The night was strangely quiet for this time of year. Normally the holidays brought shoppers out at all hours of the day and night, but not this night. This night brought nothing but a few distant hoots of a large owl and scurrying sounds of its prey through the underbrush. Brian brushed the sweat from his forehead with the back of his gloved hand. He'd been combing the scene for nearly thirty minutes, which for his bulky middle aged body, produced an excessive amount of perspiration in spite of the blistering cold of the Pacific Northwest winter. He was looking for anything that give a clue as to how the latest young woman found managed to turn up dead in this very public park without a single shred of evidence or a witness. There were no tracks leading in or away from the body, not animal or man. The victim herself didn't show any signs of being dragged here, nor did the body appear to have suffered an attack. At least not one that left obvious markings. 'Oh well, better leave that to the medical examiner, anyway.' This was the seventh victim found like this within the city limits in the last five weeks. Each one the same as before; no tracks, no signs of struggle, no blood. As if someone or something had just drained them dry and tossed them out like the stick of a corn dog. Brian had considered the thought of vampires for the briefest of moments than shrugged it off as impossible. 'Those things don't exist in real life. It had to have been some psycho cult that wanted to believe they were vampires, but really were just a bunch of drug addicted Jesus freaks out to save the world by killing everyone in it.' He finished his search of the scene and left it the coroner to remove the body. He crossed the yellow crime scene tape to give his findings to his superior.
Agent Fitzgerald stood with her phone plastered to her ear. Her dark hair swirled around her small round face. She jammed it behind her ear as she spoke without success. The crease in her forehead said the caller on the other end was giving her bad news. She put up a finger to warn Brian to he'd have to wait until the caller was dismissed. "I understand sir, but I don't really think that's necessary at this point. I'm sure we have found some clues at this scene that we can go on." She caught Brian's attention and waved him closer. Recognizing the question in her eyes he simply shrugged. She rolled her eyes and shook her head, then into the phone "Then again..." She sighed in frustration. "I still don't think... Yes, but... sir, if we just... yes sir, I understand. I'll meet you there as soon as the body... yes, sir. Goodbye, sir." She ended the call drilling Brian with furious green eyes. "Nothing, huh."
He shook his head. "Captain?" Brian asked nodding to the phone in her pocket, knowing the answer.
"Yes," she replied with a humph. "He wants to bring her in."
Brian's eyes went wide. "Not the..." he trailed off
"Yes, that one. We have a meeting in five minutes at the office." She opened the car door. "Get in, we gotta go."
**
Inside the precinct's conference room they found Captain Paul Solace, a tired man nearing his sixties who had let himself go long ago. Agent Christopher, to his left, the young one of the bunch. A tall, slender man of twenty-nine with fair skin and light brown hair slightly unkempt. His bright blue eyes scanned their faces quickly before dropping his gaze. The Chief medical examiner Dr. Belinda Madsen, a fair woman in her thirties. A career woman with hard features accented by the blonde bun fastened neatly at the base of her skull. And Melanie, the Captain's secretary, undoubtedly sent to take notes during this meeting. Dispensing with the usual greetings, they took the two open seats to their left of the oval table, across from the doctor and the rookie. No need for small talk today. Silence hung heavy in the air. No one was looking forward to this meeting, except possibly, the young Agent Christopher who knew nothing of its intention.
It would be Agent Christopher who break the awkward silence. "Captain? Are we waiting for someone else?"
"Yes." he said simply. He turned in his chair to face the man who spoke. The years of law enforcement had written themselves in the wrinkles of his aging face. He made no effort to hide the fatigue that now plagued his bulging frame. "But I guess while we wait, we can catch you to speed." He stood with the support of the mahogany table and turned to the pegboard behind him. Upon which were the pictures of the first six victims of the crime spree they had been investigating for the last five weeks. The killer, nicknamed 'The Nail Clipper Killer' by the press; so named for the lack of fingernails his victims shared; had been meticulously careful to keep his identity secret. A fact that had frustrated everyone in this room. This had been the first case of its kind in the area in at least forty years. Paul reached his fingers out and caressed the photo of the first victim. "Virginia Delaney. Age nineteen. A graduate of East High School; registered to begin college this fall." he sighed and turned to face the attendees. "She won't make it. Not her, or any of the other girls that are pinned to this wall." He waved his hand across the board for emphasis. "Six girls," he sighed. "Now seven it seems, all aged eighteen to twenty, all registered as freshmen to the same college, all drained of their blood without so much as a pin prick in the skin. No prints, no weapons, no tracks, no leads."
