A little something of the story of kRaven meeting the city’s Real superhero.
Hello, again Damn Write! readers! It’s supposed to be getting cooler but around here it is still hot and bothering. Watching the coverage for the Carolinas about Hurricane Florence and hoping it doesn’t get any worse.
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This week we have a sample from the third kRaveings book Star Power. This is the story about when kRaven has a visit from a large and costumed dweller of the city and things don’t exactly click between them. It also shows to kRaven, Mirakoshi, and even The Star that something very dark is happening and they need to get to the bottom of it. The Whole story is available for 99 Cents at ebook retailers and links will be at the end of the article. Enjoy the sample and please visit your favorite retailer and enjoy the whole thing!
kRaveings: Star Power
Book 3
by: Soul Tsukino
The doors to the Coldwater Chief Medical Examiner’s office flung open as kRaven exited the building. While the people who usually entered and exited the building would be uniformed police officers and business attired investigators, the former super villain clad in black leather and bright pink, with dark sunglasses covering his eyes, stood out. He would normally be aware of this, even if he wouldn’t do anything about it. But today, he didn’t care.
Close behind him floating in the air just above the stairs was Mirakoshi. The ghostly form followed just behind kRaven. Although his ghostly appearance of a kabuki faced specter with long red hair and robes covered in ancient Japanese scripture would be a sight to send people running, his appearance was only experienced by those he wished to see him. Since that list tended to be rather short, most around the city never knew of his existence.
Normally these two would be conversing, often with kRaven full of sarcasm, but right now neither of them had much to say. Although both had memories filled with death before, what they had seen had taken their voice and clung in their minds like a dark force.
Earlier in the day a police car arrived at the old empty clothing factory they had called home. It had happened many times for kRaven in the past, but this time it was for a different reason. Chief Donnally, the head of the Coldwater Police Department, had arrived and after some small talk requested that they come to the Medical Examiner’s office to help in the investigation of a body that had been recovered earlier. kRaven was surprised, seeing as he wasn’t the detective type, but the chief had said he would explain everything to them both on the way over to the morgue.
The story the police chief had given them was that earlier that morning a body had been reported very auspiciously dumped in front of City Hall. It hadn’t taken the police very long to find out that the body was that of Missy Horgenstern, the 18 year old daughter of a very prominent state politician. When word had leaked of this, the pressure was on for the city’s police department to find the killers as quickly as possible. Being one of the select few who even knew of the ghostly Mirakoshi’s existence, let alone able to see him, Chief Donnally thought that bringing the unusual duo to this case would be to the police’s benefit. kRaven thought to himself things must really be bad if the police were contacting them for help.
When they arrived, the chief had made it clear that no one was to disturb them in the room where the body was being stored. kRaven wasn’t sure why Donnally made such a demand, but if Donnally wanted Mirakoshi to do what he did best, maybe having the girl “come back to life” might not be something the others would be able to handle. Or maybe he just didn’t want to go through the hassle of explaining just what the three of them would be doing to the morgue workers or the Chief Medical Examiner.
However, when the door to the exam room closed, and the sheet was pulled back all thoughts and jokes stopped. The condition of the form lying on the table in front of them quickly told the story that this girl did not go peacefully into the night. kRaven was not prepared for the condition of this poor young woman. Donnally pointed out some of the more obviously bruises and wounds Missy had suffered, including a number of bruises on her face and around her eyes, as well as the marks around her throat signifying she very well could have been strangled to death. There were burn marks and scratches on her arms to match the rest of her horrible condition.
After looking her over and adjusting to the sight of her condition, kRaven looked to Mirakoshi who had a similar shocked look on his marked white face. Mirakoshi knew what he had to do, even though he more than the other two understood just what he was about to experience.
Fading from view and flowing in a mystic form to the girl’s empty vessel, Chief Donnally was taken aback when the girl’s eyes opened, and she sat up on the table. kRaven noticed the growing petrifying look developing on the girl’s face.
“How bad is it?” He asked.
“It… it’s worse than you could imagine,” Mirakoshi replied hauntingly in the girl’s soft voice.
