It's All in a Name [2/2]
They are both taken by surprise when the two guards on patrol dart out into their path, forcing them to slide to a stop. "Don't move!" Parker twists her head away as a narrow beam of light lands on her face. As if this night couldn't get any worse.
Beside her Eliot starts to curse under his breath. "What the hell, Hardison? What do you mean the cameras aren't working? Don't you think that's something you should have told me before?"
The two guards slowly approach, both of them armed with guns. With the light shining in her eyes it's hard for her to make anything else out. One of them, she's going to assume the older one says, "Both of you, put your hands up and keep them where I can see them."
"Dammit, Parker. This is what happens when I listen to you." After letting the backpack with all their gear slide to the floor, Eliot slowly lifts his hands.
"You say that like it's my fault." Parker keeps her hands up, ignoring the way the back of her neck starts to itch.
"Are you--" Eliot glares at her as if contemplating whether or not trying to strangle her is worth a few bullets. "You're the one who ran in the wrong direction, then kept us here for that stupid bowl."
"Well if you had just done as I asked from the start, this wouldn't have happened, now would it?" She squints her eyes, now starting to water from the light. "Hey, do you mind? That light kind of hurts."
There's a pause. "Is she serious?"
Eliot snorts, and Parker can feel him rolling his eyes.
Meanwhile, she waits for the guard closest to her to step that little bit closer, his boots scuffing against the floor. With a rustle and the hiss of static he pulls out his radio. "Hey Ackerman, call the police. We found the source of the alarm." There's a muted crackle. "Ackerman, come in."
Parker is debating whether or not she can reach her taser, she's already imagining the closest guard on the ground with his limbs twitching, when the temperature plummets. Her breath fogs out in front of her face, cold snapping sharp and unnatural against bare skin. The itch on the back of her neck turns into a prickling chill that sweeps down the length of her spine, and with it comes the fear, a punch of emotion so savage that it steals her breath.
Oh gods. She was too late.
Both of the guards start at the abrupt temperature drop, both of them lowering their flashlights. Blinking the spots out of her eyes Parker can see one is visibly shivering. "What the hell?"
Parker swallows hard. "Okay I know you guys are just doing your jobs but can we do this somewhere else? Like, arrest us already?"
"Parker, I can handle this."
Eliot starts easing forward when Parker shoots him a look. "Don't." She looks at the guards and smiles, and normally she would be insulted by the way they flinch, just a little, but her heart is pounding and the cold is getting worse and they need to move. "We should really get moving, right now, at this very moment or..." she wracks her brain for something, anything to get them moving. "Or we'll get caught in the blast when the bomb goes off!"
"Bomb, huh?" The older guard, name tag naming him 'Woods', raises a brow. "Why do I find that hard to believe."
They would end up with a smart guard this con, and Parker takes a breath, shaky and scared stiff all over again, only this time it's worse, so much worse than anything she could have imagined. She realizes that she's going to have to do something drastic because something is coming - no, something is here - and they don't have any more time.
Parker's stomach rolls and she feels it, dark power coalescing in a silent shockwave that leaves her gasping for breath, struggling to stay standing. Eliot and the guards are all looking at her, expressions ranging from concerned to confused to steady wariness. Parker doesn't have eyes for any of them, is looking past them, back where the broken display case is draped in shadow. To where she can see the air warping, stretching, and if she weren't frozen stiff she thinks throwing up would be a good idea.
It presses through the barrier between worlds, her first glimpse at a distance a too long arm tipped with claws. The head is next, a flash of skin followed by the rest of the body in a rolling, twisting serpentine motion. It's the kind of sinuous movement that suits a creature with coils rather than arms and legs.
The demon is tall, possessing an elongated skeleton with bones pressing up against the skin. Wide eyes watch her, black liquid shine above a wide mouth full of teeth, its jaw distended. It's corpse pale, the color of maggots, its limbs too long, almost spindly with no sign of any muscle to go with bone and skin. Worse is the way it registers in her senses, dark and twisted, an aura of taint stretching around every too sharp curve and long stretch of skin. It feels akin to a dry socket of exposed tissue riddled with infection across the surface of her mind.
The demon came through where the bowl had been, oozing magic and promise, and it looks down to nudge at the fragments with a long finger. Even half drowning in her own fear, Parker manages a flicker of savage relief, satisfied that has horrible as everything was about to get, it could have been so much worse.
It's quiet, so quiet as they all stand stock still, shock rooting Eliot and the guards in place while Parker's mind works quickly. She thinks she has an idea, a stupid idea of leading it away while the others run, to maybe try and get as far from the building as they can.
