by John Conroe
“But this one knew you?”
“Well, they all know of me. They always know stuff about me. That's why I don't have friends or particularly, girl friends. They would know immediately and use that person against me,” I explained.
They both looked at me blankly for a moment, then Gina's mouth dropped open as she thought about what I had just said.
“Explain that again,” Roma said.
So I detailed the results of my one and only date in high school. This time their expressions reflected a much worse emotion: pity.
“But wait, didn't that Hellbourne say they would take care of your girlfriend?” Gina asked.
I had changed that part of my narrative. I didn't mention the vampire part, just the girlfriend part.
“It was referring to a girl that they have already targeted. I've been actively protecting her and they aren't happy about it,” I said.
“Who is the girl?” Roma asked. I hesitated, not ready to divulge her name and he frowned at my silence. He started to speak, probably an order, but Velasquez interrupted.
“It was the girl you helped at Plasma last Friday. It was Tatiana Demidova, wasn't it?” she guessed.
My face gave me away and Roma rocked back on his heels in shock. After a pause he spoke.
“When we spoke yesterday, Chris, I had no idea that you knew the Demidovas. Gina discovered that little fact when she did some follow up calls to your Precinct Commander. I've been interested in the Demidovas for years. And I think you know why, don't you?”
I still kept quiet, unwilling to worsen the situation.
“Listen up Gordon, you WILL tell me what you know, do you understand me?”
Gina spoke up again, her eyes watching me thoughtfully. “Actually, I don't think he will, Sir.”
Roma looked at her in surprise.
“Think about it, Sir. He is protecting this ....girl with his life from demons. And she is already on the demons' radar so to speak. On top of that, she's a drop dead knockout. It's obvious, Sir. He likes her or maybe even loves her.”
She was too perceptive. I looked down at a point on the floor between them and focused hard on a chip in the concrete there. Roma pondered Gina's revelation and then finally spoke.
“You like her in spite of what she is? You do know what she is, don't you?” he asked.
“I'll take your silence as answer. Boy, I gotta tell you I didn't see this one coming. How can you reconcile your fight against demons with your....your relationship with her?”
That pissed me off.
“Do you know them? Sir? Or are you judging all of them on stereotypes?”
He stepped back at the tone in my voice, which could have been a lot worse. She might not want anything to do with me, but I would be damned if I would get lectured by someone who had never met her.
“Regardless of what you know or think you know, the Hellbourne want her dead and that should be reason enough to protect her,” I finished.
“I've seen the results of their handiwork, Gordon, and if you think she is all warm and fuzzy you’re kidding yourself.”
“Sir, when I was seventeen, I participated in a Search and Rescue in Yellowstone with my grandfather. We eventually found the missing hiker, or what was left of him. We also found both grizzly and cougar sign. Both had fed on him and there wasn't enough left for the coroner to decide which had killed him. But while it taught me to respect the hell out of bears and cats, it didn't teach me to hate them all.”
Roma was white-faced by this point and started to lean forward for his rebuttal, but Velasquez gently touched his arm and he stopped himself with what appeared to be a tremendous effort. With a foul oath, he turned and stormed away.
Velasquez looked after him for a moment, then turned back to me. “You should know that one of them killed his wife three days after they returned from their honeymoon. He is not....a fan of theirs.”
“Well, Gina, I'm sorry for his loss. I really am, but that doesn't mean they’re all worthy of his hate. Some are honorable and find alternative ways to survive.”
“She must be pretty special, your girlfriend, that is.”
“Well, she's not my girlfriend. She doesn't feel that way toward me.”
“Hmm, then she's pretty stupid,” she said and left before I could think to say anything else.
I got back to the Precinct a couple of hours later, catching a ride with a returning squad car. Roma had finally calmed down and ordered me to report to him at Police Plaza at one PM the next day.
