Depths of Chaos Ch. 04

Depths of Chaos Chapter 4

This story is part of a series. Although it can be read on it's own, parts of the story may make more sense when read in order. I highly recommend reading the story "The Demon" in order to discover the origins of our beloved Kali. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy.

Kali was very confused. On the one hand, not only she had found a way to interact sexually without the risk of consuming some poor person, but it was better than everything the demon had done. One the other hand, the only way to ensure it would be better would be call on the demonic powers. Simon promised to teach her to control her abilities. She desperately wanted that. Before, she wanted to be rid of them. Now, she wondered if she could use them without losing her soul in the process.

The question was inherently theological. If the powers came from a demon, did that make them inherently evil? For that matter, Kali wasn't entirely sure she hadn't been corrupted by mere possession of them. Her hand found its way to the night stand. Her fingers curled around the cool metal of the large gold cross that Simon had given her. She brought it to her chest and held it close. She smiled. It felt warm. Not as if it would burn her, but more like his body, as he had held her. When his arms slid around her, it had felt like nothing could ever hurt her again.

Kali collapsed backwards onto the bed. He wouldn't be allowed into the dorm itself when he returned for her, so he had her number. He would call, and she'd meet him out front. She giggled slightly. She hated that almost as much as the tears, but it just slipped out. The giggle quickly turned into a fit of them when she remembered Simon giggle in helpless ecstasy. Although she'd used her mouth on guys before, she'd never devoted herself to it as she had last night. The moment he'd passed beyond moans and screams, into giggling, she knew it had been worth the extra effort.

Her own giggles died with a sigh. The connection she had felt with him, when she brought him to that ultimate pleasure, had rivaled and quelled the hunger itself. The care and attention he had paid her in return, even without her otherworldly limbs, almost rivaled the physical sensation Tral'zla'thor created within her. If Simon were to pleasure her, and then join with her while she remained in the throws of passion, it would surely mock what the demon had done. But the moment he came, within her, she would devour him. She knew her body, her new skills, would never allow him to pull out in time. With her own climax, she would never be able to prevent the instinct. Besides, she wanted him to explode inside of her. That was part of the connection she had felt with her mouth surrounding him.

Kali needed to stop thinking about it. The warmth already filled her loins and threatened to spill into the rest of her body. She laughed. Only last night, she had felt incredible, and now her body wanted more already. According to the 'experts' she wouldn't even reach her sexual peak until she was, like, thirty. She shuddered as she thought what she would be like then. The reaction brought a fresh heat to her.

She pressed the cross to her breast, only to discover her other hand now held her toy. She had never thought to masturbate until the hunger came. Since that night, she had experimented with any number of ways to keep it at bay. Now, it was a pulsing heat, deep within her, that spurred her to use the device, rather than fear of the hunger.

Kali jumped as the vibrating tip found her sensitive mound. She didn't even realize her hand had dropped, yet somehow the toy found its way beneath the edge of her lace thong, and right to the focus of her need. A shiver ran through her body that did nothing to cool the inferno that built within her. Slowly it rocked up and down as she pressed it hard against the sensitive lust.

A knock came from the door and Kali nearly jumped. "One minute!" Adrenalin flooded her system as she tossed the vibrator back into her night stand and frantically looked around for a skirt. She pulled the long, loose, skirt on and reached for the handle. Just before she turned it, she realized she was only wearing a bra. She grabbed a camisole that was draped over the nearby lamp and quickly pulled it over her head. The two made an odd contrast, but she didn't care.

She opened the door to discover Pete Calliope. He was in a number of classes with Kali, and one of the top geeks in the school. What's more, like most in her major, he was proud to be known by the moniker. Kali smiled as she realized that she would be too if anyone ever thought to pin it on her. As it was, she had a hard enough time convincing people she knew how to turn on a computer, much less program one.

