Warlock

Guard No.2 from the Ground Floor

He was so proud of himself. After many weeks of hard work, he had finally lost his first real job. Loch tapped his Hancock ID card as he walked down the darkening alleyway. The sun was setting on the city and on his job as a 'demon hunter.' Unfortunately, he could not claim to have been fired as a result of any action he did while at work. Despite his love of annoying other species, Loch had stayed on his best behavior while working for the human company. Thus he had been fired for other, less satisfying reasons; the company was collapsing.

Loch had broken into half of the Hancock facilities – there were only sixteen listed on Dixie's map – and removed every demon they had captured. Upon the third break-in, Skye had suggested destroying the equipment as well. The company could not keep up with them, and neither could their funds. Of course, Loch would still have to break into the remaining facilities to free the remaining Others, but the company would collapse regardless.

"Hello gorgeous." Skye's arms wrapped around him and placed a coffee cup in his hand. "Starbucks was still open. The employees there think I'm a college student at this point. There's no other sane reason to buy coffee this late in the evening. Just think about it; only eight more all-nighters and we'll be able to sleep normally again. Well, unless you have other plans." Loch elbowed him in the ribs and hid his smile behind the coffee.

Eight more prison breaks. Then what? The Others would probably find something else for him to do. Skye had managed to keep them at bay, but Loch doubted he could keep it up for long. Eventually, Trinity or the uncle would stop requesting to speak to him and simply show up at his home. They did not know about the deal he had accidentally made so many years ago, but Skye would never isolate himself from his family and the Other society he grew up in. Loch decided to focus on the nearer future, instead.

"We'll need to deal with Vivian when we're done. Without hostages, she'll be less of a threat. And she still owes me." He had several ideas in mind for her side of the deal, but none of them would fit Skye's moral standards. The one person who had brought purpose back into his life had also turned it upside down. Just his luck.

Hopefully his luck would fare better in the prison break. He finished off the coffee and tossed it into a lonely trash can as they approached the next Hancock facility. It gleamed with new windows and fresh paint, matching the new buildings surrounding it. The city continued to expand, but that did not mean the new buildings fit in with the old still living next door. They did not have the same character, the same smell, the same sound. The creaking of the old buildings could fight the city noise, but the new buildings were silent, providing no protection against the city.

The sun had settled into a twilight, but the silent building was not empty yet. Loch listened to the security guards prowl the building; all but two were in the basement with the prisoners. The humans were learning. "Skelly, could you get us a bus? There are guards inside, awake ones for once, so this will be a little more complicated."

Skye sipped his coffee, texting with his other hand. "A bus will be over in ten minutes. Want to go ice skating tomorrow? It's couple's night at the rink. Lots of people can't skate, don't worry."

"I'm fine at skating. It's simply a pointless exercise. You can't leave the rink. It's like running on a treadmill. You don't go anywhere." He had no idea how to skate, but since ice rinks were frozen water, the naiad definitely did. He was not about to embarrass himself.

"Hm. Sure, that's why."

"Sarcasm doesn't suit you."

"Saltiness doesn't suit you. Want some fries with that?" Skye snorted at his own joke. "What about a battle? If you want to do something with a purpose, you can help out a bit in the war. Our warlocks are good at keeping it out of view, but it's still going on." It was the first Loch had heard about the war in a while, but he had also been avoiding the café and all Others besides Skye. But Skye bringing it up meant it was not going well.

Avoiding Other conflicts had been the entire purpose of his four-century seclusion. There was no way he was giving that up just for a naiad. "Fine. But when I win this war for your little friends, I'm not helping anymore. Not without payment, at least." He was such a push-over.

"What kind of payment?" The world was too dark to see his face, but Loch could hear the smirk.

"Oh, shut up. I can hear the bus coming. It'll be here in a minute." From what he could tell, the only one inside was a bus-driver with an American accent. No pixie voice interrupted; this night would be free from Trinity's presence.

"How much can you hear? Are farts like trumpets?" Loch had no idea how a naiad over one hundred years old managed to maintain the maturity level of a teenager.

"Yes, but don't worry, yours are melodious trumpet fanfares."

"Sarcasm does suit you. So adorable."

He was not adorable. He had been feared by everyone, and even his friends had been wary of him. Now, despite serving under him for hundreds of years and witnessing his cruelty, even Darius treated him with curiosity. No fear underneath, just curiosity. What a disgrace.

The bus rolled into view, drawing the door guard's attention. Loch froze him with a flick of his hand, then sent the usual instructions to the Others locked up underground: follow him when the wall collapses, go into the bus, and listen to the rest of the directions from the naiad.

The guards prowling the underground floor fell into a frozen stupor just as easily as their companion above. Several of the Others flicked them or punched them in uncomfortable places as they passed by, but Loch did not interrupt them. While he could not do anything without a lecture from Skye, there was technically nothing wrong with letting others get away with minor cruelties.

This group of Others was smaller than the rest, but younger. They joked loudly with each other, ecstatic at their change of fate, and stopped to run their hands along the dirt tunnel he had created rather than rushing to freedom. They did not feel the need to rush, but technically there was no need; Loch had the guard on the ground floor frozen along with every Hancock on the underground floor.

Their footsteps echoed throughout the building - the silent building that refused to mute the city's noise. When a new set of footsteps joined, coming down from the floor above, Loch did not notice. 

Then it was too late, and with a bang the world went dark.