Of Man and Monster

by Saje Williams

  The third rifleman snapped his weapon around and lined up on Amanda. Rachel fired three more shots. The first skipped across the flesh of his upper arm, sending the rifle crashing to the ground. Rachel rushed him, yelling. “Police officer! Get on your knees and put your hands on your head!"

  Rather than obeying, he dove for the rifle. Swearing, she squeezed off another shot. This one caught him in the side. He went down and stayed there. She held the pistol on him as she leaned down to check the pulse in his neck.

  No blood! Shit! She leaped back too late as she realized she'd missed the shot. He twisted under her and kicked her feet out from under her. She crashed to the ground, pistol flying out of her grasp as the breath exploded from her lungs. He threw himself on top of her, fingers lacing around her throat.

  Spots swam before her eyes as she struggled for air. He suddenly stiffened and jerked upright. Amanda came around him and kicked him in the armpit with the toe of her shoe. When his arm flew free Rachel clawed his other hand away from her throat and took a huge gulping breath as she fired a short punch into his solar plexus.

  She scrambled out from under him as a knife appeared under his chin, gleaming nastily. Amanda leaned over his shoulder wearing a dangerous grin. “Federal agent. You're under arrest, asshole. One twitch and you're a dead man.” She took a restraint from Rachel and zipped it tight around the man's wrists.

  "Read him his rights.” Rachel retrieved her Glock. She walked over to where the werewolf and his would-be victim. The man lay there, moaning, a huge bloody chunk out of his leg. His eyes rolled wildly as he looked up at her.

  "You're under arrest,” she told him coolly. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you at no cost to yourself."

  His eyes focused for a moment and he sneered up at her. “Screw you."

  "Not in this lifetime,” she told him with a tight smile. “You're awfully calm for a man who was just bitten by a werewolf. Turn over and place your hands behind your back."

  He did as he was told. She pulled a plastic restraint cord from her inside jacket pocket and cinched it tight. She shot a glance at Ben and watched in amazement as the transformation reversed itself before her eyes. A huge, gnarled werewolf became a slim, naked human boy as she watched, astounded. She shuddered. Damn, that's creepy.

  Ben groaned and struggled against the glowing silver bonds. “Stay put, kid. I'll get that off of you as soon as I can."

  "The third one's dead,” Amanda said, appearing at her side like a ghost. “And Chase is gone."

  * * * *

  Sunday afternoon.

  "They're going to be fine,” Rachel told Amanda and Ben, exiting from the back of the ER rubbing at her throat. Talking still hurt but she didn't seem to be able to avoid it. Everybody wanted explanations and kept looking to her to provide them.

  Not that she really knew anything to tell. She didn't recognize any of the shooters. She'd needed to file a report with Bigby, who'd be anything but happy about it. A gun battle in a state park nowhere near his jurisdiction. Plenty of reasons for him to be miffed. If someone wanted to make trouble they'd wouldn't have to work too hard.

  Despite having been struck by two bullets Rachel knew of for sure, Ben was no worse for wear. His body had apparently expelled the bullets before he'd shifted back into human shape. Nice talent, if you can get it. His dense muscles had stopped them from penetrating farther than a finger's breadth.

  "Both survivors are going to be treated and released to the uniforms we have standing guard."

  "Good,” Amanda said. Ben looked acutely uncomfortable sitting there in a pair of shorts and Amanda's jacket, his bare feet conspicuous for this time of year. “Did you get anything out of them?"

  She shook her head. “Uh-uh. They're barely coherent."

  "Seemed lucid enough on the scene,” Amanda observed. “Think they were under the vampire's control?"

  "It's occurred to me,” Rachel answered. She glanced at her watch. “I need to stop by headquarters and then we can head back out to your mother's, if you want."

  "Sounds like a plan."

  They walked out of the hospital right into Rachel's old friend Pyle. The reporter seemed surprised to see them. “Detective Flynn.” He started digging for his recorder.

  "I really don't have time now, Pyle. I handed you what we had on the vampire killer, didn't I? Just like I promised?"

