Chapter 16 – Breaking the Pussy
“Any luck?” Laura asked Walsh the moment he stepped through their office door, looking up from the computer screen.
“Nothing at the archives, either,” he replied with a shrug. “If you hadn’t planted your heels in her back and hauled her in, I’d say she didn’t exist, at least not in any system we can access.”
“Damn,” Laura muttered, looking at the very thin file on her desktop. Whoever the girl they’d caught in that upscale apartment was, they could find no records of her. Aside from being at the site of a very recent burglary, the only other record of her they had was from a patrolman’s report the night the maids had shot up the jewelry store…or at least someone matching her description, who had tried to cross the police line. “It was my knee, by the way.”
Walsh shrugged, his lips curling into a grin. “I couldn’t tell; you vaulted that couch and were out of sight before I realized you’d entered the room. You didn’t tell me you ran track.”
Laura shrugged. “It’s been a while.” High school in fact, and she’d been pretty good, won a few regional tournaments, but nothing that impressive. Sure, she ran around the park several times a week before she came on duty, and tried to keep up with Cat when she insisted on what she called “a proper workout”,but trying to match stamina with Cat was beyond her ability. “So is our mystery feline more coherent now?”
“She looked like it when I passed by the interrogation room,” Walsh said. “At least she wasn’t pale and sweaty like she was when we brought her in. Tox report was negative,” he added, flashing his phone at Laura, a text from the lab showing what they’d sent him a few minutes prior, “so whatever was wrong with her when she came in wasn’t drug related.”
Laura grabbed up the file, as thin as it was, and stood. “Let’s not keep her waiting then.” She led the way out of the office and headed straight toward the nearby interrogation rooms. She found the one they’d left the mystery girl in, and she still sat in her chair, hands cuffed to the tabletop in front of her. She looked young, late teens, early twenties at most, but the way she turned her head toward the one-way glass as they approached made her look older. She flashed a grin, waving at the glass.
“She did that to me too when I passed by, and the officers watching her said they could feel her watching. Must have really sharp senses now that she’s part feline.”
“Wonder if the budget office is ever going to approve holding areas and enhanced measures for dealing with all these super-powered criminals…” Laura replied, knowing that it wouldn’t be likely. Wasting no more time since they had no element of surprise, she opened the door and stepped inside the warm room, walking to the opposite side of the table. She tossed the file between her and the mystery girl as she sat, and glanced at Walsh as he closed the door and stood in front of it, crossing his arms.
The dark-haired girl remained silent, though seemed to have an amused grin on her face. She clasped her cuffed hands in front of her, sitting up straight, ears and tail raised attentively.
“Well, I suppose we’ll start with the basics…what’s your name? I’m Detective Conway, this is Detective Walsh.” Laura turned her cool gaze right at the girl. She had feline eyes too, just like Cat when she was transformed into Pink Pussy.
“The right to remain silent is still a thing, right?”
“It is, though you’ve waived representation. Who are you?”
“Does it really matter, dude? I figured one of those fancy Star Trek mini-computers everyone carries these days could’ve told you all that.”
“Curious way to refer to a cell phone,” Laura said. “Have you been out of the country until recently?” She didn’t look like she came from a third-world country, more like she’d come from a concert, though Laura didn’t recognize the name of the band on the mystery girl’s faded shirt, some group called ‘Icon’.
“You could say that,” came the reply. “I don’t get out much. Dangerous out there, so I’ve been told. Never know when someone’ll jump on you and slam your face into the floor.”
“You were trying to flee a crime scene. According to the owner of that apartment, nobody matching your description was allowed in there.”
The girl shrugged. “I wasn’t the only one there.”
Laura opened the folder, picking up a plastic-wrapped photo, tossing it between them. “What’s your relationship with the Pink Pussy?” The photo was another one of the rogue heroine’s signature calling cards, laid atop of the shattered display case inside the apartment. This one showed her on her knees, taken from behind to show her shapely rear as she twisted her upper body to look at the camera, one big paw raised to her cheek while she winked at the camera. Cat really could pull off the sex-kitten thing.
“Holy shit, dude, is that really what she calls herself?” asked the girl, snickering as she looked at the photo. “Hot chick, though. Was that from like a Playboy shoot or something? Why are you asking me about her?”
“This photo was left inside the apartment; we assumed you were working with Pink Pussy.”
