Ketch Me as I Fall

I looked down at the crumpled piece of paper in my hand again, and then back up at the empty parking lot we sat in. He was supposed to be here by now, the dealer who had given Carter the drugs. I reached down and anxiously checked the machete that was attached to my hip, it was still secure. I took a deep breath and looked into the rearview mirror, taking in those blue eyes as they met mine.

"You remember the plan?" I asked her, eyes going back to the parking lot briefly as a newer-looking Ford finally pulled into it. I looked back at her as she nodded. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

I slid out of my car and started my way towards the truck. I looked around like any sane person would when buying drugs, but I wasn't looking for police. I was trying to find any clue that Ketch was where he was supposed to be. Nearby but hidden, ready to shoot if he needed to. But, of course, there was none. He was too good to leave a readable tell like that.

A single man got out of the truck as I got closer. He was tall, at least as tall as Sam, but was built broader. He had dark, unwashed hair, and somehow even darker eyes. His dark skin looked taught around his muscles. The wide gate he took as he walked made them stretch weirdly. Tattoos covered almost every inch of his skin, making him appear dirty, but also incredibly intimidating. I understood why Carter seemed to be weary of him. He was even making me a little nervous.

"You Chris?" I asked, stopping a good twenty feet from him.

"Sure. You the broad Carter sent?" The man's voice was deep, deeper than I had imagined. His image took me back to the gas station, the cashier, and the men he had seen with Elly. Was he one? I nodded to answer his question. "Then pay up. I have another meeting I'm already late for."

"You're gonna be even later now." I took a slow step towards him. "I was hoping you could answer a few questions for me." It was a single step for me before I had my machete against his throat and his body pinned up against his truck, a nice dent around his body from the impact. "You're gonna tell me where you took my friend." My eyes blinked that beautiful inky black. "And if you don't, I'm going to cut your head off."

The thing smiled, a row of sharp teeth sliding from his gums. "Not too many demons in these parts. Even less with 'friends'. What'd you come for? Must not be the drugs. Your kind don't feel a thing."

"I am here for a friend." I pushed the blade into his neck, the blade just sliding into his skin, a trickle of blood beginning to seep around it. "Her name is Elly. Would've come here about a week ago. Blonde. Smart mouthed. Beautiful."

"Oh. You're looking for the hunter we caught." He still smiled. "We took care of her. She wasn't useful anymore. Sounds more like you owe us one if she was hunting you too. Hunters don't make friends."

"Just tell me where she's at," I growled, the anger in my blood beginning to show itself. "I know she's not dead. I already checked the beach."

"We wouldn't be dumb enough to leave a hunter on the beach for the world to see." He scoffed. "No that's only for our creator. So she can see how well we're doing. So she can see we're making the world like it was before her. For her. Why would we let trash destroy that beauty?"

"Too bad your creator is dead," I smirked. "I helped kill her. And she was so easy. A werewolf is more of a challenge than she was." I pushed a hand under his chin, making it easier for my blade to start slicing through him. "Where's the hunter? I'm not asking again."

"The lab. Good luck."

There would be no use in asking him what he meant. He had given me what I needed. So, in one clean motion, his head was off and rolling across the asphalt. And before his body could hit the ground, I slammed my hand through his chest, pulling his heart out and crushing it. His blood was hot as it splattered across my face and the window of his truck. I wiped my clean hand across my face, more smudging the blood than actually removing any. I squatted down once his body fell, and riffled through his pockets. I found the keys to the truck and a wallet with a fake ID and a decent amount of money in it. It would be enough to keep Ketch and I from being broke for a while. I pocketed the money as I stood and started back towards my car.

"Arthur!" I yelled as I reached for the driver's side door. I watched until he silently emerged from a group of shadows a few yards away, a sniper rifle in hand. "You're too good at that," I said once he was close enough to hear me.

"I've trained since I was a boy, love," Ketch smirked at me. "'The lab', huh? What do you think he meant by that?"

"I have no idea," I muttered as I got into the car. I looked into the rearview mirror as Ketch got into the passenger seat. Ally's skin looked green. "You ok, kid?" I turned the car on and turned in my seat to get a better look at her.

"Y…you…you…" Ally stuttered, her eyes set dead ahead, still staring at the truck. "Did you…"

"Deep breath, Ally," Ketch said, turning in his seat as well. "He was one of the monsters that made all of those people show up on the beach. If he hadn't been killed, more people would've died. Do you understand?"