While kRaven read the expression developing on the girl’s face, Mirakoshi was reliving the girl’s memories in his mind. He could tell the Chief was not nearly as prepared for this as he thought he was. Donnally’s pale and frozen face told the story. kRaven reached out and snapped his fingers a few times.
“Chief, Chief, stay with us. You’re the one who brought us here.”
Donnally snapped back to attention and cleared his head before he picked up his recorder. He pressed the button, looking at the face that had been still only a few moments before.
“Whenever you are ready.”
The tale Mirakoshi told was one that was in no way pleasant. The girl had been snatch off the street two days before while walking home. She had nearly made it when a car had cut her off and two men had jumped out and grabbed her. She had fought and struggled but was no match. She didn’t recognize the two men, only knowing they both wore suits and one was blond with a beard while one was more heavy set and bald. She had been hit several times in the head making her weak and less resistant. Mirakoshi told through the girl’s voice that she had been taken to a large empty building where she was chained and tied, unable to escape. She had struggled, but that was when the abuse began.
Mirakoshi told of how these men never explained anything as to why, only brief mention of her father were ever said to her. She had been beaten, burned, even tortured. She had been sexually assaulted and humiliated without knowing the reason. Finally, her end came late last night when the last memory in the girl’s mind was a tightening cord wrapping out her throat and gasping her last breath as her spirit left her.
With the haunting tale told Missy, lay back gently on the table and gave a last exhale as Mirakoshi left the form, much more peacefully than her own parting. Chief Donnally stopped the recording and released his own breath.
“What will be your next step in this investigation?” Mirakoshi asked as the spirit hovered next to kRaven.
“This, what we did here, can’t be used directly as evidence. Even in this town no judge would believe me if I explained it. But I can use this to look around. Two guys in suits taking someone like this and not going for ransom or anything, this was a hit. The only question is who put out the hit and why. We’ve got some digging to do to find these two assholes and who gave them the order, but this is the thing that will be a big step in solving this, even if it is under the table.”
“Whatever it takes,” kRaven stated.
“Yeah,” Donnally answered back. “As much as I’d like this to be by the books, the state and the media are coming down hard on us. These guys are up on so many charges, if we can prove it.”
“We could take-”
“No,” The chief cut kRaven off. “If you, Star, or anyone else got into this publically, then those vultures in the media will just say we sent you out to do our dirty work. The Governor would have our head, let alone this girl’s father if we screw up and these guys get off scot free.”
“It is understood,” Mirakoshi said as kRaven huffed. “However, we will be more than willing to assist if you contact us.”
“Right,” kRaven added.
With the grim task done, both were offered a ride back home, but kRaven declined. Standing at the foot of the stairs, Mirakoshi looked to his companion.
“What do you wish to do?”
kRaven didn’t answer right away as he looked into the city. Finally, he let out a loud sigh.
“Screw it I’m taking a cab,” He said in a downtrodden voice.
Mirakoshi nodded. “If you do not mind, I will meet you back at your residence.”
“That’s fine,” kRaven responded.
The ghost lifted off and floated away as kRaven flagged down a passing taxi. kRaven got into the back seat.
“Where are we going?” The cabbie asked.
“Old factory district,” kRaven replied.
“All right,” The heavy set man with grey hair and beard replied.
As the car sped off, kRaven was just content to stare out the window. He couldn’t get the thought of what happened to Missy out of his head. He felt the desire to just kick in some doors and slaughter these two guys with no questions asked.
“You gonna be okay buddy?” The cabby asked.
kRaven snapped out of his thought and looked up to the rear view mirror, seeing a reflecting of the driver’s face.
“Yeah, got a lot on my mind.”
The driver, who kRaven saw on the small license on the back of the seat was named Henderson, looked back at him from the mirror.
“People coming out of that place usually do. Was it a relative or a friend?”
kRaven shook his head, “Neither. It was a victim. She…didn’t deserve what she got.”