“Well, you guessed wrong on that one, Crockett.” The girl laughed again, but stopped when Laura didn’t react. “Or are you Tubbs? What, don’t you all watch TV? Ah, you weren’t driving the cool little black Ferrari anyway.”
“That’s going a ways back,” Walsh muttered. “Surprised a kid like you even knows about that show.”
It took Laura’s brain a few more seconds to settle on what the girl was referring to. Wow, that was a long time ago. “What do you know about the Pink Pussy?”
The mystery girl had shot Walsh an annoyed look, then turned back to Laura. “That she’s like a porno star or something? I can’t tell you much from just a picture. I’m not a psychic you know.”
Laura noted the way the girl’s lips had turned into a slight grin at that comment, and immediately suspected she was hiding something. Did she have some kind of powers she hadn’t used? “Then why were you in the same apartment as her?”
“Hey, nobody else was there until you all barged in,” she said.
“Why were you there?” Laura asked more forcefully. When the girl didn’t answer, Laura leaned forward. “Look, at the very least you were trespassing on an active crime scene. If you aren’t involved with Pink Pussy, then tell me why you were there, snooping around in the same room she’d just stolen something. You can’t tell me it was a coincidence.”
“That’s totally what it was,” the girl replied, her ears twitching. “I was just walking along the street and wound up there.”
“You’re going to have to do better than that. You don’t just wander up to a high rise penthouse and come through the balcony door.”
The girl let out an annoyed grunt, her tail swishing. “You wouldn’t understand. There are forces at work here that are beyond anything you could possibly conceive.” Her face had taken on a more grim look, her eyes turning serious as she looked at Laura. The girl blinked, and her eyes shifted into slits, their amber color becoming more vibrant, almost as if they were glowing. She turned her gaze to Walsh, then looked around the room before settling back on Laura. She blinked again, and her eyes returned to normal. She sat back with a smug grin plastered on her face. “You’re just a dabbler, and he’s not even tuned in at all.”
Laura hadn’t felt anything, but knew without a doubt the girl had done something. Was it some kind of mind altering power? She looked to Walsh, who was on alert, but shot her a quick shrug. Looking back at the girl, Laura clasped her fingers together. “Then why don’t you explain it to me? What did you mean about me being a dabbler? About Detective Walsh not being tuned in?”
“Oh come on, don’t play that game,” the girl replied dismissively, waving her hand in a similar manner. “Ask the big questions.”
The girl’s attitude was starting to rankle Laura. “Such as?”
The girl rolled her eyes. “Not that one.”
Laura leaned forward, narrowing her eyes at the girl, her hands curling into fists. “Start talking, kid. Why were you that apartment? Are you working with Pink Pussy?” Laura hoped that her tone was sufficiently threatening. “Start answering, now!”
The girl rolled her eyes again, and crossed her arms in front of her, shooting Laura an annoyed look.
She’d made the move so smoothly that it actually took Laura’s brain a few seconds to catch up, and it didn’t really hit until she’d glanced down and saw the handcuffs laying on the table, still locked shut and secured to the ring set into the table. “How did you do that?!”
“Holy…how did…?” Walsh said at the same time as Laura, though his tone was less angry and more awed.
“Chalk it up as one of the great mysteries of the universe,” the girl replied, wearing a very smug grin on her face, her eyes practically gleaming with a mischievous glint in them. “Look, Detective Conely-”
“Conway,” Laura corrected in a flat tone, her body tense to react to any other surprises the girl might suddenly try to spring on them.
“Conway, whatever,” the girl said with a shrug. She leaned forward, her gaze becoming more serious. “You’re getting involved in things that you’re not prepared for. Do you have any idea what was taken out of that apartment?”
“You should know; you were there when Pink Pussy broke in,” Laura said.
The girl’s ears twitched. “I already told you she wasn’t there when I got inside. Something was there, but it wasn’t your porno kitty. Whatever she took was evil, lady, filled with so much vileness that it was still lingering in that room even after it was gone. If you could have sensed it like I did, you would have been staggering around just the same.”
Laura raised an eyebrow and glanced at Walsh. He kept his face neutral, but gave a subtle shrug and shake of his head. He didn’t know what she was talking about either. “Why don’t you explain that a little more,” Laura said, turning back to the girl.
