The Nature of Predators - Human Exterminators (8/9)

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Memory transcription subject: William Kane, Human Refugee

Date [standardized human time]: November 4, 2136

For an alien that I’d been trading blows with, less than 24 hours ago, I felt an immense amount of worry for Rauln. The Venlil had been enthused to meet with Nam, and I agreed to help him bring the serial killer back to the extermination guild. If anything happened to my partner, the fault was mine; I shouldn’t have let him go running off during a murder investigation. My breathing quickened, and Fyron touched a paw to my shoulder.

The Farsul had her own gun at the ready. “We need you to lead us, Will. We’ve never dealt with a…sapient killer.”

“This is all my fault!” I lamented. “I should’ve stopped Rauln, but he looked so happy. Now he’s in danger, and I…”

“You couldn’t have known. If Nam is using Rauln to get back into the guild, he won’t kill him. Right?”

“I fucking hope so. God, I can’t have another death on my shoulders.”

Luala was driving the van, speeding down the block with sirens at full blast. The Krakotl hadn’t spoken a word to me, since we left the extermination office. I was okay with silence from the bird, who’d done nothing but remind me of my family’s death. It was challenging enough to forget that the Farsul partook in the raid. I was riding with two enemies of Earth…that made me a traitor.

Our social media is livid about the human working with the exterminators. It’s a matter of time before I have to account for myself…someone could confront me at the office.

My fists squeezed tighter, and I tried to suppress the nausea in my stomach. These happenings were too much, between becoming a hated figure among humans, working with a Krakotl, and being thrust into a murder investigation. There was no telling what happened to Rauln; Nam could be holding his old partner hostage, or have gutted him like a fish. How the fuck was I supposed to take him out?

Volek had demanded an account, when she saw the three of us raiding lockers for guns. The Venlil receptionist offered to send a drastic response, but I didn’t want to tip off the killer. Showing up with multiple truckloads of exterminators would raise Nam’s hackles; that was why I hadn’t called the UN for tactical police. Seeing armed teams kicking down the door would corner the culprit.

It was also why I rejected the suggestion of calling the market’s owner, to warn Rauln to get out. This killer was unhinged, so this could escalate to a mass casualty situation with ease. It was obvious that Nam had utter disregard for life of any kind. Nobody sane could rip the intestines out of an innocent stranger’s stomach, then stage it with calculated intent.

I slapped Luala’s driver’s seat. “Drive faster! I have to do better than…”

“Than you did for your family,” the bird finished. “I can tell that you lost someone. Multiple someones. I lost people on Nishtal too.”

Good, I wanted to say, though I bit my tongue. I hope they suffered.

“How tragic.” My hand raised in an obscene gesture behind her, which Fyron noticed. “I’m so sorry for your unprovoked loss.”

The Farsul glowered at me. “Damn it, Will! With such a monotone inflection, it’s obvious what you really think. I said if you were wrong, I was making you apologize to Luala.”

“This is not the time for this shit. Put your game face on, and read me the riot act later!”

“This is exactly the time for this! You want to hurt Luala, stars, you’d take any excuse to do it. You were savoring killing her…I saw it in your eyes. What makes you different from the one we’re hunting?”

“Fuck you.”

“No, fuck you! Answer my question.”

“For starters, Fyron, I don’t pick on anyone who doesn’t deserve it. Do you have any idea what it’s like to be a human refugee? You think the looks you get for being a Farsul are bad?”

Luala screeched in frustration. “But I didn’t do anything to you! You hated me from the second you looked at me. The civilians on Nishtal were hung out to dry by that fucker Kalsim; I loathe him as much as you do. Why is it fair to blame me, and to celebrate the deaths of my loved ones? Why?!”

“You would’ve been on an extermination ship killing us if you could’ve.”

“You don’t know me. I was here, in the bunkers with the Venlil, when humans made first contact. When Noah and Sara appeared on television, I did listen to what they said. The extermination fleet was built by people who wouldn’t listen.”

“All bullshit. You never wanted to work with me. You made eye contact with me, that first day, and spurned the disgusting predator like everyone else. Oh, what a shame it didn’t die on Earth!”

“Actually, even you, William…I think you’re funny and smart. I listened to what you said at the briefing, and looked into it in earnest. I called you a dipshit because you’re a fucking prick, who passes his problems onto other people! And I’m scared of what you might do from one minute to the next.”

