Natasha was riding in the passenger seat with her headphones on. She looked to be in her own world at the moment taking in the view of Pittsburgh as you enter into the city. It is quite a view the first time you come in, and I thought of the times as a kid coming here to watch Pirates games with my dad. It was always an adventure to drive the distance to the big city. I was there lost in my memories when she spoke up making me jump a little.

"So what's the plain?" She asked.

"The plan is simple, to try to track down what had been causing all the disappearances. If we can we will deal with it, otherwise we will just try to get anyone there to safety," I replied. "I got lucky the other night and was able to track whatever is behind this to an old steel mill. It is watched by a security guard that makes rounds between a few other locations in town. So we should be able to get into the place unnoticed."

"Since it is still a few hours until dark, I thought we could go get you checked into the hotel. You probably want to leave some of your stuff behind and get a bite to eat. The hotel is located in the middle of a shopping area so there good selection of places to eat, and we can walk to there so you can stretch your legs back out."

"Is Pittsburgh famous for some type of food?" she asked.

I couldn't help but smile at that question. "You probably will be familiar with Pittsburgh's local food. Most of it is Eastern European in origin. You might be familiar with the pirogies and Halušky. There is a local restaurant near the hotel that serves both."

It was about that time that we turned to cross the bridge that led into the waterfront area in Homestead. Below the bridge you could see all the shops and restaurants running along the river underneath. It never ceased to amaze me how many bridges existed in the city. I have been told once that there are over 1500 of them in the county and I could easily believe it.

We chatted about the local history and I tried to remember what little I could from so long ago. The last time I lived here, the place I we were pulling into did not exist. For that matter, nor did either of the new stadiums downtown. A lot changed but I could still hear the city calling me to come back home.

Finally we pulled into the hotel, and it was only a matter of a few minutes before we got checked in. The front desk person had difficulty understanding Natasha's accented English. I loaded the luggage onto a cart and led her to her room. It was a suite like mine, with a living/kitchenette area in one room and the private bedroom/bath. We moved her stuff into the room and then we agreed to meet downstairs in a half an hour for food and to talk seriously about the night ahead.

As I headed off to my own room, I started playing over the facts again in my head. At least 12 homeless had disappeared in the past three months if the other homeless were to be trusted. Some said that one of their own was murdering them, but those details were conflicting at best. Then there was the event that got me looking into it, a teenage girl had disappeared from around the same area three nights ago and her friend had been killed, brutally.

Also playing on the area was a series of bizarre mechanical failures and accidents. So far no one had been seriously hurt, but they seemed to be getting more deadly each time. The last one was a bus that had just received new brakes that morning, losing them on a hill barely missing a kid in a stroller before slamming into a abandoned building. Somehow the two of them had to be connected.

Awwww. I like your accent.

Although I'm hardly unbiased

Dinner was interesting. I have never heard the history of Russia related the way that Natasha told it. I grew up reading about it from the history books, but there was an American slant to everything because the cold war was not quite finished. We also finalized our plans for checking out the abandoned steel mill.

We were going to time the security guard's first round and then go in after he when by the second time. That way we would know how much time we would have before he returned. The area was fairly deserted at night so I didn't see anyone else bothering us. It took another hour and half for the guard to make his rounds, so I figured we had about the same until he would be back to check again. I had learned to trust my abilities to help me track things supernatural, so I was sure that we could confirm if that was the problem quickly. That would leave us plenty of time to deal with it and get out again.

I Thought between the two of us, I was the better prepared for combat. The thought of that worried me, because I only have basic training. I had brought the shotgun, my unique handgun, knife, sword and plenty of ammo. I would take point as I could not willingly put Natasha in the way of harm before me. There is that much to my login.

By the time we left the restaurant the sun had gone down past the hills and the city was starting to embrace the night. We did a final check of our equipment and headed towards the location.

The wards caught me completely off guard when Natasha finally did start putting them to use. One thing this adventure taught me was that there is more than one way to fight. I will never underestimate her ability again.

The plant itself was old, built back before automation took over the more dangerous jobs in a steel mill. I wondered how many people had lost their lives forging steel in this forgotten place. I could see where railroad tracks once fed the mill with raw materials, and then carried away the finished product. There was a decaying rail car parked along it's tracks, and garbage that had accumulated over the years scattered about.

Anyways, entering the fenced in area was not difficult. The fence was put up probably in the 60's and rust had claimed parts of it over the years. Likewise the buildings it enclosed looked neglected. Only the roof over the refining plant still had plating, the rest was opened up to the night sky.

We crossed the yard towards the plant and entered.

I might of looked relaxed, but I felt like a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Once we were about halfway to the entrance of the remaining building, I could feel the presence of multiple creatures. Most were right around us, but one seemed to be a little further away. I was not able to make mind focus enough to get a better idea, but I knew they were there.

