by ID Johnson
Before he had the car completely in park, Cadence was kissing him. Leaning across the middle console, she pulled him to her, placing both of her hands on the sides of his face and showing him exactly how much she had missed him. Though he was surprised, it wasn't unwelcome, and he kissed her back just as passionately. After a few minutes, however, he attempted to stop her, aware that he needed to talk to her about the situation with Jack sooner rather than later.
"Cadence," he said between kisses. "We need to talk."
"Okay," she said, sliding her tongue into his mouth again.
He kissed her back and then tried once more. "Cadence, now." He pulled away from her this time and it seemed like she might have momentarily regained her composure. She looked at him for a moment, her brown eyes flickering in and out of self-control, before she finally pulled him to her one last time. This kiss was much slower and restrained, however, as if she were storing a memory for later.
"All right," Cadence said, releasing him. "What do you want to talk to me about?"
Aaron was aware that, if they stayed in the tight confines of the car, they might not get any actual talking done. "Why don't we go for a walk?" he asked.
Cadence nodded in agreement and flipped open the car door. The cool December air felt refreshing on her flushed skin, and she took a second to breathe it in before she pushed the car door closed behind her.
"Are you going to be okay in those shoes?" he asked, waiting for her at the hood of the car.
Cadence glanced down at her dress shoes. They weren't a very high heel, not nearly as high as the boots she usually wore when she was hunting. She had on rather thick black tights and a long black dress beneath her winter coat. "I think so," she replied.
He nodded and took her arm as she stepped out of the parking lot onto the snow-covered grass. There was a path through the trees, indicated by periodic markers, which were the only evidence of it's existence in the snow. Cadence had been here before and had an idea of where the little pathway ran. She led him over to it, thinking it might be easier for her to walk on the path than the grass.
"I'm sorry," Cadence said quietly after a few minutes.
Aaron smiled at her. "You don't need to be," he replied. "I wasn't exactly pushing you away."
"I know," she admitted. "But I didn't intend. . . I just. . . it's been an emotional day."
"Yes, it has," Aaron concurred. He did not add that it was about to get even more so, but the thought certainly crossed his mind.
There was a bench ahead, covered in several inches of snow. Nevertheless, it seemed like a decent place to talk. Aaron let go of her arm, brushing the snow off of the bench the best he could before offering her a seat and joining her. The look of concern was back on Cadence's face, and he wasn't exactly sure how to start this difficult conversation.
"Cadence, we need to talk about Jack," he said quietly, not quite looking at her.
"We do need to talk about Jack," Cadence agreed, crossing her arms and keeping about a foot of space between them. "Some weird things are happening."
Aaron paused for a moment, unsure of what she was talking about. "What do you mean?" he asked, cautiously.
"Well," she began, "the night that we were in Lincoln, when we were leaving the hospital, I got this weird call from a guy who sounded like Jack. And then, when I got back here, I got another call. It was so creepy! The guy sounded just like Jack. He said he was on his way. Isn't that insane? Who would do that?"
"You got two calls from someone identifying himself as Jack?" Aaron clarified.
"Yes!" Cadence declared. "And then, at the memorial service, I know you're going to think I'm crazy, but I swear, I saw someone who looked exactly like Jack. When I was on stage, giving my speech. I know it's ridiculous, but I swear I saw him, Aaron. I'm starting to think I'm losing my mind."
Aaron took a deep breath and stared down at the ground for a moment. "You're not losing your mind, Cadence," he said, trying to keep his tone even. "I'm not exactly sure how to tell you this," he paused, looking up at her for a second. She was clearly confused and bracing herself for whatever he was about to say. "Cadence, Jack isn't dead. He's . . . undead."
***
The information from Eliza had been greatly helpful. Once Laura and Laney had reached Shenandoah, they had easily located the familiar Corvette parked outside a little motel just outside of town. They weren't sure how long Giovani had been there when they arrived, but camping out in the parking lot across from the hotel and sleeping in shifts had yielded no sightings. If he left the hotel, he did so from a different door and on foot. In the day or so they had been watching, the car had not moved... until around 1:00 that afternoon.