“So you can’t even sense magic yet? Holy shit, dude, you’re worse off than I thought, not even a hedge wizard is that pathetic…” the girl said, frowning at Laura.
Magic? Wizards? Was this kid just playing a game or trying to fuck with them? Laura slammed her fist on the table. “Stop it with the bullshit. Start making sense! Why were you in the apartment?”
The girl leaned back, glaring at Laura, drumming her fingers on her arm. Her lips curled slightly, twitching, as if she were stifling a snarl. Then she broke into a grin and leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table, looking over her interlocked fingers. “Okay, Detective, I”ll throw you a bone. Try to keep an open mind, and you might just learn something.”
Laura matched gazes with the girl, nodding. If it got her some actual answers, she’d be willing to play along.
The girl opened her mouth to speak, then grinned, and looked to Walsh. “I’m really thirsty. Would you mind getting me something to drink?”
Walsh looked to Laura, who nodded. Though he hesitated, looking back at their suspect, he slipped out of the room.
“Well? Now that he’s gone, what’d you want to tell me?” Laura asked, having seen through the girl’s intentions immediately.
“I…want to help you, Detective,” the girl said slowly, her voice taking on a tone that seemed beyond her years. “It’s just that I’m bound by commitments that are far and above the world at large. Whether you realize it or not, you’ve experienced magic; hell, everyone here has to some degree or another over the last few months. All those people like your Pink Pussy, with the amazing powers? They’ve tapped into the arcane source without even realizing it when the dam broke loose and spilled all that energy back into the world.”
So the girl was a nut job, had lost touch with reality. Great. Maybe she’d played one too many games of Dungeons and Dragons. Either way, she needed an evaluation at the Edgewater Institute posthaste. “You expect me to believe that?”
“Do you have a better explanation for what’s happened? Why you’re seeing animal people, super strength or speed or energy blasts or whatever else is going on? I’ll wait.”
“There was an explosion in Japan involving experimental particles,” Laura replied. “The particles went out of control and swept around the planet. Since they were originally for animating some kids toys or something, nobody thought much about it until later that week when the first changes started.”
Laura had hoped to flumox the girl with her quick response, but the girl’s grin only grew wider. “Someone tapped into the source, Detective, and since they had no clue what they were dealing with, it went out of control. The dam has burst, and magic is filling the world once again. We’ve not seen levels of power this high since before the Civil War, and they’re still rising. Before you know it, it’ll be just like it was in the old days, what the world calls the Dark Ages.”
“And who is ‘we’?”
The girl smirked. “I probably should say, but you’ll find out eventually. The Order of Hecate.”
Though she wasn’t exactly well-versed in Greek mythology, she recognized the name Hecate. “So what, you’re with a coven of witches? That new age wicca stuff?”
“Please, they’re hedge wizards at best,” the girl said, giving a dismissive hand wave before she crossed her arms again, leaning back in her chair. “What I’m getting at, Detective, is that whatever it was in that apartment radiated magical power at a level far above your average enchanted item. We’re talking an ancient artifact of great power, filled with the essence of some kind of great evil. While I analyzed the trail I was following and when I laid eyes on the case, the impression that had been left behind overwhelmed my senses. I’ve never felt power like that before, well, at least out in the wild like that.”
Skeptical didn’t begin to describe Laura’s thoughts, but was magic really that far out of the question with everything they’d seen over the last few months? “I see… And where does all this magic stuff come into play with Pink Pussy?”
“Well, she’s using it, duh.” Rolling her eyes, the girl continued. “She’s using an invisibility spell mixed with a phasing spell. She must be pretty good to keep two spells like that going at once, or good enough to brew some potions or enchant something to activate spells like that.”
“Pink Pussy has never shown such abilities before,” Laura said quickly, knowing that Cat had never done anything even close to magic…well, maybe not outside the bedroom, but that was hardly relevant. Deciding to keep the conversation rolling, Laura plucked another photo from the folder, from the mysterious security feed the police had been sent. “Could that mask be one of those enchanted items you’re talking about?”
The girl looked at the photo, showing Pink Pussy crouched atop the neighboring building, alongside that graphical glitch in the camera. She shrugged. “Maybe; can’t really tell from a picture. She might have help, though,” she said, her finger tapping at the smudged glitch. “Certain magic can cause distortions in tech like that, and I’d say that’s about human sized.”
“I take it you’ve had experience messing with video, then?” Laura asked.
