Dream Lover

by Cassie Walder

  “But you weren’t there tonight obviously.”

  “No. I was at a family celebration.”

  “There was a fire in this building on Saturday night,” the reporter countered.

  “Early Sunday morning. It was a small fire in one of the street level shops and was easily controlled. The sprinkler system was inspected and repaired Sunday afternoon. It was in working order today.”

  “My police sources tell me there was a threat made against the building.”

  “Yes. One of my tenants—the same one who had the fire on Sunday morning—has repeatedly asserted he believes his shop to be haunted. He left remarks on my answering machine that he intended to burn down the building in order to exorcise the poltergeists he claimed were wrecking his business.”

  “You think he’s behind this?” the reporter asked.

  “I don’t know,” Edwina said raggedly, tears beginning to fall once more. She removed her eyeglasses with her left hand and scrubbed the tears from her face with her right. Then she replaced her eyeglasses. “I have my suspicions. But I just don’t know. The only thing that I’m sure of is that my tenant needs a lot of help holding onto reality. I was trying to get him help. I’d sworn out a complaint charging that his mental condition made him a threat to himself and others and asking that he be placed under psychiatric observation. I didn’t know what else to do. He’d gotten violent with me. He’d been issuing threats.” She sighed raggedly. “I even warned the tenants to watch out for him, and told them what was going on, after I’d filed the report with the police about the threats.”

  “The fire department says the reason they can’t get the fire out is that there is a lot of fuel in the building.”

  Edwina sighed. “I suppose that’s right. The street level shops all had lots of chemicals in them. There was a paint and wallpaper store, a dry cleaners, a garden shop, and an art supply store. “

  “That’s quite a collection of shops.”

  She sighed again. “Except for the garden shop, they were all here when I bought the building.” She looked at the building and felt herself tear up again. “I’m sorry. I don’t think I can answer any more questions without becoming a blubbering idiot. This is very hard.”

  “Come on, Liebling,” Klaus said in rapid German with tenderness in his voice. He turned her away from the barricade and urged her to walk away with him. “There is nothing more that you can do here. Tomorrow will be a long day. You need to rest.”

  “How can I rest?” she answered him in equally rapid German.

  “I will see that you sleep,” Klaus answered, retaining the German. “I can give you an injection to aid you to sleep.”

  “No. I don’t think so, Klaus,” she replied in German as she kept pace with him. “I will not depend on drugs for sleep. Not even after a horror like this.”

  “There is nothing to be done here.”

  “No. There is nothing further I can do here, tonight. I wonder if Heather and Phlox got out.”

  “Cats are resilient creatures, Edwina. If they don’t turn up, I’ll get you two new cats. You can name them Tulip and Rose.”

  Edwina sighed and shook her head. When she spoke, there was heat in her voice, “I’m not ready for other cats. I love those cats. Pets are not like panes of glass! When one breaks, you don’t just replace it with something identical.”

  “Calm down,” Klaus said.

  “I don’t want to calm down, my business, my apartment, almost everything that I own were in that building. Several people that I care about may be in that building. I don’t want to be calm. I want to scream, throw a temper tantrum, and break things.”

  Klaus looked at her. “I understand. But I’m not your enemy.”

  She sighed raggedly. “No. You are my love.”

  Klaus kissed her forehead. “Whatever comes, we’ll get through this together, Edwina.”

  “Heather and Phlox just showed up on my doorstep one morning after my parents died. I tried very hard to find their owners. No one ever claimed them. The vet said that they were in good health, aside from being a little on the thin side. So I kept them and they kept me company. They were smart cats. I had a kitty door for them through the greenhouse out onto the fire escape. They might have gotten out.”

  “They probably are fine,” Klaus allowed.

  “I can’t stand the thought of their burning to death, Klaus. I can’t stand it.”

  “I know.”

  Klaus handed her into his car. “I’m more of a dog person. But I understand what you are saying.”

  Edwina curled up against Klaus and put her head on his shoulder as they drove towards her grandmother’s house. The privacy panel still separated them from the driver.

  She began to sob.

  Klaus hated to hear that sound. She was crying as though her heart was breaking. He felt helpless.

  “It’s always hard to lose a home,” Klaus said quietly when she had just about brought herself back under control.

  “I really tried to make a home for myself there.”

  “You did a wonderful job of it.”

  “Were you comfortable there?”

  “Yes.”

  “All my father’s books are gone,” she said lowly. “My photographs. Mother’s violin. Nothing can ever replace those things.”

  Her cell phone rang. She answered it, “Johnson.”

  “Ed, it’s Jen. Brenda’s okay. She just called me.”

  “Thank God!”

  “The front of the building exploded, and she ran out the back and kept running.”

  “Smart woman! Thanks for letting me know.”

  “Hang tight, Ed. If there is anything you need, let me know.”

  “Thanks, Jen. I appreciate it.”

  Klaus smiled at her. “You look like you just had a big weight removed from your shoulders.”

  “My employee is safe. Brenda got out.”

  “I’m sure the cats did too.”

