The Hotel - RATS
Author: Kitrona
Challenge: Vanilla #15 (inhospitable lodgings), Chocolate Chip Mint #20 (uncomfortable), Rocky Road #11 (inn/hotel)
Word count: 1743
Rating: G
Story: The Agency: Case Files and Minutia
Title: The Hotel
Summary: An actual case file!
Ok, so it wasn't the worst place we'd stayed in. But it was definitely up there.
Rumors being what they were, I wasn't sure we'd run into whatever creature was supposedly using this abandoned hotel for its hunting grounds, but better to be prepared, right? I checked all three of my handguns and reholstered them, then slung the shotgun over my shoulder by the strap and looked at Ker. “You ready?”
He tossed me a bandolier of stakes - hey, even if they weren't vampires, lots of things could be hurt by a sharpened bit of wood - and nodded. “Make sure you grab your hat.”
I strapped on the bandolier and rummaged in the backseat to find said article of clothing. Ker stifled a laugh when I put it on, but ear flaps are /warm/, ok? He already had on his extra-toasty-warm stocking cap, lined with thermal fleece and probably chainmaile as well. Then we nodded at each other and slowly, quietly made our way toward the uninhabited hulk.
Moonlight glittered in the broken glass at our feet and the few windows that were only partially broken. The stairs were still sturdy enough to hold us, though as a precaution we went up one at a time; even though we had rope, it was too cold out here for us to want to do this more than once, and if one of us crashed through the floor or stairs, I wasn't willing to bet that whatever we were hunting would stick around for the rest of the night.
The foyer had beautiful bones, but had been left to decay in a shameful manner. Two stories high, a once-graceful staircase led to the top floor, which had only one hallway leading off of it, to the right. Both floors on that side had fallen in, which made our job a little easier.
The first floor was dark, but rather than turn on our flashlights, even on red, we waited a moment and let our eyes adjust. Checking each room in sequence, right and left, was the established procedure, and we carried it out quickly and efficiently. The walls were covered in graffiti, some of it quite good. Debris like used condoms, beer bottles, and a few stained and ripped mattresses testified to this having once been the preferred hangout for teenagers, but it was largely unremarkable... until we got to the last room on the floor. Of course it would be that one; it was furthest from the main door, and the fire escape door was barely visible beyond a drift of larger debris. A shotgun would solve that problem fairly quickly, but I'd rather not take that option unless we had to.
The floor of this room made me very glad I'd worn my heavy-duty Doc Martens. Broken glass, hypodermic needles, and a spray of dark fluid that I suspected was blood covered the floor, leaving very little space to walk quietly. I sniffed the air, thankful for my heightened senses that allowed both excellent night vision and greater-than-normal sensitivity to smells, and stifled a cough. Something was laired in here, and from the freshness and pungency, it might very well be there at the moment. The scent was musky and unwashed, possibly natural were-creature, possibly something turned were-creature unwillingly. I held up a hand to stop Ker and concentrated, trying to sense where and what the thing was. I knew he was doing the same in his own way; our talents weren't the same, which was mostly a strength. After a moment, he nodded toward the left, where the bathroom door was partially shut, the only door that we'd seen that even approached being whole. I nodded, sensing the thing in there as well, and motioned for him to go first. That was also established procedure; he was taller, stronger, and all-around bigger than I was, and my reflexes were half a second faster.
Tensing up, I slowly pulled the shotgun from my shoulder, my heavy leather jacket creaking ever so slightly, and aimed it at the door. Ker did the same, smoothly crunching through the glass, and leaned as far toward the door as possible without exposing himself too much.
Expecting him to kick the door down, my eyes widened when he carefully pushed the door open with the barrel of the shotgun and started talking softly. “Hi there,” he murmured. “Come on out; let's talk, hmm?” With further coaxing, although wisely never claiming that we wouldn't hurt it, the creature emerged.
My jaw dropped. It didn't look like much, bedraggled and pitiful, but the basic structure was obvious once I knew what to look for. “Hi there,” I said softly, crouching down but being careful to keep my shotgun handy. “Who are you?”
Still too young to really verbalize, it gave a few pitiful shrieks and whimpers and paced toward me, head up, eyes wide, and I just wanted to hug it. But hugging a scared baby gryphon was a /really/ bad idea, as the injuries on the teenage girl we'd met in town attested to.