"I…I understand." But she still looked like she was going to be sick. "How do you make yourself do that? How do you just keep going after that? Do you feel guilty?"

"No. Not when he could've just as easily killed us." I said softly, fighting the power that still wanted to boil over inside of me. "It's not easy. It never has been and never will be, but sacrificing yourself to save others is what it means to be a hunter. You have to do everything to protect those who do not know these things exist. We are the only thing that stands between them and the innocents."

Ally nodded and pulled Ketch' jacket closer to her. "Where do we go now?" She asked softly.

"I'm not sure." I took a deep breath, swallowing the last of that anger and letting my eyes return to their natural state. "He said she was at 'the lab', but that could mean anything."

"Have you never been involved with drugs or seen anything about them?" Ally asked from behind the collar of the jacket.

I blinked. "No. I don't watch a lot of TV. Ketch?" He shook his head. "Wasn't there some show about it though? Breaking Blue or something?"

"Breaking Bad." Ally corrected with a sigh.

"Like I said. I don't watch a lot of TV." I grumbled.

"Well," The kid took a deep breath. "The lab is usually a reference to the place where the drugs get made." She looked into my eyes with a new confidence. "If we find that, we find my mom."

I nodded, took my phone from the center console, and rang Carter. He answered it almost immediately.

"Please don't tell me you ditched the meet-up…" He sounded rushed and worried.

"I didn't miss the meet-up." I laughed a little. He was terrified of these things, as he should be. "But I do need your help with something else."

"This better not become a normal thing with you," Carter grumbled. "What do you need?"

"So, the reason I needed to meet up with you dealer in the first place, is because a good friend of mine got wrapped up in this shit and I'm trying to find her." Carter was silent on the other end. "Chris said she was at the lab. Any idea where that might be?"

Carter sighed and groaned. "You didn't get this from me. I'm only helping because I'm tired of seeing dead people wash up." He sighed again. "There's an old school, abandoned, out by the railroad tracks on the other side of town. They do all their cooking in the cafeteria. Do not…" The emphasis behind those words was sharp, "Tell them I told you. They will kill me."

"I wouldn't worry about that too much," I smirked.

"Do I wanna know wha…" I hung up on him before he could finish asking.

"It's some abandoned school out by the…"

"Found it," Ally said before I could finish. She stuck her phone out to me. The map was open, hovering over a spot about six miles to the south.

"That was quick," I commented.

"It's on a list of 'The top most haunted sites in Maine'," Ally stated. "It wasn't hard to find once you said 'abandoned school'."

"Doubt it was ever actually haunted if they were able to set up there so easily," I mumbled. "Either way, we need to be careful going in there. Jefferson Starships are one thing, but ghosts or ghouls are another."

"You might be faster than Sam," Ketch muttered, still marveling at the girl's quick search.

I laughed a little, pushing away the idea for another good bet.

I held my arm out to stop Ally as we came to the cafeteria doors a few hours later. We had gone back to the hotel first to gather resources and prepare for this. As many knives and machetes, as we could each carry, a small revolver that clung to my hip, and the silenced M4 that was becoming Ketch' signature weapon for these situations the only weapons we brought with us. Well, and the backpack that Ketch insisted he bring with us, though I wasn't fully certain of its contents. 

It had been easy to get into the building. Several of the entrances were in disrepair and all of the windows were somehow broken and empty of glass. And though it crunched under our feet, we managed to stay relatively quiet as we stalked through the quiet, abandoned halls. That was the worst part, the quiet of the place. There were no quick steps over the broken concrete floors, no hushed voices just around the corner of darkened classrooms, no animalistic snarls or barks of predatory laughter. It was like they had all moved out already, but I knew that was unlikely, especially with the feeling of being watched I felt as we continued walking. And now, in front of this door, that gaze felt the heaviest.

I got Ketch' silver gaze as I held onto Ally, and nodded with him. I turned to the girl, putting a finger to my lips before looking back at the rotting steel doors. I reached up and pushed against them, the hinges that remained groaned in protest as the old doors shifted and opened. We sat in silence for a moment, waiting for any noise beyond the door to tell us how many were here, but nothing came.

