Chapter #2: Heads in a Bag.
Phoenix, Arizona
October 15th, 2044-CE
A young-looking person appearing female due to the size of her chest and fairness of their face walked into a bar that was familiar to them. The man at the door nodded gruffly to them, shooting the person with a familiar set of mismatched eyes, the left one of emerald and the right one of cerulean. Adorned to their right side was a gun holstered tightly to their feminine looking hip, at the small of their back on their belt was attached a special knife that was hard earned through previous adventures and close calls. Slung off their left side was a duffel bag. The moment the doorman spotted the bag he held a hand on the person’s shoulder, just barely missing their long chestnut hair, “Hang on lady,” The man’s voice boomed, “What’s in the bag.”
“Work,” The feminine looking person replied flatly, “Why else would I come in here, Jake?” Their voice sounded sultry and feminine which only added to the common misconception they got, “Also, it isn’t lady. Just call me Kyra and I won’t call you gorilla in response.”
The man frowned and let go of their shoulder, “Just don’t cause any trouble this time.” He groaned.
Kyra smirked, “It’s me, what’s the worst that will happen?”
“The last time you came in here you created, at most polite interpretation, a mess!” The doorman grumbled.
“I don’t start fights,” Kyra commented as they walked to the inner door, “But I will finish them. As long as it’s not the bar versus me, again, I will keep things kosher.”
Kyra kept their face flat as they walked to the rear bar counter and sat the duffel bag on the counter. The man glanced at them and asked, “What’s this?” He asked.
Kyra opened the bag and grabbed something within, “The latest assignment,” They mentioned as they tossed what looked like an old, mummified head, “Rigel,” They mentioned as they took slight delight at the horrified look on the man’s face. They took out another head and placed it on the table, looking similarly mummified but the fangs were a dead give away that the head used to belong to a vampire, “Richard, he was a bit of a dick,” They moved on to the third head which looked decidedly human, “I believe his name was Vince, maybe you can get his name out of him, and…” they reached into the bag and pulled out the last head, placing the human looking head on the bag, “This is Dan. Looks like a neonate to me.” They glanced at the bartender, “I want my coins, old man.”
“Get this out of my sight!” The man growled.
“Fine, I will put them into the dumpster outside, bag and all, as long as I get my twenty coins!” Kyra hissed in response, “Last time I wanted payment you said I would have to bring in more proof of death. What better proof than four heads in a duffel bag, dude?”
“How do I know you didn’t go grave robbing?” He questioned in response, “Also, those cuts on the necks look too good to be done with anything but a power saw!” He mentioned as he sat the head tossed to him on the bag.
Kyra took out their knife and stabbed the counter with it, the polished metal with an edge that could cut molecules sank to the hilt. It was in their hand for a short enough time that the dark cobalt grains in the metal didn’t have time to light up, “Sharp knife.” They mentioned as they tapped on the counter then pulled out their smartphone, “You can even see the resemblance here,” They mentioned as they pulled up pictures and sat the phone on the counter, “look, mister mummy is Rigel, his mummy is Vince, the other two are neonates that are on this list. I took out the entire safehouse which were these four. I want my gold!” They stabbed a thumb in their chest, “I do a job, I get paid. I did the job, now show me the gold!”
The man shrieked the moment he saw the knife sink like butter into the counter, “My counter!” He exclaimed.
Kyra pulled out the knife leaving a little wedge-shaped hole and slid it back into the sheath at the small of their back, “A little epoxy and buffing and it will be fine.” They mentioned. They looked back up to the man and said, “Now, gold. Or do I need to go back there and cut through your safe to get it?”
The man’s eyes narrowed, “You wouldn’t dare!”
Kyra jumped up and swiveled their legs over the edge of the counter dropping onto his side of the bar, “let’s see, I think the back is this way…” They pointed to a small door and pulled out their knife. This time the grains on the knife lit up momentarily. With a twist and mental command, they made it look like it was glistening in the light as the grains reverted to their cool blue. They pointed to the door, “I hope it’s not locked; I would hate to ruin a lock too.”
“Jesus Christ you are pushy today!” The man growled and grabbed their arm, “I will get you your gold, pack up the bag, though.”
“Will do, sergeant sour!” They slid the knife back into its sheath and saluted the man with a smirk on their face.
The man retreated to the back as Kyra packed the heads back into the duffel bag before jumping over the counter and sitting back down. The man came out with twenty coins in his hand, laying each of them out in piles of five, “There you go.” He said as he slid the bag off the counter onto his side, “I am sure the council will love to see heads. Been a while since anyone delivered this kind of proof.”