Giovani and Jack had made their way out of the hotel and into the Corvette, not even glancing around to see if they were being observed. The sisters trailed the Vampires to the local school complex, watched as Jack spent a few minutes at what appeared to be his own funeral, and then stalked the Corvette as Giovani drove it around town. Eventually, he pulled into a neighborhood and parked down the street from what seemed to be a semi-busy house, which the girls concluded must be the sight of Jack's reception. The two Vampires didn't seem to be planning on attending the get-together, however, disappearing into the trees at a nearby park instead.
"This is our chance," Laura said, pulling her various weapons out of locations in the car and shoving them into her holsters and waistband.
Laney agreed. "All right, but we have to be smart and careful. There's a neighborhood nearby. And this is a park. Even if there's snow, there still might be kids. There's a play area right over there."
"I know," Laura exclaimed. "I'm not going to do anything stupid."
Laney was aware that Aaron was in town somewhere, though she didn't know where. From a distance, she had seen Cadence at the high school, recognizing her from pictures on the newsfeed. Laney was worried about the cloudiness that might invade her sister's thinking if she were to spot the two of them together. "Just focus on the job, and we'll be fine," she reminded her older sister, grabbing her own Glock and stepping out of the car.
"All right," Laura replied, still obviously annoyed. "Why don't you circle to the left, and I'll go to the right. If you get a shot on either one of them, don't hesitate to take it."
Laney wasn't as reckless as her sister. As she followed Laura's directions, she sent a message to Eliza. "We've spotted Giovani and Jack at a park in Shenandoah. Is your team aware of this."
"Affirmative," Eliza answered almost immediately. "We are also in position. Be advised. You have six Guardians and one Hunter in your immediate vicinity. Please advise your sister and anyone else working with you. You'll need to request visuals."
"It's just my sister and me," Laney replied. "I'll advise her."
Laney carefully made her way through the snow, trying to stay in the trees whenever possible. Though she didn't know if her sister would be so smart, she immediately requested visuals from Eliza, and once she had those rights, she was able to pick up the rest of the LIGHTS team and started turning them on as well. She didn't request permission from Aaron or Cadence, however. She could see that Elliott had them in his view, but no one had either of their feeds turned on, and she assumed their must be a reason for that.
As she was gaining visual access, she sent a message to Laura. She could see through her sister's visuals that she was approaching a clearing in-between the trees, but she couldn't see anyone through her visuals. "Laura, we have company. The LIGHTS team is here. You need to request visuals from Eliza and the rest of the team."
"Negative," Laura replied. She still refused help from anyone but her sister.
"Laura, there are six Guardians on the ground. If one of them gets caught in our crossfire, that will be a huge problem."
"Please advise your friends to stay the hell out of my way," Laura replied. She was absolutely pissed at her sister for coordinating with Eliza and the rest of her team. She turned her sister's visual access off and set her I
AC to Full Off, a sign that she no longer wanted her help either. Behind her, Laura heard the crunch of snow and assumed it was one of the LIGHTS crew. She turned, her weapon drawn, just in case, and was immediately knocked to the ground from her right side. The Glock she had been holding in front of her went flying across the snow.
Her left arm was pinned beneath her, but she was struggling against the ferocious Vampire with her right arm. Giovani was amused, his bodyweight, though slight for a man, was enough to keep her down, despite her attempts to throw him off. He began to pull out weapons with one hand as he kept her on the ground with the rest of his body. He pulled another Glock out of her holster, one out of her waistband, and a Berretta from the back of her jacket. He shoved the Glocks into his pockets and tossed the Berretta into the trees.
"Wow, you were packing," he said, amused. "Whatever shall we do with you, pretty one, now that we have you? Hmm? I have some ideas." He pulled a length of rope out of his back pocket and wrapped it around her wrists then forced her to her feet. "I bet you've been wondering for years if that ex-boyfriend of yours still loves you," he snarled, inches from her face. "Well, let's go find out."
