End of Watch

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Judas Carmichael hated rain. He also hated the orc that stood in groups across the street from him. It didn't help that his partner belonged to the same social class as they did. It also didn't help that the orc group hated his partner. 
They were throwing up gang signs behind the other man's back, pretending to shoot at him and it wasn't the first or the last time they would do it. 
"Hey, Ruvik!" He barked, finally tired of standing in one place while the other man decided whether he wanted an orc burger or a bronto thigh. Both smelled like death. "Today, please! Geez, I swear four elves have died in the time it's taking you to decide on that garbage."

Molly didn't know what was possessing her but she moved closer to the orc. She could barely breathe. She had lost her mind. And then she was pressing her lips to his. 
Unknowingly her leg brushed the book and it began to glow orange. 

Judas saw the light change and decided not to draw attention to it. Instead he grabbed the woman by the ankle and threw her into the book case beside them, grabbing for his gun. "Where is the girl?" He hissed. "Do you need a translator?"

Again they missed the glow, as Ruvik slid his hands against Molly’s hips, turning her so she was now the one pinned to the wall. She was so soft and so delicate, he didn’t think he could stop kissing her.

Celia was now scowling at Judas, seeing an aura about him that was the same colour as her duaghter’s. she flew at him again, fingers under his shirt and pressing at the wound she knew was there. “You are the one she longs for!” She spat, clearly disgusted by the thought as she pressed hard against the fresh wound.

Molly's fingers slid around his head, holding him tighter as her lips urged him to kiss her harder. This was insane. Humans and orcs didn't do this sort of thing. She'd always heard that it was wrong. But if that was the case, why did this feel so right? 

Judas held his breath as the woman's long thin fingers dug like hot needles into his already injured flesh. He grit his teeth against the pain, refusing to give her satisfaction. "I don't know what you're talking about, you crazy bitch." He snarled at her.

Against his own desires right then, Ruvik did finally pull away. He too knew it was wrong, for Molly. She was beautiful and strong, the last thing she needed was an outcast orc defiling her. “Molly, I...l his words died off when his gaze finally fell upon the orange glow. “The hell is that?”

Celia thought back to the moment her lord had remarked that Viola was thinking about a human. Why this one? What had made her daughter defy Arneth to help this one? “The dark lord will take great pleasure in ripping you from her memories when he claims her.” She purred, forcing some of the stitching open again as she pushed her fingers harder against the wound.

Molly felt stupid for letting down her guard the way she had. She was already rebuilding her walls when she heard his strange question and looked down at the glowing book. "What in the name of..." She had no answers. Her dad had said nothing about a glowing book.

Though this white hot pain shot through him like lightning, all Judas did was grunt. "Erase this." He hissed, discharging three bullets from his gun into her stomach.

Ruvik was quick to dig through the box that contained the glowing book, though something was telling him that grabbing hold of it was a bad idea. “Do all your books do this?”

Celia coughed blood into Judas’ face as he shot her, searing rage in her eyes before light enveloped them, and neither aggressor was in Molly’s store any longer. The elf had her master’s wand to complete the task he had asked of her, and now the two of them were within the walls of his home, though the female was no longer conscious. Using the wand had drained her considerably now she was wounded.

"No..." Molly wasn't sure what else to say. She knelt down and picked up the book without thinking about it. "Maybe one of the old booklights was left here." She muttered, opening the book. There was a false bottom inside it and there, plain as day was a magick wand. 

"What the hell?" Judas breathed, looking down at the woman. He turned her over and handcuffed her, kicking the wand out of her reach. Then he pulled out his phone to call Ruvik. 
There was no signal. The line gave off a strange signal. Wherever he was, for the moment he was alone.

Ruvik was quick to suddenly push Molly behind him as the glow got brighter. “Well shit... guess we know why your dad, and now you, are prime targets.”

Celia opened her eyes only long enough to see that she had at least brought her master the human he had seen when speaking to her daughter. She had failed in every other sense however, and knew if her wounds didn’t kill her, the dark lord would. That was her last thought as everything faded to darkness.
It was as Celia lost consciousness that her daughter was awake and screaming for someone to release her at once.

