Blood & Magic Ch. 14

"How many since WE met?"

"Just Maile." Sakeena said, holding her water glass with both hands, "It's not a common ritual, I'd say it happens at the change of every season.

"Were you ever going to tell me or was this something else I was never going to know about?"

Sakeena's head dipped low before she whipped her hair back to stare down Kirstin, "Don't act like this is a lifestyle I chose. I'm a SER-VANT to her. That means I can either do what she tells me to, or I fucking die."

Kirstin shifted back in her seat but Sakeena leaned further, "And another thing. How long did you follow me for? From my home? The Club? My Office? You know my reasons for secrecy is to protect you but I can't fucking do that if you follow me into the lion's den."

With her shots fired, Sakeena slumped back in her chair, folding her arms. Kirstin rested her hand over her eyes. The silence between them lingered. Their breaths the only sound loud enough to interrupt the natural flow of chatter from the other patrons.

"I don't think I can do this anymore." Kirstin finally said, keeping her eyes closed.

"What do you mean?" Sakeena's hand touched Kirstin's and waited for her to look back.

"I can' deal with this shit anymore Sakeena, I'm sorry, it's just too much."

"Kirstin-" she tried to take her other hand but Kirstin pulled away. "-you can't leave now they'll kill you."

"I don't care!" Kirstin smacked the table, causing the plates to bounce. Sakeena's eyes widened as she looked at the families staring at them. The look of shock on parents and children numbed Kirstin's anger. She and Sakeena looked at each other for answers as to how they would cover this up and to their relief, Kirstin's phone vibrated.

"This is Kirstin." she quickly said, holding a hand over her face while Sakeena did the same.

"Where the fuck have you been?" the grizzled voice of a man was on the other line.

"Chief?"

"Delaney, we've been calling you all fucking morning. Detective Howard has gone missing.'

"What?" Kirstin rose from her seat so fast she almost tipped the table. "When did this happen?"

"He failed to check in today and forensics lab said they were trying to call you all night and left information with him. So I'm asking you again, where the fuck are you?"

"In Ann Arbor, I'm on my way back." Kirstin felt Sakeena grab her hand and she pulled it free.

"You better hurry Delaney. I want you in my office now." he hung up the phone and Kirstin cursed under her breath.

"What is it?"

"Alan's missing. I have to go."

"Kirstin wait, what if this has to do with..." she sat down in her seat and couldn't look at Kirstin as she searched for words.

"This is why I'm done. I can't work half assed like this with my friends being hurt, even if they don't matter to your friends." she saw tears in Sakeena's eyes and immediately turned away to fight the pain in her throat, "I'm sorry, do what you have to do. I have to go now."

Kirstin ran to her car, almost knocking over a waitress on her way. She held her phone to her ear and heard she had eight messages in her mailbox. She drove ten miles over the speed limit until she crossed the railroad tracks into downtown Ann Arbor. By then she had listened to all of the messages. The urgency in Alan's tone had her gripping the steering wheel so hard she thought her nails would tear off.

As soon as she got to the department she sprinted inside, running through the sea of angry eyes aimed at her, no one bothered to say hi or even a polite nod. Their expressions were meant to shame her, shame her for neglecting one of their own, her own.

Chief Burk's office was open, he paced back and forth behind his desk. He stared at her before she entered and pointed to the seat. As soon as Kirstin sat, the touch of her jeans against her bare backside made her tremble, he'd never see that she was panty-less, but she felt more unguarded without them.

The door slammed hard behind her and she jumped. "Detective do I even want to ask what you reason is for being unreachable for the past twelve hours?"

"I'm sorry I-"

"Don't give me that bullshit!" it was one of the few times she heard him shout. "Detective Howard was announced missing earlier this morning and then I just found out that Detective Hillier is missing as well."

"Hillier?" Kirstin's hands' remained clutched tight in between her thighs, feeling like a school student being yelled at by her principle. "How?"

"I don't know. I have no information because I haven't been updated for days. I just have DNA evidence implicating a name with no context so I don't know if Alan and Hillier are missing because of their own choice or if it's something related to your case that you let slip by." he didn't shout, instead he talked in short bursts, each word cutting through Kirstin. Her lip quivered.

"L-let me fix this."

"Don't bother. You're to hand over everything you have on the DeRand case and you can head home, consider this the start of your paid-vacation."