***
"What did you say?" Cadence asked, her head cocked to the side in confusion.
Aaron took another deep breath. "I said that Jack isn't dead. He's a Vampire, Cadence. Jack has gone through the Resurrection process."
Cadence stared down at her shoes, pondering what Aaron had just said. "I'm sorry," she said, looking back at him. "What? How is that possible? Jack died. He was sick. He was in the hospital. The doctors said. . ."
"The doctors didn't know, remember? They had no idea what was wrong with him. And nothing they tried worked. He was infected, Cadence. By Holland. And when his friends and family thought he was dead, he was just going through the Resurrection process. I know it's hard to understand, but you need to believe me." He had turned to face her, hoping he would see the sincerity in his face.
Cadence began to slowly shake her head. "Aaron, that's crazy. Holland didn't bite him. I was there, I would have known if she bit him."
"You're right," he agreed. "She didn't bite him. She stabbed him with her fingernail, a fingernail she had purposely infected with her DNA. And when that DNA got into his bloodstream, it began the Resurrection process. Cadence, the smaller the amount of DNA, the longer the transformation takes."
Once again, Cadence attempted to comprehend what he was saying. "So you're saying that it wasn't a prank caller. It was Jack calling me. The real Jack. My Jack. And, it wasn't a form of temporary insanity when I thought I saw him at the service. It was really him--or at least whatever he is now. That's what I saw."
"Yes," he said, nodding his head. "It was Jack. You're not going crazy or being pranked. It was really him. Or what's left of him."
"What do you mean?" she asked, snapping her head around sharply.
"Well," Aaron began, "we don't know for sure, but we have a theory that, when a person is Resurrected as a Vampire, their soul actually passes on. A new soul takes their place, usually an evil or demonic one. Not all Vampires choose to go Rogue, but most of them do, unless they are constantly kept in line. So, it just makes sense that whatever makes them behave that way is some sort of new entity, not the former inhabitant of that body."
"But don't they have the same memories, the same interests? They are practically the same person, if you take away the propensity toward evil," Cadence said, looking for clarification.
"Yes, that's true," Aaron agreed with her. "But we aren't exactly sure if that's just the person's mind acting independently of the spirit or if it's some sort of deceptive practice perpetrated by the new being."
Cadence was feeling both overwhelmed and confused. She took a moment to think about all of this new information and put some puzzle pieces together in her mind. After a few moments of reflection, she asked, "How long have you known about this?"
He could tell by her tone that she was growing increasingly upset. "Honestly. . . ." he began.
She interrupted, "Honesty would be awesome."
Aaron paused for a moment, trying to keep in mind that she was in an emotional position and that her anger was not necessarily intended at him. Not yet anyway. "We had some suspicions since you mentioned he was acting odd at Drew's funeral. We couldn't be sure. I started receiving some reports from other Hunters and Guardians in the Lincoln area, saying they had noticed some Vampire-like behaviors from him. We didn't know for sure, however, until he was placed in the hospital with an abnormal blood infection. That's usually a pretty good indication."
"You've known for that long, and you're just now telling me?" Cadence asked, flabbergasted. "Why didn't you tell me before?"
Despite the overwhelming urge to tell her to calm down, Aaron kept his voice as even as possible, trying not to raise the frustration level of the conversation. "There were several reasons why I didn't tell you, Cadence. For one, we were in the middle of a hunt where you needed your full attention on the job. I also needed confirmation. I tend not to operate on hunches. Also, I was hopeful that Jack would turn himself in for training and tagging, and then, when you found out, it would not be under these circumstances. It would have probably been a joyous occasion, honestly."
"What circumstances?" she asked, her voice taking on an inquisitive tone, on top of the already frustrated and angry one she had been using.
