by Lily Luchesi
“Usually, when we hear of an unwanted turning, as yours was, we try to get to the buried human corpse before the vampiric curse reanimates it and take care of it. Unfortunately, we were unable to reach you in time, which I apologize for. You were already awake when we opened your coffin.”
Miranda had felt sick. “Wait. You kill those who didn’t ask to be vampires?”
“Yes. You see, you’re already dead, but the process of becoming a vampire means that your soul is stuck inside your Undead body, keeping it alive. When we kill the ones in transition, we free the souls to go to either Heaven or Hell before they can become trapped into your body until your immortal death. Most newly awakened vamps are not as articulate as you,” she’d explained. ”Usually, they just want blood and will kill the first human that they encounter to get their fix.”
Miranda had mulled it over and had decided that luck just was not on her side. “So my soul is trapped? How can I die if I am immortal?”
Angelica had then explained the origin of the vampire race and how vampires were killed. She had then went on to explain that she ran the PID and that it was funded by the FBI, so it was a legitimate organization.
“We monitor the paranormal community worldwide and ensure that no one is breaking the law and killing humans. If someone wants, we’ll give them a job here. That’s also what I want to offer you because you can’t be out in daylight anymore and you need work and a place to live.”
Miranda had sighed, unable to believe that she had to give up her career aspirations, for which she had worked so hard. “What about my family and my fiancé? They think I’m dead.”
“And they’re going to keep thinking that as long as they live,” Angelica had said, finishing off her mug of blood.
That had certainly shocked Miranda. “What? Why? Okay, maybe my parents would be a little freaked out—they’re hardcore Catholic—but Daniel? He’d be fine with it after a while. He has to be…he loves me…” She’d trailed off, bloody tears staining her face.
Angelica had reached across the table and placed her hand on the younger vamp’s. “Miranda, you are dead to everyone you once knew. No one, and I mean no one, is okay with their dead loved one knocking on their door, saying, ‘I’m back. Your life as you knew it is over. I’m sorry.’”
Miranda had broken down in wracking sobs that shook her body. “You can’t be telling me that. I-I don’t want to live alone, damn it,” she’d cried. “I don’t want to still be here if I can’t be with my family and my man.”
“I know. That is the reason I try to execute the still dormant vamps, so no one has to go through what you are right now. I can’t imagine how you feel.”
“This isn’t fair.” she’d whined, punching the table. Her newfound strength had made the marble crack and she’d jumped, scared. “It’s bad enough I’m a monster. Now you’re telling me I have to be alone while I’m at it?”
“You’re not alone. In the PID, you’re never alone,” Angelica had reassured her. “We’re a large community, here to help each other in any way we can.”
“How the Hell can you help me now?” Miranda had snapped. “Can you cure me?”
Angelica had looked impatient. “First of all, vampirism isn’t a disease, and you can’t be cured unless I cut your head off. Second, I am going to help you by getting you a position in Paris, at our office there. You’ll be a part of a team of various creatures, including humans, who monitor activity in France and the surrounding towns. It might not be ideal, but it’ll be better than hiding here, where your family might be able to recognize you.”
Miranda had sat mulishly, her face still tearstained. “Not. Fucking. Fair.” She’d angrily twisted her engagement ring around her finger.
Finally, Angelica’s patience had seemed to snap. “Too bad, princess. You’ll stay here for a week and learn how to use your new powers before flying out to Paris.”
“Will you be my teacher?” she’d asked while thinking, I hope not.
“I cannot,” Angelica had replied. “I don’t have all the powers that you do.”
Miranda had gone to the windows and looked out at the sleeping city. “I don’t suppose there’s a chance that you’ll kill me now, huh?”
Smiling sardonically, Angelica had replied, “Unfortunately not.”
There had been no love lost between the two women from that day on.
Miranda had learned how to run at vampire speed, control her new physical strength, reign in her glamour, and turn into a bat. She’d trained hard, because she had been told once her family was gone, she could return. She’d wanted to be able to return as fast as she could once that happened, planning even then to come and get Daniel back. She’d been convinced that he would be understanding and welcoming.
She’d spent nearly thirty years in beautiful Paris, heading a team of three vampires, two humans and one werewolf against the paranormal offenders of France. It had been fun, and the time had passed by quicker than she would have expected.
In 2009, her mother had passed away from a stroke. She had cried for days about it, knowing that, had she been allowed to stay in Chicago, she could’ve at least said goodbye.
When her father had died of dementia just two weeks prior to her return to America, she hadn’t cried at all. Instead, she’d been happy about it. She could return and get back to the life she had always been meant to live.
****
Present Day
“…And that’s when I ran into you,” she finished, not looking at Danny. “I hadn’t realized how shocked you’d be to see me, or that you would already know about all of this supernatural stuff.”
“Yeah…life’s a big grand surprise, huh?” he said sarcastically. He ran his hands through his hair, trying to make sense of what his life had become. Whatever happened to the days he would complain that every day was the same thing and Camille, his now deceased partner at the CPD, would laugh at him and say, “If you find homicide dull, what the Hell do you think is a challenge?”
Well, this is a challenge.