  "Wasn't an exclusive,” he grumbled.

  "True. Didn't have a choice. We needed to get that face out everywhere as fast as possible."

  "Not like it did you any good,” he said with a wry grin. “Or am I wrong about that?"

  She shrugged. “It's only been a couple of days."

  "You let me know if you get anything else,” he said, with a tiny shake of his head. He turned slowly and trudged into the hospital, muttering to himself.

  "Those guys looked familiar,” Ben said, out of the blue.

  "What?” Rachel froze and looked at him. “Why didn't you say something earlier?"

  "Just because they look familiar doesn't mean I know why.” Ben grimaced.

  "It's a small town,” Amanda said. “You could've seen them anyplace."

  "Just think on it,” Rachel told him. “See if you can figure it out. They're not going anywhere."

  * * * *

  Sunday Evening.

  Gina lifted her face from the dog and wiped the blood off her face on the sleeve of her sweatshirt. Cory gave her an approving nod and she stood slowly. “Tastes like crap,” she said.

  "That's what everybody says,” he answered with a hesitant smile. “You okay?"

  "Okay?” She snorted, shoving the dog's corpse with her foot. “How okay do you think I am?” Unlike her son, she seemed to be less than enthusiastic about her new condition. “That was disgusting.” Her eyes, an almost radiant blue now, burned with an inner light that made him a little uncomfortable.

  "I know it's probably not going to help much, but I'm sorry."

  "Sorry?” She sounded incredulous. “What the hell did you do to me?"

  "Saved your life,” he said. “And made you immortal."

  "Immortal? Is that what you call it? Cory, my heart isn't beating anymore. I'm dead, but I'm still moving. I'm a vampire, am I right?"

  "Yes,” he answered. “That's exactly what you are."

  "Why me? How did this happen?"

  "It wasn't supposed to. It was the Thirst. It's unbelievably intense ... it almost takes over your mind when it hits. I can't explain it any better than that. I didn't mean to drink you ... to turn you. I wanted to keep you from killing yourself. That's why I came in to talk to you."

  "And the reason I was so depressed—” she spoke through gritted teeth—"was because you took my son away from me."

  He winced at that. It was true enough, as far as it went. “He chose it. Not like you. I'm not going to apologize for that."

  "I half expected you to say that.” She ran one hand along the rough stone of the cave wall, her crystalline nails making a sharp screeching sound. Her eyes shifted to the cave floor. “Did you know I was Vegan, Cory? Do you know what that is?"

  "You didn't eat meat?"

  "Or any other animal product—milk, cheese, eggs, etc ... I was Vegan. I guess that's not an option anymore. If you expect me to thank you for this, you're wrong."

  "I told you I'm sorry. That's the most I can do. If you really can't stand it, I'm sure you can go watch the sun rise.” The words just snapped out of him. He wanted to take them back, but it was far too late.

  Her head whipped up, eyes so bright he could almost see smoke rising from them. “You're a killer, Cory. You killed me. The fact that I can move and speak now doesn't change that."

  "Leave him alone, Mom.” Jason stood at the edge of the tunnel behind him, having just returned from the surface. “You'll find out soon enough what the Thir
st is like. What you just experienced is just a hint of what it's like."

  Gina turned her glare on her son. “You chose this! To become a killer, like him? That damn game of yours has twisted your mind! You let him eat you like you were some sort of livestock—and turn you into a monster."

  "I'm not a monster,” Jason growled at his mother. “Your mom is at our house,” he informed Cory. “Amanda is with her. And Ben."

  "Amanda? I want to see her.” Before anyone could say a word Gina dashed past them, little more than a blur even to their preternatural senses.

  "Dammit, Mom!” Jason rushed after her, Cory on his heels.

  * * * *

  Rachel leaned back in the recliner and took another long swig of the beer she'd liberated from Gina's fridge. “Find anything interesting?” she asked Amanda, emerging from Jason's room with a thin black notebook computer tucked under her arm.

