Familiar Stranger

9780373617685_PL.inddExtracted 1 threads from 9780373617685-exw.PDFUntitled Article 01: UntitledLondonthree months laterJack Harris had committed to this mission of destruction. The road, not up from his indiscretions, but one that threatened to parallel it all the way to hell. He had been given a license to kill. Not mortals, but instead, the dark denizens from another world. A world called the dark realm. A world hed never imagined to exist months before now. Yet, for all purposes, it had once touched him. Since joiningmake that beingrecruitedinto P-Cell, the covert paranormal section of MI5, life had not been the same. Normal people did not dream about demons, or stalk the hallway in the middle of the night and reconnoiter the loo before taking a leak on the off chance a demon might be clinging up on the ceiling. Yet, in all his years with the British Security Service, and then working as a spook for MI5, hed never before felt quite like this. Confidentandhungry for the kill. Sure, confidence was second nature to Jack, but to hunger for destruction? Such an appetite was new, yet not unwelcome. Jack hefted the M4 carbine, positioning the butt of the rifle upon the crook of his elbow. A salt grenade was locked into position. Hed only get the one shot. The electromagnetic-field gauge he held in his left hand reg- istered a faint blip. Something occupied the cavernous walls of this building. And he knew it wouldnt be all ducks and bunnies. Slowly, he took the iron stairs in the abandoned warehouse, twisting at the waist to ensure the hand-size EMF gauge could pick up readings to cover his periphery. A flick of his finger switched to GPS function. This model had been designed specifically to pick up the electromagnetic reso- nance of ley lines and map them on screen. A network of ley lines stretched across the earth, meeting and aligning at key mystical sights and resonated with a magnetic energy that attracted the otherworldly. Demons always came through to the mortal realm via a ley line. Combat boots tread stealthily. His stripped-down gear shifted silently upon his sturdy frameflame-resistant black shirt and trousers, Dragon Skin vest, and at his belt a night-vision scope, combat knife and salt spray (pepper proved ineffective against the creatures he stalked). And he carried a silver dagger tipped with a UV cartridge, if by chance he stumbled on to a thirsty vampire. In the past two weeks, Jack had gone out nightly on patrol. Direct orders from the deputy director of P-Cell. The paranormal activity in this area had increased measurably, of late. And the kicker? The hot spot was just up the road from his flat in Bermond- sey. Much too close for comfort. He had embraced the job at P-Cell with an angry heart and a keen eye. He was still fighting terroriststhough now they were other- worldly. Demons were terrorists with uglier faces and supernatu- ral methods. The challenge was that all bad guys had faces a man could read and react tobut not all demons did. As a demon hunter, his objective was to shoot first, ask ques- tions never. P-Cells array of weapons kicked arse. He used the M4 more often than he utilized his martial skills. Didnt get to physically kick a lot of demon arse because he still hadnt figured out where, exactly, that portion of the demon was on their strange anatomy. Well, some, he could. In his short stint, Jack had learned the variety of demons was vast and varied. No two were alike, thoHauf, Michele is the author of 'Familiar Stranger ', published 2007 under ISBN 9780373617685 and ISBN 0373617682.