Demon Dance

by Brian Freyermuth

  Most of my apartment would make an anchoritic monk proud, but the kitchen was my sanctuary. I reached past a set of glass containers, each filled with various homemade pastas, and grabbed the coffee beans. Caffeine was essential if I had any hope of staying conscious.

  “I don’t have any crimson,” I said as I opened the fridge. “I have some water, though.”

  “How about a beer?” Felix asked.

  “Beer? I didn’t know you could drink that.” A beer actually does sound good, I thought as I put away the coffee beans and grabbed a couple bottles from the fridge.

  “We can drink or eat anything as long as it doesn’t have garlic in it,” Felix said as I handed him a bottle. “That shit burns, man. I once saw a couple of vamps have a garlic eating contest.”

  “Why?”

  He shrugged. “They were bored.”

  “Who won?” I asked as I sat down in my old black recliner.

  “Their heads caught on fire.”

  I blinked.

  “Seriously, it was like chomp-chomp-poof.” A ghost of a smile played across his lips. “Our bodies burn out most food. High metabolism or something. Does nothing for the hunger, though. I know a few that don’t eat at all,” he said before chugging the amber liquid.

  “Did you know,” he continued, “there’s a dude who actually wrote a book called The Anatomy of a Vampire? He wrote it like fiction so the Watchers wouldn’t get him, but I’ve had a couple of my peeps on the slab over the years. He was right on the money. Talked about how our cells don’t work with food anymore, man. Just blood. How we can eat and eat and eat, but the blood just sends the food packing. Talk about having something go right through you.” He chuckled, although the humor didn’t reach his eyes. “Another reason most vamps don’t eat or drink.”

  Nothing like getting an anatomy lesson from a vampire in your living room. “I take it the medical examiner job is going well?”

  Felix shrugged. “I know the body. Human, vamp, leprechaun, you name it. I saw a lot when I worked in the morgue, and even more now that I work at the M.E.”

  There had to be a point to all this, and I was getting tired and cranky enough to snap. “Felix…”

  “The guy who wrote the vampire anatomy book, man, he nailed it. We just ain’t human anymore, no matter how hard we try.” He sat back in my couch and stared at his beer.

  “Look, Felix,” I said, “it’s late. I just got back from having a Voodoo spirit kick the crap out of me, and—”

  “I need your help, man.”

  That stopped me.

  “I grew up in the sixties,” Felix said without looking at me. “I remember growing up on this farm. They called it a commune back then, but I just knew it as Home. Twenty of us, all taking care of each other and loving each other. It was heaven, man. I didn’t go to college or anything, just stayed on the farm and tried to work the land, you know? Had a girl and everything. Summer of love, except this one lasted for years. Even when the seventies hit and things started turning to shit, the farm stayed the same. I was part of a group. Part of a family. Then the vampire came.” His voice cracked and he took a long swig of his beer. “Bastard struck at night and kidnapped about half of us. Took us to a cave in the mountains and turned us all.”

  “Damn,” I said. A lead weight settled in my stomach and my own beer sat forgotten.

  “My girl died on the stone floor, bled out from the draining. Didn’t come back, neither. But me and another guy came back. I woke up the next night and was crazy with the Hunger.” Felix smiled bitterly. “The vampire who sired me kept laughing hysterically, even when I ripped off his head. They say the longer a vamp lives, the more they go nuts. I’ve seen it. There comes a point where the blood becomes too much.”

  “I’ve heard of older vamps going crazy. It explains why we don’t see many ancient ones around.”

  He nodded. “Since the cave, I’ve drifted, just kinda surviving. Took classes at night to get a decent job. You know how it is. But lately I’ve wanted something more. Not anything big, just a night to get away from… from what I’ve done to survive.” Pain etched its way across his pale face. “Wednesday nights I joined this group, see. We play all sorts of role-playing games. Dungeons and Dragons, Fading Suns, you name it.”

  “Humans?”

  He nodded. “All of them. They don’t ask questions or judge me for what I look like. Just a bunch of guys sitting around a table, having fun. It makes me feel… normal.”

  “What happened?” I asked, although I could already guess the answer.

