CHAPTER 06-GONE ON ARRIVAL

Ten hours have passed since the massacre at the Red Lace Gentlemen's club. The once thriving and popular hotspot in Las Vegas was now reduced to a mere tragic night. Ten people killed, many wounded and a huge amount of destruction and trauma to the bystanders. The recordings from the bystanders' phones showed a tall, slim and bleak figure, with withering brown skin and a caprine skull effortlessly slaughtering the club's security. The Las Vegas Police Department, now with Tannis Hamilton as the chief of police, was still trying to find its feet after such a sudden change of the high-ranking officer in charge. However, even the most inexperienced of policemen could tell the obvious; The perpetrator was a Burden. The most bizarre thing about this case, the reason as to why such a profound investigation was started. No source of demonology or general information contained even the slightest suggestion of who the demon inside that Burden might be. The only person that might have known something, Jerman Kenner, was now dead…Supposedly.

Tannis walked through the Red Lace with swift steps. She seemed like she was barely used to wearing such a high-ranking badge. Her hair, messily tied together in a bun, complemented her poorly adjusted open-backed blue dress, long skirt and high heels. She passed the police tape, staring at the main scene of the massacre; The dance floor. She kneeled to examine the bodies, making a grim expression of disgust.

"Fuck…"

She whispered to herself, contemplating the disturbing and repulsive deaths of the hellspawns. She turned to one of the investigators on the scene, questioning him. They weren't very familiar with one another; But, that was Bruce Hellick, assigned to the code B-2. A solid investigator with a short but prestigious career. He was an average-sized man with a buzzcut and a goatee, with a very unassuming appearance. His most distinct trait was an uneven tooth-shaped scar near his lower lip.

"What about eyewitnesses?"

He looked around, unsure what to answer.

"They all just reassured what was on the recordings, ma'am. The Burden passed through the entrance somehow, made his way to the dance floor, confronted Rudy and then the bodyguards attacked him."

Tannis stood up.

"And then the guy took a beating from seven grown hellspawns at the same time and killed them all."

The investigator scratched his head.

"Well, that's the part that just doesn't add up. As we can see on the videos, he started taking a beating at first. Then, he just stood up and let them have it. He was using his own broken bones as blades. And, judging from the depth of the cuts, it wasn't any bone either. They were sharper than any blade we've come across so far."

Tannis looked once again at the body of the hellspawns, analyzing their cuts. The cuts were extremely deep, being able to slice through a robust, male adult hellspawn just as a sharp knife would rip through a simple sheet of paper.

"That must be his Burden ability, then. Bone control?"

The investigator shook his head positively, taking notes.

"That's a good guess, ma'am. But, if you ask me, I'd say he's got more to him. On one part of the video, he loses half of his skull to a punch from one of the bodyguards. But, fifteen seconds later, he's seen climbing the stairs with his face intact."

Tannis looked at the flight of stairs that would take him to the VIP booths, based on the video recordings.

"In this case, he might have some sort of accelerated healing. We have to think this more thoroughly."

She pondered. And then, her face lit up with realization.

"Wait. You said that there was a moment of the video where he lost half of his skull?"

The investigator looked at Tannis, still a bit confused from the sudden excitement.

"Uh…Yes, ma'am."

She took a step closer to him.

"Show me the video."

The investigator reached for his pocket, unlocking his phone and opening the local news outlet. The title read: "BURDEN GOES ON RAMPAGE AND LEAVES TEN DEAD AT NIGHT CLUB". A shocking, poorly censored and gory video, purposefully manipulated to strike the most horror possible in order to attract more public. Tannis watched every single second of the video with pinpoint accuracy and attention. To the way the Burden recoiled after being hurt to the way he limped up the stairs, the chief of police wasn't going to let a single detail fly past her. As a perfect frame of the Burden lacking his caprine half showed up, she quickly clicked the screen, pausing the video and zooming in. There it was, the real face of the man behind the bloodshed. A pale, young looking man, with deadbeat eyes and an overall decaying aspect.

"Save it. Send it to everyone in forensics, tell them to run a full ID and background check on every young, white male in the area. I don't care how long it takes and I don't care if we have to lock up the district for it. It's an APB."

The investigator reached for his radio, forwarding the message.

