Creatus

the sound. Parked six spaces away was the Ford Interceptor from earlier. A man with spiky blond hair, as his brother had described, sat behind the wheel. A film on the windshield diminished the view for a human, but he could see the man clearly. He didn’t look like a creatus, but he could never be sure. Some of them dyed their hair to look more human than their raven coloring, typical of their kind, but he also had a strong jawline and olive features. Derrick whispered, the detective is dead, but saw no reaction. So he decided to try another, knowing if it was the rogue, he’d want to taunt Derrick. You’ll never touch Kristina, he growled in a low breath only one of his kind could decipher.

Nothing, which meant that he wasn’t as bold as he had claimed the other evening, afraid that Derrick might attack him right now, or somehow, a FED of some sort had gotten wind of them again. No normal agency would care about an attempted suicide or even a homicide for that matter, unlike Detective O’Brian who wanted to know what was going on and how it affected Kristina.

No, if he was an agent, he had to be under the National Security Council. There were so many initials and different agencies they never knew where to look, but there was always one division tracking paranormal activity. Agents searched key words in police reports such as, angel, guardian, vigilante, superhero, alien, and any other words indicating that something supernatural had protected a citizen. Contrary to popular belief, according to Michael, they didn’t seem to bite on UFO sightings; they left that for the military branches. They were more interested in anything involving superhuman strength, always searching for the next weapon.  His brother had someone working in every branch in the government and would always stay one-step ahead of them for creatus everywhere. Any family, whether across the nation or overseas, would call Michael if they thought an official was investigating them. And if Michael found any evidence, the entire family would disappear in a matter of days or weeks, depending on the severity of the examination.

Locking Kristina inside, Derrick trotted off to get his bike, sprinting once he was around the side of the apartment building. When he returned to his vehicle, he acted as if it was a struggle to lift the almost-four- hundred-pound bike and load it into the rear cargo area of his SUV.

He clicked the key fob to lower the lift gate then climbed onto the driver’s seat. He turned to Kristina. Her eyes were bloodshot, her normal contented expression cast downward. He lifted her hand and it was ice cold, as if she might be in shock. “We need to go to the police station, and not that you or I have anything to hide about the detective’s murder, but we need to get our stories straight.” He lowered his head to hold her eye contact. “So they don’t look at me too closely. We don’t allow authorities to retain or arrest creatus; we take care of our own. Okay?”

Kristina choked on a breath, but nodded.

“I have to make one quick call first, though.” Derrick pressed the SYNC button on the steering wheel and listened to the female voice ask for a command. “Call Mike,” he spoke, squeezing Kristina’s hand.

His brother answered, and Derrick spoke fast and low enough that Kristina could probably only catch a few words. He didn’t want her to worry.

The drum of his brother tapping on his keypad resounded through the phone before he spoke. “Take me off speaker,” Michael said before commenting on the situation. “I just texted Matt. He’ll be at the Somerville police station within the half hour. Be cool, brother. We’ll find this guy. But you know, he actually did us a favor.”

Derrick huffed out a breath in disgust instead of commenting on his brother’s callous remark.

Michael sighed through the phone. “I know how you feel about humans, but it’s true, Derrick. Sometimes I think you forget what our ancestors went through. They should have killed the lot of them before they almost murdered our kind to extinction.”

“That’s enough! Sometimes I think you forget our mother is human,” Derrick seethed, though swiftly and quietly so Kristina couldn’t understand. “Where are you, Michael?”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” his brother spat in response.

“I asked you a question. I want to know where you, Vic, and Ryan are. For that matter, I want to know where every one of the family is when I get back from the police station. Do you hear me? Unless you ran off your mouth, no one else knew about the detective but you and Vic. And if someone is trying to fill your role as cleaner, I suggest you find the culprit before I assume it’s you.” Derrick stopped and pulled in a breath. “No one is to act without my authority. Do you understand me? Not even you.”

The connection was silent for a moment. “Yes,” Michael spewed. “Loud and clear, sir.”

Derrick clicked “end”, and, feeling Kristina’s gaze, turned to her. She’d evidently heard enough to understand the gist of the conversation. “I’m sorry,” he said. “Maybe this is a bad idea.”

A sheen of water glassed over her eyes, obviously understanding that he was referring to their relationship. Too many factors to consider. Too dangerous for her. Maybe they could just go away. Being the overseer of his family didn’t make it easy. If Michael was in charge… No. He couldn’t do it. Not yet. His brother was too immature, hated humans too much. If he left, he could only imagine his brother massing an army and taking on humankind.

Derrick brushed a tear off Kristina’s cheek. “No… I can’t let you go,” he said to her as much as himself. He pulled the vehicle to a stop and parallel parked outside the station. It would take Matt a while to get here anyway. He pressed his palm against her face. “Kristina, I didn’t murder him, I swear.” She nodded, and he could see she believed him, so it was his other comment. “I’ll never leave you. Please don’t worry. You’ll never be alone again.” She blinked, and he understood that was it. She loved him, he knew she did, but she was terrified of being alone again.

Derrick turned her face so she was looking at him fully. “Listen, you are going to go in there and tell the entire truth with one exception.” She nodded as if listening to whatever he had to say. “Tell them everything that happened. The only difference is when you saw his body, you came downstairs, and I showed up at the same time, since I was going to meet you and the detective at your apartment. Okay?”

Kristina nodded again, but Derrick needed to hear her voice, make sure she wouldn’t break down inside the station.

He picked up her hands and rubbed them between his, attempting to get her circulation flowing, so she could think. Not only were her hands cold, now they were shaking. “Kristina, they won’t understand that I came through the window three stories up when I heard you scream, and there are no phone records to corroborate that you called me to come get you. So, I have to have shown up right after you ran for safety. Okay? You were scared and you ran, and then I met you on the street. Understand?”

“Yes…” she choked out. “I understand…” She bobbed her head, her breathing almost returning to normal. “I was scared when I saw him on the floor, afraid whoever killed him could still be in my apartment, so I ran downstairs. Right before I got to the car, you showed up.”

“Very good, love. It’s almost exactly what happened. They wouldn’t understand anything else.”

She gave him a weak smile, but then tears began to flow again. “I need a drink, Derrick. To calm down. I can do this if I could have just one drink to calm my nerves.”

Derrick shook his head. “You’re strong, baby. You don’t need a drink. I’m right here. You can do this.”

She gasped, attempting to hold back tears. “I’m so tired of death. His eyes…”

“I know.” Derrick pulled her closer, caressing her hair. “I’ll take you away. We’ll go away until they find out who did this.”

Kristina peered up at him through glassy eyes. “You can’t just leave.”

“I already told you; I can do anything I want.”

Her mouth turned up, but she couldn’t force a smile.

Derrick’s phone buzzed at the same time Matt’s name and number lit up on his radio’s screen. He answered on his phone instead of the SYNC system. “I’m here. She’s ready.” He hung up and jumped out of the vehicle, making his way around the vehicle to Kristina. Opening her door, he helped her down and pulled her to his side. “Matthew Ashton is my uncle. He doesn’t come to family gatherings; he prefers to stay out of the loop of most things. He only comes when we need an attorney.”

Matt stood next to the first set of red brick steps leading to the small station, his briefcase resting on the squat concrete wall. “You’re lucky, Derrick. I was heading home from a meeting in Boston when Mike texted me.” His uncle stepped forward and hugged him. “This must be Kristina? I’ve heard a lot about you, young lady.”

Kristina glanced up, but squeezed onto Derrick, as a child would hang on to her mother.

“She found him, Matt. As if she hasn’t been through enough.” He lowered his voice. “It had to be one of us,