The final statistics of the raid had been interesting. There had been four five- man entry teams in that pitch black basement, plus myself. One man was dead and four more seriously wounded and in critical condition. The rest had wounds of varying severity, but no one else had died. It was bad, but it should have been worse. The only reason the Damnedthing hadn’t killed everyone in the room was because it hadn’t chosen to. The Hellbourne wouldn’t show mercy, so I had to believe that the monster had avoided inflicting its full fury on those of us in its path, probably paying a price for its defiance.
Roma had briefed the Commissioner, who showed up in an entourage of high- ranking brass and despite my attempts at avoiding attention, I had been forced to meet the big man himself. He was actually pretty decent, just nodding at me and shaking my hand. That the whole thing had been a trap for me by the Hellbourne was only obvious to Roma, Gina, and myself.
So, I found myself walking to my car from the Sixty-Eighth, when a small figure appeared silently across the street from me. I stopped and groaned at the sight of the spiky haired little vampire. “Hey Chris, how ya doin?” Lydia asked quietly.
“Lydia, what the hell do you want? Can’t I go a whole day without a vampire toying with me?”
“Look, I just need to make sure that you’re all right. Tatiana really needs to be reassured, all right?”
I snorted in disgust. “Yeah, sure. Of course she does. Riiight! Why would I be alright?”
“Please Chris, it’s been a really bad night all the way around and I just gotta make sure. She’s been ….doing poorly and when you went down in that pit, well, let’s just say that we all had a bad time of it.” I was closer now and I could see that she was looking tired and her clothes were torn in places. I stared at her for a few minutes, not feeling sorry for her in the slightest.
. “Chris, you gotta know she was lying last night, right? I mean you couldn’t believe that? She’s the worst liar ever. She was trying to drive you away…to protect you. It was a really stupid idea, one that was not herown even. It was Galina’s.”
“Lydia, I saw how ashamed she was for having an ‘infatuation’ with a human. And ya know what? I think she’s right. Life was bad enough before, but to think I might have had some friends for a few days and then find out it was all a ‘mistake’? Well, it turns out I was wrong last Friday when I said the worst you could do was kill me. Nope, having nobody is worse, much worse. And you all had a bad night? Give me a friggin break! You were having a party! How bad could it be? Someone picked the wrong appetizer? Should have gone with Italians instead of the Swedes, maybe?”
“You’re a real friggin asshole,” she answered. “Our party? Our party consisted of Tatiana trying to get to you and it took the whole damn Coven to stop her! She threw her father through a wall and if all three Elders hadn’t been there, she would have gotten out and gone into that pit after you!” She was yelling now.
I was just about to respond in kind when the growling started. Not a vampire type growl, or even a were. This growl shook the very air around us. Lydia pinpointed its source first, turning her head like radar till she was staring at an alley opening behind us. I already had a pretty good idea what was doing the growling, ‘cause I had heard a lot of it a few hours ago, and I quickly put myself between it and Lydia.
Two red eyes appeared about six and a half feet off the ground, but there was nothing else around them. Lydia started to move around me.
“Dammit Lydia! St
ay behind me. There is nothing you can do to this thing!”
The eyes moved out of the ally but in a circling motion, like the Damnedthing was trying to get behind me. Why didn’t it just charge me? I took a chance and scanned it with my Sight. Same red, green and purple aura, same grizzly bear outline. But the first time I had seen it, its aura had been streaked and faded in places. Now it looked better, the color more solid, particularly the purple. Great! Sparky was even stronger now.
“What the hell is that thing?” Lydia asked in a shaky voice, clutching my arm in a death grip.
“That’s the Damnedthing I was dancing with in the basement. Ah Lydia, I’m gonna need that arm and you’re just about to break it.”
She eased up instantly and I concentrated on the huge monster in front of me.
“It’s scared of you?” she asked as it continued to circle and I continued to turn, my arm keeping Lydia behind me.
I snorted.
“Are you kiddin? I can’t even slow this thing down. Bullets don’t touch it. Hell, I doubt a tank would win against this thing.”
It was huffing as it circled and I was struck by how really bear-like its actions were. I put both hands up in front of me and formed a shield of purple aura, not at all certain it would help. The giant Damnedthing immediately leaned up against my shield, the impact about knocking me to my knees. Then it rubbed its neck on the shield.
