Hell, In a Troy (Lopez Time Book 2)

by Phillip S. Power

  Lopez Time: Book Two

  Hell, in a Troy

  Phillip S. Power

  Orange Cat Publishing

  Copyright 2017

  Chapter one

  The psychologist that the department used, or at least was using on him, didn’t come to them for that kind of work. No, Troy was expected to drive across town and sit in her outer office for half an hour before she was ready to see him. That part was a bit strange, since the older woman, Dr. Boyajian, hadn’t been talking to anyone in her office. She hadn’t been in with anyone at all, just tapping away on her computer. Leaving him sit there, cooling his heels.

  The outer office was all in tan and largely empty. There was an oriental folding screen. One covered with paper that looked kind of neat. There were silhouettes of cranes on it in black. Also, four incredibly uncomfortable looking chairs and two low tables that had very old magazines on them. As in things from more than ten years before. All National Geographic, except for a half dozen Highlights for Children. How old those were, Troy Lopez honestly didn’t know. There was also a small, mainly destroyed, cardboard box with crayons and a few broken pencils in it.

  In short, anyone waiting there was going to be pushed hard to find any kind of recreation. Instead of letting himself get flustered or feel upset, he made some calls. He didn’t get out of work just because his current boss, Chief Benson, didn’t realize that vampires simply didn’t respond to killing people like others did. Just being a vamp basically turned you into a psychopath that way. Honestly, he had to doubt if psychology even applied to people like him at all. It would make sense if it didn’t.

  Focusing a bit, just as he heard the lady in the other room get up and move to her door, he pulled a bit more energy from the air around him and focused on the concept of feeling calm, mixed with a solid lack of pain. True, if someone shot him just then he wouldn’t feel it, which was a potential danger. On the other hand, the agony of the sun overhead moved to being no worse than sitting too close to a blistering fire. Normally it was about ten times that intense at noon.

  When the lady opened the door, she was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. The office was air conditioned, since the inside world was that way in most of Arizona. She didn’t seem overly warm or anything. He was dressed better than she was. Then, even using real magic at the moment, he had less of the trappings of it around him than she did. There was an honest to goodness pentagram around her neck, as well as a peace sign amulet. As far as he could tell, neither had been invested with any power of note. Not magical energy or even intense focus on an idea.

  In short, they were jewelry, meant to give a specific impression. It was, as far as he could tell, a very casual thing that screamed that the woman was open minded. That, or not very good at her job. It was a danger, either way. Troy Lopez wasn’t just a vampire, after all. He was a police officer. One there to see if he could continue doing that kind of thing, because of the fact that he’d killed a man in the line of duty.

  The guy had been a mage and about to murder three uniformed officers. People that Troy had worked with. Oh, he didn’t love all of them but they really were decent enough guys, in the main. The young man, Ryan Templar, that had been about to rip them to shreds using forces that were hard for most to understand, had been a killer cult member. One of the Children of Baphomet. At least that had been what Troy had worked out so far. His team of four people, the killer and three others, were all dead now.

  It made it hard to collect information, if he was going to be frank about it.

  The other three had gone the day before, which didn’t really change what he was doing there that day. The psychologist was going to judge him. The trick there would be; how did she feel about cops? That and vampires. Possibly men. He didn’t care how others lived but this older woman had short hair, and unshaved legs. That showed a certain dedication to a given lifestyle. One that hated some people for being what they were, automatically.

  White men, in particular. His name was Lopez and his skin hadn’t started out being that light but being dead made a person pale, compared to how they’d been in life. The woman might get confused that way. Thinking that, now among those who used to be alive, he had some hidden reservoir of white privilege.

  Or, and it was just as likely, he could be wrong about her. She might not be a hate group member or anything dumb like that at all. The woman was a psychologist, so she might be too smart to buy in to that kind of thing.