"Hey Pete! What's up?" There really was very little attractive about him. He was all gangly limbs, his neck was just a little too long, his ears hung out too far and his nose seemed to swell on his face. All he needed were zits and thick glasses and people would think him a bad cliche. Instead, he seemed to have the most perfect skin Kali had ever seen. It was one of those ironies that Kali found everywhere in the universe. The 'beautiful people' would kill for his skin.

"I was finishing up a new processor design and wondered if you'd test it out for me? It's not quite as powerful as some of the stuff out there, but that's because I've started small. Once I know the premise works I can amp it up a lot. I need to give it a real run through, but I already know it'll deal with everything I'm likely to throw at it." He had yet to meet her eyes, so she felt no compunctions against dropping her gaze to his hands. He held a small plastic case, likely with the aforementioned processor chip. "Most of the others in class just run online games, or surf for porn..."

His voice trailed off suddenly. Kali noticed his blush as it spread down his arms. Her eyes raced back to his, but he couldn't look at her. She had noticed that he hadn't been able to keep his gaze away from her breasts. A quick glance down revealed the problem all too well. The cami was a triple threat; paper thin, white and lace. Her dark red bra showed very clearly through it. Likely, his mention of porn, coupled with the images that sprang to mind of her breasts, had forced the realization on him that he stared. Pete was a very sweet guy, certainly not the type who usually ogled her. Quite possibly, this was the first time he truly thought of her as a female, rather than one of the five best geeks in the school.

"Sure Pete. I can run it out for you. You wanna come in and plug it in?" His hands shot towards her so quickly that she stumbled back a step in surprise. He still clutched the case in a death grip. Kali's eyes rounded in pity, as she realized the potential innuendos in her suggestion. He continued to look at his own feet. Suddenly, after almost half a year in class together, he no longer knew how to deal with her. She took the case and his hands dropped to his pockets almost as spastically as they'd come up. "Is there anything I need to worry about or avoid with it?"

Pete shook his head vigorously. He tried to bring his eyes up to meet Kali's, twice, but both times he stalled out when he reached her large breasts. Finally he gave up and continued to look at the floor. "Should work on pretty much any laptop. You'll probably need to do a little compatibility redesign to use it in anything nonstandard though."

Suddenly, Kali thought of the laptop that had sat, neglected, on the table in Simon's hotel room. She knew the agent didn't even know how to turn it on, much less anything else. "I've got a friend who's got a laptop that he doesn't know how to use. I'm probably going to be teaching him how to use it, so it doesn't need the full out power we do, but it'll certainly be running a different OS and programs. Could I try it out on that?"

Pete's gaze found hers in an instant. His eyes narrowed in scrutiny. Kali had the feeling that his scrutiny had nothing to do with computers or the potential theft of his idea. He glanced down and examined her outfit much more critically. Once more, his eyes dropped to the floor and his shoulders slumped in defeat. He nodded dully.

"Don't worry Pete, I'll give you a complete rundown of how it works. And I'm honored you'd think of me for this."

That earned Kali a dejected smile before he shuffled off down the corridor. Kali shook her head. She thought she understood. Pete had always been one of the only people to see her as a peer. In that one moment, he finally looked at the package that surrounded the brain that challenged him, and discovered his 'perfect woman.' Then, he somehow deduced the nature of her 'friend' and lost her once more.

Eventually, Kali knew, Pete would be the next Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. He would have everything his heart desired. And she would always respect him, always find his genius incomparable. But she simply wasn't attracted to him. In truth, the heat which had risen had completely vanished during his brief visit. That was something she'd never be able to change. He might be able to get a complete makeover, but she'd still see the same gangly form.

Kali walked back to the bed and flopped down. She wished she had thought to get Simon's cell phone number. She could offer to teach him how to use his computer in exchange for his help. She glanced at the cross, still in her hand and sighed. Besides, he might know of a priest she could talk to. Most would never believe her story, for all their piety. Without that honesty, they could never give her a straight answer to the questions that plagued her.

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Simon sat in the park, on a bench within sight of the ritual. The spot took on even greater meaning now, not just to Simon but also to the PIA in general. Kali's situation was completely unknown to the their records, Tral'zla'thor had not only slaughtered the summoners but escaped as well. There had always been the possibility that the binding ritual had failed and set the demon free. In that case, it would have dispersed immediately upon the death of the final caster.

