Hunter of Vengeance

We made our way to the lawyer’s midtown offices, Holly briefing me and I would translate to the two ladies.

“Ronald Everts, also better known as RonEve, he was one of the thirteen that showed up after New Year’s.” Holly started in just after we crossed the bridge back to Manhattan.

“You mean the thirteen demons that the news was so hyped about?” Not to mention every religion in the world that used the chance to show what kind of punishment actually awaited people in the afterlife.

“The same. Though they wanted to bring more into this world it was put up in the courts… went all the way up the line to Congress to make a decision.”

“I remember that,” Lisa smirked. “Demons versus government, Vegas ‘ad a field day listing odds off on both sides. Lost sum money on it too. I think the telly was even going to run some of the proceedings but they were afraid what influence the demons might have on a viewing audience.”

“Well it turned out Congress came out ahead and most of the thirteen ended up heading back to their homes.” She paused for a long time. “Except one. No details were released but somehow Roneve found a loophole in the language that let him stay on this side of the gateway. Though immediately several legal constraints were levied against any dealings he had with mortal kind.”

“Most of the congressmen afterward thought he had taken a more active role in the wording of the agreement than they had first thought,” Mara said, leaning back in her seat. “Almost like he fought to keep the rest of his kind out but left himself a way to stay here.”

“I suppose no one was really surprised to hear about a demon betraying other demons. I doubt that would have even been enough news to preempt a cat being stuck up a tree.” I pulled the rolling bubble into the parking structure.

“Just be careful, Hunter, this guy is stronger than he appears… like biblical strong,” Holly warned. “He was one of the ones listed in the Book of Solomon as a Marquis who commanded legions. I doubt very much that being in this world has changed his influence very much.”

“All right, so what are we looking for?”

“Not a lot to go on there…He appeareth in the form of a monster is all I can get from the original text.” I handed the keys to the Pacer to a man at the valet, secretly hoping he might lose the vehicle in the shuffle. “Ok, here we go, short and hairy… carries a staff and can speak in riddles.”

“Should be easy enough,” I turned to the two ladies following me into the building. “Keep an eye out for Yoda.”

The lobby was a lush affair filled with glass and brushed steel. Plants scattered around a few information desks tried to add life to the otherwise sterile atmosphere. Near the center of the area were a few seats where people worked on laptops around a fountain featuring what looked to be a sphere of water hovering in the center. I followed the signs for the elevator down one of the adjacent halls a short way to a small bank of elevators.

I hit the button for the elevator and waited. The directory listed Ronald Everts and Associates on the sixteenth floor. For a tall office building, there were surprisingly few people wandering the halls. The three of us rode the elevator up in silence. I had certainly never dealt with anything like a demon and I doubted Lisa or Mara had either. Understandably we were a little unsure of going into a situation we didn’t know what to expect.

The elevator chimed and let us off on the sixteenth floor and we walked out into the office. It was decorated fancily enough with lots of faux wood paneling. The trim of the entire space was decorated with a strange symbol that looked vaguely like a squared-off version of a trumpet. A young man sat at a desk in the center of the room just beneath a large sign proclaiming the name of the firm. He looked up from the paper he was reading at our approach and burst out with a broad grin.

“Good afternoon and welcome to Ronald Eve and Associates.” He nudged a clipboard with a stack of papers attached to it across the desk in our general direction. “If you will just sign in someone will be with you shortly.”

I started over to the desk but Mara’s arm shot out to block my way.

“Are you crazy Hunter?” She exclaimed. “What part of the demon did you not understand earlier? Don’t sign anything while we’re here.” She glanced beside us to Lisa. “That goes double for you too.”

“Can’t blame a guy for trying.” The receptionist winked at us. “Especially when I have to work on commission. I suppose you’re here for Ron, he’s in the back. Follow the hallway to the end, can’t miss it.”

The three of us walked past the desk with a little more caution than we had walked in with. The hallway beyond was long, and decorated in a fine, ebony wood paneling. Someone had paid a pretty penny or two making sure there were no knots visible the entire length of what must have been an eighty-foot hall. Electric versions of old medieval sconces lined the walls between sets of doors on either side of us. It was eerily quiet as we moved, none of the normal hustle and bustle of an office even with all its doors shut as it were. Just to satisfy my own sense of curiosity I tried one of the doors at random. As I thought, it led nowhere, the doors in the hall were all fake… like some sort of decorative set pieces.

We reached the door at the end of the hallway and walked through to the office beyond. I must admit I half expected golden fixtures and braziers burning in the corners but what I got instead was what I would consider a fairly average law office. Bookshelves and diplomas lined the walls, though some were in languages I couldn’t even guess at. Behind a large mahogany desk sat the man we had come to see… with his feet up and leaning back in his chair to the point where I wondered how he hadn’t toppled over yet.

