Warning: Story contains adult language, violence, and adult situations.
Sebastian is a character from my ongoing Tuatha Destiny series, but his story was bigger than the books allowed. Warning, if you are reading the series there may be spoilers in this story. Why don’t I let him do the introductions…
Prologue:
The day started out like any other. Up at dawn, breakfast of champions, and then a meeting to go over intel. All those things that go bump in the night and scare children into sleeping with a flashlight. They're real and I hunt them down. I don’t hunt them to save those children huddled under the sheets; I hunt because it’s my job. After all the thought of a human calling 911 to take out vampires, demons, and other supernaturals gone rogue is ludicrous.
I hunched over my bowl of human cereal crap and a mug of coffee. If I had known what was coming, I might have crawled back under the stained covers of my motel bed. I didn’t though and I listened with interest as Dubhan divulged his leads and plans. With the wealth of information he laid out it was clear his night had gone better than mine. My arm still ached like a bitch where the Dark One landed a lucky shot.
I rolled my arm to work out the kinks and he stopped in his assessment to stare at me, his darks eyes chilling me again. His eyes went way past the usual dark brown you’d see in the human world. They were black as night and terrifying when they latched on you. He was a hard man to like, but I respected him. I respected the hell out of him.
I sipped my coffee and tried to ignore the prickling on my neck from Dubhan’s stare. He’d been through some rough shit back home, but I never got much information from him; except, of course, learning not to press the issue. So, there we were - two unlucky bastards trying to do some good while both secretly hoped the effort put us out of our misery. Death is funny that way. Even when you go searching for it, you hope it never finds you. Guess it wasn’t my lucky day...
“Fine.” The asshole stared him down. “Yeah, yeah, so my informant didn’t feel like talking. It's nothing.”
“We can postpone this if you need time. The guy isn’t going anywhere any time soon.”
Sebastian stood to end the discussion. “We get him tonight and you know it. Any more time and who knows what he could do.”
Dubhan nodded and went back to the plan. He liked that about the guy, he didn’t press shit. Sebastian’s last partner hadn’t made it very long; he’d been too busy questioning every damn detail. He’d been asking a question when his head rolled off his shoulders – ironic. Dubhan was quick on his feet and in his head which made him an excellent partner. They had been working together for at least a decade now. Sure, Dubhan watched his back, but he also took care of his own. Yeah, Sebastian respected the shit out of the Warrior.
“So, we’ll take the usual accessories and strike from here.”
Sebastian sat back down and eased forward on the groaning chair. They were big guys, the chairs had seen better days, and he didn’t feel like landing on his ass. Not to mention, the floor probably hadn’t been mopped in ages. He studied the layout on the map Dubhan gestured over. The son of a bitch they hunted had holed up in some old castle ruin. How quaint and predictable.
“This is really getting boring.”
Dubhan glanced up at him. “I’m sorry, would you like me to spice this up?” Sebastian didn’t miss the bite of sarcasm in his voice.
He leaned back. “Seriously, don't these fuckers ever try something different?” A black brow arched over an equally black eye in response and Sebastian groaned. “Different bad guy, same m-o.” He stood and stretched until his back popped. “A challenge would be nice for once.”
“Meet up back here at 4?”
He smiled - so like Dubhan to ignore the philosophical side of crime fighting. He was all business. “Yeah, that’s fine. Just point me in the right direction and we'll be back for dinner.”
Sebastian watched him leave with all his notes tucked under his arm. Okay, so he wasn’t in the mood for planning. Who could blame him? They had tracked this bastard all over Europe for months now and he was tired of the chase. He preferred a quick kill before moving on to the next challenge. If he was honest, this guy was smarter than the last one. The criminal moved around on a not so regular basis and he had a lot of minions to go through. Sebastian realized he’d never asked Dubhan how he’d managed to track him down.
He walked outside and stretched again, restlessness pulling at him. The air was cool and damp; typical moody Irish weather. He would probably be sweating by noon. The question was how to keep busy until 4pm. Why bad guys always ran around during the day was beyond him, but it taught an important lesson. Show up before dinner and not only would Mr. Bad Guy not be home but he wouldn’t come home. They always had some kind of alarm system letting them know they’d been found. Interesting how they all did the same things. They found different ways to spend their time, but they were always bloody predictable.
