Enduring Service

by Regina Morris

As Dixon set the picture down, his eyes focused on the image of Sulie. She stood in the center surrounded by all the men in their group. He knew the Colony members were like family to her. She stood among all these men and was incredibly lonely. He had never realized that before.

  Dixon searched the first drawer of the writing desk, but found nothing. He closed it in frustration. There wasn’t anything but stationery and correspondence with friends. As much as Sulie embraced the computer age, she still wrote handwritten notes to friends. He found her quirks quaint and charming, but the papers only pained Dixon to think of her sitting at this desk, where he was sitting now, and writing her letters.

  The middle drawer had pictures of babies, and Dixon realized they were of the babies she had helped to deliver. Two photo albums lay on top of a small calendar. He fished out the calendar and realized it was her birthing schedule with the contacts of the vampire families listed in the back. The last vampire birth had been several weeks ago, and to a couple she had known for years. The note in the margin read that this was the couple’s third child she had helped them deliver. Dixon flipped the page of the calendar and realized that no other vampire births were scheduled until the week when she would help Kate deliver her twins. That date was weeks away.

  In the bottom drawer of the desk lay the winter knit set he had given her last Christmas. She didn’t own any warm gloves, hat or scarf, so he picked out a beautiful green set he knew would compliment her delicate features. He wanted her to keep warm in the cold Washington D.C. winters. She accepted the gift on the basis that they would help her appear more human during the colder, winter months. As far as needing to stay warm, that was not an issue. Vampires had no body heat and therefore didn’t get cold like humans did. Even though Dixon knew Sulie did not feel the cold, he still preferred her to at least look warm in the colder months. Dixon picked up the hat and felt its velvety yarn as his fingers touched along the delicate weave. His hand tightened its grasp on the hat as he felt his eyes moisten with tears. Sniffling a bit, as if a nonexistence dust particle had caught his sinuses, he stifled his tears and tossed the hat back into the drawer.

  The other drawers of the desk provided no more help for Dixon. He sat in the chair and hoped the other team members had better luck with their findings.

  “I found her diary in the bookcase,” Ben announced as he tossed the journal onto the bed.

  Dixon looked down at the find. “Did you find anything in it?”

  Ben raised his hands as though surrendering. “No way. I’m not reading it. I love Sulie, but she scares me.”

  Dixon glared over at Raymond, Sterling and then Alex. “The diary may have a clue,” he said as he got up and walked to the bed. The diary lay there like a land mine and no one was eager to throw themselves on top of. He picked the diary up and mumbled, “cowards” under his breath.

  The book was leather bound with a ribbon attached to the spine as a bookmark. He carefully opened the diary, but still some paperwork fell out — mostly ticket stubs, receipts, and other little mementos. Dixon recognized most, if not all of them. He gently collected the trinkets and stacked them neatly in a pile before opening the diary to the last entry.

  The page made no sense. Why would she write everything in French? He flipped back a few days and noticed his name mentioned over and over. Of course, he didn’t read French, but knew Sterling did. “Here,” he said, handing the book to him.

  “Right. Like I want to die young,” Sterling protested as he handed the book back to Dixon.

  “You’re nearly 200,” Dixon said, forcing the book back to Sterling. “You won’t die young. Just read it. The words are in French.” He watched as Sterling looked over to his father, but once Raymond nodded, Sterling opened the book and scanned several of the last pages.

  “What is it?” Dixon asked after noticing Sterling roll his eyes.

  Sterling closed the book with a resounding thud. “It’s rather personal. Things I don’t need to know about my aunt.” He tossed the diary back on the bed, “There is nothing suspicious though.” He pointed down at the stack of ticket stubs. “You better put that stuff back in.”

  Dixon took relief in the fact that all the vampires were under the impression Sulie would be back. At least, the hope helped him. He watched as the vampires were now more engaged in looking around the room, perhaps less intimidated knowing the diary reading would be the worst of the offenses and Sulie would focus more on killing Sterling than anyone else.

