Episode III - Part Three

Note: Changes in POV are indicated by a line break.

'Oh Fuck,' Lydia whispered to herself. On the verge of tears, she got out of Josh's bed and dressed herself. 'What've I fucking done?' she asked herself, once she'd fled. She drove home as quickly as she could, to get to the phone. Her parents asked her where she and her brother had been, since neither of them had come home, but she shushed them with a finger as she waited for Sam to pick up. She didn't trust anyone else, not even Tiffany. Her best friend had a kind heart and a not-so-secret crush on Adam, the worst possible combination.

'Who is it?'

'Hey, Sam, it's Lydia. I, um, really need to talk to you. It's about something personal. I'm having, like, a crisis of conscience. Could you meet me somewhere private?'

Sam's reply took a while. 'Look, if this is about what that woman said, you know, that's not,' Lydia stopped her before she could come up with some rambling explanation for how she definitely wasn't a muff diver.

'No, it's about me, I just need to talk to someone who isn't a gossip. Please!'

'Okay, sure.'

'Meet me at Emwell Park, I'm heading there now.' With that, she hung up the phone.

'What was all that about?' her mother asked.

'Nothing. Really, look, I'm sorry about staying out last night. Trust me, I really really am. I didn't know Valentine stayed out, but he probably just spent the whole night patrolling. I've gotta' go. Again, I'm really sorry.' She didn't wait for permission before leaving and driving straight to the park. Mercifully, she found Sam's bike already parked up and headed straight inside. Her friend had actually done a good job finding a secluded spot and she rushed over to where she was standing, in the shadow of a tulip tree.

'Hey,' the raven-haired girl said, keeping her arms crossed.

'Hi,' Lydia replied before wiping a tear from her cheek. 'Basically, I'm in deep shit.'

'Okay,' Sam said, sceptically, 'lay it on me.'

The words caught in her throat at first and caused a few more tears to fall. 'I cheated on Adam,' she eventually managed to say it and hearing the words made it feel ten times worse.

Sam shrugged. 'Okay.'

'Okay?!'

'What do you want me to say?'

'I don't know! Shit, I mean, I needed to tell someone. You could give me something to work with, at least.'

'Fine,' the girl said, thinking of something to say, 'uh, who did you sleep with?'

'Josh.'

Sam seemed taken aback by that, 'Josh? Isn't he, like, way older than you and also a huge douche?'

'He's not way older, he's like twenty three or something. Look that doesn't matter. That's not what's important.'

'What is important?'

 'You are really fucking bad at this, you know that?! Okay, what's important is that I betrayed the person I love. We haven't even had sex, Adam and I. He's always been like, "no pressure," or whatever, and I've fucking completely fucking ruined everything,' she was sobbing by this point and Sam came over to comfort her. 'I am such a piece of shit.'

'You're not,' Sam said, holding her and rubbing her arm, 'you made a mistake, that's all.'

'Some fucking mistake,' she cried. 'What am I supposed to do? Should I tell him?'

'I don't know,' Sam said, being no help, 'you should do whatever you think's best, I guess.'

'Ugh,' Lydia grunted in response. Part of her knew this had been a waste of time but another part of her wanted to stay in her friend's arms. What if Sam could make it better? Her treacherous thoughts began to coalesce and, even through the heartache, she wondered if sleeping with her would make her feel better. No, she thought, getting a hold of herself, and she tore herself free. 'Let's just go,' she said, weakly, before heading to her car. Dread began to build as she contemplated what was in store for her. She'd see Adam today, and Josh too. She still had no idea what to do.

Valentine starred at the crime scene he'd created and wondered what would've happened if it had occurred on any other night than this. The police were already saying that it was another dog attack but Tanvi had seen through it. Mercifully, not all the way through it.

'No smell of sulphur,' she said, pursing her lips and shaking her head, 'the body parties are a little more intact. This is something else, which is worrying in its own right.' He watched her carefully. 'I think we should head to the other crime scene.'

He sighed with relief right before his sister startled him. 'You didn't come home last night.'

