Greywalker

by Kat Richardson

  “How about ‘I’m sick, but I’m going to be fine and I’ll see you soon?”

  He sighed again and lowered his head even farther. “I guess I didn’t think, but I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m not very good at this vampire stuff.”

  “You mean you don’t just wake up one night and know how to be a vampire?”

  “No. Usually you have somebody around to take care of you, teach you, until you can take care of yourself.”

  “So, what happened to your… tutor?”

  Cameron shrank. “He threw me out,” he whispered.

  In a cartoon, the wooden desktop would have slammed into my lower jaw as my mouth popped open. Cameron squirmed and snuck a peek at me out of the corner of his eye. I clenched my eyes shut and smoothed out my face.

  “Threw you out?” I repeated, choking on a dry throat. I swallowed and restarted. “Why?”

  “He said—He didn’t—I didn’t want—I—” Frustrated, he plunged his face into his hands. “I can’t do this!” he howled. “I suck at this!”

  I didn’t laugh. I stood up and walked over to put a reassuring hand on his shoulder… and fell straight through to the Grey.

  I couldn’t breathe. I was cold, frozen, falling, sliding through something writhing, oozing, squeezing into me. Black cold. Cameron raised his head and looked through me with a gaze like a razor. I yanked my hand away from that burning cold/hot, live/dead flesh… and stumbled backward, falling against the desk and sitting down hard on its top, gasping.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked, jumping up to offer assistance.

  I pushed at the air between us. “Don’t touch me!”

  He recoiled as from a blow, drawing his hands back against his chest.

  I gnawed air and fought back to some kind of equilibrium.

  “I—I really wasn’t expecting that.” I straightened myself up and tried to smile.

  “What happened? Are you OK? You… flickered.” He peered at me, ducking his head to squint at my face. “What are you?” he asked, backing away a step.

  I laughed. “Are you afraid of me?” I waved a hand over my body. “Look at me—an ex-dancer with a run in her stocking and rips in her blouse. Why should you be scared of me? You’re the vampire, the transcender of death. Who the hell am I?”

  “You… you’re something—I don’t know. You’re—you’re more here than most people.”

  “I’m more somewhere. Look, Cameron, I’ll tell you my nasty secret, then you can tell me yours. OK?”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Cameron gave a slow nod. “I seem to be able to see things most people can’t,” I started. “I met a couple recently who said there’s a… another sphere of existence sort of parallel to, or on top of, the normal one. The paranormal. In between here and there, there’s a place where things like ghosts and vampires exist, the same way ordinary people do in the ordinary world. Making sense?” “I get it.”

  I nodded and made my best stab at the story, dawdling over my words. “I got into an accident a while ago, and afterward I started seeing, moving, into this… place. It’s called the Grey. Sometimes I just see things like film projected on fog. Sometimes I can go all the way in—but I try not to. I don’t know if I leave the ordinary altogether or not. But I’m getting pretty good at catching sight of things that sort of waver in the Grey, even when I’m here.” “You mean like ghosts?”

  “Yeah. I see a lot of ghosts. And a lot of other stuff. I can’t say I like it. And I can see you. You seem to exist in both places at the same time. I think that you see me with both sets of eyes, so I seem more solid or more real to you than a lot of other people do.”

  “You do seem more real than most people have in a while. So what happened just now?”

  “When I touched you, I… fell in.”

  “Whoa. That’s pretty weird.”

  “It’s not a lot weirder than being a vampire.”

  His head bobbed as he thought about it.

  “So what’s your story?” I asked.

  “Um, well… can I skip over some of the details?”

  “Sure. For now.” I leaned back against the desk and crossed my arms. I could feel the molded edge digging into my butt, but I wasn’t about to move.

  “Yeah, OK. See, I was down here in the Square a lot a while back, trying to help out a friend.”

  “Your sister, Sarah?”

  He hesitated to confirm or deny.

  “She told me about it. She said she’d been some kind of possession for a while. A guy named Edward kept her as a toy.”

