Soulburn

Chapter 2 Part 5

That voice had been a faded memory, but now it was back with a vengeance.

You sent a man to Hell last night, it rasped. While taking a leak, no less. Proud of yourself? Guyton felt the claws, but they passed right through him as if they were insubstantial. Or he was.

"Go away," Guyton said, turning his back.

Perhaps I will. But first, I will tell you a secret. It drifted in front of him again. Your new masters care nothing for you. They offer you something they can never have themselves. So they use you, dangling redemption just out of reach. When they are done with you, I will have you again. And not just me. Everyone you send back will be waiting for you here. Payback is Hell. The rasping voice became a ringing, then a ringtone—

Guyton threw the covers away and leaped out of bed, coming down facing the twisted blanket. His phone was ringing on the nightstand, and he fumbled before hitting the Answer icon.

"Guyton."

"Birch here. I thought I'd interrupt your nightmare for you. You can thank me later."

"It was just a nightmare? You were listening in?" That's kinda creepy.

"The higher-ups alerted me, but yeah, it's probably best to think of it as a nightmare. Your old friend can talk to you, but not too often. It won't happen again for a long time. Anyway, don't pay any attention to what it says. Lying's like breathing for those guys. The truth suffocates them. They can mix a little truth in with their lies, yeah, but they get off it as quick as they can."

"So what did it say that was true?" Guyton asked, trying to grasp everything it had said before he forgot.

"Just the first part. The rest was crap. I bet you knew guys like that in real life. Start with a known fact, then heap bullshit on bullshit. It's effective."

"Yeah, I can think of a couple."

"Yup. Not the oldest trick in the book, but it's time-tested. Well, it's five in the afternoon. You'd be getting up soon anyway. Might as well start out early."

"Hey, I got one last night. No attaboy or anything?"

"Virtue's its own reward, Guyton. But you had a couple questions for me last night, too. One, you can change your appearance to a point. It's a lot more limited than what soulburns can do, but it should serve the purpose. It's like when you constructed an identity for undercover work. You played the role. Got into the part.You'll need to practice, because you won't be able to hold a different appearance at first without concentrating on it.

"As for the other thing, there are exactly three DSP agents, including yourself, working Atlanta metro. Not nearly as many as you'd need for kicking an anthill. Besides, a soulburn could easily pull a gun and send the whole club running for the exits. A lot of people could get hurt, and the ones you want slip away in the confusion. Got any more questions?"

"Nah," Guyton replied. "Not tonight."

"Okay. By the way, Astin said to tell you 'way to take advantage of an opportunity.' Good hunting."

"Astin said that?" But Birch had already hung up.

Guyton wandered into the bathroom and looked into the mirror. Not a cop look, he thought, willing his face to change.

Nothing at first. Then some of the lines melted away from around his eyes. His hair grew thicker, developing a little wave. The face looked familiar...

"Oh." His concentration broke, and his normal face and hair snapped back into place. He had been looking at a younger version of himself, from when he didn't know what it was really like to be a cop. "You can't look soft out there," he muttered, trying to remember where he had heard that. "They'll walk all over you. That serve and protect bullshit... eh. It's us and them. We look out for each other, because nobody else will."

He shook the memory away. There was a them all right, but now the stakes were miles higher than a purse snatching or even armed robbery.