Deep in the subconscious of my sleep I became aware that the sun was setting. The awareness spread pulling me out of a heavy dreamless sleep and the memories of yesterday flashed in my mind.
The monster.
The girl.
The blood.
… so much blood.
I wanted to cry out in panic but my body hadn’t fully awoken. It felt like being underwater unable to kick to the surface to breathe. What had happened to me after I passed out? Where was Michael? I felt soothing sensation gliding across my arm in a circular motion and a voice calling softly to me. My lungs took their first breathe of the evening and my eyes drowsily fluttered open. I was lying in a strange room and Michael was sat next to me softly caressing my arm.
“Hey.” He said forcing a smile. He looked tired, he was still in the suit he wore yesterday and he had black bags under his eyes. I sensed that this was from exhaustion and worry. I tried to imagined how Michael felt when he realised I was missing and then found the dead girl. Taking my hand Michael brushed his lips lightly over my knuckles s and held my hand in his over his heart.
“You were gone. I thought I’d lost you.” He said raggedly.
“Mike! I need to talk to her.” A voice called out.
Michael glanced over his shoulder all the lovingness and concern draining out of his face and shouted,
“Shit Gabe she’s just woken up. Can you give us five minutes alone!”
“Aw come on man, don’t be like that. I want talk to your pretty girlfriend.”
“Ass,” Michael muttered under his breathe turning his attention back on me. “Lorna what the hell happened last night? I was going out of my mind. I roll up with the car and there is blood everywhere. You were nowhere in sight.”
Reaching out I touched Michael’s shirt stroking downwards over his chest, tears burned in the back of my eyes. All I kept thinking about was that woman staring at me mouthing the words, ‘it’s behind you’, she saved me when I couldn’t even save her with my vampire abilities. Sitting up in and unfamiliar bed in a strange room I wrapped my arms around Michael’s neck, close my eyes and buried my face into his shirt. Protective arms cocooned around me as Michael heaved a heavy groan,
“What the hell happened out there?”
I inclined my head up to his and looked into his eyes. I wanted to forget for a few seconds what had happened last night and there was only one person who could make me forget everything. Lifting lips to his I kissed him tenderly moving slowly against his mouth. When the hell did I get so bold? I guess it was the lesser of two evils. There was a physical side of romance I couldn’t ignore. Michael wanted me just like Micah had and this scared and excited me at the same time. I didn’t understand men or what they wanted from me or what I wanted from them. The reason why I kissed Michael was because I wanted to forget that woman’s face but I couldn’t help wonder how Michael interpreted this brave move from me. Was I sending him the wrong message? Was I playing with his mind? I pulled away from the kiss feeling suddenly very aware of myself.
“What was that about?” Michael asked.
“Nothing.” I shrugged sitting up properly and getting out of bed.
Michael had blocked my view of the rest of the room but now I was standing up I could see an open plan laboratory with beds dotted around the room hidden in little alcoves. I saw Barry sat at the centre of the room laughing and joking with a couple of guys one of whom looked like a soldier I had seen in the hotel bar. The man who Michael had yelled at earlier was sat at a desk stripping down a weapon.
“I hope you don’t mind but I changed your dress.” Michael said.
I never even registered that I was wearing a large white baggy t-shirt that came down to my knees. I felt myself turning bright red at the thought of Michael taking off my dress. The man at the desk looked up at me smiling and said,
“Don’t worry baby, I was watching too. Mikey didn’t touch you.”
I froze instantly staring at Michael horrified. Michael awkwardly laughed and said,
“Gabe shut up, she’s going to think you are serious.”
“I am serious.” Gabe replied.
“Are doing this because of last Tuesday? I thought you said you were over it- it was history.” Michael said.
“Well history influences our present brother.”
“Come on Gabe it was one bullet.” Michael whined.
“Yeah one god damn bullet.”
Confused I looked at Michael and asked,
“What’s are you guys talking about?”
Michael opened his mouth but Gabe interjected snapping,
“This god damn moron was supposed to be covering my ass on an exercise last Tuesday-”
“Gabe, I thought I saw something in warehouse 8.”
“He goes off to investigate a noise that could have been a rat, a cat, or a damn cockroach and doesn’t tell anyone-”
“It was bigger than a cat.”
“So I get snuck up on by tweedle dee and tweedle dum over there,” Gabe said nodding at Barry and one of his colleagues, “And I get a god damn bullet in my left ass cheek.”
I blinked- not sure whether to laugh or cry.
Michael gripped my shoulder and pulled me away with Gabe yelling out angrily,
“I didn’t sit down for a week!”
Michael apologized,
“Gabe knows how to hold a grudge.”
“He’s a vampire though; I thought he would heal instantly from a bullet.” I said.
“Barry uses a special bullet made from a silver alloy. Silver weakens our regenerative abilities.”
“Like werewolves.”
