"I'm finished with this one, Grace. Has someone from the funeral home called about picking her up?"
"There's a note on your desk from Hayes Brothers about picking up the deceased. And Det. Knight called, asking if you had found anything."
Natalie smiled sadly. "No more than with the others. This murderer is about as familiar with forensic procedures as I am. I could swear he bathes them before he dumps them."
"I think he does." Natalie and Grace turned to the source of the unknown voice. Capt. Cohen was standing in the doorway flanked by a woman neither had seen before. The woman's crisp three piece suit and perfectly coifed golden hair made Natalie feel even more rumpled than she really was. Her cold gray eyes examined Natalie with the detachment of a doctor examining a lab specimen . "And I suspect he has quite a bit of knowledge of, if not forensics, than at least police procedures. In each case, all traces of where the victim had been and who she had been with had been totally cleaned away."
"Dr. Lambert, may I present Special Agent Alice Morgan of the FBI's Behavioral Sciences Division. The Crown Prosecutor has agreed to allow her to observe our investigation."
"Why? Toronto isn't within the FBI's jurisdiction." Removing her lab coat, Natalie tried to fight back the unease she felt in this woman's presence.
"It seems your slasher has attacked women in several large cities in the U.S. as well as in Canada. It was determined that since our investigation was already quite developed, that it might speed up the process of his capture if we shared our information. We've been working on a profile of the killer ever since we became aware of the similarities in the cases. His pattern of movement suggests he will move his operation when the authorities here get too close. Or when he gets bored." Alice eyed the sheet covering the latest victim dispassionately. She gestured to a stack of files on the desk behind Grace. "Have you run a background check on all your victims.?"
"We are in the process of doing that right now. Is there something we should know?" Capt. Cohen watched the FBI agent circumnavigate the table, lifting the sheet from the corpse to take in all the abuse that had been heaped upon the unfortunate woman before she had been killed.
"I think you'll find that she has a police record. Most likely involved in a case where children suffered because of her actions. Child abuse or child endangerment have been the cases most victims have been involved in. Two of the victims in Washington State were on parole for injuries to their children. One woman in New York had been involved in a drunk driving accident where she was responsible for the deaths of a father and his three year old son. The others had similar backgrounds. And one other point. All the women were on parole."
"Sounds like our man is a vigilante, trying to extract justice where he thinks none existed before." Everyone in the room turned, startled by the sound of Nick's voice. He had walked in so quietly that no one had seen him until he spoke. No one except Agent Morgan, who examined him curiously, as though she could see something about him the others could not. "Hi, I'm Det. Nick Night. I didn't know we were going to have company on this investigation." He reached to shake hands with the silent agent, then drew his hand back, confused. The woman's hand had been cold as ice and strong, far stronger than her physical appearance would have led him to believe. It had almost been like shaking hands with another vampire, yet he could hear a heartbeat, slow and muted, but definitely there. Something about this woman just wasn't right.
"Not company, just an informed observer. Part of an agreement of joint cooperation between our two federal law enforcement agencies. You will, of course, still be in charge of the investigation. I'm just here to kibitz." Alice flipped the sheet back over the body's face and motioned for the others to proceed her out the door. She stopped just inside the entrance, allowing the others to exit ahead of her. As Knight walked out the door, she motioned him to one side. "By the way, Det. Knight, can I speak with you for a moment, privately. We need to work out how this joint effort will be organized. It won't take but a minute." Nick nodded motioning to Natalie not to wait for him. He eyed the American agent curiously.
"Is there something you need to tell me, Agent Morgan? Something not related to the case?"
Alice watched the far door close, making sure that no one was close enough to hear her, "Does the Toronto Police Dept. know that they have a vampire investigating a serial murderer?"
Nick stared at her, stunned "What are you talking about?'
"Just a question, Detective. No need for you to get nervous. It's not like your the first of your kind I've ever met. I just find it interesting that you're a homicide detective. Isn't that likely to create some conflicts of interest?"
"You're mistaken." Nick concentrated, trying to use the force of his will to erase her knowledge. Alice just smiled and patted him on the shoulder.
"That won't work with me, Knight. I'm one of those people that just won't go under. Sorry! Oh, and before you warn me about your Enforcers, don't bother. I've run across them before. Silly ass lot, most of them couldn't find there heads if they weren't firmly attached. We came to a guarded understanding ages ago. After all, they have to sleep sometime too." Alice walked off, mildly amused at the turmoil she had caused. "Serves him right. Silly boy has caused the community enough sleepless days with his pursuit of humanity. Kahn will laugh himself silly when I tell him about it." She fingered the ankh on her lapel, thinking fondly of her Egyptian friend, one of the oldest of the undead. He would find any discomfort felt by Nick Knight to be very well deserved, even though he had much sympathy for the young man. She thought back to the conversation she had with her old friend before leaving for Toronto.
FLASHBACK
"Any fledgling who had Lucien for a master can't have had too many good experiences with the Dark Gift." Kanh had said, reading once again the information Alice had found for him after the Enforcers last meeting with Knight. "But he obviously has not thought the consequences of his actions through to their bitter end. I hope for his sake this is a passing thing, yet I fear his need for humanity may lead to his death, and the death of innocents. Even I, as old and powerful as I am, can not keep the Enforcers completely away from him forever."
"That's his problem, not yours. Or more precisely, that's Lucien's problem. " Alice had replied, settling on the divan opposite from him. Their visits in his home tended to be short and to the point. Kahn preferred his rooms filled with incense and as much as she loved the scent, it had a tendency to make her sneeze. "Personally, I don't see the attraction to humanity. It's not as if human kind hasn't been equally as bloodthirsty for as little good reason as vampire kind has. Being human doesn't automatically absolve you from past sins, and it sure isn't a cure for future ones. I think he's forgotten what it is to be human, with all the emotions and impulses, good and bad, that go with that existence."
"You're probably right, my dear. But he must learn for himself. As I said before, he's not my fledgling."
RETURN
A sound at her side recalled Alice to the present, her conversation with the ancient vampire still echoing in her head. "What were we saying? Oh yes, the Enforcers. Don't worry, they have bigger fish to fry than you. Right now, our main objective must be finding this murderer before he strikes again." She looked down at her watch, then started off down the hall. " I have an appointment to keep. We'll talk later." She disappeared through a doorway, leaving a confused Knight in her wake.
It was just almost sunrise before Nick was able to share his disturbing conversation with Natalie.
"She WHAT!!!" Natalie stared at Nick in stunned disbelief.
"She knows what I am. Agent Morgan knows about the vampire community. And she knows about the Enforcers." Nick paced his loft anxiously, wishing he could risk a drink from the bottles in the refrigerator. "What's more, they know about her. And, before you ask, no she's not a vampire either. She's not human but she's not a vampire."
"How can you tell she's not human?"
"Her heartbeat's wrong, and her body temperature is too low. I'm not sure what exactly she is, but it's not human."
Pt.2
The Raven
Janette scanned the crowed at the Raven with a jaundiced eye. There seemed to be the same mix of vampires and mortals there always was, nothing new or exciting. She sipped her blood and wine, bored with the music and press of people. *Toronto is so bourgeois.* she thought to herself, grimacing at the taste of cold blood. *Paris is so beautiful. How I wish Nicola and I were there again.* Suddenly a wave of fear poured over her. An old one, a vampire of extreme age had entered her establishment and had wanted her to know it. Looking up, she saw that both Alma and Miklos also had felt the presence. But where could this ancient one be? She scanned the crowd again, looking for a face that had not been there before. It wasn't long before she saw...Him.
