by ID Johnson
"Well, then, there's hell to pay," Giovani admitted. "They'll show up, usually with their Guardians so that they're fully protected, and take you out. And once you're gone, man, you're gone. There's no coming back the next time."
Gasping, Jack asked, "They have Guardians, too?"
"Yep," Giovani confirmed, nodding his head. "And we can't kill Guardians. Only Hunters. We can kill them. But they have silver bullets, and that's pretty hard to get around."
"We don't have any weapons against them?" Jack asked, beginning to wonder why Giovani ever said he was one of the lucky ones.
"Not really. Regular bullets rarely take out a Hunter. Just not strong enough. We can rip their heads off or cut them open, but their weapons are so much stronger than ours. You just want to avoid getting drawn into a battle with them if you can help it. Especially when the Guardians show up. And, if you steal one of their guns, with silver in it, that'll usually do it. But we can't touch the silver bullets, not even to load the weapon, not without getting a nasty burn or worse. So, we don't usually use weapons."
"Seems kind of complicated, " Jack admitted, taking another drink of his beer. "I think I'll just take your advice and stay away from the premium meals."
Giovani laughed. "Well, you know, an occasional snack never hurts," he said, eyeing the waitress again. "I'm thinking she might need to come over to our side anyway."
Glancing over his shoulder at the waitress, Jack asked, "How does that work, exactly?"
"Just gotta get our DNA into their bloodstream," he replied, eyes still trailing the brunette who was talking to another customer and laughing.
"But," Jack began, puzzled again. "Holland didn't bite me."
"Nah," Giovani confirmed, giving Jack his attention again, though it was divided. "She scratched you. On the shoulder. Just a little teeny, tiny prick."
His eyes wide with amazement, Jack realized he had experienced some shoulder pain that night, and his jacket had been torn. "So, why did it take so long?" he asked.
"Just a tiny bit of DNA. Took a long time to totally transform you. All these weeks, you thought you were sick. You were really just turning into one of us," Giovani explained, running his finger through the pool of water the condensation had left on the table.
"Wow," Jack mumbled under his breath. "This is all just a bit too much to digest," he admitted.
"I know," Giovani said sympathetically. "Don't worry. You'll get used to it."
"Maybe," Jack mumbled. "I'll tell you one thing, though. I might be able to get used to being away from my parents and most of my friends. But I don't know how long I can last without my girlfriend."
"Girlfriend?" Giovani asked, leaning forward again, a quizzical expression on his face.
"Yes," Jack confirmed, nodding his head. "We broke up for a while, but she told me she loved me again, just before I . . . died. I have to be with her. I don't think I can go on without her."
Giovani seemed to consider for a moment before asking, "What's her name, man?"
"Cadence Findley," Jack replied, a daydreaming expression in his eyes.
A broad smile broke out across Giovani's face at the familiar name. "Well, who am I to separate two lovers? We'll just have to find a way to bring Ms. Findley along with us, brother."
***
Dr. Arnold stared at the phone on his desk, contemplating exactly how he was going to explain the disappearance of Jack Cook's body to his parents, particularly since the scene in the morgue had called to mind more horror movies than he cared to count. Dr. Arnold was a man of science, not usually one to believe in the paranormal. But after witnessing first hand what appeared to be a corpse without a drop of blood left inside, with sharp fang marks over the heart, and with no earthly explanation as to how Jack Cook's body just seemed to walk out of the hospital, the only conclusion he could draw was that, in fact, Mr. Cook had done just that.
Of course, he could hardly pick up the phone and say, "I believe your son is missing because he's transformed into a Vampire." Obviously, that would not do. As he sat contemplating exactly what to say to the Cooks, there was a light wrapping on his door. He looked up to see the head nurse, Ms. Bailey, standing at the door, holding it open just a crack, the outline of a rather large man behind her.
"Dr. Arnold," she began, "I hate to interrupt, but Dr. Elliott Sanderson from the Center for Disease Control is here to see you. He said that you were expecting him."