“Maybe I’m persistent, but what—” A howl cut Miranda off mid-sentence, making them both jump. “That wouldn’t be your dog, would it?” she asked sheepishly.
“Unfortunately not.” He went to get his weapons, texting Angelica to hurry over while he did so. The howl he heard was joined by a second and then a third. “Son of a bitch.” He grabbed his daggers and guns, and when he turned, he saw Miranda had her guns still on her. However, she looked horribly uncomfortable with them, even after using them for nearly three decades. He remembered she hadn’t even wanted to look at his guns while he had been at the Academy, and now she was forced to use them.
“Wait,” she said as he was about to exit through his backdoor. “In Paris, I worked with werewolves and they gave me this. It helps prevent them from catching our scents. Mine is especially strong, since I’m a vampire.” She grabbed out a vial of clear liquid. It looked like perfume, and she sprayed it all over them both. It was a counterfeit scent of the forest.
He checked his phone again, but Angelica hadn’t responded. Should he send a message to the director? No time. They needed to be quick. Lord help me.
Chapter Four
They snuck outside, closing his door quietly and stepping as cautiously as they could so that they would not be heard.
It felt odd to be working with his ex-fiancée. She had been a feminine person, never getting into anything physical. To see her in a hunter’s role was surreal to Danny. It just didn’t feel right, not like when Angelica hunted with him. She had natural talent and a taste for adventure. Miranda just did this out of habit and because she had no other way to get a job in the human world.
He wondered how many werewolves were living in the woods behind his home. How long had they resided there? Why were they just showing up now? And, most importantly, how had they been cursed by Fiona Guilfoyle if she had been killed the year before?
“I can sense them. Their presence is…altered,” Miran
da whispered. “What are they?”
“They are altered, but it’s a long story as to how and why. I’ll explain more later when we’re not about to fight for our lives. Just be wary,” he hissed.
Werewolves were stealthy when they wanted to be, and with there being more than one, there was no way to tell where they were. At least, not until the large branch of an oak was thrown directly at Danny. He dodged, but barely.
“Show yourselves, you cowards.” he called, firing a warning shot. “Are you wolves or puppies?”
“Don’t antagonize them.” Miranda cried, nervous.
“What’s the matter, little bat?” a growl said from somewhere to her right. “Are you afraid?”
She shot her silver bullets but hit nothing. Were they invisible or just that good at camouflage?
Danny could tell that she wasn’t used to fighting without a team behind her.
At once, three wolves dropped from their perches in the trees, shocking a scream out of her. She had probably never seen a were-anything in mid-transformation, and these were particularly frightening.
Danny wondered how they had gotten that way. What did it do to their abilities?
“What the Hell, Danny?” she said, slowly backing away from the one closest to her.
“Hell is where you’ll be going, little bat,” one growled, lunging at her.
She batted it away with her vampire strength, spraining its shoulder.
“Use your weapons.” Danny said, wondering why she wasn’t. He pulled his other gun and fired in two directions at once. One bullet only grazed one were’s face, but the other embedded itself in another’s shoulder, making it howl. How was it possible that his neighbors heard none of this?
Miranda got her dagger into the third’s stomach, causing its blood to burn her skin. He’d never known that vampires were allergic to werewolf blood. He now realized why Angelica had always fought with long-sleeved shirts and gloves on.
The were swiped, cutting into her thigh. She bled, but would heal right up in a little while. Danny was contending with the other two, but they were too fast for his bullets. He finally hit his mark on one, directly in the heart. It howled and screamed until it turned back into a college-aged woman, now lying dead in a bed of fallen leaves. That evened the playing field.
The wolf he couldn’t hit charged at him, knocking him down like a bull. He heard more than felt his rib snap and he screamed.
****
Six quick gunshots were heard, and the wolf that had hurt him nearly exploded from the impact. Angelica stood behind Danny, a gun in each hand. She watched as the wolf changed back into a young, rather handsome, man, his chest completely exploded from the silver bullet shrapnel.
“Valdez, don’t kill that one,” she called. “I want it for questioning.” She tossed her silver handcuffs attached to leg shackles to let Miranda secure it. She needed to tend to Danny.
Miranda watched on Angelica bent over her man, gently probing his ribs. The wolf seemed to notice her distraction and knocked her to the ground, which sent the shackles flying.
Hearing the commotion, Angelica looked up, exasperated. How long would it take for Valdez to grow up and do her job properly? She leaped up, slicing the shifter’s arm off with her falchion. Blood poured out, burning more of Miranda’s exposed skin. Angelica kicked the shackles back towards her, not caring if she was in pain. So was Danny, and he was a Hell of a lot more fragile than Miranda..
Miranda slunk along the ground while and shackled the wolf while it was distracted by its own pain. The silver would ensure it couldn’t change back into full human or wolf form or attack. She left it, and ran over to where Angelica was attending Danny.
“Hold still. You need a stretcher. We don’t want the bone to pierce your lung,” Angelica told him.
“Thought you weren’t coming,” he commented, barely getting the words out.
She just gave him a look, but was thinking, I could never leave you to your own devices, love. She called the director, and he was sending an ambulance right away.