  The antique 1930s style nightstand held one tiny drawer, so Alex opened it. Dixon heard a rumbling of the contents as what was inside rolled into view with the drawer now open. Alex closed the tiny drawer quickly, which was more of a slam than anything else. “Flashlight,” she said to the group as she walked away from the tiny table and crouched low to search under the bed.

  Ben tentatively opened the top drawer of the dresser. With only a tiny peek at the contents, he closed it. “Underwear. Uh, dainty things.” He looked over at Alex and nonverbally asked with a head nod if they could switch locations. Alex walked towards the dresser as Ben now searched under the bed.

  “Check the other drawers,” Dixon said.

  Alex opened the rest of the dresser drawers to inspect their contents. “What am I hoping to find?”

  “Anything out of the ordinary,” Sterling answered.

  “Oh, this is nice.”

  Dixon took a step closer. “What?”

  “I like her silk camisoles. I wonder where she bought these.”

  Dixon gave a frustrated sigh and his shoulders slumped. “I can’t believe there is nothing here to help us find her.” He raked his hand through his hair and gazed over at Raymond.

  “Wait.” Raymond held up a teal flier from Sulie’s medical jacket he had found hanging on a hook in the closet. He read the paperwork silently to himself and then announced, “A cord blood collection company named Blasus Inc. It’s from the hospital. It could be something.”

  “Cord blood?” Ben asked. “Why does that sound familiar?”

  Alex folded the camisoles and set them back in the drawer. “The president mentioned cord blood in his last press speech.” She paused and looked up at her husband. “Odd. Could there be a connection?”

  Raymond shook his head and stared down at the pamphlet, obviously wondering if a connection existed or not.

  “She doesn’t keep anything in her pockets,” Dixon said, changing the topic.

  Raymond held up the pamphlet and gave him a questioning glance.

  “Sulie doesn’t like the way clothes look when the pockets are weighted down. She always says pockets are for show not use.”

  “She does?” Sterling asked.

  “Probably why she has such beautiful handbags,” Alex commented. When the men quickly glanced her way, she said, “Seriously, they’re expensive and nice.”

  “That’s one of her jackets from Washington Memorial,” Dixon said, pointing the jacket Raymond removed from a hook behind the closet door.

  Raymond turned the jacket to study it more carefully.

  “You can tell it’s from that hospital and not Mercy General Hospital because the lapel stitching is embroidered in blue. The other hospital has longer smocks and the lapels are thinner,” Dixon explained.

  Raymond stepped into the closet and found several clean smocks from both hospitals, with the one in his hand and a Mercy General Hospital smock placed on the hook behind the door.

  “She probably wears these smocks a few times, and these were the last ones she wore.” He took a good look at the pamphlet. “Why would she have this then?”

  Dixon walked over and took the pamphlet from Raymond. “The color is also teal.”

  “So?” Sterling asked.

  “The jacket’s white. The paper would stain in the wash,” Alex jumped in and explained.

  Dixon pointed at the jacket. “Right. This jacket was worn, but it’s still in her closet and not the hamper. She intended to wear this again — with this pamphlet b
eing in her pocket. She may have been researching this company.”

  “She wasn’t scheduled to work yesterday, so she wouldn’t have been wearing her hospital smock,” Raymond commented.

  “Seems like a bit of a stretch, Dixon,” Ben said.

  Dixon walked to the center of the room and motioned with his arms. “Look at this room. There is nothing out of place but this one jacket and this pamphlet. This pamphlet caught her eye for some reason and she kept it. Otherwise, she would have thrown it out.”

  Raymond took back the pamphlet. “Ok, it’s a lead.” He handed the paper to Ben. “Do your magic. I want to know everything about this company.”

  Dixon felt a heavy weight lift from his chest and he found it easier to breath. They had a lead. It was at least something to go on. When they were through searching the room, Dixon closed the door to respect Sulie’s privacy.