I let out a silent breath before pushing through the small gap I had created. I held my gun in front of me, eyes quick to scan the room before moving to allow anyone else in. It looked as you would expect. The ceiling was torn open in several spots, the old steel beams poking down at odd angles as they sagged under the growing weight of rotten roof tiles. The far wall looked like it had once been carved out to hold a small stage, but now the curtain rod fell across the opening, the once red fabric stained black with mold and marred with holes from wildlife. The other walls, once painted some sort of white color, were all now chipped and covered in graffiti, the dark red brick visible wherever there wasn't a gang sign or someone's artist name done in bubbles. The floor was split into half, the back areas still covered in trash and broken tables or shelves, but the area closest to the door, all of that seemed to be new. The rubble was brushed away and new tables and equipment were brought in for this operation. On all of the tables sat containers of various sizes, most of them holding liquids or powders of bright colors. Other tables held blenders, burners, scales, beakers, empty chemical bottles, and hundreds of loose pills.

"Mom?" Ally said, pushing out from behind me and running behind one of the tables.

I lowered the gun, the room was empty of monsters. But they knew we were here, there was not a doubt in my mind about that. I moved away from the door and turned a little as Ketch pushed through the gap next. Our eyes locked again, a silent conversation happening before I nodded towards the tables and he nodded in understanding. He started towards several of the more empty ones, clearing them before tipping them on their sides and carrying them to the doors we'd come into. It seemed to be the only way in or out, and while those wouldn't hold long, they would give us a decent head start. I followed after Ally, finding a collapsed body among the discarded chemicals and bottles.

I knelt next to Elly and reached for her carefully. She looked so pale and lifeless. And there were so many cuts on her body, so many bruises that marked her beautiful skin. And that long blonde hair that had always seemed like golden threads, was now grey and tangled. I stifled a cry as Ally and I turned her over and I found those blue eyes staring up at nothing, her pupils blown and glassy. I touched her neck gently, finding her pulse racing and her skin burning beneath my skin.

"Ally, get a rag from your pack and wet it with a little water," I instructed gently. Ally nodded silently and stood to do what I asked.

I gently brushed hair from Elly's face. Her skin was so warm like she was burning from the inside out. And her pulse was getting faster, yet fainter at the same time. I patted her cheeks gently and she moaned softly, turning away from my hand. I jumped as a wet bandana was thrust in front of me. I took it and placed it against Elly's forehead, praying it would help even a little.

The bruising seemed to be worse on this side of her body, almost decorating her like a abd '90s wallpaper. There was one over her eye, several that started around her neck but disappeared under her collar, darker ones that cascaded down her arms and around her wrists as if she had been bound, and there were more that littered her sides and dipped below her jeans. What had they done to her?

"Is she going to be ok?" Ally asked.

I opened my mouth to answer, but instinctively ducked and covered Elly's body as a loud crash came from the door we had entered. The monsters had decided to show themselves. I looked up, meeting grey eyes again as he stood against the door, doing more than those tables were to hold it closed.

"Sometime today, love," Ketch called, his voice strained.

I looked back to Elly, quickly moving the bandana lower over her face as blood began to seep from the corners of her eyes. That wasn't good. I put my free hand over her chest and closed my eyes, digging for the dark power that allowed me to heal. I was losing her pulse in my fingertips and couldn't find her heart as I tried to keep it beating. I couldn't feel anything at all as I tried to push healing energy into her. It was like I was hitting a dark wall and couldn't push through it. Her skin was still so flushed, still so warm, but her heartbeat was gone now, and there was no more breath from her lungs. I tried again, pushing hard against the dark thing that kept me from her, but there was nothing I could do. I couldn't even bring down her fever. 

The breath caught in my throat. I was going to lose her again. I couldn't. I couldn't lose her again. Not like this.

"Kid…I…" I stammered, not sure where to begin as her mother died before us. "I'm not….I can't…"

"How do I do it?" Ally dropped to her knees.

A gunshot sounded behind us. I swung my head around, finding Ketch with his rifle aimed through one of the small glass windows in the steel doors. There was no time for this.

"Alex!" Ally snapped, bringing me back to her. "Teach me how to heal my mom!"

"I don't know!" It wasn't a lie. "Even if I did there's nothing we can…"

Ally pushed me aside and put her hands on Elly's chest where mine had been. "I just have to want it right? Like teleporting?" Tears were running down her cheeks.

