Summoned

~`~`~`~`~` ( Author Notes ) `~`~`~`~`~

Chapter 13 is here! I had this one planned while writing the last one so I’m excited to get it on paper for you all. This chapter will contain scenes with Jeff and Harley. Also Gavin and Trisha make a return as well as they investigate the last kill.

Thanks for all the Reviews, Hits, and Rates!

Enjoy and Please Review!

Note: Story is in Harley’s POV unless stated otherwise in chapters.
“Blah blah” – Normal speech
“Blah blah” – Thought of character
(Blah blah) – Author comments

Chapter 13

-------------------- ( Third Person POV ) --------------------

“No!...Oh my God….I can’t believe it! I won’t!”

“So my observation was correct.” Slaiden says with a smirk as he leans against the wall. “This is very interesting.”

“Oh my God….this whole time…..You…her….fighting…” Jeff’s voice trails off as his mind is going a mile a minute, unable to keep his thoughts straight. “No. Harley, not you. Anyone else but you. Why did you have to get involved?...wait a minute….he touched her! And kissed her! What the fuck did he do to her tonigh?!”

Slaiden just watches as the boy has an internal battle with his conscious to believe the words he just heard. He arches an eyebrow as Jeff stumbles to get more words out.

“Oh my God…Oh my God! You!!!...You touched her! You fucking kissed her! What else did you do to her?!” Jeff’s eye’s narrow as he raises his voice. He tries to calm down but a new revelation strikes him. His eyes widen in shock. “Oh God…please tell me you didn’t rape her! Please no!”

“No boy, I didn’t rape her. Never got the chance to since I’m always interrupted in the middle of my fun.” Slaiden says with a slight scowl forming on his face.

“So you were going to?!? You fucking bastard! She’s one of my best friends! Don’t you dare touch her like that!” Jeff’s face is red with anger, his knuckles turning red from clutching the strap of his bag.

“Relax human, she’d enjoy it eventually, they always do.” Slaiden replies with a fanged smirk.

“Th-that’s not the point, damn it! From what you’ve been telling, you’ve clearly enjoying yourself. But I know Harley and she definitely doesn’t want your attention! She’d fight to the fucking death before she’d let you rape her!”

“You right.”

“Of course I’m ri—wait what?” Jeff cuts himself off, confused by Slaiden’s answer.

“She would fight and she’d be good. But I always get what I want. No matter how hard she’d fight, I’d always be the one in control. She’d have to kill herself to escape me but we both know that that’s not in her mindset to give up like that.” Slaiden says, his golden eye’s gleaming in confidence. Jeff throws his bag down and takes a few steps closer to Slaiden. His eyes full of anger.

“You can’t have her.” He grits out, his teeth clenched together.

“Why so emotional, boy? Do you have feelings for the girl?” Slaiden arches an eyebrow in question. His eyes flash, anticipating an answer.

“Wha--? No! I….I…like someone else….” Jeff trails off, looking away from Slaiden’s stare. He quickly snaps out of his thoughts, remembering that topic in question. “She’s one of my best friends. You can’t have her!”

Slaiden pulls himself away from the wall and walks over to Jeff’s desk. He picks up the book that brought him here, still out from being renewed again. He faces the young man and twirls the book in his hand, playing with it the same way he did when he first appeared in the room. He stares Jeff in the eyes with a cunning smirk, as if he’s discovered a big secret.

“Tsk,tsk. If I recall correctly weren’t you the one to summon me? Weren’t you the one lusting for revenge? Weren’t you the one who signed a contact agreeing to pay the price, to give me whatever I asked for? No matter what the consequences or objections you may encounter from yourself or others?”

That last sentence cuts through Jeff like a knife. His jaw goes slack, slightly opening. He’s rendered speechless, knowing the demon in front of him is completely right. Jeff stares down at the floor. He did do all those things. While he still wants revenge, he doesn’t want to hand over Harley like he was paying a bill at Coney Island.

“Yes…I did.” He finally gets out. His face hardens again though as he looks back up at Slaiden. “But you said the price can change. Pick something else. I won’t let Harley become your fucking sex slave! For all I know you could have fucking harem full of women back in your world!”

“I assure you I don’t keep a harem. Disgusting. I’ve always been a one woman demon. As for changing my mind, not likely. I know what I want and we have a contract. Unless you want to call this whole deal off but you remember what I said before on what I would do if you can’t…or won’t pay the price.” Slaiden replies, ending his point by slamming down the book on the desk.