“What’s it doing?” Lydia asked
“Well I’m not a hundred percent certain, but I think it’s scratching its neck on the strongest shield I can make.” I answered.
“Chris, what are we gonna do?”
The big red eyes swiveled to look at us and I had the strangest mental picture flash through my head. It was like a video of myself and Lydia a few moments earlier, shouting at each other in anger. And suddenly I had the oddest feeling that Sparky was trying to get at Lydia. My brain spun for a moment and it occurred to me that he hadn’t started growling till Lydia and I started yelling at each other.
I spoke quietly.
“Yo, Sparky! You can’t have her. She’s my friend.”
I had the same mental flash as before, with the yelling and everything and somehow I understood that was his view and he was sending me that picture.
“Yeah, we were pissed at each other. Friends can do that. Doesn’t mean I want anything bad to happen to her.”
The circling stopped and the eyes moved up to about seven feet off the ground. If I put my hands out with my thumbs pointed at each other and touching, then my little fingers would represent the distance between this thing’s eyes. It was huge. The growling stopped and a moment later the red eyes disappeared. Papers and debris on the street, where the beast had been standing, swirled up into the air like they were caught in a mini-van sized dust devil, and then it was gone.
“Okay Northern, what the hell just happened?”
So I had to tell her the story of the Hellbourne and the pit as I walked her to her car.
“So you released this thing and now it’s following you around?” she asked.
“Yeah, I guess. Hey, if he follows me home can I keep him?”
“Asshole,” she said without any trace of anger.
“Pretty much,” I agreed. “I, um, well, I think when I attacked it with my super purple power, well, I think I healed it. And it was rubbing its neck on the shield, ‘cause that’s where its collar had been.”
She looked at me with wide eyes. “So how do you stop it?”
I shrugged. “I’m pretty sure that I can’t. That’s why the demon brought it here. But it was a slave and now it’s free. I think it will just leave on its own.”
She shook her head, green eyes glinting in the streetlights. “I think it will be like every other monster in this city and follow you around like a pet.”
“Hmm, I’ll need a really big litter box.”
“Isn’t that what your apartment is?”
“Bitch,” I replied.
“Pretty much,” she agreed, getting into her car. She rolled down her window and grabbed my hand with hers. “Christian Gordon, you do have friends. I’m one and you know, deep down that Tatiana is as well.”
Then she let go with one of her freaky fast moves and drove off before I could respond.
I drove home, thinking about what she had said, ate four massive turkey and ham sandwiches, undressed and collapsed into bed.
Chapter 14
My appointment with Roma was set for one, so that left my morning to myself. While I ate my dozen eggs and sausage (the good news was, the scales reported that my weight was stabilizing), I caught up on my backlog of emails. Peter had sent me an apologetic one, but I wasn’t ready to forgive him yet. There were three from Gramps, each slightly more alarmed than the previous, so I composed a response.
Gramps,
Sorry I haven’t responded. Busy doesn’t cover it. I’ve been recruited to a unit of the NYPD that I didn’t know existed. Kind of like the FBI unit in your favorite movie about the red guy (gramps loved the movie Hellboy and would totally get my clue). My special skills have been noted so I guess it’s for the best. The girl that the Hlbrn are after is much like Beckinsale in my favorite movie(Okay, so I am a fan of Underworld). But don’t worry. I’ll bring you up to speed at turkey time.
Love, Chris
Somehow, I knew that wouldn’t satisfy him fully, but it would have to do for now. I dressed in khakis and a polo shirt, as Roma had indicated that I would dress plainclothes from now on. My holstered Glock, handcuff case and badge all went on my belt and I pulled a leather bomber from the closet to cover everything up, then headed out. My goals for the day were simple: 1) go to one of the local parks and veg out, 2) avoid any vampires, and 3) avoid having my chest and ribs smashed again. I felt pretty good, the knot on my head was gone, my ribs just slightly sore and my right knee almost better after its painful run-in with the concrete floor in the pit.
