Chapter 29

So, it turned out that there were a lot of things that could go wrong with two NYPD detectives and a CIA agent running an easy peezy operation in the middle of the night.

Mind you, once we got the dominance thing out of the way, Elijah Jones, the CIA agent, was a pretty cool person.

But back to the screw-ups of the operations:

Setback #1: The black crow that wouldn't leave us alone. Like seriously, what the Hell!

So, we were back in the Meatpacking District, a few warehouses down from where we caught The Butcher and I began wondering… do you think that the Magnificent Seven got a discount on the warehouses down here? Like should I knock on the one next door and see if The Shoebox Killer is there?

I shelved that thought for later as Elijah signaled the arrival of some SUVs.

But, since my brain doesn't always work the way I wanted it to, especially with the amount of caffeine I binged before setting out on this operation, I began to think about why all big shots drove around in an SUV…

Van Helsing drove an SUV, I'm pretty sure The Butcher drove an SUV, and I bet if I asked Matt, he would say that Lucas drove an SUV.

Maybe I should upgrade my car?

With my brain trying to figure that out, I missed the entrance of the crow. What I did not miss, however, was the piercing caw sound it let out as it stared me down.

Seriously, the look that the thing was giving me, I think the crow was human, or maybe an ass… I'm not sure.

The sound then alerted The Specialist and he signaled for his men to go figure out the source of the noise.

The boys and I froze in place, thinking our hiding spot was obscure enough to give us protection from the searchers.

And it did offer us protection from the humans… but apparently, we were easily spotted by the crow.

That stupid bird led the people with guns right to us.

Was the crow on The Specialists' payroll? Did crows even get paid? Or were they just assholes that liked to ruin the good guys' day?

So, yeah, I did not take birds into my operational plans. Things I will remember for the future, I'm sure.

Setback #2: I was the only 'human' in our group of three.

Seriously, when it came to fighting, the two boys stripped and transformed into oversized dogs that seemed to enjoy ripping out the throats of people.

Me, I was stuck with my gun. And 30 bullets.

Turns out there were a lot more bad guys than good guys.

"Get the Hell out of here!" I yelled at the wolves. They would be able to move faster than me and hopefully bring back help.

They looked at me one last time before disappearing into the darkness. I could only hope that they would escape.

I turned back around to face the newcomers, trying to give the wolves as much time as possible to get back.

"Hi, boys! Beautiful night! Anyone killed anyone today?" I asked.

Side note: excess caffeine makes me a bit…. Loopy…

I never saw the person coming up behind me, but I definitely felt the back of their gun knocking me out.

Setback #3: When requiring help, it is best to stay in the same location.

When I woke up, I could tell we were no longer in the warehouse district. Given the smell of fish, I could only assume that we were by the docks.

Which docks? I had no idea.

All of a sudden, my prayers for help seemed futile. Stupid Fates.

As my head stopped spinning, I started to take in my surroundings. I was hung up by my wrists, my toes dangling inches off the floor.

The pain from my arms screamed at me, but all I could do was hang there. The more I tried to move, the more pain screeched through my body.

Since I didn't know how long I was going to be here, I might as well save myself some pain and energy and just… hang out…

Get it? Hang out? Because I was hanging from the ceiling?!? Sometimes I crack myself up.

Ok, so the caffeine high was still going, so I could not have been knocked out for more than an hour. The crash was going to be a bitch though.

I would like to say that this was the first time I found myself hung from a ceiling, waiting for the fickle fates to decide what to do with me… but I can't even say that this was the fifth time.

Living through the 1920s and the Five Points gangs, I found myself a frequent visitor to this area.

Unfortunately for all of us, this was the first warehouse I had been in without a drain under my feet. Clearly, cleanliness was not one of these people's priorities.

I wish I knew how long I was there before the steel doors opened, allowing whomever to walk through. But time flew by weirdly when you couldn't use your senses.

Pain could make minutes feel like hours and hanging in a dark room could make hours feel like days.

But, someone did come, and that someone was The Specialist. On his shoulder sat a fricking black crow.

Yup, he or she must be on the payroll.

"Don't pirates usually have parrots on their shoulders? It seems like crows are a little too common to be special."

The crow made a clicking sound as if it knew what I was saying.

Since when can a crow have human characteristics? Then I answered my own question: when they were more human than crow.

"You keep interesting company," I said. Whether I was talking to the crow or to The Specialist, I don't think any of us knew or cared.

"Why were you there?" Asked The Specialist, walking closer to me.

"There where?" I replied, a bright smile on my face. "I mean, there can be so many ways to answer that sentence. Why was I there at the warehouse, why was I there in the Meatpacking District, why was I there in New York? You really need to clarify your statements, Sweets."

Here is the thing about not being able to lie… you come up with some really, really inventive ways of skirting around a question.

"Who are you?" Came the next question. I began to wonder if this guy actually knew what he was doing.

"I am me," I said, looking the crow in the eyes.

It let out a loud cry at my answer.

I burst out laughing, unable to control myself.

Skinwalkers were working with humans to steal Van Helsing weapons. Technically, it was genius. Involving humans without telling them exactly what was going on was a great way to circumvent the Laws of the Six.

"Who said you were just a dumb beast?" I chuckled, expecting the crow to take offense.

The punch to my face made me realize that it was the human that had the issue with me.