Drake passed through the security gate and walked briskly through the massive warehouse filled floor to ceiling with computer hardware. The building was a hive of activity, with employees driving forklift trucks and packing up orders set to go out to buyers from across the globe.
Thorn Industries was a massive organization, raking in billions of dollars every single year. Spenser Thorn had warehouses worldwide, but it was the Silicon Valley building that was the most special. None of the thousands of workers at the facility had any idea that there were monsters under their feet, and while they recognized Drake as a familiar face, they all assumed that he was private security for their boss.
That, in a sense, was true. Lionel Drake had initially taken the job with the belief that he would be heading up security for the Silicon Valley facility. Still, after a couple of months working closely with Thorn, the finer details of his work became apparent. The minimum wage security guards at the building would answer to someone else, while Drake would be out in the field bagging werewolves, sasquatch, and other beasts ripped straight out of a horror novel.
Making his way to the back of the warehouse, Drake placed his hand on the biometric scanner and stepped through a doorway that led to a loading dock that opened up to a heavily guarded lot out back of the building. He could see the vans sitting outside, now seemingly empty, with Bits and Bytes nowhere in sight. He assumed that they had already left and were doing whatever they did to entertain themselves outside of their job.
A red light shone above the basement elevator, telling him that it was at the bottom of the shaft and not in use. Drake scanned his hand on the panel beside the elevator that led to Thorn’s private office. The door opened immediately, and he stepped inside, thinking about how to explain the situation at the diner to his boss. He was positive that there was nothing to tie his team to the place, but he did not like leaving a mess behind during a job.
The elevator doors slid open, revealing an opulent lobby decorated with art pieces that probably cost more than Drake could even begin to fathom. An attractive brunette sat at a desk outside of Thorn’s officing smiling at Drake as he stepped out of the elevator.
“I have a meeting with the boss, Janet.”
“He is expecting you, Mister Drake. Please go right ahead.”
Readjusting his backpack, Drake rapped on the heavy wooden door and stepped inside. He had been in the office countless times over the years, but it never failed to impress him. The dimly lit room looked like something torn out of an interior design magazine. Metallic shelves ran the length of the exposed brick walls. Skulls, horns, claws, and bone fragments were on display at every turn, some in glass cases, while others sat free. Recessed lighting highlighted the best of the pieces, casting shadows on the hardwood floor that stretched out and crept across the room.
Thorn sat behind his desk at the far end of the office space, his back to the room. He stared out the floor-to-ceiling windows, taking in the view of downtown off in the distance.
“Welcome, Lionel. Please help yourself to a drink and have a seat.”
Drake glanced over at the extensive drinks cabinet and licked his lips at the prospect of downing a glass of overpriced Scotch. He fought the urge, though, and took a seat, dropping the backpack beside his chair. “I’m good for now, sir. Thank you.”
“Always the professional.” Thorn maneuvered his powerchair around to face Drake and moved in behind the desk. “Small talk first, or should we get straight to business?”
“I’m assuming you would like a brief rundown of how we caught the creature, sir?” Drake fought to maintain eye contact with his boss, even though doing so sent a shiver down his spine. Thorn looked perfectly normal on the right side, a handsome man with a hazel eye that always seemed to shine as though he were smiling. His skin looked tanned and youthful, and his brown hair was always nicely styled. His face’s left side remained hidden under a mask that looked similar to The Phantom of the Opera, except that it was silver instead of white. His left eye never blinked, the lid torn away to reveal a milky white orb. Thorn had never seen under the mask and had no desire to. He also didn’t know how Thorn had come to be that way, but rumor had it that he had gotten a little too close to one of his exhibits in the basement jail.
“Please. I’m interested to know what sort of fight she put up.”
Drake cleared his throat and began to talk. “This was not a mission that went as planned, starting with the fact that we drove into the heart of an earthquake. By the time we got to the supposed resting spot of the asset, she was out and on the loose.”
“The hospital?” Drake asked.
“You heard already?”
“I saw some reports on the news. They are calling it a killing spree by some madman, but it doesn’t take a genius to put together what might have happened. Please, continue.”
“Well, our tech told us that she was in there, but there were too many civilians in place for us to go storming in, guns blazing. We tracked her as she left, taking the form of a police officer. We believe that she may have infected him in some way to take control of his body.”
“Infected how?”
“Ingestion of her blood would be my best guess. There was a big explosion at the hospital, and it looked as though one civilian was left standing after the blast. We watched on the scanner and saw it turn.”