I drove to the park, found an open spot curbside and locked up the Xterra. There was a small bakery near the entrance to the park and the warm odor of baked goods and hot coffee pulled me in. The girl at the counter gave me a big smile and took my order for a large coffee (black) and a bear claw (seemed appropriate) with unusual enthusiasm. I don’t usually get that. The whole violet eye thing makes people uneasy. I stepped out of the bakery still puzzled, but my attention was immediately drawn to a woman sitting at one of the outdoor tables. She was blonde, beautiful, dressed in a cream colored suit with matching hat, gloves, red purse and red open toe shoes that cost more than my sidearm. She was staring straight at me with interest and she was a vampire. I stopped dead in my tracks, looked at my watch (9:27AM) and looked up at the sun. A couple of things clicked in my brain (one of which was that goal number two was already shot) and I walked over and sat down at her table. Her eyebrows raised in amusement till I spoke. “Elder Senka.” I greeted her. Her eyes widened ever so slightly. Tatiana and Lydia had briefed me on the Elders back when it had been assumed that I would be attending the vampire party.
“Mr. Gordon,” she greeted me, her accent English.
“I thought my capacity for surprise had been beaten out of me this past week, but you’ve managed it none the less,” I said.
“In that case, I will endeavor not to strain your over wrought sense of wonder.” Her accent was the heavily educated Oxford kind, rather than the rougher Cockney type.
Perfect for delivering biting sarcasm.
I sipped my coffee and waited, watching her over the rim of my cup. Oddly, no one else seemed to notice us. She watched me with dark chocolate eyes and finally spoke after a few seconds pause. “I was going to offer you some tea, but I see you have sufficient libation for the moment.”
Suddenly, a rather dazed young waiter was at her side with a cup, saucer, hot water carafe and an assortment of teas. He set them down without comment and left. I took a moment to watch the people around us while she selected a packet of Earl Grey. There seemed to be a bubble of avoid
ance around us, and people came and went without looking at us directly.
Meanwhile, I was hurriedly trying to remember everything that the girls had told me about the Elders. Lydia had stressed that they were very old, extremely powerful and not as easygoing as the younger vampires. Since I couldn’t recall any easygoing vampires other than the girls, I was trying very hard to control my natural wiseassitude.
The ladies had never mentioned that the Elders went about in daylight. Senka was Galina’s “mother”, making her a grandmother of sorts to both Tatiana and Lydia. Elder Fedor was the sire of Anton, Tatiana’s father. He generally hung out in Europe. The third was Tzao, an ancient female who mostly stayed in Asia.
“Six nights ago, I get a telephone call from my daughter,” she said. “It seems my Tatiana has awoken from her walking coma. A rather dramatic tale followed about demons, silver bolts and a fascinating young police officer with a penchant for demon slaying,”
I fought my urge to correct her use of the word slaying. Banish would be better, but she didn’t seem the sort to appreciate a lot of correction or interruption.
“Then, wonder of wonders, Tatiana herself is speaking to me on the phone, as she has every day since. And do you know what her favorite topic is?” Her eyebrows raised in question.
I shook my head.
“Really? No guesses?”
I shrugged.
“Why it is the very same police officer that saved her. I’m fairly certain that you could not have imagined the joy that her awakening has brought me. And, of course, fate would have it that I was delayed in arriving, being the last, rather than the first.” She paused to sip her tea. I decided to remain silent, trying to keep up the illusion of intelligence.
“It never ceases to amaze me, no matter how many centuries I have seen, that timing continues to be everything, as they say.” She had locked my gaze and I realized that I couldn’t look away if I wanted to. “So here I arrive last night, only to find my beloved Tatiana, essentially insane with worry and anguish, wreaking destruction on her mother’s home and flinging all manner of older vampires in every direction. Do you know that the first thing I had to do on my arrival was to help my fellow Elders restrain my granddaughter? And I’ll even tell you that the only real reason that we, the three oldest and most powerful vampires on the planet, could do it at all, was because you finally finished your fight in that pit. Lydia then got her settled by handing her, of all things, a certain gray pullover. What a bloody mess.”