"With all due respect sir..." interrupted Agent Fitzgerald, "we have clues that connects them all to the same killer."
"No, Carma, we don't. We can assume as much because it's the same MO, blood drained, fingernails missing, all young women each time, but other than that, no real clues. Nothing physical. No tangible evidence of any kind. We can't identify the killer. We can't prove anything. We have nothing to go on."
"But sir, I don't think we should be so desperate to call in the..."
"No buts, Carma. I don't like it anymore than you do right now, but we don't have a lot of choices. We can't keep just picking up bodies hoping the killer will screw up and leave a calling card. She's good and everyone here knows it. Well... maybe not Agent Christopher here since this will be his first encounter with her. But she's the best out there and frankly we need her."
"Forgive me, sir." Agent Christopher broke in. He shot a puzzled look into Carma's fear filled eyes, then back to the Captain. "Who are you talking about? I didn't know there any other women in investigations."
The Captain chuckled. "I forget how young you are sometimes."
"He's talking about the vampire." Belinda stated coldly without looking at him. Her hard features seemed to flex behind her now clenched jaw. There was no fear in her eyes or voice that he could tell, just anger.
His own nerves threaten to stifle his words. "Vampire? Sir?"
The Captain's lips twisted into a crooked grin. "Vampire Rose. Just a nickname she's earned over the years. She's not a real vampire or an investigator in any department, more like a freelancer of sorts."
"But she can bleed you dry in the blink of an eye without even a hint of remorse." Snarled Brian.
"Freelancer? What's her area of expertise?"
"We'll let her tell you in her own way, shall we?"
"Hope you don't have any secrets you don't want out." Added Carma.
The door opened abruptly and all stood to face the guest. She stood about 5'6" with long dark red hair. Sunglasses planted securely on the bridge of her nose hiding what ever eye color lie beneath. She donned a black t-shirt with Kutless written across the front of it, ragged blue jeans and black hiking boots. Slightly overweight, but not fat like Brian; but stocky. She stormed into the room like she was irritated with the intrusion to her life. Without pausing to acknowledge any of the people in the room she marched over the board of pictures and stared at them quietly for a moment, arms crossed over her mid section, while everyone settled their nerves and sat. She sighed suddenly and whispered "That's better. You know how I hate ovations, Paul"
"Sorry, Rose. We were just trying..."
"And don't give me any of that manners crap either. Let's just get down to why I'm here." She leaned over him in his seat and began stroking his thinning hair. "You don't call me out of my prison for nothing do you?"
"Um... well... yes. We need your help with this case."
"Yes, I know. I've seen that much already." She removed her hand and glance up at a man she didn't immediately recognize. Those blue eyes stared at her from somewhere in her past. Fear flashed across her eyes for a split second then softened toward him. 'Thank God for anonymity of sunglasses.' "So this is the rookie." It was a statement, not a question. She stood and nodded in his direction as a greeting.
He stood and offered his hand, "Agent Aden Christopher, ma'am."
"Aden? You sure about that? Hmm" So he didn't know her. Expected. She looked at his hand temporarilytempted to take it. She quicklystole a glance of his left ring finger,a wedding ring in its place. No one seemed to notice her distraction. Sunglasses were an excellentshield from prying eyes. "You don't really want me to do that."
"Why is that?" He asked without withdrawing his hand.
She turned to the captain. "You really didn't tell him about me at all, did you? And here I thought you were learning how to lie to me."
"I figured you should tell him. Or show him rather. The same as you did with the rest of us." He swallowed the lump in his throat to make room for the new that was forming.
She returned her attention back to the new guy. "They must not like you very much. But let me play fair for once. I'll warn you ahead of time what will happen so that you aren't... shall we say... caught off guard?" Her eyes wandered to Carma. She smiled seeing the shiver run down the agent's spine. "Sound fair? Agent?"
He swallowed hard. "Fair enough."
She hadn't missed Carma's eagerness to see the newbie suffer. A thought that brought revulsion to her throat. She shoved the disgust down for the moment. Carma would get hers. Eventually. "Put your hand down, you look like an idiot." Her tone was harsh. She removed her sunglasses and stared at him with deep burgundy red irises. As red as his were blue. His eyes widened and she knew he had been unnerved though a slight glint of familiarity crossed over his apparent fear. "You like my eyes, don't you Aden? Have you seen anything like them before?"
