Century Traveler

Mr. Sass was staring at John, and his mouth was moving, but there was no sound.

John reached inside himself and held the darkness. He felt it contemplating the piece it had taken from the enemy. It was familiar, more familiar than the splinters in the street kids had been. John sent it his understanding that both shadows came from Kate Darrows. He then asked the darkness to give the piece back to the other and some of itself so it would understand as well. His dark entity rebelled at the idea, but John held it close and assured it there would be time to regain it.

Turning outwards again, John saw his darkness reach out a tendril wrapped around the piece it had taken, and the other snatched it back and reabsorbed it. The end of the tendril broke off - not much, just enough to give the other a taste. The other approached the piece, grabbed it, and consumed it. It went still as the flavor struck home. It reached out, and both John and his darkness touched it. John immediately felt its fear and need.

"May I call you Michael since I now know that's your real name?" John asked.

The man twitched as John communed with his demon. He looked at John, then nodded.

"It's not a demon. It's just an entity, and yours is frightened. It's a fragment of what it was and has nothing to center itself on. It has no self, just like mine didn't. Mine was missing so much of itself. It needed me. I don't control it. I accepted it as part of me to give it stability and sanctuary," John explained. He held up his hands, and the shadow danced across his fingertips, then sank back into his hands.

Michael's eyes widened with John's display. He looked inside to his own darkness, and for the first time since he woke up in the morgue, he saw its fear. It was pressing back against his tight grip. He looked back at John. "How did you accept yours?"

John thought back to the day he'd discovered the entity within him. "I remember thinking about you. I was doing for it what you've always done for me. You never judged me, just accepted me for me. I pictured standing within the darkness' shadow and gently gathering it within me while I opened my heart to it. I dropped all barriers and just accepted it as an important part of me. It needed me, and I allowed it in."

"That isn't easy for me, John. I'm not proud of some of the stuff I've done. Letting anyone... or anything, in this case, see the evil in my heart is not an option," Michael said quietly.

"It won't judge, Michael. It's lost. Bring it home. Make it feel welcome. It just wants to feel safe just like you do." John reached out and took Michael's hands.

The man closed his eyes, and the darkness surrounding him began to slowly suck back inside of him. The smallest of smiles formed on his lips.

"Oh god! That is so much better! I feel it now. I'm sorry for how I treated it," the man sighed and seemed more present. Without the need to constantly guard against the invading sentience, he could be. "It's still hungry, though."

"Mine is hungry too. It wants to get back the mass it lost. That's certainly the impression mine gives me. I managed to feed it pieces of other shadows, and it's been satisfied with that," John explained.

"Where?" Michael asked quickly, with hunger in his voice.

"Seattle. Kate turned some street kids into shadows. My darkness ate the shadows but left the kids alive."

Michael dropped his eyes. "When I got out of the morgue, the... shadow entity was wild with hunger, and we... killed a pimp, and it fed on him. That fed me as well. It seems I live on a diet of life energy now. Before I could figure out what to do, the punk was dead. It was still hungry, but I was able to get some control. Now I see that was the wrong approach."

"It's not like you had any previous experience with this to guide you," John said softly.

Mr. Sass looked up at him with his trademark smirk. "Look who's all grown up!"

John smiled, then looked down as his cell rang. He picked it up and looked at the caller ID.

Melanie Singh!

He hit the answer button and practically yelled into the phone. "Melanie! Where are you? Are you all right?"

There was a deep chuckle on the other end of the line. Then a voice, deep and rich but trembling with suppressed violence. "Perfect, you almost sound like you care for the bitch."

"Who is this? What have you done with Melanie?" John growled.

"What I choose to do to her is for me to decide, don't you think? I mean, you're there... and we're here. There's really nothing you can do to stop me from doing ANYTHING I FUCKING PLEASE, is there?" the voice screamed into the phone.

John may not have been the best judge of people, but he was pretty sure this guy was riding the edge of madness.

"No, no, you're right. I'm powerless, and you have all the control. Please don't hurt her. She'd innocent--" John pleaded but was cut off by excessively loud laughter.

"Ahhh, that was funny! Oh, don't hurt her! She's so innocent! NOT FUCKING ANYMORE SHE ISN'T!" he screamed. "I showed her as much tender care as you showed my Katerina! But at least Ms. Singh is still alive..." the voice moved away, and John heard a high-pitched scream. "Yes, she's still alive. I had to check. She doesn't look too good, though."