“What will they do to me at the PID?” he asked.
“Set your rib and give you some herbs to help with the pain,” she replied.
“As in…green herbs that are illegal in most states?”
She smiled at him. At least, he hadn’t lost his sense of humor. Miranda just looked pissed.
“Witch potions meant for the ease of physical pain. Nothing illegal,” she sniffed, still a lawyer in training at heart.
The ambulance arrived quickly and took Danny to the medical portion of the PID while Angelica and Miranda transported the prisoner to the interviewing rooms.
“Make sure you take good care of him,” Angelica ordered the doctor.
****
The doc, Danny saw that he was a vampire, was the type who spoke all of his thoughts aloud. He vocally wondered why she hadn’t healed him with her immortal blood, but then commented that he knew better than to ask. He was talking with another man in the room.
“I know the boss has her own ways and her own reasons, and anyone who questions her gets the sharp end of her tongue. That alone is more formidable than even her fangs,” the doctor said.
He wheeled the now anesthetized Danny into an operating room. He was conscious, but numb.
“What are you gonna do to me?” he drawled.
“Set your rib with the use of telekinesis. Hold on, Detective, this will hurt.” Not that Danny could tell if anything hurt or not. The herbs would have made him so numb that he’d feel like he’d taken a whole host of illegal drugs.
“So, this is the one that the boss prefers?” the telekinetic asked.
“Yep. Don’t know why. For all of me, he’s a weak little thing,” the doctor replied.
“He has some blood in him, huh? I can see it in his aura. Natural or ingested?” the telekinetic wondered aloud.
The doctor observed Danny laying there, his eyes too heavy to open. The vamp must’ve thought he had passed out. “Ingested. He was injured by a werewolf two days ago. She must’ve healed him. Anyway, we’re wasting time. Can you set his rib, please?”
“Sure.” The telekinetic stepped up to the bed, placed his open palm over the area of pain and Danny felt his body jerk as the rib was reset.
****
Angelica and Miranda were letting the shifter they had captured sweat it out in the interrogation room for a little while.
“Why didn’t you let me heal him with my blood? Why keep him in pain?” Miranda questioned.
“In case you haven’t noticed, he is not exactly comfortable with vampires. I have already healed him once with my blood. Too much and he’ll notice things are different in his body. He’ll be irate,” Angelica explained.
“Why does he dislike our kind? What did you do to him?”
Angelica whirled around to face Miranda, her eyes flaming. “I did nothing. A rogue vampire attacked him, got him fired from his job, and then killed his old partner. He doesn’t exactly like us right now, and it has nothing to do with me.”
“You have your blood inside of Danny? Disgusting. You never told him?”
“Like I said, he wouldn’t be happy knowing he’s got vamp blood inside of him,” she repeated.
“And is he drinking the vampire blood infused shakes, too?” Miranda asked.
Angelica nodded. “Look, I know it’s wrong to lie to him, but the alternatives are all awful. When I met Danny, he was sick. He was depressed, physically weak, and an alcoholic. In order to get him to help me and be healthy, he had to quit drinking. When he quit drinking, he was going to have withdrawals. The blood not only improved his physical health, but it also ensured that he would have no ill effects by lessening his daily alcohol intake. He was able to cut it out almost completely. Do you want him healthy and dumb, or in the know and slowly killing himself with whiskey?”
After a moment of silence, Miranda said, “Fair enough. I probably would’ve done the same thing in your position.”
&nbs
p; “Come on. Let’s get this interrogation over with.”
Angelica sighed and led Miranda into the room, where the shifter was nearly foaming at the mouth. “Okay. Let’s not play games here. Who made you capable of retaining this form for a prolonged period of time?” she asked it.
“Fiona Guilfoyle. Who else?” the wolf replied in a voice that said, “How stupid is this girl?”
Angelica gave him a full-fang smile and said, “See, I know when you’re lying. Guilfoyle didn’t do this to you, so who the Hell did?”
It growled at her, yellow eyes flaring. “I do not lie, vampire.”
She walked around the table to stand at the wolf’s side and produced a serrated silver blade from her belt. “You sure you don’t want to change your story, Fido?” She placed the blade at the edge of its fur on the remaining arm. The other had already bandaged so the wolf wouldn’t bleed out everywhere. She trailed the knife slowly along the furry arm, stopping at the hand. “You’ve still got five fingers, ten toes, one hand, feet, legs and another arm. I can go all night and all day too, so let’s quit playing games, shall we? Save me some time and save yourself some pain.”
“Damn you, I am not lying.” it roared, rocking in its chair.
“Okay, then. When were you cursed like this?” she asked, changing her track. Perhaps Guilfoyle cursed these shifters before her death.
“Last week. You want the exact time and what we were wearing, too?” it sneered.
Swiftly, she stabbed the wolf in the side, cutting into the tender flesh like a hot knife in butter. It howled, and Miranda covered her ears.
“Oh, shut up,” Angelica told the wolf. “You just broke a human’s rib. That’s the pain Danny’s feeling right now. Don’t dish it out, if you can’t take it. Now, when did you get cursed?”