I asked Natasha if she was ready. There was a slight pause before she replied, and in that moment I almost called it off until there were more of us. However, when she did respond her voice was one of calm determination.

When we entered it took a minute for my eyes to adjust to the lower light, and the sides of the building muffled the sounds of the city. My eyes have always seemed more at ease in the darkness, and the grey shapes finally settled into the old equipment of a mill. I turned on the flashlight at the end of my shotgun and red light brought more definition to equipment.

I reached into my jacket pocket, grabbed the flashlight there and turned it on. It's red beam was added to the first and I handed it to Natasha. I smiled as I quietly said, "A friend of mine was an amateur astronomer. The red light doesn't mess with your night vision."

It was when we had got about 30 feet into the place when the first noises above started. At first it was a scurrying, as if rats where in the rafters. Then, it took on a more ominous sound as metal began to creek and groan. I quickly shouldered my shotgun and pulled the pistol, knowing that the range was too far for the shotgun to be effective. I turned the smaller red light attached to the pistol up on the rafters and began searching for the source of the noise.

It was lucky that I did because no sooner than I looked up, I caught the sight of a metal i-beam coming down at us. I pushed Natasha one way and dove the other as the metal crashed down between us. The scurrying resumed and seemed to head off in a half dozen directions. I tried to follow one of the noises but only caught shadows moving.

Natasha seemed to be looking in the other direction. Probably following a different set of noises. I had almost gave up when an odd looking creature ran right through my light. I let my reflexes work and did fired a double tap at the creature.

The afterglow of the shots I fired were still in my eyes, and it was after this night that I applied to get the suppressors that I now own. The heavy thud on the ground told me that I at least winged the creature enough to cause it to fall. When the light fell on it I saw that it was a creature of about two feet tall. It looked like an imp from fantasy books, and seemed more terrified of me than combative. It was then that I heard Natasha calling my name.

"It's some sort of imp-like creature. I think there are more up in the rafters of this place."

The pause was all the creature needed and ran back into the darkness. I let it go, knowing that the shots would just mess up our night vision again. I did not want to do that unless necessary. We needed to know what we where dealing with.

I closed my eyes briefly and concentrated once more. This time the ability I was grasping for opened up to me. There were the four things above but they moving away quickly. The imp creature and his friends. I could also now feel two other presences below us somehow. I opened my eyes back up to the darkness and looked at Natasha.

"I think we need to find a way down. But be on your guard, because there are at least three things down there that could be dangerous. I can track them for now, but they are probably doing the same to us."

After Natasha agreed to move on we started looking for a way down. I watched as the light played over bits of metal and garbage on the ground. I noticed worn graffiti on the walls and support beams, showing that teens or gangs had once used this place. The empty bottles, rags, and empty food containers spoke of homeless taking shelter here once.

I was starting to think there was not a way down when I heard Natasha call my name. I moved over to her side of the mill and saw what made her call out. She was trying to move an old piece of sheet metal off of a railing. Between the two of us, we were able to lift it just enough to slide it out of the way. It was apparent that something or someone had tried hard to disguise this entrance to a basement level.

The two creatures were closer but still away from our location, but three rats scurried away from the light as we looked down the stairs. From where we stood it looked like the steps led to a storage room. There were exposed pipes running along the stairs, probably once carrying water and steam throughout the plant. The stairs themselves were metal and looked to still be reliable despite the flecks of rust on them. I told Natasha to cover my decent and started slowly down the stairs, hoping that they didn't collapse under my weight.

As soon as my feet had touched the solid ground I let out a breath of relief. I don't care for heights and having stairs wobble got my nerves keyed up. The area looked preserved to me. If the lights had worked I would have sworn I walked into the past. Natasha moved a little into the room when I felt one of the creatures moving rapidly towards us. The distance it was coming from gave us time, but we were going to have to act fast. I glanced in the direction it was in and noticed the door.

I got Natasha's attention and signalled. I hope she would understand what I was trying to say. I started in the direction of the door, hoping to get set up to ambush it. Whatever it was, it was moving faster than me and was going to get there first. I picked up my pace and hoped that Natasha would be getting herself ready. There was no time for a pretty plan now, just brute strength. I broke into my full speed and hit the door with my shoulder.

The creature was one that I had seen before. I had killed its twin in the woods a few weeks prior. I levelled and fired three shots into its charging bulk. However, the creature still hit me as the third blast went off. It made enough contact to make me lose my balance and fall onto my back.

Woot! Go Natasha! *Cheers!*

It is better than some I have heard.

Bert_the_Turtle wrote:It is better than some I have heard.

SSPPPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!

NOT IN THE FACE!!!

FOR FREEDOM, JUSTICE AND PIZZA!!!!!!

CRY FWEEP AND LOOSE THE HAMSTERS OF MISCHIEF!!!