"Umm" was all he could muster.
She smiled. "They're harmless, really. Nothing really special at all. Now, my hands on the other hand." Her right hand reached for his cheek. Within centimeters of contact she felt a charge of electricity stab her middle finger. He didn't seem to notice. The anticipation of the others was so thick in the air, she could almost taste it. A smile crept onto her hard features and her hand fell. She sauntered in behind him drawing closer to Belinda. "My hands are a different story."
"Which is why you're here." Belinda reminded her keeping her eyes forward.
"Yes." she replied firmly. "The reason I'm here. Who better to find a bloodsucking killer than a vampire, right Belinda. Darling." She traced the back of Belinda's hand with her finger and smiled at the shiver that shook the doctor's spine loose. "Very interesting. Not surprising; but definitely interesting." She kept her gaze of the doctor's steeledeyes. "You see Agent, I see things with my hands. Things that can't be seen or maybe shouldn't be seen." She gave Belinda a wink, who had paled to a pasty white and turned to face Aden.
"If I were to shake your hand, for example, I would see you. All of you." She let her eyes wander from his eyes to his feet and back, then smiled again when she saw him flush with embarrassment. "Not just the obvious either. I would see every moment of your life, even the ones you don't remember; or don't want to remember." She glanced at Carma again to see her wince at the words. "I would see your body inside and out. I'd know if there any health problems, any instabilities in your psyche, any skeletons in your closet, secret fantasies." She noticed Brian shiver this time. "Everything about you would be completely available to me with a simple touch."
Aden had to remind himself to breath at this point. The strangest feeling of Deja Vu overtook him. "I'm not sure I understa..."
"I can see thosesame things in the dead too." she stated flatly, then turned to Belinda. "Which is why I'm here. I was summoned here, away from my beautiful gilded cage, to see into the life of the latest victim in hopes of seeing how she died and the one who killed her." Belinda swallowed hard, tightening her jaw; still looking forward. "Am I right, Paul?"
"Yes." His voice threatened to break. He cleared his throat.
The sunglasses were returned to their position on the bridge of her sturdy nose. "Then let's stop wasting everyone's time and let me go meet the victim." She crossed the room in a few fluid strides. "I assume she's in the morgue downstairs." She seemed positively giddy. Giddy as a school girl waiting for her prom date.
"Yes," Belinda answered. "But..."
She grinned at the medical examiner with a sly smile. "I'll meet you there then." And she was gone before anyone rose from their seat.
"Captain." Belinda began to complain. "I haven't had a chance to thoroughly examine the body. If she..."
"She's not going to hurt the body. She just needs to touch it."
"But Captain; need I remind you of procedure..." Her voice bordered shrill behind clenched teeth.
"Enough Dr. Madsen. Need I remind how badly we need to catch this guy?" He stared her down with his truth. "You're needed in the morgue, I suggest you get there. Brian will join you." She looked as if she would protest but thought better of it. She stormed down the hall with Brian trying to keep up as best his pudgy legs would allow. He turned his attention to Carma next, "You know what comes next. Better get someone up here from Internal Affairs."
"Yes, sir." Reluctance laced each word but the need for the truth outweighed the unconventional method of getting it.
Aden stood still reeling from the encounter with the mysteriously powerful woman who said she saw with her fingers. Those red eyes would haunt him, he was sure, but not in nightmares, in dreams. She looked strangely familiar, a thought that both intrigued and disturbed the young agent. It was if he knew her from somewhere. He raced through what little of his memory he had in search for her face. It had to be there. Sadly, his memory only back seven years. There was an accident; a bad accident in which his parents were killed and he barely survived. His memory of everything before then would be lost him forever the doctors had said. Long term memory loss was normal for the severity of head trauma he had suffered they said. The fact that he remembered everything he learned through his education was still tact, as were the daily functions of life, like walking and talking and hygiene. Just his memory of who he was and the people he knew were gone. But this 'vampire' had triggered something in him. He knew her, he just couldn't remember her. He didn't hear the Captain.
"Agent?" The captain tapped his shoulder this time to get his attention. "Agent Christopher?"
Aden pushed the thoughts aside. "Um... Yes, sir?"
"You with us boy?"
"Yes, sir. Sorry sir."
"Good. Now come with me. You need to see her in action."