Before Dr. Arnold could reply, Elliott pushed his way past the slight nurse and flashed credentials in Dr. Arnold's general direction. "Dr. Arnold," he said, thrusting his hand forward and vigorously shaking the hand of the confused medical director. "It's nice to see you again. How have you been since I saw you early this morning?"
Though Dr. Arnold was confused at first, as soon as Elliott reminded him that he had seen him earlier, all of the confusion was swept away. Of course he had seen Dr. Sanderson, from the CDC, this morning. Here, in the hospital. "I'm well, Dr. Sanderson," he replied, offering a seat to his guest. "How have you been?"
"I'm also doing well," Elliott replied, squeezing his large form into one of the seats across from Dr. Arnold's desk. "I just wanted to update you on the status of Jack Cook's body--the body the CDC confiscated early this morning, in order to determine the nature of the illness that caused his death. You do remember that the CDC took possession of the body of Jack Cook, don't you?"
Dr. Arnold paused for a moment, letting those words sink into his mind, before replying, "Yes, yes, of course. I remember that. The CDC took the body of Jack Cook. Of course."
"I have returned to inform you that we had to have the body destroyed. I have the ashes of Mr. Cook here, in an urn in my attaché case. I will be giving them to you to return to the family. I have a few other questions for you first. We were able to determine the disease that Mr. Cook suffered from is highly contagious even after death, and that it is possible that the disease spread to other bodies in the morgue. Were there other bodies that turned extremely pale and looked as if they had been drained of blood?" Elliott's voice was slow and calm, and he held Dr. Arnold's gaze the entire time that he spoke.
Arnold was unable to pull his eyes off of Dr. Sanderson."Yes, there was one other body," he replied, considering the appearance of Mr. Wester's corpse.
"I see," Elliott replied. "And, is that body still in your possession?"
"It is," Arnold confirmed. "Mr. Wester is just awaiting identification from his next of kin. He was killed in a car wreck on his way home to Des Moines, and his wife has yet to arrive."
"Oh, dear," Elliott said, calmly. "I'm afraid that won't due. She won't be able to identify the body because we do not want her to be contaminated by the illness. You will confirm to her that you have already identified his body via fingerprinting, and then you will have the body cremated and the ashes returned to Mrs. Wester."
Dr. Arnold paused for a moment. "Yes, of course. We don't want to expose Mrs. Wester to the disease. We will have the body cremated and return the ashes to her."
"Now, what about the staff members?" Elliott inquired. "Are any of them feeling ill?"
"No," Dr. Arnold replied, confidently. "None of them are feeling ill at all."
"Very good," Elliott affirmed. "That is because you took the necessary precautions, and no one else was exposed to the disease, isn't that correct, Dr. Arnold?" Elliott asked in his slow, patient voice.
Again, Dr. Arnold considered the statement only briefly before replying, "That is correct. Dr. Sanderson. We took every necessary precaution."
Elliott seemed to smile in relief. "Very good, Dr. Arnold. Very good. Now, I will need to meet with anyone who worked on the patient, Mr. Cook, and anyone who may have handled his body after his death. Can you assemble those people, quickly, sir?"
"Most of the staff is available," Dr. Arnold said, picking up the phone to dial Nurse Bailey. "If there is anyone who is not available, I will pass on the information to them."
"I will need to meet with them in
person," Elliott replied, calmly but firmly. You will need to call them in."
Dr. Arnold paused, phone in mid-air. "I will call them all in to meet with you," he replied, as if it were his idea.
As Arnold made the phone call to Nurse Bailey, requesting that she assemble anyone and everyone who had contact with Jack Cook, Elliott opened up the attaché bag he was carrying and carefully drew out a medium sized glass urn, setting it gently on Dr. Arnold's desk. Once Dr. Arnold had replaced the receiver Elliott said, "There you are, Dr. Arnold. The remains of Jack Cook."
Looking at the urn with a bit of sadness, Dr. Arnold confirmed, "The remains of Jack Cook. I will hand these over to his parents."