  “Mr. Lopez? Would you like to come into my office?” There was a fake smile on her lips. That could just be due to fear, rather than disgust over what he was.

  Not that it wasn’t fair. Vampires ate people like her. Not in any real way, since it was different if you formed an energy link with another person but regular people didn’t always know that kind of thing.

  “Sure! That sounds fine. Just through here?” There were only two doors to the room and the other one led to the hallway he’d come in through. He was making conversation, trying to not let his assumptions about the woman color his thinking too much.

  That was the kind of thing that bigots did and one thing that no vamp could afford to be was a bigot. His people started out as lots of different things, after all. Not all of them were human and skin color didn't matter to them much at all. They were filled with politics and drama but it wasn’t over stupid things like race or gender.

  “That’s right. I was just doing some research. That’s why it took me so long. Sorry about that but I only found out this morning that you were… Different.”

  Troy nodded at the words.

  “I get you. Most police officers aren’t as good looking as me. Totally understandable. It’s the suit, isn’t it. It was a gift, by the way. Hand made by an expert. I can’t actually afford this kind of thing on my salary, which I’m trying to live off of right now.” It was true but he didn't explain the rest of it to her.

  She didn’t really have a need to know.

  The woman, who smelled a bit of patchouli, a musky, slightly peppery scent, waved for him to sit on the sofa. There was a chair, that had a little table and a desk on the other side of the room, with a computer on it. A phone as well. A cell, which was bright purple. His own was black but that wasn’t about style. He just didn’t care about things like that, so had picked the first one he’d found.

  There was a spider plant on a table. It was real and overflowed the surface by a good bit. On the wall, there was artwork and almost as a nod to having a job, some diplomas on the wall behind the desk. Three of them, which was probably impressive. He didn’t even have one, after all.

  She settled, with a pad and pen, writing instantly.

  “You’re concerned with your appearance?”

  He nodded.

  “It’s an artifact of being human. I don’t actually care that much now but when I was alive it had been important to me, so I keep doing what I used to that way. The hair, the clothes. All that. I don’t have a sex drive now, so the reason I used to do all of that is gone. Now it’s just habit. Police don’t make much though, so pointing out that I’m not on the take is important. Especially since I don’t know how I would be in my current job.”

  She wrote for a bit, faking a nod.

  “That’s self-aware. Now, you had to kill someone the other day. How do you feel about that?”

  He nearly froze, even expecting the question. It was why he was there. Finally, he made himself smile and shrugged. It looked pretty real, he thought. He’d practiced it in the mirror. Not needing to sleep left him with a lot of time to get the strange things done.

  “Honestly? I don’t. I’m a vampire… You got that part, right? I was joking about me being special
about my looks. I’m not that vain but I pretend to be. Being dead, undead, it means that I don’t have the same emotional range that most people have. There are no flashbacks or PTSD over doing my job. It was what was needed at the moment. I found out later that if I hadn’t acted just then, all of the officers there would have died. Really, it means I’m built to be good with it.”

  She scribbled for a bit, then shook her head, just enough for him to notice it.

  “That’s a very male centered idea, isn’t it? That vampires don’t have emotions, or suppress them all like that? Have you considered opening up to your female side?”

  Troy smiled at the lady. Half of him waited for her to flash a smile, showing she was just joking with him.

  “Sorry? I’m a vampire. I told you what my experience is. It isn’t about male or female at all. The female vampires all have the same thing. I’m not sure that you should try to judge us by human standards. We aren’t living, biological beings. It’s pretty different. We can act human but we’re not.”

  He didn’t feel frustrated or anything. Even the anger than normally would have come was being suppressed well enough. For him, he felt good, even. There was very little discomfort at the moment. It was nice, really.

  Dr. Boyajian smirked at him. It wasn’t a friendly thing.

  “Biology has a very minor influence on things. Especially when it comes to the mind. Men have been trained to be violent. We can train you not to be. It’s a choice. Women are naturally less violent than men are, so you should strive to be more feminine. Does that threaten you?”

