by Sean Hayden
I dressed as quickly as I could, slipping jeans and sneakers on over my still damp skin and tucking in a white T-shirt. Then I did something I never thought I would do again in service of the FBI. I went to my closet and keyed open the safe I had mounted in there. Nestled in a gray silk holster gifted to me by Darenthalis at the Academy, I pulled out my sidearm. It hadn't been fired since the range. Pulling it from the holster, I grabbed one of the magazines that had been sitting next to it and popped one into the handle, cocking it and chambering a round. I slipped the shoulder holster over my T-shirt and grabbed a black suit jacket off a hanger behind me, covering everything.
Silver probably would have less effect on Rayna than it did me, but I wanted a range weapon. Her claws induced the same reaction as my bite. I didn't want to be on the receiving end of that again. Better to fill her full of silver from a distance and try to slow her down. I stuffed the rest of the magazines in my jean pockets and a couple in my suit jacket to be safe.
I walked out into my living room. Thompson and my roomie were having a cup of coffee and laughing. Hopefully I wasn't the butt of the joke.
"Ready, kid?"
I nodded. "She moved it to a hospital."
"How do you know that?"
"Same way I knew it was in a church. Vic's ghost. She's trying to help since Rayna has her soul."
"Do you know which hospital?"
I shook my head. "I've never been to a hospital except for the one my aunt worked at. Northwest community."
"Well, there's more than fifty of them in the Chicagoland area," Thompson added unhelpfully.
Mel got up, walked into her room, and then came back out wielding her laptop. She punched in a search and a map with every hospital in the area popped up on the screen. "Let's start narrowing it down if we can. It would take too long for you to check each one."
"Well, I think we can cut out everything from the Eisenhower South," I said using the same logic we used when narrowing down the churches.
"That's still a ton of hospitals," Thompson chimed in.
"I think we can also eliminate everything east of Cicero," I said, the name leaving a distasteful flavor in my mouth. Cicero had been the name of the former Master of Chicago I had killed. The memory splashed across my vision. Me draining him dry and pushing the power that came with his death away. The same power that had made its way to Ginger…
"Mel, do we know what hospital they took Ginger to?"
"No. And I don't think I can exactly do a google search for that info."
"Thompson?"
"Do you know her full name?"
"No. Just Ginger. There can't be that many admitted comatose vampires in the area."
"Let me make a call to the office. I can have them search medical records."
"That would help a lot."
"You think she would hide her vessel at the same hospital of the vampire whose soul she…um…ate?" Mel sounded a little skeptical.
"I do. I really do, but I could be wrong. Call it a hunch. If she recast the spell she had on it at St. Hedwigs, I'll be able to tell from the lobby."
"So, no harm looking," she said thoughtfully.
"Nope."
She nodded, and Thompson came back over from making his phone call. "They're searching," he said without further explanation.
"Well, Ginger lived in Palatine. The hospital would have to be close, right?" I thought out loud.
"There isn't a hospital in Palatine," Mel answered.
"Where's the closest hospital?"
"Northwest Community."
"You're kidding me. The hospital my aunt worked at?"
She shrugged.
The coincidences never ended in my life.
"We could be there in ten minutes," I said to Thompson.
"We might as well check it out. It will probably take longer than that for them to find out exactly which hospital she was taken to."
"Mel, could you do me a favor?"
"What?"
"Go put on something warm. You're coming with us. Bring your laptop and if you get out of the car, I'll double your rent."
"Yes, mother," she said and ran into her room.
"You sure that's a good idea, kid?" Thompson said after she shut the door to her room.
"Rayna knows where I live and has seen Mel before. I don't want to leave her alone. Hopefully if she's with us, Rayna will be too preoccupied with us to go after Mel. Hopefully," I added one more time, still unsure of my decision.
"Sounds sane to me."
I'd take sane over crazy any day of the week.
We pulled up to the glass mecca of medicine. I felt a lump in my throat when I thought about how many times my aunt had seen the exact view I stared at.
"You okay, kid?"
"Yeah. I'm fine, why?"
He just shook his head and pulled into one of the open spots in the lot. We were going to have a trek to get to the lobby, but I didn't say a word. Melaniel would be that much safer.
"Wait here," I reiterated one more time. "None of that cop show bullshit where you come wandering in because you think you can help. That shit never works out. Got it?"
She actually flipped me off.
"Thank you," I said and closed my door. "Lock it," I called out as we headed toward the entrance.
We crossed the threshold. I didn't feel an overwhelming miasma of dread like I had in the church. I breathed a little easier and let the skepticism of my brain outweigh the nagging in my gut. It would have been too much of a coincidence.
"I don't think she's here," I said to Thompson as he walked up to the reception desk.
"Well, we might as well check." He turned to the security guard and flashed his badge. "We're here to see a patient named Ginger. I'm not sure of her last name, but she was admitted the day before yesterday. She's a vampire."
The security guard looked at Thompson like he was nuts. He punched a few keys and stared at his screen, scrolling though the entries. "Huh. Yeah. Room 712-A. I need to see your badge, too" he said to me. I reached into my suit jacket and pulled it out and handed it to him.