She didn't protest. She left the office feeling more naked than she had in the woods. Nothing made her blush as much as walking back to her desk with the angry eyes of the department on her. She felt the most exposed when passing the SWAT team, catching the smirk of Krueger when she passed.

Kirstin ignored the text from Sakeena asking if she was okay, spending most of her time organizing her reports for the chief. The forensics report listing Daniel Martin Jones as the match. With her computer already running, she searched his name and felt her internal shame fade once she saw his birth date. She buried her head in her hands, her nails cutting into her flesh. Being back in the woods tied up sounded like the perfect escape instead of crawling back to Sakeena asking for help.

The door to Burke's office slammed shut, startling Kirstin from looking at her phone. He threw on his leather jacket and said, "Let's go people! Williams, round up your team."

"What's happening?" Kirstin stood up.

"We got a location on Hillier. Her car was found outside of Bastien's apartment along with her phone, her clothes, and an audio device. It was still on when we found it, Hillier was being directed by a man to go to the abandoned hospital in Northville."

"Let me go with you."

"Sit down Delaney, you're suspended remember? Besides, this is a hostage situation with two of our own."

"Chief I'll admit I fucked up but I don't think barging in with SWAT is going to-"

"Save it Delaney, just go home and get yourself off since that's all you've been doing." Krueger shouted as she passed Kirstin, The other SWAT members laughed as they followed the chief out of the office.

"Fuck." Kirstin gripped her phone with both hands, typing to Sakeena and Melissa, the message in capital letters. "BAD GUYS FOUND. I WAS BOOTED AND SWAT IS ON THEIR WAY. NORTHVILLE HOSPITAL!" she sent the text and rested her elbows on her knees. Knuckles turned white from clenching her hands, she needed to hold tight and wait for the others to get their head start.

****

Northville Hospital closed down in 2002, eight floors dedicated to housing the citizens the medical community deemed "unfit" for society. Since then it was an attraction for ghost hunters and artists interested in "ruin porn." The police arrived, spotting Alan's car parked on the untended grass.

Four squad cars, one containing the chief circled the parking lot while the SWAT van parked near the door. Officers Williams, Clark, Rogan, and Krueger hopped out of the back, armed with their sub machine guns in hand along with their body armor.

"Where do you think they are?" the officer sitting next to Burke asked.

"I don't even know why the hell they chose this place."

"Kids come here to spray paint devil-worshiping shit right?"

The chief chewed at his inside cheek, recalling all of the inside jokes the department shared about the asylum being a place to smoke weed and draw pentagrams. Hillier did not protest driving, he remembered hearing her heavy breaths over the microphone. Whoever the man was, she seemed desperate to get down to "business" with him since she left all of her clothes on the street.

"Williams. Be careful in there. Remember, Hillier is inside and she was recording Dr. Bastien. I know she's been seen with detective Howard. If they're all in there...it might be some weird cult."

"How'd they manage to get Howard and Hillier involved?" Williams responded.

"Who knows? Bastien got fired for fucking that lawyer. Maybe she's starting a weird sex cult." Krueger commented.

"Whatever happened, just keep your eyes out for hostages. If this is a cult situation I don't want it to turn into a murder suicide."

"Got it." Williams signaled the team to follow him around the side of the hospital. The lights from the squad cars outside faded as they rounded the corner, staring down the west side of the building. Williams hugged the wall, MP5 in hand. Rogan followed behind him, Krueger behind her and Clark at the rear armed with a shotgun.

The aisle of windows stretched down the entire side of the building, some open to hold in the aged air conditioning units that stuck out. Level with the ground were another row of windows, several of them pushed open. Williams approached the nearest one and looked down, spotting the inside of what used to be a hospital room, A faded yellow mattress lay against the wall, the rusted single bed frame next to it. The door was closed, one thin window revealing more darkness inside.

"Got an entryway into a patient room ground level, should we enter?" he exchanged glances with Rogan while the chirping of crickets filled the silence.

"Go ahead, keep me updated after clearing each room."

Williams knelt down, pulling the window open before slipping his legs through and landing on the ground. While he waited for the others to join him, he leaned against the wall adjacent to the door to get a look at the hallway outside. He could only make out the outline of some tables stacked against the wall thanks to the moonlight pouring in.

