As They Walk Among Us - Chapter 3 - The Pack

“What do you mean that you have no more room,” his knuckles rapt at the rusty iron door. “It’s just me and my daughter, we won’t even take up that much room.” At the words of “my daughter” being spoken, Lynx glared up from under her black NY fitted hat and swiftly kicked Cougar in his shin. Leaning down with a wince of pain, he shot her his own glare in order to remind her to keep her mouth shut. His knuckles were red from the pounding on the door for the last five minutes.

“I told you we don’t have room for you ‘Witches’,” the main shouted from the other side with a fierce anger in his tone. “Get away from my door before you call down the demons with your stigmata stench and yelling. You’re gonna get us all killed.” Cougar growled under his voice, cursing towards the man and finally turning his back to the door. “Eh lets go Lynx.”

“You know we probably wouldn’t have this trouble if you didn’t stand out so much you moron.” Lynx sighed and walked on ahead of him. Her five foot body was what you would expect from someone her size. She was thin built, her hair was short cut, black and almost wild in nature. She wore a NY Yankees jersey on top of a long sleeved white thermal shirt, jean shorts that passed her knees, but showed her thin legs, and white socks with black sneakers on. Looking over her shoulder she glared with her thin brown eyes at Cougar. “I mean if you had fuckin put on normal clothes like I had suggested when we past that outlet store, we wouldn’t have been rejected for the third time.”

Cougar scuffed at her words and lifted his head up, breaking eye contact from the girl. He was just the opposite of her. Tall, above average athletic built muscle structure and shaved head. He wore form fitting jeans that gave a good look of the power in his legs and a white t-shirt that was just as tight. Around his forearms were chains that covered up ever inch of them in their black color. His hands were massive, as one would expect from someone his size. Each finger had on a ring that he called his “treasures”. What was the most distinguishing about Cougar were the tattoos that covered the left side of his head, down his shoulder, chest and arm, down to the legs. “What do you mean if I had fucking put on normal clothes? These clothes are normal you pint-sized bitch.”

Returning her focus to the front, she was strategically walking over the debris and puddles that covered the floor of the subway tunnel. “You look like some deranged psychopath,” her unemotional voice scuffed.

“Deranged psychopath? You mean compared to the three headed, claw and horn bearing monsters that litter our world?”

“Exactly.” She immediately responded.

“You know Lynx, I’m starting to think I know why Lion sent me with you on this little quest of ours.”

“Oh yeah, and why is that Cougar?” a rat ran across her foot. If she wasn’t so deep into thought, Lynx thought she might of caught it and ate it, but she really wasn’t hungry, it was just her nature she guessed.

“Because I’m sure Lion got tired of you harassing him and figured you harassing me would be a lot less effort on his part instead of having to kill you.” The thought of that concept made Lynx chuckle. Stopping she turned around to look at Cougar standing behind with his hands locked at the back of his head and elbows out, looking down at her. The look of contemplation was in his eyes, wondering what she would say next or do next. Lynx smiled up at him and turned back around, walking forward again.

“Oh face it dear, you love my company.”

Cougar sighed some and responded with a grunt. It put a smile on Lynx’s face as they silently walked the underground path. It wasn’t long before Cougar broke the silence. “So you think we will find this woman and she will have the book?”

“Of course I do,” she replied solemnly.

“How can you be so sure about that Lynx?”

Lynx looked over at him with a quirk in her eyebrow, as if the answer should be as obvious to him as it was for her. “Because Lion told us that it would be.”

Cougar had a dumbfounded look in his face. “I understand I haven’t been with the Pack as long as you, but I just don’t understand how everyone can just believe that Lion would know all and see all. I mean what is he, a prophet or something?”

“Exactly.”

“Exactly what?”

Lynx sighed. She hate explaining things to people that should be obvious, but Cougar was new, so he didn’t know everything that she knew. “Lion is a prophet.”

“How in the hell is he a prophet?”

“You know how your witch weapon are those chains on your arms?” Cougar nodded and made a confirmation sound in his throat. “Well Lion’s witch weapon is his right eye.”

A low whistle came from Cougars lips. “I wondered what was wrong with that eye. I thought it looked like that because of the scar around it, like some accident or killer fight.”

“Lion lost his right eye while fighting a demon. So he replaced his eye with the demon’s eye after he killed it. The effects gave Lion the ability to see things that us normal Witches can’t.”

“I see.”

She was glad he didn’t offer anymore questions on the subject. She really hated explaining things. “So then tell me something Lynx.” She was almost in the clear.

“Yes Cougar?”

“I thought that we as humans cannot take demon body parts and use them like normal Demon Artifacts. I mean like. These chains on my arm are just a demon weapon, not made from a demon. But that eye of Lions is a demon organ, and he can use it. How?”

She was hoping that such a question wouldn’t have been asked. “He just can.”

“But…”

“Just drop it Cougar, I’m not going to give you anymore answers. I don’t even want to talk to someone as painfully stupid as you right now anyway.” Cougar walked up close to her and put his hand on her head, pushing her had down over her face. “What are you doing,” Lynx yelled at him, pulling back from his hand and fixing her hat, staring up at him?

“Children like you shouldn’t talk to adults like you do. You should mind us.”