“Sure; used to mess with my old man’s camcorder all the time before I figured out what I was doing. I’m even doing it right now.”
Laura’s eyes narrowed. “What?”
“Come on, Detective, you think I’d tell you all this stuff where just anybody could listen in? Dude, you gotta start thinking outside the normal already. I can’t take on an apprentice yet, but I’m trying to help you out a little bit here.”
Glancing at the door, Laura saw the knob turning, but it made no sound. The door shuddered once, then again, like someone was trying to break it down. Even the one-way mirror shuddered from an impact, but with no apparent damage. Laura shot to her feet, pointing down at the girl. “Stop it right now! Whatever it is, stop!”
“Chill out!” the girl said, leaning the chair back onto its rear legs as she crossed her legs atop the table and clasped her hands behind her head. “I’m not going to hurt you or anything. Just felt like talking is all. I really don’t want to go back home just yet, and figured I’d try to help you out a little.”
Laura felt her teeth grinding as she stared down at the girl. She hadn’t brought her handgun to the interrogation room as per normal procedure, but she could still put up a fight if she had to. “You can help me out by stopping whatever it is you’re doing. Or I can stop you.”
“Geeze dude, don’t be such a spaz,” she replied, looking at Laura with amusement clear upon her face. “I’d like to see you try to stop me, though. You’ve not fully awakened your bond yet, so I’d say I’m holding all the cards right now.”
“What are you talking about?!”
“Right, I forget you’re like a bunch of helpless children out here these days.”
“That’s funny coming from a girl barely out of her teens,” Laura replied.
That elicited a laugh from the girl. “Oh, that’s a good one! Fine, lemme make it a little clearer for you.” She pulled her feet from the table and let the chair slam down on the floor before she stood up. She wiggled her ears, turned her back to Laura and swished her tail. “See those? These show that I’ve bonded a familiar, a magical entity that assists those such as myself with their arcane talents. There are two types of bonds. The ones like mine and like your Pink Pussy chick, where we physically and spiritually bond with the entity and take on their features and sometimes their mannerisms. Sometimes it’s a permanent thing like in my case, or you can call them out when you call upon their power, like your pink pussycat. The other kind is a non-physical bond; it functions the same way, but the familiar remains its own entity, and can move about on its own. Or if it’s like my teacher, you could even use it as a mount.”
Laura stared at the girl, her face blank. She blinked. What was she talking about? Familiar bonds? Nonsense! “Drop whatever it is you’ve got going on in here right now!”
The girl threw up her hands. “Fine, whatever! I was just trying to be nice! You know what? This is totally lame; I’m done!”
Laura noticed that the girl was making some very deliberate motions with her hands, and had started chanting something in another language. Reacting on instinct, Laura leapt over the table, angling toward the girl just as darkness filled the room. She landed unsteadily on her feet, staggered, and hit the wall with her shoulder. She blinked, seeing not a hint of definition in the all consuming blackness, like when they turned out the lights on a cave tour. “Stop right there!” she shouted, her voice strangely muted.
“As if,” came the girl’s reply. She sounded far off, much further than the confines of the room should have allowed. There were suddenly other distorted and muted voices, shouts from Walsh and a few others. The door was open!
Feeling along the wall, Laura heard curses and shouts, then some startled cries, and what sounded like something heavy getting slammed against the wall somewhere ahead. Had she altered space somehow? The door shouldn’t be that far away!
Laura finally found the door, groping at it in the darkness and coming around it. The hallway beyond was just as pitch black as the interrogation room had been. She followed the shouts, bumping her legs against a bench, correcting course and hitting a corkboard, jostling it on the wall. Spitting a curse, she continued forward, and suddenly yelped in pain as she was blinded in the light of the hall.
Blinking to regain her vision, Laura saw several officers lying about the hallway, groaning and dazed, Walsh among them, though they didn’t look severely injured. She heard shouts more clearly down the way, toward the hall that led to the holding cells in the basement. Then she heard gunshots.
“Damn it!” she spat, crouching long enough to snatch one of the officer’s sidearms from his holster, a nine-millimeter version of her own M&P pistol. Then she sprinted down the hallway, passing by more officers and even a few of the recently arrested suspects, picking themselves up as if they’d been thrown aside by some unseen force.
