Dark Fate, Chapter 44 (Patreon)

Chapter 44 – Legwork

“So, Renner and Jones were roommates, while attending Georgia State, but they lived out in Avondale, taking the train in every day. Apparently, they were childhood friends.”

I sat back and remained silent as I listened to Officer Costa running down what they knew about Renner. This was police procedural stuff, the kind of thing they knew how to do, and they were far from incompetent at it. The police department didn’t call me in to help with doing background checks, after all.

Officer Nixon cut in. “Renner worked part-time at a self-storage site called Extra Space Storage. There was a small outbreak of wild dogs during the Apocalypse, but they were quickly put down, and the spawn sites disrupted. Since then, the business has been unmanned, though the security service is still has remained operational, and customers can still get to their storage units, but no new units have been rented out in the meantime.”

Detective Austin looked over. “Who’s been manning the counter?”

Nixon looked back to the notes. “According to customers, the owner has been taking shifts, but only between 10 and 2 each day. The rest of the time they just rely on the security system.”

I leaned forward. “How many calls has the security company gotten from the alarm since the dogs were put down?”

Nixon blinked once at me, then checked through the notes. “I am not seeing any. The alarm for the business office and the main door hasn’t gone off since then. With the monster spawns, there’s been plenty of problems, but at least there hasn’t been any real looting or the like.”

Austin’s eyes narrowed. “So, the city is going crazy, and this one place, where the building is only manned four hours a day, hasn’t had any uptick in the number of security alerts? That sounds too good to be true.”

I sighed. “If we’re dealing with a demon’s lair, then he has likely taken steps to protect it. If there’s a more powerful predator in the mix, then less powerful monsters will instinctively shy away from their territory. The zombies, slimes, goblins, and other monsters that have shown up since the Apocalypse are generally weaker. So, if a demon showed up and claimed territory, they would stay out of that territory, unless they were convinced they had the numbers to take on the demon.”

Clark nodded slowly. “And if there aren’t any ‘normal’ crimes on that property, then there would be no reason for the police to even look at it. The only reason we even pulled the files on the place was because Renner was a person of interest. Hell, if it weren’t for the missing people, we wouldn’t even be looking at the area to begin with, not with all the other stuff going on in the city.”

“Exactly. Which is part of the reason I doubt there’s a natural-born demon behind this. A natural-born demon would have more control. They’d know how to hide their tracks better.”

Clark sighed. “Yeah, the pace is too much. Assuming Renner is our demon, fourteen people in a month is a clear sign that the killer is out of control. I doubt he could stop until someone makes him stop. If anything, he’s likely to get worse as it goes on, right?”

I nodded. “Unfortunately, that is the case. Maybe, with time and counseling, he could overcome the changes between his old life and his new one, but that would require him to be caught, and held, in a city that is not set up to house demons that specialize in manipulation and seduction. Not to mention whatever magic or class abilities he has.”

Detective Austin grunted. “As an expert, what do you think the chances are that Renner will come quietly if we attempt to make an arrest?”

Looking at the old detective, I could tell from his expression that he already knew the answer, but he needed me to confirm it. Slowly, I shook my head. “Doubtful, at best. As an expert, I can’t see him going down without a fight, and if you threaten to take his food away, he’s likely to fight like a man possessed, and to the death.”

I took a breath, and continued, “And I’d be more worried if he did decide to come quietly, because that means he was capable of thinking far enough ahead to figure out that it was his best chance. That kind of thing takes control, more control than these numbers suggest he has. Being able to flip from one style to another like that would be scary as hell.”

Officer Rose frowned. “His food?” Ah, she was stuck on what I’d said before.

“Yeah, the women. An incubus or succubus needs to feed, as I said, but monogamy, even if they were so inclined, simply isn’t a possibility for them. If they try to only feed off one person, eventually their victim will get used up. They’ll literally break.”

Nixon chuckled. “What, getting fucked into a sex coma? I can think of worse ways to go out. Especially now.”

“The sex is only part of it, but yeah, you’ll have all the physical and mental issues from too much ‘exercise’ and sensation. But, like I said, that’s not all. A succubus or incubus feeds on their victim’s essence, their life force.”

Officer Costa frowned. “And if you take too much life force, they die, I take it?”

I nodded grimly. “Indeed. Now, life force regenerates over time. If the demon leaves them alive, then they’ll be good as new, at least as far as life force, before long. And an incubus is never going to drain someone dry on accident. They might do it on purpose, especially if they’re trying to capture a soul to use for any number of things, but they aren’t going to do it on accident.”

“Why not?”

Chuckling, I looked Costa in the eye, and said, “Have you ever eaten an entire gallon of ice cream before, all in one sitting? I don’t care if it is your favorite flavor, you’re going to be feeling full long before you get to the end. Probably need to consciously decide to eat the rest, right? Same idea here.