  He closed his eyes and looked tired. “Yeah.” His lids rose, but he didn’t refocus on me. “I finally got a hold of Edward, and I tried a lot of things to get him to give Sarah up, but he wouldn’t.” His voice was starting to growl and resonate. “He was so damned amused about it. I was ready to smash his face in. I couldn’t have done it, but I wanted to. I got pissed off and asked him what would induce him to let Sarah go. And the son of a bitch said me!”

  My stomach did a flip. I put my palm out toward him. “Calm down a little, Cam. You don’t need to boil the atmosphere.”

  He glared at me, then slumped a bit and took a couple of deep breaths. “I didn’t mean to get so wound up, but it really wound me up at the time. Anyhow, I was kind of creeped out about it. But I had to help Sarah. It was like she was fading a bit more every time we met.

  “Anyhow, I—I said he could have me.” Cameron looked down at his hands. “I didn’t know he was a vampire. I thought he just wanted to have sex with me. I didn’t know he wanted to… make me.”

  Now he looked up. His eyes glimmered. “I thought he was just some kind of kink and I figured I stood a better chance of holding him off than Sarah did. I’m not hung up about sex, so I didn’t think it would be a big deal. I figured he’d find me boring after a while and let me go. But that’s not how it went.

  “At first it was just sort of weird… I don’t really want to discuss that part.” He tucked his head sideways and looked at me with a grimace.

  “OK. Go on with the part you do want to tell,” I encouraged.

  “Anyhow, so… Edward’s a vampire and now I’m a vampire.”

  “Why isn’t Sarah a vampire, too?”

  “I don’t know. I think he was having a lot more fun just sort of playing with her. Or maybe he doesn’t like girls. I don’t know.”

  “And then what happened? Why did Edward dump you?”

  He tilted his head back and stared at the ceiling. “Oh, I pissed him off. I had a meltdown, got nasty, lost my temper, and he tossed me out and told me to fend for myself. I’ve tried to get some help, but I don’t know who to turn to besides Edward, and he won’t even look at me. I mean he literally doesn’t see me. I’m really in a mess. There are other vampires around town, but I think Edward is a big man in the local community and he’s got them all scared or something. I’ve been cut out, I guess. It’s kind of scary. I could get killed just because of the things I don’t know, but I don’t know how to learn them. There is no Vampirism for Dummies handbook. I tried reading the folklore sections in the library but most of that tells you how to destroy a vampire, not how to be one.”

  He lay back in the chair for a few more seconds, still. Then he jerked upright and stared at me. “You could help me!”

  “Me? I don’t know even half as much about vampires as you do.”

  “You could be my… my intermediary. You’re a neutral party. Maybe some of the others will talk to you. You could talk to Edward.”

  “I don’t think th—,” I started.

  Cameron jumped up. “Yes! You could do it. You don’t need to be a vampire expert. I could point out some of the people and you could ask them. They’ll talk to you, I know they will!” He was almost capering with excitement.

  “Why—why,” I repeated, raising my voice with each rep, “why would they talk to me?”

  He stopped and stared at me. “Well, because… because you’ve got great legs. Who could re
sist a smart PI with good legs who can spot a vampire without a mirror? Please try. Please? I can pay you. I’ve got lots of money. I’ll pay you double your normal rates. Come on. Is it a deal?”

  I had a strange feeling about this. “Let me think about it.”

  “OK. How ‘bout twenty-four hours?”

  “Make it twenty-eight hours. I’ve got a life, you know.”

  “Yeah, rub it in.”

  “Cameron…”

  “OK, OK. Twenty-eight hours. What do I care? I’ll still be up.”

  My riposte was interrupted by a knock on the door.

  “Come in!”

  Quinton opened the door and stuck his head into the room. “I’m having a little problem.”

  “Come all the way in and tell us about it,” I suggested.

  Quinton closed the door behind himself and perched on the edge of the shabby chair next to Cameron’s.

  “I can’t get this system functional tonight. I’ve got most of the work done—the lock’s fixed and all that—but one of the alarm modules I brought with me is toast and I can’t get another one until morning.”

  “Can you rig something temporary?” I asked.

