Chapter 7 - Animal Mass

A gray haze hung in the air, the smokey miasma limiting Adam's vision. Grizzled men looked up from where they played pool or sat at the bar to study the newcomers. Adam's boots clicked on the linoleum floor as he stepped through the door, closely followed by the towering Lothar. The portal swung silently closed behind them as the Were surveyed the room, his keen sight picking out their target quickly. The whole room watched as Adam and Lothar walked towards a small man in the corner who was nursing a nearly empty glass.

As Adam approached he saw the man had dark features and his eyes were shifting from place to place constantly. A small tic in his left eye began to twitch as they approached.

With nervous cough, the man said, "Why, hello, Lothar. It's... nice to see you again. How have you been?"

Not bothering to ask his leave, Lothar sat down at the table and rested his large arms upon it. Distastefully completing the greeting, Lothar replied perfunctorily, "Hello, Lector, I've been fine.
How have you been?" Not waiting for the snitch to answer, he continued. "I need some information. Last night a woman was thrown off of the Empire State Building. I know who did it, and I need to find Her," he said, the capitilization of Her name almost audible.

The man's appearance seemed to flicker momentarily, and Adam instantly became more cautious. A normal man's face does not flicker.

"Why did you need to come to me, Lothar?" the man nearly whined. "You know that I could get in trouble for helping your side out. You know what they would do to me." Lector surreptitiously glanced at the door, looking for a way to escape what was coming.

"You know why, Lector. You're the biggest snitch in New York. You have access to information even I don't have. And you know what I will do to you if you don't help. Remember the War? Remember what I was? I can be that demon once more if you don't help us. Where is
Lilith?"

Lector gulped and sank down into his seat, his tic intensifying. He made one last try at innocence. "Lilith? Isn't she still locked up?" The glow forming deep in Lothar's eyes and the rumble building in his throat convinced him. "Wait, wait, I forgot. She broke out of that cage of your's a little while ago... Last I heard she was staying above the Vertex. You know the place?" At Lothar's nod, he continued. "It seems that she broke out and decided to chow down on one
of the Vertex's patrons. Later she 'convinced' the owner to let her use the entire second floor. Imagine that."

As Adam saw Lothar getting ready to leave, he rose from his chair. The Were stood and leaned forward, putting his hands on the table and his face in Lector's. "You made a wise decision, Lector. You had better hope that it was the truth or you will never see me again. Nor anyone else." He stood and walked through the door, not looking back. Adam followed and as he reached the door, glanced back at Lector. Where he had been sitting, only a flicker of fire lingered.

As thunder rumbled and lightning crashed outside the dojo, the woman's life returned to her. She was Cassandra Chabot. Raised in Manhattan by two loving parents who unfortunately did not love each other enough. Divorced when Cassandra was only 13, she ran away, joined a gang and ended up too deep to get out. One day she met a wonderful man, David. He brought her out of the gangs and helped her get her life back on track. He taught her Isshin-Ryu karate and later gave her a job at his dojo. Everything that she was... everything she had been was because of him. But he was gone, and so was every part of her not useful in getting revenge against that creature which killed him.

Cassandra left the dojo floor and went to the room which served as both her office and apartment, noting that the strange cat followed her. It perched itself upon her desk and continued to watch her with
those strangely intelligent eyes. Ignoring the feline for a moment, she stripped off the dirty white coat and started rooting through her closet for some clothes. She pulled on some tight leather pants, a Sisters of Mercy t-shirt, and took a pair of old army boots. Moving to the sink, Cassandra rinsed her hair, attempting to get rid of some of the grime. Once she was relatively clean, she grabbed her leather trench and returned to the dojo floor. Moving to the weapons rack, she removed a pair of knives, a chain, and a katana. The sword wasn't as good as her own, but it would suffice. Once armed, she felt slightly better. Now she had the tools to gain revenge.

On her way out the door, Cassandra slipped on her boots. She then entered the tempest.

Rain beat down on the windshield of Lothar's Buick, the wipers ineffectual against the torrent of water. "The Vertex, huh? I used to go there, but then they started catering to Gen-X losers. Damn happy airheads. Don't even know what's going on around them..." Adam's voice was raised over the pounding rain, and tinged with bitterness as he spoke. He used to be one of those people who never knew what was happening around him. It took a tragedy to bring him to his senses.

Lothar let Adam speak while he gathered his thoughts. Lilith living above a club? That was a new one. Not many supernaturals were that tacky, and the ones that were usually picked good clubs, not head-banging raver joints. Even so, he needed to check the place out. Lothar hesitated at bringing Adam, his paternalist instincts kicking in. Then he reconsidered. This wasn't the same Adam anymore, the weak young man. This Adam was strong, one of the most driven men Lothar had met. Adam could handle it. The Were saw the glowing neon of the club ahead and pulled off to the side of the road, under a burnt out streetlight. Adam and Lothar exited the car, two shadows in the darkness. As the pair approached the club, Adam reached under his coat to adjust his weapons.

A pathway cleared in front of the large Were as if by magic. Lothar dwarfed the bouncers, each of whom stood 6'3" at least. They too moved aside as Lothar and Adam brushed past, a bear and a hawk among sheep.

Waves of canned-culture broke upon their ears as they entered the club, not-quite-stinging guitar riffs and not-quite-correct drum tempos. A woman dressed in loud green pants and a midriff-revealing shirt saying "Undoubtedly" caterwauled upon the raised stage, screaming to a writhing mass of flesh on the dance floor. Both Lothar and Adam shook their heads in disgust. Adam slowly led the way to the back of the club where a large man in a black suit stood guard.