  Chapter Twelve

  Sulie swallowed and felt the dryness of her mouth. A full day had past since the last time she had fed and she felt the cells of her body starving for nutrition. The government had spoiled her by supplying an unlimited amount of blood to the Colony. Drinking plenty of blood allowed her to keep her base Jahrling age — a youthful twenty–two. Now severe hunger pains raged in her body, and she knew she had aged overnight.

  Food. Not the least of her worries, but far down on the list at the moment. As a vampire eating well, she could stay up for days, but she had stayed up all night looking for an escape plan and her body felt the strain. She knew she needed a good night’s rest. If she didn’t get one soon, her body would age even faster.

  During the night, Sulie examined every nook and cranny in the room. After finding no cameras and no listening devices, she decided to create as many crude weapons as possible. She pulled up two wooden floorboards from the corner of the room and splintered them into four stakes. She was disappointed to find hard concrete under the floor, meaning tunneling was not an option. Instead, she placed the tattered rug on top of the bald spot left by the removed boards to hide her tracks. She tucked one wooden stake into her shirt sleeve and hid the others around the room. She broke an old wine bottle into jagged shards of glass, hiding the largest piece into the tangles of her hair extensions. Millard’s dust was now strategically around the room in neatly hidden piles. She even bent two bedsprings into handles, allowing her to effectively wield the silver chain she still had from when her captors had tied her up. Meager weapons for sure, but she felt more empowered.

  When she did get out, it would be through the locked gate — which meant she needed to find the person with the key. If she could get them into this cell, she could kill them and escape. The problem was that she hadn’t seen anyone in hours.

  Sulie knew one of the keys to escaping was to understand her captors, which she didn’t. She had no idea what motivated them to take her. They easily could have killed her back at the hospital or even when she was tied up. She took comfort that they must need her for something. But what? That was the big question of the day.

  After a few more hours of waiting, she heard the tumbler of the outer door of her cell turn. The hair on her arm pricked up, and she sniffed the air. It was another predator. A vampire approached, but only one. She had the first kill behind her and it was time to up the number. She took a deep breath and readied herself.

  Sulie heard the clacking of shoes against the floor as she waited for her captor to walk the short distance from the first door to the second and into view. High heels. Her captor was a female vampire… and she had blood with her. Sulie swallowed the pooling saliva in her mouth and tried not to focus on the delicious scent. Her fangs extended slightly in anticipation of the meal.

  When captor finally came into view, Sulie recognized her as the fake pregnant woman from the hospital. No obvious weapons appeared to be on her, at least none that Sulie could make out. If the woman were to open the door, Sulie could tie her up and search her. Maybe the woman would talk after a good beating.

  Sulie counted off the clicks of the high heels as the woman sauntered to the second and last locked door. Counting kept Sulie’s heart beat in check and her anxiety at bay. She waited for the door to open and hoped the vampire could not sense her excitement as she contemplated the attack.

  Her hopes were dashed when the woman stopped shy of the second door and appeared to have no plan of de–activating the lock.

  “Hello Sulie. So nice to see you again,” the mystery woman said.

  Not wanting to give anything away, Sulie only nodded. She had no idea who the tall blonde wearing the well tailored suit was. If it weren’t for the cold, calculating eyes, Meryl Streep could easily play her in the movie. The trick now was to find out if that movie was a horror story staring Sulie in the role of a dead clueless woman.

  Sulie took a deep breath. “My, my. Had a baby and already back to a slim waistline and a bad bleach job,” she said, pointing out the switch in hair color from what she assumed had been a wig previously.

  The woman smiled and patted her flat stomach. “I had to get your attention. Let’s just say I’m not the motherly type.” She sipped from a mug she carried, and Sulie knew by the smell that it contained blood. “I’d say you look good, but let’s be honest, you really don’t.”

  Fighting the urge to lick her lips, Sulie glanced away from the mug. “Nice to see you again too,” she bluffed.

  The woman smiled. “You’re a bad liar. I’m hurt you don’t remember me.”

  Sulie gritted her teeth.