"Please! Please don't hurt her anymore!" John cried into the phone.

"Well, that's going to depend on you, isn't it? Here's the tiny fragment of hope I'm willing to give you even though you don't deserve any consideration for your murderous ways. Are you... listening?" the voice asked.

"Yes!" John cried.

"I want you to join my little ceremony. You see, I picked up my little tablet after I snuffed out that FUCKING LESBIAN CUNT who thought she was smarter than me with her infantile hacker tricks! I guess she understands how incredibly stupid she was. But enough about her. The tablet, mmm! It's exactly what the doctor ordered! Truly a recipe for greatness, and I want you to be the main course! I'm willing to toss Melanie aside if you take her place."

"Of course, I'll take her place! Just tell me where you are!" John said. Michael started to say something, but John held up a hand to keep him quiet.

"Ah, ah, ah. Not just yet. I'll let you know where I am when I'm FUCKING READY!" the voice growled.

"I'm in Portland. Am I going to be able to get where you are when you need me to be?" John asked.

"John, John, John. I know exactly where you are, and I will give you exactly the amount of time you need to get where I want you to be. If you fail to arrive on time or you're not alone, Melanie will have a long life ahead of her filled with the most unimaginably painful days, and sweet Satomi will be my guest as well. And Deron's daughters looked especially delicious. Am I making myself perfectly clear, you insignificant scab?"

"Yes," John whispered.

"Delightful! I'll prepare for the ceremony and call when I want you. Be ready!" Click.

John looked down at the phone, his heart a heavy lump in his chest as he thought of how Melanie had suffered because of him.

"No! You can't go! I promised your mother I would protect you, not let you toss your life away on suicide!" Michael growled.

"What do you mean you promised my mother? That is the second time you said something like that--"

"FREEZE!"

John and Michael looked towards the door. Molina stood in the opening with his gun pointing at Michael Okorie, a man who should have been dead.

"WHAT. THE. FUCK!" the detective cried. His eyes were just a little wild. "Is this one of your S.A.S. tricks?"

"Hello, Detective Molina," Michael smiled.

"If I say, yes, he just faked his death to get away from the British secret service again, would you leave it at that? Trust me, that's the most satisfying answer you'll get," John asked hopefully.

"Nothing is that cut and dried around you, Doe!" Molina growled. "Who were you talking to on the phone?"

John looked at the detective. He couldn't think of any way to get away from the man, but Melanie and all of his friends were dead if he didn't. He was sure of it. Molina didn't have the skills to deal with something outside his fixed scope of reality. Maybe he could rush him and maybe get the gun without getting shot, and if he was shot, maybe he could heal enough. Too many maybes.

A movement distracted him. He saw his darkness sliding along the floor in the shadows creeping closer to the detective's feet. Smart little entity! He just needed to give it a little time and a distraction. In this case, the truth was very distracting.

"It was the guy who attacked Deron, killed Kelly, burned the store and this house, and has kidnapped and tortured Melanie. He also has the tablet, which I think he intends to use in some ancient blood... death... evil ceremony. He said he'd let Melanie go, then use my death in the ceremony if I go to him. He didn't say his name, but he did indicate that Kate Darrows was important to him. Maybe she was his wife. He blames me for her death. The man is certifiably insane!"

"You're not going to him," Molina said.

"Yes! Thank you," Michael agreed.

"But you can't deal with this guy," John said.

"What makes you so sure?" the detective said belligerently.

"Because you can't deal with... this." John's shadow shot up from Molina's feet to enclose him in a sheath of solid darkness, knocking his arms over his head. His wrists slammed into the door jamb, and the gun tumbled from his hand.

Michael leaped forward and caught the gun before it could land and accidentally shoot someone. He stood up and looked back at John with a wide smile. "Very impressive."

John pulled the detective into the room, and Michael closed the door behind him.

"Now, what are you going to do with him?" Michael asked.

John asked the darkness to show the detective's face. A section pulled aside, and the man began to gasp for air.

"Oh! Sorry, I thought you'd be able to breathe in there. My apologies!" John said contritely.

"Doe, what is this? What the fuck are you doing? Let me go!" the cop thrashed at his bindings.