“You okay with pictures next time?” Kyra questioned in response as they pulled their wallet out and slapped a hundred-dollar bill on the counter, “Bottle of whiskey and keep the change to repair the counter.”
The man took the hundred and as Kyra packed the one-ounce gold coins in their pocket he returned with a bottle and a shot glass, “How come I don’t see the other two you hunt with.”
“Well, you have such a welcoming atmosphere I can’t understand why the charm of this place is lost on them,” Kyra smirked as they cracked open the bottle and poured themselves a shot. They held up the bottle, “Truce, if you want to get a shot glass and drink with me.”
The man shrugged and grabbed a shot glass from below the table. Kyra took a shot then poured a refill for themselves and filled the glass with the strong amber liquid. As Kyra raised their glass to their lips to throw back another shot he commented, “If you weren’t transmasculine and picked an eye color I am sure people here would accept you more.” He mentioned as they took a drink.
Kyra let out a heavily exaggerated, exasperated sigh, “Not that it should matter what’s in my pants but I’m intersex, in case you are too old to get what that means I will use the older term, hermaphrodite! I can’t go by female because I have a dick, I can’t go by male because I have a pussy, which typically disqualifies a person from being in one of your fancy males only clubs. It should be clear that both are in my pants, especially since I go by, they and them. For all you hyper masculine conservative shit, it should please you that I am advertising my gender. This is the only way I am cisgender and everything.” They took a drink of their whiskey, “As far as the eye colors, pick one. Personally, I recommend you direct your attention at my green eye,” They tapped the side of their left cheek with the hand they held their whiskey in, “Personally its much easier for your brain to blend in green to my other color in your memory than blue for any other color.” They refilled their glass, “If you shouldn’t have to dye your hair to be accepted in your position, I shouldn’t have to wear contacts to get away with being me.”
He sat an empty glass down and Kyra refilled it, “Fair enough.”
“It’s not like I consciously chose to absorb my twin in utero,” Kyra rolled their eyes and filled their own glass before slamming another shot and repeating the process.
“Fair,” He said and slowly took a drink.
Kyra’s eyes narrowed as they sipped their shot glass before smiling and pointing, “You thought I was created in a vat like a science experiment!”
He blinked in surprise, “It’s not that.”
“Oh, magic, I see,” Kyra rolled their mismatched eyes, “I can assure you I was created the same way every other person here was. I had parents, they had sex, and nine months later I was pushed through into the world joining the human race.” They took another sip, “Do you know anyone that had an organ transplant or an artificially grown organ?”
“I’ve had a skin graft on my back,” The man nodded, “About ten years ago.”
“So, around the time they started growing artificial skin from empty generic skin cells,” Kyra smirked and refilled their glasses, “Congratulations my friend, you are also a chimera.”
“How do you figure?” He gave her an odd look.
“Artificial stem cells,” Kyra mentioned, “The technical definition of a chimera is a being with the genetics of two or more people. While it was artificial, there is a section of your body that has DNA that doesn’t belong to you. Anyone with an artificially grown organ or a donated organ is also a chimera. We aren’t all weird amalgamations of our twins,” They took another drink, “I always wondered if my twin hadn’t been absorbed if they would have been male or female.”
“Why didn’t you have that…” He struggled to find the words, “Taken care of when you were a child?”
“Probably on account of my parents and sisters being killed by a vampire when I was six,” Kyra took the drink then grabbed the bottle and took a big drink out of it, “That tends to interrupt the flow of the day.”
“Azrael?” The man asked.
“You clearly pay attention knowing that most of the vampires I killed were Azrael. Yes, it was an Azrael vampire. The hunter that found and adopted me was tracking it so it wasn’t a slow burn history lesson tracking the guy down,” Kyra mentioned, “He even took my adopted brother with him so he clearly thought that he would be able to take care of it easily.” They gave the man a momentary glare, “Also, circle back to that. It’s not a problem for me. Why is it a problem for you?”
The man declined to answer. Kyra nodded, “Uh huh… Awful lot of attention to what I could be doing in the bedroom, a place that I should probably televise at this point.”
The man sat down the empty glass, “Thanks for the drinks.” He mentioned then walked away.
Kyra nodded and put the cap on the bottle, “Cool, I got to get back to Prescot anyway.” They rose and grabbed the neck of the bottle, “I will be back tomorrow night for a job.”
