Waiting For Sunrise - The Books Of Beginning AU

16. The Imps Come To Town

It was the very end of August, just over a month after Kate, Michael, and Emma had arrived at in New York City, that rumors of a new gang in town began flying. At first, the Savages paid no mind to them; gangs were formed, gangs went to war, and gangs were obliterated frequently in this city. But the more whispers flew, the more concerned Henrietta Burke became. The gossip spoke of a gang composed not of the usual human or even magician ruffians, but of strange, tough creatures that had never even been seen in the city before. What's more, a credible friend to the Savages had seen them taking orders from a giant of a man with a bald head like a great bleached stone. It didn't take long for Henrietta to realize this was no ordinary gang, and she wasn't at all comfortable letting them run around as they pleased when she had no clue what she was dealing with. So, the witch called a meeting.

Henrietta sat in her desk chair, pulled out into the center of the belfry so that the meeting could be conducted in a circle under the heavy iron bells. Scruggs had been pulled down from his perch among the birds, and he was now huddled on the floor under his threadbare cloak, arms wrapped around his knobby old knees, rocking back and forth ever so slightly. A few of the children, self appointed leaders among themselves, those trusted by the adults, were in attendance as well. Addie, Abigail, and Tom all sat in a semi-circle on the floor, watching their leader curiously. And, of course, Rafe was there, with Kate by his side, the two oldest of the church remaining standing until everyone else was seated.

"Thank you all for coming, I'm sorry for interrupting your daily duties, but what I have to say is important," Henrietta began, "now, I'm sure that you all have heard the rumors going around all this week about the new gang in the city."

There was a murmur of assent throughout the group. Henrietta's steely eyes flickered to each of them. "If anyone has heard anything about them that I have not been informed of, please speak up now."

"Jake an' Beetles an' Sam were sayin' that these gang members were being way ruder and threatening to the venders in the market than they need to be," Abigail offered up.

Addie nodded. "I heard about that too. Some of the children tasked with kitchen cleaning said that one of 'em pulled a nasty looking knife on a seller who wouldn't lower their prices as much as they wanted 'im to. They sound like they have no respect for anyone."

"Yeah," Tom agreed, "which is really weird. Usually even the most brutal gangs in this city are more discreet, especially when they're starting out and don't have connections and bribes in place for if trouble comes knocking on their door. It's like they have no tact, they just respond to everything with blunt violence."

Henrietta frowned. "That all aligns with the similar chatter that I've heard. All in all, it paints quite the worrying picture. These are not the ordinary violent types we've steered clear of for years, like the Five Pointers or the Eastman Gang. This is something else."

"Some of the kids heard that this new gang is known as 'the imps'. Does anyone know why, because I sure don't," Rafe chimed in.

"Imps?" Scruggs frowned. "Are you sure that's what they're called?"

"That's what everyone's been sayin'," Rafe pointed out.

The old man's frown deepened - he looked far more coherent and focused than normal, which had the others on edge. Finally, he said, "I've heard'a imps before. They're nasty things, very tough magical beings - history says they served powerful magicians during the wars of the dark ages in Europe. I thought they were all gone."

"Maybe they are," Addie suggested with tentative optimism, "maybe the gang named and styled themselves after the creature to seem tough, but they aren't actually imps."

Scruggs sighed. "I hope you're right. Imps are aggressive beings, real temperamental and brutish. Not very smart by any means but violent. I've never heard of them in the Americas, though, even during the old days... let's hope that's still true. I wouldn't wanna deal with those beasts in my city."