He sat at a table in the farthest corner of the bar, engulfed in shadows. The table he had chosen was the only one in the club which would give it's occupant a clear view of entrances to both the street and the back rooms. What little she could see of him didn't identify him to her. Not that she would know every ancient one of their kind. Not even LaCroix knew them all. But surely she would have been warned about one this old. Her master had taken positive delight in regaling both of his children with stories of fledglings who had spoken harshly to some seemingly helpless fellow vampire, only to discover themselves on the menu for some ancient creature's dinner. Miklos offered her a glass and a bottle of her best "house" brand, glancing at the unmoving figure warily. She took the bottle from her bartender with a grim smile and brought it to her guest herself She knew she dare not trust Alma to service him, at least not right now. The younger vampire was so shaken by the waves of age and death that he had sent ahead of he she might drop the bottle in his lap and get them all killed in the process.
"Bon Nuit, petite." the deep voice from the shadows greeted her approach with an amused air. "How is Lucien's little daughter?"
"I fear you have the advantage of me, sir. You know me yet I do not know you." she set the glass and bottle on the table in front of him and looked up into his face. Recognition almost caused her to leap away, in fear.
The face opposite from her was lean, fine boned, almost skull like. A beard and mustache hid the thin lips and sharp teeth. The eyes were gray and fathomless. He was dressed in for the road, in what might be described as "Biker" attire, with a long duster over jeans and a leather vest. Someone, probably an Enforcer with a background in the Old West, had described this being as looking as if he had been rode hard and put up wet. His eyes were cold and unblinking, like the eyes of a snake before it strikes. There was no mistaking this face. It was Siddig al Kahn, one of the oldest, if not the oldest, of the vampire community. Kahn was legendary among the community. It was said his mother was a witch, and that her powers stayed with him even when he was brought across, though no one would ever dare to confirm that. Old enough he could call LaCroix "Child" and be accurate. He was a lone hunter and feared even among his kind. It was said that even the Enforcers were wary of dealing with him, even as they went to him with problems in the community. Some even said that he was Lord of the Enforcers, the only master the vampire community's watchdogs would obey.
"My Lord, you honor me with your presence in my humble establishment" Janette frantically looked back at the entrance to the nightclub. *Please* she thought, *Let this be the one night that Nichola does not come to speak to me.* She clenched her hands behind her back as she watched the ancient one pour himself a drink. "Is there something I may do for you, my Lord? Are you here for business or pleasure?" She flashed him a strained smile and backed up a pace, hoping her fear wasn't as obvious to him as it was to her. She had a sick feeling it probably was. "Has someone committed an offense that the Enforcers must be called?"
"Don't be so nervous, petite. " Kahn replied, reading her thoughts as easily as if they had been words on paper. "I'm not here to judge your pretty friend. Now what was his name? Oh, yes, Nicholas. The one with a humanity complex. Why should I care if he wants to be mortal. The Enforcers will see to it that he doesn't survive that state long. Let him try. It at least keeps him out of mischief. No, I'm here to meet a friend. A very special friend. A very lovely blond with silver eyes. She will be wearing my mark, the ankh. You will bring her to me when she arrives, won't you?" Janette sensed that the last statement was a command, not a question, and nodded, backing away towards the bar.
Kahn laughed to himself, enjoying the fear he caused in LaCroix's child. "Lucien, you have such a way with fledglings. You have the poor thing totally convinced I'm the Devil. Well, let her believe it, for as long as it suits my purposes." He tasted the blood Janette had served him and grimaced. "Cold. I will never get use to drinking this cold." He looked across the club in time to see the one he was waiting for enter and approach Janette at the bar then move to his table. Kahn smiled warmly into Alice Morgan's gray eyes, which were filled with amusement.
"What did you do to the owner of the bar, old man? She almost jumped out of her skin when I asked if you were here." Alice removed her suit jacket before she slid into the seat next to the ancient vampire. He handed her his glass, daring her with his eyes to take a drink." Very funny. Now order me something that's not going to make me throw up all night." The bar rang with his laughter as he ordered his friend her drink.
Two scotch and sodas later, Alice was ready to talk about her new case. "It the same pattern here as it was in Seattle, New York and D.C. I think he's getting into the police and newspaper files to find his potential victims. I think he's getting off on the publicity as well as the feeling of power. But how and why in so many different cities is driving me crazy. By the way, why are you here? You don't usually have much interest in my cases. It's not one of the community is it? I'm not sure I could hide the evidence in Toronto like I could if the case were still in the States."
"No child, I'm here because our mutual friend Alex is in town and is pinning to see you." Kahn saw the shadow of sadness pass over Alice's face before she could hide it. Alice and Alex, "the twins" as he thought of them, were as dear to him as if they were his own fledglings and to see them so hurt pained him. 'I know that Virginia is still between you, but he can not help still hearing her voice. She was his fledgling. She will always be a part of him."
"I know that, Kahn. The fact of Virginia's existence is not what separated us, it's that he chose to distance himself from all of us. It's hard not to be able to comfort someone you know is tearing themselves apart inside over something that wasn't their fault. How long is he going to blame himself for what her husband did to her? And to Ann. And tried to do to me. I don't need this distraction now, Kahn. I really don't. Please, just keep him away. Promise me." Alice reached across the table and took the older vampires cool hands in hers. She could see his reluctance to keep them apart, but she knew that his concern for her safety on an assignment would win out over all.
"What a pretty picture, Kahn. Taking to playing with your food in your old age."
"Hello Lucien, it's been much too long."
Pt. 3
Nick scanned the Raven with a practiced eye, picking Janette out of the dark corner she had chosen to hide herself in. He could sense her anxiety. "LaCroix must be in the bar for her to be so scared." He smiled reassuringly as he moved toward her. Suddenly, a wave of dread passed over him. He looked into Janette's worried eyes, stunned at the feelings washing over him.
"HE is here, Nicholas. The old one, Kahn the destroyer. He is in my club." Janette knew she was beginning to sound like a hysterical mortal, but the thought of that ancient vampire so close to her family frightened her beyond description.
"Why is he here?" Nick thought frantically of Natalie's attempts to bring him back across. It was said that Kahn "suggested" punishments to the Enforcers for crimes committed against the community. And that he had little use for mortals other than as fodder for the beast within himself. Nick feared that the ancient one might consider his quest for humanity too great an insult to allow to pass.
"I don't know. He's sitting in the darkness with LaCroix and some woman in the far corner of the club. Please, Nichola, don't cause trouble. For all we know, it may be you he hunts, though he says it is not." Janette grasped his arm, trying with all her might to prevent him from interfering with a being so much more powerful than even their own sire. Nick smiled reassuringly then went off in search of their sire, intent on finding an answer to this puzzle. He navigated the crush of dancers and drunks that filled the dance floor till he was standing in front of a table at the far end of the club. Nick was stunned to see that Kahn's female companion was Alice Morgan, FBI agent and hunter of serial killers. What stunned him even more was the fact that she was obviously holding LaCroix's arm down on the table against his will.
"Lucien, here is your son to rescue you from yourself. And how are you, little Nicholas? Still questing for humanity?" Kahn's voice dripped bitter amusement. Alice looked at the older vampire with exasperation.
"Give the man a break, Kahn. He hasn't a clue as to what is happening here. And as for you..." she said, releasing LaCroix's arm and patting him on the shoulder, "next time, ask before you touch. That's a good way to get a portion of your anatomy handed to you on a silver platter."
"She's very strong, don't you think, Lucien?" Kahn smiled indulgently at his lady friend. He tugged on a stray lock of her hair with fondness before tucking it back into place. "I wouldn't try to drain her if I were you. I tried it once and was sick for days afterwards. Her blood, it would seem, is toxic to our kind."
"What is she?" LaCroix hissed, his pride badly dented but his curiosity peaked.