  “There’s this older guy at the game, plays a druid most of the time. He’s like the center of the group, the most laidback, you know? Never could understand why an old dude would like role-playing games, but he came every Wednesday. Tonight he didn’t show up, and we gave him a call, but no one answered. I didn’t think anything of it. I mean, a dude can get sick or something, right?”

  He stared at his beer bottle. “Then I go to work, and there he is, lying on the slab.”

  “Damn,” I repeated with another swig.

  “Gunned down on Fourth Street,” Felix told me. “No witnesses. Not only that, but he was drained.”

  Shit. “Vampire?”

  He shook his head. “That’s what’s screwed up. No, this was like an animal or something, and there’s no way he should be drained like that. Like nothing I’ve seen. That’s why I need your help. Investigating and looking at stuff, that ain’t my thing.”

  “What does your boss think happened to him?”

  “She’s saying it’s a wolf attack, but it ain’t nothing like that. My kind… well, we can sniff magic, and Sal stinks of it. Strange thing is, he never smelled like it before. Only now… after what happened. That’s why I need your help, man.”

  “Felix—”

  “I can pay you. I got a little saved up. My boss doesn’t have the foggiest clue about our world, man. She can’t get the answers, but you can.”

  I shook my head. “It’s not the money.”

  “Then what?”

  I sighed. “Look, there’s a reason I left California. I can’t get back in, not again. I barely survived the last time I tried to help someone.”

  “I don’t make many friends.” His eyes were haunted. “I can count the number of people in the last fifty years on one hand. Sal was one. He was a quiet old guy who liked to play Dungeons and Dragons. If you saw his face on the slab… he died in pain. He died alone and in so much pain. Please, Nick. I need your help.”

  I put down my beer and closed my eyes. Vampires and animal attacks and mysterious deaths. The last time I agreed to help someone, a fallen angel named Azazel had to pull my ass out of the fire. Literally. No, I couldn’t do this anymore.

  Of course, Azazel helped me save Beth and her daughter, Amanda. I’d never forget that sweet little girl clutching her stuffed animal, sobbing next to the bed where her mother lay naked and chained. If I hadn’t found them in time… I opened my eyes and sighed. “Okay, but I’m not promising anything. When can I look at the body?”

  “My shift’s done, but tomorrow night I can sneak you in around eight. Meet me at the back door.”

  I really regretted not having that cup of coffee. I was bone weary, all the way from my hair to the tips of my toes. I opened my mouth to tell Felix that. Then I looked over at the guy, pining over her his barely touched beer. “Hey, I’m making some burgers if you want to stay.”

  Felix smiled briefly but shook his head. “Thanks, man, but I got to head home. There’s a Star Trek marathon tonight, and well… it’ll get my mind off things.” He pulled a wadded-up piece of paper from his pocket. “Here’s his address, if you want to check it out.”

  “Thanks.” I took the paper and unrolled it. The dead man’s name was Sal Greenberg. Felix had written the address on a ticket to a recent showing of H.M.S. Pinafore.

  “Tomorrow night?” Felix asked after opening the front door.

  “Yeah.”

  “Thanks, man.
”

  As Felix shut the door, my mind began sorting out what I knew about his friend. Why would the authorities say it was a mauling if he was gunned down? Why hadn’t Felix felt the magic before tonight? As tired as I was, these questions were a welcome relief from the doubt and guilt that lingered from my visit with Thelma.

  Besides, it was a simple murder case. I’d check out the body, ask some questions, do some digging, and help Felix understand what happened to his friend. Easy as pie.

  Man, I can be so dumb sometimes.

  CHAPTER THREE

  I didn’t dream. That’s always a win.

  A shower made me feel a little better. After clearing the mirror, I leaned against the sink and took a hard look. I definitely looked better than I felt. A few bruises here or there, but otherwise, I came out of yesterday pretty unscathed.

  My darker complexion comes from my mother’s side of the family, even if the sharper features and bluish-green eyes speak of more exotic locales. My mom is Lakota, but she doesn’t like to talk about my heritage, or about my father for that matter. I don’t know where my gifts came from or why red meat is the only thing to keep the Fever at bay. I can only assume it comes from his side of the family. Judging by her reaction whenever I asked, I’m not sure if I ever want to find out.