My eyes locked on her blue feathers, and her words looped in my mind. The one who’d pointed both a flamethrower and a gun at me was Rauln, the Venlil I was rushing to save. Luala had even laughed when I told my partner to pull his head out of his ass. The reality was that I’d needed someone to blame, other than myself, for what happened on Earth. Too much of the punishment had been enacted upon my own soul.

There was no justification for why my judgment was fair. The nicknames I used for Luala were all variations of chicken foodstuff; on multiple occasions, I had wished for her death. Hell, the only reason I cared about solving this case was getting back at Kalsim. A Krakotl’s assistance would be what the mastermind wanted, so I despised her input too.

None of that eased my bitterness, but vendettas didn’t matter with Rauln in danger. In my heart, I wanted to change. There was once a better version of William Kane. I closed my eyes, and imagined that I was on a video call with my family. To breathe Earth’s crisp air again, to don an animal control uniform rather than a firesuit, or even to fight the nightmarish traffic of Los Angeles on the daily…what I wouldn’t give to go back.

Time isn’t going to rewind, and no amount of hatred will bring anyone back. Your old life is gone.

“I…am sorry,” I said curtly. “Some days, I hurt so much that I think it might swallow me whole. I have nothing. Fucking hell, I need to save Rauln! Just go faster, and quit stopping, please!”

Luala sighed. “I’m going as fast as I can, William. If you’d prefer I don’t stop at crosswalks, I could’ve run over that baby stroller.”

“Oh, it’s Murphy’s fucking law. Who’s even walking around with a baby this early in the paw? Honk—sorry, whistle at them!”

“Just relax. We’ll be there slower if we crash.”

Luala cruised down the street, and Fyron pointed out the market with a paw. I hopped out on foot while the car was still moving, gun in hand. Nearby pedestrians screamed, seeing a crazed human wielding a firearm. It didn’t help that Rauln’s orange blood showed on my shirt sleeves. It didn’t mesh with my brain that Venlil looked at me, and saw some flesh-eating monster.

I combed through the stalls, ignoring the locals’ terror. It didn’t matter that I was attracting attention; I had to find Rauln! While it would’ve been nice to ask the witnesses if they’d seen him, strangers fled when I drew near. It would boggle their xeno pea-brains to realize the most dangerous person here was a Venlil, and not the human. Nam’s kill count was dozens, while mine was zero.

Luala approached a shopkeeper, who was hiding under a table. She squawked something official about exterminator business, and the cowering Venlil pointed to me with his tail. Fyron corrected him, before asking about Rauln’s whereabouts. I suppose it was beneficial that non-humans were around to do the talking for me.

The Farsul jogged up to me. “He said he saw Rauln go into the abandoned tent, with a silver Venlil. Paid off security to chat for a few moments with privacy.”

“Good work!” I flinched as I saw one market customer trample another, and wondered whether I was causing that behavior. “Make sure the civilians don’t interfere. I don’t need people catching a stray bullet and getting blood all over the ground.”

“Oh stars, not the ground!” Luala crooned.

“See, she gets it. All the scrubbing to get it off…unhygienic. I sure ain’t doing it.”

I charged into the abandoned tent, trying to keep an air of flippancy. The hardened exterior could crumble after I saved Rauln, and if I failed, I could recede back into a washed-up shell of myself. My shoulders shoved their way through the tent flap; Nam locked eyes with me, in an uncanny stare that wasn’t quite Venlil. It was that feeling where you peered into someone’s gaze, and instantly knew there was something off about them.

The gun was raised, but the sights weren’t aligned with the serial killer yet. Rauln’s mentor realized that I had him made, and snatched the fifteen-year-old up around the neck. A knife had appeared in his grip, perhaps having been wielded beneath the table throughout the encounter. Nam positioned Rauln in front of him, using him as a sentient shield. My gasp was one of horror, as the former exterminator jabbed the blade into my partner’s neck.

“I hit him inches to the left of his carotid.” The Venlil psychopath’s voice was calm, as though he was discussing a normal activity. “You take one step forward, and I move the knife. Artery sliced. If I pull it out, he bleeds to death too. Lower the gun.”

Panic lit up Rauln’s eyes, and he barely resisted the urge to wriggle. Fear morphed into sheer betrayal, as he realized why I’d arrived. His mentor, Nam…the exterminator he was fighting to reinstate, was behind these heinous crimes. I could only imagine how stunned he felt, after sharing missions and breaking bread with such a killer.

