Michael and Antun met with Sarah near The Bean café, in the alley where Drew had been taken. “He went that way,” Sarah pointed down the alley. “But I’ll be able to track her faster if I’m in my wolf form. Did you by chance bring the vest and leash?” she asked.
With a bit of a growl, Michael said, “Sarah, we don’t have time for that. If you need to turn, then turn. The longer it takes us to find her, the longer she’s in danger, and that’s unacceptable.”
A bit taken aback, Sarah relented, “Alright. I need to shift.”
“Then shift,” Michael said with annoyance that it was taking so long.
The men turned around, and she stripped her clothes faster than she ever had, not bothering to fold them before shifting. She barked once when she was done, nudging the clothes toward them with her nose.
Antun grabbed up the pile of clothing before he urged, “Let’s go; lead the way, Sarah.”
With her nose to the ground, she sniffed away from where Michael had found Dani, walking quickly. The men followed behind her, their own senses trying to find any sign of Drew.
❖ 🩸 ❖
The damp smell of mildew hung heavy in the air. I could barely make out the shapes of the pews in front of me, or the alter behind me. At the far end of the room were narrow slitted windows that let in hardly any light, just enough to make the shadows deeper. The sound of water dripping somewhere was as constant as a metronome.
But I hardly noticed any of it. I fought at Razvan’s questions as if they were literal foes in my mind. He’s not right. People don’t live in a vacuum; they can and are influenced by so many different things. Jared chose his actions, yes, but he was guided to them by Razvan.
I shook my head. Get it together, Drew. He wants to get in your head; he’s a fucking shrink! He didn’t ask how many are alive because of me, or how many would have died if I hadn’t been there. His questions were all pointing in one direction – he’s trying to prove that I’m just as monstrous as he is. Well, I’m done playing his game.
I tugged at my restraints, rolling my stiff neck and trying to roll my shoulders, though it was a bit hard with my hands tied behind the chair as they were. Okay, I obviously can’t get out of these ropes on my own. I tried to wiggle in the chair, testing whether this one was somehow bolted like Nikola’s chairs had been. It wobbled. Good; I was at least a tiny bit mobile, as useless as it was. At least it didn’t feel as claustrophobic that way.
I glanced around the room, this time looking to see if I could find anything sharp. Did this used to be a chapel? Am I in a church of some kind? I looked around some more. If this was a church at some point, it seemed pretty simple and plain. Empty votives and melted candles sat near one wall. What I wouldn’t have given for just a fraction of light. Even with my eyesight having upgraded with my vampirism, it was still too dark to make out too many details.
I closed my eyes and I saw Dani’s dead stare looking up at me, making me shiver not only with the nerves but also a wave of sadness. Why did he have to kill her? His earlier explanation – she mistook influence for compulsion – doesn’t make a lot of sense. People disagree about things all the time. But this is different. He didn’t kill her because he disagreed; he killed her because he cared about the disagreement itself.
I heard a sound and turned to see Razvan come in through a swinging door. In the hall on the other side of the door was a directory like you’d see in a hospital. Maybe I’m in an old hospital chapel. Are there any defunct hospitals around that you know of? Come on, think Drew!
He sat across from me again with that stupid clipboard and pen. I was coming to hate the click he’d make with the pen before taking any note. Click-a-click, jot down a note, ask a question. Stare unnervingly and then click-a-click again. It took an effort of will not to start flinching at the sound.
“You know what it is that I really want to know, Drew? Why do you believe people keep choosing you?” Razvan asked. Click-a-click.
Immediately I thought of Michael, and of Antun and Syla. They chose to stay in my life regardless of the peril I kept getting myself into. I didn’t deserve it, but I was grateful all the same. I didn’t know why they stayed, had never bothered voicing the question before…
Wait…
That wasn’t what he had really meant, was it…
He was really talking about Nikola, about himself, and – without knowing it – Selene. These figures chose me for their own reasons. Razvan’s seemed to be to question me about the reasons of others. But why did Nikola choose me? He only ever said that my energy would be especially good for ascension. He never gave any other reasons.
And then Selene kept visiting me in dreams and warning me. Why me? Was it because we both are screwed in the reincarnation energy department? Or was there something else that I was missing?
Nikola and the reincarnation energy. Razvan is interested in me. Selene keeps warning me.