"Attention, all units, this is B-2. Chief Tannis just ordered an APB on a white, six feet tall young man. Black hair, brown eyes. Lock up the interstates or streets if needed, perp might still be in our radius. B-2 out."

Tannis wandered around as the investigator spoke on the radio. She climbed upstairs, seeing the corpse of the two human bodyguards, laying between the booths. Their stomachs were brutally perforated by the two bone blades utilized by the Burden on the video. She kneeled on their corpses, searching their pockets, looking for the IDs of the guests that night. Since Tannis knew that Red Lace was notorious for being a drug front, money laundering and irregular prostitution business, it was a common practice of irregular casinos and nightclubs to confiscate their guests IDs and only return them on the way out, since they didn't have a way to incriminate the place or confirm that they were there in case an ID was lost. On the body of the second bouncer, she found many IDs, layering all of them on the ground. There were three hundred and twelve IDs in total.

"B-2, come here!"

She screamed, loud enough to be heard by the investigator downstairs. The man climbed the stairs, looking at the IDs on the ground.

"May I ask what this is for, ma'am?"

Tannis stared at him, questioning with assertiveness.

"Don't you find it weird that a Burden passed through the entrance of a crowded nightclub with a seasoned bouncer like any person would? With an ID? Besides, why didn't anyone find his skull strange?"

The investigator rubbed his chin.

"From what we could gather, he probably knew a way around the rules. Usually, nightclubs have internal codes that they use to let specific people in. Influencers, for example. They can get in without paying and without an ID if they say a certain code."

Tannis thought for a second, coming to yet another realization.

"Then…It's possible he has worked in nightclubs before. Or, perhaps…He worked here."

B-2 smiled.

"You're a pro at this, ma'am."

Tannis smiled, but looked down, slightly frowning.

"Well, I did learn from Patrick, didn't I?"

B-2 fiddled with his notepad.

"Don't worry, chief. He'd be proud of you. You're handling this investigation like it's nothing. We'll get this Burden in no time."

Tannis then looked up, unmaking her previous frown, focusing on the case.

"Do we have access to a list of who worked here?"

B-2 sighed.

"Nope. As you might've seen already, this place is a huge tax evasion paradise, just a drug and prostitution front. He didn't keep records of his bodyguards, bouncers, strippers, cleaners…Nothing. He apparently paid them all with live money. All of his net worth was in either live money or valuable jewels, too. I did some digging and found out he's been smuggling drugs and pimping ever since he came to the US and opened this club twelve years ago. He had some contacts in Jamaica that smuggled marijuana and a so-called cartel friend that smuggled cocaine through the LA port. Although, it seems that the cartel was trying to double cross him. Most of the cocaine he had stored was just powdered vitamin B and had some sort of tracker inside. It got destroyed during transportation, probably, since it didn't work already when we found it. Aside from that, he also had the usual. Two unregistered handguns, one unregistered revolver, three unregistered rifles, one hand grenade and three boxes of live rounds. All of it was smuggled from Jamaica."

Tannis thought for a second, laughing.

"Jamaica? Is it part of any coalition?"

B-2 laughed too.

"Jamaica is part of the Swart Conglomerate. Well, chief, I figured you of all people would know that."

Tannis replied, playfully.

"Well, I would know more about black history if the United States of Gomorrah stopped trying to erase it from existence. Oops, is that blasphemy?"

B-2 shrugged.

"Well, can't argue with that."

Tannis once again focused on the possibilities from the Burden massacre. She walked towards Rudy's corpse, looking at the bullet wound.

"Burdens are using guns now?"

B-2 said, as Tannis slightly pushed him aside, reaching for Rudy's handgun.

"No. The size of the wound corresponds with the caliber. Judging from the angle, it was a ricochet. A perfect ricochet, somehow. For a bullet to ricochet like that, he would've had to hit something as strong as metal to say the least."

B-2 took more notes.

"So, you're saying that he shot the Burden and the bullet ricocheted right to his forehead?"

Tannis affirmed, assertively.

"Since he was already proven capable of easily overpowering hellspawns, his attributes are way beyond human. Bones seem to be his main thing, too. Rudy tried to shoot his skull and it ricocheted the bullet."

