Night couldn't have come fast enough for poor Sylvie. Even in her sleep, she was fitful and antsy. It was to the point she was almost affecting my slumber, so I was more than grateful when the time to rise finally came. Sylvie bounded out of bed before I did and raced to her armoire, not even bothering with the curtains.
"You don't even want to watch the moon?" I asked, slipping my black jeans on.
"No time." She answered hurriedly, hopping around like an impatient bunny as she pulled up her pants. "Gotta get out there and find her. Every second we waste is a second that could mean life or death."
Sylvie hurried to pull her tee over her head before peeking in the mirror of her armoire. She had a hair tie in her hands and was about to attempt to tie her hair back. After looking down at the hair tie, into the mirror and back again, she decided against it, instead wearing the hair tie on her wrist. She slid her feet into some black flats then turned to me. Her expression was one of exasperation.
"Baby, come on!" She whined slightly. "We need to get out there!"
"Alright, darling, alright! Just calm down." I finished tying my shoes as I stood to join her. "You can't be a good detective if you're not level headed, my dear."
"You have a point." She frowned. "I hate it when you're right."
"You must be terribly unhappy all the time." I gave her a smartass wink and was rewarded with a punch to the arm. "So, what's the plan of action, cap?"
"What ground have you covered already?"
"West side, outskirts, and this side of downtown."
"Then we'll start in the middle of the east side. I'll head toward downtown, you head toward the outskirts? Buena Vista and all that."
"Sounds like a plan, Fancy." I smirked as I watched her face light up.
We both trotted down the steps and stopped at the living room to see Edie curled up on the couch with a copy of Treasure Island. She looked up from over top of the book, her eyes slightly widening.
"You guys don't mind if I stay in tonight, do you?" She asked sheepishly.
"Not at all." I answered, almost too happily. "We'll try to be back as soon as we can, okay?"
"I'll be okay, Danny." She smiled slightly. It still didn't feel right hearing her use that name, but I just convinced myself I would get used to it.
The east side was quiet as the grave and there was no sign of Tammy anywhere. I could feel the disheartening worry weighing down on Sylvie in ways that even I couldn't bring her up from. The most I could do was send her my usual warm and loving feelings and thoughts to try and help her to keep her head on straight.
I made my way out to Buena Vista with little to no trouble. The air around here was different, somehow. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but something wasn't right. I trotted across Holland toward the Richter Center, when the smell of decaying flesh hit me like a freight train. I walked through the parking lot toward the rear of the building. I surveyed the various dumpsters, the smell getting stronger and stronger.
Daniel? Sylvie's voice almost distracted me. What is it? Your heart's going a million miles an hour.
I... I think I found-
I couldn't bring myself to finish the sentence as I continued my search. There was another body here somewhere.
I'm almost to you, baby. Just hang on!
Just as she finished that sentence, I found what I was looking for and I wished to the gods I hadn't. There were pockets of Tammy's flesh missing all over her body and there were maggots in various places. Thankfully, they weren't overly numerous. My heart sank as I stared into Tammy's face, which was twisted into a silent scream of pure terror and agony.
"I got here as quick as I-"
Shit. I didn't even notice that Sylvie was close. I didn't want her to see Tammy like this. I turned to see my love frozen in place, shaking her head slightly. I reached a hand out to touch her and she dashed away from me.
"Sylvie, wait!" I pleaded, but I knew it had fallen on deaf ears.
"No." I heard her brokenly whisper. "No, no, no. Please."
I looked on in shock as Sylvie pulled Tammy's body from behind the dumpster, swatting away what maggots she could. She cradled the body in her arms rocking back and forth, making almost no sound. All her emotions were being let loose at the same time, overwhelming me to the point I almost couldn't breathe. The most prominent of those feelings was Sylvie's pain. It felt like it was bubbling up in the pit of my stomach and rising higher and higher until suddenly, it erupted from her. The keening that came from her completely tore me to pieces. Sylvie keened over and over till I feared her throat would tear itself apart.