Sebastian gave up on the depressing scenery and headed back to his room. He intended to kill time reviewing his notes, summaries he kept on every criminal they hunted and killed. He went over the previous information on this guy before adding this morning’s findings. This was a major nasty in his book. Guy liked to think of himself as a dark sorcerer. Yeah, right. He was a masochistic asshole with a penchant for run-away young women. And the women he tended to go after were from Sebastian’s neck of the woods, the powerful sort. Somehow he sucked them dry and every dead girl made him stronger, hence the need to kill him quickly and soon.
He tossed the notebook back into his bag and snorted. Sick fucker, just the kind he liked to see dead. Sebastian wandered into the shabby excuse for a shower and soaked under the hot water. It eased the stinging in his arm, but it didn’t slow down his brain. Their Mr. Magic had to move only when he’d kidnapped the wrong girl. He occasionally grabbed a human female whose trail was harder to get rid of, putting him in sight of the human authorities. Sebastian still wasn’t sure if he was supernatural or not. The inconsistencies of his mistakes spoke to him being human or really stupid. He could spot a supernatural from across the room. Of course, they’d all cringe if they heard him call them that. Thus far, the criminal they hunted had eluded him so Sebastian couldn’t trust his instincts.
Toweling off, he studied his face in the mirror. Sebastian was supernatural and it was all he knew. Every other being was extremely proud of what they were - Dark One, Fairy, Leprechaun, Tuatha. It wasn't good to insult them by grouping them into one set, but it was what he did. He didn’t know his roots, so he didn’t count the subtle differences among races. What mattered to him was good or evil, even if some walked the line - like him. The fine line of good was better than falling off the cliff into hell. Sebastian had killed every kind of supernatural at some point for stepping out of line. He had fallen into the business of being an Enforcer.
He walked out to the dilapidated room and stood naked, closing his eyes to remember. He’d been young when sold into servitude. Just a scrawny houseboy until the day he’d grown sick of punishments and dodging the advances of the lecherous man of the house. Sebastian hadn’t much of a choice when he’d been cornered in the barn. He’d grabbed a pitchfork and stabbed the rotten bastard through the middle. Imagine his shock when the fucker didn’t die on the spot. Hadn’t been human, but neither had Sebastian. Thankfully, someone had come to his rescue because he’d been fresh out of ideas after the pitchfork failed. He’d been raised under the tutelage of that rescuer, brought up as an Enforcer.
Sebastian shook his head and flexed his arms. He dropped to the floor and started the workout routine he followed every day. He’d never known the man’s real name or make, but he’d died an old man, twenty five years ago at least. The guy had probably been centuries old, who knew for sure. Sebastian had gone through different partners since then, always trusting the Gods to set him up. Enforcing was something best done in pairs and his tutor said they were doing the work of the Gods. Sebastian wasn’t as religious or faithful as his boss had been, probably owing to feeling abandoned for the first sixteen long years of his life.
He paused in his sit-ups to stare at the ceiling. Why the hell was he thinking of all this depressing shit today? The past was over, he was what he was, and he liked the job. A growl rippled through the room as he put himself back into his workout with renewed vigor. He was supposed to be amping up for tonight, not dwelling on facts he couldn’t change. Maybe he’d take himself into town and look for some distractions to while away the time. Sebastian wasn’t sure what Dubhan did while they waited, but he guessed the methodical fucker was cleaning weapons and going over all the details with a fine-toothed comb. Sure, enforcers worked in pairs but only when they attacked. It was safer to stay apart in their off time. They were big guys and two together drew a lot of attention.
Be sure to come back for Chapter Two of Story of Sebastian on August 7th.
If you missed any of our previous posts and would like to catch up, you can purchase the Digital Digest Volume I anthology as an ebook for only $.99.
~Jennifer Feuerstein~
Copyright © 2011 Jennifer Feuerstein
All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, or have been used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, locales, or events is entirely coincidental. No portion of this work may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without permission in writing from the author.
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