I looked at her, the spitting image of her mother. "I don't think…"

Her eyes shot to me. "Then make a deal with me. You can do that, can't you?"

"What?!" I fell back at her request, almost smacking my head off one of the table edges.

"In the show. Demons can make deals. You can bring her back if I make a deal!" Ally jumped at another gunshot.

"That's a lifelong payment, Ally," I said, trying to reason with the mad girl. "I can't do that to her, to you."

"Ladies! We need to go!" Ketch called after another shot was fired.

"It's what you want anyway right?" Ally huffed a laugh, "A Nephilim in your back pocket?"

"Ally…" I was running out of things to try. "I don't want your soul. I…I can't take it from you."

"Ya ya, say some bullshit line about my mom being upset. Well, she won't be upset if I don't do this because she'll be fucking dead. And I'd rather her be alive and mad at me." She tried to smile, it was something between a maddening attempt to stay calm and a sad way of hiding her fear. "So make the deal, Alex."

There was no more arguing with her. "You're sure about this."

"Just make the fucking deal!" She yelled at me.

"Say what you want!" I yelled back, letting the darkness in me rise to the top and shift through me. There were no more options.

"I want my mom back!"

Good enough. I reached forward and grabbed her collar, pulling her into a hasty kiss. It was just long enough to seal the deal. Just long enough to sell me her soul. And then Elly was breathing, the air going into her throat like it was being forced through a tick ball of slime. I pushed the kid away from me, and the deal was made.

"Elly?!" I pulled her into my lap. "You stupid bitch!" I laughed nervously as I moved the bandana away and those blue eyes bit into me. "Why would you do something so stupid?"

Elly coughed, a slick wet sound, "I hate you."

I knew the words were coming, but that didn't stop them from breaking my heart. Even if I had just saved her life, risking her daughters in the process, she still hated me. She had said those words, made them real. I had risked two more mortal lives than my own and taken a soul for her, and yet those words rang true more than anything else this week had. Those words would echo through me long after this mess was cleaned up.

I was pulled ot my feet before I could say anything else, Elly coming with me. Strong arms held me to my feet as the door behind us crumpled and groaned under the weight of many many monsters. Ketch grabbed Ally next, pulling her from the floor as well. 

"Time to go." He said, looking over his shoulder at the door again. "This place is going to go up any second now."

"Leave me…" Elly moaned, my hands still clinging to her.

That lit a new fire in my chest, burning away the numbness she had left there.

"Your daughter did now just fuck up her life for you to die here again." I hissed. I pulled her the rest of the way up my body and tossed her over my shoulder. She didn't fight against me.

I looked over to Ally as another gun went off. She held my pistol in her hand, her stance strong and true as she fired into one of the monsters. She hadn't lied, she wasn't the best shot, but she still got the job done. I tugged on her arm and followed after Ketch as he went for one of the broken windows.

"Did you set up a bomb?" I questioned, now noticing how empty his pack was and the silver strings that now lined the brick walls.

"I had to do something while you were fixing her." He replied gruffly, smashing the window more before hopping out of it.

I slid Elly through the window first, into his waiting arms before I jumped through myself and then helped Ally. I used a little bit of my power to erect a wall of energy behind us, preventing the Starships from following us. 

"How long before it goes off?" I asked, pulling my keys from my pocket as we ran.

"About a minute," Ketch replied.

I slid into the driver's seat as soon as we got ot the vehicle. Ally took to the back seat again as Ketch rested Elly in the seat next to her. I was slamming on the gas before he had the passenger door completely closed after himself. The car shook as I hit the gravel road and bounced over the railroad tracks. We were only a few yards down the road before a large explosion rocked the world around us.

The old school ignited in a ball of yellow flames, the ball billowing outwards, escaping through the sections of the wall that were destroyed by the blast wave. The noise rolled across the area as a loud clap of thunder would during a storm. And then the sirens came, letting us know the police department would be nearby soon.

I swerved a little as another blast of energy hit the car, the tires squealing against my attempts to correct it before we hit a road sign. But I managed to gain control again and sped down the road, going way faster than the posted limit.

"How is she?" I asked, taking a deep breath as I looked into the rearview mirror. A sharp kick to the back of my seat was the only answer I got. I bit my lip, content to take that as good for now.