B-2 waved his head, agreeing.

"Well, I think we can wrap it up. What's your conclusion, ma'am?"

Tannis closed her eyes for a second, gathering all the information she could come up with, delivering it in a single proud thesis.

"The Burden used to work here. He knew this place is always packed with sinners, and he also knew that Rudy was a murdering drug dealer. He covered his skull somehow; The people in line and inside the club didn't care because they were totally drunk and drugged, so they must've thought it was some sort of costume or a regular mask. He said some sort of code to the bouncer, which made him allow his entrance without paying and without an ID. Rudy was expecting him, so, it just confirms our suspicion that they already knew one another. Rudy probably knew he was coming because the Burden must have told the bouncer to warn him, expecting Rudy to come down. Rudy, probably with the intention of punishing the guy for some reason, was going to come down there with his hellspawn lackeys to beat him up. When he saw he was a Burden, the hellspawns tried to kill him with no success. Then, he tried to hide in the VIP booths and ordered his bodyguards to call the police and the OPACT. The Burden somehow detached his bone blades and fired them at the bodyguards, ending them right there. Afterwards, he found Rudy in the last booth. Judging from the ricochet angle, Rudy shot the Burden at about five meters, with them facing one another. If Rudy was standing at this distance from a raging Burden without any form of protection, he would've died in a heartbeat. He had a hostage. Since he was at his own booth, he used one of his own girls as a human shield. Then, he got pissed off, shot the Burden and the bullet ricocheted. When we and OPACT got here, we only saw the aftermath."

B-2 let out a single clap. During the entire speech, he was taking notes frantically. His face clearly showed great excitement and respect for his new high-ranking officer.

"You rule, chief. What should we do now? Call OPACT?"

Tannis looked down, with rage and disgust filling her inside.

"Forget OPACT. We have to take this to the press first."

B-2 raised one of his eyebrows.

"Are you sure, ma'am?"

Tannis clenched her fingers, cracking them in stress.

"I'm sure. Take your notes to the press. Tell the journalists to get the fuck out of my crime scene, or I'm giving out rubber bullets to everyone."

B-2 let out a soft chuckle at Tannis. It was pretty funny seeing such a composed and intellectual woman lose her temper like that.

"Yes, ma'am."

B-2 turned his back to Tannis, readying himself to leave. Tannis called him, as if she just had an idea.

"H-Hey, B-2!"

He looked back.

"Yes, ma'am?"

Tannis stuttered a bit, thinking if what she was just about to say was worth it.

"Are you…Doing anything tonight?"

B-2 laughed, scratching his goatee.

"Ohhh, I see where this is going. Okay. No, I'm not. Are you?"

Tannis smiled, still pretty ashamed. She seemed confident, but this was surely not a proper time for what she just tried to do.

"Oh, uh…I'm not…Not doing anything either. I was watching some TV shows, you know? But then I got bored of it. I was thinking of, I don't know, going somewhere?"

B-2 looked around, cackling softly.

"Well, no offense, ma'am, but my wife would probably throw my stuff on the sidewalk if she ever dreamt that I was going out alone with a charming woman such as yourself. Do you catch my drift?"

B-2 seemed happy with the invitation and tried to defuse the awkwardness with a clever joke and a polite compliment. Although Tannis was smiling on the outside, deep down, she was wondering what she was doing with her entire life. The shame was almost palpable in the air, and the chief of police just wished she could vanish.

"O-Oh! You…You have a wife?"

B-2 reached for his vest, showing a picture of him and his wife.

"Yes. We've been married for three months now, but I dated her most of my life. High school sweetheart, you know?"

Tannis looked at the photo, trying to hide her regret.

"O-Oh…I…I see! Well, I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by it. Y-You look younger than me."

B-2 put the photo back in his vest.

"Nah, don't sweat it, chief. I'm heading back to C-1. See you later?"

He continued his walk, waving at his high-ranking officer.

"Y-yeah…S-See you later."

As soon as B-2 got out of her sight, she gave herself a soft slap on the face, grunting in frustration.