Then one of the guards screams, his face bone white and he scrambles back so fast he falls. The demon swings around, saliva glittering between rows of needs teeth as it opens its jaw to let loose a howl. It's not just sound it releases but a wave of power that blows past them all, tearing at their clothes and hair. Parker slides in next to Eliot and catches him as his knees buckle.
"Stay with me, Eliot. I won't let anything happen to you." She doesn't know if Eliot can even hear her, but it doesn't matter.
The demon charges, pounding across the distance with inhuman speed. Parker swears, wishing with all her heart that the guard's fear had kept him frozen for a few more moments, but knowing that in the end, it wouldn't have made a difference. Clamping her arms around Eliot's torso, she braces her feet and half swings, half throws him away from the demon's line of sight. With the world undoubtedly spinning beneath his feet Eliot falls back on instinct and tries to take a swing at her.
She easily ducks, utilizing every ounce of speed she possesses to hook his arm and swing him towards the nearest wall where shadows pool, dark and long.
There's another scream behind her, ragged and desperate before its followed by a thump and wet rip. Parker doesn't look back even as something - no - someone gurgles, the smell of blood a sudden burst of wet iron on the back of her tongue.
Instead she hits Eliot in a full body tackle and with a push of her power, drags him into the shadow roads.
Sound vanishes except for the too fast thump of her pulse in her ears. Her fingers are tight around Eliot's wrist, the other curling across his eyes. She can't risk giving his mind too much to process and the shadow roads are a bit much even without seeing someone just get torn apart by a demon.
Oh gods, what was she going to do?
She tries to travel as far as possible but her time on the shadow road is limited with Eliot. Even covering his eyes there's only so long he can withstand the cold press of shadow magic, not if she wants him to remain anything close to sane. Not that she would really be one to judge, according to the others.
She ends up pulling him towards the closest opening, a slash of black against the grey corridor that leads back into the mortal world. She can't afford to keep Eliot in here any longer, not if she wants him to remain sane. Not that she would really be one to judge.
Parker pulls Eliot through and the moment they slide free from the shadow roads Eliot starts screaming, as if flipping a switch. She doesn't have time to be gentle so she kicks his feet out from under him and bears him down, making sure to keep him from smacking his head against the floor. She's half sitting on his chest, just enough weight to keep him there, and her hand presses tight over his mouth.
She leans in. "Okay, I know this is terrifying but the screaming is really not going to help." It's not like she doesn't get it, she does, her heart is pounding so hard it feels like it's going to burst but screaming isn't going to fix that. "I know everything has gone crazy and if we get out of this I'll do my best to explain, but to do that we have to get out of here."
Eliot sucks in a hard breath and every inch of him beneath her is ridged. He holds it for a few seconds before letting it all gust out, warm air brushing past her hand. He nods, a sharp motion and Parker has no words for how grateful she is that she came in here with Eliot. She slowly pulls her hand back, and when he doesn't start screaming again, just keeps taking deep breaths with wild eyes, she stands. Offering a hand she pulls him to his feet, steadies him when he sways in place.
He shakes his head. "Hardison, you there?" Parker presses her lips together rather than pointing out that there is no way the com would survive a trip through the shadow road. Eliot pulls the ear piece out of his ear and shoves it into a pocket.
"What was that thing? How did we get here?" He swallows hard as if not sure if he's going to throw up. Considering all the things he's alluded to doing, Parker figures everyone has a limit. Not exactly surprising that his would be an actual demon.
She slips a hand beneath his arm and tugs him into a quick walk. There are no obvious sounds that she can hear, and its making her more nervous than if she could hear something. With noise she can pinpoint the demon's location. With silence - well, there's no telling where it is and doesn't that make her break out into a cold sweat.
"It's a Nameless. Most humans that survive an encounter with one call them demons. I've never seen one before, and I had been kind of hoping I would never get the chance." She glances behind them. Nothing but shadows. If only that made her feel better. "As you can see, not very friendly."
They hadn't moved that far from their original position. She couldn't risk more than a couple seconds on the shadow roads with Eliot. What she can remember of the layout means if they keep moving in the direction they are now, they should end up in the Celtic displays. The sword they were supposed to retrieve should be made of iron. If they can get a hold of it, they should be able to stand a chance.
"Legend says they are originally one of the daoine sídhe, before they pissed off the Tuatha Dé Danann, those who rule from beyond the veil between worlds. For their crimes their Names are taken from them, and they become monsters, hunting what used to be their own kind in order to become whole again." Parker keeps talking, almost babbling, heart starting to thump all over again. This is the closest she's ever come to discussing her heritage with any of her new family.
She couldn't have picked a better time.
"Yeah okay, sure. How did it -- " Eliot stumbles over the words.