No. No, I wasn't going to take that as 'good for now'. Fuck that. I made a sharp right and screeched the car to a halt a good distance down another gravel road. I took a deep breath before I attempted to say anything, the darkness I was still trying to reign in wanting to take more control. It wanted to rip her a new one. But she was already so broken and battered. This had to start to heal things, not make them worse.

"Listen, Elly." I started, looking at her in the rearview mirror. "That was the single dumbest and most selfish thing I have ever seen another person do. And you're so right. I should've left you there to die. But I am not about to let you leave your kid alone. Because she fucking needs you." I took another deep breath. "So woman the fuck up and stop being such a fucking stuck-up brat, because your life isn't just yours anymore."

"You think I did all that for fun?" The woman scoffed at me. "Fuck you."

"Ya ya, fuck me! But you're the one who left your daughter alone in a whole new world to go off on a fucking suicide mission!" I felt that thing boiling inside of me again. It was winning. "Fuck you!"

"I want out of this car."

"Good luck walking, Elly." I laughed. "You're body's going to be working off those drugs for a while."

Elly grumbled something and slouched in her seat, her arms crossed over her chest. She stared daggers at me, those blue eyes fiery. There was that life in her, the fiery rage that would keep her alive. For now.

"I'm taking you back to the bunker," I said, glaring right back at her.

"Why? You know I'll just leave again. Why did you even come to find me in the first place?" She rolled those blue eyes. "If I had wanted to come back, I would have."

"I came because Ally came to us. She found us because she was scared that you were dead and never coming back." I sighed, looking away from her. This was still all my fault. Why should I bring her back? "Leave again if you want to, but I'm just going to find you again. Over and over."

"Why the fuck would you do that?" She hissed.

"Because I still love you you stupid psychotic bitch!" I threw the car into park, took my foot off the brake, and turned in my seat. "Because I would go to the ends of the fucking Earth to make sure you were safe and happy!"

"Happy my ass!" She leaned forward now, hands pressed against the seat to keep her steady, her strength slowly returning.

"Oh, I know I ruined something, Elly! Believe me, I do!" This was exhausting at this point. I didn't want to fight with her anymore. I knew why she didn't want me to help her, but why did she have to be so damn headstrong too. "I may have fucked up your marriage forever and I am so fucking sorry about that! But that does not mean you get to abandon your daughter just because you want to have a fucking pity party for yourself!"

"I can do whatever the hell I want. You aren't the boss of me, Alex." But her voice had softened a little.

"Look at your fucking kid, damn it." I hissed through clenched teeth. I was sure my eyes were black still, there was no forcing them back now.

And Elly didn't look. She stared straight ahead at me. Maybe she was afraid to look at her. Maybe she was afraid to see the tears that were rolling down those young cheeks. Maybe she was afraid to see the damage hearing that your mother didn't care had done to Ally. 

"You have no idea what she has given up to save you. You have no idea what she went through to get you back. You have no idea what her life is going to be like for the next few years." I took a deep breath. "And it's all because of you. She did everything for you. And you can't even do her the courtesy of not acting like a child."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Elly's voice rose again. "She doesn't need me! She's never needed me! She's never even liked me, never wanted me! I'm just the fucking old lady that gives her rules that she doesn't even fucking follow. I do everything for her! Everything I have ever done has been for her and I have never been thanked! I am done! It's time for me to take my life back!"

"She's sitting right there!" I yelled back at her as I pointed to Ally. Her tears were freely falling now. "Tell her how much you love her!"

"She won't give a fuck! She never has!"

"She sold her fucking soul to save you! How could she do that and not love you!"

The car fell into a cold silence as I broke the sudden truth. The fire left Elly's eyes as the words sunk in and she finally turned to look at her daughter.

"She sold me her soul because she wouldn't leave without you. She wouldn't leave you to just die." I forced my voice to soften. "If she didn't love you, she wouldn't have even considered it. She would have never even showed up at my bedside crying because you left her alone. If she didn't love you, she would've accepted her fate and left you to die." I looked at the heartbroken child. "She loves you more than I've ever seen a kid love their mother. Especially in this world."

The car stayed silent for a long while until sirens started to rhea our ears again. I jumped as Ketch gently touched my leg, I had almost forgotten he was here as I'd fought with Elly. I looked into those cold silver eyes and knew what he was silently telling me. It was time to go before we got caught too close to the scene. I nodded, turned back in my seat, and silently put my car into drive.