I kept speaking to it and it calmed down. I hated to keep thinking of it as “it”, but even if I could have safely examined it, it was still too young to tell just yet what its gender was. I decided, based on the voice, that it was male. “Hey, little guy, where's your parents? Your mama? Your daddy?”
He relaxed as I spoke to him, but didn't show that he recognized any of the words for his parents. I got a sinking feeling and glanced at Ker, who grimaced and nodded. Based on the gryphon's size - his head was about waist-high - he looked a year old at best, even accounting for stunted growth from lack of food. He was also painfully thin and matted, and my heart went out to him.
Being careful not to startle him, I stood and looked at Ker. “Think he can be saved?”
My partner looked doubtful. “I'm not sure. But he is awfully young. Let's see if we can get him in the car, I guess.” My heart surged with hope, and with love for Ker, but I channeled that energy into thinking of ways to get the little gryphon into the car and calm enough that driving wouldn't freak him out.
“Ok, tell me what you think of this plan. You've still got that half-cured jerky from your mom, right?” He nodded. “You grab that, and I'll keep an eye on him. Then we can leave a trail to the car. How much do you have?”
“All of it,” he answered, making a face. “She made a big tub of it, maybe five pounds?” Kiernan's mother was a sweet woman, but her deer jerky was just a crime against good venison.
I nodded, thinking hard. “Ok. And how much cash do you have on you?”
“/What/?”
“Well, I'm thinking that if he's full, he might fall asleep and then he might not be freaked out while we're driving. One of us goes to the store and gets a few pounds of cheap meat and a couple gallons of water...”
He cut me off. “Water? You know he's going to pee in your car, right?”
Damn, I'd forgotten about that, and gryphon pee smelled worse than cat pee on a hot day. Wincing, I sighed. “Yeah. But we can't just /leave/ him here. You'll help me clean it out?” I batted my eyelashes at him even though I wasn't sure he could see it in the darkness of the room.
Ker rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. I'll go to the store. You've got your phone, right?”
I pulled it out and held it up, and had to dodge to keep from getting both phone and hand eaten. “Whoa there, Boris! That's how you got in trouble in the first place!” Turning to Ker, I nodded. “Sounds good, but can you leave the jerky? I'd really rather not stick around /here/.”
He nodded in return and slowly left the room, taking care not to startle Boris, who was settling down again. Apparently he was getting playful now that he was acclimating to the presence of people.
I waited a few minutes and noted that it was starting to get light, just a bit in the east, through the window across the hall. I waited a few minutes more... and a few minutes more. Maybe fifteen minutes after I was really starting to get worried, I heard a shotgun blast and practically flew out of the room in a panic, Boris on my heels. He didn't seem to understand the danger, but apparently he liked to chase. Great.
Out in front of the hotel, the first thing I saw was Kiernan, squatting on the ground, kind of hunched over, and my stomach lurched painfully. Then I noticed that he was examining a form on the ground, and as my brain cleared, I could make sense of what I saw, though I didn't dare stop running. Boris gave a gleeful shriek that nearly deafened me as I ran down the stairs and he leaped from the landing to the ground. I headed for Ker and figured out what he had done. Grinning approval, I raced past him and he sprang up and joined me. We ran around the car, Boris following until he scented blood and came to a shuddering halt. Kiernan had shot a deer, and Boris went for it, diving in and splattering the side of my car with blood. I leaned against the car and grinned while taking deep breaths, but when I glanced at Ker, we both started laughing.
Several hours later, the backseat of my car looked like we'd transported a freshly slaughtered cow, but I was willing to clean that up. Besides, Ker had said he'd help. I shook the rancher's hand with a big smile. “We'll come visit whenever we can. You just take good care of Boris.”
“Ma'am,” he replied, “I've been taking care of gryphons my whole life. We'll get that little one all fixed up. Incidentally, though, why Boris?”
I shrugged. “He seemed like a Boris to me.”
The rancher, Jim, laughed. “No, ma'am. That one's a Betsy.”
