(14.3) Sharp-Shooting

Chapter 14, Part 3

5 years later, I got to the bottom of Department 7’s staircase and into the x-ray. Giant’s 1 and 2 were still on guard and let me in with barely a passing glance at my ID. Finding the library this time around was a bit easier since I’d been there before and I was able to shred what I’d printed and replace the rest easily.

I spent the next two hours going through various files, books and computer programs trying to find what I needed. One of the things I’d managed to find was a handbook for novice field agents. After a cursory glance, I discovered that Angel had done good with my cover and my new badge would allow me access to the cafeteria. A little decal on the back even labeled Dvorak as a vampire.

“I’m gonna have to do something nice for her.” I said to myself as I returned with a thermos full of O Positive.

Another hour or so passed when the words and letters started running together. Deciding it was time to call it, I emailed what files I could to myself and checked out what I could carry without dropping my thermos. Heading back into the real world and sick of the maintenance it required, I dropped my disguise once I’d made it a block or so away.

The sun had started to set and I’d made it about two more blocks from D7, thumbing through their handbook when my thermos shot free from where I’d wedged it with a loud ptang!

“Fore!” I heard a man yell.

Sighing I looked at him. “Aren’t you supposed to say that before you hit someone?”

“I was too busy thinking ‘There’s no way that’s gonna hit him.’ Besides,” He said, rolling another ball onto a portable patch of grass. “It’s not my fault you’re walking on my driving range.” I looked behind me and realized that most of the glass in the dilapidated building’s windows I had been walking by lay in piles of shards on the sidewalk, while a “Condemned” sign hung haphazardly from the remains of the front door. The golfer was wearing baggy, black  jeans and a yellow hoodie with a leather jacket over it. His head was shaved, with the exception of a jet black mohawk that hung lazily to the right.

I shook my head, partially from amusement, and partially from disbelief. When golfer looked down to line up his shot, I floated my thermos back to my hand and tried to continue on my way. I got about three steps in before I heard the tell-tale sign of a golf club in mid-swing.

The golfer launched his ball on a direct course towards my thermos again. This time though, I managed to waggle my fingers fast enough to send it off course, bouncing into the darkness of the building behind me.

A bewildered expression on his face, Golfer started crossing the street towards me then, pulling something out of his pocket as he moved.  I was seconds away from blasting his head off of his shoulders before noticing that it was actually a policeman’s badge. He stopped before reaching the edge of the sidewalk in front of me and I noticed that the name stamped on his badge was “Kanyun Parch”

“Is there a problem officer?” I asked, turning to face him.

He leaned casually on his club, which I then realized was actually a sledgehammer. “That remains to be seen,” he said. “But I’d sure like to know how that ball missed you.”

I grinned and shrugged. “Maybe the wind caught it?”

He grinned right back for a moment before his gaze moved over my shoulder, a look of confusion filling his face.

I quirked an eyebrow at him before following his gaze and stepping to the side. I started searching the darkness for a clue as to what he’d seen as he stooped to the ground and picked something up. I saw something large and dark move in the shadows, right before a golf ball rocketed into the darkness and thwacked loudly off the head region of the shadow inside.

The roar that followed was loud enough to rattle the glass overhead and send a few pieces to the ground to shatter at our feet.

“Impressive,” Kanyun said as he hefted his sledge into both hands.

My stack of folders hit the ground as the creature, which I now saw was an animated support pillar, lurched out of the entrance and slung a broken desk at the two of us. We dodged in separate directions, hitting the ground and rolling to our feet, Kanyun with his sledge at the ready and me with lightning crackling at my fingertips.

I’m sure it would’ve looked awesome if the thing hadn’t anticipated my dodge and aimed a second desk right where I landed.