  I relaxed as I stepped into my small kitchen and made breakfast. If there was one thing that could calm my nerves and get me moving, it was cooking. I whipped up a Denver omelet with some lightly salted hash browns and a glass of orange juice. I also grabbed a can of cat food and cracked it open.

  That, of course, caused a small black shadow to streak out of the bedroom and hop up onto the counter.

  “Off!” I reprimanded as I grabbed the feline and dropped him on the floor.

  Walker meowed and glared at me. He was a tiny black thing, almost the size of a kitten, with a white tuft of fur in front. He adopted me a few months ago for some reason I could never fathom. He came and went as he pleased, but he mostly just hung around under my bed.

  I sipped my OJ while I read online about Sal’s death. Just like Felix said, they blamed a mugging gone bad and a wolf attack afterward. Nothing about him found drained of blood, though. It was curious, that was for sure.

  I looked at the address on the ticket stub. It was way too early to go digging around a dead man’s home, especially when magic was involved. The whole place could be rigged with all sorts of wards or curses. No, first I needed to see what type of magic remained on Sal’s body.

  Of course, that meant I needed someone who had more experience in magic than I did. Jake was usually my go-to resource for this kind of thing, but he was out of town. He was going to kill me when he got back, because there was only one person who had any experience in this. It didn’t seem too dangerous, but Jake would never forgive me if something happened to Thelma. Of course, she’d kill me if I didn’t ask her.

  I was on my way out when “In the Hall of the Mountain King” echoed through the living room from my phone.

  “Well, hello there, stranger! How’s my favorite brother-in-law?”

  I had to smile. The woman on the other end had a way of doing that. From her bright-red hair to the tips of her spiked-heel boots, Cate Adair was a force of nature. Easygoing, outspoken, and volatile, she could punch out a demon while complaining about her spilled latte.

  It didn’t hurt that, like Felix, Cate was a vampire.

  “I’m your only brother-in-law,” I grumbled.

  “Okay, Mr. Grumpy Pants. I guess that answers the next question of how life’s treating you.”

  I grunted. “You’re up early,” I said as I changed the subject. “It’s the middle of the day there, right?”

  “Middle of the day? Jeez, Nick, I’m not in England,” Cate said. “It’s just Vegas. It’s only an hour difference.”

  “Still.”

  “Yeah, well, Jessie needs me to help her out. I love the sun, but this desert is nasty. It’s a good thing the casinos have no windows.”

  “How’s Jessie doing?” I asked. Jessie was a mutual friend of ours that moved to Vegas a few weeks ago. Most vamps wouldn’t be caught dead in the desert, but Cate loved to buck conventions. Besides, she’d never turn her back on a friend.

  “Well, she’s in the usual amount of crap. Seems her boyfriend stole something from the mob. Don’t know what, but you know how they can get. I’m running protection until we find him.” I could feel her smile over the phone. “There’s about a half-dozen bruisers in the hospital for their troubles.”

  “It beats fighting demons,” I added.

  “You’re telling me. I haven’t even broken a sweat. It’s kind of refreshing.”

  It sounded like it. Cate and I tended to attract the nastier side of the supernatural world. Of course, that didn’t mean every monster was evil. Most were just trying to live their lives as beliefs changed over the millennia. Hell, one of my friends in town was an ancient Norse goddess in her past life. As the belief waned, however, so did their power. I didn’t know the details, but I knew if you believed in something hard enough, it might wake up one day and try to rip off your face.

  Like the Loa last night.

  “Earth to Nick,” Cate said with a laugh.

  “What?”

  “You’re a million miles away.”

  “Actually, only a thousand miles away.”

  “Ugh, now I know something’s wrong. Your humor only gets bad when you’re beating yourself up about something. What is it?”

  “It’s nothing,” I told her. “Just had a bad day yesterday.”

  “Bad as in I-got-a-hangnail bad or bad as in the ahhh-there’s-so-much-blood kind of bad?”