  He got it then. This woman was trying to make him upset, so she could derail his career. It was probably what she did with all the cops that came through her office. Why she didn’t work out of the police station and why she’d kept him waiting. So that he’d be pissed off with her and act in a way she could blame on him and his unstable mind.

  It was a good idea, if the goal was to undermine the police in the area. Honestly, it probably would have worked on a lot of them. It was a manly profession. A lot of the guys would have told her to stuff her head up her ass and stormed out at the treatment he was getting.

  Leaning in, he tried to look genuine and friendly.

  “Can you tell me more about how to do that? The goal of all police work has to be in making violence less needed, after all. If the way of doing this is being more female, then we can work on that, right? What’s needed for that?”

  Using a bit of magic, he tried to convince her that he meant it. He didn’t, so it was kind of hard. The fact that he sort of still sucked at magic wasn’t all that useful either but she didn’t scowl at him.

  “Well, if you reflect the female mindset, that would be a good place to start. Instead of thinking about what would be manly, or strong, try to do what a woman would in the same situation. Without giving in to the patriarchal archetypes that even self-hating women show. Internalized misogyny is a rather serious problem. Avoid that and you should be set that way.”

  The words meant nothing to him. It was, in fact, like a code of nonsense that was designed to frustrate the listener, then hypnotize them by being so strange that their minds would grasp any sane thread in order to make logical stories out of what was going on.

  Plus, the woman was off, somehow. As in… he couldn’t place his finger on it but the energy of the room was fake. Temporary seeming, without meaning to be. In short, it was a trick of some kind. He was kind of good with that sort of thing, so tended to recognize it when it was being done on him. No one normal would be trying that, at the moment, so Troy pretended to go along with what was happening.

  The best way to do that was by actually doing it.

  “Okay. That sounds like something to work with anyway. I’ll do that. Of course, I have to look up some of those words but that can be done. Misogyny… I’m afraid I don’t know that one.” That was honest enough. It got him glared at a bit.

  “Hatred or distrust of women. All men in our society are trained to do that, from a young age, so they don’t understand that they’re living it constantly. It’s like not seeing the air around you. You can’t know that you hate women, because every part of you is steeped in it.”

  That seemed wrong to him. Instead of arguing the point, Troy nodded.

  “That seems pretty serious, then. I’ll try to look into it. Now, what else do I need to learn?”

  That caught her off guard.

  “Mainly just learning not to be masculine. It’s a sign of mental illness. Do you feel a need to show that you’re better than women, in particular? Is that why you killed that man the other day?”

  The question was pure nonsense. Again, that seemed to be the point. It was being masterfully delivered though. He nearly applauded but stopped himself in time. That would look wrong and probably get him a black mark on the form he needed from the doctor.

  “I don’t think so. Then, how could I know that? If I’m doing things that can’t be seen, that would mean that I literally wouldn’t be able to notice it. To that end, I’ll just have to trust that you wouldn’t set me on the wrong path. Is that what a woman would do? We should share our emotions… That’s right, isn’t it? I mean, my female friends, even the vampires, are better about that than I am. I’m not really feeling much right now, personally. How about you?”

  She was clearly getting slightly annoyed for some reason.

  “That, right there. You’re suppressing your emotions, in order to seem manlier. You have to stop it.”

  He grinned then and shook his head.

  “No. You see, I am, literally, suppressing my emotions but that’s because vampires really only have a small handful of things like that. We’re very territorial, for instance. It’s a thing that humans don’t really have as an emotion at all. It’s really different. We’re also very easily enraged. Fear is possible for us as well. That’s about it. Other things, like compassion, or love… Even joy, those are things that we don’t have. We feel connected to other people but it’s all about feelings of ownership. I guess that really is kind of like what you meant by patriarchy. The women do that too, though. It’s part of what we are. There’s less of a division between the female and male vampires that way, I think. We have a lot more equality. We have for centuries. The powerful rule and female vampires can be as powerful as the male ones. I bet that makes a difference. We all share the same kind of power. With humans there are like… What, six or seven different kinds? Women have a different sort than the physical power of men. Kids and babies use a form of need to influence those around them. The old are revered for their wisdom and knowledge. I know vampire women that can pick up small cars and run a hundred miles with them in an hour. I can’t do that.”