“No…I don’t want to give him Harley but I definitely don’t want to die. What am I going to do? Damn it, why did I give him the upper hand in this deal!” Jeff thinks as he tries to come up with another alternative. He is about to speak when Slaiden beats him to it.

“Shouldn’t you be getting back to your poker game?” he asks as he leans back against the wall, re-crossing his arms.

Jeff shoots him an annoyed look but bites back the urge say anything that might end up in broken bones. He picks up his bag off the floor and throws it over his shoulder. “Don’t get too comfortable, Slaiden. This conversation isn’t over.”

“You’re dealing with a demon, human. It’s not over until I say it is.”

Jeff just glares back, not saying anything. He then turns around and opens his bedroom door. He takes a step out then pauses. He slightly turns his head to look back over his shoulder.

“If I had known dealing with a demon would cost so much I would have never opened that book.” is all Jeff says as he closes the door behind him, not wanting to hear the demon make a remark. Slaiden just smirks as he stares at the closed door.

“That human, is a lesson learned too late.”

-------------------- ( Back at the Scene ) --------------------

(Meanwhile)

Detective Gavin De Niro pulled up the country road to flashing lights of blue and red. It was a blockade to keep the narrow road clear from an accident. He rolled down his window for the uniformed officer and flashed his badge. The officer examined it and waved for the other officer to move the blockade aside for Gavin to pass. He gave both officers a nod and drove past to his destination. He thought back to his earlier phone conversation back at his office.

*Bzzz* *Bzzz* *Bzzz*

“De Niro, what’s up?”

“Gavin, it’s CSI Trisha Melrose.”

“Oh, hello Trisha. What’s up?”

“Did you hear call to dispatch about 15 minutes ago?”

“Yeah, why? Aren’t you there now?”

“Yes I am but this is something you need to see.”

“I don’t get it, I thought that call was for a death from a car accident.”

“Well from what I’m seeing this was no accident. These wounds tell me otherwise. I need you down here. Now.”

“Is this related to the other cases?”

“That's what we are going to figure out.”

“…..Sure…be there as soon as I can.”

*Click*

Gavin was greeted to more flashing lights as he rounded the corner a distance away. He parked next to a squad car and got out. He scanned that area around him, noting the wreckage and blood as well as the evidence markers. He sees the CSI supervisor talking to one of her guys, a young man named Louis, if he remembers correctly. He approaches them and gets a good look at the body. The young man is stuck to the car on an angle, with two large gashes across his chest as well as bruising and other small cuts. The coroners’ assistant is at the scene as well and is examining the vic’s right leg.

“I’m here, what have you got?” Gavin asks to Trisha. Trisha opens her mouth to answer when the coroner calls over to them.

“Trisha, I’m about done here for now until we get him to the morgue, let me show you what I got.”

“Well there we go then.” Trisha replies with a small smile as the three walk over to him. “Alright Luke, what can you tell us.”

“Well obviously this guy didn’t die from injuries caused by the accident, in fact he might of only had minor injuries from it like on his face. There is hardly any blood by the drivers’ side door which confirms my reasoning that he was able to crawl out of his car on his own. He’s also got some heavy bruising, all pre-mortem. Besides the two gashes on his chest, made from the same unidentified weapon from the other victims we saw, he has offensive and defensive wounds on him.” Luke points to several bruises as he talks. “And his knee cap on his right leg has been completely shattered. It doesn’t look consistent with an accident injury, too precise. I think his attacker did it, but with what I don’t know yet, possibly from an elbow based on the strength this killer seems to have.”

“A shattered knee from an elbow?” Trisha asks, slightly surprised at the extent of the injury to be caused by one person.

“It’s possible, I’ve seen it done.” Gavin cuts in. “As long as the leg is straight and a hard, well aimed strike is delivered, the elbow can break the knee. The elbow and knee bent are almost impossible to break but if they are straight then it’s very possible. Although ‘shattered’ seems a bit extreme.”

“Trust me,” Luke comments, “This knee was cracked like a baseball to a glass window. This guy came down on the vic hard. The vic is dressed like he came from boxing or something which elxplains the even older bruising from a few hours earlier. This guy fought back, that’s for sure. He didn’t go down easy. The crippling of the knee and being thrown into the car is what slowed him down, but he didn’t die instantly from the impact.”

“We found a gym bag full of gear that had fallen from his car. He has been identified as Steve Crandall, age 22.” Trisha comments.

“I think I know where he came from.” Gavin says.

“You do?” Trisha asks, followed by a ‘Really?’ from Louis.

