Chapter 57 - Owl'd

Harry quietly walked through the street, of New York, upset and conflicted with the way Kali was treating him. He wasn't a fragile toy that would break if held too tightly, just because he might have problems with crowds, or talking to strangers, doesn't mean he wouldn't eventually grow out of it...

Kali thought that he couldn't comfortably talk to someone without having power over them, she was wrong!... There was...

There was...

He blanked out, unable to name a single person who he didn't directly or indirectly hold power over. Kali was literally bound to him by both loyalty and rituals, Nanthisk via the familiar bond, Adebayo and Panya were his 'servants' that he'd forcefully inducted into his service at Kali's insistence...

He was smart, he could recognise the pattern here... Despite that, he felt no need to rectify it. Call him stubborn, but if he had no power over someone he'd rather not talk to them in the first place... Without power, strength, you were the victim, not them.

"Master, why don't we look at the game store? See if there's anything new to get?"

Harry shakes his head, "No..."

Kali lets out a sigh, "Are you still upset about earlier?"

"No." he curtly replies, revealing that yes, he was still upset.

"You know as well as I do-"

"Stop." he states, focussing on something happening a couple blocks away. He suddenly begins running, sprinting through the crowds of people towards a man running with a large purse tucked under his arm.

"Since when do you play hero, Master!?" Kali exclaims as she holds onto his shoulder.

He ignores her, continuing to run until he follows the thief down an alleyway. A few twists and turns later, and he finds himself standing opposite a large Turkish-looking man who was breathing heavily. "W-who are you? Whaddya want kid?" the man grouses while sucking in air.

Harry grips the man's leg with telekinesis and flings him into a nearby wall, dashing his head on a nearby wall and knocking him senseless before he's returned back to the ground. He then approaches the groggy man with a scowl on his face, Kali flaps her wings and lands on a fire escape staircase, observing the rather random actions of her charge.

"huuhhh... Y-you, l-eave me alone!" the thief says as Harry walks towards him, unfortunately finding his body held in place by an invisible force.

*Thud!*

Harry kicks him in the rib, then the face, then many other parts of his body seemingly without a goal in mind... Simply intent on causing pain.

*Thud!*

*Thud!*

*Thud!*

"P-lease, stop! I-I'll return the bag, just stop!"

Harry sends a hard kick to the man's face in response, knocking some teeth from his mouth, "You like to steal? Good, so do I." he says, face neutral against the man's look of sheer terror.

With blood pooling below the man's beaten and exhausted body, Harry slides his foot across the floor as he walks around him, slowly drawing a circle of blood. He then draws a demonic symbol on the man's forehead before turning to look expectantly at Kali.

She flies down in her bat form, allowing a drop of blood to fall on the symbol which causes it to glow. She wasn't really sure what Harry was doing, but she didn't care enough to try and prevent it.

After some more preparation the circle flashes with red light, but quickly dissipates, the ritual clearly malfunctioning.

Harry growls under his breath, irritated at it not working. He draws another circle, attempting the same thing again, and failing for the second time. "Just work." he scowls.

He repeats this two more times, failing the same number, eventually causing him to lose his temper. "Fine, then I'll just take something else!"

He puts a hand to the floor and summons stone spikes from the cement floor of the alleyway, forcing them to rip through the thief's flesh. He gives a muffled scream that's cut off as his throat and lungs are pierced, quickly killing him.

Harry then pulls out a knife and goes to work harvesting the things of interest... Particularly, his heart, skull with brain and eyes intact, all marred with desperation, fear, and a gentle sprinkling of animosity from the innocent.

He careful stores all the materials and looks to his shoulder where Kali had just landed, still not saying anything.

"Have you got it all out of your system, master?" she inquires with a knowing look in her beady little eyes.

"Got it out of my system? I was just taking the opportunity to gather some materials. Things I might need if I want to study the Necronomicon properly." he defensively replies.

Kali hums, "Yet the anger and frustration you were feeling as you tortured that man may have altered the properties of your materials. Not a mistake you would usually make, master."

Harry shakes his head, using some magic to cleanse the blood and other bodily fluids from his hands and arms. "I said I'm fine." he firmly states, wordlessly tossing a fireball on the corpse to prevent anyone from discovering what he'd done.

"Wait... I know what this is, my little master is finally experiencing his 'teenage angst' stage!" she wonders aloud.

"No." he sharply retorts.

"Which is exactly what an angsty teenager would say!" she teases, knowing there's more to it but eagerly taking the opportunity to lighten the mood.

At the sound of sirens, most likely to search for the police... Or due to the plumes of black smoke released from the corpse, the duo skedaddle, entering the main street to blend in with the crowd.

During all of this however, the sound of fluttering reaches Harry and Kali's ears...

"Did you invite one of your bat-buddies, Kali?" Harry asks as he glances around, only to be greeted by an owl that suddenly lands on his opposite shoulder.

"No master, this one is for you it seems. Look, it even brought you a gift, how lovely." she says, gesturing her wing at the letter tied to its leg.