  There was something in his tone, but she couldn’t decipher it.

  She saw the signs for a strip mall ahead. She just realized that she had nothing. “Klaus, I need to stop and buy some things. Do you mind?”

  “Not at all.”

  The anchor store of the strip mall was a national discount store that stayed open twenty-four hours. Klaus accompanied her inside as Edwina quickly picked out essentials. Her cart contained only what she would absolutely need for the next few days, yet it was still quite full by the time that she was ready to pay for her items.

  “You shop quickly,” he observed.

  “I hate shopping. Anything that is necessary that I hate this much, I do quickly.”

  Klaus kissed her temple. “Are you done?”

  “Yes. Let’s get out of here.”

  When they were back in the car, he asked, “Edwina, do you want me to set you aside some lab space?” Perhaps the change in subjects would help keep her mind off of the fire.

  “I would like some greenhouse space and a small lab, yes.”

  “Are you thinking of anything related to the work on improving UV tolerance?”

  “Yes. But I think I need to do some intense reading before I begin that work. I’m a botanist at heart, Klaus. I’m not really up to speed on anything related to human genetics. I’m definitely not up to speed on anything to do with these abnormalities. I’ll want DNA markers from a representative sampling of the population.”

  “Would two hundred subjects do?”

  “I don’t know. It ought to be a start at least. How big is the population?”

  “There are fifty thousand of us, at the last census.”

  “When was the last census?”

  “The results came out two months ago. The count was made six months ago.”

  “And how many refused to be officially counted?”

  “That’s the issue. There are many people who remember only too well angry mobs of vampire hunters. Those individuals will not register out of fear the registry could fall into
the wrong hands. Best guess is that there are another ten to eleven thousand. There are about a thousand people whom no one has reported seeing for at least a decade. Whether they are still alive or have died is an open question.”

  “I see. Case studies would help to go along with the markers.”

  “They’re all in the files, waiting for you to be ready for them.”

  “This scares me, Klaus.”

  “I understand that. If it helps at all, I think you are doing famously with this situation.”

  “Are any of the women from your group with whom you have had children still alive?” Edwina asked uncertainly.

  “No. And before you ask the following logical question, you aren’t one of my descendants.”

  “That about covers all the bases.”

  “Not quite,” Klaus said.

  “What else do we need to cover?”

  “Will you join me in my state of life? Or will you remain a normal human?”

  “I don’t know, Klaus. I need time to think. It’s a big decision. And it’s not one on which I can seek counsel. No one among the normal population would believe me. And those of your kind have an agenda.”

  He sighed. “Very well, Edwina. When you have made a decision, let me know. Just don’t wait too long. The transition stops aging, but nothing reverses the process. Transitioning allows one to heal rapidly from most injuries, but it doesn’t repair old injuries. Transitioning a pregnant woman is also transitioning her unborn child which, as it stops growth and development, is not advisable.”

  “Even more for me to think about.”

  “Could you be pregnant now?”

  “Unlikely. My cycle is due in a couple of days.”

  “Which means that you might become pregnant on our wedding night?”

  “I doubt it. It doesn’t fit the dreams. We’ll have a little time until parenthood.”

  “You are beginning to believe your dreams?”

  “I’ve always fought believing in them. I haven’t wanted to surrender that much control over my life.”

  “Control is important to you.”

  “I’ve come to the conclusion that the only thing I can control is myself. And I can’t always do that.”

  Schmidt drove them the rest of the way to her grandmother’s house. The silence between them was companionable for the rest of the drive. Edwina sat next to Klaus, her head on his shoulder, his arm about her holding her gently.

  “Will you come in?”

  Klaus nodded. Schmidt helped her out of the car, and instructed the driver to wait. When Edwina climbed up onto the porch of her grandmother’s house, she was met by the sound of mewing. There were Heather and Phlox, waiting for her.

  “How in the world…?” Edwina exclaimed as she dropped the bags and caught the cats as they jumped into her arms. She looked at Klaus and saw that he looked guilty.

  “Okay, what’s going on?” she demanded as the cats jumped out of her arms and back onto the porch decking.

  “Edwina,” Klaus began hesitantly. “You know that I love you.”

  “Why do I think I don’t want to hear the rest of this?”

  “Because you don’t. Show her Heather, and you too, Phlox.”

  Edwina looked at the cats that suddenly morphed into a man and a woman. They were dressed simply in dancer’s leotards and tights of the same color as the cats’ fur.

  “Lycanthropes.” She turned to Klaus. “How long have you known?”

  “A long time,” Klaus admitted. “I sent Penny and Jack, whom you knew as Heather and Phlox, to you as personal protectors. It was their job to keep you safe. If there had been any physical danger, they would have changed form and dealt with it.”

  Edwina looked at him and sighed.

  “Don’t be angry, Edwina,” Penny, Heather cat, said quietly.

  She sighed again. “I’m not angry.”

  “Aren’t you?” Jack demanded.

  “Oddly enough, I’m relieved that you got out. If you had been just normal cats, you might not have gotten out of the fire,” Edwina told them. “I’ve grown fond of you two.”