Now that he knew it had freedom of motion and action, after the men all died, he could confirm that something external cracked the wards. Unfortunately, who, or what, ever had done that was either gone or incredibly adept at hiding. Simon had a bowl full of water in his lap. The needle that floated in it was completely serene. If there was anything magical in the vicinity, the needle would have found it immediately.

Kali's concerns had sparked a memory in Simon. When he had been young, he had discovered his own abilities. Unlike Kali, his were inherent. There was no demon he could blame, no ritual that turned him into what he had become. Even worse, the 'Age of Aquarius' movement was fading, and his parents reacted to the hippies by becoming even more conservative.

He had wrestled with the very same questions that she had posed. Finally, he approached their priest. The answer had been so simple that he would have completely discounted it, had it come from anyone other than a member of the clergy.

God would not give you such gifts, if not for a purpose. Jesus taught us to love and help one another, so I can only assume he wishes you to use these for the betterment of mankind.

Even today, the answer gave him hope.

The only reason Simon hadn't considered this technique for finding the demon was because he'd never discovered one that didn't mask itself as a matter of instinct. Apparently, even the stripped down memories that Kali received included that directive. Typically, only demons had the level of power to mask themselves. That the mysterious killer could do the same did not bode well.

Simon only knew one method to hide from the spell that didn't require massive expenditures of energy. Although it was theoretically possible to learn the technique, it was one of the most closely guarded Sidhe secrets. In fact, he had never even heard of anyone aside from a Sidhe who knew the trick.

That thought brought a disturbing realization. The Sidhe had almost enough strength to accomplish the feat he'd seen in the pictures he had been shown of the attack that brought him to the city in the first place. If there were scoring marks around the shoulder and hip joints then it might very well have been an Unseleigh Sidhe. While Simon had no fear that he could best almost any Sidhe in combat, the trick would be to find him. Among the supernatural races, they were by far the most common, and they did understand how to blend with humanity.

His cell phone rang. With a glance at the caller ID, Simon flipped it open. "Lieutenant Michaels? This is Agent Pie, how can I help you?"

There was a pause, and Simon's heart stuttered for a second. For a police lieutenant to pause was almost as bad as one of the PIA researchers. "Agent Pie? There has been another... death." Simon didn't blame the man for not wanting to call these 'murders.' The scene shown in the pictures for had been too gruesome. To imagine that a sentient being could do that to another was very difficult. "Would you be able to come down and take a look at it?"

"Of course. How fresh is the scene?" Another pause. Shit! This can't be good!

Lieutenant Michaels sighed finally. "Fresh. We think the officer who found the body scared the... thing off."

"I'll come take a look. Just make sure I have the clearance of the ranking officer on site. What's the address?" Simon quickly scribbled the response in his notebook. "I'll be right there. It shouldn't take long to get there."

"Thank you. I'm glad they convinced me to call you guys."

The lieutenant hung up. He wasn't one of the PIA's contacts in the city, but it seemed that they were likely to gain another.

If we can solve this before too many more people die, that is.

The PIA gained many of its contacts during cases. Someone would see a little too much, and their mind refused to protect them. It often marked the person as having more than a little psychic abilities as well.

According to the files, once upon a time all humans had been much more 'psychic.' Most could see into the spirit world, even as late as the middle ages. It was from there that most of the tales of 'monsters' came from. Dragons, lycanthropes, shapeshifters, and even elves, found the basis for mythology in the spiritual presence that once permeated everyday life. In ancient society virtually every human would have classified as a modern day trained mystic.

No one truly understood what had happened to cause this to change. Iron, and to a lesser degree steel, was the bane of the Sidhe. All spirits had some difficulties in its presence, but not as much as the Sidhe. The current theory was that the rise of iron and steel in construction made it more and more difficult for spirits to wander among the humans. With the threat alleviated, evolution took over, and humanity lost the ability to see what it no longer feared.

