Dead and Kicking

by Lisa Emme

  “The quality of the video is crap.” Bryce materialized beside me, sitting on the desk.

  “Thanks, Captain Obvious. Can I do anything to clean it up?”

  “Well, you could try to punch up the highlights, maybe neutralize the colour balance, stabilize –”

  “Forget I asked.” I shook my head. I had no clue how to do what he was talking about.

  “Here let me…” He reached for the mouse, only to have his hand pass through. “Oh yeah, forgot about that.” He playfully pushed his spectral hand into the side of the computer until it disappeared up to his wrist then pulled it out again. “Hmmmm, maybe I could….” He grabbed both sides of the computer then appeared to bang his head on the case. Instead, his head disappeared followed quickly by his shoulders then arms, and then suddenly he was gone.

  “Bryce!” I looked at the computer monitor. The normal desktop had been replaced by a black screen with a blinking cursor. “Bryce?”

  HEY. THIS IS SO COOL.

  The words appeared on the screen where the blinking cursor had been.

  “Bryce?” I looked at the monitor in surprise. “Are you in my computer?”

  YES. WHAT A PIECE OF CRAP. YOU’RE USING A 10 YEAR OLD OPERATING SYSTEM? SERIOUSLY?

  “Whoa. I didn’t know you could do that.”

  NEITHER DID I. DID I MENTION THIS IS SO COOL? HEY! I’M NO LONGER A SPIRIT IN THE MATERIAL WORLD. I’M A GHOST IN THE MACHINE!

  Man, that was bad. “Police album references aside, do you think you can fix the video?”

  YES. BUT WE’RE GOING TO NEED SOME UPGRADES FIRST.

  “Upgrades?”

  DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT. I’LL TAKE CARE OF EVERYTHING.

  More famous last words.

  Chapter Ten

  I spent the remainder of the afternoon tending my rooftop garden. I may have a magical green thumb, thanks to inheriting some witchy powers from Gran, but the plants still needed some hands on care. This late in the season, most gardeners had already brought in their harvest and packed it in for the year. Not me though, with the help of my magic I would be gardening all year long.

  When the sun began to set, I arrived back in my room to take a shower, just in time to hear the tail end of a phone message from our landlord.

  “….so sorry. So very sorry. Goodbye.”

  I grabbed the phone hoping to catch him. “Hello? Mr. Rahmadesh?” He had already hung up. That was strange. I wondered what he could be calling about. It was the middle of the month and the rent wasn’t due until the first. And, what did he have to be sorry about?

  I called his cell but got that annoying ‘We’re sorry the cellular customer you have dialed is not available’ message. Weird. Weirder still, when I tried his shop number - he owned the local dry cleaners - the message said the phone had been disconnected. I was sure there would be an explanation though. Mr. Rahmadesh had probably switched service providers or something. I’d listen to his entire message later after I jumped in the shower.

  ***

  I was never getting out of the shower again. Being swathed by hot water flowing out of multi-jets and a rain head shower will do that to you. Definitely worth the splurge I had made in my ensuite bathroom. Since our bedrooms were side by side, Tess and I had opted to both have smaller private ensuites with showers and share a large bathroom between our two rooms with a great, big, jetted soaker tub.

  “You’ve got visitors,” a voice said from outside of the shower stall.

  “Gran! Where have you been?” I spluttered as I got a face full of water. I fumbled for the faucet and turned the water off. Grabbing a towel, I wrapped it around myself and stepped out of the shower. “It’s been crazy around here thanks to that stupid date –”

  “We don’t have time for chit chat right now. You have company downstairs. Get dressed.”

  “Company? Who? What’s going on?” I dried myself off quickly and hurried into my bedroom.

  “I don’t know, but if he’s here, nothing good. Where’s your sword?”

  “Where it always is, hanging up downstairs. Who’s he? Why do I need my sword? Should I call the police?”

  “The police won’t help you. Laws don’t touch him. How he found you, I don’t know.”