"My home is a long ways away. My people came from the mists of Avalon and returned to it when men and their Christian religions drove them out. . Or at least, most of them did. Some stayed and melted into the throng of humanity, always with it but never a part of it. Others were thrown into humanity's midst, for reasons I will never understand. So it was for my sister and I. I was only two of your years old when we were sent here." Alice leaned over and fingered the stickpin in LaCroix's collar. "Nice." Nick wasn't sure if she meant the jewelry or his master.
LaCroix stared at the woman, amused "So, you are no more a part of this rush of humanity than we are. How very droll. Kahn, introduce us. I'm sure Nicholas will want to know all about your interesting little pet."
Kahn grinned, "My pet, as you call her, is called Alicia. That, and the fact that she is perfectly capable of tearing your arm off and impaling you with it without breaking a sweat, is all you need to know. No, I take that back. There is one other thing you should understand." he leaned back into the shadows, until only his red eyes could be seen "She is part of MY household. Harm to her is harm to me. And we both know what I'll do if I'm harmed, don't we, Lucien."
Alice retrieved her jacket from the seat and prepared to slip out of the booth. "Come on, Knight. When these two get in to the contest of who's tougher than who, they could be at it all night. We have work to do." She started to wind her way through the crowd of dancers, a shell-shocked Nick at her elbow. Suddenly she stopped, causing him to run in to her. "Damn, he's here!"
"Who's here?" Nick asked, confused. "Not another old one!"
"Yes, another old one. Only worse. This one is...was my lover."
Nick searched the crowded dance floor, turning away from his associate to search for yet another ancient member of his kind. A shadow fell over his shoulder and a hand lightly brushed the back of his head. Turning, startled, he looked into a pair of sad, gray eyes in a face he had not seen in over seven hundred years.
Pt. 4
Flashback
It had been little more than eighty years since LaCroix had brought him across, and there seemed to be no end to the amount of things about his new life he was still having to learn. But tonight's hunt had been satisfying and they had returned to the castle they were occupying in a comfortable silence. As they approached the gate, Nicholas noticed the figure of a man, waiting patiently in their path. He held the reins of a fine charger and a well-polished sword hung at his side. LaCroix noticed him as well and smiled grimly at the man's audacity. Then the stranger stepped into the moonlight and LaCroix's amusement vanished, instantly.
"Merde! What is he doing here?" LaCroix reigned in his horse savagely, motioning the other two to stop.
"Who is he?" Nicholas asked, confused by his master's sudden fit of annoyance. LaCroix ignored him, and stared coldly at the approaching stranger.
"Lucien. It has been a long time. Two hundred years, I believe." The stranger had a soft voice, a mildness that belied his strength. He was tall and slender, with long blond hair hanging loosely about his face. He was beautiful, with high cheekbones and large, gray eyes in a sad, pale face. LaCroix knew that though he looked no older in years then Nicholas, he was older than any of the other members of the community by over a century. Yet he showed his age only in his eyes, with their tired, haunted gaze.
"It's been closer to three hundred years. And what are you calling yourself these days? Jael, Miklos, Tomas...?"
"My own true name, ...Alexander. These must be your children. I am honored, petite, to make your acquaintance." He held out a slender, white hand to Janette, who took it hesitantly, looking back at LaCroix for permission. Nicholas moved his horse closer to hers, protectively. Alexander gave him a sad smile. "Don't worry, chevalier. I mean her no harm. Only a friendly greeting between like beings. Will you welcome me into your home, Lucien, or must I insist on my rights as an Elder of the community?" Alexander turned away, dismissing Nicholas without another look.
"Do I have a choice?" LaCroix dismounted, his pretend indifference fooling no one.
"We all have a choice, Lucien."
End of flashback
pt. 5
Nick blinked suddenly, his mind pulled back to reality by the touch of the creature in front of him. He looked up at the ancient vampire before him with surprise.
"Good evening, chevalier. It has been a long time." Alexander rested a hand on Nicks shoulder, looking into his eyes with the same sad wisdom Nick remembered from their first meeting.
"Why are you here, Alex?" Alice asked, moving to place herself between the two men.
"I was... concerned for you. When you wouldn't return my messages..." the older vampire reached hesitantly toward the slender blond, unsure of his welcome.
"What did I have to say to you? We both know that Virginia is your primary concern. I can't help you with her. We both saw what happened when I tried." Alice looked over Alexander's shoulder and saw that Kahn was approaching them. LaCroix was walking towards them as well, more curious than he would have liked to admit. "Great, we're attracting a crowd. Go home Alex. I have a job to do and I can't if your here underfoot." Alice turned a left the club, a reluctant Nick trailing behind her. It took all of her strength not to look back at the blond vampire that had been her world for the better part of a year.
Nick drove directly to her hotel room, reasoning that if he was caught by the sun, she would not turn him out to burn. And he had questions for this strange lady that he would not let her avoid answering. Alice was occupying a very expensive suit at a four star hotel, much more expensive than a normal FBI agent could ever dream of affording. But, Nick mused, this was no ordinary agent. Alice tossed her suit coat on the sofa and reached behind the bar for a bottle. Nick could smell instantly that it contained a blood and wine mixture.
"Have a drink? I arrange to have these wherever I go for Kahn and some of the others who drop in unannounced. Saves us all the trouble of pretending I don't know where their last meal came from." She popped the cork and poured him a wine glass full of the enticing liquid. "I'd join you but this stuff really makes me sick to my stomach. It's human, I'm afraid. None of my group is into animal."
"Makes sense it would make you sick since you're not a vampire. But just what are you? And how do you know Alexander and Kahn?" Nick toyed with the stem of the glass, fighting the urge to down its contents in one gulp. He and Natalie had agreed that it was his intake of blood that was keeping him in his vampiric state. And he hadn't allowed himself the luxury of human blood in so very long. He sat the glass reluctantly on the table in front of him and resolutely proceeded to try and ignore its tantalizing fragrance.
"What I am is a long and involved story, and one I don't get into with strangers. Let's just say I'm a little more than what I seem but not much as you might suspect. As for the old man, that's a different story. I met Kahn as a child. He was hunting in the neighborhood of the boarding school my sister had enrolled me in. That man gets a real high from killing the occasional public person. Anyway, he took a liking to me, probably because I wasn't afraid of him, even when I knew what he was capable of. He's played at being my surrogate father ever since." Alice played with the ankh at her neck, the gift that linked her to the ancient vampire.
"And Alexander?"
"That's a little more complicated. I was at a conference in London about a year and a half ago. Alex was at a library, researching events he had witnessed first hand. Don't ask me why, I think he just likes archival work. We discovered we had mutual interests and became friendly. Another vampire, the husband of a woman he had brought over years before, was hunting him, though we didn't know it at the time. Edgar, that was his name, killed a librarian Alex had become attracted to and then tried to kill me. He didn't succeed." Alice abruptly dropped into a chair, looking lost and tired. "Edgar had taken his wife, Virginia, back from Alex and imprisoned her in a lead lined coffin for over a century. Told him he had dropped it into the North Sea, where she would never see the light of the moon again. Alex could feel her torment but he couldn't find her. He turned to me because I understood what his life entailed after Edgar's latest attempts and we became lovers. But fate has a cruel streak in her nature. You see, Edgar lied about what he had done with the coffin. A month ago, we found where he had hidden Virginia. She is quite mad, as you might well imagine, after nearly a century of starvation. Alex, of course, felt it was his duty to stay with her. She was his fledgling. Kahn and I thought it would be kinder to put the woman out of her misery, but of course, it wasn't our decision to make and we would never have said as much to Alex, in any event. So, in the end, I chose to leave him to his former lover and get on with my life. That is my long, sad story. So now I want to hear yours. You have feelings for this Dr. Lambert?"
