The Samantha Rain Mysteries

Chapter 15

15

The monotone street noise of a busy city surrounded Sam and Lilith on their walk to the mystery appointment. Despite her insistent questioning, the Nox hadn’t revealed anything about who they were meeting or why.

“Tell me again how you know Tomas is hiding with the vampires?” Sam ate the last piece of her sandwich and threw the wrapper in the bin.

“I recognised the woman in the picture,” Lilith replied. Her long hair danced in the wind as she halted in the middle of the square. “Here will do.”

“Will do? For what?”

“You’ll see.”

“Why do you have to speak in riddles?”

A playful glint flickered in Lilith’s bright blue eyes which only made her even more beautiful. Infuriating, without a doubt, but beautiful. “Because it’s fun.”

“You and fun… There’s more to life than fun.”

“Really? Like what?”

“Duty,” Sam replied truthfully. She couldn’t deny that duty had been the main ruler of her life and she liked it that way. It gave her drive, purpose, and meaning. Without it, she would be lost. She had been lost.

She felt Lilith’s gaze on her face and turned towards her. “What?”

“Why did you get fired? Really?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Sam deflected. The events that transpired in her precinct were too fresh and she still hadn’t managed to give them a place in her life. Maybe she should have after a year, but she didn’t know how.

The other woman clicked her tongue. “I don’t really understand duty. What’s the point of a life of service?”

“It’s commendable. Honourable.”

“But none of that is fun.”

Sam turned to look at Lilith, her chest tight. “It’s about taking responsibility. About doing the right thing.”

“I do, but that’s my business. Nobody needs to hold me responsible and I don’t want to hold anyone responsible either. It sounds tedious.”

“Then why are you looking for your uncle?” Sam inquired. “You clearly want to find him. You’re investing your time and energy into his retrieval. Why?”

“That’s none of your concern.”

“I’m working together with you on this. It is my concern.”

“No. You need to find him, that’s all.” Before Sam could ask more questions, Lilith held up her hand. “Ah, they’re here.”

“Who?”

Sam looked around, a cold shiver running down her spine. She hadn’t processed the situation yet, but she was adept at sensing danger. She didn’t know what it was or who, but she could feel the tension brewing.

Her eye was drawn to a man who stood still in the ever-moving crowd. His face was hidden from the shadow of his cap, but it couldn’t hide his muscled build or his threatening body language.

Before she could say anything about it, two more men appeared on either side of her. All wearing the same black suit with one red sleeve.

“Lilith?” Sam voiced, slowly moving backwards. She didn’t like the look of these men and even if she had no evidence, she suspected they were Nocturnals too.

Her companion checked her watch and nodded. “Right on time.”

“Right on time? For what?”

“Your appointment.” She adjusted her dress and patted Sam on the shoulder. “Alright, good luck.”

Worry flooded Sam’s chest. “What? You’re leaving me?”

“I sure am. Don’t worry, the Law Of Six will protect you.”

“What? What law?” Sam squeaked. “Lilith?”

“I’ll see you after. Have fun,” Lilith smirked as she backed away, leaving Sam faced with three mean-looking men.

“Have fun? Lilith, come back here. Lilith!”

But Sam’s shouting was in vain. Without looking back, the beautiful woman disappeared in the sea of people and left her with the three mean-looking men.

“Rude,” she muttered under her breath, readying herself. She’d been in great shape when she was still on the force, but after being sacked, she’d let herself go. Pudding, chips, burgers, she had it all. And now her unhealthy habits were coming back to kick her in the ass.

She balled her hands into loose fists, determination and adrenaline pumping through her veins. It was clear that Lilith set this up, but Sam didn’t know what the purpose of the meeting was. The three men certainly didn’t look like they were here to talk and if she was going to be kidnapped again, she’d certainly give them a run for their money.

Literally. If Lilith could disappear in the crowd, so could she. She doubted the three men would chase her in broad daylight and risk revealing their hidden nature. Maybe they were even weaker during the day? After all, they were called Nocturnal for a good reason, Sam thought.

She turned around, not waiting to find out what the men really wanted. Her own safety was far more important than—

Sam froze mid-step, as if caught in an invisible net. She tried to keep walking, but her body refused. Instead, it spun her around so she faced the three men again.

“Where do you think you’re going?” one of them said. He had a thin beard and a pencil moustache that didn’t match his muscled physique.

The dormant worry turned in full-fledged panic as Sam realised she had no control over herself anymore. Her legs and arms moved like they didn’t belong to her, controlled by a force that wasn’t her own. With all the willpower she could muster, she fought against the invisible constraints but to no avail. She couldn’t move, she couldn’t stop, even when she tried to scream, her mouth refused to open.