He turned to her and noticed that she seemed down. It was strange but perhaps she'd been concerned for his safety. 'Yeah, sorry, I was,' he contemplated how much he should tell her before continuing, 'with someone.'

Valentine could see his sister's mind racing at a mile a minute as she processed his answer. 'Oh my God, did you actually call that woman?'

He didn't give her an answer, which she understood to be a yes.

'That's, wow, that's really out-of-character for you. No judgement, like, none at all but it's a surprise.'

As always, his sister was an enigma to him. As the group walked over to the other side of town, where another attack had apparently taken place, he noticed that she kept her distance from Joshua, even though they'd seemed to be on good terms the day before. Weirder still, she seemed to be ignoring her boyfriend. He assumed that they'd had a fight though Adam himself seemed oblivious to that fact. As ever, he wondered how strange the group would seem to passersby.

As it happened, the influx of weirdoes and strange occurrences had seemed to have the opposite effect on Dogwood as one might expect. Strangers had grown more cynical and more distant. People kept their heads down more often now and events which would, at one time, have been met with outrage were now being treated with weary indifference. Valentine hated it and it was the one thing he was powerless to stop.

Police were swarming all over the other crime scene when they arrived. The victim was an esteemed judge named Robert Martin. They were unable to access his home, where the attack took place, but the smell of sulphur was enough to convince them that it merited their full attention. Gossip from police and onlookers, however, revealed to them the theory that most were working with. The police had arrested a man and impounded his pit bulls, a former soldier with a reputation as a recluse who'd been on trial for the **** of a city councillor.  The details fit together quite nicely but they knew that there had to be a lot more to it, so they went to the suspect's home.

As it happened, the man's home, out in the sticks, was more of a compound, with a massive backyard and a chain link fence. That made it easy to evade the minor police presence and, after Samantha picked the lock, they made their way inside. The first thing they noticed was that for a man who lived alone and owned a dozen rowdy dogs, he was fastidiously clean and tidy. He was also quite the diarist and very few, if any, of his writings had been taken as evidence. They took some time to read through his journals and notebooks and it wasn't long before they discovered references to being stalked by a devil or the devil, as the man had put it.

The police either hadn't bothered to look through them or had dismissed them as the ramblings of a madman. They came away with a few theories but nothing concrete and, when they got back to headquarters, Tanvi divided them into two teams and set them to investigate the two most likely monstrous dogs involved. Valentine's team, comprised of his guard and his guide, along with Lydia and her boyfriend, were given the task of figuring out if it could be a barghest. They quickly came to like the idea after discovering that a barghest could not cross a river and all three attacks had occurred west of Castle Creek.

Of course, they suspected the one in the town centre was unrelated and Valentine knew that for certain, and two was not a pattern but it was still something. 'Okay, look here,' Pri said, being the one doing most of the legwork, 'the barghest is an omen, often appearing shortly before or shortly after the **** of notable person. So, what if it was that city councillor? If the supposed murderer was being stalked by our devil, maybe he convinced him to do it or even did himself, in order to trigger the barghest's arrival.'

'It makes sense but how could we confirm it?' Valentine asked, trying not to deflate her.

'A séance,' she announced, matter-of-factly, 'his **** wasn't that long ago and if it did have something to do with a devil, his spirit is probably restless.'

The others seemed a little taken aback but Valentine's memories filled in the gaps. The Lionheart had attended seances, exorcised spirits, had run-ins and even dalliances with psychic mediums. 'Alright,' he said, 'let's do it.' As ever, Josh wanted no part in a communication or cooperation with the supernatural, even in the form of human ghosts, so they let him function as the lookout whilst they conducted the necessary ritual. They had to do it in the cemetery, since they had no idea where the man was actually killed, as none of the news reports had said. To reduce the chances of being interrupted, they went at night.

Cavorting with the restless dead in the middle of a graveyard at the dead of night seemed to unnerve Adam and Lydia but Valentine thought of it as an interesting diversion, keeping his mind away from the killings he'd performed and the woman he'd slept with. When Lydia seemed reticent to hold her boyfriend's hand, as they took their places around a small wooden table awkwardly stood atop the man's grave, Valentine began to believe something more serious had gone down than a lover's spat. It actually made him feel guilty when Pri eagerly took his hand and rubbed her thumb across the top of it.