“Now, like I said, a demon could decide that they just want to drain someone dry. They would get experience from that, and the soul, if they knew what they were doing. But that is really noticeable, since bodies piling up somewhere tend to be found, sooner rather than later.”

Clark nodded. “And that all leads back to the demon, and gets people ready to hunt them down, right?”

“Right. So, most sex demons will have a harem that they keep around, so they can spread out their feeding. Depending on their skills and abilities, the members of the harem could have just been seduced, and there of their own free will, or they could be under some form of mind control, typically leaving them as brainwashed thralls.”

Rose frowned. “Is there a reason why these sex demons sound like vampires?”

I chuckled. “Well, remember that vampires were originally an allegory for sex. A mysterious figure who sneaks around, sups on a juicy morsel, and then leaves her in a bad situation? Especially when the act of pulling someone close and sinking his fangs into their neck looks almost identical to foreplay when you’re seeing it? Yeah, vampires and sex go together for a reason.”

Nixon grinned. “So, what about you, then? What about your harem? You have one, right, being a demon and all?”

I chuckled. “Of course, my team with me are part of my harem. You wouldn’t deny a man his meal, would you? I can promise you that I am definitely not draining them dry. And I do my very best to satisfy them all, as thanks for a wonderful meal.”

Austin cleared his throat. “Then, based on our expert’s recommendation, we’ll assume that Renner is Armed and Dangerous, potentially unstable, with hostages who could be suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. Any objections?” There were none.

The detective took a breath. “All right, then. We don’t have any grounds for a warrant, other than the fact that Renner worked at the storage company, and he’s officially a person of interest and a missing person. And all the individual storage units would be covered under different warrants. DA would have our heads if we went in without a warrant or probable cause.”

Detective Clark nodded. “So, what we need is to find a way to get probable cause. Or at least get close enough to find out if he is using the storage units to hide his operation.”

“Getting you on the property isn’t a problem. The business is still open, even if, shockingly, no one has bothered to rent a storage unit when the world is going crazy. So, the simple solution is that I go and get a storage unit.”

Austin nodded, catching on quickly. “Since you’re a consultant for the city, now, presumably you’ll want to have someplace off site to do rituals or any other magic you might need to do to help our investigations, right? So a large storage unit that you could walk away from if something blows up would make sense, at least until budget can be found for a permanent facility.”

Officer Costa grinned. “And, since you’re working with the police, then it is only natural that we come and check out the unit before you start using it, to make sure it is secure, and that there isn’t anything that will interfere with chain of evidence, or potential information leaks, right?”

I nodded. “Exactly. We’ll go in, get them to give us a space, and that will be enough to get us all on the property, without needing warrants and the like. All nice and legal.”

Officer Rose crossed her arms, considering. “All right, that gets us on the property. But how do we go from that, to being able to search the property?”

Clark smirked. “Simple. While doing the security sweep, staying nicely outside any of the storage units and definitely not prying into any of them, our Officer Costa uses her newfound magical ability to try and sense any threats. If she so happens to come up against something that reminds her of the divinations she’s already done, then that would give us enough to request the records of individual units, yes?”

I chuckled. “Also, I don’t doubt that Renner, when he isn’t looking for his next victim, is probably hiding out on the property. If he sees cops, or senses me, he’s likely to freak out. So, we have our stealthy types watching, while the rest of us draw attention, being completely legal, law-abiding folk.”

Austin nodded. “Even if he doesn’t break cover, it will allow us to get surveillance in place, so we can do a stakeout. And if Costa finds any units that have the magic ‘signature’ she’s looking for, and that are under names we recognize from the case files, or look like they are under assumed identities, then we could get one of the more permissive Das to give us a warrant to search those individual units.”

Talia, who had remained quiet this entire time, cut in. “Um, what if he has shapeshifting, or illusion magic?”

I gave Talia a smile. “Good point, Talia. He has to have some kind of magic going on, otherwise he would have been seen by now. He might be able to subsist off his harem, but they would still need to eat, and drink, and those storage units aren’t exactly set up with catering or bathrooms. So, we definitely have some magic going on to cover up the sights and smells, if nothing else.”

Austin took a breath. “Is there any weakness in these magics?”

“Depends on what is being used. A personal shapeshift, for instance, would allow Renner to walk around without being recognized. Visual illusions might not show up on cameras, depending on how they’re created. A simple distraction or aversion ward could keep people from noticing nasty smells or people crying, but effects that cross the barrier would be noticeable, and anyone that is magically sensitive would notice when they walk through a ward, while anything that was inside the ward they walked through would now be clear to them, despite the warding spells.”

“So, we won’t know until we check it out.”

“Right.”

Austin breathed out slowly. “All right, then. I’ll call the chief, so we can have some stakeout gear standing by, if we need to go that route. It is almost 10:30 now. The business office will only be open for a little while longer. Might as well get going, before he has a chance to add to the number of victims.”