The FBC

Keela sighed and rolled her head to loosen the knots forming in her neck. “They aren’t here Brady and they aren’t coming. We’ve been here all night. Let’s go get some coffee. Come on, I could really use a cup.”

Brady rolled his eyes. It never ceased to amaze him how much of an addictive personality the fey had. Keela had transferred here only four weeks ago and already she chain smoked and drank coffee by the gallon.

“Are you saying you forfeit the bet? I win?”

Keela turned to face him, her mouth open in disbelief. “It’s been a frigging week already. I think that proves I can quit if I want.”

Brady chuckled and smacked the steering wheel. “Hell no! The bet was no smoking or coffee until after the case. I’ve been sitting in this car with you for a week and I don’t seem to recall making any arrests. But let me check.” He shifted and swung around to look behind him. His eyes darted across the vacant back seats. “Yeah, still empty.”

“Ha, ha, ha. Keep your day job mage. Fine, you win. Now can we please go get some coffee? Please, please, please? Mmm…coffee.”

“Alright already! God, why couldn’t they send me a mute?” Brady cranked the engine and headed into town while Keela sat there clapping her hands in anticipation.

Brady and Keela worked for the Federal Bureau of Cryptozoology or FBC for short. The FBC had been created in 1910, two years after the FBI when it was decided that a separate task force was needed to solve unusual crimes. A task force that was far from the public’s eye. The agency began hiring people with special abilities to help track the creatures perpetrating the crimes. These agents were trained with the same program used by their sister bureau along with extensive training in the arcane fields. Fourteen years after the FBC’s creation, a treaty was signed with the Faerie Realm reuniting the two and creating a strong bond of friendship and cooperation that has lasted to this day.

Brady was a seven year veteran of the bureau who specialized in magic. Most specifically, weapons or war magic. His abilities were used offensively, usually with deadly results. Keela, being fey, was the tracker. It was an ability that came naturally to all fey. One tracker was always paired with one hunter.

Brady hadn’t made a decision about Keela yet. She was good at her job, but she was young and way too excitable. Sooner or later her enthusiasm was going to drive him crazy. They were currently on assignment to apprehend a rogue lycanthrope that had been terrorizing the small town of Forest Lake, Minnesota. They’d been here for a week without any leads. A week in Forest Lake…Minnesota…in February…with a bubbly caffeine deprived fey… Brady decided he’d actually discovered Hell.

A mile into town Brady spotted a fast food restaurant that was open late. He pointed at the large “M” casting its yellow glow into the night. “How about here? I don’t think there’s going to be much else open at this hour.”

Keela drummed out a fast rhythm on the dashboard. “Ugh…I guess that’ll do”

Brady turned into the empty parking lot and felt the tires slide on the icy road. He down shifted and the tires caught. “Do you want to go in or will the drive-thru be okay?”

“I think I need to pee.”

“Think? Well I know I could sure use a pit stop now that you brought it up.”

Brady pulled into a spot next to the entrance. The car had barely stopped before Keela had flung the door open and hopped out. Brady stepped out into the bitter cold and watched Keela skip up to the door and disappear inside. He shook his head in wonder and made a beeline for the bathrooms.

“I’ll take a giant coffee please”. Keela smiled at the cashier. She heard some customers come in but ignored them as the employee passed her a large cup of steaming hot coffee. Something familiar clicked next to her ear. She turned her head and stared down the barrel of a dull black 9mm being held by a young man in a ski mask. Another, similar masked man with a shotgun walked past her and began making demands of the employees.

Keela could smell the heady aroma of the coffee nestled lovingly between her palms. She could feel her hands shaking from caffeine withdrawal. She had gotten so close to finally getting a cup of coffee. A week without it had almost driven her crazy. Coffee had forced her to the Golden Arches. Coffee had gotten her into this sudden situation. She should have told Brady to use the frigging drive-thru.

"Get on the floor, lady! Don't make me say it again!" The punk in the ski-mask gestured with his gun for emphasis. Brady was right; she really needed to give up coffee. Her lower lip trembled and her eyes welled up.

“Ah hell lady, don’t you go crying on me. Get on he floor and keep your mouth shut and I may let you live. Crying about it ain’t gonna help you.”

“I’m not crying about you asshole.” She tossed the cup into her assailant’s face. At the same time she pivoted to her right and pushed the gunman’s arm upwards. He got of a single round that harmlessly went into the ceiling. The contents of the cup were far more accurate. The gunman instinctively dropped the gun and clawed at his mask. The coffee had quickly soaked in, burning his face and eyes.

The other gunman had been too engrossed in getting the money from the register. He was slow in reacting to the gunshot. Slow enough for Brady to step out from the corner where he’d been positioned and get off two rounds. Both struck the assailant in his right shoulder, spinning him around and dropping him to the floor. The shotgun slid to the wall. Keela brought her foot down onto the first assailant’s knee. It cracked and he fell to the ground.