Nick blinked back his surprise, than grinned at the woman opposite him. "Do you also have the power to read minds as well as physically manhandle vampires?"
"No." Alice laughed, "But I do have access to the Enforcers information on you." Nick jumped up at the news. Alice waved him back down. "Don't worry. She's not in any danger. The Enforcer that found out about your relationship is Kahn's prot�g� and thinks the whole situation is too romantic for words. He's not very old, so this sort of story is still extremely interesting to him."
"I'm not sure I like having my personal life on file for someone to read."
"Stop fretting. Most of the community couldn't care less about one adolescent vampires crushes on his human friends." Alice smiled, seeing that her description annoyed Knight. "Kahn says all vampires go through a period in their lives when they search for a way out. They all grow out of it. Some end up like LaCroix, cold in their anger at fate and controlling of everything in their lives. It's a way of denying the feeling that they weren't ever in real control of their destinies, I suppose. Others walk into the sun. And some end up like Kahn and Vlad, his blood brother. They learn to live and let live. Most of that set try to stay out of humanities vision and influence events in mankind's history without being caught. You should hear those two go on and on all night about some of the plans they have set in motion over the centuries. I never have the heart to tell them that sometimes their assessments of human motivation is just a hair off."
"Vlad?" Nick asked, not certain he wanted to know the answer to his hesitant question.
"Vlad Tepish. You know, like the one from that novel by that drunken Irishman, what was his name ... Oh yes, Bram Stoker. Actually, Vlad is nothing like the novel's depiction of him. Come to think of it, he's not much like history's depiction of him either. He always tells us that time heals all ills, even those of the mind. Personally, I think the man just got a bum rap from his centuries writers of propaganda."
"Will we see Vlad in Toronto?" Nick asked, dreading the answer. The last thing the city needed was yet another ancient vampire stalking the streets.
"Doubtful. He and my sister are busy elsewhere. Enough talk, Detective Knight. I don't know about you, but I'm getting really tired. See you when the sun goes down. I told room service when I checked in that I didn't want to be disturbed, so no one is likely to just walk in. Well, maybe Kahn will, but I got the distinct feeling he was in the mood to harass LaCroix tonight. They'll probably drink and argue till the sun goes down and then I'll have to deal with a three thousand year old vampire with a hangover as well as a serial killer with a taste for parolees. What a life! Don't you just love it!" Alice walked into the bedroom, leaving a bemused Nick Knight to contemplate what he would do for the hours until sundown.
pt. 6
It was just after one in the afternoon that Alice decided to go back into the sitting room and talk to her trapped guest. Kahn, like most older vampires, rarely slept at all during the day, and she was curious if those of Nicks intermediate age had as much strength. Besides, it was fun talking to someone that didn't start a conversation with "In the old days."
"Hey Knight, are you awake?" she peered into the darkened room, her cat's eyes using what little light existed to reveal its contents to her.
"I'm awake." Nick sat up, looking rumpled. "Never can sleep away from my own bed. Especially when I have a lot on my mind."
Alice walked out of the bedroom, her black silk pajamas making a soft hissing sound as she walked. Actually, they were Alex's pajamas, but both she and her former lover were of a similar build, both tall and slender. He had left them in their apartment, the night he had left, and Alice had never worked up the courage to send them back.
"Thought we could talk for a while, about this case. The way I figure it our perpetrator is somehow able to access the police records in whatever city he is in and pick out only those cases which involve the death of a child." Alice settled on one end of the sofa, while Night sat at the other end. "I think he hacks the different systems, which indicates some level of expertise with computers, as well as understanding of basic police procedures and forensic sciences."
"Sounds like a man with multiple interests." Nick stared at the curtains thoughtfully, trying to find a scenario that would fit. "If it weren't for the fact that the victims show no major loss of blood, I'd swear it was another vampire committing these murders."
"Why? Because humans are so perfect a species that they can't be responsible for the horrors they create?" Alice answered sharply. She recovered herself quickly, seeing the shocked look on the detectives face. "Sorry. But you and I have some fundamental differences in how we see the world you are a part of and that could cause us problems working on this case."
"What sort of differences?'
"I wasn't raised as you were, when you were human. I don't necessarily believe that a vampire is dammed for all eternity just because he is a vampire. In my culture, our ancestors measure our souls worth by the deeds performed in life, not the physical condition that life was lived under. In your case, for instance, if you were to stand before the judges, they would weigh your past killings against the good you have done now. Your existence as a vampire would be irrelevant. Only the conscious choices you made, both good and evil, would be placed on the scales."
"Sounds faintly like an Egyptian myth I once heard." Nick replied, wishing they could change the subject.
"My people are an old race. I wouldn't be surprised if some Egyptian myths started with our beliefs. But that's neither here nor there. My household is large and powerful, yet they do not prey on mortals, using them like cattle. The older ones teach the younger how to feed without killing their partners, or to make due with animal blood. The goal of the house is to live a free life, free of the responsibility of taking other beings lives, of robbing others of their choices. Free of the necessity of making new ghosts to live with their old ones. You can't live free if you must look over your shoulder constantly, waiting for the Hunters to stake you for some stupid killing you never should have performed."
"What about the Enforcers?" Nick was curious, he had never heard of a large household of vampires before. "Don't they have some say in what you do?"
"Many of the Enforcers are the fledglings of our house's members. Those that aren't learn fast that it's not a good idea to rock the boat too much. Kahn, Vlad, Anton and Gerard keep them in line. They are the oldest of our house and between the four of them the Enforcers usually find conciliation the least painful road to follow."
"I thought Alexander was also a very ancient vampire." Nick couldn't help but notice the sadness that shrouded her eyes whenever that name was mentioned.
"Alex is at least as old as Kahn, though he can't tell us how long he's been a part of the community. He told me once that it felt as though he had always been a vampire. Perhaps he always has been. He's never mentioned a sire, and the other old ones suspect that if he ever had one, his maker has been dead for so long that his name is no longer remembered." Alice rubbed her eyes, suddenly homesick for her unusual family. "It's a pity you think so little of the vampire state, Nick. You might like our household. We're pretty crazy when we're together, telling tales of days gone by, of projects finally coming to fruition after a hundred years. I miss them when I'm away."
"Sounds like you and your sister are the only women in the group."
"No, there are others. Elizabeth, Regina, Juliet. They're every bit as strong willed as the men. They just happen not to be vampires."
Nick looked up sharply, his mind reeling at the possibilities her statement had opened up. "Not vampires? What are they then, beings like you?"
"Some are. Some are shape shifters, some sorcerors. Some are half-breeds, like Damien, the product of a vampire and one of our kind. We are a diverse group."
"I didn't think our kind could have a family." Nick's voice suddenly turned sad and quiet.
"It takes a little help. Our science made Damien and his sister possible, to ensure genetic diversity and eliminate the problems of inbreeding. Of course, what we ended up with turned out to be much stronger than we expected." Alice reached out to pat Nick's hand sympathetically. "Knowing that probably is very stunning to you, Nick. It was to us too. Even our best doctors didn't think it was possible. But we are getting off the subject we started on. How do you think our killer is finding his victims?"
They spent the rest of the afternoon in the darkened sitting room, discussing the case and how it would be handled. Across town, a man scanned the information on his computer screen and prepared to meet his brand of justice to another unfortunate victim. It would be an most interesting night, for all of them.
pt.7
It was close to sundown before Kahn made his appearance in the hotel room, his leather jacket smoking from his brief contact with sunlight. As Alice had expected, he had a raging hangover from the alcohol and blood mixture he had imbibed at the Raven and was in no mood to deal with anyone. His eyes were still golden behind his dark glasses and the tips of his fangs scratched his lip as he spoke.