  “Found me? Who found me?” I quickly pulled on some jeans and a t-shirt. “What’s going on?”

  “Salvador Arroyo. The Magister. I don’t know how he found out about you….”

  “The Magister? Here? Why would he be here? How could he be? He’s a vampire.”

  Just like in the movies, a vampire had to be invited across your threshold. That was the main reason we had closed off the access to the apartment from the shop using the fire pole. As a public business, a vamp could enter the shop with no restrictions. We wanted to make sure the apartment was a completely separate space. Vampires may be sticklers for the rules, but they were also great at finding loopholes. I palmed a knife that I sometimes carried. Not that it would do much good against a vampire, but a six-inch, double-edged, clip point blade was better than nothing and I didn’t own a gun or silver bullets.

  I had more questions for Gran, like how she knew the Magister and why he would even be looking for me, but she conveniently had vanished. I quickly texted an SOS to Tess to let her know I had company, then quietly made my way to the top of the stairs leading down to the second level. The stairs came out at the end of the hall behind the kitchen. There were no sightlines into the living area from the bottom of the stairway which meant that whoever was downstairs wouldn’t be able to see me; then again, I wouldn’t be able to see them either.

  I crept as quietly as I could, but it was pretty much a given that I couldn’t hide from a vampire’s amped up hearing or sense of smell. When I reached the end of the wall dividing the hall and the kitchen, I started to peek around the corner only to be abruptly grabbed and thrown against the wall.

  “Gaak!” I said. Hey, you try talking when a six foot goon with the strength of a vampire has his arm across your windpipe.

  Tomas had pinned my knife hand as well as my throat. He grinned at me smugly. I could see Salvador lounging unconcerned across the room. My vision began to blur from the lack of oxygen as I let my knees give out a little, shifting more of my weight onto his arm. Surprised, he loosened his grip enough that I was able to take a rasping breath. I quickly brought my knee up to his groin as hard as I could. It was satisfying to know that whatever he was, he still felt it when he got one in the ‘nads. Tomas let go of my arm and I slid down the wall. Unwilling to hope that a shot to the junk was enough to keep him down, I followed through with a quick punch to his throat. He fell to one knee and I sprang away trying to get across the room to my katana.

  I only made it a couple steps before Tomas grabbed my ankle and sent me sprawling on my back. With the lightning speed of an angry vampire, I was once again pinned. This time Tomas knelt over me straddling my hips, his one hand on my collarbone, the other in my hair pulling my head back to expose my throat.

  “I’m going to enjoy sucking you dry.” He bared his teeth, his fangs prominently displayed. What the hell was he? I could feel his body heat and the thumping of his heart in his chest, but he had fangs and the strength and speed of a vamp.

  “I wouldn’t recommend that,” I rasped, my voice steadier than I would have expected, given the circumstances. “Not unless you want to see who bleeds out first.” To emphasize my point, I pushed the tip of my knife up against his groin. Whatever Tomas was, I was hoping he would bleed. “It would be a shame to slice up your nice pants; although, black leather? Really? Isn’t that a little much for this time of day?”

  Tomas hissed and I tensed waiting for him to tear out my throat. Instead of the intense pain I expected, there was the sound of three slow claps.

  “Children, children,” Salvador admonished. “Enough playing game
s.”

  With another hiss, Tomas released his grip on my head, just as I started to push him off me. I sprang to my feet and completed my dash across the room, grabbing my katana and unsheathing it in one motion.

  “What the hell are you doing in my house?” I positioned myself with my back to the wall, keeping both vampires in sight at the end of my blade. “How did you even get in here? You haven’t been invited.”

  “You mean my house.” Salvador waved his hand to encompass the room.

  “Your house?” I stammered, but I already knew what he meant, the half-heard phone message from my landlord suddenly making frightening sense. “What did you do to Mr. Rahmadesh?”

  “Do?” Salvador smiled, pressing his hands together as if in prayer. “Why I did nothing to your dear Mr. Rahmedash, but offer him a proposal he felt he couldn’t refuse.”