“No. Silver doesn’t poison us. It just makes us more human.” Michael said.
We walked towards what seemed to be the nerve centre of the room. There was a dozen computers and monitor screens all concentrated around a circular desk. Barry sat in the middle in a deep leather chair bragging to a group of guys about his latest fishing expedition. As we approached the desk the men one by one noticed me and turned their attention away from Barry to me. Michael sensed my self consciousness and stepped in front of me shielding me from the other men.
“Barry, she’s awake.” Michael said.
Barry had to stand up and peer around Michael to see me. He smiled warmly and said,
“Lorna, how are you! Wish we were meeting under better circumstances but there you are. Have you met the others?”
“She’s met me!” Gabe yelled from across the room.
“Gabe, shut up,” Barry groaned. “Gabe is the attention whore of the group-”
“Barry,” Michael said abruptly, “Lorna was attacked last night, I just want to interview her and get her home.”
Barry nodded, “Maybe we can introduce you some other time.” He shrugged.
Michael led me away from the men out of the room to a small side room. Opening the door we stepped in to a prepared interview room with a desk and two chairs.I sat down and watched Michael pull out a recording device and a pad of paper. Turning to me he said,
“I need to get an account of what happened last night for our records.”
“Okay.”
“After this I’ll take you home. Magda and Francesca have already rung to express their desire to kill me for not looking after you.”
“But I want to see Emma’s apartment.”
“We can do that tomorrow night.”
“I want to do it tonight.”
Michael thought about it for a minute and nodded.
“Fine. We’ll go.” He said turning on the tape recorder.
He stated the time and date and my name then asked me to describe what had happened to me yesterday night. I sat for an hour going over every detail of last night, Michael sat asking questions and occasionally jotting down notes. I gave a detailed description of the monster and of the girl and how it had chased me through the docks. Michael didn’t look comfortable as I went into details about the chase. His eyes kept glancing to the healed slash mark on my arm that monster had made with its lethal claws. When the interview was over Michael told me to stay put because he needed to tell Barry something. He left the recorder and the pad on the table and exited the room.
Staring at the pad I wondered what he had been scribbling down as I was talking. Glancing about I flipped the pad of paper around and scanned down the page. Nothing particularly jumped out at me until right at the end when I noticed in the corner of the page the sentence,
‘Monster- query ‘V-8’- need coroner’s confirmation.’
V-8? Why did that sound familiar. I heard Michael’s steps coming along the corridor and quickly returned the pad to its original position. Michael stepped in carrying a pile of clothes.
“I had Barry pick up some of your clothes from the hotel. You can get changed in here while I give Barry the tapes.” He said picking up the recorder and the pad and leaving.
I quickly changed into the clothes and exited the side room into the main room. Barry and Michael seemed deep in conversation as I approached them but they quickly went quiet as I came closer. Barry changed subject and asked me,
“Hey, how are you settling in? I need to give Mikey some more time off to show you the city.”
Gabe yelled from across the room, “You never give me any time off and you shot me in the ass.”
“Gabriel shut up,” Barry snapped back, “Lorna I’m sorry you couldn’t have come here in nicer circumstances but I promise you that whatever chased you last night will be found and exterminated.”
“Do you guys have any idea what the hell that thing was?” I asked.
“We can’t tell you.” Barry smiled.
Why not? Why couldn’t they tell me. I looked across to Michael who was staring at me with real intensity. He caught my arm and said,
“Don’t worry, we’ll take care of it.”
We left the HQ and got into Michael’s beaten up saloon car that the department had given him. At first he was very quiet but then he tried to distract me by showing me the car’s inbuilt siren and lights. Bluntly I asked,
“What attacked me?”
Michael exhaled in low hiss and shook his head, “You know I can’t tell you.” He said.
“Why not?” I asked.
“This is work Lorna. I’m not allowed to tell you.”
“Michael, I want to know what attacked me.”
“I can’t tell you babe. I’m sorry.”
“Fine, I’ll just find out some other way.”
Silence fell in the car and after a few minutes Michael’s arm slid across the back of my seat to carress my neck.
“You know, when the guys found you wandering on the dock, Gabe thought you were the ghost.” He said.
“I remembered seeing Gabe and someone else but there was someone behind me I didn’t see.”
“Probably Raphael, he’s like our leader. Real great guy, if you get in trouble find Raphael and he’ll sort you out. He was the one who called me when they found you. Raphael brought you back to headquarters and took care of your wounds.”
“Who was the other one?”
“Uriel. He doesn’t talk much. Just follows orders and works alone.”
“Do you remember your human life?”
Michael’s eyes became saddened and subdued, “I have flashbacks but none of it makes sense.”
“What do you remember when you first woke up.”
“Being at headquarters with the guys. The government wanted to terminate us but Barry stopped them. He believed we could be used to help vampires and humans.”