"Lucien was his usual annoying self. The boy hasn't changed in over three hundred years. Still an arrogant ass. Why do I even bother to try to talk to him?" Kahn settled himself in a chair, throwing his smoking jacket in the middle of the room.
"Because you can bait him like you can't your brothers in the household?" Alice asked sweetly, handing the ancient vampire a bottle of straight blood. She was rewarded with a scowl.
"Watch your mouth, young lady. Didn't anyone teach you to respect your elders?" He threw back his head and downed half the bottle in one sitting. When he looked back at his guests, his eyes had turned their normal shade of slate and his teeth and returned to their normal length.
"Not when they insist on acting like errant teenagers. Vlad would go ballistic if he knew you'd spent the day drinking with Lucien LaCroix and you know it. Did you at least get something out of it for your troubles?"
"How about a name to go with the deeds you are here to investigate?" Kahn smirked, glad for once to have surprised his young prot�g�.
"I'm sure he was just that cooperative." Alice interjected, her voice turning cold and emotionless. She pulled a silver handled walking stick out of the closet along with her raincoat and started for the door then turned and faced the younger vampire. "I'm going to walk the crime scenes, see if I can get a feel for how he stalks his victims. Let me suggest, Knight, that you go back to your precinct and see if anything else has turned up overnight, any clue as to who this John Doe is. And don't ask Kahn for this creatures name. LaCroix didn't tell him anything. He just said that he did to see if he could get a response out of you." Alice looked back at her ancient friend with little emotion. "Right?"
"She knows me too well, young one. Lucien would have sooner swallowed his tongue than tell me anything I could use to help solve this case. He knows nothing about this human serial killer except that he is frustrating you. And that amuses him no end." Kahn stretched his long legs out in front of him and stared at the bottle in his hand. "Call me when you are finished, child. I will come for you myself. It is not safe for anyone to walk the streets these days. Not even you."
Alice shrugged, her mind already trying to formulate the patterns this serial killer's mind followed in search of his prey. She was talented in this area, almost able to become the person she hunted, given enough time. Almost. Only Kahn knew what price she paid for this talent, after the hunt was over.
Knight glanced back at the old vampire, now reading a newspaper he had brought up with him. "Alice, maybe I'd better go with you."
"NO! The last thing I need is your aura of self hatred to cloud my senses. Go talk to your fellow police or that pretty coroner you insist on playing with. Try doing the things a cop would do to look for the information we need. Not every case can be cracked with vampire speed and hearing, you know." Alice was gone before he could stop her.
"What did she mean by that?" Nick asked, bewildered.
"For a man who hates his existence as a vampire, you certainly enjoy making use of your special talents." Kahn replied dryly, never looking up from his paper. "From everything I've read in the files on you, most of the...what do you police call them - busts...you are involved in are a direct result of you using your vampires ability to be somewhere quicker or see and hear something that the human officer could not. In other words, boy, you wouldn't last five minutes doing Alice's job if you were human. You simply haven't the experience." Kahn tossed his newspaper aside and started for the bedroom. "You're a foolish little boy, Knight. And Alice will not suffer fools or hypocrites lightly. Now off with you, I'm in need of rest. Lucien's company can be so draining." He shut the door softly, cutting off any chance for a rebuttal from Nick.
pt. 8
At the scene of the first murder, Alice walked the alley which had been the last resting place for a woman who's crime of neglect doomed her to an early grave. As she looked at the filthy concrete, her mind raced over the details enclosed in the case files. Alice was a good profiler, able to make intuitive deductions based on evidence sometimes so slight as to be overlooked by others. Her friend, Fox Muldor, had one said it was almost as if she became the person she hunted. He was more right then he knew. If Alice was to find the killer, she had to think like the killer, and that was not always an easy thing to shut off at the end of the day. Sometimes she felt that the only ones who understood her struggle to retain her sense of self were the members of the household, those creatures of the night who had begun their road back towards the light. Their fight to reclaim their souls often mirrored her struggle at the end of a case. But tonight, there was only the darkness, and a whisper in the back of her mind where a killer was beginning to form. *You watch them, don't you?* she thought to herself, staring down at the remains of the chalk outline where the body had once lain. *You watch and you wait. And while you wait you congratulate yourself that there will soon be one less enemy of children freed. You think you're the wrath of God, don't you?*
"See anything interesting?" a voice behind her asked, quizzically.
She turned, startled, to find LaCroix watching her with interest. "He knew them, knew everything about them. Probably had been watching for days, noting their routines, when they would be most vulnerable to attack. He thinks himself the hand of justice, meeting out punishment to those who escaped the system. But he's only a predator, and that makes him predictable." She poked at a damp rag with the tip of her cane, noting dispassionately the way it moved across the pavement. "What are you doing in this area? Couldn't scare up anything for supper closer to home?"
"Perhaps I wished to offer my services in apprehending this felon."
"Don't make me laugh, LaCroix. I'm not in the mood for it. You couldn't care less if this animal is caught." Alice looked up into the vampires eyes, daring him to make a move. "Tell me the real reason you are here. Is it because you fear Kahn and I are here to make off with your little pet, Nick?"
"He thinks he can become human. I doubt that the existence you offer in your household would satisfy him for long. Especially since he can't take his "friend" Dr. Lambert with him."
"Who says the household even wants either of them? We have enough juveniles to raise without dealing with yours. You're right in one respect, though. Dr. Lambert wouldn't feel very welcome for long. I suspect the household would become immortally tired of being poked and prodded and treated like lab rats just so your little boy could become mortal again. Especially Damien." Alice turned back to the alley, willing the faint beginnings of a profile to come together again. "You've no one but yourself to blame for him, LaCroix. You've made him the way that he is."
"Perhaps. But he is still mine and I intend to keep him."
"Keep him and be dammed! You're making this walk-through very difficult for me. Go find a warm body to feed on and let me do my job." Alice strode off done the alleyway, not seeing the smile on LaCroix's face as she disappeared into the night.
*So this is Kahn's little prot�g�.* LaCroix thought. *Interesting. Perhaps she can be of more use to me than she knows.* He rose into the night air, a plan beginning to form in the back of his mind.
At the precinct, Nick went directly to the coroners office, hoping to find some small shred of information that would help him to identify their mysterious stalker. His conversations with Alice and Kahn were still very much on his mind as he walked into the Morgue.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Natalie asked, seeing the distracted look on Nicks face.
"I just learned some things about a group of my kind, Natalie, that stunned me. Alice and Kahn an ancient vampire of her acquaintance, belong to a household of vampires and other supernatural beings. LaCroix had always told me that our kind were solitary hunters, not prone to communal living. We definitely had little or nothing to do with other supernatural beings. Yet this household not only lives together, they are thriving. They're even having children, Natalie. Not converts, children. They have as close to a normal life as is possible, given what we are. I guess I'm just a little stunned. And a little jealous."
Natalie frowned, wondering if the FBI agent and her friend had been telling Nick stories to force him back to the vampire life. She of all people knew how hard it was for Nick to continue to strive for mortality and she worried that this other vampire might be conspiring with LaCroix to make the vampire existence more palatable to Nick.
"So, what are you going to do about these stories?" she asked, trying to remain neutral.
"I don't know. Probably not much. They think I'm going through a stage." Nick started rifling through the files on Natalies desk, oblivious to the concern on her face.
"What if they offer you a part of this existence? The chance to live a semi normal life, to have children. Would you take it, even if it meant remaining a vampire?"