The last thud of Clark's boots hit the tile floor and the team lined up against the door. Williams gripped the handle and counted to three before turning and pulling the door slowly. The hinges squealed, causing Krueger, Rogan, and Clark to lower down as they watched their leader hide behind the door. He peaked around it and looked down both sides of the hallway, rising to his full height. He turned on his flashlight and then signaled for them to follow.

The inside of the hospital felt insulated, as if it still operated to mute all noise from its former patients. This left the SWAT team to take in the darkness of the former asylum by remaining tense, hands gripped tight around their guns with their jaws clenched. Each long hallway they turned down was met with a rapid heartbeat as they imagined the worse for their fellow officers.

Checking each room felt tedious, stopping to let Williams glance through a window before jimmying the lock open with a pick. None of the SWAT members believed in witchcraft or Satanism, but the artists who spray painted "666" and pentagrams along the walls, floor, and ceiling did. Every time the officers saw a new homage to the devil, they stopped, shining their flashlights over the faded paint before moving forward.

They passed the welcoming desk of the hospital, peaking behind the desk only to find more furniture stacked against the wall. Williams stared down the north corridor before feeling a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see Rogan pointing down the east side. Williams wasn't sure why that wing of the hospital was any different, the same lifeless debris scattered along the corridor. He saw movement and raised his gun, noticing a faint shadow dancing across the walls. He stepped closer and recognized the foggy curtain of smoke floating out from a room.

"There's smoke coming from the east side. You see any sign of fire?"

"No. It's quiet out here." the chief responded.

"Okay, we're checking it out." he nodded to his team and led them towards the other end of the hospital. The four officers backed against the wall, eyes shifting back and forth from the windows to the doorways to the individual rooms. Despite each room being the same, two person bedroom with single mattresses, the SWAT team could feel their hearts rise in their chests as they passed each one, as if expecting some forgotten patient to lunge after them.

"Do you remember what's on this side?" Clark whispered.

"It's either the auditorium or maybe the gymnasium." Krueger said.

"Why the fuck do psychos need an auditorium?" Rogan asked.

"Shh. We're getting closer." Williams hissed. Indeed, they were close enough to see the opening with two double doors propped open. White smoke flooded towards them. Williams squinted to look past the smoke, spotting what appeared to be red lights. He held up his hand and stopped several feet away from the opening, turning his head so he could listen.

It was faint, the sound of light tapping. At first he thought it was water, but it did not have rhythm, just a cacophony of faint beats mixed with soft gasps. Williams leaned his head forward and felt warmth, like an oven heating up. A loud pop made Williams recoil back, gun aimed in the air. The crack was met with the loud cry of a male's voice.

Williams backed against the wall and stepped closer only to see that the fog had thickened, the red lights concealing whatever was inside under a haze. "Police! Hands up and come out!"

The remaining SWAT members held their guns up, waiting for Williams to give the green light. They anticipated some reaction, panicked shouts before the suspects organized and took hostages. Instead, a woman's voice cried out, pitch so high Krueger grit her teeth. "Fuck it. Williams just go."

Williams grabbed a flashbang from his belt, pulling the pin and tossing it into the hazy curtain. He blinked hard before opening his eyes just in time to see the white light flash, bursting like lightening building inside a storm cloud. He took a step forward only to freeze mid-step, causing the others to crash into him.

"What the hell Williams??" Rogan asked as she collided with Williams' strong back.

"Listen." Williams pointed to the doorway, No shouts, not bodies running outside from the blinding light, just the same taps and pattering that sounded more like wet lips smacking against each other, the slaps the sound of flesh being struck. He pointed towards the fog and moved forward. He didn't rush in, but stepped heal-to-toe inside, hand held up to brush the fog away. "Police! Nobody move!"

Even with his light on, Williams saw nothing but white cloudy smoke blocking his vision. The rest of his team had their backs against each other. The four of them moving in unison. The slightest movement within their peripheral vision caused them to turn, only to see more tendrils of smoke dance in front of them.

"I can't fucking see!" Clark shouted.

"Someone better kill the smoke!" Krueger commanded. "Fuck, why is it so hot?" she felt sweat drip down her face and into her undershirt. It felt as if they stepped into a jungle, the humidity as thick as the smoke that stung their eyes. The air was sour, constricting their throats as they inhaled oxygen.