"Sylvie." I finally said quietly. "We-we have to go, darling." I reached out a hand to touch her. "We can't-"
Sylvie turned to me, letting loose a deep, animalistic roar. Her fangs were extended, and her eyes were that bright warm honey color, letting me know to back off. I simply put my hands up to show I meant no harm. She stared at me for a few moments, her tears cascading down her face like a heartbroken waterfall. Her attention finally turned back to Tammy, continuing to rock the poor woman's body back and forth in her arms.
"I'm so sorry, Mom." I heard her weep, barely bringing her voice above a whisper. "I should have been able to save you. I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry."
As Sylvie continued her apologies that fell to Tammy's unhearing ears, I pulled my phone out to text Mikhail. I let him know that we found Tammy and after only a few seconds, I received the answer that he would take care of everything. I let out a sigh as a small breeze began to blow. Suddenly, another scent floated to my nose and I felt my blood run cold. It was so faint, I wasn't surprised in the slightest that I didn't notice it before.
Lilacs.
There was no rain this time, thankfully, but Sylvie and I still carried an umbrella just in case. Luckily for us, the excuse of the "unpredictable rains" was more than enough to discourage any further questioning. Sylvie was a complete cold stonewall next to me. Her face was a blank, expressionless wall as she stared holes into the casket. She held my hand in a vice grip, the fear of letting go coming from her in panicked waves.
Just a little longer, metuka sheli. I reassured her. You're holding up great.
Sylvie made no indication of hearing me. She simply continued to stare at the coffin, holding on to my hand for dear life. The preacher finished his sermon that I really didn't pay much attention to. People walked by the casket, placing roses on top of it. They gave their condolences to Lenny as they made their way from the cemetery. Sylvie finally found the strength to let my hand go as her legs shakily carried her to Tammy's coffin. Her hand trembled like a leaf in the wind as she reached out to place her black rose on top of the casket. It stood out against the small pile of red ones, just as I felt she stood out among the rest of the mourners. Her pain almost seemed to outshine everyone else's, even Lenny's. I tried to reach out to her, to send her the warm, loving feelings, but I received nothing but ice and distant emotions, laced with rage.
"When I first met Tammy," Sylvie began quietly, catching me off guard, "she immediately treated me like her daughter. She took me under her wing the very first day I started at that bookstore. She was always so sweet and caring and patient." I watched Sylvie's fingertips glide over the shiny wood of Tammy's casket. "She would bring me food all the time and I'd even have dinner at her house. She was the closest thing to a mother I had in a long time. And now I have to say goodbye." Her voice broke at the last word, but no tears fell from her eyes.
Soon, I didn't feel anything from her. No rage, no pain, no sorrow. There was nothing left, nothing coming from my love, but a deafening silence. I had never seen this side of Sylvie before; whoever this woman was before me was alien and I didn't recognize her in the slightest.
The atmosphere in the house over the next few days was heavy and full of despair. Sylvie didn't come out of the room much. She barely said two words to Edie or me, and her thoughts were almost always closed off to me. Not one single warm feeling or loving emotion. Just cold, seemingly unending silence. There were even times I could barely touch her, without feeling her skin crawling in disgust.
At first, I thought it was towards me and I racked my brain trying to figure out what I did wrong. Though, the times I would watch her sleep when she finally went, I would see tears seeping through her closed eyes and onto her pillows as she whispered, "I'm so sorry, Mom." That was when I realized that the disgust wasn't with me. It was with herself.
To make matters worse, she barely fed. When she did, it was ravenous, to the point that we were going through blood bags like they were the last she would ever see for the rest of eternity. It worried me, of course, but I preferred this over the alternative. The last thing any of us needed right now was for her to pull one of Edie's moves and almost kill someone or worse.
The thought of my baby sister shifted my focus rather quickly. I was so worried for Sylvie, I had forgotten about the particularly familiar scent we found that night. Those damned lilacs. They were always her tell, though every fiber of my being made me wish I had missed it. It was so faint that night, I wasn't surprised that Sylvie missed it. That could only have meant that poor Tammy was out behind that dumpster for almost two weeks. What I couldn't piece together in this puzzle was how was Edie involved? My sister couldn't have killed her. Edie was heeding our warnings, she was staying out of trouble and no deaths had popped up on our radar. So, why could I smell lilacs on Tammy's body? Edie had to know something, but I prayed that my little sister was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. She had to be.