Nick looked up, trying to imagine himself in such a position. "I don't know, Natalie. I've been trying to reach my humanity for so long. I'm not sure I could give up this quest, even if it meant losing a chance for a real family. I just don't know." He sighed, then retrieved the autopsy files he had been reading. "I need to borrow these. I'll make sure you get them back when I'm done, Okay?"
"Fine. And Nick." Natalie placed her hands on his chest, willing him to look into her eyes. "If they do offer you a place in their family, think about it before you answer. And let me know what you decide."
"You'll be the first one I call." Nick smiled that sweet, breath-taking smile that tore at her heart and left the Morgue, his steps echoing down the corridor.
Pt. 9
At the Toronto airport, a private Lear jet landed in the far runway, taxing up to the concord slowly. Inside, three people, two men and a woman, each sat wrapped in their own thoughts. One of the men had a laptop opened on a table in front of him, a game of Doom flashing on the screen. His headphones vibrated with the muffled sounds of gunfire and computerized death screams that his companions could hear even through the headset. The woman sat with Newsweek in her lap, absently flipping pages as she skimmed the stories. The third man sat with a cellular phone in his hand, his back to his companions.
"Yes, Athena, we're here. Father's in the back, getting his jacket. Once we've gone through Customs, he'll go looking for Alex and we'll go looking for Kahn. Any word on Edgar?"
The woman looked up at the sound of a familiar name, a frown on her face. "Any news?" she asked, tossing her magazine on the seat beside her.
"No more than we already know." The man looked back at her, the phone to his ear. "But he'll be here. I know it. He can't walk away from his obsession now."
"Find Alex and you find Edgar." A voice from the back of the plane called. Vlad looked in on his young charges with a grim smile. "He'll come for Virginia. He has before. Perhaps we should consider arranging for him to get her back." The young man and the woman exchanged knowing looks while at their side, their companion reached the next level of Doom by slaughtering yet another group of demons. Outside, the wind had turned cold and the clouds had blotted out the stars. Their search was about to begin.
Part 10
At the hotel, Kahn was finishing his bath when his sensitive hearing detected the opening of the sitting room door. He languidly donned a dressing gown, aware that there were few, if any, other beings in his or the mortal community that could seriously hurt him. And his perception of his intruder was not one of danger, but of peace.
"Well, it's about time you youngsters showed up. I was beginning to wonder how long it would take the family to send reinforcements." Kahn leaned against the door, casually examing his visitors. The newly arrived members of his household stared back, looking a little the worse for their fatigue. Damien, Vlad's son, was the tallest of the group, well over six feet tall and broad shouldered. He had his mother's blond hair and blue eyes and his father's broad shoulders and muscled frame. He wore a short beard for vanities sake, to cover a scar on his chin, acquired in a battle with an SS storm trooper in WWII. The mustache he wore was to please his father, who wore one himself. David, one of the younger members of the household, was kneeling on the floor, rummaging through an overnight bag. He resembled Damien in that he was blond and blue eyed, but was a much smaller build and was sporting a very ragged, punk hairstyle. Lilith sat on the couch, the hood of her cape pulled back from her face enough to see her long, black hair and almond shaped brown eyes. They were all dressed casually, looking for all the world like a group of college students on holiday. No one who saw them would suspect that the youngest in the group was actually closer to fifty than fifteen.
"About time you got out here, old man." Damien groused, his fatigue overcoming his natural curtsey. "Anyone could have walked in here and caused you some difficulty over these bottles of blood."
"Nice to see you too. Sit down before you fall down and tell me what plans you three unholy terrors are here to implement."
David looked up, a grin on his young face. "I don't suppose you'd buy that we were just passing through?"
"Not on your life, young one. Did you're father send you to keep an eye on me?" Kahn walked up to the tall young man, looking him in the eye.
Damien stared back wearily. "No. At least, not to watch you. He's afraid that Alexander's convert, Virginia, may prove to be too difficult for him to handle. We're here to assess her condition and make some sort of determination as to what should be done for her."
"Alice is here as well, n'est pas? Is she tracking another of those dreary serial killers she always seems to be looking for?" Lilith reached for one of the bottles, intending to finish its contents. Kahn reached across and snatched the bottle back, biting back a sharp comment.
"Yes, she's here and working with LaCroix's child, Nicholas. He's a police officer here in Toronto. I was preparing to go in search of her when you arrived. We can all go together. But I suspect that Alex's presence here with Virginia is what is troubling my blood brother. That and the fact that no one has seen or heard anything about Edgar since that last encounter. " Kahn turned to return to the bedroom, when a thought struck him. "Damien, would you go to the precinct where Nicholas is working and let him know we've gone looking for Alice. I think he might be very interested in meeting you." He returned to the bedroom before the younger man had a chance to question him. "Yes" he thought, "He'll be very interested indeed in meeting the child of a vampire and a witch. It should give him some definite food for thought." He pulled on his trenchcoat and herded his young friends out the door, tossing the empty bottle in the trash as he left.
Some time later, at the precinct, Schanke was frantically trying to finish the paper work on a case that had been closed out some days before, when he noticed a tall, athletic young man enter the squad room. There was an air of quiet command about the stranger which set him apart from the officers and the detainees who scurried around him. Their eyes met and Schanke felt the sudden urge to jump to attention and be helpful.
"Can I do something for you." he asked, wondering how the man had gotten all the way back to their desks without someone questioning him.
"Yes, I am looking for Det. Knight. I have a message for him from an acquaintance of Special Agent Morgan."
"And you are...?"
"Damien. Damien Tepish. My father is Vladimir Tepish, Alice Morgan's brother-in-law. I promised my dad I'd check-in with Alice when I arrived in Toronto. A mutual friend suggested I might find her with Detective Knight."
"Yeah, well Nick's around here somewhere..." Schanke looked around the room, trying to spot his elusive partner.
"I'll wait." Damien pulled up a chair and settled into it, his eyes taking in the sites around him.
Local police precincts were not places the son of the Dragon's household usually spent his time, though he knew many law enforcement agents. The household had more than it's share of federal agents and Interpol operatives. Their natural hunting abilities and their enthusiasm for night work made them valued in their agencies. Damien himself had worked off and on for various intelligence agencies over the several hundred years of his life, always careful to create a plausible exit for himself when it was time to move on. It was an interesting way to pass the centuries, and useful in insuring the safety of the household.
"Schanke, have you seen the files on the last two slasher victims?" Nick appeared, Natalie just behind him. "Agent Morgan suggested...Can I help you?" he stopped, struck by the feeling of power emanating from the young man before him. The creature in front of him was as different from himself as Alice had been. Nick could hear the faint, slow heart beat in the man's chest and blood flowing languidly in his veins. His heartbeat was as slow as Nick's and his eyes reminded the detective of the eyes of an Arctic wolf, icy blue and wary. Nick could almost touch the aura of raw power which emanated from the man, forming a barrier around him. He wasn't a vampire, though he gave off a similar aura. Nor was he the same as Alice Morgan.
"Detective Knight? Damien Tepish. Kahn suggested I contact you. Is there somewhere we can talk...privately?" Damien saw the confusion on Knight's face and frowned. *What's he so surprised about?* he thought, irritated.
"Yes, there's an interrogation room we can use. Follow me." Nick pushed past Schanke and Natalie, oblivious to their concern. Damien followed, his weariness making him less than sympathetic to Knight's concern.
Inside the interrogation room, Nick stared at his visitor, taking in the man's golden tan and the silver chain he wore, ending in what Nick suspected was a crucifix. He waved the stranger to a chair and proceeded to pace the floor, his mind in a whirl. "Who or what are you Mr. Tepish?" he asked, his back to the young man.