"Thorne, huh? We used to have a doctor here by that name. I only mention it because you look like her. Nice lady."
"She was my aunt," I replied automatically. Not thinking about it, and glancing at the elevator. The skepticism vanished completely. I half expected Rayna to come walking out of the elevator.
"She talked about you quite often. Sorry for your loss, agent."
I nodded and smiled. That caught me a little off guard. I knew of two doctors that my aunt had introduced me to. For her to talk about me when she worked so hard to keep me hidden, surprised me.
Thompson patted me on the back. He must have noticed the look on my face.
"Thank you," I said earnestly to the guard.
"Take the elevator to the seventh floor and make a left. Room 712 will be on the right side of that hall. Bed A is closest to the window."
I nodded and walked toward the elevator. Thompson's footfalls steadily behind me. The door dinged open when I hit the up button. I let Thompson hit the floor button and stared at the door until it closed. We rose with a soft hum.
"You feel anything?"
I started to say, "No," but stopped as soon as we passed the second floor. I clutched at my chest and wished I'd thought to bring Father Rourke with us. By the time we got to the seventh floor, I could barely breathe.
The door opened, and I could see a vague outline of the black miasma. The placard on the nursing station read Supernatural Ward. The nurse stared at us curiously as we exited the elevator. I flashed her my badge. "Clear the staff from this floor immediately," I said in passing and forced my feet toward Ginger's room.
"Excuse me, I can't leave the patients."
"Do it," Thompson reiterated and drew his weapon.
"She grabbed the microphone from the desk and said, "Code Blue, room 777." She set it back down and stood up. "What is going on?"
"Dangerous person in room 712."
>
"The comatose vampire? Sugar, she hasn't even batted an eyelash since she's been here. EEG is a flatline, too. If she were on a respirator we would have pulled the plug."
"It's not her we're worried about. Get out of here," Thompson said and snarled, leaving no room for argument.
More staff converged on the nursing station and headed for the elevator. Room 777 must have been some sort of code for a floor evacuation. I silently lauded their foresight.
Halfway down the hall, I couldn't walk any further. My legs refused to work.
"What the hell is that feeling?"
"Dread and regret. Can you still move?" I barely turned my head to look at him.
"Yes, but it's damn uncomfortable."
"I can't move, Thompson."
"Is it a spell specifically for you? Or vampires in general?"
"I don't have a fucking clue, but the staff didn't seem to have a problem. Maybe because we intend Rayna harm? Or maybe because we're looking for the vessel?"
"I don't know. I hate all that bullshit magic mumbo-jumbo. Wait here, I'll check it out."
He started to walk away and the thought of losing him broke my heart. I didn't want that regret in my life. My foot surged forward.
It's fueled by regret and I'm an endless font…
"Thompson. Wait."
He stopped a few feet away.
I cleared my head and thought about all the things I regretted. Michaels. My first partner. Victoria. My first love. Marcel. My first friend. My Aunt. My first family. The ones I regretted not saving. The ones I couldn't protect.
The ones I regretted losing every damn day of my life.
"It's not your fault," I said out loud.
"What's not my fault?"
I looked at my partner who thought I was talking to him. I shook my head. "Not you. Me."
I stood up and shook my arms and stopped trying to go forward.
"You okay, kid?"
"Just trying to get something out in the open and let go of some regret. Mind listening to me for a second?"
"Uh… Now?"
I nodded. "The spell is fueled by guilt and regret. I'm just a bubbly cauldron of guilty regret casserole."
He lowered his weapon and motioned at me with is free hand.
"My first partner. Marion Michaels. I miss him. He was a great guy and I regret not being able to keep him from being murdered. But I can't be everywhere, and I can't save everybody.
"My Vic. My first love. My deepest, deepest regret is not telling her that I loved her before she died. I was ashamed because I had never considered loving another woman could be normal.
"Marcel. My first friend. He taught me so much and I regret not being more grateful.
"And my Aunt. I regret not telling her how much I appreciated how much she did for me."
I took a tentative step forward. And another. I could move again. It still felt like my heart was being flattened in a vice, but I could at least walk. Slowly.
"Let's go."
"Kid, when this is over. Get some therapy."
"Fuck off. I will."
The walk to room 712 was agonizing and slow, but we made it. Thompson peered around the corner and slipped inside, gun moving from point to point in the room. Every spot that could be concealing a demon. I drew mine and followed him in, focusing on Ginger lying lifeless in the bed by the window. I ignored the empty bed and walked over to her.
She stared at the ceiling, only her head visible above the covers of the white hospital blanket. I slowly pulled the blanket down, getting a bad feeling in my stomach. Her dressing gown had a square sheet of plastic over her abdomen and a circle of blood had soaked through. The plastic being the only thing stopping it from soaking the blanket.
"Thompson," I said and pulled away the plastic cover. He walked over, looking at the stain and glancing at me before backing up against the wall and keeping his eye on everything in the room.
"Hurry, kid."