“There’s a martial arts tournament tonight not too far from here. I saw advertising for it at my gym. If the vic has older bruising from fighting then that’s probably where he got them, from participating in the tournament.” Gavin replies.

“Louis, get some head shots of the vic ready and drive to where this tournament was held. If anyone is still there, ask them information on Crandall’s past whereabouts that may give us some leads.” Trisha orders.

“Yes ma’am. I’m on it.” Louis says as he goes back to CSI vehicle.

“Well Trisha, we know what happened after the accident but how did the accident happen?” Gavin asks, still missing a few pieces.

“That’s the weird part in this that I knew you had to see.” Trisha replies, “There is no evidence at all of a second vehicle. There isn’t even any obstruction of any kind to have caused his car to flip like it did. Come take a look at this.” She motions Gavin to follow as they walk to the other end of the upside down car. “The car is tilted just enough for us to see that a large dent was made in the hood of the vehicle. Some sort of powerful force must have came down on it to use the momentum of Crandall’s car against him. We will know for sure what caused it once we flip it, but first, what size does this dent look like to you?”

Gavin gets closer to examine the upside down dent. His eyes widen then quickly narrow again. “It looks like the size of a fist. But that’s impossible. No human has the strength to do that. There must be another explanation. The theory of a lone man standing in the middle of the road to flip a car and not get severely injured in the process is just too unreal.”

“Well just between you and me, detective, I’m beginning to suspect other, more uncommon theories about this murderer.” Trisha says with an expressionless face.

“Like supernatural theories? You’ve never been one to believe in that sort of thing, Melrose.” Gavin questions her, raising an eyebrow.

“Not super natural, more like unnatural. Think about it De Niro, this guy shows signs of super human strength, is sadistic in his kills yet careful enough not to create any evidence, and oddly enough, there seems to be no links between any of the victims so far. I’m not just questioning on who we are looking for but also what we are looking for.”

“Hmmmm…I see your points, not saying I necessarily believe them but I acknowledge them. There might be unexplainable things out there in the world but this may or may not be one of them. But then again, the evidence doesn’t lie. There is something very wrong going on here and we need to figure out what that thing is.”

“Thanks for taking me seriously, in all my years I’ve seen nothing like this, hell I’ve never even heard of anything like this,” she says as she gestures to car. “These kinds of theories are a first for me too.”

Gavin surveys the car again, looking for any other unusual details. “Well that seems to be the only odd piece of evidence besides the wounds on the vic although the slashes aren’t that unusual anymore.”

“I know,” Trisha says with a sigh, “Every call I get, I wonder that when I get to the scene if there will be more odd slashes. At least it’s become a bit of a calling card of his for us to go with.”

“Always looking for a silver lining.”

“You have to in this line of work.” She replies when her cell goes off. She picks it up and sees that it’s Louis. She answers. “Hey, Louie, tell me you got good news.”

“Louie? She better not start calling me Gavie, or we'll have a problem.” Detective Gavin thinks to himself as Trisha talks to Louis.

“Uh-huh…alright…..is that all?.....how does that relate to anything?...you just think it’s cool?…focus Louis, please?....mhmm, k…that does actually spike my interest….. Alright, thanks Louis, head back to the lab with the evidence you’ve all ready collected. Bye.”

*Click*

“Louis was able to track down the manager of the event, a Mr. Rick Bates. Bates confirmed that Crandall was a participant in that tournament. He lost in the last semi-final match. He left soon after, in a pissed off mood. Apparently Crandall was a bit of a hot head. Bates didn’t know if he left with anyone or not, he was too busy with the event.” Trisha relays to Gavin.

“What was the kid so geeked about?” Gavin asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Watch the ‘kid’ talk , kid. Your only a few years older if that.” She says jokingly, “Anyway what he was ‘so geeked’ about is that Tom Collins presented the awards. His daughter was there too along with his good friend. And what I personally found interesting was that another fighter said to Louis that he witnessed Harley and their friend exchange words with Crandall. The guy didn’t elaborate to Louis what was said but did say that it looked unfriendly. Thoughts?”

“Trouble just seems to gravitate around that girl…” Gavin thinks as he reviews this bit of news. “I don’t think it’s completely related but at least we have insight into the vic’s recent past which we haven’t had before. Maybe it will give us some leads. I’ll stop by the Collins’ house tomorrow to see if they can give me some details of the time between the beginning of the tournament and the murder.”

“Alright, I need to tell Luke that they can load up the body and meet Louis at the lab. What’s next on your agenda?”

