Hi!
I just finished this one and wanted to post as fast as possible. So here it is: chapter 21!! Hope you like it. Please let me know what you think! Read, vote, listen to the music - but most importantly enjoy. Thank you so much for reading!
Lara
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Chapter 21
I did what I do best: I compartmentalized. I shut my eyes to what had happened in Ryon Club and stuffed it into a dark place somewhere deep inside of my mind. Whatever monsters and personal demons I had faced in there, I decided they would and had to stay in the Blue Room – together with the master vampire who clearly had the time of his undead life watching my discomposure.
And really, there were more important matters to attend to. There had to be some sort of connection between the victims in the vamp killer case. We simply hadn't found it yet. The body of Natalie Reynolds was discovered about two weeks ago. While she was a victim that hadn't been a member of the bleeder or drug scene, our most recent victim, Dexter Colston, had been an ardent worshipper of the undead and their ways – i.e. a walking blood bag. According to the coroner's report, which had finally made it into the hands of the TF3, Dexter had been bitten repeatedly in the few days before he died. Although this had been the case with some other victims, none of them had shown signs of that much abuse so shortly before death.
I went into the new TF3 headquarters quite early, which in other words meant afternoon. When the metallic doors slid open I spotted Debbie sitting behind the reception in the big outer office. She looked up, smiling at me. Following her very own fashion mantra, she wore her blond hair in a slick bun, her outfit a completed set of perfection. With Debbie everything was in place.
"Anna, what on earth are you doing here? It's barely-"
"Three pm, and hello to you too," I said. I wasn't paid to be friendly (or to pretend being someone else), so why bother? "I know. I was nearby, so I figured I might as well drop in early. I wanted go over the files once again anyway."
"The case with the young drug victims?" she offered.
I nodded vaguely.
"You're already familiar with the databank and the system?" she asked off-handedly, this time not bothering to look up from the paperwork on her desk.
I had the instant urge to roll with my eyes. No, I was not born yesterday. Yes, I could boot a computer. Instead I gave a wave with my hand.
Belatedly realizing that she couldn't see it, I said, "Yeah, no problems there. You don't happen to have some coffee?"
"Sure, honey. Help yourself."
She pointed to the first room on the left, which I knew to contain a small kitchen.
Five minutes later I was seated in front of one of the computers. The thing still had this brand new smell on it and was damned fast. Looked like the heads of the three races had been able to draw up quite a lot financial resources for the new TF3's headquarters. Where did the bigger part of the money actually come from? The government? The Circle? Or the notoriously rich vamps? I shrugged, trying to finally get into work-mode.
When I took a break about an hour later, I found Blaze sitting in the kitchen.
"Yo, what's up Anna?" he said, a can of lemon soda in his hand.
"Hi Blaze. Just trying to do some research on the case," I said, scrubbing a hand over my face. "Holy witch, I need more coffee."
I moved to the kitchen counter to pour myself some more of the black soup. Debbie might have been a fashion goddess, but making coffee? Forget it.
He snorted. "I don't feel like a million dollars either. The case really gets to you. I mean we're out there every night, and still... it's as if it's getting us nowhere. Tanner's breathing down our neck, acting like he's the boss of fucking everyone. What are they thinking? There aren't enough people to investigate properly."
Funny that he was talking about doing things properly. Like he hadn't broken practically every rule that existed in the code book last time we 'investigated' together. I eyed him from the side, noticing that he had braided his long blond hair this day. I hadn't thought he was a plait type. Guess what, I was wrong.
Wouldn't be the first time.
Although nobody had said it out loud, it was clear to me that Blaze was in the force because of his physical strength. But he was much more than the brawn of our sub-team. He was a shape shifter, one with excellent senses from what I had seen. I hadn't seen him shift yet, but knowing that the wolf was his animal to change into made it quite hard not to be curious about just what kind of punch he could throw once he was furry.
He took a gulp of his soda and watched me preparing my coffee. "Two spoons of sugar?"
I cocked an eyebrow. "Yeah. I need the carbohydrates or I'll be in the land of Nod long before the rest of our troop arrives. You got a problem with that?"
"It's your health," he replied, raising his hands in a defensive position.
I placed a hand on my hip. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I was just sayin... I for my part try to keep my body in good shape."
I narrowed my eyes. He had never struck me as the ascetic type either.
"Yeah, and that's why you're drinking lemon soda, which is soo healthy."
He started chuckling. "You got me there."
I smiled back at him, but stopped abruptly. The corners of my mouth fell; muscles slackened, only to tense up again. The idea stole up on me. It careened into me with the force of a freight train. Too damn creepy to be neglected.
"I gotta get back to work, Blaze. I've thought of something! See ya later!"
I turned on my heel and hurried back to the computer, not even bothering to grab my coffee. I went through the reports once more, focusing on the medical results.
Nine victims so far. All within New York City. Up until a few minutes ago, I had suspected that it was the Inri-Brotherhood's doing. But now that I had read through the medical results again, I wasn't so sure anymore. I found one other common feature, apart from the drug and the connection to the bleeder scene. According to the blood counts, the victims had all been extremely healthy before they died.
What was startling, though, was that the number of white blood cells was on the high side, sometimes even above the average. There was not one body with a low level of white blood cells. Healthy blood counts, even though the drug made their internal organs look like they'd been fried from the inside? To me it was just too much of a coincidence that all of them showed almost identical results. I leaned back, crossing my hands behind my back.