  I shook my head as another tiny smile came to my lips. I filled her in about last night, leaving out the scrambled feelings about Thelma.

  “Thelma’s okay?”

  “A little shaken up, but otherwise doing fine.”

  “Good, but she tried to call up Papa Ghede? That’s insane, Nick. Why’d she do it?”

  “No clue.”

  I finished by telling her about Felix and his request.

  “You know, I offered you the partnership back,” Cate said, “but you were like, ‘Oh no, I can’t go back. I’m a writer, blah, blah, blah.’”

  “And I’m not going back. This is helping a friend, that’s all. Felix helped out with old No-Eyes and the senator.”

  Cate went quiet on me.

  Man, I was lacking in the tact department sometimes. Cate was the one who got me involved in that case three months ago, and she spent a few days in Hell as a reward. She didn’t remember any of it, but it was still a touchy subject.

  “I owe him,” I said, “and besides, it’s just a murder. I’ll check out the M.E.’s office later tonight, get the status, and that should be that. Perfectly normal.”

  “Normal? As if anything with Felix can be normal.”

  “You have a point.”

  I started clearing the table while I waited for Cate to tell me the real reason she called. “As much as I love hearing from you,” I said, “there’s something on your mind. What’s up?”

  “I saw your mom yesterday.”

  Well, that was a great way to turn a foul morning into something even nastier. “I’m surprised she was sober enough to answer the door.”

  “Hey, Nick, don’t be like that. She’s trying. She loved Ann too, you know.”

  “Cate,” I warned.

  “Okay, okay. I just wanted you to know, in case you wanted me to tell her anything. She lives just a couple miles north of the strip.”

  “I don’t have anything to say to her. You know that.”

  “Hey, it doesn’t hurt to try. So, how is tall, blond, and brooding? How’s Felix doing?”

  “How do you not get whiplash from your change of subjects?”

  “Because I’m me.”

  “He’s hanging in there. He was devastated about losing one of his only friends. I know the feeling.”

  “
See, beating yourself up as usual.” Suddenly, there was a crash in the background. “Hold on a sec,” Cate said.

  I heard the tell-tale sounds of breaking glass and moaning. If she was dealing with anything but the mob, I’d be concerned. “Hey, Nick, gotta run,” Cate said.

  “Give my love to Jessie. And the offer still stands. You guys need my help, you call.”

  “Will do, but this is a cake walk. Don’t worry your pretty little head, and good luck with the whole Felix thing. Give Thelma and Jake my love and tell her not to be so dumb. Oh, and Nick?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Don’t be so dumb either. You really do have a hard time staying in one piece.” Another crash in the background. “Toodles!”

  That was a roller coaster of a conversation, but then again, that’s usually how it went when talking to Cate. And I was never dumb. Rash, sometimes. Pigheaded, sure. But it was all part of my charm.

  <><><>

  I lived in the Fremont District of Seattle, one of the more eccentric and, well, trippy places in the city. I loved the brick businesses that lined Fremont Avenue, from the trendy clothing stores to the used record shop on the corner. There was a personality that soothed me whenever my soul was in turmoil.

  I passed by an Irish pub, a natural food place, and a UPS store, all comfortable around each other. The Christmas wreaths still hung from the light posts, and soft holiday music came from hidden speakers along the sidewalk. That was the odd thing about the window of time between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. People clung to the carols and the decorations, as if surrounding themselves with the past would hold the future at bay.

  But my destination was not Moony’s Pizza or Dave’s Tea Parlor or even Sultan’s Treasure, one of my more favorite hangouts. No, today I went to the corner of 34th Street and Fremont, near Lake Union. The African Queen Coffee Shop looked like most other coffee shops from the outside, with a few metal tables sheltering their guests under umbrellas.

  Once inside, the aroma of coffee and the rhythmic beat of tribal music enchanted my senses as I made way through the crowd toward the counter. A Chokwe tribal mask, the wood polished and shiny, hung over the coffee bar next to masks of various African deities from other tribes. A beaded tapestry hung over one wall, while a wax painting—I think Thelma called it a batik—of a mother breast-feeding a baby hung on another.