Holly’s description couldn’t have been farther off. This was no troll hiding under a bridge waiting for some unsuspecting goats, no. He was tall, with shoulder-length blonde hair that simply could not shine like it did without some sort of chemical help. He was dressed in business casual attire, his blazer lying discarded on a nearby couch as he tossed a foam ball up into the air and caught it again. Much of the right side of his face was covered in a sort of ornate tribal-looking tattoo. He paused and glanced at us with the same cursory look a cat might give a bird before lobbing the ball skyward again.

“I take it you’re Ron?” I stepped up to his desk, not liking the sheer energy I could feel crackling in the air. “I’ve got a few questions for you.”

“Please… I rather you refer to me as Ben.” With a flick of his hand, the ball vanished as he turned towards us. “Nevertheless, you would wisely consider that not an iota is as it appears within these walls. As you yourself have seen previously.”

“Ey, what’s with all the fancy talk?” Lisa piped up from behind me.

“My oh my… over a million words in the English language and so many are satisfied with just a couple thousand.” He sighed in exhaustion as if the mere thought weighed down on him. “Oh, Professor Higgins where are you when we need you most?”

“Using bigger words is all well and good… Ben, but if at the same time you ignore the more common ones, aren’t you just trading one problem for another?”

He seemed to mull this over for a minute with a slightly smug grin on his face. “I admit that is a better thought-out argument than I expected from the world-famous Derek Hunter, slayer of monsters. So in deference to you and your lovely companions, I will endeavor to keep my vocabulary on a more… common level. Now, how can I help you today? Paternity suit? Wrongful death? Criminal Trespass? Something more… exotic perhaps?”

“Maybe another time. We just need to see some paperwork, we need to know who was behind the purchase of a warehouse downtown.”

“The one you claim held the evil cabal bent on destroying the city, right?” Ben leaned back in his chair, his expression seemed to lose all interest in the conversation. “Sure, let me just go break attorney-client privilege… any other rules you want me to ignore while we’re at it? An old lady you would like me to push down a set of stairs, perhaps?”

“Look sulfur-for-brains,” Mara walked around the desk and knocked his feet off it. Her badge was out and in his face the next second. “We’re trying to stop a full-out race war between alters and ords, we can make this official if you want but then we’d have to look through all your records with a fine tooth comb and see what we could find. I’m sure you wouldn’t want that now would you?”

“Does that TV show cop thing actually work in the real world?” The demon laughed under his breath. “Not only do I know you are bluffing in an effort to save yourself time but I keep my records clean. You could look from here to the Apocalypse and find nothing useful to anyone but my accountant.”

“So then whatcha want then?” Lisa looked the demon over slowly. Her hands drifting to one of the many pouches at her belt unconsciously. “If there were nothing you wanted from us I figure you would told us to get out by now.”

“Out of the mouths of babes…”

“I’m not a kid. Keep talkin’ bout me like I am one and I’ll show you just how R-rated things can get around me.” Lisa pulled out a small dagger that shone with a light all its own. It had to be some sort of magic, and obviously something she believed would be a threat to the demon but he merely laughed off the threat.

“When you get to be my age, everyone is a youngster. I meant no offense, especially since you… how they say, ‘Hit the nail on the head.’” He pulled out a folder from inside his desk and placed it in front of us. “That should tell you what you want to know and all I want in return is a little polite conversation.”

“I thought you had limitations on what kind of deals you made.” I eyed the folder suspiciously. There had to be more to this than I was seeing. “And who bargains for a conversation anyway?”

“Yes, there are stipulations to my staying here, of course. I wouldn’t be much of a lawyer if I didn’t make some exploitable loopholes in the agreement, now would I?” The ball reappeared in his hands and he bounced it off one of the walls. “As for why a conversation… well in this world of texts, tweets, status updates, and the like it is hard to have an honest-to-goodness chat with anyone anymore. Especially with someone with the potential to be as interesting as you three. I would chat for hours with Solomon as he built his temple and frankly, I miss the activity. So once this mess you have gotten yourself into is all settled, come back and tell me what really happened. Easy as that.”

“Fine,” I said, grabbing the folder off his desk. “We don’t have the time to waste with whatever game you’re running.” I hoped that later I could figure out what he wanted before it came to bite me.

“Be careful out there, Mr. Hunter.” The smug grin returned to his face as he turned his attention back to the small foam ball. “The forces aligning against you are formidable, to say the least. Perhaps a modicum more of caution is warranted?”

“I’m still here, Ben, I think I can handle myself all right.” The three of us turned to leave.

“Yes, but there is so much worse out there than you’ve encountered thus far. Every legend you use as research is told by survivors of attacks… witnesses. What of those that leave neither?”

As we walked away from the office the only sound following us was the soft tap of the ball against the wall. The receptionist was gone and all that was left was an eerie stillness as we loaded up into the elevator.