Blood of Solomon: Awakening pt 2

Luthor

Luthor nursed another headache as he sat in his patrol vehicle going over the Detective’s Handbook at his usual post off of Lincoln Drive. It had been a month since his first trial where his nerves got the best of him and resulted in a miserable fail. Just the thought of him failing the written exam for the second time a week after news of his father’s death was not only depressing, but intensified his headache ever more. It was the frustration he felt at always getting in his own way. He was not a stupid man. In fact, his father spent a fortune for his education, implanting him into boarding school in Connecticut at the age of 11. Though when his headaches began only a few years later, book work became much more difficult.

Yes, he had no issue retaining knowledge, his memory recall was absolute, and his instincts were top notch. Hell, he could look at a calculus equation, and the first number that popped into his head, was somehow always the correct answer. Though when he was given the task of sitting in an exam chair amongst a room of anxious testers, his brain scrambled and itched as if the action of thinking exhausted him mentally. These afflictions brought him to the realization that as intelligent as he knew himself to be, a profession of instinctual action and discernment would be a better fit. If only he could get out of this damn patrol car. Tomorrow afternoon would be his second attempt of three before he’d be barred for another 3 years at the exam.

Just as he placed the exam guide on his knee, and reached for a bottle of aspirin, a black Kia sped past him at barely legal, breakneck speed for the curves of the road.

“Damn punk.” He muttered heatedly at the guy who seemed just a few years his junior. Reluctantly, Luthor popped the aspirin, closed the manual, and pulled off of the shoulder. Technically, the driver wasn’t driving too recklessly, and he was actually good at navigating the curves. However, the ground was wet, and the other drivers were pretty skittish, especially with his patrol vehicle on the road. Besides, he had a ticket quota to meet anyways. Though somehow, Luthor could sense that the driver was just about to…

There it was, a swerve that nearly crashed the wall. But just as he reached for the siren switch, his car radio squawked.

“Moors, come in, over.” Came LT. Donovan. Luthor slowed his speed and pulled the radio.

“Moors here LT, over.”

“Ya still stationed near the 76 Exit off Lincoln Drive?, over.”

“In pursuit of 505, over.”

“Scratch that, head over to Hermit & Henry. We need border patrol for 246 and 187.”

“Copy that, 10-4 enroute.”

Luthor flipped the sirens, hit the lights and sped past the Kia. The driver pulled over to receive what he could only determine as a shock of bad news. At least the punk had the decency to pull off the Drive and take the call. Though the thoughts of the reckless driver quickly sped from his mind replaced by adrenaline and intrigue.

Lieutenant Donovan was one of the few people at the precinct that appreciated Luthor’s eye for detective work. He watched him closely as an instructor at the Police Academy before switching careers to field work at the precinct. Much to the displeasure of the established detectives at the station, he praised and pushed for Luthor to take the detective's exam the moment he took office as LT. At moments like this, he pulled Luthor into an active crime scene to get an hands-on view as to how detectives pick up vital info without disturbing crime scenes.

“Oh look, it’s Donovan’s Dog.” Vargas, a detective of 5 years, said to her partner Thompkins, a more senior detective on the force. The middle aged vet, and rookie detective had it out for Luthor ever since Lt. Donovan first pulled him onto a crime scene. With a stroke of luck, or just sharp instincts, Luthor revealed a murder weapon that was hidden in plain site in the form of a butcher knife that had been satitized and returned to its holder on the counter.

“Get the fuck outta here!” Waved the seedy Italian detective. “No sniffing for you snoopy.”

“I called him here.” Came the hard voice of LT. Derek Donovan. “Get what you need and find my suspect. When something comes up, I’ll call you.”

“Sir.” Nodded Vargas, and with a tap to a reluctant Thompkins’ arm, they ducked beneath the yellow tape, proceeded up the slick driveway, and entered into the side of the house where the door appeared to be blown clear off its hinges. Luthor took all of this in. Beyond the circus of News vehicles at the curb, the lawn was littered with glass, patrol officers and CSI agents, and neighbors just beyond the boundaries.

“Moors!” Shouted LT. Donovan’s voice, breaking beyond his train of thoughts. Luthor snapped to present and found the burly but shorter darker skinned man with a low wavy fade eyeing him closely. “That brain is working already I see. Good, I want you to take a closer look at what we’re dealing with.”

“Sir.” Nodded Luthor, ducking beneath the yellow tape and accepting the rubber gloves Donovan handed him.”

“Professionally, you’re here for border work, but let’s do a quick walk through.” He began leading Luthor up the driveway. “You know the drill, touch nothing unless absolutely necessary.” When Luthor nodded, Donovan led him just inside the door.

“Mace.” LT Donovan said to the Dominican and Haitian CSI who scraped black scorch residue from the inner wall. “Here, tell your brother from another mother what you’ve got so far.”

Lexington Mace rolled his eyes with one last scrape of the door before capping the clear evidence container.

“That joke gets more and more corny with every passing month.” The nerdish, sharp, and quick witted agent cracked at the LT. The moment he transferred to the precinct six months ago, both he and Luthor were bombarded with incessant remarks of how closely they resembled one another. A sour subject for both since Lexington never knew his father, and Luthor hadn’t seen his father's face since being shipped off to boarding school.

“What’s up Lex?” Nodded Luthor, choosing to ignore the joke right along with him.