“I’m going to stick around and see what the rest of your team came up with. I’ll let you know what I learn from the Collins.”

“Sounds good, detective.” Trisha is about to walk away to the other end of the car where Luke is when she turns back to speak, “One more thing, When will you be releasing this to the media? This isn’t a high traffic road and any local citizens are at least two miles away in both direction. So it won’t be noticed by the public on its own.”

Gavin thinks for a moment before answering. “I’m going to try to keep this one out of the media. It’s not a high profile case and we haven’t actually released any information of a mass murderer on the other two cases. The gang slaughter is still being speculated to be a gang war by the media.”

“I agree, that’s the safes route to take since we don’t have any real leads.” Trish says than walks back to Luke.

Detective Gavin releases an exhausted sigh and heads over to another CSI not too far off. He hopes some reasonable evidence has been collected.

“Let’s just hope these theories are only just theories.”

-------------------- ( Harley’s POV ) --------------------

( The Next Day – Noon)

I’m driving back from the funeral home where the memorial service had been. I had dressed nice in black dress pants and a plain, yet nicer black short sleeve top. The Hanson Family had cremated Mark’s body since they couldn’t afford to bury him. It’s sad but at least Mrs. Hanson can have her son near her now. It was a small memorial service, only close family and friends. I had talked to the family for a while, paid my respects and left after about 45 minutes. I had felt awkward knowing what really happened and not being able to say anything, especially if my dream held any truth to it. I would feel even more guilty if Mark Hanson’s soul was trapped somewhere ‘in between’ here and heaven. I hoped the only thing true about that dream was that I have some sort of connection with Slaiden’s summoner. “It’s fine, don’t think about it.” I convince myself to not believe in something like a creepy dream. While I pushed those thoughts out of my mind, memories from last night replaced them. Figuring that I need to lighten my mood, I decide to swing by Jeff’s for a bit to tell him about my fight with Steve. Might was well brag to my friends while I can.

I take a left at the light and head to Jeff’s subdivision. I pull up to his house within ten minutes. I park in the street and head up to the front door. Jeff's family has a nice, large modern house. The bricks are a cream color and the front doorway has two large wooden doors that sit under a huge brick archway that ends on the second story. I always have loved their lawn. Mrs. Brawner loves gardening so their lawn is always looking good with different types of plants and flowers. I notice the Mr. Brawner’s car isn’t there as I reach the walkway leading to the front door. I reach the steps and ring the door bell twice. A few moments go by so I ring it again. Still nothing. I pull out my cell to text him.

To Jeff – you home? I’m outside.

Within seconds I get a reply.

From Jeff – Sorry, downstairs. Be up soon.

I blow at the wind chimes that hang at my left as I wait a few minutes. “Seriously Jeff? It’s been almost ten minutes.”

Suddenly the door bursts open to reveal a panting Jeff.

“Sorry…*Pant*..I was jogging on *Pant* the treadmill…*Pant*” he gets out as he takes a gulp of his water in his hand.

“Whoa, easy there tiger.” I say with a laugh, “Mind if I come in for a bit?”

“Sure.” He says as he lets me walk in. I take off my shoes as he catches his breathing. After he downs the rest of his water he speaks again. “Let’s go in the kitchen. Are you hungry?”

“No I’m fine right now. Where’s the fam?”

“Mom and dad went patio furniture shopping to replace the old one this summer. You know my mom, everything has to look beautiful no matter what my dad pays.” He says rolling his eyes. We enter the kitchen and sit at the island counter with the bar stools. “So what’s up? Wasn’t expecting you. Good thing I got back from Ryan’s kind of early. What’s with the nice clothes?”

“Oh yeah, that. I went to memorial service, nothing big though. Speaking of nice clothes, do you have that bag of old clothes for Jason in your room?”

“Oh yeah, their good to go.”

“Great, mind if I grab them real quick while I’m here? I’ll go get them so I don’t forget.” I say as I start to get up only to be sat back down by Jeff.

“No, no. Don’t get up. I’ll go get them.” He says with a hint of nervousness in his voice.

“It’s no trouble. What’s wrong? Is your room trashed or something?” I ask in confusion.

“Yeah…it is. Total mess. I’ll be right back with them. Stay here in the kitchen.” He says as he dashes out of the kitchen to the stairs.

“Ok…” I say to no one. “Boy’s just don’t know how to take care of themselves.” I think as I shrug my shoulders. Within seconds Jeff is back with a bag of clothes.