  “Why? Why would you want to buy this building?”

  “Come now. Must you stand there? Sit, sit. We mean you no harm.” Salvador gestured to the chair beside him.

  I looked at Tomas who still stood glaring at me. “I think your friend here would beg to differ.”

  “Nonsense. Tomas will not harm you.” When he spoke, I could feel the power behind his words. Tomas’s stance stiffened and he looked away from me.

  I lowered my sword but didn’t re-sheathe it. “What do you want from me? I sent you the encryption key this morning.”

  “Yes, yes,” he gestured impatiently. “That deal has been struck and it will be honoured. I come to you now with a different proposition.”

  I shifted uneasily. I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to like the sound of whatever it was he was going to propose. “What kind of proposition?”

  Salvador laughed. “Oh my dear Miss Russo, so suspicious. Relax. I promise you it is nothing you will find too,” he paused as if trying to find the right words, “…unsavoury. A deal that will be mutually beneficial.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “One night,” he held up a finger dramatically, “one night of your time.” He raised his hand to stall my protests. “For dinner. You spend the evening with me, dine with me at my club, and in return, I will give you the deed to this building.”

  “Just like that? You’d hand over a half million dollar building for a dinner date?” I eyed him suspiciously. There had to be a catch, there was always a catch when it came to making deals with vampires. Like maybe I would be dinner.

  “I assure you there is no catch.” Salvador replied. It was as if he read my mind, which did little to set me at ease. For all I knew he could read my mind. If that was the case, then if Salvador thought I was going to have sex with him, he could take the deed to the building and shove it….Hmm, no response there. So maybe Salvador couldn’t read my mind.

  “Don’t get me wrong, I want my building, but I don’t see what you get out of the deal.” Figuring I was safe enough and, since I felt stupid standing there holding my katana, I sheathed it, but didn’t hang it back up.

  “Why your charming conversation of course.” Salvador managed to say it with a completely straight face so I was almost inclined to believe he meant it, especially when I looked over at Tomas, who appeared to be having an aneurysm or something. The look on Tomas’s face alone might have been worth the date.

  “We have so much to talk about, you and I,” Salvador continued on, seemingly oblivious to his Lieutenant’s distaste at the thought. “I find you most intriguing. Why have we not met before?” He paused to look at me appraisingly. “And then of course, there’s that nasty business on the video you provided to me.”

  “You’ve watched the video? Do you know who the men are?” I was eager to learn what I could, in case it helped lead us to Bryce’s killers.

  “Yes, yes, all in due time. Shall we say nine o’clock, tomorrow evening?” Salvador rose from his seat. He reached into the breast pocket of his three piece suit and pulled out an official looking piece of paper. “And as a show of good faith, I have already taken the liberty of signing the building over to you. Let us shake hands and call it a deal, shall we?”

  I looked at the deed and then Salvador’s outstretched hand. There had to be a catch. Just like the saying, if it was too good to be true…there was probably a vampire involved.

  “Just dinner and conversation, nothing else. And, I get to come home, safe, afterwards?” I hesitated.

  “Yes, you will be perfectly safe. It is simply dinner and conversation, and the building is yours, free and clear.” If there was more, he didn’t get a chance to say it before someone began to bang on the door.

  “Miss Russo! Harry! Open up. It’s Detective Nash.”

  “Well my dear?” Salvador arched an eyebrow at me. “Do we have a deal?”

  “I…” I looked to the door then back to Salvador, “…yes.” I reached out and he grasped my hand firmly. Unlike our handshake from the other night, this time I felt a tingling sensation followed by a sense of well-being. Salvador bowed over my hand, turning it palm up to press his lips against the pulse throbbing in my wrist. Deep in the recesses of my mind, I knew that I had just made some sort of mistake, but it was hard to be concerned with such a warm and inviting feeling running through me.

  “Harry! Are you there? We need to talk.” Nash’s voice broke through my reverie. I looked up, but Salvador and Tomas were already making their way to the door leaving me standing with the deed in one hand and my katana lying in its sheath on the floor beside me.