  Penny smiled. “And we’ve enjoyed the assignment. It isn’t often that we can serve such a kind woman. Jack and I wish you every happiness. Herr Baron, you will get our bill.”

  “Stay on patrol,” Klaus told them. “We’re not certain this is over. The arsonist may have gotten out of the building. She may still be in danger.”

  “Of course,” Jack answered just before he morphed back into the Seal Point Siamese.

  Edwina shook her head negatively and sighed. “I see I am simply going to have to start believing three impossible things each morning before breakfast.”

  Klaus chuckled. “You’re taking this well.”

  “You would prefer that I indulge in hysterics?”

  “No, you aren’t the type for hysterics. You’ve been trained all your life to be steady, grounded, and calmly controlled. That training has helped you become the woman you are and will be the basis for the woman you will become. “

  “Since I met you, I don’t feel either calm or controlled.”

  “Good. I want every bit of the passion of your soul.”

  She sighed. “You may not like what you find there.”

  Klaus dropped a kiss on her forehead. “I love you. Everything else is secondary. Come on. Let’s get you settled in.”

  Louella met them at the door. “Come in, honey,” the housekeeper said. “And you’ve brought your young man with you. She is going to like that.”

  “Which room does Grandmother want me in?”

  “Top of the stairs on your left, same room you had when you came as a child to visit her.”

  “I’m going to put these things away, then Klaus and I are going into the attic to look for some things.”

  “Okay, honey. If you need help, just holler.”

  “Right, Louella. Thanks.”

  Klaus stood at the door to her childhood room as she put away the few new items she had bought. The cats settled in readily on the window seat. It was obvious that the furnishings hadn’t been changed much over the years. The bed was definitely too short for her.

  “Are you going to be comfortable here?” he asked carefully.

  “It’s just a place to sleep, Klaus, until the wedding.”

  “You could have a room at my house. Karen’s there to chaperone.”

  “No. I’ll stay with my grandmother until the wedding. Then I’ll move in with you and not before. Come on, we’ve got looking to do in the attic.”

  “For what?”

  “I’ve stored some of my parents’ things up here. My mother’s wedding gown. Her silver. Her china. Some of their furniture I couldn’t bear to get rid of. And some other things.”

  They climbed up into the attic. The cats followed her.

  After about an hour of looking, they had found most of the things that Edwina wanted. The temperature in the attic lowered by ten degrees.

  The cats began to yowl.

  “She’s here,” Edwina said quietly to Klaus.

  “What do you want, Spirit?” Klaus addressed the entity.

  Catherine’s form materialized before them. “Edwina, you don’t know what this creature is.”

  “I know,” Edwina said firmly.

  “Do you? Look in the second box to your left. It has the old photo we spoke of. Look at it, now.”

  “I don’t need to,” Edwina said firmly. “And you can go away and never bother me again. You are not welcome in my grandmother’s house.”

  “He’s controlling you. Can’t you see that?” Catherine demanded.

  “No one is controlling me,” Edwina denied flatly.

  “You poor fool,” the spirit said as she faded out. “You poor deluded fool. He’s going to destroy you.”

  “What photo did she want you to see?”

  “Johann and Regina.”

  Klaus nodded. “She was very much like you in appearance. Regina was shorter than you are
. She was somewhat plumper. She was a kind and gentle soul who never had a bad comment to make about anyone.”

  “You knew her well?”

  “She was my son’s wife, not mine, Edwina, if that is what you are asking. And she was a lovely woman who died at a far too young age, as many women once died, in childbirth.”

  “Her child lived?”

  “For about another year or so. I took his place when he died after a bout with scarlet fever.”

  “I see.”

  “What are you thinking?”

  She took his hand. “We had better get some of this stuff downstairs. I’ll need to check Mother’s wedding gown to see if it’s intact.”

  “And if it isn’t?”

  “It’s not that important, Klaus. It’s just a dress. I can get another dress.”

  “What is important, Edwina?”

  “Loving you. Helping you by engineering a retrovirus that will eliminate the side effects from this condition. Those are the important things.”

  “You know that work could take decades, maybe a century or more.”

  She sighed. “Yes, it might. I’ve got a leg up on it. I have my research notes that led to the development of the retrovirus.”

  He looked at her carefully. “You have future research notes from a successful retrovirus? How do you have this?”

  “From my dreams.”

  “You recorded research in your dreams?”

  “Come on down to Grandmother’s office. I’ll show you the notes when I download them from the remote backup computer. I’ve always kept a backup of all my work on an off-site system. Grab the box with Mother’s wedding gown in it.”

  They sat in her grandmother’s office. Edwina printed off the pages about the research question dream.

  Klaus looked them over for close to an hour before he looked up at her.

  “Brilliant, Edwina. Absolutely brilliant.”

  “I will make this work, Klaus.”

  “Will you transition?”

  “I will need to in order to have the time to work on this fully.”

  “I want you with me, Edwina. I want to share the rest of my life with you.”