“You mean Horgenstern’s daughter? Yeah. I heard about that. She was a nice girl. Real smart. Why would anyone want to do anything to her I’ll never understand,” Henderson lamented.
“There are some real evil people in this city,” kRaven said. “And they don’t always have to wear loud outfits and have plans to take over the world.”
Henderson looked up, “Are you one of those hero guys? You don’t look like someone who’d get mix up in something like that otherwise.”
kRaven chuckled a little, “I guess so. Not feeling very much like it right now though.”
“Hey, now,” Henderson interrupted. “If you are helping to find out what happened to Missy, then you are good enough in my book.”
“Thanks.”
“I gotta think The Star will probably have something to say about this too. Wonder what he’s gonna do.”
“I’m not sure either,” kRaven said coming short of saying what Chief Donnally told him and Mirakoshi.
As the cab made its way towards kRaven’s home, his mind tinkered with what he was going to do, what he wanted to do, and what he was supposed to do. It just wasn’t as simple as “go get the bad guy” this time around.
“It’s kinda funny really,” Henderson said. “I can’t stand her old man. About as crooked a guy as you can be. But Missy, she was a straight arrow. As good a kid as you got. Took her around town a bunch of times.”
kRaven looked up from his seat, “Been out of the loop of all that stuff for a while. What is going on with her father?”
“Sig Horgenstern? Pretty worthless as a politician really. Never gets anything done unless someone’s greasing his palm first. He’s always got people accusing him of doing something, taking bribes, skimming money, and that kind of stuff. He’s in the back pocket of all kinds of people. Never stood for anything unless he could get something out of it.”
“That great of a guy, huh?” kRaven asked.
“No one knows who he’s been tied up with lately. The paper the other day said he was hanging around with some of those gun lobbyists. Like this place needed more guns. People have been saying he runs around with the mob and drug runners.”
kRaven was making a mental note of what Henderson was saying to him.
“Seems like the papers are making more money just following him around and seeing what he’s up to. But now… you gotta feel bad even for him, being a father and all. Have a daughter myself.”
“Yeah, even a guy like him has to have a heart for his own kid,” kRaven agreed.
“The thing about it was,” Henderson said. “Missy didn’t want to deal with him a whole lot. She told me a bunch of times that she wanted to be her own person and not just his daughter. She read the same stuff everyone else did, and didn’t care what he did. She just wanted to live her own life.”
Henderson paused for a moment
“You don’t think this had something to do with her old man, do you?”
kRaven sighed. “I wish I could say no.”
“Aw, jeez,” Henderson said getting solemn. “That isn’t right.”
kRaven mentally thought that was a big understatement.
The cab turned onto a street and the old buildings and vacant lots of the dilapidated factory district of Coldwater appeared.
“Right up at the corner all the way down,” kRaven pointed.
“That old place? I remember when that was the Silver Stardust factory back in the 70’s. Had my first job in that place.”
“It’s seen better days.”
Henderson pulled the cab up to the front gate as kRaven dug out some money from his long coat pocket.
“Here ya go,” kRaven said handing over the fare.
“Hey, you take it easy. Do whatever you gotta do. You guys find out what happened to Missy and give whoever it was who did it all kinds of hell for it,” Henderson said. “I’m going to give my daughter a call.”
“Best to you, too,” kRaven said getting out of the car.
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You can read the rest for yourself on your own Ereader by visiting
Now, before I go I want to point anyone reading this towards a special little pup who is part of the family of a friend of mine. I have not had the chance to meet her personally, but Bailey isn’t feeling too good and she needs some help. Poor Bailey could use the kindness of strangers so if you are reading this, I ask you to give her a little love and help her and Jen out. She has had a rough one so far so she could use the help. You can donate to her and her human Jen HERE.
Read Cityscape Tokyo to find out how the two teens and their guardian have to survive and watch out for each other when the company’s dark past comes back to haunt the kids and their guardian once again and make for an incredible adventure in Cityscape Tokyo! Now available on the Bull Moose website!
http://www.bullmoose.com/p/24827899/soul-tsukino-cityscape-tokyo
You can also find my other work HERE
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