Hunted in Darkness

Working it

The sun was setting, I could feel it in my bones. I stretched and paced the tiny room, looking around for signs that he was living here and not just existing. I found none. There were bottles of water in the kitchen and bathroom for washing up, and flashlights as lamps, but no signs of anything except squatting. My heart ached a little, the beautiful man, with the velvet jackets and soft hands, was living like a rat in a house with no electricity. I would not live like this, and neither would he, I vowed to myself. As if summoned by this thought, he walked into the room.”Em, honey, we can’t live this way, lets go to my apartment.” I saw the panic in his eyes and reached a soothing hand out to stroke his cheek “Em, I have a life, a job, a world, if I just disappear, people will come looking for me. I know you’re used to hiding here, but I have a shower, electricity, civility. It’s going to look for us and probably find us wherever we go, so let’s not die like rats in this hole, okay?” He nodded reluctantly. “I don’t have a choice, do I? Fine, let me go pack.” Everything he owned fit in a garbage bag, and I found myself embarrassed for him.

I was forming the beginnings of my plan as we climbed into a battered looking German luxury car. It was still very German, but had stopped being luxurious somewhere along the way, when the seats gave forth their cracked leather and the paint on the hood began to peel away. I gave him directions, pretending that he probably hadn’t stalked me to my doorstep at some point. First on the agenda was a shower, I could feel the musty dankness of that house clinging to me and I wanted it gone. I wanted him to have a hot shower and start to feel like himself again. I wasn’t used to this timid version of Emile, and some part of me hoped that it would wash down the drain with the other filth. If we were going to hold our own, we needed each other, we needed friends and allies, but most importantly, we needed to have strength within ourselves. I also knew that we couldn’t be the only ones having the dreams, after all, this monster was coming for all the vampires, and maybe some of the other night creatures too, so I would touch base with my contacts at Oldenfeild and Immerbach. I would call Dorthea, too. I would also use my contacts in the human world to help.

As we trudged up the steps to my door, I sensed someone there. I was right, a man with his back to me, short with mousy brown hair, knocked timidly at the door. “Doc, please be home, I’ve tried to call your cell at least a million times.” My assistant, Nick, named for Nikolai Tesla. He was a thoughtful young man, and he must have gotten worried when he couldn’t reach me. I cursed my decision to leave my phone on the charger last night before walking to the cemetery. Who knew I’d be missing a whole day, and I hadn’t thought about it once until now. “Hi, Nick, I’m here.” the poor boy almost jumped out of his skin. I could feel Emile bristling behind me, trying to look imposing. “Nick, this is Emile, an old friend of mine. I’m so sorry about the phone, I went to go pick him up and I forgot it. I didn’t mean to worry you.” I could feel Nick studying Emile over my shoulder. My assistant is very protective of me and suspicious of newcomers in general. I smiled, trying to break the tension. “So, what’s going on, Nikki?” I fumbled my key into the lock and let them both into my modest apartment. Simple but tasteful decor, and blackout curtains on every window. It wasn’t much, but I could call it home, and that’s enough for me. We all took seats in the living room, Emile and I on the blue velveteen sofa and Nick in the green overstuffed chair, which seemed to comically swallow him. Light from several table lamps gave the feeling of coziness. “Doc, I know you’re off this week, but we’ve had some strange cases come in, and I thought maybe if you knew about them, you’d want to come take a look. The police have already showed up for two of them, they think some serial killer is ripping hearts out of people with their bare hands. It’s bizarre. Doctor Lewis has had his hands full with it, so I told him I’d give you a call and see if you could pitch in on any of his cases, but then I couldn’t reach you and I got worried.” a sheepish grin spread across Nick’s face. “Guess all this talk of killers got me thinking crazy thoughts. I’m glad you’re fine Doc.” I smiled again reassuringly at Nick, but meanwhile remembering my dream, I wondered if he didn’t have a reason to be worried. “How about I come in for the midnight shift change tonight and I’ll pick up any work Lewis needs me to, just ask him to send me an e-mail with a checklist so I don’t miss anything, okay?” Relief spread across my assistant’s face and he stood to leave. “Thanks, Doc, I’m sure it’ll help, you know how grumpy Dr. Lewis gets when he feels like he’s got too much on his plate. I’ll get back to the office and let him know whats up.” Nick let himself out with only a slight glance of suspicion at Emile. My colleague, Dr. Abraham Lewis was indeed prone to fits of bad temper, and I could imagine strangers in the Morgue while he was trying to work had made him more irritated than usual. “First dibs on the shower, Em, help yourself to anything in the fridge.” He had been quiet until now.