Black Sunshine

Chapter 5 - In a City of Constant Misfortune, Perhaps Apathy in the Face of Wrongdoing is the Real Evil

Nera did her best to resist the pain that rocked her body. When Doctor Shorque had said this would hurt he had not been exaggerating. She had been subjected to just about every source of pain you can imagine while working for the White Lilies. Her demonic ancestry made her hardier than most, so she recovered quickly and that was what had made her such a good enforcer. This pain was simply too much.

She screamed.

Not the scream of someone who’d broken a limb, or had their face scraped away from being dragged along pavement behind a speeding motorcycle. These were normal pains that she had experienced and knew. No, this was the pain of having every molecule ripped from your body, rearranged, and plunged back in like molten slag. This was a primal scream that threatened to shred her vocal cords.

It went on forever, until she was sure that all she had known in her life was this pain.

“I’m sorry, Nera,” she barely heard around the noise of her screaming, “if I stop before it’s done, you’ll die. Just hang on.”

It was then that she realized that she had been begging, pleading for Doctor Shorque to stop. The humiliation of anyone seeing her in this state dulled the pain, but not enough to stop her continuing to scream.

As suddenly as it had begun, it was over. No, there was still some lingering pain, but it was inconsequential compared to the endless onslaught she had been experiencing a moment before.

“How many days has it been?” she whispered, not daring to open her eyes.

“Days?” Doctor Shorque sounded confused, “Nera, it’s been less than a minute. The remaining pain should wear off in a few more.”

Nera opened her eyes wide, and stared at the doctor. Thoughts flooded her mind, quick calculations of how much time she had to do what needed done, and she swore viciously.

“Nera, language.”

“Sorry, doc. I gotta go. I’ll send someone with the payment,” she paused, dizzy from standing too fast, she leaned against the cool brick wall of the alley, “How much do I owe you?”

“Save your Sil Nera,” he sighed, “you’re going to need it. Go get your girl and that will be payment enough.”

Nera dashed from the alley, like her tail was on fire, or like someone’s tail was anyway. She ran up the half a dozen flights of stairs to her apartment, and looked at the weaponry laid out in front of her still on the bed where it had been last night. She considered the big stuff, but this was going to be starting as an investigation, so she slipped a pair of pistols into a shoulder holster, with a few extra clips, and threw a leather jacket over it.

She’d managed to formulate a plan while Doctor Shorque laid out her options, but actually managing this would be an undertaking. Her deadline did little to help. The faster this was done, the better, and Nera was not averse to making a little mess when necessary.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

This would likely become a big mess before it was done.

She closed the apartment door behind her, locking it and sighing. Her best option was to go to the police. She was loath to deal with them, they were more likely to try and arrest her than help, but still they might know something and information was what she needed.

The hush that fell over the precinct when the automatic doors opened and she walked in was like going from a busy subway to an abandoned temple. Even the belligerent drunks behind the holding cell doors looked at her in astonished silence.

“Where’s detective Mackie?” she said, unperturbed. She was used to the effect she had on people who knew of her by reputation.

“Are you here to turn yourself in?” a low growling voice asked from across the bullpen.

“Did your kids dress you, Mackie, or did your two-timing wife finally leave you with nothing but that in your closet?” Nera spat back, slowly walking towards the mustachioed dwarf. Unlike most dwarves, he shaved his beard, supposedly because he thought it made him look more like a cop.

“You always got something to say, don't you,” he asked, slamming his coffee mug down on his desk so hard it shattered.

“I need information, Mackie, and you’re gonna give it to me,” she responded, stopping in front of him and casting a shadow over his desk.

“And what might convince me to do something so out of character?” Mackie sneered up at her, “Seems I’d be more likely to shoot you and throw you in a cell.”

“Yeah? In that order?” Nera pulled a pistol out of her holster and held it under his chin, “While normally I like our witty back and forths, I’m on a deadline.”

Mackie’s eyes widened. And all around Nera the sound of a hundred gun safety’s disengaging filled the air. You could cut the tension with a knife and make a fortune selling sandwiches.

“Y-you wouldn’t dare,” Mackie said, “Not even you.”

“Sure I would, Mackie,” Nera grinned menacingly at him, before pulling him up by the back loop of his jacket as a human shield, which normally doesn’t work, but cops wear kevlar, “but there’s probably only one thing that would make me consider it. Someone kidnapped my girlfriend, and I need information on who they are.”

“Drop the gun, Nera!” one of the cops said, “You know we can’t let you go if you do anything to Mackie.”

“Oh, you wouldn’t let me go anyway out of principle, if I gave you a choice,” Nera sneered, “but I’m not giving you a choice. Weirdo nuns with demon masks. Ring any bells?”

“The nuns of contempt?”

“Where’s their base?”

“We don’t know, honest.”

“Does my friend need to jog your memory, Mackie?”

“He’s telling the truth, Nera,” the captain said, leaving his office after all the comotion, “Look, we’ll overlook this if you just let Mackie go.”

“I’m not stupid, Captain,” Nera snapped, “I let him go only once I’m out the front door.”

“Someone take the shot!” Mackie shouted.

“Guns on the ground, or there’s gonna be a lot of blood, Captain.” Nera hissed.

“Put your guns down,” the captain ordered, “Nera, we’ve always dealt straight with you. I’m trusting you to do the right thing here.”

“The right thing would be finishing this, but here,” she dropped Mackie, who began hyperventilating on his hands and knees.

“I’m gonna kill you Nera Neroni,” Mackie hissed through his teeth, “you mark my words.”

“Get in line, pig.”

Nera left the precinct unharassed just as the captain promised. There would be trouble down the line, but Nera knew she wouldn’t be facing it alone.

It was time to go home.