Two Idiots and a Cape: Ebony Blood

Chapter Seven: The Reappearance

Ed woke up with his head pillowed on Micheal's chest, yawning and stretching slowly as he woke up. He sat up, rubbing his eyes, and looked down at Mike, who was still asleep, hair mussed and face smoothed out peacefully. Ed smiled fondly before turning and sitting on the edge of the bed, taking a deep breath before standing up. He had a weird feeling, one he couldn't quite explain. It was like he was being watched. He and Mike were alone in the room, though, but he did notice the curtain on the window was cracked, light streaming in. He went and peeked outside, looking around. There was nothing strange to speak of, but the feeling didn't go away. Oddly unsettled, he gave a final glance at his sleeping husband before leaving to start the day.

"Ah, sh sh sh, you're ok," Pam whispered. Ed entered the kitchen to see Pam bobbing Danielle in her arms, the little girl whimpering and sniffling. He frowned, rapping his knuckles on the wall to make his presence known. Pam looked up and blew a relieved breath.

"See, look, your uncle is right here. No need to cry." She said. The little girl turned to him with wide, watery eyes, making grabby hands at him. Without hesitation, he scooped her up, patting her back. Man, he hated when kids cried.

"Aw, hey there, what's all the waterworks for?" He asked, glancing at Pam, who shrugged.

"She said she had a bad dream about a scary man."

"Scary man?" Edward repeated, lifting a brow. 

"He was supered tall an' had a mean face! He said he was gonna dead-feet Hawk an' Ant-ness!" Danielle shouted, bottom lip trembling. Edward tried to calm her down, but the bad feeling he'd woken up with grew worse, twisting his insides uncomfortably. Defeat Hawk and Antennes? Why in the world would Danielle have a dream like that? 

"What's goin' on in here?" Edward turned to see Mike shuffling in, hair messy. He woke up a bit more when he saw Danielle, immediately working with Ed to calm her down. Eventually, it worked, and she ran off to help Pam make waffles by pressing down the lever. Still, Ed felt something off about the whole thing, and judging by the look on Mike's face, he wasn't the only one. Before either of them could say anything, though, the phone on the wall rang loudly. Edward answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hello, this is Detective Amari. I'm looking for Edward or Micheal Karlstin?"

"Uh, yeah, this is Edward." He said, giving Mike a side-eyed look, mouthing the detective's name. Mike's face hardened.

"I wanted to call to inform you that our mysterious punks just struck again. Remember how we'd said that things would escalate eventually?"

"Yeah?" 

"Well, it's happened. Things just got a lot worse. You and Micheal need to come down to the gas station on the corner of Green Avenue and 27th. We have a body." Edward cursed, blowing out a breath and wiping a hand over his brow.

"...Right. Ok, we're on our way now." He hung up, saying nothing for a few seconds. Mike placed a hand on his arm. 

"What did she say?" He asked. 

"We need to go. Apparently, those wannabe villains aren't so wannabe anymore. There's a body."

"Fuck. Shit!"

Edward snorted. "My thoughts exactly! Are we old enough to retire yet?"

"Hah, it sure feels like it."

After saying their goodbyes to Pam and Danielle, the two men suited up and went to the gas station a couple of miles away. Sure enough, the whole place was buzzing with police and reporters; crime scene tape strung up around the gas pumps. There was a small group of officers chatting and writing things down, and they gave Ed nasty looks as he walked past, but Mike glared at them, and Ed just smiled and winked. At pump five, there was a body bag, already zipped up, Detective Amari standing next to it. 

"NightHawk," She said, extending a hand. Mike shook it quickly.

"Detective. What exactly happened?" 

Detective Amari huffed, glancing down at the black bag. "That is exactly what I would like to know. Open it up and take a look. I warn you; it's not pretty." Edward bent down and opened the bag, a foul stench wafting out, causing them to cover their noses and mouths. Detective Amari looked a little green around the gills herself, turning away slightly. Peeling back the bag, Edward and Micheal gaped in shock at the state of the body. It looked like the person had been dead for centuries, mummified and twisted up in an ugly fashion, yet there was still evidence of fresh blood. Under their eye sockets (ugh, gross) was a smear of blood, though it looked older. Edward swallowed thickly. Well, the detective was undoubtedly correct. Whoever this was wasn't going to be winning any beauty pageants, that was for sure.

"The blood under the eyes, it's just like what I saw at the grocery store. They were all wearing those masks with blood under the eye holes." He mumbled, zipping the bag closed. 

"Yes, I read the report. There's no doubt who was behind this, not that they were trying to hide it. Follow me." She stalked off toward the actual gas station store, both men following her to the back of the building where the dumpster was located. Along the brick wall were words written in more blood.

The lifeblood pools beneath your feet and disbelievers will soon be drowned.

"Look familiar?" She asked. 

"Oh yeah, and it's somehow even creepier this time," Edward said. 

"Yeah." Mike agreed uneasily.

"Well, we've confirmed that it is real blood, so now we're running tests to see who or what it belongs to. Last time it was blood from a dog." The detective informed them.

Mike wrinkled his nose. "A dog? That's disgusting!"

"Yeah, I can agree with you on that one, babe, but I have a bad feeling that this blood didn't just come from some animal," Ed said. Mike looked grim at that, nodding. Detective Amari crossed her arms with a frown.

"I feel the same way." She said. 

"Hey, you ok? You lost?" The little girl cocked her head, watching the two men from where she stood across the street, her form obscured from the hero's sight by a mailbox. 

"No," She chirped, smiling up at the pregnant woman who'd stopped beside her. "I'm not lost; I found my parents." The woman frowned, but the girl ignored the stranger as she watched the men talk. They'd be her parents once they knew, and they'd take care of her because they were hero's and that's what they did. They took care of people who needed them. Especially NightHawk.