He wondered if it counted as being unfaithful if you slept with someone other than the one fate had arranged for you to be with. Fortunately, Pri commanded him to clear his mind and he found it easy to do so as they focused on the task at hand, summoning a man from beyond the grave to answer a few questions. His cat's eyes showed him the spirit but little else as it imparted its knowledge to Pri. He had to hold her as she threatened to seize up but once it was done she had excellent news.

'Okay, I've seen the devil's face. He killed this man and framed that soldier. I can invoke his true name and summon him but we have to be ready.'

Valentine nodded, and the group drew up the plan for an ambush. They headed into the woods and found a clearing by the river. If the barghest appeared, they could cross through and cut it off. Once they were in position, with Adam and Lydia further back, pistols drawn, and Valentine up front with Joshua, Pri summoned the devil.

It was vile, with blackened red skin, looking half-dead. Its tail swished prominently as it regarded them, and one of its horns was broken, looking as though it had rotted away like his wings. Josh was the first to move, charging the devil with his sword, but the monster evaded him with an unnatural quickness. Pri fired sparks from her wand in a panic but they crashed uselessly against its hide.

As Valentine made his own move, he could not help but think of how much stronger and faster he could be if he embraced the Change. Koglarath evaded him lazily and they locked eyes. The devil seemed unimpressed but the momentary distraction still proved useful as Adam and Lydia got their shots off, one of them rocking the creature hard. In an instance, the devil fixed its gaze on Lydia, seeming to peer into her soul, and she dropped her pistol. As she began to panic and sob, Josh recovered his positioning and took advantage of the devil's inattention, getting a clean slice across his side.

Pri then said something, invoking the devil's name as she activated her wand. This time, the sparks connected, burning into its putrid skin. Valentine went for an overhand strike once he noticed the devil's movement become sluggish, cleaving a bloody slice through its back and vestigial wings. It let out a horrifying screech and burst into flames. Valentine, somehow, perceived the creature's spirit leave its body and, before it could escape, he felt the Beast extend out from his own body and catch it, swallowing it and destroying it for good. With Koglarath defeated, the group gathered around his sister, who'd becoming consumed by some kind of psychical madness.

They drove her back to headquarters, where they hoped Tanvi would be able to treat her.

Laid up in the infirmary with her boyfriend holding her hand and doting on her, Lydia desperately wanted things to stay that way but she knew that it would be wrong. 'Babe,' she started, letting him know that's she'd finally woken up, 'we need to talk.'

A dozen emotions seemed to cross over his face all at once. 'Okay,' he eventually said, making his voice even and quiet. His gentleness was her favourite quality. 'What did you want to talk about?'

Her lip trembled before she could get the words out and she began to cry. He leaned over and kissed her, wiping her tears away. She pushed him, weakly, saying, 'no.'

Adam's eyes were, by now, filled with concern and confusion.

'I did something really bad last night.'

'You can tell me,' he said, smiling, blissfully ignorant.

Lydia steeled herself. 'I slept with someone.' She saw his face change, in an instant, from sympathy to anger and it broke her heart. 'I'm so so so sorry,' she pleaded, through sobs.

He clenched and unclenched his jaw before yelling, 'how could you?!'

She'd never been yelled at by him before and the shock, combined with the embarrassment of knowing that it been heard by everyone else, reduced her to floods of tears. She was barely able to squeak out another, 'I'm sorry,' and an, 'I don't know.'

Her brother came in before he could yell again. 'We're through,' he said.

All she could say was, 'please, don't leave me,' but it won her no reprieve and he stormed off.

Valentine said nothing but crossed over to her bedside and she held onto him for dear life as she cried her heart out.

'Did you sleep with my sister?' Valentine asked his guard, abruptly, as they walked to the latest crime scene.

'Yeah,' he returned, his tone indifferent.