Kyra received a grunt from the man behind the counter as they turned and left. They got to the outside and glanced up at the gruff looking doorman, “See Jake, no fight. I get a gold star, right?”
The man gave her a gruff chuckle, “Nine more and I will buy you a drink.”
Kyra gave Jake a lopsided smirk and held up the bottle in their hand, “I already got a drink, I could give you a swig.”
The man’s dark face frowned, “How much have you had?”
“One big swig and about four shots,” Kyra replied.
“Call a friend or I will call you a ride share,” Jake mentioned.
“Why do you care about my safety?” Kyra’s eyes narrowed but they were feeling a bit woozy at this point.
“Because you are probably the best hunter here,” Jake mentioned and leaned against the wall, “I would hate to see that end because you crashed your car into a light pole on the way home.”
“I won’t do that,” Kyra glared at him.
“Call a friend or I will call a ride share,” Jake stated, “But if you try to get in your car, I will knock your ass out and put you in a ride share.”
Kyra let out an exasperated sigh and glanced over her shoulder with a leer, “The one man that cares about me.” They walked over and leaned against the wall. They tossed the bottle to their other hand and pulled out their phone, “Let me text my girlfriend.”
Jake chuckled as he leaned on the wall next to Kyra, “Nice.”
Kyra blinked, “What’s nice about that.”
“The one person that can swing either way and still have a straight relationship,” Jake commented, “I figured it would have been a guy for you. Someone to tame that fiery streak of yours.”
“If it helps you, she’s intersex too,” Kyra smirked as they typed a message into it, “So we take turns dicking each other.” They smirked when the man grimaced, “You asked for it, dude.”
“The chuckle meant I asked for it?” Jake’s brow arched as he asked the question.
Kyra got a response from Luna, and she pocketed her phone, “Thanks, you got me to wait an hour while my girlfriend’s roommate comes here on her motorcycle.”
“Why the roommate and motorcycle?” The man looked confused, “And are you going to answer my question?”
“Luna doesn’t drive,” Kyra mentioned.
“What, she from New York or something?” Jake questioned in response, “Kind of odd to be out here and not drive.”
“It’s complicated,” Kyra shrugged, “Not everyone needs a car especially when they have a good friend that can drive.”
“You going to be okay on the roommate’s cycle?” He asked, “And answer the damn question.”
“How did you ask for it?” Kyra smirked and handed him the bottle, “it’s going to be an hour I will probably want to be nice and drunk by then.” He took a swig as They answered, “Because you were thinking of me going to town on my girlfriend.”
“Assumption?”
“Based off what I know and experienced about guys,” Kyra shrugged, “Especially when they know about my physical construction.”
“You don’t hide it,” Jake mentioned as he handed the bottle back.
“I am very open about my gender, that’s true, but usually I don’t start giving people details until they make some indication they are interested in what I do with the people I do it with,” Kyra explained and took a drink, “I can tell you this, with—” they gestured to their chest and the decently sized breasts contained in a plain red tee shirt, “These, they assume female. Most of the time they don’t say anything much more than a little pronoun here or there and if I am out just to get food, I don’t care. But I have to come here to get contracts for vampires and Lilithians which means I have to interact with these people more. Eventually one of them will get touchy feeling and get a little more than he bargained for. Then I am called a troon or a tranny and I have to explain to them that I don’t fit in their binary world. It’s tiresome and even more so when I have to do it in a diplomatic way. So instead, I shove it in their face when they get curious but before they grab my crotch in some sort of drunken version of whatever it is they were thinking.”
“Sounds like a common problem you have,” Jake mentioned, “Sorry that you have to go through that.”
“At least you aren’t the jerk-face that runs this place,” Kyra jutted her chin to the inner door of the vestibule, “Who asked why I didn’t have the problem fixed as a kid.”
“Is it a problem?” Jake questioned as Kyra offered him the bottle again.
He took a drink as she answered, “Nice, you are in for a lot of firsts tonight. You’re the first person here who asked me that question. I don’t consider it a problem. It’s society that has a problem with me.”
Jake handed back the bottle to Kyra, “It’s a problem with society.”
Kyra let out a heavy sigh, “I am going to wait for Mara outside,” They pushed themselves off the wall, “You are welcome to come and help me finish off the bottle.” They shook the mostly empty whiskey bottle that they had a death grip around the neck.
“Someone’s got to keep you from getting alcohol poisoning,” Jake nodded and pushed himself off the wall to follow the intersex person out the front door.
