Chapter Text
"Okay, well what about Bat Boy? The paper says the government has him in a secret facility so they can run tests on him."
I sighed resignedly into the phone. “Sorry Earth, I heard he was fronting a metal band now. Might wanna use your connections to see if you can find him.”
He practically squealed my ear off through the connection. “Really? Which bands do you think he’d like to be in? I bet…”
As Earth rambled on, I sort of tuned him out. Intelligent and sweet he might be, but for some reason he had gone and gotten himself obsessed with grocery store tabloids. Now every so often he liked to call and see if The Keepers had any information on a random creature of the week. Last call it was La Llorona.
“You know,” I cut him off mid-stream, “you might want to pick stuff closer to Arizona. I try to keep up with daily reports from other offices, but usually I’m only asked about creatures we deal with frequently.”
Unsurprisingly he seemed ready for such a response, shouting “Wait, I’ve got one!” loud enough that Omega heard him through his headphones as he worked on new music. One eyebrow raised in consternation and I ducked my head, mouthing ‘sorry’ as Earth continued to babble.
“…just heard about them the other night, from a movie I was watching. Are chupacabras real?”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “I don’t know for certain. I know many ranchers in Arizona believe 'El Chupacabra' exists, but I'm almost positive most people get them confused with really ugly dogs.”
A dismissive noise. “I doubt that, Ellie. They’re huge! And look like apes, sort of. How can anyone think that’s a dog?”
Oh good lord. “Earth, you can’t believe everything Scooby Doo tells you. And before you ask, the Yowie Yahoo is probably not a vampire.”
My mockery didn’t deter his rapid fire questions. In an attempt to shut up him I ended the conversation by promising him something. “Next time I go to HQ, I’ll dig around and see if anyone has ever hunted one, and then I’ll give you all the details.”
Most of my time was spent at what I affectionately now called Ghoulville, or the piece of property the members of Ghost owned consisting of five individual homes and an enormous mansion that was, and I quote, “just for show”. Sadly, real life intruded a few weeks after I’d left Phoenix, forcing my boss James (real name Lucifer, one of the seven princes of Hell) to convert a closet in the main house in to a permanent portal so I could keep up with my Keeper duties as archivist, librarian, and occasional mindbender.
My skill in tampering with the brains of mortals hadn’t been called upon as of late, since I was still slightly fragile after the terror I’d barely survived four months before. Seeing your friends murdered and having half the bones in your body crushed is enough to make a girl rethink her career.
I glanced over at Omega again, my gratitude towards Papa Emeritus and James forever eternal for saving him and his Nameless Ghoul brothers. We didn’t speak about it, though I know he still woke in the dead of the night shaking and sweaty from nightmares he refused to tell me about. Thankfully my nightmares appeared to be a thing of the past.
HQ was fairly quiet the next time I returned, a few days after I’d spoken with Earth. Alpha was over to the main house for a visit, supposedly so he and Omega could brainstorm, but I knew much of their night would be spent drinking and bullshitting. It was the perfect time to sneak away.
I’d just sent one of our active hunting Keepers, Ari, away with the best methods for dealing with a poltergeist when James came striding through the double doors, dragging a swearing and masked Earth with him by the scruff of his neck.
Pulling him to a standing position next to the counter, James looked between Earth and I before speaking. “I found something that belongs to you.” Normally James would have no problems with the Ghouls visiting me but I knew for a fact he wanted to keep everything that happened between himself, Belial, and Ghost top secret. If anyone was going to blab classified information, it would definitely be Earth.
I tried to keep the situation light-hearted. “Gee, thanks Boss. He chewed through his leash – thought I was gonna have to put up posters to find him.”
Though his face didn’t change, James’ eyes did brighten slightly. Good. It did not bode well for one’s health when facing the wrath of the devil himself.
Earth had no sense of self preservation, as he cursed us both. “Fuck you gu-”. A good hard shake stopped him from saying something he would regret.
“I trust you have a way to get him home?” James said, the smile he was trying to hide creeping in to his voice against his will.
I nodded and he let the small man go, leaving us alone in the empty library.
“What in the hell are you doing here pestering my boss?” I hissed in exasperation.
A roll of his bright blue eyes let me know how unconcerned he was at potentially pissing off a super-demon. “Lighten up, El. Lucifer’s a pretty chill dude.
“ShhhHHHH! Don’t call him that! He doesn’t want anyone else knowing his real identity.” I grabbed my bag from underneath the counter. “Come on, I’m taking you to Alpha and Omega, so Alpha can take you home with him.”
Though he may not have enhanced abilities anymore, Earth was still extremely agile, a trait he demonstrated for me as he scrambled away from me and up the nearest bookcase. He allowed his legs to dangle over the sides as a taunt while he flipped me the bird.
“Boy, you better get your skinny ass down from there before you hurt yourself or fuck up my shelves.” I was sorely tempted to pelt him with office supplies.
He puffed up his chest and replied, “I’ll come down, but only if you promise to go chupacabra hunting with me."
His request caught me so off guard I could feel my face stretching from raising my eyebrows into my hairline. "You wanna repeat that?" I questioned him.
"I went snooping through your files. Several chupacabra have been reported on a reservation south of Phoenix. I want you to go with me to find one." I hated that he was wearing his mask; I couldn't decipher his expressions or judge his sincerity with it in the way.
I scrubbed my hands over my face in frustration. "I read those files too, you know. I told you I would. Most of them claimed the animals looked like dogs. Traditional chupcabra have scales or spikes, and hop around. Dude, chances are all those people saw were coyotes."
Earth slid down the shelves and landed at my feet. "Come on, Ellie. It'll be fun to go see. If you don't go then I'll just end up going alone, and who knows what will happen to me."
Little shit. I knew he was right. Though he wasn't acting like it at the moment, he was a grown-ass man and none of his brothers would stop him from wandering around the pitch black desert at 2 o'clock in the morning.
“Fine. We’ll take my car – I left it at my house. It’s only a short walk away.” I beckoned with a hand for him to follow me.