Parker can't really blame him. There really isn't a good way to ask how a creature of nightmare came out of nowhere. "It passed through the border between worlds, drawn in by that bowl I had you smash." Eliot sounds calm enough, but Parker wonders how much he's actually hearing.
"Why?"
"Why I had you smash it, or why the demon showed up?"
"Both."
"The Egyptians used to give offerings to their gods to ask for favors. Sometimes something else showed up." Depending on how fast the priest talked, it might not have ended in a bloodbath. "The power drew it here, but the bowl is broken and now the Nameless knows we're here. It's not going to let us go without a fight." Not so much 'us', as much as her. She would have to deal with that when the time came.
"Where exactly are we going? The front doors are that way." Eliot pulls his arm out of her grasp and picks up the pace.
Parker shoots him a look because Eliot is tough, but he's also taking this a little better than she thinks he should be. No sane person can see a Nameless for the first time and react calmly. Or take a quick walk through the shadow roads. "We're heading to the Celtic displays."
"Why?"
"Because the sword we're supposed to grab for the client is iron. It will have an effect against the Nameless where guns won't."
There's a pause and then he quietly asks, "And if it doesn't?"
"We're dead." It's only after she speaks that Parker figures she could have tried to soften that a little. Sophie would have known what to say.
"Can't you do what you did before? When everything got all dark?" Eliot is trying to sound calm but she can hear the layers of horror beneath the thin veneer of his control. Which is fine, she just needs him to keep it together for a little bit longer.
"It was a risk pulling you through the first time. Using the shadow road has consequences for humans."
Eliot stiffens and Parker buckles down, really looks at him the way she's been avoiding since first falling out of the shadow road. Eliot's staring at her with his lips pressed into a thin line, brow furrowed and face still pale. She tries to think over what she'd said to earn this reaction.
"So, you're not human."
Oh. Yeah that will do it. Although to be fair she'd kind of thought that obvious by now. Looks like she really would have to spell it out. Parker breathes out, opens her mouth then closes it. "No, I'm not. Kind of. It's hard to explain. But even if I could, now isn't really the time." She leaves off the 'obviously' because they're both having a rough night.
They are close to the Celtic displays, the banner at the end of the hall promising it's just around the corner. She spins around before her brain catches up enough to identify the faint squeak of rubber soles on marble, see's Hardison dart around a corner, puffing and out of breath.
"There you guys are!" Hardison comes to a stop, huffs out an irritated breath. "Did ya'll even notice that the com's went down? Saw some funky stuff going down on the camera feeds before I ended up with static. Seriously, I'm starting to get why you guys don't like Halloween. All this stuff is really starting to freak me out, you know?"
"Be quiet!" Parker hisses at the same time Eliot growls, "Hardison, shut up!"
"Hardisssson."
Half hiss, half croon, the Nameless lurches into view, sliding out of the shadows a couple yards from where Hardison's standing. It's mouth and clawed fingers are stained, splatters of blood climbing its arms and sprayed across its torso. But that's not why Parker freezes, heart plummeting.
The demon licks it's lips, tongue black and long, curling almost far enough to clear its chin. "Hardissson," it says again, lips stretching in a toothy smile.
Hardison doesn't scream, or shout, or even back away. There's only silence and then his long longs fold as he falls to his knees, gravity carrying him the rest of the way down.
"Hardison!" Eliot runs towards Hardison's body with Parker close on his heels. He falls to his knees beside Hardison's body and drags his head onto his lap. "Hardison, don't do this to me man!" He presses a couple fingers to the side of Hardison's neck. He stiffens and looks up at Parker, voice carefully flat. "I can't feel a pulse."
"Tasty for a mortal," the Nameless croons, sidling closer. "Names are so much better than flesh and bone. So much potential, what is, what was, what will be."
When it reaches out Parker is there, swatting its hand aside with a twist of shadow that she calls without hesitation. She can feel the shadows writhing along the walls, the cold deepening as her own power comes into play. She doesn't shout or rage, so angry she isn't able to wrap her lips and tongue around the words. He's gone, Hardison is gone, his name, his essence stolen by this thing and she wants to scream at the unfairness of it all. He was hers, smiling and laughing with dark eyes and dark skin, so like her shadows but filled with life, and he's been stolen away.
"You'll pay for this," she says, as the shadows arc towards her, swaying back and forth.
The Nameless hisses, laughing as she rips the shadows from the walls with a wave of her had. "Are you angry, little shadow? Was the mortal yours? Enough to make a trade?"
If she thought there was even a chance that it would honor the bargain Parker wouldn't hesitate to offer up her own name in exchange. But the Nameless are driven by the yawning emptiness of their own missing Names, and none would ever release a name once claimed. She lunges, sweeps her arm out and in, shadows growing solid and sharp where they slice across maggot colored flesh.