As satisfactory as it would be to put a clean bullet in Nam’s head, I couldn’t get an unimpeded shot away. Rauln’s body mass was the perfect shield. Also, if the Venlil keeled over, the knife would nick my partner’s arteries and render him dead. That meant that I couldn’t use my firearm to solve this dilemma; I had to think of another way out.

Talking was the only thing that came to mind, as the gun slowly tipped down. The unspoken question of What the fuck? was written in Rauln’s eyes. He expected me to shoot the bastard, but he didn’t understand that would end with him dead. I forced an emotionless expression. Could a “human predator” out-deceive a stone-cold killer? Even our normal individuals were excellent manipulators, but this alien was out of our league.

I raised a bored eyebrow. “Go ahead. I don’t care about him. Appealing to a predator’s empathy…that’s fucking hilarious. You fell for it too.”

“What?!” Rauln and Nam exclaimed in unison, though with differing tones.

“You heard me. Do you know how hard it is, not to rampage through those puny little Venlil? Earning their trust, playing the part, all while fantasizing about killing them…we’re the same, Nam. I get you. Say, where did you learn to cut so expertly?”

The serial killer looked confused. “Medical school. I knew you humans were a threat…of course, you’d recognize my work for what it is. You’re a brutal species, the lot of you.”

Common ground. Latch onto that, Will!

“Thank you. Shucks, you should totally look up human serial killers. Their methods might give you ideas. Some of ours actually ate the organs…would make it look even more like a predator attack.”

Rauln’s cheeks puffed out like he was about to puke. “Ate…Will wants to…oh no.”

“Oh yes. On second thought, don’t hit his fatty parts, Nam,” I said. “A young Venlil in prime is a perfect first meal. That would make you a true predator.”

“I am a true predator!” The Venlil’s grip tightened on the knife, and his ears pinned back. “What do you want?”

“To work together. We could team up, and kill on the daily. The exterminators won’t torch the body anymore, but that’s ok. I know the tricks of the trade. I can help you, especially with getting rid of the corpses. I could help you eat them.”

“I don’t need your help, human. I’m doing just fine without you. That stupid Krakotl grandma, who hosted me as an exchange student, thought I was a sweet little boy. I blended in just fine until you showed up.”

“So things have changed a little. It’s time to adapt.”

“Why are you here?! You came with a gun!”

Play to Nam’s ego. That’s all I got.

“Oh, it would disrespect you to chitchat unarmed. I’m just so glad I found you! Huge fan.” I forced a grin, as my heart rate climbed to the heights of Everest. “What you’ve done here is beautiful. It’s art! I must be part of the process.”

“You just suggested that I needed help, and that I needed to change.”

“There’s always room to kill better. You know that. That’s why your kills keep getting better…your ruse is brilliant. It’s near perfection. But you could make them fear you.”

“What’s important is getting away with it. I can see their fear while I carve them up; I don’t need to bring the exterminators after me.”

“Subtle, a killer from the shadows…man, I dig that. Killing Rauln in a public place wouldn’t help evade notice. We need to end his pitiful existence elsewhere. Hey, you know how to move bodies; you’re an expert at it! The sedatives make them so powerless.”

“The sedatives…”

“Leave the knife in, so his blood doesn’t drip any more than it already has. That’ll leave a trail, and people saw you here. Get the sedatives, so we can transport him out.”

“But people will see us moving him, with a knife in his throat!”

“Not if we stick him in a firesuit. Injured exterminator, people think predator in the market. Hell, with me around, they might blame me. I’m willing to take that risk for a superstar like you.”

Nam hesitated, before laying Rauln onto the ground. My partner was sobbing, distraught by our psychopathic conversation. I was shocked this was working, though the teenager was accepting my words at face value too. What was important was that I kept him alive, and got the killer to step away.

The former exterminator was cautious not to dislodge the knife, and I prayed Rauln wouldn’t remove it himself. My partner was the type that would yank it out, knowing he would die, and use it to stab his murderous pal. Time slowed to a crawl, as Nam backed away from the Venlil. He moved toward a duffel bag, turning his back to me.

He’s retrieving the sedatives. Hook, line, and sinker. Now pray to God you can hit a target, Will, with your hands all shaky.