"That doesn't make any sense. Why wouldn't he tell me..." Molly whispered. She turned, now looking around the room at things she'd never seen before. What had he been doing down here?

Judas heard the shouts and inched toward them, sliding out of sight as a pair of elves ran past him in the hallway.

“Maybe he wanted to keep you safe?” Ruvik suggested gently. “You’ve seen what those people are capable of, perhaps he wanted to keep you from that? I know I would...”

“I don’t care about your stupid magick, or your prophecies! I just want to go home and forget this ever happened!” Viola shouted, pounding slender fists against the door she was shut behind.

Molly turned her head, not sure what to think of his words. Her eyes met his for a long moment before she turned again, worried by the silence above them. "Do you need to check on your partner?"

Judas took out the two guards and stood close to the door, trying to listen to the voice. He couldn't afford to be wrong.

Ruvik wanted to kiss her again. He didn’t want them to leave this small space, and return to a world where what had just happened... was considered dirty and wrong. With a heavy sigh he nodded his head. “Stay here while I check if it’s clear, got it?”

Viola screamed in frustration, kicking at the door before she suddenly went silent. Her whole life had been spent reading books on as many subjects as she could, which was how she had been able to patch Judas up so well. Right then she was annoyed that she could pick a lock, but that door was shut with a deadbolt on the outside.

Molly nodded, though didn't meet his eyes. She waited until he was halfway up the ladder before she reached for the wand. 
She expected to die. She didn't expect the piece of knoted wood to blaze white hot in her fingers. 

Celia would find herself woken roughly by the dark lord grabbing a handful of her hair.
"where is that book?!" He snarled. "A human has it! How could you let that happen?!"

Ruvik didn’t see Molly grab for the wand, he was slowly lifting the hatch above him, worried when he didn’t even hear footsteps. A moment later he was tearing through the shop, cursing when there was again no sign of his partner... or the aggressors.

“My lord... I brought you... a gift...” Celia wheezed, though her teeth were bloody and her breathing laboured. “The human my daughter saved... I thought it would... would please you to punish him.”

Molly's fingers were blistering but she couldn't put the wand back down. After a long moment she screamed, not sure what else to do.

The dark lord was in pain. The wand being used by Brights who didn't know how to use magick much less bring him back was a catalyst. He simply dropped Celia back to the ground and went looking for the human invading his home. He would not have his sanctuary ruined as well.

Ruvik was in such a hurry to get back to Molly, he comically fell back through the hatch, landing on his back in front of her.

The room Viola had been locked in was one of the many bedrooms within the large house. Most likely, it was the room in which she would have lived, once she realised the woman she didn’t know was her mother had sold her to an elf she had never met. It had been several hours since she had been locked inside the room, and in her anger and fear, had smashed many things, looking for a way out.

Molly was shaking as she looked at him. "I can't let go..." She whispered. "I'm sorry." 

Judas was at the door, working on the lock. His chest was pounding. A part of him knew what was inside. As the lock slid free and he opened the door he was holding his breath.

Ruvik stared at the glowing wand in Molly’s hand, his mouth opening and closing several times as he sought some sort of response. “How... how are you alive?” He breathed, thinking all brights were elves.

As the door opened, Viola tumbled out. The young elf had been leaning with her back against the door, thinking no one was ever coming to let her out. She now lay at Judas’ feet, rubbing the back of her head where it had once again hit something hard.

"I don't know...." Molly whispered, dropping to her knees. At long last she managed to drop the wand back into the book and slammed it closed. Her hand was blistered and swollen. Crawling toward Ruvik she laid her head on his chest and began to cry. At the moment she wasn't sure what else to do. 

"We have got to stop meeting like this." Judas said softly. "You... understand English right? "

Ruvik gently slid his arms around Molly as she sobbed. He usually didn’t really know what to do when a woman cried. Not that he was around women all that much, or long enough for them to cry. “Hey... I know, it sucks you didn’t die, and now you’re stuck here with me.” He teased.