  “I go by the name Trudy. We only met once, but it was brief and you were so young.”

  Sulie studied the woman but still came up short. She gestured around the room, “I would have cleaned up the place had I known you were coming for a visit, Trudy.”

  “And end up like poor Millard? I don’t think so.”

  Sulie figured the other guard would have reported the death. If not, the bloodstains on the bed and the floor would have given it away, not that the woman had necessarily looked around. She appeared cold and heartless, as though Sulie and everyone else meant nothing. “I’m sorry for your loss,” Sulie eventually said.

  Trudy grinned at the words. “No loss. My cousin was useless.”

  Sulie processed the new information. Trudy and Millard were related. The name Millard sounded somewhat familiar, but the name Trudy escaped her. They must have been a family she had known at some point. She had known many families over the years though.

  Trudy took another sip from her mug of blood and Sulie had to look away. She didn’t want to give the bitch any satisfaction. Sulie mentally began doing math in her head. It was a simple trick Dixon had shared with her many years ago — keep your mind busy on something concrete and repetitive to keep your mind from focusing on something that was all consuming to you.

  An image of Dixon came to her. His warm smile and caring eyes warmed her heart. He was always stuck in facts and figures. After a few too many beers one night, he told her about blocking out your feelings and thoughts with statistics. Now all she could focus on was him and whether she’d ever see him again.

  “I’m here with a proposition,” Trudy said, breaking Sulie’s concentration. “You see, we could use your talents and connections. You may be of value to us.”

  “Us?” Sulie had counted four attackers by their voices from the van. Were there more?

  A chuckle escaped the woman’s lips. “My family. You could be useful to us in many ways.”

  Sulie’s stomach twisted. She didn’t want to help the woman, let alone her family. “Just like Millard found me useful?”

  “You’re a clever girl, but don’t count Millard as any great victory. The man was an idiot and only interested in satisfying his carnal urges. I’m assuming that’s how you got so close to him.” When Sulie remained silent, Trudy continued, “I’m interested in you because you are a doctor.”

  Sulie’s eyebrow rose. She would love to get this woman on an operating table with a sharp scalpel at her throat. “
You need a doctor?”

  “Medically, no. For financial gain, yes.”

  Sulie had an uneasy feeling as the woman eyed her from head to toe. The woman was sizing her up with some sort of plan in mind. “Why not come in and we can talk about it?” Sulie said, motioning into her cell.

  “It really is a shame,” the woman said shaking her head. “Unmarried. But recently, as of yesterday, placed in the Verheiratet Schlange.”

  If Sulie’s face hadn’t already been blanched white by lack of blood, it would have been now. Only Council chairmen had access to the Verheiratet Schlange this early in the game. A chairman was always tasked with determining if the woman listed was pregnant and trying to pass her child onto an unsuspecting family line. The chairman either had to confirm that the woman was aged past her base Jahrling year, and therefore unable to conceive and carry a child, or if she remained at the base age, a three month wait was always issued before the listing became public. Sulie hadn’t been on the list more than twenty–four hours and no one had come to visit with her from the Council. Whoever this Trudy woman was, she was someone high up in the Council and obviously held a chair.

  The marriage listing was Sulie’s private business. Sulie’s hands balled into fists, and she could taste the anger fuming inside her. “Why does my personal, marital status interest you?” she asked through gritted teeth.

  “Your family is quite prestigious. You’re somewhat wealthy. But what makes you so valuable is your family’s abilities.” When Sulie stared at the woman, she added, “Your medical abilities, your brother’s mind reading, your parents’ mind abilities before they died in a horrific fire, and of course your hybrid nephew, that curse upon your household, has something too, doesn’t he?”

  It felt too eerie for Sulie to have her personal life thrown in her face, especially since she wasn’t sure who she was dealing with. Sulie also didn’t like the way she referred to her nephew Sterling.

  “Your family is blessed with abilities,” Trudy spat. “Every fucking member of your household has something unique.” She glared at Sulie. “Your ability is especially intriguing.”