Reaching into his desk, Thorn removed a thick manila folder, which he flipped open and quickly studied. “There are a lot of legends surrounding the Aswang, but this whole infection thing is something new to me.”
“We are merely guessing here, sir. It could be something else entirely.”
Thorn closed the folder and put it back in his desk drawer. “Plenty of time to study things in more detail now that we have her in captivity. Speaking of which, how did that go down?”
“We had our hand forced when the creature went crazy in a diner, attacking a pregnant woman with multiple witnesses in place. Unfortunately, the woman didn’t make it, but Givens took care of the rest.”
“He killed them?” Thorn asked, seemingly excited by the prospect.
“No, sir. Tranquilizers. I removed all the darts before we left, and I’m certain that no one in the diner got a decent look at us before Givens put them down.”
“Security cameras?”
“None. This was a hole-in-the-wall diner, sir. Nothing fancy.”
Drumming his fingers on the metallic plate covering one side of his face, Thorn went quiet for a moment.
“I can assure...”
“It’s quite alright, Lionel. I have people in Los Angeles who can clean things up for us should anything unexpected arise.”
Drake squirmed in his seat, knocking over the backpack beside his chair, which he had forgotten. “I do have one more thing, sir, that I believe you might enjoy?”
Eyebrow raised, Thorn watched with interest as Drake unzipped the bag and pulled out a bundle wrapped in an old flannel shirt. “What do we have here?”
Carefully unfolding the garment, Drake removed the infant Aswang and placed it face-up on the desk.
“Where did you find this little beauty?”
“It came out of the deceased pregnant woman. I think this is further proof that the Aswang can, I suppose, change those that she infects,” Drake said.
“Indeed, but I do wonder why you are bringing it to me in this condition. That is, I assume, a bullet hole I see in the middle of its forehead.”
Drake wiped his brow and shifted in his seat. “It was…I was angry. Had we acted sooner, that woman in the diner might still be alive.”
“Well, besides the hole in its head, it seems to be in decent condition, although I am surprised that it is dead.”
“How so, sir?”
“My research tells me that a bolo knife to the back is the only way to kill an Aswang.” Thorn leaned in for a closer look and stuck his pinky finger in the bullet hole for a second. Wiggling it around, he watched for any sign of life, but when the creature remained still, he removed the digit and wiped it clean on the flannel shirt.”
“Perhaps those turned by the creature are easier to kill.”
“We’ll get it to the lab and have the experts poke around. Let’s see what they come up with, shall we?”
“Of course, sir.”
“All in all, I would call this a successful mission. What about the new man? What was his name, Rankin was it?”
“Not such good news there. I had to incapacitate him before we captured the creature.”
“Hmm. I had my doubts about that one, even though he came highly—” Thorn was interrupted mid-sentence as sirens began to wail. “What’s happening?”
Drake leaped out of his chair, almost falling over it as he bounded for the office door, which flew open as Janet burst inside, a look of horror on her face. She pawed at his shirt as he ran past and headed for the elevator.
Inside the office, Thorn flipped open his laptop and brought up the security feed from the basement. He pulled the computer free of the charger, maneuvered around the desk, and raced after Drake, who was hammering at the elevator button. “It won’t work,” Thorn yelled.
“What are you talking about?”
“My personal elevator goes into lockdown in the event of a breach.”
Glaring at his boss, Drake kicked at the elevator doors and screamed, “Override it, goddammit. I have people down there.”
“If you mean Givens and Rankin, I can assure you that there is nothing left to save,” Thorn said calmly. “I promise you that we are quite safe up here. That includes you, Janet.”
Drake shook his head and tried to clear his thoughts. “You said breach. What do you mean by that?”
“I suppose you could call it a jailbreak.”
“What got out?”
Tapping away at the laptop, Thorn accessed the security system and checked to see which of the cells were open. He turned pale as he took inventory.
Drake moved in and grabbed the handles of the powerchair, leaning down to get to eye-level with his employer. “What…got…OUT?”
“Raven,” Thorn mumbled. “Raven and a few of her favorites.”
Snatching up the laptop, Drake opened it and looked at the active screen. “Sweet Jesus. Override that fucking elevator and get me down there.”
“Not until they leave, Lionel.”
“We can’t let those things just waltz out of here.”
“We can, and we will. I know where Raven is going, and where she goes, she’ll make her pets follow.”
“Where?” Drake demanded.
“Round up a team. It’s time to bring the girl in.”
This story just gets wilder and wilder.