Viola pulled herself up to her knees, looking up at the human who was looking down at her. “You!” She suddenly exclaimed, fully on her feet now and embracing him tightly. This lasted only a moment, before she pulled away, and started poking him. “You are real... aren’t you?” She breathed, suddenly fearful this was just horrible magick.

Molly didn't know who started it nor did she care but all at once she found herself kissing Ruvik wildly. They were pulling at one another's clothing and tossing it aside as if this moment was all they had and all that truly mattered. It was everything her body seemed to think it would be. 

"Ow. Damn it would you stop doing that?!" Judas breathed wondering why he was as relieved to see her as she seemed to be him. "Of course I'm real. If I weren't that wouldn't still hurt."

Ruvik didn’t regret what was happening, quite the opposite. Molly was beautiful, the kind of beautiful his partner always got to experience, but never him. Molly was warm, and soft and everything he had never known he was missing. People always made the assumption orcs were violent creatures, but Ruvik treated Molly with more care than he ever had anything, even pausing to gently kiss her blistered palm.

Viola took another step away from Judas, still not quite believing she was even awake, let alone that the very human she had been dreaming of had come to her rescue. “How did you know I was here?” She asked warily.

Their moment of bliss would not last them as long as they wanted. Kandomere had decided to take matters in his own hands and gone to the bookshop. The front door and the door to the cellar had been left open, leaving him able to hear everything. 

"Your father sent us to find you but...where is here?" Judas asked, feeling like he was missing a really big part of the picture.

Ruvik was still holding Molly, blissfully unaware they were not alone, and hadn’t been for some time. This was the very kind of information that could be used to get either of them to do whatever Kandomere wanted to keep the other safe.

“Oh...” Viola didn’t even try to hide the disappointed look in her azure eyes. Of course that’s what it was, not some childish fantasy that whoever this human was had come looking for her because he had been thinking about her.

Kandomere dropped down into the cellar, the look on his face one of pure disgust. "Get dressed, both of you." He said darkly, realizing this officer would recognize him. "What in the name of the dark lord is happening down here?" He asked, taking a moment to look around him. It was a shield of light hide out. He should have known. 

"I never got to thank you for saving me. Why did you leave me?" Judas asked, poking his head out into the hallway.

Ruvik had probably never moved so fast in all his life as he scrambled to cover Molly to save her from prying eyes, and also pull on his own pants. “Looking for the missing elf... sir.” He stammered, realising it was very obvious that’s not what they were doing.

“You like your job, don’t you?” Viola asked, making it seem like she hadn’t really listened to what Judas had asked. “If my father found out I had been alone in a hotel with you... he would have had your badge.” She breathed, completely unaware that her physically taking Judas’ badge was the reason he wasn’t involved in all of this at all.

"In a haven for shield of light?" Kandomere asked, running his fingers over the books in reverance. "Get on your radio and call for more federal agents and a supervisor. You, my dear, are under arrest. Hiding magickal items is a serious crime." 

"Your father has my badge." Judas said gently. "The one you stole from me. He came to the station and told them I had kidnapped you."

“What?! No, she wasn’t hiding them!” Ruvik insisted. “This level was flooded for many years, we just found it while helping Molly evade harm from her attackers... sir.”

“Oh no...” Viola breathed, pressing a slender hand to her lips. “I’m sorry... I don’t know what came over me, I didn’t mean to take it, I swear!” She insisted.

"You mean the agent I sent here to protect her?" Kandomere scoffed. "The one who was shot to death while you two were down here committing a henious act? What you did was..." He paused, his lip curling. "Your clan would murder you on sight if they knew."

"It's okay." Judas told her. "If you hadn't, we might never have found you. Besides I.. " he paused and dug in his pocket. "Needed to return this," he added, holding out the earring. "I think it linked me to you. If that makes any sense..." He added sheepishly.

“My clan want me dead for being what I am any way.” Ruvik snorted. “Your ‘agent’ tried to assault my partner, who is now missing, thank you SIR.”

Viola’s fingers went to her ear, noticing for the first time that it was gone. “So... my father is alive?” She asked uncertainly.