Half-an-hour later, Dr. Elliott Sanderson addressed the hospital staff. Everyone who had made contact with Jack Cook listened to his announcement regarding Jack's contagious disease, how the CDC confiscated his body, and how it had been cremated. He also relayed that each of them would be just fine, as the hospital had taken the necessary precautions against contamination. The body of Mr. Wester had not been so lucky, and it would also need to be incinerated. The hospital staff would see to that. Each staff member left, fully understanding what had happened to the body of Jack Cook, thinking nothing unusual regarding his death or the momentary apparent disappearance of his body. Dr. Arnold would contact the parents of Mr. Cook and ask them to come in to the hospital to meet with himself and Dr. Sanderson so that they could also fully understand precisely what had happened with Jack's remains.
A few miles away, Juan Arriaga was placing the last box of household goods into the back of his mother's minivan. He had seen enough. In fact, he hadn't even mentioned to the hospital that he would not be returning to his position as custodian. Juan was determined to leave Lincoln, Nebraska, before Mr. Cook returned, looking for him.
***
The ringing of Mrs. Cook's phone jarred Cadence awake. She hadn't even realized she was asleep and wondered if anyone else had noticed. If they had, no one said so, and she wiped the sleep out of her eyes while listening to Alice Cook's half of the conversation she was clearly having with someone at the hospital.
"Yes, I see," Alice was saying. "All right then. We'll be by shortly. Thank you, Dr. Arnold," she said pressing the End Call button. Everyone in the room was perfectly still, their attention focused on Jack's mom as she gathered her thoughts in order to relay the message. "That was Dr. Arnold from the hospital," she explained. "He said they have some news regarding Jack, and we need to get down there as soon as we can."
"Let's go," Steve Cook replied, patting his wife on the shoulder reassuringly before standing and reaching for her coat.
The rest of the group looked around at each other for a moment before Jon asked, "Do you want all of us to come with you? Or would that be overwhelming?"
Without hesitating, Alice replied, "Yes, of course I want all of you to come with us. You were all like family to Jack. Please, come along."
As the others were gathering their coats, Hannah sent Cadence a message to let her know that Elliott was already at the hospital. Cadence found this a bit odd, but she did not ask for clarification, assuming she would figure out Elliott's purpose once they arrived at Bryan Health.
Even though it was fairly cold outside, the snow had let up, and they decided to walk the few blocks to the hospital. Steve and Alice believed the fresh air would do them all some good. Despite the fact that there was a lot weighing on their minds, the friends chatted quietly about the Christmas lights decorating the buildings around them and the forecast calling for more snow in the next few days.
Upon reaching the reception area of the hospital, they were greeted by Nurse Bailey, who ushered them into one of the smaller waiting rooms where they could all sit and wait for Dr. Arnold. The hospital was not too busy, and there were not a lot of other people around.
They had only been waiting a few moments when Dr. Arnold arrived, along with Elliott. At first, everyone seemed a bit puzzled, wondering why Cadence's work associate was already at the hospital and how he knew Dr. Arnold. No one asked, however, as they sat patiently waiting for clarification, and Cadence began to put the pieces together.
"Hello," Dr. Arnold greeted the party as he approached. "Mr. and Mrs. Cook, everyone, thank you for coming. I have met most of you. I am Dr. Jay Arnold, Chief of Staff here at Bryan Health."
Before he could say more, Elliott spoke up. "And I am Dr. Elliott Sanderson of the Center for Disease Control. You all recognize me because I work with Cadence. Her security company does work for the CDC. Of course, you already knew that I worked for the CDC, and you are not at all surprised to see me here, with Dr. Arnold."
Cadence looked around her at the nodding heads. Everyone seemed to readily accept that Elliott should be standing there with the doctor, that it was completely logical that he could work for the CDC and work with Cadence. Cadence caught Hannah's eye, and they exchanged a knowing glance before she turned her attention back to Elliott.
"As Dr. Arnold explained to you this morning, the CDC had to take the remains of your beloved son so that we could investigate exactly what the illness was that claimed his life. Unfortunately, we came to the determination that Jack's body was potentially still contaminated. Therefore, we had his remains cremated. While I am certainly sorry that we had to take such drastic measures, you all understand how important it is to control potentially hazardous illnesses. You all understand that Jack's remains had to be cremated, and you accept this information unquestioningly."