"This is why you won't be able to stop the man who hurt my friends. He isn't just another bad guy. He's more. I saw what he did to Deron. I know what he is. Can you see this?" He formed a spike of the shadow substance, like he'd seen stabbed into Deron, and held it up for Molina.

"What? Your fingers?" the man said.

John blinked in frustration. "No! Geez, how do I explain this if you can't even see it? I'm holding a spike made of the same stuff you're tied up with, except it's hard like glass and, apparently, invisible to you. Three of these were jammed into Deron, and his life was bleeding away. I took them out, and now he'll live. The guy who put them in him is like me, only much more powerful. I could feel his power from the strength of the spikes I pulled out of Deron. I'm just learning how to work with my darkness. Hell, I just found out I had it what... a week ago? This guy, he may have decades or even centuries of experience. He said if I don't come, he'll fill Melanie's remaining days with torture. Then he'll take Satomi and Deron's daughters. We won't be able to protect them. That's why you can't deal with him."

The detective stopped struggling. John released him, absorbing the darkness within himself with a sense of gratitude. Michael made a sound of protest and held the gun on the detective. John held out his hand, and Michael scowled at him. He flipped the gun over and handed it to John, who just handed it back to the detective, who looked like he wanted to shoot them both.

"We're not bulletproof. Shoot us, and we die. We've proven that with Kate Darrows. But we're not the bad guys here. I have to go. I have to show up alone. That doesn't mean I don't want my friends at my back. I'm scared shitless! I'm not a fighter, but this monster has hurt and killed my friends and is threatening to kill more if I don't come when he calls."

"He calls and tells you where to go, and we send in the SWAT team. Surround the entire place. Bottle him in. They could go in quiet," Molina insisted.

"Michael, fade," John instructed while watching the detective.

One minute Okorie was standing next to them; the next, he was just a moving shadow, sliding along the wall like any other shadow.

"So the SWAT team goes in with their flashlights, and there are millions of shadows scattering everywhere. They're going to notice one moving towards the exit? Are you going to give the order to watch for moving shadows? You're a good detective, Molina. I'd hate to see you lose your badge over something like that," John said. "Before you ask, we're not going to do a demonstration for anyone else. Show's over." John's wolf took great comfort from that.

"That's right." Michael suddenly materialized beside Molina, who jumped in surprise.

When he recovered, he glowered at John. "What is your brilliant plan then?"

"Still working on it, but I don't know how much time I'll have. It's, what, eight now, and I'm assuming the fucking evil ceremony will need darkness, so we only have at most twelve hours. I need more information. This guy is supposed to be a genius-level hacker. Not as good as Kelly was, apparently. But he said he knows exactly where I was, which probably means he's tracking my cell location as he knows I can't turn it off. I need to know if that FBI friend of Kelly's got any information on him like a location before he killed Kelly."

Molina pulled out his notepad, flipped it open, and found a page. "Uh, she's been trying to reach me, but I put her off. Didn't need any interference from the Feds. I have her number. Agent Renée Bellerose." He began to search his pockets for this phone but then saw Michael dangling it in front of him with the battery removed.

"Can't risk the hacker tracking you to John. Use my phone. It's a burner," the ex-soldier said, handing him the phones. Molina scowled at Michael and dropped his phone in his pocket. He dialed the number using the burner.

"Hello, Agent Bellerose? This is Detective Molina of the Portland PD. Yes, sorry about not getting back to you earlier, but I just got a lead on the hacker Kelly Wilson was tracking for you. Yes. No, I'm not at the office. Do you know Rocky's Burger Joint? Can you meet me there in twenty minutes? What? No! Yes, this is legit! Just be there and swap out your phone for a burner. The hacker is tracking our locations by cell." He hung up with a blush.

John grinned. "She thought you were hitting on her?" At the terse nod he received, he stifled a chuckle. "Good idea about the restaurant, though. I'm famished."

Chapter 18

Rocky's was an ancient dive that used to have a lot more traffic before the neighborhood took a nose dive into poverty, drugs, prostitution, you name it. The owner was a violent nightmare if you came in looking for trouble or a gruff burger artiste if you were a paying customer. Cops frequented the place as the food was good and cheap, and sometimes they got a floor show when Rocky would bounce a drug-addled would-be thief from the building. That was always good for a laugh.