“Cougar for the last time, I’m not…” her words cut off from the sound of footsteps walking down the tunnel. Lynx immediately leaped to the side wall, into the shadows. She was glad that she didn’t have to explain to Cougar what was going on. Just as fast as she responded to the sound, he was across to the other wall, slipping into the shadows like a blanket of black that unfolded onto him. The steps came close and her breathing came slower. Slowly controlling her breathing and heart, it was almost natural the way she went into a state of stealth.

The steps were light. It sounded as if only one person was coming down, but she couldn’t be lazy with precaution. The first glimpse of a figure turning a corner up ahead came into view. Her hands open spread upon the wall, ready to push off the wall to attack if need be. As the figure came closer down the hall, something familiar came into the depths of her mind. The way the figure walked, and even the whiff of his scent as it caressed her nose was familiar. She wish her sense of smell was better within that small form of hers, but Lynx didn’t have time to activate her demon weapon, not without announcing their position.

Closer each step made the person. Their body maneuvering around debris laid about the subway floor, it was familiar for Lynx, but she couldn’t get a grip on why. Giving a quick glance to Cougar, she realized he wasn’t where she last saw him. Scanning across the darkness, she caught a glimpse of him ten feet further ahead than he previously was, knelt down and stalking within the shadows. She was caught off guard at how dangerous and serious this man had gotten. For him to make such movements without even her picking up on it was a feat on it’s own. Turning her head to look at the figure, she watched it stop and stand in place. Seemed that the person was staring into the darkness themselves. Maybe it was just Lynx’s imagination but she could of sworn she saw eyes watching Cougar as he got closer.

That was when she realized why this person’s presence was so familiar. Before she could call out for Cougar to stop, he leaped out with a blinding flash of speed, hand gripping around a broken piece and jagged piece of metal that he must of picked up from the ground. The figure was unflinching. Instead they stepped forward and in one fluid motion evaded the high cut to their throat. It was almost watching fiction unfold into truth as their arm extended and grabbed Cougar in the back of his thick neck, pulling back and slamming him on his back with a sickening thud. With their leg outstretched stepping down on Cougar’s neck, Lynx walked out of the darkness. “Cougar stand down it’s only Panther.”

Cougar, growling under breath struggling, took a good look up to the person with their boot held on his throat and there he saw the smiling lips of Panther. His brown skin and crew cut hair staring down into his face he lifted his boot and extended his hand. Cougar grabbed it reluctantly and pulled himself up. “Panther what the hell…”
“What the hell am I doing stalking in the middle of subway tunnels,” he cut him off laughing a little?

“Damn it I wish you people would stop cutting…”

“Panther, I’m guessing that Lion sent you ahead to help us out,” Lynx spoke, cutting off Cougar. He threw up his hands and turned around, growling under his breath. Panther smirked at Lynx and shook his head at her obvious teasing of Cougar.

“Not exactly,” he replied. “He sent me into another area around the city. I just happen to have caught a lead saying that the person we are lookin for was close by this area.” Panther was not like the other members of the Pack. He was secretive about where he was from and other tidbits about his path and abilities. Unlike Cougar who was like an open book, Panther was a locked diary. He had known Lion longer than any of the other members of the Pack. He was Lion’s right hand man, and with perfect reason.

Lynx could remember one mission in Africa, where they were looking for another member for the Pack, Panther and her had come across a rather exceptionally strong demon. While Panther sat and watched, he let her and Cougar try and kill the beast but it was way out of their league. They had used their demon weapons with no avail in even slowing down the creature. Finally, Panther had enough of the show and told us to step back. She and Cougar had told him that they should attack it together, but Panther wouldn’t have anything to do with it. He told them to sit down and rest up, he wouldn’t take long. He gave them the same smile he had on his face this moment. Without even using his demon weapon, Panther managed to shatter the demons skull with one swift shot to its face. Then on his second shot, the demons body bubbled up and then collapsed on itself, laying limp on the ground dead. When Cougar asked what he had done, Panther only stated he had manipulated the demons force and redirected it into his own body. After that day, they never underestimated anything Panther did.

“Well it’s nice to see you,” Lynx told him as she gave him a soft hug around his waist. Panther placed his hand on her head and scuffed it some. As she released he was looking down at her with that same smile he always gave.

“Why do you stay in that form of yours Lynx? You would of known who I was a lot sooner if you only stayed in your original body.”

“I like looking cute, that’s all.” Lynx gave him a straight face with a thin lipped smile on her face. Cougar came up back with the two, cutting off the warm welcome.

“We were headed to get some sleep in one of the shelters, but they won’t let us in.”

“Oh, that won’t be a problem, lets go.” Panther walked ahead of them as they gave each other a look. Cougar gave her a shrug and they both silently followed their companion. As they reached the door, Panther knocked on the iron heavily. The slot in it slid open, just a pair of eyes seen. Lynx couldn’t hear what was being said, but it wasn’t long before she heard the lock to the door becoming undone and pushed open. A scruffy older man stood there in his flannel shirt and blue jeans. In his hand he held a heavy axe. Panther just looked at the two with that innocent smile of his and waved them to go inside. As she walked past him she gave him a questioning look. As if he knew what she was going to ask he responded with. “He owed me a few favors.”

Lynx wondered once again just how dangerous Panther was. If it wasn’t his strength amazing her, then it was something else.