  "Not unless you consider a bunch of material about some role-playing game and a couple thousand megs of softcore porn to be interesting,” she said. “I don't know what you expected me to find."

  "Nothing in particular,” Rachel replied with a shrug. “Thought it might be worth a look though."

  "Well, he had a definite vampire fetish thing going on,” Amanda observed. “If he did become a vampire it was probably a dream come true."

  Ben's head snapped back and he growled low in his throat as the front door swung open.

  "Believe me,” Gina said, standing just inside the threshold, “he's in heaven."

  "Mom!” Amanda ran to her, tossing the laptop on the couch as she went by it. As she drew close, foot touching the lowest of the three stairs leading to the entry, Gina held up her hands.

  "Don't come too close,” she said. “Not until I can be sure how I'll react."

  Amanda ground to a halt. “Mom?"

  "I'm a vampire, Amanda. I don't know what I'll do if you get too close.” Rachel caught a bitter note in Gina's voice. Hardly a surprise, all things considered.

  "You didn't agree to this, did you?” Rachel leaned forward and set the beer down. “I take it you're pretty pissed off."

  "Is it that obvious?” Gina said with a grimace. “I'm sorry, Amanda. I don't trust myself yet. Cory said—” she fired a telling glance at Rachel “—that I might fall victim to something he calls the Thirst. He says it's impossible to resist."

  "Cory did this to you, didn't he?” Rachel asked, pushing herself to her feet.

  "I did.” Cory stood in the doorway into the kitchen. “But I didn't mean to."

  "Well, that's a relief,” Gina grunted. “It makes me feel so much better.” She aimed her uncanny gaze at Rachel. “I want you and your son out of my house,” she told her. “Now."

  Rachel wasn't about to bend. She pulled herself to her full height—rather impressive for a woman at 5’ 9"—and met Gina's glare with smoky predator eyes of her own. “It occurs to me, and probably to Amanda as well, that we're looking at three potential killers, and the last thing we should do is let them out of our sight.

  "Tell me,” she continued, “do any of you happen to know how Officer Ames got himself dead of a vampire's love-bite and a broken neck on the side of the road the other night?"

  Jason glanced over at Cory, so Rachel followed suit. There was something in his eyes she'd never seen before, a look that, if she'd seen it on anyone but her own son, she would have described as the cold steel stare of death. Despite his calm, she recognized anger smoldering, hot and cold rage simmering together on a low boil.

  Not the son she knew at all. Not anymore.

  "Ty?” Gina gasped. She looked as though she wanted to throw up. She shot a piercing look at Cory. The boy stood amidst several hard stares and groaned, sinking down to sit with his back against the kitchen door, his knees against his chest and his arms wrapped tightly around them. He suddenly looked like the child she knew, Rachel realized—from monster to boy in the blink of an eye.

  "I didn't kill him. I drank from him, but I stopped. I was going to put him back in his car and leave him. But she—"

  "—the bitch,” Jason interjected. Cory threw him a slashing glance.

  "—took him out of my arms and just broke his neck."

  The rage was back. She could see it like a fuse burning down in the back of the flat look he sent around the room.

  * * * *

  Cory knew his mother well enough to sense her wariness, her burgeoning distrust in him, even if he couldn't really read her. Her scent didn't tell him anything. Her control of her emotions bordered on the supernatural. When it suited her, anyway.

  He felt awash in guilt and anger. It wasn't supposed to happen this way. So what way was it supposed to happen? a tiny voice rang in his head. He didn't have an answer. In the game vampires lost their humanity in time, lost their capacity to suffer the pangs of conscience. He found himself wishing he could lose his. From the moment he'd awakened as this thing everything had gone wrong. He'd alienated his best friend, nearly gotten him killed, and made a Get out of a woman who obviously hadn't wanted it.

  Was he no better than the creature that had created him?

  He had to wonder.

  * * * *

  "Who killed him?” Gina asked, surging to her feet and crossing the room in less time than it took Rachel's eyes to focus. She buried her fists in Cory's shirt, lifting him off the floor and shoving her face mere inches away from his. “Who are you talking about?"