What if Razvan isn’t the only one? Selene never said any names. What did she say? A smiling hand may reach for more than friendship… And that symbol, a wound that dreams of becoming permanent. Razvan’s never seemed like a “smiling hand” to me, so is she talking about somebody else? And if he’s the Inquisitor, that means that he’s involved with the serial killings, but not with the dry husk of a corpse that had the sigil next to it.
Just who am I really facing?
❖ 🩸 ❖
Come on, where are you, Drew?
Michael rubbed a hand over his face when Sarah paused, sniffing the air for a moment. She quickly found her mark again and was on the move. Michael and Antun kept up behind her, following close enough to be obviously with her but not close enough to get in her way as she did her work.
Tracking through the puddle-filled streets of Seattle, Michael worried that the recent drizzle would make this harder on Sarah’s nose. But she seemed to not even notice, keeping such a quick pace that the men had to keep up with the occasional jog step.
Sarah stopped suddenly, bumping her nose against Michael’s leg and looking toward the defunct St. Dymphna Hospital. The place had closed down in the 80s, other hospitals having taken basically all of their patients. The chain link fence in front had “Do Not Enter” in big block letters on a zip-tied sign. The fence was chained shut, but when Sarah pushed against it, it had just enough of a gap for her to squeeze through. The men followed after her, letting her nose guide the way.
Drew’s in there? But this place looks condemned. Please be okay, Michael prayed over and over, opening all his senses wide to try to perceive her himself.
❖ 🩸 ❖
Click-a-click.
Razvan’s hand rested, ready to take notes as he prepared to ask me yet another question to try and throw me off. I felt more confident now though, I knew what he was doing with me right now. Studying, trying to figure out how my brain worked.
Dude, if you figure it out, let me know because I can hardly understand myself half of the time.
“There’s something that we keep circling but I haven’t received an answer for. Tell me, Drew: if there is nothing special about you, why do so many people keep rearranging their lives around yours?”
Guilt immediately hit me. Michael uprooted his whole life after I was kidnapped by Nikola, just so he could help me.
Antun stole a centuries old journal to help Michal and I understand the vampiric condition. He opened his home to me for my own safety.
Syla helped me run away from Nikola, then he abandoned her. And what has she done since then? Worked on a murder investigation that probably started with Nikola’s apotheosis, which wouldn’t have happened had he not taken my reincarnation energy.
Even Dani’s life was changed forever because of me. All because I shrugged instead of saying “no.” That one hurt the most right then. Dani, I’m so sorry.
As my thoughts kept racing, the door Razvan had come through burst open, revealing a red wolf with ice blue eyes, snarling at Razvan. A moment later, Michael and Antun rushed in, Antun’s arms full of clothing. At the sight of me tied to a chair, blood crusted on the side of my face, the clothes fell from his hands, and he grabbed the yew dagger out from the back of his waistband.
Razvan simply turned to them, an eyebrow lifting at Sarah. “Interesting.” Turning back to me and standing, he said in what should have been a kind tone, “When you do discover the answer, I hope you’ll be honest with yourself.”
Before he could say anything else, Michael launched himself at us, aiming for Razvan. The doctor stepped back out of the way with efficient steps. Michael swung again, and Razvan simply leaned out of the way of the punch. With his hand open, Razvan snapped his arm forward, hitting Michael in the throat with the edge of his hand. Michael gagged, stumbling back for a moment and coughing.
He glared at the doctor before hurtling forward again, this time with his hands up in ready position. He jabbed, but the doctor managed to dodge every single blow. Antun ran in, stabbing forward with the dagger but missing the doctor by inches.
Sarah came over to me, using her teeth to try to loosen the knots on my hands. She tugged and gnawed, eventually making the ropes loose enough for me to slip my arms free. They ached from being stuck in that position for so long, and my hands tingled with returning sensation. Even so, I bent forward and tugged at the restraints on my ankles.
Sarah barked and I looked up to see Razvan land a blow to Michael’s knee making it hyperextend. Michael yelped and stumbled back as he assessed his leg. Antun swiped with the blade, missing again but only by millimeters.
Sarah growled and propelled into the fight herself. She lunged forward, jaws open, and connected with Razvan’s leg, clamping down with enough force to break bone. A sickening crunch followed by the doctor’s yell of pain. Sarah barreled into Razvan, taking him to the ground.
