"A Question of the Past" A "Nick Shadow" Short Story

“Shadows: Stories of a Hunter”, Part Two

Griffang Shaw set the Japanese sword he was polishing and set it on a shelf behind the counter in his small shop. Absent-mindedly polishing the counter, his bright green eyes flicked around the room. Swords, knives, crossbows, spears, pikes, and numerous other ancient weapons filled the front of the shop. Near the back the shop the technology drastically switched to pistols and rifles of all sizes and eras. Along the very back wall were shelves stacked high with boxes of bullets. A stack of metal barrels to one side contained Griffang’s supply of gunpowder.
Griffang finished polishing the countertop and sat on the barstool to one side of the counter. The shop was barely 72 degrees, but Griffang shivered at the breeze drifting in from an open back window. Standing up and walking to the window, he looked down the street in both directions. One nice thing about living in the down sector of Atlantia, no one really bothered him.
Walking slowly back to his barstool, his eyes glowed for a second, and brown fur suddenly sprouted all over his body. He smiled slightly, revealing a row of sharp canine fangs. That was much better, much warmer. He could never get used to living without his fur.
Scratching his chin thoughtfully with the claw on his index finger, Griffang sat down on his stool and reached for his cloth and a long Egyptian-style knife under the counter. He spun the short blade a few times, admiring its weight and size. Griffang didn’t just sell weapons; he knew how to use every weapon in his shop.
A prickling of his hackles alerted him to a visitor even before the door to his shop opened. By the time the person had set a foot inside the shop, Griffang looked like a normal human. Given of course he was seven-foot-six and unusually hairy, but no fangs or claws or anything especially unusual.
“That’s a good blade.”
The voice was soft, but deadpan, as if there was no life behind the person who spoke. Griffang had only heard one person come into his shop who sounded like that. Reverting to his animal-like form again, Griffang looked up and showed his fangs in a feral grin.
“Nick Shadow!”
Nick, dressed in his typical black T-shirt, jacket, and worn jeans, smiled back with his own fanged smile.
“Hello, Griff. I need re-supplied with my usual order.”
Griffang nodded and headed towards a large barrel at the front of the store, next to the display of Japanese Sais. Pulling out two bundles of wooden stakes, he set them on the counter next to Nick.
“How are those bullets I sold you holding up?”
“I haven’t had the need to use them yet, but when I do, I shall tell you how it goes.”
Griffang nodded, and started rummaging through boxes under the wall of archery implements for a box of crossbow cords. He had a question he wanted to ask Nick, but he was hesitant to ask the Vampire hunter about his hidden past.
A week ago a cop, or at least Griffang had assumed it was a cop based on his constant questions, had entered his shop and asked him about a police officer that had gone missing.
Turned out, especially after a demon called “Legion” had been discovered possessing an officer in an attempt to murder the head one of Atlantia’s task forces, the Atlantia Police Department was looking into any officers who were missing or deceased as of forty years back.
Up until now, Griffin had followed Nick’s lead in ignoring Nick’s past. But with the probing of the officer and the weight of his own curiosity, Griffang felt driven to bring up the subject.
“Hey, ah… Nick, I was wondering… How are you paying for all this stuff?”
Nick looked up from the glass counter-front full of small knives. He looked slightly confused, as confused as a half-dead Vampire hunter could look.
“I thought you were giving me the stakes where free.”
Griffang nodded, “Yeah I am, but…” He gestured to Nick’s black Pontiac GTO parked outside.
“How do you pay for gas for that thing? I mean, your clothes... I know you don’t have to eat or sleep, which cuts on costs, but what about the rest of it?”
Nick nodded, his sharp smile flickering back across his face.
“I see. I trust you Griff, so I will tell you. You know that about 47 years ago I was attacked by a Vampire and turned into what I am now. Before I was changed I was an Atlantia Police Officer, and a good one at that.”
“That explains why the cops have been asking about officers that disappeared forty years ago. But you couldn’t have saved up that much just on a simple cop’s salary.”
Nick picked up the Egyptian-style sword and ran a careful eye over the blade.
“No, I didn’t, but I did have quite a bit saved up. The nice thing about being a Vampire hunter, and being completely off any of the official records, is that Vampires like to turn people who have power and resources. So every once in a while I find a rich Undead, and after I kill him I can take some, if not all, of his money and riches to fund my own endeavors.”
Griffang nodded, he understood that. What would a permanently dead Vampire need money for? And with Nick being dead to al intents and purposes, it would be almost impossible to track him down.
“I see.”
Nick looked curiously at Griffang. “There were officers looking for me?”
“Not really looking for you, looking for any officer who had disappeared or died as of 40 years ago.”
“Ah, because of the whole Legion affair, no doubt.”
“Yes, after Legion tried to kill Officer Wolvest, the whole Force has been on Supernatural Alert or something!”
“But they will look in all the wrong places. Officer Wolvest is aware of me and my intentions, and will point their investigations in the wrong direction until they get tired of the chase and give up.”
Griffang walked Nick to the door, carrying the bundles of stakes.
“I guess you’re right. Just be careful out there, OK?”
Nick and Griffang put the stakes and crossbow cords in the back seat of the GTO. They shook hands before Nick got into the car.
“Thanks Griff. I’ll most likely be back in a week or two for some more equipment.”
“Any time, Shadow. Watch your back, may your fangs stay sharp.”
“May your fur never fall out.”
Nick gunned the GTO’s engine and drove off down the street.
Griffang turned an entered his shop. Nick was one of the most interesting characters he had met. He would have to earn more about the mysterious Vampire hunter later on. Maybe he can ask him more when he comes back… Maybe…