'Are you trying to piss me off?'

Josh shot him a dark look, 'I don't see what business it is of yours.'

'It affects me,' Valentine roared, 'my sister is my only connection with the team.'

The swordsman shook his head, 'your team is me, you, Pri and her mother. Your sister's a good anchor for you but all those other people are liabilities.'

Valentine found it hard to argue with that but still felt angry, 'ruining my sister's relationship is a fucked-up way to downsize the team.'

Joshua scoffed at that, 'I wasn't trying to ruin anything. We got close, we had sex, it didn't have to mean anything. I certainly didn't expect her to tell her boyfriend.'

'You're such a prick,' Valentine said, without much heat, before their conversation was interrupted by their arrival at the latest crime scene. 'Ugh,' he groaned at the sea of viscera, 'we need to do something about this.'

Josh was apparently unfazed by the sight, 'we are doing something.'

Valentine shook his head, 'the Beast could tell where this thing is. None of these people would've had to die if you hadn't insisted on me keeping it locked up.'

'You agreed to that,' he spat back, 'and you have no idea what you're messing with. The Beast doesn't want to hunt this thing, it wants to join it.'

'Pri doesn't think so,' he replied, 'and neither does the book.' That last part was only close to the truth. The pocketbook articulated only the vague sense that the nature of the Beast was an ongoing debate.

'Priyanshi favours indulging your every whim because she's in love with you.'

Valentine scoffed, 'be serious,' and Josh rolled his eyes, before directing him to follow a trail, leading off into the woods. It was clear that the monster, barghest or otherwise, had become less discerning without its infernal master.

They were deep inside the woods when the hairs on the back of Valentine's neck stood up. He turned just in time to see the monstrous dog jump clear across. He tried to cut it down in mid-air but it was much too fast and it landed with Joshua's sword arm in its mouth. He screamed in pain and dropped his blade as he tried to pummel the creature but just as quickly as it had chomped down on him, it had released its grip and bounded away. Valentine tried another swing but it evaded him.

Joshua managed to fight through the pain, coming at the creature with a left-handed sword strike but he missed. It was just too fast. Valentine said as much, 'this is useless, I need to bare the Beast!'

'No,' Joshua choked out, as Valentine went for another hopeless swing and missed.

The Lionheart had **** in the matter, however, as the dog tore a chunk of flesh from his side. Valentine roared with pain and, in an instant, he'd transformed. He was able to match the monster's pace in this form and the two went at each other with tooth and claw. Pound for pound, the barghest seemed to have the edge but Valentine's wounds healed quickly. Eventually, the effects of dozens of cuts and bites caught up with it and the Lionheart sank his teeth into its neck, killing it. Valentine instinctively knew that he had to change back into his human form or risk attacking Joshua and he did, with great effort, before retrieving Josh's radio and calling for help.

Priyanshi could hardly believe what she'd seen. Valentine's body. His large muscular frame, toned abdomen, his cock and balls. She'd dreamed of it but really seeing it, being inches away from it, had sent her mind racing. On some level she was upset by having missed his First Change. In her dreams, he'd been overtaken by the Beast, hunted her down as though she were prey and fucked her senseless. In reality, he'd shifted to slay a monster and shifted back just as easily, if she'd heard it correctly. There'd been no carnality in his eyes, no hunger, even as he stood naked in the cold air.

Once she was sure her mother had gone to bed, she dared to slide one hand down her pyjama bottoms. She was initially startled by just how hot and wet her groin had become but the images playing in her head kept her focused on the task at hand. At first she rubbed herself, letting her hips do most of the work as they writhed against her touch but she soon found herself in need of greater stimulation. She imagined Valentine guiding his penis into her eager cunt. As she pushed two fingers inside, it became easier and easier to imagine. She was eventually **** to clamp her other hand hard over mouth as she began to squeal.

When her climax arrived, she imagined Valentine coming inside her as her back arched and her hips bucked. In an orgasmic haze, she fell into a deep sleep. Her imaginary version of the Chosen One followed her there and fucked her half a dozen times.