"Cadence," Aaron said slowly and purposefully, "Jack has gone Rogue."
"What? No. . ."
"Listen, Cadence. He's been seen with another of Holland's creations, Giovani, a well-known Rogue, one Hunters have been pursuing for years. . .."
"Bullshit," Cadence interrupted, not believing anything he was saying. She knew in her heart that Jack was not capable of killing an innocent person."
"It's true. We know that he participated in an attack where seven people were killed, one the epileptic daughter of a known drug-dealer who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Cadence. . ."
"I don't believe you!" she said standing. "Just because he was there doesn't mean that he killed anyone.
"We know how Giovani works, Cadence. That wasn't the only incident either. He would have had to have eaten by now, and all of our victims--all of them--are on the Innocent List."
"All of them?"
"Yes!"
"Even the drug dealer?" Cadence asked, skeptically.
"His status had not been changed, not yet." He stood then, trying to get her to look at him, but she spun away.
"I don't believe it. Jack wouldn't do that. He wouldn't." Cadence could feel hot tears stinging the corners of her eyes.
A crunch in the snow in the clearing a hundred yards or so away from them caught her attention then. She felt a familiar sensation in her stomach, as if dragons were taking flight, and knew there was certainly a Vampire in their presence.
"Is that him?" she asked Aaron, finally looking into his eyes again.
"It is," he confirmed. "Cadence, you can talk to him. But you've got to be careful. You can't trust him."
She turned away from him, looking towards the origin of the sound. She took a step forward, but felt Aaron's hand on her arm.
Pulling a Glock out of the back of his waistband, he offered it to her. "Take this. You might need it."
Cadence looked at the gun in disgust, her hands buried deep in her coat pockets and not coming out. "I'm not taking that. I would never shoot Jack." She pulled her arm out of his grasp and started walking forward. She could see Jack in the distance now, standing between two trees, apparently waiting for her.
"Cadence," Aaron yelled after her. "He's not alone."
She kept walking, ignoring him and not turning back. Jack was waiting for her, and she wanted to talk to him. It seemed very surreal that she was now approaching the man who's funeral she had spoken at earlier that day.
"Damn it," Aaron mumbled under his breath, hating that she walked away from him unarmed but fully aware that she wou
ld refuse the weapon even if he thrust it at her. "I can't see a damn thing from here," Aaron said to Elliott on the IAC. His team had not gone back to the hotel. Rather, they had followed the Lamborghini to the park and set up a perimeter, fairly certain that Jack and Giovani were also intending to track Cadence down. They were all in position, their objective to take Jack into custody and destroy Giovani.
"Trade me spots," Elliott insisted, coming down from his perch atop a tall pine tree nearby. He didn't exactly take the same position as Aaron, however, staying behind the nearby tree line under cover, hoping to keep Jack unclear about his exact location. Aaron replaced Elliott as the look-out so that he could better view the field. He had visuals from everyone else, but he needed to actually be able to see locations and movement as well. He didn't think Jack would harm Cadence, but he had no idea what Giovani was capable of, and at that moment, he wasn't sure exactly where Giovani was.
Cadence approached Jack cautiously. Her instincts were beginning to take over, and she was fighting a battle between her urge to rip his head off and her joy in seeing him alive. "Jack," she said, stopping a good twenty yards from him. "How are you?"
He seemed a bit puzzled that she had stopped so short of his location. "I'm good, Cadence. Really good. How are you?"
"Well, I was pretty upset," she admitted. "I thought you were dead."
Jack chuckled softly. "Yeah, sorry about that. But I called you. I told you I was coming. Everything's different now, Cadence. It's amazing! You won't believe how freeing it is, once you cross-over."
It was obvious to Cadence that no one had bothered to tell him that she was not capable of crossing over. She began to wonder exactly what this Giovani person had told him about her current state of existence. "Jack, you've got to come back to LIGHTS with me and get trained. You haven't done that yet, and it's not safe for you to be out running around, not knowing the rules and expectations."