  He was scowled at then but there was a slow nod.

  “Let’s move back to the killing. You punched the man to death?”

  “Yes. I ran in, using super human levels of speed. I saw that his hand was glowing green. It was bright. He had something like a wire wrapped crystal in his hand. So, I punched him in the head. Once. That killed him.” His head virtually vaporized, instantly. Then something the size of a human fist hitting something at over a thousand feet per second would do that. It might have been closer to twice that.

  It had made a mess.

  “And you say you don’t feel anything about it? No guilt at all?”

  That was meant to be a trap, of course. Troy tilted his head.

  “It’s a vampire thing. To hold me to human sensibilities on that would be against the law, I believe? Really, even pushing into such a bigoted area of conversation is a bit iffy. Do you have any background in working with my people this way? You have a degree in psychology, I can see it on the wall there. Did they cover vamps when you were in school? Have you studied up on us? You were researching earlier, you said. Did any of it cover this kind of thing?”

  She froze then, clearly feeling attacked. She started to breath harder and stiffened at least.

  Holding up his right hand, j
ust off the arm of the chair, he faked a grin. Trying to seem charming.

  “I can get why you wouldn’t have. We’re rare and all that. Ten years ago, no one even knew we were a real thing. You know now though, so holding me to your own people’s standards seems off. I mean, I can try to take into account what you said about the female aspect of things but asking a vampire to be a human isn’t fair at all. We aren’t. We can fake it for a while but that isn’t the same thing. I… Do you get that? I don’t really know if a human actually can. I didn’t understand it, before it happened. I thought that I had. I even had years of lessons in it first. I knew at least ten different vampires, too. Heck, I was dating one. It seems pretty basic but the world is just… different now. What I want, what I do, everything is filtered in a different way. So, to answer the real question you need answered. No. I don’t have an issue with killing that man. I can’t. It isn’t buried inside of me, or festering. I just don’t have that aspect. I can understand that you do, because I used to be human. The real question then isn’t, how do I feel. It’s how do you feel about me. Do I seem capable of doing my job in the future? I think I am. I’m even willing to try and consider working on non-violence and adapting female styles to things, if it will help.”

  He projected a feeling of honesty then. It wasn’t magic, since no power was added to it but he held the idea, the concept of it, as solidly as he could. After a moment, Dr. Boyajian tapped the pad with her pen.

  “Good enough. You’re right. I can’t tell if you’re mentally sound. We’re too different for that. If you’re willing to attempt not being violent and work on that from a female viewpoint, then I can’t ask much more of you. You feel ready to work, though? What do you have coming up there, if I sign off on you going back?” Now it seemed a lot less like a trick, meant to get him.

  Meaning that she might well be setting him up.

  “Well, there’s the community picnic coming up. The Supernatural Division is working to get the humans and all the other groups together. A kind of meet and greet. Not just for the rich and powerful though. That will be in mid-June. So far, we have a few bands lined up. Living Proof and Cortechs Rocks. There will be free food and drinks. No booze, since it’s a family thing and we don’t need fights. Soft drinks and punch. Lemonade? Avery Rome, she’s a friend of mine, she’s paying for it all. The food. Tyler Gartner of the Coalition of Nations is part of Living Proof. So is Steve York. He grew up in the city here, so that part fell into place pretty nicely. The daughter of the mage President, Lisa, is coming to set up a stand or something. She was at least. I need to talk to her about that, in case it’s changed. We had that thing yesterday.”