"Excuse me, but I just came to tell you that Kahn will pick up Alice and bring her back to the station. Nothing else. If you have no messages for Kahn or Alice, I'll leave." Damien watched the vampire pace, oblivious to his words. "Great, he's probably not hearing a word I'm saying." He stared over at the mirror on the opposite wall, feeling the presence of another mind just behind it. Damien stared at the wall in deep concentration and slowly the mirror began to cloud, obscuring the view of the room. When Nick finally turned to confront the stranger, the man was gone.
On the other side of the wall, Natalie watched in amazement as the mirror began to grow opaque, cutting off her view of the room. "How did he do that?" she thought, touching the one-way glass tentatively.
"It's just a matter of concentration." a deep voice behind her answered.
Natalie whirled around, startled. Nick's guest was sitting right behind her, watching her somberly. His blue eyes shone out of the darkness like beacons.
"How did you...?"
"Get in here or know what you were thinking? It's not that hard, really. Like right now, you're thinking, Who is this man? Does he know what Nick is? Does he know I know what Nick is? The answer to the last two is yes, I do. But what you know or don't know doesn't concern me. Who I am is none of your concern. And no, I don't know of anyway to cure your precious Nick. That's not a subject I tend to put much time or interest into. Most of the vampires I know wouldn't be human again on a bet."
"Nick want's to be human. Will you try to stop him?" she asked, concerned.
"I don't care what he wants. He's not my problem. Personally, though, I can't be too sympathetic. After all, if my father had given up his vampire state to be human, neither my sister nor I would have been born. I owe my existence to a condition you consider a sickness to be cured." Suddenly he wasn't there anymore, disappearing without a sound as suddenly as he had appeared. Natalie whirled around to see that the glass had cleared and the room was empty. Nick had also disappeared.
pt. 11
The hunter stalked his prey with care, watching her leave work at the same time every night, taken the same route home, make the same stops. Her patterns were predictable. It wouldn't be long before he could begin the game, and bring her his variety of justice...
"Hey buddy! You're parked in a handicapped zone. Move it along." The uniformed officer had not planned on stopping but something about the man's behavior had disturbed him. The parking space was clearly marked "Handicapped" and that had given him an excuse to stop and get a better look at the van's driver.
"Sorry, officer. Guess I wasn't thinking. I'll move on." The hunter mentally cursed himself for his slip. Such a small error yet it could cost him his prey if he wasn't careful. He gingerly negotiated his van out of the mall parking lot, watching through his rear view mirror for his prey to exit the store. She was right on time, as always.
Behind him, the officer took note of his license plate number, as his partner impatiently motioned for him to return to their cruiser. It was probably nothing, just someone who had made a mistake in parking where he shouldn't. But with the slasher still around, his sergeant had said to make note of everything that was out of the ordinary. And this rookie patrol officer planned to take him literally at his word.
The scene was set for the final moves in the game.
pt.12
Alice was walking the site of the last murder when she heard a car horn blare behind her. She looked up at it with little interest, lost in the construction of the personality of this new killer. Several forms exited the vehicle and started toward her, moving gracefully as a group. Suddenly, a figure appeared between them, the fog seeming to part at his appearance.
"Kahn's been looking for you." Damien said, walking up to the distracted agent.
"I'm busy. " Alice started around the tall figure, then stopped abruptly. "Did you bring David with you?"
"Yeah, I'm right here." David bounced up to her, delighted she had asked about him. Behind him, Kahn bit back a smile at the younger vampires enthusiasm.
"Still hacking computer system?" Alice asked quietly, concentrating entirely on the case at hand.
"Yeah. Do you want me to find something for you?"
"Surely the police must have already looked at their files for possible new victims, Alice. What do you think David can find for you?" Lilith pulled her cloak off the ground, making at face at the filth in the alley way.
"It's not a file she's looking for but a trace back to another hacker. Am I right?" Damien looked at his father's sister-in-law with interest. "Whoever he is, he had to have a way to find out information about his victims, a way to determine if they fit his warped view of injustice. In order to find him, we have to think like him, be able to see what he sees.. If David can find the path he took to decide on his victim..."
"Then we can find the man behind this game. And it is a game to him. A game of warped justice. He hunts his prey like we would hunt wild boar on your estate in the Carpathians. Each time he delivers his "Final Justice" he wins a round against the world. Now, it's time for him to meet some new players. And time for him to lose the game." Alice motioned David to go before her back to the car.
"Lillith, return to the hotel." Kahn commanded, handing the petite woman the car keys. "Someone should be by the phone to relay messages to and from the group."
Lillith turned with an annoyed humph and disappeared into the fog. In a few moments the car's headlights came on, blinding the two men for a moment before it disappeared into the night.
Kahn hesitated, then motioned the rest to go on, a hand held out to hold Damien back.
"Did you meet Detective Knight?" he asked, watching the younger man's eyes carefully.
"A very unhappy man. He had nothing to say to me, nothing at all. I think my existence bothers him, though why it should is beyond me. I also met his friend, Doctor Lambert. Very intelligent, very pretty, very much in love. I suspect it's not totally unrequited, though I tried not to pry too deeply into his thoughts. Or hers. But father and the others are also right. They have no place in our household."
"Would your father not give much to walk in the sun, young one?" Kahn asked, thinking back to his own days as a mortal.
"You know that he already does, for limited periods of time. With the right precautions and training, any strong vampire can lead a relatively normal life. Besides, with the ozone hole over Antarctica widening, there are many humans who are coming to appreciate our avoidance of the sun. " Damien grinned suddenly, knowing his joke would be lost on Kahn. "Never mind, old man. We have other problems to deal with besides Lucien LaCroix's brat prince son. We must talk to Alexander about his convert, and soon. Before she causes the community problems we can't fix." The two men rose into the night sky like two great birds and soon were lost from view. Neither man, caught up in their own conversation, had noticed the figure lurking near the far end of the alleyway. But he had seen them, and now Edgar knew exactly how he would exact his revenge against Alexander and the renegades of the Dragon's household who insisted on protecting him.
pt. 13
Alexander sighed, his depression deepening with every passing moment. In the basement, Virginia was raging, destroying anything she could with her feeble strength. He dared not feed her too well or she would be more than even he could cope with. Her madness lent even her half-famished body a strength that would be more than a match for any handful of mortal men. Sated on blood, it would take the combined strength of the household to keep her from killing indiscrimanently. And that was scenario he could not allow to play out, not even for her. In his heart, he knew that Vlad and the other's had been right, that she couldn't be brought back to sanity. That she could never be the Virginia he had known and loved all those years ago. Yet he had made a promise and he meant to keep it, though it broke his heart to do so. His eyes glanced across the page, taking in the headlines concerning the latest in the "Vigilante" murders. It seemed to be more of the same, no new information. How frustrated Alice must be, he thought. She hated to lose against these human aberrations as she called them. It had taken a month for her not to hear the last one's voice in her mind. The sound of the phone stirred him from his reverie.
"Hello, Alexander? It's Nick. Jannette told me where you were staying. I hope you don't mind, I'd like to come and talk with you for a while. It's important."
"Nicholas, I've never known you to stand on ceremony. Come if you wish. I will not turn you away." He laid down the receiver, wondering at the younger vampires sudden acquisition of manners. Nicholas had never been above simply walking into a place with warning the occupants of the building. It had nearly gotten him killed, that first time so long ago.
Flashback
Nicholas was worried. LaCroix seemed different since Alexander had come to share their home with them. Angrier, more brusque with Janette and himself. Yet he seemed not to be able to make the pale, blond vampire leave. It fascinated him that his master, who totally dominated his life, could have so little control over another of their kind. He was determined to learn more.