“Apparently, the neighbor thought she heard a gunshot, but there are no bullet holes in the victim or anywhere else in the house for that matter. Luthor looked around and nodded just before seeing the corpse of a woman laying just fifteen feet beyond the entrance where they stood. “But these scorches are more consistent with-”

“Lightning.” Luthor nodded.

“Precisely.” Lex agreed. “I won’t be able to construct a clear formula of what could’ve happened here until I get back to my lab, but I’m telling you… Something more than ordinary went down here...”

“Speaking of which,” Lt Donovan interrupted with a roll of his eyes from behind Lex. “Let’s finish our walk through before I escort you back to the perimeter. We might have something to add to your brother’s ‘formula’.” He beckoned for Luthor to follow, and once they were out of earshot, he whispered, “I hear the kid’s a genius in that lab, but too much time whiffing those chemicals can screw up the brain. Last case went cold, because he insisted the perp either sprouted wings and flew away, or simply vanished! Crazy eh?”

“Yeah…” Luthor muttered, in a low voice. Looking around the living room instead of Donovan’s eyes. He got along well with Lex. Also, he’d had his fair share of ‘more than ordinary’ personal experiences. Like the fact that he dreamt standing in this very house the night before. He looked down at the young woman with flaming red hair, and cold dead eyes,”

“Anyone touch the body yet?”

“Of course not.” Donovan answered. “The coroner’s office will transport her just as soon as we’re done our walk through.”

Luthor nodded, then proceeded further back into the kitchen where signs of a struggle were evident. Here, Vargas and Thompkins were scanning shelves and drawers. As he stood in the kitchen, his dream seemed to have played through his mind, absent the police officers. What he saw would sound like the craziest shit anyone has ever said at a crime scene. For fear of being ridiculed like Lex, or worse, end up in an insane asylum, he chose his words carefully. Though some of what he saw will be just enough to lead the detectives somewhat in the right direction.

“Shit, here comes the Rain Man act.” Thompkins rolled his eyes. Luthor ignored him.

The victim, standing at the island and hummed a tune as she ground dried herbs with a mortar and pestle…

“She stood here, mixing in that bowl.” Luthor pointed to the cracked concrete bowl near Vargas’ foot, wedged between the linoleum and cupboard door.

“Shit!” she hissed, scuttling away from the evidence she clearly missed. Lex appeared at the Kitchen entry, but Lt. Donavon barred his entry as Luthor continued.

What looked to be a man, but with the face of a monster appeared just within the back door. He grabbed the woman, biting into the back of her neck with long fanged teeth…

“She… She must’ve known the perp.” Luthor began, editing his vision as quickly as possible. “Because, there’s no sign of forced entry here, where the attack initiated-”

“Yeah, no shit sherlock-!”

“Shh!” Donovan silenced Thompkins, urging Luthor to continue.

The woman struggled. Panicked at first, then with a determined rage, she kicked in the creature's shin, breaking the bone, and flipped it with the strength of someone much larger than her size, over her head and slammed it upon the floor through a small wooden table. ..

“She was a fighter.” Luthor continued, walking the path of the struggle. Lexington, Donavon, and the other CSI agents cleared the path as he continued. “She fought him through here…”

The monster was up in a flash, his leg whole and back in place. Though during the time it took him to recover, the woman released a wave of transparent energy that followed two swift kicks, forcing her attacker into the living room just before the fireplace. Though her eyes betrayed her as they fell upon the electric log fire. ..

“This wasn’t only a murder. The perp wanted something specific.”

Knowing his prize was there, her attacker ripped the machinery from its place and threw it at her, but the witch was quick witted. With another transparent wave, she forced the machinery back at the monster and as it hit his chest, she screamed a word while releasing a stream of lightning bolts from her bare fingers, causing the machine to explode, scorching the walls. The monster was thrown back into the driveway where it erupted into a burst of flames and incinerated into vapor and smoke in the grey drizzle. ..

“Here,” Luthor pointed to the splintered wood of what was left of the door frame. Hanging there was a thin sliver of what looked like mucus covered flesh. “That looks like DNA evidence.”

“It sure does!” Lex grinned appreciatively as he collected the sample and added it to his bag.

Satisfied, the woman returned to the fire place, though before she could uncloak the concealment spell upon the floor tile, the creature’s venom took hold. She dropped dead on the spot, leaving a finger pointed to where another of her Faction would find it. ..

“Your crime scene doesn’t end here.” Luthor noted as he exited the house, and onto the driveway. Every law enforcement person in the house was quick on his heels. “The neighbor’s screams must’ve scared the perp away, but the fireplace must’ve exploded and lit him... or her on fire. The perp flailed here a little before maybe… an accomplice spirited him or her away.”

Then, without warning, Luthor squatted in the driveway and swiped his gloved finger along the wet asphalt to reveal the same black scorch residue that marked the inner wall. It also smelled of Sulphur.

Everyone stood stunned. Vargas and Thompkins were visibly irate, though all others present, especially Lt. Donovan were openly impressed. Lex, however, rushed forward excitedly to mark a wide berth of the driveway with evidence markers, then pulled Luthor off the side to collect his glove for evidence.

“You sure do know how to liven up a murder scene!” Lex laughed in a low whisper, though before he could say another word. Luthor grabbed him just as a jubilant Donovan made his way over.

“Listen!” Luthor locked eyes with Lex and grabbed the arm he held the evidence bag with. Something in his stare pulled him in. “What happened here was… definitely, without a doubt… ‘more than ordinary’.”

Lex nodded curtly in acknowledgment.

“Let’s see what the formula says…”