The running, part 4. How to not abduct a man from a street

One day Opium called me. She asked if I wanted to meet with Monty. I had never heard about Monty, but promised to go with her anyway. Apparently Monty might have a job available. At first I just wanted to know where the meeting would be held. I wasn’t going to leave all my possessions at home, and if I couldn’t bring all my stuff with me, I wouldn’t be able to go. Opium suggested I brought my stuff to a pod-hotel. It was a good idea and she was nice enough to pay for one day because I was completely broke. She also gave me a sledgehammer. She said that she didn’t have any use for it anymore. I happily accepted the weapon. I could break some bones with it.

The place we went to meet this Monty person was a bit better than what I had used to. There was a doorman. He didn’t want to let us in. When we mentioned Monty, he let us in anyway.

There was some other people in the meeting too. Nerdy, of course. There was also some new faces, yet again. A troll male, who was a mage. He was called Liu. He had an elf woman with him. She was called Shrew. That was the first time I met Shrew.

Monty told us about a boy that had gone missing. The boy needed to be found. And he would be very pleased if the boy would return unharmed. He told about some cult that had something to do with a comet. I didn’t understand. I really have no idea when people talk about their cults. I can’t understand them. It’s mumbo jumbo to me.

I was a bit annoyed by the fact that I didn’t have my sword with me. I started kicking the table leg. It didn’t make me feel better, but hopefully it would make others feel worse.

At some point Monty left. We had agreed to take on the job, and we had to plan our way of working. Nerdy started surfing the web. Others talked about the job and Shrew. I found out that Shrew had some sort of amnesia. She didn’t even know what she could do. At some point Liu shone in the Astral Plane. He read my aura.

After a while we left. We decided to go to Liu’s apartment. But first we got all my stuff from the hotel. I was so happy. I got to be with my sword again. I think it has something to do with my real form. When I’m a leopard, I have deadly weapons in my paws. As a human, I only have weak, ridiculous nails. I can’t kill with my hands as easily. That’s why I think I need a big sword. Or blades. Or knifes. In fact, anything sharp and deadly. But claymore makes me feel the most comfortable.

I focused all my attention to my sword. I sharpened it. I cleaned it. I made it sparkle. And when I started to look around myself, I noticed everyone had left. Everyone but Shrew and Liu. Shrew had started sleeping on the couch. Liu seemed like he was going to go to bed. I decided that I’d stay there for the night. Home was far from there, and I didn’t feel like fighting. There’s always a chance you have to fight your way home at night. Sometimes I enjoy the challenge, but this time a warm and cozy apartment felt nicer. I took all my stuff into a heap, undressed and transformed. I figured Liu had already seen my aura, so he knew what I was and still let me stay, so it didn’t matter.

I slept well. There wasn’t the normal background noise. No dying screams. No rats. Just a low sound of traffic far. There was no wind either. The walls were sturdy enough to hold the weather. It was the first night in ages I had slept well.

When I woke up I was alone. I walked around a bit and went back to sleep.

Later I found out that my team-mates had done some good research. The cult we were looking for was located in an old church. Somebody was needed to watch over it for a while. I volunteered, but almost backed up when they said I wasn’t allowed to take my shotgun with me. Sword was also out of the question. Opium promised to get me a baseball bat, but I never got one. Instead I got a knife and a pistol. They said I had to return the pistol, but I could keep the knife. I don’t like pistols. They are too small and they are too inefficient for my taste.

I was waiting near the place. It was outside, and I had plenty of interesting things to watch, for example rats. I had caught one rat, and right when I was cutting it to pieces for my amusement I noticed a person. He was dressed in a robe. He was coming out from the church I was watching.

I called Opium to ask if I should follow. She said I should hold him still by any means necessary. What best suited for me. But we needed him alive, and Opium would be there soon. I put the knife to my belt and started running after the man. I yelled him to stop. When he saw me he started running. Well, I don’t blame him.

I quickly got to him and grabbed him by the robe. He squirmed out from his robe and continued running. I dropped the robe and caught him while he was trying to open a garage door. I grabbed him by the arm this time. He seemed scared and tried to hit me. I got a bit angry and hit him to the face. He wanted to know what I wanted. I said I wanted to talk with him. Then I started dragging him towards a dark alley. When I think about this now, I think maybe it was a bit too much. A normal person would be freaked out by my actions. As was this guy. He managed to hit me. I felt the red hot rage in me, and I beat him senseless. I’ll talk about the red hot rage later.

When the man was unconscious, I kicked him to his side just to be sure. Then I dragged him by his neck to the alley. I called Opium again. I think she had gotten her shoes on by now. She said to be there quickly.

While I was there, waiting, I had time to regret leaving his robe and helmet on the street. Under the streetlights for anyone to find. I didn’t want to leave the man there alone. He might wake up and run, or someone might come and kill him if I left to grab his possessions. So I had to watch and wait and hope no one would see them. It was in vain. I saw a police car driving by slowly. I think maybe the screaming got some attention. The man wasn’t exactly quiet when I got him. He screamed for help, but not for long.

Luckily no one saw me with the man on the alley, and Opium arrived shortly. I threw the man in the car. I wanted to go and see what kind of vehicle the man drove, because he had a helmet. I thought maybe he had a motorcycle, but Opium talked me into going with her to Liu’s apartment. Others taped the man on a chair. We decided to interrogate the man when he woke up. I went back to my corner and curled up in my leopard form.

The man woke up in the morning. Opium started interrogating him. Her methods made me interested in the interrogation as well. She was actually torturing him. She was scratching his tooth with a spike that had come out of her finger. I shortly thought about wanting those too. Then the man started to squirm. So I took a hold of his head. Finally some blood came out from his mouth. He started screaming. Then Opium asked Liu to heal the man so she could start over. This was my kind of interrogation.

The man gave in pretty quickly. He told that I was crazy, and then he told about the cult and its leader. We decided to kidnap him next.

The leader was in the church. We sneaked in. Shrew’s ally spirit opened the door for us from the inside. Even then I felt a bit uneasy around the spirit, but it has always seemed to be a bit intimidated by me. It in turn makes me feel strong. It’s an interesting relationship altogether.

We grabbed the leader without any problems. The team had some bullets that didn’t kill, just stun. Some of the cult members had to be stunned, but the whole mission went easily. We grabbed the leader and brought him back to Liu’s place as well. Others taped him into a chair too.

While others interrogated, I went to sleep. I enjoyed sleeping well.

I was expecting a fight when I heard they knew where the boy was. We went there, made a quick plan and executed it. Oh, and Opium made me promise not to shoot while she was in front of me, or anywhere in the line of fire. And I wasn’t allowed to kill anyone. It took me the whole drive there to understand that I wasn’t allowed to kill anyone.

We went inside the house, where the boy was. There were some cult members, and the fight I had been waiting for. I dropped my weapons, grabbed a good hold of my new sledgehammer and ran at the members screaming. I believe it made them think twice about attacking me. It didn’t take us long to win the fight. All the people in the cult were unconscious, or just playing to be unconscious. Shrew’s spirit walked around kicking the people on the ground, intimidating them.

We got the boy, returned him to Monty unharmed and got the payment. I wasn’t dead broke anymore.