The restaurant was currently empty of customers except for the detective and Doe. Molina sat in a four-seat booth facing the door. He was silently cursing his luck to be involved in this case. This supernatural shit was a pain in the ass!

At his back in the next booth was Doe. Or what was once John Doe. He wasn't sure who or what the fuck he was now.

Somewhere outside, Michael Okorie was skulking around, looking for evidence of others like them. Shadow Hunters, he heard Doe call them. He'd told Okorie to look for shadow splinters in the street kids or homeless. Apparently, he could remove them without harming the human hosts. What the fuck. It was simpler when it was just cops, civs, and perps. Cops protecting civs from perps. Simple.

His food arrived. Rocky's waitress was as scary tough as the owner. There wasn't an inch of skin not covered with tattoos, right up to her neck. The only tattoos on her face were a couple of blue tears under her right eye. She'd done some hard time. He nodded to her as she placed the plate in front of him. She moved on to the next table with four burgers, and he heard Doe being all polite and the woman eating it up. How would she react to him if she knew he was carrying around some kind of monster inside. Fuck, she'd probably like him more.

The tiny bell at the door rang as a Fed entered. She didn't have to wave her badge around. It was written all over her finely tailored suit. She pulled off her shades and looked around. Molina lifted his hand from the table to signal her, and she moved to his booth and slid in across from him. Damn, she was a looker; light brown hair to her shoulders, light hazel eyes, fine features, and a nice physique. He pulled his mind back from that distraction.

"Detective Molina?" He nodded. "Agent Bellerose. You have some information for me?"

"Yeah, uh. Do you know the name John Doe?" he asked and felt immediately stupid for it. He picked up Doe's snort in the next booth and enjoyed hearing him choke on a mouthful of burger.

"Are you kidding me?" Bellerose asked, annoyed.

"I meant the John Doe who worked with Kelly Wilson," he hastily continued.

"She mentioned she worked with someone named John. His name really is John Doe?" she asked.

"Yeah, I know. An administrative nightmare, amongst other things. Anyway, Ms. Wilson was tracking a hacker you were also following?"

"That's right."

"Was she able to find any information on this guy, like an address perhaps?" he asked.

"It's an ongoing investigation. I can't give out that information. You know that." She was back to being annoyed.

"Were you aware that the hacker was actually targeting Mr. Doe?" he asked.

The Fed paused, and her eyes locked on his. "What do you mean? Kelly said he was attacking her business' servers," the agent confessed.

"As he was trying to get to Mr. Doe's e-mail. The only message we could retrieve was the one we believe the hacker was after. A message Mr. Doe supplied to us from his personal account. Our people are looking into it, but you probably have better resources. Can I forward the message to you?"

Anger flared in her lovely eyes. "Geezus, yes! Why didn't you send this to me immediately?" she handed him her card so he could have her e-mail address.

"Hey! It's not like we're sitting on our thumbs down at Portland PD," he growled as he sent her the e-mail. She used her phone to immediately forward it along to her techs as an urgent request.

"I have reason to believe the hacker was trying to delete all traces of that message as it may have accidentally linked back to him," he continued. "We think the original message was sent from Kate Darrows, who wasn't so careful with her digital trail, and we now believe was in a relationship with your hacker."

A frown appeared on her face. "Darrows... wasn't she the one who killed those people behind Kelly's book store?" Bellerose asked.

"Yeah, but she only killed one guy and badly injured the other, John Doe. She also died in the attack. Hence the violent retaliation from her... what? Boyfriend? Husband? Lover? The hacker. He killed Kelly. He assaulted Mr. Clarke. He torched the business and John Doe's home. And he's kidnapped and tortured Kelly's co-worker Melanie Singh, and we don't know how much longer she has to live. We need to know where he is," Molina reported.

Agent Bellerose frowned at the detective. "It's quite a leap from hacking to murder. Do you have any evidence it was the hacker?"

He sighed as he knew this part wouldn't be received well. "He contacted Mr. Doe this morning and confessed to him. I overheard the call. He informed Doe that he had Ms. Singh, and if he wanted her alive, he'd have to take her place. He's just waiting for the call. If we knew where he was, we could get there before he completes his preparations. Maybe even save the young woman."