Warlock

Skeletons in the Basement

"Almost every member of the draconem species and some demons they convinced to fight with them." That was news to him. It explained Vivian's anger towards the Others, though she was technically only partially draconem. "So you'll shield me? And Skye, though he's avoiding the front lines."

"Yeah, sure. Are you fighting the Hancocks, too?" If he was going to have to get along with her, he might as well take advantage of it to gain information.

"The what?"

"The Hancocks. The humans that are hunting Others. Skye knew about them." He had not expected her to know less than her brother. Perhaps Skye was more important to the Others than he had assumed.

"We didn't know they had a name." Her eyes narrowed. "How long have you known about the hunters?"

"I know just as much as you do." Loch began to back away. Holding this conversation any longer would only make things worse. "I have to go." He turned and fled down the staircase. If he was lucky, the war would knock her out of existence, but with the shielding spell he had put on her she could survive a meteor strike.

Skye waited for him by the front door, an ecstatic grin spread across his face. "You told her?"

"Yes. And I'm never speaking to her again." Loch wrapped his coat tighter around himself and stormed down the street. If she had been anyone besides Skye's sister, he would have buried her in the ocean by now, or at least hit her with a personality changer.

"Good luck avoiding her. It's impossible, trust me. So back to the battle plan. Are we going to become Hancocks or what?" He practically skipped with excitement as he walked beside Loch.

"Yes, we are. But you need to keep your mouth shut and let me do the talking. You're a terrible liar. There's nothing wrong with that; it simply isn't helpful when going undercover." Loch glanced at his phone, where he had a GPS app open. It was his favorite part of the modern era; he no longer had to spend hours trying to find places without an address. All he had had to do was look up the organization on the internet and find the address of their local base on their website. It was as if they did not realize that Others could search the internet, too.

"I'll be quiet, I promise. And I can lie to strangers, especially when they're hunting my species." That was doubtful, but they would see the extent of Skye's lying abilities soon enough.

Loch stopped when they reached the office building. Although it was not as well-maintained as the buildings around it, the building blended in perfectly with its surroundings. It was old, like many of the outer-city buildings, but the darkly tinted windows hinted at something more unusual waiting within. He glanced at Skye, hoping to see enough fear in him to give up on the venture, but Skye showed only excitement.

He stepped through the doorway, and found himself immediately surrounded. Beeps and lights bombarded him from every direction, but Skye was behind him so he had nowhere to go but forward. As soon as he emerged from the overwhelming tunnel of light and noise, he realized it was nothing more than a row of machinery. Skye followed him slowly, smiling at the clamor around him.

"That's a precaution to check for demons." The whitest of all white people approached them from a desk situated at the other end of the room. It was strange how they could be so pale without a touch of albinism in their blood. "It would have made much more noise if you had been. Welcome to Hancock Enterprises." He held out his hand for Loch to shake.

A few seconds passed before Skye reached forward and shook it for him. Loch did not want to touch the scum that hunted his species. Unexpectedly, Skye spoke first. "It's a pleasure to meet a representative. We've only heard about this... movement from half-friends so far. I'm Duke, this is Wade." He leaned forward conspiratorially and lowered his voice. "He's a bit of a hypochondriac, so don't mind his dislike of handshakes."