“What a waste of good coffee.” She reached behind her and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. Her assailant scooted away from her, pressing his back against the front counter. He was laughing. It slowly changed to a rough growling. He managed to pull his mask off. His eyes were slit and amber colored. The harsh fluorescent lighting reflected off them like light in a mirror. “Oh shit!”

Brady was already backing towards the door, gun held in front of him. “Get out of here Keela! Get the truck started!” The second assailant was slowly pushing himself up onto his knees. His shirt ripped as his muscles spasmed and grew. Coarse hair rippled across his flesh and his face elongated into a large grinning wolf. His partner had also begun to shapeshift. In seconds the two normal sized punks had transformed into hulking masses of teeth and muscle. They stood almost eight feet tall, abnormally large tendons and muscles straining under their skin. They looked like werewolves that had taken way too many steroids all at once. Brady had never seen their like before. He brought his gun up to his mouth and whispered. The two beasts advanced. Brady aimed at the closest one and fired four rounds into its chest. It didn’t even slow him down. Panicking, he held his palm out and willed a blinding flash of light to erupt from it. Both wolves stepped back, howling in anger and fear. It was enough. As they shook their heads to clear their vision, Brady was already out the door and jumping into the passenger side of the SUV.

“Those aren’t werewolves!”

Keela struggled with the clutch. “Uh-uh. They’re loup-garu. Bigger, meaner sons of bitches! They can shift at will. Come on you stupid car!”

Keela pulled the gear back and the clutch protested but responded. She slammed the gas and the truck skidded backwards. She smashed her foot down on the brake and turned the wheel. The SUV kept going backwards even as it began to spin on the icy pavement. Keela threw the gear into first and managed to stall the vehicle. She started it back up only to stall it again. Something heavy slammed into them from behind. The SUV lurched and Keela’s head smacked the steering wheel. Glowing red eyes stared at them from outside the back window.

“Go Keela! You need to get us the hell out of here now!” The car engine whined and he could hear the wheels spinning on the ice as he took aim and fired. The back window exploded into hundreds of thousands of tiny fragments. The snarling loup-garu tumbled back and dropped from view. "Jesus! Shift for crying out loud", he shouted over the ringing in his ears.

Gears ground and the SUV sputtered but then charged forward. "I've never driven stick before!" Keela cried. The fear in her voice was evident. The vehicle suddenly shuddered, great dents formed in the roof and vicious inch long claws began to dig rends in the metal like it was paper.

Brady fired his remaining bullets into the roof. “How do you kill them?”

The SUV sped out of the parking lot and slid out onto the road. The engine began to whine. “You need to shift into a higher gear!” Brady opened the glove compartment and pulled out several clips for his gun. He held them together and began whispering. His breath caressed the magazines, faint runes flared across the surfaces, spinning and forming a specific sigil before fading away. He slammed a clip into his empty gun and jacked a round into the chamber. Something hissed behind him. One of the loup-garu was climbing quietly over the back seats. Brady aimed his gun just as it pushed itself forward with startling speed. The gun went off twice before the beast’s bulk smashed into them. Keela was slammed against the door, her torn from the wheel. The harsh sound of electricity snapped and sizzled. The SUV spun wildly out of control. It skid across all four lanes of deserted road. The back end collided with a light pole which snapped from the sudden impact and toppled to the street. The bulbs exploded sending a shower of sparks across the ice. The collision caused the SUV to jerk upwards, spinning on one rear tire like a ballerina pirouetting. Its momentum carried it onto the sidewalk where it struck a small retaining wall and bounced back onto the street coming to rest on its roof. It slowly rotated on the ice, the tires spinning uselessly.

Brady pulled himself out of the shattered passenger window. He lay on the icy road letting the cold seep into his body. His gun felt abnormally warm in his hand. Above the ticking of the SUV’s engine he heard another sound. Faint but getting louder. It reminded him of a dog running across hardwood floors. He lifted his head and squinted. He could see the restaurant several blocks away. He could also make out the loup-garu loping towards him.

“Keela!” His voice was rough and raw. “Keela! Can you hear me?”

A faint coughing sounded from the other side of the SUV. He heard the crunch of glass. “Yeah. I’m alive...I think.”

“We’ve got company coming fast. He’ll be here in a few seconds.” He flinched at the sound of gunfire. Keela unloaded her entire magazine at the speeding beast. He watched as several rounds smacked into it causing it to falter then stop. It wasn’t hurt but it was suddenly cautious. Aware its prey was not incapacitated as it had hoped. Keela limping and blood splattered, slid down next to him.

“Oh no…here it comes.”
The loup-garu had decided they weren’t a threat. Howling with delight, it charged.