  “Not for this. There has to be a brain of some kind for a multi-input, multistage system like this,” he explained. “The fried module is the brain, but it’s the one thing I don’t have a spare for. I can fake it, but no guarantees, or I can get the correct part in the morning.” He glanced at me, then looked over at Cameron. He twitched a stiff shrug. “Sorry.”

  Cam’s face wrinkled up and he pursed his lips. I could almost read the swear words forming around his head. But all he said was, “No problem.” Then he looked at me. “You got any suggestions?”

  I shook my head and looked at Quinton. “You?”

  “Well, if you guys both trust me with her, you could leave the car with me and I can take it down to a friend’s garage first thing in the morning. I’ll get the module from him, finish up the work, and bring the car back. Be done by nine.”

  “A.M.?” Cameron asked.

  Quinton nodded. One corner of his mouth rippled.

  Cameron looked at me with rising panic. “I’m not much of a morning person.”

  I waved him down. “I’ll take care of that. I can pick up the car and pay for it. You’ll have to pay me back. Assuming that I can find you a safe place to sleep, that schedule sounds OK to me.” I looked at Quinton.

  “All right,” said Quinton as he pushed to his feet. “Any problems, I’ll page you. Car’s all locked up. Should be safe where it is till morning.” He looked at Cameron. “You need anything out of it before I take off with the keys?”

  “Uh, no. I can make do. Thanks.”

  “No problem,” Quinton replied, slipping out the door.

  When he was gone, Cameron shot me an expectant stare. “What am I going to do? Where am I going to sleep?”

  “Hang on. I have to make a phone call.”

  I dialed and waited.

  “Hello?”

  “Mara, it’s Harper. How do you two feel about vampires?”

  “Never met any. Why?”

  “I have a young man in my office who doesn’t have a pulse, sleeps during the day, and needs a place to hide out while the sun is up. He seems all right, but he’s got some problems we’re dealing with. I only need a place for one night. Would it put you out if I dropped him off with Ben?”

  “Oh, no. I’m sure we can work something out. There’s a little finished room in the cellar that’s quite cozy and the light doesn’t come in during the day. That might do.”

  “All right. Now let me talk to Ben.”

  “You do catch on quick to this wife/husband business,” she said, before turning away from the phone to call for Ben.

  “Hi, Harper. Are you coming back for pie?”

  “Let me tell you what’s come up before I answer that. I need to find a place to hide a vampire for one day, and I’m in a bit of a bind about it.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “He’s a nice kid, but he’s new to this vampire business and his normal sleeping place won’t be available until tomorrow. Mara thinks you might have a place he could hang out until sunset tomorrow, but I wanted to OK it with you first. Is this safe?”

  “Safe? Sure. You’re not worried about all that ‘has to be invited’ junk, are you? Folklore. That’s all. But are you sure this kid’s a”—he lowered his voice—“vampire? Really?”

  “You could almost pass him off as normal except for the teeth and the eyes and the fact that he doesn’t have a heartbeat.”

  “Wow. This is kind of exciting. We can manage. Yes, sure. Brian’s at my mother’s until tomorrow, so that’s no worry.”

  “Thanks, Ben. I couldn’t think of anyplace else. And he really needs more help than just a place to crash for a day. I thought you might want to talk to him.”

  “Oh, God, yes! When are you coming?”

  “I’ll be there in about twenty minutes.”

  “Great! We’ll fix some things up and see you then.”

  I hung up and looked at Cameron. “What do you think?”

  “I’m not sure. Who are these guys? They didn’t seem too freaked out by the idea.”

  “I’ll tell you on the way.”

  Cameron followed me to the office door. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

  “It’s the safest option I can come up with on such short notice. They won’t be any threat to you, except that Ben might keep you up till dawn asking questions. Do you eat pie?”

  “No. Solid food makes me spew. I drink a little alcohol or coffee every once in a while.”

  “Coffee?”

  “Yeah. It has just the opposite effect it used to have. Now it smoothes me out.”

  On the drive back up to Queen Anne, I explained Ben and Mara Danziger, to the best of my ability.