"Just cool it!" Williams pulled off his helmet to wipe the sweat from his eyes. The scent of the air made him cough, pungent like walking into a men's locker room. "Jesus, what the fuck is that?"

"I can't breathe." Rogan coughed, loosening the strap to her helmet before pulling it off. She let go of her gun and fought to remove the straps to her vest. Staggering through the smoke, she felt her boot hit something move and froze.

The fog cleared, on the ground Rogan saw a woman, naked with her arms tied behind her back. She cried out as if in pain but then Rogan saw an open-mouthed smile on her face as she bounced, her shoulder length hair dancing wildly. On the ground was a naked man, his face covered by a blindfold. The light shined on the outline of his toned body, broad chest and tight abdomen. His lower half was covered by the woman bouncing on him, hips gyrating to control her pleasure.

Rogan caught a glimpse of his erect manhood while the woman lifted her hips off of it and Rogan gasped as a tickling warmth rose in her. The hot flashes suffocated her and she closed her eyes to block out the image of the two, willing hostages, engaged in something she was not prepared to see.

"We need to get out of here!" Clarke called but looked over his shoulder and realized his team was gone.

"Clarke stop shouting you idiot you're giving our location away!" Krueger snapped, spitting out sweat that dripped from her upper lip. She threw her helmet into the foggy haze.

Williams tried to retrace his steps back to the entrance. His eyes stung, beads of perspiration running into them. The heat from the room built up under his uniform. He removed his vest and opened his jacket, breathing through his mouth as his white tank top was exposed. He felt lightheaded, to the point that he almost fell to his knees had he not seen a silhouette up ahead. He aimed his gun. "Don't move!"

The shadow did not obey, instead, the slender figure dropped something on the ground. It was a long sleeve shirt. Under it was a short tank top, covering the bust of a woman with olive colored skin, glowing under the red light. In walking closer, Williams recognized the black curly hair of Rogan, her chest heaving as she tried to breathe. She wiped sweat off her brow as she unbuckled her belt and pushed her pants down.

"Rogan! What are you doing??!"

Rogan turned and saw her commanding officer emerge from the smoke, her hand held still right over her crotch. With her uniform discarded, the cool feeling of the air against her drenched body felt good, but not good enough to make her forget she was in just her tank top and red thong panties. The draft against her buttocks sobered her out of her heat induced delirium. She gasped, "Williams...I'm...I feel...weird."

He watched her legs buckle, wrapping an arm around her stomach and covering her ass, sticking out and hanging like a ripe fruit. Williams dropped his gun, in awe at his partner's body, drinking in the image of her in her natural form. He stepped forward and groaned, feeling his cock harden under his pants, pushing against the inseam as if it might burst out.

Rogan was paralyzed, pants around her ankles, body temperature rising the more the blood rushed through her body. Her face burned but a tingling feeling in her stomach grew as she saw Williams move forward. She tried to turn but every position she took only showed more of her legs. It was when she saw Williams cover his privates that she followed his hands, noticing the bulge building under it.

"Williams...?"

"Put your clothes on." he tried to command, the tremble in his voice a shadow of the commanding tone he normally used.

Slowly, Rogan shuffled her feet, pants limiting the movement of her legs. She didn't care that her superior saw her half naked. He was distracted, immobilized from his hard on, all because of her. The feeling made her womanhood ache, and her heart skipped a beat. She was inches away when she opened her arms.

"Rogan what are you doing?" Williams was forced to uncover his erection to hold Rogan's shoulders

'I-I don't know." she felt her cheeks burn up as she looked away. Despite her embarrassment in being undressed, she grabbed his wrists and pulled them over her chest, "I like you holding me." she spun around so that she could back into him, swiveling her hips as if they were in a dance club.

"Rogan stop you...' Williams didn't finish his sentence. The soft bed of her hair pressed into his face while her ass backed into him. She moved in such a way he could feel a pull from his groin, the touch of her body building a sensation by forcing his clothes to slide against his cock. He looked over her shoulder and saw the top of her chest where her shirt barely covered. He squeezed her belly and pulled her close. She took that as a signal to turn around and kiss him. Her tongue buried into his, her mouth open to let out a groan as she shrugged off her shirt. He reached around to touch the small of her back, a thick coat of sweat already building up. The pressure from his bulge made Rogan shudder and she grabbed his belt, frantically loosening it before pulling it from his pants.