sebastian.
Sebastian cocked an eyebrow.
āIād guess itās still there,ā said Jillian. āI have no idea what to tell him, if heād take me home, orā¦ how do Iā¦ what am I going to say?ā
Sebastian nodded, thinking. āAlright. I got an idea, as long as you promise you wonāt freak out if I borrow your friendās coat.ā
She rolled her eyes and was about to tell him she didnāt care when something else caught her attention. āUmm, Sebastian?ā She pointed with her eyes to the severed head of the beast. It wasnāt a beast anymore. Still monster-like, but not the same. It was changing. Becoming more human.
āOh, shit,ā said Sebastian, quietly, but Jillian noticed.
Her eyebrows stretched up. This was the freakiest thing sheād ever seen and probably would start going into hysterics any second unless, for some reason, despite the insane thing that was going on now, if this Sebastian person to blew it off and said some nonchalant remark about how it was no big deal, maybe she could keep it together. āAll these werewolf guys do that stuff,ā he should say. Not, āOh, shit.ā
āUmm, is he supposed to doā¦,ā she started. Come on, say itās ok. Say itās fine, letās get you home.
āNope,ā he said, teeth clenched.
The head had human eyes now. They had lightened to a milky cast with brown irises. The nose was still reptilian, but much shorter, and the ears had shrunk to only human size with a slight point. Its mouth was only half the length it was before, noticeably shrinking at the speed of a snail crawling. Jillian felt sick.
āThat,ā she stammered, āthat, that thing is turning into a, aā¦ā she ran out of breath to finish, then swallowed.
āUh huh,ā said Sebastian. He screwed up his face. āNot good.ā
Stay upright. Keep standing, itās ok, itāsā¦ Jillianās ankles failed. Her knees had no more stability. She started an uncontrolled lean backward.
āOhhh boy,ā said Sebastian, sliding his hands under her reclined back. āMiss? Miss?ā
āJillian,ā she said, blinking rapidly, lids working hard to stay open.
āJillian,ā he said. āHang on, weāre gonna get you home.ā
āItās fine. Right? Fine?ā
Sebastian squinted, then relaxed. āAbsolutely.ā
Jillian was out.
Barton Dunby, āBartā to his friends, reclined in the driverās seat of the limousine, eyes flitting over the copy of the Daily Mail he had read twice. Frank had told him to park near the eastern gate and wait. Even though Frank warned him, it may take a while to āchip the frost off this ice-princess,ā Bart had expected the couple to emerge a long time ago. The usual objects of Frankās affection commonly returned to the car, lip-locked with Frank, within a half-hour after they had been dropped off, at which time the plan became to head back to Frankās flat. Once there, Bart was free to leave them both and go to his pub.
Even though Bart had seen plenty of Americans like Frank, Bart didnāt assume they were all that way. He had driven a cab not so long ago and enjoyed conversing with the clients. Most of the Americans were pretty decent, nice tippers, and very exuberant. They were excited about this city, which he found amusing because heād been here his whole life and was about as bored with it as can be. All there was in London was worn down, overhyped old buildings, cheesy souvenirs, and a whole lot of foreigners, many of which considered themselves to be British. Keep on believinā it, ya buggers. Youāre all about as British as the plastic bobble-headed doll of Prince William made in China, in that shop over there run by Pakistaniās. They can call themselves British, but at least theyāll never be English.
It was all the same anymore. But as long as the Arsenal football club kept their winning streak going, he didnāt care much. Arsenalās star strikerās ankle was holding up, even after that Man U gorilla tried to take him down yesterday. It was a crime, thatās what it was. The Man U buggers paid that bastard to do nothing more than take down Arsenalās striker. Going for the ball, my arse.
Bart was about to reread the article about the Man U thuggery when it started raining. He sighed to himself. No problem really, as long as Frank and his lady friend came out soon. A little water on the seats wasnāt an issue, but if they waited too long and got muddy, then heād have to clean out the footwells, and that would be a pain. But as he figured it, Miss Ice-Princess wasnāt typical of Frankās usual suspects, and didnāt seem in lock-step with Frankās ultimate plans, so he doubted theyād be heading back to Frankās flat anytime soon. More than likely, Bart would be taking her home, then driving Frank home alone. He couldāve warned his client that he was going to strike out, but it wasnāt Bartās job. He folded up his paper and tried to remember if he had a towel under the seats.
A figure suddenly emerged from the park gate. Very few folks were out mid-week after midnight, so he assumed it was at least one of his duo, even though the rain obscured his vision. Confirming the assumption, they both came toward him. What the ā¦? The girl was being carried in the manās arms, limp and seemingly unconscious. Bart started to get out to help.
The man was wearing Frankās coat, but wasnāt Frank. He came over to Bart with quick yet labored steps. Though Jillian was petite, no human was light, and she was starting to slide in the manās arms. The man bucked and adjusted his grip on her. He had pulled the collar of the coat up to his cheeks and the collar was darkened with something red. Bart had no idea what to think.
āYou, driver!ā said the man who was most definitely not Frank, and also American, it seemed. āCall the police. Your friends have been attacked in the park by an escaped zoo lion.ā
Youāre joking. In Regentās Park?
The man had a bulge on his back pushing Frankās coat higher than it should be. Probably a backpack full of rapist gear. āSheās fainted, but I think sheās ok,ā the strange man said. āIām going to get her to the hospital. Frankās probably dead, throat cut. Need the police and an ambulance, now! Hurry!ā
The strange man turned and sprinted off in a labored gait across the street with his unconscious load. Bart wasnāt sure whether he should follow the man and save the girl, or run and see if he needed to save his client. Maybe Frank was dead, and maybe it was a ploy. Whatever the case, he would definitely call the police. Lion, my arse.
Bart long ago mastered the art of mobile phone readiness, flicking the phone up and snapping a quick photo of the strange man as he ran away. He caught mostly just the back and side of the man, and at a distance, but it was better than nothing. Pocketing the mobile, Bart flipped the Daily Mail over his head as a makeshift umbrella and ran toward the park gate to find Frank.
Chapter 2
Sebastianās cumbersome trip back to Jillianās apartment, hauling her unconscious body while trying not to be seen, was an impressive performance. First, he had to fish around in her purse to find her address and keys. His borrowed motorcycle had been hidden a block away from Regentās park, and he had managed to drive slowly along residential streets with her body draped around him, both of them remaining upright. The cloth belt from Frankās coat secured her torso to his, and he steadied her with one arm while he drove with the other. A difficult feat on a motorcycle and he was a little proud of it.
Inside Jillianās apartment, Sebastian placed her gently down on her couch. Opening a pouch on his belt, he produced a small, metal vile and flipped the top open. He had given her a quick whiff of an opposite kind of vile earlier when he had stopped at a corner and noticed her reviving. It was preferable for her to stay unconscious as long as possible. Her fainting had ended up helped matters as he wouldāve eventually had to knock her out
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