Again, everyone nodded. No one looked surprised, shocked, or angry. Cadence looked at Hannah again, who gave a small shrug, and then Cadence returned her attention to Elliott. Though his ability to persuade the thoughts and reactions of others didn't work nearly as well on members of the Passels, Cadence began to believe that Jack must have had a contagious illness, and therefore, he must have been cremated, though she still was not exactly sure why Elliott was the one relaying this information.
Dr. Arnold motioned for Nurse Bailey, who stepped into the waiting area, carrying a small brown urn with gold trim. "Mr. and Mrs. Cook," Dr. Arnold said, offering the urn to Jack's parents. "Here you are. I am so very sorry for your loss."
As Mr. Cook stood to take the remains, his wife began to cry quietly. Mr. Cook shook Dr. Arnold's hand, then turned to Elliott. "Thank you both," he stated, tears in his own eyes. "I appreciate the care that was given to my son while he was here."
Dr. Arnold nodded, meekly. "If there is anything else that we can do for you, please let me know," he said. Gesturing to Nurse Bailey, he smiled empathetically at Jack's friends and followed his associate out the door. Elliott stayed, of course, because, despite being a member of the CDC, he was also Cadence's friend and colleague.
"Let's go back to the hotel," Elliott suggested. Without hesitating, every member of the Cook party stood, put their coats back on, and began to walk down the hallway towards the exit. As they approached the elevator, Elliott quietly said, "We miss Jack, and we will never forget him. But these things happen. People die and they are cremated. We will all move on and only remember the happy times with Jack, before he was sick."
Heads nodded in agreement and Steve Cook said, "Yes, I remember the happy times with Jack. It's so sad that he died, and I will miss him. But, these things happen."
Cadence stepped onto the elevator, a questioning expression on her face. She caught Elliott's eye only briefly, but it was enough for him to know she wasn't quite buying his story.
They walked the short distance back toward the hotel where the Cooks and the rest of Cadence's friends were staying. On the sidewalk by the lobby, Cadence explained that she was extremely tired and wanted to get some rest. Hannah signaled for a cab while Cadence hugged her friends good-bye and climbed into the taxi, bound for their own hotel across town.
Just as Cadence was about to ask Elliott to explain exactly what was going on, she was distracted by the ringing of her cell phone.
***
"Is th
at possible?" Jack asked, giving his full attention to Giovani. "Can we track her down and convince her to become one of us?"
"Of course, brother," Giovani stated emphatically. "Why not? If you can be changed, she can be changed, right?" He withheld the information that Cadence could never be turned in to a Vampire because she was already a Vampire Hunter. Jack had no idea that his ex-girlfriend was now his deadliest enemy, and telling him so would likely work against Giovani's plan.
"Well, let me give her a call," Jack stated, absently reaching for his cell phone, before realizing that he no longer had his phone in his possession. "Dammit," he said, remembering that it was gone. "I don't have my phone."
"No problem," Giovani said nonchalantly. "We can get you another one easily enough. I prefer not to carry one myself, but it's not hard to procure such items if one finds them necessary."
Jack was a bit relieved. Though becoming a Vampire was not something he had ever considered, now that he was one, wrapping his mind around that was hard enough; at least he wouldn't have to go through the rest of eternity without the human comfort of a cell phone. Considering the other human items he had always taken for granted, he asked, "What about money?" hoping Giovani had a solution for that as well.
"Sure, no problem," Giovani replied. "I'll take you back to my place, get you everything you need."
"That's great," Jack said, nodding his head in relief. "I really appreciate that."
"Course, I don't live around here. My place is in Omaha, but my Corvette will get us there quickly enough," Giovani explained.
"Oh, okay," Jack replied. "Why are you in Lincoln then?"
Giovani smiled. "To find you, man," he responded. "You and I are brothers. I couldn't leave you out here on your own."
Jack had just assumed that Giovani was using the word "brother" as a term of endearment, not actually stating a fact of their relation. "Oh," he said, nodding his head again. "So, Holland is your mother, too?"