“I’ve got an idea. I don’t know if I’ll kill it but it should at least buy us a little more time.” Brady slid his gun across to her then lay facedown on the ground.

Keela eyed Brady as he pressed his head to the icy surface and stretched his arms straight ahead, palms down. He mumbled something into the ice and became very still. She looked up and saw the loup-garu was only a couple of blocks away. “Whatever you’ve got planned I’d do it soon Brady.”

A deep growl bellowed from the SUV. Keela turned and watched in horror as the passenger door was ripped from its hinges by a massive punch. The crumbled plastic and metal bounced against the curb. The loup-garu crawled out, rose onto its hind legs and flexed. A deep smoldering gash stretched across the left side of its face. It saw its companion sprinting towards them and smiled. Raising its head it howled with all its might. The charging loup-garu began barking excitedly, digging its claws into the ice to gain more traction.

The loup-garu dragged its claws across the SUV as it slowly advanced. Paint and metal peeled off in deep ragged lines. It was taking its time; waiting for its companion to reach them so that they might kill together. Keela couldn’t wait for Brady. Tightening her grip on his gun, she raised it with both hands and fired.

Brady spread his fingers wide apart and pushed the tips as hard as he could against the ice, his hands shaking from the strain. The loup-garu quickened it pace, its claws digging ruts in the ice. Suddenly the ground ahead of it erupted as long lances of hardened earth and ice sprang out in a line before it. It had been too eager and discovered it couldn’t stop its progress. Its claws clacked and scraped uselessly against the slick ice as it tried to backpedal. Its forward momentum carried it straight onto the trap. Its sheer mass forced it deep into the tangle of points. Dozens of tips piercing its hide. It scrambled to pull itself off but the poles had quickly become slippery with its blood.

The gun crackled with energy as it fired. The force of the blast threw her hands out and the gun tumbled behind her. The round caught the loup-garu in its left side, punched through the thick muscle mass and exploded, sending a small but deadly charge of electricity to course through its nervous system. The round tore a hole the size of a baseball out of its back. Loup-garu jerked spasmodically on its feet. Keela stretched out behind her, her arms flailing on the ground searching for the gun.

Brady grunted and pushed harder against the ice. Several of his fingernails cracked and split from the exertion. The effect was horrific. The lances continued pushing forward and upward. The loup-garu was raised into the air, born aloft on the tips of the spikes until it hung twenty feet off the ground. The more it struggled the worse it became. Its weight now played against it. Slowly but steadily the beast slid down the shafts. Its howls turned to agonizing screams. Then it changed to frantic whining before slowly ending in pitiful whimpering. The sounds echoed off the buildings and faded to nothing. A few moments later it was over, the body twisted and lifeless. Brady breathed out and relaxed his hands. The spikes immediately broke apart into dust and the body fell wetly to the ground.

A small whimper escaped the remaining loup-garu’s throat, a puff of breath rising from its torn and bloodied snout. A low growl rumbled deep in its chest. It clutched the hole in its side, the heat of the wound steaming in the bitter cold. It backed away quickly and quietly until it disappeared into the night. The sound of its claws quickly faded in the distance until there was only silence.

Keela finally found the gun, turning and pointing it at the abandoned SUV. Her arms relaxed from exhaustion and she stared down at the gun in her hands. “What the hell did you conjure?”

“Ball lightning. I figured maybe something from nature would hurt the bastards.”

“I think it worked.”

“Hey Keela?”

“Yeah?”

“No more frigging coffee for you.”

She lay down next to him, a smile forming on her face. “You got it. I promise no more coffee ever again.”

Brady pushed himself to his feet. “Great.” He slapped his hands to get feeling back into them and walked over to the upside down SUV. “Now let’s see about getting this damn car turned back over…”

With a bit of magic and the last of their strength, they managed to flip the SUV. “If its all the same to you, I’ll do the driving this time.” Brady climbed behind the wheel and turned the key. Both were surprised when the engine started on the first try. Keela quietly sat down. She purposely avoided looking at the mutilated body on the road. It had already begun to decompose. Soon there’d be no evidence that it had ever existed.

Brady’s hands shook, the post crisis adrenaline having no other outlet. He gripped the wheel harder and shifted into third. He would have to baby the SUV now that they were no longer being chased. He silently prayed it would make it back to the hotel. He thought about the loup-garu. He’d have to look them up in Alizanast's Grimoire. See how to kill them. One was still out there and it would be really pissed off. He looked over at Keela and quietly chuckled. The fey had given him her word. No more coffee. He shook his head even as he thought it, their word was as useful as wet toilet paper - their minds and morals were beyond human understanding, even a wizard's. Already her leg was bouncing. She was getting antsy. He smiled and shook his head. At least they had given as good as they'd got.