Simon left the park and headed towards the string of nightclubs nearby. The second attack had come only blocks from the first. Now there was a pattern. It didn't bother him that this attack had come during the day. Contrary to the wishful thinking that was mythology, very few monsters were harmed, or even weakened, by sunlight. No, it was the mystery of darkness that simply made the crimes committed at night seem more gruesome.

But from what Simon had seen so far, darkness would only help the scene he was about to witness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kali awoke with a start. Her head whipped around and took in the room at a glance in an attempt to find the source of her discomfort. Nothing was out of place in the room. Her room. After the assault, the doctors had identified her situation and she'd been able to convince the University to get her a single. It had been a fortunate thing when she suddenly found herself with no control of her body.

Memory of her day filtered back to her. She smiled as she thought of Simon. Then, shortly after he'd dropped her off, Pete had come by. After he left, she suddenly just felt tired. Almost instantly, sleep had dragged her under.

Now, she ached. She laughed, because her jaw ached the most, but it had been well worth it. The feeling, as Simon giggled uncontrollably under her, had been worth the light pain she now felt. Strange, however, that her arms were so sore. She brought them into sight, to cross between her and the ceiling.

Kali jumped out of bed in shock. Her tongue shot forward, inside of her closed mouth, and revealed the fresh horror. As her tongue carefully poked and prodded at the row of serrated teeth, she wondered how long her mouth had been forced into this half open state. It must have been a while in order to make her jaw this sore. Meanwhile, her hands, and about the bottom third of her arms, had transformed into razor sharp talons. She raced to the full length mirror, afraid to see the results.

Fortunately, the results weren't as bad as Kali feared, at least in some ways. No other part of her body had undergone transformation. Unfortunately, her hands and teeth could not be hidden. Her lips could barely close around her extended jaws, and when she did, it looked distinctly unnatural. And nothing short of very oversized mittens would cover her hands. Even with that, she feared the fabric would shred with the slightest twitch of her fingers. But the physical symptoms paled compared to the biggest problem.

Never before had Kali transformed while unconscious. It was as if the power lay dormant while she was. When she first began to experience the difficulties with the demon's powers she had set up a video camera to record her sleep. In fact, it had recorded some of the worst of her transformations. But every time she fell asleep, the effects receded quickly.

Kali looked over into the corner, but remembered that she had pulled the camera down a week before. She had figured she no longer needed it. The major changes had mostly finished, after all. She hoped the manifestation had simply appeared as she crept back to consciousness. Unfortunately, without the camera, she couldn't be positive.

What she most feared was the complete lack of control. She had seen all of the movies where the 'villain' was nothing more than the subconscious mind of the wielder of truly devastating powers. Not only were her abilities seemingly endless, but they came with literally demented memories. She never wanted to wake up and discover herself coated in blood. As she looked back into the mirror, she discovered an equally chilling possibility; to awaken with black, desiccated, talons and jaws filled with shark-like, obsidian, teeth.

Kali staggered backward. Her knees hit the side of the bed and she fell. Instinctively, her hands grasped for it, and she heard the mattress shred. Although her reflection no longer appeared there, she continued to stare dumbly into the mirror.

She'd gotten this partially under control. The only unexpected effects had been minor and sporadic. Now, within the last day, she had not only experienced three unexpected transformations, but two of them had been major. She could have accepted the venomous fangs, but the wings and tail, and now claws and teeth, proved she had never been safe in public.

And none of that counted the potential other extensions of her powers. Kali knew that her abilities were near limitless. Tral'zla'thor had been a greater demon and little had been beyond its abilities. Could she accidentally cause destruction, from a distance, as he could have? She didn't wish to know for sure. She especially did not wish to discover she had done so in her sleep.

What would Simon think of this? The wings and tail were, well, exotic if not actually beautiful. These are horrific!

Kali's gaze shifted from the wall to her blackened hands. The claws that the demon had used to pin her to the wall had been much more similar to fingernails. Those had been attached to his hands, but not truly part of them. Her new talons blended seamlessly from her bony fingers into the sharpened tips. She couldn't even figure out where skin ended and claw began.