  “A real witch? Sweet,” said Cam, leaning back in the passenger seat. “This could turn out all right.”

  “I hope so. The only thing I’m worried about is Albert getting agitated. I don’t know if he could cause you any kind of trouble.”

  “I’ll do my best to snake-charm him,” Cam said with a smile that was both winsome and horrifying. It had to be the teeth. “Who’s Albert?”

  “He’s a ghost. He… lives there.”

  Cam was still puzzling on that one when I pulled up in front of the house and parked.

  “Come on,” I urged, grabbing my bag as I stepped out.

  We started across the sidewalk together. Albert materialized in the arch at the foot of the steps and glowered at us.

  I sighed. Folklore. Right. “May we come in?”

  He didn’t move, and I was loath to walk through him. He stopped looking at me and directed his baleful gaze onto Cameron.

  Cam stepped forward and held up his empty hands. “I promise I won’t do them any harm,” he said. “I… I give you my word. I just need some help and I hope your friends can give it to me. OK?”

  Albert looked at him a moment longer, then nodded and whispered away.

  Cam glanced at me. “Tough customer. Must have been a bouncer.”

  I grinned and we went up the walk.

  Ben Danziger opened to my knock. He looked Cameron over as hard as Albert had before stepping back. “Come on in.”

  Mara stuck her head out the kitchen door. “Would either of you like some coffee with your pie?”

  “I would love some coffee, thank you, Mara,” I said.

  “Coffee would be very nice, thank you, ma’am,” said Cameron.

  “Oh, heavens, call me Mara. Even my students don’t call me ma’am.” She smiled and vanished back into the kitchen, calling out, “Go ahead. Ben will catch me up on anything I miss.”

  Cameron and I exchanged a look as Ben led us into the living room and waved us into seats. He sank himself into a big wingback chair by the fireplace. Cameron took a corner of the couch and I sat next to him, in spite of the vertigo his proximity ca
used me.

  “OK,” Ben started. “You think this young man’s a vampire?”

  Before I could reply, Cam let out a barking laugh and grinned to bare his teeth. “Harper can think what she likes, but I know. Three months ago I had perfectly ordinary teeth. Now I’ve got these. I used to get up in the morning with a pulse. Now I don’t roll out of bed until sunset and you couldn’t time the motion of a glacier against my heart rate.”

  Ben looked at him with a combination of skepticism and excitement fighting on his face. “Are you sure it isn’t just a mental aberration?”

  “I’m pretty sure.”

  “Come over here.”

  Cam ambled over to Ben, who reached out for his wrist.

  “Damn, you’re cold!”

  “Yep. It takes about two hours for my skin to rise to room temperature if it’s cold outside.”

  “Hmmm… I wonder why.”

  “Thermal inertia, I think. If it gets too warm, I start to smell a bit unpleasant up close. Summer’s going to be a real treat.”

  “Well, you’ve got no discernible pulse in your wrist.” He raised his hand up toward Cam’s neck. “Do you mind?”

  Cam bent forward. Ben placed his fingers against the side of his neck. “No pulse at the carotid.”

  “That’s the jugular side. Trust me—I’ve learned my veins and arteries.” Ben wrinkled up his nose. “Oops. Harper says I have bad breath. I don’t know if that’s part of the condition, or if I’ve just forgotten to brush in a while. I’ve sorta lost track of time. This thing kind of bums me out.”

  “I can imagine.” Ben leaned back in his chair and Cam came back to the couch. “Well, you certainly seem to be… undead. Do you know what your body temperature is?”

  “Not sure. Most regular thermometers won’t register at all. I think it hovers around sixty, but that’s just a guess.”

  “I think that alone would qualify you for dead. It’s the undead part I’m wondering about. Maybe you’re a zombie.”

  “Don’t think so,” said Cam, sitting back. “I do seem to have a will of my own and I don’t have any interest in human flesh, just blood—though I don’t really need much more than a cup or so most of the time. I don’t like the sun. I don’t cast much of a shadow, or a reflection—at least not that I can see. Sometimes I can make people think I’m invisible. Except Harper.”