  “Until tomorrow, my dear Miss Russo.” Salvador smiled at me, looking like a Cheshire cat. Tomas opened the door, surprising Nash with his hand raised in mid-knock. “Detective Nash.” Salvador nodded to Nash then proceeded out the door, followed by Tomas.

  “Harry! Are you okay?” Nash rushed over, grabbing me by my elbows. He looked me up and down as if assessing me for injury, frowning at the red marks around my throat. “What the hell did he want? Did he hurt you?”

  “What? No.” I still felt a little dazed from my skin to skin contact with Salvador. “I…I shook his hand.” I held up my hand to look at it. It looked absolutely normal. I swallowed in relief only to have the pain remind that someone had hurt me. I touched my throat. “It was that asshole, Tomas.” The dazed feeling was quickly dissipating and I was getting my mad on instead. “What the hell is he anyway?”

  “What is he? You mean you don’t know?” Nash ran his hand through his hair. “No, of course you don’t.” There was something in his voice, more frustration than anger, but it wasn’t directed at me. He looked down at the paper in my hand. “Look, Tomas can wait. What else happened?”

  “I made a deal with Salvador. He gave me the firehall.” I stared incredulously at the deed. “He gave me the firehall. It’s mine now. I own this building!”

  “What? What do you mean?” Nash took the deed and looked it over. “What sort of deal?” He grabbed my arms again and gave me a shake. “What did you promise him?”

  “Hey! Ouch!” I pushed him away. “Nothing, nothing! I just have to have dinner with him tomorrow. That’s all.”

  “And you let him touch you? You shook his hand?”

  “I…” Feeling uncertain, I looked at my hand again. “Yes, I shook his hand and he,” I swallowed uncomfortably, “he kissed my wrist.” I put my hand down quickly. “Look, it’s no big deal. So he might have taken a little sip. I’m fine.”

  “No big deal?” He ran both hands through his hair. No wonder it always looked so tousled. “Don’t you know what he can do with that one small taste?” At my puzzled look, he stormed on. “He will use that little taste to learn all he can about you. It’s what he does, he’s a Reader.”

  A Reader! No wonder Nash freaked out. Readers were rare. I had only ever read about them. With a drop of blood, or in this case a sip of my life essence, Salvador would know what magical gifts I had and how powerful they wer
e or had the potential to be. He would know everything about me that I tried to keep secret, including some things I was trying to not admit even to myself. No wonder he was the Magister. Readers made great leaders because they were able to recognize the talents of others and utilize everyone to their fullest potential.

  I tried to downplay the issue. “So he knows that I’m a witch. That’s no secret.”

  “And your other talents?” Nash frowned at me. “What about those?”

  “I really don’t know what you are talking about.” At least I hoped I didn’t, otherwise it meant someone, Tess, had blabbed about my little ghost problem.

  Nash laughed. “Your poker face sucks. I know about the ghosts. I know that’s how you found Bryce Chow’s body and it’s probably why you were in his apartment yesterday afternoon. You don’t think that after your little stunt last night I wouldn’t try and find out everything I could about you?”

  “What I can or can’t do is none of your business.”

  “It is when it becomes part of my murder investigation, and when it gets you in over your head and your safety becomes my concern.”

  “My safety is none of your concern. You’re not my keeper. And, as far as your murder investigation goes, I’ve told you everything I know.”

  “What about everything Bryce knows?”

  I shrugged. I didn’t want to discuss Bryce with him. “He doesn’t remember anything about his murder or about the video for that matter.”

  Nash looked around the room as if searching for something. “He’s not here now is he?”

  “Bryce? No.”

  “And your Grandmother?”

  “Who told you about Gran?” As far as I knew, nobody knew about Gran except for Holly and Tess. The fact that your dead grandmother still haunted you seven years after her death wasn’t exactly something you wanted to get around. It hurt to think that Tess had shared my secret.

  Tess chose that moment to arrive home. She was winded like she had run the whole way from work.