  "Let him go,” Rachel commanded, climbing to her feet and drawing her pistol from her shoulder holster. She walked up and pressed the barrel to the back of Gina's head.

  "Rachel!” Amanda leaped to her feet. “That's not necessary!"

  "I'll be the judge of that,” Rachel growled. “I'm not sure I can trust any of them, even Cory."

  "Put the gun away, Mom,” Cory told her. His voice washed over her with the inexorable pull of gravity itself. The weapon was halfway back before she realized it. She shook it off and stepped back, the gun still in her hand but not pointed at anyone in particular.

  Cory's gaze fell heavily on Gina. “The bitch—as your son refers to her—is the killer my mother is looking for. She's an evil creature with no moral compass whatsoever. I was created to fight her—and created Jason to help me. You were an accident, but the truth remains that I need more get, or, at the very least, mortals with exceptional talent to help me take her out. I have no choice in this. No more than she has.” His finger stabbed in his mother's direction.

  "So where does that leave us?” Amanda asked. “Working together, I would hope."

  "Me, too.” Cory scanned the room. “Can we put all the bullshit aside and figure out how to take the bitch out?"

  * * * *

  Rachel slipped her pistol back into its holster. “He's right. But we're going to have to do something to curb your appetites."

  "No argument from me,” Cory replied, to her surprise. “I want to figure out how to do this without leaving vampires all over the place ... or leaving corpses, for that matter."

  The other vampires nodded.

  "What do you know, Amanda?” Rachel asked, thinking of her acquaintance with the first of their kind.

  "Not a lot. Renee's method won't help any of them."

  "Oh. Damn. I'd hoped—"

  "—that there was some sort of magic button we could push, right? Sorry, Rachel, it's not that easy. I understand you can feed on animals, right?” Her gaze fell on Cory.

  "Yes. Just like you can survive on dog food. But you wouldn't want to, would you?"

  "Beats killing people,” Rachel grunted, with a hard look at her son.

  He shrugged, then nodded. “It's possible that it also makes the Thirst come on stronger. But we will do what we have to."

  Nine

  Monday morning.

  Bigby looked angrier than she'd ever seen him. Rachel entered the squad room with Amanda and Ben at her heels. She'd tried to send the werewolf home but he'd refused, saying only that his parents wouldn't care one
way or another. They'd grown so involved with their work at church that his refusal show an interest had pretty much pushed them into ignoring his very existence.

  Something about that admission disturbed her but she didn't have time to worry about it yet. They'd left the vampires at Gina's despite her initial insistence that she wanted Cory out of her house. Rachel and Amanda had managed to forge a fragile peace between them. How long it would last was the question.

  Other than Bigby and a few uniforms, Redburn police headquarters was more or less empty and oddly quiet. As they tromped through the detective's area he emerged from his office like a bear from its den, teeth clenched hard enough to make his square face bulge strangely.

  "Goddam it ... where have you been?” he asked, barely contained rage clouding his voice.

  So she told him everything that had happened, leaving nothing out. He listened intently, anger dimming as she continued, then shook his head at the end. “I'll be damned. Came after you at Smith Rock, did they? I'd gotten a call about it, but had no idea you'd been involved.” He uttered a short, barking laugh. “Should've known, though."

  "We didn't wait around to talk to anyone,” she told him. “There's a good chance they don't know who took those guys out."

  "We're going to have to let them know. There's a State Police team on site now. That's the last thing we need is them stumbling around ham-handedly trying put two and two together."

  "I'll take care of that,” Amanda said. “But first I need to pick up a few things. I need a car, for one."

  "Tired of being chauffeured around?” Rachel asked her with a grin.

  "We're going to need to be able to do different things, and go different places, if we're going to accomplish anything. I don't think we're any closer to finding your killer vamp than we were when I got here."

  "True enough. So what's first on your agenda after a car?"

  "Getting my badge and ID means I can get myself a gun,” she answered. “I'm not going to end up like I did yesterday if I can help it."