The guard stepped in front of the riveted steel door and placed his hand upon Adam's chest. Stopping, Adam looked down at the man's hand and then slowly back to his face, a dangerous glint in his eye. Evenly, Adam simply said, "Excuse me."

"I'm sorry, sir, but you can't go back there. Employees only." The man stood his ground like a rock, looking down at Adam's smaller form.

"Look, we don't have time for this. I suggest you move before things get ugly."

"I'm sorry, sir, but I can't. However, I should warn you that I'm a black belt in karate, a golden gloves champion in boxing, and an all-state wrestler." The guard calmly removed his glasses and put them in the breast pocket of his suit. "Now please return to the main portion of the club."

"My, that is quite impressive." Without skipping a beat, he drove his fingers into the man's neck. A choked sound escaped from the guard's throat as his entire body went tense. "Now, if I did that right, and I usually do, you shouldn't be able to move right now. So if you'll please excuse us for a moment... Oh, by the way, I'm a black belt too." Adam slammed his fist into back of the man's head, dropping him to the floor. Lothar fought to contain a very un-werewolf like grin as he opened the door.

As she walked down the rain-filled streets, Cassandra's thought ran rampant through her mind. How the hell did she live? The last thing she remembered was taking a nose-dive off of the Empire State Building.
Not that it really mattered. What mattered was that she was alive and had a chance to get back at the bitch that tried to kill her. If she survived, she could get around to rebuilding her life. But not until her work was finished.

Cassandra sat down in the cover of a doorway and leaned back against the wall, holding her legs. Then there was that strange cat. It had been at the morgue when she woke up, and had been following her ever since. And those eyes, containing an uncanny, inhuman, intelligence. As Cassandra's thoughts turned towards the cat, she felt its gaze settle upon her. She blinked, and when her eyes opened, she saw herself. As she leapt to her feet, she saw herself do so. A startled curse escaped from her lips as she hit her head on the wall. The world was in shades of black and white, and she could see plainly in the night. A group of people huddled together moved down the street a few blocks away; a bird was resting on a lamp post across the street. Cassandra blinked again and once more she saw the world normally. The cat looked at her questioningly, as if everything was perfectly normal.

A buzz started in the back of her brain. The creature was close. She could tell. Cassandra spun in circles, trying to figure out where the killer was. She stumbled out into the street, her gaze focusing and unfocusing. There. Down the street. That group of people. She was there!

The group of people turned towards her as they heard her footfalls approaching. She slowed her sprint as she got close. The creature, the murderer, was among them. Surrounded by a group of five men. Nothing more than paper dolls before her. The rain stopped. A fog began to roll in.

She stopped before the group, and drew her sword from beneath her trenchcoat. The men in the group hardly seemed to notice, a glazed look in their eyes. The woman did. She stepped past the ring of men surrounding her and stood before Cassandra. Instead of the armor she had worn before, she was dressed in a long black gown which left her shoulders bare. A cascade of red hair swirled around her shoulders, and her brilliant green eyes mocked Cassandra.

"Why hello again. I thought that I had seen the last of you. Now how did you manage to live through that swan dive?" The woman's perfect mouth twisted into an ugly smile. "I don't suppose that your boyfriend was able to make it too? You two were so nice together..."

Cassandra's vision was filled with blood by this time. The creature's blood. Her pulse was racing and pounding in her ears. Through the clenched muscles of her jaw, only two words slipped. "Die, bitch."

The cat had followed Cassandra, and now sat perched upon a car nearby. It's eyes tracked the confrontation, and inwardly it was worried. Her charge was not ready yet. The demoness could destroy
Cassandra. The cat couldn't let that happen. Not after what that child had already been through.

The feline form dissolved into mist and flowed across the street until it was behind the demoness. With a thought, it resumed its natural form. It lowered its shields, and its essence flowed around it once more, detectable to those who watched.

As Cassandra prepared to cut that cruel smile from the creature's face, it spun around. With a shriek, it let out in a scream, "You again! This one is mine, and mine alone!" Something happened out in the fog that Cassandra could not see, but the woman could. "You may be more powerful than I now, but not for long! Soon, I shall rule. After my imprisonment I am more powerful than ever! Soon you shall be no more than dust in the winds of time!" The woman turned back to face Cassandra, her eyes glowing feverishly. "We shall settle this later, child!" She looked at the men who still stood dully. "Capture her! Needs I be elsewhere, but secure her for my return!" With a scorching pillar of flame, the woman vanished.

As Cassandra studied the men more closely, she saw their eyes were dull, like those of an animal. A tiny green spark glowed within. A spark that brightened as their arms reached out to ensnare her.

Not waiting for their attack, Cassandra advanced. She spun between two men, her sword flashing. The blade cut deep into one man's side and hamstrung another. Once behind them, she flicked a knife into the base of a thug's skull. Three down, two to go. The remaining human automatons seemed to be slightly more cunning than the other three, but not by much. They closed in on each side of her, seeking to divide her attention. A plan that would ultimately fail. Cassandra leapt into the air and spun, smashing her heel into one man's throat. He fell to the street with a sickening gurgle as she landed lightly. Spinning her leg around, she swept the remaining man's feet out from under him. A quick thrust of her knife, and the skirmish was over. But her quarry had eluded her grasp.