Kali lifted an arm to her cheek. Slowly, the texture seemed to shift from the soft, smooth, and very human, skin into a different texture. She had no personal experience, but she imagined that the armored hide of an elephant or rhinoceros felt like this. However, it wasn't just the skin that marked them as different. Beneath, there seemed to be little, or no, muscle. As she slid the back of her hand across her face, she felt the bones even more pronounced.

Kali's other hand came up and the two clasped together. One thing she had noticed, the claws could not pierce this hardened flesh. With her talons safely sheathed, her head fell into the crook of her elbows. Still on the bed, she sat and rocked back and forth. Simon would know what to do. She just had to wait for him to return.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Simon resisted the urge to lose the contents of his stomach. That he hadn't eaten anything since late the night before didn't seem to matter at all to his body. It believed that the scene before him could damage his health, and the only way to remedy it would be to throw up. While he agreed that the sight was probably bad for his mental health, he disagreed that the smell of vomit would do anything but make the situation worse.

He concentrated his attention on the alley wall. The splashes of crimson were so bright that they still glistened with moisture. Although not the first on the scene, the police tape had barely begun to go up when Simon had arrived. Lieutenant Michaels had been at the end of the alley, with cigarette in hand. He leaned so heavily against the wall that Simon didn't know if he had waited for his 'expert' or simply needed to get away from the horror of the alley.

"So what can you tell me?" The bass voice startled Simon back to the present. "Don't worry, they're all setting up the tape or keeping the scene clear of gawkers. You can speak freely for the moment." The quick glance around was a little too obvious, but he'd had to make sure no one but the lieutenant heard him.

Simon forced himself to look at the body. It was in almost exactly the same condition as the pictures he had been shown. The only exception was that one of the legs seemed to dangle from the body by muscle and ligaments. The most likely cause for the discrepancy was that whatever had done this had been in the process of pulling it free when the police interrupted.

"I've read accounts of people who were drawn and quartered. Even four horses often couldn't accomplish this without the use of a blade to weaken the joints." The lieutenant nodded sagely and Simon wondered if he had studied medieval history that closely, or if the gesture simply implied he understood the difficulty involved. "I'll be honest, unless you can tell me there were signs of some kind of scoring around the joints of the victims, I can only think of two things strong enough to actually accomplish this."

The lieutenant continued to stare at him. Simon hated this reaction from someone who wanted his help. The lieutenant would listen to everything he said honestly, but he most likely wouldn't give him anything to work with until a few more bodies appeared. For all Simon knew, there had been blade marks on the first victim. He sighed and continued. "If I have to assume that this was done on pure strength alone, then it could only be a Dhase or a Demon."

Lieutenant Michaels' eyes narrowed in suspicion. "I've never heard of a, Dah-say was it?" Simon nodded at the approximation. "I've never heard of one of them, but you honestly expect me to believe in demons?"

"Lieutenant. Do you know how Chu knew about the PIA?" The lieutenant shook his head. "You know that mass murder-suicide thing last fall?" Head nod. "You ever wonder how so many people could die in under half a minute by so many varied methods?"

"I always assumed that it had been gang- or mob-related but that someone higher up had kept that out of the files for fear of the publicity. It would end up sounding like the Valentine's Massacre of the new millennium. But even that didn't quite add up. Chu's not the kind to leave that kind of thing out of the official report. He'll put confidentiality all over it, but not flat out lie."

Simon shook his head. "He didn't put anything in the official report because we smoothed everything over for him. We hit the scene shortly after your people did. The team that we brought took two sets of photographs. One that Chu could use for his report and a true documentation of the scene."

Lieutenant Michaels glared at Simon in disbelief. "And the coroner's report?"

"Go back and read it at some point. It's pretty amusing how incomplete the autopsy is. He has all the facts in there, but finds about a dozen different ways to avoid drawing a conclusion. You'll see something similar here if you haven't already."