My gun barrel rose, as Nam riffled through his bag. I shuffled a few steps closer, just to ensure I couldn’t miss. My finger tugged the trigger several times; my senses didn’t register what happened through the panic. The click after my clip was empty jolted me to awareness, and I looked around.

Nam was lying facedown on the floor, with two bullets through the back of his skull. The rest of my ammo had penetrated the tent wall; I prayed it hadn’t connected with any passersby. There were no sobs and screams, which was a positive sign. Sending Luala and Fyron to clear the area was a good decision, in hindsight.

A tremor passed through my body; I’d killed a sapient being. My blood ran cold, and I stared at my hands in horror. I threw the gun away from me like it burned to the touch, falling onto my backside. Tears swelled in my eyes, as a panic attack threatened to envelop me.

Fyron sprinted into the tent. “Will! Are you okay?”

“I killed him.” Mucus bubbled in my nose, and my voice rose up to a hysterical pitch. “I killed someone. Oh God…”

“It’s ok. You’re in shock. Where’s Rauln?”

I pointed to the gray furball on the floor. The Venlil was holding a paw to his throat, eyes wide. I slapped myself on the cheek, in a vain attempt to clear my head. Rauln whimpered, as I crawled on all fours toward him. Meanwhile, Luala dialed a line for medical aid.

“Hang in there, buddy.” My arms swept under Rauln’s neck, and I cradled him bridal style. The knife handle jutted from his throat. “I’m sorry that I said those things. I don’t admire him. I think he’s a fucking freak, but I had to talk him down.”

The Venlil squeezed his eyes shut. “Don’t eat me! I w-want to go home. I want Mother!”

I ran a gentle palm across his shoulder, and nodded in understanding. Sympathy clenched at my heart, as he sobbed from the weight of his ordeal. My own eyes were bloodshot; the instant replay of the killer’s death was etched into my mind. It was bits and pieces, but it scarred me nonetheless.

For fuck’s sake, Volek, this wasn’t in the job description. Rauln has to live…he has to.

“As if I’d eat your ugly ass. I came as quickly as I could, buddy. I meant to protect you, but I was too blind to figure this out sooner. I’m not your mother…I’m just a predator who failed you. Don’t die on me. Not now.”

The last words came out as a hoarse whisper, and I waited for the gasping Rauln to reply. Sirens blared in the distance, which I prayed were from an approaching ambulance. We had to get my partner to a hospital, soon. Holding him in my arms was a powerless feeling. I was tired of losing everyone I grew attached to; death could go fuck itself, if it wanted to take my pal.

“Will? I want to be…buried with Mother,” Rauln croaked. “Please.”

“Shut up, you stupid xeno. You’re not dying. You’re gonna fight, and hold on a few more minutes.”

“Don’t leave me. I’m s-scared.”

“I’m right here with you. Fight! Do you want the Intestine-Eater to get another kill?”

“No. Fuck him.”

“That’s right, fuck him! Besides, I don’t want my white shirt ruined by your orange gunk for nothing. It would be a dick move to kick the bucket, after bleeding all over me.”

“…fuck you.”

“In your dreams. Now shut your damn trap, save your rancid breath, and fight.”

Rauln offered a weak chuckle, but opted to conserve his breath otherwise. I stayed until paramedics rushed in; they were startled by the blood-soaked predator “ensnaring” a Venlil. Fyron urged me to back away, so I let go of my wounded partner with reluctance. What if this was good-bye?

I wept like a baby, once the EMTs hauled Rauln off to an ambulance. The sliver of my remaining faculties knew that I couldn’t follow them, or ride in the back with him. Though it was my heart’s desire to stay with the teen, my presence would distract the medics from their life-saving work. I tried to stop the tears and collect myself.

Luala wrapped a wing around my shoulders, and my composure melted again. I threw my head back and released a howl of agony. Not knowing whether Rauln would live was like waiting for news from Earth all over again. The Intestine-Eater had been stopped, but I hoped the cost of our success wouldn’t be my partner’s life.

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A/N - The penultimate episode! Will rushes in to confront Nam, who uses Rauln as a hostage. By pretending to understand his psychopathy, our human manages to disarm him, but his Venlil friend is in dire straits. Will Rauln pull through, and accept that Mr. Kane was acting? What happens now that the Intestine-Eater is done in?

As always, thank you for reading and supporting!