I tugged again at the restraints on my legs – fucking sailor knots – finally getting them loose enough to wiggle my feet free. I stood and ran for the back of the room, as far away from Razvan as I could. Turning to watch the unfolding fight, I lifted my hands to my mouth at the state of Michael’s leg, bent the wrong direction at the knee. He screamed through his gritted teeth at the pain, watching the fight he could no longer help with.
Antun stood back as Sarah took Razvan to the ground, yew blade ready in his hand for anything. The werewolf snarled above the doctor, mouth dripping with saliva and blood. Razvan gave an appreciative smile. “Remarkable,” he said with awe despite his position. With a burst of strength I didn’t see coming, he pushed Sarah off of himself and sat up, getting his legs underneath him and standing in one fluid motion, then limping as he put weight on his hurt leg.
Sarah paced a mere few yards away, licking her chops and continuing to gnash her teeth. Antun was right in front of the doctor, but Razvan’s focus was on the werewolf behind the albino. And I realized Sarah wasn’t hesitating, she was waiting.
And Razvan’s attention was solely on her.
His focus too much on the wolf, Razvan wasn’t able to dodge Antun’s swipe in time. He’d hit the carotid, but because vampires don’t have pumping hearts, it didn’t spray and gush like one would expect. Still, Razvan’s hand flew to his neck to staunch whatever flow there would be, eyes blown wide.
Michael lunged for his knees, tackling him to the ground, not out of the fight despite his wound.
And Sarah struck.
Leaping high, she helped knock Razvan back down again, her mouth at his neck. “Beautiful creature,” he managed to say through his pinched throat before her jaws clamped tighter, and she ripped out his vocal cords. They dangled from her jaws, the gore dripping until she dropped it and stepped away.
Before Razvan might protest, Antun landed on top of him and stabbed him through the heart with the yew dagger, ensuring that he would indeed die. And within moments, his eyes glossed over and his body stopped moving.
As I stared at his corpse, I saw movement – Michael. He was crawling toward me, his ruined leg dragging behind him. “Michael!” I yelled as I ran to him, falling to my knees in the moldy carpet and holding him to me. His legs were sprawled behind him, the one not quite straight.
Sarah nudged Antun before walking over to the pile of clothes that had been abandoned at the door, whining.
Antun asked her, “You’re wanting to shift back?”
She barked once, and Antun grabbed her clothes. Opening the door and setting her clothes down, he held it open for her as she trotted out as if she hadn’t just helped kill a man. He let the door close before coming over to Michael and I, Sarah’s privacy insured.
Antun went into medic mode. Assessing Michael’s leg as carefully as possible, he muttered, “A gentle traction reduction would make the healing a lot more comfortable in the long run, but it’s going to hurt like hell in the moment. Are you alright with that, Michael?”
Michael nodded quickly.
Antun’s mouth set into a grim smile, “Drew, I’m going to need your help. I need you to stabilize his thigh while I pull the bottom half of his leg into better alignment.”
Michael’s face went ashen.
“I told you, this is going to suck,” Antun repeated. “Are you ready?” he asked me.
I helped Michael lay flat on the floor before moving to his thigh. I nodded when I had a grip on his leg. Without a warning, Antun pulled.
Michael cried out, his back arching off the floor. For a second, nothing happened. Then something deep inside the joint slid with a wet, grinding clunk. The leg straightened into something resembling a normal shape.
Michael collapsed back and I rushed to his head. He gasped through clenched teeth, his face drained of color.
As Sarah reentered the room, Antun called back, “Can you get a couple of those crosses?” He pointed at the wall. “I need to make a splint for Michael.” She did so, yanking them off the walls with little effort. Using the rope that had held me captive, we bound two crosses on either side of his knee, binding the joint in place as good as we could for now.
I was too short to be of help in holding Michael up as we walked, so Antun and Sarah held him up as he jump-stepped with his good foot. “Drew, can you collect the dagger?” Antun asked, as he had left it stuck in Razvan’s chest.
I looked at my dead captor. He’s dead. He can’t hurt you anymore. Except his questions that kept ringing in my ears like a bad echo. Walking up to the body and kneeling, I retrieved it with a sickening sucking sound. Blood oozed as I pulled the knife out. I glanced past his ruined neck up to his face, too peaceful. Using the knife, I cut through the remainer of his neck, fully decapitating him.