Michaels softened slightly. "Unknown weapon was all he would say. There was scoring around the joints." He seemed lost in thought for a moment. At some point during the conversation, the two had turned away from the grizzly scene. "I don't remember the exact words he uses, but it does sound like he's trying to say 'extremely large and sharp claws' without actually stating it."

Simon's head swung around to stare at the lieutenant. As he opened his mouth to ask his question, however, he noticed the rest of the specialists coming. Although the PIA would likely handle the rest of this case in truth, they did not think it a major enough event to require the attention of more than a single field agent. To official records, it would go down as an unsolved murder or something similar.

Lieutenant Michaels had already noticed the rest of his CSI team and began directing them. Simon placed a hand on his arm, to briefly catch his attention, and nodded to wards the end of the alley. After a nod in return he headed away. He and the lieutenant would continue their conversation, but not until the others were taken care of. He had a few minutes to ponder the strange news he'd just received.

The news of claws complicated things. It was always possible that someone had used a weapon that resembled claws. They were generally fairly unique items, despite their popularity in media and games. If it could be proved that this was the case, it would be simple to find the killer.

The problem resulted if it wasn't simply an unusual weapon. Nothing fit the MO. A sufficiently powerful lycanthrope could transform its physical form and gain claws. It depended on the exact nature of the claws. If they appeared to be too large for the type of creature or required human dexterity then it would need to be a shapeshifter. Lycans only transformed their physical body into a close proximity of their spiritual seeming. The problem with either of these races is that they lacked the strength to do what he had seen.

While a Dhase had the strength, they could not alter their bodies. As a species, they were even more tied to the physical world than humans were. Like Sidhe, they could use tools to imitate the claws, but what would be the motive?

The final option that Simon could think of was their first one. A Demon had found its way back into town. But even that theory had a flaw. There had been absolutely no residual traces of Demonic energy. This soon after the attack, there should have been something. Even if it didn't resonate strongly enough for him to identify the specific demon, he should have sensed the presence of a Demon.

Simon nearly jumped when a hand was placed on his shoulder. He spun to find Lieutenant Michaels looking concerned. "Tell me about demons."

Simon sighed and leaned against the wall. "Well, there are Demons with a big 'd' and demons with a little 'd'. A 'big D' is how we classify a diverse selection of spiritual creatures. A 'little d' is what most people would think of when you mention the word. Those are all pure evil, feed of mortal souls, and corrupt the innocent. To be honest, that's the only thing I can think of that could cause that in the time in question, without using a weapon. The only problem is if there was one here, I should be able to feel it."

The lieutenant watched him. It was clear he was conflicted as to whether he should believe Simon or not. Simon couldn't blame him. Over the years he had seen the expression time and again, and most of the time, in the end they believed. Hopefully this would be one of the times the locals would be willing to work with him during the adjustment period as they decided.

"Agent Pie, if I'm understanding you correctly, you don't truly know what is doing this either." Embarrassed, Simon simply shrugged. "I can tell you that a human is not capable of what we saw at this scene. Sure, we could figure out a way to copy the effect, but not if they had to simply up and run when disturbed in the middle. We'd need equipment that would be left behind. You've given me your best guess, but say you can't be certain. Is there anything I could find out for you that would make you more certain?"

Simon thought about it seriously. "If there's any way you can prove that those claws were tools or weapons of some sort, it would open up my options slightly. I also need to know if they look like any specific animal, even if they're too large or too precise."

"You mean if it looks like a wolf, but is too big and was manipulated like a human, it could still be a werewolf?" Simon was to frustrated to try to explain the truth about lycanthropes so he simply nodded. "I'll see what I can find out. I'll talk to the coroner personally. I'll give you a call when I find out something one way or the other."

Simon thanked him and headed back towards the park. He intended to pick up his car and find Kali. After that scene, he looked forward to the relatively peaceful task of working with her to control her powers. He studiously kept himself from thinking about the possibility of other, inappropriate, things.

Copywrite April 2007, by Deathlynx