Alexander sat before the fireplace, watching the shadows creep from the corners of the room towards his chair. The room was frigid, the fire barely adequate for lighting the large area, yet it did not bother him. He liked the darkness and the cold. It was comforting, somehow, to know that the world around him could experience, if even for a few hours, the way he felt about his life. It's bareness, it's coldness, it's lack of light were things he could share with others. Yet they would never really be a part of it. Not the humans he eventually killed for the warmth in their blood. Not the other vampires he met along the way. Not any of them could understand the coldness in his soul. He wasn't even sure he understood it himself. Living with LaCroix's little family had pleased him, for a while. That it annoyed Lucien pleased him even more. He had always thought himself above petty emotions, yet LaCroix annoyed him with his superior attitude. Alexander was already a thousand years old (or was it two?) when the Roman was brought across by that mistake of a daughter of his. He was still a mere babe in arms when Alexander was making his thousandth kill. How dare he...
Without batting an eye, Alexander shot out of his chair and pulled Nicholas away from the box on the desk. He held the fledgling vampire pinned to the wall, examining him with golden eyes and bared fangs, his face only inches from the younger man's. Just as suddenly he let the fledgling go, turning instead to the box Nicholas had been about to open.
Nicholas slumped to the floor, shocked. He had not believed that any of their kind could move so fast, not even his master. He stared up at Alexander, waiting to become the golden vampires next meal. Instead, Alexander opened the box and upended it's contents of tiny silk bags on the younger man's head, calmly shaking it to make sure it was empty.
"Next time you wish something from me, tell me. I do not appreciate anyone sneaking around me like a ghost. I have enough real ghosts I have created to contend with, without your poor imitation of one." He calmly laid the empty box down and glided out of the room without a sound. Nicholas opened one of the bags and emptied its contents into his hand. Dry flowers and bits of silk ribbon were all it contained. That and a piece of parchment with the name "Amelia" written on it. The remnants of a life, and a love carefully gathered into small silk squares and preserved for another time.
present time
Alexander toyed with the silver chain he wore around his neck. It had been a gift from Alice and it was the only thing he had allowed himself to keep after he had left. That and the portrait he had drawn of her. Now even that was gone, destroyed in one of Virginia's jealous rages. It had hurt to lose that, yet at least he knew the artists model was still alive and still as vibrant as the image his paints had created. It was the only comfort he had in this waking nightmare he called his life.
A soft knock on the door alerted him to his guests arrival. "Nicholas must have something very important to say to me to come so quickly." he thought. But when he opened the door, it was not his young friend on the doorstep. It was Lucien LaCroix.
pt. 14
"Hello Lucien. What brings you here? As if I could not guess." Alexander returned wearily to his chair, with a brief glance at the hallway leading to the basement door. Virginia was still screaming, though with less rage. Soon she would be too exhausted to even speak.
"It sounds as though I have come at an inopportune moment. How is the poor little thing, still mindlessly attacking everything in sight?" LaCroix seated himself opposite the blond vampire, noting the exhaustion in his eyes.
"What do you want, Lucien?" Alexander repeated, his eyes on the ceiling. LaCroix was a wearing presence at the best of times, and this was not one of those.
"I was in the area. Nothing more. Oh, there is a whisper making the rounds in the Community that you are being hunted. By one of your own children?" LaCroix was pleased to see that this had finally gotten a reaction from the other vampire.
Alexander looked at LaCroix with a frown. "Edgar is none of my making. Virginia made him in some misguided attempted to express her love for her human husband. It was a bad mistake, and one she and I have paid for much too long."
"Really! How very interesting. If he's such a thorn in your side, why don't you just kill him and be done with it."
"I don't consider the taking of life as lightly as you do, Lucien. Now, if you've had your amusement for the evening, please show yourself to the door. I'm expecting a guest."
LaCroix smiled slightly. "Nicholas couldn't stay away, could he? He was always fascinated with you. I can't imagine why."
"Perhaps the boy just found being treated with kindness so unusual that it made an impression." The deep voice from the hallway startled both vampires, neither of which had noticed the dark cloaked figure who now appeared.
Vlad Tepish was a tall man, taller than history had written, with a craggy face and deep set eyes. He sported a mustache and long hair reminiscent of Russian Cossacks and dressed like most wealth business men in Armani suits and handmade leather boots. But it was his eyes that drew most, raven black with glints of fire in the center of the pupils. They could stare wholes in a person's soul or light with mischief when he was amused. But tonight, he was not amused.
"Good-bye Lucien. Your presence is no longer required. Do have a nice night." Vlad gently laid one hand on LaCroix's arm and all but pulled him out of his chair. "Say hello to that lovely daughter of yours for me." He firmly guided the older vampire to the door, aware of LaCroix's surprise at his physical strength. He opened the front door just as Nick was about to knock.
Nick stepped back in surprise at the sight of his master being all but shoved out the door by a vampire he had never seen before. He could see LaCroix's fury at his treatment and wondered who this other creature of the night was that would dare to use the ancient vampire in this manner. LaCroix gave him one icy glare before he rose into the air, disappearing into the night sky, leaving Nick to face this new player in his reality.
pt. 15.
Alice looked over David's shoulder as he worked his way through the outside contacts made into the Police Department's computer. She knew that the younger vampire was almost as proficient in his hobby as was the famous Aristotle but she could not help but wonder if she was asking too much of even his skills. On the way back to the precinct David had suggested looking among official offices for the means by which her prey had accessed the information. The suggestion had merit to Alice. Her quarry had known too much about his intended victims "crimes" to have only read of them in the newspaper. He must be accessing what was available on the various Police data banks in the various cities where he had struck. That explained why his crimes were only committed in larger, metropolitan areas, where he could be assured of that kind of record keeping. Now, if David could find that illegal entrance the killer used to hack into the Police data banks, he could find the path the killer had taken to selecting his possible targets. But looking for a fake password and an unauthorized entry that might have been made months before might be more than even the determined young vampire could accomplish. Alice went back to the blackboard the Precinct had allowed her to use to chart out her thoughts. Somewhere out there, a hunter was stalking his next prey and she had to be ready.
"Anything I can do?" Natalie poked her head into the conference room, a steaming cup in her hand. "Would you like some coffee?"
"Not really, Doctor Lambert. I'm rather allergic to coffee. You wouldn't like to see what it does to me, it's not a pretty sight." Alice leaned her head back and stretched her tired muscles. She made note of the time. "David, we may have to move this back to the hotel. It's almost sunrise."
David gave Alice a surprised look and glanced furtively at Natalie. "Why would we do that?"
"It's all right, David. She knows about vampires. Besides, you're too young to be out in the full light of day. The last thing I need is to explain to Damien why his student imploded. He takes things like that so personally." Alice grinned at the younger man, both remembering the last time someone had tried to tell Damien one of his friends had been accidentally hurt by a member of the household. He hadn't spoken to the family for weeks afterwards.
"Just one more... got it!" David began to type rapidly. "Someone reactivated an old account and changed the password. Now if I can just find out what files this account has been interested in..." he worked rapidly, checking the screen every few minutes to see what response he was getting.
"David, how do you know this account was not legitimate." Alice sat on the edge of the table behind the hacker and motioned Natalie to join her.
"The man this account belong to is on the retirement list I scanned when I first entered the system. I can double check, but I'll bet he's not even in the city anymore...There! Those are the searches this account has run. They were stored by the system and I guess our guy didn't know or care enough to erase them."
"Run the searches again. See who's files he's accessed."
A few minutes later, Alice was in Capt. Cohen's office with Schanke, looking at a small list of names, noting which ones had already become victims.
"Only five more names on this list. We need to check the location of these individuals, see if they're in the city and available for our Hunter to find." She scanned the list quickly, before handing it to Cohen. "One of these names is our next victim."
To be Continued