“Thanks.” I say as place them next to me, “Anyway the real reason I came over was to tell you about last night”

“What happened last night?” Jeff asks, as he focuses on the apple he just grabbed from the bowl.

“Well me, my dad, and Bill, you remember Bill right? Anyway we all went to a martial arts tournament that my dad was presenting the awards at. When we’re there Bill and I run into Steve Crandall.” I pause to see Jeff’s reaction. His eyes had slightly widened as he chews on his apple. I decide to continue when he doesn’t really comment. “He starts insulting me and Bill but I eventually get him to leave. He lost in his semi-final match and was really pissed. Me and Bill ran into him again and he insults me again which Bill flips out about and they go outside to fight!”

“No way!”

“Yeah, Bill was ready to beat Steve’s ass. I convinced him not to so we could go back to watching the tournament when Steve says something to me that sets me off.” I continue, my voice is serious by this point.

“What did he say?” Jeff asks, his voice now soft. I think he has a feeling about what I’m going to say because he diverts his eyes.

“He mentioned you. How he was going to hurt you again. Like a few months ago when you lied to all of us.”

“I’m sorry about that, Harley. I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.” He says while looking at his hands, similar to how I was last night in the car.

“It’s ok Jeff. I understand.” I say as I put a hand on his shoulder in comfort.

He lifts his head back up look at me and asks what happened next.

“I gave that jerk a taste of his own medicine. I beat his sorry ass. And as Bill as my witness, I kicked his ass good!” I say with a soft smile.

“Awesome! Wish I could’ve seen it. Thanks again for defending me, I guess.” Jeff says with a smile of his own. A comfortable silence sets in for a few moments then is broken by Jeff. “Hey, Harley?”

“Yeah?”

“Your such a great friend to me and the rest of the guys. I’d really hate to lose you as a friend.” He says softly.

“I’m not going anywhere anytime soon Jeff, don’t worry.” I reassure him.

“Yeah but if any of us mess up to hurt you, promise me you’ll forgive us. So we don’t lose that friendship.”

I’m taken back by this sudden heart to heart but it makes me happy to know that he cares about our friendship that much. For a second I wonder if something is up but I get rid of that thought. Jeff is just showing that he cares.

“Don’t worry Jeff, I’d always forgive you idiots. I may get pissed but I’ll always forgive you.” I say with a smile then reach over for a hug. I stop mid way when I see his awkward look. “Ha ha, right. You’re all sweaty. My bad.” We laugh for a moment then I decide to continue this friend talk to take it to a different direction.

“Tina likes you, you know.”

“Huh…really?” Jeff asks, taken back by my sudden statement.

“Yep she likes you, she has for a while. And since you hinted at that you like her as well a few weeks ago, I was hoping you would have made a move when you gave her a ride home that one day.”

“Well…yeah I do, I just lost my nerve.” Jeff blushes slightly and tries to focus on his half eaten apple.

“C’mon Jeff! You’re killing me here! Make a move already, you two would be soooo cute together!” I say louder to get my point across his thick skull. “Men just can’t take a hint.”

“Ok, ok! Don’t freak out on me. I’ll ask her to a movie for Friday. Just the two of us.”

“That’s my boy!” I yell and pull him into a crushing hug, not caring at all that he is all sweaty.

“Harley, let me breath!” he says jokingly.

“Sorry, but I’m expecting for Tina to call me sometime this week telling me that she has a date with you.”

“Yes ma’am.” Jeff says giving a mock salute.

“Well I better get going, my dad is making me clean the whole house today for fighting. And that’s not even the beginning of my punishment.” I say as I get up and grab the bag of hand-me-downs.

“Yeah I got a room to tame, I’ll see ya later.” Jeff adds pointing upstairs.

He walks me out then goes back inside. I walk to his driveway and turn towards my car. As I get half way a shiver runs down my spine, the kind people get when they feel someone is watching them. I tenses up and look around. No sign of Jeff or anyone else. I shrug it off and get to my car. I get in and start the car. Right as I go for my seatbelt I get that feeling again. I look through my windows and mirrors but see no one. I get a bit nervous, thinking Slaiden could be around but I don’t think he would risk showing himself in broad daylight. I snap out of that thought and buckle up. But the whole way home I’m constantly checking my rear view mirror. Great, now I’m paranoid.


~`~`~`~`~` ( Author Notes ) `~`~`~`~`~

Well, another chapter done. I couldn’t fit in everything I wanted to but I can fit those scenes in the next chapter. I’ll be very busy these next few days so I might not be able to update with Chapter 14 until Sunday or Monday. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Please Review! :)