The Nameless howls, an eerie wail that makes Eliot curse behind her. It swipes at her, claws growing longer as they slice through the air, moving faster than the eye can see. Parker ducks, flips back and away only to lunge back in the second her feet hit the ground. A flick of her hand has shadow peeling off the ground to wrap around one of its feet, giving it a hard yank.
When it falls she pulls harder on the surrounding shadows, tries to secure its arms and legs. "Eliot, take Hardison and get out of here!"
Snarling in a tongue that makes her ears and heart ache, the Nameless slashes at the binding shadows. It hurts her, pulls a cry from her throat as pain spikes behind her eyes. For all things there is a price, and in order to control the shadows she must fill them with her own small power.
"Foolish shadow!" The Nameless slinks towards her, crawling on hands and feet, its spine curling to accommodate the change in posture. "If you are so eager to die, then give me your Name!" A slashing grin. "Maybe I will spare your other little mortal."
"Go to hell," Parker bites out, lashing out with more shadows. They twist and slice at the Nameless, who roars, but still manages to charge her position. Parker dodges, but not completely, claws catching at her side and dragging around to her back. She screams and hits the floor, pushes up and spins around to face the attack she knows is coming. She narrowly avoids the slash of claws and rolls into a shadow. The cold of the shadow road makes the wounds on her side sting, as if touched by salt.
She leaps for a swathe of darkness hovering over her head, slides back into the mortal world and falls from the ceiling feet first. Her feet slam into the Nameless' back and it's like landing on concrete, solid and unyielding. Flipping away from its attempt to claw her off its back, Parker lands on her feet, only to blink as spots fill her vision. Weakness sliding through her arms and legs she struggles to stay upright.
"You can't win," the Nameless promises, eyes flat and empty as it crawls closer. "I will tear your Name from your bones, devour you whole, until not even your pathetic body remains."
"That sounds painful." She glares at the Nameless, determined and angry, defiant in the face of a force that had crawled straight out of her nightmares. Then she smiles, a ragged triumphant curl of lips as the Nameless looms over her. "Not that I have to worry about that."
Stepping in close Eliot slices at the Nameless' back, ancient sword held in both hands. The blade is old and dulled by time, but there's a sizzle where the blade touches, and flesh parts like butter. This time the Nameless' cry is a thing of agony, sharp and grating. Eliot staggers beneath it, nearly loses his balance, but his eyes are alight and he manages to straighten beneath the weight of the inhuman cry.
Parker forces her body up, until she's standing. "Toss it!"
Eliot does, and she snags it with one of her shadows. It hurts bringing her power that close to iron, and the pain only intensifies when she takes the blade in hand. She ignores it, instead bears down on the Nameless that is writhing on the floor, black blood staining the floor in gushes and spurts.
Parker has seen the movies, has seen what happens to the men and women they con. So she doesn't speak, just brings the sword down with everything she has. The blade comes down on the creature's neck and the flesh parts, blue sparks flying as the stained metal disappears beneath a rush of black.
The body keeps twitching even after the head falls away.
Parker watches the body slowly still, holds out a hand when Eliot would have kicked it. The body gives a great shudder, then gradually collapses in on itself, flesh and bone caving inward, crumbling like dust beneath a strong wind.
"Well that will make clean up easier."
Parker tries to offer Eliot a grin, but her eyes are drawn to Hardison's prone body. Still holding the sword she goes to him, Eliot following close behind. "Is there anything you can do?" She can see Eliot fighting his own hope.
Parker's hands are shaking and she gently touches Hardison's face, his forehead. Still warm, but it's a forgery, not true life. "I don't know. The Nameless took his name, but not the whole thing. Now that it's dead there might be a chance..."
Leaning over she presses her forehead against Hardison's, breathes against his lips. "Alec Hardison. Hardison." She feels his name on her tongue, the brief spark and pull in her chest that is her magic sliding to the fore, putting weight behind the words. Breath full with magic and his name she breathes it between his lips, praying silently to gods that had not walked the world for over a thousand years.
She nearly jumps when Hardison suddenly gasps, body curving up against hers as if he's being shocked. "What the -- oh god I think I'm going to be sick."
Parker and Eliot help him turn over where he wretches, spilling acidic smelling bile across the floor. Parker is so relieved she starts laughing, and once he straightens Hardison glares at her. "Woman, what the hell is going on? The last thing I remember is seeing the cameras go down and coming in here to find you. Then I..." He shakes his head, looks over where the pile of dust that used to be the Nameless lies. "Did I see -- is that --?"
Parker puts her hand on his chest, manages a smile at him and Eliot. "Let's get out of here, and when we get home, I'll tell you exactly why I hate Halloween."