"Dumb bitch…"

She sighed, fixing her hair and gaining her composure back. She also came down the stairs, going to outside of the club. Outside of the Red Lace, dozens of reporters were trying to interview Tannis, with microphones being constantly pushed against her face. The officers around; Including B-2; All rushed to Tannis, pushing the reporters back. Many questions flooded Tannis's ears, such as:

"Ms. Tannis, what do you have to say about the death of the previous chief?"

"Ms. Tannis, do you have anything to say about the alleged corruption of the police force in Vegas?"

"Ms. Tannis, don't you think that the usage of force in protests is illegal?"

"Ms. Tannis, what do you say about the discrimination against hellspawns in and out of the police force?"

"Ms. Tannis, is the OPACT really needed?"

"Ms. Tannis, are your allegations about a past relationship with a Vitch really true?"

Tannis, ignoring every single question, pushed all the reporters away with the help from her escort, entering her car, driving off dangerously fast. As her tires screeched and her car sped through the road, she breathed heavily, before eventually pulling up on the road. She got down from the car, opening the door and reaching for her phone with trembling fingers. She searched for a single contact; Jerman Kenner. She dialed, taking her phone to her ear, not even knowing what to expect. Suddenly…

"Hey, Tannis."

Tannis's eyes widened.

"J-Jerman…?"

Jerman's laugh could be heard on the other side of the call.

"You caught me red-handed again, huh?"

Tannis leaned against the car, sighing.

"I knew you were alive. You already pulled this trick on me."

Jerman answered in a playful tone.

"Well, you told me it was a secret. So, please don't break my heart and say that there's someone hearing this call."

Tannis looked around, seeing that she pulled up on the side of a random interstate road.

"No."

Jerman coughed.

"Good. Anyway. I'm kinda busy trying to convince people my death was fake. Why are you calling me?"

Tannis released her long hair trying to ease off the tension.

"I need help. There's a new Burden that is not categorized anywhere."

Jerman's happiness was noticeable in his voice.

"Baphomet."

Tannis raised her eyebrows, waiting for any sort of information to conclude what Jerman was trying to say.

"Baphomet is a Throneless. All about him…Her…Whatever. All about IT was erased along with all the demons that aren't part of Hell's nobles. Supposedly, Throneless can only possess a Burden through extremely specific circumstances."

Tannis sat on the trunk.

"Such as?"

Jerman continued.

"Did you ever read the old Bible, Tannis?"

Tannis laughed.

"No, old man. When I was a kid, all of it was already banned."

Jerman laughs back.

"Well, there, it says that suicide is the most monstrous sin of all. And, as you know, the strength of a Burden is based on how many sins his debt has. The bigger the debt, the stronger the demon needs to be in order to collect said sins. So, go figure; Our emo boy has a very powerful demon inside of him."

Tannis paid attention, trying to come up with her own solution to the problem.

"Where are you? Can we meet?"

Jerman seemed to stand up.

"I'm in the Mojave Desert."

Tannis showed clear confusion.

"What?"

Jerman sped up his speech. He seemed to be in a hurry.

"Kind of a long story, but you really need to see this. Check your SMS, I'm sending you the geoloc. I won't leave these coordinates. Come as soon as you can."

Before Tannis could even muster up another question, Jerman turned off the call. Tannis then turned her car back on, leaving her phone to rest on the car's phone panel, following her GPS. As she drove and tried to follow the GPS, her phone suddenly started ringing, emitting a loud high-pitched sound. She then looked at the notification, constantly popping up on her phone; An Amber Alert.

"Fuck me!"

Tannis exclaimed, slapping the steering wheel, as she reached for the radio on her seat.

"All units, this is chief Tannis. I need immediate support on my location. I am tracking an Amber Alert at just five hundred meters from my current position. High chance that the perpetrator is still in the area. Over!"

The radio support replied.

"Copy that. On our way."

Tannis put down the radio and clicked on the Amber Alert, following its location. In a mere two minutes, she reached the final destination…An abandoned children's daycare. All of the windows were boarded up, and the main entrance was locked by metal sheets. Tannis tried to force the boards off, pressing them with all her weight, with no success.