“How long have you worked for the government?”
“Four maybe five years.”
“Does Barry mind that you live with me?”
“No, he likes having me inside the hotel.”
“So he can spy on us?”
Michael withdrew his hand away like I had scolded him. His eyes darkened in angry fury and for a few moments there was a brooding silence. Shrinking back into the car seat I said softly,
“I didn’t mean it like that Michael, I’m sorry-”
Michael didn’t speak. He indicated down a side street and parked in front of a row of shops. Pulling the handbreak up he announced,
“Emma’s flat is above that shop.”
He got out the car and slammed the door so hard I thought the window might break. Yellow police tape covered the doorway of Emma’s flat. Emma was not murdered here but the coven moved her body here so the hotel would not be pulled into this. Michael snapped the tape with his fingers and using a key opened the door. In silence we made our way up the stairs into her flat.
The flat was tiny but cosy. Emma’s walls were covered in photos of people and places, she seemed to have loads of human friends. She also seemed to be very forgetful because there were hundreds of paper notes stuck on doors and surfaces reminding her what to do.
“I’ll check her bedroom while you sift through her stuff in here.” Michael said.
Michael wondered off into the bedroom leaving me to go through various letters, folders and books dotted about Emma’s living room. She was really disorganized. There were piles of crap everywhere. I spent an hour looking at old utility bills and bank statements, letters from friends, and little sticky notes reminders of meetings and report deadlines. Michael reappeared from the bedroom,
“Nothing.” He sighed.
“How can someone live in such chaos!” I snapped kicking the sofa in frustration. The sofa was on wheels and rolled back slightly revealing the edge of a sleek laptop. Michael and I exchanged glances. Picking the laptop up I opened it and powered it up. A password screen popped up.
“Great, we need a password.” I groaned.
Michael shook his head and pulled off a sticky note from the coffee table and handed it to me. In big pencilled letters it read,
‘PASSWORD: 13121813’
I typed the numbers in and the screen logged on. Turning to Michael I said,
“Can you search the documents?”
Michael pulled out a small plastic object and inserted it into the side of the laptop,
“I’ll copy her documents to this.” He said.
Computers were different from the old operating systems of the past, nothing took forever and everything appeared more sleeker and cooler. The laptop made a funny jingle and a little message popped up at the side of the screen.
‘ZERO-CALLING’
Michael stared suspiciously at the message and put the laptop on the coffee table.
“Don’t answer it.” Michael said.
“It might give us a clue! I can pretend to be Emma.”
“They’ll know it’s not you!” Michael hissed.
“Don’t be silly,” I said pressing the answer button, “They can’t see me.”
A little light at the top of the laptop flashed on and suddenly I was on the computer screen staring back at myself. I froze. What the hell was this witchcraft. There was a camera built into the computer. Smiling I pointed at myself I looked at Michael,
“Oh my god that is so cool!” I said.
Michael didn’t look so impressed and soon I realized why. The screen had divided into two frames. I was in one and a man with a black banclava was in the other. I froze and turned to Michael,
“Can he see me?” I asked.
Michael nodded his head awkwardly.
Oh shit.
“Umm,” I said looking into the camera, “Hi, I’m Emma’s friend Lorna.”
The man was silent, he didn’t speak.
“Who are you?” I asked.
The man didn’t reply. His hands lifted to his banclava and then removed it. My hands clamped over my mouth as I saw his face. Michael tensed.
“Micah?” I whispered.
Micah looked back at me and with the same awed voice asked,
“Am I dreaming?”
I could see the tears in his eyes and I felt the pain in his heart. Tears were now welling up in my own eyes. Reaching out I touched the monitor and smiling softly I replied,
“It’s not a dream Micah. I’m here.”
“Lorna, I never stopped searching for you. I knew deep down in my heart you were alive.”
“Where are you Micah?”
“I’m-”
Michael threw the laptop across the room smashing it into a thousand pieces. Stunned I sat on the floor staring at the space where the laptop once stood. My lips parted and softly mouthed my ex-lover’s name, Micah. One minute he was there and the next he had been snatched away from me again. Michael found the usb stick from the plastic rubble and straighted his suit up like nothing had happened.
“We got what we came for.” Michael said offering his hand out to me.
“Why?” I asked feeling suddenly very hysterical. Tears were now rolling down my cheeks. Micah was the only part of the human me that was still alive. Micah understood me and I understood him and I really needed someone kind and familiar right now. Michael stared coldly at me.
“I can trace him through that call and give his details to Duncan. There is no need for further contact with him.” He said logically.
“That wasn’t for you to decide!” I snapped standing up on my own two feet.
“Lorna, you are confusing yourself with old human emotions for this man.”
“You had no right to do that.”
“I’m sorry that this has upset you and I hope you will understand in time-”
“Michael,” I said cutting across him, “I hate you.”