The second man, the one with a white streak in his hair spoke. “Aw, she’s trying to fight. So cute when hum—”

“Casper!” the third barked, silencing whatever the other guy was going to say. He adjusted his glasses and snapped his fingers. “No taunting in public. Let’s go.”

Finally, a name. Samantha attached it to the most memorable part of him. The white streak in his hair, white like a ghost, Casper the ghost.

She needed to be able to identify him after the fact and report this to… She wasn’t sure to whom, but there had to be somebody that would punish them for abducting her.

The three men surrounded her and with her in the middle, they all set in motion. Silenced in the crowd, robbed of the control over her own body, Sam was forced to march along. There was no escaping the hold they had over her, no way to stop her body moving on its own. Against her will, she walked past a stream of unsuspecting passengers, all who could’ve helped her if she could’ve just talked to them. But she couldn’t.

Soon, they were at the edge of the square and to Samantha’s dread, they turned into a small street, away from all the people. Nobody could save her now.

The man with the white streak in his hair, Casper, was the first to break the tense silence. “I don’t like humans.”

“Not my problem,” the other man said. “Master C wanted to see her.”

“I don’t understand why we can’t rough her up,” he protested. “I like it when they bleed a little and this one smells delicious. O positive, for sure.”

The casualness of his tone sent shivers down Sam’s back. If she remembered correctly, Lilith said that these vampires only drank blood for recreational purposes, but maybe she was wrong. Maybe she lied. It was hard to know with her.

Sam fought her invisible constraints again, but she couldn't regain control of her body. She was under their spell, a free mind in a flesh suit that someone else operated.

Her feet carried her across cobbled streets, deeper into the heart of the city she thought she knew so well. It was quickly becoming clear that she only knew the human neighbourhoods. These streets, these houses, they all seemed perfectly normal but they weren’t. Behind closed doors and drawn curtains, residents of the Nocturnal world lived a secret life that Sam wished she knew nothing about. Then she wouldn’t have been subjected to feeling like this.

Just when she thought she couldn’t take any more, they stopped in front of a small ornate church on an abandoned square. A couple of pigeons fluttered up in response to their arrival and the wind ristled through the leaves, but apart from that, it was a quiet and desolated area in an otherwise busy city.

Casper knocked on the heavy wooden door and a small panel at eye height was pulled open.

“Identification.”

He tugged on his one red sleeve and revealed something on his wrist, but Sam couldn’t see what. It had to be a bracelet or tattoo of some kind, she thought.

With a click, the lock sprung open and the door shrieked open wide enough to reveal the moody inside. Stained glass panels introduced colourful light on the wooden pews. Shadows played with the flickering light of candles, making the stone statues look like they were alive.

On all accounts, it looked like a regular church, except for the person standing at the altar. Instead of a priest swinging a thurible with potent incense, Sam recognised the features of a woman. With a revealing dress that screamed sin and a figure that could corrupt a devoted man, she was definitely not a woman of the church.

The man with the white hair pushed Sam forward. “Walk.”

Immediately, the strange force relented and as she stumbled forward, Sam realised while she had full control over her body again, it didn’t feel right. Her limbs felt like they’d been asleep and they seemed much heavier than normal.

She waddled across the stone floor, her feet thudding abnormally loud with every step. She needed to get used to her own body again, strange as it was.

With fear in her heart, she halted a good distance before the slender woman. Just like magic, she never believed in religion or god, but even Sam thought it was strange for creatures of the night to occupy churches. Especially vampires. Weren’t they supposed to burn when they were touched by holy water or crosses?

The mahogany woman swayed down from the altar, the fabric of her dress shifting with every movement like rippling water. “Well, well, well… Look what we got here. A human.”

Sam gulped. The woman’s raspy voice was unlike any other she’d ever heard before. It was thick like honey and just as sweet. Even the foreign accent didn’t detract from the seductiveness. In fact, it added to it.

“Your blood smells good,” the woman whispered, inhaling deeply near Sam’s neck. “Mmm… I bet you’re delicious.”

“L-Law of Six!” Sam exclaimed, trying to stop herself from shaking. She’d met many dangerous people in her time, murders, rapists, drug dealers, but none of them ever got to her like the Nox. She had no way to defend herself against these people because she didn’t know what they were capable of. The only thing she had, to hold onto, were the last words Lilith said to her.

The woman raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow. “Oh? You know about the law?”

Sam nodded hastily. “Yes. Lilith said it would protect me. I call the Law of Six!”

“Alright.” The woman smirked, a devious glint passing through her eyes. “So be it.”