"Just what I needed…"

As she scouted the area, looking for a way to enter, she saw one of the windows had a rotten board. She reached for the board, grunting with effort as she pulled it off, revealing an opening for the window. Although she had barely opened a single side of the window, it was already enough for her slim and petite build. She snuck one of her legs through the newly opened entry, and then slid the rest of her body in a single motion. As she did, her skirt and thigh were immediately cut by many glass shards, initiating huge bleeding. She screamed, muffling her pain by biting her fist, reaching for her radio and pistol. As she turned on the flashlight attached to her firearm, she turned on the radio.

"A-All units…This is chief Tannis. I've arrived at the location of the alert. The place is all boarded up, and it seems to be booby trapped. I think…I think there's someone here. I cut my thigh on glass and I'm bleeding badly. I need support, now! Over!"

As she turned off the radio, a nimble shadow ran through the corridors, making a deafening sound with the sheer speed in which it was running. She aimed the pistol in the direction she heard the noise.

"LAS VEGAS POLICE, COME OUT!"

She exclaimed, aiming her firearm. No response. She brightened the rest of the daycare using her tactical pistol, seeing other boarded up rooms. The one that caught her attention the most was the teacher's room, that was the only one open. As she cleared the corners, aiming skillfully with her trusted sidearm, she entered the room, feeling an awful rotten stench. As she examined further, she could see four men and women tied naked to one another, tied, blindfolded and gagged on the ground. All of them were entirely perforated by pencils, sharpener blades and scissor parts. They seemed to be dead for at least a week.

"O-Oh…Oh, fuck…"

As Tannis tried to contain herself in order to not vomit or pass out, she saw a writing on the wall. It was complete gibberish, as if an illiterate person tried writing a complex sentence. Once again, the nimble shadow flashed behind her, to which she replied by turning back and firing a round at the noise, only to hit a window. As she breathed deeply, she continued her way, finding a flight of stairs that led to the second floor, where the classrooms were located. She limped up the stairs, using her only good leg to support her wounded knee, ripping a part of her dress in order to move more freely. She arrived at the second floor, seeing one of the classrooms with the lights still on. She limped towards it, and then, busted the door with a shoulder tackle, aiming her handgun.

"ON THE GROUND!"

Tannis, then, lowered the pistol as she saw who was really there. Twelve children, ranging from six to thirteen years old, were all laying there on the comfortable mats. They were eating, playing around with toys and with one another. The oldest, Bethanny, looked at Tannis, confused.

"Oh, hi, lady! Did you see dad?"

Tannis looked at the children in complete disbelief.

"Yeah, dad! He went down there after we heard some noises and he wasn't back since. Do you think it was a rat or something?"

The rest of the children simply didn't seem to care about Tannis. She approached Bethanny, grunting in pain.

"That wound is very bad, miss. My dad could patch you up!"

Tannis lied down on the mat, trying to cover the bleeding.

"Y-Your dad? Is your dad a medic?"

Bethanny shook her head in denial.

"He can cure, like, anything! Once, Peter stubbed his fingers on the glass shards and was bleeding all over the place. So, dad touched him and he was healed!"

Tannis reached for her radio once again, only to hear radio silence.

"…What's your name? Who are these kids? Why do you all live here?"

Bethanny answered Tannis while playing around with her doll.

"I'm Bethanny! Those are my brothers James, Ethan, Oliver, Caleb, Nathaniel and Luke! And, these are my sisters Emma, Grace, Isabella, Zoe and Hannah!"

Tannis looked at all of them.

"Where are your parents?"

Bethanny looked down.

"Dad took them away. He says that he freed us from them, and now he takes care of us forever."

Tannis's eyes widened in fear.

"O-Ouroboros…?"

Bethanny looked, confused.

"Who?"

Ouroboros entered the room, staring at Tannis through his bandaged face.

"Out, children."

The children stood up from the mats, leaving the room. Ouroboros walked towards Tannis, as she aimed against him with her handgun.

"S-STAY WHERE YOU ARE! ARE YOU BEHIND THIS? WHY ARE YOU HIJACKING THESE CHILDREN?!"

Ouroboros's arm deformed and elongated itself, lunging towards Tannis, grabbing her pistol and bringing it towards him. He disassembled the gun, throwing it away, and then lunged towards Tannis, holding her by her dress.

"You should know to never bring a gun to a place full of children."

He pressed her against the wall.

"That's a pretty bad wound, chief of police. It would be a shame if you got, maybe…"

He loosened some of his facial bandages, revealing his scaly skin.