I closed my eyes, thinking of what Sarah had said and tried to bring up the pictures of the corpses in my mind. '
'...the corpse smelled funny. Something about it just wasn't right... Something in the body. Maybe the blood.'
Blood on carpet. Fangs sinking into flesh.
I sprang up in an abrupt movement. The chair went crashing to the floor.
"Holy witch!"
I got up and rushed to the main office, praying that Brown was in. I rushed past Brown's secretary and entered without knocking. I wrenched the door open, its hinges making a long squeaking sound before the door handle slammed into the wall behind. I expected to find my boss sitting in his ethereal dignified posture, brooding over papers on his office desk. For a moment the sight of the two witches – clearly belonging to another sub-team of the TF3 – seated opposite of my boss threw me off guard. They turned in time to look at me mutely, while my boss stopped talking the instant he saw me.
"Anna, what do you-"
The words were out before I could even think of making excuses or using the means of politeness the situation required. I had the evidence we needed and my boss had to know. Now.
"It's the blood! It's all about the blood, Brown! I didn't see it before, but all the victims have the same blood counts," I said, thoughts running, carving out messy paths in my system.
"Why don't you wait outside, while-" Brown started.
"Brown, this is serious. It all points to vamps being the perpetrators and now, now that we finally have proof we-"
He cut me short with a harshness I hadn't expected, his light-blue eyes reprimanding and cold.
"Stop." He shifted his gaze to the stunned witches in front of him. "We will discuss the rest later."
With an insignificant nod, he dismissed them. I barely heard the shuffle of chairs, still too caught up with my own wild speculations. The revelation that vampires were indeed involved in the untouched body case was almost like an intoxicating drug. I was riding on a surging wave of adrenaline, excited beyond all reason.
I heard the door shut behind me, finding that we were alone. Brown gestured for me to sit down in front of him. I did so, mind still on overdrive – speculations, theories; it was all there. I knew it from the start. Knew it with a certainty I couldn't quite explain to myself. No matter if we were dealing with one or more, I had proof that whoever killed those people was a member of the undead population.
Brown knitted his fingers in front of him, regarding me wordlessly for a moment. I stared back at him. Could it be? Had he come to the same conclusion already?
"What makes you think you can barge in and accuse vampires in front of other TF3 members just like that? Making it sound like we both were looking for evidence against them?" His voice was business-like, but I could detect a heated undercurrent of anger. "Do you even have any idea how this must have looked to your fellow TF3 members? Do you have any idea what this implies?"
I frowned. "Brown, I..."
He gave me a look that forced me into silence. "I've done my best to make this cooperation happen and I expect the same of my force members," he said.
I met his stare bravely, determined not to give in. For reasons beyond my understanding my boss' eyes carried a weight I couldn't handle that day. I looked away first.
"Now, what exactly makes you believe vampires are behind it? Tell me what you found."
I crossed my arms in front of me, guiding my eyes back to him.
"At first it looked like the victims didn't have much in common apart from their youth and familiarity with the drug scene. We didn't know why they died. It was as much a mystery as the particular effects and ingredients of the new drug itself. While looking at the test results of the autopsies I noticed something. At first sight there's nothing uncommon. On the contrary all the blood counts of the victims seemed normal; they even showed that the humans were very healthy before they died. By the book, so to speak." I placed my strategically well-thought out pause, expecting Brown to interrupt me. Nothing of the kind happened.
"Nine victims and each one of them had very healthy blood, even though most of them were drug addicts? Even though the files state that two of them were obese? And then Sarah said she sensed a strange smell reminding her of blood on the last corpse the other night. A coincidence? I don't think so."
The silence on the other side of the desk seemed to go on forever. A hard stare. Light blue eyes on me. I noticed the graying hairline along his sleeves, a token of years as the Circle's head.
"So you believe that the drug enhances hematopoiesis?"
A reaction. Finally. I nodded.
"Have you talked to your team leader about this?"
"No," I said.
Brown regarded me with a long, level look. "We have already looked into the medical history of the victims, Anna, and while the similarities between their blood counts is odd, it doesn't point to an involvement of vampires. There are no bite marks. The victims didn't die because of blood loss. ... Did you hear yourself? What is wrong with you, Anna?"
I leaned forward, willing him to understand. It was so clear. It was all there. Why did he refuse to understand?
"Wrong with me? A majority of the nine victims were known bleeders, you have identical blood counts, and all the victims died during the night. What more do you need? Hell, for all we know Alexander is in on this! Listen, I know that as head of the magical community you can't-"
He cut me short, harshly. I didn't miss the sudden change of his demeanor, the mannerism of a leader settling upon him abruptly but with a finality that left no room for argument.
"No, you listen to me, Anna. This is a force formed by all three races, a cooperation built upon mutual trust. When I let you into the Task Force I believed you had finally found a way to overcome your obsession with the undead. I believed you were ready to handle this. Apparently it was too early to promote you. You don't possess the judgment it takes to make the right decisions when it counts. You're too biased to conduct an investigation properly. This isn't the first time I've noticed this. Now you accused one of the Task Force's leaders without any proof. It can't go on like this."
I stared at him, blinking. What was he trying to say?
"I have to trust my employees. And with you, this isn't the case. I want you to take a break. I'll give you one week. Think about your future. Reassess your motivations for joining the task force and if this is really what you want to do. If you can do it. I need people on the force who are open-minded and unprejudiced. Either you come back and work with the team, unbiased, or you quit."
The words didn't make sense at first, drowned out what Brown said next. I didn't even process half of it. All I remembered was me walking out the door wordlessly.