Skidding around the corner, Laura dropped into a crouch and let her momentum carry her against the far wall as another officer came flying past her, landing on the floor with a grunt, rolling several feet before coming to a stop against a pair of double doors at the far end. She whipped her head back down the hall, just catching a glimpse of the girl’s tail as it turned the corner toward the stairs that led to the holding cells. If she thought there was a way out down there, she was mistaken. It was a deadend.
Setting her jaw, Laura found her footing again and surged down the hallway, hopping over several spent shell casings as she went. Rounding the corner, she let the barrel of her gun peek around first, angling down the stairwell. All of the doors that should have been locked were standing wide open, as was the barred gate leading to the stairs down. Again, she caught just a glimpse of the girl as she hurried downward.
Grunting her frustration, Laura ran partway down the steps, then vaulted over the railing, dropping a good fifteen feet to land on the lower steps, ignoring any pain that she might have felt. “Freeze!” she shouted, her gun already aimed at the girl.
For her part, the girl turned and actually looked surprised, the final gate leading to the cell block swinging open in front of her.
“On the ground, hands on your head!” Laura screamed, advancing toward the girl.
“Dude…you’re quick!” she said with what sounded like begrudging respect, her ears twitching. She laughed then and turned, continuing toward the cells.
Laura lowered her aim and fired several shots at the girl’s legs. To her shock, the bullets hit…something, just not what she had aimed at. Some kind of bluish-white energy crackled behind the girl, looking like some kind of strange symbols or insignias floating in midair, slightly larger than the bullets they had stopped. The spent lead dropped to the floor, mushroomed as if they’d hit kevlar, the glowing symbols vanishing a split second later.
The girl paused as she turned toward a cell door on her left, looking back to Laura. More energy appeared around her as the rest of the magazine’s contents came to a stop inches from hitting her chest. Her grin widened into a full on smile, revealing her elongated canines, just like a cat. “Tell you what, Detective Conway, I’ll come back when you’re in a more friendly mood. I was serious about helping!”
With the bullets clattering to the floor, Laura tossed the empty gun aside and surged forward, intending to try to tackle the girl. She stepped into the cell, and Laura whipped around the corner, ready to pounce…only to find the cell empty. Only a breeze remained to move her hair, blowing out of the cell and dying off in a couple of seconds. “What…where…?” Laura muttered, blinking. How had the girl vanished like that? Was it…invisibility? Laura reached behind her and pulled the cell door mostly shut, then waved her arms about, kicking under the cot, trying in vain to find some sign of the girl.
But there was nothing, nobody but her in the cell. She felt along the walls, pushing against them, wondering if there was some kind of secret door, or if they were only illusions, but they felt as solid as they always had, though the rear wall felt warmer than the others. Had she…stepped through it? But there was just hard packed earth beyond, maybe some pipes and electrical conduits; the parking garage and its street exit were in the opposite direction.
She heard footsteps rushing down the stairs outside, and frantic shouts. Sighing, Laura pushed the cell door open and stepped outside, meeting Walsh and a trio of other officers, including the one that had been sailing past her upstairs. “Well..damned if I know where she went,” Laura said, slamming the cell door shut.
“Sullivan isn’t going to be happy about this…” Walsh said, running a hand through his hair.
Laura shook her head, knowing that the captain was definitely going to be furious that they’d lost another suspect this week, and this one inside the station. And she didn’t even want to start thinking about how to decipher all the crazy stuff the girl had been telling her, or why she seemed to think Laura had some kind of powers like her. Laura sighed, then shot Walsh a tired grin. “Look at the bright side, though; maybe we can finally get that extra funding for more robust restraints for these super-types.”
Apologies for the delay! Got busy with cutting weeds, lawnmower repair, and a need to get out and go for a hike last weekend, and I completely forgot to post the next chapter!
Due to work continuing it’s relentless assault on my creativity, I’ve gotten a bit behind on my progress on this story. Went through a few weeks there where my progress had been reduced to almost nothing. I’m trying to get back on the horse and continue this story through to the end, but I may have to post a few world building shorts here and there. Behind the scenes I’ve been doing more development on my sci-fi setting, so don’t be surprised if you happen to see something from there in the coming weeks. I’ll go ahead and say that there are tentacles, high-tech restraints, and traps involved, but you’ll have to stick around to read what happens!
Thanks for your continued support, and any time you have a question, comment, or concern, let me know!
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