Lifting her gown, the hole in her abdomen wept black miasma. I sighed, really not wanting to have to stick my hand in a comatose vampire. Even if it meant saving the world, or at least a greater portion of the Chicagoland area.
"Ewwwww," I said as my fingers parted her intestines.
"Yeah. That's pretty fucking gross. You sure it's in there?"
"It fucking better be."
My hand hit something hard. Digging around with my fingers, I felt a round shape etched with designs. The evil coming from it felt like nothing I ever experienced before. Not even the last vessel I touched. Curling my fingers over the rim, I managed to get a grip on it and pulled on it.
The top became visible through her parting innards and twinkled grotesquely in the white fluorescent lighting of the room. I used my other hand to untangle it and pull it free. It came loose with a sucking squelch.
"Got it," I said lifting it up.
"Great. Now what do we do with it?"
"Smash it?"
"Do it. Before it shows up."
I lifted it above my head and threw it straight down at the ground on the linoleum covered gray and white checkered floor between my feet. Blood splattered the ground and the vessel impacted squarely and bounced, shooting straight forward and putting a dent in the wall across the room.
"Well, shit."
"Plan B. Grab it and let's go."
I turned and went to grab Ginger's gown to protect her modesty when I noticed the wound closing. I covered her, but stole her blanket to wrap around the clay jar spinning to a stop on the floor. I bundled it up, tucking it under my left arm, re-pulling my sidearm.
"Let's go."
We exited the room, Thompson leading the way and me following, keeping an eye behind us as much as possible. Rayna had a nasty habit of popping up behind me. She had to know we had her vessel.
We made it to the nursing station and the elevator dinged.
"Stop," I hissed and turned to the door to the stairwell, pushing it open as quietly as possible and holding it open for Thompson. He slipped in behind me and I let it close with a soft click, using the tip of my sneaker. Leaning against the door I listened.
Soft footfalls walked past the door and I lifted my head to peer through the glass square in the door. A woman pushed a cart lazily down the hall, headphones in her ears.
I started breathing again.
"It was just a nurse," I whispered.
A taloned black hand slapped against the glass by my head, shattering it, but not breaking through. The metal webbing stopped it.
"I know you have it. Mine," Rayna hissed on the other side of the door.
"Run," I told Thompson and tossed him the blanket wrapped vessel. He caught it awkwardly with one arm.
He listened to me and began descending the stairs four at a time while I braced myself against the door.
Rayna didn't just pound against it, she dented it. It took everything I had to keep it shut. A few seconds later, the pounding stopped. I waited a moment longer before vaulting the railing and dropping to the landing below. I could still hear my partner's footfalls on the stairs a few floors down. He hadn't made it to the bottom yet.
I kept dropping floor by floor, the stairwell not giving me enough room to drop the rest of the way at once. I caught up to him on the second floor.
"Exit here," I said and burst through the door.
"Why? We were almost there."
"I don't know where the hell she went. Be unpredictable."
"Oh, you're good at that."
We ran past the nurses' station and ignored the screams from the staff and patients milling about. "Window at the end of the hall!"
"What about it?"
"Go through it," I said and jumped at it, bracing myself for the impact and the multiple lacerations.
I landed on the ground below, the bushes not breaking my fall at all, and came up running, not giving the glass a chance to fall on me. I heard Thompson land with a soft thud and we both made a beeline for the Suburban.
"Here,"
Thompson said and tossed me the vessel when we were close.
I caught it and held on to it for dear life. Thompson slapped the window, waiting for Mel to unlock the car. She leaned over the seat and hit the button.
We got in and I dropped the vessel on the floor in front of me and began frantically looking around for the demon on our tail. She walked slowly out of the front doors and looked up, directly at us. She knew exactly where we were.
"Gods damn it. She can sense it."
"Well it is hers," Thompson said without adding a, "Duh."
"Drive."
He threw it into reverse, squealed out of the space, and then took off toward the exit, the transmission dropping as he slammed it into gear.
"Ima shoot it," I said and pointed my gun at the vessel.
"Not in the fucking car you're not. Hang on, we'll lose her, and you can do it outside."
I hated it when he used logic, but the last thing we needed was bullets flying around the inside of the car or shooting out brake lines.
"You see her?" He looked back in his mirror.
"She was running after us, but now she's gone," Mel said from the back seat.
I opened my window and looked above us. She was flapping her wings as fast as she could, trying to keep up with us. "She's above us. Don't stop!"
"Tell that to the red light."
"Blow through it."
"I'll try," he said and slowed down enough to judge the traffic and gunned it again. We flew through it, narrowly missing a crossing car.
"This isn't going to work. Get on the highway. Maybe we can outrun her."
"Planning on it," he said through gritted teeth.
"Let's just hope she can't teleport into a moving car," I said thoughtfully.
"I think she already would have if she could. She couldn't even teleport through a closed door."
"So, then we just need to put some distance between us."
"Working on it."
"Okay. I'll shut up now."
"Thank you, kid."
We had to stop at the next intersection. Before the light turned green, he went around the two cars in front of us and went through, ignoring the honking horns, Rayna landed on the roof and dug her claws into the metal.