This entry was originally posted at http://kitrona.dreamwidth.org/369647.html. Comment here or there, whichever you like. :)
Challenge: Vanilla #15 (inhospitable lodgings), Chocolate Chip Mint #20 (uncomfortable), Rocky Road #11 (inn/hotel)
Word count: 1743
Rating: G
Story: The Agency: Case Files and Minutia
Title: The Hotel
Summary: An actual case file!
Ok, so it wasn't the worst place we'd stayed in. But it was definitely up there.
Rumors being what they were, I wasn't sure we'd run into whatever creature was supposedly using this abandoned hotel for its hunting grounds, but better to be prepared, right? I checked all three of my handguns and reholstered them, then slung the shotgun over my shoulder by the strap and looked at Ker. “You ready?”
He tossed me a bandolier of stakes - hey, even if they weren't vampires, lots of things could be hurt by a sharpened bit of wood - and nodded. “Make sure you grab your hat.”
I strapped on the bandolier and rummaged in the backseat to find said article of clothing. Ker stifled a laugh when I put it on, but ear flaps are /warm/, ok? He already had on his extra-toasty-warm stocking cap, lined with thermal fleece and probably chainmaile as well. Then we nodded at each other and slowly, quietly made our way toward the uninhabited hulk.
Moonlight glittered in the broken glass at our feet and the few windows that were only partially broken. The stairs were still sturdy enough to hold us, though as a precaution we went up one at a time; even though we had rope, it was too cold out here for us to want to do this more than once, and if one of us crashed through the floor or stairs, I wasn't willing to bet that whatever we were hunting would stick around for the rest of the night.
The foyer had beautiful bones, but had been left to decay in a shameful manner. Two stories high, a once-graceful staircase led to the top floor, which had only one hallway leading off of it, to the right. Both floors on that side had fallen in, which made our job a little easier.
The first floor was dark, but rather than turn on our flashlights, even on red, we waited a moment and let our eyes adjust. Checking each room in sequence, right and left, was the established procedure, and we carried it out quickly and efficiently. The walls were covered in graffiti, some of it quite good. Debris like used condoms, beer bottles, and a few stained and ripped mattresses testified to this having once been the preferred hangout for teenagers, but it was largely unremarkable... until we got to the last room on the floor. Of course it would be that one; it was furthest from the main door, and the fire escape door was barely visible beyond a drift of larger debris. A shotgun would solve that problem fairly quickly, but I'd rather not take that option unless we had to.
The floor of this room made me very glad I'd worn my heavy-duty Doc Martens. Broken glass, hypodermic needles, and a spray of dark fluid that I suspected was blood covered the floor, leaving very little space to walk quietly. I sniffed the air, thankful for my heightened senses that allowed both excellent night vision and greater-than-normal sensitivity to smells, and stifled a cough. Something was laired in here, and from the freshness and pungency, it might very well be there at the moment. The scent was musky and unwashed, possibly natural were-creature, possibly something turned were-creature unwillingly. I held up a hand to stop Ker and concentrated, trying to sense where and what the thing was. I knew he was doing the same in his own way; our talents weren't the same, which was mostly a strength. After a moment, he nodded toward the left, where the bathroom door was partially shut, the only door that we'd seen that even approached being whole. I nodded, sensing the thing in there as well, and motioned for him to go first. That was also established procedure; he was taller, stronger, and all-around bigger than I was, and my reflexes were half a second faster.
Tensing up, I slowly pulled the shotgun from my shoulder, my heavy leather jacket creaking ever so slightly, and aimed it at the door. Ker did the same, smoothly crunching through the glass, and leaned as far toward the door as possible without exposing himself too much.
Expecting him to kick the door down, my eyes widened when he carefully pushed the door open with the barrel of the shotgun and started talking softly. “Hi there,” he murmured. “Come on out; let's talk, hmm?” With further coaxing, although wisely never claiming that we wouldn't hurt it, the creature emerged.
My jaw dropped. It didn't look like much, bedraggled and pitiful, but the basic structure was obvious once I knew what to look for. “Hi there,” I said softly, crouching down but being careful to keep my shotgun handy. “Who are you?”
Still too young to really verbalize, it gave a few pitiful shrieks and whimpers and paced toward me, head up, eyes wide, and I just wanted to hug it. But hugging a scared baby gryphon was a /really/ bad idea, as the injuries on the teenage girl we'd met in town attested to.
