How to Save a Hero [ManxMan]

Chapter Thirty-Two: Calm Before the Storm

~Chapter Thirty-Two: Calm Before the Storm~

Seven days before the attack...

In the two weeks leading up to the demons' chosen day of attack, an eerie silence falls over the city. Not so much from the human side of the population, though some of them have definitely noticed the unease, but the non-human population has mostly gone underground. There has been a noticeable decrease in criminal activity as more and more neutral non-humans try to leave the city under the guise of 'going on vacation' or 'family emergencies'.

I am not sure if it is just people sensing that something big and bad is going down soon or if it is because the growing number of demons in the city has raised more than a few eyebrows. Of course, to the humans and any outsiders, I probably just seems like an early start to the tourist season this year, but it still puts a lot of people on edge. From the looks of it, though, the demons are trying to keep their arrival as quiet as possible. However, the other side...not so much.

It could just be a trick or a bluff by Veles to scare the demons into thinking he has something planned, but considering what Aldis told me the last time I spoke to him, which only was a few days ago, Veles' people are practically vibrating with anticipation. The reason, though, has been kept a secret from most everyone, so Koa's spies have no idea what is going on. I know Aldis, at the very least, has an idea, but he is wisely choosing not to say over the phone. And since Aldis is out of the city, the phone is the only way we can communicate at the moment.

Apparently, right before Veles kidnapped me to discuss his offer of a deal, he sent Aldis to check on a group of their soldiers in Michigan. He has been gone ever since, but at least I know he is returning in two days. Not only have I kept the deal with Veles from him – if he doesn't feel safe saying anything important over the phone, then I shouldn't either – but there is also the matter of Koa's king having accepted Aldis' proposal and terms, giving permission for my boyfriend and Veles to be offered leniency should Aldis' help be beneficial to what happens in a week.

"Wasn't Wizard World Con last month?" Dave suddenly asks, drawing me from my inner musing.

I blink at the tree I had been blankly staring at through the patrol car window before turning to look at my partner in confusion. "What?"

"Wizard World Con," my partner repeats slowly, as if I didn't understand him the first time, "it happened last month, right?"

What does this have to do with anything?

"How would I know?"

Dave waves his hands out in front of him, almost hitting the steering wheel as he tries to explain. "I mean, we don't work the convention center area, but Brian was talking about all the people in unusual costumes last month," he says.

"Yeah, so?"

My partner points his finger at the windshield, though it takes me a stupidly long moment to realize that he is point to something out on the street instead of the bug splatter conveniently in the spot he pointed at. On the opposite side of the road from where we parked – we just got snacks from a local café to hold us off until lunch – is a person. However, from their rather genderless...'outfit' and the distance between us and them, there is no way to tell if they are male or female.

"Like something straight from a horror movie," I mutter, and see my partner nodding in agreement out of the corner of my eye.

"Should we go talk to them?" Dave asks, his attention still on the creepy dude with the deer-skull mask.

I glance at my partner, grimacing a bit at the idea. Even in broad daylight, no one, cop or otherwise, should ever approach someone dressed like they came out of a horror movie; it is just asking for trouble. "Why would we do that?"