"Infected."

His bifurcated and purple tongue hissed, rubbing itself against Tannis. She struggled against him, slapping and pushing his body, trying to break free. His muscular and bulky frame easily overpowered hers.

"W-WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!"

Ouroboros pressed her even harder.

"You would never understand. I save vulnerable children, that YOU and your people were supposed to protect. Where was child protection services when Bethanny was getting neglected and starving to death? Where were they when Zoe's parents were selling her pictures to pedophiles on the internet?"

Tannis struggled for air, trying to break free, with even less effect.

"They killed their parents because they know deep down that they were never loved. They always knew that. I just shine a light on the cold, hard truth. I killed thirty six of them so far. And I kill a thousand if I need to. Their sins are disgusting, but, they are what keep me alive in order to hunt more of the scum down."

He lets go of Tannis, making her fall to the ground, holding her throat, now entirely marked by Ouroboros's hand.

"And you won't be the one that stops me."

Suddenly, the window near Tannis and Ouroboros is kicked down, announcing the entrance of another man. Before Ouroboros could even react, he was promptly hit by a punch to his face, strong enough to send him flying across the room, breaking a wall with his back. Tannis looked at who just arrived, and then, she recognized; Sawyer, a present figure from her past.

"S-Sawyer?!"

Sawyer looked at Tannis, and then, stared at Ouroboros.

"You're wounded. Save your energy, Tannis. Get out of here. OPACT are on their way."

Tannis stood up with effort, limping away from both of them. Ouroboros stood up, letting all of his bandages loose.

"Hail Baal."

His very few left bandages and his signature hoodie were torn to pieces, revealing his true body and deformed face. Ouroboros had an entirely scaly, now totally off-white skin with evident pores and poison sacs spread all over. His face was entirely deformed, with snake-like eyes, a bifurcated purple tongue, sharp fangs and a huge tail akin to that of a rattlesnake. Sawyer stared at him.

"Enough of this, Burden. Paimon orders you to stop being Baal's vessel and accept your punishment."

Ouroboros hissed, letting out droplets of a purplish substance that corroded the ground below their feet.

"In this case, you can try and take me."

Sawyer's body started emitting large quantities of Heriata.

"Paimon's Flail!"

As the incantation was finished, the ground underneath Ouroboros's feet immediately deformed itself, forming a dome of concrete around him, restraining his arms, legs, chest and head. He grunted angrily, as Sawyer rushed against the restrained enemy, reaching for a straight-bladed Tachi on his waist, with which he promptly slit Ouroboros's throat and then stabbed his neck, before retracting his advance once again, coming back to his original distance, watching as his enemy bled to death. Ouroboros gushed out a blackish blood, a mixture of his venom and his original fluids. As he bled desperately, a huge amount of Penance started being emitted from his body. Sawyer looked in disbelief, being held in place by the sheer pressure of the Penance.

"H-He's…Strong…!"

The floor was entirely destroyed, making both Ouroboros and Sawyer fall to the ground in one of the many empty rooms of the daycare. As Sawyer recovered his senses, Ouroboros was already standing up. The Vitch could see the snakeman's body regenerating itself, creating new tissues and fibers right on the go, replacing the wounded parts with new ones.

"That weapon of yours…Is not normal, is it? It pierced through my Penance. It is also imbued with the same energy."

Sawyer stood up, pointing the tachi towards Ouroboros.

"Jerman Kenner owed me, so I figured I might take one of his collector's items for a more productive usage. He called this one the Deep Purple. It is also imbued with Penance, and was made specifically to cut through Burdens such as yourself. Aside from that…"

The regenerated cuts on the snakeman's body were immediately reopened.

"It has the capacity of slowing down any form of regeneration or healing. Even if you regenerate the cuts, they will eventually reopen themselves again as soon as I keep feeding this weapon my sins. And, as you might've guessed…I'm quite the sin hoarder myself."

Ouroboros grunted as he regenerated himself once again, now knowing that this was a temporary measure. His Penance expanded, as he made a double horn sign with his hands, holding it against one another.

"Your reputation precedes you, Vitch."

Sawyer smiled.

"And so does yours, William Kerchner."