I kept speaking to it and it calmed down. I hated to keep thinking of it as “it”, but even if I could have safely examined it, it was still too young to tell just yet what its gender was. I decided, based on the voice, that it was male. “Hey, little guy, where's your parents? Your mama? Your daddy?”
He relaxed as I spoke to him, but didn't show that he recognized any of the words for his parents. I got a sinking feeling and glanced at Ker, who grimaced and nodded. Based on the gryphon's size - his head was about waist-high - he looked a year old at best, even accounting for stunted growth from lack of food. He was also painfully thin and matted, and my heart went out to him.
Being careful not to startle him, I stood and looked at Ker. “Think he can be saved?”
My partner looked doubtful. “I'm not sure. But he is awfully young. Let's see if we can get him in the car, I guess.” My heart surged with hope, and with love for Ker, but I channeled that energy into thinking of ways to get the little gryphon into the car and calm enough that driving wouldn't freak him out.
“Ok, tell me what you think of this plan. You've still got that half-cured jerky from your mom, right?” He nodded. “You grab that, and I'll keep an eye on him. Then we can leave a trail to the car. How much do you have?”
“All of it,” he answered, making a face. “She made a big tub of it, maybe five pounds?” Kiernan's mother was a sweet woman, but her deer jerky was just a crime against good venison.
I nodded, thinking hard. “Ok. And how much cash do you have on you?”
“/What/?”
“Well, I'm thinking that if he's full, he might fall asleep and then he might not be freaked out while we're driving. One of us goes to the store and gets a few pounds of cheap meat and a couple gallons of water...”
He cut me off. “Water? You know he's going to pee in your car, right?”
Damn, I'd forgotten about that, and gryphon pee smelled worse than cat pee on a hot day. Wincing, I sighed. “Yeah. But we can't just /leave/ him here. You'll help me clean it out?” I batted my eyelashes at him even though I wasn't sure he could see it in the darkness of the room.
Ker rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. I'll go to the store. You've got your phone, right?”
I pulled it out and held it up, and had to dodge to keep from getting both phone and hand eaten. “Whoa there, Boris! That's how you got in trouble in the first place!” Turning to Ker, I nodded. “Sounds good, but can you leave the jerky? I'd really rather not stick around /here/.”
He nodded in return and slowly left the room, taking care not to startle Boris, who was settling down again. Apparently he was getting playful now that he was acclimating to the presence of people.
I waited a few minutes and noted that it was starting to get light, just a bit in the east, through the window across the hall. I waited a few minutes more... and a few minutes more. Maybe fifteen minutes after I was really starting to get worried, I heard a shotgun blast and practically flew out of the room in a panic, Boris on my heels. He didn't seem to understand the danger, but apparently he liked to chase. Great.
Out in front of the hotel, the first thing I saw was Kiernan, squatting on the ground, kind of hunched over, and my stomach lurched painfully. Then I noticed that he was examining a form on the ground, and as my brain cleared, I could make sense of what I saw, though I didn't dare stop running. Boris gave a gleeful shriek that nearly deafened me as I ran down the stairs and he leaped from the landing to the ground. I headed for Ker and figured out what he had done. Grinning approval, I raced past him and he sprang up and joined me. We ran around the car, Boris following until he scented blood and came to a shuddering halt. Kiernan had shot a deer, and Boris went for it, diving in and splattering the side of my car with blood. I leaned against the car and grinned while taking deep breaths, but when I glanced at Ker, we both started laughing.
Several hours later, the backseat of my car looked like we'd transported a freshly slaughtered cow, but I was willing to clean that up. Besides, Ker had said he'd help. I shook the rancher's hand with a big smile. “We'll come visit whenever we can. You just take good care of Boris.”
“Ma'am,” he replied, “I've been taking care of gryphons my whole life. We'll get that little one all fixed up. Incidentally, though, why Boris?”
I shrugged. “He seemed like a Boris to me.”
The rancher, Jim, laughed. “No, ma'am. That one's a Betsy.”
This entry was originally posted at http://kitrona.dreamwidth.org/369647.html. Comment here or there, whichever you like. :)